DENOUEMENT
xxviii. house of hush
❝I DID SAY I'D MAKE IT UP TO YOU.❞

WITH NO MERCY, Rufus Zeno's nails continued to dig into Nina Martin's porcelain skin, certain to leave marks on her wrist afterwards. Due to the pain and the terrifying situation, the poor American continued to shriek loudly whilst Jerome Clarke and Sydney Anderson frantically pulled at the girl's arms, using all of their strength to try and separate her from the maniac known as Rufus Zeno, who eventually let go of the girl and released her from his harmful grip. Instantly, Nina gently rubbed her sore wrist as she took an extremely deep breath, trying to stop her shakiness and to calm her breathing.

Meanwhile, the dangerous man went to bolt out of the kitchen, trying to formulate and make his escape route as he tried to navigate around the kitchen counters and get out of Anubis House as fast as he possibly could have done, but as the leather jacket clad man went to run, Sydney Anderson chased after him and attempted to halt him in his tracks, which honestly, was not her brightest idea.

In her heroic moment, Sydney Anderson seemed to have forgotten her lack of both strength and speed - two things that she most certainly needed to even dare to take on a man like Rufus Zeno, who was taller, stronger, and faster than her.

She didn't even slow him down.

Her lack of those two qualities caused the man to simply scoff as he pushed the female prankster out of his way, like she wasn't even an issue to move, and that allowed him to escape the kitchen as the girl tripped over her own two feet and went to fall backwards, fortunately being caught by Jerome Clarke, who quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and grabbed her shoulder to steady her.

"You okay?" Jerome murmured to the girl, turning her around so that he could see her face and determine if she was being truthful - he also did a small once-over with very worried eyes, checking for any injuries; thankfully, she had none.

"I should be asking you that, dummy." Sydney chuckled, practically falling into his arms as the pair of them wrapped their arms around one another, sharing an extremely tight hug and finding the source of comfort that they needed in that moment from one another.

They were each other's safety blankets.

"Aw, cute." Alfie Lewis mumbled as he, alongside Fabian Rutter, entered the room, causing the pair of blondes to pull away from their hug and to send a sharp glare to the boy, causing him to shut up.

Glancing back to his blonde childhood best friend, Jerome held out the puzzle piece to her, telling her, "I hope this is worth it."

"It is." Sydney assured him, taking the important artifact and then passing it over to Nina, who had a wide smile on her lips as she took it - it was in safe hands now - then, the female prankster turned back to face the boy with a small grateful grin on her face, "This means a lot to us - thanks, Jerome."

"I suppose I did say I'd make it up to you." Jerome spoke with a large sigh, brushing his fingers through his hair and pushing it back as he did so, whilst letting out a slightly nervous chuckle as he continued, "I just didn't think I'd be making it up to you this way."

"Speaking of what just happened-," Nina started, causing the pair of blondes to turn around to face her as she continued to speak, a regretful tone to her voice, "I'm sorry Rufus got away."

"Hey, no problemo, Nina." Jerome responded sarcastically, although the American girl seemed not to notice the sarcasm oozing from his words and dripping from his tongue, as her eyebrows raised in shock, almost hopefully as she spoke:

"Really?"

"No, not really!" Jerome snapped at the girl, shaking his head before he lowered his tone threateningly, deciding to make his demands after he had helped them, "Now, listen up, I have kept my side of the bargain. I got you back that- that thing." He pointed to the piece that Nina had kept tightly clutched in her hands, as though if she let go of it then they'd lose it again, "Now you keep your side, and you protect me from that- that maniac, or else."

"Or else what?" The American retorted, wondering what threat the boy could have possibly made to the group that wouldn't get himself into trouble as well - although, that was a bad idea, it was as if Nina Martin was challenging the boy to threaten them.

"I am going to the teachers myself," Jerome announced, causing his childhood best friend to purse her lips as she seemed to be stuck between a rock and a hard place - her childhood best friend or her secret group, neither of whom she wanted to upset - however, the male prankster wasn't done yet as he continued with his threats, "And I am telling them everything that you have told me - about the search, about the puzzle pieces, about that Sarah woman, and about your little scooby gang."

And with the menacing threat lingering in the air, the atmosphere in the room becoming even tenser than it was before, Jerome Clarke stormed out of the room, having nothing more to say to the members of the secret group - he'd made his demands clear, and they just had to complete those demands. However, there was one member who he wished to talk to - Sydney Anderson, who wanted to talk to the boy herself, and thus sent a sad and awkward glance to her fellow members of the club before she followed her fellow blonde to his bedroom, entering the room behind him as he sat on his bed, his head placed in his hands.

It was obvious that he was worried and panicked, constantly brushing his hair back as his skin was pale and his hands continued to shake, his eyes remaining wide despite Rufus Zeno not being present.

Releasing a soft sigh at the sight, Sydney Anderson sat next to him on his bed, and wrapped her arm around the boy comfortingly, bringing him into her side as he placed his head on her shoulder, and she assured him, "You'll be okay."

"He threatened to mummify me, you know?" Jerome revealed, and due to their closeness, the female prankster was able to feel him beginning to shake even more as he spoke about it, "If I didn't get him what he wanted, he said he would mummify me - and that it wasn't just a figure of speech."

Silence engulfed the bedroom for a few moments, Sydney not having any words to say in response and thus just let her actions say everything for her. Their grip on one another became even tighter as they gently pulled each other closer, as though they needed the other to be as close as humanly possible. It was comforting - a safety blanket.

After a while, Jerome shook his head, his head clearly still occupied with thoughts of the terrifying man and how much danger he was in as he released a huff and muttered, "I need a distraction."

"Well, lucky for you that you have an amazing best friend who has already decided she's sleeping here for the night - whether you like it or not." Sydney announced, causing the boy's frown to contort into a faint grin, slowly becoming bigger and brighter:

"Yeah, I am lucky."

It seemed that all Sydney Anderson did for the next few hours was calm people down, comfort them, and reassure them, as the next morning, she found herself required to do the exact same things. However, instead of having to comfort Jerome Clarke, she was now trying to calm down Nina Martin, who was still worrying about the blonde boy's threat that he had made the previous night.

"Nina, I'm telling you now: he's not going to go through with that threat." Sydney assured the girl, pouring a bowl of cereal for herself and the boy that they were talking about and setting them down at the table, adding, "And if he tries to, then I'll stop him."

"Yeah, and he'll listen to Sydney." Alfie supported his fellow prankster in hopes to calm down the American member of their group, knowing that his roommate did most things that Sydney Anderson asked him to, and vice versa - they listened to each other.

"Don't worry, Jerome's just bluffing 'cause he's scared of what Rufus might do - can't say I blame him." Patricia added to the conversation, agreeing with two out of three of the jokester set, and also defending the third member in the process - after all, the purple-haired girl knew the best out of all of them about how dangerous Rufus Zeno was after he had kidnapped her and held her hostage.

"And, here he is." Fabian announced, causing everyone to lift their gaze and lock their glance on the boy that they had been talking about entering the room, "Good work last night, Jerome."

"Nice one, mate." Alfie chimed in, a grin on his lips - both him and Sydney liked that they didn't have to lie to the boy or ditch him anymore; they just wished that he didn't have to be in danger.

Sitting at his usual seat beside Sydney Anderson, the male prankster sent a faint yet grateful smile towards the girl upon noticing the cereal already at his place - words didn't have to be said to know that he was thanking her with that simple gesture - before he turned to the rest of the group, remarking, "There's still the small matter of Rufus getting away, and the fact that he still thinks I've got the puzzle piece."

"I wouldn't particularly call that a small problem." Sydney murmured uneasily, feeling rather concerned for her childhood best friend, who she knew probably had to face the intimidating leather-clad man once again, and that most certainly was not going to be pretty after last night's ordeal.

"Yeah, there is that, but you could always say..." Fabian started, although soon trailed off as he realised he couldn't think of a good excuse.

Helping the boy like the dream team that they were, Nina finished his sentence for him as she suggested the excuse, "That Victor confiscated it."

"Right, and that's when he mummifies me." Jerome bounty stated, causing the girl beside him to wince, a frown on her lips at that thought, whilst the blonde boy questioned the group, confused and exasperated, "Why don't we just give the piece back to Rufus, and get him off our backs once and for all?"

"Do you really think if we give Rufus the pieces, we're in a stronger position than if we hold onto them ourselves?" Patricia rhetorically quizzed the boy, before she shook her head and answered the question herself, telling him, "Because I don't. You need to speak to Rufus again - play him along. We hold the cards here, Jerome, not him."

Contemplating the idea for a few moments, Jerome then made his own suggestion, "Maybe we need to try putting these pieces back together again."

"We're going to tonight." Nina informed him with a nod - which was true, all of them were ridiculously eager to try and get the cup and finish the quest, so they had decided to do it as soon as possible.

However, before any more questions had the chance to be asked or any further conversation about anything Sibuna-related could have occured, all of a sudden a long, piercing screech echoed through the rooms of Anubis House - honestly, Sydney was surprised that the glasses didn't shatter into pieces due to how loud and high-pitched it was. All of the residents of the house who surrounded the dining table shared a confused glance with one another, about to get out of their seats and go to the source of the noise to check that everything was okay until the source of the noise came to them - Amber Millington, of course, who soon sprinted into the room with a humongous smile beaming on her face.

"I got a message on my profile." The fashionista gleefully exclaimed, causing the female prankster (alongside a few other people around the table) to facepalm as, by how loud the girl had screeched, one could have instantly assumed that something terrible had happened, however the clothes-loving girl continued, "Someone blatantly wants to be my date!"

Presuming that the girl wanted some sort of 'congratulations', the group went to say it to her. Though, they didn't manage to get the chance to mutter a single syllable, as the blonde beauty had quickly let out another loud squeal and ran back out of the dining room, her screams filling up the corridors and still being heard even from upstairs.

Pressing her lips together, Nina slowly turned back to face the group, her words dripping with sarcasm as she stated, "I'm glad Amber's so focused."

Unlike Amber Millington, it seemed like the only thing that Sydney Anderson was able to think about was the situation involving her childhood best friend and Rufus Zeno - it was consuming her mind, almost, not allowing her to think about anything else, as her mind replayed the situations from the past few days. She didn't concentrate in classes most of the time anyways, but it proved to be significantly harder to concentrate in classes when the only thing running through her mind was that they were involved with a maniac and in a life-threatening situation.

Yeah, that was kind of hard to ignore.

Distractions, however, seemed to temporarily work and also come in the form of Jerome Clarke, who soon found himself approaching the female prankster as she had her head in her locker, getting out the things that she needed for her next lesson, and the blonde-haired boy slung his arm over her shoulders as he announced, a grin on his lips, "Here's my favourite girl."

At that, Sydney playfully rolled her eyes and glanced up at him suspiciously, knowing that he never referred to her as his favourite girl (even though she totally was that, but him calling her that only fueled the rumours that they were dating), "What do you want?"

"I was just wondering... if you have a date to the prom." Jerome hesitantly quizzed, his words slow, nervous, and rather unsure - although, the question caused the girl's eyebrows to raise as she looked at the boy in confusion and mild amusement; he already knew the answer to that question, so she didn't understand why he was asking.

"Nope." Sydney answered, though she seemed rather hesitant herself as she turned to the blonde boy, crossing her arms as she became suspicious, her eyes narrowing whilst she inquired, "Are you gonna' set me up with someone, Clarke?"

"I guess you could say that." He revealed, his words becoming even slower and more hesitant - he was most certainly nervous, and that made the female prankster worried, listening intently when he continued to speak, nervously scratching the back of his neck as he spoke, "As part of my promise to make things up to you, I was wondering if you wanted to... uh, be my date to prom - so, I suppose I'm setting you up with me, if you'd like."

At that, Sydney felt a lot more relieved, the worry she felt instantly easing up whilst a small smile graced her lips as she nodded, "Yeah, I'd like that. I'm pretty sure if you didn't set us up, then the whole house was going to begin trying to."

Jerome chuckled, "Yeah, probably."

"How's everything with Rufus - have you heard from him?" Sydney questioned the boy worriedly, the smile falling from her lips and turning into a slight frown as she mentioned the dangerous man who'd been on her mind all day - in the meantime, the pair had begun walking down the corridor away from her locker.

"I'm meeting him later." The male prankster revealed with a heavy sigh, clearly reluctant and frightened to go - Sydney couldn't exactly blame him; she was petrified herself, and she wasn't the one who had to face the man, who was bound to be annoyed and rather angry after the stunt that they had pulled last night.

"Why didn't you tell me about him?" Sydney asked, her eyebrows furrowed in the process - she had never understood why the boy had kept the secret from her; he'd even revealed when they confronted him that he had specifically said not to tell her.

"Because, I knew that you'd be angry." Jerome answered, although it seemed as though there was something else that he was hiding - a little part that he was keeping back and away from the girl, and of course, she noticed that, her eyebrows furrowing.

"And...?"

Surprised, the boy's eyes slightly widened - he should have expected it really, hence why he wasn't shocked for long, soon releasing a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose and then pushing his hair back, contemplating whether or not to tell her - he knew that she'd continue to ask, but he didn't want to give the real reason, thus when he was partway through saying it, he cut himself off, "And it was dan-. And, nothing."

"Yeah, I don't believe that." Sydney responded, shaking her head at him - she'd picked up on what he was about to say before he cut himself off, and was able to fill in the blanks, "Because it was dangerous, right?"

Reluctantly, he nodded.

"You don't have to protect me." Sydney told him, a frown present on her lips as she linked their arms, telling the boy sternly, "We're a team, remember? You're meant to come to me and drag me into the danger with you, or at least let me help you out of it."

Speaking of danger, a notification sound from one of their phones chimed, causing them to take their phones out of their pockets to check whose it was - Jerome's, and his face instantly fell as he noticed who the message was from, "It's Rufus - he's making sure that I'm actually still coming, as if I have a choice."

"I mean, you do... but, one of those choices may have worse consequences than the other." Sydney pointed out to the boy, a bittersweet and sympathetic smile on her face as they managed to walk even closer to one another, practically pressed into each other's sides as the blonde girl continued, "And, you kind of have to make sure that Rufus doesn't mummify you - you better not ditch me at prom once you've asked me to be your date."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Sydney."

At lunch, with fear coursing through his veins, Jerome Clarke anxiously separated himself from his childhood best friend (despite how reluctant he was to do so - he really wanted to keep her by his side) and went to the meeting spot which made his face go pale simply at the sight of it, knowing who was waiting there. As he approached it, leather-clad arms reached out and harshly grabbed the blonde-haired prankster, pushing him against the hard, concrete wall as a small yelp escaped him, obviously having been surprised by the sudden physical contact and movement.

It certainly did not help with his fear.

Before he met an unfortunate demise by a man in a leather jacket, Jerome hastily put his hands up in surrender as he defended himself and his actions, quickly and easily lying to save himself, "Okay, listen! I didn't want Victor to see me or link me with you - that is why I ran, and to be honest, I thought you were right behind me."

"Where is the puzzle piece?" Rufus questioned, still having a tight grip of the prankster that had the potential to leave small bruises on his arms if the man didn't let go soon.

"I need to hold onto it." Jerome informed him nervously, which instantly made the leather-clad-man shake his head, obviously extremely wary and untrusting of the blonde after last night's ordeal, and thus wanting the puzzle piece back in his hands as soon as possible - although, that most certainly wasn't going to be possible, considering that it wasn't in the prankster's possession anymore.

However, Rufus, unaware of that fact, told the boy, "I don't think so."

"The other pieces are still in the cellar, aren't they?" Jerome reminded him, knowing that he didn't have the puzzle piece on him and couldn't give it back to the man – Nina had kept it, so the excuse had to work, "And I need that one to open the passageway. Besides, you can't risk going back to the house, so let me go down there and get them for you."

Fortunately, it seemed that Rufus Zeno had begun to believe and slightly trust the prankster once more, letting his tight grip of the prankster fall - thankfully, before any bruises were left on his arms.

"Tonight."

"I don't know about tonight." Jerome mumbled awkwardly, beginning to walk away so that he wasn't in harm's way anymore as he came up with a lame excuse, "I've got a physics assignment that's calling my name, so I am just going-."

Grabbing his arm yet again, Rufus Zeno turned the blonde boy back around to face him as he spat out angrily, a slightly exasperated tone to his voice, "Time marches on. If we miss our window of opportunity, we will have to wait another twenty-five years."

Confused and intrigued by the new piece of information that he had received, Jerome's eyebrows furrowed as he repeated the phrase, "Twenty-five years?"

Upon seeing the perplexion on the student's face, Rufus Zeno slightly rolled his eyes - that was exactly why he was hesitant about getting his information from children; they needed things explaining to them - and that was exactly what the man in black did: explaining, "The god Anubis conceded to Amneris that on a certain hour on a certain day, just once every twenty-five years, that the descendant from the bloodline of Amneris would be given the opportunity to restore the cup to its former strength and glory."

"And this date's coming up, is it?" Jerome quizzed.

"Enough!" Rufus groaned, rolling his eyes as he made a mental note to himself, reminding him to never employ children as his way to get information ever again - they required so much explaining, an he didn't like explaining things, "Just get me the pieces, and the elixir - I need the elixir."

"And I need some time!"

"Just do it, sooner rather than later." Rufus demanded, wanting all of the pieces as soon as physically possible so that he was well-prepared and there was no chance of the dastardly housekeeper of Anubis House getting them before him, causing him to tell the boy, "Look, do it, and you will be well-rewarded – I promise you that. But, if you don't do it-," The man released a small sigh, before giving a warning look to the blonde, "I think you know what I'm already capable of."

That was extremely true - Jerome Clarke was definitely aware of what the man was already capable of, and thus he was evidently scared by the threat as he gulped, before he agreed with the man's demands with a nod, "Okay."

Then, seeing as their conversation was finished and the man had made his demands pretty clear, Rufus Zeno disappeared into the shadows, his all-black attire allowing him to simply vanish in the darkness. It was funny how easily the man was able to blend into the darkness, like he was a part of it - perhaps he was; it explained the dark aura that seemed to follow him wherever he went.

Meanwhile, Sydney Anderson made her way down the corridor in order to go to the drama studio, noticing that Amber Millington and Fabian Rutter were in the midst of a conversation, with the latter seeming extremely confused as the fashionista finished their conversation and walked away from him.

"You look like somebody's just told you that chemistry isn't science." Sydney pointed out to him, taking a picture of the confused expression on his face as she walked past him, letting out a small chuckle at his reaction before she rushed ahead and caught up with Amber, clapping her hand on her shoulder as she stepped in stride with her, inquiring, "What'd you tell Fabian?"

"I just asked him a few questions about the prom." Amber informed the prankster, a smile on her face before it soon fell and she released a mildly frustrated sigh as she continued, complaining, "I don't think he's even asked Nina to be his date, can you believe that?"

Not giving her the reaction that she wanted, Sydney instead nodded, "Yeah, this is Fabian Rutter that we're talking about - everyone and their cousins know that he's an awkward nerd who has never acted on a crush once in his life."

"Good point."

Although, before their conversation was able to continue, Nina Martin came rushing up to the pair of blondes as they entered the drama studio, gently touching their arms to get their attention as she announced, "Hey - meeting tonight, seven o'clock."

At that, Sydney gave a small nod before she walked over to Patricia and Alfie, joining in with their hilarious conversation as she sat on the couch opposite them, joking and laughing with the pair of them until she heard a familiar name being called out.

"Oh look, here's Jerome!" Nina suddenly exclaimed, her voice seeming very strained and rather awkward as she suddenly approached the man, rushing away from her crush and her roommate as whilst she grabbed the prankster's arm, "Hey, Jerome, great to see you!"

"Huh? What?"

"Is it just you who is odd or is it all of America?" Sydney quizzed, letting out a small chuckle as she watched the girl playfully roll her eyes before she practically dragged Jerome into the spot beside the female prankster, with Nina sitting on the other side of her as they all glanced over at the man who had met their enemy.

"So, how'd you get on?" Nina asked the boy, all of them beginning to crowd around as they wanted to know more about what happened between Jerome and Rufus - he was alive, which was a pretty great start and better than what a few were expecting.

"Oh, well, he still trusts me, and he has told me more stuff about the cup." Jerome announced to the group, about to reveal even more until their teacher, Mr Winkler, made his way into the drama studio, signalling for their lesson to start immediately.

"Okay, guys, can we gather around in a circle, please, and we'll do some vocal warm-ups: ma, me, mi, mo, mu!"

It seemed as though the pair of blondes were being involved in a lot of performance based activities that day, finding themselves sat beside one another as they witnessed something rather comical - Amber Millington attempting to teach Mick Campbell how to dance, which wasn't appearing to result in anything good as the fashionista continued to instruct the jock, who continued to have no clue what he was doing despite the orders he was being given. Apparently, either Amber Millington was a bad teacher or Mick Campebell was a bad teacher - Sydney Anderson was willing to bet on it being both.

"How are you so bad at this?" The female prankster questioned after watching the jock stumble once more, a small giggle leaving her lips as she was rather perplexed at how bad he was at slow dancing - Sydney wasn't exactly a fabulous dancer, but she at least knew the basics of slow dancing.

Frustratedly getting up from the floor after his rather pathetic stumble, Mick took a quick glance at the girl as he let out a small scoff, defending his terrible dancing as he retorted, "As if you could do any better."

"Oh, is that a challenge? I sense a challenge!" Jerome exclaimed joyfully - he was always a fan of challenges, hence why he had a smirk on his lips before he turned to face the blonde girl beside him, inquiring, "Will you take him up on the challenge?"

"Sure thing, but you're my dance partner-," Sydney declared, standing up from the chair and dragging him with her, "-considering that you did ask me to this prom, and we're going to have to do this anyways – might as well test your ability now."

"Wait, did I just hear that correctly?" Mara asked suspiciously, her eyes slightly wide as she glanced between the two blondes, a smile on her face that matched the smiles on the faces of the rest of the residents - Sydney had forgotten that nobody was aware that her and Jerome were going to prom, and she knew that it was going to fuel the rumours.

"Jerome finally asked you to the prom!" Amber squealed loudly and very much excitedly, and only a few seconds later had the fashionista rushed up to her friend and wrapped her arms around her tightly, jumping up and down with the poor girl who slowly regretted what she had just announced to the group.

Clapping Jerome's shoulder, Mick commented, "Nice one, mate – it's about time."

"Okay, now we have to watch you two dance together!" Amber demanded as she finally released the female prankster from her hug, giving a stern glare to the two and practically pushing them into one another, as her, Mick, and Mara stood aside and watched the pair of blondes - yeah... Sydney wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"You ready, Clarke?" Sydney asked with an amused tone to her voice, causing the boy to hesitantly grab one of her hands and plac his other hand on her waist, pulling her closer to him before they began whisking and turning one another around, not even paying attention to Amber's instructions in the background as they already knew what to do.

And as they finished with Jerome Clarke twisting the girl under his arm (Sydney mentally thanked him for not dropping her, because that would have certainly been very embarrassing), he pulled her back up and the pair of them had bright smiles on their faces and faint blushes, neither of them really noticing how close they had become until Amber Millington's voice broke them out of their little bubble and reintroduced them to the real world.

"See! How come they can do it and you can't, Mick!" Amber cried out, before trudging over to the boy and pulling him back onto his feet, trying to show him what to do once again whilst the two pranksters chuckled, "Right, left, right, left-."

"Yeah, have fun dealing with-," Sydney pointed at the pair, chuckling slightly whilst she shook her head at how terribly the jock was dancing, "-that."

Leaving the room, the blonde girl quickly raced upstairs as she realised that it was nearing seven o'clock - when the Sibuna meeting was meant to start, so she quickly rushed to Nina's and Amber's bedroom just before the nerd of the group shut the door, pushing through it and sending a smile to them all, as Fabian Rutter actually shut the door that time (they had learnt from their mistake when Alfie Lewis overheard them talking about everything), making sure that nobody would overhear their conversation, like he did.

"Still think we would have been safer going to the woods, or the bike shed - maybe even a shark tank." Nina stated rather dramatically, obviously quite wary and hesitant about (potentially) forming the Cup of Ankh in the same place as their housekeeper, who seemed more desperate for it than anyone else.

"It's almost dark out." Patricia reminded the girl, knowing that it was a bad idea to go out in the woods when it was almost dark to form the Cup of Ankh, "What if Rufus is sneaking around out there?"

"What about Jerome? Shouldn't we involve him in this too?" Alfie questioned, wanting his best friend to be involved with the secret group and not left out anymore - the two members of the trio of prankster's hated keeping secrets from their third member.

Nodding, Sydney quickly supported her friend's statement and agreed with him as she told the group, "Honestly, I think he just feels left out, especially since Alfie and I are in this and keep sneaking away from him."

"Well, he was trying to blackmail us." Nina protested, clearly not fond of the idea or the boy himself, after everything that he had done and threatened to do - it wasn't exactly a safe move; it was letting a potential threat further into their circle and letting him know more, which was a very dangerous thing to do.

"True, but the more involved Jerome feels, the better it is for us." Fabian stated, trying to convince his crush to let the other member of the trio into their group, seeing the positive sides to it rather than the negative, before he pointed out to the group, "And, Sydney knows him the best here and she said that he wasn't going to go through with his threats."

"I know we're going to regret this later." Nina stated, pursing her lips together before she glanced up at the two pranksters in their group, giving in and thus releasing a sigh as she said, "Go get him."

Instantly, wide smiles coated the lips of the two pranksters as they pushed themselves up from where they were sitting and practically raced to the living room, where they knew Jerome Clarke was. It was a miracle that neither of them tripped down the stairs or over their own feet, partly because of how clumsy they both are and partly because of how fast they were bolting down the corridor so they could tell the boy their news - another miracle was that neither of them got out of breath from running, because simply getting out of bed was enough of a work out for Sydney Anderson most days.

Hastily, the pair of jokers rushed into the living room in order to find the third member of their set, practically sprinting into the room to notice that Amber Millington (who, for some reason, wasn't attending the Sibuna meeting) had apparently stopped teaching Mick Campbell how to dance, and was talking about King Tut, for some reason. However, Sydney Anderson had more important things to pay attention to and didn't pay enough attention to listen to why the blonde was talking about a dead pharaoh, quickly finding her victim, Jerome Clarke, and grabbing his arm to get his attention, causing the blonde boy to turn to face the excited pair curiously.

"You're invited to the meeting." Sydney whispered into his ear, considering that the jock of Anubis Houss was right beside him - the girl had to be quiet so that he didn't overhear their conversation and wonder what the meeting was, though they probably could have lied and said it was a prankster meeting.

Upon hearing the news, his eyes widened, his jaw slightly dropping whilst Alfie nodded to confirm the information, and a humongous grin graced his lips as he let out a very enthusiastic, "Yes!"

With nothing else said, Jerome slammed the apple that he had taken a few bites of into Mick's hands, before the three pranksters quickly made their way back to Nina's room, Fabian opening the door to them and everyone welcoming their new (not official) member of the club with small pressed smiles as the meeting officially started.

Whilst Alfie and Sydney had gone to inform Jerome that he was a part of the meeting, the remaining members of the secret club had taken out the pieces and placed them atop of a pillow, sitting around it in a circle, with their newest member of the club sitting on Amber's bed behind Sydney, whilst Alfie moved Nina's nightstand in front of the door.

"It won't work." Jerome stated flatly, for the third time since entering the room, watching the group with an annoyed and exasperated expression on his face - it heavily contrasted his excited expression a few minutes ago, and frankly, the group was getting sick of his attitude already.

"Will you just shut up or leave the room?" Patricia snapped, considering that the group had heard him say that it wouldn't work way too many times without giving them a proper explanation - what did Jerome Clarke know, anyways?

"We have to try, Jerome." Nina stated.

"Trying isn't going to harm us." Sydney told him, supporting the members of her secret group as she didn't see why trying would be so dangerous, so she sent the boy behind her a small reassuring smile before shrugging, adding, "It's worth a shot."

"Sydney, I'm telling you, you'll never do it." Jerome responded in an attempt to stop them from wasting their time, although the statement caused the members of the group to roll their eyes at the boy.

"Jerome, watch us." Fabian countered the boy rather harshly and bluntly, fed up of his negativity in the room as he gave him a warning look, telling him not to continue or else they'd kick him out.

With Jerome Clarke finally keeping his lips pressed together and not uttering a single word, the group began to pick up the puzzle pieces and tried to put them together to form the Cup of Ankh, and within seconds, the ground began to shake and the lights began to flicker, causing everyone to glance around the room with widened and panicked eyes. It was like a scene from a horror movie, and they didn't like it a single bit.

"Nina..." Fabian murmured slowly, his worried eyes looking at the girl in hopes that she could explain why the house was moving and shaking so much.

"Freaky." Alfie muttered.

"Is this supposed to be happening?" Fabian continued worriedly, ignoring the boy's comment and focusing on what was normal - and, Anubis House shaking and the lights inside it flickering was certainly not normal.

"I don't know." Nina admitted to the group, which was certainly not reassuring to any of the members, especially as they noticed that her eyes were clouded with worry as everything continued to shake, before all of them then glanced down to the puzzle pieces in their hands, which seemed to be a little... odd.

At first, it was only subtle and it caused their eyebrows to furrow and narrow at the sight, not knowing if it was the lighting or if there was actually a red glow to the golden pieces in their hands.

And then, before they even had the chance to question it, all of a sudden the puzzle pieces seemed like they were burning in their hands and sizzling their skin, forcing all of the members to drop their pieces back on to the pillow as they released cries of pain at the extreme temperature they had just suffered. As soon as her hand was unoccupied, Sydney glanced down at her poor, rather red, hand and rubbed it, trying to soothe the pain that the blistering heat had left behind as she wondered why she had just been burnt by the pieces that had been fine to touch until that point.

"It's not the right time." Jerome announced to the group, somewhat answering the question that they all had in their minds yet still causing them all to look at him in confusion, wondering how exactly it was the wrong time.

"It's eight pm – what's wrong about that?" Nina quizzed, not understanding what the boy meant.

"Okay, listen, I will tell you everything that Rufus said - everything. In return, I want just one thing." Jerome informed them, causing his childhood best friend's eyebrow to quirk up at him suspiciously, wondering what deal they were about to get themselves involved with.

"Before you ask, Jerome," Patricia started, frustrated that he was about to make a deal with them in order for his information, "We don't have any money, so-."

Cutting her off, the male prankster went against most of their expectations as he revealed to the group, "Actually... I just want in - to your gang."

"Told you." Sydney muttered under her breath, looking over at the rest of them with a slight smirk on her lips (one that yelled 'I told you so') before sending a small reassuring smile to Jerome.

"You want to be a Sibuna?" Nina asked, surprise evident in both her tone and on her face, her eyebrows raised as everyone seemed in shock that the boy's demand was to join the club rather than money.

"Yeah." Jerome confirmed with a nod, before he elaborated further, "You tell me everything - all your little secrets, and I will give you the info that you need: how to put the cup together, and when."

Knowing that information about the Cup of Ankh was rather crucial to their quest, but also very much aware of how untrustworthy Jerome Clarke was (at least, to some of them), the members of the secret group shared a glance with one another, conveying their thoughts and opinions about the boy and whether or not he should be a Sibuna with merely facial expressions. Of course, Sydney Anderson agreed with the option of him being a Sibuna.

"Okay, you're in." Nina eventually agreed, sounding slightly frustrated as she wasn't too keen on the idea (she really didn't want another member of Sibuna, considering how risky the entire group was and how secretive they had to be), but almost every other member in the group agreed to it, "Now, tell us."

With a grin forming on his lips at the announcement of him being involved in the group, the boy pushed himself off Amber's bed and quickly sat down next to Sydney in the circle, high-fiving Alfie, who said, "Welcome aboard, dude."

"Cheers, mate." Jerome responded, before he turned to the rest of the group and began his explanation and told them the details that he promised them in exchange for him being a member of the secret group, "Right, okay, so according to Rufus, the cup can only be assembled on a very special date, once every twenty-five years, and this date is coming up very soon."

"Soon?" Nina repeated, her eyebrows raised as she looked at the boy, expecting something more, "You got anything a little more specific, please?"

It turned out that he did not have anything a little more specific. Although, it was more than what they had before.

The next morning, Sydney Anderson was quite hopeful - she didn't have any homework due in (at least, she thought she didn't) and she had woken up on time, she'd spoken to her aunt and cousin and had a very happy conversation with them, and she had slept in the same room as Jerome Clarke and Alfie Lewis that night and didn't have any nightmares. So, it was safe to assume that the female prankster was rather optimistic, and that optimism led to the girl thinking that perhaps she'd be able to have a normal breakfast, but of course, that was impossible when she lived in the creepy towers. So, over breakfast, instead of discussion being homework or boys or the prom, it was instead about how Nina Martin had a weird dream that Sarah Frobisher-Smythe appeared in.

Yeah, her optimism was soon crushed.

"So, do you think Sarah was trying to tell you something, Nina?" Fabian inquired as he wandered over to the table with his breakfast, sitting down in his seat as he glanced over at the girl inquisitively.

Shrugging, Nina answered honestly as she informed the nerd of what happened in her unusual dream, "I don't know - it didn't really make any sense. She said something about giving me a present."

"The box - what about the box she gave you after she died?" Patricia suggested, pointing at the girl as she came up with the theory - it was a good call, considering that the box and the locket were the only belongings that Nina Martin had of Sarah Frobisher-Smythe.

"Oh, yeah." Alfie mumbled, thinking it was also a good idea, whilst the female prankster nodded in agreement as she recalled the box with all the documents and pieces of paper inside - maybe there was something else in there, as well.

Although, Jerome Clarke, who was in the kitchen and getting breakfast for both himself and his childhood best friend, had never heard of the box before due to him being so new to the club, and thus questioned whilst walking over to the table, "What box? Nobody here every mentioned a box before. Look, remember our agreement: you tell me everything."

However, nobody had time to explain what the box was or what it contained, as an exclamation from Amber Millington (who was over on the couch in the living room) caused them all to turn to her excitedly, "Guys, I've had a breakthrough!"

With wide eyes, everyone quickly stood up from their seats and rushed over to her, eager to find out the new information that she had found which related to their search and leaning over the sofa to see what she was looking at, only to be extremely disappointed. Amber Millington, being the fashionista and self-declared queen of prom already, wasn't looking at anything related to the search that they had spent months doing, and was instead looking at things related to the prom - more specifically, it was a shopping website for prom dresses, of course.

"Okay, peach blush, or hazy blue?" Amber quizzed, causing the female prankster, and a few of the others, to instantly walk away from the sofa with a huff and go back to the dining table, resuming her breakfast.

"What?"

"Prom dresses - peach or blue? Get your priorities right." Amber repeated, obviously thinking that the rather impromptu prom was more important than the scary mystery that they had been trying to solve since basically the start of term.

Scoffing, Sydney Anderson rolled her eyes, rather amused at the fashionista's behaviour, as she muttered sarcastically, "Yeah, we're the ones who need to get our priorities in check."

"Of course – uh, peach." Nina answered, seeming like she really couldn't care less, before she made her way back to the dining table to speak about matters that were more important (though, they certainly weren't in the mind of Amber Millington).

"Okay, blue it is." Amber decided, quickly making her order for the blue prom dress before she turned around to face the male prankster of the house, calling out, "Jerome, can I have a word, please?"

"If this is about prom dresses, I'm really not your man." Jerome warned the girl warily, really not wanting to sit down with her and have a long chat about prom dresses - apparently, there were all sorts of ways to describe the shape of a dress and he had no clue what a single way was.

"Correct - you're not." Amber stated, before patting down on the space beside her on the chair, which he reluctantly sat in with confusion evident on his face whilst the fashionista continued, "I'm letting you down gently, Jerome. I can't be your date to the prom – I mean, we'd never work, plus you're taking Sydney; that'd be just wrong."

At that, Jerome burst into laughter, "Seriously? You are hilarious! Me go with you? Ugh!"

He shivered at the thought of it, finding it extremely cringey and disgusting. Then again, he thought that way about him being paired with most girls – he had kissed and flirted with plenty of girls, though he had never had a girlfriend and all his kisses seemed to be... missing something.

"That's the most bizarre thing I've heard since the Fabian and Patricia rumour!" Jerome continued, turning around in his seat as he looked at the rest of the members of the secret group as he shouted out to them, "Guys, guys, listen to this-:" as he continued, the fashionista was muttering for him to stop, but he didn't listen as he revealed, "Amber has just asked me to be her date to the prom – that's hysterical."

"I did not! That is not what I said!" Amber protested vehemently, standing up from her seat as she tried to defend herself, crying out, "I thought that you were King Tut and were asking me; why would I ask you when you're taking Sydney?!"

"Wait, what?!" Alfie practically screeched, quickly glancing between his two best friends numerous times with humongous and extremely shocked eyes, before he finally stopped his gaze on Jerome and exclaimed cheerfully, "You did it?! Dude! Finally!"

"Don't say a word." Jerome muttered to the boy.

"Wait, you thought Jerome was King Tut – he's dead!" Sydney announced, extremely confused as she wondered why everyone had suddenly burst out into laughter at her statement.

"No, not that King Tut – my prom date, King Tut!" Amber exclaimed, thinking that would tell the fellow blonde absolutely everything, although she was still confused, which made the fashionista release a sigh before linking arms with the female, dragging her away, "Okay, let me tell you on the way to school."

With that, Sydney was stolen away from her two prankster friends, although she did manage to hear the start of a new conversation between Jerome and Alfie, with the latter being rather excited about his two best friends going to prom as each other's date.

Apparently, Alfie did not listen to Jerome's previous words, because as soon as the female prankster was out of the door, his enthusiastic and excited screech pierced through the air as he cried out, "Dude!"

Considering that Amber Millington had dragged away his childhood best friend who typically walked with him to school, Jerome Clarke (after a long conversation about his prom date and how they were going as 'just friends') was walking to school alone, deep within his thoughts, which were mainly about his female best friend, considering that the morning filled with conversations about her had made him think about her quite a lot.

However, his deep thoughts were abruptly cut off and he was brought back to reality as he felt a body press against him, informing him that he wasn't walking to school alone anymore, and his blue eyes widened significantly as he saw the man dressed in all black next to him – Rufus Zeno, of course.

"Nice weekend, Jerome?" His taunting voice questioned, clearly not wanting an answer to that question and wanting to know why he had received no updates or had contact with the student all weekend.

"Rufus, ever heard of a phone?" Jerome responded, considering that the blonde would have felt a lot less threatened (though still threatened, just a little bit less) if the leather-jacket-clad man had called him or texted him, rather than popping up out of thin air.

"Where are my Ankh pieces?" Rufus asked, clearly eager to get the pieces before the time was up so that he could forge the Cup of Ankh himself - he wanted to be prepared.

Shaking his head, Jerome responded with a lie that he hoped would be good enough for the intimidating man, telling him, "I haven't had a chance to get them yet - Victor's been on the prowl every single evening."

"I need them." Rufus insisted, his desperation for the pieces becoming more and more apparent each time they met up, and it intrigued the boy quite a bit, wondering why there was so much urgency for and wondering if that meant the time for the Cup of Ankh to be put together was near.

"I got that much." Jerome replied, before trying to see if he could get more information out of the man and seeing it as an opening, causing him to speak, "This 'special date' is coming up."

"Yeah, that's right." Rufus agreed, seeming slightly suspicious as he halted in his tracks and forced the student to stop as well, turning around to face the man in order to continue their conversation.

Wanting more information, Jerome began slowly, "Well, maybe if you told me when it was, I would know when the deadline is, and then I could-."

"Are you playing me for a fool?" Rufus interrupted, stepping closer to the boy with narrowed and extremely intimidating eyes, and with every step he took, the more suffocated Jerome Clarke felt.

Jerome shook his head, "No."

"Well, why the interest in the date?" Rufus wondered, rather wary of the boy and not fully trusting him at that moment in time and finding his questions to be quite suspicious - he hadn't fully trusted the boy ever since the incident with the cellar, and he most certainly was not helping his case.

"Just curious, that's all." Jerome lied, shrugging as he did so – hoping that the man believed his extremely lame excuse and let him go without mummifying him.

"Okay, well, here's a deadline for you, Jerome: tomorrow morning." Rufus told him, causing the boy's blue eyes to widen with shock whilst the man dressed in black continued, seemingly not fazed by the boy's surprise, "I get those puzzle pieces in my hand by tomorrow morning, otherwise you are the one that is dead - you understand?" With wide eyes, Jerome remained frozen, his skin turning frosty white whilst he was unable to formulate a response as the man walked dangerously close to him, muttering, "Do it."

Once again, Rufus Zeno walked off, having made his demands rather clear and thus vanishing with the help of the darkness - it was like he was never there. Yet, Rufus Zeno had most certainly been there and had definitely threatened the poor boy, which was exactly what led the boy to rummaging through Nina's room and her belongings in order to find the very important pieces. Unfortunately for him, the American came into her room and caught him rummaging through her belongings, and she quickly took her things back from him before she dragged the prankster downstairs and called an urgent Sibuna meeting in the prankster's bedroom - they didn't trust Jerome Clarke in a room with the puzzle pieces any longer.

All of Sibuna, minus Amber (once again, she was preoccupied with prom planning), stood in front of Jerome Clarke, who was sat on his own bed, looking at the boy with anger and disappointment plastered on their faces as Nina explained to them what happened.

"I thought you wanted to be a Sibuna." Fabian said to the boy, wondering what had happened to make him want to take the puzzle pieces, although it didn't take a genius to figure out what, or who: Rufus Zeno.

"I did!" Jerome insisted, briefly glancing at the nerd before he turned his gaze back to Sydney, who had a frown on her lips as she watched the boy, who soon continued, "I do. I... you don't understand. Rufus threatened me, and this time he meant it."

"What happens now?" Aflie asked, his arms crossed over his chest as he wondered what the next steps were in the whole mess and what was going to happen with his best friend and his role in Sibuna.

"We find out when the special date is, and then we take it from there." Fabian stated, before turning to his crush and inquiring gently, knowing how precious and important the object in her hands was to her, "Nina, can I have Sarah's box?"

Knowing that she could trust the boy, she nodded her head and handed him the box, with him instantly opening it and rifling through it as he tried to find anything that would be useful or could explain Nina's weird dreams or help them to discover what they needed to do next in their search.

"Okay, look. If we can keep protecting these pieces until after this special date, maybe we'll be in the clear." Nina said, hoping that all of the risk and dangers of the search would be over soon and that they could go back to being normal students.

"For another twenty-five years, at least." Patricia remarked, whilst the nerd pulled out a piece of paper from the box, looking at it and examining it curiously.

"But we don't know when the special date is, it could be weeks away yet." Jerome reminded them, which was a rather important fact that put a downer on them – they really needed to find out the date.

Knowing that the members of the secret group would soon get fed up with his constant remarks, Sydney gently shook her head at the boy as she spoke up and warned him, "For your own sake, be quiet before one of us puts duct tape over your mouth."

"Aren't you kind?" Jerome commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the girl who let out a faint chuckle at his amusing behaviour.

"I think I found something." Fabian announced, unfolding the piece of paper he had been looking at beforehand – however, Jerome began to stand, causing Sydney to throw a small and pointed glare at him, which made him slowly sit back down and allow Fabian to continue, "Look! It's a star map."

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star." Nina breathed out, causing everyone to look at the girl in confusion, not knowing why she suddenly whispered about a kid's nursery rhyme before she elaborated to them and explained, "Just something Sarah said in the dream."

"I don't recognise any of these constellations," Fabian stated, confused as he looked and examined it carefully, before he made a decision and announced, "I'm going online; I'm going to check this out."

"I'm coming too!" Nina declared hurriedly, the pair of them quickly swinging open the bedroom door and going to the nerd's room to do research, but not before Nina took the box from Alfie, whom Fabian had given it to once discovering the star map.

As they left the room, Jerome finally deemed it a little safer to talk as there were two less members of the secret group who'd grow frustrated with him, causing him to say to the three remaining members in the room, "What I don't understand is how Rufus was planning to put the cup back together."

Glancing at him with furrowed eyebrows and narrowed eyes, Sydney responded to his question with a mildly amused tone, "What do you mean? He'd just put the puzzle pieces back together, dummy."

Rolling his eyes at the small insult, Jerome playfully nudged the girl before he turned to the other two in the room and informed the group, "Well, it can't just be done by anybody - it has to be someone special."

"Someone special?" Patricia repeated, confused, before a look of realisation crossed her face, "Someone... chosen?"

"Like a Chosen One?" Sydney added, looking at the boy expectantly as she shared a glance with the purple-haired girl, going through the exact same thought process as her.

Nodding at their statements, Jerome elaborated, "Well, yeah, someone from a specific bloodline or born on a specific day - it's all very, very specific."

At that, Patricia, Alfie, and Sydney all shared a small look with one another, realising that his words probably meant that Joy Mercer had to be the one to form the Cup of Ankh, considering that she was one labelled with the title 'Chosen One' - that's why she had been pulled out of the school unexpectedly.

However, having noticed the exchange of glances, Jerome looked at the three in confusion, asking, "What?"

"You stay here - we need to talk to Fabian and Nina." Sydney instructed the two pranksters, sending a pointed look towards Jerome as she knew that he'd probably try to follow and be rather intrigued.

Thankfully enough, the pair didn't follow as Sydney Anderson turned on her heel and walked out the door, Patricia Williamson soon following hot on her tail whilst the two pranksters followed instructions and stayed in their room, and the female roommates quickly opened the door to Fabian's room, seeing the investigating and researching pair sat on his bed together.

Shutting the door behind them, Patricia started, "Guys, get this."

"Every time." Nina mumbled, causing the female prankster's eyes to narrow in confusion, before she realised that the pair must have been having a moment that they had just interrupted and she almost slapped herself right then and there.

"The cup can only be put together by the Chosen One." Patricia announced, obviously not caring or not realising that the pair were about to have a moment when they walked in and interrupted, "By Joy!"

To elaborate on how they found it out (they seemed extremely confused at the news), Sydney informed them, "Jerome just told us – it has to be someone from a specific bloodline or born on a specific day."

"I have to call her and warn her." Patricia told them, before glancing over at the nerd, who had his laptop in his lap as she inquired, "Do we know the date yet?"

"Not yet, but..." Fabian trailed off, quickly typing something on his laptop and pressing a few keys before he waited a few seconds - then, a wide and triumphant smile appeared on his lips as he exclaimed gleefully, "Yes! They were coordinates, and now we have a date and a time – nice work."

"When is the date and time?" Nina asked eagerly, excited for them to finally get the quest that she had been assigned done with and reform the Cup of Ankh.

"Friday, midnight."

"The day of the prom!"

Shaking her head, the prankster of the group winced slightly as that was announced, contrasting the small amused chuckle tumbling out of her lips as she declared, "Amber's not going to like that."

"This is it!" Fabian announced, excited that they had come so far and found out seemingly everything they needed to know, "We have the Ankh pieces, we know the date and time, we know who the Chosen One is - we can finally put the cup together and finish the search!"

"About time!" Sydney exclaimed, all of them chuckling whilst she continued, a smile on her lips, "I'd never thought I'd say this, but take me back to when my biggest worry was exam papers."

"Okay, well now we have everything, then that's what we'll do – finish the search, if you're sure, like, super sure." Nina said, mainly towards the need, obviously wanted to be reassured, and all of them nodded.

"We have to call Joy."

▲▼▲

[08.06.2020]

NOTE: the season one finale has finally started! i really cannot wait for season two. next update was meant to be a double update because chapter 29 is a lot shorter than the rest of them, but then i've decided to add some scenes to it (very cute scenes, may i add) to make it the normal length of my chapters - be prepared for lots of sydrome content, and i mean lots.

jerome and sydney are soulmates i said what i said.

also did y'all rlly think you could have an author's note without me teasing you guys about how i'm the writer and see all the sydrome moments before you? bc YOU THOUGHT WRONG here's a snippet and no u don't get to know when this is:

"You have really pretty eyes."

"Mhm, you're really pretty."

and, with that, i take my leave.