Nina woke up earlier than everyone else. She tiptoed into Eddie's room, shut the door, and turned on the light.

"Ow!" Eddie cried.

"Shh..." Nina hushed. She immediately pulled up her sleeve to reveal a mark on her skin. "Do you have this?"

"Yeah, but it's here," Eddie replied, pulling down his collar a bit to reveal his. "Do you know what it means?"

"No. But it probably has something to do with Apep. We should tell the others-"

"-no!" Eddie scream-whispered. "They can't know."

"Why not?"

"Because we don't need to scare them anymore than they already are. We're not hurt or anything. We just can't give them a reason to worry about us."

"But you heard Fabian tell us to tell them eve-"

"-rything. Yeah, I remember. But I'm just asking for this."

Nina folded her arms and thought a bit. Then she finally agreed. "Ok. But if bad things start to happen, it's on you, and we'll tell them then."

Nina turned off the light and left the room.

~~~~~
When everyone was awake, the Sibuna gang decided to discuss the key around the spider's neck. They all sat in the kitchen eating breakfast as they conversed.

"Who will be the lucky person to get the key?" Jerome asked.

"Obviously it has to be Nina and I," Eddie admitted, "since we're the ones with powers."

"You plan to kill the giant spider? How?" Patricia asked.

"Don't forget we can shoot powerful beams of light," Eddie stated.

"And summon gods," Nina added.

Everyone followed the Chosen One and Osirion upstairs. The others would wait in the mirror room as Nina and Eddie made their way through the snakes to the room with the spider.

"We can do this," Nina breathed. "We can do this."

Eddie took a deep breath and opened the door. He stepped in after Nina. The spider rose onto its eight legs, ready to challenge them. It turned around to attempt to web them, but they dodged that.

"Let's get this over with," Eddie remarked.

He tried to shoot a beam of light towards the spider but nothing happened as though his powers were failing him. Nina tried to use her powers, but they didn't work either.

"Not now, not now!" Eddie exclaimed.

They ran in different directions as the spider came towards them.

"Eddie, what do we do?!" Nina yelled.

"If I knew, I would tell you!" Eddie yelled back, panicking.

The spider targeted Eddie. It seemed to glare at him for a split second and then charged for him. Right before it reached him, something miraculous happened; something neither Eddie nor Nina saw coming.

A dark figure, twice as large as the spider appeared with a naginata(staff with a blade). The figure was entwined in smoke and didn't seem to have a solidified figure. It slashed downward with its weapon upon the spider, causing the spider to turn to ash and dust. The key dropped to the ground with a clang and the figure disappeared in wisps.

Eddie remained petrified from what just happened.

Nina went over to him, picking up the key.

"Was that Apep?" she asked.

"If so, why would he save us?"

"Maybe he needs us alive."

Nina and Eddie once again felt another burning sensation. Nina's was around her ankle, and Eddie's was just above his waist. They both saw that it was another hieroglyphic. They hid them quickly.

"Another one," Nina said.

Eddie didn't make a comment. He just opened the door and called out through the snake room that it was safe to come. The other six heard and cautiously made their way to Nina and Eddie.

"Wow," Alfie expressed, seeing the pile of dust. "You two are truly magic."

"Yeah..." Nina and Eddie moaned at the same time.

"Did something happen?" Amber asked. "You two seem really awkward."

Nina and Eddie glanced at eachother and both responded, "No..."

They went down through the trap door and made their way through the golden corridor. Nina placed her locket where it fit, and Eddie inserted the key into the keyhole. The wall's edges glowed a golden color, and the wall slid to the left. What was revealed was a square room. It was littered with papers, some crumpled and most withered. In the corner, in a soft chair, was a skeleton that had already begun to rot at the bones.

"Wait, you guys see that too, right?" Eddie asked.

The others nodded and gave a few 'yeses'.

Eddie laughed nervously. "You just don't know anymore when you're me."

The room was very much like a study with shelves of books. Not the largest quantity of books, but enough to be considered a miniature library.

As though for dramatic timing, the painting on the wall, which was a painting of that very room, fell down to the ground onto the desk right beneath it. It revealed words hidden behind it:

Your friends are not your friends,

Your loved ones, not the ones you love,

The ones you trust should not be trusted,

Amongst you is a traitor in the midst.

This traitor holds your next clue.

And beware,

They'll use it against you.

Everyone looked around cautiously.

"Traitor?" Fabian breathed. "There's a traitor here?"

"The only person who knows that is the traitor," Jerome replied as he stared at the others.

"Or maybe this spirit is trying to scare us," Amber suggested.

"Or maybe you're the traitor," Alfie accused.

"Amber is not the traitor," Nina vouched.

"Then you are," Alfie accused again.

"I agree with Amber," Joy chimed-in. "None of us could really be a traitor."

"I don't care," Alfie admitted. "I'm not trusting any of you. Not you," he said as he pointed. "Not you. Not you. Not any of you."

~~~~~
Here's another chapter for you lovely readers!

Who could be the traitor, if there really is one?

Do you think there's a traitor amongst them?