Nina took a deep breath before inching towards the tablet. As she neared it, she felt herself absorbing the power. An old memory, too quick for her to realize, flashed before her eyes. Those memories started showing up more rapidly the closer she got to the tablet. And Eddie could see these memories too.

They saw when Nina arrived to the house. When she had her first kiss with Fabian. Back to before she came to England when she was in middle school. Then it changed back to when Fabian suggested she was the Chosen One.

And then things plummeted.

Something that wasn't in memory because she wasn't there, but she knew of it, and knew it happened in time. She saw her parents in their car crash. She saw how they died, and that made her lose focus.

She went flying backwards, slamming into the wall.

"Nina!" Eddie knelt down by her.

"My parents," Nina cried. "I saw them. How could I see them? I wasn't there. But I saw them crash."

"I saw it too," Eddie replied. "Maybe it isn't just your memories. Maybe it's just time itself that we're being shown. And the only way we can do this, is if you can be strong. I know your parents are gone. But they'll always be remembered in time. And you have to save it. Save everything."

Nina nodded. She stood to her feet with the help of Eddie.

She made her way towards the tablet again, ignoring the tears that burned her eyes. Now as she neared the tablet, all memories flashed before her eyes. Not just her memories. But any memory that existed through time. And that's what kept her going. To save all these memories.

She finally grabbed hold of the tablet, and that was when her body really began absorbing the power. The tablet grew smaller, Nina grew more powerful and...bluer. It began with her hands and arms, but a blue light spread towards her body once she connected with the tablet.

"Nina, are you ok?!" Eddie yelled to her.

Nina didn't hear him. She couldn't hear him. The power was spreading throughout her entire body, and either she'd contain it, or it'd consume her.

She went to the doorway, staring outside as the world continued to shatter. Her eyes began to glow blue like the rest of her body. Eddie stared from a few feet away, his breathing heavy. He was anxious to know what was happening because honestly, he didn't know.

Then, actual chaos began to break loose. Loud popping and thundering noises began to echo, and everything shook as the fabric of time ripped apart. Things began to disappear faster, and the world was unstable. Eddie still watched Nina who began to glow brighter.

"She can't control it," Eddie muttered to himself, staggering around from the quaking.

Nina clenched her fists. She was, in fact, being consumed by the power of the tablet now inside her, and it'd only be a matter of time before she and all else would cease to exist.

Then, Anubis house began to disappear, different sections disintegrating into nothingness at a time. Eddie silently tried to cheer Nina on, but deep down, he felt it was no use.

A part of Nina was still conscious and realized what was happening, and thus realizing, she couldn't let that happen. The emerald tablet was still in the process of destroying everything, even causing Anubis house to fall. She'd have to gain control. And she knew she could.

But then the stairs inside the house disappeared. And the caretaker office. And the kitchen. And some of the other rooms.

The real issue began when Eddie's left arm began to disappear like everything else. Slowly, it began to spread up his arm, and he really thought it was the end.

"Nina!" he yelled.

Nina began to hear Thoth's voice in her head which repeated in an echoey tone, "Time can't stop."

This kept repeating in Nina's head over and over and over again. That was until she silenced it. She silenced it and the blue glow throughout her body began to die down. She turned around and went to Eddie, grabbing his other arm that hadn't yet disappeared.

That was when she lost the glow in her eyes and said, repeating after Thoth, "Time can't stop...but it must."

Eddie's left arm formed back to existence. He marveled as his arm which he thought he lost, and when he was done giving all his attention to that, he looked around noticed that everything around him and Nina had stopped. All the fragmenting of time and breakage had frozen in place.

He finally realized what Nina had just said and looked at her. "You stopped time?"

Nina finally released his arm and walked to the center of Anubis house. "It's the only way."

Even though the glow from her body had been eliminated, it rushed back to her body, all at once. She clenched her fists as she was in the process of repairing time. Everything that had disappeared began to reappear, including the house. All the people in the world had returned once more, and the world was being restored to its proper order. It only happened to take a few moments, and the last things she had restored were the first things to disappear-her friends.

The glow died down once again, and Nina passed out on the ground. Before the others came back to realization, Eddie rushed towards Nina to make sure she was alright, and upon hugging her in his arms, he had a vision.

He was there, with Nina, surrounded by endless white space, like the time before when they first encountered Thoth. Thoth then appeared before them both.

"Time can't stop, but it must, ay?" Thoth repeated from what Nina had spoken earlier. "I told you not to stop time, and you did. It wasn't exactly what I was implying, but still, I would've never thought of doing such a thing."

"Sorry," Nina apologized.

"Sorry?" Thoth grinned. "'Your welcome' might be more appropriate. I thank you for this. And without you there, Osirion," Thoth acknowledged, facing Eddie, "she couldn't have done any of this."

"I-I didn't do anything," Eddie told him truthfully.

"Oh, but you did so much. You two aren't only linked by visions. She not only drew from the emerald tab let's power and her own power, but also yours."

"Oh," is all Eddie could say.

"Now you have friends to return to. And time will forever be grateful."

Eddie withdrew from the vision, and Nina woke up with a heavy gasp of air.

"Eddie? Eddie?" Nina breathed, held in Eddie's arms at the moment. She hugged Eddie back.

"You did it," Eddie muttered. "We did it."

"Um, hello?" Patricia announced, causing both Eddie and Nina to look up. "Can someone explain what happened?"

Eddie helped Nina and up and then went over to Patricia. "You mean you don't know, Yacker?"

"All I remember is I was standing here waiting for you two to piece the emerald tablet together. So what exactly happened?"

Eddie didn't respond. He just suddenly pulled Patricia into a tight hug, not wanting to let her go. Patricia finally found a way to loosen away from his arms and push him back a few inches.

"What is going on?" Patricia asked.

Eddie just stared at her gleefully, a smile on his face due to the fact he could see his wife again.

"Shut up," he laughed before kissing her on the lips.

Nina had gone straight to Fabian, hugging him almost as tightly as Eddie did Patricia. She took the time to release from him in order to speak to him.

"I'm guessing a lot happened just now?" Fabian questioned.

"I'll explain later."

Nina kissed him right then and there, tears of joy streaming down her face.

~~~~~
They saved the world! But the story is not over just yet. Though, it is coming to an end, as you could probably tell.

No discussion questions here because it is nearing the end, and I'll have questions then as I always do at the end of these HOA fanfics, but I hope you've been enjoying this entire story!

Until next time, Aristocrats!