Patricia and Eddie came back to the rest of the gang, holding hands and looking rather cozy.

"Whoahhhhhh wait, hold up. Someone needs to explain what's going on," Amber said confused.

Fabian, Mara and Joy stood there with their mouths hanging open, whilst KT and Nina just smiled at the couple. Evelyn and Trudy were busy in their own conversation and Alfie and Mick were seeing who could eat more sausages, while Jerome enthusiastically commentated. However, Willow was no where to be seen...That is, until she jumped out of absolutely nowhere, holding a bottle of something.

"I knew my Cyprus oil would work! I had to go get some more," she said happily, shaking the bottle in her hand.

"Okay, don't explain then," Amber said to herself as everyone walked off, and she ran to catch up with Joy.

"Where'd all your old Cyprus oil go?" Joy whispered, as Willow came and walked with her and Amber.

"I put it on Patricia and Eddie's bed sheets and clothes," Willow replied in a whisper.

Joy and Amber stifled a laugh as they continued to walk with Willow. The sky was a gloomy gray, and the clouds threatened to drip. Thunder constantly rumbled, interrupting everyone's conversations to examine how long the rain would hold off. The gang was eager to get back to the house before they got soaked, and slowly, they all got into the cars and drove back.

When they got back, everyone dispersed off, to do their own thing. Mara had finally given in to agreeing to let Willow paint her nails (to which Patricia grunted and the other four girls declined politely, all having they're own reasons). Mick told everyone that he was going to the gym to go for a run and Trudy and Evelyn were cooking and chatting in the kitchen, which left Sibuna to do their stuff.

The nine of them gathered in Alfie and Jerome's room to discuss what the next step from here was. Silence lingered for a very long time before Eddie decided to speak.

"Maybe we should check on Vera?" He suggested.

"Yeah...um...about Vera..." Fabian trailed off.

"What did you do Fabian?" Amber asked accusingly.

"What? Nothing? Why'd you assume I did anything?" He questioned.

"Well, I'm sure the way you fiddle with your fingers and the sweat stains under your arms must have some significance," she raised her eyebrows. "So spill. What did you do?"

"I-I lost the necklace," Fabian admitted.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Amber shouted.

"How? Why? Where?" Nina asked frantically.

"I-I-I dunno! I left it in my dresser and-" Fabian began.

"-Not good Fabian! Really not good!" Nina interrupted.

"Nina, look. I don't know where it is or where it could be, but I promise that we'll get it back. Okay?" Fabian said calmly, subtly reaching his hands out and placing them atop of Nina's.

"Thanks," Nina smiled, gazing into Fabian's eyes.

"So...while Nina and Fabian are off in love land, we'll actually do something productive and find the necklace," Amber interrupted.

"Right...erm...sorry," Fabian mumbled.

"Love lands a nice place?" Amber asked Fabian.

"We weren't in love land," Nina responded, "We're just friends."

"Friend zoned," Eddie said, covering it up as a cough.

"Anyway guys, back in the room..." Patricia said.

"Our meeting with Great Grandpa has just lead to more questions," KT stated.

"Yeah, like where was Victor?" Amber asked.

"Erm guys...not to alarm anyone or anything, but what if Vera snuck in, stole the necklace and made Victor another one of Apep's servants?" Alfie said.

"You...came up with that? Like...all by yourself?" Patricia asked in disbelief.

"No, Joy's said it about four times and no one listened," Alfie admitted, and everyone turned to Joy and apologised.

"But...if that happened, it means Vera has the necklace. How'd she get it?" Patricia asked.

"We established this years ago, Trixie. Vera is a ninja. If she wasn't evil, I'd ask her to be my mentor," Alfie replied, to which everyone sniggered.

"Still, she can't just of walked in here without anyone noticing," Fabian pointed out.

"It wouldn't be the first time that it's been done," Eddie argued, "Remember when Frobisher broke in?"

"Thank you Eddie. Vera's a ninja, case closed, moving on," Alfie agreed.

"But how would she have gotten out of the crypt?" Jerome asked.

"I don't know how, but it was sneaky. If she is a ni-" Alfie started.

"-STOP WITH THE NINJA NONSENSE ALFIE! NO ONE CARES!" Amber yelled.

To be honest, she didn't really care about what Alfie said. It was more the fact that he was saying it. She actually found the whole 'ninja' conversation quite funny. But hearing Alfie say anything that was so...well, so Alfie, made Amber think of when he'd said similar things all those years ago when they had dated.

She knew she had Mick now, but it was really kind of awkward since she had recently been seeing him as more of a brotherly figure. When she kissed him, it was more of a spur in the moment thing. She'd been overwhelmed by her emotions, and she hadn't really thought about what she was doing. It just kind of...happened.

"Sorry," Alfie apologised.

"So, what're we gonna do about her then?" Jerome asked.

"Well, I suggest that six of us go to the crypt, three of the six go down to the tunnels, while the other three go back to the three who stayed here as a decoy," Amber said.

"You might have to repeat that," KT told her.

"Let's do it the easy way," Amber sighed.

"And the easy way is?" Patricia asked.

"I organise it," Amber smiled, "So, Joy, Jerome and KT will stay here, and the rest of us will go to the crypt. When we get there, Nina, Fabian and myself will go down to the extra tunnels, and Patricia, Eddie and Alfie will come back to the house. Got it?"

~~~~~

"Are you okay, Mara?" Willow asked, "Your aura seems a little off today."

"Ha? What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Mara said, snapping out of her trance.

"What were you thinking about?" Willow wondered.

"Nothing, nothing," Mara dismissed.

"It's not nothing," Willow persisted, "You had a very distant look on your face."

"Well, I was just thinking about Mi- actually, you know what? Nevermind," Mara cut herself off.

"You were going to say Mick. You still like him, don't you?" Willow grinned.

"How did you guess?" Mara smiled.

"I'm a very good guesser," Willow said, "Especially when it comes to guessing my best friends."

"That's so sweet Willow," Mara cooed.

"So, if you still like him," Willow asked, "Why'd you break up with him?"

"Jerome," Mara answered simply.

"And...then he cheated on you?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, and although he's my best friend, it made me miss my window with Mick, just like Joy did with Fabian; because now he's dating Amber," Mara said.

"Well, that may be all very well and true," Willow said, taking a cookie out of the jar near her bed, "but the factor your missing is that Mick and Amber don't like each other in that way."

"When did you become so formal and wise?" Mara laughed.

"Well, I'm formal when need be," Willow said, with a very deep and professional voice, before returning to her normal voice, "So, why don't you just talk to Mick?"

"Because he's with Amber!" Mara cried incredulously.

"So, now because he's with Amber, it's illegal for you to talk to him?" Willow asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well...no, but...he's, Oh, I give up. I'll never win this argument against you Willow," Mara sighed.

"I'm just here to help," Willow shrugged.

The conversation ceased for a long while, and Mara went and got a book from the bookshelf while Willow filed through all her nail polish colours. They were all pretty bright and wacko, so Mara insisted that she chose to prevent her from having rainbow coloured nails. They made small talk, but didn't start a proper conversation until Willow brought up an interesting topic after a particularly long period of silence.

"Hey Mara?" Willow asked as she painted Mara's nails with a vibrant red nail polish.

"Mhm?" Mara hummed absentmindedly, reading a book that she was holding open with her un-painted hand.

"Where do you think the others always run off to?" She frowned, "They always seem to disappear, and every time I bring up the subject, they go all mysterious. Why is that?"

"I honestly wouldn't know, Willow," Mara sighed, closing her book, "They shut me out, every time I try to ask. They won't let me be a part of their little gang, no matter how hard I try."

"That's okay," Willow smile warmly, "You'll always have me."

"I know, it's just that before Nina came to Anubis, Joy, Patricia, Amber and I were all so close," Mara explained, "And then they formed this little group, and it was like I didn't even exist anymore."

"Why don't you look at the bright side?" Willow asked.

"What's the bright side?" Mara frowned.

"You and Jerome wouldn't be friends if none of that had happened," Willow reasoned, "He's your best friend, isn't he?"

"I suppose so," Mara sighed, "But even now, he's hanging out with them, isn't he?"

"But if you were hanging out with him, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Willow said.

"That's true," Mara laughed, "I really like spending time with you Willow, even though I never used to."

But Willow wasn't listening. She had been so caught up in the conversation previously, that she'd practically painted Mara's entire hand. She tried to frantically rub it off, but it hadn't helped that Mara had chosen a quick-dry nail polish.

"Willow! What did you do?" Mara yelled, realising what had happened.

"I'm sorry!" Willow cried as they both stood up, "Here, let me."

"No, don't touch it, you'll just ruin it more!" Mara squealed, taking her hand away from Willow's reach.

"No, no, I'll fix it!" Willow insisted.

"No you won't, you only ever ruin things!" Mara snapped.

Willow stood there dumbstruck, by Mara's sudden outburst. She had just claimed that she loved spending time with her before yelling that she 'only ever ruined things'.

Mara took a step back from Willow, and obviously didn't watch where she was stepping, because she tripped over a stack of books that she had brought to Anubis House. On her way down, she put her wrist down to break her fall, but she cried out in pain when her hand connected with the ground. There was a loud crunch, and it was obvious that Mara had badly injured her wrist.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked, her face full of concern.

"What does it matter to you?" Mara spat.

"You're my friend," Willow said calmly, "I want to know that you're okay."

"No you don't! Look what you did to my wrist! And my precious books! It's your fault in the first place!" Mara snapped.

Usually, Willow would persist and keep trying her best to help. But Mara was obviously not going to give in, and she was being awfully snippy. Willow was just trying her best to help her friend, and she was happy to get nothing in return. But to receive rudeness (as well as the blame) for just trying to help out, wasn't acceptable.

Willow was a very cheery person, and she'd do anything to help her friends. She loved spending time with Mara, and she considered her one of her best friends. But when she went to help, all she got was the blame. And that just wasn't fair. So Willow took action, and she did something that she'd usually never do.

"It's not my fault," she said coolly, "It was just karma."

And with that, she stomped out of the room, leaving an injured Mara on the floor, with books sprawled out beside her.

~~~~~

Following Amber's orders, Alfie sauntered towards the crypt, side by side with Nina.

"So, what type of hero will the world need this time? A brave one? A fierce one? Hey, what about a food one? Don't you think that would be cool?" he stopped in his tracks, daydreaming about a food superhero.

"Alfie come on! Hurry up!" Nina called behind her, way ahead of Alfie.

"Coming!" he smiled, before announcing,  "Once I save the world again, I'm going to be called Food Fighter Phenomenon."

"Alfie, if you're aiming for alliteration, you should know that Phenomenon doesn't start with an 'F'," Nina laughed, "It's starts with a 'Ph'."

"I know that, but Fantastic Food Fighter just sounds lame," Alfie defended.

"Guys, we're here, shhhhh. You never know what could be hiding," she paused for dramatic effect, "In there."

"Dun, dun, duuuuuunnnnn!" Alfie yelled jumping and landing with a thump.

Amber jumped by the sudden noise, "Alfie don't do that! You scared the hoobie joobies out of me!"

"Um, isn't it heebie jeebies?" Patricia asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, as a matter of fact it is. Now everyone be quiet and hurry up," Fabian commanded, already opening the door.

Everyone else followed after him, one by one, into the creepy old crypt. Alfie looked around himself once inside, everything was almost pitch black. Straight away four people cried out all at once loudly, shouting, yelling and insulting each other.

"Ow! Fabian, stop pushing!" Amber whined. "You're stepping on my toes!"

"Oi, out the road dude, you're body's taking up the whole area," Eddie said sounding annoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm not as slimy and small as you, frog face!" Patricia cried obstinately.

"Come on guys, it's not that small and cramped is it?" Nina asked, finally opening the door a crack so some light could filter in to the dark room.

"Phew, I thought I was going to suffocate in that darkness," Alfie sighed, relieved.

"Alfie, you really should sleep under your bed again tonight. You need more practice if you're thinking about being a food superhero," Fabian reasoned sensibly.

"Enough talk guys, let's get down to business," Nina stood up straight. "Patricia and Eddie, you two both wait near the door, one outside, one inside. Amber, Fabian and I will be going down inside the tunnels and check out what's down there. Lucky last Alfie-"

"Yes?" his head jerked up suddenly.

"As I was saying, you will stay just outside the tunnels and we'll call out to you what's happening. You will also be a backup in case we need you to come down and help us. Okay? Everyone, you know what to do, Fabian, Amber, let's go find out where those tunnels are!"

Patricia and Eddie went up to the crypt door whereas Alfie, Nina, Amber and Fabian all walked over to Frobisher's tomb and stopped dead in their tracks, realising they had no clue as to what to do next.

"Frobisher said it was under is tombstone thingy, right?" Amber asked.

"Yeah," Fabian nodded, his eyes glued to the engraving R.F.S.

"So..." Amber asked, "How exactly do we get under it?"

"There must be some catch," Nina said, searching the crypt, "Like there was with the other tunnels."

"Does that mean we're going to need another amulet?" Amber asked.

"I doubt it," Fabian reasoned, "Knowing our luck, we'll probably have to get something we've never heard of before."

"Great. More hard work," Amber said sarcastically, "Did no one ever realise how boring these tasks would be?"

"Maybe they thought people would give up because it was too hard and boring," Alfie shrugged.

"But," Amber said, tracing the wall with her finger, "There was three of us looking for the mask and zero out of three gave up even though those tasks were hard and boring. Not to mention deadly and highly dangerous. Do you know how many times I chipped my nails? And that giant razor thing almost cut my hair off."

"What giant razor?" Fabian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know, the one with the beam and the-" Amber began, making a lot of gestures with her hands.

"-Guys, come here," Nina said, "I think I found something."

"What is it?" Amber asked, bouncing over, Alfie at her tail, "What did you find?"

"Look here," Nina said, "under R.F.S."

"Yeah," Fabian said excitedly, "Yeah. I found a similar engraving parallel to it on the other side."

"But..." Nina hesitated, "What's the engraving for?"

"Nina, why is your heart glowing?" Amber asked randomly, with a frown encrusted on her face.

"Excuse me?" Nina asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Nina! Your locket's glowing!" Fabian exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh," Nina said, taking her locket out from under her shirt.

At that precise moment, they heard footsteps scurrying in, and they all snapped their heads around to see a frantic looking Eddie and Patricia at the door.

"What's wrong?" Nina asked in a worried tone.

"Vera's here-" Patricia began.

"-and we need to hide!" Eddie finished, "Quick!"

"It's cute how you finish each other's sentences," Amber commented as everyone else hid.

"Amber! Hurry!" Nina said.

Amber made her way towards the others, who were hiding behind a wall. But as she approached, she clumsily tripped on a rather large rock, and fell, sending her shoe flying to the other side of the room.

"Are you okay, Ambs?" Alfie asked, rushing to her side.

"No, I think I've sprained my ankle," she cried in pain.

"So...can you get up?" Alfie asked.

"What do you think?" Amber spat.

Alfie tried to pick up Amber, but it was to no avail. She was too heavy for him. Eddie was about to come and help them when there was a sudden creak of the door, and Alfie and Amber turned around. The others were still hiding behind the wall and Amber and Alfie turned back to each other knowingly, both of their eyes wide, as they took a huge gulp, knowing exactly what was to come.

Vera.

~~~~~
A/N

We're baaaaaaa-aaaaaaack! Sorry for such a long break, but let's not worry about that! We're both back now, and ready to write.

Alright, so before I forget, here's the discussion questions:

What do you think of Mara and Willow's conversations?

What do you think of Alfie's super hero name? Which Leah made up.

What are Alfie and Amber gonna do!?

Yeahhhh...I can't think of anymore, but comment!

So, I (Alannah) had the day off school today with a pounding headache and stomach like Jerome's and took the opportunity to finish this chapter.

✋🏻Sibuna✋🏻
💜Leah💜
✖️and✖️
💓Alannah💓