Two is Company (House of Anubis)

TOUCHSTONE OF RA (Part II) - The Earthquake & The Canopic Jar

"I'm not sure, but-" Movement above them caught Eddie's eye, but before he could call out or alert the girls, the house began to shake again, more intensely this time. "Get upstairs!" he managed to call over the chaos once he regained his own footing. "Someone's in Victor's office!"

They thundered up to the second floor as fast as they were able, given the circumstances, and stumbled into Victor's office. The moment Eddie and Nina passed the threshold, the earthquake petered out; Dexter was already there, staring at something, and Eddie followed his gaze to Sophia standing in front of Victor's wide open safe. "Sophia?" Dexter prompted.

She turned to them with wide eyes, her face illuminated by the golden glow coming from Victor's lockbox. "Oh, thank goodness! What is that thing?" she gasped frantically, pointing her flashlight at the contents of the safe- not that they needed any light shone on them, given how bright the Touchstone was burning.

KT frowned, crossing to the frightened girl and wrapping an arm around her shoulders in comfort. "And why does Victor want it so bad?"

"The gold of Ra!" Dexter exclaimed. "Like the museum dude said. Victor's going to build the Pyramid of Ra!" He tacked on a cringey evil laugh at the end of it, and Eddie fought not to smack him. He didn't trust this kid, not one bit.

Nina caught Eddie's eye before she walked to the safe, her expression grim. He followed behind her, and the two crouched down before the glowing, crackling artifact. Heat rolled off it in waves, like kneeling in front of an open oven, but Eddie didn't feel as though he had to squint against the light- not like the others; out of the corner of his eye, he watched Nina slowly reach out to touch it. She held it up, tracing her fingers over the edges of it, transfixed. There was a low buzzing sound, and the glow immediately vanished, plunging them all back into darkness.

Eddie wet his lips nervously. A divine tug from the depths of his soul had him moving before he could even consciously realize it. "We have to hide this," he said, snatching the Touchstone out of Nina's hands like she was holding a hand grenade instead of a rock. He'd not only shocked Nina, but himself too, and he stood up abruptly. "Everyone stay in your rooms," he said sharply, aware that the majority of the people in the office with him didn't actually have a room in the house, but not really caring. He rushed down the stairs to his room, knowing that Nina and KT would be hot on his heels despite his demand anyway.

When he got there, he crouched by his bed and yanked out a wooden lockable box Ms. Valentine made them craft in drama design that term, discarding the contents carelessly onto the floor. "We need to call a Sibuna meeting," he said to his fellow Americans, shoving the stone out of sight and clipping up the dinky padlock.

"A what?" Sophia asked, poking her head into the room after them. She got no response. "Sorry... None of my business. I just didn't want to be alone, and... thought I could help? Maybe."

"We've got it, thanks," Nina said in that tense way of hers, and KT's jaw clicked shut from where she was probably about to say something along the lines of 'More the merrier!'

Eddie cleared his throat. "Look, Victor's gonna be back any minute. We should take the secret way down to the cellar." He produced the Eye of Horus locket from under his shirt, and Nina's eyes immediately widened as they fell on it. She didn't look happy he was just waving the thing about, but what was she going to say now?

Before she could protest or try to snatch it away from him, he made a beeline toward the kitchen. "Eddie!" Nina hissed, darting after him. "I said it was good you had help while your lives were at stake, not that we needed to tell everyone about everything!"

"Our lives could still be at stake!" he whispered back while he pressed the locket against the stone indent by the oven passage. It glowed and the door slide open with a grating sound. "We have no idea what's going on!"