House of Chaos ~FemaleOC x Joy Mercer~ (Seasons 1-3)

House of Hush/House of Spies/House of Sting/House of Never/House of Forever

"You want to be a Sibuna?" Nina questioned in disbelief.

Jerome nodded. "You guys tell me everything, and...and I'll do the same."

Sibuna looked at each other, gaging one and other's feelings on the news. Nina, Fabian and Patricia looked...skeptical, but Alfie was clearly all for it.

And so was Max.

Max grinned at him. "Welcome to the gang."

Jerome beamed at her and got down on the floor with them. "Okay, according to Rufus, the cup can only be made on a special date, once every 25 years, and that date is coming very soon."

"Soon? Do you have anything more specific?" Nina deadpanned.

He winced. "...No..."

"Still, this is important." Max frowned, making them look at her. She swallowed hard. "Once every 25 years...we've only got one shot."

~~~

The next day at breakfast, Nina told the others about a dream she had about Sarah, who claimed to have given Nina a present.

"So this ring is like...a hope meter?" Jerome questioned, holding up Max's hand to stare at the ruby ring.

She nodded. "Yup."

"And if it goes black?" Jerome asked.

Max bit her lip. "Nina's locket shatters."

Alfie and Max had kind of taken on the role of filling Jerome in on everything, but he was still struggling to keep up with it all.

"Jerome can I speak with you for a moment?" Amber questioned.

Shrugging, Jerome went over to talk to her on the couch.

A few moments later Jerome burst into laughter and claimed Amber asked him to the prom, which she quickly denied with disgust.

Everyone headed to school.

~~~

Later that day, Nina called everyone to Jerome and Alfie's room. She caught Jerome trying to steal the puzzle pieces.

"Jerome, are you with us or not!?" Max exclaimed angrily. "You wanted to be a Sibuna!"

"I do!" He insisted weakly. "Look Rufus he...he showed up again." Their eyes widened. "A-And he just grabbed me and threatened me." He looked down at his lap. "He gave me a deadline."

The others hesitated at this. It was hard to blame him when they knew he has reason to be afraid.

"Okay look, if we can't build the cup, then at the very least we need to wait out the time, then we'll have another 25 years." Nina commented.

Fabian dug through Sarah's box and found a star map, but he didn't know any of the constellations. He and Nina left to research it.

"What I don't understand is how Rufus plans to put it together in the first place." Jerome frowned. "He said that it can't be made by just anyone. It had to be like, a specific person from a specific bloodline or born on a specific day."

Max's eyes widened. "Someone Chosen..." She whispered. She, Patricia and Alfie shared a knowing look.

~~~

Thanks to the map, Fabian figured out the date and time of when the cup needed to be built. It had to be built at midnight, the night of the prom, and it had to be made by Joy; the Chosen One.

Jerome vowed to never go near Rufus again, but Rufus still threatened him over text.

~~~

Later that day back at the house, Fabian and Mick came to Max asking for a favor.