DENOUEMENT
xxx. house of never
❝YOU'RE REALLY PRETTY.❞
"WHY DID THE Chosen Hour have to be on the same day as our prom?" Amber Millington questioned, very much not happy with the turn of events as the members of Sibuna (plus one member, Jerome Clarke, who wasn't an official member due to not having an initiation) began to make their way to the history classroom - apparently, Joy had sent Patricia a secret message instructing them to meet there earlier than the time that they had originally planned, "The universe is so selfish sometimes."
"You know, I don't think the universe particularly cares about our prom." Sydney Anderson muttered amusedly, shaking her head at her fellow female blonde and how she only seemed to be concerned about prom, though her comments did cause a faint smile to appear on the prankster's lips – Amber Millington was quite funny and definitely some comedic relief when you needed it, and she didn't even try to be.
"Amber, we need to meet up with Joy." Nina Martin stated to the blonde fashionista, hoping that she wouldn't make a big deal about missing prom and would understand why it was so important for them to miss it for that one night, "It's important."
Following Nina Martin, who had just opened the door to their history classroom and took a step inside, all of the members of the secret group filed into the classroom, and their eyes narrowed in confusion upon seeing Mr Winkler stood at his desk, who also turned to them and seemed rather perplexed as he quizzed, "Hey, guys, why are you not at the dance?"
"Why aren't you?" Patricia countered rather defensively, wanting to know where her best friend was and why the teacher was in the room where they were to meet – if Joy Mercer was to enter the room when Jason Winkler, one of their enemies and a part of the group whom had kidnapped her, was stood inside, it most certainly wouldn't end up well.
"I am waiting for my date with Miss Robinson." Jason Winkler informed them whilst a small grin appeared on his lips and he shoved his hands in his pockets – although, the statement caused Sydney Anderson to become quite amused, her eyebrow quirking up.
"Didn't she kick you out of your classroom a few weeks ago?"
"We dealt with that..." He mumbled awkwardly, quickly trying to divert the topic, which was when he noticed the bag – the final bit of the puzzle - in Patricia Williamson's hands, and he motioned towards it with his head as he quizzed suspiciously, "Patricia, what's in the bag? I hope you're not trying to smuggle contraband into the prom."
"No, it's just girly stuff - that girls use; I can be really girly at times." Patricia lied very obviously – as in, it was so obvious that even a new born baby would not have been fooled by the terrible lying, and thus it was evident to everyone in the room, including their drama/history etacher, that 'girly stuff' was most certainly not in the bag.
"Okay..." Mr Winkler murmured slowly and very suspiciously, clearly not believing her as he stepped forward, soon adding on, "Then you won't mind if I take a look."
As he stepped forward, Patricia Williamson attempted to move the bag backwards away from him whilst everyone glanced over at the purple-haired girl, but the drama and history teacher succeeded and quickly took the bag from her hands, placing it on his desk as he began to open it to rifle through it – everyone waiting to see what he found.
Slam.
At the sudden and rather abrupt noise, everyone flinched and snapped their heads back to face the cause of the noise, only for their eyes to widen with shock and pure fear as they set their eyes upon a man that they didn't particularly expect or want to see:
Rufus Zeno.
Now, the man in black was scary and intimidating enough by himself, but it appeared as though he didn't think that way, as it seemed as though he wasn't alone either. In his hands, he held an hourglass filled with some type of red flies that, for a starter, did not seem too friendly (they were literally flashing like lightning and zapping angrily), and secondly, did not seem to be anything that'd naturally be found in England.
"Red sutekh sand flies," He stated, identifying the seemingly extremely angry insects that were trapped in the hourglass he held as he continued and elaborated for them, "Very rare, quite vicious, and certainly deadly. Now, everyone do as I say, or I break this glass. You," He nodded to Fabian Rutter, "Get the blinds. The rest of you, get over there."
Not having to be told twice, the group began to make their way towards the back of the room, where Rufus Zeno had instructed them to go. Before she followed the members of the secret group to the back of the room, Sydney had reached over to worriedly tap Alfie, whom was (unfortunately) the closest to mad man holding them hostage, to make sure that he came as quickly as possible. Then, she gripped Jerome's hand tightly, lacing her fingers with his, and tugged him to the back of the classroom, everyone else soon following behind. Sydney Anderson was pretty sure that all of them felt the same as she did – their hearts hammering in their chest at probably a rather unhealthy and unnatural speed, their ears filled with the sound of their own pulsing heartbeat as they became increasingly more panicked with each second that ticked by.
"Leave that there." Rufus demanded to Mr Winkler, motioning to Patricia's bag that was on the teacher's desk, where the man reluctantly placed it before the leather-jacket-clad man (did he ever take off that leather jacket?) continued with his instructions, "Now, you get me elixir and the Chosen One. I want them within the hour, or I break this glass."
At the violent threat, Sydney felt the hand that hers was intertwined with squeeze even tighter, and she did the same – it was reassuring, even if the colour of their hands went paler due to how tight their grips were, as it reminded them that they had each other and that the other was there. Both of their eyes were clouded with worry as the two of them watched the flies in the jar cautiously – one mishap, and they could have been dead.
"You're insane..."
"Very observant. Now go."
With hesitance written all over his face, the concerned teacher briefly turned to face the students that were being held hostage and had their lives literally put into his hands, before he left the classroom and thus left the students alone with an insane man threatening to kill them – didn't schools have a duty to protect their students?
Once Mr Winkler had made his way out of the room and followed the demands of the insane man, the said insane man locked the door, releasing a seemingly relieved sigh as he turned to the students, a smug grin on his lips, "Oh, apologies, Patricia. This time, the note was not from Joy - sorry to disappoint. But, at least I get what I came for - the Ankh pieces, all seven-."
Cutting himself off, the man's face contorted into one of confusion as he pulled something out of the bag, which was most definitely not the pieces that he desired and came all the way to the history classroom for. Instead, in his hand was a water bottle.
"What's this?" He questioned, briefly turning to the students with puzzlement very much evident on his face, before he turned back to the bag, beginning to look through it desperately as he pulled out numerous water bottles, tossing them all onto the floor, "Where are my Ankh pieces? You will all pay for this. Where are the Ankh pieces?"
"Did you really think we'd be stupid enough to carry them around with us – today, of all days, knowing everyone is after them?" Nina asked him, and despite her confidence in standing up to the man, it was evident she was nervous and probably just trying to stall him from releasing the deadly flies on them – yeah, that was a big fear of theirs.
"You gave them to Joy, didn't you?" Rufus inquired, upon realising exactly what they had done and figuring out their plans, causing him to sigh exasperatedly before he told them, "You do realise that she is part of all of this, don't you?"
"Yeah, she's the Chosen One. We're not stupid." Patricia retorted, her eyes narrowed defensively as she glared at the man, antagonising him almost – which certainly wasn't a good idea considering that he had the deadly flies and was able to release at any time.
"Who wants the cup just as much as anyone else," Rufus claimed, causing the female prankster, among others, to roll her eyes, knowing that his words were ridiculous and that the ex-student of Anubis House wanted nothing to do with the stupid cult stuff that she had been forced into, "You have played straight into their hands."
"No, no, no, no. Trixie, don't believe him." Jerome quickly interjected, not believing a single word that fell out of the leather-jacket-clad man's lips, whilst Sydney nodded alongside him as he continued, "He's a liar, he's playing you."
"Oh, really?" Rufus said with a rather smug smirk present on his lips – one that Sydney Anderson really wanted to slap off his face, but she knew that'd probably lead them into even more trouble; although, the urge to slap him became even more prevalent as the man continued, "Thanks for telling me about the proposed rendezvous with Joy, Jerome. You've been a very useful spy."
"I did not tell, you creep!" Jerome spat out, his face instantly becoming red with rage as he started forward towards Rufus Zeno, causing Sydney Anderson to hastily make her grip tighter on his hand, trying to pull him back with the help of Fabian Rutter whilst the male prankster continued to talk (more like shout, really), his eyes darting in between Nina, Sydney, and Rufus, "I did not double-cross you guys, I swear I didn't - not this time!"
"It's okay, Jerome." Sydney assured the boy, her grip on him extremely tight – almost crushing – yet still assuring as she continued to try and calm him down and pull him back; at her words, the boy had slightly calmed down and took deep breaths, though his eyes were still wide with worry as he didn't want the group to lose their trust in him.
"We believe you." Nina thankfully told Jerome, believing him more than the lunatic in front of them and sending him a faint smile, before she turned to face the adult, "Joy's on our side, and you know it." The American continued to speak to Rufus Zeno, shaking her head at him for trying to tear the group apart, "That's why you knew we'd be meeting up with her, and why you'll get your pieces when Jason brings you Joy and the elixir."
Before he was able to respond, a knock sounded at the door with a shadow being able to be seen through the clouded glass window, and then a voice called out, "Jason?"
Miss Robinson.
Instantly, realising that the teacher perhaps could have helped them, Sydney Anderson went to yell out for help but soon noticed that Nina Martin was shaking her head at the prankster, motioning towards the vicious flies zapping around in the hourglass that Rufus Zeno was holding and reminding the prankster of the threat that was placed on their lives.
Rufus Zeno would not have hesitated to smash that hourglass into smithereens and have released the violent and deadly flies if anybody even dared to yell out for help.
"Are you in there? I'm sorry I'm late - I got a flat." Miss Robinson continued, not realising that her beloved wasn't in the room and, instead, students in danger were inhabiting the classroom – and she never did realise, as the shadow soon disappeared away from the door, causing the female prankster to release a disappointed sigh upon seeing a chance of safety walk away from them, quite literally.
"Amber, we're still on a date, right? This still counts." Alfie spoke up hesitantly, asking the blonde fashionista a clearly very important question, whilst his two best friends, Jerome and Sydney, snapped their heads to look at the boy with a pointed and annoyed look.
"Of course." Amber answered simply, which caused a very faint smile to appear on the boy's lips, although it was still clear he was scared – at least there was something to cheer him up when the group were literally faced with death.
"Great."
"I was kidding!" Amber cried out, mildly frustrated and shaking her head at him whilst Sydney had to supress a small scoff, watching her friend deflate whilst the fashionista continued, "Our lives are in danger."
For once, Amber Millington was right.
Their lives were literally in the hands of Rufus Zeno, with him holding the hourglass filled with flashing and zapping red flies, that literally screeched danger from merely the sight of them - not to mention the sound, which occasionally made Sydney Anderson flinch when the zapping sound became too loud, her grip on Jerome tightening and tightening, and honestly, it was a miracle that either of them could feel their fingers.
Sydney Anderson was scared.
Yet again, she was thrusted into another near-death situation, that she'd honestly preferred to have not been involved in. She had the ability to watch those that she loved and cared for die once again – another traumatising experience for her to be dragged through, and simply the thought of that was enough for her eyes to remain locked wide open, her breaths slowly seeming to become harsher and more panicked.
Thankfully, before it became worse, the sound of a quiet vibration snapped the girl out of her very unhelpful thoughts, her wide eyes that had remained on the flies turning away from them to look at Patricia Williamson's hands, in which her phone lay, vibrating.
"What's that?" Rufus quizzed, snatching the phone away before she even had the chance to stop him or move her phone away from him, "Missed call from Joy - how interesting." The man read out the notification, before holding the phone back out for the female, demanding, "Call her back, tell her to meet here immediately with the pieces."
"No."
Rage taking over the features on his face at his request being refused, Rufus Zeno was worryingly silent for a few moments before he held up the hourglass of deadly flies – it being a bit too close for comfort, as he threatened, "They look very angry, and so am I."
Voice shaky, Amber spoke, "Patricia, call her."
Rolling her eyes, Patricia Williamson reluctantly snatched her phone back from the man dressed in black, dialling the number that she had missed a call from before placing the mobile to her ear and waiting for a few seconds, before bringing it down with furrowed eyebrows, "It rang and rang, and now it's just switched over to her voicemail."
Snatching the phone from the girl once more, Rufus Zeno hastily put it to his ear, listening for a few seconds, before he gritted his teeth angrily and, before anybody could stop him, he threw the device across the room, it harshly hitting the wall near the whiteboard at the front of the room and smashing into little pieces, causing Sydney Anderson to jump slightly, backing into Jerome Clarke whilst a small gasp left her throat, her eyes widening.
The piercing and desperate screeches and the intensified sound of bones crunching filled the girl's ears, lodging themselves in her poor mind and being trapped in there for seemingly the rest of her life, as they would not allow her to forget the memory.
"You're paying for that!" Patricia yelled out, snapping the girl out of her dreadful thoughts and flashbacks – it wasn't the only thing that had snapped her out of her nightmare, with Jerome Clarke having heard the small hitch and noticing how she had backed into him, and he had instantly squeezed her hand to help get her out of the mindset that she was in, although her eyes were still wide with fear and her skin had become significantly paler.
"Sit down and shut up, all of you!" Rufus demanded, causing everyone to rush to sit down at a desk as they didn't want to infuriate the man further, with Jerome Clarke dragging his childhood best friend to one of the desks and practically shoving her into a seat as he continued to watch her warily, especially as the man in black continued, informing them, "Time is running out for you people."
Her eyes frantically darting around the room, Sydney Anderson tried to formulate some sort of plan to get out of the classroom and away from the threatening man, whilst Jerome Clarke attempted to soothe her, rubbing calming and soft circles on the back of her hand. As much as the effort was appreciated – and, truly, it was - it was hard to soothe somebody when they were being held hostage with a man threatening murder, and it certainly didn't help that a certain fashionista was mumbling about everything they'd ever done wrong in their life and how they were sorry for it.
"...And I'm sorry for spending all my dad's money, and for giving Mara a hard time during elections, and for all the thoughts I've had about David Beckham, even though I know he's Victoria's-."
"Amber!" Fabian finally snapped frustratedly – and if he didn't, it probably would have been one of the two blonde pranksters – causing the fashionista to shut up and turn her attention to him as he told the girl, "Not helping - really not helping."
"You don't know that!" Amber spat back, trying to defend herself whilst the female prankster of the group rolled her eyes, turning to face the blonde boy beside her as she knew that he'd be able to calm her down, but he looked as petrified as she did, his wide eyes darting between the clock on the wall, Rufus Zeno, and Sydney Anderson.
Their hands desperately clutching one another's for some sense of comfort, the pair of blondes watched as every second and every minute ticked past, slowly reducing the amount of time that they had until Rufus Zeno's demands to Mr Winkler were not complete, and the deadly flies were meant to be released from the hourglass.
"You okay?" Jerome mumbled, eventually tearing his gaze away from the clock and turning it to the girl beside him, sending a slight concerned glance to her in the process – he knew that neither of them were okay, but he wanted to distract the two of them for a little while, noticing how they were running out of time.
"Believe it or not, Clarke, I've been better." Sydney responded with a dry chuckle – the laughter didn't meet her eyes like it typically did, Jerome noticed, and it was quite evident that the chuckle was rather faked, being a way to make herself feel a little bit better, "Do you see why I never told you why I was hanging out with these people now?"
Amusedly shaking his head, the boy put on a small smile that seemed rather bittersweet in the moment as he responded to the girl, trying to make her laugh or distract her slightly, "Yeah, I think I see it now. You get yourself involved in some odd crowds, huh?"
"You're in it too now, be careful what you say." Sydney warned him, very faint chuckles leaving them – that was something so special about the two of them that neither of them had with anyone else: they always managed to cheer each other up with a rather simple conversation – it was easy, like an instinctive type of thing.
"You don't have to protect me." Jerome mocked the female prankster's words from a few days prior, an extremely smug smirk evident on his lips as he continued to repeat what she had told him, "We're a team, remember?"
"Oh, back off." Sydney grumbled, lightly shoving the boy and playfully rolling her eyes at him, before a smug smirk fell upon her own lips and she pointed out to the boy rather cheekily, "I suppose I do get myself in odd crowds – I'm with you and Alfie afterall."
"I'm offended." Jerome muttered sarcastically, placing his unoccupied hand on his chest as he mocked offense, causing the female to let out a quiet laugh as she rolled her eyes once again – though, as she did so, her eyes landed on the hourglass of deadly flies.
It was safe to say the laughter instantly stopped.
Looking at the clock made her eyes instantly flicker up to the clock, and a grim look appeared on her face as she noticed what time it was and how many minutes had passed, causing her to turn to the boy beside her sympathetically, mumbling, "Time's almost up."
However, before anything else could be said between the pair of blondes, a sharp knock sounded at the door of the history classroom, everyone's head instantly snapping towards it hopefully, begging and pleading for it to be Mr Winkler to save them from the nightmare that they were enduring, but then the sound of Miss Robinson's voice was heard again:
"Jason, I don't know if you're in there or not, but if you are, hear this: I don't respond well to getting stood up - you're dumped."
"Feisty." Alfie remarked, despite it really not being the time for his small comments, and that caused the female prankster to shake her head subtly at the boy as they watched the shadowed figure of the athletics teacher behind the door disappear once again – another chance of being saved slipping right through their hands, like dust in the wind.
"Well, looks like we've all been dumped." Rufus muttered bitterly, placing his hands flat on the teacher's desk as he released an agitated sigh, having not received what he wanted, "Your teachers have clearly abandoned you to your fate."
With that being said, the man dressed in black held up the hourglass, twisting it within his hands, and Sydney Anderson found herself cowering back into her seat, rather petrified as she tried to wrack her brains and think of a way to get out of the situation that they were in, but could think of absolutely nothing.
That was exactly why Fabian Rutter made the plans.
Apparently, the nerd was able to read minds, considering that as soon as Sydney Anderson thought that, the boy himself soon spoke up, directing his words to the maniac twisting the cause of their deaths, "It's over - why don't you just let us go?"
"It's not over until the hour itself is over." Rufus informed them – well, that was a new piece of information – however, the man ignored what he was revealing to the group and mumbled to himself, "They're probably putting the cup together as we speak."
"Maybe they've already done it - beaten you to it!" Fabian suggested, his voice loud and desperate as it was evidently clear that he wanted to get out of the room alongside the rest of the students, preferably alive, "It's time to give up."
"No, you're all still alive, so clearly they haven't drank from the cup." Rufus responded, as though that was a completely normal thing to say – although, his words caused Sydney Anderson's eyes to narrow in confusion, wondering what he meant.
Apparently, Sydney Anderson wasn't the only one confused by the man's words, with Nina Martin shakily and rather nervously speaking up, "Run that by me again."
"Oh, yes, oh - Victor and the others think it's all symbolic, the tipping of the scales - the symbolic flow of life force from the young to the old; only, immortality comes at a price." Rufus revealed, a small smile on his lips that certainly shouldn't have been there considering that he was talking about the deaths of seven rather innocent children.
Wanting clarification for her theory and not wanting to believe that she was completely right, Nina began carefully, hoping that his words didn't mean what she thought they did, "And by price you mean..."
"It's a life for a life, my dear."
At those words, Sydney Anderson leaned further into her chair, brushing stray hairs from her face as she was increasingly frustrated - she thought that she hated cults before due to all of the weird things that she and the group had witnessed in the cellar, but it had now reached a whole new level of hatred.
"I think I saw your name down there in the cellar." Rufus Zeno mumbled thoughtfully, pointing at Nina Martin with the hourglass as he did so, whilst her eyes widened significantly – slowly but surely, they were finding out more information that seemed to just make everything ten times worse than it initially was.
"What's he talking about?" Jerome nervously questioned with concern laced in his voice, his eyes rather wide whilst his grip on Sydney's hand managed to get even tighter, if that was possible – he really did not want to lose her.
"Fabian," Nina started worriedly, turning to face the boy as she continued, her voice rather shaky and unstable, "Those coins with our names on - the scales."
"Nina, don't worry. It's going to be okay." Fabian assured her, although the female prankster really didn't believe that his reassurance helped anybody whatsoever – it certainly didn't help her, as her mind slowly slipped further, further, and further away, imagining the worst situations possible.
"I still have time to relieve Victor of the cup." Rufus Zeno commented upon realisation, abruptly and rather suddenly pointing at Nina Martin, "You." The girl in question attempted to cower away from the man, not wanting to go anywhere with him, but it was a futile attempt as the man in black walked over to her, harshly grabbing her arm and pulling her up from her seat and declaring, "You are coming with me."
"Leave her!" Fabian roared, Sydney's eyes widening with pure shock and surprise as the boy leapt from his seat, rushing forward and tackling Rufus Zeno with strength that nobody was aware the nerd had, and as he made the man fall to the ground, the key and the jar of deadly flies fell out of his hands.
Fortunately, Alfie Lewis caught the latter of those objects in his hands, preventing it from smashing and releasing the deadly flies that'd kill them all, whilst Jerome hurriedly stood out of his seat, dragging his childhood best friend along with him as he grabbed the key which had landed on the floor.
"Quick!" Jerome called out to the ground, having a tight grip on his fellow blonde prankster's wrist and making sure that she didn't get left behind as he rushed over to the classroom door, the door key in his hand and quickly unlocking it – they were free.
As soon as the door swung open, Jerome Clarke hastily pushed Sydney Anderson out of the classroom that they had been held hostage in, making sure she was safe before everyone else soon followed her and piled out, with the male prankster holding the door open for them all before him and Nina rushed out of the room, the former of the pair quickly slamming the door shut as the latter fell into Fabian's arms, evidently shaken up.
Instantly, Sydney Anderson rushed over to Jerome Clarke, comfortingly and worriedly wrapping her arms around his waist tightly as he breathed heavily, panting, his chest rising and falling against her head as he returned the hug, wrapping his own arms around her.
Still panting, Jerome whispered in her ear, "We're safe."
As amazing as that concept was, Sydney Anderson was still rather wary due to the words that the man in the leather jacket had told them earlier, causing her to mumble pessimistically as she pulled away from their hug, "Don't speak too soon."
As she pulled away from their hug, she turned to face the rest of the group, noticing that Nina Martin was shaking and pale as she was held tightly in Fabian Rutter's arms, with the man glancing down at her warily to make sure that she was safe as he quizzed worriedly, "You okay?"
Pointing towards the door leading into the classroom that they had just escaped from, Nina breathed out, rather panicked, "Rufus..."
At the familiar name, Sydney Anderson realised that he was stuck in the classroom, and that they must have thrown the hourglass in order to get out of it and leave him behind – the deadly sandflies must have gotten to him.
With his free hand (his other hand was gripping on tightly to Sydney's hand, not wanting to let go of it at all), Jerome pointed back at the door, shaking his head as he stated sharply, "It was him or us, Nina."
"Jerome's right." Sydney Anderson spoke up with a confident nod, completely contrasting her shaky voice as she supported the boy beside her and told Nina sternly, "We had no other option – it was self-defence."
"We have to warn the teachers!" Nina shouted desperately and rather frantically, evidently rather stressed out and panicked as she continued, almost on the verge of tears, "They can't drink from the Cup of Ankh, they just can't!"
"What happens if they do?" Jerome questioned concernedly, whilst the female prankster beside him frustratedly shook her head, almost in disbelief at what was happening in her life at that moment, having figured out exactly what happened if the teachers drank the Elixir of Life from the Cup of Ankh.
"Someone dies." Sydney answered rather bluntly, not seeing the need to sugar-coat it, and the statement caused Jerome's eyes to widen and his grip to instinctively get tighter on her hand, whilst the female prankster used her free hand to brush through her hair as she turned back to the prankster, "You see why I told you not to speak too soon?"
"Dies?" Amber repeated, shocked.
"Yeah, but there's no need to be scared." Fabian told them, although nobody seemed to listen to the nerd as his words made simply no sense – they were about to die if the teachers drank the elixir from the Cup of Ankh, and he was telling them not to be scared.
"Let's get over there and stop them!" Jerome insisted, beginning to rush off down the corridor and dragging his prom date along with him – well, it was one hell of a prom - whilst the rest of the group soon followed, rushing back to the Anubis House and ignoring the protests falling out of Fabian Rutter's lips.
Bursting open the doors of Anubis House hurriedly, they were greeted by Joy Mercer, who was standing in the entrance hall near the staircase in casual clothing, and quickly approached the group as they entered the room with a smile on her lips.
"Joy, what happened?" Patricia asked once the two best friends had embraced – hugs came first, considering that the pair had unexpectedly been torn apart from one another and hadn't seen the other for months – they had been like sisters until the sudden disappearing act happened.
"Nothing happened." Joy answered them with a nonchalant shrug, a bright and wide smile plastered on her lips as she was clearly delighted with the results, informing the group, "I'm not the Chosen One - there is no cup."
"They told you that being the Chosen One was something to do with your birthday, right?" Nina inquired warily, her eyebrows slightly furrowed and her eyes narrowed as she wanted to discover more about what the Chosen One was, and who it truly was if it wasn't Joy Mercer – the person they had assumed to be it during the entire time.
"Yeah, seventh of July."
Hesistantly, Nina announced, "Mine's the seventh of July too."
"What?" Fabian muttered out, seemingly in shock for a few seconds, before he turned his head to face the girl who had been missing for months and asked, "Joy, you were born seven am, right? The seventh hour on the seventh of the seventh."
"No, seven pm." Joy corrected him with a shake of her head.
"Nina?"
"I don't know." Nina answered, a look of slight fear and hesitance on her face – the theory was absurd and definitely something extremely big; it was hard to realise something so big in such a small amount of time, "Sometime early in the morning, though."
"I bet it was seven am." Fabian guessed, a wide and bright smile forming on his lips as he put things together in his mind being the genius that he was, before he soon breathed out, "The true seventh hour!"
"It would be the American, wouldn't it?" Jerome commented jokingly, causing Sydney to let out a small snicker at his remark, an amused smile on her lips as she nudged his side gently, him letting go off her hand and instead wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
Checking the watch on his wrist, Fabian Rutter noticed the time quickly ticking away and then glanced up with wide eyes, announcing to the group, "Guys, it's quarter to one. We've only got fifteen minutes of the Chosen Hour left. Where are the pieces?"
"Still down there, I think." Joy Mercer answered, glancing back down to the cellar briefly as she did so, where the secret society had attempted to from the Cup of Ankh themselves, but with the wrong Chosen One.
"Nina?" Fabian asked, glancing at the girl for confirmation that she wanted to try to form the Cup of Ankh and see if she was the real Chosen One, and after a few moments, the girl glanced back at him and looked around at the members of her club, nodding.
"Let's do this."
And thus, the members of Sibuna (plus Jerome Clarke and Joy Mercer, the two members who hadn't been initiated into the club but knew a lot about it) slowly and cautiously made their way down to the cellar through the door – for once, not using the secret passageway, which was kind of odd – and they saw that all of the Ankh pieces were already laid out and, fortunately, no members of the society were nearby.
Approaching the table, Nina Martin gripped tightly onto her locket, like it was a good luck charm, and it was silent for a few moments before the fake Chosen One, Joy Mercer, spoke up, giving the girl advice considering that she had been trained to form the Cup of Ankh and knew quite a lot about it.
"You have to say the incantation: 'With this circle of light, I seal the circle of life.'."
With a nod of understanding, Nina Martin begun to pick up the pieces, putting them together expertly whilst saying the incantation over and over again, following the advice that she had been given, and it seemed like she was a natural at it – instantly knowing where everything had to go and which parts connected to from the Cup of Ankh. Despite that, once the cup was formed, nothing special happened; it looked like a poorly made trophy more than anything, and certainly not a special cup that was broken into pieces numerous years ago meant to give somebody immortality.
"Nothing's happening." Nina Martin stated the obvious, before she concernedly turned to Joy Mercer, who knew more about the Cup of Ankh than the rest of them and asking worriedly, "Why is nothing happening?"
"Nina, look, your locket." Amber instructed her, causing them all to glance down and see the Eye of Horus glowing a faint red colour, causing the American to hesitantly grab the necklace and place it against the cup, and as it got closer, the glow of red became brighter and more intense.
All of a sudden, a brilliant golden flash engulfed the room, causing Sydney Anderson's blue eyes to widen as the flash brightened up the entire room, making the female prankster forget about how dusty and old the cellar was temporarily, it seeming like a place filled with gold for a second or two as miraculous, golden wisps surrounded the Cup of Ankh, and it felt magical - like something out of a fantasy or a dream.
Soon enough, the golden flash vanished and faded away, although left behind in its place was the gorgeous Cup of Ankh, looking a lot different to how it did previously and actually like what it was meant to. It was perfectly golden, with its gems sparkling vividly and light reflecting of them beautifully, and Sydney Anderson felt ashamed to even be in its presence, despite the stunning prom dress that she was wearing.
It had a numinous beauty about it, and its presence demanded to be heard as it glowed spectacularly in the light, glimmering and shining as it wanted to be shown off to the world, finally having its chance to shine after being broken into pieces for numerous years.
"That's the most beautiful accessory I have ever seen." Amber remarked, making the female prankster let out a light chuckle as she shook her head at her fellow blonde.
"You know, Amber, I don't think Nina's going to be carrying it around with her like it's a purse or a bracelet." Sydney responded, an amused smile on her lips as she amusedly shook her head at the blonde, all of the members laughing slightly at her words.
"You did it." Fabian Rutter muttered, an immensely proud grin on his lips as he looked at the now-fully formed cup, and then at Nina Martin, the girl who he had a crush on.
"I did." Nina replied, "And, now, I have to hide it for good."
Despite the life-threatening situation that they had been in a while before, they were so happy. All of them had wide and bright smiles plastered on their faces as they watched the spectacle, and it seemed like nothing in the world could have gone wrong.
And, then, it went wrong.
"Amber!" Sydney shrieked, having seen the man before anyone else and thus selflessly leaping forward and pushing the fashionista out of the way and into the arms of Nina Martin, but that allowed for herself to get captured by the man in black whilst everyone snapped their heads to see why the sudden screeching had occurred, their eyes widening as they witnessed their favourite prankster in the arms of the man in black – Rufus Zeno.
"Not unless I have something to do with it." Rufus threatened, whilst the female prankster continued to struggle in his arms, noting that she could hear a weird buzzing by her ear.
It was at that moment when she realised, a little bit too late, that she probably should have thought out her heroic plan to rescue Amber Millington more before she did a dive into the middle of the action and allowed herself to be captured in the process.
As everyone was sharing their happy moments with one another once the Cup of Ankh had been formed, Sydney had noticed something in the corner of her eye – a black figure – and she quickly snapped her head to the side and noticed that the leather-jacket-clad man, Rufus Zeno, had returned. Not even noticing the rest of his appearance, such as the disgustingly big blisters on his very red and swollen face, the girl's eyes widened as she saw the man, yet to notice her eyes on him, about to grab Amber Millington before Sydney had even managed to warn the group of his arrival, causing the female prankster to act before she thought and leap into the middle of all the action, which led her to being the place where she was now – in the arms of Rufus Zeno, and most certainly not in a romantic way; instead, in the threatening and very deadly way.
"Rufus!" Jerome cried out, his eyes widened with shock before he realised that his childhood best friend was in the arms of a maniac and quickly went forward, attempting to push past Alfie, who quickly put his arm out in front of the male prankster so he didn't do anything that'd put them in a worse spot than they were originally in, "Let go of her!"
"I knew it!" Alfie spat out angrily, pointing at Rufus Zeno (with the hand that wasn't holding back his best friend) as he continued, "The bad guy always comes back!"
"Now is really not the time, Alfie!" Sydney grumbled out, writhing around in the man's arms and trying to peel them off her – he had an arm wrapped around her waist/stomach, holding her firmly in place, and it was safe to say she did not like it.
"Did you really think that I would expose myself to the deadly sutekh sand-fly without first equipping myself with an antidote?" Rufus inquired, glancing over at them all whilst the female in his arms continued to claw at the leather-covered arm around her.
"Believe it or not, I was sort of hoping!" Sydney growled out angrily and frustratedly, as she continued to writhe around, doing literally anything she could to get the man's hands off her – she had even attempted to kick him, but she wasn't able to do so due to how she was positioned and his tight grip on her, "Get off me, you maniac!"
"You are rather loud, aren't you?" Rufus muttered, having become frustrated with the girl's remarks and moving around, causing him to threaten the girl and the rest of the members in the club, "Well, I wouldn't say anything, because I now have the queen of the deadly sutekh sand-flies-," As he said that, he pressed his enclosed fist closer to her ear, the buzzing becoming more clearer and the girl's eyes widening with shock at the noise, everyone being able to see the pure panic that appeared on her face at the buzzing noise so close to her whilst the man continued, "Which I will put in this pretty, yet loud, girl's ear unless you do exactly what I say. You," He nodded towards Nina Martin, "Give me the cup. You," He glanced over at Fabian Rutter, who sent him an annoyed and disgusted look, "Get the elixir." Upon the pair of them not moving, he boomed out, "Quickly!"
"Do it!" Jerome cried out, devastation yet anger in his tone as he sent a demanding glare to the two who the man had sent his instructions to, not wanting to lose his best friend due to their inability to follow instructions, causing the pair of them to quickly rush to gather the things that Rufus Zeno wanted.
"Don't!" Sydney yelled out at the pair, protesting against the boy, still trying to desperately claw at the arm around her as she shook her head vehemently at Nina and Fabian, "We've been working to do this for months, don't give it him!"
"Shut it! We only have a few minutes!" Rufus sneered, pressing his fist closer to her ear until the buzzing became simply unbearable, causing the prankster to squeeze her eyes together, wincing, before letting out a loud screech upon his fist pressing right against her ear – it was so loud that it made her wonder if the queen was already in her ear.
"Stop it!" Jerome demanded angrily, absolutely despising the sound of his childhood best friend being in pain and agony as he tried to fight against and push past Alfie's arm, which was preventing him from trying to help her.
Hastily, Nina Martin followed demands and passed Rufus Zeno the Cup of Ankh, causing the man to turn to Fabian Rutter, seeing the Elixir of Life – the last ingredient to immortality - in his hands, "Yes, alright, pour it in – all of it; all of it!"
Reluctantly, Fabian Rutter also followed the instructions, thus he removed the cork from the elixir bottle and emptied all of it into the Cup of Ankh, just like Rufus Zeno had ordered him to, and the female prankster winced as he did so, looking at the two members of Sibuna with sympathetic eyes, mouthing an apology to them, which they subtly shook their head at – she owed them nothing, they just wanted her safe.
"I am leaving nothing for those idiots." Rufus mumbled, presumably referring to the secret society as he was about to drink from the Cup of Ankh, until he remembered that Sydney was still in his rather tight hold, so quickly threw her towards Alfie and Jerome.
Fortunately, Alfie Lewis managed to catch the prankster and stop her from falling into something with the arm that he had put out to prevent Jerome Clarke from getting to Rufus Zeno. Then, the blonde-haired male prankster in question instantly engulfed the girl in a hug, bringing her into his chest and holding her close to him, allowing her to hear his racing heartbeat as she breathed heavily, turning her head slightly to watch as Rufus Zeno killed the queen sand-fly and brought the Cup of Ankh to his lips, drinking the elixir.
"Finally, eternity is mine!"
"No!" Someone devastated shouted, causing everyone in the cellar to turn their heads and lay their eyes on their housekeeper entering the cellar, obviously due to having heard the screech of Sydney Anderson, despite him being rather late now – thanks for literally nothing, Victor Rodenmaar.
"Oh, Victor, how lovely to see you." Rufus taunted, his words oozing with sarcasm and malice considering that it most certainly was not a very happy reunion for the pair, "Oh, I'm so sorry." He flipped the Cup of Ankh upside down, shaking it slightly, with not even a single drop falling out of it – he had really drunk all of the Elixir of Life and had left absolutely nothing for the secret society, "There's none left - that's a shame."
As Rufus Zeno opened the door to the incinerator, placing the beloved Cup of Ankh in there, which all of the students had worked extremely hard to find and form, closing the door on it casually, all of the students cried out, "No!"
Coming further into the room of the cellar, Victor Rodenmaar faced the leather-clad man, a look of betrayal plastered on his face as he quizzed his former friend, a broken tone to his voice, "Why, Rufus, why? We could have shared all this - that was our plan."
"No, that was your plan, Victor." Rufus snapped back, not even fazed by how destroyed the man seem as he clarified and corrected him, stepping towards him smugly, continuing with, "I always had other ideas - big ideas that your pathetic little society would never even dream of, and then when I found the true meaning behind the tipping of the scales, well, I decided to go it alone." He explained, before glancing around at the students, scanning them all for a moment or two, before asking, "Is anyone feeling... poorly?"
"Actually," Alfie shakily began, leaning onto the table for support as everyone turned to face him, noticing how he had placed his hand on his stomach, and Sydney's eyes widened in shock and pure fear as the boy mumbled out, "I feel a bit dizzy."
"Alfie." Jerome called out worriedly, releasing his hands from around the female prankster to place a hand on Alfie's shoulder, whilst the blonde girl remained frozen, watching it happen with wide eyes as her best friend collapsed to the ground.
The sound of pained and agonised screeches coming from those whom she loved with a mix of her own thrown in there, although she couldn't really distinguish them properly.
Sydney's knees buckled, and upon the impact of her knees hitting the hard floor – there were probably going to be bruises - she snapped out of her thoughts and crawled over to Alfie, with Amber and Jerome kneeling beside her as the three of them try to help the poor and struggling boy, who was lying on his back, as though he couldn't breathe.
"What's happening?" Victor questioned, turning to Rufus in a demand for answers, considering that he seemed to know the most about the situation.
"The symbolic life force, it isn't symbolic, Victor - it really happens!" Rufus explained, whilst Sydney glanced up at him, hardly being able to make him out due to her vision being distorted by the tears that were streaming down her cheeks, "That boy is going to die," Rufus continued, causing Victor to kneel beside Alfie and quickly check his pulse, "and I-I'm going to live forever!"
"Alfie, buddy, please don't!" Jerome called out to him, his panicked eyes darting between Alfie and Sydney, who looked a complete mess, whilst Rufus stormed out of the cellar, easily managing a quick escape as everyone was occupied with somebody dying.
Briefly, Victor Rodenmaar turned his attention to Sydney Anderson, noticing the tears dripping down her cheeks and knowing that she wouldn't be able to handle another death after her parents – especially seeing it – so, he turned his gaze to Nina for two seconds, "Take her."
Warily and mildly confused at the request (considering she was not aware of what happened to the girl before the term began), the Amercian simply followed the housekeeper's requests and stepped forward, brining Sydney up to her feet and pulling her back, keeping her in a tight hug as they watched Alfie Lewis, hoping that he wouldn't die.
"Guys, listen up," Fabian started, not seeming so worried and, instead, he was simply confused, although the female's mind was completely muddled, practically in shambles, and she couldn't really make much out, phasing in and out of reality and flashbacks.
"Please let him live; I'll do anything." Amber Millington begged, glancing up at Victor Rodenmaar, the man who seemed to know a lot of things considering his extent knowledge about creepy things, in the hope that he'd be able to save Alfie Lewis' life.
"Guys!"
"Anything?" Alfie repeated the word through struggled breaths, looking at his crush with slightly hopeful eyes as he asked, "Like be my girlfriend even?"
"Yes, Alfie, anything!" Amber exclaimed, though... something was... off.
At that, Sydney's eyes narrowed in suspicion, suddenly feeling a little bit calmer as she realised what Alfie Lewis was doing, and that caused her let out a scoff, breaking out of her tight hug with Nina and shaking her head at the incident as she wiped away her tears, rather angry and annoyed at Alfie Lewis and mentally declaring that she'd get him back.
Also noticing what was happening, Jerome Clarke turned away from his roommate and put his full attention to Sydney Anderson, standing up from his position next to Alfie Lewis and walking over to her, taking her from the side of Nina and bringing her into a hug, pressing a kiss against her forehead as he made sure that she was okay and safe in his arms.
"Alfie, you can stop play-acting now." Fabian told their friend who was 'struggling to breathe' on the floor, the nerd seeming to have also worked out what was happening.
However, Nina Martin, yet to realise what was happening, turned to her crush with widened eyes, rather horrified that he'd say such a thing as she snapped at him, "Fabian, you know what happens when someone drinks the elixir from the Cup of Ankh!"
"Except Rufus didn't drink the elixir, did he?"
"What?" Patricia asked confusedly, considering that they had all watched the man drink the Elixir of Life from the Cup of Ankh, and everyone stopped focusing on the supposedly dying Alfie Lewis and turned to face Fabian in shock, wondering what he meant.
"He's not immortal."
"He's not?" Victor Rodenmaar wondered, glancing up at the nerd in confusion and wonder, wanting to know why Rufus Zeno wasn't immortal and how he hadn't drank the elixir – they were missing a piece of the puzzle at that moment in time.
"No." Fabian stated, before he glanced over at the purple-haired member of their group, beginning to explain, "You know your little insurance policy? Having two identical bags, letting Joy look after the pieces." Patricia responded with a yes, allowing him to continue his explanation, telling everyone his genius plan, "I had an insurance policy of my own. I remembered our fake elixir. I borrowed the spare cellar key from Victor's office, threw away the real elixir, and replaced it with the fake one."
Frustrated, Sydney and Jerome sent a very sharp and annoyed glare to their best friend, who was still on the floor but now seemed absolutely fine, and upon seeing their glare, he sent them a cheeky smile whilst the female prankster shook her head. Exasperated, the girl brushed her hair back frustratedly, leaning against Jerome Clarke – she needed a nap.
"You threw it away?" Victor repeated, standing up from the floor as he stared at the nerd in distraught and shock, leaning against the table slightly – honestly, it wouldn't have surprised Sydney if their housekeeper simply passed out from shock right then and there.
"You're a genius, Fabian! I love you!" Nina exclaimed gleefully, throwing her arms around the boy as the pair had humongous grins on their lips and blushes covering their cheeks – it was a cute moment, indeed, and if Sydney wasn't upset about her best friend faking death, she probably would have shared a knowing glance with Amber Millington.
"So, does that mean... Alfie isn't really dying?" Amber questioned, rather confused whilst their housekeeper walked towards the exit of the cellar, clearly distraught over the loss of the elixir and the fact he wouldn't be able to obtain eternal life.
"Does he look dead?" Sydney inquired, putting her hand out to motion towards the boy on the floor, who now had a wide smile on his lips whilst he stayed on the ground, sending a small wave to everyone – his behaviour now completely contrasted how he was acting a few moments ago when he made everybody think that he was dying.
"Don't sound so disappointed." Alfie said to Amber as he stood up from the ground, before turning around to face everyone else with a grin on his lips, defending his actions slightly as he informed them truthgully, "I actually did feel a bit ill for a second."
"Alfie..." Sydney breathed out whilst she shook her head at the boy disappointedly, sending him an annoyance and rage-clouded glare as she instructed him, "Hide every single alien-related thing you own tonight unless you want it burnt."
"Gulp."
"Sydney's right!" Amber exclaimed, supporting her fellow blonde with her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the boy, being rather annoyed whilst she shook her head and she continued with, "Alfie, I was really worried, and worrying causes wrinkles."
And thus, with the Chosen Hour past and their quest all over, the Anubis House residents had made their way back over to the school to enjoy whatever time they had left of their prom. As soon as they entered the room, Mara and Mick had raced up to them, bombarding them with questions about where they had been for the past few hours in which they had come up with absolutely terrible lies, and now the blonde jokesters were leant up against a wall in the corner, watching Amber and Alfie dancing and laughing at Alfie's mistakes.
"You know, I'd never thought I'd say this, but give me prom any day over anymore adventures." Sydney sighed, a faint laugh leaving her lips before she took a sip of her drink, leaving Jerome to chuckle at what she had said, nodding in agreement.
"I think we can both agree to that one." Jerome mumbled, before he took their drinks from her hands and placed them on the side before she even had the time to protest, and he put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer as he warned her, "Please, don't ever try to do stupid heroics again – I almost lost you."
"Hey, you'll never lose me." Sydney assured him gently, sending him a faint but genuine smile as she wrapped her arms around him tightly for a brief hug, until she pulled away and a soft giggle left her lips, "Afterall, where would you be without me, Clarke?"
He laughed, amusedly rolling his eyes, "I don't know, Anderson."
"It's all over now, huh?" Sydney mumbled, mainly to herself as she realised that the quest with Sibuna was over, yet the boy who held her in his arms still overheard her.
"Yeah... it is." Jerome agreed with a small nod, before he glanced around at everyone at prom and laughed once again, speaking up, "So many couples are going to come out of this – Amber agreed to date Alfie, Nina told Fabian that she loves him."
Chuckling faintly, Sydney agreed with him, looking around for the new couples and finding the first one that they had mentioned, and then finding Fabian Rutter, who looked rather anxious, checking his watch constantly, causing her to point to him confusedly, "Speaking of lover boy, he's without Nina. Didn't she come with us after we left the cellar?"
"No clue; I didn't exactly pay attention to her." Jerome informed her, not really paying attention to the words that slipped out of his lips as his eyebrows were furrowed whilst he glanced around for the American, though Sydney Anderson did pay attention to his words.
"That's unusual for you – typically, you're paying attention to everyone." Sydney pointed out to him, her eyebrow quirked up curiously as she watched him whilst the pair of them began to make their way over to Fabian Rutter, where the rest of the Anubis House residents (minus Nina Martin) had seemed to gather around.
"Yeah, well, I've been paying attention to someone else tonight." Jerome mumbled, his voice quite faint – if she had been any further away, she wouldn't have heard him.
Before Sydney Anderson was able to question who it was, the pair had successfully made their way to the group filled with Anubis House residents, and Fabian Rutter turned to the pair of blondes with wide eyes and a panicked and rather anxious expression as he asked, "Have you seen Nina?"
"Yeah, she's about this tall, messy hair-." Jerome started, causing the nerd to roll his eyes whilst the other blonde prankster chuckled, continuing for the boy like the dream team that they were.
"-American, has a locket, and probably swooning over a certain British nerd called Fabian Rutter." Sydney added with a teasing smile on her lips, nudging the nerd and causing him to erupt with a small blush, before the blonde-haired girl became serious, asking him with narrowed eyes, "I thought she came with us to prom? Did she stay at the house?"
"Yeah, she said she'd come here later." Fabian revealed, yet there was no sign of her.
"Whilst you find the American, I'm going to speak to Alfie." Jerome announced, squeezing Sydney's hand lightly and sending her a smile before he walked off to his best friend, tearing him away from Amber Millington (who honestly seemed kind of thankful).
"Dude! Did you have to take me away from Amber? I've just finally got somewhere with her! We're dating! Girlfriend and boyfriend! Amber and Alfie! Alfie and Amber!" Alfie ranted enthusiastically, clearly excited and happy about the situation, causing the blonde boy to let out a chuckle before his roommate continued, "Wow, I got a girlfriend before you – that's sad, man, and you always said that I struggled with girls."
"Oh, be quiet! I haven't been trying to get with someone in a while!" Jerome defended himself, though that only added fuel to the fire, causing Alfie to raised his eyebrows teasingly and suspiciously whilst a similar smirk fell on his lips.
"Oh yeah, why's that?" Alfie asked, and just as the blonde boy went to speak, he was cut off, "Wait, let me guess: a certain blonde prankster who you've known for most of your life and have a crush on but don't admit it."
"Alfie."
"Dude, it's so obvious!" Alfie cried out desperately, waving his hands around frantically as he asked the boy, "Did you not see yourself earlier?! You almost cried when Rufus took her; I thought you were going to rip my arm off, man!"
Fortunately for Jerome Clarke, before he could speak, Amber Millington caught everyone's attention up on the stage, where her voice was amplified by a microphone, "Okay, listen up, guys! So, I've decided it's time to announce our prom king and queen. We haven't actually had a chance to vote, so I get to choose."
At that, a groan echoed through the room whilst a few people rolled their eyes, expecting for the blonde to choose herself as it was her dream to be prom queen – there's a reason they called her Prom Queen Millington.
"So, without further ado, the prom king is Fabian Rutter!" Amber announced, causing Sydney to let out a small gasp of surprise, before clapping for the boy as he went up on the stage, looking surprised as well, before Amber continued her announcement, "and the prom queen is Nina Martin!"
A shocked smile on her lips, Nina - who had actually turned up - joined Fabian on the thrones on the stage, the pair of them putting the crowns on their head whilst Sydney and Amber shared a knowing look with one another. Then, Sydney glanced back at the pair on the thrones and smiled at the two of them, thinking that the choice of prom king and queen was absolutely perfect.
"You know, if you told me that Fabian Rutter would be our prom king at the start of this year, I would have laughed." Jerome muttered, walking up to the girl as a slow song began playing through the speakers, with the fashionista on the stage forcing the prom king and queen to get up and dance despite how red their faces are.
"Oh, but if I told you that we'd have been dragged into a search quest for a cup of immortality hidden several years ago after being stolen from King Tut's tomb and that we'd be threatened with death, you would have found it normal?" Sydney asked, quirking an eyebrow up at him as the pair laughed, realising that a lot of things had been weird that term, and a lot of unexpected things had happened.
"Okay, you make a fair point; a lot of unexpected things have happened this year, so let me make something expected happen." Jerome spoke, sounding a little bit nervous and causing the female prankster to look at him in confusion, before noticing he had his hand out towards her, "May I have this dance?"
Not being able to stop the bright smile forming on her lips, Sydney Anderson placed her hand in his as he pulled her further into him, the pair of them laughing as the girl nodded, telling him, "Well, I guess we have to show Mick that we're still better than him."
With a chuckle, Jerome gave a small nod as agreement to her words before he gently set his hands on Sydney's waist – he was always gentle with her - whilst her arms found its way around his neck, the pair of them getting lost in one another and finding the way they held each other and danced with one another natural and comfortable as they watched each other, huge smiles plastered on their lips.
"You know, you have really pretty eyes." Sydney mumbled, her face instantly becoming red as the words slipped out of her mouth, causing her to lower her face and hide it – those were meant to be her thoughts, not her actual words.
"Mhm, you're really pretty." Jerome responded, his voice almost in a whisper so that nobody else was able to hear those word – Sydney thought that if she was even a centimetre away from him, she wouldn't have heard it.
"Oh, you think so?" Sydney teased, her eyebrow quirking up challengingly and causing him to roll his eyes at her amusedly as she laughed, before she told him, "You know, I'm glad I have you in my life - and that I can't remember a time without you in my life."
"Me too, Syd."
Apparently, they had been so consumed with one another that they had missed the start of Fabian and Nina kissing, only realising what was happening as cheers and applauds broke out in the room and made the pair of blondes tear their attention away from one another and glance over to the stage to see the cute couple kissing one another, before they turned around, noticing the clapping, and laughed.
"God, they're adorable; I could be sick." Sydney mumbled jokingly, turning back to face Jerome as he laughed once again – it seemed like that's all they did around one another, and the female prankster loved it, and loved his smile, "You should smile like that more."
"What about my 'oh-so important' reputation?" Jerome asked teasingly, knowing that he liked to keep his mask on and let nobody see who he truly was – it was a defence mechanism, one that he enjoyed and felt safe with, though he had noticed it slightly crumbling down over the past few days – though, only slight.
At that, Sydney Anderson laughed, a genuine and humongous smile on her lips (there was also a hint of teasing among the many emotions her smile reflected) as she shrugged nonchalantly, the boy's statement having proved her own point and her using it against him as she retorted, "Exactly. What about it?"
And with that, Jerome Clarke let out a loud laugh, amusedly shaking his head at the girl as he twirled her around under his arm and brought her closer to him as the two of them giggled boisterously, and the male pretended as though he didn't notice how happy he felt when he was with her or how... peculiar... he felt.
And, that night, they both smiled.
They both didn't wear their masks.
They were both genuinely happy.
With one another.
▲▼▲
[12.06.2020]
NOTE: SEASON ONE IS OVER!!!
now, one choice i want to address here is the choice to have rufus use sydney as a hostage instead of amber and sort of explain why i did that (some of you may not care, but some of you might). when i've been doing this story, i've thought a lot about how the directors, producers, and writers would have written sydney anderson if she was a genuine character in the show (which is also the reason why there's no swearing in the book and stuff like that - in the first draft, there was a few swear words, but when editing i took them out). i debated on this decision for a long time and switched between having it be amber who gets held hostage, having rufus switch it part-way from amber to sydney due to something sydney would have said that annoyed him, having sydney do a heroic move to rescue amber halfway through but then that resulted in her getting caught, to just having her do the heroic move at the beginning of her capture. i decided to have sydney to be used as a hostage instead of amber because that is, truly, her character - she's impulsive a lot of the time, and thinks after she's already done the action. in addition to that, she is practically best friends with amber by the end of this season and would do her best to protect her, even if that meant putting herself at risk. in addition, she is also close to everyone in that room and i felt as though it was a better fit than amber. of course, amber was close to nina, fabian, patricia, and alfie due to sibuna, and everyone in that room cared for her and didn't want her to die. however, she was never shown to have much of a friendship with jerome or joy in s1. sydney, however, is close with all the members of sibuna, alfie is her best friend, jerome is her future boyfriend, and she was shown to be friends with joy in the first episode - i felt as though choosing sydney would have been a better choice as it reflects her personality, shows how much her friendship with amber has grown through the season, and also hits each and every single character in that room.
also, if you want to ask any questions about any decisions i make during this book (e.g: why did i decide to have sydney and jerome wait so long to become an official couple?, etc) or want to know the writing process (e.g: what was sydney like in the first draft?, etc), please just ask because i love talking about it.
to answer those questions, by the way:
1. why did i decide to have sydney and jerome wait so long to become an official couple?
there are MANY reasons for this decision. for a starter, i love slow burns and really want to show the progression from friends to lovers and i think it makes the end a lot more rewarding.
secondly, i think it fits both of their characters a lot - sydney is scared of change and things moving too fast after the death of her parents, and she's also never kissed anyone or had a boyfriend so she doesn't really know what love is. jerome doesn't want to lose sydney - she's been a safe constant in his life when the rest of it was ruins. also, right now, neither of them actually have realised they're in love with one another (i have the scenes planned out for when they realise for both of them, so yes, you will know for definite when they realise).
in addition to this, they have been acting like this for their entire life and literally know no different - the feelings that they're having are normal for them, so they can't tell something is wrong with them because it's normal. as somebody who has had a friendship turn into a relationship, i didn't even realise that my feelings were changing until it hit me one day.
furthermore, (i told you there were several reasons), if this couple was actually in the show and sydney existed, i feel like they'd be the couple that the producers/writers would have pushed a lot and tried to drag out for as long as possible to keep the audience interested, as they'd want to know if they actually got together at some point.
also, here's a perfect time for me to add a note that i really do strongly consider about the producers/writers and how they would have done stuff in order to get the best views/ratings, and how they would have planned things - so, just think about that, i guess.
2. what was sydney like in the first draft?
SO INCONSISTENT. i remember that the description said that she was kind and welcoming (much like who she is now), but then she was threatening people and was always angry at everyone. initially, she never became close friends with sibuna so her only friends were jerome and alfie, really. she didn't even have that many scenes with alfie at first, so it was hardly shown that they were friends, and she actually found amber annoying and never became close to her and she had an ongoing rivalry with mick. as you can tell, she's changed a lot and i love the sydney anderson who i have presented to you all, and she only gets better in s2 (perhaps that involves her mental heath getting better too, which i'm super excited about because mental health is so important and needs to be talked about more and i wanted to show that in denouement - there's a whole speech about it that i love).
anyways,
we're now moving onto my favourite season, season two, and this means we get so much more content that you can tell i'm very much excited for! season two has many scenes i'm excited for - the first kiss that i have hyped up since like day one, them getting together, etc. it also shows the friendships we already love growing - sydney and alfie are perhaps my favourite friendship in season two, and i think it's the best of them. also, sydney, amber, and nina only grow stronger (perhaps due to a room change, spoiler alert).
there's also new characters! there's the introduction of the rest of the clarke family, meaning we actually see sydney and poppy interact in person rather than through texts (the best future sister-in-laws, i swear). and we also see sydney and jerome's father (you already know he ships it). we also get eddie miller, who i'm excited to write about. then, we get damian cyrus (bet y'all forgot about him - you may want to look at the cast list again but there's an edit of him and sydney below), who i'm super excited to bring in. season two also is the place where i've connected many very small details from season one into it, which i'll put at the end of the chapter when there is one.
edit of sydney and damian:
in this chapter, i actually referenced something from episode one (which you may have noticed). when fabian asks jerome and sydney if they've seen nina, they reply with basically the same thing that they said when patricia asked them if they saw joy in episode/chapter one (but obviously adjusted to fit nina).
thank you for all the support!
season two starts sunday!
i love you! x