---
The next morning, Patricia decided it was time to introduce Piper to the whole of Anubis house, considering it was now out that she was there.
Scarlett was sat down at the table, ready to eat when the pair entered the dining room.
"You're probably wondering who this is. Meet Piper," she introduced.
"Oh, now it makes sense," Alfie spoke.
"Piper, I want to say thank you for helping me study," Scarlett told as the girl sat next to her.
"No problem, Scar."
Scarlett watched as Eddie conversed with Piper, she frowned, wondering what they were talking about. She thought nothing of it as she continued to grab what she needed from her locker. She met with the rest of Sibuna in the student lounge, ready to discuss the latest task.
"There are more than twice as many symbols on Victor's charts as there are on the chamber wall," Fabian informed.
Nina turned her focus from Fabian's laptop to Fabian, "And still nothing from the Dollhouse. We're this close to the master chamber, And Victor's going to beat us to the punch."
"Now, look, we have as many clues as he has. And you're not seriously suggesting he's smarter than we are," Fabian comforted.
"Luckier than us, though. You've got to admit," Patricia voiced.
"You got that right," Scarlett muttered.
"But still, none of that means anything without his amulet, we have got to get it off him," Nina instructed.
---
Scarlett rushed into class, taking her seat. She turned to Eddie.
"Hi," she greeted.
"Oh hey," he grumbled.
"You're still mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you. It's just- you know what? Yeah, I am still mad at you," he answered. "Why sugarcoat it?"
"I didn't invite them there, Patricia invited herself," she defended.
"Well, I'm happy you don't like Tchaikovsky and still want to make Sweetie's life difficult," he voiced.
She smiled, "Good because that isn't going to stop. I left my petition and proposal for a safe space on his desk this morning. Besides, it took everything in me not to mention the primarily male list of composers and authors he asked me about."
"Now you're back."
He smiled at her as she turned to face the front as Mr Sweet walked in.
"Quiet! I have an announcement," Mr Sweet announced. "Patricia," he beckoned. She stood by the door. "Patricia's sister, Piper, Will be joining us for a short time."
Patricia looked less than happy with it all.
"Now, I think Piper will be a real asset. To the school during her stay, So I'd like you all to give her a very warm welcome," he finished.
Once school had finished, Victor rounded up the entire Anubis house, lining them up along the dining room table. It was then that Patricia stormed in, yelling at Piper about the rubbish music rooms before accusing her of trying to take over her life and school. Scarlett sighed. She didn't understand how Patricia felt, having no siblings, but she felt bad for her nonetheless.
"Patricia, would you be kind enough to join us, please?" Victor questioned. "Piper, you are excused."
"Gustav Ziestack is visiting tomorrow, And we're throwing a dinner here in his honour, and I need volunteers for service," Vera told.
Nina raised her arm, sending pointed looks to Patricia, Scarlett and Amber. They all raised their hands.
"And entertainment," Vera added.
"Uh, I play a little guitar," Fabian revealed.
"Good. Good. Anyone else?" Vera asked.
"Scarlett can sing," Amber blurted.
Scarlett's eyes widened, "I'd rather just be a waitress, thanks."
"I can do magic," Alfie informed, taking the attention away from Scarlett, much to her delight. Everyone stared at him before he began doing a trick. "Yeah, Amber, what's that behind your ear?" He pulled a coin from behind her ear before he made it disappear.
"Bravo," Vera laughed.
"Go Alfie," Scarlett cheered, clapping her hand.
"Victor, perhaps Alfie should top the bill."
Victor agreed to Vera's suggestion. Anubis house began to disperse, Sibuna all going to Nina, Amber and Scarlett's room.
"You do magic?" Amber questioned.
"You're starting to regret breaking up with me now, aren't you?" Alfie replied.
"Please, and FYI, you're welcome to Patricia number two," Amber retorted.
"Alfie, you haven't done it in years. Remember that rabbit he tried to 'disappear' Before it bred out of control in Victor's rose garden?" Fabian voiced.
"I did get Bilbo back, but I could never really be sure it was her," Alfie reminisced.
"Guys, a table magician uses objects. From the audience, right? Right?" He asked. There were murmurs of agreement. "Yeah. I can just do the old.Disappearing amulet trick on Victor. Fabian, give me your watch."
Fabian began to argue before handing over his watch.
"Why, thank you." Alfie began the magic trick, wrapping it up in a piece of fabric. He paused the trick, making Amber move to Nina's bed with everyone else. "Now watch. See? Now I've swapped it with the fake one. Now, the next bit is theatre." He took of his shoe and began hitting the fabric holding the watch, ignoring Fabian's pleas for him to stop.
"Relax. Relax. It's just magic. Observe." Alfie then pulled the fabric up, revealing a very broken watch.
"My calculator watch," Fabian cried, picking up the broken pieces.
"It was a calculator watch," Scarlett laughed.
"I know I can do it. It's just a straight swap," he insisted.
"Okay, Alfie, we're desperate here, so we'll let you do the disappearing act to the amulet, but no smashing," Nina agreed.
"And practice," Fabian yelled.
---
Later that night Sibuna was back down in the tunnels, much to Scarlett's dismay. Sure, she didn't want to die but she also wanted a decent nights sleep for once.
"Woah, it is extra dark in here," Patricia commented.
"Um, the suns Rays aren't being reflected right now, so that's moonlight," Fabian explained.
Nina moved to the wall with the zodiac on it, leaning against it, "Why does the zodiac in Victor's notebook have more than twice as many symbols?"
"Well, look. This is the symbol for mirror, and since one of the reflectors is a mirror, I just assumed that all the reflectors would be mirrors or made of glass or something like that," Fabian explained.
"So you need another clue to narrow it down," Nina summed up.
"Well, I mean, look one clue for mirror," Fabian replied, pointing to the image on his phone.
Nina pointed to the image too, "Mirror. Right opposite the clue for music. So, it's the mirror in the music box."
Amber nodded, "So it's two symbols per clue.
"Well, one down, six to go, guys."
Behind Nina, Senkhara appeared.
"Then I suggest you hurry, child. Men have crossed the great white desert at greater speed," she taunted, leaning towards Nina. "Watch the timepiece."
"Look, just leave her alone," Fabian yelled after she disappeared.
"No offence, Fabian, but you're yelling at thin air right now," Scarlett commented. She noticed how scared Nina seemed and quickly grasped her arm in an attempt to comfort her.
"Fourteen symbols, two per reflector," Nina repeated. "Facing each other. One is useless without the other."
"Nina, come on. Let's get back up, yeah?" Fabian suggested.
They went to leave.
"Nina, you're glowing," Amber exclaimed.
Nina shrugged, "Thanks."
"As pretty as you are Nina, she means your locket," Scarlett added.
"Oh." Nina began walking back and forth. "But what for?"
"Look, it's getting dimmer," Alfie told as she walked backwards.
"Now it's getting brighter," Patricia spoke.
"There. That crack," Alfie pointed out.
"It's a door," Nina said.
"But I thought-" Amber began.
Nina's eyes fell on a slightly circular indent on the wall, "Look. There's a special lock." She put her locket in it. Nothing happened. "My locket doesn't open this. An amulet does." Nina tried her amulet nothing.
Amber smiled in excitement, "Maybe it's mine. Maybe I'm the chosen two." Nothing happened as she placed her amulet in the indent. "Not even a door recognizes my talent?"
"Wait," Fabian instructed as he began wiping away dust in the hole. "It's the ibis. Who has the ibis?"
Everyone checked their amulet and nothing.
"None of us do. The amulet that opens this door is Victor's," Nina revealed.
---
Once again, Sibuna had a meeting, this time over breakfast as they were all up before the rest of those in the house. Scarlett was nursing a cup of coffee as she picked at a croissant.
"Another door. We need that amulet now more than ever," Fabian stated.
"Okay, let's go over the plan," Alfie began. "Okay, I take the fake amulet and place it up my sleeve. Then I take the real amulet from Victor and wrap it in a handkerchief. Then I take off my shoe and smash it." There was a pause before Alfie continued. "Don't worry, that bit's an illusion. While Victor's panicking, I do a switch and give him the fake amulet in one piece. While Victor thinks he's got the real amulet, he hasn't, because the amazing Alfredo has kept the real McCoy."
"No. No, just do a- just do a standard switch, please Alfie," Fabian requested.
"Look, why don't you just take the real one, make it disappear, swap it, and hand over the fake? Victor's happy, Gustav's happy, and we have our amulet back," Nina suggested.
"Yeah, if you want to be boring," Alfie scoffed.
"Oh sorry, what time is it?" Fabian questioned, holding out his bare wrist.
Alfie rolled his eyes as he fake laughed.
"Stop being a baby, Fabian," Scarlett joked.
---
Scarlett walked into the student lounge as Patricia had a go at Piper. She watched the argument for a second before she made a U-turn, letting the twins work it out themselves.
"Jedward," she greeted as he approached the student lounge. "Don't want to go in there Patricia and Piper are working out their twin differences."
She linked arms with him, leading him to one of the empty classrooms that they could use for studying.
"What are we doing in here?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I'm going to study, you do whatever you do," she answered, pulling out her Biology revision cards.
"You're no fun."
"You're a dick," she retorted.
"Hey!"
"Don't be a dick and I won't call you a dick," she laughed.
---
Patricia and Scarlett had been put on chef duty. They weren't allowed to serve due to them both 'having an issue with authority' or something. Scarlett hadn't been listening. She placed some of the food down as Vera finished setting up the cutlery.
"I thought we were doing cutlery, not structural engineering," Amber commented.
"Imagine what old Gusty would say if he saw a misplaced fork," Patricia spoke, pushing one out of place.
"Anarchy," Amber laughed.
"Hear that? That's the sound of a revolution," Scarlett joked.
Scarlett watched as Jerome entered the living room and began snooping around.
"Uh Jerome, what are you doing?" Amber questioned.
"Nothing. No, nothing at all. Nothing," he lied, before rushing off.
The evening began and Fabian was playing the guitar. Scarlett yawned, hiding it by ducking away from the kitchen window into the dining room.
Scarlett began handing out the deserts. Gustav seemed disappointed as she placed a slice of cake in front of him. He wanted Vera's cake. She scoffed quietly, typical. She wanted to say something but her boyfriend's dad was there and she didn't want to ruin the evening.
Soon, Alfie began his magic trick and managed to get the amulet from Victor. Scarlett watched on as he talked everyone through the trick. Then he took of his shoe.
"For-"
Patricia placed her hand over her mouth as they watched him smash his shoe on the table. Then he revealed the amulet was broken.
"It's up his sleeve, surely," Gustav theorised as Alfie tried to explain himself.
"Yes, Mr Amazing Alfredo. Perhaps you would like to remove your jacket."
"No, I- um- a magician never reveals his secrets," Alfie argued.
"Give me your jacket," Victor demanded.
"But I promise you, there's nothing up my sleeve," Alfie insisted before a blue cloth, his handkerchief fell out of his sleeve.
Victor lunged for it, only for Alfie to step on it. There was a crack.
Victor put the cloth on the table, revealing another broken amulet. There was a tense silence after Alfie tried to apologise. It was broken by Gustav laughing hysterically.
"Victor, you ruined this poor lad's trick."
"Leave us," Victor ordered.
Sibuna left. rushing to Nina's room.
"Alfie, I can't believe you ruined our only chance at getting through that hidden door," Nina yelled.
Scarlett watched Alfie, noticing how calm he seemed, there was no way he broke the real amulet.
"What's the matter, Nina? Don't you believe in magic?" He asked as he pulled the real amulet from his sleeve.
"Why did you do that?" Amber sought.
Alfie shrugged, "Well, I couldn't do a standard disappearing trick. He'd always assume we had it. I had to make him believe it was destroyed."
"You didn't think to share?" Patricia spoke up.
"I needed your reactions if he was ever gonna buy it," Alfie explained.
Fabian couldn't believe he actually pulled it off, "But how?"
"Okay, I knew I needed two smashed amulets to fool everyone. So I took the fake amulet, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and put it up my sleeve. I then made a decoy amulet out of clay, I dropped the decoy from my sleeve, picked up Victor's real amulet, placed it into the trick pouch, finally dropped the decoy amulet into the handkerchief, And that's the one I smashed with my shoe. After I showed Victor the broken clay pieces, I just took the real amulet out of the trick pouch and slipped it in my pocket. But I had to make sure Victor saw two broken amulets, so I deliberately dropped our fake amulet on the floor and stamped on it, so he couldn't get a closer look at it. But the real one was safe the whole time."
Nina pulled him into a hug, spinning him as they did so. She stopped abruptly.
"Guys, the dollhouse, it's been moved," she told. "Someone's been in here."
Fabian looked to Nina, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, Nina's right. Someone's moved it away from the wall," Scarlett informed.
"Maybe you should lock it up to be on the safe side," Fabian suggested.
"Yeah. This is one thing we cannot let Victor get his hands on," she agreed.
Word Count
[2443]