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Needless to say, our bedroom that night was full of tension. Patricia and I couldn't find anything to say to Mara except convincing her not to go to the police because they'd never believe any of us, and after we did that, none of us said a word. I'm sure Mara spent most of the night staring at the ceiling and contemplating everything.
Seriously, though, I have no idea how she lasted this long without finding out about it all. I guess the fact that she didn't know until now is why she's valedictorian and not Fabian, who probably would've been a shoo-in had he not spent the last couple years with us trying to solve ancient Egyptian mysteries left to us by a renowned Egyptologist who later turned him into a sinner because surprise! Robert Frobisher-Smythe is alive and currently living in Egypt with Harriet Denby.
Well, I assume he's still alive. She hasn't sent us, like, a condolence card yet, so I'm pretty sure he's still over there. If only we had a way to contact him, he might be able to help us find out where the pyramid pieces are so we can stop Victor from finding them for whatever reason he wants them for.
Which, by the way, I'm still not convinced is because he wants Ra's gold. That particular motive just does not fit with what we know about him. He wanted the Cup of Ankh for the elixir of life. He wanted the Mask of Anubis for the elixir of life. He wanted to bring Frobisher out of his decades-long coma for the elixir of life. Unless the Pyramid of Ra has some extra things in its lore about the elixir, I can't see what motivation Victor has for wanting to build it.
Especially if it requires a human sacrifice. Victor's tried to sabotage us, yes, but to the best of my memory, the only time he's deliberately tried to murder us is when he was turned into a sinner and planted that blade down in the cellar to prevent us from getting to the secret room. It would've killed Eddie if we hadn't pulled him back. I just can't see him sacrificing a human being—the only guy I can realistically see him sacrificing is kind of dead, so...
So the question here is: What other use, except for building the Pyramid of Ra, would the touchstone have for Victor?
Well, anyway, we're due back at school to take our class photo together. Joy, Jerome, and Willow are in charge of the graduation festivities, which, at first, is kind of a confusing team to put together, but makes sense when you think about it. Well, Joy and Jerome, anyways. I wouldn't have expected Willow to volunteer. All we're doing right now is waiting for the photographer to show up so we can take this photo and get it over with.
"Hey," Eddie says, interrupting my conversation with Patricia as he leans between us, "how's Mara after last night?"
"We convinced her not to go to the police," Patricia answers.
I add, "But she hasn't spoken to us since."
He sighs heavily. "Well, she's not going to the cops, which is good. But even though we have the touchstone and it's safe from Victor, we only have today and tomorrow to find those pyramid pieces so he doesn't find them, so any idea where those might be on the grounds?"
"As far as I can tell," I respond, "there's nothing in Lily's diary to give us a clue. But the house talks to us, so maybe we'll get a clue before we run out of time. You filled Alfie in on everything, right?" Eddie nods. "And then we have Sophia—"
"—who is a temp," Patricia sharply interrupts. "We won't even keep her in when this is over."
"We're leaving in a few days," Eddie reminds her. "It's probably best the next generation of Sibunas knows what they're getting into with the house. We're just showing her the ropes and who knows, she might be able to help."
Before I get a chance to interject in their impending argument (I see Patricia's jealousy issues still haven't gone away, even though they were what got her captured as a sinner a few months ago), Jerome's question to Willow interrupts, "And where's the photographer you booked?"
Willow exclaims, "Right here!" Non-Anubis students groan; Anubis students share glances. Eddie pats our shoulders before returning to the boys' end of the photo. How is Willow supposed to be our photographer when she's meant to be in the photo and I don't see a tripod anywhere in the lounge? "I have spent the last three summers photographing fairies. Surely I can manage a photo of my classmates."
The camera shutter clicks and flashes, causing Jerome to overdramatically yell, "Ah, I'm blind!"
I roll my eyes at his exaggerating his temporary loss of vision (which is barely a loss!), smiling still. But Willow's taking our class photograph and I have no idea how she expects to pull it off.
"It's gonna be wonderful," Willow states to us. "You all look fabulous."
"Um, Willow," I say, "I don't see a tripod anywhere. How are you supposed to take our photo when you're meant to be in it?"
KT elbows me as Mara and Joy come in, deep in conversation. She might be asking about Sibuna, which would be the most she's said to anyone since last night. Willow answers me, "Don't fret, Ashley. I've a wonderful idea."
And she sets the camera carefully on the back of the sofa in the room. The uneven, rounded sofa back. Well, at least if it falls, it'll land on the cushions and not the floor.
"I'm more than happy to set up a makeshift stand," I volunteer. "That doesn't look particularly stable."
"Don't be silly, Ashley," says Willow again. "It's very stable." I mumble under my breath, not believing her. Willow looks at Mara and Joy, ushering them onto the stage. "Hi, guys, come on. Get on the stage, you're late." With the camera set up, everyone adjusts their clothes and hair as Willow quickly takes hers. "Everybody, say 'squee!'"
So everyone does, although horribly unenthusiastic, and just as I suspected—the camera falls off the back of the sofa. The flash goes off as we reach forward, like that'll help, and our squees turn to brief screams.
Well... that might be a very unflattering photo. I love it already.
—
At Eddie's suggestion, I brought my regular clothes to school this morning so I could change out of my uniform and into them here instead of back at the house. That way, we won't have to wait for one or more of us to get changed before we launch right into Sibuna stuff with the touchstone. So I followed my fellow female Sibunas into the girls' changing room to swap out one outfit for another but I was the first one to finish changing, so with the time I have before Sibuna meets outside to go back to the house together, I figured I'd take what's left in my locker out.
But in leaving the changing room, I run straight into Mara, who apparently had the same idea Eddie did; she's carrying a stack of her own clothes in her hand. "Mara!" I say, stepping in front of the entrance before she can sneak past me. "Look, um, about last night—"
"I get it, Ashley," interrupts Mara. "I talked to Joy about your Sabina-Sibuna thing."
"What'd she tell you?"
"Enough. She said that it all kind of started because of her, that time she left school, but you rarely brought her in on things because it was too dangerous, which is why I wasn't supposed to know at all. And I still don't understand, but that's..." She inhales deeply, her eyes closing briefly. "...okay. But one thing I did figure out is Sibuna is Anubis backwards."
I smile lightly, remembering the day our little secret society, as Mara put it, was named. "Yeah, Amber's invention. She was a founding member, along with Nina, Fabian, and me. Look, I'll—if you want to know anything," I tell her sincerely, "just ask me, all right? But really, I think the only thing you should focus on right now is your valedictorian speech. We're expecting you to blow us all away, Mara."
She lets out a quiet chuckle. "Well... I'll try. And I might take you up on that, so be ready."
"I was born ready," I state the cheesy phrase, winking at her before leaving her. I walk through the halls before I finally come across the ones with the Anubis lockers, slowing down as I come to mine.
We were allowed to decorate both the outside and the inside so long as it was appropriate, so my first year here, I peppered mine with stickers of things that interest me—the ocean and things related to it, some stickers I found online of various well-known art pieces and ones that weren't as well known. After we got Sibuna going, I added some stickers inspired by Egyptian mythology—ankhs, the Eye of Horus, et cetera.
The inside of my locker is far more personal, though. All of my books have already been turned in, so the shelves are bare, just like they were when I was first assigned this locker. But on the inside door, a dozen photographs still there, all packed together and overlapping each other to the point where you couldn't even see the turquoise paint of the metal. I take each down one by one, remembering the moment they were taken.
One from my first year here—Alfie managed to get Jerome and me to stop arguing long enough to get a picture of the three of us, though he and I are still glaring at each other in it while Alfie grins at the camera, stuck in the middle and his arms around our shoulders. Another—a photo of Sibuna taken at the prom when all was said and done; it was just the six of us, no one else. One of me and my sister at her wedding, her white dress and my blue one pristine. One of me and Eddie taken by Mr. Sweet when I was staying with them while my sister was on her honeymoon. A selfie of KT and myself she posted on her Instagram with the caption So Ash and I are kind of distantly related?! Love this girl! A photo of Amber, Nina, and me we originally struggled to take because we couldn't successfully get all three of us in the frame with one of us holding the camera; fortunately, Fabian stepped in and took it for us, so none of us were cut off in it.
One of Jerome I snapped when he wasn't looking over holiday. Another of the two of us just together, a candid taken earlier this year. Alfie and me with Patricia photobombing us and making bunny ears using her fingers. Eddie, KT, and me, this one taken by Trudy. A photograph from Mick's going away party last year. And finally, one of Lily Henry and Sarah Frobisher-Smythe as children. That one's actually a photograph of a photograph; Nina had the same one in her locker when she was here. Trudy saw us with that one once and asked why we had photoshopped our young selves into the same photo. Explaining that it wasn't actually us and was in fact the daughter of the man who built Anubis House and my great-grandmother was a bit difficult.
With all of the photographs stacked in my hand, I close my locker, jumping when I realize someone's beside it staring at me. Alfie, whose eyebrows are furrowed and his arms are crossed. "Alfie, what are you doing?"
"I've been thinking—"
"Should we be scared?"
"About the newbies."
"So we should be scared."
Alfie tilts his head. "No. I was thinking, they're us! The original us. Well, the original you. The original Sibuna."
I frown. "What?"
"Well, look at them," Alfie remarks, throwing his hands in the air. "Erin's obviously Nina, 'cause she's got that super obvious but shy crush on Dexter, and that means Dexter is Fabian." I nod, trying to follow along with his logic. I thought Dexter was more like Alfie than Fabian. "And Cassie's Amber, I mean, that one's obvious. And Sophia is you! My and Patricia's counterparts haven't arrived yet, obviously."
Slowly, I respond, "I'm nothing like Sophia. And, uh, I'd be more likely to label Dexter as the new you rather than the new Fabian. Where is your logic coming from?"
"Common sense."
"Of which you have none, apparently. Come on, we gotta begin our final Sibuna mystery!"