So I originally wasn't going to post this story until I completed it because I have a horrible habit of not finishing stories. However, I noticed that the HOA fanfiction community is becoming less active so I decided to post the first chapter to see how people respond to it. Also, I must note that I honestly know very little about Egyptian mythology, and therefor everything about it in this story is made up. Also, I wrote this first chapter back in 2013 I believe, so the logic might not seem very plausible. Please bear with me, I promise it gets better in later chapters!
Sibuna = Nina, Eddie, Fabian, Alfie, Amber, and Patricia
Joy and Jerome are sometimes honorary members, but not full time.
Also, for the sake of the plot (and to make it easier) the year is 2014, and it is March.
A/N IMPORTANT- So, I started writing this almost three years ago. I stopped writing it for a long time and finally got back to it. I had a bunch written before I stopped though, so rather than rewrite everything I'm going to use what I already had and add on from there. Ten points to whoever can guess where I stopped writing and then resumed three years later.
Warnings for this chapter:
Nina and Eddie are thrown for a loop when they discover a shocking secret about their destiny together.
"The time is near. The next ruler of Egypt will soon be here."
Nina woke up with a start. These words had been chanted in her mind, over and over again until she had finally managed to leave her dreamscape. Senkhara had only been gone two days, and she was already hearing strange voices again.
Nina groaned when she realized that Amber was already gone. If Amber was up already, that meant that Nina was the last one to wake up, which meant she would attract a world of attention to her when she joined the others at the table.
Nina was prompt in her attempts to get dressed and do her hair. There were still two weeks until the end of the school year, and Nina didn't want to leave looking like a mess.
After taming her wild bedhead hair, Nina grabbed her bag and headed downstairs.
"The next ruler is upon us," Another strange voice hissed. Nina had to stop herself from screaming. She was hoping it was just a dream, a side effect of Senkhara. But Nina knew that hearing voices during the daytime was not a side effect of anything. It meant that something was going to happen. Something bad.
Nina walked cautiously into the dining room. Her earlier guess was correct. Every other member of Anubis had already taken their place at the table, leaving Nina's seat as the only vacant one.
"We need to talk," Nina muttered to Eddie, who was sitting at the end of the table, opposite where Nina usually sat.
"Right now?" Eddie asked, looking down at his plateful of food.
"Yes," Nina said. Eddie seemed to take the hint, because he pushed his plate away from himself and stood up. Nina and Eddie exited the dining room, leaving the rest of the teens confused.
"I wonder what that's about," Fabian noted, slightly jealous that Nina chose to talk to Eddie instead of him.
Nina led Eddie to the Frobisher library. Her conversation topic would most likely lead to some quick pre-school researching.
"So what's up?" Eddie asked.
"I had a dream last night," Nina stated.
"So? Doesn't everyone?" Eddie questioned.
Nina rolled her eyes. "Part of being a part of all of this Egyptian stuff includes having dreams that actually mean something."
"So what happened in your dream?"
"I didn't see anything. I just heard a voice, a woman's voice. She kept on saying "The time is near. The next ruler of Egypt will soon be here." And then I woke up, thinking it was just some weird Senkhara dream. But I heard the same voice again when I was walking downstairs."
"Whoa," Was all Eddie could say. He had only been a part of Sibuna for two days. Creepy voices were a bit much.
"Since you are the Osirian, I was wondering if you had any weird dreams," Nina asked.
Eddie shook his head. "No. Ever since I banished Senkhara, I've been pretty dead in the magic zone."
"Well, now is usually the time when we raid the library for answers," Nina informed the American boy, who groaned in response.
"Great. I didn't know being a part of your Scooby club meant doing extra homework," Eddie mumbled, reaching for a book on the shelf beside him. Nina followed suit, grabbing a dusty blue book. She cracked open the spine and was met with a cloud of dust in her face.
One hour and no results later, Nina nearly jumped out of her skin as Eddie exclaimed, "It's already 8 o'clock!"
"We've been here for an hour?" Nina panicked. "I promised Mr. Sweet that I wouldn't be late for the rest of school!"
"Well we are already half an hour late so I wouldn't bet on that," Eddie said. Nina shot him a quick death stare before quickly placing the books she had read back in their respective spots. The duo quickly grabbed their book bags and started running towards the school.
"So does being part of Sibuna mean I am going to miss more school?" Eddie asked while they were running. "Because I'm totally okay with that."
Nina chose to ignore Eddie's attempts to justify his missed school hours. After a few minutes, Eddie and Nina reached the door to their first period classroom. Lucky for them, it was the class taught by Mr. Sweet.
"So what's our cover story?" Nina asked.
"We were making out and lost track of time?" Eddie suggested, a smirk on his face. Nina scoffed and took this opportunity to whack Eddie with a book. "Okay, bad idea."
"Sorry to remind you, but you are dating Patricia. She would kill you if you cheated on her," Nina said.
"Let's just go in. I'll take the fall," Eddie offered. "My dad is still trying to get me to forgive him for, well, everything. Detention won't help his case."
Nina nodded, grateful to catch a break for once. Maybe having Eddie in Sibuna wouldn't be so bad after all. Eddie opened the door to the science classroom. Immediately all attention was turned towards the two late American students.
"I see you two finally decided to grace us with your presence!" Mr. Sweet scolded. "Do you care to explain yourselves?"
"It was my fault," Eddie said, almost as if he were testing his father's patience. "I needed her help and we lost track of time."
"Alright, just don't be late again, or there will be consequences," Mr. Sweet promised. Eddie smirked and saluted his father, causing the class to giggle. Nina scanned the classroom for open seats. The seat next to Fabian had been filled by Mick, who was sitting in on lessons until he returned to Australia. The only open seats were at an empty lab station near the back of the classroom. Nina and Eddie quickly went to the empty lab station and pulled out their textbooks.
Nina jumped as she felt her phone buzzing.
Did something happen? Fabian had texted her.
Tell the others to meet in my room after school. Nina responded. She looked up at Fabian, who had a worried look on his face. Fabian then turned to Patricia and whispered something in her ear, before having Patricia pass on the message to Amber.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"So what is this about?" Patricia asked. The Sibuna members had all gathered in Nina's room to hear what she and Eddie had to say.
"I had a vision," Nina answered. This caused the group to groan.
"I thought we were done with creepy spirit visions!" Amber exclaimed.
"What was your vision about," Fabian asked his girlfriend.
"It was just a voice. It said "The next ruler of Egypt will soon be here"." Nina recited.
"But that's impossible," Fabian responded. "The monarchy of Eqypt ended over 60 years ago. Even if one of the old royal family had a child, they would never be a ruler."
"Unless they don't mean the physical world," Alfie injected. "What if it means the next ruler of the Eqyptian gods?"
Everyone was silent. Could it be that it was time for Osiris to step down for another?
"But wouldn't he just have one of his own sons be king?" Fabian said. "Why would he need a new heir?"
"Maybe he needs someone to influence," Amber spoke up. "Like, a protégé. Someone he can mold into his idea of a king. Osiris already has sons, but they are too old and independent to be influenced by Osiris."
"Amber, that's actually… a really good guess," Eddie said.
"But if that's true, we might have a civil war on our hands," Nina added. "I'm sure that Osiris's eldest son expects to be king. A fight between gods and goddesses won't end well."
"I think it's time to hit the library," Fabian said, wearing his signature smile on his face when the group were about to break curfew.
Four hours and no sleep later, Nina and Amber quietly tiptoed out of their shared bedroom. It was midnight, and Victor would have gone to bed a while ago. Nina cringed as a piece of wood squeaked beneath Amber's feet. They both looked up at Victor's office, but sure enough the light did not flicker on. Taking a deep breath, they continued down the stairs. Fabian and Eddie were already waiting in the foyer. Alfie's door cracked open, and seconds later Alfie snuck out of his door, closing it quietly so he did not wake his roommate. Patricia arrived last, sneaking down the stairs quickly but carefully.
"Okay, let's go," Nina whispered. She held up her right hand to her eye. "Sibuna."
The rest of the group followed suit before walking into the kitchen. Nina pressed her locket into the key, causing the old oven to slide open.
Once they had successfully navigated through the tunnels until they reached the secret door to the library, the group split off to cover more ground.
"It's so empty now that the exhibit is gone," Amber noted. Nina muttered her agreement. After half an hour of searching, Alfie's fingers grazed over a green leather-bound book. What caused him to stop was a small tear at the binding. Alfie carefully thumbed the tear before taking it in two fingers and ripping a piece off. Sure enough, the true title to the book was hidden behind a fake pseudonym.
"The Future of Egypt," Alfie mumbled, grabbing the book from its place. Louder, he announced. "Guys, I think I found something."
Alfie rushed to the middle of the room, where Jasper's desk still stood.
"The future of Egypt," Nina said. Nina carefully opened the book, swatting away the cloud of dust released. "This book dates back to the 1800s."
"There is no author name," Fabian noted, clearly confused. "How can a book be published without an author?"
"Why was the real name hidden under a false one?" Alfie countered. "This book was obviously meant to stay well hidden."
Nina turned the page, eager to start reading. She skimmed the first page. "This is only talking about the physical world and the Egyptian monarchy."
Fabian noticed a small change of color in the book's second half. He quickly turned to the middle page and started skimming. "This talks about the gods."
Nina and Eddie exchanged glances. This could be what they were looking for.
"Is there anything about the next ruler?" Patricia asked.
"I don't know yet. I've only read one out of three hundred pages," Fabian began rapidly turning pages, reading a word here and there. Twenty pages later, Fabian's eyes focused. He read something, mouthing the words. He stopped suddenly, then looked up at Eddie, giving him a glare.
"What does it say?" Nina asked.
"The line of rulers is not hereditary. Father does not pass down the throne to son. Instead, the ruler picks the offspring of powerful mortals to be brought into the kingdom and become a god."
"So Osiris's sons know that they will not be the rulers," Nina sighed in relief. "Does it say who this ruler will be?"
"The King is only allowed to rule for ten millennia. The current reign will end in 2030."
"That's in 16 years!" Patricia gasped.
"In order for a new monarch to take over, the successor must be at least 16 years of human age."
"So the next ruler is going to be born this year," Nina realized.
"The stars have determined that the next ruler will be born of the bloodline of the High Priestess Amneris, and will have the gift of Osiris, like his father." Fabian then closed the book, pursing his lips together tightly.
"What does that mean?" Amber asked.
"The chosen one is a direct descendant of Amneris. The Osirian has Osiris's gift," Fabian stated. "Nina and Eddie are the parents of the next ruler."