It's ridiculously early to be updating -1:05 a.m. to be exact -but tomorrow -well. today really- my sis is getting married and I want to post House of Wedding next week, so enjoy this middle of the night update! This is also the final chapter. You guys have been fantastic readers that I think the world of. Thank you for reading my first ever story, and enjoy Chapter 21: House of Re-Prom.

Chapter twenty-one: House of Re-Prom

Nina

"Amber!" I laughed. "That looks almost exactly like my prom dress!"

"That's the idea, Nina," she said, holding the black ensemble up to me. "The theme is Re-Prom, so you have to wear something like your old prom dress."

It was the day after we stopped Senkarah, the day after Osiris tried to offer Eddie and me immortality, the last day of the Anubis House reunion. I wasn't looking forward to the end of the reunion, but I knew I couldn't stay forever, even though I wanted to.

I sighed. "There's no way out of this, is there?"

Amber laughed. "Nope! Now let me do your makeup. You're still horrible at it. Promise me you'll call me to help with your wedding, okay? I don't want you looking bad when you walk down the aisle."

After rolling my eyes, I promised. She wouldn't shut up unless I gave her what she wanted. I went to the bathroom and slipped the dress on. It was a black, knee-length gown, made of tulle and satin, but that's where the resemblance to my prom dress ended. The neckline was much lower than my other dress, and instead of long-sleeves there were straps. On the center of the dress, where the tulle and the satin met, there was a glittery belt of purple going around the dress. I walked out of the bathroom, embarrassed out of my mind.

Amber squealed when she saw me. "You look amazing! Now let me fix your hair." For the next hour, Amber fought with my hair to keep it under control. She finally got it to behave, even styling it into a wavy curtain behind my back. Then she moved onto my makeup. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy during the application.

When Amber was done, she turned me around to face the mirror. I loved what she had done with the makeup. She had applied a shimmery pink gloss onto my lips, and a sparkly purple eye shadow over my eyelids. Amber finished the look with a hint of glittery blush across my cheeks. While glitter and sparkles weren't my normal thing, I had to admit I looked good. Amber then asked me how she looked.

I hadn't noticed, but while I was looking at my reflection Amber had done her own makeup. She went all out with the glitter, so much so that even her mascara had silver flecks in it. She looked great, but she still looked like Amber. Her dress was almost the exact one she had for prom, but there was a difference. This dress was strapless, whereas the other one had one sleeve, the other side bare. Amber looked amazing.

When she decided we were done, she let me go outside our room. We walked down the hall, through the door, and down the stairs. I saw a few guys standing around the base of the steps, all of them in tuxes. I laughed as I saw Alfie with Kelly, trying to show her a last-minute magic trick.

She dogged him as he pulled a bouquet of fake flowers out of his sleeve. She was obviously used to Alfie's pranks if she knew the flowers were dangerous. I had learned the hard way they were full of water, ready to spray.

Then I caught sight of Fabian.

He looked amazing in his solid black tux, and I was shocked when I saw he had on a purple tie. I knew Amber probably made him wear it. When he saw me his eyes lit up, his face morphing into an expression of delight and shock. Why was he surprised? Did I look bad? Amber laughed when she saw my concerned expression.

"He thinks you look wonderful," she whispered to me, descending the staircase and walking over to Jerome. He looked nice as well, but Fabian had the other guys beat.

"Hey, Fabian," I said with a smile as I was about to step off the stairs.

"Nina," he acknowledged, holding out his hand to help me. I took his hand with grace, what little I could muster up. I was still ungraceful, much to Amber's annoyance.

When we got to the school, Amber surprised us with the decorations. She had everything exactly the way it had been that night, right down to the banner over the stage, the words 'King' and 'Queen' written on it in huge purple letters. I looked over at Eddie, who was looking around in wonder.

"Not how I pictured it," he said, making us all laugh. Once we were all inside, Amber turned on the music, to which most everyone danced.

Fabian and I stood at the edge of the room, holding each other's hand. Now that Senkarah was gone again, and we were sure she was never coming back, we were just staying in the background. I liked being able to see everyone having fun, but I wasn't about to join them on the dance floor. Fabian, it seemed, wasn't about to, either.

After about an hour after the dance started, Amber walked onto stage. She tapped the microphone, releasing a loud squeal that hurt everyone's ears. After the noise faded, she smiled at the group.

"Well, everyone," she smiled, "we're back! I can't tell you how happy I am to be here, but I want you to know this has been the best week I've had in a long time. Now, onto the Re-Prom King and Queen." Amber held up an envelope, which supposedly had the results inside. Once she opened the letter, she squealed, deafening us yet again.

"The Re-Prom king is . . ." she said slowly "Fabian Rutter!"

Fabian walked slowly up onto the stage, sitting down on the gold-painted chair under the 'King' side of the banner. Amber handed him a plastic, gold-colored crown, which he put on, the rim pushing his hair back a little.

Amber continued reading the results, squealing yet again. "The Re-Prom Queen is . . . Nina Martin!"

I blushed as I walked up on the stage, looking at the other residents of Anubis House. They were cheering for me and Fabian, which shocked me. We weren't exactly the couple Amber and Jerome were, or even Patricia and Eddie.

Amber handed me a tiara made of gold plastic, which I placed on my head, hoping I didn't look stupid. I sat down on the chair under the 'Queen' side of the banner, right next to Fabian. He smiled sheepishly at me and mouthed 'Sorry.' I laughed. What did he have to be sorry for? We were just two grown people getting elected as the Re-Prom court. Nothing weird about that at all.

The music started playing again, and, just like the last prom, Amber mouthed 'dance you two.' Fabian and I stood awkwardly, me placing my arms around his neck, him placing his hands on my waist. We swayed to the music for a little while, until I finally spoke up.

"That was embarrassing," I laughed.

Fabian laughed back. "Yeah . . . very."

I laughed again, realizing this was the same conversation we had last time we were in this situation. Fabian looked at me, happiness and hope in his eyes.

"Nina," he began. "You look–"

"I look ridiculous," I finished, reciting what I had said over ten years ago. Fabian laughed.

"We've had this conversation before, Nina. I was going to say beautiful."

I smiled. "Why did you just call me beautiful? Is it because this is Re-Prom and you want it to be just like last time, or is it because you actually mean it?"

Fabian laughed, a smile lighting his face. ""I mean it. You look beautiful, Nina."

We swayed to the music for a little while longer, just dancing, before Fabian spoke up.

"So, why didn't you accept immortal life? You'd never age, never die. You'd look this way forever," he said. "Why would you turn that down?"

"Because forever isn't forever without the ones you love," I said. "And I'm not spending forever without you."

What I didn't know was that while I was speaking, Amber had accidentally turned on the microphone, so everyone heard what I had said. I blushed as all of the girls said "Awwwww" and all of the guys just smiled at Fabian and I. Eddie sent me a wink that meant "Good line."

I watched as he turned to Patricia, and I could tell what he was saying. I was getting really good at reading lips.

"I feel the same way about you," he whispered to her. "I didn't want to spend forever knowing I had left you behind. I couldn't do that. I love you."

Patricia smiled and grabbed him in a hug, and everyone in the room laughed. Patricia was still as heartfelt as a cactus, but she had her moments. Once the 'awwwww's were out of the way, Amber made us all sit down in chairs on the floor, meaning she needed Fabian and Jerome to take the king and queen chairs off the stage.

"Now," she said when we were all sitting, "I know you're wondering what's going on, because this definitely didn't happen last time, but bear with me. I've made a little video for us, which you'll all get a copy of at the end of the dance." She popped a disk into a computer that was set up in front of the stage, which was hooked up to a projector. Once she had everything set up, Amber hit play.

Everyone laughed at the first picture on the video. It was one we had taken on graduation day, the one where the guys were dipping their girlfriends like we were all dancing, which I think was Amber's point. Fabian and I looked ridiculous, but I like the picture. It was funny and light-hearted, just like everyone at the house.

The video went through several different pictures, each portraying a different Anubis resident, both in school and now. Everyone seemed to be liking the video, myself included. Then my picture was next. Oh joy.

Fabian

Nina's pictures were up next. I saw the look in her eyes when I glanced over at her and I had to bite back a laugh. She looked like she wanted to say sarcastically "Oh joy" and pull the plug from the projector. I grasped her hand, meeting her eyes. She saw the look of calmness in mine, which I hoped would make her calm down as well.

The pictures finally came up onscreen, showing the girl I fell in love with. In her past photo, she was a teenager with no idea how her life would turn out, but she looked confident and ready to meet life head on. The second picture, the now photo, showed much the same thing. Nina still looked ready to take life and make what she wanted out of it, but she had a smile that said she knew what she was doing and she wasn't afraid to show it.

I smiled as the rest of the comparison pictures played. Everyone looked so different now, something I hadn't noticed when I saw them a week ago. Amber had the next set of photos as past and now couples. Her and Alfie were up first, separating into her-Jerome and Alfie-Kelly. Next was Jerome and Mara, with no now picture after it. Mara was still single, and she already had an Amber-Jerome picture.

Next was Eddie and Patricia's turn. We all laughed when we saw the past photo. It was the one of Eddie pretending to drop Patricia, and the now one was the retake they had made the first day of the reunion.

Last was Nina's and my picture. The first one was of us hugging after graduation, when Amber had shoved us together, and the second one was of us after I had just gotten Nina out of the chamber underneath the school. I'd had no idea that Amber had taken that picture. In it, I looked kind and happy, but it was Nina who looked amazing. Her hair had fallen just so over her shoulder, making it look deliberate. Her eyes were full of gratitude and relief, her face portraying overwhelming joy. The only thing that made the picture less-than-perfect was the tip of the Mark of Anubis on Nina's arm, which you could see because her sleeve was rolled up just a little.

I heard Mara whisper to Jerome "I didn't know Nina had a tattoo." I almost laughed. I wanted to tell her she didn't, but I knew she wouldn't believe me.

The pictures went on to show our jobs, which Amber had posed us for. Again, the photos were in alphabetical order. Alfie was holding a microphone in his hand while smirking at the camera, a banner in the background stating that "Alfie Alfredo" was performing.

Amber was holding a camera in her picture, aiming it right at the camera taking her picture. I could tell she had spent a while posing herself just right. Eddie was sitting Frobisher's study for his photo, which shocked me. Not everyone knew about the study. In the photo, Eddie was pretending to type on his computer while giving a concentrated-proud look at the screen.

In my picture, I was standing half-inside one of the sarcophagi in the hall, a joyful look on my face, as though I had just found something important. For his photo, Jerome was standing in a class room, a business suit on. He looked lawyer-y, what with the stern look on his face and the way he held himself. Mara was in front of a different class room, the board behind her filled with complex math equations.

Patricia was standing in front of an easel for her job photo, holding a paintbrush and one of those paint-holder-things. She was giving the canvas a kind-yet-determined look, as though she could paint the picture with her will. I had to say, for our resident Goth pixie, Patricia was a good artist.

Nina's picture captured the spirit she had while she worked. She had a pen behind her ear, and she was giving her computer such a concentrated look that I was almost shocked the thing wasn't quivering in terror. There was a small tape recorder on the table beside her, something she uses in all of her interviews. I knew that my Nina was the one who posed herself in the photo. She was too Nina in the picture not to have. I could tell from the look on Amber's face that I was right.

The last picture on the video surprised me. Just before the picture showed up on screen, in huge pink letters the words "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" were written. The picture was of Nina and me again, this time of when Amber had me re-propose so she could get a picture. I wasn't much to look at in the picture, though. I was just on my knee holding a ring over Nina's finger.

Nina was what the photo was centered around. She was almost crying, her eyes sparkling like the diamond on her finger with unshed tears. I knew she was happy, not sad, and that the tears were from the overwhelming feeling we had both felt.

She was beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, amazing, wonderful, special, and many other things I couldn't even begin to say. But most of all, Nina was mine, and that wasn't going to change. I felt like the luckiest person on earth when I looked over at her and saw her smile. Nina was smiling at me, and I was always going to love her for that.

After the video was over, everyone congratulated Amber on her work. She had spent every free moment in the last three days working on finishing the video for us, and it showed. Once everyone had calmed down, Amber stood on stage.

"Time for one last dance!" she announced. "Would the king and queen please come up here for the last dance?"

I laughed at the shocked look on Nina's face when Amber said that. She had honestly thought Amber had forgotten we were the king and queen? I knew the blonde would use any excuse to get us together in public, even if she had to use force like she did at graduation.

Once Nina and I were on stage again, we put our arms around each other and danced to the music. I was happier than I had been in a long time, especially over the last week. We had been through more than our fair share of troubles in the last week, but the mysteries were what made Anubis House, well, Anubis House. I knew we needed a little near-death situation to make the reunion like the old days. After a few more minutes of dancing, I spoke up.

"What did you think of the last picture?" I asked.

Nina laughed. "It was beautiful. I think I'm gonna ask Amber if she'll print it out so we can keep it."

I smiled. "I was thinking the same thing. So, when shall we invite everyone to the big day?"

"No time like the present. We're not immortal, you know," Nina joked, reaching for the microphone. "Can I have your attention?" she said into the small speaker. "We have an announcement! We would like all of you to come to our wedding next month! We'll hand out the invitations after the dance if anyone wants to come. Thank you."

She placed the microphone back onto the stand. When everyone calmed down again, we went back to dancing. I had no idea what the song was, but it sounded like the one we had first danced to at prom. I promised myself to ask Amber what the song was called so I could get it for the wedding.

After an hour more, it was time to leave the stage and the dance floor. I could tell no one wanted the reunion to be over, but I had one last surprise announcement for everyone.

I rushed over to the microphone and turned it on, shocking everyone. They all knew how I felt about talking in front of a lot of people. When I gave my little speech, I knew there were at least two people, maybe three, who were completely confused.

"I just wanted to say that I missed you guys over the last decade. I missed my fellow Sibunas and the mysteries we solved. College didn't feel like school to me because there were no life-threatening challenges we had to overcome as a group. I know our time as Sibuna is over, but I am glad I was able to share one last mystery with you all. Sibuna!" I ended, placing my right hand over my right eye.

Alfie, Amber, Patricia, Eddie, and, of course, Nina copied my motion, shouting "SIBUNA!" I laughed at Mara and Kelly's completely confused expressions and Jerome's slightly confused one. He knew about Sibuna, but he didn't know about the recent mystery.

"Come on," I said as we were leaving, "let's go. The Sibuna reunion has come to an end."

Nina laughed. "Once a Sibuna, always a Sibuna. I'm never going to forget our time here, not even if I forget everything else."

Eddie

We walked back to the house, everyone following Nina and Fabian. Alfie and I laughed when we heard Mara and Kelly both asking Patricia "What's Sibuna?"

"It's not you," she sneered. "We don't accept more than one geek or fashion queen at a time, thank you."

"Well, if you're going to be rude," Kelly said walking away, pulling Mara along. I laughed at them, wondering if they would ever know the truth. Probably not, I decided as we opened the door to the house.

When my hand brushed the door, I was pulled into a vision, my last vision.

"Sibuna?" a little girl asked, looking up at Patricia. "What's Sibuna?"

Patricia smiled. "Well, Sibuna was a club that was started by Aunt Nina when she was in school. We solved mysteries and saved the world every term for years, and once more when we went for a reunion eight years ago."

"What was this?" the little girl asked, holding her hand over her eye.

Patricia laughed. "That was our signal, our sign. It meant Sibuna." Patricia copied the girl's movement. "We would use it at the end of our meetings."

"Cool!" the little girl said. I watched as the door opened and Nina and Fabian walked through, a different little girl in front of them. The two children ran off, yelling "Sibuna" as loud as they could, holding their hands in front of their right eye.

Nina laughed, coming over to give me a hug. "They're so cute, aren't they, Osirian?"

I had no idea what to say, but my voice worked anyway. "Yeah, they are. I'm so glad our kids get along."

"Me too," Fabian said. "And Tori doesn't like anyone."

"It's because she knows who she's playing with," Nina said. "She's playing with the daughter of the greatest Osirian ever."

Patricia laughed. "Hey, you have a husband. Don't try to steal mine."

I smiled at her words. Patricia and I were married and we had a little girl. Nina and Fabian had a little girl, too. This was the perfect life, the best life anyone could ask for.

I smiled as the house blossomed into view. In eight years we would be okay, and I would be married to the love of my life. It would be the perfect life. I saw Patricia look over at me, seeing the smile on my face.

"What?" she asked, grabbing my hand.

"I had a vision," I said.

"What was it about?" Nina and Patricia demanded at the same time. I laughed.

"Us," I told them. "You two, Fabian, and me. We were all happy and we were still close to each other. Patricia was explaining to a little girl about Sibuna and Nina and Fabian came in with another little girl. It was perfect." I smiled again.

Nina made a small sound of elation and hugged Fabian, who seemed surprised but pleased all the same. Patricia turned to me, a question in her eyes.

"So did you mean what you said earlier? About why you gave up immortality?" she asked.

I smiled at her. "Yeah, I did. I love you, Patricia, and I don't ever want to have to leave you. I want the future I saw with you, and I want you to be happy for the rest of your life."

Instead of answering, Patricia kissed me, which was a huge shock. I could tell she was thrilled and delighted, which wasn't something she was very often. I kissed her back, and we stood there for what seemed like forever, overjoyed and ecstatic about our probable happy future.

Third Person POV

The old residents of Anubis House were so glad they had come to the reunion, even the ones who had their lives threatened so many times over the week. Not all of them had a perfect view of their future, but even so, none of them worried about what might come. The future was for tomorrow, not for today. The Sibunas knew that while their adventures might have been over, that didn't mean that future generations wouldn't have any mysteries to solve to save the world. Everyone went down separate paths, but one thing stayed the same. Anubis House would always have a spot in their hearts.

Always.

*sniffles* Crap, it's over. I loved writing this story, though at times it seemed impossible –this is the first multiple-chapter story I have ever finished writing –but with the nice reviews you guys posted, I knew I had to make it through this.

But never fear, dear readers, for I have the sequel coming shortly. Just look for it next week under my profile. It's gonna be called House of Wedding, and the cover photo will be the dress you guys chose for Nina. (I couldn't figure out how to put a link or something to the picture, so this is all you'll get. Sorry.)

Just remember, dear readers, that YOU have made this story possible. Love ya lots and thanks for reading!

~C