Amber XVII
Sunday afternoon found Amber and Nina hanging out in the living room. When suddenly Victor and Vera ordered everyone in for a meeting.
"Sorry Victor" called Nina, "What is all this about?".
"Yeah, Alfie and I have homework to ignore" sassed Jerome.
"Sit down all of you and be quiet!" snapped Victor. Liliana was the last to enter and there were no seats left. Seeing Victor's angry glare the girl darted over to her boys and sat on Jerome's lap. While it was clearly not the intention of the other girl at the moment it was hilarious for Amber to see Mara's blood boiling at the other blonde's actions.
"This arrived today, the recipient is a mystery" explained Vera holding up a rectangular package. "The contents though are not. Pet food" Oh no! That must be the stuff for the goose!
"The rules are very clear. Pets are strictly prohibited at Anubis house. If one of you is found to be harboring one the consequences will be most severe. Now Vera will chaperone you here, while I conduct a thorough search of the entire house. Starting with the upstairs!". With that he stormed out of the room to try and find the goose. They were so screwed.
All of Sibuna was on edge but especially the goose conspirators. Sitting forward Amber leaned over to the goose group, "Where is it?" she whispered.
Jerome leaned towards Alfie and casually asked "Remind me. We left the goose on the bed in plain sight, correct?".
"Yeah" bemoaned her boyfriend.
"Good, because for a minute there I was worried that Victor wouldn't find him" the taller boy snapped back.
Before Amber could continue the goose conversation, Nina signaled for all the Sibuna club member's attention. "This is really bad".
"I know," agreed Fabian.
Trying to lighten the mood Amber regaled the group with her latest bit of charity work, "What if Victor finds out I adopted a giant panda? I can't get thrown out of school!?".
"I don't think that's the kind of pet that Victor's all that worried about Amber" rebuked Fabian clearly not in the mood for jokes.
Nina was eyeing the goose crew who looked like they might be sick at any moment. "I meant, what if he finds the spare amulet? Where is Patricia, she should be here to help us plan".
"Oh yeah, that would be way worse… And I think she went out with Eddie after their detention".
"Yeah. Eddie stopped in to pick up some football equipment. Apparently, they were hanging out this afternoon but it's almost dinner time and they should have been back…" added Fabian.
Tensions continued to rise as the group waited for Victor to report back. It was decided amongst the goose crew that the other Sibunas, under Amber and Lili's lead, would create a distraction so that Alfie and Jerome could sneak out and try and problem solve the goose issue. Finally Victor returned to the living room. Signaling the other girls Amber led the charge over to the grumpy caretaker. "Victor! Can we go get some of our schoolbooks?" asked Nina grabbing his sleeve to keep him in the room.
"No. No, you heard what I said…"
"Yeah, but no offense, this is boring" whined Amber. Of course now is when Patricia and Eddie return to the house sweaty and covered in dirt. Chancing a glance over her shoulder Amber saw that Alfie and Jerome had successfully sneaked out of the room. Now they just had to stall for as long as they could.
"Please, just one trashy magazine" begged Nina.
"Can we change out our schoolbooks at least?" asked Liliana as Victor looked like he was to leave and continue searching. "We've already finished what homework we had with us…"
As the girls got louder and louder with their requests, Victor's face turned a deep purple "Quiet!" he yelled, shocking everyone into silence.
"I am sure that it will be fine Victor" interceded Vera as she laid a hand on the man's chest. Ugh! Old evil people love, yuck! "After all, their room has already been searched, hasn't it?".
Clearly Vera had a significant amount of sway as Victor cleared his throat and gruffly allowed them to go upstairs, "Very well, but make it quick". Having been given the all clear the Sibunas, minus the goose crew and Fabian, made a break for Nina and Amber's room.
Slamming open their door Nina yelled for Amber to check the doll house. Pulling out the secret drawer hidden in the bottom, Amber breathed a deep sigh of relief as she saw the amulet lying innocently in the center of the drawer.
"It's still here, thank the gods!" sighed Nina. Closing the drawer the girls headed back downstairs with their school supplies.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Back in the dining room Amber tried to focus on her English paper. Alfie and Jerome were still in their room hopefully distracting Victor from the hidden goose. Patricia had freaked out a few minutes ago and was currently arguing with Vera while she tried to leave. Amber wanted to help but Joy was making her way over to Fabian, it was time to see if the boy took her advice.
"Look let's just get it out of the way;" started Joy. "The ball, our kiss". Fabian turned an interesting shade of red, "I'm sorry about that, okay? It was a bit sneaky of me". Amber rolled her eyes; it was super sneaky and not at all cool! She violated his consent and that is not ok.
Fabian looked uncomfortable and tried to respond, hopefully to explain his feelings. "Joy, I don't think…"
She cut him off though, "It's only because I like you. You know that, right? We were headed for a relationship last year and I just want us to pick up where we left off. Do you think that there is ever a chance of us hanging out like we used to, just a little more date-like?".
Amber held her breath, this was the perfect opportunity for Fabian to put her advice into practice. He seemed to realize this too as he was clearly pondering the right words to use. "Maybe?" he squeaked out. Amber's head hit the table with a thump. She could faintly hear Joy's excited chatter! That dumb boy!
Her moping was interrupted though as Vera shouted, "Victor come quick Patricia has left the house". Why couldn't anything go right for them today?
Victor chased her outside, but he returned a few minutes later without her. "The search is complete" he announced. "You may return to your rooms".
Gathering her school supplies Amber headed back upstairs, a text from Alfie revealed that they had successfully retrieved the package and they would have a gem fresh from the goose within a few hours. Smiling Amber put her phone away and began to work on a skirt to fill an order for Glitz and Glam.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
It was decided that the Sibuna Crew would meet up after pin drop to attempt the spider web test. Jerome was going to stay with the goose, while Liliana was hanging out with Poppy, so it would be the core five Sibunas only tonight. Patricia had been acting kind of weird, but Amber didn't have long to worry about it since Fabian had dragged her away to his room in order to complain about Joy.
"Amber! Your advice about Joy is not working. Like at all!" he whined.
Internally rolling her eyes, Amber put on her poker face and settled in a long evening. "Interesting. If it isn't working, it clearly wasn't my advice. But I guess it is time to pull out the big guns".
"Immigration!"
"No dummy!" Amber replied lightly cuffing him. "Ignore her. While totally immature, it seems perfect for you! It's kinder in the long run. Faced with a total lack of response anyone would give up".
"First of all, Ow! Second, isn't that how you and Alfie got together?" Ok, fair. But there was a lot more that led into her relationship with Alfie. This definitely wouldn't lead to the formation of Jabian, well hopefully.
"Then I guess I am the perfect person to show you the basics then". Standing up she directed Fabian to stand in the middle of the room.
"So, Ignoring for Dummies. Just pretend I'm Joy. Don't you dare react to anything I say". Taking a deep breath Amber centered herself and began in the most obnoxious voice she could summon. "Hi Fabes! Remember when we were BFFs and we did blah at that place with the blah? So anyway I love you." Fabian turned to her with a shocked face.
"Don't look at me!" once he was facing forward again, Amber continued. "I'm way better girlfriend material that Nina. For a start, I'm not cursed, not American, and I don't smell of books".
"That's not very nice!"
"This isn't even the hard stuff! How are you going to cope if you make her cry? I'm serious Fabian. She's good. You go in unprepared; you'll never make it out alive". Since this clearly wasn't working, Amber decided to switch tactics. If there was one thing that annoyed Fabian beyond belief, it was when she acted like an airhead. "Ok. Let's start at the beginning. Forget the roleplay. Just ignore me, Amber, whatever I say. Ready?"
Fabian nodded shakily and Amber smirked. This boy had no idea the storm that was coming for him. "Why read books? If they're that good, they'll make a movie out of it. If you had a computer big enough, could you explode the internet?" He was shaking but Amber had to give the boy props for not breaking. She had the perfect kill shot though, and in the name of their friendship she was going to use it. "The wheel, the steam engine, electricity, are all insignificant inventions in comparison to the fake tan". The whimper he let out was music to Amber's ears, but his eyes remained fixed on the clock across the room. Happy with Fabian's progress Amber called it quits for the night as she had other things to do before pin drop and Sibuna's nightly hijinks.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Standing in front of the beam in the tunnels, Amber couldn't help but appreciate the craftsmanship and skill of the Frobisher-Smythes. There was no doubt in her mind that they had gone insane in their later years, but that didn't stop them from being geniuses. Moving out of the way Amber and Alfie waited while Nina and Fabian had their amulets checked. Finally it was Patricia's turn, Amber watched confused as the beam flashed blinding the dark-haired girl.
"Guys I can't see! I can't see!" why is she blind? She had an amulet. The Sibuna Crew quickly ushered the blinded girl back into the secret study.
"It's horrible isn't it" commented Amber after Patricia took a seat. "Totally blind. Bat blind. Three blind mice blind".
"Do you think there is a time limit on them?" worried Fabian. "Maybe that's why the spirit keeps telling us to watch the time piece?".
"But ours worked fine" rebuffed Alfie from his place next to Amber. "They're all the same, aren't they?".
"No" revealed Patricia. "Mine's… well mine's the spare".
"What do you mean Patricia?" pressed Nina.
"I lost my amulet ok?" cried a defensive Patricia. "I'm sorry! So I took the spare from the doll house".
"What if Victor gets his hands on it?" worried Nina.
"I know! I'm so so sorry"
"Where did you lose it?" asked Alfie as he started to pace the room.
"I don't know!"
"It's okay. Let's just get you upstairs" decided Nina.
"No, I'll be okay. You guys go."
"Patricia, I'm not leaving you!" argued Nina. It was nice to see how far their relationship had progressed, but now was not the time for either of their stubbornness.
"I promise, I'll be fine" responded the blinded girl.
"Only if you're sure" negotiated Nina.
"I'm sure" Patricia agreed. "Please just go already!"
The group, especially Amber having been in Patricia's shoes, didn't feel great about leaving her behind but they had a task to complete and a mask to find. Heading back into the tunnels once again they made their way to the web test.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Looking at the crazy array of poisoned wires that stood between the Sibunas and their prize. It was decided that Fabian and Alfie would try to reach the hanging hooks as they were the best web-walkers.
Giving Alfie's hand a squeeze Amber wished him luck as Nina outlined the mission, "Okay, so remember, nice and slow. There is no need to rush. You guys have plenty of time to reach the hooks, please don't make any fast or foolish movements".
"And be sure to not step on any of the threads!" Amber added playing with her amulet. "We will be here to guide you if you need us".
"Slow" breathed out Fabian.
"Yeah… threads" agreed Alfie letting go of her hand.
"We've got it" muttered Fabian and started into the web. Amber gasped each time they moved within the webbing. But minute by minute, and inch by inch the pair made their way towards their goal. Amber could hear Nina shouting instructions to Fabian, but she was too focused on directing Alfie to really process what she was saying.
Watching Alfie's progress, Amber suddenly noticed that he was going to trip over a yellow wire, one of the two they didn't know the consequences of touching. "Yellow one! Yellow one! Your leg! Over it, put your leg over it Alfie!" he shifted and just barely avoided it. Unfortunately as he corrected, he was in danger of hitting another wire, "Silver one Alfie! Alfie your head's about to hit the silver one" she shrieked.
And then they were both in the clear, "You did it! Good Job!" declared Nina with a huge sigh of relief.
"So what do you see happening with the hooks?" asked Amber.
"There is a silver one here by me" called Fabian.
"Yellow here and a red hook closer to the door" added Alfie.
"What about the gigantic spider?" questioned Amber, not really wanting an answer.
"It doesn't seem to go anywhere" volunteered Fabian.
"So that must mean we put something in it" concluded Nina. The sound of rapid footsteps caught the attention of the group. Whirling around Amber saw Patricia hurrying her way towards them.
"Patricia what are you doing here?" scolded Alfie.
"there's someone in the tunnel! We've got to hide!"
"Who is it?" wondered Amber.
"She can't see, remember?" reminded Nina, reaching out to grab Patricia's hand and brought her closer to the group.
"There is nowhere to hide" argued Alfie looking around franticly.
"Okay, guys, forget that whole thing I said about going slowly. Just get back here as quick as you can!" decided Nina.
Once the boys were safely back the group broke into a run while looking for possible hiding places. Reaching the bridge Fabian called out for them to stop. "We can hide in the Tunnel of Doom! Whoever is chasing Patricia shouldn't be able to find us there.
The group quickly filed into the tunnel with Amber and Alfie entering last as to be in the least claustrophobic space. It seemed that they were just in time since a few seconds later they heard footsteps approaching. Alfie's elbow was in her face and she was sure that her feet were in Patricia's. The Sibuna crew held their breath as they waited for the footsteps to return. Amber jolted in fear as she heard a roar of pain. Clearly the invader had grabbed one of the web strings. Hurried footsteps alerted the group that the intruder was leaving. Waiting another few minutes Alfie led them out of the tunnel.
"I think we are good guys!" called Alfie after checking to see if the coast was clear.
"Okay, who was that?" freaked Nina while supporting Patricia.
"Um, I don't know. I'm blind remember!" Patricia sassed.
"This is really bad. Badder than bad!" worried Alfie.
"Come on everyone. Let's just get Patricia to a safe place and then we can regroup and figure this all out" ordered Nina as she marched the group out of the tunnels.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Gathered once again in Amber and Nina's room the core Sibunas tried to solve their latest issue. "Ok, so someone has clearly gotten their hands on Patricia's missing amulet" recapped Nina.
"But who could possibly know what to use it for?" asked Fabian
"Well the only people who know about the tunnels and could use it are Victor and Vera" suggested Alfie.
"I guess they are the only option... everyone will have to keep an eye out for the amulet. In regard to the task we need to find three things to hang on the hooks and some sort of large spider to put in the hole" declared Fabian.
"Come on Sarah throw us a bone here" begged Amber to the doll house. Unfortunately there was no answer. The group soon wrapped up their discussion and headed to bed. Monday would arrive far too soon, and they needed all the sleep they could get.