*Disclaimer, I do not own House of Anubis all of that belongs to Nickelodeon, Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst. I, however, own Cammie and her little storyline :P I hope you enjoy it!*

Series 2, Episode 81 ~ House of Strategy


The Sibuna's were littered around the board, they had to win the game to get Camilla back and they all knew it.

"Amber one square forward." Fabian barked instructions, "Nina one to your left. Patricia one forward and the same with you Alfie."

"Dude, me and Nina have dog squares... what if we get hit next?" Alfie asked as he watched Nina take a deep breath and step onto the square.

"no... I've been watching him," Fabian told the boy with a smile. "I think he's going to point the other way on his next move."

"Besides we need to make progress," Nina told Alfie quietly, "if we get taken, we're going to be with Camilla."

Alfie looked between the pair and pulled a face as he took the step forward not happy about the choice of Fabians.

Due to the fact, Alfie had caused such a fuss they were all watching the jackal that turned near him, none of them were watching the one that turned to face Nina.

"NINA!" Patricia shouted as the girl dropped below the ground into the darkness with a scream.

"NO!" Fabian cried a shaking hand going over his mouth in shock.

They had lost someone else. They had lost Nina.

"Guys what are we going to do?!" Amber asked turning to look at Fabian, the same horror wasn't present at losing Nina as it had been with Camilla mainly because they all knew the girl was alive and with Camilla. The Protector wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"Okay," Fabian ran a hand through his hair in distress as he realised the remaining Sibuna's where looking at him for guidance. "let's go back to the drawing board. Everyone retrace your steps."

Amber glanced at the spot Nina had vanished under before following Patricia and Alfie off the board. The moment they were all clear the Jackal statues too turned to face them all, the board awaiting its next game of Gods Vs Humans.


Amber waited until after most of the Anubis house residents had left the breakfast table before she opened her school bag and started to fill it with food, much to the confusion of Patricia.

"Are you planning a picnic?" The girl asked the blonde.

Amber turned to the goth pixie as if she was stupid, "supplies for Camilla and Nina," she informed the girl, before looking to Alfie who was still sat at the table throwing cereal into the air and catching it in his mouth waiting for the blonde to finish packing her bag with food before they walked to school together, "we need to get into Sweeties office and throw them down the grill to them. Camilla will be starving..."

"Or..." Patricia pipped up, "we could spend that time trying to work out how to save them."

"Camilla and Nina need their fruit and vegetables." Amber retorted, "do you want them to get scurvy?"

This was the comment that Fabian walked into the dining room on his school bag on his shoulder causing a confused look to flit onto his face. Why was Camilla getting scurvy? And how was the banana Amber holding going to prevent it?

"Anyways!" Patricia decided to change the subject noticing Fabian's entrance back into the room, "how's the practise going?"

"Alright...," Fabian sighed as he opened his bag and pulled out his and Camilla's shared work journal, skipping past the pages written in their code until he came upon the ones written in English so the Sibuna's could see what he'd written down. "well there are a few several differences between Robert's game and the one in the task tunnel."

"yeah, Roberts doesn't have hidden trap doors." Patricia interrupted in an obvious tone.

"The danger squares are marked though," Fabian countered before continuing, "the Anubis guards' downstairs are more... limited than when Camilla played them in our practice. Those guards don't move."

"no, they just swivel and point at you until you go...," with that Alfie flung himself off his chair with a shriek to indicate the idea of them falling down the hole in the ground.

Patricia let out a laugh as Fabian nodded his head in agreement with the boy. His was a little more dramatic but the point he made was the same on Fabian was going to make.

"So..." Fabian continued his point to the girls as Alfie clambered up onto his chair again, "in theory the game downstairs should be much easier. I should be able to plot a safe path across to the other side."

"A lot of should's there Fabian." Patricia pointed out.

"I'm in over my head," Fabian admitted to them all shoulders slumped, "we need a strategist. It's not just about being clever, we need someone... sneaky, observant, calculating" Fabian paused and looked to Patricia knowing she would make the same leap he just did. They needed Joy to outwit Robert's senet game.


School had become unbearable for Fabian since Camilla left.

Her seat, Camilla's seat, the 3rd chair from the left on the second from the back row in every class in front of Jerome, remained empty.

Amber had gotten him a sunflower – Camilla's favourite – and put it in a vase in his room, along with bringing him down Trinket, the teddy bear, as they both knew she slept the toy but hid under her pillow's every morning claiming she didn't.

It wasn't much but he knew it was Amber's way of bringing a little piece of Camilla to Fabian while she was gone.

Amber hadn't left Fabian's side either that day, the two needing the company as they both tried to wrap their heads around how they were going to help save Camilla and now Nina. The pair were walking down the main corridor of the school after a particularly long Math's class, Amber trying to think of a way to get into Sweetie's office still as Fabian spoke to her his notebook out in his hands. Patricia and Alfie walking along behind them, Alfie holding his math textbook out away from him as if it was some ticking bomb.

"So, I have thought of the perfect person to be our strategist," Fabian told the group quietly. Honestly, he had thought of the person that morning but he didn't know how to break the news to Amber who was the Captain of the Fabiana ship. She would be the one who would react the worst to the news they needed Joy's help, well until Nina found out but that was a situation that they would get to when they got to it.

The Sibuna's turned to Fabian at his words and the boy glanced around nervously before speaking. "Joy." He quickly said before rushing to his locker and opening it, hoping it could hide him from the reaction Amber was going to have once she realised what he had said.

"Joy?!" Amber repeated as if double-checking she heard him correctly, even though they all knew she had.

"L-look... okay," Fabian nervously stuttered as he turned to the blonde who crossed her arms and glared at him, "just think about it. She is a brilliant chess player; I mean she spent all of last year playing chess against a computer and beating it. I vote we bring her in."

"I vote we really don't." Amber countered.

"me too." Alfie agreed with the blonde resulting in a breath-taking smile from Amber. Alfie returned the smile before looking to Fabian, "Joy's been acting all crazy recently... and I'm pretty sure she'd checkmate us down the hole on purpose."

"And Nina would be totally against it." Patricia couldn't help but add causing Fabian to groan.

"but Cam wouldn't be," he told them all as he shut his locker and moved across the hall to where Camilla and Amber's lockers were.

"Camilla wouldn't like the idea of it endangering someone else," Amber quietly told the boy from the reflection in the mirror in her locker, causing Fabian's head to drop as he knew Amber was right on that fact. Camilla would hate to bring someone else into the madness of their lives if it was unnecessary, epically at the moment when she wasn't around to protect them.

"Joy would be the one calling the shots," Fabian argued, he had a gut feeling this was the right move for them. Yes, it might mean Joy would have to learn about Sibuna but the twins had discussed at length the inevitability of that fact. It wasn't a matter of if Joy found out about their gang but more so When and they both knew it. "she wouldn't be in any immediate danger."

"Then why not Mara? She's good at chess and she doesn't hate all of us," Amber asked, causing Fabian to look at Amber as if it was obvious, Amber nodding her head in understanding at the look. Mara these days would probably rather keep Camilla rotting in the hole than try to save her.

"Mara isn't Camilla's biggest fan..." Fabian mumbled as Patricia looked between the pair confused.

"You said sneaky," Alfie pipped up, "gotta be Jerome, plus he has the motivation to help us... Camilla is stuck down there." The girls nodded at this but Fabian shook his head. The whole Camilla/Jerome thing was something he didn't like as a brother. The boy didn't feel mature enough for something with his sister just yet and Fabian really didn't want Camilla to get hurt.

"well, I vote for no one!" Patricia spoke after a moment as there was pros and Con's to every option they had. Maybe trying to tackle the task alone was their best option after all.

Fabian glowered slightly, "don't you get it," He hissed at the girl, "I can't do this on my own! The stakes are way too high, we-we have to give this our best shot and that means getting some help." Fabian's tone was firm and had a finality to it causing all the Sibuna's to look to one another as he moved off. They were getting another Sibuna member whether they liked it or not.

Amber ran after Fabian as he wandered into Ms Valentine's history classroom only to see the boy paused in the doorway causing Alfie and Patricia to catch up. They all saw Mr Sweet stood at the back of the classroom and understood Fabian's reason to pause.

"What's Sweetie doing in here?" Fabian asked the group, "we have history now."

Amber's smiled slightly as she saw the headteacher. She had been watching his office like a hawk all day trying to find time to sneak in to give her roommates the food and water she had in her bag, perhaps the gods were granting her just the time now. "Hey if sweetie is in here..." she trailed off as she grabbed Fabian's blazer and pulled him down the corridor towards the man's office.

Alfie and Patricia shared a bemused look as they watched the pair let themselves into the headteacher's office.

"Patricia..." Alfie's eyes widened in excitement, "I just had a brain wave."

"Well you better sit down then," Patricia sassed back.

Alfie rolled his eyes bemused at the comment before grabbing her arm and dragging her into the classroom ignoring her shouts to let go until they were sat in the furthest seats away from the door at the front.

Patricia turned to Alfie expectantly for whatever the boy's brilliant idea was.

"What if we get Mara and Joy to have a Chess-Off? See who's best."

Patricia rolled her eyes at the comment and got to her feet only to find herself being pulled back into it by Alfie who clearly hadn't finished talking.

"wait, no no!" Alfie told her, "it will work!"

"Attention everybody!" Mr Sweet called as he walked to the front of the room causing the students to turn to him as they all sat themselves down in their seats. "I have an announcement to make. The school website, imaginatively re-named The Jackal, has been shortlisted for a national student web-log competition!" Mr Sweet's excitement was only really shared with Mara and Joy, as everyone else went back to their doodling before Ms Valentine showed up to teach the class.

"What about the blogger of the year prize, Mr Sweet?" Mara asked as she raised her hand.

"oh, that's going to be announced around the same time," Mr Sweet told her with a smile. "oh, and you'll be pleased to hear Mara that thanks to the quick thinking of Eddie and Jerome your article has been deemed eligible."

Patricia turned around in her seat to see the boy's high fiving one another and Joy giving them both a dirty look. It didn't take much to realise the girl had only entered herself for the blogger of the year but thanks to the meddling duo Mara was now entered too.

"Sorry, was there a problem with it then?" Mara innocently asked not making the same obvious leap as Patricia had.

Mr Sweet looked to Mara a little confused by her question, the man looked from her to Joy, "Joy?" he asked. "Would you like to tell her?"

"eh..." Joy started as Mara looked around at her, Joy seeing passed the innocent eyes straight away. She was one of three people who knew Mara had written that article about Camilla and she felt her not submitting Mara into the competition was payback for the girl using her as a way to be mean to Camilla for simply liking a boy. Of course, she couldn't really say that to anyone because who would believe her at this point... well except Camilla who was still dealing with a Family issue.

"there was a power outage just before Joy submitted it," Mr Sweet told Mara causing Joy to glance back at Jerome confused she had expected him to just say she hadn't submitted it the boy looked back at her with a small smile causing Joy to turn back to the front to look to Mara. "the computers went down and she missed the deadline."

"oh..." was Mara's reply.

"so I rang up the organisation to explain and they were very understanding," Mr Sweet told her.

"thank you," Mara told the headteacher before he left the room. The moment he had however she turned to Joy, "why didn't you say?" she asked.

"Eh..."

"because it isn't true," Eddie pipped up as he watched Joy stutter, surprised Jerome didn't jump in to defend Mara like he normally would. "there was no power outage, Jerome said that to get my dad to phone up, Joy didn't submit your article."

Joy let out a sigh and turned to look to Eddie, she was really starting to hate being the bad guy in everyone's story. She did one bad thing in jealousy and now she was the bad guy to everyone bar Camilla who thankfully could see there was a grey area. "I should have known you'd be the one to go to daddy."

"listen up, we could have dropped you into it big time," Eddie countered, "Jerome was feeling nice so we didn't."

"Why didn't you?" Joy asked him.

"Camilla wouldn't have," he said simply.

Mara rolled her eyes at this response but this was only seen by Joy as she turned to look at her, "why would you do something like that?" Mara demanded of Joy.

Joy looked at her as she got to her feet, "because for once around here, I wanted something that was just mine." Joy wandered over to the girl's desk before leaning down and whispering, "or maybe I was sick of taking the backlash for your little article on Camilla, eh Jack?"

Mara's eyes widened as she realised what Joy said, Joy knew she wrote the article on Camilla so it was a safe bet that Camilla knew too.

Before she could say anything, Joy turned to look at the classroom with a bitter smile on her face, "okay haters, the floor is all your's I'm off to message Camilla as she seems to be the only one who sees any good in me." With that Joy left the room.

In her wake was a very confused class.

Jerome watched Joy go with a frown on his face, had done what he expected Camilla would do. He didn't rat Joy out he just gave her an honest excuse to why the article didn't end up in the competition. Camilla had been on Joy's side throughout the whole website mess and even after it – despite Joy apparently writing the article on her. Though from the comment he's just heard Joy make he wasn't so sure Joy was The Jackal to have written it.


The vent in Mr Sweet's office wasn't as hard to pull off as Fabian and Amber had expected it to be.

From the depth's below Camilla looked up at the skylight with a smile and nodded her head towards it for Nina who was looking around for the noise.

"Cam... Nina?" Fabian's voice came echoing to them and Nina looked up in excitement leaping onto the box's that were pushing onto the corner to answer the boy.

"Fabian?!" Nina replied in excitement.

"Amber!" Camilla yelled back to hearing the girls voice causing the pair upstairs to smile to one another.

"We're going to throw you down some food," Amber explained causing Camilla to look up gratefully because boy she was starving. "Here's some water,"

With that, the two girls watched as two bottles of water, two bananas and a bag of now broken cookies were thrown down the grate to them. Nina taking one of the water bottles and throwing it to Camilla who twisted the cap off and drank down the liquid greedily.

"Thank you," Nina called up to them as she grabbed the food and the other water bottle and threw them down to Camilla who placed them to one side so the pair could ration it until the Sibuna's could do another food drop.

"Cam..." Fabian called causing Nina to look to the girl who nodded her head and the pair switched places.

"I'm here Fabian," Camilla called up to her brother.

"Just hang in there okay," he told her softly, "look after yourself and Nina."

Camilla scoffed slightly, "I can't believe that after all we've been through as twins, you don't trust me to take care of myself."

Fabian could see through the cheery tone of his sister to hear the worry, but the tone she had used was for Nina and Amber's benefit to keep them from worrying even more than they already were.

"we'll get you out of there really really soon," Fabian told them.

"Totally!" Amber agreed.

Camilla turned to look to Nina with a smile before both girls heard Amber 'whisper', "good job Fabs, we don't want them to know we are totally stumped." Nina looking alarmed at this comment.

"Amber!" Fabian hissed, turning to the girl with him.

"Imagine it, Mr Sweet, it would be wild." Ms Valentine's voice outside Mr Sweet's office caused the pair inside to panic slightly, Fabian letting go of the vent letting it clang shut as Amber zipped up her bag and got to her feet. "there is such talent at this school." Ms Valentine continued.

"yes, I think that's a very good idea." Mr Sweet agreed, "We should discuss that further but right now I really must be getting on." With that the man opened his office to see Fabian and Amber stood inside waiting for him. "what are you two doing in here?" he asked them, "wasn't this door locked?"

"Em..." Amber spoke up, "no"

"Eh, we thought you might want some help arranging the end of exhibition party," Fabian pipped up having heard Jasper talking about how Gustav would think that would be a good idea the night before.

"Party what party?" Mr Sweet quickly asked. "I don't know anything about a party."

"Well eh, what with The Treasures of Ancient Egypt exhibition moving on," Fabian told the teacher.

"I thought it be a good idea to celebrate our time with it," Amber told the man, "we thought we'd volunteer our services."

"I know Gustav and what he likes," Fabian added.

"And I know parties. Trust me Joy isn't the only one around here who can plan an epic party." Amber added.

"thank you very much," Mr Sweet answered in a confused tone, "but that won't be necessary. Vera and Trudy will arrange a reception over at Anubis house, any idea of yours for Gustav should be directed to them." He told the pair, "and now, shouldn't you both be in class?"

The teens took that as their exit both walking out the open door before turning and rushing down the corridor. Both happy they had managed to get some food and water to their friends below.


Fabian was told by Alfie about the whole Joy/Mara article thing that had happened whilst he and Amber were feeding Nina and Cam before the boy ran off muttering something about needing to tell Jerome something.

Fabian knew the Sibuna's would like it if he approached Joy for help. Hell Nina would hate it, but the one person who mattered the most to him need saving and he knew, gut feeling, Camilla wouldn't hate him for going to Joy. He had been watching her since the Nina article and Camilla had been sticking up for Joy at every turn, maybe it was his turn to follow his sister's lead and extend the metaphorical olive branch.

"Joy..." Fabian approached the girl nervously as she stood by her locker.

"Fabian," Joy sighed slightly turning to face him, "whatever it is your going to say, please just don't."

"what?"

"I know I did a bad thing," Joy told him, "but I did it for Camilla as the girl wasn't taking revenge herself."

"what?"

"I don't need to be told I did a bad thing, and the last thing I need right now is a lecture for you. If you knew the truth, you'd support what I did." Joy told him before moving off.

Fabian stood shell shocked for a second before hurrying after him, "no lecture... though I want to know how the Mara article thing was in defence of Camilla... unless." Joy watched as Fabian finally put two and two together. "she didn't?"

"Mara is Camilla's Article writer... yeah." Joy told him with a sympathetic smile.

"and Cam knows?"

Joy nodded slightly.

Fabian looked at her, it was strange but that just cemented the fact Joy was the who needed to help them in his mind. The girl had defended Camilla in her own way without outing Mara when she could. "Joy I really really need your help right now... it involves Camilla."

Joy paused and turned to look at Fabian, what had happened?


Nina glanced at Camilla who had started pacing around the bare room once again, "we're going to be fine," she told the girl though confidence didn't come through in her tone.

Camilla sighed and walked over to the wall, leaning against it and sliding down so she was next to Nina, "I know they will get us out eventually," Camilla told her Chosen One, "but I don't want anyone else to get hurt. Especially if the spirit has given them a 3-day window, I don't want them to rush and have someone get hurt."

Nina looked at Camilla in awe. The girl was not bothered about her own safety or she wouldn't have taken Nina's place but she was worried about everyone else. "How do you do it?"

"do what?" Camilla asked.

"stay so strong?"

"Strong?" Camilla scoffed, "have you paid attention to me at all this term? I've been on the edge of a break almost the whole time."

Nina shook her head as she leaned it against Camilla's shoulder, "You are strong. You carry people. You carry me. You carry Fabian. You are the strongest one of us all." She whispered through a yawn her eyes shutting for the first time. With Camilla there, she felt safe or at least safe enough to allow herself to drift off. Camilla smiled slightly and gently lowered the girl into a more comfortable sleep position on the floor, taking off her jacket and throwing it over her. It wasn't much but it keep some warmth in The Chosen One's body.

"I see The Chosen One has joined us down here," the familiar voice of Victor Rodenmaar Senor was a welcoming sound to Camilla's ears, the girl turning to see the older man's ghost looking at the peaceful sleeping figure curled on the ground.

"I think exhaustion has finally taken over her." Camilla commented with a smile.

"you got sustenance too," He observed seeing their ration pile on one of the boxes. The Protector being smart enough to know to ration what they had causing an impressed look to flit onto his face for a moment. "good, you must keep your strength up if you are too survive."

"I thought you'd left me when Nina showed up," Camilla told him as she sat herself down on a box and leaned against the wall where the hole from the senet game was.

"it's not a nice feeling huh?" the man told her as he settled himself next to her with a grunt. "you and your chosen one have people who care about you at least." He paused, "when I disappeared no one came."

"Victor was a child." Camilla rolled her eyes as she found herself having the same debate with the ghost again.

"he was 17, he was a man." He countered before waving away whatever the young girl was going to say to him next, "I have come to realise I brought it all upon myself, my dear."

Camilla looked to Nina, "do you know what it means... The Chosen One thing?"

Victor Senor looked surprised by the question, "you haven't been told? Oh, Victor hasn't told you? What has that boy been teaching you?!"

"history mainly, and how to dance with plants." Camilla smiled causing the older ghost to smile too.

"The Chosen One is a direct descendent of the high priestess Amneris. She is Chosen, One of The Paragon," Victor Senor told her.

"One of The Paragon?" Camilla asked.

"with the Osirian, her true chosen Protector. They are like sun and moon, yin and yan," Victor Senor told the girl, "The Chosen One has always had her counterpart. They have been paired together, throughout the centuries. Lovers to friends to Siblings but the core that remains is their link,"

"what does that make me?" Camilla asked softly, "if The Osirian whoever that is, is Nina's protector who or what do I protect?"

"You Protector are a much greater being, for a much higher purpose. You will stand by The Chosen One and The Osirian to help the great dynasty rule once again." He told her causing her eyes to widen, "you see a Protector and Future mage is descendent of something even greater than a high priestess but for your particular bloodline, I can't say. Us Rodenmaar's it was Cleopatra we could call family." He told her with a sigh. "tell me, my dear, I see recollection in your eyes what do my words tell you."

Camilla spoke slowly, unsure of where the words were coming from as she looked to Nina but as she spoke them aloud, she knew what she said was the truth, "It's like I've known them since before I was even born. Past lives, future possibilities, alternate realities... we are all linked. We know each other. What we are, is the axis. Everything else may change, but we three, we are eternal. We are needed. For what though?"

"I am afraid Shai has dealt you a hard hand, my dear," he told her with a sad smile, "if A Protector of the gods has arisen with The Chosen One and The Osirian then our world will one day be in need of you all."

"wait, isn't the world-saving for The Great Mage?" Camilla retorted sitting up straighter, she didn't sign up for a lift time of world-saving.. hell she was barely making it through high school.

"You cannot escape your destiny, my dear," the ghost told her with a hunting smile. "One day you will be called upon by the gods, to be tested," Victor Senor told her watching as Camilla's head shook in disbelief in what she was hearing, "The Chosen One and Osirian will stand beside you as you form the four sides of the great pyramid and the next great dynasty will be born."


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