Nina

Generally speaking I wasn't in the habit of letting Joy into my room for friendly activities. I wasn't in the habit of doing friendly anything's with Joy really, but during the last task, she and Patricia and Amber had had some sort of climbing wall that Joy had fallen off halfway up. It had been her first dream death and she was still pretty freaked out, which meant she was in my room with Patricia, Alfie and Amber as I was interrogated.

"Armenian," tried Alfie.

I made a sound like a buzzer. "Eh, try again." After finding out that my linguistic capabilities weren't limited to Japanese and Russian, Patricia and Alfie had taken it upon themselves to try and figure out the handful of other languages I spoke.

"Turkish," tried Joy, who was scrolling through google translate for options.

"Survey says... no."

Amber made a noise of impatience and raised her hand before speaking. "Estonian!"

I drew in a breath as I wrapped the blanket I was using tighter around my shoulders. "Here's a hint, try languages the general population will have heard of."

Patricia checked the list. "Let's see. You speak English, Spanish, French, and Russian, you're passable in Japanese and German, and you said there's two others?"

I nodded, running a hand through my hair. "Bingo."

Eventually, after Amber correctly guessed Portuguese and Joy said Italian, Mara knocked on the door before entering.

"Hey Joy, I finished editing your English essay if you wanted to go over it?" She held up what I assumed was the essay, marked thoroughly in red ink.

"Yeah, thanks Mara," Joy said as she stood.

Mara handed her the essay as Joy walked out the door before giving the rest of us a disapproving look. "Shouldn't you all be doing homework?"

"How dare you!" said Alfie, in mock outrage. "We are in the midst of very serious work at home. Working. Very serious home working is going on here."

Mara shook her head with a smile and left.

They kept at me until dinnertime, which mostly consisted of Patricia and Alfie loudly insisting to Eddie about how he was clearly an inferior American. Afterwards, Amber was brushing out her hair for the umpteenth time as she complained about going back to school in two days. I chimed in with the occasional, 'yeah', 'it sucks', and 'really?!' whenever she paused. I was more focused on last night's dream. Eddie and I had used scarily unstable monkey bars to get across the lava after Patricia, Amber and Joy climbed out of their room, and Fabian and Alfie had somehow gotten out of the spider room but were refusing to tell us how; although both looked fairly nauseous whenever we brought it up. We'd met in an empty room with the keys we'd used to get out of our respective chambers, and opened another door that had featured a seven-foot woman with purple skin, telling us the upcoming trials would be different than the rest, and that we had three days to prepare. I wasn't sure if that meant we wouldn't cross over tonight, or if we just wouldn't be able to control where we went, and I wasn't exactly eager to find out.

"NINA." I jumped, and turned to see a very disgruntled Amber. "You haven't heard a word I've said have you?"

I coughed as my face heated up. "Um, could you repeat that last bit?"

Amber harrumphed, loudly, and went back to brushing her hair, rather aggressively, I felt. "Why are you so out of it? Is it because you got shot? Because you got the stitches out yesterday and the doctors said you're going to be fine."

I ignored the imaginary press of metal against my stomach as I pulled on my pajama shirt. "It's nothing Amber, I'm just a little tired."

My roommate raised her eyebrows at me and I quickly looked away. "You've gotten a lot better at lying, I'll give you that. But you're still awful at it."

"Amber, look, I just don't want to talk about it. Alright?" She shrugged nonchalantly and I exhaled, rubbing at my arms as I tried to warm myself. "Thank you."

Amber started humming a tune I didn't recognize, and it was a peaceful few seconds before she tried again. "Does it have anything to do with why you've been avoiding Fabian ever since you got back from the hospital?"

My mouth opened and closed as I spun around to see her looking at me expectantly. "I have not been avoiding him," I stammered.

She rolled her eyes. "Please."

"How do you even –"

"Woman's intuition. Now what's the problem?"

"Nothing! Look, Amber there's no problem, ok? I've just been a little busy." So maybe that wasn't entirely true, but I didn't have time to think about my technically non-existent Fabian issues at the moment, along with everything else going on.

"Busy? With what? Our nonexistent schoolwork? Or the doctor's ordered bedrest?"

I sighed in defeat. "You're relentless, you know that?"

Amber beamed, beatifically. "It's a point of pride. Spill."

"It's really not a big deal, Amber."

"Nina Martin." Amber planted her hands on her hips and I mentally braced myself. "We are BFFs, best female friends, and as such you are obligated to tell me about any and all problems involving your BF, so I can yell at him. We can do this all night if you want."

I blew out a breath. "Not that it's any of your business, I just… have a couple decisions to make."

"About what?" she pressed.

I smiled tightly. "Like I said, it's really none of your business."

"Alright, alright. I'll leave it alone."

"Thank you."

"For the next forty-eight hours."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Amber winked at me as I headed to the bathroom. I was brushing my teeth when it happened.

I leaned over to spit out the toothpaste and raised my eyes to the mirror and suddenly I couldn't breathe from fear. He was there, in the reflection. All in black, with that goddamn ski mask, the silver gun in his hand the only splash of color on his person. "Look at me Ms. Martin."

There was cold, sudden and harsh in my veins and in my stomach, I seemed to have frozen all over. I wasn't sure if I was breathing or hyperventilating. I could almost feel the gun to my stomach, the weight of it, the warmth that came from the recent firings a sharp contrast to the iciness of my skin. "I said." The gun cocked. "Look at me Ms. Martin."

Someone knocked on the door and I nearly screamed. "Can I come in?" It was Joy.

I pressed a shaking hand to my mouth, struggling to get my breathing back under control as I looked back at the mirror. No one was there. I swallowed. "Yeah sure." I quickly swiped at the spot of toothpaste on my chin before opening the door.

As Joy got a glance at me, her face changed to something that could almost pass for concern. "Nina are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Not sure why she even cared, I forced a smile. "Fine Joy. See you in the morning."

I headed back to my room before she could ask any other questions, to find Amber removing the last of her makeup, and slipped underneath the covers, trying to warm myself.

"Get the lights would you?" I called.

Amber said something I ignored as I pressed freezing fingers to the scar tissue on my stomach. It seemed like I was cold all day every day, ever since I got back. I was also spending progressively more time alone in my room, trying to shut out the world, as I laid in bed feeling awful. Another wave of shivers swept over me and I focused on my scar, feeling the grooves, the ridges from where they'd cut into me to remove the bullet. It had happened. It was over. It was over. Over. Over. Over. I repeated it to myself until I fell asleep. It was over.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

The gun came up to hit me on the side of the face, pain exploding, the scent of copper in the air, I couldn't see for the blood in my eye.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

I could almost feel each individual bone in my spine bend as he forced me back over the desk and slammed the gun up against my stomach. I was frozen all over, an icicle of a girl. I was surprised I didn't shatter into a million pieces.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

His voice was everywhere and nowhere at once, I tried to look I just couldn't find him.

"I said."

Everything seemed to go unnaturally still as the gun cocked in the sudden silence.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

There was the click of the trigger being pulled and then everything hurt like hell and I couldn't breathe and there was blood on my hands and on my stomach and I was falling falling falling –

My eyes flew open as I choked on air and there were hands on my shoulders and I tried to scream, tried to shove him away.

"Nina calm down!"

I blinked, and my vision slowly shifted into focus and I saw blonde hair, a round face, eyes shining with concern.

"Amber," I gasped out, grabbing her hands and pressing them between my clammy fingers, needing to know that she was real. "Amber."

"Yes, finally. Nina, what happened?"

I almost laughed at the irony of it. "Nightmare."

Her eyes widened. "You crossed over?"

"Not –" I shook my head, still trying to catch my breath. "Not that kind of nightmare. Did I wake you?"

Amber hesitated before shaking her head. "No of course not. I was doing my morning calisthenics."

I laughed weakly, and pushed my sweaty hair out of my face. "You don't do calisthenics."

"Not lately, but I'm starting back up again."

"Amber."

"Ok fine. So you woke me up, so what?"

"I'm sorry," I grimaced.

She shrugged. "It wasn't your fault. What was it about?"

I wiped some sweat – because it was sweat, not tears – off my cheek and swallowed. "Halloween."

Amber sighed and pulled me in for a hug. I closed my eyes and leaned into her. This, this was real. It had just been a nightmare, nothing else. By the time she pulled back, my eyes were dry.

"Nina, do you need to see someone about this?"

I raised my eyebrows. "What, you mean like a counselor?" Amber nodded and I laughed. "I'm American remember? We don't believe in therapy."

She frowned. "What about if someone has depression?"

I shrugged. "For the most part we tell them it's all in their head, and then when they kill themselves we wonder how we missed the signs."

Amber looked shocked. "That doesn't seem very healthy."

"It's not. But I'm still not doing therapy. I don't need it."

"Neens, are you sure?"

I did my best to smile reassuringly. "Amber, it was one nightmare. It's not a big deal." She still didn't look convinced so I squeezed her hand. "Go back to bed, Amber. I promise I'm fine." To convince her, I laid back down and drew the covers up.

Amber didn't seem entirely pleased about it, but she headed back to her side of the room as I again pressed my fingers into the scar. It's over. It's over. It's over.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

I flinched away from his voice, rolling over to look at the wall, digging my fingers into where he'd shot me until I gasped from the pain. I waited, but his voice seemed to have been silenced for now. Didn't stop me from tossing and turning to the point where my sheets were soaked with sweat until my alarm went off two hours later.

I slapped it off, and mechanically got ready for the day; jeans, long sleeves, and an oversized hoodie. My battle gear. I somehow managed to pull back my hair into something resembling a knot at the back of my head, before heading downstairs an hour after breakfast. Most of the others were in the living room, when I came down, and Jerome gave a long whistle when he saw me. "You look like shit," he announced, causing the others to look.

I scowled. "Thank you, for your diagnosis."

He smiled angelically. "Always happy to help."

"Get off it Jerome," Fabian intervened, already walking over.

I grabbed a glass and filled it to the brim as he placed a hand on my shoulder. His skin felt warm, making me want to lean into him. I didn't. "Thanks," I muttered.

I looked away as he bit his lip. "Nina, you really don't look like you're doing that well. Are you ok?"

"Fine. Amber told you I was tired right?"

"Yeah but… you didn't cross over did you?"

I was busy swallowing the entire cup and didn't answer for a few seconds. "No. Just tired."

"Nina –"

"I'm going back to bed." I put the cup back in the sink and turned away, trying very hard not to look at him as I started to head back into the foyer.

"Nina?" Fabian grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at him. I didn't move as he raised a hand to my face, gently touching a finger to my still prominent black eye. "You'd tell me if anything was wrong, right?"

I swallowed thickly and tried not to blink. "Like I said, I'm really tired." I shook him off and went back upstairs, shutting the door once I reached my room. My eyes were alternating between feeling dry as a desert, and boiling hot. I pressed my shaking fingers into them, before literally falling back into bed, pulling the covers around myself until only my head was visible.

Not wanting to deal with anyone right now, I pulled out my phone and spent the next few hours trolling through YouTube, watching comedians. Every time I felt myself drifting off, or heard his voice, I'd dig my fingers into the scar on my stomach and focus on breathing, ignoring the feeling that I'd accidentally swallowed liquid nitrogen. It worked pretty well. I didn't even realize how much time had passed until I was ambushed at half past two.

The door cracked open. "Nina?" It was Amber. "Can I come in?"

"It's your room isn't it?" I answered, nestling deeper into the blankets.

"Great. Come on in everyone!"

"Every –" I sat up to see that in addition to Amber, Alfie, Eddie, and Patricia were piling in, along with a seemingly reluctant Joy. I sighed, and fell back into my pillows. "What are you doing?"

"We're worried about you, Nina. You don't seem… great." Alfie sounded so sincere I wanted to laugh as I sat back up.

"If you're worried about me you can get in line."

"Speaking as someone who has experience in dealing with traumatic events," announced Patricia, "I have full authority in saying you can't just cut yourself off and spend all your time wallowing."

I rolled my eyes. "What is this an intervention now?"

"Don't think of it as an intervention," said Amber. "Think of it as a cheer up session. We have four different kinds of sour candy, two bowls of popcorn and your three favorite Harry Potter movies downstairs waiting for you. Mara and Jerome are going to hide in her room so she doesn't critique the special effects and/or lack of realism, plus Jerome and Alfie have agreed to not set anything else on fire for the rest of the day."

That got my attention. "I'm sorry, anything else on fire?"

"It was an accident," insisted Alfie.

Amber waved a hand at him dismissively. "Irrelevant. The point is, you're coming down with us, end of story. Come on! Up and at 'em!" I groaned as she pulled the blankets back and dragged me out of bed. "Also, I'm brushing your hair tonight, because it's a mess."

"It's not that bad," I tried to protest as I was steered down the stairs.

"Oh really? Pray tell, when was the last time you brushed it exactly?" I mumbled something unintelligible and she nodded firmly. "Like I said."

We reached the living room and she shoved me onto the couch, and she and Patricia promptly sat down on either side of me. I could tell Fabian was on the chair to my right, and I focused most of my willpower on not looking at him as Eddie put Chamber of Secrets into the DVD player and killed the lights.

After the last scene ended, with everyone hugging Hagrid and applauding, and the credits started, I am not ashamed to say I was full on ugly crying.

Patricia found this amusing to no end, and threw popcorn at me every time I choked out the words 'it's so beautiful'.

By the time we finished Goblet of Fire, I'd taken my hair down and I was crying again, there was sour string everywhere, and Amber was physically sitting on top of Alfie, since he'd thrown sour gummy worms at the TV every time Wormtail came on screen. ("He killed Cedric!" Alfie protested vehemently, as Amber wrestled the candy bowl away from him.)

Eddie grabbed the Sorcerer's Stone, and I frowned. "Wait what about Deathly Hallows Part 2?"

I was immediately shouted down, Patricia's voice rising above the rest. "You always complain about the final fight scene," she informed me. "While it's happening."

I crossed my arms, both for defiance and to fight off the goosebumps. "Ok first off, the inaccuracy gives me actual physical pain, and second, the complaining is half the fun."

"Sorry Chosen One, but shot or not, you've been overruled on this issue," Eddie informed me with a grin, as he put in the first movie. I threw a handful of popcorn at him and settled back into the couch. I got up to get some water during the first scene about Quidditch lessons, and Fabian came over to join me in the kitchen.

"Feeling better?" he asked me quietly, as Patricia cackled when Ron's broom smacked him in the face.

I smiled, trying not to look at him. "Yeah, lots." I was feeling better. I didn't feel a hairs breadth away from sobbing my eyes out, and my fingers no longer seemed to be unnaturally cold.

"Good. That's, that's good." He was standing so close to me I could feel the heat of his skin, making it very difficult to breathe. "Nina we're good right?"

"Of course we are. What are you talking about?" I shut off the water flow and walked over to the oven, feeling the need to move away from him before I lost it.

He followed me. "I'm talking about how you've hardly looked at me since you got back from the hospital. You're barely speaking to me either."

I rolled the glass between my palms before taking a sip, stalling for time. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Look at me then."

He was right behind me, I could sense him. I counted to five to calm myself, took another sip, and then turned around and looked him directly in the eye. I could almost feel my body temperature physically rising. He was mere inches away from me. My eyes darted down to his lips before I jerked them back up again. We hadn't kissed since coming home from the hospital either. "See?" I said, ignoring the shakiness in my voice as I stepped around him, eager to break eye contact. I took another drink from my glass before setting it on the counter. "Nothing to worry about."

"For God's sake," he muttered, and I didn't have time to think about what he meant because suddenly his hands were on my cheeks and his lips were on mine and Jesus Christ it felt better than I remembered. I felt my hands move to his shoulders as he drew back and looked at me, and I didn't want to look away anymore. "Nina, what's wrong with us?"

I didn't want to answer, so instead I kissed him again, and again, his mouth was fire under mine, sending pure, glorious heat through my veins. I opened my mouth to his, smoothing my hands down his neck, faintly feeling his shoulder blades through the shirt he was wearing. While I was doing that, Fabian undid the zipper on my jacket, wrapping his arms around me, his hands scorching everywhere they touched through my thin top. I pulled him closer, needing his warmth, needing him, trying to fit our bodies as tightly together as possible.

"Nina! You're going to miss meeting Oliver Wood!" Amber called over, and I pulled away from him, only slightly, already missing him. Fabian's hands stayed where they were though, one on my waist, the other at my lower back. He seemed to be as out of breath as I was.

"Like I said." I licked my lips. "Totally fine."

He nodded briefly. "You do know kissing isn't a substitute for actually talking, right?"

I buried my face in his neck, letting him warm me. "I know." I pulled back to look him in the eye again. "Look. You didn't do anything, ok? I'm just working through some stuff right now."

"Let me help you work through it," he begged.

I opened my mouth to answer but a, "Ninaaaa! You're missing it!" from Amber cut me off.

"Look, I promise we're fine. But if you really want to talk, we'll talk. Just not right now," I said, and quickly walked back over to the others, reclaiming my place on the couch.

"Isn't Wood one of your favorite characters?" asked Alfie, as Fabian went back to the chair.

Everyone else immediately started yelling at him, something along the lines of 'don't get her started you idiot!'. The second they quieted down I cleared my throat expectantly and they groaned. "That is only the Oliver Wood in the books, the Wood in the movies underwent a character assassination the likes of which have not been seen since Abraham Lincoln. Movie Wood has all the personification of an actual piece of wood. He's always supposed to have a 'maniacal glint' in his eye, Quidditch is supposed to be life or death, he's supposed to tell Harry to 'get the snitch or die trying'. That Wood, is my favorite character. Not this half-assed carbon copy version."

"Ok whatever, we get it, he's not crazy enough," interrupted Patricia.

"Oh my God shut up he's about to learn his father played Quidditch!" I smacked Patricia with every word out of my mouth, and I'm pretty sure she called me a 'hypocrite', but my focus was back on the screen.

Victor came down a few minutes after the movie ended and yelled at us to clean up and get to bed. Trudy was close behind him, broom and trash bags in hand, and quickly shooed us to our rooms, insisting she would take care of it. Amber, Patricia, and Joy and I ran upstairs, tired but laughing, all crowding around the sink to wash the stickiness off our faces. Afterwards, Amber made good on her earlier promise and practically attacked my hair with a brush, not stopping until it was smooth and shiny. By the time Victor dropped his pin, I was nestled under the covers, slightly less cold, and a whole lot happier than I'd been this morning.

My eyes were drifting shut when my phone pinged with a text. Amber made an indistinguishable noise of complaint. "Sorry," I whispered, reaching over to grab it. Wincing against the sudden light, I shut the brightness all the way down before checking to see who it was from. Fabian. Hey. You up?

I raised my eyebrows, unsure whether to message back. It could be important. I typed up five possible messages before eventually sending, Barely. You need something?

Nothing major, just wanted good night. See you tomorrow.

My eyebrows went up even higher as I ignored the warm feeling his text elicited from me. Nothing else came though, so I sent one back. Well then?

Well what?

I allowed myself a small smile. Aren't you going to say good night?

There was a small pause, and then the text pinged through. Good night Nina.

I gripped the bedsheets with one hand to make sure I wasn't floating. Good night.

"So Nina, how are you?"

I shut my locker and turned to face Amber, ignoring the stares that had been pointed at me ever since I walked into school this morning. I tried not to think about the why. "Fine, why?"

Amber shrugged, and beckoned me in closer. Sighing, I leaned in to hear her whisper, "Well we just had science, and that's the room where it happened right? Can't returning to the scene of a trauma be triggering for some people? Or something?"

I hoisted my bag up higher on my shoulder. "Well you can relax, because nothing was triggered. I just wish people would stop staring at me."

"They're just jealous that even with a black eye you're still prettier than they are," said Amber flippantly.

She linked her arm through mine and started steering me over to calculus as I laughed. "Somehow I doubt that's the reas – oh my God!" I stopped moving so suddenly Amber's arm pulled out of mine.

"What, what is it?" she demanded, looking around.

I glanced at her in disbelief, before turning my gaze back to what had grabbed my attention. "I don't suppose you see a giant, purple woman, standing in the hallway do you?"

Amber looked around the hallway again before frowning at me in concern. "You mean like the one from our dreams a few nights ago?"

"Yep."

Amber sighed as the woman started walking over until she was right in front of me, shrinking with each step she took until she was eye level. "Nina are you sure you don't need to see somebody?" I ignored the question.

"Only you can see me," Purple said. "Follow me, I come with a message."

"I can't just leave," I hissed, ignoring Amber's strange look. "I'm at school, I have class right now." Whether or not she heard me, I wasn't sure, as she simply headed towards the doors, gesturing at me impatiently.

"Um, Nina? Who are you talking to?"

"Spirits," I muttered angrily, before huffing out a breath of exasperation and turning back to Amber. "Nothing. Look, I'll be a bit late to class, just go on without me."

I started to head over to the doors but Amber grabbed me. "What am I supposed to tell the teacher if she asks where you are?"

I shrugged her off. "Just say you don't know or something. Hopefully this won't take that long."

Before she could ask more questions I headed towards the exit, doing my best not to look guilty. I pushed open the door and saw her already waiting on the other side of the parking lot. I said a few very uncomplimentary things about Egyptians under my breath as I walked over, and when I reached where Purple was standing, she simply reappeared a couple dozen yards in another direction. This kept up until we were in the woods behind school, and this time when I got to where she was, she stayed stationary. I gave her a once-over as I waited for her to say something. It wasn't just her skin that was purple, but her hair, and her nails; even her eyes were nothing but purple shapes in her head. She was wearing some sort of dress that reminded me of Nepthys' attire, but instead white, she was clothed in a blue so deep it was almost black. She seemed content to just stand in silence, watching each other, so after a little while I took the initiative. "Can I help you with something?" I tried to sound as polite as possible, but I really should not have been missing any calculus classes at the moment, given my tenuous at best grasp of the subject.

Purple sighed. "I wish. Rather, I am here to help you." She stepped forward and I immediately stepped back.

"With what?"

Her purple lips twisted into some imitation of a smile. "Relax, Chosen One. I come bearing gifts."

"What gifts?"

"Information, for one." She folded her purple hands together, clearly waiting for me to ask for details, but given my past encounters with Egyptian spirits, I was more than a little wary. Eventually she sighed and continued. "You are currently on a quest to free my goddess, correct?"

I shrugged, folding my arms against myself. "I don't know. We're not exactly sure what we're doing." I think she might've rolled her eyes, but I couldn't be sure.

"Dear me, you're in even worse shape than I thought. Allow me to fill you in, shall I?" She held up a hand and began ticking off fingers. "The spirit realm was thrown into chaos over your summer when Beset forsook her role as protector. She raised a coup against Nepthys, whom she imprisoned. Nepthys is now locked away in a prison I can neither reach nor see. Beset needs the Book of the Dead before she can take Nepthys' place, and so Nepthys sent it to you for safekeeping. She reached out to you, because as Horus' Chosen One, you have the potential to use the Book of the Dead to cross between realms. Her strength is rapidly waning however, and so she has been unable to instruct you as much as she might wish."

"Wait hold on." I raised a hand to shield myself against the onslaught of information. "Are you saying you're gods and you're at war?"

"Civil war, pet. Much bloodier."

I nodded slowly. "So, we're interfering in a civil war."

I think she rolled her eyes again. "Oh don't make it sound like you had a choice in the matter. Once Nepthys gave you the Book of the Dead, Beset would've found a way to drag you into it one way or the other."

"That's… not helping."" Purple shrugged placidly as I got a text from Patricia, asking where I was I texted, Busy, be there later, and shut my phone off. I was already ten minutes late. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say Beset has green skin and a battle ax?" Looking amused by my description, she nodded and I sighed. "Not that I don't appreciate the clarifications, but is there some sort of specific reason why you're here?"

"I'm here because your lack of control, while utterly laughable, makes you vulnerable."

I frowned. "Control of what? Vulnerable to who?"

If she had eyebrows I imagine she would've raised them. "You really don't know anything do you?" Before I had time to answer she started ticking off fingers again. "The realm you go to in your dreams? It's a different plane than this. These planes overlap, and normally they do this seamlessly with nobody the wiser. But ever since Beset took over, holes have been forming, and when the holes in our plane and yours intersect, you, and anyone else with the capabilities, pass over. A particularly large hole is currently resting directly over your boarding house. Its openings come and go."

The more information she gave me, the harder my brain had to work to wrap around it, but if I knew one thing about spirits, it was that arguing tended to end up worse for me than it did for them. "And who has these, capabilities you mentioned?"

More finger ticking. I'd lost count of how many fingers she'd grown to keep up. "You and the Osirian, naturally. And anyone else you've given your little charms to."

"Wait," I interrupted. "So if they don't use those objects I, spelled, or whatever it was I did, they can't cross over?"

"Not at first, but now it's too late. However all that is of little importance right now. I'm here for the rules."

"What rules?"

"The rules. While the holes in the planes are large, they have limits. They can only be passed through twice every twenty-four hours, once to get to the other side, and once to come back. I am here, in addition to giving you a warning, to show you how to cross of your own volition."

At risk of sounding even more idiotic than she already thought I was, I dared another question. "But don't we already control when we cross? That's what the objects are for."

She snorted derisively. "Hardly. The objects act as a beacon, drawing Nepthys to you, and warding Beset off, allowing Nepthys to control where you land when you cross. Beset has set these trials to guard against both Nepthys taking you directly to her prison, and also you reaching her, so you must pass through them all. But as Nepthys' strength lessens, so does her ability to direct you. Soon, charms or not, Beset will control where you land. And now that your friends have passed through once, she will be able to drag them through again and again, so long as they are in the hole."

I remembered a few days after Halloween, when everyone but Fabian had crossed over. We'd assumed he'd gotten lucky, but apparently it was because he'd been at the hospital with me. "What about when we stopped crossing over a few weeks ago?"

"The planes shift, like anything else." She said it so matter-of-factly it was almost insulting. "The hole above your house closed up, and you were cut off. And a few days ago? This may not be my battlefield of choice, but I do have some modicum of power. I was able to place a barrier between our planes, give you a few days to brace yourselves."

Not that I hadn't been interested before, but I perked up when she seemed to bring up the last conversation we'd had. "Brace ourselves against what? You weren't very specific last time."

I blinked and suddenly she was a few inches in front of me, causing me to stumble back in shock. She laughed, rather cruelly, and I felt my cheeks flush as I regained my footing. Purple looked like she was mostly bored throughout the entire meeting, reciting information like a bad monologue, aside from when I was making a fool of myself. That she seemed to enjoy. "I always forget how fragile you humans are." Unwilling to repeat the question, I folded my arms around myself and waited for her to answer. "The trials before now, they have been physical, yes? Tasks for you to outsmart, or overcome."

I nodded warily and she continued. "That is about to change. The upcoming barriers are designed to exploit human flaws, break your will and your spirit. I was sent to warn you about this. You will be forced to confront your deepest and darkest fears, your harshest traumas, your most shameful secrets. Relive your most painful memories. I will help when I can, but as I said, my power there is limited. My plane lies elsewhere."

I was liking our chances less and less with each word out of her mouth. "What if we can't do it?"

Her expression turned stormy. Literally. Her hair and skin darkened to the point where they were almost jet black, tinged with purple, like a lightning storm at sunset. "Failure is not an option."

"But what if –"

"Not an option. If Beset wins, it will be pure chaos. She was not meant to hold the throne, and if she ascends to it, the destruction in that plane will leak over into yours. You thought the nightmares she gave you before were bad? Imagine people walking down the street when their skin suddenly falls from their bones, imagine taking a bath and being boiled alive, people's worst nightmares springing to life before their eyes."

I swallowed back the nausea that had risen in my throat. "I think I get the picture."

Purple nodded gravely. "Good."

Desperate to get the conversation away from people being boiled in their bathtubs, I tentatively tried to steer us back on track. "You said you'd teach us how to cross on our terms?"

Her skin shifted back to its original indigo and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes. I'm going to teach you how to tear a new hole in the planes."

I blinked. I blinked again. "That sounds perfectly safe."

"Safe?" She laughed gleefully. "For me, yes. For you, certainly. For anyone else? It would quite possibly implode their lungs and make their brains bleed out their ears."

I winced at the vivid image. "I was being sarcastic."

She did that whole, eyebrows-would-be-raised-if-she-had-them thing again. "Charming. Shall we continue?" I quickly nodded and suddenly Purple was a few feet away from me again. "Watch closely." She began drawing something in midair, and at first I didn't understand what was happening, until I looked at the ground and saw a symbol being burned into the ground. I watched intently. It didn't seem very complicated. A large, six sided-shape with four interlocking triangles inside. I was so focused on the symbol I didn't realize she'd moved again until she was right beside me, grabbing my arm and dragging me forward. I barely managed to protest before my own hand was over whatever she had drawn, and then made a downward slashing motion and I cried out in pain as a cut blossomed open on my hand, and bright red blood slowly trickled out. I tried to pull my hand away, but she forced it into a fist, squeezing until blood dropped onto the symbol she'd drawn. The whole thing flared scarlet, before dying back down to its regular green and brown.

Purple finally let me go and I snatched my hand back, trying not to get blood on my uniform. "What the hell was that?"

Considering how she'd just sliced my skin open, she seemed to be in a rather cheery mood. I chose to believe the two things were not related. At any rate, she answered my question with minimal condescension. "As the Chosen One, your blood runs with that of two different planes. Horus', and yours. Because of this, you have the ability to open gateways between planes. This," she pointed at the ground, "is the hieroglyph for open. And that symbol in the middle? It takes you to Nepthys and Beset's plane. Step inside the symbol once its' activated, or otherwise touch it, and you will be returned to the trials. Although Nepthys asked me to warn you, by using this method to cross you will be moving your physical bodies, as well as your mental selves."

Given how I was busy trying to keep my hand from bleeding out, I wasn't entirely interested in the words coming out of her mouth right now. I checked my watch again. Class was halfway over. "And do I have to burn the symbol into the ground every time I use it?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Any medium will do, provided you add your blood to the mix."

Of course. Because that idea was the most ridiculous one said during this conversation. "How do we get back, once we're there, if we don't wake up?"

"Same way you went there. Now assuming you don't have any more questions?"

I shrugged dispiritedly, still mostly focused on my hand. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me who you are?"

There was silence, and I assumed she'd left, but when I looked up she was still there. "My name is Satet. I owed Nepthys a favor."

I blinked again and she was gone. I scowled, trying to ignore the blood still trickling out of my cut, and began the short trek back to school. I made a quick stop at the nurse's office to get my hand wrapped, before getting to class just in time for the last fifteen minutes.

Everyone was doing on a worksheet when I came in, meaning the sound of the door opening was the equivalent of breaking glass. I ignored when everyone looked up to stare at me, moving over to sit next to Fabian, who had saved me a seat. "Ms. Martin, am I correct in assuming there is a reason for your absence?"

I looked up at the expectant teacher and gave my best attempt at a smile, holding up my wrapped hand. "I had a medical thing, it won't happen again."

She accepted this with a lazy wave of her hand, and turned back to whatever papers were on her desk. "See that it doesn't. You may get the notes from a friend, have the worksheet turned in to me by tomorrow."

Grateful that was the extent of it, I pulled out my notebook and turned to ask Fabian to catch me up. "What happened to your hand?" he whispered.

I grimaced. "Long story short, Sibuna needs to meet, but I'll explain later. Just catch me up, would you?"

I spent the next fifteen minutes getting the quickest calculus lesson ever given, and when class ended I grabbed the worksheet off the teacher's desk and walked into the hallway on high alert for purple giants, or orange midgets, or whatever else might want to talk to me today. Fabian was waiting for me right outside though. "Is it bad?" he asked.

I feigned indifference, heading over to the library for break before third period literature. "Is what bad?" After last night, I was fairly certain he didn't think anything was different about me, making it considerably easier to look him in the eye.

I heard him sigh. "Your hand of course."

"Totally fine."

"Of course. Silly me. Why would you miss most of class for an injury if that injury wasn't 'totally fine'? My bad." Ignoring him, I slung my bag off my shoulder and dropped it on the back of the chair, sat down and took out the calculus worksheet, intending to at least get started.

Fabian sat down next to me. "It's not a crime to feel pain, Nina."

I stopped in the middle of grabbing a pencil, and turned to face him. "I never said it was."

"Really? Because you almost died, and short of practically having a mental breakdown in my arms a few hours after it happened, you've barely complained about it since, even though I can see how much you're suffering every day. You and Eddie went through hell every night for weeks when you first got here, and you hardly said a word about it except to say that you were tired. And now you missed almost an entire class for a cut that you apparently say is 'totally fine'."

I hadn't realized he'd noticed all those things. "I can handle it myself."

"There's a difference between can and should," he pressed. "Every day now, I see you drowning, and you refuse to ask for anyone's help. You've become so good at suffering all by yourself you've practically turned it into an art form."

"That is not true," I snapped.

"Nina you wouldn't even look me in the eye until yesterday."

I immediately glanced away, before forcing myself to look back at him. "That was completely unrelated."

The calculus worksheet remained forgotten on the table as we stared at each other, waiting to see who would blink first. "Let me see your hand, Nina." When I didn't answer, Fabian gently encircled my wrist with his fingers, his skin warm to the touch. He lifted my hand off the table and carefully peeled back the wrapping, just enough to see the angry red line across my palm. "That doesn't look like a paper cut."

A small laugh was surprised out of me. "Like I said, it's a long story. I'll tell you after school."

He traced the cut with a finger, and even though he was technically only touching the gauze, I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. I cleared my throat. "Help me with this worksheet?" I managed to get out.

Fabian wrapped both his hands around mine, closing my hand into a fist, and pressed his lips to my knuckles. My entire body seemed to flare with heat. Then he set my hand back onto the desk and nodded. "Sure. Anything you need."

I blew out a shaky breath. "Thanks."

I tried to draw my hand back but he didn't let go and I looked back up at him. "I mean it, Nina. Anything at all."

I smiled, savoring the warmth of his hands around mine, already dreading when I would have to let go. "I know."

AN: as that one upset Guest reviewer can see, I have no intention of disappearing again. I am however in college, meaning updates will be sporadic. I tend to work on this story when I want to procrastinate but I do have classes, so you guys need to be patient with me. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this latest installment. Oh, and just to make me happy? Let's see if we can't get me to 200 reviews before the next chapter goes up. Pretty please?

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