Kara
"So, I finished translating all of the hieroglyphs." I said, looking at the group of people sitting around me.
"Did you translate all of these from memory?" Alfie asked, astonished. I laughed and shook my head quickly.
"God no, I had so much time to kill at the hospital, I figured I'd keep my promise and do something productive. I had Trudy bring me a couple of my books. It took a bit, but I managed. Anyway, everything seems normal about it except for this little corner here. The glyphs are newer and they don't fit with the others." I said.
"Well, let's start with the rest of it, what does it say?" Nina asked, gesturing to the papyrus lying on the floor in front of me. Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out the notebook page that I wrote the translation on. I cleared my throat and opened the paper, preparing to read.
"Where the Crook and Flail of Osiris lay,
Amongst the battle of the Kings and Set;
The citizens surrounding all shall pay,
Unless the deal of Amun-Re hath been met."
The room was quiet as I finished reading, everybody looked around at each other in confusion.
"What does that mean?" Amber asked as she flipped her hair behind her shoulder. Everyone looked at me expectantly before I answered.
"Well," I started, moving to the shelf behind me to grab an old dusty book. I flipped to the correct chapter and sat back down, reading aloud. "In 1905, an exhibition in Greece uncovered a stone similar to the famous Rosetta Stone. This stone is less commonly known however, as it doesn't provide us with the same amount of knowledge as the Rosetta- only an ancient Egyptian legend translated by the Greeks. In this legend, it is stated that in the constantly raging battle of Osiris and Set(h), after Osiris was supposedly 'brought back to life' and ruling the Du'at, he became desperate to not lose his position of power again for any amount of time. To ensure the security of his place on the throne, Osiris set a curse upon his crook and flail that any being who took them without his blessing would release a curse onto the land. Inevitably, Set(h) did manage to steal the objects, thus setting a deathly plague over the citizens of the globe. Desperate to stop what had been done, Ra, one of the eight gods of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis and one of the most powerful Egyptian gods, made an immense sacrifice, offering his being to the most strongly worshipped god, Amun. This union would create a new god that was powerful enough to stop the dangers set by Osiris's curse- the god Amun-Re (or Amen-Ra). This legend is known as the Legend of The New Kingdom, the New Kingdom being a time in ancient Egypt where the people began worshipping Amun-Re and nearly converted to monotheism.
"There's more stuff on the New Kingdom here, but I think you get the gist of it." I said, looking up from the large book. Everyone nodded before Patricia spoke up.
"So what are we supposed to do with that then?" She asked. I gestured to the papyrus in front of me, and Patricia picked it up.
"See the eight little hieroglyphs in the corner there? Those are newer- they were written with a different kind of ink. I think they're supposed to be a clue or something."
"What does it say?" Nina questioned as she grabbed the papyrus from Patricia, earning a dignified "hey!". I picked up the paper with the translations on it and flipped it to the other side.
"Look upon the empty earth; from Anubis' eyes, the sacred hearth."
"Sacred hearth? Isn't a hearth like, the space in front of a fireplace?" Patricia asked, speaking up once more. The rest of us nodded confusedly, not understanding the clue.
"But we found the papyrus in the fireplace, so it can't mean that. There was nothing there but it!" Nina added. The room was silent for a few moments before Amber piped up.
"Well, we did look pretty hastily when we found the papyrus- there could always be more. Maybe Nina ought to go have another look?" She said, reminding us of how quickly Nina grabbed the papyrus the day of my meltdown in the common room. Nina was quick to agree to Amber's suggestion and slipped out of the room while the rest of us continued debating the clue. We talked for a while before decidedly giving up and sitting in silence while we waited for Nina to come back.
A few minutes later Nina burst into the room, closing the door quickly behind her.
"Nina, what's wrong?" Fabian asked quickly, jumping up in reaction to Nina. In response, she simply looked at the other Sibuna members apologetically.
"We have a slight problem," she squeaked before she was cut off by a knock on the door. Sighing, Nina turned around and opened it, moving out of the way to reveal Mick.
"Tell me what's going on." He demanded, standing determinedly in the doorway. Nina went to retaliate, but the tall blond shot her a serious glare, causing her to sigh and move out of the way. "Look," he started again. "You don't have to tell me everything; just what's happening now. Please."
"We're... Just talking about our Shakespeare project that we're doing for extra cr-"
"Enough Patricia!" Mick exclaimed, effectively silencing the goth pixie. "I do know what this is- this... "Sibuna" gang. I know what kind of things you do, okay? So just drop it and tell me what's going on now!" The occupants in the room sat in stunned silence until finally Alfie spoke up.
"What do you mean, mate? How do you know about Sibuna?" he asked frantically, his reaction throwing any chance of lying straight out the window.
"I bet the newbie blabbed to him about everything!" Patricia exclaimed with a scowl. Her eyes flashed furiously as she glared at me, unsettling me immensely.
"I didn't tell him anything, I swear!" I defended immediately in response to the disapproving looks I was receiving from every occupant of the room with the exception of Mick. I turned to him desperately, wishing for him to confirm to the others that I had not betrayed their trust. "Mick!" I begged, but he refused to meet my eyes directly, choosing instead to scratch the back of his neck and gaze at the floor.
"Kara, we trusted you! We let you in, even after all of Nina's qualms, and you betrayed that!" Fabian exclaimed, taking Mick's lack of an answer as him confirming everybody's accusations rather than his difficulty to explain, which was what it actually was. I was tempted to yell back at everyone, hurt that they would believe I had betrayed them, but I knew it would be best for me if I just acted patiently and tried to figure out what was going on.
"Mick," I said again, having never removed my eyes from his bulky form. He looked up apologetically as everyone turned to look at him again, Amber offering him a small growl. "We both know I haven't breathed a word of this to you or to anyone, so how did you know?" I asked him seriously, pretending as though we were the only two people in the room. In my experience, pretending you were alone always made things easier to handle when you were in a tough spot.
"I didn't really want to say..." he mumbled, shifting his weight anxiously from foot to foot. His hesitance only made everybody more suspicious and he quickly found himself backtracking. "I just mean, I don't want to alarm you! Oh bloody, that doesn't sound good either. Fine, I'll just come right out and say it." We all looked to him expectantly as he continued. "That night when we had the sleepover in here, I had a dream. I thought it was a nightmare at first, just my brain being completely crazy! But I looked into it, and it wasn't just a dream. There really are a set of tunnels under the house and that old library, and Nina's locket does have weird powers- I saw you fiddling with it near the fireplace!" He explained, looking to Nina as he delivered the last of his explanation.
"You dreamt all of this?" Nina said, taken aback. Mick nodded and Nina buried her face into her hands. Many confused looks were exchanged throughout the Sibuna members, but I kept my gaze fixated on Mick's face.
"What exactly did you see in your dream?" I asked Mick worriedly, knowing that someone, or thing, would have had to have shown him; there was no way he could dream it all up himself.
"Well," he started, fidgeting slightly. "If I remember it right, I started off in the common room and I saw the fireplace glowing all red... Then I was suddenly in here, and you were all explaining to Kara about your club- you showed her that tattered old piece of parchment and she flipped out. Then I saw a younger Nina and Fabian going up to the attic and open a wall with Nina's locket... Then I saw Patricia get kidnapped!" Patricia flinched, but Mick didn't notice. Everybody was looking at each other, completely taken aback that Mick could have seen this all in a dream. Mick paid them no mind and continued speaking. "Then I saw you guys going through the cellar into these tunnels with this bottomless pit! It looked like Nina almost fell, but then I was back in the common room again."
"Is that it?" I asked quietly, fear of the answer clogging my throat slightly. He hesitated but then quickly nodded.
"That's not all. There's more, isn't there?" Fabian asked, putting a comforting hand on Mick's shoulder.
"I..." he hesitated. He looked up at me through his bangs with puppy dog eyes, and I knew I was right.
"She was there." I stated, moving to sit down on my bed as Mick confirmed what I already knew to be the truth with a nod of the head.
"I'm sorry, who?" Patricia asked rudely, her piercing gaze splitting between Mick and me. She was ignored however, as Mick moved out of the doorway and came to sit next to me.
"That's why I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want you to worry." He said as he sat down, the mattress sinking under his weight. I sighed and looked at him, knowing he could see the traces of worry and fear in my eyes despite his attempts to prevent it. "I figured that was what your nightmares were about." I nodded and took a deep breath before opening my gaze to the rest of the people in the room and acknowledging their presence once again.
"Kara?" Amber questioned, looking at me sympathetically. I gave her a small smile before I began to explain to them about the figure in my- and apparently Mick's- dreams.
"In my dreams," I started, getting everyone's attention that I didn't already have. "There's this weird floating figure. She tells me about things that have happened in the past, and she uses it to urge me to do things. She's the one who told me where the papyrus was- but she also seems to... know me. Like, she's always seemed kind of familiar, but in a weird, ghosty kind of way. She isn't really threatening me or anything, she's just terrifying, and she has a short temper. She keeps telling me that I'll 'find the answers when I find myself'. It's weird and crazy, and these nightmares didn't start until I got here." Everyone looked at me with differing expressions- pity, concern, agitation, understanding. I scowled slightly; I didn't want them to feel sorry for me, I wanted them to get what I was saying and help me fix it.
"She's not anything like Senkhara, is she?" Nina asked worriedly, obviously not wanting a repeat from the stress of last year's ghost. I shook my head quickly.
"No. Like I said, she's not really threatening, just short tempered. I don't think she wants any of us hurt the way that Senkhara did." Nina nodded and let out a sigh of relief.
"So..." Alfie started after a few moments of awkward silence. "What do we do now?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Third Person
"We can't just let Mick into Sibuna!" Amber exclaimed before being quickly shushed by Fabian and Patricia. The five original members of the Sibuna club were sat together in a circle on the floor of the attic, reattempting the necessary meeting that Amber originally called at the beginning of the year. Once again, they were discussing the best course of action in which to deal with the other house members- specifically Mick. They had been going around in circles for about twenty minutes, discussing the pros and cons of expanding the group even more.
"Why not?" Fabian asked, quick to defend his once best friend. "He already knows everything- there's no sense keeping it from him." Amber huffed and crossed her arms, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout while Nina looked between the two of them.
"I still don't know how dangerous this is going to be. We're only about two weeks into this mystery, and so far we already have a curse, an attack from Rufus, and weird past revealing dreams! Is it really a good idea to let more people join? I mean, I'd understand if we were just talking about Eddie, Jerome, and Joy here- they were a huge part of the thing with the mask last year- but Mick? He was never a part of this. Also, if we let him in, everyone knows about it but Mara. What's the point in having a secret then?" She put in, looking to Fabian defiantly. Patricia nodded.
"Why does he suddenly want in so bad anyway? Just because he knows about it, he wants to be a part of it?" She questioned, fiddling idly with her bracelet.
"I think it's because Kara's a part of it, and now that he knows what she's gotten herself into he wants to help." Fabian hypothesized. Amber let out a small coo but was interrupted by Patricia snorting.
"So?" She scoffed. "My boyfriend knows about this stuff and isn't a part of Sibuna- why should Mick be any different?" Everyone nodded; Patricia made a good point.
"Alfie, what do you think?" Amber piped in, switching the attention to the bored teenager.
"I told you guys what I think- I think it's up to them. If they want to be a part of it, then okay. Mick just wants to look out for his girlfriend. Tell me that's not why Fabian joined up in the first place." He said, mirroring words he had offered at the start of the meeting. Fabian spluttered and blushed profusely, attempting to deny the statement without much luck.
"Another good point..." Nina sighed. The young woman was entirely unsure- she wanted to keep Sibuna as small as was possible, but on the other hand, taking care of the mystery would be much easier with more people on her side- especially Mick. As much as they tried, the existing members of Sibuna just didn't have the muscle strength or other sports training that Mick had. He could end up being a useful person to have on their team if a situation ever arose that called for athleticism.
"Why don't we just take a vote?" Fabian asked, ever the reasonable one. Everybody nodded, agreeing that it was probably the best way. "All in favour of allowing Mick into Sibuna, raise your hand."