It seems this update took me a little less than I initially thought. As usually, thank you for your great reviews, they are the best reward a writer could get. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too!

"Stella, are you sure this is Geb's test?" asked Helen, pointing to the empty room in front of them.

"Positive."

"Alright then. But there is no inscription."

"You know I am not telling you everything, Helen. Come on. Enter the room. You too, Nikola. The others stay here. "

"I don't like the sound of that." Said Helen. Last time when she had been alone with Nikola…But she couldn't think about that now. Not if she wanted to stay focused. However, she didn't have other choice, so she stepped in the chamber, closely followed by Nikola.

Geb's room was completely empty. There was absolutely no marking on the walls, nothing to tell them what to do. Nothing, except a goose feather that was lying on the ground.

"Great. Geese." Muttered Nikola.

"Don't tell me you are afraid of them." Said Helen giggling.

"Of course not. It's just that I have some unpleasant memories with a gander. But enough about that. Let me see." He took the feather from Helen's hand and examined it.

"This has to mean something. Geb was often represented as a goose, so this has to be our clue. But how in God's name is this feather going to help us?"

They were going to find out the answer very soon, because when Nikola threw the feather away, the ground turned into quick sand. They both sank into it, struggling to get away.

"Helen, relax." Nikola said. "The more you move, the faster it will cover you."

"I am almost suffocating, Nikola!" she yelled. "Do you think that relaxing is that easy?"

"Trust me. Just relax." He said, but soon after the sand covered him entirely.

"Nikola!" she yelled, but nothing happened. With no other option, she listened to Nikola's last advice, took a deep breath and relaxed, waiting for the sand to cover her too. However, the moment the sand went above her head, she felt she was falling in what seemed to be a shaft. She didn't have the time to think how deep it was, because Nikola caught her in his arms. Instinctively, she let her arms encircle his neck but soon realized what she was doing.

"I knew this would happen the moment I saw you for the first time." Nikola whispered. "I knew that eventually you wouldn't be able to resist me anymore and simply fall into my arms…"

"Put me down, Nikola. Now." She said, trying to sound as threatening as possible. The last thing she would have needed was Nikola knowing that she enjoyed being in his arms a lot more than she was supposed to.

"You have to admit that I have good reflexes." He said, holding her tighter than before.

"It was a nice catch, I'll give you that." She said and as a reward he let her go. She regretted this the moment her feet touched the ground.

"So I'm guessing that the quick sand was a bluff." She said.

"Probably."

"Well, at least now we have somewhere to go." Helen said, pointing to the tunnel in front of them. "I'll go first."

"I wonder if you always want the dominant position…" Nikola said with a grin.

"Firstly, this is something you'll never find out." She muttered. "Secondly, the last time you took the lead you triggered a trap. But if you want so much to go first…"

"No. Go. I'll be right behind you, enjoying the view…"

She fluttered her eyes, but didn't say anything. After all, the best thing she could have done was to ignore him. Because as much as she didn't want to admit it, his words had had an effect on her.

The tunnel led to another chamber with a tree right in the middle. It seemed to be a palm tree, only a lot taller than a regular one. Despite its unusual height, they were able to see the fragment of key hanging on the furthest branch.

"Looks like we'll have to climb up the tree." Helen said.

"I'm here to help you, my queen." Nikola said with a smirk and let his arms encircle her waist, helping her to climb.

"Watch it, Nikola!" she said on a threatening tone when one of his hands went a little lower than it was necessary. She grabbed the trunk and started to climb, but the tree shook, knocking her down.

"Helen, are you alright?" asked Nikola worried.

She passed a hand through her hair and discovered that blood was dripping from her temple.

"Just a scratch." She said, trying to calm Nikola. "I should have known that it wasn't going to be that easy."

"Maybe it will be after all." Nikola said pointing to an inscription they hadn't seen before.

"What does it say?"

"A hungry friend is not a helpful friend."

"Very useful. So we have to feed the tree and it will just give us what we need. The only problem is that there isn't a single drop of water in here."

"Well, it probably was a well here, but it obviously drained."

"Now what? I suppose we could dig and try to find water, but it may take ages."

"Not necessarily."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just a theory, but…"

"Come on, Nikola. Spill it out."

"You can get water by melting ice."

"Right. It shouldn't be a problem, given the fact that we are in a place full of icebergs…"

"I meant it figuratively, Helen. You know how Stella keeps saying that we are like fire and ice?"

"This is your genius idea? You think that the inscription shouldn't be taken literally?"

"Yes."

"Well then…Good luck making me melt. We both know it won't work. If Stella is right about one thing, it is that we are different. If not opposite." She was lying and deep down she knew it very well. Admittedly, they had different views about the balance between the human world and the abnormal one, but strangely, Nikola was more like her than anyone of The Five. Brilliant and thirsting for knowledge, trying to discover all the mysteries of the world…

"Opposites attract, Helen. It's Physics 101."

"Nonsense."

"You are talking to someone that has been working with electricity and magnets for over 100 years, Helen. You can't fool me with this."

"Physics is one thing and love is completely another, Nikola."

"Allow me to demonstrate how wrong you are." Before she could react, he embraced her from the behind, his hands encircling her waist again. She tried to release herself but was unsuccessful, so she just turned around, facing him. His look was so vulnerable, so unguarded that her knees softened. He pulled her even closer to him and whispered in her ear "Melting already?".

"You'd wish." She said, barely breathing. Nikola's embrace had turned her voice into a weak whisper. "It takes a lot more than this." She regretted the words the minute they went out of her mouth. Challenging Nikola was the last thing she was supposed to do at that moment. However, it seemed he accepted the challenge, because he brought his lips at a few millimeters from hers. The fragment fell from the tree, and in the next second she pushed him away, and went through the opening that had just appeared in one of the walls. The others were already there; Stella had probably showed them the way.

"How in God's name did you get that dirty?" Kate asked Helen.

"Geb's test." She replied harshly, but Kate didn't seem to be very convinced.

"I told you the children won't buy it, Helen. We might just as well tell them the truth." Nikola said grinning.

"This is the truth!" Helen yelled. "I swear!" But the others went away, the look on their faces indicating that they suspected the fact that it was a lot more than met the eye to what had happened in Geb's chamber between Helen and Nikola...