Congratulations. You've won the award of my sole fan fiction. I've put everything on hold in the hope that I can get this story done this week since I'm on break ( but I have drivers ed so… not so sure how much time Ill have). Still, this is my lone story now and since I don't really have that much to write before Nina dies as I promised…. Enjoy! On a lighter note I seem to have forgotten the concept of the 4th wall… opps.

Chapter 19

House the Fool

Nina

"Congratulations," Raet's insufferably perky voice broke through my churning thoughts. I'd spent all night placating my hunger and thirst with plans to keep Alice, Eddie, and Patricia together, but as the hours ticked by my survival instinct brought me to the point where I could think of nothing but the pain in my abdomen. Now, with her return, Raet had given me a new target to focus my thoughts on. "Your lovers figured out what I needed. You two," she pointed to Alice and Patricia, "are free to go. And since I heard what you said about giving up this dear child I'll drop you off at a local hospital."

Before I could release a cry begging Patricia to keep her daughter, my friend disappeared from our musty prison and I was left alone with Raet- goddess of the tanned. "If they're going home, then where are we going?"

Raet's smile was sickeningly sweet when she replied (sounding slightly like Glinda from "Wicked"), "You're going home too… the place where your heart resides."

Now I'm pretty sure my heart was underneath the ruined Library of Alexandria, but I'd learned in my day that when a goddess wants you to go with them you grab their hand and go. So I did, and that was my first mistake.

We landed in the exact place I expected-my room at Anubis house in England. I'd had many homes in my days, but that was by far where my heart resided.

We landed nowhere near what I expected- the Du'at.

In case you've already forgotten, the Du'at has multiple layers. One is the layer Eddie and I traveled through to meet Osiris, but another is parallel to the earth you see. I could be in my room at Anubis house, but if I was in the Du'at Trudy could come in and make the bed a million times without noticing me. One of the perks of being the Chosen One, a sort of bridge between Du'at and reality, is I could see both layers at once. So, despite her not seeing me, I very much saw Trudy, and it brought tears to my eyes. Looking at her one could almost forget that the world was cruel for people like me.

But as soon as I turned around and saw Raet holding the silver box with my secret name chiseled onto the lid, I remembered that life would have me until the day the Chosen One within me died.

"Is that what all of this has been about?" I scoffed trying to keep the raging fear within me under a tight leash. "You imprisoned Patricia and I making her HAVE HER BABY so Eddie would help you find a box?"

"Don't be foolish," a giddy Raet responded, "I knew where the box was always- right next to you. What I didn't know how to do was open it."

The box has no lock, something which I was very much tempted to point out. If the box was normal she could have just opened the lid with a flick of her thumb. Therefore, the box must not be normal (but the name that danced on its lid has already told me that.) "Let me guess," I finally began with a heavy sigh, "You need me to open the box because it belongs to me. But I'm not a fool and I'm not opening it without knowing why you want the contents, so start talking."

I should have kept my tone more level because the infuriated goddess' hands compressed my throat from across the room. The only thing that kept me alive was the fact that in the land of the dead you can't die… or so I would have thought.

I was wrong.

Raet's flaming anger finally ebbed enough for her to give me a single breath of stale air before a zipper replaced my lips. Scrambling I pulled at my face eyes wide in horror, but the bemused look on my face only amused Raet so I stopped struggling. My nose was open enough that I could breath- everything else was just a minor nuisance. "Do not forget who I am child," Raet warned. "You are the servant of the gods and I am a goddess. We both have our places and yours is at my feet. You're lucky I don't force you there."

I was so incredibly thankful not to be kneeling that I kept my mouth shut (because as I described above I had a choice in the matter.) Unable to snark or growl, I patiently waited for the natural villain instinct to kick in as Raet described her master plan to me. "What are you waiting for?" Raet growled kicking my knees so I fell to the ground kneeling before the chest. "Open it and discover what's inside for yourself."

Apparently I was a fool and Raet not a bragging villain because I slid my finger onto the glistening chest without a second thought before falling over in agony as a dark shadow encompassed my body.