Chapter 22

House of Anubis

Colton awoke shortly to find me sitting dumbly in a chair holding my silently crying sister. I knew I had to explain to him all that happened, but I just couldn't. Not here, not now, and maybe not ever.

"It will be okay," he whispered while planting a soft kiss on my sweaty forehead. "It will be okay."

But would it be okay? Life would never be the same for Claudia; whatever Raet did to her voice seemed permanent. Life would never be the same again for any of us. In a week we'd found a world of magic and lost our entire beings. Nothing would be okay.

Or so I was thinking when Claudia's phone started ringing. She started crying again, probably realizing she'd never be able to answer it, so I picked up, "Hello?"

"Eve? Is that you?" It was Fabian. No, I told myself. It's your dad.

"Yeah," I told him with a gulp. "Is everything okay?"

Fabian sounded more relieved than angry despite his paternal tone, "Is everything okay? You, Claudia, and Colton have been missing for days! We were starting to worry that…"

"We're all okay," I promised him despite it not being true at all. "Or we're all alive at least. Something… something happened to Claudia's voice. Raet…"

"Raet?" the man cried true panic lacing his voice. "God are you okay? Where are you?"

I took a rattling breath and replied, "We're in the study at the start of the tunnels… in the basement…"

"Stay there," my dad demanded. "We'll have Eddie come pick you up. Your mother and I are at the hospital."

No! Don't tell me that after all that happened… "She'd fine," he assured. "We're all fine. It's just there are two little guys who'd love to meet you."

Claudia's hand rose to cover her mouth first as we realized what he meant. We'd been in the Du'at and our mom had been having our twin brothers.

"You still there?" an amused Fabian asked.

I nodded before remembering he couldn't see me, "Yeah. We're here. Should we go up to the house and meet up with Eddie?"

"Just stay there," Fabian insisted. "He'll be down that way you don't have to try and start explaining things to your housemates. You'll have plenty of explaining to do with your mother."

My mother. I knew he didn't mean the woman who'd just been trapped in a coffin for all eternity, but the words still hurt. No matter what she did I still saw Raet as my mother; she did, after all, raise me… if poorly.

"He'll be there soon," Fabian promised. "I love you girls, okay."

"We love you too, dad," I whispered and I could swear I heard a smile on the other end.

Eddie didn't look for explanations when he showed up. Wordlessly we just loaded into the car and drove the few miles to the hospital where, despite us insisting Claudia see a doctor, the four of us ended up walking into the room where our tear-stained families held two beautiful newborn babies.

"You're safe!" Mollie giggled running to hug us and dropping her I-pad on the floor in the process. (Exhibit A as to why she wasn't holding a baby.) "Mummy told me all about the gods. It's so cool."

I wished I could agree with my kid sister, but I didn't find it cool at all.

Since I was the only one capable of telling the full story, I began slowly meshing the words together in what some call sentences. I tried to glaze over the worst parts in an effort to scare neither Mollie nor my parents, but it was hard. Nothing was worse than the agony on their faces when I explained why Claudia would never be able to speak again, but the look in Nina's eyes when I finished broke my heart.

Words were said, plans made, but I heard nothing of it. Slinking to the ground I felt utterly alone in a room full of people who loved me. If I had only made Colton listen when I thought Luce evil none of this would ever have happened.

It's okay, you know. A note that Claudia slid into my hands read. Now I have an excuse to build some weird robot voice box. Honestly, I've been trying to figure out a way to shut myself up for years.

I tried smiling, just to say I was okay, but Claudia wasn't stupid enough to believe me. You're not okay now. But you will be. I promise.

"Thank you," I whispered giving her a hug.

"So this means no more Chosen Ones and Osirians, right?" Patricia asked thinking back to house Anubis had taken both spirits in. "I mean you went into labor early Nina because the twins were going to be the new ones, but now they're not, correct."

"That would be my guess," I told her with a shrug. "I mean I know I'm not the Osirian anymore and since I don't feel any mystical connection with Colton anymore I think we're free at least."

"Anubis would have made sure it was over," Nina vowed so sure in the man who loved her more than anything. "He was going to stop it with Eddie and I but only kept it going to keep you and Colton from danger… not that it really worked."

"We're alive," Colton reminded my mom softly. "That's a lot more than we would have been without his help."

"Now here's my question," Eddie, who seemed to think a change in discussion, was most appropriate. "What are their names?"

"Well this one is Kyle, after Nina's father," Fabian responded smiling and holding up the larger one with a bit more hair in his hands. He went to say the other name when my mom interrupted.

"And this one is Anubis," Nina decided much to everyone, but Fabian's, surprise. "In honor of the man who was a great friend of mine and did everything to bring my daughter's home. It's because of him that I have my family whole and safe, and in this way he'll ever be a part of us."

"Well at least you didn't name that one Sibuna," Patricia joked with her best friend. "Now that would take a long time to explain."

The End