Recipe for Success

Summary: Nina is cooking up a devious plan!

Evie's Notes: Guess who's mental health decided to cooperate! Thank you all so much for bearing with me on this journey. It truly means more than you could ever know ⭐️💖!

Here's the remainder of the chapter that should have been posted yesterday. Enjoy 💖


While the abandoned wishing well was a great long term hiding place, Nina was not thrilled about having to climb down it again to retrieve the Mask of Anubis. She was happy that she had succeeded in keeping the artifact safe from Jasper, Victor and Vera… but not thrilled to be covered in dirt and sweat from her climb.

"Did you find it yet?" yelled down Fabian.

Shining her flashlight around the dirt floor, Nina spotted a glimmer of gold sticking out of dirt. "Yeah, I think it's right here". Unsheathing her trowel, Nina set to work uncovering the true Mask of Anubis. "Alright I'm going to head back up now" announced Nina. Tucking the mask into her backpack Nina tightened the rope around her waist and began climbing up out of the well.

Gratefully accepting Fabian's offered hand, Nina hopped over the edge of the well landing safely back on the firm forest floor. "Now are you going to tell me why we had to go dig up the mask? I thought the point was to never have it see the light of day again?" asked Fabian.

"I figured out the first part of Amneris' demands for the ceremony" responded Nina casually, as the pair began their stroll back to the house. "She mentioned the 'Gift of Anubis' which is also known as Aqua Vitae, or the Elixir of Life. Victor needed a tear of gold for the recipe which is why he was so psycho about stealing the mask last year. If we are to recreate the elixir we will need the mask to make more tears of gold".

Fabian stopped short, shocked by Nina's explanation. "You can't possibly be suggesting what I think you are" he warned.

"Hmm?" replied Nina, playing dumb.

"Nina, we can't make more elixir ourselves! We spent the past two years stopping Victor and Vera from making it"

"And why not," argued Nina.

"Nina, you know the dangers of the elixir. I can't stand by and watch you kill someone for it"

"No one is going to die, Fabian. The elixir was only going to kill us if it was drunk from the Cup of Ankh… which is still buried in the well back there. The only way that we can get Amneris off our backs is to make the elixir and use it in the ceremony to get her body back and send her off to the afterlife" explained Nina.

"Besides the tears of gold we don't even know what the other elixir ingredients are" protested Fabian weakly.

"The original elixir Victor was using was made by his father, who got the recipe from my step-great grandfather Robert. And given how much Frobisher liked to document his research and proselytize about his greatness; I am sure there is a copy of the recipe somewhere in the house"

"Ok, that's fair" granted Fabian. "But is it really a good idea to bring the mask back into the house? Victor could pull a search at any moment and confiscate it".

"If he finds it he will likely think it's just a copy since he believes that Jasper's contact ran off with the real one last spring. Plus, the mask will not work without its third eye which I plan to borrow from the shield to cry the tears of gold and then return".

"Well you seem to have everything worked out already" griped Fabian, kicking a loose stone down the path.

Nina sighed, sensing that her boyfriend was feeling left out of the Sibuna process. "Look, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to keep everyone safe and get this ghost off our asses long enough for us to deal with the Society. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the plan sooner, but things just kept happening so quickly once I realized what the clue meant".

"Just promise me you will let me help with the rest of this stuff?" asked Fabian, accepting her apology.

"Of course! We're a team, Rutter, you and me against the world" teased Nina, bumping her shoulder against Fabian's. "I heard that Vera is making lamb stuffed grape leaves for supper, race you back to the house?"

"You're on" chuckled Fabian, taking off down the winding forest path.

Nina shook her head, chuckling at her boyfriend's antics, before giving chase.

* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *

It was Patricia who brought up the obvious point Monday night while the pair were washing dishes, causing Nina to realize what an idiot she had been.

"So, not to jinx us again or anything, but have you thought about any possible ways to stop our newest spirit from possessing us. I know you want to use the mask again, but what's to stop ghostie number two from stealing your body like the bitch did last year".

Nina honestly hadn't given this possible scenario much thought, happy to simply take her ancestor's word at face value. Deciding that the group needed better protection, Nina dedicated a large portion of her time over the next few days to finding a protection ritual for the club. If Patricia was right, then Nina couldn't risk using the mask until after her body was possession proof, for fear of Amneris deciding to take her for a joyride into the afterlife.

It took a few days, but Nina eventually found a possible solution in one of Sarah's old journals. This particular journal was from around the time that she and Rufus were working with Englavista in Egypt. The journal entry explained a possible ritual that Nina could complete to bless some ink which she could then apply to her friends in a certain pattern. While the group had the ink on them they wouldn't be able to be possessed. It was a brilliant solution… with the only issue being convincing them all to get poke and stick tattoos. Given how the overnight curse tats had gone over last time, Nina was not expecting this to be an easy task.

* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *

"No, nope, no way! Nine, non, not a fucking chance in hell" ranted Amber.

"I agree with Amby. One tattoo experience was enough for me" voted Alfie.

Nina just sighed and looked to Patricia to be her voice of reason.

"I already have one, I might as well get another," reasoned the girl.

"Well that puts us at two to three, so we're doing the protection tattoos" decreed Nina. "Start thinking about where you want them. Fabian and I already ordered the ink and needles so we'll do the ceremony this weekend".

* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *

It wasn't until Thursday night that Nina and Fabian were able to really start their search for Robert's elixir recipe. Nina remembered how Victor seemed convinced that the book of Isis held the key to their elixir making success… so they decided to hold a raid of his office.

Nina and Fabian watched the caretaker's office through the girl's hallway door with bated breath as they waited for Victor to leave.

"Uggh! Can he just hurry up and leave already" whined Nina quietly.

"He'll move on soon enough, we just have to be patient" comforted Fabian.

The pair's luck seemed to turn as Victor suddenly got a call and stormed down the stairs and out the house's front door. Exchanging excited grins, the pair sprinted across the landing and into Victor's office.

"Alright, the Book of Isis was written entirely in hieroglyphics. So we'll most likely know it when we see it" instructed Nina.

Fabian began to search Victor's bookshelves while Nina went through the man's desk. Picking the lock on the bottom right drawer, Nina sorted through several files before discovering that the drawer had a false bottom. Applying pressure to the top left corner, Nina was able to pry the wooden slab up, revealing an extra hiding place underneath.

"Fabian look!" celebrated Nina, gesturing to the yellowed pages of the Book of Isis.

"You found it!" celebrated Fabian, taking out his phone to record the pages of the book. The pair carefully documented each page of hieroglyphs, they didn't want to chance Victor discovering that they had found the book. Sliding the book back into the secret compartment, the couple quickly returned the office to its previous state. Having succeeded in their task Nina and Fabian raced out of the office and back to Nina's hallway. They found that they had escaped the office not a moment too soon, as the next minute they heard the front door slam and Victor angrily yelling for Vera. High off their victory, the detective couple settled in for their favorite form of date night; internet research and translating!


Evie's Notes 2: Thank you all so much for reading 💕! I hope you enjoyed this update, let me know your favorite part of in the comments! I hope to see you all next week 💗!

I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole in the comments or my Tumblr House-of-Secrets! Have a great week and stay safe! - Xo Evie🌺