The Point of No Return

Summary: "They were just kids playing games of the gods, why shouldn't she level the playing field a little?"

Evie's Notes: Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week 💖. This past week marked the two year anniversary of this universe! Where has the time gone? I just want to take a moment and express my gratitude for each and everyone of you. This world would not exist without you all 💜. I hope that you all enjoy the this new update 🌺.


"So if I'm right, which I always am, the secret room lies beneath the main coat closet" shared Fabian, pointing to the new space on the blueprint. "I figure we can go in through the ceiling of the room by pulling up the floorboards"

"Well the wooden floor will certainly be easier to get through than the brick wall" laughed Lili. "But what makes you think that this route won't be booby trapped as well?"

"Honestly I think that's just a chance we will have to take" sighed Nina

"The odds of it not being guarded by murder machines are significantly reduced given that this isn't the 'normal' way to access rhe space" added Jerome.

"True, but what if we pull up the floorboards and find another bottomless drop?" argued Alfie.

"Well then we return to the drawing board" defended Fabian

"We aren't going to know what we will find until we begin. Vera is busy making supper, so should we give it a try?" suggested Amber.

"And here I thought I had escaped from the closet years ago, now I'm being forced back in" joked Patricia.

Rolling her eyes good naturedly Lili offered to gather supplies with Alfie to use pulling up the floorboards while the others figured out where to cut. With the plan set, the Sibuna Crew split up, with any luck they would be able to access the hidden room that night!

* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *

Nina allowed Patricia and Fabian to bicker back and forth for a few moments about where to first cut into the flooring before finally putting a stop to it. Silently sticking her hand out towards Lili, she gratefully accepted the large saw the girl passed her. Jerome and Alfie had already sketched an outline for their makeshift entrance based off the measurements they had taken in the cellar. Seeing that Patricia and Fabian were not going to reach a solution regarding who got to make the first cut anytime soon, Nina got to work sawing into the flooring herself.

"NINA!" shouted the pair scrambling to take the sharp tool away from their leader. Nina happily let Fabian have the saw, before stepping back to let the pair do all the work.

"Well, I guess we know where to start cutting," sighed Patricia grudgingly. Taking the extra saw from Amber, Patricia set to work cutting a large rectangle into the floor with Fabian.

It didn't take long for Patricia and Fabian to cut through the first layer of the floorboards. Alfie and Jerome worked together to pull the piece out of place revealing the subfloor and joists. Amber and Lili used their jewelry making tools to drill a small hole through one corner of the flooring and fastened a seemingly regular rock to the topside. Underneath they glued a set of coils which ran through the hole to the rock, making it so that when the rock was pulled upon the coils would release and the flooring would pop up for the Sibunas to easily sneak into the hidden room.

Fabian and Patricia made short work of the subfloor and joists, leaving a clear entrance wide enough for the Sibuna Crew to access what was, hopefully, the room their ancestors wanted them to find. Alfie and Jerome quickly hammered the rope ladder Lili and Amber built into the subflooring which circled the entrance.

Kneeling near the hole Nina shone her torch into the dark. The beam of light cut through gloom and Nina could just make out what she thought was the floor. To be sure though she repurposed one of the joists to test the distance and solidity of the floor. The drop ended up being a bit further than she expected making Nina have to shift onto her stomach and lean into the hole with Patricia holding her feet, but she was eventually able to hit the joist against the flooring and it appeared solid enough for her to feel safe enough sending her team down with her.

Standing up, Nina tossed her troops a 'devil may care' smile as she asked "So who wants to go down the hole first?"

* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *

Another squabble broke out after her question but Nina eventually succeeded in herding her crew down the rope ladder. The group of seven now stood shrouded in gloom with the only light coming from the torches they held.

A simple glance of the area found that the space they had dropped into was similar to a very narrow hallway. Their path to the right was blocked by a variety of criss crossing beams, to the left hung a set of ratty maroon moth-eaten curtains. Peering closer Nina noted that the curtains seemed to also have several slash marks littering them as if a wild animal had been trapped in the space.

"A tenner says that the secret room of our ancestors is behind the curtains of doom" joked Jerome.

"No one would be foolish enough to take that action slimeball" laughed Patricia carefully making her way towards the curtains.

Upon closer inspection it appeared that there were dark dried stains coating the curtains as well to which Amber simply quipped "Well that ups the spooky factor" making the group laugh.

Taking the plunge, Nina pushed open the curtains and stepped into the new space. Squeezing her eyes shut, Nina braced herself to be decapitated or dropped into some unknown depth, but to her surprise she found that the new space was surprisingly booby trap free. Calling back over shoulder Nina let the others know it was safe to come in as she shined her torch beam over the strange objects in the room. The six other Sibunas followed Nina into the space and joined her in investigating the room's contents.

"What is all this stuff?" asked Liliana, wiping away piles of dust.

"I'm assuming it's another version of Frobisher's study," pondered Fabian. "Though the stuff here is probably more important given the extreme security measures".

"Well that has to be a good thing" figured Alfie. "Hopefully we won't have to read more his journals a hear how he 'saw a cloud that looked like a pyramid… and that it's a joy to be alive'"

"Look for anything that has the spiral of your ancestors" directed Nina, opening one of the room's many trunks.

The team worked quietly for a few minutes only commenting when they came across something strange. The walls of the space seemed to be lined with blueprints and drawings that upon further inspection outlined various bobby traps Frobisher had designed and described in detail the excruciating end any thief who sought his stolen treasure would come to after triggering the trap. Besides a couple tables and dressers, the room housed an ornate gold gilded mirror large enough for Patricia to see herself and most of the team in. Next to the mirror sat an old old table with a candlestick phone and an overstuffed green velvet armchair. Nearly every flat surface in the room was covered by books or half-built contraptions. Fabian pulled a dust covered tarp off of a cart to reveal several bottles of liquor, a box of cigars, several glasses and a lighter.

As they sorted through the items, Jerome suggested that they play a game to see who could find the most heinous item in the room; at the moment the mason jar of human teeth found by Alfie and the metal box of a suspiciously blood-like liquid opened by Nina were tied for first place. Amber found it comforting that despite living with Victor for so long, there were still things that could shock and horrify her.

Eventually Fabian let out a shout of victory. "I think I found something!"

Hurrying to his side, the Sibuna crew gathered around a small circular table on which Fabian placed a strange contraption which only Amber and Nina recognized.

"What's that?" asked Jerome, eyeing the golden horn doubtfully.

"It's a phonograph, it plays recordings. Sarah had one she stored up in the attic" explained Amber.

"How are you sure this is what we are looking for?" wondered Patricia.

"See the spiral, it's identical to the one you guys drew while in that trance" replied Fabian, gesturing to the red spiral which had been carved into the back of the wooden box on which the phonograph rested.

"Well let's fire it up and hear what my ancestor wanted to tell us" grinned Jerome.

Fabian tried twisting the knobs and shaking the machine, but as hard as he tried he could not get the device to turn on. "Ugh, it looks like it's broken, I'll have to come back down here another time to try and mess with it" snapped the boy frustratedly.

Nina soothingly rubbed his shoulder as Alfie suggested, "maybe it's out of batteries?" only to shut up as Fabian threw a death glare his way.

"Well given that it's almost time for supper, we had best get out of here and change before people come looking for us" suggested Patricia, glancing around at her fellow Sibunas who were coated in dust and filth.

Seeing as everyone was in agreement the group stealthily made their way back up the rope ladder, and after securing the floorboard back in place left to prepare for supper.

* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *

Joy was sure that the lead up to seven pm would be the death of her. Patricia had given up on trying to calm her friend down after Joy asked "what if she only said yes to the date out of pity?" for the hundredth time. The punk girl had chosen to whack her silly friend with a pillow as she exclaimed, "She likes you dummy. Go on your date with the pretty girl and have fun. It's really not the end of the world. Trust me on that, I'm an expert on world ending events".

When the clock struck seven, Joy stood outside K.T.'s door with flowers wrapped in sheet music. She figured that they were a fitting gift for the guitarist; that said, she had driven herself almost insane trying to decide what song she should choose before settling on 'Girls like Girls' by Hayley Kiyoko.

Joy only managed to knock once on K.T.'s door before it flew open to reveal her gorgeous date.

"Hey!" greeted the girl with a brilliant grin

"Hey" replied Joy, slightly breathless. "Here, these are for you, I hope you like them"

"Aww, thank you Joy. They are absolutely beautiful" cooed K.T., accepting the flowers. "And sheet music?! JJ, you spoil me!"

"Only the best for you, Kara," grinned Joy shyly.

"Well this is certainly the best, you know I adore Hayley's music" hummed K.T. in agreement, as she placed the bouquet on her desk. "So, are you ready to wash a dog with me?"

"You bet! Vera's already gone for her nightly tea with Victor so we've got a while" grinned Joy, accepting the large bottle of soap which K.T. passed her.

"Fabulous! Come on, Letdown" called KT, to the dog who was lying in the corner. "Let's give this pooch a full makeover!".

The two girls snuck the dog down the stairs and over to the kitchen where K.T. had filled up a large basin with water. Coaxing Letdown into the basin proved to be an adventure in its own right, but the pair were eventually able to successfully convince the dog that the water was not actually an enemy that needed vanquishing.

Donning oversized rubber gloves the pair set to work scrubbing the dirt from Mara's beloved pet. As they worked the girls traded stories about their childhoods, answered questions about their favorite things and schemed about dying Eddie's hair purple while he slept.

Eventually though Joy hesitantly raised the question she had been wondering about for a while. "So, and you totally don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but I was wondering how everything went down last summer with Nina and all? Like, wasn't it weird to just have family crawling out of the woodwork. "

"Oh for sure! I mean when I first connected with Nina online it was strange, but honestly I was just excited to have a cousin close to my age. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the fancy boarding school I had been offered a scholarship to was actually my great-grandmother's ancestral home. Of course things only got more insane when Grandma Rose began talking crazy, well what I thought was crazy before coming here. She kept telling me that I needed to come to Frobisher Academy in order to bring justice to those who had been hurt. She was so insistent that this key would unlock the secrets that I needed to help these people".

"It sounds like maybe your grandma was talking about the people the Frobisher's hurt"

"Maybe, but now I'm thinking the key might also hold answers to bringing down The Society".

"Well you know I am one hundred percent down with dismantling The Society. Things are so freaking awkward with my dad still, but they probably should be, he held me captive at the whim of a murder cult!"

"Yeah, I think you get a pass for being mad still," laughed K.T.

"I'm pretty sure I'll be using that particular piece of blackmail to get what I want till the end of time" teased Joy with a wicked smile.

"Little did The Society know that in taking you they sparked your Anti-Hero origin story" joked K.T.

"You joke, but they kinda did in a way. After all the work the Sibunas did last year to put Jasper behind bars I've been considering doing the same with the key Society members. I mean they are straight up killing kids! If I knew for sure I could trust a cop or agent I would have turned Victor in ages ago. I've been going through The Jackal and Jack Jackal pulling evidence to build my case, so that when I do eventually meet a reliable public figure I can bring this school down"

"Well I think what you are doing is incredibly noble" shared K.T. scrubbing between Letdown's ears.

"Really? Thanks" blushed Joy. "But enough of that heavy stuff, have I ever told you about the time Mick got his head stuck in the banister?"

The rest of the evening was spent speaking of lighter topics as they finished with letdown and blowdried the fluffy puppy. Returning the dog to its bed in Mara's room, the girls decided to sit on the front porch and share a pint of dairy free peach sorbet (due to K.T.'s lactose intolerance) before calling it a night. Leaning against her closed door, Joy slid down to the floor with a goofy grin on her face after walking K.T. back to her room.

Patricia, who was laying on her bed working on her laptop while listening to music, fixed her best friend with a questioning smirk. "Good night?"

"The best!" replied Joy.

"I'm happy for you J-bird, you deserve the best" smiled Patricia.

"Thanks Pep" grinned Joy, before grabbing her pajamas and getting ready for bed.

* Scent of Lavender * Scent of Lavender *

Nina warily eyed the wooden box sitting innocently on her desk. To the average passerby the container seemed perfectly normal, but locked away within lay devastating contents.

"Oh Sarah, am I making the right choice?" asked Nina, despite knowing that she wouldn't get a response. The woman had gone to her rest, leaving the heavy mantle of Chosen One resting upon Nina's young and fragile shoulders. A cold chill sent shivers down Nina's spine as she pulled her sweater tighter around herself. It was such a silly thing to be cold, and yet it reminded Nina of her own mortality which brought her to the current crossroads. Through the combined efforts of the Sibuna club, especially Amber's credit card, Nina was now in possession of all the ingredients she needed in order to craft the elixir. Sure she needed enough to give Amneris in order to build her body, but that wouldn't use all of it. An echo of the sharp crack of the guillotine in the cellar almost slicing through Fabian filled Nina's mind. They were just kids playing games of the gods, why shouldn't she level the playing field a little? After all it was only fair that they have the same protections Victor's cult was operating under.

Removing the key from her desk, Nina unlocked the rough wooden box. Taking out each bottle, Nina carefully inspected each ingredient. Nina glanced quickly towards her bedroom door, making sure that it was securely bolted. Amber had taken their various housemates shopping in order to get supplies for the second annual Anubis House Thanksgiving. Mick specifically was excited to help throw the celebration, as he hadn't been here to experience it last year. In his mind, a holiday all about food was clearly the best thing ever. This provided Nina with a rare moment of alone time as K.T. and Eddie were hanging out in the living room watching "real football". Nina was convinced that this was just a ploy and that neither student actually knew anything about the sport and simply enjoyed trolling the resident goth pixie.

Turning back to the task at hand, Nina flipped to the right incantation in her grimoire and began to assemble the powerful concoction. Four eucalyptus leaves were dropped into the clear crystal dish along with a handful of wintergreen and a sprinkle of sea salt crystals. "anubis exaudi orationem meam et hanc oblationem suscipe" muttered Nina.

In a separate stone bowl which Nina had swiped from the ante chamber Nina added a sprig of cyperus root, a couple slivers of ylang ylang bark, a tablespoon of her crushed sandalwood and five dried eagle eyes. The final ingredient for the mixture was the cannabis leaves she had bought from Toni. Unfortunately her stash was relatively lacking due to Alfie and Jerome raiding it the previous weekend. Luckily, she had just enough left for the ritual. Using the wooden mallet she had found with the bowl, Nina worked to crush the ingredients into a fine powder as she whispered "Ut terre et caeli virtus in me concurrat".

Choosing the vial of python venom, generously donated by honorary Sibuna Julius Squeezer, Nina tipped the liquid into the powdered mixture. The girl watched in amazement as the poison hissed and fizzled upon making contact with the mixture. Inspired by her success so far, Nina quickly added the mixture into the main bowl along with the required vanilla extract and water. "Aqua vitae fiat hoc a iuvenibus usque ad senem".

Only one vial remained containing the final ingredient, the one which Victor could never procure. Eyeing the gleaming bottle seriously Nina acknowledged that this was truly the point of no return, once she drank this the imaginary line that she had always drawn between herself as the 'good guy' and Victor as the 'villain' would be forever crossed. The pained and horrified faces of her loved ones flashed through her mind in quick succession. Moments from the last two years filled her eyes, of the ragtag group of helpless kids struggling against powers beyond their control for simple survival.

"Nina, I'm scared… I can't grow old before I grow up" taunted Amber's terrified plea.

"We're just kids we don't deserve this" blared Alfie's protest.

"We're all cursed and if we don't do as she says we will forfeit our lives" informed Fabian.

Thee addition of Patricia's tortured screams caused by Senkhara's crackling electricity mixing with the other voices drove Nina to tears.

Forcefully dumping the tears of gold into the bowl, Nina blended the now glowing liquid, "Pro tua tutela ac vita me tibi confirmo. Non veniat ad me malum, et non peccem tibi. In hoc vinculo libenter ingredior".

Using the medicine dropper, Nina drizzled the golden liquid across her tongue. From the moment the liquid crossed her lips Nina felt a wave of power envelope her. The sharp sensation of a fiery blaze began to burn within her chest and spread rapidly out towards her limbs. The feeling of pin pricks racked her skin, blinking open her eyes Nina grinned crookedly as golden flames danced in her eyes "Laus Anubis magni defuncti deo, custodi me ab Osiride regio". Let Victor and Vera come for her now, Nina was ready.


Translation of the chant: - Anubis, hear my prayer and accept this offering - That the power of earth and heaven may come together in me - water of life let this become take from the young to the old - I pledge myself to you in exchange for your protection and life. Let no harm come to me and I will let no harm come to you. In this bond I enter willingly. - All praise Anubis great god of the dead, keep me safe from the domain of Osiris.

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 💗!

Next Update: Thanksgiving

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🌺