Monday morning rolled around and the Sibuna club was still cursed. Nina had hoped that her weekend spent in the library would turn up a clue on ancient curses, but she hadn't had any luck. Fabian's steadily declining memory meant that she didn't have her normal study partner and the team's best researcher to lean on. Nina had gotten him a pad of paper to carry around in hopes that he would be able to recall his thoughts later on with the help of his notes. Amber was still in a huff over Fabian voting for Mara in the school election so between that and her aging pains she had little time for their best friend. Alfie had lost about 2 inches off of his normal height and his voice had started to crack, which he was not happy about. Patricia was frustrated but seemed to still be able to communicate with a whiteboard and her phone for the time being. The team had worried about what to tell the teachers until Lili had stolen Jerome's laptop and crafted a perfectly forged doctor's note about Patricia's fake Laryngitis. Liliana's eyesight had gotten worse and while Jerome's elongated "S" sounds had gone away they had been replaced by his teeth lengthening into what looked like fangs. Overall, Nina was freaking out, she knew that they had to solve this next task quick before the other Sibunas got worse.

When the bell rang signaling a class change, Nina followed Fabian into the Drama Lounge to discuss their next task while they waited for their literature lecture to start. "I wish that I could remember more about these tasks" sighed Fabian as the pair took a seat on one of the available couches. "Why are we doing them again?" he asked taking out his notepad to record her response.

Back to square one... putting on happy face Nina replied, "We need to find the Mask of Anubis, give it to Senkhara, and rid ourselves of this curse once and for all".

Looking down at his notes Fabian clarified "And Senkhara... is the Egyptian Spirit out to get us, right?"

Hallelujah! The boy finally remembered. "Yup! Our foul tempered soul captor"

"I remembered". The smile of joy and relived laugh from Fabian were reward enough for keeping her snippy comments to herself, reflected Nina.

"You still remember me, right?" she checked bumping her shoulder playfully against his.

"Of course I do!" he assured her.

"And who am I?" she asked.

Squeezing her hand he replied, "You're Nina Martin, my best friend. I could never forget you".

"You better not" she teased.

"I remember Mr. Sweet, but I don't know who the woman is" Fabian continued as the headmaster entered the lounge with an unknown woman.

"That's ok, I don't know who she is either" Nina reassured him.

"Attention students" called Mr. Sweet clapping his hands loudly. "This is Ms. Valentine. She will be replacing Mrs. Andrews as your literature professor. With that said I will leave you all in her competent hands".

"It's like Megan Fox taking over for Marge Simpson" whispered Jerome, only to have his shoulder hit by Lili as she rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, Mr. Sweet. Well I feel like I know many of you already" said the attractive new teacher. "Thanks to Mick..."

"Mick?" asked a shocked Joy.

"I taught Mick at my last placement in Australia. He told me so much about this place, so when the job listing came up, I simply had to apply!". Clearly Mick was not in the know about Sibuna activities or else he wouldn't recommend a teaching position here to anyone. Nina was glad that Mick escaped Anubis oblivious to the dark horrors that haunted the house but was worried about this new teacher's safety. Only time would tell if Victor and Mr. Sweet would be able to twist her into the darkness that surrounds Frobisher-Smythe Academy. Nina prayed to the gods that this new lady would remain strong and oblivious, escaping the Academy unharmed and unaware of the dangers that lurked below.

"Now, you all know each other, and I could probably guess a few names from Mick's descriptions" Nina was sure quite a few of those descriptions would be unflattering. "Let's start with a little ice breaker though instead. I want you all to pass this basketball to each other and say the name of your classmate".

Ms. Valentine tossed the ball to Alfie and had him start off the game. Everything was going smoothly until the ball reached Patricia. Unable to speak, the girl chucked the ball at Jerome's head. Luckily, Alfie jumped in providing Jerome's name. The game continued for another couple rounds with Jerome passing the ball to Jude but hit another snag as an oblivious Abigail threw the ball to Fabian.

Staring at the ball in his hands, Fabian looked like a man holding a ticking time bomb. The game required that he throw the next ball to Joy, but it was obvious to the Sibunas that he had forgotten her name. Nina grabbed his knee trying to sign Joy's name to him, but Fabian was no longer paying attention. Tossing the ball at Joy, Fabian looked right into Nina's eyes as he said "Nina".

Nina's heart filled with excitement. Even though Fabian had set another movie date with Joy next week, in that moment she felt like he had chosen her as the one he loved. The moment was interrupted by Joy's waving cry of "Fabes, I'm Joy". The hurt look on her face showed that she had come to a similar conclusion as Nina.

"Of course I know you're name Joy" exclaimed Fabian as he tried to fix the devastated look on the girl's face.

Clearly not appeased by Fabian, Joy chucked the ball angrily at his head and ran out of the room with tears clearly brewing in her eyes.

Patricia leapt out of her seat to follow her friend. Jerome, being the jerk he is, descended into loud snickers.

"Roe, I love you but you're being a true piece of work at the moment. Please Shut Up!" snapped Lili as she worriedly watched Joy flee the room.

Ms. Valentine, realizing that she had clearly lost control of the class, decided to dismiss them for the day.

*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*

Once classes let out for the day, Nina and Amber caught a cab into the city so that she could check on her Gran. Nina had called the hospital the night before to try and speak with her gran, but the woman had already fallen asleep according to the nurse.

Amber, fed up with Nina's nervous knee bouncing, placed a steadying hand on her leg. "Neens you need to try and relax a little. If anything had gone wrong since you were last there, then the hospital would have called you".

"I know, I just hate leaving her there. I wish that there was something more I could do!"

"You are already doing as much as you can. You visit when you can, and now it is up to her doctors to help her get better, ok?".

"OK" breathed out Nina reluctantly.

"Good! And just in time too, since here we are!" cheered Amber quickly paying the cabbie.

The pair were able to sign in and make their way to Evelyn Martin's room without any trouble. Waving hello to her gran's nurse, Nina knocked on the hospital door and ducked into her gran's room. "Hey Gran, you look so much better!" called Nina as she hurried over to hug her.

"Oh Nina, it is so good to see you! And Amber too, hello dear".

"Hi Granny Martin" waved Ambs

"How have you been dear?"

"I think I'm growing a bunion" whined Amber.

"I'm not surprised with the heels you wear" laughed Gran. "You need a comfy pair of flats like mine".

"WOW! These puppies are fierce" joked Amber sliding on the slippers.

"So did your latest test results come back yet?" asked Nina settling down on the side of the bed.

"Inconclusive" sighed her grandmother dejectedly. "They want to keep me here for observation".

"Is this designer?" interrupted Amber sliding on Nina's gran's sweater. "It's super comfy. What do you think? Am I rocking this look?".

"I... think that it is very practical Amber" hedged Nina. She was well aware of the fashionista's temper when questioned on her clothing choices.

"Sometimes practical is good" muttered Amber offhandedly before freezing in horror. When it came to clothing or make-up Amber always treated "practical" like a curse word. "Did I really just say that?!?".

"It's no fun getting old" comforted Gran with a grin.

Nina though was lost in thought as she flashed back to the spirit's warning "Do as I command, or your friends will suffer more". Her friends had already suffered so much, and it was clear that their curses would continue to worsen the longer they took to complete Frobisher's latest task.

*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*

Back at the house Nina rounded up the Sibunas to tell them about her latest discovery. The group agreed to clear their schedules for tunnel time the next night. Hopefully they would be able to solve this task easily and be back to normal before the winter holidays began. As she went to bed that night, Nina's last thoughts were a prayer to Sarah to send them a sign.

---------------------------------------------

Evie's notes: So I am taking the Fabes/Joy drama in a different direction for a couple reasons. First of all Joy truly is Fabian's oldest friend and at this point he hasn't forgotten personal histories only names. Secondly, deep down Fabian isn't actually an awful person. His personality is that of a guardian/protector so of course he is going to react and try to protect others when they are in pain. That said, he is going about it the wrong way with Joy. In Fabian's mind he is being a friend to his bestie, and their complicated history shouldn't factor in when Joy is obviously hurting and lonely. Joy on the other hand takes his friendliness as a sign of the feelings she had built up in her head during the year that she was kidnapped and alone. Fabian is acting dumb, but he honestly doesn't think he is leading joy on by going to the movies with her. He thinks that since he never called it a date that it isn't one, and instead it is just like their old movie days... Unfortunately for those two, time doesn't stand still and disaster is bound to strike soon, regardless of one's good intentions. 

 Also Jerome is still trash, but Liliana loves him anyway!