After a few more class periods, the students were set free for lunch. Joy, Mara, Kira, and Patricia— Willow would likely show up too— decided to stick around at the school canteen and further plot out how to pull off that night's birthday party. They'd also enlisted Alfie's help since he was eager to make up for forgetting it in the first place.

Amber, meanwhile, announced loudly that since Nina was keen to finally get back in touch, she was going to have a birthday video call in her room during their free period while Nina got ready for school back in the states. She was clearly happy to not be ghosted by her best friend, but was nearly boiling over at her other friends' dismissal. Of course, Nina was aware of heir plan— she'd been in the group chat, of course— but she'd been sworn to secrecy.

That just left Eddie, Fabian, and Jerome to go back to the house. Eddie hadn't had a chance to talk to Fabian since he'd given him Nina's letter, but he hoped that whatever was in it and whatever his friends had discussed wasn't something that was going to make his roommate depressed.

"Miller, I have to ask," Jerome said while he washed his hands at the sink, "was that letter what I caught you looking for under your bed?"

Eddie chuckled dryly from his spot by the school bathroom door. "Yep," he admitted. "Guilty."

Jerome shook his head and laughed, grabbing a few leaves of paper towels from the machine. "Let me guess, something to do with that crazy Egyptian magical connection?" He balled up the paper and tossed it overhand at the trash bin. He missed, of course. "That why you and Trixie split up?"

"What? No," he snapped, immediately bristling. Jerome rolled his eyes, patting Eddie's shoulder as he passed him on the way back out into the hall. "I'll have you know that being the Osirian and mine and Patricia's break-up are mutually exclusive."

Jerome held up his hands in surrender, walking backward down the hallway. "Okay, okay, I believe you," he said sincerely. "I was just asking. Trixie's like another sister to me; I'm just looking out for her." He dug his hands into his pockets and fell in step with Eddie. "Rutter has two minutes to get his arse out of Sweetie's classroom before I'm leaving without him. It's the first day of school, who stays after to talk to a teacher?"

"Probably babbling about how much he's happy Nina's still talking to him," Eddie grumbled in response, mind stuck on Jerome's previous words.

Patricia hadn't broken up with him because he was the Osirian, had she? It hadn't seemed to bother her at all since he'd found out, and they'd been together for almost ten months before she'd dumped him. If that had been the case, she'd have left him last November. Right? Right.

He couldn't help but be relieved at the result of his logic. It was bad enough to be dumped with no explanation, but it would have hurt so much harder if the explanation was 'I don't like this new, scary part of you that you just discovered.'

"Sorry, sorry!" Fabian called, jogging down the hall toward them and pulling Eddie out of his own head. "Had to clarify something Mr. Sweet said on the syllabus for orgo."

"Only you would be asking about organic chemistry on the first day of school, mate," Jerome scoffed. The three of them started out of the school back to the house. "So? What's the deal with Nina?"

Fabian smiled. "Well, she's not dead for one thing," he said. "By the way, Eddie, thanks for letting me know that," he added sarcastically.

"Look, I was just following orders," he defended himself.

"So I've been told," Fabian drawled. "Anyway, I talked to her a little bit after I read her letter. We're going to try. Long distance, I mean. She's... got a lot on her plate with her grandmother and everything, but we really care about each other, so..." His smile got a little dopey. "Yeah. We're gonna try. I was hoping to talk to her a little more at lunch when it wasn't 3 AM her time, but I think Amber's got her on call right now. Oh, and I think I'm going to try and snoop around in Victor's office later today. Nina said she thought he might have more information of the Chosen One and the Osirian. Stuff we can't find on our own."

"We already ransacked his office last term, didn't we?" Eddie asked, recalling the one and only Sibuna mission he'd been recruited on— besides the one where he'd been blindfolded— where he'd helped search through a ton of papers and books in Victor's desk. Of course, it'd turned up as nothing.

Jerome rolled his eyes at the mystery talk, over it already, while Fabian grinned. "We didn't check one place, though!" he explained. "Student files. Maybe Victor's been keeping documentation! Trisha's covering for me this evening while I go look. If I have anything, I'll let you know by tonight."

"Dude, thank you," he said sincerely, touched that his friend was willing to go into the lion's den for him, and even more shocked that his ex was willing to stick her neck out too. "It means a lot to me that you're helping me figure out who I am. I'm sure it means a lot to Nina, too." Eddie grinned, clapping his friend's arm in sincere congratulations. "And hey, dude, I'm really glad it's gonna work out between you two. You guys are, like, soulmates I'm pretty sure."

"Aren't you and Nina technically soulmates?" quipped Jerome, and immediately Eddie smacked him upside the head. "What? You both know I'm joking! Fabian, I am very happy for you and Nina, mostly because now I don't have to hear you crying over her."

Fabian rolled his eyes. "Thank you for your kind words, Jerome. Always a treat," he snorted.

"My pleasure, Rutter."

—

Back at the house, the boys had a quick lunch with the cold cuts Trudy left in the fridge, and Jerome and Eddie went off to their respective rooms for a bit before they had to head back to school while Fabian was taking the time to invade Amber and Nina's birthday call. They all had to be a little stealthy, though, considering they weren't technically allowed to be there.

This gave Eddie some time to himself to think over the undeniable fact that a girl who he'd seen in a hallucination was moving into the house he lived in later that day. It was really, really weird, and as much as he wanted to ask the Sibunas for their input, if their lack of luck finding anything substantial on the Paragon bloodline or the Osirian's connection to any of it beyond him being some sort of protector was anything to go by, they wouldn't have any clue either. Besides, he didn't want to shatter their newfound peace. Getting any real in-depth personal anecdotes out of his friends and ex-girlfriend were like pulling teeth, but even on their club need-to-know basis, he could tell just how scarring everything they'd gone through had been. He didn't want to freak anyone out if it just turned out to be a really bizarre case of deja vu, and KT had seemed pretty adamant that she didn't know what the hell Eddie was talking about when he asked her about the key and her grandfather.

Maybe I really did just meet her back in America, he mused doubtfully. Either way, he'd figure it out. He was the Osirian after all, and even if he didn't exactly know what that meant yet, it had to count for something.

He pushed himself upright with a sigh, loathe to get out of bed and back to school, but even Eddie wasn't keen to cut class on the first day of term. Slipping his bookbag across his body, he meandered out into the foyer with the intent of heading out the door; however, movement out of the corner of his eye gave him pause. When he looked through the door into the living room, his jaw dropped.

KT was going through some of the boxes she'd left in the living room the previous night, presumably to get a jumpstart moving things up to whatever room she was going to be staying in. That wasn't the thing that shocked him, though. No, what had his heart thundering was the fact that she was holding the same key he'd seen in his vision. There was no doubt about it— he'd seen the future. Or was it technically the past? Either way, he'd witnessed something mythical and now he knew for sure he wasn't going nuts.

"Well, Gramps," she was murmuring to herself, "I'm here."

In his excitement, Eddie couldn't stop himself from blurting out the first words that popped into his head: "There really was a key!" She whipped around as he rushed at her, her startled brown eyes blown wide. "Wait, that key! What's it for?" He didn't wait for an answer, eagerly snatching the photograph she held in the hand that didn't have the key. It was the same man as in his vision! Abandoning all tact, he pointed at the picture. "This guy! That's your grandad, right?"

"Please give it back!" KT ripped it away from him, pressing the photo protectively to her chest.

"That guy was in my dream too," Eddie murmured, slightly calmer but still wonderstruck. He moved towards KT, unconsciously backing her out of the living room. A million thoughts were racing through his head, so many it was taking his eyes some time to process that she was frightened. "He was the guy that told you to come here, wasn't he? And he gave you that key, and said that there was a 'great danger', and—"

"Students are not allowed in the house during lunch break," Victor boomed from the top of the stairs.

Eddie cut himself off with a sigh. No wonder Sibuna had been so jumpy last year, someone was always hovering. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed KT's gaze expression had gone from freaked out to calculating, as though trying to size him up.

"Did you hear what I said?" demanded their caretaker.

Whether she was saving his skin, her skin, or both their skins, Eddie wasn't sure, but KT turned on a megawatt smile on Victor. "I was just unpacking," she explained cheerfully. "You're Victor, right? I'm KT, the new girl. Everyone says that this is the best house."

"Yes, Miss Rush, I wanted to let you know that you will be rooming in the attic which was refurbished into a room last year in an effort to solve overcrowding in the girls' corridor," he informed her cooly. He made a pained expression, which Eddie could only guess meant he was thinking about the room's previous occupant, Vera.

KT tried for a smile. "Wow, a single? Thanks, Victor!"

He stared down at them stonily. "Get back to school immediately," he said, disappearing back into his office.

She cleared her throat and said, "Um, yes, of course. Totally! Absolutely!" And then she bolted.

Eddie snapped into action, dashing after her. "KT, wait!"

—

He chased her all the way back to school, which was probably not his proudest moment, but he needed answers. "KT! Will you please talk to me for a second?" he asked, but she ignored him, walking down the hall with her head ducked. "Okay, look, in the dream your grandfather was really sick."

She stopped, half-turning to face him. Her jaw was set and her eyes suddenly glistened with unshed tears.

Eddie's stomach dropped. "Wait... he didn't... did he?"

KT looked down, blinking rapidly, then back up at him. "Yeah," she said softly, "he did."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"He was very old, and he'd been sick for a while, so..." She trailed off, clearly still very much in mourning, and for the first time all day it caught up to Eddie how much of an asshole he'd been. He had to tread lightly from here on out.

"Look," he began, more gentle this time so as not to spook her again, "I don't blame you for being upset with me. It's just... I know he sent you here to stop a great danger, and—"

"Eddie," she interrupted firmly, but the tears had started falling. "Please." She whirled on her heel and fled to the girls' bathroom, and even if he'd been able to, he wouldn't have followed.

Great, I made a girl cry, Eddie groaned, silently kicking himself.

He plopped down on one of the chairs in the lounge and nodded glumly at Joy and Mara who were hard at work coloring in Amber's birthday banner. Patricia sat by the water cooler a ways away, talking with Lauren and Maggie from Isis House. She'd definitely noticed him come in, though, judging by the way her posture stiffened slightly. Even broken up, he could read her like a book.

"Hey," he sighed.

"Hey!" Joy and Mara greeted him in a far chipper tone. Patricia continued talking to her friends, not ignoring him exactly, but not eager to acknowledge him either.

"Oh, Eddie, there you are!" He looked in the direction of the voice calling his name and found his father. "Are we still on for lunch?"

Truthfully, he'd forgotten all about the scheduled bonding lunch he and Kira had agreed to, having already ate at the house. Still, he wasn't going to be a total dick and blow it off. "Yeah," he said, standing back up again.

"Have you seen your sister?" asked the headmaster, peering around for her.

"She's just at the toilets, Mr. Sweet," Mara informed him brightly.

Great, now Kira's gonna know I made a girl cry, Eddie thought miserably. I'm never gonna live this down.

The headmaster peered around his son so he could smile at the girls. "Thank you! Let her know we'll be in my office, please?"

Joy nodded. "Will do," she promised.

"Lovely banner by the way! I'm sure Miss Millington will be thrilled!" Mr. Sweet gave them a thumbs up, before leading Eddie off down the hall.

—

Kira was just finished flushing the toilet when the door banged open and the sound of quiet sobbing filled the otherwise empty bathroom. She froze awkwardly in the stall, unsure of what her next move should be.

She hadn't heard any other stall doors open, so she knew that whoever was crying was doing so at the sink. It wasn't that Kira minded having to potentially comfort a crying girl, but if she was going to do that, she'd like to wash her hands first, which she couldn't do if someone was crying at the sink. How awkward would it be to have to wash her hands like an idiot next to someone sobbing? She was embarrassed just thinking about it! Besides, Kira knew from personal experience that sometimes when you're crying in the bathroom, you don't want anyone else to witness it.

Maybe she thinks she's alone? she wondered. Maybe I can give her a second to compose herself before I come bumbling out of this stall like a dick.

With that in mind, she used the tip of her shoe to flush the toilet again, and once the rush of water subsided, Kira could hear that the cries her more stifled now. Deeming it safe to emerge, she cautiously made her way toward the sink, ready to size up the situation with a careful eye. She stopped short, surprised when she saw who was crying.

"KT?" she prompted gently, concerned. They'd only really talked a few times since the previous night, but she'd seemed so sunny at every interaction. This seemed like a stark contrast. "What's wrong?"

She wiped her eyes furiously, forcing a broad smile onto her face that looked a little crooked. "Yeah, I'm fine! It's nothing, don't worry."

Kira bit her lip, eyes flickering over her new housemate's face. KT could only keep up the smile for so long before it crumpled and she started crying again, harder this time. "Shit," Kira hissed, rushing to the sink and speedily washing her hands, feeling like a jackass. The water was too hot, though, and she ended up scalding herself a bit. "Shit!" She quickly dried them off on her skirt because KT was blocking the paper towel dispenser, and wrapped up a relative stranger in a big hug. "Hey, hey, it's okay," she soothed, rubbing a gentle circle on her back. "You clearly need this cry, let it out."

KT wept for about a minute more, heaving sobs that shook her frame and instinctively had Kira holding on tighter to brace her. Finally, she calmed down some and pulled away. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, wiping at her eyes again with the back of her hand. Kira quickly darted into one of the stalls and came back with toilet paper for her to dry her face off; KT took it gratefully. "I didn't mean to slobber all over you."

"Don't worry," Kira assured her, perching herself on the sink. "Do you wanna talk about it? I get if it's private, but—"

"My grandfather just died," KT explained, cutting her off. "Like, a few weeks ago."

Kira frowned sympathetically. "I'm so sorry," she said. Her grandparents had died when she and Eddie were little, and they'd never met the grandparents on their father's side before they died. She didn't really have that much experience with death, but she understood grief well enough.

"He was sick and super old so I guess I should have seen it coming, but I don't know..." She trailed off with a humorless laugh. "I guess some part of me thought that he was going to be around forever, but I guess that's just not possible, huh?"

Kira shook her head gently. "No, I guess it's not," she agreed softly. "That's part of the beauty of it though, right? Like, it makes the moments we do get to spend with the people we love all the more meaningful."

"Yeah, I know," KT sighed. "We had a lot of meaningful moments. Like I said, he was old. He was going to be one-hundred in October!" She got a wistful look in her eye. "He had so many stories, and lessons, and answers that I never got to hear."

"But plenty you did," she reminded her quickly.

"Yeah, except now I'm in a foreign country away from all my friends all because he wanted me to come to school here to— do something for him," she stumbled over the last words uncertainly, clearly holding something back that Kira was wise enough to not pry into. "I feel like I'm flying blind."

"I know the feeling," she said. "Honestly, part of me felt the same way when I came here. Eddie and I only came because... well, you know Mr. Sweet?" KT nodded. "He's our dad. Relatively estranged, but we're working on it. So if you ever need someone to talk to about culture shock or if you ever need help, you've got me. And Eddie, I guess, but he can be a dick sometimes."

"I guess I should have guessed you were siblings," KT said, hiccuping a bit while her body calmed down from the sobs. "You're just so... different."

"What, that I'm so smart and he's an idiot?" she joked, earning a little laugh. "But seriously, KT, I'm so sorry your time with your grandfather got cut short; I'm sure that he's still watching out for you. And in the meantime, you're allowed to grieve him as much as you need. No one is going to judge you for it."

She sniffled a little and nodded. "I know," she murmured. "Thank you."

"Of course," she said, rubbing KT's arm tenderly. They lapsed into silence for a moment before KT broke it with a little chuckle.

"You know," she said, "you're much better at this than Eddie."

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? You talked to him about this? I mean, you must have. Was that why he was asking you about it in class?"

KT shrugged. "It's... weird, really. I haven't actually told anyone besides you about Gramps, but he just seemed to know. And he won't leave me alone about it... Sorry, I guess I shouldn't be talking negatively about your family."

"Don't worry about that, he probably deserves it. Is he bothering you? Because I can fight him for you," Kira said seriously. "I mean, I'd probably lose, but I'll do it anyway." That earned Kira another giggle and a small, genuine smile, and she decided right then that she liked it much better when this girl was happy.

"No need for that... I'm just confused, I guess," she admitted.

"Want me to talk to him?"

"No! Please don't!" KT exclaimed. "I don't want to make enemies."

"I don't think Eddie will view you as an enemy if I tell him to quit trying to flirt with you," Kira remarked dryly.

KT's face went ashen. "He's not trying to flirt with me, is he?" she asked, horrified.

She burst out laughing. "No, no I don't think so," she assured her quickly. "He's still pretty hung up on Patricia, I think. Don't tell anyone I told you that."

"I won't," promised KT with a relieved sigh. "And that's the girl with the auburn hair, right? She seems cool."

"She is. Everyone is, really. A little weird, but you get used to it. They're also really accepting."

KT bit her lip. "Yeah, I was waiting for that one," she sighed. "You saw that, didn't you?"

"Your pride button? Yeah," Kira said. "I just wanted to say same, and if you ever need someone to talk to about that, I'm always around."

"You're a lesbian too?" she asked, eyes widening.

"Almost." She shook her head and chuckled. "Nah, I'm bi, but I get the feeling of wanting to hide, especially among virtual strangers. I'm not gonna out anyone, but you're really not alone in the house."

KT eyed Kira with a warm but curious gaze. "Well, that's a relief," she chuckled, cracking the brightest smile she'd seen from her thus far. "Seriously, thank you for this. You really turned my day around, Kira."

Kira felt her cheeks warm and she waved a hand. "Anytime, KT." She checked her watched and swore. "I was supposed to be at lunch with my dad!"

"Oh, no! I'm sorry for keeping you with my nonsense," she fretted.

She grabbed her arm firmly. "None of it was nonsense," she insisted, making direct eye-contact. "I do have to run, though. Here, what's your number?" KT rattled it off, and she plugged it into her phone, saving KT's name next to the sun emoji. "I'll add you to the house group chat. Oh, and Amber's party's tonight! I'll add you to that chat too. If you run into her, pretend like you don't know, okay?"

KT nodded. "You got, chief!" she said with a dutiful bob of her head.

Kira smiled, squeezed her arm, and dashed out of the bathroom.

—

Eddie ate what was his second lunch of the day across from his dad, picking at the chips while they made small talk. Kira still hadn't shown up, and he had to imagine she was probably hearing all about what an insensitive asshole he was from poor KT. It was hard to even stay focused on the conversation, not to mention one-on-one with his dad was always a complicated venture. Kira was better at that sort of thing. Granted, she'd had far more practice; they were always doing daddy-daughter dinners. It wasn't that Eddie wasn't invited... he just hadn't been as eager to connect as she was. Now, though, with so many questions left unanswered, he was more than willing to bond.

"I've heard some very good reports back from your mother," Eric said. "She seemed very impressed with Patricia."

His dad chuckled and despite the heartache, Eddie couldn't help but laugh too. Cathy had absolutely adored Patricia, just about ready to adopt the girl the moment she stepped off the plane. It was scary just how much they got along to the point where Kira had to remind their mother that she already had a daughter. She was potentially more upset than Eddie was that they'd split.

"Why did you two break up?" his father asked.

"Ask Patricia," he scoffed.

Sensing it was a painful topic, Eric shrugged. "Well, there's plenty more girls— and boys, I suppose— in the... sea..." They both snorted a laugh at that. "You know what I mean. Anyway, it might be wise to concentrate on your studies this term instead of romance."

"Can't wait," he joked.

There was a rapid knock at the door and Kira rushed in, shutting it behind her. "Sorry I'm late! Had to help a friend!" She said, pulling up a chair beside Eddie. Without missing a beat, she flicked him hard behind the ear, and he took it in stride. Clearly, he deserved that.

Eric passed his daughter the sub she'd requested and smiled. "Of course, I always like to hear my kids are doing good deeds," he said, beaming proudly at her. "I was just telling Eddie here that he should be focusing on his studies rather than dalliances with potential love interests. I don't have to tell you the same thing."

Kira's jaw dropped, and Eddie laughed so hard he nearly choked on his sandwich. Their father's eyes widened. "That is to say— I didn't mean it like that," he scrambled.

His sister started laughing too, and unwrapped her sandwich. "Damn, roasted by my own dad," she lamented, taking a bite. "What way to start the school year."

"I only meant that you always take your studies seriously," he chortled in embarrassment. Eager to change the topic, he asked, "Speaking of studies, what do you two think of the new teacher, Ms. Denby?"

"She seems cool," said Kira. "I like her. By the way, Eddie, I stayed after to ask her if we could partner up since we have the same family, and she said yes."

"Sick," Eddie said, thumping his chest as he recovered from choking. Noticing his dad's furrowed brow, he explained, "She's making us do this family tree project thing."

Something unreadable flashed across Eric's face that Eddie couldn't quite make out. "'Family tree project thing'?" he repeated.

"Yeah! I was hoping to talk to you about that, actually," Kira said. "Maybe we can set up an interview time, or if you have any records on file about our lineage?"

"Yo, wouldn't it be hysterical if they found something super embarrassing about our family?" Eddie snorted.

"Then I'd make sure you present that part," she retorted.

"So every person in your class is doing this project?" Eric interrupted, and this time there was obvious concern in his voice. Eddie couldn't fathom why, though. "Investigating their ancestors?"

"Um... yep? Pretty much," he said, exchanging weird looks with Kira. He could understand if Eric had reservations about Kira digging to deeply into their family in case anything magical or something popped up, but it didn't seem like that was the problem.

"No!" exclaimed Eric suddenly, startling the twins. "No, no, no..."

"Dad?" Kira prompted. "What's wrong?"

Before they could get any answers out of him, the bell rang, and he stood up quickly. "Right, well, get back to class!" He dismissed them, ushering them up out of their seats and out the door.

"Wait, I didn't get to finish my—" Kira began, but the door was slammed in their faces before she could finish. "What the fuck was that?" she asked Eddie, bewildered.

"I have no fucking clue," he replied, equally as confused.

"Well, whatever it is, we have Ms. Denby's class again," she sighed, and they started off down the hall together. "She's giving us all subscriptions to an ancestry site, which is pretty cool. I don't know about you, but I'm actually excited for this project."

They turned off into the new teacher's classroom and settled into two open seats in the middle. Eddie wasn't thrilled he had to partner up with Kira, but at least he didn't have to do all the work solo. The lazy part of him was currently cheering.

Denby allowed them to work quietly on their projects while she sat and observed, offering guidance when necessary. Joy, KT, Mara, and Patricia all sat at the table behind the twins, and while Kira turned around to talk to them about KT hitting a roadblock, Eddie clicked on a few more links. Their mother's side was easy, and most of the stuff popped up right away. There wasn't all that much available on the Sweet side of their family. A lot of it was locked.

With a sigh of defeat, he turned around to join the conversations happening behind them, conscious of the fact two out of the people involved in the chat weren't his biggest fans.

"So there's nothing on your dad's side beyond your grandfather?" Joy asked KT, peering at her computer screen.

"I know my great-grandmother was an immigrant," she explained. "Gramps talked about her once or twice. Single mom, I guess? I would have thought there'd be some documents."

"Maybe the records were destroyed or something?" Mara suggested.

Kira nodded. "Or maybe they're locked. A lot of stuff in mine and Eddie's tree can't be accessed either. Any luck?"

Eddie shrugged, uncomfortable with the sudden eyes on him. "Nope. Like breaking into Fort Knox."

His sister sighed. "Hey, at least we're all in this together, eh?"

"Do guys actually find this stuff interesting?" Patricia asked. "I've had more fun cutting my toenails."

"This is so boring," Amber groaned from another row back beside Alfie and Jerome. "Just like my birthday."

They all exchanged looks while struggling not to laugh. "She'd better appreciate this party or I might have to kill myself violently," joked Patricia under her breath, and everyone chortled in agreement.

Just then, Mr. Sweet popped his head into the classroom and asked Ms. Denby for a word in private. She nodded and left the room, while the students resumed working. Eddie perked up though, curious to see if his father's outburst had anything to do with whatever conversation he was having now. Beside him, Eddie was aware Kira was doing the same.

It was brief conversation, and Ms. Denby came back into the room looking rather perplexed. "Okay, everybody," she announced bemusedly, "computers off. The family tree project is officially canceled."

There were a few quiet cheers, but mostly everyone looked confused. "But why?" Joy asked.

Their teacher shrugged apologetically. "I have absolutely no idea," she admitted. "Orders from above. No matter, class. I have other things for us to do instead. Pull out your textbooks, please."

The cheers turned to groans of disappointment, and while everyone began rummaging in their book bags, Kira nudged Eddie. He looked over at her, probably wearing the same baffled expression on his face that she was currently sporting. Something was up. He just didn't know what.