Eddie had always known the day would come when Benji would come back into their lives. It had been a long time coming, in fact, but he certainly hadn't expected his rival, among other things, to show up at his school in another country.

The full story was complicated and, depending on who you asked, vastly different. He and Kira still couldn't agree on the details of what exactly went down or who exactly was to blame, but there were some facts that were indisputable:

Firstly, Benjamin Reed moved to New Jersey from London at the start of their sophomore year of high school, and Kira had instantly been in love with him. For about three months, she would not shut up about how cute, or how funny, or how talented Ben was.

Secondly, Eddie had hated him... at first. Eddie had always thrown himself into sports: football, hockey, lacrosse, etc., etc.. They'd been a good outlet for his, well, traumatic abandonment issues. He'd grown as a person, he could admit that now! So, of course, Benji had to come in and be better at all of those things. And he was smug about it, too! The new boy seemed to want everything he either couldn't or didn't have, and it drove Eddie mental. So while Kira mooned after Ben, who was quickly becoming one of the most popular students at Harvale High School, Eddie was in the trenches, fighting to maintain his street cred.

Thirdly, Ben finally asked Kira out on December 16th, right before Christmas break. Eddie would always remember the date for a few reasons, but mostly because last year, she and Mara had had a violent workout bad energy-cleanse on the anniversary and the literal foundation of the house had shaken.

By this point, Eddie and Ben were less enemies and more athletic rivals— one might have even called them frenemies. Her twin and her boyfriend even somewhat getting along had delighted Kira, and for a few months, things had been pretty okay. Kira and Ben would be the most aggressively PDA couple in the hallways, and Eddie and Ben would be the most aggressively PDA rivals on the field and locker rooms. That's just how it was! Eddie was a closeted and questioning bisexual teen, Ben was admittedly attractive— feelings were bound to get a little messy!

Fourthly, nothing ever happened... until it did. It was the first truly hot day of May, and Beth was hosting her annual end of the school year party. Matt's parents owned a liquor store, which made him the man of the hour, and the drinks were flowing pretty heavily. Up until it happened, things had been pretty fun, but as the night wore on, and 15 year old kids got drunker, things got a little out of hand.

This was where the story started to differ, and Kira could believe whatever she wanted, but Eddie knew the facts. He'd been getting ice from the fridge, when Benji came inside too. They were the only ones in Beth's house, the rest of the party still out in the backyard.

They'd started talking, and the details of how the conversation shifted from jabs about sports to deep, personal stuff were a little fuzzy— probably related to the shots of vodka they'd been doing— but suddenly Eddie was spilling his guts about everything: his dad, his sexuality, his night terrors... all of it. And Benji had just listened... and listened... and listened until suddenly, he was kissing him. Granted, Benji wasn't sober either, but it still didn't make it right. Eddie knew it was wrong to be kissing his twin sister's boyfriend— he had a reputation as a player, not a cheater— but they were both so drunk, and it wasn't like he hadn't thought about it before.

He didn't know how long they'd been until Kira had come looking for them. That's when things got ugly. He'd never seen her so furious in his life, even counting all the times in the previous term when he'd been less-than gung-ho about reconnecting with their dad. Eddie remembered practically feeling the betrayal rolling off her in waves; he'd never felt so shitty in his life.

Fifthly, she'd broken up with Ben that night, swearing that if he ever spoke to her again, she'd rip him a new asshole. And Eddie? She refused to speak to him for almost two months that summer, and honestly, he probably deserved it. Sure, he regretted what happened the moment Benji had crashed his lips into his, but regretting something doesn't mean it didn't happen. She still came running for every nightmare, though, which only made him feel worse.

Kira had ended his daytime shunning one day in late July by knocking on his door and asking him if he wanted to go to Barnes & Noble. He hadn't really, but it was the olive branch he'd been hoping for. It was an unspoken agreement of theirs to never speak about what happened, and while Eddie knew his sister had long since forgiven him for what had happened, she'd never forget it.

So... yeah. Benjamin Reed deciding to show up at Amun Academic Boarding School was neither of the twins' favorite thing.

The rest of Denby's class passed by in a complete blur, and when it was over, all Eddie wanted to do was get the hell out of there. Kira was already out the door before the words "class dismissed" were even fully out of Denby's mouth, and Eddie watched their imposter teacher blink rapidly, impressed by his sister's speed.

Eddie scooped up his bag almost as fast, and made a beeline for the door, with a very confused Patricia hot on his heels. "Slow down, doofus!" she called, pulling up alongside him once they were in the hallway. Kira was nowhere to be seen. "Who is that kid? I thought I met all your friends this summer."

Before Eddie could grit out that he'd tell her later, the devil himself appeared, likely because they spoke of him. "Milly!" he called. "Milly, hold up!"

That was another thing: the nickname. Never in his life did Eddie think that he'd prefer to be called doofus, weasel, dickhead, slimeball, or anything else over a variation of his last name, but damn did he despise it.

He was going to keep walking, but Patricia was already turning around. It was either leave Patricia in the dust to converse with Benji alone, or try to keep a handle on what could easily turn into a very messy situation. There was no real choice, so Eddie set his jaw and turned around too.

"Hey, Benji," he bit out. After everything had gone down, they'd barely spoken, and since after that summer, Eddie and Kira were moving to England, it didn't really matter. The conflicted feelings Eddie had harbored looked like ashes compared to the torch he now carried for Patricia, and he could see the situation now as it truly was: a horrible drunken mistake.

He didn't have to want to be around the guy, though. He was still a prick. Eddie had spoken to Benji, though, just once earlier in the year before Patricia came to visit. And he'd bragged— of, you wouldn't believe how much Eddie bragged, about his new school, new friends, incredible girlfriend; the only thing he hadn't bragged about was being the Osirian... that probably would have been a bit much. In turn, Benji had smiled tightly and bragged about his sporting achievements.

That was the extent of the conversation, and Eddie had felt like a big man when it happened. Now, though, he felt pretty small.

"How's things?" Benji asked casually, adjusting his book bag. "It's been a long time!"

"It was a few months ago," he snapped, earning a curious glance from Patricia.

Benji acknowledged his response with a hum, before turning to Patricia was with interest. "Who's this?" he asked.

"This?" Patricia scoffed incredulously, crossing her arms.

Hell no. Benji was not going to start flirting with Patricia to get a rise out of him just because she was his girlfriend, was he? Was he?

Eddie panicked. "This is my friend, Patricia," he blurted out, recognizing his mistake the moment the words left his mouth.

So did Patricia. "'Friend?'" she hissed.

"Oh, she's feisty," laughed Benji. "I like her."

Eddie could only thank the gods that his sister wasn't here to witness this; the walls would be painted red. "What are you doing here, Benji?" he asked, grinding his teeth.

"Ah, well, I heard you boasting about this place all summer, so I thought I'd come and see what all the fuss is about. Maybe reconnect with my favorite twins."

How was he so cavalier? This had to be all talk, there was no way he was so blasé about the damage he'd caused.

"Oh, is that all?" he practically snarled.

Benji chuckled a little. "Well, it did involve becoming captain of just about every sport in the school," he added, and Eddie tried not to let the smoke come out of his ears. "I'm here on a sports exchange," he explained to Patricia, then turned back to Eddie. "Show you guys how it's done!"

"Benji here was my first example of an Englishman," Eddie told her cooly. "Though it wasn't a particularly good one."

"Oh, we became fast friends, didn't we Milly?" he crooned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders like they were chums or something. "Except, I was faster." He patted him on the back twice, turned on his heel, and sauntered off down the hall, leaving an outraged Eddie in his wake.

"You two don't seem like friends," observed Patricia.

"That's because we're not!" he replied.

Patricia's smile was thin. "Unlike me, hey, Eddie? I'm just a friend?" It was her turn to leave him in the hallway, now, and Eddie watched her bluster off with a sinking feeling in his chest.

Every time things got a little bit better, something or someone had to come knock it down again. He shook it off, reminding himself of what actually mattered: Sibuna, the riddle, the secret room, his girlfriend— not his friend, thank you.

He just had to get through the week or two Benji was here without an incident. He was Eddie Miller, the Osirian! He could handle this.

—

Patricia was still off being annoyed with him at the end of the day, and Eddie was feeling a little defeated. He hoped he could find her before she left the school and try to explain as best he could... without mentioning all the unsavory details.

Thankfully, he didn't have to look far.

"Hey," Patricia greeted tentatively as she approached him by his locker.

He looked up quickly, offering her a half-smile. "Hey," he replied.

She took a deep, embarrassed breath and looked down at her shoes. "Look, I'm really sorry about before. Dunno what's got into me..."

"No," he assured her, turning toward her fully and taking her warm hand in his. "I'm sorry. You're not my friend, you're my girlfriend."

She looked up at him anxiously through her lashes; something was really bothering her. "Really?" she asked.

Hoping they didn't look too much like that couple, he used the hand that wasn't holding hers to brush one of her curls away from her face. "There's only you, Patricia. I should've just said it." He reveled in the smile that bloomed across her face. "So... we're friends?" Shit. "No, well, I don't mean—"

"I know what you mean," she snickered. "And yeah, we are." Then, she surprised him with a quick kiss on the mouth. "Ew, chew some gum," she joked when she pulled away.

"Ha, ha," he deadpanned with a smirk, and opened his locker to grab the books he needed for homework that night. He didn't even notice what Patricia had zeroed in on until she plucked it from the top shelf of his locker.

There in her hands was the crumpled up love note he'd received in class, only now it was smoothed out and neatly folded. Her expression was a perfect mix of hurt and disgust. "You kept it?" she accused, not waiting for an answer before she threw it back in his face and stormed off.

Eddie stared down at letter in utter befuddlement. He certainly had not kept it! In fact, in the confusion with Benji he'd entirely forgotten about it—

It hit him like a truck. Benji. Eddie would bet anything he had something to do with it.

"Eddie? Is something the matter?" Ms. Denby asked curiously from where she poked her head out of her classroom.

He stooped down quickly and picked the note up, crumpling it fully and throwing it into the nearest trash can. "Yeah," he ground out, already halfway down the hall. "I'm good."

This meant war.

—

"I thought I'd find you here," said Mara. "Brooding."

"I am not brooding," Kira muttered from behind her book, curled up on one of the cushions of the Frobisher Library. "I'm just enjoying my book."

Mara snorted, peering at the cover. "What book is it?"

"It's a play," she replied with a sniff. "Betrayal by Harold Pinter."

"What's it about?"

Kira leveled her best friend with a deadpanned stare. "Three guesses," she drawled. Mara chuckled slightly and sat down beside her on the floor. "Seriously, I'm fine."

"Oh, yeah, just like I'm fine," retorted Mara. "Kira, all the times you've talked about it, I thought you were going to explode. This must have been a shock; it's okay to be upset."

"I'm not upset!" she insisted tightly. "Mara, you've been through worse than me, I ought to be trying to comfort you."

"If you recall, you have been trying," she reminded her.

Kira hummed, flipping the page. Mara sighed, leaning her head on her shoulder and looking up at her through her lashes.

"Does KT know?"

"No," she answered in a clipped tone, "and I don't know if I really want her to."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not something I like people knowing about me!" Kira explained, voice pitching up. "It's embarrassing!"

Oops, not helpful. Mara sat up and pursed her lips into a straight line. "Getting cheated on is not embarrassing," she said almost offendedly.

"Not that part, I just mean my reaction was embarrassing," she amended quickly, then winced. Also maybe not helpful. "I mean, I was mental. Like, actually mental, and I let some asshole guy get the better of me. I just don't want to act like that again, you know?"

Mara sighed again and nodded.

"And if I am anywhere near that piece of shit, I just know I'm gonna go batshit again," she continued, putting the book down. "And I don't want to get mad at Eddie either, because the whole Ben thing has this amazing job of pitting us against one another, and I just—"

"I get it, I get it," soothed Mara, still a little ruffled from the faux pas. "You'd rather just ignore him. Doesn't mean he's going to go away."

"I know," she moaned, drawing her knees up to her chest. "But I can pretend?"

"You can," Mara said thoughtfully, "or..."

"Or what?"

"Or you could get revenge," she suggested in a sing-song voice.

Kira rolled her eyes and lightly smacked her arm. "I think there's been enough revenge, don't you?"

"There's never too much revenge. In fact, there's not enough revenge," countered Mara. "Boys need to learn!"

"While I can't argue with that... I guess it's just not what I want," she murmured softly, picking her book up again and putting it back in her bag. "And I'm sure KT and the others will find out, but I don't want them to know just yet, okay?"

Mara nodded, pushing herself to her feet and offering her a hand. "Okay," she agreed. "Now, we should go. It's going to be dark soon, and I need to get back before Trudy or Victor."

Kira stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Why?"

"Well, I've got to smuggle Letdown into the house," she explained. "He's tied up outside right now."

"Mara, he's been out there this whole time?" she gasped, picking up her pace toward the door. "It's cold!"

"He'll be fine! All the more reason we should get back," she replied, jogging to catch up.

Letdown sat outside, tail wagging and tongue lolling out stupidly. He really was such a sweet old dog, even if he stunk to high heaven. A horrible thought suddenly occurred to Kira.

"Is he going to be sleeping in our room?" she whined while Mara untied the leash from the bike rack.

Mara smiled sheepishly; Kira groaned.

—

"Is Trudy in there?" Mara asked when she and Kira arrived back at the house.

Joy and Willow shook their heads no, and that was their cue to lead the dog into the kitchen, past where Eddie and Patricia were having a hushed conversation that Kira thought involved the words "I believe you," from Patricia.

"Come on, boy!" coaxed Kira. "Come on, Letdown!"

Mara made kissy noises at the dog. "Food time! There's a good boy!"

"Oh my god!" squealed KT descending on the pooch to shower it with more kisses. Willow was right behind her, snuggling up close despite the stench before returning to help Joy and Jerome keep setting the table.

"I'll rustle up some grub for the poor boy," Mara chuckled tiredly, throwing the fridge open.

While Mara raided the fridge, Kira held the leash. "Hey," she greeted, and KT looked up at her with a concerned smile.

"Hey, yourself," she replied, standing up and heading to the sink to wash the dog smell off her hands. "Where'd you run off to after school? I was worried. We're all supposed to stick together."

"I know," she sighed, "and I'm sorry. It's just been a bit of a day."

KT nodded sympathetically and jerked her chin toward the living room couch where Patricia and Eddie were still sitting together. "For everyone, I guess," she remarked.

"I guess," echoed Kira.

"Why, what's wrong?" her girlfriend prompted, and before she even had a chance to brush it off, Ben came ambling into the living room.

"Just a friendly Isis House visit," he explained at everyone's incredulous looks. "Thought we'd drop by and check out the competition." Ben's eyes raked the room, landing first on Eddie, before finding Kira. He had the decency to at least lose the smile at the sight of her. "Anyway, if you don't know them, this is Sven and Sergei."

"Oh, hi, guys!" Willow chirped from the table. The boys nodded their heads at her, but didn't smile, trying to look intimidating.

"Of course we know them, dickhead, they're our classmates," Kira snarked before she could bite her tongue, and there they were: the first words she'd said to Benjamin Reed in almost a year and a half.

Ben opened his mouth to say something to her, but Eddie cut him off:

"Isis House is really bringing the heat this year, huh?" he jabbed.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Well, we want to make sure we keep the Interhouse Tournament Trophy."

"We?" Eddie and Kira exclaimed at the same time, earning slightly wigged out looks from their housemates.

Kira breezed into the living room and took up position beside her brother with her arms crossed. "You've only just arrived, and you're already a 'we'?" she scoffed.

"Well, Isis House is the home of the most athletic students on campus," he replied, barely acknowledging Kira, instead focusing his challenging stare straight at Eddie. "I don't think it's a coincidence they placed me here during my stay."

"Yeah, it was a coincidence! They had an empty bed!" snarked Eddie.

"They know this guy?" Kira heard Fabian whisper to Patricia.

"I guess. I know he's Eddie's, like, archenemy," came the reply.

"Either way, I'm taking you down," Ben drawled, and Kira tuned back into the heated conversation, blood already boiling.

"You can certainly try!" she bit out.

"Yeah," agreed Eddie. "Yeah, you can try, but you are looking at dodgeball royalty! And Anubis House has some of the finest athletes in the history of this school!"

"I've got plates!" As if to mock him, KT came into the dining room with a stack of glass plates balanced precariously in her arms, and Jerome chose that moment to turn around. They collided with a deafening crash as the plates shattered across the floor.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Jerome squawked. "That was my bad! Don't cut yourself, let me get some gloves!"

"Oh, no!" wailed Willow, and she rushed to help too, only for her and Jerome to get stuck in the door.

Kira's faced burned with embarrassment as Ben, Sven, and Sergei guffawed at the display.

"So I see," he laughed. "Well, I look forward to seeing you on the court, Milly." Then, he looked down at Kira, and his expression twisted slightly, like he'd regretted putting something sour in his mouth. "See you around," he mumbled, and with that he turned on his heel and left, Sergei and Sven on his heels.

Sergei, however, held back for a minute, and threw one last wave to Willow, who smiled and waved back at him as she stooped to help KT and Jerome pick up glass shards. Then, he was gone too.

Kira looked over at Mara who had a worried look on her face, and she gritted her teeth. She'd changed her mind— revenge sounded sweet after all, and she was going to help Anubis House win the tournament if it killed her.

This meant war.

—

They were only able to nick enough tools for one of them to use of the brick wall, so, as the strongest, the task fell to Eddie. While the others sat around watching him boredly from various seats around the cellar, he was busy scrapping away at the mortar. He'd been at it for almost two hours, having gone down to the cellar an hour or so before curfew. It was now nearly half past eleven, and Eddie was starting to be over it.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Eddie remarked when he heard Fabian snicker at him for the third time in twenty minutes.

"What, teaching you patience?" his roommate chuckled. "Nah..."

All around him, everyone was nodding off: Kira was completely folded over on herself like a rag doll, while Patricia and Alfie both had their chins hitting their chest as they struggled to keep awake. Only Fabian, who sat beside him holding the flashlight, and KT, who was pacing the room while she yawned, still had any real form of consciousness.

Finally, the tool he was using broke through the last of the mortar, and he gasped when the brick shifted loose. "I did it!" he whispered.

"That's it!" exclaimed Fabian in a hush. "That's it!"

Patricia and Alfie jolted awake, and KT shook Kira till she woke up too, and they all huddled around the wall to see what they found. "Ready?" Eddie asked, not waiting for an answer as he removed the brick from the wall, leaving a rectangular gap to peer through. He stuck his eye up to it and grinned. "No way..."

"Well?" prompted KT.

"There's definitely a room," he reported, squinting into the darkness.

Patricia chuckled dryly. "Another room. Great."

"Excuse me, Eddie," said Fabian, pulling out his phone to use the flashlight. "I can't make out anything distinct, but there's definitely something in the back."

Eddie felt a thrill of excitement go up his spin. They were so close! So close, and all they had to do was get through the wall. "Let's get in there, then!" He cheered, scanning the cellar for something to bust it down. His eyes landed on a heavy, metal tank of fuel for the furnace, which was totally safe. He just had a feeling.

He wasn't really listening to Fabian as he heaved the tank up into his arms, but he did manage to catch the words "slowly" and "quiet", but those words weren't that important when there was a world to save. Eddie geared up and charged the wall, slamming the tank into the bricks with a loud, metallic clang.

"Eddie!" Kira cried, covering her ears along with everyone else.

Eddie ignored her and banged again, the noise even louder this time.

"Stop! There's a pipe on the other side!" Fabian shouted over the reverberating echo. "What did I say about taking it slow?!"

"And quiet?" added KT, rubbing at her ears.

"Okay, so there's a pipe there! I know that now," he apologized. "We'll just avoid that now!" Much to his friends' dismay, he reared back and slammed the wall again. The clang was even louder this time. "Okay... so there's a pipe there too."

Patricia glared at him. "No kidding," she retorted.

"What are the chances of a third pipe?" he asked, and moved to ram the wall again, when the jingling of keys at the top of the cellar stairs made him freeze.

"What is this noise?" Victor bellowed down, and the Sibunas immediately began to scramble to replace the brick and get the hell out of dodge. "If anyone is there, show yourself..." His footsteps creaked menacingly on the steps as he descended, and no one wanted to be down there still when Victor entered the room.

Eddie managed to put the oxygen tank back where he'd found it, and zoomed to the bread oven passage, unlocking it with Nina's locket as quickly as possible. The team poured into it and crawled back up to the kitchen.

Unbeknownst to Sibuna, however, they'd made one fatal mistake— not one of them had checked the soles of their shoes for mud. They'd left a trail.