A flurry of grey and maroon dots the sky, and try as he may, Mr. Sweet is unable to settle the graduates.
They rush back to Anubis House afterwards, family members trailing behind, the residents walking into the entrance hall one last time. They don't move to get their things, already packed up in suitcases and ready to move on. They stand there, forming a circle, joining hands.
It's not like they're never going to see each other again-there's a party, tomorrow at Amber's house, even though Amber didn't graduate with them like they'd all always thought she would, way back when. She and Mick and Nina and Mara have shown up to see their friends away, bright smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, and there's a universal wishing that those four had thrown up their caps too.
It's Amber who walks into the circle first, standing in the spot between Alfie and Fabian and pulling Mick and Nina in with her. Mara joins in on the other side, between Joy and Jerome, and sad, knowing smiles are passed between the three of them.
They stay like that for a while, still, fingernails digging into palms and unsaid words dancing in the silence.
"We are Anubis," Eddie whispers, a fraction of his motivational dodge ball speech of the past, and the circle turns into a hug. They are Anubis, and will always be Anubis, but the torch is to be passed to a newer generation now. Anubis residents are all special, and there's hopes for the well-being of the house's legacy strewn in with the goodbyes as the hug breaks apart.
There's more personal ones to be said now.
