This has been running through my head for far too long. Enjoy!
"Lancelot, Sir, whatever, are you sure you know where you're going?"
Larry, Teddy, Nick and the rest of the gang followed after the knight, who looked very lost in the edges of the African section.
Lancelot looked back at the group, uncertainty glinting in his eye. "Of course not! I am a great knight of Arthur's table, I am never 'lost'!"
He ran into a wall, clanging off with a loud crash. "...but perhaps...some directions would be helpful."
Teddy pointed towards a corner off to the side. "She looks as though she may know."
The others looked at the person in question. Seated in front of a basket playing a small instrument was a woman, a snake charmer, if the snake emerging suddenly from the basket was any indication. She was dressed in Egyptian garb, and looked quite peaceful sitting on the ground.
Lancelot wasted no time. "Of course! Allow me, my friends, no maiden can resist a knight of the realm. Excuse me, my lady, would you happen to know how to reach the tomb of Egypt?! You will be rewarded for your service to the crown!"
The others raced after the energetic knight as he approached the snake charmer and kissed her hand. Oddly, she stayed quite silent, looking at Lancelot with confusion and slight disgust.
"My Lady? Do not be silent in awe of me, I require an answer!" Lancelot seemed to be annoyed by the perceived rudeness, so Ahkmenrah stepped in.
"Perhaps she does not speak English. She seems to be Egyptian."
Ahk spoke quickly in the dead language, and she nodded. Motioning for the group to follow, she headed past them towards Asia, flute in hand and snake curled around her neck.
Lancelot looked both perplexed and satisfied. "Well, that seems to have worked. I wonder how she has learned how to navigate this strange realm."
Turning briefly, she gave an exasperated look before pointing back at her previous position. Above it was a sign, prominently displaying the words, "Visit Egypt and Explore the Tomb of the Pharaohs!", along with a map.
"But..." Lancelot was floored. "She did not answer me! If she can speak the English tongue..."
"Perhaps," Teddy cut in, "She did not want to speak with you."
With that, the troupe moved forward after the snake charmer.
Ahkmenrah moved closer to the silent snake charmer. "I am grateful that you choose to lead us to the tomb of my parents. I look forward to being reunited with them again."
The woman's eyes widened, and she turned fast on one foot to kneel before the young pharaoh.
Ahk acted quickly. "Wait! I apologize, I did not mean to cause this. You need not bow before me."
The snake charmer stood slowly with his help, another look of confusion on her face. Ahk smiled down at her. "After all, what is a king to such a land as this?"
Gesturing around them, they turned as colored birds and other creatures went by. It was nothing like Egypt.
The woman smiled back, just as Teddy yelled back at them. "Talley-ho, my friends! We seem to have reached a new challenge!"
Ahkmenrah looked back to speak once more with the silent snake charmer, but she had already gone ahead.
Reaching the rest of the group, the two Egyptians came upon what looked like a giant metal snake curled up in the center of a room. In the entrance before them, blocking the way was a small, golden statue. Larry looked at the Plaque on the wall. "It's a Garuda from Tibet."
"A Garuda?"
"Hi, Garuda. How you doing?" Larry went to enter the room, but the small golden statue moved as well, mirroring his movements in an annoying dance. Behind Larry, Lancelot gazed at the larger statue.
"A dragon."
"No, it's not a dragon. It's a..." Larry looked at the plaque again. "It's a Xiangliu. Mythical snake demon."
"It looks like a dragon..." Lancelot looked thoughtful for a moment, before grabbing at his sword. "I say we kill it."
"What? No, it's asleep."
That stopped the knight for a moment. "You're right. It's not very sporting to kill it while it's asleep...Let's wake it up and then kill it. I shall go first, and I shall take the boy."
Larry started. "What are you...? No! You're not going to take the boy!"
"Why not?"
"Because he's a boy!"
"Larry, there comes a time in every man's life..."
The rest of the group stared as the two argued. Ahkmenrah snuck a glance at the snake charmer beside him, who rolled her eyes and blew a strand of hair from her face. The corners of his mouth turned up just a bit. It seemed as though her reverence earlier had been forgotten. She was quite beautiful...
Ahkmenrah shook his head at that thought, turning his mind back to the argument at hand.
"He's not going to slay his dragon right now. We're going to go around it. We're going to go around now, or else we're going to run out of time. Come on." Larry entered the room, the rest following behind.
After entering the room, Larry led them to the sides of the room, silently trying to sneak past the sleeping statue. All was proceeding according to plan, until Ahkmenrah suddenly doubled over, nearly dropping the further corrupting tablet. The snake charmer held him as he slowly sank to the ground, face becoming gaunt as the magic faded again. Behind them, Teddy began to spout nonsensical phrases from other presidents, and Sacajawea froze. Attila looked confused.
Larry's face changed to one of horror. "Attila! Teddy!"
Ahkmenrah stirred in the snake charmer's arms, half awake. "The tablet..."
Lancelot drew his sword, ready to advance on the newly awake statue as Attila and the others shrank against the wall as much as they could. "Fantastic! It's awake! Now we can kill it!"
-NTM