Shadowhaunt
Disclaimer: I don't own Night at the Museum or anything related, save Canopic Chaos.
A/N: set after CC, pairings established in CC still apply ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prologue
Ahkmenrah watched the stars from his place behind the window in a forgotten corner of the museum. The world seemed at ease like this, almost like a sea of glass. For an instant, he let himself believe he was the only waking being in all of New York.
"Ah, there you are," Kahmunrah whispered, distracting Ahkmenrah from his musings.
"What do you want?"
"I thought you got lost."
"Why do you care?"
"Why else? I have nothing better to do."
"I thought you wanted me dead, or else to replace me some other way. You have every opportunity in the world right now."
"It's not like I could dispose of your final corpse, anyway."
"You could've had me burned." At this, Kahmunrah seemed appalled, and Ahkmenrah not only instantly knew why, but regretted his word choice. He turned away, hoping for the peace the night sky could give him. "I'm sorry," he finally whispered.
Kahmunrah leaned against the wall and smirked. "I thought there were no mistakes when you were pharaoh."
"You forget, Kahmunrah. A pharaoh may be the son of Ra, but he isn't a god in his own right until he is dead. Until that point, he is a man, and men make mistakes."
"Oh, so you're a philosopher as well."
"You may not think so, but there've been nights where I've been so worn I could sleep through a war. Leading Egypt was never, at any point, easy, but it has taught me many things."
"You sound like more of an intellectual than a statesman."
"Statesmen are intellectuals."
"I'll give you that one."
"Why am I not dead, Kahmunrah? This is all I'd like to know."
"Well, actually-"
"Oh, there you two are," Larry said, jogging up to them and cutting Kahmunrah off, something the latter wasn't terribly pleased about. "Have you seen this before?" He held up a sheet of paper so both Ahkmenrah and Kahmunrah could see. Looks of horror passed over their features at the exact same time.