A/N: Okay so...I decided since you've all been so ridiculously supportive - your comments literally make my entire day, I swear - and you have all had to deal with my cliffhangers...you deserve a bigger chapter this time.
That and there was no way to break this part up.
So, thank you all for reading my story and warming my heart and I can't wait to see what you think of this part.
Nick ran up the stairs to the museum where McPhee was waiting to open the door. "Hey, I'm so sorry I'm late," he said, a bit out of breath.
"Well, you volunteered to help, so," the curator said, letting him inside. "You're not that late, anyhow. The sun's just barely set." Nick sighed. Even being an adult now and a little taller than McPhee, he was still a bit intimidated by the man. "Now that you're here, we can start figuring out what to clean first."
Within a few minutes, Nick was moving a mop around the floors and Doctor McPhee was cleaning some shelves in his office nearby. It was so quiet, which was strange to Nick. He found himself looking over at Rexy now and again, thinking he would move. Museums are kinda weird at night…well, I guess this is normal for a museum at night, but not for this one.
A vibration on his side snapped him out of his mopping motion, but only for a second. He didn't even think of reaching for the cell phone. Bet it's Alexa. She probably wants to snap at me a little more or make it seem like I'm somehow in the wrong for not taking her out to a movie. I have rent to worry about! I can't keep taking her out!
He kept mopping and let the phone go to voicemail. It's not important. This is. At least doing this makes me feel like I'm doing something right.
Ahkmenrah groaned a bit as he opened his eyes. His head was spinning as if he'd just ran in a circle two hundred times. What in the name of Hathor just happened? I feel like I've just been run over by something. Where am I? Oh no, Dexter probably ran off. His eyes focused but he couldn't see a thing in front of him. Everything just seemed dark. And cold. His nerves heightened and he got to his feet, quickly. A rattling noise filled the air as he tried to take a step forward but was denied. "What?"
That was when he noticed them. The black, heavy shackles chaining him to the wall behind him. Ahkmenrah's breathing started to pick up as he began to panic. He tried to pull the chain, experimentally, but it didn't give at all.
"Oh, I wouldn't even put in the effort, young pharaoh," echoed a chilling voice from nowhere in particular. "Those chains won't break, no matter how hard you will them to."
Ahkmenrah's eyes darted around the dark room, but no one could be seen. "Where are you? Who are you?"
"I think you know."
That was the moment. The moment his fear became reality. "Zalaam," he said in just under a whisper.
"Very good!" The disembodied voice chuckled darkly.
Through the fear and darkness, Ahkmenrah somehow found his voice. "What have you done? Where is my family?!"
"That is your concern? Truly? You would think you would be more worried about your own predicament, hmm? Or has it not totally dawned on you yet?" Zalaam's overly pleased tone sent a shiver down Ahkmenrah's spine. "If I were you, I would be a lot more distraught over knowing I was going to be kept prisoner in my own mind. To be a mere puppet, controlled by the most powerful man in the world. Does that not sound a bit troublesome when I put it that way?"
His heart was beating fast in his chest and it was getting hard to slow his breathing. It was all coming at him so quickly. He was alone in a dark room with no way to stop Zalaam. He couldn't move, he couldn't fight, he couldn't do anything!
"...They'll stop you," Ahkmenrah choked out. "My family won't let you take over."
The laughter echoed all around him and Ahkmenrah's knees nearly gave out on him because of it. "How naive you are, Ahkmenrah! How hopeful, how childish! It's quite amusing. You truly don't see the big picture here: It's over. Nothing can stop me. In fact, my army of sand warriors is currently rampaging your New York City. There is no one who can make this end! What you see before you is your reality now. I am in control from now on, and you are my prisoner.
"And if this family of yours does try to defeat me," Zalaam continued. "Don't worry, you will know. You will hear them scream."
Just as quickly as it came, Zalaam's voice vanished. For some time, tears had been trailing down Ahkmenrah's face, but he paid them no attention. His frantic breathing was the only sound that could be heard. He's going to destroy it all. He's going to kill everyone! So many people are going to get hurt, my family, what will they - We should've never gone near that sand, and now everyone's going to be killed because of it! No, no, this can't happen! I have to stop him before someone gets hurt!
Ahkmenrah seized the chains in his hands and pulled. He pulled until his knuckles were white. After who knows how long, his hands gave way and he fell to the hard floor. The only thing that had broken was Ahkmenrah.
Jedediah's black boot kept hitting the button on the remote control like it was on autopilot. The television was flickering from channel to channel for no more than a second. Neither him nor Octavius were paying it any mind. How could they? Jed had only turned it on to drown out the sound of the poor Queen.
No one had spoken in a long time. Kahmunrah had come into the room a while ago and sat on the other part of the sofa, but even then, they'd said nothing. There was only the methodical clicking of the remote.
Finally, the words that no one wanted to say came out of Jed's mouth. He took his boot off the button for a moment and looked to Octavius, who was sitting on the arm of the couch with him still. "...You think it'll work?" he asked. The Roman's chocolate eyes looked at him. "The Mirror? I mean, you think we'll get Ahk back, er…"
Octavius looked away for a moment before answering. "Who can say? It's out of our hands. All we can do is hope. I don't think the stakes have been higher, though. Ahkmenrah is in danger, the Tablet is missing, Zalaam could kill our friends, destroy everything...I don't think we've ever dealt with something this big."
"Got that right, ol' buddy. But, hey, Gigantor's gotten us outta rough spots before, right?"
"You are correct. Maybe everything will work out in the end. But if it doesn't-"
"Don't start sayin' that," Jed told him. "We gotta...we gotta think positive, right? Like you were sayin' back in Egypt?"
The Roman looked at him for a moment before a smile came to his lips. Jedediah still marveled at his ability to do that, even at the worst times.
Kahmunrah's eyes were on the flickering screen, but he wasn't focused on it at all. He was just thankful the noise was combating his mother's cries. After trying repeatedly to console her, he could stand it no more and came to the other room. There were only so many times he could listen to her sob and say how she wished Zalaam had taken her instead.
He kept his eyes on the screen and tried to think of something else, anything else, but the image kept coming back like a deadly plague. The image of those eyes, cold and dark but once so bright and inviting. Those eyes that used to look up at him, happily. Those eyes that were once so familiar.
They'll get him back, Kahmunrah told himself over and over. They will. That's how this always ends, with Mr. Daley winning and evil losing. I know it firsthand. They will find a way, somehow, to trap Zalaam and bring Ahkmenrah back. Then this shall all be over.
The Mirror is only a fifty-fifty chance, though, he thought, though he tried not to. Suppose it doesn't work. Zalaam would kill whoever stood in his way. Everything would be destroyed. Ahkmenrah would be trapped in that Mirror for all eternity. Something in him flipped a bit at the thought. But that won't happen. They'll bring him back. They have to, or…
Listen to me, it's ridiculous. How many times in my life have I told him to go away, to get lost? I didn't speak to him for years, haven't seen him for centuries, and now I want him back. It's insane. I am going mad, I must be.
He shifted his position and looked at his feet. But he could not stop thinking.
Realistically speaking, though, there is a chance they will lose. Zalaam is extremely powerful, not to mention there are only three of them. Three men armed with a sword and a mirror. Those aren't good odds at all. Perhaps they lose. Perhaps they die at his hands. Then everything ends. Mr. Daley had a hard time fighting me, how can he possibly win against Zalaam? Perhaps that's the last time I see him then, before the sun comes up. Perhaps that conversation by the river is the last thing we say. I'm not even sure what the last thing I said was. Perhaps - stop it! This never bothered me before and it certainly shouldn't bother me now! It's his own fault Zalaam took him and not someone else in that tomb, not mine. I will not feel guilty about this. If he's trapped forever, it's on Mr. Daley and his wax dummies! I did my part! I'm the only reason he got out of that molten Temple! I saved his life, my consciousness is clear! I could've let him burn, but I didn't!
Kahmunrah looked up from his feet as his own words sunk in. I could have. I could've been rid of him just like that like I always wanted. But I didn't. His hand gripped the end of his tunic. Somehow, it felt like the room had gotten warmer. I didn't because Father would've shouted and said I could have done something. I didn't because Mother would have been the weeping mess she is now. I didn't because...I couldn't. I couldn't leave him to that fate.
Now his situation is even worse…
What am I supposed to do, though? He thought. Just find some weapon nearby, march down the streets, and try to save him again? It would be suicide! Zalaam already tried to kill me once, I am sure he would love a second try. I wouldn't be any help either way!
Kahmunrah folded his arms across his chest and leaned back, trying to convince himself of that. It nearly worked until something occurred to him.
Zalaam just wanted one of us; it didn't matter which. It would've affected Mother and Father the same way, no matter if he possessed Ahkmenrah or me. It could have been me if he hadn't found Ahkmenrah first. I could have been the one potentially stuck in a Mirror forever or controlled by a madman.
And if it had been me, well, knowing Ahkmenrah, he wouldn't be sitting here, would he? He, with all of his naivety and optimism, would have gone along with Mr. Daley and tried to save me after everything. After the arguing and the throne...and not speaking to him for years...and leaving after our parents died… and trying to steal the Tablet and rule the world...
The tapeworm of guilt was eating away at his insides like it had been starved for eons. He would be there even though I wasn't.
Damn it all to Set. I've lost my mind entirely, but I've got to do something. I can't leave it up to those three morons to save him. I need a plan- some other way to stop Zalaam. There has to be something we can do to avoid using that Mirror, it's too much of a risk.
The screen in front of him flickered as he tried to think of what he could do. If we captured Zalaam somehow, could we force him to release Ahkmenrah? Maybe with four people, we could...no, not with his power.
"Jedediah, go back," the Roman said. "That was the local news."
Kahmunrah barely heard him in his thoughts. A blonde-haired woman appeared on the screen, looking frantic. Behind her were people running every which way, some of them made from black sand, others running for their lives. "- mass chaos in New York!" she shouted. "Officials are advising everyone to remain indoors at all costs! There are strange people rampaging the city! Some witnesses have said they appear to be made of some kind of sand! All government buildings are being shut down, the Empire State Building evacuated! No one knows just what's going on, but please, do not leave your homes!"
What, am I supposed to beat Zalaam out of his body? Kahmunrah thought. That wouldn't work at all, not even if I could get that close to him! Goodness, the one time I don't want to beat Ahkmenrah up. What timing.
"I have here a list of currently closed roa- whoa!" The blonde reporter was suddenly seized by her shoulders by another woman, who looked panicked and was out of breath. "Um, excuse me, ma'am," the blonde began, "but I'm in the middle of-"
"Statues!" the strange lady shouted. "Talking statues! In the park!"
"Wha- statues?" The reporter repeated. Kahmunrah suddenly tuned into the conversation and looked back at the screen. What did she say?
"Yes!" the woman shouted. "I saw it! I was in Central Park, and the Hamilton statue was moving! And he started talking to me! He doesn't sound like Lin-Manuel Miranda!"
"Miss, I think you're suffering from hysteria. You shouldn't be out here right now," the reporter explained, but no one was listening to her anymore.
"That's the Tablet!" Jedediah shouted. "It has to be!"
"But I thought the Tablet was long gone, back in Egypt," the Roman countered.
"Well, it certainly ain't Zalaam doin' that."
Kahmunrah's brain was going a mile a minute when it suddenly came to him so quickly, he got to his feet like he'd been electrocuted. "The monkey!" He turned towards the miniatures so quickly, his hair rattled against his back. "That's the only way!"
"They musta both came here with us after all!" Jedediah exclaimed.
"But why did he run off, and with Larry's backpack?" Octavius asked.
The cowboy snapped his fingers. "I bet Dexter wanted to make sure Zalaam couldn't get the Tablet! He was probably so spooked, he just took it and ran to make sure it was safe!"
"Oh, please, as if that animal could string together a thought like that," Kahmunrah said with a roll of his eyes.
"Well, you believe what you wanna, but either way, Dex mighta just saved the world!"
"How do you mean?" Octavius asked.
"Think about it: If we go find Dex and the Tablet, we can go get everyone else back at the museum! With all of us, we just might-
"Just might have enough manpower to give us a shot at stopping Zalaam," Kahmunrah finished in awe.
"Exactly! Ain't no way Zalaam could win with an army on our side! We could wrestle him down and make him cough up Ahkmen- hey, where ya goin'?"
Kahmunrah was already making his way into the kitchen, his eyes scanning the small room. If I'm going to go up against Zalaam, I need something to fight with. Let's just hope Mr. Daley doesn't only use flashlights to defend himself. He started opening every drawer he could find, trying to look for maybe a dagger or - Aha!
He grabbed a large knife with a blade that looked to be almost eight inches or so and held it in his hand, experimentally. It's got no grip on it and won't cut through the air nearly as well as what I'm used to. But it will have to do, I suppose. I've still got to track down that monkey, and who knows how long that will take? He turned and began to walk out of the kitchen.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Kahmunrah gasped and his shoulders went up at the sound of his father's voice behind him. He sighed and turned around to face him from across the small room. "No, please, sneak up on me again while I'm holding this large knife. Let's see what happens."
"Watch your mouth," Merenkahre ordered. "You are not going anywhere."
"Oh? Are you really going to stop me from rescuing your son?"
Merenkahre barely blinked, his hands folded firmly across his chest. "I do not have time for this, not when your mother is so upset. I only came out here because I heard all the noise you were making and thank Ra I did. Now put that knife down right now."
"What part of 'I am going to rescue your son' are you not getting here? What, do, do you think I can't do it? Is that it?"
"I am not arguing with you. Do as you are told!"
"Stop talking to me like I am a child! I am going to stop Zalaam and get Ahkmenrah back! I can't believe you are fighting me on this!"
"I forbid you from walking out that door!"
"Forbid all you want! I don't care if you think I'm going to mess it up like you thought I'd mess up Egypt! If there's one thing I know how to do, it's this! You can't stop me!"
By this time Merenkahre was getting red like he'd gotten a sunburn. "This is my final order: Put that knife away and assist me with your Mother! This is not about you!"
"Of course it isn't, that's what I'm saying! I can't believe I'm going to go save him and you're telling me not to just because you think I can't! How many times are we going to have this argument?! Really?! Do you not get tired of it?! Is this fun for you?! What? What is it? Why won't you just let me do this for you, this one thing?! Do you really have so little faith in m-"
"I will not lose another son!"
Merenkahre stared at him, his fists tight at his sides. His face was firm and yet his lip seemed to tremble a bit. The anger in Kahmunrah's body evaporated like water on a warm day and was replaced by confusion and shock.
"I won't," his father repeated. "It...it is my fault Ahkmenrah is in this mess. I should have taken Zalaam more seriously. I should have stopped him when I had the chance. Now because of my mistake, he could be Zalaam's puppet forever or trapped in Wadjet's Mirror with no way out. I might never see him again, and it is because of my own foolishness...I will not lose you as well."
For a while, nothing happened. They stood there, staring at each other as Kahmunrah processed what his father had said. He swallowed hard, like he hadn't done it in forever, and gazed at the floor. The look in his father's eyes was hard. The emotion they held. "...You won't," he said after a while. He looked up again at his father.
Merenkahre said nothing though Kahmunrah waited for some kind of response. He looked into his son's eyes and studied him. Finally, his shoulders sank, and his hands were unclenched. "No. I will not allow you to leave...not with that knife."
Before his eyes, his father unlooped the small khopesh on the side of his tunic and held it out. In awe, Kahmunrah stepped forward and took it, his hand just touching his father's for a moment. "Stop Zalaam," Merenkahre told him. "Bring your brother back. Do not get hurt. Do you understand me?"
In shock, all he could do was nod his head.
Kahmunrah held the weapon in his hand tightly as his father left the room without another word. Kahmunrah was left in the kitchen, part of him still reeling from the exchange. After a minute, he was nearing the door when the arm of the sofa called out.
"Whoa, whoa, hold yer horses there, Rahmenoodle!" the cowboy shouted up to him. "Ya can't go without us!"
"I can and I am," he said shortly. "You will only get in my way." His free hand reached out and gripped the door handle. He saw the cowboy smirk and throw up his hands.
"Suit yerself. But yer takin' an awful big chance, ya know."
There was something about his tone Kahmunrah didn't like. As if the miniature knew something he didn't. "What do you mean by that?" he snarled.
"Well," Jedidiah's hands went into his pockets and he paced around, confidently. "I'm just thinkin' that it's gonna be pretty dang hard for you to save yer brother without us. I mean, ya never been to New York b'fore."
"I've navigated my way out of a desert, I think I can handle it," Kahmunrah defended, not wanting to waste any more time.
"Sure ya can, sure ya can. But what about when ya find Dexter? He don't really trust you. I don't know if he'll wanna give you the Tablet. But for yer sake, let's say he does. Then you gotta get to the museum A-S-A-P."
"You don't know where that is either," the Roman said, clearly catching on. Kahmunrah let go of the handle and looked at the two of them.
"But let's say you find it anyway," Jedediah continued. "'Cause you're just that good. You really think they don't know you there? That they don't know all about the Smithsonian and how you tried to kill me - a beloved friend of theirs - 'swell as Gigantor? Why would they believe anything you say? Why would they trust you? Heck, who's to say they'd even let you get a word out before gangin' up on ya?"
Kahmunrah raised his eyebrows. Surprisingly, this was making sense. Why would they trust him?
"Aw, but you don't gotta worry bout that," Jedediah told him. "No, yer problem's gonna be right when you walk in: Rexy." He waited for a moment, as if Kahmunrah was supposed to know who that was. "He's a Tyrannosaurus. That's fancy talk fer 'big, giant dinosaur'."
Kahmunrah felt the color drain from his face as he recalled the last interaction he had with a dinosaur.
"Mmm hmm, thought that might get ya." The cowboy smirked. "An' Rexy's a lot bigger than Trixie. At least twice her size. Bigger teeth, too. Think you can control somethin' that big? Last I checked, you weren't the best with animals."
"We are, though." Octavius had a hand on his hip and was pretending to clean something out from under his nails, sharing his friends confident look. Kahmunrah grumbled under his breath.
"I've known Rexy fer a long time. I can get you past him easy. And I'll make sure everyone else knows yer on our side. But hey, if you wanna go it alone, it's no skin off my-"
"You've made your point," Kahmunrah snapped. His teeth were gritting in his mouth. Mulling it all over quickly, he knew there was no way he'd be able to save Ahkmenrah without the help of the miniatures. I can't do much of anything if a dinosaur mauls me. He glared down at the two men and pointed the tip of the khopesh at them. "How do I know you won't double-cross me? Given our history-" His eyes moved to Jedediah. "I don't think you'd mind watching your friends attack me."
"Yeah, but here's the thing: Jus' like you need our help, we need yer's, like it or not. We wanna help, too, but we can't do anything bein' so small. You gotta get us to the action. 'Sides, how am I supposed to tell Ahk I let you get hurt? He's a friend 'a mine and fer some reason he cares about you."
He lowered the khopesh and crinkled his nose. "Fine." He caved. "But you'd better do as you say."
"Ya got my word, Rahmenoodle." The cowboy smiled.
"And you have to stop calling me that." Without waiting for a response, he grabbed both miniatures probably a bit harder than was necessary and reluctantly placed them on his shoulder, having no pockets to put them in. A chill went up his spine as they grabbed onto a lock of his hair. They're like insects, he thought. With that, he opened the door and began to walk down the hallway.
A/N: I have been DYING to post this chapter! Kahmunrah is taking action! What are your thoughts? And again, thank you for any comments, follows, and favorites! You have no idea how much happiness they bring me. :)
