Nineteen: The End Will Come...

"Speaking of starting somewhere, I think I have a good idea of where to start looking," Nat said as she and Larry walked hand-in-hand to the museum the next day. "When I first started working here, this is where I did a lot of my research and compiled a lot of my notes." She led Larry down to the records room in the basement of the museum.

"Hi, Judith," she said to the woman at the front desk playing a game on the computer.

"Oh, hi Natasha," she answered, pulling her gaze away from the screen.

"This is my boyfriend, Larry," Nat introduced, gesturing to him. "He's head of the Night Program."

Judith turned away from the computer and eyed him over the rim of her glasses. "You're the security guard."

"And head of the Night Program," added Larry.

"We're just doing some research," Nat explained.

"Oh wow, a night guard doing research," remarked Judith.

"Yeah..." said Larry.

"We're just heading to records on Ancient Egypt," Nat said. "See you, Judith."

"Bye Natasha," called Judith, who had already turned back to the game.

For the next hour, Nat and Larry poured over every book on Ancient Egypt they could get their hands on. Luckily, Nat knew where to look.

She came back over to their table, holding a tall stack of books in her arms. "Okay, so I've got Lists and Descriptions of Egyptian Antiquities and Pharaohs and their Prized Possessions among others – many others."

"Please tell me those are ones we've already looked through."

"Sorry, no such luck."

Larry sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his hands over his face. He looked completely wiped out. Then he held up a photograph he had found compiled with a notebook. It was of the group who had excavated during the Ahkmenrah Expedition in the late 1930s, as Nat had told him earlier. "I wish we could talk to these guys."

"Well, you can't, cause they're all dead." The two looked up to see Judith coming over, setting down her cup of coffee and joining them at the table.

"Well, this guy, he's just a kid," said Larry, pointing to the young boy in the photograph.

Judith took it from him, sighing as she stared down at the boy, almost lovingly.

Larry and Nat exchanged a glance. "You didn't know him, did you?"

She sighed again. "C.J. Fredricks, He worked here."

"He worked here?"

"Yeah, he was a night guard, same as you."

"Wait a minute," said Larry. "Did you say C.J. Fredricks?"

"Cecil?!" cried Nat, now catching on too.

Judith nodded. "Sexiest night guard we ever had. Present company included," she said, eyeing Larry.

"Oh, I don't know about that," said Nat, smiling at Larry.

Half an hour later the two arrived at the senior's home Judith said Cecil now lived at. They found him in the entertainment room, where many people sat and watched TV, or read. Part of the room had been cleared of furniture and now served as a dance floor. They couldn't help but smile as they watched Cecil grooving to the music. He stopped and stared when he saw them. "Larry? Natasha?"

"Hey Cecil." They shook his hand.

"My God it's been years!" he cried, smiling. "What're you doing around here?"

"We need to talk to you about the tablet."

"Oh, well lookie here. What the heck is Short Stack doing here?" There was Gus, being wheeled into the room in a wheel chair by Reginald.

"Hey Gus, you're looking well. Reginald," said Larry.

"You here to frame us again?" demanded Gus.

"Okay, I didn't frame you, you were actually stealing," Larry reminded him. "And I was the one who got you out of jail, so..."

"Larry," Cecil cut in. "We have a nice life here. The past is in the past, we've moved on."

"I don't think this guy's moved on," Larry said, gesturing to Gus.

"We've put all that tablet stuff behind us Larry," said Reginald. "It's old news."

"Besides, we never really knew anything about that old tablet, we just worked there," said Cecil. "I mean you should ask Natasha here, she's the expert."

"Thanks, but not this time. Something's up with it," she explained. "We wouldn't come here to ask you if it wasn't really important."

"I told you, I can't help you."

"No, but maybe this kid can." Larry withdrew a photocopy of the photograph of young Cecil at the expedition.

This did the trick. Cecil's expression completely changed. "Maybe we'd better talk alone."

Minutes later they were sitting around a small table over by the window.

"Expedition like that is a pretty amazing thing for a twelve-year-old boy," Cecil was saying. "I tried to move on, but there was something about that tablet."

Clearly, thought Nat. You tried to steal it.

"It's turning green, like some kind of corrosion," she explained. "But not the kind that happens from age. I've never seen it like this before."

"And something's happening with the guys," added Larry. "Teddy and Dexter, Jed and Octavius, everyone – they're all acting weird.

"We think the corrosion is affecting them."

Now Cecil seemed lost in thought. "The end will come," he mumbled.

"What?"

"The locals, they warned us, begged us to leave that tomb alone. I thought it meant the end of the world, but maybe it meant the end of-"

"The power," Larry finished.

"That would make sense," said Nat. "They are directly linked, the tablet and the exhibits."

"We should have listened," sighed Cecil. "Instead, we shipped the Pharaoh and his tablet off to New York, and his parents off to England."

"Wait, wait," said Larry, cutting in. "Ahkmenrah's parents are in England?"

"It was a joint expedition," explained Cecil. "Some of the artifacts stayed in Egypt, while the rest was divided up between New York and the British Museum."

"Ahk said his father knew the secrets of the tablet," Nat said to Larry.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I think we have to go talk to him."

Larry's next task was to convince Dr. McPhee to let him and Nat take Ahk and the tablet over to England.

"Hey Nat," said Nicky thoughtfully while his dad was meeting with the museum director. "You went to college, yeah?"

"Yeah, I did. Got a history degree majoring in ancient civilizations, mainly Ancient Egypt."

"Surprise, surprise," he grinned. Then the smile fell. "Right. But you don't need a college degree, right?"

"Not necessarily. Depends on what you want to do."

Now he sighed. "Yeah. But what if you don't know what that is?"

"Well I mean, you've got some time to decide. You're only seventeen."

"Yeah but what if I don't?"

"Nicky, you'll decide, sometime. Don't worry about it."

He sighed again, heavier this time. "Dad doesn't think so."

She smiled. "Well you know your dad, he went through a bit of a rough patch there with jobs and stuff, he just doesn't want you to go through that too."

"Yeah, I just need to find my equivalent of the museum, my perfect fit."

"And you will," she assured him.

"Thanks. See, you get it, you understand. I wish Dad did."

"He will, you just need to give him time to process your plan. And he's just busy and stressed out with work on top of it all."

"Yeah, as usual." There was a pause before he said, "Hey Nat, do you think he's okay?"

"How do you mean?"

"Just that sometimes I think he works himself too hard, and I worry about him-"

Right at that moment, Larry burst through the apartment door. "We did it! McPhee agreed - we're going to the British Museum!"

There was a shocked silence before Nick cried, "the British Museum?! Like in London? You mean you've like, got to go all the way to England?!"

"Yeah, that's where Cecil said Ahk's parents are."

"Huh." The teen nodded. "Wow, well that'll be great for you guys, a nice, romantic getaway for two..." He hoped his dad would catch the hint - it would be the perfect time and place to propose! "Isn't London supposed to be like, one of the most romantic cities in the world? And don't worry, I'll hold down the fort here."

Larry and Nat exchanged a glance. "Yeah, no, that's not happening."

I know it's been so long and I'm sorry - but I'm going to finish this story yet! If you're still with me, thank you for your continued support, I really appreciate it! :)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))