He woke up with a gasp, or at least as much of a gasp as his stuffy tomb would allow. Despite there being no reason for it to have changed, it still hurt to see just black, confirming he was still locked up, as he had been for a long time. And just like nearly every night before this one he started screaming, pleading to be let out. And just like every other night it didn't work. It was hard to knock a gold lid off, after all.

Yet he was still angry that he couldn't just punch the lid off his sarcophagus. He was Ahkmenrah, damn it! A Pharaoh, he shouldn't be this weak! He grimaced at the thought of how disappointed his family would be if they could see him right now.

In spite of screaming until his vocal cords gave out, and scratching and punching his sarcophagus, his cell, night after night for hours on end, to the point where his fingers were raw and bleeding, he couldn't get out.

While most nights consisted of him clawing at the lid of his personal prison and yelling until his voice stopped working, some nights, for whatever reason, he just let himself be weak, even though he knew he shouldn't allow himself to do so.

Sometimes he would just sob, as silently as he could. He knew the other exhibits tended to stay away from him, but just in case someone was near. He didn't want to seem fragile towards the others, he could only imagine them laughing and joking about the Pharaoh crying. Tonight was one of those nights.

Ahkmenrah hated not being able to wipe his tears away due to the awkward positioning of his arms, and the little space he had to move. He despised his wrappings getting wet, along with the annoying feeling of it pressing against his face. But somehow it still felt... nice to cry whenever he allowed himself to do so. Those moments were some of the few where he felt relief. To just let it all out. If there was one positive thing about all this, it was that no one could see —and most likely not hear— him being frail.

Regardless of how he spend his night, the same question kept tugging at him while laying in his sarcophagus, surrounded by nothing but darkness. It was a simple question, but thus far he couldn't think of an answer. Sometimes simple questions didn't have simple answers, but Ahkmenrah thought this to be an impossible question with no answer... Why?

Why him? Why did he deserve to be locked up for who knows how long? What did he do to deserve this? Why wouldn't the others just let him out? He'd done nothing to them, yet they seemed to believe he was somehow a danger to them. He had heard certain exhibits even warning others about him, to steer clear from him.

All of a sudden he heard footsteps walking towards his exhibit, snapping him out of his thoughts. He held his breath, refusing to let anyone know he had just had a small breakdown.

He could hear two people talking, one voice he immediately recognized to be Theodore Roosevelt's, one of the people who seemed to hate him the most. Not only that, but he was one of the few who was actively advising others to avoid going near him, let alone try and talk to him. The other voice Ahkmenrah did not recognize... He knew he shouldn't be hopeful, especially with Teddy being with this new person, but he started screaming for help and banging on the lid of his own jail. He knew the odds were slim to none, but he couldn't keep himself from praying this person might be the one to free him from this hell.

That was when he heard Roosevelt, barely over his own yells, explain to this new person that the tablet —his tablet— was what gave everyone in the museum the gift of life. The next thing Ahkmenrah heard was Teddy explain to this new individual to never let him out off his sarcophagus. And immediately the small amount of hope he had of being let out was crushed. In fact, it only made him angrier, and he started to wail even louder, probably louder than he ever had before.

"Yell all you want Pharaoh, you've been in there for 54 years, you're not getting out tonight!" Teddy spoke. And at that moment Ahkmenrah stopped, but not because he was told that there was no way he was going to be let out. He stopped because he finally had a number. 54. 54 years. He's been trapped in this hell for over half a century and not one of the guards or exhibits could bother letting him out for even one night. Or even trying to talk to him in a nice manner, speak with him without making clear he's never going to be free, to just have a normal conversation. He didn't know who the other exhibits were, he'd never seen them and only heard some of their voices, but if they agreed with Teddy they must be just as awful.

No, I can't think that. They haven't even had a chance to communicate anything with me, maybe someone had made it a rule to never get close to me.

"Why can't he be let out?" The unfamiliar voice spoke. Ahkmenrah focused on the conversation the two were having with each other once more, curious what Teddy had to say about that.

"Well, you see Lawrence, I'm afraid this Pharaoh isn't exactly the nicest person. The previous guards told me all about it, how much unnecessary bloodshed occurred under his near tyrannical rule." Roosevelt sighed, clearly not happy to have someone like that in the museum. There was silence for a moment, Teddy was clearly expecting this new person —Lawrence— to say something about it.

"Oh... Uhm... That's..." The unfamiliar voice trailed off, obviously unsure of what to say. "Deplorable, Lawrence. It's absolutely disgraceful." Teddy finished for him.

"Y-Yeah, indeed. A-And I told you that you can call me Larry if you want, you know that, right?" Larry asked, clearly trying to lighten the mood a bit after the heavy conversation they just had.

"Yes, Lawrence, you've told me. If you don't mind, however, I think I'll stick to Lawrence. Seems more like something a president would do, doesn't it?" He laughed. "Well, let us go. A lot of the museum still remains to be seen, and it'll be sunrise before you know it!"

Ahkmenrah heard the two walking away almost immediately after that. He was still processing all this new information, it was a lot to take in to the point where he felt like he was going to have a panic attack. He tried to take some deep breaths, but it was difficult with the wrappings covering his mouth and his tomb being as dusty as it is.

Once he was done trying to calm himself down as much as he could, he went over the most important stuff.

He'd been locked in here for 54 years, there's a new night guard named Lawrence, or Larry, and...

They think I'm Kahmunrah, don't they?

New tears immediately streamed down his face. To think his older brother had been such a terrible, despicable, ruler who was responsible for so much killing...

He knew his brother wasn't the best person, he certainly wasn't nice to Ahkmenrah when they were kids... But knowing that Kahmunrah, his very own family, had gone down in history as a tyrannical ruler who had caused numerous bloodbaths felt horrible. A chill ran down his spine.

Ahkmenrah knew he had to prove to the others that he wasn't who they thought he was. But how? He couldn't talk to them, even if they were near him there was still a chance the words probably wouldn't come out clear enough for them to understand him, due to his wrappings which already made it hard for him to speak and his solid golden sarcophagus causing his words to get even more muffled. And that's if anyone even cared enough to try and understand him.

At least I'll have a lot of time to think of a plan while I'm trapped here.

He smirked, almost proud of himself for being able to show off some of his, albeit dark, humor, even if nobody but him was there to hear it. It had been a long time since he had any thoughts like that, and it was a nice change of pace to have an almost positive outlook on the future. His chances of getting set free were higher than they'd ever been, after all, now that he knew the reason why he was being locked up.

I can do this, I will make sure they realize I'm not the person they think I am.

And before he knew it, sunrise was near. He could hear someone —probably Larry— announce it to all exhibits who were still walking free and not in the place they were supposed to be.

Despite knowing that he'd most definitely wake up to nothing but darkness tomorrow, Ahkmenrah closed his eyes and fell asleep with just the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

Tonight had been very eventful, to say the least.