Chapter Four
"Alright, we're in. Now what do we do?" Everyone had gotten out of the crate they had arrived in. Larry looked at the map.
"Well, this says that the Egyptian wing is on the second floor, so that's where we'll head." Akhmenrah could see that Kahmunrah looked nervous. They had not seen their parents for such a long time.
"Are you alright, Akh? You seem nervous."
"Alexandria, I am more nervous than I believe I ever have been. Kahmunrah and I have not seen our parents for such a long time, and the reunion might be a bit strange. However, am I certainly looking forward to introducing you and Zahra."
"I hope your parents will like me." Larry stopped for a moment, wanting to make sure that everyone who he knew was with them. At that moment, the strange, green corrosion on the tablet expanded more, affecting the museum exhibits, but Zahra suffered the worst. The now fourteen year old had completely collapsed, and her normally tanned skin tone was turning an ugly shade of grey. The corrosion then ceased, and the museum exhibits were back to normal for the time being.
"Zahra, darling, are you alright? You frightened us." Kahmunrah helped his niece stand up, supporting the deathly pale teenager while she tried to stand.
" I don't feel good." Larry bit his lip. Now finding Akhmenrah's father was more important than ever.
"Let's regroup. Cecil, what else can you tell us about the tablet?"
"Oh, I knew this day would come. It was in 1938, when I was only a boy of twelve. I went with my father on an expedition to try and find Akhmenrah and his tablet. There was a horrible sand storm coming our way and the locals who were helping all wanted to leave, but my father insisted on staying. He told me to go wait in the tents that we had been sleeping in, and on my way back there, I fell through a hole. Once I was able to get down the massive pile of sand that had built up, I turned on the little flashlight I had with me, and it took me a few minutes to register that I had found Akhmenrah and his tablet. My father said when he found me that he had been searching for the tablet for twenty years and I ended up falling right into it."
"Alright. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, the locals begged us to leave the tomb alone, saying if we removed the tablet it would bring about the end. At first I thought they meant the end of the world, but seeing the tablet now, it makes me realize that the locals meant the end of the tablet's power." The group had set off again, and they passed many exhibits along the way, and there were many interesting things.
"According to this, the Egyptian wing is just down the hall." Taylor said. Good thing she'd charged her phone.
"Akhmenrah, I think you should go in first." Akhmenrah bit his lip and stepped into the grand exhibit. He heard footsteps, and turned to his left, and he could feel the tears coming from his eyes.
"Mother!" He ran to his mother and hugged her as tightly as he could.
"Oh, my darling son! You look far too thin, were you wrapped too tightly?" Everyone else stepped in. Kahmunrah was not willing to risk leaving his niece's side in case the tablet had another little episode.
"Kahmunrah, you are here as well. How are you?"
"I'm doing well, mother. Akhmenrah and I are finally getting along." Zahra smiled at her older son. She was grateful to see her two children again, as any mother would be after not seeing them for such a long time.
"Father!" Akhmenrah was also thrilled to see his father again, and was surprised at the show of affection coming from the older man. Family was very important to Akhmenrah, it had been taught to him from the time he had been a young boy.
"I see you are doing well." Merenkahre normally was a stoic man, keeping himself composed as a Pharaoh should. He was very surprised to see his two sons acting as brothers should. He wondered what had happened.
"Father, mother, this is my wife Alexandria and over there with Kahmunrah is our daughter Zahra." Akhmenrah beamed with pride as he watched his mother fuss over her granddaughter. The teenager didn't seem to mind.
"Have you been feeding this child enough? She's very pale!"
"No, bad tablet! Not again!"
"Oh gods above, not again." Akhmenrah went to comfort his daughter, who was now writhing on the floor in pain. Why did she have to suffer like this, and why was she feeling the worst of it? Once the second episode of the night had stopped, Zahra was laying on the floor, pale, shaking like a leaf and she had thrown up all over herself.
"Father please, I'm begging you to take a look at the tablet." Akhmenrah took the tablet from Larry and handed it over.
"I swore I would keep the tablet's secrets for eternity, and I intend to do so." Akhmenrah was crying by this time.
"Father, please, I'm begging you to do everything you can to fix the tablet. Look at what happened to your own granddaughter! She's been suffering like this for almost a week now, and I don't know why!" Merenkahre looked at his younger son, then to his daughter-in-law and finally to his granddaughter, and then again at his daughter-in-law.
"Is Alexandria from Egypt?" The woman nodded.
"Yes, I was born in the city of the same name. My birth name is Halima, after the high priestess who supposedly helped you create the tablet. I was adopted as a baby and my parents gave me the name Alexandria after the city I was born in."
"Tell me then, is this the worst that Zahra has suffered?"
"That last episode was the worst. Nobody could ever explain it, but Zahra has always been able to sense the tablet's powers, even when she was a newborn baby. If the tablet was having a mood swing, it would affect Zahra's behaviour as well." Merenkahre went to take a closer look at his granddaughter. These incidents were no accident, even he knew that, and looking at his granddaughter, he now understood why. He thought back for a moment to the high priestess Halima, she and Zahra were identical in every way possible. Taking the tablet back from his younger son, he sighed.
"I knew this day would come, Akhmenrah. I remember the very night you born, it was precisely midnight. As a baby, you were quite a loud child, but I cared for both yourself and Kahmunrah, and in an attempt to keep our family together forever, even after our deaths, I had the tablet created. The fact that you were able to receive a second chance at life was no accident. The gods of Egypt granted you this life because it was needed. That did not affect the tablet's power."
"So what is going on, exactly? Can the tablet be fixed?"
"The tablet can be fixed, but the price to pay is a steep one."
"What has to be done? I don't want my daughter to suffer anymore." Akhmenrah bit his lip until he drew blood.
"As I stated, you being granted a second chance at life was no accident. However, from what Alexandria has told me Akhmenrah, you tried to have a second child."
"Yes, we did, and unfortunately we lost the child, who later turned out to be a boy."
"Now I understand everything. All of these major events were not accidents, nor was Zahra's ability to sense the tablet's power. She is in fact Halima's reincarnation, they are alike in every way possible."
"Okay, we get all that, but what does this have to do with saving the tablet? I don't want to lose my friends." Larry said.
"Well, right now the tablet is literally taking the life out of Zahra in order to stay activated. However, this can be fixed. The tablet will need to be soaked in the blood of a priestess under the light of a full moon." Akhmenrah's heart sunk. He knew exactly what his father meant. Zahra would have to die. Literally. He didn't want to lose his only child, but the tablet brought so much joy to everyone. It had essentially allowed Zahra's birth to take place.
"Father, there has to be another way! Zahra is only a child!" Kahmunrah was, to everyone's immense surprise, extremely upset. It then dawned on everyone what exactly the price was. Teddy, always being the museum's voice of reason, spoke up.
" I fully believe that Zahra is the only one who can make this choice herself. It is her life, she can do as she pleases with it. Whatever she chooses to do, I for one, will fully support her decision." The teenager managed to steady herself.
"Thank you everyone. However, I want a bit of time to think this over and to look around at the museum. I promise I won't wander too far." The teenager went off on her own, leaving the room in silence.
"So, there's literally nothing else that can be done to save the tablet?" Larry asked quietly.
"Sadly, no. There is nothing else that can be done. I always wanted to see Akhmenrah with a wife and child, however I never imagined that this is what the gods of Egypt would bring down upon us." Larry sighed. He couldn't imagine losing Nick, and now two of his best friends were faced with the very real possibility of losing their only child. Zahra had always put others first before herself; and had done the same even after discovering her royal heritage. It was something the teenager carried with pride, and Larry only prayed his son would marry a girl like Zahra one day.
Zahra continued her solo tour of the museum, looking at all the exhibits, trying to learn what she could. She had so much life ahead of her; both at the museum and beyond. A small part of her wanted to be selfish for once and not help her grandfather, but she knew that it had to be done. There were things in life Zahra hated doing, but they needed to be done whether she liked it or not.
Passing the large exhibit on the Roman Empire, the teenager came across an exhibit that did not appear to be complete. Opening the large door, she found it was an exhibit on famous pilots. She recognized a few faces, including Amelia Earhart and the Tuskegee Airmen.
"If you want to go look around you can, just be back here by sunrise, okay?" Most of the exhibit's inhabitants left, chattering happily amongst themselves. Amelia came over to Zahra.
"I'd stay away from him if I were you. He's moody and short tempered and I don't think he understands a word of English." Zahra merely shrugged.
"Eh, thanks. I'll remember that." Once Amelia had left, Zahra went over to the young man standing by the window. Besides being a top athlete, the fourteen year old was also a big history buff, and was planning on writing a book about the First World War.
"Do you mind if I join you? I like looking at the stars?" The man turned to her and nodded. Zahra recognized the famous Red Baron right away. She did not know very much German, but was grateful when she discovered he could speak English.
"It's actually quite an honour to finally get to meet you in person. I've read so much about you, but it's different now that I'm meeting you. My name is Zahra." The two shook hands.
"A pleasure to meet you." Zahra found the Baron charming, with an old-fashioned attitude about life. However, there was nothing wrong with that.
"You seem troubled, Zahra. If you wish to do so, I am willing to listen."
"Well, it's kinda hard to explain. You see, my father has this tablet which is what is bringing the museum to life. However, the tablet's power is almost gone and the only way to restore the tablet's power is to soak it in the blood of the priestess who created it under the light of the full moon." Manfred blinked curiously, but managed to understand what he was being told.
"Are you unable to find this person then?"
"Well, this is the difficult part. At one point, my father Akhmenrah was Pharaoh of Egypt. His father created the tablet to keep the family together forever, but of course my father and the tablet were sent to New York City when they were discovered."
"Is there anything else that can be done?" The twenty-five year old offered a friendly smile to the teenager.
"Sadly, no. Part of me wants to be selfish and say no, but at the same time, that tablet is the whole reason I'm here. Sacrificing my life to restore the tablet's power is, according to my grandfather, the entire point of my existence."
"That is absolutely barbaric, expecting you to give up your life."
"I know it sounds that way, Manfred, but it's the only way to restore the tablet." There was a moment of silence.
"Would you like to go for a walk with me?"
Zahra locked eyes with the Baron and nodded, allowing him to help her up.