Hey every one, if you made it to this chapter then that must mean that you have taken interest in my story. Thanks for that! So, here is the next little installment. It's more of an introduction to the problem and more of a glimpse into how the young Pharaoh deals with the stress of being sold back to his home country. It's kind of a different take on the typically calm and very pretentious 18 year old (which is kind of the whole point of this story), So I really hope you enjoy it. Thanks to all of you who reviewed, and please continue to leave feedback because it's lovely to hear (i feel like I'm not just talking to myself then). And to those of you who haven't reviewed, I'm not going to beg, but if you have a moment I would love to hear form you. Thanks :3
Ivb100801: Thanks so much. I really try to keep my work as mistake free as possible and I am glad you took notice.
egyptiangoddess16: Don't worry, there is more to come. Was this update soon enough for you?
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Night at the Museum.
Ahkmenrah awoke on the threadbare, lumpy couch in the game room with four very anxious faces staring down at him. As his eyelids fluttered open Teddy Roosevelt's mustache twitched with the relief that was mirrored in Sacajawea's heavy sigh. Larry Daley closed his eyes in a silent prayer to his god thanking him for his ancient friend's well being. Nicky Daley just stood there with heavy wet tears dropping from his chin onto the couch's arm rest.
It took a moment for the good king to register what had happened. Turned out he had fainted in front of his friends after all, and his pride was deeply wounded. His cheeks turned the color of a chili pepper with a combination of embarrassment and self shame. He shot upright, the room spinning ever so slightly, and glared at his concerned friends.
"What are you all doing here standing around?!" He demanded in his sharpest tone. He tried to sound imposing and absolute, like the Pharaoh he was suppose to be, but his words came out sounding like a bratty English teenager on the verge of throwing a hissy-fit.
"Making sure you are alright." Larry snapped back. If Ahk was going to act like a child, he was going to treat him like one. Even if he could understand where his surrogate son was coming from, it didn't give him any good reason to lash out like this. He felt the old saying "Don't shoot the messenger" should be applied to the situation.
"I'm fine." Ahkmenrah huffed, "I just...need some space." 54 years of being locked in a coffin had taken it's toll and with all of these people crowded around him in this tiny room...his Claustrophobia was starting to kick in. It was much easier to deal with when he was asleep.
Everyone took a cautious step back but Nicky.
"Ahk," He sniffled, "Are...are you alright?"
The Pharaoh turned to him with flashing eyes, but the look on his dear friend's young face melted the mask of propriety he had snapped in place. As said before, Nicky took the regality right out of him.
"Of course I'm alright." Ahkmenrah sniffed, trying to keep hold of that one last shred of dignity he had. The thread snapped however, and he kicked into big-brother mode. He snatched the ten-year-old close to his chest ( a little more roughly than he intended to) and attempted to comfort him.
"There there, Nicolas. Do not shed tears on my account. Everything is perfectly alright. I'm in perfect condition, I promise." He hoped the boy couldn't see what a huge lie that really was. He had nothing left. Not his dignity, not his regality, and soon not his family.
"Everything may be alright now, but you are going to be leaving soon. They're going to take you away from us!" The child continued to sob.
Teddy and Sacajawea looked at Ahkmenrah with a very confused and worried look on their face.
"What does he mean 'they are going to take you away from us'?" Inquired the President.
Ahkmenrah sighed heavily, "Go ahead and tell them Guardian. Every one is going to have to know eventually."
Larry suddenly felt very uncomfortable as four sets of eyes turned to him for answers, "I was doing some paperwork for McPhee, and as I was reading through the reports It mentioned that the museum has lost a considerable amount of money lately. Even with business being better than it has been in years, there have still been a lot of repairs and things done to make sure that this building is a place the public wants to be. As a result, McPhee and the museum board have decided that the best way to earn the money back, plus some extra for new children's programs, would be to sell Ahkmenrah's exhibit back to the Egyptian government. In short, they want to send him home."
"They can't do that!" Sacajawea shouted at the same time Teddy shouted "That's absurd!"
"I agree with both of you, but there isn't anything we can do." Larry apologized.
"There is always something we can do Lawrence!" Teddy argued, "It's just a matter of taking the time to think about it! How long do we have before the good Pharaoh is to leave us?"
"McPhee is pretty pretentious about these kinds of things. He likes to make sure everything is in working order, like a well oiled machine so..."
"How long, my boy!?"
"Six months."
Teddy let out a small sigh of relief, "Well, at least he's not going tomorrow. That gives us some time."
"Some time!? Teddy, that's six months to come up with something like 30 million dollars! It's not like Ahk is being loaned to another museum, or even a private science institution like he has before. He's being sold! To a government! I don't have that kind of money! No one who visit's this museum has that kind of money! I'm not even sure if the museum's annual revenue is that much money! There are only a hand full of people living in New York with that kind of cash, and their last name is Rockefeller!"
"Well then maybe you can talk McPhee into asking for a hearty donation."
"Yeah! Like that's going to happen!"
Everyone's face fell, and Nicky began to sob again. Even Ahkmenrah's eyes were starting to gloss over with tears...though he would never admit it. The sight made Larry sick to his stomach. He couldn't do this. He couldn't just stand there and watch his two sons cry, and he couldn't disappoint Teddy like this. Teddy was too much like a father figure to him, and Sacajawea too much like a mother. He already had one set of disappointed parents back in Chicago, who couldn't believe that when their son finally landed a real job it was as a night guard. He couldn't disappoint his other set of parents by being the night guard who ended their secret night life and let their best friend leave. He was their Guardian and their friend. He had to try to do something.
"Alright!" he ran his fingers through his hair, a sure sign he was stressed, "I will talk to McPhee tomorrow and see if there is something we can do to keep the exhibit here. Ahkmenrah, you are going nowhere!" He looked down at his watch, "Okay guys, twenty minutes 'till sunrise. Let's round everyone up and get them back to their places."
Ahkmenrah got to his feet. He must have moved a little too quickly because he wobbled a bt and had to grab the arm of the sofa for support. He thought he was being nonchalant, but everyone saw what he was doing. Especially Larry.
"On second thought...Teddy, can you and Sacajawea go round everyone up and make sure they return to their places. Especially the cave people, please. I really don't want to be stuck explaining their strange poses to McPhee again."
"And where will you be, my good man?" Teddy inquired.
"Nicky and I will be making sure that Ahk finds his way safely back into his sarcophagus without any more incidents."
The Pharaoh shot him a sharp look.
"Of course." The president tipped his hat and headed for the door.
"Oh, and Teddy?"
The president stopped in his tracks and turned to the night guard.
"Please don't tell anyone about what's going on with Ahk's exhibit. Not until I talk to McPhee and come up with some ideas about how we are going to fix this. Seriously, I don't want anyone else freaking out, or starting a riot, or something."
"I won't breath a word."
"Thanks Teddy."
"No problem. Good night." and with that he turned and left.
No sooner had the President turned the corner than Ahkmenrah had another outburst.
"Laurence, you can't be serious!?" The use of the night guard's full first name was, in Ahk's mind, a symbol that he had momentarily lost enough respect for him to be called "Guardian" but at the same time hadn't screwed up enough to be referred to as "Larry" or simply just "You."
Larry threw his arms up in the air, "Ahk, I don't know what else you want me to do. Clearly you are still shaky on your feet, and I don't want to have to call Teddy back again to help me drag your happy behind back here for you to wake up. It's too close to sunrise! I don't want to have to explain to McPhee why his four thousand year old mummy is outside of it's sarcophagus!"
"That isn't going to happen, I'm fine!"
"Like Hell you are!"
The Pharaoh crossed his arms across his chest and gave Larry the best "I'm the king here, not you" stare that he could muster. Larry caught on to the game he was playing and spun the tables in a different direction.
"I know that look Ahk. You may be the king, but I am the father figure here. You are going to do as I say."
Ahk rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. It was very out of character for him to be this blatantly disrespectful, especially with a child who viewed him as a role-model so close at hand. However, he just couldn't help it. For some reason tonight's news had brought out the inner bratty, entitled teenager that he had been stifling for centuries.
The pharaoh felt a small tagging on his tunic. He flicked his eyes to the young Daley standing next to him.
"Ahk, you aren't making any sense. Usually you are the most reasonable and smart person I know but you aren't acting like yourself and it's kind of scary. Dad just wants to help is all. We're worried about you. You gave us quite the scare earlier."
Ahkmenrah softened at the child's kind words. Nicky really did have quite the effect on him. "You are right Nicolas, I'm sorry." He patted his friend on the head gently before turning to his father, "I apologize to you as well Guardian. I don't know what's gotten into me tonight, but I'm starting to act more like Khamunrah...and that's really something I don't want to do. He was a dreadful child, and only got worse as he got older..." a shiver ran down his spine as he thought about the very last time had spoken with his brother before he entered the afterlife. The look on his face must have let on more than he had thought because Larry was staring at him with Sympathy in his eyes. Ahkmenrah responded with a weak smile. "Well, if the sun is to rise soon then I suppose we must be off. I shan't let you get in trouble on my account, Guardian."
Larry Smiled at him as the pharaoh slung his arm around his shoulder. Either the young ruler was more physically unstable than he was letting on, or the memory of his terrible older sibling was enough to scare him back into his propriety and he was humoring him by allowing the guidance back to his exhibit. Nicky trailed behind, pleased that he was able to bring his friend back to his senses.
When they reached the exhibit's gates, Ahkmenrah removed his arm from Larry's shoulder and straightened himself to his full height. It was a spoken rule that no one was to enter the area with him when it was time to return to his coffin. He wanted his friends to think of him as a strong ruler that had absolutely no weaknesses. Therefore, no one was to be there at the end of each night when he had to face all three of those weaknesses at once. He gave the night Guard a slight bow as he bid him good night, or rather a good morning. Nicky, of course, managed to weasel a hug out of him.
When the pair had rounded the corner, out of sight, he walked past his jackal body guards holding his head high as he mentally prepared himself for the worst part of every night. He stopped at the edge of his sarcophagus and tried to talk himself into believing that he really wasn't about to bury himself alive. He was technically already dead, so it wasn't physically possible for him to be buried alive. This little fact, by the grace of reverse psychology, worked wonders to help prepare him for the next fear he had to face.
He stepped into the stone coffin and began to lower himself down. If he still had a heart inside his body, it would have been beating a million times a minute. As it was, he already had a fluttery feeling where his stomach should have been, had it not been removed and placed in a clay pot during the embalming process. As his head settled back against the stone floor of the sarcophagus, he could already feel the walls tightening around him (his claustrophobia kicked into high gear once more) and as he prepared to slide the lid closed over him, he gave himself one last mental pep-talk.
Larry Daley was in charge now. The Guardian of Brooklyn was not like the others had been. No longer would he spend another night trapped inside his stony prison. 54 Years had scared him, but those events needn't repeat themselves. He would be freed at night fall. That was a guarantee.
It was with these thoughts that the Pharaoh finally closed his eyes and pulled the heavy stone over him. All he had to do now was pray to the gods that the sun would rise before his thought got the better of him, leaving him in a frozen, mummified state unable to think himself back into depression. He also prayed that the end of the day would arrive soon, so that he wouldn't have long to struggle through his greatest fear: loneliness.