Disclaimer: Sigh...
-Full- Summary: Things are not well at the museum when a new exhibit arrives. With a new artifact comes new curses, new magic, and new friends. At first, things are great, and the museum is more popular then ever! But suddenly things take a turn for the worst when three all-powerful ancient Egyptian gods get involved, wanting revenge on mankind.
Now it's up to Larry and the gang to stop these misfit deities from taking out everything and everyone in their path, all before sunrise!
A/n:I love playing around with the characters banter. ^^ There's this little fifth grader in my school who looks exactly like Rami, I'm not kidding. I look at him and it's basically all I can do to not break out laughing at the irony. Um, anyway. I've recently been watching Modern Family and the Office far too much, so now I see the characters of my story sitting on a couch and talking about their feelings xD
Somehow, we stay together. We are graced, and we are together, and the twoliness is trumping the loneliness and the doubt and the fear. Thank you, music. Damn you, memories. Thank you, present.
-Rachel Cohn & David Levithan, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Thoth and Ma'at were a good couple. Viola decided this when she was watching them both bustle around the library. True, Thoth was at least a foot taller, but Viola started to think that he was basically a foot taller then everyone. (In Viola's case, about a head and a half, but still.) Ma'at would correct him if he said or did something in the wrong way. They seemed to blissful together, it was like they had forgotten that Viola was sitting at one of a table's chairs.
Viola didn't pay attention to their conversations, but she did know that they occasionally switched languages. She wondered if it was because they were talking about her. She didn't really know, or care, but she guessed that because she would often catch her name in the middle of a sentence.
Viola wasn't listening anyway. She was too busy with her musings.
It was Loki who had sent Apep, and then that dragon - who's name Viola still couldn't pronounce. He clearly wanted her dead. But if he wanted her dead, then why did he bother telling her about all that...doomsday stuff in Central Park that night? He wanted her to stop the world from ending...but he wanted to kill her.
Could someone please tell her when they figured out how that was supposed to work?
And another thing: Sulipica. Apparently, she was Viola. (Or maybe it was the other way around - maybe Viola was Sulipica. It didn't really matter in Viola's mind.) But those memories...
The last one, where Sulipica had coughed up that blood...Viola - on some level—felt it. It was hard to explain, because at first, Viola blamed it on the hysteria of getting bitten by Apep, then on Ahkmenrah's presence. But then when Rebecca took her home, the odd pressure in her chest still was there. It finally went away when she fell asleep, but still.
"Is it...normal," Viola said carefully, "For me to be remembering things from my past life of whatever?"
Her question caught the attention of both gods. They had both been a ways away from her, but they both simultaneously walking over towards her.
"Of course it is, dear," Ma'at said. "Sometimes mortals remember their past lives, but they pass it off as deja vu."
"No, it's not like deja vu," said Viola, shaking her head. She looked at Thoth. "You said I have immunity. What's that?"
"On rare occasions, mortals are immune to our power," Thoth explained. "It doesn't happen very often, though. Your kind of immunity, however, I've never seen before. You can see past our human form, you aren't affected by any spells as far as I'm aware, and you attract demons from the Underworld."
Ma'at hhhmmed, and sat down across from Viola. "That would explain why you smell like that."
Viola blinked. "What now?"
"Never mind," Ma'at replied quickly.
"Okay, but...like I said, it's not deja vu. It's like I'm seeing my 'memories' happen again right before my eyes. I'm watching them, I'm not in them, but I can still feel them. Does that make any sense?"
The girl first looked at Ma'at, who was looking at her with a equally puzzled expression. Her lips were pressed together so that they formed a thin line. Viola then glanced at Thoth - his eyes swept up and down her, and for a moment she thought that he was going to announce that she had gone crazy.
"I see." Something about Thoth's voice had changed. His words seemed to come out more smoothly then they had before. "How long has this been occurring?"
Viola didn't know how to answer at first. Ma'at sent nervous glances between the two.
"A few nights, I think," Viola answered. "I'm not exactly sure."
Ma'at's perfect face was lit up with a grin. She was still glancing between her husband and Viola, only now it was like she was waiting to see what happened next. A pleased smile weaved itself onto Thoth's lips.
"What?" Viola asked.
"Viola," said Ma'at, nearly bouncing in her chair due to excitement. "You just spoke Ancient Egyptian."
Jessie banged his head on the Volvo's steering wheel. Only seconds before he had suddenly remembered that it was Viola's birthday today, and he almost rear-ended the taxi in front of him in the process.
What was he supposed to get a beautiful, funny, sarcastic, adorable, smart, rich - screw it, she was perfect - girl? God, he felt awful. He hadn't planned anything.
If only his mom could tell him what to do. She had left when Jessie was quite young. All he could remember about her is that she was always so tired. His father hardly ever talked about her, and Jessie didn't know if it was just a touchy subject or it was the fact that his father just didn't care about her anymore. Besides, his dad was always really busy anyway.
Shaking his head, Jessie tried to think of something that Viola would like. And when an idea suddenly hit him, he grinned widely and made a u-turn.
Viola blinked, stared at them both for a moment, then blinked again.
"No I didn't," she responded.
"You did, sweetie," said Ma'at, still grinning.
"No, I didn't," Viola said firmly, shaking her head. "I just answered his question."
"In Egyptian."
"In English! And besides, how d'you know it was Egyptian? ...Wow that was a stupid question. But still, I mean, I say weird stuff all the time! Like one time when I was little, my mom taught me a little Chinese because she works at a college teaching foreign language, but my dad thought that I was talking in Japanese. Although I only learned how to say a few sentences. And sometimes, when I'm under pressure my words normally slur together and I start to ramble off and sometimes I just say random things!" ranted Viola, the words flowing out of her mouth in a rush. As if to prove her point, she started saying things that didn't make any sense.
"Stop it, that isn't even good gibberish," said Thoth mildly. Viola instantly shut up. "It actually makes perfect sense. Think about it; you're gaining your memories back, and now you're beginning to understand your old language. I'm not quite sure about you feeling them, but it simply seems that you're overcoming your immunity. Nothing life changing, really."
"Easy for you to say! God, what happens if I start talking in Egyptian and I don't even realize it? Isn't it like a dead language? Oh wait, no that's Latin. It is Latin, right? Right? Oh my God, I'm going crazy!" Viola spoke too quickly that neither god could intervene before she slammed her head down on the table.
"You think it's a dead-" Thoth started, but he got shushed by Ma'at. Viola's head was smarting where she hit it. This was probably the reason why she didn't hear his retreating footsteps. If there even were footsteps. All four gods that she had come into contact with - Thoth, Ma'at, Anubis and Loki - all moved so perfectly and quietly. Loki probably made his living off being sneaky, but it still unnerved Viola. Why couldn't she have their grace - er at least, the grace of a normal human being? On occasion, she even tripped over her own two feet! And now she was speaking in an ancient tongue?
The universe really did hate her.
"Viola! Hey, Viola!"
Viola stopped her climbing of the museum's outer stairs and turned to see Jessie. He was clamoring up the stairs, taking two at a time in order to reach her. When he did, he was out of breath. His dark hair was tussled from running.
"What the hell?" asked Jessie. "How come it's your birthday and I haven't heard from you all day?"
Viola raised an eyebrow. "Was I supposed to call you?"
"Yes! Jeeze, you make me feel like such a jerk. Now I'm gonna feel guilty about this." He closed the distance between them and lightly pressed his lips against hers. Jessie also used this as a distraction as he slipped a rectangular box into Viola's hands. When he pulled away, she looked at him curiously. He nodded and grinned encouragingly.
Viola looked down at the rectangular box. It was dark purple, that much Viola could see in the remaining sunlight. And - it was velvet.
"Jessie -" Viola started to protest.
"Ah!" he said, putting his finger to her lips. "Just open it."
Viola obeyed and gasped. It was a necklace, made of a certain sparkly stone that looked far to much like diamonds. Oh God, it was diamonds. The necklace was in the shape of a heart. The stones inside the necklace sparkled as Viola gently lifted it up to her eyes on it's silver chain.
"Oh my God," said Viola. She was speechless. "Oh Jessie, it's beautiful! It must have cost a fortune! How'd you -?"
"Well, working all night every night for a few months at some damn ice cream place has it's advantages," he answered proudly. Her reaction was better then what he thought it would be.
"Oh my God," Viola said again. "And...and you...got this for me?"
Jessie nodded and Viola hugged him. After that, he held her at arm's length, and noticed that her eyes were red. This confused him slightly.
"Hey," he cooed softly. "It's ok. If you don't like it I can go and -"
Viola shook her head and sniffled. "I'm sorry, I-I love it. This is just...amazing. It's like the nicest thing any guy has ever done for me. C-can you help me get it on?" she asked. Jessie nodded again and walked behind her. Viola held up her hair and he clasped the necklace. She turned around.
Jessie knew he had to get that necklace as soon as the image popped into his head. It was quite odd, seeing something in your mind, then looking out the car window and seeing the exact same necklace which you have never seen before right there in the jewelry store's window. He had only imagined Viola's reaction, not how pretty she would look in it. The necklace seemed to somehow cause her eyes to shine and the rest of her features just fit into place.
"How do I look?" Viola asked.
"Beautiful," Jessie breathed. Before she could say anything else, he kissed her again, only this one wasn't chaste. His hands were on her hips and her's in his hair. He never wanted it to end. He wanted to kiss the freaking daylights out of her, even if they were in somewhere public. It seemed so perfect...
...Until his watch beeped rather loudly. Jessie reluctantly pulled away and cursed when he looked at the time.
"Dammit, I'm late," he said. He looked back up at Viola. He moved a loose strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. His hand lingered on her face, and she turned pink. "I can skip work if you want," he offered quietly.
"Skip work?" Viola repeated. "For me?"
Jessie nodded. For some reason, he felt like he would do anything for Viola. If she said jump off a cliff, he would do it, no questions asked. If she said skip work, then he sure as hell wouldn't complain.
"You should go," Viola whispered, regret (and guilt?) in her voice.
"We should do something later," Jessie said.
"Like get pasta?" asked Viola, smirking.
Jessie grinned. "Yes," he said. She giggled.
His watch beeped again.
"All right, all right, I'm going," he said loudly at it. Viola giggled again.
"You're watch is persistent."
"I know," Jessie said. "It needs to shut up," he muttered, turning the alarm off. "Anyway...see you later."
And with that, Viola watched her boyfriend hurry down the museum's stairs and onto the sidewalk until he disappeared from her view. Viola turned and walked up the few remaining steps before walking into the museum. She fingered at her new necklace.
Jessie was a great boyfriend. She wondered if being kissed by a three thousand year old mummy counted as cheating. If it did, then part of Viola told her to stay away from Ahkmenrah.
But she had already tried that, and look where it got her: absolutely no where. Besides, another - and possibly bigger - part of her told her to just break up with Jessie and stay with Ahk. Crazy family or not, he still was her friend in both a past life and the present, if not a little more then a friend...
Viola had just been following her feet through the museum, but now she saw where she was. Of course - the Egyptian wing. But it wasn't that fact that surprised her.
The hieroglyphics on Ahkmenrah's tomb were moving.
At first, Viola simply thought that her eyes were loosing their focus, so she shut them. But when she opened them again, the symbols were still rearranging themselves, moving around the walls and some of them blending and crossing with other lines to form one word:
Pharaoh.
Not believing her own vision,Viola shut her eyes again. When she opened them again, she found four new words accompanying the first.
Here lies our beloved Pharaoh.
Then realization hit Viola like a sucker punch. She felt like Bluto from one of those old Popeye cartoons.
Earlier today, she had spoken in Egyptian.
Now she was reading hieroglyphics.
"This is not happening," Viola told herself, taking a few steps back and rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. "That did not just happen. I did not just read an ancient writing, and I when I open my eyes, that sentence won't be there."
Viola bit her lip, then hesitantly cracked an eye open.
Here lies our beloved Pharaoh. Fourth King of the Fourth Kings, ruler of Egypt. May all who enter his resting be wary of his wrath. May Osiris bless his soul. May Anubis lead him through the Land of the Dead successfully. May Horus guard him well. May—
"GAH!"
Viola snapped her eyes shut again.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit—
She could read hieroglyphics. She was never opening her eyes in the Egyptian wing again!
Viola tried to turn and walk out of Ahk's tomb, only to trip over one of the Anubis guard's pedestals and fall flat on her face on the ground.
"Ow!" she cried, rubbing her head. There probably would be a bruise there. But determined not to look at any of the hieroglyphics, she kept her eyes closed. Viola felt her way up, and trailed her fingers along the guard's pedestal, then leg. Mapping the tomb out in her head, Viola turned around.
However, her map wasn't very accurate, because she ended up stubbing her toe on a pillar. Viola cursed, and hopped on her other foot. She hopped right across to the other side of the tomb, where she hit the back of her head on the other pillar.
Viola cried out, and slid down the pillar onto the floor. She rubbed the back of her head. Her toe was smarting, and her head was pounding. Her eyes were still shut. God, she probably looked so stupid right now.
And so it wasn't until her cell phone rang in her pocket did she finally open her eyes.
"Hello?...Bonnie? Since when have you ever..."
Viola's sweet voice wafted into the edge of his consciousness.
"Well then that's your problem, now mine."
Viola's voice lost it's sweet sound. Now she sounded agitated.
"I think it's high time that you finally got some responsibility around the house. I mean, come on, your going to college next year, and...Well I don't care! And here's another news flash for ya; in college, no one is going to help you with your homework!...No I haven't been spying...sheesh Bonnie I've seen your grades, your not exactly...Oh so now your calling me stupid? Bonnie, I've been smarter then you since the third grade!...When you get old enough, popularity won't matter...I have not!..."
Viola's voice now sounded flustered and there was a small hint of defeat in her voice.
"You can't make me to do anything...I don't care who you tell! I'm not coming home just because you can't...N...No! You've bossed me around for way to long! Have you ever considered that I might have a life?...SHUT UP!"
There was a loud clack, and Viola's voice became silent.
Then the sobs began.
The second Ahkmenrah awoke, he knew he needed to find Viola. He could hear her crying when he was asleep. He desperately wanted to go to her, but he was trapped inside.
Once he was out of his sarcophagus, he was surprised to see Viola sitting right there on the floor. Her back was leaned against the wall, like she had the very first night she had found out that he came to life every night. Her little legs were pulled to her chest, her face hidden in her knees. Ahkmenrah walked over to her slowly.
"Viola?" he asked quietly. She looked up at him. Her normally-blue-eyes were now puffy and rimed with red. His heart nearly broke just at the mere sight of her crying. "Are you alright?"
Viola sniffled, then shot him a weak smile. "You seem to say that a lot," she said, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat. Ahkmenrah sat down next to her.
"I suppose I do," he said, humoring her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm -"
"Viola," Ahkmenrah said firmly, "You aren't fine. You have said that far too much. Why are you always so defensive about yourself?"
"Defensive?" Viola squeaked. She cleared her throat again. "Defensive?" she said, more firmly this time. "I'm not defensive!
"You are doing it again. Viola, please."
Viola turned to look at him. He looked so concerned. She couldn't lie to him...
"My sister's a bitch," said Viola, her voice cracking again. She let loose a single sob that shook her whole frame.
Ahkmenrah felt his heart ache. The girl he loved was inflicted by sibling problems. Oh, how he could relate. But instead of relating to her, he did something else. The Egyptian pulled Viola into his lap and comforted her by whispering in her ear and letting her cry into his chest.
When Viola calmed down, she looked up at him. Her face was still flushed, but at this point he wasn't sure if it was because of her crying or because of embarrassment. She was sitting in his lap, his arms around her, her curled into his chest. Secretly, Ahkmenrah didn't want Viola to move just quite yet.
"I'm sorry," escaped her lips before anything else could. "I'm sorry."
His brow furrowed slightly. "For what, exactly?"
"For this," Viola said, looking away. Unfortunately, with him being so close, she couldn't really look anywhere but him. She was slowly starting to blush. "I should probably..." Viola made a move to get out of his lap, but Ahkmenrah's arms tightened, and prevented her from moving. They acted as chains that kept her laced to him. Her blush increased.
"Viola, what made you so upset?" Ahkmenrah asked quietly, his lips fluttering against her ear. Viola's mind went blank for a moment. She tried in vain for a moment to remember what her name was. Once her mind cleared, she tried to get up again, but the Egyptian wouldn't budge. Ahk wasn't going to get her go without getting her to talk to him. And if that meant holding her captive for the rest of the night, so be it.
"My sister," Viola answered simply. Ahk nearly groaned. He knew that, but she wasn't telling him her problem. It probably wasn't any of his business, and he knew that, but...
...He wanted to know anyway. Plus, he unfortunately inherited curiosity from his mother.
"And what did she do to upset you?"
"I...I guess with me being gone all the time leaves the things that I normally do fall on her shoulders. She called me to complain about the laundry. Apparently she turned one of Dad's white shirts pink." She giggled, but it turned into a hiccup. "Then she starting cussing me out, so I guess..."
Ahkmenrah could still sense that she felt bad. It made him want to shout at her sister for upsetting his Viola.
"Um...hey, can I get up now?"
"Oh," he said, forgetting that he was still holding her. Instead of letting her get up on her own, he kept her in his arms as he stood up. Then he set her down on her own feet. She muttered a thanks. But it wasn't her blush that caught his attention. It was what was around her neck.
Ahkmenrah wanted to ask about it, like why she was wearing it or where she had gotten it. He knew Sully hated to wear jewelry of any kind, which again was odd for someone from his time.
But again, it was none of his business. And this time, he didn't ask.
Viola still looked sad. Not as much as she had moments ago, of course. So the Egyptian got an idea.
Ahkmenrah took her little hand in his and started leading her out of his exhibit.
"W...where are we going?" asked Viola. Ahkmenrah didn't answer her. He lead her up and out to the roof. Once there, he turned around and took her other hand. "What are you doing?" Viola questioned again.
"Cheering you up," was his simple answer.
Then he began to dance with her to some unheard tune. Just like the first night they had danced together. Like the night that he kissed her for real. Viola was hesitant, but she soon was laughing, and he was too.
Ahkmenrah twirled her around then pulled her close. He could see the reflections of the stars in her eyes. He stopped dancing and brought his hand up to her face. Cupping her cheek, he leaned down and kissed her.
At that moment, everything seemed content. The world had faded away, and there was just both of them in each other's arms. Ahkmenrah was no longer a former Pharaoh related to the gods. Viola was no longer a tech geek with a bitch of a sister. They were both simply Viola and Ahkmenrah, and that was all that mattered.
It was wonderful.
It was perfect.
It was love.
A/n: D-R-A-B-B-L-E. I am so tired, but so happy. I got this chapter done, and I have to say that I think I'm getting sort of better with writing. Eh, I dunno, I think I am. Who knows, I might still stink. But I'm in Basketball now so that's why this update has been delayed. :( Sorry! Anyway, I'm starting to find less and less time for myself, and (oh God!) I haven't even watched the new Glee episode yet. T_T Help me.
I've already asked, but I'm going to ask again. For the love of the Christmas season, please please review!