"Good Evening, Ahk!" – Were the first words the young Pharaoh heard upon his awakening, before the lid to his sarcophagus was pulled back and a smiling Larry Daley helped him to his feet.

"Sleep well?"

"Somewhat." Ahkmenrah replied distantly, his thoughts returning to the strange dream of the mutant child and her wounds, puzzling over it's purpose. Larry noticed his friend's glassy gaze, and patted him on the shoulder companionably.

"You doing okay?"

"Do you dream often, Larry?" Came the Pharaoh's startling reply, and the night guard raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Uh, yeah. Sometimes. Why?"

"I dream, too."

"Really?" Larry was genuinely surprised – it wasn't something he'd really thought of. He knew that during the day-time the exhibits went into an almost sleep-like state, but none of them had ever mentioned dreaming before. But then again, maybe it was different for Ahk. He was the only one who had actually lived a breathed at some point – Rexy and the animals aside, of course. He watched curiously as the Pharaoh began to unravel his bandages, revealing the regal robes and fabrics below.

"Yes. I dreamed today, in fact."

"Oh yeah? What was it about?"

Ahkmenrah sighed, pausing his de-bandaging for a moment and staring up at his Jackal guards, as if they would help give him an answer to some unseen question.

"That is the point, Larry. I do not really know."

With that, he pulled the last of the linen from his body, and reached for his crown where it sat upon a nearby pedestal. Fitting it onto his head, he turned to the night guard with an expectant expression, motioning towards the exit of his tomb.

"Shall we?"

"Yeah, sure."

The pair walked out in silence; Ahkmenrah brooding, and Larry stealing concerned glances at his friend unusually troubled appearance. Ahk had always been quite reserved and separate somehow from the rest of the exhibits – still kind-hearted and friendly, of course, as was his nature – and despite his newfound closeness to the young Pharaoh, Larry occasionally realised that he did know next to nothing about his friend, aside from what could be found in textbooks or online. Not once had the young King told the night guard any of his personal history, or just sometimes how he felt. Larry thought that it might be something to do with the way he was raised?

"Is the young girl returning tonight?" Ahkmenrah broke the silence with a question, and Larry had to reassemble his thoughts to reply.

"Uh, you mean Effie? I don't think so – Nick told me her parents almost had the police out searching for her last night. Turns out she forgot to tell them she was going to be here."

The Pharaoh nodded, and Larry found the new silence that followed awkward and unwelcome.

"You were, uh, right about all of the questions. She never stops."

Ahkmenrah smiled for the first time that night, and Larry found it a welcoming sight. When the young king smiled it really did light up the entirety of his features.

"Seriously," he continued. "I would hate to be her teachers."

"She has an inquisitive mind." Ahkmenrah summarised, nodding his head slightly. "Despite it's annoyances to yourself and I, I consider it a positive feature in a child."

"True, that." Larry agreed, before offering the Pharaoh a rueful smile. "I wish Nick was more like her then, I guess."

By this time, the pair had reached the balcony over the main lobby below where – like most nights – the majority of the exhibits seemed to gather and socialise. There were no music as of yet, but the night was still young. Streams of toilet paper were already appearing over the lobby furniture, to Larry's despair.

"I swear if you guys make as much of a mess as last night, I'm going to be fired." Larry sighed, leaning against the railings and gazing down fondly, waving to anyone who noticed him above.

"Seeing as that has not happened as of yet, I believe that to be unlikely." Ahkmenrah assured him, taking in the scene below him with a thoughtful look in his eyes. Larry glanced at him again, and wondered why the young King had never asked him any questions about the modern world, and the fate of his own kingdom. He wasn't sure where the thought process had come from, but he hazarded a guess towards the fact that the Pharaoh did look quite regal as he stared down at the others, as if they were his subjects.

"Can I ask you a question?" He said then, deciding that he may as well try to find out something.

"Of course."

"How come you've never asked me about all of this? About the modern world? I mean, I can't help but wonder if you even understand half of the stuff I'm making references to at times."

Ahkmenrah looked at him thoughtfully, his full lips pursing slightly as he mulled over the question.

"There is no simple answer to that question." He began, staring off back down into the lobby once more. "I think I prefer to remain unaware. Of course, I know things have changed drastically – that first night you let me out of my sarcophagus I saw many things I did not recognise. Especially when we left the building. I chose not to ask about them mainly because I do not want to know. I do not like the idea that everything has changed. It makes me miss what once was even more, Larry."

"Uh, huh."

"Sometimes I am very temped to ask about my kingdom… or Egypt, as you tell me it is now called. However, I am also reluctant..." he trailed off, before turning to face Larry with an expression that could only be described as pleading.

"Has it changed very much, Larry? From when it was mine?"

The night guard hesitated before answering – he knew what Ahkmenrah wanted to hear; that it had changed very little. But if he gave him that answer, he would be lying to him, and he didn't want to lie to his friend.

"I've personally never been…" he tried as a beginning, "but… I would think that it has. Yes. Quite a lot. A lot."

The Pharaoh looked saddened but said nothing, choosing to turn his face away. Larry felt a wave of pity for his friend – it had to be hard to take it all in – and so found himself taking a step closer and resting his hand on the young King's shoulder.

"It's… okay."

"What is?"

The question came back almost immediately, and Larry got the impression that Ahk wasn't exactly asking him what he was referring to, but was using the question to indicate that he didn't think 'it' was okay at all.

"I had a family, you know." The statement was sudden, and it took Larry by surprise.

"Uh, yeah I thought you might have…"

"A daughter. Two daughters, in fact, but I lost one shortly after birth."

"I'm… sorry."

"And a wife. Actually, I had more than one wife, but my sister was my chief consort. That's means that she was my primary wife."

"Your, uh, sister?" Larry asked again, wondering if he'd misheard. Ahkmenrah nodded, and Larry decided not to push it. He had heard that incest was pretty common amongst ancient royals. And not so ancient ones.

"She never gave me a child, to my father's dismay. He was always disappointed in my apparent disability to produce a son, or at least more than one child who could survive childbirth."

"Like Tutankhamen!" Larry remembered that scrap of information, and seemed to recall that Kings problems being down to the fact that a load of his ancestors had been related to one another before marriage.

"Who?"

"Oh, right, he came after you… Yeah he was a Pharaoh too."

"I see."

"So," Larry attempted to re-start up the conversation. "Do you remember your family? Your daughter?"

"I think so." Ahkmenrah answered, frowning. "Not well, but I have my suspicions that she may have been a part of my dream."

"Well, that's good right?"

"No. She had a knife in her heart."

Larry paused, mouth open, unsure of what to say to that.

"Uh well…" he struggled, "It was just a dream. They don't have to be real."

"I realise that, but it felt familiar." Ahkmenrah sounded frustrated, and Larry wondered it he was trying to connect the dream to his past life. "Her voice sounded familiar, but now I wonder how I was able to conjure it up in a dream."

"Dreams work like that." Larry assured him, holding back a yawn – he was tired, not bored by the conversation. In fact, he was secretly thrilled that Ahk was finally opening up a little.

"It made me miss her." The young king said then, in a voice small enough for Larry to nearly miss it. He glanced over at his friend and noticed the distinctly forlorn look in his eyes. It saddened him to see it.

"I do not want to find myself forgetting the people I once loved. But it is too late, I already have."

"Ahk I'm… really sorry."

"Please do not mention our conversation to anyone else." Ahkmenrah asked Larry pleadingly. "I prefer it when I know my thoughts are private. I opened up to you because… I am not sure. Perhaps because I know you have lost things too."

"Wait, I have?"

"Your wife."

Larry stared at Ahkmenrah, flabbergasted. He couldn't for the love of him remember relating that story.

"…How…?"

"Nick told me."

"When?"

"Not too long ago. He mentioned a new consort of hers."

"Yeah…"

"I suppose you are threatened by him."

"What do you mean?"

"You worry that you are going to lose your son to him, do you not?"

Larry stared again, speechless.

"I am not a fool," Ahkmenrah pointed out, and Larry shook his head. "I am only guessing at your feelings by relating them to what mine would be. I can assume by your surprise that I am correct?"

"Yeah…" Larry looked as his feet. "I guess I do worry sometimes. A lot, actually."

"As anyone would."

"But look, I'm sorry but I don't really want to talk about it…" Larry felt bad saying this, knowing that Ahkmenrah had shared a lot with him. But Larry was definitely not to open up about his failed marriage to Erica. The Pharaoh nodded in understanding, a rueful glint in his eyes, before he stepped over to the night guard and mimicked Larry's actions from before – placing a hand upon his shoulder.

"We are both men with – or who had – responsibility Larry. We are not so different. And if you ever need to talk about your own problems, well – let us just say that I am forever in your favour."

"Thanks Ahk." Larry smiled across at his friend, before the pair stepped apart and resumed their positions looking down at the chaos below. Neither of them spoke past that, but this time the silence was comfortable.

Sorry for the long gap… I know I promised it would come quickly, but I've hit a few obstacles in my week, in the form of massive amounts of homework, bad news and more. I'm sorry, but it's all been out of my control.

Anyway, I hope you like the chapter. I don't, but I never do, so that's not really a change.

Shoutout for pinkxjellybean for reviewing my last sort-of-chapter. I only received one review but as it was such a short entry I don't think it really counts.

Reviews for this one please!

Rage.