It wasn't all that common that the Museum of Natural History was busy nowadays, what with the incidents that had occurred shortly after Larry Daley took after as the night guard. People filtered in by the groups, sometimes ranging from ten to twenty people. It was rare that anyone ever came in by themselves. It was even more rare that someone came in by themselves every day to study only one exhibit.

That was why Larry Daley found himself watching a brunette carefully. She could only be seventeen at the oldest, with long, straight, brown hair, tanned skin, and dark, brown eyes. She has a notebook in her hands and she was scribbling down notes as she walked around near the Egyptian Exhibit.

He decided to confront Rebecca about it. She had to know something about the mysterious teen's constant presence around the museum. "Hey, Rebecca." Larry greeted casually.

As someone walked by and pointed to one of the maps, asking if they could have one, Rebecca handed them one with a smile on her face before she turned back to Larry. "Hey yourself." She paused, easily reading the look he had. "You want something."

"I just want information." He replied, holding his hands up as if he were being held at gunpoint by the police. He gave the brunette woman a small, sheepish smile. "I was just wondering what that girl is doing around the Egyptian exhibit every day. It's just a bit odd, that's all."

"Oh. That's just Anastasia." Rebecca shrugged it off. "She's a high school student. I think she's sixteen or something by the looks of it. Anyway, her first day here, she asked me to point her in the direction of the Egyptian Exhibit. I asked her what it was for, and she said that it was for a school project."

"So she's been studying the same exhibit for days?" Larry questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Rebecca shook her head. "No, actually, she's been studying the same exhibit for weeks."

The life at the museum that night was the same as always; the exhibits were laughing and having fun among themselves, music playing in the background as the group mingled and danced. Larry Daley stood outside of the circle, smiling fondly at them, when he noticed something odd.

Ahkmenrah wasn't there.

Frowning, Larry looked around, going through the crowd and masses of exhibits, though he didn't see Ahkmenrah anywhere. He didn't even see him participating in the soccer tournament, even though Ahkmenrah loved a good game of soccer.

"Hey, Teddy." Larry greeted his old friend.

"Ah, Larry!" Teddy greeted back, tipping his hat. "What seems to be troubling you, my good man? You look like you're gravely worried about something."

"Someone, actually." Larry corrected him. When Teddy raised an eyebrow, obviously confused, Larry continued. "You haven't seen Ahk around, have you?"

"I saw him earlier, actually, right before the festivities began." Teddy replied. "He looked like he was in a terrible mood, very forlorn. He just watched everyone for a few minutes before he left. I didn't see where he went though, but I'm guessing that he went somewhere that he was sure no one was at."

"Thanks, Teddy." Larry said, running a hand through his hair and releasing a sigh.

"No problem at all, my good man. I wish you luck." Teddy then bid Larry goodbye, going off to most likely find Sacajawea.

Larry then searched everywhere in the museum. He searched through the Egyptian exhibit, and Ahkmenrah wasn't there. He wasn't in the African exhibit, or the Miniatures exhibit, or anywhere that he usually was. He wasn't chatting with Columbus or the Huns or anything like that.

"Where is he?" Larry groaned, standing against the wall beside the elevator and rubbing his temples, clearly exasperated.

Suddenly, the elevator doors dinged. Larry looked over on instinct, only to see Ahkmenrah sitting on the ground, his legs crossed. He reached up to press the down button, and that's when Larry ran in.

"Ahk!" He shouted, pressing the 'door open' button. His friend looked up at him, alarmed. "Ahk, I've been looking all over for you, buddy. You weren't downstairs with everyone else, and Teddy said you were looking pretty sad." He paused, looking around the elevator as the doors closed and looked back at Ahkmenrah. "Have you been here the whole time?"

Ahkmenrah nodded slowly. "I have. It's the only quiet place I can find. Well, it used to be."

"Can I sit?" Larry asked, gesturing to the spot beside Ahkmenrah. Ahkmenrah nodded, and Larry sat beside him, crossing his legs as well. "So, what's troubling you, buddy?"

"It's silly." Ahkmenrah replied dismissively.

"If it's making you this sad, buddy, it's not silly." Larry replied. "Now, just tell me. It'll help to get it off of your chest."

"I heard a girl's voice today." Ahkmenrah replied, and suddenly, it was gushing out. He couldn't stop himself. "I've been hearing it for weeks. She doesn't talk about anything groundbreaking; just the weather, and her classes, and her friends, and all of that kind of stuff. And it's stupid, but I've never heard anyone's voice in the daytime before. And her voice, it makes me happy. Like I'm walking on clouds."

"Well, why do you feel so terrible about it then?" Larry questioned.

"Because I was in love with a girl and she died. I've been waiting for her to come here, for them to discover her tomb, to bring her here, but she hasn't come. A-And I feel like I'm going against her." Ahkmenrah replied. "Her name was Cena. She was perfect; beautiful and sweet and smart, but she had this edge to her. Maybe that's what got us in trouble in the first place. She was captured and became my servant. I got too close to her, and we fell in love. She told me she was the Nubian princess, and at the time, we were at war with Nubia. It couldn't be. It was destined to fail, but we continued. Kahmunrah, my brother who I'd gotten the throne over, found out, and he gave me a choice; keep the throne and he'd expose Cena and they'd kill her, or keep Cena and give him the throne. He'd destroy Egypt. What was I supposed to do? I wanted to pick her, but she chose for me. When I was sleeping, she poisoned Kahmunrah, killing him, and then killed herself with the same poison."

It was silent in the elevator for the longest time. The only sound was the 'ding', signaling that they'd come to the top floor again. This time, Ahkmenrah stood. "I need to go." He said.

"Ahk, wait!" Larry called, getting to his feet. But Ahkmenrah was already gone, and the doors closed in his face.

A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry for the long wait. I wanted to make sure that I had all of the plot points going and stuff for the sequel before I started it, and I definitely do. I can't wait to put the rest up, because I think that you guys are really going to like it. Nothing is as it seems in this, and it has a lot of twists and turns.

So, what do you guys think so far? I'd love it if you reviewed and told me what you think and what you'd like to see in some upcoming chapters. :)