Chapter 35

"Ahk, can you hear me? Ahkmenrah?"

The pharaoh mumbled incoherently, tossing and turning before finally opening his eyes groggily. "Sac-Sacagawea? What?-"

"Shh, it's all right. You blacked out from exhaustion and smoke inhalation." She reached back for a compress. "Your body temperature is back to normal, so that's good."

Ahkmenrah tried to rise, but his joints felt more creaky than the Tin Man's, and Sacagawea had to ease him back gently onto the sofa. "You're lucky Teddy caught you before you hit your head on the floor! Now lie still."

"Is he all right? Where is he? And the others?-"

"He's fine. A little soft around the edges at first, but he's fine, I promise. In much better shape than you were, anyway."

What did I say about smoke inhalation?

"Silence," Ahkmenrah muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, my apologies." Apparently imaginary voices did not vanish immediately after surviving a near-death experience. The pharaoh tried to relax, but the night's traumatic events replayed themselves whenever he closed his eyes, much like those moving pictures Larry had showed them. Would he ever be able to forget? Doubtful. Only when Sacagawea was cleaning it did he become aware that she'd bandaged his arm.

"You're lucky it wasn't worse."

"It will have healed by tomorrow," he shrugged dismissively.

Larry poked his head in through the doorway. "Is he- Ahk, you're up! You had us worried there, buddy," he said, coming to sit by him on the couch. Teddy entered silently behind him, looking remarkably unscathed from his adventure. Though his demeanor was calm and poised, Sacagawea and Ahkmenrah could see the relief shining in the president's eyes as his posture softened. "You gave us all quite a fright there, lad."

The pharaoh smiled weakly. "Forgive me, I-" an unexpected coughing spurt cut him off mid-sentence. His voice was still gravely.

"He's not completely recovered yet," Sacagawea said firmly, handing the youth a mug of lungwort tea. "His throat and lungs suffered the most. I'd advise you not to speak tonight unless absolutely necessary. You'll be healed y tomorrow, right?" Ahkmenrah nodded, relishing the smoothness of the herbal tincture; he could taste the honey in it.

"Ahk, I'm sorry to ask this so soon, but what happened? How did he manage to lure you down there?" Slowly, like a sleepwalker awakening to reality, Ahkmenrah recounted how Joseph tricked him with the fake note and the battle that followed. Teddy remained silent, but his knuckles whitened under the death-like grip on an armrest.

When he'd finished, Ahkmenrah hesitated before asking the one question he dreaded the most. "Is he... Did the preacher perish?"

Reluctantly, Larry took out a crumpled scrap of black cloth from his back pocket: Joseph's hat. "This was all the we could find, next to a hardened puddle of wax." Ahkmenrah glared at the offending piece of clothing, which brought back more than the fire to his mind.

"Burn it," he growled vehemently.

Larry hurriedly stuffed it back into his pocket, promising to destroy it. After awkwardly ruffling Ahkmenrah's curls, he left, muttering something about converting the night guard's lounge into an emergency room for the exhibits.

Teddy lingered near the sofa for a second before taking the night guard's place by Ahkmenrah's side. After rebandaging the pharaoh's arm, Sacagawea left, sensing they needed to be alone.

"The fire department arrived within minutes. Fortunately for us, the damage was minimal, contained within the storage area. Even most of the artifacts survived! They still can't quite figure out how, especially when most of the wooden boxes they were in burned to ashes... Sadly, much of the information about them was destroyed, but-"

"Did everyone make it out safely? Will they be able to return inside tonight?"

"Oh yes, everyone made it out, no injuries. As for coming back in, there's no reason they wouldn't be able to stay here, but the building itself will be closed for repairs. Luckily, since it was just that room, the damage will be repaired in a few days-"

"Teddy."

The president shut up, rubbing his neck and clearing his throat. He inspected the pharaoh's face anxiously, as though worried he might spontaneously self-combust. "I thought you were dead, lad. When I couldn't find you right away, and then when you fainted... Well, I haven't been that frightened in all my years alive!" His eyes lingered on Ahkmenrah's wrist- you could still see the scratch marks where the preacher had grabbed him at the last moment. A testament to his failure to protect. "Ahk..."

"Thank you for saving me once again."

"Saving you? I almost lost you! That fiend nearly had you for good, and all because of my incompetence!"

"Teddy-"

"And what about when you saved me? Tackling him like that after everything he'd done to you!"

"I did what I could." Ahkmernah began fiddling with his blanket, suddenly finding the room too hot. "Thank the Gods it worked!"

"Indeed."

Another moment passed before Ahkmenrah gently pulled his hand from underneath Teddy's. "I am sorry, Teddy, but I am weary. Sacagawea is right- I should rest."

"Of course. Sleep well, lad, and don't... Just, take it easy, all right?"

By then, the pharaoh had rolled over onto his side, drawing the blanket up to his chin and feigning exhaustion. He could feel the president's eyes boring into his shoulder, but he refused to turn around- he did not want him to see his tears.

Fate had smiled upon Larry Daley once more, for the fire damage had been minimal and wouldn't cost too much time or money to repair- the museum would be up and running again in a few days. McPhee was less than pleased by the incident, but the experts ruled it out as electrical wiring gone haywire, and he couldn't exactly blame Larry for that.

While the physical destruction was relatively unremarkable, the emotional turmoil left behind was far more difficult to heal. Before Joseph's last stand, Ahkmenrah had begun to feel a certain peace withing the museum. He understood that he was well-liked, perhaps even admired, and no longer viewed as a vague, terrifying evil to be imprisoned in the shadows (with the exception of a few intolerant individuals.) Now, that peace had been obliterated. [Intolerance had a price- for him, it was friendship.] Or at least, it would be if he didn't get out of his tomb, which he had no desire to do anymore. Funny, he mused. Before, I always felt trapped here. Now, he feared his exhibit might be the only place he belonged, the one place he was safe, and where the others were safe from him. If he'd been here when Joseph had attacked, considering his towering bodyguards, things might have ended quite differently. No one would've been in danger. Nobody would have died.

Perhaps this last part bothered him the most. He'd tried lecturing himself that the outcome of their fight had been inevitable- Joseph had been relentless, and would never have ceased his mission until one or both of them were destroyed. And yet... He couldn't shake away the guilt. He was the one who'd kicked Joseph into the crates; he didn't even try to save him from the resulting wreckage. He could have. He didn't. Who was the better man now?

The old guards were right; the others had been right. He was dangerous. He and his tablet belonged in the shadows. And so here he would stay, forevermore.

"You're letting him win, you know."

The pharaoh remained seated on his sarcophagus and facing his tablet, which was back in its frame on the wall. He knew where this conversation was going, and he wasn't going to be baited into it. "Good evening, president."

"Do you think I don't know what you're doing? What you're thinking, how you're feeling? Believe me, this is the last thing you should be doing to yourself right now."

"And what exactly am I doing?"

"Being by yourself, wallowing in self-pity."

Ahkmenrah stubbornly remained turned away from him. "You presume much, friend- you have no idea what I am feeling."

"Don't I?" Teddy insisted, walking into the room to stand by the pharaoh's coffin. "For the past five nights, you haven't allowed a single soul to enter your tomb. Even your guards are concerned! They let me in despite your orders, I presume?"

"It is better this way. For everyone."

"Enough!" Ahkmenrah finally looked away from the wall, stunned. Not only was Teddy yelling- a rare occurrence in and of itself- he was yelling at him. He didn't know whether to laugh or take offense, for it had been a millenia since anyone had actually lectured him. "Look, don't you think this is precisely what he would've wanted, for you to cease living?"

"My life ended nearly four thousand years ago, Teddy."

"True, if you want to be technical. But what would you call all this then? What would you call me, or any of the other inhabitants? Reanimated puppets?"

That shut the pharaoh up. Technically that was true, but he doubted saying so would help matters.

"My point is, you can't shut yourself away forever. That's been done to you before- why put yourself through that again voluntarily?"

Ahkmenrah looked down, trying to lose himself in the folds of his cloak. Seizing his opportunity, Teddy continued. "Look, I can't imagine what it must have been like for you, what you must have endured, but you can't do this to yourself. You cannot blame yourself any more."

"Who else is to blame? I knew how relentless Joseph was; I'd warned you about it before. I let my guard down, grew careless, and he struck. I killed him, I chose murder over mercy. Who is to blame but myself?"

"Would he have shown you mercy?"

"Is that an excuse?"

"You know he wouldn't have stopped until he killed you!"

"Or one of you! Do you think he would not have annihilating anyone who stopped him? Like you? He almost stabbed you when you came for me! He was willing to burn down the museum, just to end me!" The pharaoh looked down again, blinking back tears. "You say I cannot lock myself away, yet what choice do I have? What if someone like the preacher comes here? Someone willing to kill? If anything happened to you, I-" He broke off, his voice cracking. This was exactly what he'd wished to avoid- bawling like an infant.

Teddy stood a moment longer before enveloping him in a comforting embrace. Unable to contain himself any longer, Ahkmenrah caved into the sorrow, burrowing his head into the president's shoulder as he sobbed. Sometimes, words simply didn't cut it. Tears could heal as well as laughter. At least, the president hoped so.

His shoulder now thoroughly soaked, Teddy hesitated before speaking. "As you said, you did what you could. Joseph died through his own malice and prejudice, neither of which was your fault. I understand you're terrified about how others perceive you; you've been that way since you were first released. May I point out that despite what the preacher preached, I don't see a monster."

"What do you see?" The tears had ceased, but their trailmarks glistened on Ahkmenrah's cheeks as he gazed at the president.

"A human being." Taking out his handkerchief, Teddy wiped away the tears as he continued. "A king lost in time. Not without his faults, but one warm and caring, with more love in his heart than there are stars in the sky. One who does not yet recognize his own strength. I look forward to seeing what happens when he does."

The pharaoh turned to face his heirloom again, unable to speak. If he did, he knew he'd cry again.

"It's your move now. You can either retreat and surrender to grief, or you can try living one more time. The choice is yours." With that, he rose, patting Ahkmenrah on the shoulder. Unnoticed by the pharaoh, he left something on the sarcophagus's lid. "I must be off, but when you're ready to leave this tomb- and I trust you will be- I'll be waiting. We all will be."

Ahkmenrah barely heard Teddy's receding footsteps as he went over the president's words. For the first time in days, he felt something stirring inside him. Something that whispered Teddy might be right. He was always right, he thought with a wry smile. How did he do it? His hand brushed against the president's gift- a leather-bound book. Curious, he opened it, only to find blank pages. Inspecting the cover, he found a note plastered in:

'For the wonders you've seen, and the adventures you have yet to enjoy.

-Love,

Teddy'

A journal! He hadn't kept one in ages, not since his days in Cambridge; he hadn't realized Teddy had been listening when he'd been reminiscing about it. Could he allow himself to feel joy again? Should he chance the danger, the risks of life in the museum? Was it worth it, or was Joseph right, and he was an abomination who should have perished long ago? Should he try living one more time?

Be the better man. The choice is yours. Teddy's words echoed through his core as he went to join his museum family. He would try.

So this is it, the last chapter. I'm as sad to conclude this story as you are to find it ending, but fear not- there will be more. Someday.

For those of you who're curious about lose ends, there will be a sequel, when I get up the gumption to take up NATM again.

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Arwenishtar :)