A Night Spent at the Museum of Natural History (Completed✔️)

Getting to know the Pharaoh

I caught up to him pretty quickly. There was a short pause in which we which felt like forever
"So, uhm, can I ask you some questions?" I said as we were walking.
"Of course you may"
"I'm not sure where to start, ok, so... How old are you exactly, are we talking around the time of the old kingdom or closer to the new kingdom?"
"Its hard to say exactly, I soon lost track of the passing of time... But about 3,000 years"
"Ah, ok. That is a long time." I managed to say finally, "and that's more like the new kingdom then, sorry, i'm not too well versed in the history of Ancient Egypt, it is something which has always interested me but I wouldn't claim to know very much"
"I get the impression you know more than most visitors, and I mean, how many of them get to actually ask a genuine Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh" he laughs.
"Hm, that is true"
"Well, I am familiar with the basics at least. If you don't mind me asking, how did you die so young?"
"I don't mind at all, my brother was jealous that I was king, to be fair to him, they did clearly favour me... I don't think it justified my murder though"
"Oh. So he's basically like Seth then, and that makes you comparable to Osiris..." I mused.
"Ah, so you do know 'the basics' then" he said, pausing for a moment and looking at me with slight admiration.
I shruged, "it's been a while since I brushed up on my knowledge. What was his name, your evil brother?"
"Kahmunrah"
"Hm, I hope I never meet him" I muttered.
"If you did and he was alive I would protect you, you would have nothing to fear"
"Oh, I meant in the sense that I'd find it hard not to punch him in the face for killing you... He just sounds like someone I couldn't tolerate... and I don't know about the society you lived in but I can handle myself just fine thank you very much"
Akhmenrah grinned, most likely imagining the whole scenario.

"Actually in Ancient Egypt women had more rights than in any other classical civilisation, women were, on the whole, of the same standing as men. They had all the same basic rights." He said, becoming serious.
"Really? I didn't know that. I knew it was better than in Greece at the time where men essentially owned their wives like slaves but... I did read the other day that there are believed to have been 15 female pharaohs over the course of the whole of Ancient Egypt's history, I only knew about Hatshepsut and Cleopatra... I suppose I still have much to learn"
I felt relaxed, it rarely felt so normal discussing how fascinated by history I was with anyone.
"And don't forget the Godesses..."
"Oh that's a fair point, Isis was pretty important, and then I guess there's Hathor, Bastet, Sekhmet, Maat and so on. Okay, I forgive you" I said punching his arm softly.
He feigned a wave of relief.
"Oh I thought you'd never forgive me" he sighed raising his hand to his forehead in a dramatic pose.

I giggled slightly. We were so close. My gaze was drawn to his beautiful collar, which was so intricate and must have taken a very long time to create. I couldn't help myself so I gingerly touched the middle one of the three blue scarab beetle pieces. I was lost in thought about how much craftsmanship and skill had gone into making the whole piece at a time where tools were mostly primitive.

"The gold is all real, right?" I asked, finally shaking myself from the hold of my moment of contemplation.
"Yes" he answered as his gaze fell to the necklace I was wearing.
"You have a necklace with Annubis on it" he stated, frowning.
"I know it doesn't make much sense because he is the God of the dead and embalming, but I bought it when I was a little kid... In the gift shop of the first museum I ever went to, because I liked the Egyptology section so much. It's not a precious metal or anything but it is sentimentally priceless" I hastily explained.

This time he was the fascinated one. He stared at the necklace for a while but I felt his gaze shift so that he was soon looking at my face instead. I tried to read the emotion in his own. Was this?... Did he like me!? If so, how poetic that there was a scarab over his heart... I'd read once that, to stop their hearts speaking the truth or even bearing false witness against them during the ultimate judgement in order to enter the afterlife by the Gods, the Egyptians were often laid to rest with large stones or amulets in the likeness of a scarab beetle placed on the chest, over their hearts to 'weigh' them down. I wondered what Ahkmenrah's heart was keeping quiet, if anything, and smiled faintly.

"What are you thinking about now?" He asked frowning and .
"Oh, just that scarab beetle, the middle one on your fancy collar." I said not wanting to reveal my train of thought.
"Why, might I ask?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Because -" before I could finish we were interrupted

"Ahkmenrah! Who is this?" Came a shout from further down the hallway.
We both hurriedly recomposed ourselves, suddenly aware of the lack of space separating us, and took a couple of steps back. I blushed and felt the heat of my blood rushing to my face. It was so intense It was as if my cheeks were burning. I had to turn away to hide my embarrassment for a moment.

"Larry, we were just searching for you. This is Rebecca, she got locked in here and well... She knows about us all now"
"Another Rebecca knows the secret..." he said finally reaching our side.
Ahkmenrah nodded, I was confused? I clearly hadn't met this other person they were referring to.
"Are you okay?" The friendly looking night guard asked me.
I looked up, the red having mostly dissipated.
"I am thank you, I suppose this means I have to leave now?" I asked him.
"Well, technically you should..." He glanced at Ahkmenrah, who looked saddened by the suggestion, "but you two seemed to have a lot to talk about just there...I'm sorry for interrupting, so are you interested in Ancient Egypt?" He asked casually.
"Yes." I answered rather hastily.
"Hm, well since you seem to have gotten used to our little secret, and got locked in, I suppose you can stay for the night - if no one's out looking for you" He said reluctantly whilst eyeing us both slightly suspiciously, "Is there..." he soon trailed off, "nevermind, you can use the phone at the main desk if you need to call someone to pick you up by the way. Ahkmenrah and Sacagewea both know how to use it because we occasionally order pizzas for the gang" he smiled.
He seemed really nice.

Suddenly I remembered about my own phone and then my bag.
I clasped a hand to my head and choked back a swear, not wanting to offend my seemingly polite company.
"What's wrong?" They both asked simultaneously.
"My bag, I left it on a bench on the second floor near the hall of African mammals, when I first managed to get out of the restroom and started wandering around looking for security" I said frustrated.
"Uh oh. Are you sure that's where you left it?" Larry asked me, looking concerned.
"I mean... Yeah. Because it was sunset pretty much after that and I didn't get much further away, since the neanderthals chased me back towards the hall of African mammals. I know because it was around there that I actually ran in to trouble with the lions."
"If I had known you were here I would have helped you out, i'm so sorry. I guess you were terrified..." The night guard confessed, looking ashamed.
"It isn't your fault! Yeah, I was confused to say the least but I managed to run and lock the shutters on myself in the Egyptian exhibit. So it's fine, I'm not sure how but obviously I did something to make Bastet happy at some point since they didn't actually manage to eat me." I laughed trivially.
Ahkmenrah grinned at my poor attempt at a making a relatable joke and Larry looked back and fourth between the two of us in confusion.
"The goddess of cats... and lions. Notoriously hard to keep happy." I explained
"She appears as a lady with the lion's head or as a cat" Ahkmenrah added.
"Ah I see you clearly do know your stuff here then", he smiled at me, "well, few people as interested as you are can boast actually talking to someone like Ahk, count yourself lucky".
"I know" I said glancing at my new friend.
"We need to try and find your belongings, I hope none of the exhibits have found them yet." Larry said with a sense of urgency.