Y O U R H O U R H A S B E G U N
Napoleon's guards marched Theodosia, Ahkmenrah and Larry towards the exhibit hall. Waiting for them was Kahmunrah and his prized sarcophagus with a tablet shaped hole in the front, much like the place it hung on the wall in New York. The room was piled with random stolen items from around the museum. In the middle of the mess was a chair Theodosia assumed Kahmunrah was using as his throne. Kahmunrah and his own guards came forward to meet Napoleon and the trio.
"Hello Brother. Mr. Daley." As he came forward to meet them, he stared down at Theodosia with a smug, patronizing look on his face. "I'm sorry, I can't seem to recall your name."
Theodosia glared up at him, feeling Ahkmenrah's warm hand slip into hers, urging her to stay silent. She felt it in the way he gripped her hand, the desperation in his hold. She remembered her promise, even without his reminders.
She wouldn't antagonize Kahmunrah.
Gritting her teeth, she told him, "Theodosia."
"Ah, yes, Theodosia. That's right. Well, nice to see you all again," he drawled mockingly. "If you don't mind, I shall take that from you."
Theodosia gripped Ahkmenrah's hand as tightly as he gripped hers as they were forced to watch Kahmunrah rip the tablet from Larry's hands. She could feel all of Ahkmenrah's frustration as he stared at the golden tablet in his murderous brother's hands. Theodosia wished she knew how to ease his pain, but she didn't. She couldn't stop Kahmunrah from taking even more from his brother.
"Thank you," he said, holding the tablet in his hands. "Finally. Finally! After 3000 years—" Kahmunrah moved away from Larry to place the tablet in the designated spot on the sarcophagus, moving the tablet pieces into place "—my evil army of the damned, my beautiful, beautiful army, shall be unleashed!"
Kahmunrah shouted into the silent cathedral. Everyone held their breath in anticipation, but nothing changed. Ahkmenrah felt his heart skip, realizing what had happened. The combination was wrong. Kahmunrah turned back to the tablet and sighed.
"Oh, I'm afraid that, uh, Mother and Father may have slightly changed the combination on me," Kahmunrah admitted. He walked towards Ahkmenrah and Theodosia, glaring at them. "Brother, you must know the combination. You were their favourite, after all."
Theodosia had begun to realize that the scariest thing about Kahmunrah was his mood swings. One moment he's telling jokes, and the next he's taking another royal fit. The breath was nearly knocked out of her as he grabbed her arm and yanked her away from Ahkmenrah and Larry. He held her close, daring Ahkmenrah to lie to him as held Theodosia's arm tighter and tighter. She winced, trying not to show that it hurt. She didn't want Ahkmenrah to worry, but mostly she didn't want to give Kahmunrah the satisfaction.
"I don't know it, Kahmunrah," he said, moving forward as far as the guards would allow. "Please, let her go."
Kahmunrah snarled and tightened his grip. "Do not lie to me!"
"I'm not! They must have changed it once I was...gone," Ahkmenrah said, the implication in his words settling over the room.
Kahmunrah slowly released his grip on Theodosia's throbbing arm, smiling, amused, at his younger brother's challenging gaze. Finally, he pushed Theodosia back towards Ahkmenrah, who reached out to catch her. Larry watched the pair, worried, but once they were safely back together, he turned his attention back to Kahmunrah.
"Wow, I guess this whole, uh, 'unleashing the underworld' thing isn't really working out for you, huh?" Kahmunrah looked at Larry. "Just-it must be really frustrating because you've waited thousands of years to come back from the dead and everything, and now you can't get it open."
"Fear not, for I shall wait a thousand more if I must."
"Good, cause, uh, in a few hours you'll just be standing here in a frustrated position, frozen, and I'll walk out of here with my buddies, and that'll be that. So, I got all night."
"Larry, no," Theodosia hissed, glaring at him.
"Really?" Kahmunrah asked, sarcastically. "All night. Well, he doesn't."
Kahmunrah lifted his finger and pointed it at a bird cage, which Theodosia realized was where he'd imprisoned Jedidiah. Theodosia hadn't noticed the little cowboy before, but with a sinking feeling, she saw him clearly now. She searched the cage for the second mini figure, but Octavius was nowhere to be seen. It was only Jedidiah. She might not be friends with Jedidiah, but she didn't hate him. She knew how much he meant to Octavius, and though she might never understand his weird clothes and funny accent, he was a kind, loyal man.
She couldn't help but worry about where Octavius had gone. One was never without the other. The Smithsonian was much bigger than their museum, and all alone it was even bigger. She only hoped he was okay.
"Open that cage," Kahmunrah ordered.
"What are you-? What are you doing?" Larry asked frantically, trying to help Jed, but he was stopped by more guards.
"No touching," Jedidiah shouted, "No touching! Don't you manhandle me!"
"Oh, look, look, he's having a tiny little tantrum," Kahmunrah laughed, smiling down at the struggling miniature.
"Jed?" Larry called.
"Ah-ah," Kahmunrah coaxed, "now, there, don't you squirm, don't squirm. It'll only be worse for you."
"Put him down," Theodosia demanded, trying, like Larry, to reach Jedidiah, and failing. Everyone watched anxiously to see what Kahmunrah was going to do.
"Don't be afraid. I shan't hurt you." Kahmunrah lifted an hourglass, dropping Jedidiah into it. "Oops, I lied."
Kahmunrah mercilessly closed the lid and flipped it upside down, the sand pouring from the top to the bottom, hitting Jedidiah.
"Uh-oh. Oh, I don't think he has all night at all, Mr. Daley. From the looks of things, I'd say he has—oh—a little over an hour."
Theodosia watched helplessly as Jedidiah pounded his small fists against the glass with no escape from the sand grains burying him faster by the minute. She clenched her jaw and glared at Kahmunrah's back as he walked away with Jedidiah, unaffected.
"You were the guardian," Kahmunrah exclaimed as he walked away. "You know all about this tablet. You're obviously much more clever than the rest of us. You may or may not know the combination, and since my brother claims he doesn't either, I am going to give you exactly one hour to figure it out. If you do not, I shall kill your friend. And please don't think about escaping, for I shall be watching you."
"Look, I don't even know how to begin to decipher this thing, all right? Really!" Larry pleaded.
"Oh, but you do, Mr. Daley. Just ask my darling brother," Kahmunrah mocked, switching his gaze to Theodosia and Ahkmenrah. He held Ahkmenrah's angry gaze as he grabbed Theodosia roughly by the arm and pulled her back to his side. "And for even more incentive, I think I'll keep the charming Theodosia here with me. Brother, you're free to join Mr. Daley on his crusade, perhaps the absence of distraction will help jog your memory, hm? Tick tock, you two. Your hour has begun."
"No, Brother—" Ahkmenrah pleaded, fighting against the guards holding him back. "Don't do this."
"Find that combination," Kahmunrah growled, "and I won't have to."
Larry urged Ahkmenrah to go with him, even though he was worried for Theodosia all the same. The only way to save Theodosia and Jedidiah was to find the combination. Theodosia sent Ahkmenrah the most encouraging smile she could muster, shaking her head. Go, it isn't worth it.
"Go, Ahkmenrah," she told him. "I'll be okay."
"Yes, listen to your little girlfriend, Brother. The clock is ticking."
Reluctantly, Ahkmenrah left with Larry, fear clamping his heart and the image of his brother's cruel hand clamped around Theodosia's arm haunting him.a
a/n: I struggled with this part of the movie a lot because I really didn't think ahead...like Ahkmenrah would either know the combination or it would be really easy to figure it out. Buuut because this is a fanfiction and sometimes you need to take artistic liberties, we're just going to pretend that this whole plot arc makes complete sense. See a plot hole?? No, you didn't 😌
For the sake of my sanity, I've just had to take the approach that I don't look back unless I feel it's completely necessary. Do you know how many times I would rewrite this entire book and still be unsatisfied??? I'd die being unsatisfied. The tiny perfectionist in my brain is never satisfied. But isn't that the curse of being writer? I hate it.
Also, I wanted to take a minute to once again thank you guys for reading and (hopefully) enjoying Theodosia!!! The amount of reads on this story keeps going up and I'll forever be shocked by the number. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and have a great weekend and summer!!