S T A N D T O G E T H E R
After Ahkmenrah had rid himself of his bandages, revealing his fancy costume beneath (Theodosia was not surprised), he broke the group out of the Egyptian exhibit.
As if they weren't terrifying enough pointing a spear at her face, the jackals were infinitely more horrifying after she watched them throw the giant stone slab that covered Ahkmenrah's exhibit through the iron gates that locked them in, like it was as light as a feather. Theodosia much preferred them when they stood still, but she had to admit they were a handy addition to their mission.
Theodosia certainly couldn't throw a giant rock, let alone move it an inch. Her pale wax arms truly had nothing on their giant stone ones. She was envious. They could just stomp on Cecil and this whole nightmare would be over – but when Theodosia suggested it Larry gave her a look that she assumed meant 'no'.
Everyone ran through the demolished iron gate, with Ahkmenrah leading the way.
"Thanks guys." Larry nodded to the guards. "Don't worry, I'll watch out for him."
The jackals pounded their right fist over their stone hearts and retreated to their places guarding Ahkmenrah's sarcophagus. Larry awkwardly offered a roll of his hands and a thank you before running off with Theodosia, Nicky, and Ahkmenrah following closely behind. The four of them ran towards the front entrance, and the symphony of battle cries coming from it.
The entire foyer was up in arms, yelling and throwing toilet paper. Exhibits from every department were fighting each other for reasons Theodosia didn't understand.
Everyone had been so harmonious last night.
They had hardly gone a half an hour without supervision and already the entire museum was in a fit. Half of the exhibits hadn't even joined the fight, which Theodosia figured either meant they had stayed respectfully in their exhibits or, more likely, were roaming around New York.
For a moment, the four of them just watched the fight below, shocked.
Theodosia had immediately noticed the fight between the miniatures, specifically the Romans and the little men in boots. As they watched, disbelieving, a group of bearded men came running from across the building, screaming.
"What is that?" Ahkmenrah asked at the same moment one of the bearded men noticed Larry from across the hall.
Theodosia looked away, continuing to watch the battle between the miniatures. She didn't know who the angry bearded men were and knowing Larry, she figured she didn't need to know. The likeliest conclusion was that Larry angered them somehow. Theodosia wasn't surprised, so while Larry and the angry man stared each other down, Theodosia cheered for the Romans.
"Huns," Larry informed everyone. "I gotta deal with this guy."
Larry took off in a sprint towards the Hun, leaving the three of them to follow him (Theodosia begrudgingly), ultimately confused. Once the Huns had noticed Larry running, they followed, running from the other side to join them, shouting in a language Theodosia had never heard before.
But she hardly needed to speak Hun to know the leader was likely saying something about ripping Larry apart, if his violent hand gestures were any indication of his intentions.
The two groups finally met each other halfway, and just as they came upon the Huns, Larry started screaming – just like Huns. It almost stopped Theodosia dead in her tracks. Out of everything Larry could have done in this situation, getting in a screaming match with another man was not the option Theodosia thought he would have chosen.
But he did, so there they stood, face-to-face, yelling at each other until they were both beet red. Theodosia discreetly grabbed Nick, pulling him closer as she watched his father lose his mind.
There was no way this was going to work. Not only was Larry a fool, she thought, but he's a complete madman too.
Once the screaming had died away, Larry started shouting at the Hun in gibberish she assumed was supposed to be Hun, but very clearly did not. The leader turned to his friends, clearly confused by whatever was coming out of Larry's mouth.
Scratch fool, Theodosia decided, Larry was just an idiot.
"Pardon me, Larry," Ahkmenrah interrupted, "I speak Hun."
Ahkmenrah said something to the bearded man, bowing respectfully. The man responded to Ahkmenrah with another very clear gesture of ripping someone – definitely Larry – apart.
"He says he wants to rip you apart."
Theodosia felt Nick tense up beside her. She gripped his shoulder, leaning down towards his ear. "Don't worry, your father works in mysterious ways. I'm sure he'll get us out of this."
Nick gave her a hesitant smile.
"I'll use my sword if the Hun tries anything," she joked, shifting the sword in her hands so it was sitting in her front of her, poised for attack.
He glanced at the sword and back at Theodosia, his smile growing the slightest bit.
"All right. Again, with the ripping. Listen, I understand. I get it. Ripping for you – you want to rip things, okay? And I think maybe that's because somebody ripped you a long time ago. In here," Larry paused his speech to point to his heart.
Theodosia would have rolled her eyes, but she was too shocked to do anything but stare.
"Did somebody rip little – little baby Attila a long time ago right here? They ripped – they ripped something out, didn't they? They ripped the love. They ripped the love right out of you, didn't they? A little baby all alone in a tent, whose daddy went off to pillage some town or go and plunder somewhere. Just doing his job, but who was left alone?"
Larry paused as Attila's chin trembled.
"You."
"Oh Gods," Theodosia groaned, as Larry and now a sobbing Attila embraced.
With every minute Larry spent on one of his ridiculous speeches, the magical tablet that brought them to life every night was getting further away. Theodosia assumed she should call this a victory, but it didn't feel like one. One moment they were two warriors seasoned for a battle, and now they were just two men, crying and hugging in a hallway.
Maybe it was violent of Theodosia, but she would have liked to see Larry get his ass kicked just once.
Once Attila had sobered up, Larry returned to the warring exhibits below them.
"All right!" he yelled. "I need everyone to listen up!"
Everyone joined him by the railing, Theodosia sticking close to Nick's side, and subsequently Ahkmenrah, who she refused to look in the eye. Their arms brushed, sending a jolt through Theodosia. She jumped away unconsciously, grabbing her arm.
His skin was so much warmer than hers.
She noticed him glance at her from the corner of her eye, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze.
Her palms were starting to sweat.
"Guys, come on!"
No one listened. No one could hear Larry's pleas over the clashing of swords and indistinct yelling coming from various corners of the room. Everyone was still lost in the fight. Even Theodosia had gotten lost in it, watching the same battle between the Romans and Boots, which hadn't seemed to have changed much. They seemed evenly matched. Neither side had overtaken the other.
"Quiet!" The whole room became silent as the stone head's booming voice echoed through the room. "My dum-dum want to speak."
"Thank you," Larry nodded, slightly stunned. "Now this here is King Ahkmenrah. His tablet is what brings you to life every night. And those old night watchmen – they stole it. Now we need to find those guards and get the tablet back, and we need to do it before morning."
No matter how many times Theodosia looked, she couldn't spot the other Greeks anywhere in the foyer. A sense of dread filled her stomach when she wondered if they had wandered out of the museum. She couldn't keep Teddy's warning out of her mind.
"Civil War Guys, head over to the Planetarium Wing." The faceless men snapped into military position and saluted Larry, completing forgetting the fight between them for the moment. "My explorer friend whose name escapes me—"
"It's Columbus," Nicky whispered.
"Right, Columbus! Right. I'm sorry. There's no nameplate. So, Columbus take the Neanderthals and do a sweep from invertebrates all the way through reptiles. Jed and Octavius, their van's parked out back. Go take care of it."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No. No, sir. I ain't workin' with Toga boy," Jed complained, shooting Octavius a nasty look.
Theodosia respected the Romans; they were small and cute, and military oriented like the Spartans. She did not hold the same respect for their neighbours and their strange accents, yet she knew the longer Jed and Octavius fought, the farther those greasy old men got with Ahkmenrah's tablet. Larry had already delayed their quest with Attila and his well of undiscovered feelings.
They were running out of time.
Theodosia just got her freedom back. She wasn't letting those tyrannical nightguards take it away from her again.
"Romans work alone," Octavius said, inspecting his nails snootily, until Jed stabbed him in the foot with his sword. "Ow—!"
"That didn't hurt. Don't be a baby."
"Yes it did!"
"Come on! Ah—" Octavius suddenly jabbed his sword into Jed's side childishly. "That was much harder!"
"Hey!" Theodosia interrupted before Larry could scold them himself. "Those evil old men have been locking us up for years, like animals, and now they've stolen the tablet that gives us life. I know that some of you don't get along, and we're not saying you have to, but Larry's right. We need to put our differences aside tonight if we want any chance of getting that tablet back. They've taken our nights from us for far too long, it's time we fight back."
Theodosia didn't realize until she finished speaking that she had been gripping the bars in front of her. She awkwardly drew back, clasping her hands behind her back while she ignored the number of eyes glued to her. She glanced at Larry, sending him a nod.
"Uh, Jed and Octavius," Larry continued, shocked by Theodosia's sudden outburst, drawing the attention back to him. "Take away the fact that you two are born 2000 years apart, you guys aren't that different. You're both great leaders. You just want what's best for your people, right?"
Theodosia smiled as they agreed under their breath, like children being scolded by their father. She was so distracted that she didn't notice Ahkmenrah's eyes settling on her this time. He thought she glowed when she smiled.
"Civil war dudes. You guys are brothers, for God's sakes. You've gotta stop fighting. North wins. Slavery's bad. Sorry. Don't wanna burst your bubble. But, South, you guys get...Allman brothers and...Nascar. So just chill! Look, without that tablet, all of this – this whole coming to life at night thing – it all goes away. Now, I don't want to let that happen, but I need your help. We can get this done, but we gotta do it together. So, who's with me?"
Theodosia raised her hand along with the rest of the exhibits as a murmur went through the crowd beneath them.
"Who's with me?" Larry repeated, this time louder.
The room erupted in cheers and agreement from the exhibits as they brandished their weapons, prepared to fight the enemy, finally.
"All right! Let's do this people!" Larry paused and nodded at Nick, who smiled proudly back. "And animals. And weird, faceless puppet creatures."
"Larry," Theodosia interrupted, turning to Larry. "What should the Greeks do to help?"
"Do you know where they are?"
She sighed. She didn't, but a part of her was hoping Larry would let her go and look. "No. I left right away to go see—"
Everyone stared at her as she trailed off awkwardly, one of them being Ahkmenrah, who couldn't know that she meant him. She would sound insane if she said woke up and immediately ran off to go and talk to a closed casket. She'd rather run her own sword through her chest.
"...You," she eventually said. "I came straight to see you...Larry."
"Then why were you in—" Theodosia cut off Nicky by slapping her hand over his mouth before he could finish his sentence.
"So, in conclusion I don't know where the Greeks are. End of discussion. Guess they won't help, oh well, time is wasting – we should go."
Nicky looked up her with a knowing look, and she sent him a warning one back. Before anyone could speak up, Theodosia turned around and fled. It was either fleeing or the ground swallowing her whole, and since she doubted the latter would happen, fleeing was her best and only option.
She only got a few steps ahead before Larry called after her. "Theo!"
"Yes?" She stopped, slowly turning around, trying to keep her face neutral. At least she couldn't blush.
"You're going the wrong way."
Of course she was.
a/n: so, like most universities, my school has officially moved to online classes because of the coronavirus. We have a whopping total of ZERO cases in my city, but if I had to guess, it was the pressure to close, not the actual concern for anyone's safety.
But whatever, I'll take it, I was so over waking up early for class anyway. I have no idea how I survived highschool because now waking up at seven is pure agony and I woke up a lot earlier than that for public school every day.
So, here is chapter seven, things are starting to move along since Dick Van Dyke and his bros stole the tablet and stuff so that's happening. I really shoddily edited this chapter because I couldn't bear to face my sad attempt at romance, so there is more than likely mistakes. Literally never feel bad about pointing out errors, I will never not appreciate it. Most people who read this don't comment (totally get it though, I'm a silent reader too, whoops) but if you have any reactions or thoughts on the story please don't be afraid to share them (no pressure tho you totally don't have to)!
Stay safe, wash your hands, and hopefully enjoy chapter seven!