Chapter One: The Return

Prologue

12th of November, 1845.

The wind whistled in her ears as she stumbled her way atop the deck. What had woken her? She was in such a sleep-deprived state that she could not remember for the life of her. The mocking mews of pesky gulls cried out above her. She felt her body shift to the left as the wicked waves tilted the ship aggressively to-and-fro.

She opened her mouth to cry out, but no sound emerged. She turned her head frantically around- all she could see was the dark, endless sea surrounding her. She noticed the ship's helm was unoccupied- what was going on? She tripped up the cracked wooden steps, one hand carefully clasping her precious package to her chest.

Sharp fingers of lightning scratched at the sea surrounding her. The flashes were bright and she tripped in her wake, blinded by the sudden lightshow. A horribly loud cracking sound emitted from above her. She struggled to turn her head towards the sound, against the path of the wind, to see the tallest mast of the ship snap in two and the sail to tear in half. The ship tossed and turned as the once-standing mast fell towards her. She scrambled to avoid the oncoming death-trap, only to be stopped by a sudden, sharp pain just above her waist. She tried to scream, to call for help, but her cries were lost to the storm.

Still clasping her precious cargo tightly, she watched the ship crack down the middle of the hull and sink below the endless black water. She gazed upon the still-unoccupied helm be swept away in the torrential wind, and let out one final cry. She felt the ship give in beneath her and sunk deep into the icy water below, surrounded by debris and destruction. The last thing she remembered was a flash of bright, purple light before everything turned black.

10th of November, 2020, New York City.

The Museum of Natural History- Where History Comes to Life!

Now that was something Larry Daley hadn't read in a long time.

Truth be told, he had been avoiding passing by the Museum for over four years. It just hurt too much.

He'd taken every measure he could to cut off contact with anyone involved with the museum. Doctor McPhee, Tilly, even Cecil, (who was still kicking around, even in his old age) he had blocked all their numbers. He just couldn't bear the thought of entering those doors and seeing his friends wax again.

He directed his thoughts back to the road. If they hadn't been doing crappy road maintenance down where he usually drove by, he wouldn't be stuck in traffic right now. He looked to the stack of papers on his passenger seat and sighed. His job at an accountancy firm was tiresome, and it kept him awake most nights. But he needed it, he so needed it to fill those long, endless, dark and lonely nights.

He made a mental list of what he had to do that evening; Call Nicky and maybe invite him over for dinner, buy a replacement mirror for the bathroom after he had haphazardly crashed head-first into it in a sleep-deprived morning state, and paperwork. Craptons of paperwork.

Larry groaned inwardly. The Chinese Dragon of traffic was not moving, not even an inch. His eyes drifted back to the once-familiar museum. He glanced below the large titular sign atop the entrance to the Museum.

Ancient Egypt Rises Once More: Pharaoh Akhmenrah And His Artefacts Return on November 1st!

It couldn't be.

It just simply could not be.

Why hadn't anybody told him this? Why had nobody informed him? Why on earth hadn't McPhee call- oh. Yeah. Blocked number.

Larry's head was suddenly buzzing with thoughts. He could see his friends again. His friends who he missed dearly. Fond memories flooded his brain- Sacagawea's smile as Teddy helped her mount Texas for the first time, Jed and Octavius' valiant friendship and teamwork, Atilla and Akhmenrah sharing stories in Hun, Dexter chirruping contently on Sac's shoulder. He let a smile form on his lips.

Larry glanced at the car radio, which informed him that it was 16:30. The museum closed at five thirty. He could make it to closing time. To sundown. Well, he hoped he could if this traffic would just-

*HONK*

The car behind Larry was beeping most aggressively. Larry glanced back towards the road- the now-clear road. He turned around and flashed an apologetic smile at the car driver behind him, who in return gave him the finger. Lovely. Larry returned the gesture as he was overtaken, but did not waste any thoughts over it. Oh no.

Tonight, was going to be good.

A/N: I'm sorry this is so short, I just really wanted to get it out there today! Please leave a review, or ponder some of these questions! Who is this mysterious character? How will the others react to Larry's return?

Why not recommend me some quality NatM fanfictions?

Thank You for reading!

-HarrietSilverwynd