Theodosia

c h a p t e r t e n

A  B I T T E R S W E E T  V I C T O R Y

Thanks to Ahkmenrah and his magical tablet, their problem was promptly solved. All the Pharaoh had to do was mutter a phrase in Ancient Egyptian, and move one of the golden tiles – that was all it took to get all the museum exhibits to magically turn back and walk back to the museum.

Theodosia shouldn't have been surprised, she was a wax figure that came to life all because of the tablet in the first place, yet the tablet's magic still managed to stun her. One moment they were thirty minutes away from a sunny disaster, and with one quick trick, everything was magically fixed.

If not for Ahkmenrah and his freaky magic tablet, practically the entire museum of natural history would have been reduced to ash under the nearing morning light.

It almost seemed too good to be true – the villains had been stopped, and there had been few casualties but the old nightguards as the dust settled (Teddy was split in half and the miniatures had met an unfortunate and unclimactic ending), and now, to top it all off, there was a magical setting on Ahkmenrah's mysterious tablet that fixed the problem of the wandering exhibits like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Theodosia may not have known from personal experience, but a war never wrapped up this easily.

Yet no one seemed concerned but her.

Nick insisted on riding the dinosaur back to the museum – something Theodosia neither condoned nor wanted to do ever again – and when she asked Larry about it, he said, and she quotes, "I don't know that I would call this a war."

Theodosia had been at war with the old nightguards for decades, much longer than Larry who had known them for a total of three days. They may be old and brittle, but you were a fool for underestimating them. Their victory seemed too easy, but Theodosia was comforted by the fact that Cecil was with the Huns.

She hoped they dislocated something at the very least.

Theodosia wouldn't admit it to Larry, but she was surprised he actually managed to outsmart his ex-colleagues. She may hate them, but Theodosia could admit they were clever – more so than her, and definitely more so than Larry (at least, if the key fiasco was any indication of his reaction time.) Yet he had managed to get the best of Cecil using his own sarcastic advice.

Theodosia still wished she had been with Larry when he defeated Cecil, but she was glad it was over. Finally.

Once everyone had returned to the museum, Theodosia left their group in search of her own exhibit.

She hadn't seen the other Spartans all night, and knowing they probably left the museum to explore New York City left her heart thudding. She even looked for the Athenians in the giant foyer, but she couldn't find a single familiar face.

For a while she stayed with Larry who was taking inventory of every exhibit that came back, the others directing them back to their departments so they could be in place before the sun rose. But still, no Greeks. Only a caribou who seemed intent on coming through the wrong set of doors.

"Larry," she said, after watching the door anxiously for ten minutes, "I'm going to find the other Greeks."

He nodded, smiling slightly at her. "Don't worry, Theo. I'm sure their around, they probably went through the loading dock. Why don't you check your exhibit, we got this."

"I hope so," she breathed, squeezing her hands together.

If even one of her family were left to the mercy of sun in the morning, Theodosia would never forgive herself. She tried to remember the magic of the tablet, and the strength of her people, but it didn't quell her anxiety.