#cough cough the British Museum being the most infamous offender cough cough cough

[age-of-moonknight]

“For Now,” Phases of the Moon Knight (Vol. 1/2024), #4.

Writer: Fabian Nicieza; Penciler and Inker: Moisés Hidalgo; Colorist: Fer Sifuentes-Sujo; Letterer: Cory Petit

[empressdrega27]

His Universe

I felt like writing, so here’s a story based off of a prompt i saw a while ago.

Prompt: I love you, not them. 

Y/B/M = “Your birth month”  H/C= “hair color”  H/L= “hair length”  S/T= “ skin tone” E/C= “ eye color”

 There was always something. Always one little detail that would ruin everything, like a loose thread on sweater. One pull, and it all unravels. All it took was a wrong tug or a misplaced gesture to make it all come undone. That was what Y/n felt like anyways. She felt like her whole life was one loose thread away from being completely destroyed. So, when things started going right for a change, well, Y/n could hardly believe it. She was a science major (she didn’t know which science yet so she just said science), and she had gotten the opportunity to go to a very prestigious college in New York City, with a full scholar ship to boot. Sure it was a little far from her home town, but she would learn so much there! Though, there was a tiny problem, Y/n’s scholarship covered the cost of tuition and a nice dorm, but it didn’t cover the cost of food or additional expenses. Which meant that Y/n had to get a job.

 She checked listing after listing until she found an open position as a bookkeeper in the archives of the Museum Of Natural History. It was perfect, a quiet position away from many people, Y/n couldn’t wait to start. On her first day Y/n was escorted to the archives by a very nice lady by the name of Rebecca.

“So, you’re the new bookkeeper for the archives right?”, Rebecca asked.

“Oh, um, yeah. I need a job to cover some of my extra expenses for college, I have a full scholarship, but it doesn’t cover everything”, Y/n smiled.

Rebecca’s eyes widened, “Wow, your grades must be excellent to get a scholarship like that! How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Ah, the infamous question. At least one person asked Y/n how old she was when they met her, on account of her height. Y/n was quite a bit taller than your average college student, so naturally she got asked how old she was. It didn’t bother her though, she’d been asked questions like that all her life.

“19″, Y/n replied, “I’ll be 20 in Y/B/M”.

“Oh.”

“Is something wrong?”, Y/n asked.

“OH, No, nothing’s wrong. I was just expecting you to be, uh.....”

“Older”, Y’n finished Rebecca’s sentence.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just never met someone as tall as you before. I didn’t mean to offend you”, Rebecca admitted.

“You didn’t, I get asked that question all the time”.

Y/n normally didn’t get along with people she didn’t know well, but talking with Rebecca was so easy! Y/n learned about Rebecca’s fascination with Sacagawea, and Rebecca found that Y/n absolutely loved books. Soon, they had arrived at the archives, and Rebecca had to go back to work. She said good-bye to Y/n, and Y/n started her own work.

A couple hours had passed when a man came into the archives, Y/n recognized him as the museum’s curator, Dr. McPhee.

“You. New girl. Have you seen a grotesque little child...thing come in here?”

“No sir, I’m afraid you’re the only person who’s came in since I got here”, Y/n answered, “Did you need anything else?”

McPhee looked extremely annoyed for a moment, then he seemed to remember something.

“Ah, yes. I need a document receipt for an artifact.”

“Um, a document receipt, sir?”

“Yes! A document receipt! You know one of those papers we get when an artifact arrives on loan from another museum?!”, he gestured wildly as he spoke.

“Do you mean a loan conformation slip?”, Y/n inquired.

“I, well, yes”, he admitted.

Y/n smiled and asked, “For which artifact, sir?”

He told her the artifact’s name and ID number, and Y/n looked it up in the museum database. She found the document and told Dr. McPhee where it was. He went to get it only to find that the binder with the document was on the top shelf.

“New girl! Get me a step ladder!”

Y/n sighed and stood up. She walked over to her boss and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Well it’s about bloody time!”, he exclaimed as he turned around. When he saw her, he shrieked.

“EEEAGH!!”

Y/n resisted the urge to roll her eyes and interjected,

“May I, sir?”

Y/n reached up and effortlessly grabbed the binder, while McPhee sputtered in shock. She then handed him the binder and went to sit back down at her desk.

As she walked away McPhee shouted,

“Now hold on just a minute! How old are you?!”

Y/n smirked, it was going to be interesting working here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Y/n stood up and stretched, these chairs were way too low for someone with long legs. It was nearly closing time, but Y/n didn’t want to leave just yet. She had asked McPhee if she could stay late, and he had said something to the effect of “whatever, but don’t touch anything”. So she decided that now was a good time to explore. She walked around the massive building reading every plaque and admiring every exhibit. As Y/n was walking, she heard a voice calling out to her.

“Hey! What are you doing here?! The museum’s closing!”

Y/n turned to see a night guard running towards her.

He stopped, and doubled over panting.

“Are you alright?”, Y/n asked, concerned.

“I, *pant* I’m fine, I just got *wheeze* winded. I’m not as *cough* young as I used to be.”

“Do you want me to get you some water?”, Y/n offered.

The guard’s breathing evened out and he stood up.

“Thanks, but I’m fine now. I saw you a few exhibits ago, and I tried to get your attention, but you were really zoned out. Then I tried to catch up to you. You ever thought about taking up speed walking professionally?”

Y/n laughed and said, “Not really. I wasn’t even walking that fast, I guess my stride is longer than yours.”

“No kidding”, the guard said, “You probably get this a lot, but how tall are you?”

Y/n smiled a bit and replied, “Six foot four and a half.”

The guard whistled, “Woah. Have you ever considered being a model?”

Y/n’s expression darkened, “No.”

“Why not?’, the guard inquired.

“Because... I’m not pretty enough”, Y/n muttered.

“Says who?”

Y/n sighed sadly, “Everyone”.

The guard seemed surprised.

“Well ‘everyone’ is wrong. I think you’d make a killing as a model”.

“Forgive me for my bluntness sir, but I think I’m a bit young for you”, Y/n said, an air of annoyance about her.

The guard’s eyes widened and he put his hands up. 

“I swear that’s not what I meant! You seem like a really nice young lady, I thought that, I mean I, It’s just.....”

Y/n stared at him with a raised eyebrow. 

The guard sighed and said, “I’m sorry can we start over? My name is Larry Daley, what’s yours?”

Y/n chuckled and replied, “Y/n L/n. Pleased to meet you Larry.”

“So, do you believe that I wasn’t trying to hit on you?”, Larry asked.

“Yeah, I believe you. I don’t think you’re that type of guy”.

“So, Y/n, what are you doing at a museum at this time of night?”

She looked at him and told him about college and her new job. Why were these people so easy to talk to?! Why did it feel like she belonged here?

“Well Y/n, it’s been nice to meet you, but it’s time for you to go”, Larry said.

“What?! No way am I leaving! I have permission to be here!”, Y/n declared.

“From who?”, Larry questioned.

“From OUR boss,” Y/n affirmed.

“You mean McPhee gave you permission to stay in the museum after dark?”

“Yes, he did.”

Larry was sweating, he didn’t know what to do. If he made Y/n leave, then she’d tell McPhee, who’d probably fire him. But if he let her stay, she find out the secret of the museum. He was at a loss, but the more he thought about it, he realized, what harm could it do?

Larry looked at Y/n and told her, “Follow me”.

Y/n inquired, “Why?”

“Just follow me, please?”

Everything one learns in school about stranger danger should have made Y/n think twice about following the strange night guard that she barely knew, but something in her made her feel that she could trust him. So she followed him.

They arrived at the guards office, and Larry shut the door behind Y/n.

“Okay”, Larry started, “Can you keep a secret Y/n?”

“What kind of secret?”

“A very big one”, Larry replied.

Y/n was silent for a moment. 

“Well?”, Larry nagged.

“Yes, I can keep a secret”, Y/n agreed.

“Okay, so. I doubt you’ll believe me until you see it, but do you know the Tablet of Ahkmenrah?”

“Of course. It’s one of the most famous artifacts in this museum”, Y/n acknowledged.

“Good. The tablet is magic. It brings everything in this museum to life at night”, Larry explained. 

Y/n’ eyes lit up.

“You’re serious? You’re not making this up to mess with me are you?”

“No. Everything comes to life every night.”

“Show me”, Y/n said.

Larry nodded and led the way. The sun was just starting to dip below the horizon. Soon the two were in the Egyptology exhibit, specifically, the Tomb of Ahkmenrah.

“It’s almost time”, Larry said.

A few moments later, the tablet glowed gold and suddenly, Y/n heard all manner of noises. A mammoth trumpeting, lion roars, and, was that the T-Rex skeleton?! It was amazing. Then Y/n heard screaming, and it was coming from the sarcophagus. It made sense that Ahkmenrah’s tablet would bring him back to life as well, but that didn’t mean that that information wasn’t terrifying. Never the less, Y/n couldn’t let the man suffer in there, so she went and pushed the stone slab off of the display. Larry wasn’t far behind, he came and unlocked the pins holding the lid on. When they were released, the lid of the sarcophagus flew into the adjacent wall. A figure wrapped in bandages sat up in the coffin. It turned and stepped out of the box, and unwrapped it’s face. Y/n had no idea what was under those wrappings, but Larry seemed completely unfazed, so she tried not to assume the worst. When the mummy had removed the linen from his face he looked at Larry and spoke,

“Good evening guardian of Brooklyn. I trust you are well?”

The man’s voice was completely different from what Y/n was expecting, he spoke in perfect english, and he had a very smooth British accent. 

Larry answered, “Hey Ahk. I’m doing fine, how about you?”

The pharaoh smiled and replied, “I am doing quite well, though I could not help but notice that you were late.”

Larry scratched the back of his neck and replied, “Yeah, sorry about that. I was talking with a new friend.” He gestured to Y/n. 

Ahkmenrah looked to where Larry had pointed and he saw her. The two looked at each other. Y/n could see Ahkmenrah’s face clearly now. He had grey-green eyes with hooded eyelids, and he had short curly black hair. His skin was a sun kissed bronze, and his smile was beautiful. He was hands down, the most gorgeous man Y/n had ever seen. She could hardly breathe, and it seemed that Ahk was in a similar situation. When he turned to look at Larry’s new friend, he was shocked. Before him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had glossy H/L H/C hair, flawless S/T skin, and the most breathtaking E/C eyes. She was a goddess. He walked toward her, and when he was in front of her he had to look up to look her in the eyes. She towered over him like a mighty obelisk. He bowed lowly, and said,

“I am Ahkmenrah, fourth king of the fourth king, ruler of the land of my fathers. I would be honored to hear your name.”

Y/n blushed and answered, “I’m Y/n Y/l, you don’t have to bow to me, I don’t have a special title or anything. It’s an honor to meet you, your highness.”

She did her best curtsy as Ahk straightened up.

“Y/n. What a magnificent name, it fits you well. It is as beautiful as you are.”

She blushed even more at that and stammered, “T-thank you your majesty.”

“Please, no more of that nonsense. Ahkmenrah is fine, or just Ahk if you prefer. I understand that my name is a bit of a mouthful.”

“I don’t think it is. I suppose most people can’t figure out the inflection”, Y/n replied.

Ahk’s face lit up, “Can you say it with the inflection?”

“Of course! Ahkmenrah. It’s not that hard,” Y/n asserted.

A massive grin appeared on Ahk’s face, “That was perfect! I don’t think even I could say it better! You are even more incredible than I thought.”

“Why thank you Ahkmenrah”, Y/n was certain that she would never stop blushing at this point.

“How about we let Ahk get dressed?”, Larry cut in.

“Ah. Yes, if you’ll excuse me Y/n, I shall be done in a moment.”

“Yeah, um, take your time!”, Y/n walked out of the tomb and waited by an exhibit of Egyptian jewelry. She became so engrossed in the exhibit that she didn’t hear Ahk walking towards her once he was dressed.

“Exquisite, aren’t they?”

Y/n gasped and flinched. Ahk put his hand on her arm and said,

“Are you alright? I didn’t mean to startle you. I apologize.”

“I’m fine! I just got caught up with reading the stuff on the exhibit, that’s all”, Y/n assured him.

“I’m glad you’re all right. Do you like to read?”

Y/n beamed and answered, “Oh yes! I love to read, I always have, that’s why I got a job at the archives in this museum!”

“You work here?”

Y/n nodded, “I just got the job today in fact.”

Ahk and Y/n kept talking and wandering through the exhibits together. Larry watched them talking, and as the two disappeared around a corner, Larry saw Ahk looking up at Y/n and listening to her speak. Larry chuckled under his breath, Oh man. It had only been 15 minutes and Ahk was in love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  In the days after Y/n found out about the museum she met more of the exhibits. Y/n came to know that Rebecca had known about the museum and that she was dating Larry. She met Jed and Octavius, who she liked very much. They liked her very much too, and they could see how absolutely besotted Y/n was. She adored Ahk, but she was afraid to make a move. She thought he was WAY outta her league. After all he was so handsome and sweet, and she wasn’t good enough for him. He was her best friend, she didn’t wanna ruin that.

Meanwhile, Ahk was trying his hardest to make Y/n see that he loved her. He complimented her constantly, he kissed her hand, he hugged her, but she never did anything other than blush. He was beginning to think that she didn’t feel the same way. Until one day he decided to go for broke. When Y/n came to see him that night , Ahk said he had something to show her. She followed him.

“Where are we going Ahk?”

“Patience, my beauty. It’s a surprise.”

“Okay...”, Y/n was suspicious.

They came to a deserted part of the museum, and Ahk took off his crown.

“Well, where’s this surprise? I don’t see anything.”

“Close your eyes”, Ahk said.

Y/n sighed and grumbled, “Alright, but this better be good.”

She closed her eyes and heard Ahk’s clothes jingling as he walked. He was getting closer. She waited. Suddenly, Y/n felt Ahk’s arms around her neck, and his lips on hers. She gasped. Was this really happening? Was Ahk, KISSING HER?! He must have thought that her gasp was a bad sign because she felt him pulling back. Y/n couldn’t have that. She wrapped her arms around his back and kissed him again. He didn’t hesitate, he squeezed her tighter and deepened the kiss. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours. When they broke the kiss Ahk put both of his hands on Y/n’s face and said,

“Y/n, my beauty, my lotus, my goddess, I love you. I have loved you from the moment we met. I cannot live without you, you are what makes waking up each night worth it.”

Y/n placed her forehead against his,

“Ahkmenrah, I love you too. I adore you. I would do anything for you. I count the hours until I can be with you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, my king. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“I am also sorry, for not being more forward. I was trying to be subtle, but I suppose subtle doesn’t always work”, Ahk smiled.

Y/n laughed, “It would probably have worked better if I wasn’t so oblivious.”

Ahk chuckled, “Perhaps, but it worked out in the end. That’s all that matters.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a little over a year since Ahkmenrah had confessed to Y/n, and their relationship was still going strong. The museum was now open at night, and Y/n was allowed to assist Ahk with tours. It was fun telling facts about history to all the interesting visitors, especially when Ahk was with her. Y/n’s life had become so good and happy, she knew that something would come along to ruin it. Sooner or later it would happen, it always did. And Y/n was right, her unraveling came in the form of some of the museum guests. There were always people who looked at Ahk, he was a guide after all, but there were some whose gaze lingered a bit more than necessary. There were some guests that didn’t follow the rules, they laughed and flirted, they batted their perfect eyelashes at him. Y/n wouldn’t have minded so much if they didn’t always ignore her! They always pretended she wasn’t there, Ahk always introduced himself, and then he introduced Y/n as his girlfriend and lovely assistant, but these people never listened. 

It started getting worse after a while. Now the group started calling Y/n names when Ahk wasn’t looking. Then they would shove her. Some would even yell at her if they were alone with her. But that wasn’t the worst thing, the worst thing of all was that Y/n had started believing what they were saying about her. She believed she wasn’t good enough for Ahk, that he was just with her because he felt sorry for her. Y/n believed that Ahk never thought she was beautiful, it was all just a joke, like her. She got worse and worse each day. All the light had gone out of her eyes, and Ahk was worried sick. His beloved was looking more and more despondent each day. It had to be those rude idiots that came around every so often. Well, if he caught them hurting his goddess, they would be sorry.

One day, the group of mean girls (and some boys) returned. They tormented Y/n as usual, only this time they managed to break her. She started sobbing and ran. They laughed at her, and started looking for Ahk, but he had seen what happened. He ran after Y/n and found her in his exhibit. He had never really seen her cry, and never wanted to see it again. He ran to her and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back. 

“Shhhhh. It’s alright, I’ve got you. I’m here,” he soothed.

Y/n sobbed, “They’re right! I don’t deserve you. I’m ugly and stupid, and worthless! I should have never been born!”

At this point Ahkmenrah had tears running down his face as well. How could anyone be so cruel? Y/n was the kindest, most generous person he had ever met.. To make her feel so awful, was a heinous crime, and Ahk would make them suffer for this, but for now he would make Y/n feel better.

“Y/n look at me, please!”

She reluctantly did as he asked.

“Y/n when I look at you I see perfection. Your hair is an ocean of beauty, not even the finest silk could compare. In your eyes I see the universe, my universe. Because that’s what you are to me! You are my universe, the sun, the moon, the stars, you are all of them!”

Y/n sniffled, “But I’m too tall, and I-I’m f-fat.”

Ahk shook his head, “You are neither of those my love. You are mighty and strong, you are like the pyramids, a monument to greatness that will never fall.”

“Do you think I’m stupid, Ahk?”, Y/n muttered.

“My lotus, I have never met a more brilliant soul. Your intelligence is beyond those fool’s comprehension. If you are stupid, then this building is made of candy floss and I still have all of my internal organs.” 

Y/n giggled at that, and Ahk nuzzled her nose, “That’s my girl.”

“Can I ask you something Ahk?”

“Of course Love, what is it?”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t be happier with someone else?”

Ahk chimed in, “You mean someone like them, right?”

Y/n nodded.

Ahk leaned in and kissed her with as much love as he could muster. When he broke the kiss he murmured, “I love you, not them. I could never love someone as cruel as that. I will love you forever, no matter what.”

Y/n smiled, and replied, “Thank you, my king.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue...

A few days passed since the incident, and all of the exhibits had been told about the cruelty Y/n had suffered. They were outraged of course, and vowed that if those responsible ever showed their faces again, they would pay for what they did. Y/n was feeling better since then, and now had more self-confidence than ever, thanks not only to Ahk, but also to all of their friends as well.

Eventually, the group of mean girls (and guys) returned, but this time things were different. Now they were not only ignoring her again, they were touching Ahk. Y/n could tell that he was uncomfortable, and finally she had enough. It was one thing to harass her, it’s another thing completely to harass her boyfriend. As soon as one of the slime balls laid their skeezy hands on him, Y/n struck. She tapped the offending girl on the shoulder and, BAM! Y/n clocked her. 

“Who’s next?”, she asked in a menacing voice.

The group started to back away. 

“If any of you pricks come back here for any other reason than ta learn, I will smack all a y’all so hard you’ll get knocked into the next state. Do I make my self clear?”  They nodded and ran off, like the cowards they were. 

The one on the ground looked up at Y/n and asked, “You were so weak, what happened?”

Y/n smiled and replied, “I realized that you were the ones who were weak. You knew that Ahkmenrah would never leave me, so you tried to make me leave instead, but here’s the thing. I’ll never give him up, not to you, not to anyone. I love him more than you could comprehend, and I know that you’re jealous of me. I should never have believed anything you assholes said, but I was worried. Worried that my happiness would unravel like it always did, but now I know the truth. With Ahk, I’ll always be happy, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” 

They never returned to the museum, and Ahkmenrah and Y/n continued to live and be happy, together. Sometimes it may feel like one wrong move and your world comes undone, but remember, No matter how much of your life comes apart, there will always be someone to help you put it back together.

The End