The Sentinels: Chapter Six
Jan. 17th, 2009 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emeraldsnakesDisclaimer: I own none of this.
Words: 2,736
Chapter Six
There was only silence.
They stared at the body of their brother/son/nephew and for a moment there was a stillness that settled over everything, including the fire. Then the fire went out and from Sagi’s body rose the aura of a skull breathed in flames. It stared at them for a moment before bursting out into tiny flames that dissolved immediately.
“Does that mean Markus is gone?” Nyan asked softly.
“Hopefully.” Came the answer from Jeremiah. “We wont know until his body revives for certain.”
Jonathan sheathed his sword and walked silently away, towards the throne chair. The others gravitated towards him silently standing in a semi circle around him and watched as he sat in the chair.
He closed his eyes and focused on linking to the city’s systems. It was difficult but not impossible as the room ran solely on it’s own power. Something they hadn’t realized before.
“Jonathan?” Jeremiah asked slowly and tense as Jonathan gripped the arms of the chair tightly and his face scrunched up in what might have been pain. “Jonathan!”
Jonathan opened his eyes and fell out of the chair, landing on all fours and groaned, “God that was painful.”
“In what way?” Alexstrasza, ever the doctor, asked.
“Well,” Jonathan answered bitterly and acidly. “Seeing as how this is an Ori facility and the control chair takes mental concentration the logical conclusion should be that my head feels like it’s on fire.”
Alexstrasza winced and backed off. She was given sympathetic looks from her siblings who wisely chose to stay quite until Jonathan was no longer in pain. Jeremiah didn’t much care.
“What did you learn?” he asked.
Jonathan glared up at him, “That you are still very much an asshole.”
Jeremiah just grinned proudly. He was essentially the only one who could get away with being an ass to his brother because of their bond and equal rank. The equality between them made it so they could balance the power they had. Jonathan couldn’t do something involving or affecting the Ancients without Jeremiah’s approval.
Jonathan slowly stood, pressing the palm of his right hand above his right eye. He spoke into the minds of all of them, including those who had not gotten to where they were now, "I want everyone to return to the Narcissus, leave the building in tact. It will be destroyed late on. And don’t argue with me,” he added quickly. "I will explain everything once we have gathered."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.
“Where’s Seneca?” Loki asked once everyone was seated on the bridge of the Narcissus. He was leaning back, legs stretched out and had a very mischievous smirk on his face.
“Patience my son,” Jonathan chided but not unkindly. He was in the command chair that ran the ship, seeking comfort from the Ancient technology and familiarity after the harshness of accessing the Ori city. “Did you not feel Seneca’s death?”
“Yeah but,” Loki shrugged, “where’s his body? And what the hell was wrong with Sagi?”
“This incident,” Jeremiah started slowly after Jonathan nodded for him to begin, “was not he work of Sagi. He was being controlled, by Markus.”
There was an angry, almost animalistic growl from Jeremiah’s oldest son Jaden as he stood and began pacing. His eyes flashed between red and blue, the skin an inch around them transitioning between regular human skin and black scale like skin and his hands, also transitioning between human and clawed with the same black scaled skin.
Everyone watched, ready to scatter if his anger got the better of him and he went on a rampage. He was the last of his violent but not primal race, the Veutair and the most volatile of all the Ancients. The only person he listened to was his father and not always all the time. He respected his family though, and could get along with them.
The Veutair had been an old ally of the Alterans, until their race had been wiped out by the Oril. Jaden had watched, five years old, as Markus murdered his mother and now, everything to do with the Ori, and Markus in particular, set him off.
“Please continue,” Jaden growled. “I want to hear what happened.”
Jeremiah hesitated for a moment before retelling their encounted with the posessed Sagi word for word, and after, up until Jonathan had ordered them back to the Narcissus. Loki had heaved an exasperated sigh at hearing about Seneca but said nothing. By the end Jaden had, oddly enough, calmed down and was sitting quietly in his chair, pensive.
“Did you learn anything while in the chair?” Ælyn asked her father.
Jonathan nodded, “Yes. I downloaded everything and transferred it to one of the tablets in the Gateship. I’d like you, Alexstrasza and Lucian to go over the information, there could be something useful in there.
Be careful though, it’s possible Markus planted a virus.”
Ælyn looked affronted, “Of course we’ll be careful.”
“We want reports on anything you deem important,” Jeremiah said. “Loki electrocuting us all to hell, is not.”
Kael sat forward and glared at Loki, snarling, “That was you?” Loki nodded proudly. “Bastard, you almost killed me!”
Loki shrugged, “We’re immortal, dying shouldn’t mean anything.”
“It does to some of us,” Kael snapped leaning back in his seat, not wanting to get into a pathetic pissing patch over death.
There was silence for a moment before Jonathan spoke, “I noticed we’re short one Gateship. Why?”
“Four of us explored the subterranean levels,” Sca explained. “We found a laboratory where Athanasius was being experimented on. We freed him, Lucian aided his healing and we gave him a Ship because he no longer wished to be at our mercy.”
“We’ll have to explain to them what really happened,” Lucian said. “If he truly believes it was Sagi experimenting on him then they might use their knowledge against us.”
“I will personally speak with the Incubi,” Jonathan said. “I at least don’t have a hate for them.”
He didn’t mean it as a personal jab for any one of them but the majority of them winced because it was true.
“Is there anything else?” Jonathan asked.
Hephaestian leaned forward, “I personally would like to know what Nyan said or did that made Markus cry out and momentarily drop his guard.”
All heads turned to Nyan who shrugged, a little unnerved that all the attention was suddenly on him.
“Among the human’s magic there is a form that is very rare and considered completely dark. Parsletongue. It’s hereditary and not many people have it because those lines are dying out. It is also the oldest form of human magic but all humans would refuse to believe it because of it’s dark label.”
“You harmed Markus with human magic?” Selazni asked surprised. “Tell us more about it.”
“Parsletongue is serpent tongue, it came about when Lilith and Thanatos were preforming her infamous ‘magic’ experiments in combining two species of animals. As you know, not all of their experiments involved only animals, humans with the Alteran gene were also used thus creating creatures such as the centaurs and merpeople. They also created the naga, half-human half-snake. The naga were quite ‘magical’, able to tap into their Alteran gene easily which allowed them limited access to powers such as our own. They used verbal incantations in the serpent tongue, not only because it made their spells stronger but because it protected their secrets. But the naga didn’t stay half-human half-snake. As generations passed they became less snake like and more human. Their abilities remained with them and their descendants, but as I said before those lines are dying out.”
“Then how do you know it, if it’s concentrated to specific family lines?” Malic asked.
“I learned it a thousand years ago from my Parsletongue lover. He cast a spell that merged that specific gene in with my DNA.”
“Why?” Caius asked. “Is that normal?”
Nyan shrugged, “To the best of my knowledge it isn’t, but who could say what exactly is shared between lovers. Sal and I used Parsletongue to communicate behind the backs of everyone, including his wife.”
“Dammit, I don’t even remember reading anything like that,” Loki grumbled.
“I didn’t include everything in that report,” Nyan explained. “My love life in particular. I never report on my love life.”
“This, Parsletongue, may be a key to a power that affects all Ascended beings,” Jaden pointed out.
Anorius laughed mockingly, “The Alterans would never allow us to experiment with a power that could kill them, look what happened when Moros tried.”
“Moros was creating a weapon of mass destruction,” Caius argued.
“And Nyan could create a spell of mass destruction!” Anorius snapped. “I agree with Jaden that Parsletongue could be our saving grace but it would never be possible. Would you allow the humans to engineer a virus that could biologically adapt enough to keep us dead? I don’t think so. It’s the exact reason the Alterans sent Ganos Lal after Moros.”
“Aren’t you forgetting that only a Parsletongue would be able to use it if it was developed?”
Anorius snorted, “I am not.” He turned to Nyan, “Name two Parsletongue speakers.”
“Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter. Two wizards currently locked in a war, though Potter is but a boy.”
“And is not Voldemort the Dark Lord you serve?”
Nyan’s eyes flashed dangerously, “I spy, I do not serve.”
“You’ve been in the same dark circle for over twenty years Nyan -”
“So you’re assuming I’ve gone dark like the people I have to associate myself with?” Nyan asked angrily.
“What gives you the right to say that? Has Malic’s symbiote become more Goa’uld like because of the amount of undercover work they do?”
“I’m not suggesting that -”
“Yes you are!” Nyan yelled standing up. “You have absolutely no right to judge what I have had to do to help those humans and the fact that you suggest I’ve gone dark - I don’t even know where to begin. Do you really fucking think that twenty years would completely rewrite 12,000 years of my life?”
“That’s enough Nyan,” Jonathan ordered. Nyan rounded on him but he cut him off, “I understand your anger and agree with you, but I also agree that Parsletongue will not be used except as a last resort.”
“You would give up a means of destroying Markus because it would displease the Alterans?” Caius asked surprised and a little angered.
“It’s too dangerous Caius.”
“Only Nyan would know!”
“And if Markus possesses him next?” Jonathan snapped. “You’re letting your vengeful emotions cloud your judgement. If Nyan is given the order to develop this Parsletongue attack, and is possessed just before Nyan casts it then Markus will have full control over a power that could not only destroy the Alterans but destroy us.”
Silence settles as Nyan sat and everyone thought over what Jonathan had said.
“What makes you think Parsletongue could harms us significantly?” Jaden asked.
“It harmed an Ascended being, if it can do that it can harm us just like Ascended powers can.”
“There’s no proof of that,” Caius stated.
“I’m sure Nyan could come up with some,” Malic said. “I agree with father, Parsletongue is too dangerous.” There were nods around the circle as all but four agreed with him.
“Fine,” Caius snapped, leaning back with a small glare at his father. “You’re giving up the perfect opportunity to defeat the Ori.”
“So you believe,” Kalas told him softly. “Think on it Caius, you’ll see what we do.”
“We need to prevent this from happening again,” Ælyn announce. “The question is how.”
“We don’t even know how Markus was able to possessed Sagi, how can we prevent it?” Nyan asked.
“By constantly checking in with one another,” Jeremiah answered. “We were alerted to this situation because Sagi was continuously breaking the rules.”
“Do you think it would work?” Jonathan asked, pleased with the idea.
Jeremiah nodded, “Take, for example, Procyon, Demetri, Xander and Mordred. They’re very close and know the ins and outs of each other. They would easily be able to figure out if something was wrong with one of them.”
“Excellent,” Jonathan said. “Everyone must be accountable to someone, preferably someone who knows them well. No one is to go unchecked for more than two weeks, I don’t care what they’re doing. Spread the word, this is effective immediately and will be in effect until the Ori are destroyed.” Jonathan sighed,
“If there is nothing else, you are dismissed.”
There was a silent pause before they started to disperse. Only Jeremiah, Jaden and Malic remained. Jonathan didn’t bother to move from his seat, guessing that Malic wished to speak with him. He also sensed that something troubled him.
“May we speak privately Father?” Malic asked standing.
“Of course,” Jonathan answered, also standing. They left the deck and walked the halls, silent until Malic chose to speak.
“I lost consciousness when the electricity was released,” he explained. “And I cant explain why. No one else did or even remotely came close.”
“Kael says he did.”
“He fell off a high beam.”
“Oh.” Jonathan paused. “Have you asked your symbiote what his thoughts are?”
Malic shook his head, “I haven’t woken him yet, but all his knowledge is mine and he’s experienced nothing like it.”
“You’re worried something’s effecting you that neither you nor your symbiote can detect.”
Malic nodded. “I would have brought it up in the meeting but Anorius was already being enough of an ass about it, I didn’t need it to increase. Did you experience anything like this when you were a host?”
Jonathan thought back four hundred years to when he was host to a young symbiote during Ba’al’s first rising. Lantash had been only thirty, his first host having been killed by Ra, and he’d decided he would learn first hand about the Tok’ra before prematurely judging them. They were less snarky then, still very secretive but more willing to work with some of the other anti-Goa’uld races.
Lantash had learned a lot from him and that knowledge bound him to the Alteran laws. Still, it served him well, even when death was creeping upon him for he Ascended, the only Tok’ra to ever do so.
“No, I have not, but I didn’t do much scientific work when I was Lantash’s host. We were much like you, going undercover and infiltrating Ra, Ba’al and Amaterasu- the fucking bitch.”
Malic snorted, “Aldwin has infiltrated her ranks and he cant help but complain. She is very sporadic.”
Jonathan nodded, “I wish I could help you more, but I truly don’t know why you were affected differently then the rest of us were.”
“That’s alright Father.” Malic said smiling. He bowed his head, “I should return to the Tok’ra now, Tavien can only cover for me for so long.”
“Good luck with that.”
They parted ways, Malic temporarily shedding his physical body and rising up out of the ship, Jonathan headed back to the deck. He needed to return to Earth and sooth the panic his disappearance would have caused. The Asgard would be the easy scapegoat, they always abducted him but the reason behind it - that would be more difficult.
“Are you going back to Earth now?” Jeremiah asked as soon as he walked on the deck.
“Yes, but I need you to send the Asgard a message for me.”
Jeremiah smirked, “And what can Thor do for you today?”
“Get me some Asgard Beaming Technology.”
“There’s no need to ask, I’ll leave Jaden to install it for you because we have it.”
Jonathan scowled, “And when did this happen?”
A shrug, “Month or so ago, after our conversation. Andros and Aziza traveled to Orilla and were given full tutelage on installing and operating beaming technology.”
Jonathan glared, “You should have told me!”
“Beaming you away now.” Jeremiah said quickly.
Jonathan couldn’t respond as he was surrounded by a white light and beamed down to the living room of his home. When the light faded he met the surprised faces of Daniel, Sam and even Teal’c. They were blinking at him, taking in his pure white clothes - thankfully not his sword since he’s dissolved it into pure energy earlier - but saying nothing. With some smooth talking he knew he could curb their
suspicion but when he saw, behind Daniel’s head, the operating Alteran monitor, he groaned.
“Fuck.”
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