So here it is Chapter ten (YAY!) this is a bit of a milestone considering I have reached double digits in my chapters finally! (Woohoo I rock even if I write slow) Well this week is school vacation week so expect chapters to be slightly smaller then usual but I plan to write at least four this week which is a lot more then usual and most likely there will be more then four so this is my little gift to you!
Ghosts of the Future
Chapter 10: Murder
Vala stood there her eyes wide and shocked the gun still clutched in her hands.
"Vala..." Daniel began putting his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way but she shook him off.
"I murdered him Daniel" Vala said, she had killed people before and even recently but it had been people coming after her Ori soldiers people who chose to fight chose to die and she did not know them. But this was murder she had trusted Asdak for so many years, he had been her loyal servant when she posed as Qetesh he was the only one she could trust. She had not murdered anyone since her years as Qetesh and even then she couldn't control it. But still it was just like the countless other's Qetesh had murdered the way their eyes glazed over, the way they took that last shuddering breath, the dull thud as they fell to the ground.
"Vala. You only did what you thought was right, its okay" Daniel said
"No!" Vala snapped "It's not okay!" she flung herself down on a stool staring at the pale face and waxy skin of the body the blood still dripping from the wound. It brought back to many memories, too many innocent people, too many loved ones all falling one by one as she stood by the ribbon device in her hand killing them yet helpless to stop. She had promised herself never again would she kill an innocent person, never would she torture another loved one. Qetesh had done these things, some of which to simply break the heart of her host, but Vala could not help but blame herself for them for everything that had happened. She began to weep burying her face into her hands.
Daniel came over to Vala and kneeled by her "This isn't just about Asdak is it?"
Vala shook her head "No. There where others. I've murdered people before"
"Qetesh murdered people" Daniel corrected "Not you"
Vala was quiet for a moment "But I murdered Asdak"
"You did not kill in cold blood, you killed to save another person's life" Daniel said swallowing hard feeling guilty it was his life
Vala did not speak but instead averted her gaze from Asdak to Daniel she still cried silent tears. He was still a Prior yet somehow hidden in his face she saw Daniel the same Daniel she remembered after her amnesia, the same Daniel who held her after she had been resurrected by the Prior, the same Daniel she always annoyed and bickered with. It was Daniel not some Prior despite his appearance.
"It's alright Vala" He said and wrapped her in a warm embrace "It's going to be alright"
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"I'm amazed he hasn't found her yet" Cam said
"What?" asked Sam
"Vala. I'm amazed that Daniel has not found her yet" Cam answered
"What makes you think he hasn't?" Sam said
"I think we would know if he has, I mean Adria would throw her back in here or something, but we would know" Cam said
"How can you be sure that Daniel Jackson would turn Vala Mal Doran in?" Teal'c asked
"He's a Prior" Cam said "Adria has meddled with his brain, he is different now"
"Maybe Vala got though to Daniel and not the Prior" Sam said "He listens to her, well when she is not babbling but he does listen to her when she talks, ever since we almost lost her in the supergate thing he regretted not listening to her and has ever since"
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"What happened to the Prior?" Vala asked leaning her head on his shoulder, she could have been teasing him but it seemed like a serious question
"I fought him" Daniel said "I've almost won, I think I might be my old self soon" Vala could see the wrinkles his face had taken on since becoming a Prior had smoothed out some, specks of blue where peeking out from behind the milky white of his eyes.
"What do we do with Asdak?" Vala asked "Do we bury him or tell someone or just leave him?"
"We don't have time to bury him and I doubt he has anymore allies in the village, the best we can do is leave him" Daniel replied
"What do we do now?" Vala asked
"We head back to the temple, get the team and head home I guess" Daniel answered he himself not quite sure where to take things from here
"What about Adria?"
Daniel thought for a moment, he did not speak but got up edging Vala off him and walked, limping slightly, over to his staff, picked it up and sent a blue orb of energy across the room shattering a glass vase.
"What do you know" said Daniel amused "I'm still a bit of a Prior"
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"Have you found them yet?" asked an irritated Adria to a solider reporting back to her
"No Orici" the man said bowing slightly
"Are you all complete morons?" She asked "How hard can it be to find them?"
"We are trying the best we can Orici" the solider began "But.."
"But it is not good enough!" Adria spat "You will find my mother and that Prior!"
The man lingered for a moment before Adria spoke again "That was an order. GO!"
He scurried off and Adria leaned back into her throne in a fit of rage. Her mother was gone, that man she had trusted to be a Prior was no doubt with her, he has betrayed her and he must suffer the punishment for traitors. Her eyes glinted in a wicked fashion like flames in a ring of fire.
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"Vala grab a gun, Adria's troops will be looking everywhere for us and we need some self-defense" Daniel said and Vala grabbed the same gun she had used to kill Asdak from the floor. They exited the small hut gingerly sticking together and crept though the darkness towards the temple in the far distance. Something about the way Vala had behaved back in the hut startled Daniel a bit.
"Vala?" Daniel said
"Yes?" she answered
"Did Asdak's death remind you of anyone in particular?" he asked
"What?" she said "Oh...about the murders when I was Qetesh. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious" Daniel said regretting he had brought it up in the first place "Just that you mentioned being engaged to someone before, but I don't know if you where messing with me or not, sometimes you really confuse me" he laughed a bit "You confuse everyone sometimes"
Vala smiled in spite of herself "Well Daniel I have been married a few different times. But those where in my thief days post Qetesh those where mostly just to get money or escape jail, before becoming Qetesh however I was engaged. His name was Haidar, and I was in love with him unlike the marriages to follow him. But I was taken host before we could get married, he did not see eye to eye with Qetesh and attempted to overthrow her. But no one would join him for the fear of her."
Vala was quiet for a few minutes as then walked before finishing her story "Qetesh decided to kill him personally"
Daniel felt horrible about bringing it up in the first place, now he just wanted to hug her, and to tell her...
"GET DOWN!" Vala yelled and pushed Daniel to the ground, a blast from an Ori weapon flew over their heads. Daniel stood and sent a blast from his staff sending the small group of soldiers flying.
"C'mon" Daniel grunted and grabbed Vala's arm pulling her along, they where able to shoot down or injure the few soldiers that came into their path. They could see the temple, they where almost there. But they stopped when they got closer to the temple, Adria was there alone standing before them a smirk on her face. She clapped her hands lightly in a mock applause.
"You found my mother loyal Prior, good work" she said
"Let the rest of the team go" Daniel growled
"Why should I? Personally I think you should come with me" Adria said
"I would never go back to your side again" Daniel said
Adria shrugged a bit and sent a blast of white light at them which knocked the both off their feet, Daniel sent the same attack towards Adria but it merely bounced off her personal shield.
"Daniel!" Vala hissed "Hold her off I have a plan"
Daniel grunted in response as Adria sent another blast of white light towards them to which Daniel sent a blue orb of light, the two merged as Adria attempted to injure Daniel he simply was blocking her attack wishing Vala would hurry up. The blue light was fading as was Daniel's powers as a Prior, it slipped like sand from his fingers trickling away every second.
"You have lost Daniel Jackson" Adria proudly declared "You have no..." but a tug on her neck and the sound of metal hitting the ground stopped her, her concentration was ruined and her attack demolished, she felt her now bare neck and someone whispered in her ear
"It's over darling"
The person fired a zat and a stunned Adria fell to the ground.
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No Adria is not dead, they need her and her power to defeat the Ori.
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