A/N: Chap 24 review responses are in my forums like normal. Thanks for all who caught the Atlas/Prometheus faux pas in the previous chapter. While I don't stress over typos, that one was sufficiently embarrassing to warrant a fix :)
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Gospel According Luna Lovegood
Despite everything she had seen the three leaders do; despite knowing they were more than human, Jaffa or even Goa'uld, it still woke in Ishta a deep, profound fear when she and the councilors arrived in the former personal quarters of Tilgath to find steam rising off Harry Potter's body. The air around him shimmered from a heat that poured off him so intensely it felt as if they were approaching a bonfire.
The Akai'kheb had his feet in a large bowl of ice water that one or the other of his companions continued to cool with their magic. He had over his bare torso a thick blanket which the other kept soaked with ice-cold water. And despite this, the heat continued to poor off him.
Like the others, Ishta had run to the ring room and returned to the ground level just in time to see the brilliant, flaming white star that was Harry Potter land and walk among the praying people. She heard his voice reverberate through the air—he did not yell, and yet she was fairly certain every being on the planet heard him. The implications of both his words and his display of power were terrifying.
Seeing the evidence that he had indeed experienced something beyond human understanding left her numb with awe and fear she never felt in the presence of Moloc.
"…edge of ascension," Hermione was explaining to the Council tiredly. "His physical body was never intended to hold that kind of power—no mortal form is. He chose not to—he chose to come back to us. But the power he touched has stressed him terribly. We need to drain the residual heat from his core."
Worse yet was how casually the two women spoke of their husband standing on the brink of true godhead, the likes of which not even the Goa'uld could imagine.
The rest of the Council stood around as astonished and fearful as she; the Byrsa clumped together and looked as if they were about to fall to their knees and begin praying. The Hebridan looked worried and confused, while the two Tau'ri looked worried and astonished.
"I still do not understand, though," Bra'tac said in response to the Companion's words. "He stood on the cusp of godhood! I am grateful he returned, but I do not understand why."
For the first time since they arrived, the Akai'kheb spoke. Unlike before, his voice now sounded thready and weak, and he had to pause as his teeth chattered from the combination of raging fever and the ice his women used to treat him.
"The Ancients made it clear if I ascended, it would not be as an Ancient."
That made even Bra'tac blink in surprise. "If not an Ancient, then what?" Ishta asked.
Somehow, it did not surprise Ishta when Luna responded. Over the past five years, she had come to understand that each of the three had their strengths and weaknesses. Hermione was most at ease explaining technical issues; Potter with large-scale plans, strategy or tactics; and Luna was best when discussion motivations, feelings or thoughts.
"He shared his memories with us," Luna said softly; tiredly. Yet everyone in the room hung on her words. She looked down on her husband with a tenderness and worry that no Goa'uld could ever emulate. "It's difficult to discuss what happened last night without context."
"Luna, this isn't…" Hermione began.
"Tell them," Harry whispered, cutting them off. He stood, the icy blanket still over his shoulder, and stumbled out of the pot of water. "I need an ice bath. The blanket isn't enough—I can feel my kidneys trying to fail."
Any concern Hermione had over what Luna would say evaporated as she rushed to Harry's side and the two walked together toward Tilgath's massive washroom. In their absence, Luna brandished a Goa'uld hara'kesh and casually vanished the tub of ice water as if it never existed before sinking into the chair her husband occupied moments before. Looking about, she waved her hand again and suddenly couches appeared. In the years Ishta had known them, she had rarely seen them use such power. Often they would move things with their power, but rarely make things come into existence. It startled the Hebridan councilor so much he yelped.
"Sit, please," Luna said softly. "Harry needs you to know and understand, because what he experienced during his last death has changed him; changed his motivations and plans. Sitat?"
The girl Ishta saw Hermione speak to earlier appeared as if by magic, hands held in front of her with her head bowed. "Sitat, dear, could you have some wine and more food brought in, please?"
"At once, Anu." The girl disappeared again to set about her business.
Luna smiled fondly after her. "Tilgath's lotar. He liked his slaves young, female and naked. But Sitat has potential."
Moments later more servants brought in food and wine on a platter, and despite it only being an hour since her last meal, Luna once again ate a healthy serving of everything. The rest of the Councilors, needing another type of fortification, took wine.
Except, of course, for Teal'c, Bra'tac and Ishta. Despite everything, the Jaffa never refused food, since training and experience demonstrated they could never depend on their next meal.
"First, I think it only fair to tell you about our world and our people," Luna said after she'd consumed half her plate. "Some of this you've already heard. You, Catherine and Melburn, know more than most just because we are all from Earth. Harry, Hermione and I were part of a sub-species of Tau'ri called wizard kind. We were born as witches and wizards, able to harness and use a power we simply called magic. And by our calendar, we will not be born yet for another five or six years."
"I don't understand, my lady," Teal'c said in his deep, stoic voice.
"It will come," Luna promised.
Ishta and the rest of the Council listened, enthralled, by the harrowing story of Harry Potter and his companions. Luna spoke clearly; sometimes the cadence of her words took on a musical quality as if the story were being driven by divine inspiration rather than by memory alone. She spoke of the prophecy that marked Harry's birth and some of his early adventures. She then spoke of the events leading to his first and second death, and how first Hermione and then Luna became joined with him, both out of love and a hope to contain the darkness that he had returned from his first death.
When she came to the more recent history, she faltered for the first time.
"I don't think even we knew for sure what we were," Luna admitted. "We'd become something more through our own actions, and our bond with Harry. We are, as far as we know, immortal. Harry shared many of the powers he'd learned so long ago in that galaxy so far, far away. We were far more powerful than our peers. Yet for all our power and immortality, we were still so very young. In our rush to make our world better, we failed to account for those who liked it the way it was. We were betrayed; we were betrayed by our closest, most beloved friends."
Luna roused herself from the obviously painful memory and looked at the three Jaffa.
"Thousands of years ago, wizards very much like us created the most powerful magic our world had ever known—the Bane of Ra. It was this bane which drove Ra from Earth and freed us. In our world, Ra left and never returned, and our ancestors continued to grow and spread across the world until wizard kind developed modern societies. Our enemies used this same Bane against Harry. It forced us to leave the Earth forever, but in so doing it ruptured his heart. When we arrived on Cartego, he had once again died and ascended to Kheb. Eventually, as you know, he came back to us. We returned to Earth, hoping to exact revenge and to make sure those we left behind were well cared for. And that is when we discovered that the Ancients had once again interceded.
"The world we returned to was different than what we left. In our world, Ra left in defeat. But in this new world, Ra returned and avenged himself with a biological agent that obliterated our entire race thousands of years ago. Even more so, we found ourselves in a world without magic almost thirty years back in time. In our time, Catherine here had already died of old age. Because of Ra and the Ancients, we three are the only ones of our kind in the galaxy. And because of our immortality and Harry's concern over what would happen if we did, we cannot naturally have children. It was exactly what the Ancients wanted."
"But why?" Catherine asked. "Why would these Ancients do any of this? Why not let you have children?"
"Would you want your gun to be able to multiply?" Luna asked, true bitterness tinting her voice for the first time. "All of this—everything Harry and us experienced—was to create a weapon. The Ancients have an enemy, you see. The Enemy. Ascended beings just like them, but who feed and grow strong on the souls of mortals, rather than aiding those souls to Ascension. The Enemy and the Ancients have battled for eons against each other, but only indirectly. If they were to fight directly, they would unmake creation itself."
She shuddered and looked around the room, locking each in a strong gaze. "What you saw earlier was possibly the most important decision ever made in this Galaxy. Harry is so powerful that the Ancients could not prevent him from Ascending any more. They could not cast him out of Kheb. But if he Ascended, it would not be as an Ancient. Because of how he has been shaped—because of how the Ancients took a good, selfless hero and turned him into a weapon—if he were to Ascend, it would be as the Enemy. And that act would start a war that would end all existence. What Hermione and I felt last night was the longing in part of him to do just that. He could have consumed the souls of everyone on his planet in a second, and risen not just to be an Enemy, but to become one of the most powerful of them. But in so doing, he would have lost Hermione and I. And so he chose to return, because as much hate and rage as he has, his love for us is just enough to maintain the balance."
Silence followed the last for several long, heavy seconds. "That's…that's a lot to take in," Hesteride finally said.
"I know," Luna admitted. "And I'm sorry that you're only now hearing of it. I do not believe the Ancients wanted Harry to know the full truth, but he grew so powerful they had no choice but to share and hope he chose wisely. If Hermione and I weren't there, I'm not sure he would have."
She drained her wine and stood, hugging herself as she slowly paced behind the chair.
"So what does this mean for Kalmah?" Ishta asked, as always leaning toward the practical.
"It means that we can no longer just be concerned with Kalmah," Luna said. "Ishta, why do you think the Ancients would create such a weapon, if they did not intend to use it?"
Ishta felt her chest tighten. "The Enemy is coming," she supposed.
"The Enemy is coming. And they terrify me." The confession startled everyone. Luna continued to pace. "They are gods. They can kill and revive the fallen. They will convert worlds to their path, and have access to technology millions of years more advanced than the Goa'uld. And they will come to conquer this galaxy. If life and creation itself is to survive, then we must be ready."
She stopped and then looked directly at Ishta again, as if she knew the Jaffa was the lynchpin of the council. "A charter for a free society is not enough. You're now charged with creating a Charter for Empire. Harry is going to have to wrest control of the galaxy from all the Goa'uld, because he is going to need all the Jaffa and all the humans united together to fight the Enemy."
~~Stars Alone~~
~~Stars Alone~~
Hermione didn't know when she fell asleep, but when she woke she could see late morning sunlight shining through the windows of their new Ha'tak. Even without looking, she knew Harry had left the bed and was meditating nearby. She knew because the meditation had an almost desperate feeling in the Force.
What she did feel next to her, though, was an emotionally and physically exhausted Luna. Hermione leaned over and kissed the smaller woman's forehead before padding out of bed herself. She was clad in a shimmering, nearly transparent gown that obviously came from Tilgath's seraglio, but she didn't care at the moment. The fabric felt softer than silk.
Harry himself sat nude in the lotus position with his back to the window. The sunlight shone down on his broad, muscular shoulders and made his hair look almost blue.
She came and sat cross-legged across from her husband, and in so doing suddenly realized he had aged, though only just. Instead of looking like a man in his late teens, he now looked like a man in his early twenties. She wondered briefly if he had somehow lost the seeming immortality he had gained with his power ritual back on Earth. After all, none of them truly knew if they would live forever. It was possible that the Philosopher's stone in their chest would only last a few centuries. It was possible Harry would reach a century and just fall over dead, even if he only looked twenty. They just didn't know.
"It was the power," Harry said, easily sensing her disquieting thoughts. His voice didn't just sound hoarse; it cracked as if just speaking were difficult. "Part of ascension is the conversion of the flesh to energy. My body was burning so hot it aged me."
"Will you recover?"
"Once aging has occurred, it can't be undone," Harry said. "But five years of aging doesn't worry me."
He opened his eyes, and in the Force Hermione sensed a deep, visceral sense of both self-hatred and longing. He still wanted the power.
"I could taste it," he whispered. "Merlin, Hermione, I could taste their souls. It would have been so easy. Even knowing it would be the death of you and Luna, I wanted it so much. I want it still!"
Through their bond, she could sense how much the admission pained him. He hated himself for wanting something that would have killed the women he loved. Without a word, Hermione stood and settled back down straddling his lap. She kissed him tenderly, and made love to him with a slow gentleness that was all too rare in their coupling. She had to be gentle—his body was still too fragile for anything too energetic.
When they finished, and she had both arms and legs wrapped tightly around him, she whispered into his ear. "The fact it was so hard for you, and you chose us anyway, makes me love you even more, Harry. We will be with you, even if it takes forever. The stars alone know how long we'll be together, but however long it is, I will always love you. If you're ever tempted again, we will be there with you. Moons to your star."
Instead of speaking, Harry held her so close every inch of their perspiring bodies touched, and rested his head on her shoulder. "Sometimes, I wonder if I'm even human anymore," he said softly.
"You don't have to be human, Harry. You just have to be mine."
"Ours," a sleepy Luna said as she plopped down naked beside them. "No fair sneaking off for a shag."
Harry chuckled, his face still buried in Hermione's shoulder. The sound choked, though.
"Harry?" Hermione said, concerned by what she felt from him.
"I almost killed you both. I wanted to kill you."
"You wanted power," Luna pointed out in an oddly matter-of-fact tone. "Our deaths would have been a consequence. You never directly wanted us dead. And you turned down that power to save us. Some self-flagellation is warranted, I suppose, but let's not be too dramatic."
Harry parted, his nose and eyes red, and both he and Hermione turned and stared at Luna as if she'd grown a second head. She met their gaze squarely for almost half a minute before her stoic expression broke and she started laughing. It sounded hysterical even to Luna herself.
~~Stars Alone~~
~~Stars Alone~~
Late into the evening during the second week of the Kalhu occupation, when the village and all but a small handful of guards were asleep, Harry, Hermione and Luna sat around what could only be called Tilgath's personal computer. The computer was actually a complex, insanely powerful crystalline matrix that in and of itself held as much data and had as much processing power as every computer on Earth combined, with processing speeds so fast they approached quantum speeds.
For all the primitive aspects of Goa'uld culture, when they employed technology, they employed the best. With Tilgath's stolen memories and access codes, Harry was able to enter the Goa'uld's files easily.
"Tilgath had four thousand Jaffa, including the females and children, and eighteen thousand or so human salves," Hermione read, scanning quickly through her section of files.
"Ahh, this is important," Luna noted. "Tilgath was required to pay a tithe of naquedah to Ra equal to ten tons annually." She sat up and popped her back. "If what I read is correct, he's already far behind on his mining for the year. There was a flu that slowed work down for two months. Many slaves died."
"But aside from his naquedah problem," Hermione noted, "Tilgath had a great deal of mineral wealth. I think we could afford that mining ship you wanted, Harry."
Harry, though, was absorbed in something else. He looked at the two, then back down at files he was reading. "Have either of you heard of the Tollan?"
His wives shook their heads. "Why?" Hermione asked.
"According to Tilgath's records, the Goa'uld have occasionally tried to attack the Tollan. Every time, their ha'tak's are destroyed by heavy ion cannons, while their own weapons are rendered useless by a planetary shield."
He looked up at the two of them, who stared back. "Ion cannons?" Hermione asked.
"Planetary shields?"
Harry grinned. "The Goa'uld are terrified of them. They're the most advanced species they've encountered beside the Asgard."
"Harry, the Asgard," Hermione said. "Do you think they would help us?"
"They were involved in some war in another galaxy, if I remember the files at Stargate Command correctly," Luna said. "I doubt they would be interested in helping. Nor would the Jaffa be very willing to join the Asgard."
"Just being able to buy that mining ship from the Hebridan will be a huge leap," Harry muttered as he continued to think about potential allies. "I don't want to mine livable planets more than necessary, not when there are so many asteroids we can use first. The Hebridan design is not as self-sufficient as I'd like, but I can use it as a starting template to make a true mining droid. If we can get a regular flow of raw materials, then we can start production whole-sale for arms."
"Not to mention the trickle-down effect more production facilities will have on the civilian economy," Hermione said. "We have some ownership in every major corporation in Kalmah right now."
Harry nodded. Given their own business experiences, it was only natural that they ensure personal stakes in the Lomet Corporation, as well as the other smaller companies that had sprouted up over Kalmah with the introduction of more people from varied backgrounds. Most were still agricultural combines, but the Hebridan immigrants brought quite a few businessmen with them.
"Still, I think these Tollan have…"
Harry stopped and looked up at the sound of a loud knock. A moment later Kisher Lomet bustled in. The man had lost weight since moving to Kalmah, and had gained gray in his beard, but his weight loss was not due to illness, but rather exercise and healthier living. And as their de facto Prime Minister, his health was in their best interest.
"I apologize for interrupting," he said as he strode in. "That poor child, Sitat, was beside herself. I tried to explain that you work late, but still, what can you do?"
"How are things on Kalmah?"
"Jubilant, but nervous," Kisher admitted. "It is no easy thing when you realize your president is a god."
"Not a god," Hermione said.
"Close enough," Kisher said waiving off the distinction. "They will worship you, Akai'kheb. You cannot stop it now, not after what we all saw and heard. But that is a problem for the future. Right now, I have another issue. We have established markets on the trade world of Farber that are doing very well. Well, as it happened Protector First Class Aldal Arda came into a store where Mulla was working and asked for a meeting."
"With you?" Hermione asked, frowning.
"No, dear lady. He asked for the Anu Hermione. Not even I realized this, but because of what you did, Anu, Erid has fallen into Civil War. And he has asked for your help in stopping it."
"Well," Luna said. "I suppose we'll have to stop it, then."
"We're not exactly swimming in resources here," Hermione noted. "We did just invade and conquer a planet."
"Nonsense," Luna said lightly. "We conquered a city. The planet's empty otherwise. But more importantly, Erid has an industrial base and a large, mostly educated population. If they're fighting a civil war because of us, we're responsible for stopping it."
"At the very least, we need to meet with this man," Harry agreed.