Hi everyone! Done with classes so figured I would try to update. :D Honestly, this was the hardest chapter for me to write and I've always hated it. Still do, but I made a few changes that I think make me like it a little more. You can all make up your own minds, though! Happy Summer to everyone!


Chapter Twenty-Seven

The past two years had been filled with war and death. Although he supposed he knew how long wars would usually take, when he had been twelve he had imagined the fighting ending quickly. Victory following victory until the troops, his friends, and his Father would return home. As much as he had hoped and prayed to the Gods, however, that had not happened.

News of casualties came quickly, and each victory was almost certainly matched with a defeat on some other front. One of the first deaths he had seen was that of Auset. The elderly priestess had put all of herself into her efforts, and had finally become bedridden and sick. One day, the maid who took care of her had come racing into the war room, panicked and crying. Auset had died in her sleep, and the boy felt her loss personally. After the death of his mother in childbirth, Auset had become almost a surrogate, helping to bandage both him and Mana when they were injured on one of their many escapades.

Now Isis was the priestess of the Millennium Necklace and was pouring forth just as much effort as Auset, to the point where Shimon often had to order her to rest. Apparently the Millennium Necklace responded better for her, with the visions being clearer and more frequent than they had been for the previous user.

Mahad, Seto, and the rest of the Court were faring well, and no other casualties amongst the priests had occurred yet. In fact, word had begun to filter down the lines of the false god's retreat. It was this news that lightened his step as he walked through the halls, heading for the War room to determine their validity.

Entering, he noticed that the atmosphere, darkening the longer the war extended, had finally begun to lighten. He quickly found Shimon, who noticed him before he could try to attract the older man's attention.

"I'm sure you have heard of the rumors by now, Prince." He commented with a smile. "Am I correct in guessing that you are here to ensure that they are true?"

The boy nodded, waiting for Shimon to continue. The priest would tell him in his own time, after all.

"Well, I am glad to say that from what we have heard, the false gods do indeed appear to be retreating into the skies in their ships, hopefully to leave this world forever. Apparently, years of fighting battles on two fronts has taken its toll, not to mention the number of false gods which have been killed in battle."

A smile broke out on the boy's face before he hastily tried to conceal it. As the heir to the throne, any show of emotion had to be carefully masked and while he was certain Shimon would not hold the slip against him, others in the room would if they had seen.

"Thank you, Shimon. That is great news. Does this mean that Father will be returning, or any of the other priests?"

Shimon nodded. "As soon as we are certain that the false gods have indeed fully left, our troops will begin to return."

Nodding, the boy quietly thanked Shimon for the news, starting towards the table when the older man stopped him.

"My Prince, you have been working hard to take your father's place while he has been away. I believe it is time for you to take a break. Your own health is important; as the only heir to the throne, you must look out for yourself." Shimon leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper as he smiled. "Besides, a little bird told me that Mana has been given time to herself as well." Winking, he turned away.

Trying hard not to show his excitement the boy hastily excused himself, breaking into a fast walk as soon as he had rounded the corner. It took all of his self-restraint not to run. Since the beginning of the war, a little over two years ago, he had spent little to no time with Mana and what time they did have together had been spent discussing the war and Mahad's absence.

He turned, entering the gardens and stopped upon seeing the familiar brown hair.

"Mana." He began softly, and the girl spun around, face lighting up upon seeing him.

"Prince!" she called excitedly, racing towards him and jumping into his arms, which were already rising to catch her. He finally allowed a smile to cross his face as he hugged his best friend close to him.

"I'm so glad to see you again, Mana."

She grinned up at him, and the two pulled apart. "Well, we have a lot to catch up on. I'm going to be the best magician in the Palace, you know! I've been working really hard whenever I can and I have a lot to show you."

Smiling faintly, the boy followed her as she pulled him towards the pond, already delightedly explaining what she was going to do to the poor frogs that dwelled within. Finally, after all the pain brought by the war, perhaps the land would begin to recover… He truly hoped so.

As he stared at the Star Gate, Jack shifted his pack slightly. So far, none of the goa'uld had shown up. The day was looking up already he thought as he glanced around the group. Jacob was standing next to Carter, the two quietly discussing something which had smiles on both faces while Daniel was checking the equipment with Yami's help. Teal'c waited by the gate, holding the staff weapon at his side.

"All right, let's start getting ready to move through and secure the gate on the other side. Since we don't know what to expect on this world, I want to make certain that the gate site is secure before we begin exploring this time… Especially if Heru'ur is still alive. He might still have a grudge against us for blowing him up, or at least for trying to.

Before he could lead them through the gate, however, suddenly there was the sound of footsteps behind him. Turning, his eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no, this I absolutely refuse to do! It was bad enough with just two of you!" he exclaimed, looking almost pleadingly over at General Hammond in the control room. The General accessed the intercom, speaking to the assembled goa'uld.

"What exactly do you think you're doing? SG-1 is about to head off-world. If you would like to use the Star Gate, I have to ask you to wait until they have gone through in another room. The gate room is only for departing teams."

Seto smirked at Jack. "Well then, it's a good thing we are all going with them, isn't it?" he stated calmly, although there was a hint of steel under his words that bespoke his determination on that point. From behind him, Jack heard Yami's sharp intake of breath. He glanced over his shoulder to see Yami staring at the group in disbelief. Jack turned almost the same look towards General Hammond. The man finally spoke again.

"Are you certain? We can't guarantee your safety should you go, and if something happens…"

"You will not be blamed in any way." Isis finished, answering his unspoken question. "We are fully aware of the possible dangers involved. However, we would rather place ourselves in harm's way than… Than sit here doing nothing." She finished, and Jack's eyes narrowed. He was certain that she had been planning on saying something different. There was no arguing, though, when General Hammond gave his consent, therefore Jack was soon irritatedly leading the group, now more of a small raiding party than a scouting party, through the Star Gate.

As soon as they had emerged on the other side, Jack peered around. The landscape was barren and sparse close to the gate, however he could see forests on the other side of a vast clearing. Apparently when the trees had been cleared to make room for the Star Gate they had never managed to grow back. He peered around, motioning for Carter and Teal'c to start checking out the perimeter. Daniel, ignoring the possible danger, started to move towards something that Jack had apparently missed on his first scan of their surroundings; a giant pillar of stone, so well carved that Jack had originally mistaken it for a felled tree, was lying near the gate.

"Look at the craftsmanship!" he exclaimed, already starting to dust off some of the dirt, revealing hieroglyphics that had been covered by the grime. Jack grimaced.

"Really, Daniel?" he gave up upon seeing that the scientist was already absorbed in copying the text into a notebook. Instead, he turned towards Carter, Jacob, and Teal'c.

"Hey, let's start scouting the area. Any signs of goa'uld activity and we leave, got it?" Receiving nods of affirmation, he peered up at the sky, shading his face with his hand. "Meet back in 2 hours if you don't find anything. I'll stay here with Daniel." The unspoken conclusion of the sentence was that he would also be keeping an eye on their companions.

"All right, Sir." Carter commented, nodding as she started off. Jack turned back to Daniel, who was now pouring through his book as he attempted to translate the carvings, or what little remained of them. Yami was off to the side, starting to unpack the supplies as the goa'uld mostly stood around doing nothing.

Jack shook his head, turning back to watch the woods around them. Something was up, and once they got back to the base he intended to find out what.

Yami carefully unwrapped the next piece of topographical graphing equipment, handing it to Daniel. While he managed to keep up an outwardly calm façade, inside he was deep in thought. Why had Seto and the other goa'uld come along? Besides teaching him Shadow Magic he hardly spent much time with Seto, and besides Mahad and Mana he barely knew any of the others.

Sighing, he turned to pick up another piece of equipment only to find that the goa'uld were already moving to help unpack, and with all of their help there was very little left for him to do. He blinked, looking from one of them to the other before finally smiling.

"Thank you." He stated, moving forward to help unpack what little was left.

"Of course, Pharaoh." Shimon commented, "You should allow us to do the work." Yami almost laughed until he realized that the man was serious.

"I can help, and it would not be right to allow you to do all of the work. Besides, if I help it will be done faster." He stated firmly, continuing to help the smaller man with the box he was carrying.

Something in the older man's expression shifted slightly, an approving look crossing his face. Jack glanced over his shoulder, shooting Daniel a look. Thinking back over the conversation, Yami mentally hit himself. How long had they been calling him Pharaoh? He didn't remember, but apparently it was not something the SG team had heard yet... Well, he'd probably have to see if the goa'uld wouldn't mind him explaining things to his other friends, otherwise who knew what they'd think.

Before he could speak, there was the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps crashing through the underbrush. Sam broke through the trees and behind her he could hear the sound of staff weapons. Eyes widening, he stood, dropping what he was doing to listen.

"Sir! We found goa'uld all right. Apparently Ba'al was using this world as a base of sorts… He's not here personally, but his troops apparently have orders to kill us on sight."

"Good ol' Ba'al. He doesn't like us much, does he? Wonder what on Earth we could have done to make him so mad."

"Perhaps it would be the numerous times we have escaped death." Teal'c commented, backing out of the woods behind Carter and firing occasionally behind him. Jacob also moved out of the woods, glancing over his shoulder.

"Sam, start helping Dr. Jackson to dial out. From the look of things, I don't think we'll be able to hold them off for long."

"Great… Just great." Jack muttered, hastily pulling Daniel away from the stone column. "Come on, Daniel. You took pictures."

Before Daniel could even begin to dial, however, the woods in front of them suddenly were full of Jaffa moving towards them, suddenly becoming visible as they left the larger trees and moved into the brush at the edge of the forest. Backing up slightly, Yami hastily grabbed the camera Daniel had been taking pictures with. Knowing the scientist, he probably would forget to take it.

Daniel suddenly spoke up, "Uh… Jack, there's a problem." The eyes of the entire party turned toward him, with the exception of Teal'c and Jacob who were still focusing on keeping the Jaffa at bay.

"What now, Daniel?" Jack griped, making a face. "Please tell me we can dial home."

"Well, we can, however I think that it might take longer than usual." Daniel moved aside, revealing the hole, still black but obviously cold, in the center of the dial home device.

Jack muttered something under his breath, and Yami was glad that he couldn't hear what was said. He had the feeling that Jack was cursing their luck.

Glancing around, he asked the question that was bothering him. "So, how do we get back then?"

"Well, we might have to manually dial home… However that takes time and strength…" Daniel commented, and Karim and Shada stepped forward.

"We can assist with the gate." Shada commented, and Daniel blinked before nodding.

"All right then. If both of you could get ready to turn the ring, the key will be stopping it when I tell you to…"

Karim spoke up, "Of course." With that, he and Shada moved to the gate, positioning themselves on either side as they readied themselves to move the giant wheel. Daniel called out the first symbol, and both priests began to move. Yami tore his gaze away from the sight, instead hastily turning to face the incoming Jaafa. A hand grabbed him, pushing him behind a rock pillar and he was glad that the shock had briefly taken away his voice. Before he could yell at Jack for shoving him he noticed the blast mark slightly behind where he had been standing. Had he not been pushed aside it would have gone through his heart. Instead he managed a weak thanks, although he was certain that no one could hear him over the rapid weapon fire going on around him.

Jack discharged his weapon, hastily ducking down again as one of the Jaffa returned fire. He glanced over at Yami, and the boy could tell what he was going to say almost before the older man said it.

"Hey, kid, you just stay here and keep your head down. As soon as Daniel has the gate open you're to get through at once, do you hear me?"

Although he debated responding, Yami promptly decided that the same noise which had drowned out his apology would also help with his temporary deafness. Pretending not to hear Jack's command, he instead focused on what Seto had taught him and ignored the chaos going on around him. The process of summoning was still difficult; however, the more he did it the more Yami felt as though he was simply remembering something he had done a long time ago and simply hadn't practiced in a long time.

A blast shot by him, almost hitting Karim as the priest was a visible target; turning the Stargate left both Karim and Shada visible to the Jaffa firing on them, and while Yami could see Jack and the remainder of SG-1 trying to cover them, it wasn't doing much against the huge horde.

A figure shot past him, and he could vaguely make out the form of Seto's ka, Duos, before it too joined in the fight. Gritting his teeth, he continued to focus until finally, with a loss of energy that was shocking in its suddenness, the familiar form of Kuriboh appeared in front of him.

"Kuri!" It began happily, nuzzling him before he managed to 'shhh' it, peering around to see if anyone nearby had noticed. Thankfully Jack was busy, however he could swear that he saw Seto glare at him before Yami glanced away, hunching down slightly further so as to hide from both enemies and allies. Glancing down at the round, brown ball of fur in his lap, he smirked. Well, Kuriboh might not be the strongest Duel Monster, or shadow creature he supposed the actual term was, but it could overwhelm opponents through sheer force of numbers. Soon he was quickly sending the Kuriboh out, keeping one with him just in case as the others went to disperse amongst the Jaffa.

He almost let out a snort of laughter when he heard Jack's confused comment, "What do those Jaffa think they're doing? I think they've decided to help us by thinning their numbers a bit." Biting his lip, Yami risked a peek now that the staff weapon fire in their direction had decreased. Sure enough, the Jaffa did indeed seem to be shooting each other… Or, if one looked close enough, at the little brown, fuzzy shapes that were bouncing around in their midst.

There was a muttered curse that Yami was certain came from Seto, and he shot him a grin over his shoulder, ignoring the glare he received in return. Oh yes… Seto was probably going to kill him when they got back.

Before Seto could decide to act on his murderous impulses, though, there was a sudden clicking from the Star Gate before the familiar bubbling of the portal. Yami let out a sigh of relief, immediately reminding himself about his sudden… prior engagement that would conveniently occur at whatever time they arrived. Anything to get out quickly and avoid Seto until the other had had a chance to cool down. As he headed for the gate as Jack had ordered, though, he heard the sound of another staff weapon going off. Turning, Yami felt his eyes widen as he stared at the shot coming straight for him, time almost seeming to slow as he realized he wouldn't be able to move in time to avoid the blast.

The next two events happened almost simultaneously; he noticed Kuriboh jumping in front of him, and even as he tried to tell it to move something hit him from the side, knocking him out of the way. Yami hit the ground, pinned underneath a furious Seto. Gasping, he raised a hand to his chest, where he could feel more pain than was typical for being slammed into the ground.

"You idiot." Was all that Seto would say, grabbing him and practically throwing him through the gate. Dazed, Yami glanced up in time to see the furious priest moving through right behind him.

"Didn't I tell you that summoning would take your life force?" he demanded angrily. Yami blinked up at him, unable to respond as Seto continued to rant. Tuning out most of the remainder of the tirade, Yami managed to nod in places where Seto seemed to expect it, although the priest didn't pause for more than a breath even when Kisara entered in a panic. It suddenly struck Yami that Seto was scared. Eyes widening again, he blinked up at the man that had seemed so emotionless when they had first met. Finally he nodded again, this time speaking up before the older man could continue.

"I'm sorry, Seto. I just wanted to help. I promise I will be more careful next time." Although his eyes narrowed suspiciously, Seto finally nodded before turning away to reassure Kisara that they were all right. When he was finally dismissed, Yami went straight for his room, feeling the tiredness that came from summoning returning now that the adrenaline rush was gone. As he walked along, though, he couldn't help the small smile that crossed his face. So, Seto really did care… The grin widened at the thought.


Thank you for reading, and please review! I love reviews!