Disclaimer: I don't own 'Stargate: SG-1' or any of the related characters; you should know the drill by now. Also, thanks are due to MaureenT, whose exceptional 'Stargate' fanfics are what first got me interested in the Sam/Daniel pairing originally, to say nothing of the invaluable information and suggestions she has provided for some of the later chapters
Feedback: I'd appreciate it, believe me
Child of the Ancients
After another couple of hours of walking towards the cone-shaped, volcano-like mountain- this part of the journey omitting further traps, much to the relief of all concerned; the straightforward grassy field they had to traverse at this point even allowing for Liam to lead the adults in another couple of races so long as everyone watched their feet in case of something hidden in the grass-, they finally arrived at the area that looked like the most likely entrance; a small rocky corridor surrounded by foliage and moss, culminating in a small door leading to a dark cavern underneath the mountain.
"So... the Sangraal's in there?" John asked, looking uncertainly over at Daniel as he indicated the cave. "We're sure this isn't another time dilation field, right; I've been stuck in one of those already and I'd rather not repeat it..."
"Well, according to my scans, there's no sign of any kind of temporal distortion in there; a few odd anomalies, but nothing like that," Sam said, looking briefly over at John before she shrugged and returned her attention to the issue at hand. "Either way, there's nowhere else to go but in."
"Everyone get the lights on and watch your step," Danie said, pulling out his torch as Liam and Elizabeth did the same, leaving John and Sam to keep a hold of their P-90s as they advanced further in.
As they walked through the cave, the group couldn't help but notice the unusual combination of natural and artificial formations; the stalactites on the top were relatively straightforward, but many of the accompanying stalagmites had been removed, the floor having subsequently been carved into basic man-made steps.
The group simply settled into silence as they walked further along the cave, keeping a careful eye on their surroundings for any sign of further clues about the next potential trap; John briefly noted that the stalactites and stalagmites at this point looked more like they were made of wax rather than traditional rock, but given his relatively limited knowledge of geology he was going to ignore that anomaly until he had more time to look into whether a rock that looked like that was possible...
Then the group entered a more open area of the path in the form of a decently-sized chamber with Ancient writing on the wall in front of them and two paths leading in two directions on either side of the writing, and John's priorities shifted back to the task at hand (Particularly when a casual glance backwards as Daniel moved forward to study the writing revealed to John that the path they'd just entered by appeared to have 'vanished'; whether it was a sliding 'door' or a solid hologram John couldn't say, but either way they definitely wouldn't be getting out that way any time soon).
"Choose the way that is just and true," Daniel read from the sign before them.
"I don't suppose that literally means the right way, huh?" John asked as he looked back at the archaeologist.
"Unfortunately not," Elizabeth confirmed. "The word meaning 'just and true' in Ancient is very different from the one meaning 'right' in the sense of 'the opposite of left'; it's not going to be that simple..."
Her voice trailed off as she and Sam turned to look at the tunnel to the left, an uncertain expression on both their faces.
"What?" John asked, only to pause as he heard what they had doubtless picked up themselves; the sound of a crying child from somewhere further down the tunnel.
"What the he-ck is a kid doing all the way out here?" John asked, briefly checking his language at the memory of Liam's presence as he glanced over at the others.
"Well, the obvious possibility is that it's a trap or a test," Daniel said as he looked around at the others before he shrugged. "Either way, we don't exactly have another indicator of what way to go right now."
Nodding in agreement, the group turned and headed down the path, Sam now leading the way. After only a few feet, the light on the end of her P-90 fell on the form of a small boy, about five years old, dressed in a green hat and shirt with a brown sleeveless 'jacket' over it, only for the boy to cry out in fright at the sight of them and running along another tunnel.
"Wait!" Sam yelled, the group slightly picking up the pace to follow the child. "We're here to help!"
Even as they ran after the child along increasingly-unstable steps- it was as though whoever had designed this place had stopped paying much attention to the fine details at this point-, all of them were wondering what the end result of this particular chase would be; the Parchment of Virtues might have stated that kindness was one of the virtues that those who sought the Sangraal would need to possess, but it wasn't out of the question that this was also intended to test their wisdom by giving them an obvious trap to avoid...
Then a loud clanking noise up ahead pushed all thought of which virtues this was intended to test from their minds, particularly when they rounded the corner and saw an iron portcullis in front of them, the small boy sitting on the floor behind the door crying and shaking at his predicament.
"Hang on there, kid," John said, walking over to grab the gate bars in one hand. "We'll get you out of there; just hold on..."
With that, he tightened his grip around the gate bars and pushed, swiftly being joined by Daniel, Sam, Elizabeth and Liam. As soon as Liam's hand reached the gate, it began to lift immediately, the boy on the other side smiling slightly at them before he vanished in a brief blue glow that faded as soon as it had appeared.
"Huh," Liam said, looking at the tunnel that had appeared at the other end of the cave where the child had been. "That was... different."
"Look on the bright side; at least we know we're going the right way," John said, indicating the path before him. "Let's go."
Although the next stage of their journey was at least more level than the previous one, the tunnel finally came to a dead end, another panel with Ancient writing on it the only kind of clue to show that they had come the right way.
"It's another riddle," Daniel said as he studied the writing in front of them. "I'm struck and cut, shaped and cooled, then bound by rings to release what's stored."
Whether speaking those words had triggered a signal of some sort, or they'd simply been standing in the new cave for too long, was never established, but the cave around them began to shake and rumble around them, bits of dust dropping from the roof as it continued.
"Any chance we could pick this up any time soon?" John asked, glancing uncertainly at the archaeologist.
"OK, we need to think about this," Elizabeth said, taking a brief breath as though trying to calm herself. "What fits all those categories; something that can be cut or shaped-?"
"Key!" John yelled suddenly, clicking his fingers as inspiration struck him.
"Clavia!" Daniel yelled at the panel, the wall almost automatically vanishing as Daniel spoke, allowing the group to run through the new door, only for the rumbling to continue as they approached another panel with Ancient writing on it.
"I shake the earth with booming thunder, fell forests whole and homes complete!" Daniel yelled, urgently scanning the text. "I influence ships, topple kings, sweep down swift yet remain unseen!"
"Wind!" Elizabeth called out.
"Vantio!" Daniel said, nodding in understanding at Elizabeth's deduction before they ran into another tunnel, hurrying up a flight of stairs only to discover another panel as the rumbling continued.
"Seriously, this is getting ridiculous..." John groaned as Daniel leaned forward to study it.
" Battle-scarred in times of strife," he read uncertainly. "Resistant to... resistant to..."
"To what?" Elizabeth asked.
"I don't know; I can't-" Daniel began.
"Contagia!" Liam called out suddenly, the panel vanishing as the rumbling around them ceased at last.
"Huh," John said, looking at Liam with a grateful smile. "Nice job, kid."
"Eh," Liam replied, shrugging nonchalantly back at the colonel. "I've got a good knowledge of Ancient; what I could see of the panel sounded like that answer would work."
"Hey; after some of the leaps of logic your father's made, that's almost straightforward," Sam said, smiling in approval at her son as they continued walking along the tunnel, only to slow down as they continued walking further.
"Uh..." Elizabeth said at last, looking uncertainly over at the rest of the team, "is it my imagination, or is it getting hotter in here?"
Before anyone could respond to Elizabeth's query, they had entered another decently-sized underground chamber, with a wall of fire burning at the end of the only other passageway out of the chamber, blocking their way out.
"Oh boy..." John muttered, studying the blaze before them with a grim expression. "This doesn't look good..."
"Damnit..." Sam said- her voice low so that her son couldn't hear her-, before turning to look uncertainly at Liam.
"Liam..." she began awkwardly, hating the idea of 'using' her son like this- bringing him along because of his Ancient heritage was one thing, but 'depending' on his powers to get them out of dangerous situations set a precedent that she wasn't comfortable with- but knowing it was their best chance right now, "could you... uh...?"
"Stop that fire?" Liam asked, smiling briefly at her as he raised his hand to aim it at the fire. "No sweat; just give me a minute..."
He paused for a moment as he stared at the fire, a confused expression spreading across his face as he looked between the fire and his hand, before swallowing uncomfortably as he looked back at his mother.
"I... I can't," he said, sounding almost scared at the realisation.
"What?" Daniel said, looking in confusion at his son. "But I thought that Daanar-"
"I can't access them, Dad!" Liam said, looking increasingly panicked as he looked at his father. "My powers aren't... they aren't there; I can't use them..."
"Wait a minute; all of them?" Sam said, looking with renewed fear between Liam and Daniel; Liam's powers might not be something they considered much when interacting with their son, but it was one of the only reasons they'd been comfortable bringing him along here in the first place.
The idea that he didn't have them right now...
"It... it must be a security measure set up by Morgan," Daniel speculated, looking anxiously at his son. "She probably set up safeguards to negate telekinetic powers like Liam's in case any Priors managed to find their way here..."
"Well, at least we know it's nothing personal; that doesn't help us get through this mess," John said, indicating the wall of flames in front of them. "What are we going to do now; spit on it?"
"I don't know..." Elizabeth said, staring anxiously at the passage before them before briefly glancing back the way they'd come. "There's no sign of any triggers or passages that we could use to shut the fire off, and there's no way out; the passage has resealed behind us..."
"This doesn't make sense," Daniel muttered, looking at the passage before them with a sigh. "We made all the right choices to lead us to this point. I know the Sangraal lies beyond that wall of fire; we just have to find a way through..."
He paused for a moment before he began to walk slowly towards the flames, a reflective expression in his eyes.
"It's the only one left," he muttered.
"Pardon?" Elizabeth asked, looking in confusion at the archaeologist as she and the rest of their small group began to gather around the passage entrance.
"The parchment told us that five virtues would guide us in our quest for the Sangraal," Daniel elaborated. "Prudence, kindness, charity, wisdom, and faith. We displayed prudence in finding a way out of the temporal maze, charity in escaping the forcefield trap, kindness by helping the child and finding the hidden passageway, and wisdom in solving the riddles; the only virtue left is faith."
Pausing for a moment, Daniel took a deep breath, and then walked into the fire before him, the flames dissipating around him almost as soon as he reached them, leaving him totally unharmed as he turned around to look at the others, the tunnel up ahead now open to them after the fire that had so briefly cut them off from it.
"Huh," John said, looking over at Liam with a slight smile. "Definite Indiana Jones-esque vibe to that one, wasn't there?"
"What?" Liam asked in confusion.
"We need to keep that in mind for when we get back," John muttered, shaking his head slightly at the kid; the son of an archaeologist and the kid hadn't seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade yet?
He definitely needed to correct that shortcoming in the kid's knowledge of popular culture when they got back to Earth...
AN: With the dragon coming up next chapter, there's a poll on my profile that I'd appreciate everyone taking regarding Merlin's fate when the group find him; would you prefer him to once again be transferred into Daniel's mind, or would you prefer it if he was taken back to the SGC to work on the Sangraal himself at his own pace?