Chapter Thirteen

Sam's program only came up with one address.

It was a no brainer at that point. Daniel was alert and ready to go hunt down the Sangraal the moment they had the address of the potential planet that the weapon was on, but unfortunately, General Landry didn't share his enthusiasm and reminded SG-1 that they would proceed with caution when it came to the intel Alora provided. Landry was hesitant to send them in blindly without a backup plan.

"I'm mean no disrespect, sir," Daniel interrupted the man, "but this is what we do, what SG-1 does, what the SGC does – we take risks, and right now, this is probably one of the most important risk we'll ever take, and it's absolutely necessary."

"Dr. Jackson, I'm not disagreeing," the General said calmly, "I'm simply saying we should err on the side of caution."

"But redirecting the Odyssey from its current location will take two days to get there," Daniel continued to argue.

"I am well aware of that," Landry responded dryly, "and I'm not having you wait that long, but I would like it to be in closer range before I send you."

"Which will be when?"

"Tomorrow morning," Landry replied, starting to lose his patience, "I've already had Walter relay my instructions to the Odyssey and it should arrive less than twenty-four hours after SG-1, so try not to get into any trouble before then."

"But – "

"Let it go, Daniel," Vala interjected, causing him to look at her in disbelief, "He has a point, darling, and it never hurts to be cautious."

"The intel came from your daughter!" he pointed out.

"Yes, I'm aware of that," she said, deadpanned, "but that doesn't change the fact that she was intended to be the Orici and information of this importance should make us proceed with caution. We don't know what we'll find or what this 'guardian' that's protecting it is, so it wouldn't hurt to have the Odyssey nearby."

"She's right, Daniel," Sam chimed in, "Delaying the mission a day shouldn't have too big of an impact."

"In the meantime, we'll send a MALP to checkout the surrounding area by the 'gate," Landry added, "There might be something useful there. SG-1, along with Ms. Mal Doran, is scheduled to leave tomorrow morning at 0800 hours."

"Thank you, sir," Mitchell said before Daniel could continue to argue further.

"Dismissed," General Landry told them before leaving the briefing table.

"This is a mistake," Daniel warned as soon as the General was gone.

"Duly noted," Mitchell replied briskly.

"I'm gonna go set up the MALP and see if I can modify it to gather more intel," Sam stated as she stood, "I'll catch up with you guys later."

Teal'c and Mitchell came up with excuses to leave, but Vala stayed seated because Daniel hadn't made a move to leave and she sensed he had something else to say, just to her this time. "Spit out," she said with a sigh once the rest had left.

Daniel didn't waste a second. "Since when are you going?" he asked, both confused and bewildered.

"Since I asked General Landry before this meeting," she responded without missing a beat.

He raised his eyebrows. "Vala, this isn't the sort of mission we can bring Alora on," he told her, "In fact, most missions we go on aren't, so why the hell did you request to go?"

"I'm not bringing Alora," she refuted, "she'll be staying here. Carolyn and one of her nurses will look after her."

His face scrunched in confusion. "I repeat, why the hell did you request to go?"

"Because – " she cut herself off and took a breath before continuing, "because I think I have to…I think she wants me to."

"She?" he questioned, "Alora? Why, has she shown you something?"

"No, she didn't, in fact she hasn't shown me anything, not even you, since the whole triangle, pyramid, address thing," she confessed quietly, "I think it's gone."

"You think it's gone?" he repeated, wondering what the implications of that would be, "Never mind, we'll get back to that. If she didn't tell you to go, why do you think she wants you to?"

She bit her lip in thought. "I don't know if I can accurately describe why," she told him, "It's like…a feeling, I guess. Whenever I think about this mission, there's this urgency in me to go, like I have to, but it doesn't feel like the normal sense of wanting, rather a need to, and I think Alora has something to do with it. Had the situation been different and Alora wasn't here, I would've known that you wouldn't willingly allow me to go, so I wouldn't have expected to and wouldn't feel this way, but I do, and I have to go."

Although Alora was only seven weeks, it had felt like she had been around much longer – it had been a long seven weeks and much had happened in that time, so when Daniel realized how much they had gone through with her, despite the seemingly short amount of time, he had a hard time doubting what Vala was claiming. The child normally showed them images but had on a few occasions expressed certain emotions through her communication method and he supposed it was possible for Alora to have tied certain emotions with certain revelations she had given to Vala. The child's abilities were well outside their understanding.

At least they used to be.

"Okay," he accepted her explanation, "I believe you."

"Okay," she said softly, "Good, then we're agreed."

"Agreed," he echoed quietly. She got up to leave the room, but he wasn't finished talking with her yet and gently grabbed her arm to halt her in place. When she gave him a puzzled look, he spoke, "You really think it's gone?"

She didn't have to guess at his meaning. "Yes."

"How?" he questioned, brows furrowing, "It's only been a couple of hours since she showed you the whole puzzle of the three planets, aren't you being a bit premature?"

"Maybe," she conceded to his point, "but she's…different."

"Different?" he repeated, remembering their conversation from the other day.

"I don't know how else to explain it," she said helplessly, "She's always been one way and now she's not like that anymore. It's a complete turnabout. She's no longer drifting – she drifted and the child I knew for the last seven weeks is gone."

Daniel gave her a sympathetic smile. "She's not gone," contradicted gently, "she's still here and she's still your daughter. No, she won't understand you in the way she used to, she won't be able to communicate with you for a few years, but she's still the child you carried and gave birth to – she's just no longer the Orici, no longer does she have that sort of evil in her."

Vala scowled at him. "Did you really just call my daughter evil?"

He rolled his eyes. "God, you take everything I say the wrong way!" he said, exasperated.

"Not everything!" she retorted.

"Maybe not, but you argue with me even when you don't."

It was her turn to roll her eyes before she softened at him. "I know what you're doing," she told him, "and I appreciate it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he stated, hiding a small smile.

"Hmm, whatever you say, darling, but it'll take a lot more to get my mind off the situation," she moved around him so he was no longer blocking her way out, "I should go pick Alora up from Carolyn."

He caught her hand, halting her again. "Have you told her about this?" he asked gingerly, "She can run the tests again and see what percentage of her brain Alora is using."

She gave him a wry smile. "She said she was going to do that during the briefing," she replied, "I suspect the results won't be ready yet, but she'll let me know what her findings are."

"You'll tell me, right?" he questioned, "I care about Alora too. I care about what happens to her."

"I promise," she told him, "but right now, I should relive Carolyn."

He watched her walk away and sighed, feeling disheartened that he couldn't help her through this. It was a bizarre situation to say the least and no one knew how to navigate it, much less help Vala. All he could think of was to be there for her and Alora, but even that felt insignificant.

o0o

Vala forced herself not to make a big deal of it or else she would change her mind and that couldn't happen. She had to go on this mission, she knew that, so when she dropped Alora off with Carolyn, she simply kissed the baby's head with a declaration of love before forcing herself to go get geared up. It was ironic to say the least, she used to be so good at detaching herself from the situation so nothing would get in the way and she used to love that skill, but now, she hated that she had to make herself feel nothing…but she knew it was necessary.

She silently joined the others in preparation for the mission, following their example as they geared up. It was her first official mission with SG-1 and the first time they allowed her to strap on their ensemble of weapons and she wanted to get it right. She had been off world with them before, but that had been during the bracelet incident, and they refused to give her a weapon – though it didn't stop her from acquiring her own at a time or two…

It helped to focus on simple, mundane things, and soon, she would be preoccupied with finding the Sangraal, leaving little time for her to think of Alora. Damnit, Vala! she chastised herself at her small slip. She couldn't mentally be in two places at once or else it would screw everything up. Focus.

"You alright, Princess?" Mitchell asked, breaking the silence in the room, "You're pretty quiet over there…it's unnerving."

She forced a smile. "Never better," she replied with false cheeriness.

The Colonel looked unconvinced but left it alone. "Alright," he said, looking at everyone, "let's head out."

They all walked together towards the 'gate room silently. The Stargate was already spinning by the time they stepped into the room and they stopped in front of the ramp as they waited for the last chevron to lock.

Daniel leaned closer to Vala and quietly asked, "What did Dr. Lam say about Alora?"

Vala gave him a puzzled look and tightened her pigtails. "What?"

"Did she get Alora's test results back?" he rephrased, "What did she find?"

An understanding expression crossed her face. "She hasn't run them yet," she replied quietly, "She has to do them herself since no one else is supposed to know about Alora's…you know what. She promised to run them while we're gone."

"Did she have any theories or id – "

"Daniel, I rather not talk about it," she interrupted, "In fact, I don't want to think about it. I want to focus on the mission and to do that, I can't think about it or her, only the mission and making sure it's a success."

He looked like he wanted to argue but held himself back. "Okay," he agreed just before the ka-woosh sprung forth.

"SG-1, you have a go," General Landry stated from the control room, "Good luck and Godspeed."

o0o

The planet closely resembled the Camelot planet in appearance, culture, and level of technology – the people were similar as well. The people were friendly and helpful, leading them to a piece of parchment that was left behind by Merlin to guide travelers in their quest. Osric, the keeper of the archives, pointed them in the general direction on where to start, giving them more information on where it possibly could be hidden – hidden in a cave under a lone mountain – and what they could expect – something about a dragon, which the took with a grain of salt, but at least they had a starting point.

The time dilation field showed them that technology was definitely going to be a factor in their 'quest' but they probably wouldn't be able to rely on their own technology since Sam's own instrument crapped out in the middle of the distortion field maze. After Vala's observation that these obstacles set to test Arthur and his knights in their search of the Sangraal wouldn't have had access to this level of technology and that the answer for each one had to be deceptively simple.

As they approached a chest in the middle of the woods, Vala felt a strange feeling sweep over her and as Mitchell went to check it out, she felt that feeling intensify. "Cameron don't!" she yelled before he could get too near the thing.

He jumped back like something had sprung from it and turned to glare at her. "What the hell Princess?" he exclaimed.

"Vala?" Sam and Daniel said in unison.

She glanced at them and gave a helpless shrug. "I don't know," she admitted, "I just know that we shouldn't go near the chest – just keep walking."

"What leads you to believe this, Vala Mal Doran?" Teal'c questioned curiously.

Again, she shrugged.

"Alora?" Daniel halfheartedly asked, half stated.

Vala met his eyes. "Alora," she confirmed. There went her plan to not think of her and to remain detached.

Daniel thought for a moment. "It makes sense, I guess," he told the rest, "The Parchment of Virtues said we would have to rely on five things in order to reach the Sangraal."

"So?" Mitchell asked.

"Prudence, wisdom, charity, kindness, and faith," Daniel listed off on his fingers, "I think it may have been meant to be interpreted literally. We were able to make our way through the time dilation field by patiently and carefully negotiating the maze, demonstrating prudence as opposed to recklessness. So, what does this trap exploit?"

"Greed," Vala answered, eyeing the chest, "Whoever approached the chest would've assumed treasure would be inside of it."

"Right, and the opposite of greed is charity," Daniel responded, "which is one of the virtues in the parchment."

"Okay, you win," Mitchell said, "No going near the chest," he relented and slowly backed away from the chest before leading everyone around it.

They continued their trek through the heavily forested area until they spotted a lone mountain as they came out of the woods. "Look," Sam said, pointing to it, "Osric said it was believed to be in a cave under a lone mountain. Think that's it?"

"Has to be," Vala replied, looking around, "I don't see any other mountains, do you?"

"We're getting warm," Mitchell quipped, "Onward?" he asked.

"Onward," Daniel confirmed.

It took them longer than they would've liked to find the entrance to the cave, feeling like they had searched the whole perimeter of the mountain, but then again, they hadn't expected it to be right out in the open.

The second she stepped into the cave, Vala felt familiarity with the cave wash over her, and she immediately began leading the group deeper into the cave, following an urge she had. The others stayed silent, all figuring it was something Alora had given her that was coming to surface as she came to certain points in their 'quest.' She hadn't even hesitated at the fork in the road, immediately going left, leading to another virtue – kindness. At the seemingly dead end, Vala walked right up to the Ancient writing on the wall, stated the riddle's answer, and walked through the opening. She didn't show any signs of urgency as the cave began to shake and rumble, but continued to lead the rest, calmly giving the answers to each riddle until they came to the end, and the shaking in the cave had stopped.

"So, what do we do now?" Mitchell asked as they all stared at the wall of fire in front of them, "Do we go back?"

"The exits have already sealed behind us," Vala told them, staring intensely at the fire, "We have to go through it," she told them, indicating to the fire.

"What!" Mitchell exclaimed, "Are you crazy? It's fire!"

Vala ignored him and walked up to the fire, but before she got to close, Daniel grabbed her arm, and she gave him an inquisitive look.

"Vala, what're you doing?" he asked worriedly, "Are you sure about this?"

She gave him a reassuring smile and tugged her arm away from him. "Trust me, Daniel, trust Alora," she told him gently and began walking backwards, "Have faith," she told them before she disappeared through the fire.

"Vala!" the three humans shouted.

But the second she disappeared behind the wall of fire, it dispersed, and she stood on the other side with a smile. "See, told you to have faith."

Daniel sighed in relief and quickly came to her side. "You could've told me," he said perturbed, "I would've gotten it."

"But it wouldn't have been as nearly as fun," she quipped and continued on. They came to a cavern that had the small red jewel they sought across a narrow crossing, and Vala turned to them with a big smile, "The Sangraal," she declared and gestured to it, "C'mon, Daniel, let's grab it!"

He didn't argue and the two of them carefully made their way across until they were on both sides of the jewel. "You wanna do the honors?" he asked.

"No," she said softly, "it's all yours."

But it turned out to be a hologram that ended up triggering an actual dragon. The exit behind them sealed before they could get to it, trapping them in the small space.

"We need a way out!" Mitchell pointed out the obvious as the sounds of the approaching beast resonated throughout the room.

"We need the name of the protector!" Daniel shot back but looked around the room for an escape route.

The second the dragon was in front of them, a phrase, Ancient she deducted, came to her mind and couldn't fight the impulse to shout it. "Ganos Lal!"

And just like that, the beast disintegrated in a flash of light.

"Ganos Lal?" Daniel questioned, still stunned at what just happened, "How the hell did you know that?"

Vala looked at him. "Why, what does it mean?"

"You don't know?" he questioned curiously.

"No," she admitted, "When I saw it, it popped into my head and I couldn't help but to say it. What does it mean?"

He continued to stare at her analytically. "It's Morgan Le Fey's name in Ancient."

"Huh," she let out thoughtfully before gesturing back to the red jewel, "Shall we try again?"

He agreed and this time, instead of letting them grab the jewel, it transported them somewhere else, a secret place, located on an entirely different planet.

Oh, and Merlin froze in stasis…that is until they unfroze him, opening a whole new can of worms.

"Why can't it ever be simple," Mitchell grumbled as he realized that they weren't done yet.

Oh joy.

o0o

Author's Note: Someone of you may have spotted somethings that may not have made sense...don't worry, they'll be explained! My brain isn't that addled...