I almost forgot to post this today... blame college weekend laziness and watching an early arc of Naruto: Shippuden which almost made me cry with the death and subsequent reanimation of one of my favorite characters.

Last chapter, the team stumbled upon Adria and her base. They followed her in, and through a series of classic "You go on ahead"s, Daniel and Adria finally meet for the climax of their story- one last battle...

Chapter 15

Daniel had always fought Adria on uneven ground. He'd always had the element of surprise, or a backup plan that gave him an edge. That wasn't the case this time. They fought, one-on-one, without backup or an advantage over the other, each using all their power to bring the other down.

"You can't beat me, Daniel," Adria snarled. She summoned a whip of orange energy and lashed out with it. Daniel deflected the blow with a white shield that appeared in front of him. "My power comes from belief. My people believe in me, and they empower me."

Then if I can sever that connection, I can take your power. He didn't bother wasting the energy to respond. If she wanted to use up energy to taunt him, she could go ahead. Talking now would only take strength that he could be using to defend.

It took all of his concentration to block her next strike, but as he counterattacked, he wondered if it was possible to sever her connection to her followers- and if he could actually accomplish it.

He realized he was distracted a moment too late- Adria's energy blast flung him back against the wall. Pain shot through his spine as he impacted the wall. As the room flickered before his eyes, it almost seemed like another image was attempting to impose itself over what his eyes were seeing.

A dark figure stood where Adria was. Bronze threads twined around her, coming from every direction, and plaited themselves together into a single cord that disappeared under her dark, depthless hood.

Daniel blinked the vision away. He knew what it meant, and he didn't stop to wonder. As Adria strode toward him, her fingers already outstretched to deliver a final blow, he quickly reached up and touched her forehead, tightening his grasp over her dark hair. He sent his consciousness through the places where his skin touched hers.

And suddenly he was in her mind. A dark plane of nothingness, with shapes and sounds that he could not name spiraling through the darkness. But a faint flicker of bronze caught his attention, and he followed the faintly glowing thread.

As he got closer, the brighter the light grew, and the more threads he saw. Just like in the vision, the threads twined together to form a thick cord, the end of which was fastened to a place darker than the rest.

Immediately he knew what he had to do, but she realized what he was going to do at the same moment. She fought back, her twisted thoughts pushing him away from the core of her soul.

You will never defeat me! It wasn't a voice- not like any he'd ever heard. It wasn't a thought, either- it was almost like she was speaking through images and concepts.

Your own arrogance will be your downfall, he answered, striking at the cord. You believe you are undefeatable.

Her mind fought him, resisting his attempts. Her darkness curled around the cords, shielding them from his strikes. He kept fighting, knowing he had to stop her- he would stop her.

They fought again, this time purely a battle of minds. Daniel's pure desire to save his friends and his galaxy warred with Adria's twisted intent to save the galaxy from itself.

It was a stalemate. Light and dark, good and evil, were in balance- neither winning, neither losing, locked in an endless war that would preserve the balance and prevent either from rampaging out of control-

Then something happened. Light surged up inside him. Strength that he'd never know he had welled up inside his soul, and shone through the darkness. His light burned away her dark tendrils, and then the cord of belief was wide open-

He struck, putting all of the sudden power that flowed through him into that one blow-

And the cord snapped.

-*/*-

Rhea barely dodged the Prior's latest blow with his staff, thanking the Stars that she hadn't let her captivity dull her skills. Had she been a few milliseconds slower, she would have been dead numerous times over throughout the entire fight. This old man's much faster than he should be.

She lashed out with her knife, feeling the point dig in. Nearly wrenching her shoulder out of its socket, she whipped around for a second attack, scoring a blow against the Prior's shoulder and making a wound that bled deeply. A few more hits like that, and I can take him down.

Enraged, the Prior struck with his staff. Rhea was only just able to throw herself aside enough to prevent the attack from hitting her skull. The hard wood instead hit her shoulder- the same one that had almost been dislocated- and the nauseating crack made her stagger backwards, a curse escaping her lips.

I let myself get distracted. Bad move, girl. Another one like that and you're dead. Focus! As far as pep talks went, it certainly wasn't the best one she'd ever made, but it was enough to get her moving. She dodged another blow and drew her second knife.

The staff came down at her again, and she snapped upright, her arms bringing her knives up in an X to catch the staff before it made contact with her skull. The pure strength of her opponent forced her onto her knees, agony searing through her injured shoulder.

Shifting her weight, Rhea flung her leg forward and knocked the Prior off-balance. His reaction seemed to be stronger than her kick would have elicited normally, but she set it aside for now. As he reeled, she rolled out of the way of his staff and slashed across his chest, creating another deep wound.

Leaping to her feet, she settled into a defensive stance. The lead Prior unsteadily rose to his feet, eyes wide as if in shock, but she didn't question it, hurling her second knife.

The blade plunged deeply into his throat, and he collapsed to the floor. Rhea found herself on the ground as well, her entire body aching. Every breath sent a spike of pain through her collarbone and shoulder- she wouldn't have been surprised if something was broken.

With her enemy dead, Rhea found the time to wonder. I shouldn't've been able to knock him back. He should've killed me right then. Why did I get that opening? Hope surged in her chest. Did Daniel do it? Could he have broken Adria's hold on everyone?

-*/*-

Daniel was flung out of Adria's mind and back into his own body as Adria screamed. A shockwave sent her flying back and slammed Daniel into the wall again. He collapsed to the floor, exhausted.

Adria clawed her way to her feet as Daniel used the wall to help him rise. They faced each other again, and Adria pressed a hand to her chest, breathing heavily. "What did you do?!" she shrieked.

"I took away your power," Daniel answered calmly. "I severed your connection to your followers."

The young woman sneered at him, pure rage burning in her eyes. She threw her arms out to either side, and her body began to glow.

Daniel swore. She's trying to Ascend! She's advanced enough, I knew she could, but I'd never dream she'd try! Dread began to creep in. I could barely fight her when she just had her Ori powers. How can I face her when she's an Ascended?

The second shockwave wasn't as powerful as the first, but it still pushed Daniel back. Adria's whole form was wreathed in flames now, and he could tell she had succeeded in Ascending.

He stilled his shaking limbs. There was no guarantee he would win, but he had to try. If he didn't fight, he wouldn't have a chance of winning.

They faced each other for the last time, each settling into a fighting stance. Adria's beautiful face was twisted with rage, her eyes burning with orange flames.

Daniel exhaled and sent his thoughts out through the universe, seeking the only people who could help now- the Ancients.

Your galaxy- and you yourselves- will be destroyed unless you break your vow of non-interference and stop Adria! Are you going to doom an entire galaxy of innocent people and yourselves for the sake of following an outdated rule?!

He knew Adria had heard him. She laughed madly. "You think the Ancients will help you? You are a fool, Daniel Jackson!"

Light gathered around her and shot toward him. He drew up a shield, not knowing if it would be enough but praying that it would-

Then light sprang up between him and Adria as the glowing forms of two Ascended blocked her attack.

The powerful energy from the strike forced Adria to stumble away as it was reflected back on her, and the two Ascended Daniel knew best materialized- Morgan Le Fay and Oma Desala.

Morgan locked her gaze on Adria. The eyes that Daniel had often seen filled with warmth and kindness were now cold and merciless as the Ascended woman addressed the Ori female. "You are the fool, Adria the Orici. Attempting to interfere in the mortal plane when you have just Ascended? An ameteur mistake."

"It is my birthright," Adria snarled back. "I am the Orici- the one who will enlighten and redeem the galaxy!"

Morgan glanced at Oma, who nodded slightly. The darker-haired woman then turned her gaze to Daniel, the familiar touch of warmth returning as she looked at him, a message in her deep eyes.

Daniel immediately understood what they were going to do. He nodded, then backed away as Morgan and Oma melted into white light, surging forward to envelop Adria, who dissolved into light as well.

The lights clashed. Morgan and Oma swirled around Adria, tightening their hold, until they had forced her to retreat toward the floor. Then they surged forward, and with a bright flash Adria reappeared, plummeting down.

She crashed to the floor with a sickening thud, but dragged herself to her feet. Daniel knew he wasn't going to get another chance- Morgan and Oma had taken away her Ascendancy, leaving her- for the moment- as a normal human woman.

He struck with all his might, giving it everything he had, and pouring all his remaining strength into this final attack.

The moment before the blow landed, he felt time slow as he hesitated.

What if… what if this isn't the only way? What if I could persuade her to turn away from this path?

What would have happened if she had turned away from the Ori when she was a child? Who would she have become?

Is that still a possible path for her?

No. His darker side affirmed that, erasing the doubts he knew he would have given way to otherwise. She's too far gone for her to turn back now. As much as I wish I could help her… I came too late.

Time sped up again. The bright flash hit Adria, and she stumbled back, the glimmer in her eyes fading. She collapsed to the floor, and he staggered forward to fall to his knees at her side.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. I'm sorry I couldn't help you. I'm sorry this was the path we had to take. I'm sorry… I didn't come in time.

The lights that were Morgan and Oma coalesced around Adria's body, and in one final flash, all three were gone.

Darkness flooded Daniel's vision, and he lost consciousness.

-*/*-

Sam pulled the trigger for what she prayed would be the last time since the reinforcements had come. The final soldier fell, and the room was finally quiet again.

Checking her watch, she found that it had only been three minutes since she had last seen Daniel and Rhea. It felt like it had been at least fifteen.

Jonas exhaled, deactivating his zat. "Is that all of them?" he asked, breathing heavily.

"I believe it is," Teal'c guessed.

"Come on," Jack ordered. "We've got to find Daniel and Rhea."

Sam followed Jack out the door. She hoped they would not encounter any other soldiers- she only had enough energy left to pray that they would find Daniel and Rhea alive.

And so the final battle ends. But we've still got the aftermath- two more chapters to go!

I hope the climax fight lived up to expectations!

Next chapter should be up in a couple days- see you then!