Artemis, the Chaste Lady, Goddess of the Hunt and of the Moon, Daughter of
Zeus and Leto, stopped in her tracks. In front of her, a small furry green
creature growled threateningly, its front left paw lifted a few inches from
the ground and flexing in a manner which oozed menace.
She looked to the one who claimed to be her brother.
"You are not Apollo. Apollo was slain by an arrogant Tau'ri."
The man standing before her gave a snort of faintly-amused contempt. "You think a Tau'ri whom Zeus himself had captured and chained could cause me even the mildest discomfort? You insult me."
"My reports were most insistent on the matter. Apollo and Zeus were slain. I saw the body of the Thunderer's myself, its symbiote cut neatly in two."
"But not mine."
"Apollo was without a host at the time. It is understandable no body was recovered."
She felt her certainty begin to waver. None of the Jaffa she had interrogated had actually witnessed the murders of her father and brother, had merely seen Jaffa, who later turned out to be traitors, accompanying a group of Tau'ri, including this man, from the room where Zeus' body was found. This man, it was decided, had done the deed, or at least instigated it."
"Surely it makes more sense that I left the place alive, hidden in a new host from the traitors who killed our father and who thought they had killed me."
She did sense naquadah in him, and something of the presence of a symbiote. But it was not the normal feel of a Goa'uld.
"My brother and I had words by which we might know each other."
The man's lip curled slightly, in a mannerism her brother often adopted.
"Menin aeide, thea, Peleiadew Achileos oulomenen, he muri Achaiois alge etheken, pollas d'iphthimous psychas Aidi proiapsen herwwn, autous de helwria teuche kunessin oiwnoisi te pasi, Dios d'eteleieoto boule, ex ou de ta prwta diasteten erisante Atreides te anax andrwn kai dios Achilleus."
The words rang true, but still.
"Any of the Tau'ri might know those words."
"But only I would know that they were apt. And only I would recall that those words were first spoken in public in my own hall, and that the poet was paid only with a single olive from my plate, given to him by my own hand; a payment he himself had requested, and claimed he would value above all the riches of the Earth, because it was a gift from me."
Artemis prevented her surprise from showing on her face. Instead she inclined her head slightly to her brother.
"And so I know you. But tell me, brother, what are you doing here? Why do you dwell among the Tau'ri? How were you not slain by those who killed our father, and why did you allow the traitorous Jaffa to live? Why have you remained in a host you must have known would be hunted by others of the Goa'uld, to punish it if you were dead, to quitely dispose of you if you lived?"
"I dwell among the Tau'ri because at present, it suits me to do so. It is pleasant to be remembered in this place so long after our kind departed, even in lands I never chose to visit. I was not slain by those who killed our father because in the confusion of the matter, one of the traitorous Jaffa, searching for glory for himself no doubt, cried out that he had killed me, and the others saw no reason to doubt him. I allowed them to live first in the belief that they might lead me to other traitors, and later because killing them would not have achieved me my goal, which was to return to this place. I remain in this host because I have encountered no other like it in all my years. It is powerful in mind and body, and yet its soul spills over with music. This host pleases me, and I have grown attached to it. It is a fountain of originality and interest which cannot be found in our peoples whom we keep among the stars, who have not the spirit in them to dream for what they cannot have."
She smiled to herself. Some things never changed. "For all your skill with the bow and weapons like it, you never did favour power through force of arms. Your Sybils and their Priests at Delphi gave you more power than ever an army did. Always the musician, with your unusual methods and love for your poets."
"I was a warrior without match."
A musician with the pride of a male. Though many females exhibited the same pride, more in this new world the Tau'ri had built for themselves than there had been in the days of old, but even when the Olympian Goa'uld ruled Greece there had been women with spirits of fire. Many of them had done her good service.
"Without match, my brother, I only say that it was never your true love. Your destroyed with words and plagues; rarely did you initiate war."
He inclined his head slightly. "Well sister, you see for yourself that I am not dead. You cannot avenge me. Will you remain here, or will you return to your own domain?"
She watched him closely. Her twin he might be, but the two of them did not lack sibling rivalry. He could be of use, but this would take a little thought.
To pass the time while she turned her idea over in her mind, she engaged in idle conversation. "What of these two Tau'ri? What do you wish with them?"
"The male is very similar in appearance to this host. I am sure that will come in useful. The female." Here he shot the female a glance filled with a tenderness she had never seen in him before. "Part of what is interesting about this host is his passionate affection for the female. And she is not unpleasant to look upon. The host and I have come to an understanding regarding her, and she is willing to follow it. She had never lain with a god before."
Having no care for such matters, Artemis decided to move the flow of the conversation, though she was not yet completely decided to invite her brother on her excursion. So her eyes were drawn to his green creature, still looking at her with aggression in its eyes, though aggression less marked than it had been before.
"And what of this thing?"
"An interesting discovery of mine. I saw no others of its kind. It was wary of me at first, but food made it trusting. It appears to sense harmful intent in others. That is why it looks at you so. When first you came, you had in mind to kill me."
Such a creature could be useful indeed. She turned her host's most winning smile upon her twin.
"I have a proposition for you, dear brother."
She looked to the one who claimed to be her brother.
"You are not Apollo. Apollo was slain by an arrogant Tau'ri."
The man standing before her gave a snort of faintly-amused contempt. "You think a Tau'ri whom Zeus himself had captured and chained could cause me even the mildest discomfort? You insult me."
"My reports were most insistent on the matter. Apollo and Zeus were slain. I saw the body of the Thunderer's myself, its symbiote cut neatly in two."
"But not mine."
"Apollo was without a host at the time. It is understandable no body was recovered."
She felt her certainty begin to waver. None of the Jaffa she had interrogated had actually witnessed the murders of her father and brother, had merely seen Jaffa, who later turned out to be traitors, accompanying a group of Tau'ri, including this man, from the room where Zeus' body was found. This man, it was decided, had done the deed, or at least instigated it."
"Surely it makes more sense that I left the place alive, hidden in a new host from the traitors who killed our father and who thought they had killed me."
She did sense naquadah in him, and something of the presence of a symbiote. But it was not the normal feel of a Goa'uld.
"My brother and I had words by which we might know each other."
The man's lip curled slightly, in a mannerism her brother often adopted.
"Menin aeide, thea, Peleiadew Achileos oulomenen, he muri Achaiois alge etheken, pollas d'iphthimous psychas Aidi proiapsen herwwn, autous de helwria teuche kunessin oiwnoisi te pasi, Dios d'eteleieoto boule, ex ou de ta prwta diasteten erisante Atreides te anax andrwn kai dios Achilleus."
The words rang true, but still.
"Any of the Tau'ri might know those words."
"But only I would know that they were apt. And only I would recall that those words were first spoken in public in my own hall, and that the poet was paid only with a single olive from my plate, given to him by my own hand; a payment he himself had requested, and claimed he would value above all the riches of the Earth, because it was a gift from me."
Artemis prevented her surprise from showing on her face. Instead she inclined her head slightly to her brother.
"And so I know you. But tell me, brother, what are you doing here? Why do you dwell among the Tau'ri? How were you not slain by those who killed our father, and why did you allow the traitorous Jaffa to live? Why have you remained in a host you must have known would be hunted by others of the Goa'uld, to punish it if you were dead, to quitely dispose of you if you lived?"
"I dwell among the Tau'ri because at present, it suits me to do so. It is pleasant to be remembered in this place so long after our kind departed, even in lands I never chose to visit. I was not slain by those who killed our father because in the confusion of the matter, one of the traitorous Jaffa, searching for glory for himself no doubt, cried out that he had killed me, and the others saw no reason to doubt him. I allowed them to live first in the belief that they might lead me to other traitors, and later because killing them would not have achieved me my goal, which was to return to this place. I remain in this host because I have encountered no other like it in all my years. It is powerful in mind and body, and yet its soul spills over with music. This host pleases me, and I have grown attached to it. It is a fountain of originality and interest which cannot be found in our peoples whom we keep among the stars, who have not the spirit in them to dream for what they cannot have."
She smiled to herself. Some things never changed. "For all your skill with the bow and weapons like it, you never did favour power through force of arms. Your Sybils and their Priests at Delphi gave you more power than ever an army did. Always the musician, with your unusual methods and love for your poets."
"I was a warrior without match."
A musician with the pride of a male. Though many females exhibited the same pride, more in this new world the Tau'ri had built for themselves than there had been in the days of old, but even when the Olympian Goa'uld ruled Greece there had been women with spirits of fire. Many of them had done her good service.
"Without match, my brother, I only say that it was never your true love. Your destroyed with words and plagues; rarely did you initiate war."
He inclined his head slightly. "Well sister, you see for yourself that I am not dead. You cannot avenge me. Will you remain here, or will you return to your own domain?"
She watched him closely. Her twin he might be, but the two of them did not lack sibling rivalry. He could be of use, but this would take a little thought.
To pass the time while she turned her idea over in her mind, she engaged in idle conversation. "What of these two Tau'ri? What do you wish with them?"
"The male is very similar in appearance to this host. I am sure that will come in useful. The female." Here he shot the female a glance filled with a tenderness she had never seen in him before. "Part of what is interesting about this host is his passionate affection for the female. And she is not unpleasant to look upon. The host and I have come to an understanding regarding her, and she is willing to follow it. She had never lain with a god before."
Having no care for such matters, Artemis decided to move the flow of the conversation, though she was not yet completely decided to invite her brother on her excursion. So her eyes were drawn to his green creature, still looking at her with aggression in its eyes, though aggression less marked than it had been before.
"And what of this thing?"
"An interesting discovery of mine. I saw no others of its kind. It was wary of me at first, but food made it trusting. It appears to sense harmful intent in others. That is why it looks at you so. When first you came, you had in mind to kill me."
Such a creature could be useful indeed. She turned her host's most winning smile upon her twin.
"I have a proposition for you, dear brother."