C h a p t e r T w o

Riddle  Me  This

My birth name is Khe'pri Jabari, but I am afraid I may not know who I am any longer. I was always sure of my abilities and my knowledge. I thought I knew just how the world worked and just how I fit in it. I was brilliant. I was right. I was in control. But the truth is harsh, and it can be violent when slapping you in the head…

My name is Khe'pri Jabari, but I don't think that means anything anymore…

(( Khe'pri ))

- - -Qutesa…

"See Orense, that wasn't so hard now was it?" Khe'pri patted her friend on the shoulder once they reached the other side of the bridge. He laughed nervously. "Oh, come on. You're such a coward. Have a little fun."

"Fun is not disobeying your teacher, Khe'pri. And it definitely is not tempting fate. I think we've had just about as much 'fun' today as we can take. Let's go back. Maybe Renault hasn't even noticed we're gone yet."

Khe'pri scoffed. "Right, old hawk eye Renault. I don't think so. He knows we're gone. We might as well get as much enjoyment out of this as possible."

"Yeah… because once our parents find out about this we'll never see the light of day again…" Orense complained.

"Calm down." Khe'pri frowned. "I swear, you worry more than anyone else I've ever known. Seriously, Orense. What are you so scared of? You know as well as I that the tales they tell about the Forbidden Ring are just a way to get us kids to behave, to stay away from the river and possible lurking danger." She raised her hands like claws and laughed, making a roaring sound.

"Yeah, well, it's not working very well, now is it?"

- - -

Astral Plane…

Nexeu watched as Khe'pri led her friend through the forest and away from the bridge. He wasn't one of extraordinary power - - at least not like that guardians or the Council - - but he could also sense that something was wrong. The only other one who seemed to notice this was Orense. Nexeu couldn't figure out why Khe'pri didn't feel the impending danger. Or maybe that wasn't it. Perhaps she did feel but was ignoring it for reasons of her own.

She was a very rational person when it came to certain things, and it was apparent that she had figured that facing this was the logical thing to do for fear of an object, a standing stone ring, was ridiculous in her mind. She also wanted to prove that she was brave. But just because one does something daring does not make one brave. On the contrary, sometimes it is just plain dumb and can make one dead.

Nexeu didn't like the idea of being dead. And he didn't like one of his charges being dead either. So he decided against leaving Khe'pri. For some reason she was being very naive about the whole deal and if she wasn't careful then…

Well, if she wasn't careful then Nexeu would be out of a job.

- - -

Abydos…

Skaara wasn't foolish. He knew very well that the apparition Nexeu was real. When he was younger he had attempted to convince himself that Nexeu was just his overactive imagination, but when that didn't work to get rid of him Skaara tried another tactic. He kept telling Nexeu he wasn't real in hopes that he would give up and go away, leaving him alone. He didn't want to be a part of whatever scheme he or his masters had. All he wanted to do was to stay on Abydos and lead a normal life.

Presently, it was looking like that wasn't going to be a choice. Nexeu had returned and it seemed like something was up in the cosmic flow of things. Of course Skaara did not see it like this, but he did know there was a reason for the annoying specter's reappearance after a whole year of being gone. That had been a nice year, too. No yapping spirit bothering him. Oh, well. All good things come to an end…

…but did that include the life of peace that had been built on his world after Ra had been overthrown? Oh, he hoped not. After thousands of years of hardships his planet needed a break.

Not long after Daniel had sent the box back through the Stargate men had come through. Including O'Neill. Although this lightened Skaara's mood considerably there was still that lingering worry in the back of his mind. The wrongness. When he heard about the so called Ra-look-alike that had went to Earth and kidnapped one of their people it increased again multi-fold. He couldn't ignore this any longer. He had to try and figure out what was to happen.

He had to do something he hadn't done in years.

He had to attempt to see the future…

- - -

Qutesa…

Khe'pri had always tried to imagine what the Forbidden Ring really looked like. There had never been any drawings done of it for fear that they might invoke some sort of evil. Naturally Khe'pri thought this was a silly superstition. She wondered how anything so amazing could be kept from so many. It was exquisitely made. The glyphs along it's circular rim were remarkable. She had never seen anything like it in all her studies.

"What language do you suppose this is?" She asked, glancing back at Orense, who didn't look as excited as she was to be standing before the great object.

"Who cares." He muttered. "You've seen it, now can we go? Renault's probably already making plans to torture us in horrible ways."

"Oh, stop teasing, Orense." Khe'pri joked, "you know how I like hearing about death and torture…" The other teenager glared. Khe'pri's face suddenly fell. "You really are worried, aren't you, and it's not about Renault, is it?"

"Finally you noticed!" Orense said. "You're right. This has nothing to do with Renault. Do you have any idea what you could cause just by being here, just by standing next to that thing. Khe'pri, what if those stories are not stories at all?"

"Of course they're stories, Orense."

"Have you ever considered that maybe you tell yourself these things, this bullshit, to convince yourself that everything you do is okay? Take away that responsibility and blame? It's not wrong unless there's something truly there, right Khe'pri?" She was silent, so he continued. "I thought so. Answer me this, friend, what would you be saying if the stories were undeniably true?"

"If they were true do you think I would so foolish as to come here?"

"What if I told you that I know and that I have proof that they are true?"

"You're crazy. It's legend, Orense."

"No." He shook his head in frustration. "No, no, no! It's real, Khe'pri. They are real, the Goa'uld. There are as flesh and blood and you and I, and very dangerous. I have seen the documentation in my father's study. I was nosing through his files one night and I found the things which our Elders do not wish us to know. We are in real danger, Khe'pri. We have always been in danger. Just pray your famous Jabari luck is with us today."

- - -

Abydos…

Chaos and fear. Crimson trails of blood echoing the horror of what was to come. Screams of fury, cries of pain and suffering. A feeling of hopelessness so overwhelming that it shook him to his very core.

The vision had only lasted for an instant, but it had instilled a terror in Skaara that he had not known for quite some time. He was right in believing something bad as going to happen. He just hadn't realized how bad until now. "No…" He whispered, as if that one word would have the power to undo what he had just seen, change the future.

"I am afraid it is so." Nexeu had returned, bravely appearing to him when others were all too near. There was a solemnity in his voice that was strange to the apparition. Usually Nexeu was full of jokes and banter, annoying remarks to irritate. There was something different about him now.

"Why are you doing this? Why give me the power to see, but not the power to do anything about it?" The teenager raised his eyes to scrutinize the entity. "Why can you not just leave me alone?"

Nexeu shook his head. "I am not doing this, and I am not responsible for these gifts of yours. But trust in this, you do have the power to stop this. Maybe not today, but you will. That is what I offer you. Choice."

"I wish I did not know the things I did."

"I wish you didn't have to."

Skaara looked up, surprised at Nexeu's words, but he was gone again.

Then he felt it, a dark sense, a sickness. It slammed into him violently, leaving him feeling weak momentarily. Seconds after he heard the sound of the Chaapa'ai engaging.

It had begun…

- - -

Qutesa…

It took Khe'pri a while to really comprehend what Orense had just told her. "You mean they've lied to us?" She couldn't believe it. No wait, yes, she could believe it.

"Yes, Jabari." A deep voice came from somewhere behind them. "You have been, as you have put it, "lied to" but it was for your protection." It was Scholar Renault. He had caught up with them and he didn't look too happy. "Imagine the unneeded turmoil this knowledge would cause among the whole populace. The Goa'uld, your fairy tale people, have not returned here to Qutesa for years, but they have been in my lifetime."

Khe'pri's eyes widened.

"They returned to check our planet, not for the first time, I might add. After we won the war and sent them away we retreated far from the Ring. The War cost us technology and other resources. If they were to realize we are still here now we would be powerless to stop them again. We would be enslaved. That is why it is forbidden to come here. If they knew. We would be doomed to fall to the fate our ancestors have their lives trying to avoid."

Khe'pri gazed at the ground.

"You are a foolish one, Jabari." Renault shook his head. "Foolish, yet young. I will give my forgiveness in that fact. In youth many of us do stupid things, but I believe you are the first to ever do something this naïve."

Khe'pri didn't know what to say, but before she could find the words to reply, even to apologize, a grinding sound broke through the still air. The three turned. The Ring was spinning. "Move!" Renault shouted, grasping Khe'pri's arm. He pushed her back towards the woods - -toward safety - - but they were too slow. Monsters came through the ring, strangely dressed men, one attired slightly different than the others.

Renault immediately shoved Khe'pri behind him as they were ordered to halt. Continuing to run would have gotten them killed.

"It looks like we were mistaken in believing this planet to be uninhabited." A deep, distorted voice said, and seconds later, who Khe'pri figured was the leader, removed the weird covering from his face and head. His eyes glowed brightly and the stories she had heard came rushing back. She was looking straight at a Goa'uld - - and this was no fairy tale.

"Leave this place." Renault ordered. "You do not belong here. In the name of the Goddess, be gone."

"Your Goddess cannot protect you." The Golden-attired man claimed, then turned to his lackeys. "Take them all. We will return later to assess this planet's worth."

"No!" Renault shouted.

"Silence!"

"This is not your world!"

"It is now."

"Never." Renault dove for a weapon.

Khe'pri watched in horror as one of the men fired on her teacher, sending him sprawling on the ground. The wound across his chest was obviously fatal. She tried to go to him, but she felt like she was in a dream. Her movements were way too slow, and her captors were all too fast. Orense, who also took the route of offense was knocked unconscious. Khe'pri was grabbed around the waist and hauled back to the gate, which had been re-opened during the struggle.

The rippling surface gleamed in a horrible finality. As they stepped through she had a feeling that she would never see her home again. Her stupidity had brought this on her world. Renault was probably dead because of her. She and Orense were prisoners. Where were they taking them? What would come of her people? Her parents?

For the first time in Khe'pri Jabari's life she felt insignificant…

…and uncertain.

She fell into blackness.

- - -

Dream-space…

She was not of his world. He was certain of this. He had never seen anyone who even remotely resembled her. She was of average height for a female, but for some reason gave off a feeling of great height and stature. Her eyes held a mischievous intelligence, almost a gleam of arrogance. Her hair was a shimmering golden color that fell in a river around her shoulders and down her back, braid adorning each side of her face beholding decorative and colorful beads. Her eyes were an unnatural shade of blue. It wasn't quite the color of the sky. If he had ever seen ice he would have said it came close to that.

Close, but no cookie. It was indescribable.

Her laughter was haunting, like that of the nymphs Daniel sometimes talked about in one of Earth's mythologies. That was what she was like: a nymph. Except unlike Nymphs, the girl was real and she was out there somewhere.

And in his dreams he could see her as clearly and as tangibly as anyone he knew.

"You have returned." She said, icy eyes sparkling in the strange light of this dream world. "I missed your company."

"Something terrible has happened." He said.

"I know." She whispered. "Here, also." Her hand touched his arm and he could feel her fear like it was a solid thing. It hovered around her, tainting her aura a dark, bleeding color. "Can you help me?"

And he couldn't answer… could he even help himself?

When he regained consciousness he was in something akin to a large holding cell, and he wasn't alone. There was at least fifty others, if not more. Nexeu had been right when he said that the situation was not going to isolated, which led him to wonder if perhaps he was also telling the truth about the girl.

I came to ask about the girl. Don't you want to know who she is? The spirit's words came back to him. More than anything he wanted to learn the identity of the one that had haunted his dreams for years. However, he hadn't wanted to learn of her this way.

"Nexeu, where are you?" He asked just below being audible to the ones around him. "Damn you, why have you disappeared?"

"Skaara!" Arms encircled him. "You are all right."

"Yes." He told his sister. She had finally woken up.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"I do not know." He answered. And he was afraid to find out…

Thank you so very much for my Review, AnastasiaFel.  It's nice to know somebody cares enough to be considerate and leave a comment.  I hope you will keep reading and let me know what you think. That goes for anyone reading this.  Comments good...

Next Chapter: Divine Intervention.  Khe'pri and Skaara finally meet and Khe'pri shows off some pretty interesting powers.