Chapter 21: Excitement Can Turn to Fear in The Blink of an Eye

Jonas was giddy with excitement. He remembered what he'd only glimpsed in flashes for short minutes at a time and he felt good about it.

Colonel O'Neill was looking at him in the regular 'Jack' way, and he seemed skeptical, not unusual for O'Neill, but still.

Jonas switched his gaze to Dr. Jackson and saw he was smiling freely at this new-found memory, blue eyes twinkling gladly and Jonas, who was already smiling, stretched his grin until it was even more noticeable than it had been previously.

"You remember?" Daniel asked, his feelings, being brought to a peak in the tone of his voice.

"Yes, it's that place there. It's where she took me the first time, and then the same place where she took all of us." Jonas replied, turning to Jack and forgetting all about the odd feeling sweeping over him. It'd been there for a while, so he was becoming accustomed to it, and was getting pretty good at shaking it off if he needed to.

"That huge cliff she made us climb?" Jack asked in disbelief.

Jonas nodded eagerly and pushed himself to his feet, restraining himself from wobbling too badly and he started toward the door.

"Jonas, wait." Jack called.

He stopped and turned back to where he was being called.

"Yes, Colonel?" he asked innocently.

"That cliff?" Jack asked again.

"Yes, Colonel." Jonas was still standing, watching O'Neill's reactions as they passed over his face and to his surprise, he found the variance of emotions to be quite amusing.

"We gotta climb it again?" O'Neill questioned, thinking back to the steep hill littered with rocks that dug into your skin as you climbed and the amount of energy it took and he groaned silently to himself.

Jonas merely nodded and waited.

Daniel stepped in then, taking Jonas's side and spoke up.

"Jack, we've got to get there if you want to get off this...'rock' as you seem to enjoy putting it. It's up to you, come or stay." Daniel asked, clearly voicing in his tone that he'd rather the Colonel come with them.
"Alright, I'm coming." Jack stated, pushing the argument that he wanted to voice back so he could save it for later.

"Let's get going." Jonas replied, pulling the door open and vanishing into the night.

Jack and Daniel followed, and made their way, through the dark, and to the cliff base.

The trek there was relatively simple, despite the darkness and the fact that Jack was expecting Coris to jump out at them at any given second. However, he was relieved when nothing along those lines took course.

Staring up at the mass of rock called a 'hill', Jack puffed air through his lips and rubbed his hand along the back of his neck, pushing down the sick feeling he'd become so accustomed to, and braving the danger to take the chance at following Jonas up the cliff.

About halfway up, he realized Daniel hadn't followed them.

"Why?" Jack yelled up to Jonas.

"Pardon?" Came his reply.

"Why couldn't Daniel just zap us up there, it seems obvious that that's what he's allowed himself to do. And, he left us to scale the cliff!" Jack shouted.

"We're almost there Colonel, not much further now, and I'd call it a steep hill to be more precise." Jonas called back down, ignoring O'Neill's previous comment about the powers of Daniel's zapping.

"Whatever Jonas, just...climb." Jack yelled.

"Yes, Sir."

Mere moments into the re-start of the descent, Jonas felt something odd, yet familiar wash over him, and he gripped the rock hill so tight, his knuckles turned white.

He was thrown back through time, back to the execution and the destruction and the scene was clearer, stronger and felt more real than it had ever felt before.

OOO

Coris was pushed off, the boulder weighing her down, blue dress trailing her. Brunette curls being recklessly tossed about. He felt the wind bite into him, and waft through his clothes. He wrapped his arms around himself to keep in heat but, wasn't surprised when it didn't seem to work.

She yelled out then, and it rang in his ears making his blood run cold and bones vibrate.
It was a horrid scream, filled with frustration and anger, and Jonas even thought he detected a hint of revenge deep within, consuming whatever was left of her childish tone.

Then came the green pool, the lightening danced in electrifying steps across the darkened sky and the thunder rolled from nearby. Rain fell, pelting him with stabbing droplets that soaked him to the bone and caused his clothing to cling to him in what seemed like a damp sheet and Jonas continued to shake in the chill.

The green light advanced on him, hovering above him, and he gaped up at it in terror, because he knew what it was, it was Coris's revenge, her final spell. One that would bring destruction upon her people for what they had just done to her, if she was going down, she made sure she would be going out with a bang.

The sick feeling passed over Jonas, and hit him from his head to his feet but, it was different this time. It felt like sharp shots of fire, followed closely by ice coursing through his entire body. He fell to his knees, hitting with enough force to bruise, and he yelled out in alarm.

Around him fire exploded. Shouts and screams of terror, as well as pain filled his ears. The screams of dying people, Coris's people, dying at her hand, and all he could do was sit there, on his knees, biting back pain and nausea as it threatened to overtake him.

Then, just as quick as he'd been thrown into the past, he was yanked back from it and found himself once again climbing the hill, only he was frozen stiff, knuckles gripping, turning white, and he felt the pain he'd been feeling only seconds before. He yelled out into the darkness.