"They saw her death? That Corp.. coryphes.. that woman said it's been 300 years since their 'god' was killed. Want to explain how they could have seen it?"
"I meant their people in general, Jack, not the current generation."
"I knew that." O'Neill shifted, a faintly sheepish expression ghosting across his features. "So, still here?"
"I think so. Based on how they talk about this demon, I'd say it's quite possible that they've come into contact with it since that time."
"You're making a lot of assumptions here."
"Everything we've learned since coming here gives some validity to my theory. Walking through that forest, we all felt something. Now, we didn't know until we got here that there was a myth about a beast living there. So if we weren't influenced by suggestion, what was it?"
Renato returned, once more keeping them from further discussion amongst themselves. He appeared subdued, no doubt a direct result from whatever form of castigation he was subjected to. By his ease of movement one could surmise that it had been a verbal rebuke at least, which was by far better than physical punishment.
"I am to take you to the council. Though manners might dictate giving you time to bathe, I am afraid they are quite insistent on your immediate attendance."
"It's alright, I took a shower this morning before I left home." Jack spoke good-naturedly as he walked back out of the building, followed by an almost imperceptibly smiling Carter. Teal'c emerged last, following Renato and Daniel into the fresh air.
Night had fallen; the obscurity broken by torches strategically scattered to allow for optimum light. Still the city remained active, people bustling about their business - casting questioning glances toward the group of strangers but noone stopped to inquire of them. Due in part to that and in part to the nearness of the targeted structure in general, they soon found themselves standing before an assembled group of obviously high ranking officials. Seated in the center was the gray-haired woman they'd met earlier. It was she who spoke first, without any preamble.
"It has been decided that you shall be allowed to remain here this night. The forest is never safe, and one risks more than their life to enter after darkness has taken root for the evening." The words were clear, devoid of any emotion or hint toward the thoughts of the woman.
To Daniel it was calculating; he suspected she meant to come off sounding benevolent - doing them a favor. Therefore in return she must expect something. What, he couldn't imagine.
"That's awfully considerate of you," the colonel remarked. If the words contained a touch of sarcasm it did not appear to register with the Marsi present.
Sam remained silent, as did Teal'c. The latter had never stopped inspecting every shadow; every movement. The archaeologist was, for the moment, quiet as well, musing over the potential requests that could be made of SG-1. So it went without saying that he paid careful attention to everything that went on.
"Tomorrow is our Serpari festival, we would be honored if you took part in it," the Coryphaeus continued. The others of the council had yet to say a single word, making it perfectly obvious that they were there out of tradition rather than any ability to wield an ounce of power. They were purely decorative.
Jack turned to Daniel with a raised brow, the linguist simply nodded - indicating that yes, he understood what this festival was. More importantly, perhaps, what it was celebrating. Something he would inform them all about when given the chance, if the Marsi failed to clearly detail it.
Sure enough, the woman rose without even so much as waiting for an answer. She was leader and was accustomed to being obeyed - even when an order was given the pretense of being a request.
"Yeah, sure, we'd love to." The sardonic reply trailed after the vanishing council, irritation was evident on Jack's face. "Well, I just adore being invited to a party."
Renato, who had remained to show the team to their sleeping quarters, fidgeted uncomfortably. Plainly he did not care for the way the elders had behaved, yet the young man lacked the ability to do anything about it. Besides, one simply did not challenge the decisions of the Coryphaeus. It just wasn't done. "Please come with me. I will bring you somewhere you may rest for the night."
Lacking anything more to say, Renato turned and strode across the stone floor; heading through a darkened doorway. Jack was the first to reach it after the youth and he realized that it wasn't really all that dark. Flickering candles could be seen at sparing intervals along the wall. While the hall was somewhat closed in, there where shafts meant for ventilation that kept the air clean and also served to banish any feelings of claustrophobia.
It wasn't a long trek down the corridor before they came to what was apparently their sleeping quarters. It was a large room, beautifully decorated, and one could not help but be impressed. There would have been no objection, except Renato then attempted to lead Sam to another location altogether - mentioning a different building. That caused protest, and not only from her.
"She'll stay here with us," said Jack.
"That is not proper," Renato challenged, seeming surprised at the very notion.
"In our world, it's acceptable." The colonel spoke in the most polite way he could manage, being the diplomat he was - it was ..civil. Besides, he wasn't about to lose track of one of his team.
Obviously aware that they were not going to allow themselves to be separated even to maintain a semblance of respectable propriety, Renato nodded; a brief frown resting on his face as he turned to leave, bidding them a good night before parting. He'd no more than left before Jack turned his attention to Daniel.
"Festival?"
"Um, yeah. Snake festival. It's a spring celebration that occurs in early May, which as you can tell is traced back to the Marsi and their worship of Angitia. The villagers would have collected snakes by now, generally capturing them right as they're coming out of winter hibernation. They keep them until this festival, when they drape them over a statue of their goddess as well as themselves. This is done to seek protection from snake bites, ironically enough. The latter part of that actually refers to Saint Domenico Abate, who took the place of Angitia in the culture in our world."
"So what do they want us to do?" Carter wondered aloud, hoping they weren't going to be expected to parade around with live snakes wrapped around their bodies. She wasn't reassured by Daniel's reply.
"I have no idea."
"That's helpful."
"Well, given their religion it could be anything from letting the snakes go to .."
"To what?" Jack asked peevishly, wishing his team hadn't drawn this planet.
"I don't know." The archaeologist shrugged.
"Why couldn't SG-3 have gotten this world instead?" Jack seemed to be asking God rather than his teammates the question, his eyes focused on the ceiling of the room as he slowly shook his head.
"We're just lucky, Sir." Carter tried to hide a smile, unsuccessfully judging said commander's next words.
"Let's see if you're so amused tomorrow when they ask you to play with the snakes."
"Let's just hope they're actual snakes." Daniel commented softly, contemplating his thoughts out loud without realizing he'd done so for a moment.
"Excuse me?"
"Well, Jack, think about it. It's feasible that their festival actually revolves around Goa'uld larva. It could be some kind of choosing process for the maturing young."
"I really wish you hadn't said that. T'? You think that Daniel might be right on that?"
"I do not know, O'Neill. Such choosing ceremonies are common among the Goa'uld but I am not familiar with Angitia's method."
"It's possible that this theory has nothing to do with what they're actually planning, right?" Sam didn't particularly enjoy the concept of dealing with it either. "I mean, there hasn't been a mature, living Goa'uld here for three centuries. Why would there be immature ones?"
"Way to stay positive, Carter."
Sam's words prompted everyone to relax a bit and Daniel relented, just as happy as the others that what she said made logical sense.
"That does seem more plausible and I was just thinking aloud anyway. Sorry."
"And with that thought, bedtime campers. I'll take first watch. Carter, you take second. Daniel, Teal'c." The rest nodded as Jack moved to find a decent place to sit where he might have a full view of the entire room. He wasn't about to drop his guard; besides all that talk about snakes, moreso Daniel's suggestion about it pertaining to Goa'uld larva, had him slightly on edge.