Chapter 8 of 8
Daniel was alone in the room. He wasn't sure when Mariko had left him, or how long he'd been staring at the paintings he had done. He began to pace around the edge of the room, frustrated that now he had the key, or at least he thought he did, there was no way for him to implement it until he returned from this dream. If he did, he thought suddenly, remembering all too vividly the smack of his head against the wall that was even now making his head pound. What if he didn't make it back? A shiver ran through him, he couldn't think of that now, not when he had to find a way to reach the Ancient's outpost and the control panel.
He was staring at the symbol for home when he became aware of voices. Familiar voices. Voices that he shouldn't be able to hear in his current condition. Unless, of course, it was true what they said of coma patients? Daniel dragged his thoughts back from their diversion and turned his attention to his surroundings.
Oh boy, that did not look good. Daniel turned around and found himself facing a worrying tableau. His corporeal body lay crumpled against the furthest wall, beside it stood Jack, his face grim. Kneeling on the floor, her finger to his neck, Sam looked equally concerned.
Maybe not a coma then, Daniel thought. Maybe I'm dead – again. Not ascended. Am I? And then he became aware of someone standing close beside him; soft words filtering through his mind.
"Daniel san, we must hurry."
The maid was by his elbow, eyes pleading with him. Daniel gritted his teeth and turned away from the unsettling scene. Darkness seemed to embody the obsidian panel, and for a brief moment his determination wavered. Then a soft white hand was placed over the first symbol and Daniel laid his hand over hers, swamping it.
There was a soft chiming as, for a second, the symbol lit up with a deep amber light. As they moved to the next in the sequence, Daniel heard Jack's sharp intake of breath.
"Don't Jack, don't even think about it," Daniel murmured as he moved onward, knowing that he could not be heard.
"Carter." The colonel dragged Sam's attention from Daniel's rapidly fading body. "The panel. What the hell's going on?"
Sam came close to the glowing symbols, careful not to touch. "It's an address. Wait. Oh my God! Look, sir. There, an extra symbol." Her hand reached out instinctively. In her head she thought she heard Daniel's voice cry out a warning. Her hand stopped and she turned to look down where her team mate's body still lay crumpled on the ground.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered, looking at O'Neil. By the look on his face, he had.
"Daniel?" Jack called out, his eyes wary.
"They are coming," Daniel murmured to himself as he prepared to meet the Ancients once again. He'd stepped over the boundary – again. But they should have been there when Lady Mariko was to ascend. He had done what he had been told to do, not interfered. He had called for help then and they had ignored him, they would not ignore him now.
Jack's head jerked around as he heard a roaring noise heading toward the building. Tension filled the air making his chest hurt with the effort to breath in. Memory flooded his senses. Kheb. The Ancients. The destructive power they wielded.
"Put your weapons down, Jack. Sam. Move outside and don't interfere."
Jack span around, his eyes catching those of Carter in a question.
"I heard it too. It feels like…" Sam's eyes widened as she looked outside the door. "Trouble coming, sir."
Jack looked down at Daniel's collapsed form, torn between the need to get him clear, and the thought that somehow this was all Daniel's doing anyway. And then the voice in his head, Daniel's voice for crying out loud, urged him outside the building again.
"We're leaving. Go." Jack ordered, waving aside Carter's instinctive move toward Daniel.
Moments later Daniel was alone, with himself and the maid, in the room. The atmosphere seemed to thicken as energy flowed in through the doorway. Vague shapes hung in amorphous clouds, surrounding Daniel, closing in until he felt the pressure inside him was sure to implode. He didn't fancy the idea of splattered archaeologist over the decorated walls.
The pain in Daniel's head now throbbed rhythmically behind his eyes. Around him seven cloudy entities formed a circle. One by one they coalesced into human form. He did not recognise one of them.
The one who approached him was old, not only in his visible aspect but Daniel could sense that here was an Ancestor of truly ancient origin, maybe even one of the original Ancients.
Cold blue eyes strafed Daniel from under heavy white brows causing Daniel to wince in anticipation.
"You have summoned us. Why?"
Daniel knew that the signal he had sent indicated an emergency, an emergency that he would have justify. He drifted to the panel where Lady Mariko's netsuke still rested. "One of your own has been trapped in this figure. I tried to release her centuries ago, I failed and you refused to aid me then. I'm asking you to fulfil your obligations now, to free her from captivity."
A female answered. "It is impossible to capture us in this way. What is your true reason for calling us here?"
Daniel had known they would reject his explanation and it was now down to him to make them believe. "Is it really impossible?" he began. "If you can confine one of your own to a planet, to a specific area, why can you not be trapped within an object? It is possible, you know that it is."
From his partial recall of his time as an ascended being, Daniel knew that all was not sweetness and light within the order. There had been times when a rebellious member had been dealt with. In his case he had been returned, empty and alone, to face life as a human once again – others had not been so lucky.
Another voice spoke, younger. Daniel turned to face the orator. Before him stood a young boy barely in his teens.
"How do we know that there is a soul trapped?"
Daniel frowned. "You know there is, you know everything. I begged for help when Lady Mariko ascended and was trapped, you refused to come. You never replied to my calls." Daniel had had it drummed into him that the ascended never interfered with the lives of those less advanced than themselves, he had assumed that the silence denoted that he should leave well enough alone. It had hurt him to do so, but at that time he had not begun to question his existence on the higher plane.
The seven turned to one another in silent communication, then the old man who had first spoken turned to Daniel once again.
"We do not change the lives of lesser beings."
Frustration welled in Daniel, his voice rose. "She is one of you. Not as I was, a human allowed to ascend, she's an Ancient! Will you leave one of your own trapped for eternity? I knew you were selfish, but this cruelty goes beyond that. I was forced to stand by and watch while my friends went through hell. I could have helped them, but I didn't. I stuck to your code of conduct."
"But not for long," replied the Ancient before him.
"She is one of your own," Daniel ground out. "Help her, or have you forgotten the compassion of your mortal lives."
The icy blue eyes turned to where the netsuke lay against the control panel. Reaching out, the ancient picked up the carving, his eyes closing for a brief moment. Then, as they opened again the seven seemed to communicate once more.
It was the young boy who spoke first. "You speak truly, Daniel Jackson. She will be restored to us."
The seven began to change, resuming their misty state. The netsuke had been placed on the floor and now the mists began to mingle, flowing in a tight eddy around the sculpture. Daniel though the pain in his head had been bad before, now it escalated to unbearable proportions. He heard himself scream out in pain then all was darkness once again.
Jack and Carter waited impatiently outside the room, Teal'c had rejoined them along with a medical team. All paced and fidgeted desperate to return to Daniel. The charged atmosphere was almost palpable and Jack felt his anxiety rising with each minute they had to wait. The butterflies had settled themselves among the petals of the cherry tree, as though they too were waiting for something. Their unnatural stillness another element that set Jack's teeth on edge.
Then they all heard the scream. As one SG1 ran into the room, weapons ready even though they knew they would be useless against the ancients within.
Guns were ripped from their grasp and the team found themselves flattened to the floor by an invisible force that crushed the breath from their bodies. They struggled to no avail. Jack managed to raise his head slightly, the muscles in his neck bulging with the effort. Ahead of him a mini tornado dominated the room, its touchdown point bare inches away from Daniel's collapsed body. Cursing, Jack tried again to inch his way toward his team-mate.
And then it was over. The sudden release of his body was almost as overwhelming as the loss of control had been. Jack scrambled up and ran to Daniel, fingers easing inside his collar to feel for a pulse. Sighing with relief he caught the erratic beat under his fingers. And then someone touched his shoulder sending a cold shiver down his spine.
Gazing down at him was the serene face of an elderly Japanese woman. Her grey streaked hair pulled back from her face emphasising the perfect bone structure. Her kimono was fully of brilliant colours and designs, but it was the compassion in her eyes that held him still.
She moved past him to lay one tiny hand on Daniel's forehead, then the other over his heart. Jack heard Daniel give a soft sigh before sliding further down the wall to lay prone on the floor. She looked up and caught Jack's eyes and smiled. "Watch over him," she said softly before turning away.
Jack watched in silence as she joined the others her body losing its coherence as they flew out of the door. Carter was at his side then, both listened to the sudden crunch of the Stargate, then silence.
"Med team, get in here now!"
Daniel felt hands on him, heard the soft commands of Doctor Ishito as she directed her team. He opened his eyes, blinking at the sudden stream of light that shone directly at him.
"Colonel, he's awake."
Then Jack's face hovered over his. "Daniel, you okay?"
Daniel tried to nod his head, only to find that they had put a collar on him, to avoid neck movement. "Yes, what happened… oh…"
"Lie still, let the medics finish, then you and I are going to have a talk." Jack turned away from him, anger surging now that he knew Daniel would be okay. Oh yes, they were going to have a long, intense talk about responsibility and the adding of grey hairs to his commanding officer's head.
"Get me up, I'm okay, look!" Daniel waved his arms in the air causing the med team to back away from him. "Jack, what happened? Jack!"
O'Neill kept on walking, ignoring Daniel until he could control his anger. He strode to the pond, butterflies flew in every direction away from him, then one returned to hover in front of his face. "Don't you start," Jack muttered under his breath, then turned back to enter the room. "Doc, is he fit enough to get off the floor?"
Doctor Ishito nodded curtly, sniffed loudly then called her team to follow her outside. Jack held down a hand and helped Daniel up knowing the young man was not going to let up until he knew what had gone on.
Ten minutes later Carter poked her head inside. "Sir, General Hammond wants an update."
Jack and Daniel shared a glance. "On our way."
"So, it's over then. No more chasing spooks in the night, no running off to psychics, no appropriating the Stargate without permission? Right?"
Daniel nodded slowly, his head still aching even though he'd bullied Ishito into giving him two Tylenol before departing. "Lady Mariko is back where she belongs. I don't doubt that. Yes, I think it's over."
Daniel glanced around the room one last time, then spotted the netsuke lying on the floor. He moved quickly to pick it up, checking that it was not damaged in any way. It seemed no different than before, it still felt slightly warm but he knew that was the nature of the ivory it had been carved from. Daniel caught Jack's eye on him, and slid the piece into his pocket, nodding as though agreeing with Jack's unspoken thought.
The two men walked out into the sunlight, Teal'c and Carter were waiting by the gravel path the med team having already left. Daniel looked around him, taking in the torn up path, the scattered petals. He looked over to Jack. "Give me a minute, Jack?"
O'Neill gave him a searching glance, then nodded. "Gate, five minutes." Gathering the others he marched out without a backward glance.
Daniel returned his attention to the pool, dropping to his knees to touch the water. As the silence returned to the garden, he let the peace fill his soul again. It was done. Mariko was safe; he'd finally fulfilled his promise to release her. He let his eyes close and his thoughts drift into nothing. When he opened them again he was surrounded by butterflies of various sizes and hues. Feeling not the least bit foolish he whispered softly to them. "She's safe." One by one they came and rested on him until his arms and shoulders were awash with colour.
He rose as the butterflies flew away, as though their leaving had released him in some way.
As he entered the great hall the servant girl was once again in his path. She sank gracefully to her knees, bowing her head.
"Why did you need me?" he asked quietly. "You could have called them any time. They would have come to you as surely as to me."
With her eyes still glued to the floor, she replied. "No Daniel san, it was your promise to keep."
He crouched down before her, one finger under her chin to force her to meet his eyes. "What will you do now? I can take you through the gate, send you wherever you need to be."
She smiled at him then. "But I don't exist, Daniel san." And as she spoke the warmth of her skin disappeared from his finger and he found himself crouched on the floor alone.
Daniel pulled up outside Sophia's house just as the sun disappeared from the sky. The lights were on in welcome and as he shut the car door he saw her standing in the doorway.
Smiling, he walked up the path to be gathered into a quick hug.
"You brought her with you?" Sophia asked as she sat opposite him in the living room.
Daniel brought out the netsuke. He'd been back two weeks now, and there had been no resumption of the night-time activities. The netsukes had remained locked behind glass, and no voice had called to him in the middle of the night.
He brought out the sculpture and laid it in Sophia's hand. Her fingers skimmed its surface, her eyes closed in concentration. She smiled and opened them again. "Nothing, nothing at all."
Daniel took it back and dropped it into his coat pocket. He'd had two weeks to think of how to tell this lovely woman how Lady Mariko had been freed, it was not going to be easy.
"I don't suppose you have any coffee?"
Sophia eyed him speculatively, noted the gleam in his engaging blue eyes and nodded. "Yes, I have the feeling this is going to need a fresh pot."
The end.
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