Origin

Briar Elwood

A/N: Okay, remember way back when in Aftermath when Vala corrected Daniel's translation? Let's just say she can, by now, easily read Ancient (like Daniel).

Chapter XIX

Sacrifices

"Rose?" Vala called, brow furrowed. The blonde child was turning out to be a miniature Houdini, disappearing whenever Vala turned her back. "Rose, sweetie, c'mon. It's time for your nap."

The amazing little baby could roll around, giggling softly wherever she went…giving herself away every time.

"Ah!" a coo cried from Daniel's office. Vala sighed, rushing in the room after Rose.

"Rose," she chided. "You can't be in here. Here, honey, lemme have that…what is it anyway?" Vala took the ripped paper away from the grinning girl and flattened it out on Daniel's desk.

"'Sacrifices must be made'," she read quietly. "'Heartbreak in necessary'." Lips forming a thin line, Vala looked up at the picture. "The bottom half of Daniel's picture…" she realized. Vala turned back to Rose who was still staring at her with large, curious blue-grey eyes. "It's your lucky day, Rose. No naps. We're going to the base."

SCG…

"Hey, Carolyn?" Vala asked at the infirmary door, her son in one arm and Rose in the other. Carolyn walked up to her, taking in the infants with an amused smile. Vala's son was barely awake, slowly falling back into comfortable unconsciousness while Rose was wide awake and talkative, tugging at Vala's long black hair.

"Hey. You look a little overwhelmed."

Vala smiled tightly. "Yeah, a bit. I got something I need to check out in Daniel's office…could you possibly watch the kids for me?' she asked. "The boy shouldn't be too bad, he was rudely awoken form a nap…Rose, on the other hand…"

Carolyn laughed, taking Vala's son from her and walking over to find a make-shift crib for him, Vala following. "I've babysat her before. She's a wild one, isn't she?"

Vala laughed back, a small nervous laugh. "Yeah. Almost as bad as Ettan was."

Carolyn turned, taking Rose and looking at Vala with concern. "Are you doing all right, Vala?"

Vala nodded, her eyes fixed on the floor. "Yeah."

Carolyn looked unconvinced, brushing Rose's hand away from her face. "You sure?"

"I…well, I'm a little stressed," Vala admitted. "My son keeps me awake most the night and Rose keeps me busy during the day."

Carolyn nodded, deciding it'd be best not to mention Daniel's stinging betrayal, which had to have been a large part of the equation.

"So…I'll be in Daniel's office if you need anything," Vala said, backing away to leave.

"Right," Carolyn agreed. "Don't rush!"

Daniel's Office…

Simply to confirm her suspicion, Vala got out the scotch taped copy of the Book of Origin and flipped to the all-too familiar picture of Daniel crying. She pulled out the paper Rose had found from her pocket and folded it out, matching it to the page.

"'Sacrifices must be made'," she re-read. "'Heartbreak is necessary'." She frowned, biting her lower lip thoughtfully before turning her gaze to the revised edition that Adria had given Daniel before they had left to Atlantis. Quickly, she flipped through and found the familiar picture, noticing a little more was added to the script at the bottom.

"'Orionus Desalo, Founder of Origin'," she whispered. "Oh my…that makes perfect sense…" She stopped, a thought coming to her mind.

"I wonder why Adria didn't know."

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It was that dream again. Orionus could see people he knew…people he was forgetting. People that, if these dreams didn't keep occurring, he would've completely erased from memory months ago. As it was, he could only remember fuzzy images of them. There was a large, dark man with a gold tattoo on his forehead. A man with light brown hair and a strange accent that was annoyingly familiar. A woman with short blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a motherly smile. A man with grey and white hair and a friendly sparkle in his blue-grey eyes. A young baby girl with the woman's blonde hair and the man's blue-grey eyes. A newborn boy, hooked up to many tubes and wires. A small boy with a fun-filled yet destructive grin. A woman with long, black hair and a stunning smile.

"Dan'yel…" a soft voice whispered. "What are you doing?"

00

The image of the woman who had spoken still lingered in Orionus's mind when he awoke. Her skin was tan and her hair dark. Her eyes were dark as well, but soft and loving. He knew her…he loved her…who was she?

He growled to himself, throwing the covers off him and sitting up. It didn't matter. In face, it was extremely irritating. These dreams had occurred almost every night for the past three or four months and Orionus was getting very tired of it.

It was time for them to stop.

Later That Day…

"Oci," Orionus said, coming up behind the busy man. "How early can you gather the people?"

Oci pursed his lips, glancing at a few papers on his desk. "How early would you like?"

"As soon as possible," he replied.

"How about now?" Oci suggested. "I can shift a few things around…"

"That would be great," Orionus declared, clapping a hand on Oci's shoulder. Oci smiled proudly.

"That'll give you a short time to get prepared," Oci said, business-like. "I'll go start to gather them now."

About A Half Hour Later…

"As you all know by now, in these beginning stages of our order many changes must take place," Orionus began. "As we go on, we find things that do or do not work for our way of life. And at any time, they are most welcome to leave the path of salvation.

"Recently I have been haunted by dreams. These dreams are of the old ways, back when we still lived in Atlantis. They are enticing, tempting me back, away from eternal glory. Now, I am not easily swayed yet I fear for your safety. We do not know the origin of these dreams and there is the great possibility that these dreams will begin to haunt some of you. Maybe they already have. So I have come before the Ascended Ori and have asked their help in this dilemma.

"From this moment on, dreams are forbidden. Know that any dream you may have is not of the Ori and has somehow gotten past the barriers the Ascended have put up, therefore is extremely powerful and dangerous." Orionus stopped, eyes sweeping the crowd below him. Every single person waited on his every word, eyes adoring and trusting.

"Sacrifices must be made," he said, his customary finish. "Heartbreak is necessary."

A/N: Dork. Don't you think? Anywho…
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