See chapter one for disclaimers.
Apologies in advance for the upcoming deluge of exposition. Hopefully, I'll be able to better work it in during revisions.
My Andromeda
Chapter Seven
by Mabyn
Doctor Kierken's eyes grew as the fountain erupted in flames, his pupils dimly reflecting the brilliance of the blaze. His palms now coated with a fresh coat of sweat, he readjusted the sword in his hand, wiping the other hand across the lapel of his blazer. "You―you do not scare me!" he shouted, infuriated when the woman smiled. "You are an abomination! You must be destroyed!"
She nodded. "Yes," she said, "eventually. But not by your hand." She paused and listened as the ground began quaking, the blazing water in the fountain rippling in time with the dull, grinding thuds. "Your fate approaches," she told him simply.
His eyebrows bowed. "Wh-what do you mean?"
The walls began shaking.
"It's at the main door."
"Tell me what you mean!" Doctor Kierken shouted; he did not notice the sword falling from his hand. "What's happening?"
Several of the loose paving stones began rattling against their brethren.
"It's in the hall."
"Stop it!" The words exploded from Doctor Kierken's throat, his fists clenched, his veins popping maroon, his knuckles sallow. "Tell me what you mean!" His eyes could open no wider without bursting from his skull, yet his quick breaths seemed to inflate him with every passing moment. He could not exhale, not enough to keep from suffocating.
Her eyes licked fire as she looked deeply into him and he felt she could see everything, everything within him and everything without. Nothing was hidden from her; she knew truth in its perfection, she knew the frailties of every world, of each galaxy. She knew the Names of Eternity; she called the Universe by its secret name.
And then he knew, but did not accept.
"Is it really you?" he gasped, one pale, wrinkled hand, aging rapidly and reaching for her. He wanted to stroke her cheek, kiss her lips, devour her eyes before he died. "Is it really you?"
Sam nodded. "You know it is," she told him, "but you refuse to believe it."
"I-I do believe," he told her, feeling time mauling his body―his skin dripped from his bones. "I do," he repeated, unable to see through his own lies. "I do," he whispered, his eyes wide and locked on hers as Ferra poured into the room. "I do," he breathed.
A deep sigh coursed from her lips, enveloping him in tendrils of moist heat. She did not believe him.
But she was, he thought as the massive bodies of the Ferra surrounded him, she was.
Heat boiled his stomach, his intestines, consumed him from the inside out and he knew then for certain.
She was the Priestess and the fulfillment of the Ovmata's prophecy.
Sharp crackling filled the air, like wood being split, and he knew his bones were splintering. But he felt nothing.
The Ferra crushed him, their bodies like warm breathing boulders made flesh as they forced the air from his lungs. His vision fogged by a deep red haze, he looked to her and melted into her crystal blue eyes. Forgive me, he thought. Forgive me.
She nodded. He had accepted his fate, the role he had to play in the redemption of the universe. Always, she told him with her eyes.
And then he submitted to the darkness beckoning him, a smile floating on his lips.
"Doctor Kierken's dead," Jack said suddenly, his eyes distant.
"Who's Doctor Kierken?" Mitchell asked, looking from the skies overhead to the General.
"He's a linguistic specialist at Area 51," Daniel said, his brows frowning. "He's been working on deciphering the Book of Origin since we brought back an extra copy from P3R-829. He's made some pretty unsettling correlations, but we have no way of knowing if any of them have any merit." He stopped and gazed at Jack. "Why do you think he's dead?"
"I don't," Jack told him, plucking several blades of grass from the ground and tossing them aside. "I know he's dead." Gesturing towards Aedes Luma, he continued, "Sam met him in there. That's where all the―horse things were headed."
"To kill him?" Mitchell sat up and righted his hat on his head as Jack nodded.
"Why would these creatures bear Doctor Kierken any ill will?" Teal'c asked.
"And how the hell did he get here?" Daniel asked, his eyes wide. "We're not even in the known galaxy. And if this place is really outside of time and built by the Ancients--"
Mitchell perked up. "It's built by the Ancients?"
"Kinda goes without saying I thought," Daniel muttered to Mitchell's chagrin. "If Temporasa was built by the Ancients and hidden for whatever reason, it'd be almost impossible to get here without knowing its exact location."
"Sam used all nine chevrons," Mitchell added. "We haven't met anyone with that kinda know-how."
Jack looked towards the gaping mouth of Aedes Luma and a breeze ruffled his hair. "Except the Ori," he said softly.
Sam grinned as a mass of pure white energy ascended from the tangle of Ferra, Doctor Kierken's new form twisting and churning as he began to fully realize himself. Excluding Forta and her two sisters, the Ferra gradually filtered out of the chamber, their task completed for the time being.
I have...ascended? Doctor Kierken asked, shocked, but Sam shook her head.
"No," she said. "Not entirely." She considered him a moment, and could see his human form hidden behind the swirling mass. "You will help us defeat the Ori."
They are destroying the universe, Doctor Kierken replied immediately, his voice firm. They cannot be allowed to continue.
Sam smiled and took a step towards him, her hair radiant under the brilliance of Doctor Kierken. "Then there is something you must understand. As it now stands, ascension is more curse than blessing; an eternity of waiting and watching." Her eyes harshly glinting, she unconsciously grasped the Orsa Colax in her hand. "It is a selfish existence requiring the shedding of our humanity―all that makes our race good. It is an eternity for which you and I are ill-suited." Hope erased the glint in her gaze. "But it is not meant to be like this. Those who have ascended are living shadows, a fraction of what they could be. And they believe they are powerless to stop it."
Sam gripped the edge of Mnemosyne's fountain, running her thumb along the edge of smooth stone. The fountain sang to her, harmonizing with the music of the stone around her neck. "They do not act for fear of becoming like their Ori brethren. They fear the power within themselves, the power of all ages they are meant to possess and use to the benefit of those beneath them." She paused and waited as Doctor Kierken considered her words.
Finally, he flashed blindingly and asked, What can I do?
"Horses ahoy," Mitchell muttered, absently slapping Daniel's arm as he stood.
Daniel sighed and looked up from his notes. "You could've hit my other arm," he said, scribbling out several words and rewriting them. "The one I wasn't using to write."
"Sorry." A low whistle meandered from Mitchell's lips. "With all the excitement before, I didn't realize how many of them there are." Hundreds of Ferra streamed from the mouth of Aedes Luma, their pace much less frantic than it had been prior. Coats of strawberry roan, foamy white, chestnut, dapples, jet black and stormy gray followed the path through the river and towards the four men, their wet bodies glistening in the sunlight.
"Oh, I did." Jack said, shielding his eyes from the sun as he watched the Ferra approach. "I think the ground shaking like a 4.2 kinda gave it away."
"Indeed."
Jack stared past the gathering Ferra to the doorway into Aedes Luma, his vision blurring as he focused on Sam's presence. She was all right, he knew, alive and well. She had kept up her end of their bargain. But no startling revelations or even dull insights came to him. He tightly closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He would know if something of import happened. He had to.
That is the stone? Doctor Kierken asked, and Sam smiled to herself at the eagerness in his voice. He had undoubtedly read about the Orsa Colax in the Book of Origin and, despite its other horrendous inaccuracies, its description and claims about the stone were true. In breathless wonder, he muttered, This is the stone that set everything in motion.
"Yes," Sam told him. "It is the heart of Elaine of Astolat, a stone of great power derived from its inception and augmented by the living energy of Nimue, the Guardian of Water, and her sister, Morfaye, the Priestess of Fire. They were the last Guardians before the Great War when the Ancients and Ori were made distinct."
Doctor Kierken regarded the stone for a moment. Then, his form dulling for a moment, asked, The Ori knew of you. How? Immediately, he retracted his question, saying, Forgive me. Now is not the time for stories.
"Now is the perfect time for this story," Sam corrected. "In order for our next steps to make sense, you must know." She drew a deep breath before continuing.
"The prophecy in the book of Ovmata is corrupt. Before the Great War began, Lasot, the leader of the faction now known as the Ori, came to Nimue, a seeress of sorts, seeking a prophecy that would work in his favor." She smiled wryly. "That he did not receive and was infuriated. At that moment, Elaine, his sister, found him. He did not know she had pledged herself to the Sapienta, the small group of Alterans opposed to both the Ori and the Ancients. She begged him to reconsider, to cease in his selfish and childish pursuits."
She paused, sorrowed, and closed her eyes a moment before continuing. "He did not and cursed her. She was devastated. Later, she sacrificed herself so that one day the evil unleashed by her brother might eventually be contained once more."
How do we contain it? Doctor Kierken asked.
She looked through his form to the humanity beneath. "Brother and sister must be reunited," she said softly. "The stone must be plunged into the fire burning in the City of Celestis."
Notes on Arthurian Mythology:
Elaine of Astolat is also known as The Lady of Shalott, as immortalized in Tennyson's poem of the same name. She is said to have fallen in love with Sir Lancelot when the knight was visiting Astolat to watch a jousting competition. While he hadn't been planning on participating, Elaine begged him to wear her sleeve (scarf) while competing. Because Lady Gwendolyn, the woman with whom Lancelot was in love, was in attendance, he refused. But Elaine kept on begging and he eventually gave into her wishes. He competed in disguise so that Gwendolyn would not recognize him. When Lancelot left the competition with Gwendolyn, Elaine despaired. She is said to have died from unrequited love. (Obviously, being the fiery feminist that I am, I had to give her a more noble purpose.)
Nimue is one of the three identified Ladies of the Lake. According to some retellings, she has a complicated history with Merlin. She's also related to Mnemosyne, the personification of memory in Greek mythology. She's the daughter of Gaia and Uranus, and the mother of the nine muses.
Morfaye is a shortened version of Morgan La Faye, another of the three Ladies of the Lake.
Here ends today's mythology lesson. :)