A/N: Sorry for the late upload. I had to go to school early.
Reviews are welcome
Chapter 18 – The Celebration
"Is the party going to be like the parties in 'the tales of the old'?" asked Minos to Thor, who was walking to them.
"The parties in the 'tales of the old'?" asked Thor. "I am unfamiliar with that term."
"Beer, wine and food everywhere. That's what the mythology suggests." Said Minos.
"I am afraid that he Asgard physiology had changed a lot in the years that passed. We are not able to digest alcohol, and we only eat the necessary supplements in small packages." Said Thor.
"I have tasted them before, but I didn't like them really much." Said Carter. "No offense, though." She quickly added.
"We have counted on you already with the menu. There will be several dishes specifically made for you." Said Thor.
"Do those dishes contain... valkeiri ... meat?" said Minos with disgust.
"No, the valkeiri have been extinct on this planet for over a thousand years." Said Thor. "But how did you know they existed?"
"I've been to an Asgard party before, and I couldn't stomach their meat. Throwing up halfway through a wormhole is not a really good idea." Said Minos.
"If you have been to Asgard parties before, why did you ask if there was any alcohol?" asked Thor.
"Because I had hoped they'd become a little less ... boring ... over the past two-thousand years." Said Minos.
"Asgard parties, boring?" asked Thor in surprise.
"Yeah, they're not my kind of parties. They involve not moving and a lot of talking for a long time. I prefer a lot of laughing and moving. Plus the Asgard could use some alcohol, to loosen up a bit. You always seem so tense."
"You're still too young for alcohol." Carter said without really giving it a thought.
"She said to the Ancient that is well over a million years old." Countered Minos.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Carter muttered.
"We have arrived at Valhalla," Said Thor, "The grand hall of the Asgard," as the large doors in front of them opened. Behind the doors was a huge hall, at least two hundred metres long and a hundred metres wide, with many tables set in the middle. Around the tables were many strange chairs designed for the Asgard, and at the end of the middle table were a few chairs that looked like they were made for humans.
"Wow. This is..." Daniel searched for the right word.
"Big?" suggested O'Neill.
"I was going to say enormous, but big will do fine." Said Daniel.
"This is the place where Asgard celebrations have taken place for the past millennia." Said Thor. "Have you been here before, Minos?"
"Multiple times. But I usually sat in the 'kids' section."
"The kids-section?" asked Carter.
"Yup. The place where the younger ones sat, always the noisiest place in the entire room. I was almost always the only ancient there, most of the 'kids' there were Nox."
"I take it that most of the 'kids' that sat there were older than most of us?" said Carter.
"The Nox usually reach adulthood by the age of eighteen or so, but most of them stayed in the kids' corner until their fifties. Their aging slows after they reach adulthood. There were a few younger Asgard that tended to sit close to the kids corner too, but most of them just kept an eye on us."
"I take it that that needed to be done to ensure that no food miraculously flew through the air?" asked O'Neill sarcastically.
"Nope, we never had a food fight. But I occasionally pulled some tricks with some things."
"You mean on every occasion." Said Thor.
"Probably, yeah. But it was fun. And I think the room would have collapsed in on itself from all the boringness most of the Ancients showed." Said Minos.
"You mean calmness and peacefulness? Doing everything according to their rules?" said Thor, who was amused by this discussion.
"No, more along the likes of boringness and oldness, with a bit of annoyingness." Said Minos. "That's why I asked if I could make some fireworks."
"As long as you refrain from any jokes or tricks this time, I cannot see why there would be any need for boringness. Talking can be quite interesting, especially if you tell stories like the one about the Forbidden Ones." Said Thor. "But I believe the 'party' starts soon."
"Yeah, we'd better sit down." Said Carter.
Not soon after SG-1, Minos and Thor took places on the end of the middle table, the rest of the Asgard High Council beamed in.
"I will introduce you to the Asgard High Council." Said Thor. "I presume you know Freyr by now, and we have our leader, Odin. And there are Penegal, Sagar, Freja and Vili."
The council members bowed to the Tauri.
"It is an honour to finally meet the humans that saved our race." Spoke Odin.
The council members sat down on their respective chairs, Odin at the head of the large table, and the rest directly to his right and left. SG-1 and Minos sat next to them, Minos next to Vili with Daniel and Teal'c next to him, and O'Neill and Carter sat next to Thor.
"Now, let the celebration begin." Said Odin, as many dishes were transported on the tables. The rest of the room had filled with other Asgard, transporting directly into their chairs.
"Hmm. Smells good." Said Minos as he took in the scents of the many dishes in front of him.
"It certainly does." Said Teal'c.
"Please, eat what you want. It has all been prepared for your specific physiology." Said Odin.
Everybody filled their plates with food, and the talks started immediately after.
"Say, Thor, did you kick Loki out of the council?" asked Minos.
"Loki? Loki died several centuries ago." Answered Thor. "His death was quite tragic, even though not everyone agreed with his research."
"He isn't dead." Said Minos.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Thor.
"That he hasn't died yet and is still alive." Answered Minos. "He's close."
"Did you know Loki well that you can sense him?" asked Vili curiously.
"Yes, I did. He always sat near the 'kids' corner with me. He always kept an eye out for mischief, but he didn't hinder it unless it was important. I think he actually didn't mind it when his food was invisible."
"Have you been at an Asgard celebration before, then?" asked Vili, who hadn't realised that Minos was an ancient.
"More than you would guess on the first sight. I was always the only ancient sitting in the 'kids' corner."
"Ancient? My apologies, I did not know."
"It doesn't really matter. I still behave like a kid, though I'm well over a million years old now."
"I always thought the Ancients aged extremely slow, but that they were not immortal." Said Daniel.
"Some were, and some weren't. But since most of them Ascended, almost all the Ancients that are on this plane of existence are immortal."
"And how many are that?" asked O'Neill.
"I know of one, myself. But perhaps someone else went into 'hiding' just like me. I don't know."
"The ancient alliance of the four great races has indeed lost much of its power over the past ten millennia. With the Gate-builders themselves gone, the Nox and the Furling living secluded on their respective planets, the Asgard were the prime space-faring race of the alliance. And the replicator war was going to destroy us, sooner than one would expect." Said Vili.
"But now the replicators are gone, and the Asgard can rebuild their society." Said Minos.
"That is true. But it will still take an extremely long time before we can finally find a permanent solution for the cellular degradation that has hunted us for so long. Perhaps that time is too long." Said Thor.
"But there is hope for the old alliance. The fifth race is coming." Said Minos.
"The Tauri show indeed very much promise in becoming the fifth race, though they will need a lot of time to become the fifth race." Said Thor.
"Well, we do our best." Said O'Neill.
"That is true, but it needs time. A race cannot become the fifth race in a matter of years, it will take longer." Said Thor.
"So, not in my time, then." Said O'Neill.
"It is indeed unlikely to happen in the coming century." Said Vili.
"Though it may happen sooner than you expected." Said Minos.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Thor.
"I mean that it may happen sooner than the Asgard can foresee. There may be a time when you will need all the help you can get. And I hope that you will forsake arrogance, and turn to a less advanced race to help." Said Minos.
"Are you certain of that?" asked Thor, who was a bit surprised by the news.
"Positive. It will be a lot sooner than you expect. An awful lot."
"Can you elaborate that?" asked Vili curiously.
"Nope." Minos said shortly.
"why not?"
"Because that would spoil all the fun. Plus I want to interfere as little as possible, for the time being."
"You'd call defeating the replicators little?" asked O'Neill.
"Nope, and that's why I'd better stop interfering in business of a galaxy for the time being. Otherwise the Others would have my head."
"I thought that because you achieved those powers on your own, the Others would not interfere or stop you?" asked Daniel.
"That is correct, until a certain extent. I am one of their kind, though I never ascended. But they would break less of their own rules to stop me than to stop a Goa'uld for example. I am an Ancient after all, just like they are."
"So you're essentially limited in what you can do?" asked Carter.
"Yes, but not as limited as an Ascended ancient. I can get away with a lot more than them, because I never ascended in the first place."
"So that's why you didn't ascend." Asked Thor.
"No, I didn't ascend because being ascended is boring. You can't do anything. As soon as you start pulling off pranks, the Others stop you. As soon as you use only the smallest bit of ascended power, the Others are watching you closely. If they don't like only the smallest thing, they'll stop you immediately."
"We know. We've met some of them." Said O'Neill. "Oma Desala for example."
"And I have been Ascended myself, though I was ignored by all the others except Oma." Daniel added
"Oma would be the one most likely to Ascend anyone. She always was one of the kindest Ancients, and the one most compassionate for the fate of others."
"But Oma was also forced by the others, though she mostly ignored the rules."
"She walked a fine line between breaking them and obeying them. But enough of this slightly depressing talk. I believe it is time for fireworks." Said Minos.
"You can use the large tower visible outside the window as a starting point. Do you need anything else?" asked Thor.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I do. Do you have any Asgard music?" asked Minos.
"Asgard music? The Asgard are not a race that held music in high value. There hasn't been any music for the past thousands of years." Answered Vili.
"But you must have something music-like in your archives? Anything with a rhythm will do, as long as there are enough variations in the rhythm."
"Perhaps we have something in the archives. They contain every part of our legacy, so why not music?" said Thor.
"Perhaps, though I am uncertain that we have stored the music in the archives too. You can enter them freely, if you know where they are." Said Vili.
"I know where to find them. I'll let you know when the fireworks start. Oh, and if the sound is too hard, you can just talk to me directly. I'll hear it." Said Minos, as he transported himself away in a beam of light that resembled an Asgard transporter.
"I think it is time to open up the roof." Said Thor.
"I will see to it." Said Vili.