Chapter 70

Daniel found his mind awash with confusion and fear. He could hear Dr. Lam shouting orders at the nurses, the bright beam of her pen light blinding him from the flurry of activity that had surrounded him. He was in the infirmary – that was certain. The how and the why did nothing but to compound his fears. Had it all been a dream? Had he been in some kind of coma? This wouldn't be the first time his unconscious mind would betray him. He couldn't be sure, however. The Ascended were just as manipulative. He felt awful. His entire body ached, but it was not painful. No. This was more like an exhausted ache. It was the kind of ache that you felt when you were on the positive end of an illness, a physical draining of both mental and physical energy.

For Daniel, this felt like more than him just getting over an illness. This exhaustion was heavy and it ran deep. Whatever had happened that had put him here must have been very, very bad. He tried hard to sit up, but felt as if an anvil had been placed on his chest. Looking down at his scrubs he could see a large area of his chest had been bandaged. His suspicions about what had landed him in the infirmary caused Daniel to panic. He remembered his conversation with Vala. His heart had been failing. Considering the location and size of the bandage on his chest and his utter exhaustion, Daniel came to the horrible realization as to what had brought him here.

A flash of sadness came across his eyes. This did not go unnoticed by Lam who knew immediately that Daniel knew what had happened to him. Meeting his gaze with a sorrowful acknowledgement she shied away her staff and pulled the curtain, taking a seat near Daniel's side.

"What do you last remember?"

Daniel laughed, "Loaded question much?"

"In what way, Daniel?" Lam asked as she pulled her chair closer to his bed.

"I dreamt. A lot. It's all really confusing. I am not sure what was real or what was a dream or what was the machinations of other worldly beings."

"I see," Lam nodded giving Daniel a meaningful look. "Why don't you start from the beginning and maybe we can work through it all together to try and find you some answers."

"It's a long story."

Lam smiled, "I got time."

oooooo

The sun rose high and bright in the mid-morning sky, filling the windows of the inn with a radiant light. Myreena had borrowed to her a beautiful white silk dress that she had long since had use for and stood beside the Helaer, Terik as Lyros wed them beneath the hearth of the inn. Myreena had hugged and kissed Tomin in gratitude for taking Aja to wife and promised him that she and her husband would do what they could to help them set up a life for themselves in the village. Tomin seemed generally happy at this new arrangement and stared at his wife proudly as she sat in the corner nursing the child. Aja too beamed a smile of satisfaction. Not only for how quickly the child had taken to her breast and the bond that grew between them as the days passed but for how things were starting to fall into place.

The Ascended did not get involved in the affairs of humans. So as long as she remained in human form, and did only what she would be able to be capable of by human means, they could not touch her. She would raise The Orici as a human child, protecting her and teaching her until she became powerful enough to take her rightful place among The Ori and rid the galaxy of the Ascended for eternity. When she had finished nursing she handed the child over to Myreena as Tomin grabbed her hand and led her up to their room. She performed her wifely duties with intense ferocity and immense passion. While her marriage was merely a means to an end, it reminded her if only for a brief moment of what her life had been with Netan. As their dance reached its hilt she allowed herself to be lost in that memory. Casting all plans of power and vengeance aside for a simple moment of unadulterated bliss.

For a brief moment all her plans were forgotten and she prayed for his seed to quicken and bear fruit. To fill her womb with a child of her own. To live the long, happy and simple life that she had always wanted but was so cruelly denied to her. But alas, that life was never meant to be. That ship long sailed. Once her duties came to an end and Tomin had long since fallen asleep on the bed she sat in contemplative despair. Since her Ascension, she found herself overcome with feelings and emotions that she had not experienced in years. The human side of her that had been long suffering and buried that left her confused. For so long she has been ruled by the emotionless Goa'uld that these feelings now felt alien to her. These emotions and desires causing her to question her plans.

Sitting still she wondered what it would like to pretend that she was just a normal human. Married to a man that loved her. Father to his children. Living the simple village life that she had always craved. She sat with her hands to her stomach. Wanting more than ever to let down her guard and allow the human side of her to take hold. To bear the child she always wanted with a kind man who cared for her who would grow to love her and she could love in return. This feeling overwhelmed her and she wanted nothing more than to let it. And she would have, if The Orici did not cry. The sound of the child broke any and all thought of a human life from her wind. That time was over. She could never recapture it again even if she wanted to.

Grabbing a robe from nearby the bed she walked out of the room and down to the hearth where Myreena stood with the fussy child. Smiling softly, she took the child from her hands. The Orici clung to Aja with panicked intention, as if it let go, she would never come back. As she cradled the child a small voice peeked out from the back of her mind.

Do you really think I would let you leave me?

Aja froze.

Don't be frightened. Be honored.

"It cannot be," Aja whispered as her heart began to beat wildly in her chest as she looked down at the babe in her arms.

Yes it can. I am not a child. I will never be a child. I am the magnificence of the Almighty Ori made flesh. What you see is merely a vessel and a temporary one dear Mother.

"Mother?"

The woman who gave life to me is not equipped to help bring forth my magnificence onto the world. She has chosen the Beings of Evil over me.

"Beings of Evil?"

The Ascended. They mean to kill me. We cannot let that happen.

"Vala is your Mother."

I decide that not you! She chose The Prophet over us. She is nothing to us. We have chosen you. Allowed you to care for us. Feed us. Is that not what a Mother is? You have goals that are similar to our own. To end The Ascended and allow The Ori to rule supreme as it always should have been.

With swiftness faster than she thought capable Aja darted up to the room and placed the child in the crib, careful to not wake a nearby Tomin, her heart beating wildly.

Whose idea do you think it was to have you wed Tomin, Mother? Why you have been overwhelmed so with human emotion and a longing for the family that was denied to you?

Aja shook her head in disbelief, her heart now thundering in her chest.

"No, those were my thoughts, my ideas."

"No, they were not."

Aja found it hard to breathe.

Stop panicking Mother. You will lose consciousness and I will be forced to wake Father and seek the aid of that idiot Terik. And if I have to do that, bad things will occur here Mother.

Aja did her best to calm her nerves but the panic still dwelled within her threatening to rise. She ran to the nearby basin and splashed water onto her face. She lifted her head and stared into the looking glass denial written all over her face.

"This was my decision. This was my plan. Not yours."

Really?

With a quick snap of her head Aja looked into the mirror, her eyes were a sickly orange color. For a second she felt that she was no longer in control. For a second she felt like she was prisoner to Kebechet once again. As her eyes flashed back to their normal color, her panic swelled.

"I cannot – no, I will not be a puppet. Not again. Not ever!"

You were mine the moment you took human form to hide from The Ascended. You don't have a choice. If you return to Ascended form you will be out of my control but put in their mercy. And tell me, which is worse?

The panic inside of Aja seemed to ebb. Replaced by a struggle to take in air as her heart stopped and sputtered inside her chest.

Now, see what you have done, Mother. You have let your panic overwhelm you.

As the world began to spin and fade around her, Aja heard the child give out an ear piercing scream. Tomin yelling her name and for help were the last things she heard before the world went black.