"You've never heard of a Priors staff? Would one of your people know about it?" Xander asked.
"Xander, I'm sorry to say there are currently only two Alterans in existence. Myself and my wife and first officer, Corda. She's an earlier incarnation of Cordelia."
"Makes sense, we're soulmates after all. So if you don't know, then you're sure she doesn't know either."
"I am. We can scan Atlantis' database and see if there's any mention in the archives. It will only take a few minutes. Let me just call the control room."
"Go ahead." Xander sighed and sat down. To come so close and feel so far away. Cordelia sat besides him. They didn't need to say anything.
"I'm sorry, Xander." Alexander said. "There's nothing in the database about anything called a Priors staff. So let's figure out what happened."
"I was thinking hard about Alterans. The control device had been damaged. We ended up in a couple of wrong realities. Once it was repaired, I wanted to make sure we ended up where we needed to be."
"You simply stated Alterans, well there are alot of realities where Alterans exist. You needed to be little more specific. Try saying a reality with Alterans and Priors staff. See if that gets you to a good reality."
"Alright. Wait, did you say Atlantis? And we're underwater?"
"Yes, we're in the Lost City of Atlantis. My people built it and told the people of Earth about it."
"Wow." Both Xander and Cordelia said. Xander held the control in one hand and Cordelia's in the other. "A realty with Alterans and Priors staff." A electric tingle and the world shifted.
"You speak well Daniel Jackson of Earth." They heard a voice say. "What is a god? What power is great enough to make you bow down in reverence?"
"That's the one that tried to burn us to death...twice." A female voice said.
"There's only one measure. The only question you may ask yourself is why must I believe? What is there for any and all to gain by choosing the Path of Origin? Those seeking eternal salvation can follow the word of the Ori. Those that do not shall die as mortals. It is as simple as that. The day of reckoning approaches. Your destiny awaits." The original voice said.
"We are so dead." The female voice said.
"Excuse me? Could someone tell me what the Hell is going on here?!" Xander asked.
"Why would he try to burn you?" Cordelia asked.
"We refused to worship their gods." The woman said. "Who are you?"
"I too would like an answer to that question." The original man said. He looked weirdly scarred.
"My name is Alexander Harris of Earth, just like him apparently. This is my girlfriend, Cordelia. We're having a very strange week and it seems to have gotten alot stranger. Now I'm use to strange, so you can understand, it would have to be really strange to stand out."
"Be gone." The strange man said and waved his hand sending Xander flying a couple hundred feet away and landing hard on the rock.
"Do you see what happens to unbelievers? They die."
"You sure about that?" Cordelia asked, she didn't look upset by her boyfriend being flung around like that. The man pointed his staff at her and it glowed, sending a blast of fire at her. To both her shock and everyone else's, she shimmered out of the way and reappeared a few feet away, just as Xander walked up.
"That's the second time someone killed me in the last couple of days. Dying's a bitch."
The man looked astonished and then recovered quickly. "You see the power of the gods, this man was dead and the Ori revived him."
"No, they didn't." Xander told him. "Your Ori had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm alive. No matter how many times you kill me, I'll just keep coming back. You know what I think? I don't think these Ori are actually gods. I think they just like pretending."
"They are gods!" The man insisted.
"Prove it. Have them appear right here in front of us. Where are your gods? And what are you anyway?"
"I am a Prior of the Ori, blasphemer!"
"Oh, then you have something we need."
"What?" The Prior asked.
"Your staff. Mind if I borrow it? It's the last thing we need to deal with this thing back home."
Daniel Jackson and SG 1 could only at stare at the teenagers dressed like Earth kids who just walked up and started taunting the Prior.
"How is he alive and how did she teleport like that?"
"Some kind of technology we haven't encountered yet." Colonel Mitchell, head of SG 1 answered.
"Your blasphemy has diseased your minds."
"Actually, you're the one who looks diseased." The young man said.
"Seriously, do you have a mirror?" The young woman asked. "Cause he's right, you do look like you're diseased."
"Begone!" The Prior roared and the staff glowed brighter then ever and he aimed it at them. Flames seemed to engulf them and the girl shimmered away again. The young man flung out his own hand and the flames just froze in mid air.
"What's that expression? Oh yeah, anything you can do, I can do better. Stop trying to kill us, please. It's not going to get you anywhere. So, you didn't answer my question, can I borrow your staff?"
"No!" And shot another blast at Xander.
"Okay, I'm no longer amused. I guess you don't want to stop trying to kill us. So that means I have to make you." Xander ran forward and jumped, landing on the Prior and knocking him to the ground. He let go of the staff and Xander raised his hands up and to the horror of SG 1 stabbed a knife down in to the Prior's body. It began to glow and then he stood back up. The Prior lay on the ground for a moment and then slowly stood up. He reached for his staff and nothing happened.
"My powers! You took my powers! How? My powers are a gift from the Ori. From the gods."
"And I just proved they're not gods. Would I have been able to take your powers if they were? I'm not a god and neither are they. Looks like you don't need your staff anymore. Spoils of war and all that." Xander picked it up. "Yep, last piece of the puzzle. A week, six realities and now we can finally go home and finish this."