Author's Note:New chapter here finally. Thanks for the reviews – and yes, I do agree, that the last couple of chapters were rather short and felt like summaries. I'm at a time in my life that I'm just happy to get something out, even if it is bad. This is much better though, because I decided to not do it half-assed and give it a proper length. More A/N at the bottom. Don't forget, leave plenty of reviews!
Chapter 7
Stargate Command
It was only now, once Willow had come into the belly of the mountain, that she noticed that all the side corridors had been closed off. Walking through the belly of the beast; through the facility which existed beneath NORAD, and which was supposedly a deep space telemetry research station, Willow realised that these people were hiding something pretty big. To her surprise, Riley Finn had greeted them at the entrance, and was seeming to be a go-between for both sides. Willow noticed that he was the only one who seemed to know what was going on, on both sides. He had assured the people at the base that Willow, and by default, Peter, didn't pose any serious security risks and that it would probably be beneficial for both parties to sit down somewhere and have a chat. Obviously the military here wanted something from her, or Willow doubted that she and Peter would have been granted access into this place.
As they rounded the corner, Willow could see that they had arrived at their destination, or so she hoped. In the room before her, there was a large conference table with assorted people sitting around it; and from the feelings that she could get from three of them, some not-quite humans too. Willow immediately noticed that the guards, with fairly large guns, were staying out of the room, but standing by the doorway; blocking their exit. Willow could also see that there was another doorway at the other end of the room, but it appeared to lead into an office. She looked to Peter and noticed that he was doing the same as her; assessing their exits. She gave a small nod to him, summarising that she noticed what they'd have to do if they needed an exit. Her attention then immediately turned to the two human like creatures which were sitting at the briefing table. Willow could feel energy radiating off of them, but it was unlike anything she had ever sensed before. She didn't have much more time to pry into these beings as she came across a metaphysical brick wall, one which she guessed had been put up by the beings in question. She decided not to try and get around it, for now. There was one interesting thing she had learned however; these were definitely the creatures which had sought her out when she had been in Cleveland.
"Willow, this is General Landry, the commander of this base. General Landry, this is Willow Rosenberg and Peter Petrelli," Riley Finn stated. Willow eyed the man; he was rather short and plump, but his eyes portrayed a strong intelligence and a sharp brain.
"Hello General," Willow said.
"Good Afternoon General," Peter said as well.
"This is Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, Cameron Mitchell and Teal'c, members of a team based out of this facility," Landry stated. "While this is Lya, Interprid and Tryn of the Nox." Willow nodded and saw Peter do the same. "Please, have a seat," Landry said while gesturing towards two chairs which had been made available. Willow sat, feeling uncomfortable, and quite frankly, like she was back at school and she had just done something bad. She knew in her head that she shouldn't and that she had more of a right to start demanding things than they did, she just needed to convince herself of that now.
"General, I trust you know why we're here?" Willow asked. "Someone from this base tried to locate me with their mind, and started to pry into business which is none of theirs," Willow said before the General could say anything. She was trying to put him off guard; as off-guard as she was now. It was a long time since the Initiative, and she'd had a lot of experience dealing with Riley's new group, but it still didn't ease her fears. Even with Riley present, and unusually silent, her nerves about this military installation were at an all time high. "What I would like to know, is why you were looking for the Slayers, and how you knew what to look for, and how to look personally," Willow said. She was hoping that by just dropping mention of the Slayers into the mix, as she had just done, would throw the General off some more. She saw the General put his hands up in defence and collect his thoughts. She could sense that he was just about to start talking, when one of the Nox began.
"It was not General Landry which sought you or the Slayer out. It was us," Willow guessed. She knew that it was those Nox creatures which sat across the table, she didn't have to be told that; she was guessing that they were under the control of the military, or at least being influenced by them. "We did it of our own accord, in order to help General Landry and the people of this facility; help which they asked us for," Lya said. "We are seeking information pertaining to Wolfram and Hart, a multi-dimensional organisation which is very powerful. The people of this facility were having no luck with their information systems, so we thought we'd try to track down the current Slayer, hoping that she would have some information. Instead, to our surprise, we found that there were thousands of them, and that each one of them was connected to you," Lya of the Nox said. It was a lot said at once, but Willow managed to digest all the information and processes it. For some reason, this organisation was seeking out Wolfram and Hart, which was never a good thing. They used their allies, whoever they were; probably beings from another dimension, to try to track down a lead, the Slayer, who they could ask about the current status of Wolfram and Hart.
"Why are you seeking out Wolfram and Hart?" Willow asked. She didn't know if they were trying to make an alliance with them, or if they'd stumbled into Wolfram and Hart's operations, or vice versa. If they were seeking out Wolfram and Hart for, pleasant reasons, there might be something that Willow and the Watchers Council would have to do about it. After all, they were getting ready to launch a multi-dimensional war against Wolfram and Hart; the last thing they needed was Wolfram and Hart influencing the military on their back doorstep against them.
"A number of days ago, a creature called Illyria visited this facility and managed, from what we could tell, to travel to her homeworld. When we discovered this fact, we were most alarmed as our race was involved in imprisoning the Old Ones inside the Deeper Well. We came here to investigate, and to offer assistance to locate Illyria and determine whether she posed a significant threat," Interprid of the Nox explained. Willow was busy simultaneously digesting this information, and communicating with Peter through his telepathic powers at the same time.
"Who's Illyria? Do you know what's going on?" Peter asked telepathically.
"Stop. These Nox will probably be able to hear everything we say in here. Shut your mind down and don't let anything leave that you don't want to. From what I can tell, this is a very dangerous situation we're in at the moment."Willow replied. If these Nox creatures had been involved in imprisoning the Old Ones in the Deeper Well, it would make their race very old and very powerful.
"You said Illyria managed to travel to her homeworld?" Willow asked. "Why would she do that from here and not anywhere else? If she had the power to open a portal, she could have done it from anywhere," Willow stated. Willow saw that everyone who was in a military uniform in the room immediately went on guard with that statement. She could also see that no one was answering and that they were hiding something.
"This facility has a device called a Stargate which opens a wormhole to other Stargates, situated on differing planets, throughout a number of galaxies," Riley Finn said. "Illyria used the Stargate to travel to her homeworld," he further explained. Willow could see the General, as well as the rest of the military people, glaring at Riley. If what he said were true, it would have amazing implications for life on Earth.
'So you're saying that you can go to other planets?" Willow asked.
"Yes," Willow saw the man with glasses, who seemed to give off less of a military vibe, say. She knew that she'd been introduced to him, but couldn't remember his name at the moment.
"And Illyria's gone through this device, which lets you go to other planets, to her homeworld?" Willow asked again, making sure that she was getting it all right. Again, the man with glasses nodded. "I'd say just leave her there," Willow said. She saw that a number of people, including the Nox, were giving her a confused look.
"Illyria was pretty harmless when she came to us. Well, not harmless, she could have killed us all if she wanted to, but she didn't. She didn't want to. She seemed fairly bored when she came to us. I think that if you go chasing her across the galaxy, which I'm still trying to wrap my head around that you can do that, that'll just make her mad and come after you, especially if you were involved in trapping her kind in the Deeper Well," Willow said.
"We were not trying to apprehend her. We were merely going to seek her out and discern whether she was a threat to life in this galaxy," Lya said. That seemed fair enough to Willow, but she was doubting the Nox' intentions.
"Why don't you do that? You have a device to transport you to the same place she went to, then why not go there and determine whether she is a threat?" Peter Petrelli asked.
"The gate that Illyria travelled to is locked. There is also an impenetrable barrier spanning thousands of light years surrounding the area of space that she went to. We believe it was created by the Old Ones eons ago, before life as we know it came to this galaxy," Tryn of the Nox replied. "We learned that Wolfram and Hart played a role in Illyria's resurrection. We were trying to determine how Illyria was brought into this world, and what her current state of mind was, so that we could determine whether she was a threat or not," she added.
"Well, I can tell you her state of mind," Willow said. She looked to everyone, who were all looking at her with interest. "As I said before, she doesn't really want to harm anyone. She is trapped inside a body which was much, much, much less powerful than hers before, and she is merely looking for ways to stifle the so-called 'boredom'. When we last communicated with her, she was still upholding a promise she had made to her mentor that she wouldn't harm humans, unless necessary," Willow said.
"When was this?" Interprid of the Nox queried.
"About three years ago," Willow stated. "I'm guessing that she travelled back to her homeworld to escape the boredom of the slime beneath her feet which now dominates Earth," Willow said. She noticed that there were various people who were looking at her strangely. "It's what she calls humans," Willow elaborated. There was a short silence in the room as everyone dwelled upon what had been said in the discussion.
"Willow, is it in your opinion that Illyria may side with this Wolfram and Hart organisation at some time?" the General asked her. It was a good question, and Willow could tell that the General was trying to determine whether Illyria may be used as a direct threat against them in the future.
"I doubt that," Willow replied. "As I just said, Illyria views humanity as the 'slime beneath her feet'. If we're slime, then Illyria sees Wolfram and Hart as ants," Willow explained. She knew that Illyria probably didn't view them so small now, once her power was drained, but she wasn't going to let this facility know that. It was up to the Watchers Council to deal with Wolfram and Hart, not these people. Even if they dealt with aliens, as Riley had said, they weren't ready for Wolfram and Hart, not yet. But, perhaps, recruiting these Nox onto their cause – to wage a multi-dimensional war against Wolfram and Hart, and win – would be beneficial. She'd have to consult with the senior staff once she went back.
"Peter Petrelli. I understand why Willow is here. It was her that sensed our probe into the Slayer. But, I am unaware of why you are here?" Lya of the Nox asked. Willow was put off a bit by that question, it had been thrown at Peter out of the blue, and she could see him trying to come up with an answer.
'You know, I'm just here along for the ride," Peter said.
"I can sense that there's a slight anomaly with your physiology," Interprid of the Nox said to him. Willow knew that this was not good. Peter really didn't want this government to know about the special humans out there, especially the fact that, according to Peter, he was one of the most powerful of them. Willow reached out with her senses and started to build an invisible, magical shield around Peter in an attempt to cloak him from these Nox.
"Yeah, well, I was dropped on my head when I was young," Peter replied. Willow could see the Nox' attention had turned from Peter to her, obviously because of the fact that she was shielding Peter.
"General. We've all had a large amount of information land in each of our laps. I'm still trying to get over the fact that aliens are real and that you can go to other planets. Can Peter and I have a minute please?" Willow stated.
"Yes, of course. I suggest we reconvene here in an hour. Willow, Peter, the guards will show you to somewhere where you can talk in private," the General said. With that, Willow and Peter got up and left the briefing room.
Kobol
Illyria stood, watching the ascended beings approach her. She could sense that these ascended beings were not the same beings which had ascended from Earth, the Ancients, as the tau'ri called them. She knew that physically, these ascended beings could rip her to shreds, but once they breached her shell, the five of them would have a hard time trying to attack her life essence, what little of that remained inside the shell. It was for that reason that Illyria was not considering tactical moves against them. She watched as the five ascended beings took human form in front of her. She opened up her mind just a little, allowing the ascended to communicate with her.
"You are not permitted to enter the tomb of the Gods," they said telepathically to Illyria in unison.
"And who are you to stop me, ascended," Illyria replied.
"We are the priests of the final five, the final Lords of Kobol, last rulers of the primordium,"the ascended replied.
"I am Illyria, ruler of the primordium. Tell me what has happened here," Illyria replied, opening her mind a bit more and projecting her recent memories to the ascended beings, allowing them to know that she told them the truth. In turn, the ascended did likewise, showing her what had happened to the Old Ones which were currently imprisoned.
Illyria was not surprised to find that in-fighting had began amongst the Old Ones who had come to Kobol around 10,000 years ago to escape imprisonment within the Deeper Well. At the height of this conflict, which had been reflected in the human tribes which worshiped the Old Ones, one of the Old Ones attempted to breach the barrier surrounding this area of space and inform the alliance between the Ancients, Nox, Asgard and Furlings of their location, in order to get rid of the other Old Ones a as the thirteenth, Iblis, fled and survived. This had been discovered and stopped. The retribution from the other Old Ones had been swift, and Iblis had been destroyed. Humanity had united and as one, had banished the thirteenth tribe from Kobol, transporting them back to Earth, stripping their technology, and preventing them from returning to Kobol again. The twelve tribes had then returned to Kobol, but not long after, in-fighting had began between the twelve remaining Old Ones, and humanity decided to part ways with their lords. During the peak of the conflict, during the death of Athena and Artemis, humanity fled for twelve distant worlds to escape the conflict. In-fighting between the Lords of Kobol continued until there were only seven remaining. They were dying, having been exhausted in the in-fighting. They had created priests in their image, the ascended beings which were located in front of Illyria, to act as caretakers for their own tombs. It was during this time that the Senior Partners themselves of the Wolf, Ram and Hart, as well as The First Evil, had managed to gain access to Kobol. They had been advised by the tribe which had returned to Earth of the location of Kobol and the last remaining Old Ones. A brutal conflict between the Old Ones, the armies of the Wolf, Ram and Hart, The First Evil, and the Senior Partners had ensued. The seven priests of the Lords of Kobol were reduced to five, and the Lords themselves were imprisoned within the tomb, Wolf, Ram and the Hart using a concept similar to the Deeper Well. Illyria was surprised that the Old Ones succumbed to the Wolf, Ram and Hart so easily, however she remembered that they were, according to Illyria, the weakest of the Old Ones, and they had been weakened already. Illyria then saw that the Senior Partners had cast powerful magics on the tomb, preventing the Old Ones from resurrection into any form. Illyria then saw that the Senior Partners had effectively neutered the five remaining priests of the Lords of Kobol, preventing them from interfering with humanity on any level. The priests had found a way around this, when they discovered intelligent, self-aware mechanical constructs, created by humanity, experimenting with biological technology. The priests had allowed these mechanical constructs to progress their technology, and had split their own consciousness into two; one remaining with the ascended being, and one being inserted into the first five models of bio-mechanical constructs which had been created, thus allowing the ascended beings to interact with humanity directly.
This brought great hope to Illyria. There were surviving individuals of her race left, even though they were imprisoned within the tomb in front of her and protected by powerful magics. There was nothing that she could do about the magics, she was an Old One, once the most powerful Old One in her known existence, however she was restricted by the usefulness of her shell, and her shell did not have any natural ability for magic. Sure, she could manipulate time, increase her senses, and open portals, but those were Illyria's inherent abilities. The skills needed to break the spells binding the remaining Old Ones, were not currently available to herself. There was only one being she knew of which might have a chance at breaking the magical seals; the read-headed witch which was aligned with the Slayers on Earth. If she were not able to breach the seals, then Illyria would search the galaxy for another being who could.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay in posting a new chapter, the "Kobol" bit took me weeks to come up with. I'm personally not happy with it – I came up with a scenario which had EVERY fandom fitting in with the Old Ones/Lords of Kobol's exodus/death from Kobol, but that was right before I went to sleep. I woke up the next day, not able to remember what I had come up with, and have been spending the last 3 weeks trying to no avail. What's above isn't it, but it will do! Oh, by the way, I have a way to fit in the origin of the "heroes" into the Old Ones/Lords of Kobol death / humanity's exodus from Kobol – keep reading in thenext few chapters to find out what it is! Leave plenty of reviews! Cheers!