Brave New World, Part 3: Keys of Fate

I raise my flags, don my clothes
It's a revolution, I suppose
We're painted red to fit right in
All systems go, the sun hasn't died
Deep in my bones, straight from inside
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age...

"Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons

1500 years ago...

"It is done." The dark-haired woman stated. Other beings of light gathered around and seemed satisfied. "Moros and the weapon he was working on have been dealt with." What she didn't tell the other Ascended beings was that, while she had destroyed the sword in the laboratory under the hill of Glastonbury...she had not destroyed Moros, nor had she removed all traces of the research. It was not their place to interfere, nor to create any semblance of weapons, on their path to higher enlightenment. After seeing the reason Moros was working in secret, Ganos Lal began to understand why.

There was no reason to suspect that the Ori would find this galaxy. They had taken measures before the Ori and the Alterans had split their culture; each on their own journey to Ascension, to protect this place from them. It was to be a final sanctuary to the greatest race the universe would have ever known. Unfortunately, some of the humans had gained enough power, and had slaughtered nearly all who remained of the proud race.

She left, feeling a sense of guilt wash over her. The last remnants of anything that could destroy the Ori, if they ever discovered this place...were now gone.

"...Not as gone as you might think." Someone said, as if reading her thoughts.

Ganos Lal chided herself. She was usually much more cautious about guarding her thoughts. She turned towards the voice. While their Ascended form had no actual substance, she could see the echo of his former body in her mind. His black hair, dark eyes, and easy smile put to rest any fears that she might be discovered.

"I know I am new to this form, and being among your people, but I witnessed glimpses of the future, when I stepped through the Veil between worlds. The storm will gather, and precautions must be taken to stop it."

"We are not like the Ori. We cannot interfere in the lives of those who have yet to reach Enlightenment."

"...But, what if it means giving a chance to the ones who taught you how to Ascend in the first place?" He smiled and held his hands out to the side, or he would have, if he still had a physical body.

Ganos Lal gave him a curious look. "What do you know about them?"

"Only that there may be one who still exists."

"Impossible. The last of their kind recently perished. If only, I had not destroyed the sangraal Moros was working on..." She steeled her resolve. "...but the specimen he had was tainted. If I did not get rid of it, and someone found it..."

"What if I told you, I know where a similar item is, but without the taint of darkness of the one Moros was working on."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. Had anyone else said that to her, she would have thought it was a trick to reveal her true feelings on the matter. "If it is true...then it must be found and..."

"Protected?"

"There is no way we would be able to guard such a secret, without the Others finding out."

The Ascended man began moving away. "I knew a man, once. A good man...honorable and noble. He was touched by the magic of something the druids of this world called the 'Cup of Life.'"

"The druids are wise for ones so young. The Nox did well in teaching them how to use the items they needed. But, I don't see how that could help us now."

He shrugged, "They are the Guardians of many items of power, as a friend once taught me."

Ganos Lal glanced around and moved closer to him, as if to whisper, although they needed no voices to communicate. "Tell me what you know, Lancelot."

(*~*~*~*)

Bodies littered the field. Blood ran together. Gauls and Brits...there was nothing to differentiate between the two. Nothing was in the rivers of red, flowing and swirling, unending across the plains of the foreign land, to say 'This was my comrade,' or 'That was my enemy.' Even the cloaks they wore...the tabards and tunic over their chests...showed only the color of blood.

The flags and banners were ripped and shredded. Scavengers feasted on the rotting flesh. 'They should be feasting on me,' he thought. Slowly, he rolled himself over to face the sky. A shadow fell across him.

"Lancelot?" He knew in that moment that he had died. The blond warrior expected...he wasn't sure what he expected when he met his final battle...but the stench of the corpses and the blood on his face, were not among those thoughts. "Have you come to guide me?"

"Yes, my friend...Just not to where you expect."

Leon gasped at his former comrade, thinking for a brief moment about the traitor he knew, when he last saw the man. "Merlin told me...years later, that it wasn't your choice."

Lancelot shook his head, and watched the knight rise to his feet. He turned and began walking away. Leon thought it strange how Lancelot glided, more than walked. The dead man's clothing stayed unsoiled, as he passed among the fallen.

"Do you still believe in Arthur, the Round Table, and what it all stood for?"

"Always." Leon responded without hesitation.

"Will you still be able to hold that faith in a time so far into the future, you can't even imagine it?"

Leon stopped, and gazed upon his friend. "I once told Arthur, I would ride into the Mouth of Hell for him."

"That is what you may need to do. First, however, you must find the sangraal."

"The Cup of Life?" He asked, thinking this was some form of trickery. The moment the doubt entered his mind, however, it was gone. Deep inside, he knew what the other man spoke, was true.

Lancelot chuckled softly, a sound that sent shivers down Leon's spine. "Things are not meant quite as literal as they seem. The Cup is safe. What you must find, is the other piece of the puzzle. For every chalice among those who seek balance, there is an opposing force."

The blond knight pondered the riddle. After the king had fallen at Camlann, and Leon had learned the truth about Merlin, he became more intrigued by the world of the druids. They had healed him with the Cup of Life, and afterwards he had wanted to know more. In their sacred rituals, they always had a bowl, or a cup, to symbolize the feminine aspect of the world...a balance to the blades with which men used to fight. "Arthur's sword."

"Find it. Protect it...until he returns...though the wait may be long."

"I'll have Merlin show..."

"No. I'm sorry, my friend, but this is a journey you must make alone. More may be at stake than you could ever imagine. Merlin, has his own path he must follow."

He drew a breath through his nose, and immediately regretted it. The sun had risen high, and the stench of the fallen assaulted him. He pushed passed the sudden nausea. "Very well."

He found himself standing beside a lake, months after his conversation with Lancelot's spirit. His hair and beard had grown out, until he resembled a hermit in the mountains, rather than a groomed noble. His clothing and armor were in serious disrepair. Leon had taken care to avoid running across anyone he knew, or who might recognize him, as per Lancelot's instructions. He questioned his sanity quite often, but something in his heart kept him believing in the Sacred Quest.

The overcast sky of winter threatened to be his doom, if he stayed out in the elements much longer. White-capped waves danced over the surface of the once serene water. He took a step towards the edge, wondering how he was supposed to retrieve a sword from its depths.

Thunder crashed in the clouds above. Lightning lit the area. He shielded his eyes from the blinding strikes.

When he opened them, a sword, untouched by the passage of time in the depths of the water, had washed up upon the rocks at his feet.

He bent to retrieve it and was immediately engulfed in a sparkling cascade of light. It was as if the Heavens had awoken and were shining down on him in the middle of the storm, offering him their blessing. Leon closed his eyes in reverence.

The sounds of the maelstrom quieted around him. The air felt warm and inviting. His breath, for the first time in years, came smooth and clean, without the stench of war or funeral pyres.

Blue-gray eyes opened, and he gasped in shock, falling backwards, when he tripped over his own feet. A creature stood before him. Large black eyes blinked slowly. The frail body was naked, but yet held no discernable hint as to its gender. A sizable egg-shaped head, with no real nose, had only two tiny gaps for nostrils above a slit for a mouth. Its ears resembled acorn caps more than anything else. A spindly hand, with webbing between the fingers, motioned for him to follow.

"Come, Sir Leon, Knight of the Round Table, you have much to learn for your journey. I am Heimdall, of the Asgard High Council." The voice sounded metallic and strained, but Leon decided it was more feminine than anything else.

A million questions raced through his mind, and he couldn't seem to settled on a particular one to ask.

Heimdall blinked at him again. "I will try to answer as much as I can. I was asked, by a very old friend, to assist you at the beginning of your journey. The rest will be up to you."

AN: So there you have it...alien intervention and a hint at things to come. :)

Amazing thanks as always to Nance and Icarus for the flow and proofreading.

IcarusLSU: hehe thanks, now keep your mouth shut! LOL

Guest 1: hmmm I'm not even sure what I'm up to. Thanks for the heads up on my canon errors! I went back and edited that part to fix it. (don't know how I messed that part up.)

CarolynneRuth: At this point in the SG canon, the Goa'uld are a minor factor...there's bigger baddies on the horizon!

FeedtheFlames: hope this little chapter answered your question hehe More to come!

Guest 2: Thank you so much! Hope I don't disappoint!

Nance: I need to find a vid of the replicators and send it to you LOL I don't like repeating things hehe so Leon has his own unique way of getting to the future hehe

Tholey: HAHAH OMG you crack me up! I just love reading your reviews, you have no idea! Yeah...I realized the Asgard mess up...but they have a strong protective presence in the Milky Way. So, I'm not to worried about that, besides it's a neighboring galaxy...just up the block so to speak LOL. OH you are gonna die with what I have planned. muwhahaha

TiP: thanks! Hope this update comes through for you! I know a lot of people were having that issue.

Nicey: Still working on the Elyan angle, as for Lancelot...well...he's still around hehe

Thank you all for reading, favoriting and following this story! *air kisses* to all you wonderful reviewers!