YCd(CN2)
Chevron Nine Part 2: Y Chadee
Doctor Daniel Jackson stood on a mountaintop that was no less beautiful for its utter baldness. He was at the gates of a grand castle, and was confronted immediately by an old man with one blue eye and one green.
“Bannaghtyn, Daniel Jackson!” the little man greeted him.
“How do you know my name?” Daniel asked.
The man with the mismatched eyes laughed. “It is my business to know, and my task to aid the ailing traveler. How may I be of service?”
The entire setting struck a familiar chord in Daniel. After a moment, he remembered the ancient Celtic myth of Y Chadee, the Everlasting Pearl. He seemed to be in the place of the protagonist, Prince Eshyn. If this was true, he realized, then Y Chadee herself could probably...
“I come in search of a woman,” he said. “She is very dear to me, and is lost. Can you help me find her?”
“I may,” the old man said. “Tell me your story.”
Daniel described what had transpired since SG-1 had arrived on Etrar.
The other stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Hmm, very sad, very sad. I will go inside to think. While I am gone, should the Benrein na Shee happen to pass, conceal yourself. Do not try to speak to her. Do not make your presence known to her.” He turned and disappeared into the castle.
“Now I just have to hope I’ve remembered this story correctly,” Daniel muttered. Unless he’d gotten the myths confused, he had to do exactly the opposite of the old man’s instructions.
He had waited only a few moments when a voice took him by surprise. “You suffer, Daniel Jackson.”
He turned around with a startled, “What?” and found himself facing a woman with hair as black as the purest onyx and eyes the same shade as the sky, and a basket that seemed to be made of light dangling from her arm. He recognized her as the Benrein na Shee, the Queen of the Fairies. But she was supposed to come down the road with her entourage, he thought. Then again, it is just a myth. Maybe she decided not to go her usual way. He didn’t dwell on the issue.
“You are in great pain,” The Fairy Queen observed. “I can tell just by looking at you.”
“If you’re talking about my shoulder, I’ll live. It’s really not that bad.” Yeah, right, said a little voice in the back of his head. He could feel blood trickling down his back: he must have reopened to wound when he’d tried to pull out of Colonel O’Neill’s grip. It hurt just thinking about it.
The Queen placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered a short spell, and to Daniel’s surprise, his injury was completely healed. “Th-thank you,” he stammered.
“You are most welcome. However, it is your heart of which I spoke.”
“Oh.” He proceeded to repeat to her what he had told the old man.
The Fairy Queen nodded, deep in thought, then said, “Come with me. I think I know where she is.”
She led him to the seashore, and stepped out onto the water’s surface. Daniel hesitated only a moment before following her. He was surprised to find that it was much like walking in loose sand. They walked until the mountain had sunk below the horizon, and eventually came upon an island that looked exactly the way Daniel had pictured it when he’d studied the myth. There was a fleet of sailing ships, with odd devices attached to their sails, anchored along the beach.
The Fairy Queen stopped. “Cum dty hengey!” she whispered. Daniel nodded and obediently said nothing.
She indicated another vessel that was dropping its anchor near the shore. “That ship belongs to Yn Shelgeyr Mooar, the great hunter Orion,” she said softly. “Aboard it is his adopted daughter, Y Chadee, the Everlasting Pearl, the most beautiful princess ever to be found in this world and the Otherworld. She is the only one able to help you find this woman you seek.”
“Sha’uri...” Daniel murmured plaintively.
“Bee dty host!” the Queen of the Fairies hushed him. “Y Chadee shall be your wife if your courage does not fail you.”
“But I am already -”
“Hysht! You must keep quiet! If you are spotted, Orion’s men will kill you where you stand.” After a brief pause, she continued, “Your instructions are thus: from the cave of heroes you must take the Slatt yn Ree. Once you have it, do not give it up; it will bring you victory. You will then find a pearl whose beauty is such that it gives off its own light: the symbol of Y Chadee. You must seize this as well. Do not lose it. Finally, you will meet a woman whose loveliness has inspired the greatest poets of the world. She will offer herself in trade for the sword and the pearl. No matter what happens, you must refuse her. If you remember nothing else, remember that.” She pointed down a path that lead from a cliff to the shore. “Follow that road and let nothing stop you.” The Fairy Queen blew into her basket, the light went out, and she vanished. Daniel did not hesitate to begin his journey.
At the end of the cliff path, he found his way blocked by a gate of iron bars. With a bit of fancy wriggling, he was just able to squeeze between them. On the other side was the cave of heroes. Loud music blared from no discernible source, and the soldiers that occupied the cavern - supposedly to guard Slatt yn Ree, the Sword of Orion - drank out of a silver cauldron and gambled with dice. The place was illuminated from the back, the light emanating from the Sword of Orion, also called the Sword of Light, the symbol of all knowledge. It hung so high that Daniel doubted he could reach it.
One of the warriors called out to him. “Welcome, traveler! Come, have a drink!”
“No, thanks,” Daniel responded.
“Then what have you come for, friend?” the drunken soldier asked, his words somewhat slurred.
Daniel almost told them what he wanted, but decided against it. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he said instead.
“Very well. Make yourself at home!” The soldiers laughed loudly, and turned back to their drinking and their games.
In a very short time, the entire host had drunk themselves into sodden sleep. Seizing the opportunity, Daniel stacked as many tables and chairs as he could against the back wall of the cave, and climbed to the top. Moving slowly so as to not overbalance and fall from his precarious perch, he took the Sword of Orion by the hilt, for to come into contact with the blade meant death.
A piercing shriek shattered the silence as a raven cried an alarm. The soldiers awoke, and Daniel, startled, toppled backward off the stack of furniture. He landed flat on his back at the feet of dozens of furious warriors. He closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable death blow, thinking, I’m so sorry, Sha’uri. I’ve failed you again...
When nothing happened, Daniel opened his eyes and saw that the soldiers had drawn back, huddled together as far away from him as they could get. As Daniel stood up, he realized what had frightened them so: he had not lost his grip on Orion’s Sword, and was therefore, according to legend, invincible. Nevertheless, he backed slowly out of the cave, keeping a wary eye on the warriors.
In doing so, he nearly fell to his death.
He turned and stared down into the hall below the precipice on which he stood. Men who had once been warriors, but were now fat and gluttonous, sat at a long table and feasted. The centerpiece on the table was elaborate, and was the resting place of the pearl that lit the entire area. The myth dictated that the pearl would go dark the moment Daniel touched it.
A rope provided the only means of getting down and back up, so Daniel took the hilt of the Sword of Light in his teeth and the rope in his hands. Feeling absurdly like an Indiana Jones wannabe, he jumped.
The rope didn’t burn his hands as he slid down the thirty feet or so to the floor, but the impact as he landed jarred the sword so that he thought it would knock his teeth out. Reflexively, he dropped the magical weapon and brought one hand to his mouth.
The Sword of Light clattered to the stone floor, catching the attention of the revelers. These men, too, invited Daniel to join them, and again he refused, declining to tell them why he was there. Remembering the ingenuity of Prince Eshyn, he held onto the end of the rope until all the soldiers had fallen asleep, then crept silently over to the table and snatched the Everlasting Pearl. The hall was immediately plunged into blackness, and the same blasted raven sounded the alarm again. Daniel hauled himself up the rope as fast as he could, shuddering as he heard the soldiers blindly attacking one another. He was suddenly very glad for the darkness.
He inexplicably found himself at the gates of a grand seaside palace decked out with gold and jewels. The path led inside, so he entered, and was greeted by several young women who offered him “untold pleasures”. Knowing exactly what they meant, Daniel ignored them and entered the adjoining chamber.
Standing with her back to him and staring out the room’s only window was the lady Daniel knew to be the Everlasting Pearl herself. The pearl he carried began to glow once more. “Y Chadee,” he said, “I come seeking your aid. I -”
He cut off as the woman spun abruptly to face him. Shock registered on both faces, and they both spoke simultaneously.
“Dan-yel!”
“Sha’uri?!”
Daniel dropped the sword and the pearl as Sha’uri ran to him. But the moment he abandoned them, their magical properties revealed themselves. Devastatingly.
The pearl shattered like the most delicate glass on impact, and the room went pitch dark. The Sword of Orion plunged into the floor in front of him, cutting deep into the stone with a shower of sparks. A great chasm opened up beneath Daniel’s feet.
Sha’uri screamed as he fell.
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