Fic: Untitled
Title: Untitled
Author: deaniebtvs
For: missyvortexdv
Standing on a balcony of the City of the Ancestors, I stare at the dark sky, warming my hands with my mug of tea. Our traditional Athosian beverage is much easier to make here on Atlantis, though it loses something in the transition to 'modern' technology. It is the same, but somehow also not the same. Much like myself.
My life has changed so dramatically since the visitors from Atlantis have come to my home world. If I had known that their presence would be the beginning of a new life for all of us….
But I did not. My gifts do not extend to seeing the future… and if they did… what would I have done? Would I have told them to return to their planet, sparing everyone from the danger that came when the people from Earth woke the Wraith early? That would have been the easy thing to do, to let life go on as it always had been.
Though, nothing in my life has ever been easy. So, most likely, I would have done nothing differently. I welcomed Major Shepherd and his people to our village, simultaneously sealing our doom and opening up a new world of possibilities for my people. All the while knowing that we would be soon leaving the land - the planet - of our ancestors behind.
I do not regret giving up life with my people. I truly believe what I told Ronan - Atlantis is the single best hope our galaxy has to finally defeat the Wraith once and for all. They have already done more to stop the Wraith than any civilization I have known. The technology of the ancestors and the strong will of their descendants will one day make this galaxy safe for all people. Of that, I am certain. One day, the threat of the Wraith will be eliminated, in no small part because of the people of this city.
So I remain on Atlantis, a lone Athosian in a city of people who are anything but.
To do whatever is necessary to protect my people... the principle my father has ingrained in my mind since I was but a small child, to prepare me for the leadership of my people. My father told me to be brave, to defend my village even at the cost of my life. To use my gifts, my ability to sense the Wraith, to the advantage of our people.
I have been brave, as my father instructed, though the results have been far different than anything I could imagine.
I sometimes wonder what he would say if he saw me now. Living among the people of Earth in the City of the Ancestors. Using their weapons and technology, exploring other planets, living a life he never could have dreamt of. Would he be proud of me for going farther than any Athosian has before, for being an ambassador of our people to the people of Earth? Or would he be ashamed that I have left my people behind in the attempt to finally defeat the Wraith once and for all?
Some nights, I wish more than anything that he were here for me to talk with. What I would not give to have his counsel through the difficult times. But he is long gone. And I am the last Emmagen left.
If I am honest with myself, I would admit that perhaps I do regret leaving my people, just a little. No, that statement is not entirely accurate. What I regret is that I cannot both remain as the leader of my people, and fight for the freedom of the galaxy along with the people of Atlantis. I regret that I must give up one life to have the other.
During my visits to the Athosian village on the mainland, I am greeted warmly, but it is not the same as before. I no longer speak for my people - that task has fallen to Halling in my stead. I no longer live with my people, nor work by their side. I am different now. No longer truly Athosian.
Neither am I truly one of the Atlantians. To them, I am an 'alien,' and while people like Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard trust me, others do not. Especially now, knowing about my connection to the Wraith.
There will always be people like Sergeant Bates, who believe that I am giving information to the Wraith - either with my assistance or against my will. Those who even go so far to believe that the Wraith can control me, use me against the people who have given me shelter among them.
My greatest fear is that they are not wrong. My connection to the Wraith has been beneficial to Atlantis so far, but I have not explored the full depths of that connection. What if it is possible for the Wraith to control me? To cause me to be a danger to my friends on Atlantis?
For as much as the Earth people in the city are the greatest hope our galaxy has to permanently stop the Wraith, I sometimes wish they had not come. Life was much simpler when the main challenge in my life was making sure we had a successful harvest. When I saw the good in our neighbors, like the Genii, rather than looking upon them with suspicion and fear.
If they had not come, would the Wraith still have awoken during my lifetime?
Normally, I try not to think about things such as this. But something about this night has made me quite pensive. Perhaps it is simply that for once, I have time to stand in the night air and think. To sip my tea and wonder about the universe.
When morning dawns, a new threat may be upon us. The Wraith, the Genii, or people from the many worlds in this galaxy we have yet to explore. Danger will come, I am sure of that. We will once again be fighting for our very survival.
But for now, I stand, enjoying the breeze and a hot cup of tea, thinking on what was before, what is this day, and what will be to come.
Author: deaniebtvs
For: missyvortexdv
Standing on a balcony of the City of the Ancestors, I stare at the dark sky, warming my hands with my mug of tea. Our traditional Athosian beverage is much easier to make here on Atlantis, though it loses something in the transition to 'modern' technology. It is the same, but somehow also not the same. Much like myself.
My life has changed so dramatically since the visitors from Atlantis have come to my home world. If I had known that their presence would be the beginning of a new life for all of us….
But I did not. My gifts do not extend to seeing the future… and if they did… what would I have done? Would I have told them to return to their planet, sparing everyone from the danger that came when the people from Earth woke the Wraith early? That would have been the easy thing to do, to let life go on as it always had been.
Though, nothing in my life has ever been easy. So, most likely, I would have done nothing differently. I welcomed Major Shepherd and his people to our village, simultaneously sealing our doom and opening up a new world of possibilities for my people. All the while knowing that we would be soon leaving the land - the planet - of our ancestors behind.
I do not regret giving up life with my people. I truly believe what I told Ronan - Atlantis is the single best hope our galaxy has to finally defeat the Wraith once and for all. They have already done more to stop the Wraith than any civilization I have known. The technology of the ancestors and the strong will of their descendants will one day make this galaxy safe for all people. Of that, I am certain. One day, the threat of the Wraith will be eliminated, in no small part because of the people of this city.
So I remain on Atlantis, a lone Athosian in a city of people who are anything but.
To do whatever is necessary to protect my people... the principle my father has ingrained in my mind since I was but a small child, to prepare me for the leadership of my people. My father told me to be brave, to defend my village even at the cost of my life. To use my gifts, my ability to sense the Wraith, to the advantage of our people.
I have been brave, as my father instructed, though the results have been far different than anything I could imagine.
I sometimes wonder what he would say if he saw me now. Living among the people of Earth in the City of the Ancestors. Using their weapons and technology, exploring other planets, living a life he never could have dreamt of. Would he be proud of me for going farther than any Athosian has before, for being an ambassador of our people to the people of Earth? Or would he be ashamed that I have left my people behind in the attempt to finally defeat the Wraith once and for all?
Some nights, I wish more than anything that he were here for me to talk with. What I would not give to have his counsel through the difficult times. But he is long gone. And I am the last Emmagen left.
If I am honest with myself, I would admit that perhaps I do regret leaving my people, just a little. No, that statement is not entirely accurate. What I regret is that I cannot both remain as the leader of my people, and fight for the freedom of the galaxy along with the people of Atlantis. I regret that I must give up one life to have the other.
During my visits to the Athosian village on the mainland, I am greeted warmly, but it is not the same as before. I no longer speak for my people - that task has fallen to Halling in my stead. I no longer live with my people, nor work by their side. I am different now. No longer truly Athosian.
Neither am I truly one of the Atlantians. To them, I am an 'alien,' and while people like Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard trust me, others do not. Especially now, knowing about my connection to the Wraith.
There will always be people like Sergeant Bates, who believe that I am giving information to the Wraith - either with my assistance or against my will. Those who even go so far to believe that the Wraith can control me, use me against the people who have given me shelter among them.
My greatest fear is that they are not wrong. My connection to the Wraith has been beneficial to Atlantis so far, but I have not explored the full depths of that connection. What if it is possible for the Wraith to control me? To cause me to be a danger to my friends on Atlantis?
For as much as the Earth people in the city are the greatest hope our galaxy has to permanently stop the Wraith, I sometimes wish they had not come. Life was much simpler when the main challenge in my life was making sure we had a successful harvest. When I saw the good in our neighbors, like the Genii, rather than looking upon them with suspicion and fear.
If they had not come, would the Wraith still have awoken during my lifetime?
Normally, I try not to think about things such as this. But something about this night has made me quite pensive. Perhaps it is simply that for once, I have time to stand in the night air and think. To sip my tea and wonder about the universe.
When morning dawns, a new threat may be upon us. The Wraith, the Genii, or people from the many worlds in this galaxy we have yet to explore. Danger will come, I am sure of that. We will once again be fighting for our very survival.
But for now, I stand, enjoying the breeze and a hot cup of tea, thinking on what was before, what is this day, and what will be to come.