Hi, all!
I've really been working on Emma Chance's story. This is sort of a lead-up to it.
I'm writing Emma's story as if BBC was actually going to use it as their next few seasons. If you've read "Meet Emma Chance" (this story makes sense without reading it first, so you don't have to if you don't want to), you know that she travels with the Thirteenth Doctor, so obviously something needs to happen to Twelve and Clara. This is what happens before Thirteen becomes Thirteen, basically, and it also clears up why you won't be seeing Clara too much anymore, not to mention offers you a few teasers as to what will happen...
So, hope you enjoy! This shouldn't take me too long.
Wait. I just jinxed myself. Shit. *sigh* Ah, well, on with the story!
Oh, yeah...
Welcome to Hypawaria! ;)
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." -John F. Kennedy
"The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class—it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity." -Anna Julia Cooper
Clara was lost. For a moment, it was as if all the colors in the universe had collided into the beautiful marketplace that Clara stood in the center of. Multicolored scarves that were almost completely see through hung between buildings and mostly hid the light turquoise sky. Wide cobblestone streets wound in and out of each other to create a maze full of what looked like people but were probably aliens of some sort. Everyone in the crowd seemed to be moving in a different direction, but everyone was smiling, and talk and laughter overwhelmed Clara's ears. They all seemed to have the same straight, white-blonde hair, pale complexion, and tall, slender build; some looked slightly different than the usual mold, but they all looked like they had come from the same family.
A planet of supermodels, Clara thought. There really is no limit, is there?
"This is Yakartil," the Doctor said. "It's an annual week of celebration on Hypawaria to remember the past rulers and the history of the planet."
Clara wished she could fly, so she could float in the breezy, pleasant air with the scarves and see the beautiful scene around her from above. As she walked away from the TARDIS, a woman danced her way through the crowd with a leather pouch in her hand.
"Welcome to Hypawaria!" she said to Clara with a smile on her face when she caught her eye. She reached into her pouch and handed Clara a golden token about the size of a pound coin with a jet black stone in the center. Then, the woman danced off into the crowd again.
Clara turned around to see if the Doctor was coming, but instead her eyes were drawn to a statue of a young woman holding an infant while standing on a wooden crate. She looked like she was yelling. The stone statue was as black as the stone in Clara's coin.
"Queen Emma the Ethereal," the Doctor said. "One of the best rulers of Hypawaria to date. Only one close to being as good a ruler was Queen Esther-Maria the Brave."
"She doesn't look very happy," Clara said, her eyebrows raised.
"Apparently, the baby in her arms was one she found abandoned on the street. The Hypawarians used to be extremely racist, and the girl had mixed blood. Queen Emma eventually ended the prejudice, but it took her almost sixty years."
"Wow," Clara said. "Is she still alive?"
"Definitely not," the Doctor said. "She disappeared in a Dalek attack almost two hundred Hypawarian years ago. Three hundred human years."
"So, who's ruling now?" Clara asked.
"That would be Queen Kida," the Doctor said. "She's known as one of the most reclusive queens of Hypawarian history, but she'll be known later as one of the strongest female rulers in the galaxy."
Clara jumped as a man with long, straight white-blonde hair seemingly appeared from nowhere in front of them. The man was in gleaming white armor with golden swirling designs on it, and he held what seemed to be an ancient document in his hand.
The man unrolled the parchment, held it up to the light, and squinted closely at it. He then turned his eyes to the TARDIS.
"That's it," he murmured to himself.
"Sorry, but what are you talking about?" Clara asked.
The man looked at her closely. "That box. Surely you know—"
"We're from out of town," the Doctor said.
The guard squinted again, his icy blue eyes narrow slits in his pale face. "That's what this paper says you'd say, Doctor. Come with me. The queen will be happy to meet you."
"Reclusive, huh?" Clara asked. "She seems to go out of her way to greet people."
"Some greeting," the Doctor mumbled as he moved his wrists just enough to make the golden handcuffs jingle.
"Well, she's royalty," Clara reasoned. "She's got to have good security, right?"
"Wait here," the guard said as he opened a tall, narrow door with an ornate golden key.
"Not like we're going anywhere with your sonic gone," Clara said. "How did they know about that, anyway?"
"They knew about the TARDIS, too," the Doctor said. "My key is gone."
"How?"
"That parchment had a full description of both of us," the Doctor said, foreboding in his voice. "They know everything about us. They have our timelines written out almost completely."
"Oh, God," Clara murmured. "How could they know all of that?"
"Some Hypawarians are touch telepaths. Some can see the past, present, and future. Hypawarians vary widely, but their powers encompass everything you can imagine. If enough of them decided we were interesting—"
"You're saying they're all stalkers?"
"I'm saying it would take almost no effort on their part to get this information on us, if they wanted to," the Doctor said. "What I can't understand is how they managed to get... everything," he finally said, frustrated. "One of the only things that Hypawarians don't do is time travel. In fact, they almost never trust anyone that does."
"Well, that explains these chains," Clara said, shaking her wrists to make her handcuffs clank against each other. "Why do they have golden handcuffs, anyway? Bit overkill, don't you think?"
"Gold is common in Hypawaria," the Doctor said, "like iron on Earth. If you go to the Deeplands—the Hypawarian forests—in some areas, the soil glitters from the gold."
"Whoa," Clara said softly. "But why would they know everything? You said so yourself; they'd only be able to get complete information on us if someone were to time travel, or if they were in a larger group. I doubt we're interesting enough for a whole group of Hypawarians to watch us that closely. Besides, why would they? We don't interfere in Hypawarian history, do we?"
"Well, I've only been here twice, and both times I just came to see Yakartil," the Doctor said, "so I've never interfered with anything yet. But I wasn't stopped before. No one gave me a second glance, and they didn't seem to think Susan was suspicious, either."
"Susan?"
"Anyway, during Queen Emma's rule, time travel became more accepted, but once she disappeared..."
"Doctor, how are we going to get out of here?"
"You don't," said a voice from behind them. Clara just about jumped out of her skin. It was a little girl who looked to be five or six years old. She had the same light blonde hair and light blue eyes as most of the people Clara had seen. Her long hair was braided down her back, and she wore deep blue robes with swirling golden designs sewn in. The most distinct part of her appearance, however, was that the girl's outstretched right hand was surrounded by a fireball as big as Clara's head.
"Come with me, Doctor. You too, Miss Oswald," the girl said. "There's really no reason to worry. We only need to ask the Doctor a few questions, and then you can leave."
"Who will we be speaking with?" the Doctor asked.
"My older sister, Megara," the girl said. "Come with me, please."
Then, the girl grabbed the heavy golden chains that bound the Doctor and Clara and carried them with one hand, forcing the Doctor and Clara to follow her.
"How in the world—" Clara started.
"Don't be fooled by her size, Clara," the Doctor said. "If she's a pure Hypawarian, she's easily strong enough to move the weight of a car."
"Wait, what?"
"A small one, don't worry," he said almost indifferently.
"A small car? And I suppose you won't bother to explain the fire, either?"
"Oh, she's just Fireborn; that's quite common, Clara, what's so special about—"
"What the hell is a Fireborn, Doctor?"
"A type of Hypawarian that can summon fire to—"
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!"
"You sound like an old married couple," the girl said, "but I'm not surprised. Our source tells us it usually ends up like that with the female companions. And, yes, by Earth standards, I am strong enough to move a small car. Let that be a warning in case you think of escaping."
The Doctor and Clara were completely silent after the girl spoke. She led them through the castle. The walls were marble, Clara supposed, but instead of dark markings, there were golden ones. Everything in Hypawaria was lined with gold, it seemed. Clara knew for a fact that she had seen more gold today than she had seen her entire life.
"Gold is quite common in Hypawaria," the girl said, "but it represents royalty, so it's still valuable. We mostly use it for money, but some of the richer families here also decorate their homes with it."
"How did you—"
"Telepathic, Miss Oswald," the girl said. "We in Hypawaria are smarter and stronger than outsiders could ever dream. Even Gallifrey is afraid to cross us."
The Doctor stopped in his tracks. Unfortunately, the girl kept walking, so he ended up being yanked like a dog on a leash.
"What was that about?"
"Gallifrey," the Doctor murmured. "You're saying—"
"We're here," the girl said. "I'm Eilonwy, by the way."
Eilonwy ushered them inside. It appeared to be a simple office cubicle at first, until Clara noticed the unbelievably realistic painting on the wall of a woman holding a beautiful necklace. That, and the plants by the window that moved.
"Oh, those aren't plants. I wouldn't touch them," said the woman behind the desk. "Thank you, Eilonwy. Would you like to stay?"
"Yes, please," Eilonwy said. She then joined the woman behind the desk. After flicking her wrist, the flames flickering up and down her hand disappeared. The woman's robes were much like Eilonwy's, but the blue was a softer shade, like blueberries instead of midnight. Other than that, the woman looked like an older version of Eilonwy.
"And before you ask, Clara, yes, we are all named after princesses," the woman said. "I am Megara."
"So, why are we here?" Clara asked abruptly.
"You are fortunate that we know who you are and of your natures," Megara said with an edge in her voice. "It is extremely impolite to ask questions of royalty in Hypawaria if the royal in question does not give their consent. And before you ask, Miss Oswald, yes, you may ask me why you are here. The simple answer is this."
Megara gestured to the painting in the background. "This is Queen Crystal the Unbreakable. She suffered extreme hardship after her mother disappeared in a Dalek attack. Her mother was Queen Emma the Ethereal. I'm sure you saw the statue before we brought you here? Before she was queen, however, Queen Emma was a traveler of all of time and space. Can you guess how she came to be such a magnificent wanderer?"
The Doctor could only stare at the necklace. Something about it was familiar...
"So, you're keeping us here in case it mixes the timelines?" Clara asked.
"Yes," Megara said. "I promise you won't be long. I simply need to ask a few questions to make absolutely sure that we know the point you and the Doctor are in timeline-wise, and we'll let you go as you please. And, before you ask, you will not be permitted to meet Queen Kida. My mother is busy conducting intergalactic business at the moment."
Megara turned to Eilonwy, who had been sitting quietly and primly in the corner. Too quietly and primly for a young child. Were Hypawarians older than they appeared, like Time Lords?
"Tell me your last adventure, Doctor, every last detail," Megara said. Her icy blue eyes had narrowed to something decidedly more dangerous than what they had been before.
"Start from the very beginning," Eilonwy added.
The Doctor looked at her. Clearly, children were treated like adults in Hypawaria.
"I think it was your sister that spoke to me first," the Doctor said, "and I don't take orders from children."
"Do not reprimand my sister," Megara said as she stood up. Clara's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, in the middle of their silent standoff.
Finally—surprisingly—the Doctor gave in.
"Sorry," he said to the young woman, whose eyes only narrowed more.
The Doctor sighed, and turned to face Eilonwy. "Forgive me, Princess Eilonwy."
Eilonwy kept her gaze hard, but relaxed nonetheless. "We will continue as we did before the interruption," she said. "Now, start from the very beginning."
By the end of the interrogation, Clara felt like her head had been emptied of its contents and reorganized. The main part of the problem was the fact that Eilonwy, who wasn't completely in control of her mental power yet, had accidentally looked into Clara's mind, thereby making her feel... violated, if that was the right word for it. Not to mention, the silent struggle of power between the Doctor and Megara was enough to give anyone a headache.
Including the Doctor.
"If they would just give me back my—"
"Doctor, how will your sonic screwdriver cure a migraine?"
"I keep forgetting how powerful pure Hypawarians are," he muttered to himself, ignoring Clara's question. "You're lucky Eilonwy's so young, or your mind would've been ripped apart."
"Oh. Lovely."
The Doctor and Clara had been left in Megara's office while Megara and Eilonwy went off somewhere to report their findings, as Megara had put it. This meant the Doctor had ample opportunity to look at the plants that weren't actually plants, only to discover that the plants were, in fact, small, dirt-brown creatures with things that looked like plants growing on the top of their heads. When the Doctor moved his finger too close to the leaves, one of the animals jumped nearly two feet in the air and opened its wide mouth far enough to reveal teeth that looked suspiciously like human molars. Clara didn't even want to know what those things were.
Their peace and quiet stretched out for five minutes. The Doctor was through with waiting after five seconds, which meant Clara had to suddenly transition from "Doctor's companion" to "teacher of small children". Thankfully, the children she taught this year were just as bad as the Doctor, meaning she had plenty of time to improve her patience. There was only one student in her class this year that hadn't given her any trouble yet, and that was Maria Marcum, who just happened to be a computer genius without any help from the Doctor.
Unfortunately, Maria Marcum was on Earth in the year 2015, and wouldn't be any help to Clara at the moment. This meant that Clara had to deal with the Doctor without any sign of him tiring or the two royal sisters coming back anytime soon.
Thankfully (or not), her thoughts were interrupted.
Originally, Clara had thought that the strange white cube jutting out from the center of the roof of the room was some kind of fire alarm, or maybe a really futuristic security camera or something.
Clara was wrong. That cube was, in fact, part of the security system inspired by a passing comment of Queen Emma's, nearly four hundred human years ago.
"What if Spiderman's power was to shoot spiders out of his hands?" she once asked herself after disappearing for a week and returning wearing a t-shirt advertising said superhero. "Nobody would ever be brave enough to commit crimes, would they?"
Queen Emma's passing thought had been recorded by security cameras, and had inspired the white cube on the ceiling that was now spewing its contents all across the room.
"Sp—spiders!" Clara said in a shaking, high-pitched voice.
"Don't worry, they're not poisonous," the Doctor said from his position in the corner across from Clara. "I think."
"How comforting," Clara said with a shudder as she leapt away from a spider that had been about to land in her hair.
Megara opened the door calmly. "It's all right. There was an intruder in the castle. She has been apprehended. Don't worry about the spiders. They're not poisonous to Hypawarians."
"What about humans and Time Lords?" the Doctor asked.
"Well, I'd stay away from the black widows," Eilonwy said from the doorway, making the Doctor and Clara jump. "Apparently their bite is quite nasty for humans."
"Black widows?" Clara said, her voice still much higher than normal.
"Oh, dear, that will be a problem, won't it?" Megara said coolly. "Not to worry. Watch."
She gestured toward the not-plants by the window. The spiders who came too close to them were quickly swallowed whole. Clara watched one of them eat a spider that could have easily been a tarantula, and silently vowed to never put her fingers near the not-plants.
"Intruder?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes, a young woman with Hypawarian hair," Eilonwy said. "It's strange. She looks like Queen Emma the Ethereal, doesn't she?"
"Eilonwy, I thought we agreed to only tell the Doctor and Miss Oswald what they need to know," Megara said sharply.
"I apologize," Eilonwy said softly.
"Nevertheless, the intruder has been apprehended, so if both of you would—"
Then, the white cube showered more spiders directly on top of Megara.
"I suppose the intruder has tricks up their sleeve," Eilonwy mused.
"Doctor," Clara said softly. "Doctor, help."
A spider was sitting on Clara's head. The spider in question was pitch black, except for a bright red hourglass on its abdomen.
"Black widow," the Doctor said. "Clara, back up towards the window. Slowly."
Amidst a sea of spiders, Clara slowly moved backward, praying she wouldn't step on a spider.
As soon as she got within a foot of the not-plants, a leafy vine wrapped itself around the spider on top of Clara's head and darted back down to its terrifyingly large mouth.
"Thanks," Clara said.
"No problem," the Doctor said.
"Wait where you are until the spiders are gone," Eilonwy said. "They will clear soon."
Sure enough, once the not-plants reached their vines far enough, the spiders were gone.
"Intruder?" The Doctor asked. "Looks like that woman?" He gestured at Queen Emma's portrait.
Megara looked at the Doctor. "We may need you. If this intruder has anything to do with you, then she may have something to do with our queen."
"Who are you?"
The strong voice echoed through the hallways, even through the thick, white and golden doors.
"Who are you?" The voice echoed again.
"Who is that?" Clara asked quietly.
At this, Megara looked ruffled for the first time. "That, Miss Oswald, is our mother," she said.
"We shouldn't interrupt. Not when she's yelling," Eilonwy said.
"Look, I know you're related to him somehow!" The voice—the voice of the queen—carried. "I can tell these sorts of things! Just tell me why you're here!"
"I can't tell you, I told you, I'm travelling in time! You'll mess up all the timelines—"
"Well, then, tell me your name! You can't be Queen Emma the—"
"No, of course I'm not!"
"Then who—"
"My name is Jenny!"
The Doctor's hearts stood still for a second.
"Jenny? But the Doctor has a daughter—"
"The Doctor's right outside my door, but we can't be sure if he even knows about you," Kida said.
"Queen Kida, I know about her!" the Doctor shouted. "Let me see her!"
No noise came from the other room.
"Cover your eyes," Queen Kida commanded.
"Sorry, Miss Oswald," Eilonwy said to Clara, an apologetic look on her angelic face.
Clara covered her eyes. No need to make the young princess angry.
Soft footsteps penetrated the growing silence, along with what sounded like fabric trailing behind them. "You may enter," the voice said. "And you may speak freely with me. I am Queen Kida."
"Uh, why can't anyone see you?" Clara asked.
"My mother forbids anyone other than her children and servants from seeing her face."
"And who exactly is in that room?"
Clara could almost feel the queen smile. "That, Miss Oswald, is for you and I to find out together with the help of your time-traveler friend."
Eilonwy and Megara guided the Doctor and Clara into the room where Jenny stood in golden chains.
"Bit overkill, don't you think?" she asked out loud. "You can open your eyes, the queen's gone."
Clara opened her eyes to see a young woman with the same white-blonde hair as almost every other person she had seen today. The only thing marking her as different was the eyes; dark blue instead of the ice blue that Clara guessed was typical in Hypawarians.
"Who are you, exactly, and why are you here?" Megara said, her eyes narrowed.
The stranger didn't appear at all intimidated, despite the fact that Megara practically radiated power.
"Jenny," the woman said plainly. "No last name. Never really had time for one, you know? Although, I suppose... yeah, Chance."
"What?"
"If you really want to be technical, I guess Chance would be my last name," Jenny Chance said.
Megara raised a perfect eyebrow. "Chance? Now I have even more questions for you."
"I'm guessing you'd like to know why I'm here?" Jenny said calmly. "I'm perfectly happy to tell you, but the main message is for your mother. And, yes, I'm a time traveler like my dad."
Jenny then turned her head to the Doctor. "Hello again, Dad," she said. "Weren't expecting me, were you?"
The Doctor stared. "You were dead."
"Yeah, I suppose I was. Funny how things work out. This must be Clara Oswald next to you, and of course I can't forget the princesses," Jenny said.
"How do you know who we are?" Eilonwy asked.
"Simple. My mum told me," Jenny said with a shrug.
"Who—you don't have a—" the Doctor started.
"Not my actual mum, just my adoptive one," Jenny said with a roll of her eyes.
"So, you have a daughter?" Clara asked.
The Doctor sighed. "Yes, but—"
"Then I have questions."
"I think we all do," Megara said, "and the only person that can answer all of them is chained before us. Jenny, what is your relation to Emma Chance?"
Jenny looked at Megara. "I can't say. Her timeline runs into Dad's, but not until later. I can't say anything about her in front of him."
"Very well. What is your relation to Clara Oswald?"
"None. I only met her just now. Mum told me about her, I already said—"
"Doctor, Miss Oswald, leave the room," Megara said. "You too, Eilonwy."
"What?"
"I said, leave," Megara said, her eyes narrowed.
Eilonwy murmured under her breath as she left with Clara.
"I AM NOT A CHILD!" she yelled at her sister just as the door slammed closed behind them.
Silence on the other end.
Eilonwy sighed. "She probably wanted me to watch you, but honestly, I think she believes I'm still six years old. Honestly, doesn't she think seven is old enough to—"
Clara wasn't listening too closely to the princess. She was too busy remembering Maria Marcum, who knew her favorite teacher was up to something.
"You're like that American woman on the news, running around like crazy and never stopping to think of danger," Maria said.
"American woman?"
"Oh, you've heard of her. Emma Chance. She's absolutely—"
Chance.
Chance!
That was why Jenny had seemed so familiar! Jenny could have been Emma Chance's...
Daughter...
"Oh, God," Clara murmured under her breath.
"What?" The Doctor turned to her.
"There's a woman who was on the news back home. She's a reporter from America, but somehow she managed to save a plane from terrorists... anyway, her name is Emma Chance, and she looks almost exactly like Jenny," Clara said in a rush.
"Oh, this is perfect!" Eilonwy said. "That might help us figure out where you are in your timeline!"
"Well? Do you know where our timelines are? Those papers you had on us?" the Doctor asked.
"I do, but it's on the other end of the castle. We'll have to be quick."
"Why?"
"They get suspicious if we move too slowly," Eilonwy said, not bothering to mention who "they" were in the first place.
"They?"
"The cameras," Eilonwy said. "They can trigger the spiders, so we try not to make the cameras suspicious. The cameras aren't what a human would consider a camera; they're living creatures that remember everything they see."
Clara imagined a rat-like alien watching her every move, and decided to do her best to not look suspicious.
"Follow me!" Eilonwy said as she ran down the winding hallways. The Doctor and Clara had no trouble keeping up with the small girl, but Clara was amazed by Eilonwy. She didn't look tired at all, even when they had been sprinting for at least five minutes.
"Here we are!" Eilonwy said as they pulled to a stop by an enormous black door. "All we need now is—"
Suddenly, blaring alarms ripped through the castle.
"ALERT! DALEK SHIP SIGHTED OVER ROYAL CITY! ALERT! SECURITY SYSTEMS READY FOR ATTACK! ALERT! DALEK SHIP SIGHTED—"
"Oh, no," Eilonwy groaned. "The entire castle is on lockdown. Normally, I'd be able to access this room with a DNA scan, but now it has to be opened by a key, and Mum has the only copy."
"Well, let's find her!" Clara said.
"We can't! She's on the other end of the castle, in the throne room. And they'll have guards out looking for me, so they can bring me to a safe spot," Eilonwy said.
The Doctor examined the keyhole. "I could easily open this with my sonic, but—"
"No, you couldn't," Eilonwy scoffed. "You forget, Queen Emma knew everything about you. She certainly would have taken measures to make sure you couldn't unlock this door."
Clara looked at the keyhole. Them, she remembered the strange dancing woman who had handed her the golden token.
"Would this work?" she asked as she pulled the token out of her jeans pocket.
Eilonwy stared. "How did you even get that? Here, hand it over."
Clara gave the princess the token. Eilonwy pushed the token into the narrow slot, and a loud grinding sound came from somewhere inside the room.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Eilonwy said. "Here's your screwdriver back." She pulled the sonic from somewhere in the folds of her long robes and tossed it to the Doctor, who caught it nimbly.
The black door opened just enough for Eilonwy to squeeze through.
"Are we allowed in?" Clara asked.
"I don't see why not," Eilonwy said. With that, the little girl pushed the door open. The door had to be made of solid rock, but Eilonwy moved it with ease. "We'll be safer in here, anyway. I wasn't born the last time the Daleks came close to Hypawaria, but Meg says they're horrible."
Clara noticed that Eilonwy's speech had become less formal. Was the formality Hypawarian culture, or had it been pounded into her?
"Look up if you'd like," Eilonwy said. "It's a sight to see."
Clara looked up, and her eyes nearly popped. The domed roof was painted into an intricate spiral that swirled into a jet black diamond-shaped jewel. The spiral was made of tiny figures: people with white-blonde hair and blue eyes carving gold into pots; white horses with angry-looking warriors riding into battle; a woman with purple eyes guarding an infant from what looked like a giant shadow; a girl with blue hair holding a golden dagger; a man wearing all green supporting a willowy girl who looked sick; a woman in the middle of a forest of impossibly tall trees with a strange machine on her wrist; the same woman smirking/smiling as a queen's circlet was placed on her head. Even more scenes made their way around the dome, making Clara spin around so she could see them properly. Beyond the dome was an expanse of bookshelves that Clara couldn't see an end to.
"Those paintings are Queen Emma's timeline. Well, bits and pieces of it. She only painted what she wanted people to see," Eilonwy explained. "They say one of the Doctor's incarnations is painted there, but no one knows who it is. Knowing how much he changes appearance when he regenerates, he could be anyone."
Clara looked at the thousands of tiny figures dotting the dome. She shuddered at the thought of trying to pick out an unrecognizable face in a crowd that size.
"It should be in here somewhere," Eilonwy said from somewhere in the distance.
Clara whirled around. Eilonwy and the Doctor had disappeared in bookshelves that were at least twenty feet high, if not more. Each book was bound identically, with the only difference being the strange symbols on the sides.
"How am I supposed to read this?" Clara asked.
Eilonwy stuck her head out from behind a bookshelf. "You don't. We use pictures of significant things from the person's life rather than write their name. Look for one with a TARDIS on it. It'll either be the Doctor's timeline or the TARDIS's."
"You have a timeline for the TARDIS?"
"Well, a rough one. It was a side project of my mother's while she dealt with the Rachioshad leaders."
"Side project? What're nosy Hypawarians like, then?"
"Criminals. Typically, they're arrested before they can get into too much trouble." Eilonwy smirked as she scanned the shelves. "Thank the lucky stars for Queen Emma. She made society much better."
"Did you just say this woman improved society?" the Doctor asked, attack eyebrows becoming more true to their name by the second.
"Of course, Doctor. Before her, any Hypawarian that wasn't Pure was shunned."
"Found it!" Clara said. "Well, I think. I don't want to look."
Eilonwy opened the cover. "Yes. This is it. Excuse me for a minute."
Eilonwy began flipping the pages of the book that had to be bigger than any other book Clara had seen before.
"Fascinating," the princess said as she turned the pages. "There's an entire chapter on your ego fluctuations. And... Doctor, that's not a scarf. That's a weapon."
"What?"
"If you put barbs on the ends—"
"No!" The Doctor shook his head. "What is it with you humans and vio—"
"Excuse me!" Eilonwy said indignantly. "I am far from human, as you well know! That's all the rise you'll get out of me today, so I hope you enjoyed it!"
Clara looked at Eilonwy as she turned her blonde head back to the book. "I like her," Clara said. "Can we keep her?"
"No," the Doctor said firmly.
Then, something pounded against the door. "Oi, let me in!"
"Should I?" Clara asked.
Blue electricity darted its way throughout the black doors.
"It's fine," Eilonwy said without looking up. "It's only if the lightning turns red that we're in trouble."
The Doctor ran to the door and opened it as wide as he could. As soon as the door was wide enough, a woman burst inside and dropped to the ground in a roll, and stood back up again as if it was nothing.
Jenny grabbed a spare ponytail from her jeans pocket and pulled her hair back as best she could. "You'd better hurry," she said. "They weren't far behind me."
"How much time d'you think we have?" the Doctor asked.
"Ten minutes, tops. Don't worry, princess, your mother and sister are safe."
"Thank the lucky stars!" Eilonwy murmured. "Doctor, I think I've nearly found it, but it'll take more time."
"More time than we have?"
"Probably. We shouldn't be standing so close to the door, anyway. Queen Emma built this library like a maze, so as long as we stay together, the Daleks will have a hard time hunting us down. Besides, they're slow and loud, so it's not like we won't have a warning."
"We'd better go, then," Clara said. "Which way?"
"Right," Jenny said. "I've got a good feeling about the right."
"All right," Clara said. "Why not?"
"Princess, got the book marked?" the Doctor asked.
"Got it!"
"Then run!"
All four of them ran into the labyrinth.
Their first warning was this: " EXTERMINATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"
Then, something knocked against the door over and over again, sending little bolts of red lightning across the door.
"Keep moving," the Doctor said as he ran. 'Is there another way out of here?"
"If we make it to the other side of the maze, there is."
"Perfect! All we need to do is get through the maze!" Jenny said.
"It's not as simple as that," Eilonwy said warningly. "Some of these halls haven't been touched in generations. I don't know what might happen if an old security system is accidentally triggered."
"Lovely," Clara said. "Have you found us yet?"
"You've met Missy, right?"
"Believe me, I remember her!"
"And... almost got you... oh, no!"
One of the books on the shelves went flying. This one had a golden dagger on the front.
"Queen Emma's timeline," Eilonwy whispered.
"Mum?" Jenny murmured as she came closer.
"No!" Eilonwy said. "You don't know what's in there! You can't know! Nobody with any relation with the queen can look inside that timeline and come away unaffected! Whoever collects the information has their memory wiped as soon as the book is finished. Even my mother couldn't escape that law."
Slowly and carefully, Clara closed the book.
But as the page turned...
...three billion dead... Gallifrey...
The powerful words shook Clara to the core as the book closed.
Gallifrey? But, if this woman had something to do with the Time War... and something about three billion people dying?
"Doctor, do you know her?" Clara asked.
"Who?"
"The queen. Queen Emma—"
"I don't know, and I won't find out until I meet her," the Doctor said. "Clara, we need to—"
"Doctor, she might save—"
"You looked inside?"
"By accident—"
"The Council will have to wipe your memory of the incident, and they've never worked on a human before!" Eilonwy cried in protest.
"But three billion—"
"Clara," Jenny said calmly. "Whoever those three billion people are will meet their fates, one way or another. I know my mother. In all likelihood, those three billion people will be saved by her and give her some sort of extravagant gift that she'll hand right back in exchange for something she needs."
Jenny then reached into her pocket and pulled out a photo.
It was certainly the queen, although a younger version. Her hair was chopped short, and she was laughing. She stood in tattered clothes, a golden dagger in her right hand. Her other arm was draped around none other than Jenny herself.
"Mum wasn't royal by birth. Well, she was, but that's a long story. She came out of the Deeplands, just like Queen Esther-Maria the Brave from Hypawarian folklore. Everyone who saw her took it as a sign that she would be the next queen. And you know what she did to claim her throne?" Jenny paused, making sure Clara was listening. "She saved the entire royal city from hundreds of Dalek ships, and she fought on the front lines herself. There are rumors that she was so angry after a boy and his older sister were killed that she bent the Dalek's eyestalk in retaliation. The other Daleks wouldn't accept it because it was 'imperfect', and it was exterminated by its own kind."
Clara stared at the laughing woman in the picture.
"And you know how many lives she saved?" Jenny asked, a smile on her face. "Three billion. Because if the Daleks had taken the royal city, they would've taken Hypawaria, too."
Three billion dead...
Clara ran with the others, even faster now.
Three billion dead...
"EXTERMINATE!"
"To the left!" Eilonwy shouted at the lead of the group. The others followed the small princess.
A laser from one of the Daleks went through the bookshelves. Nothing burned (Clara supposed the Hypawarians had made sure the books were indestructible), but the entire bookshelf toppled, the books along with it. All four of them ran faster, avoiding the books on the floor. Dust from the books was thrown into the air, making the entire maze a hazy fog. All four of them couldn't help but catch glimpses of the words.
...heart was stabilized... unborn child... captivating voice... powerful Shadowbender... beginning of civilization...
"Found it!" Eilonwy shouted. "All right if I read ahead?"
"As long as you forget it later," the Doctor said.
Eilonwy read as she ran. As she continued, her eyes widened.
"You all right?" Jenny asked.
A tear ran down Eilonwy's cheek. "I—"
"EXTERMINATE!"
"Run!" Jenny cried. "Which way, princess?"
"Right!" Eilonwy's voice cracked.
All four kept running as bookshelves toppled and crashed behind them and the Daleks got louder. Eilonwy cried harder as they ran.
"Through this door!" Eilonwy cried. Her little hands shook as the Doctor's timeline weighed her down. Clara quickly grabbed the book from the girl, who started running even faster.
"Clara, may I ask you a question?" Eilonwy said as they ran.
"Sure," Clara panted out.
"Does Megara care about me?"
Clara was silent for a moment. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean what I said. Does Meg care about me, or does she just think I'm in the way?"
"Both," Clara said. No sense in telling a telepathic girl a lie. "She cares about you, but she doesn't want to do everything with you standing right there. I don't think she knows how important her opinion is to you, and that's why she's rather insensitive about your feelings. She calls you a child because of your age, not because of your mental capability."
Eilonwy seemed satisfied.
Clara was suspicious. There was no way a strong, intelligent girl like Eilonwy would cry over something as small as that. What was bothering her?
"Doctor, I'm going to say a few things, and you're going to have to listen," Eilonwy said. "I'm only telling you because in your timeline it says you were given this information by me."
"What—"
"HYPAWARIAN LIFE FORM DETECTED! THREE OTHER LIFE FORMS WITH HYPAWARIAN! SPARE HYPAWARIAN PRINCESS FOR QUESTIONING! EXTERMINATE ALL OTHER LIFE FORMS!"
"We've almost made it!" Eilonwy shouted to the others. "Keep up with me!"
All four of them ran faster, rounding corner after corner. Clara stopped trying to figure out how Eilonwy's ability to run so fast for so long was even physically possible for someone her size.
An enormous set of doors loomed ahead of them, jet black and tall as the others.
"Don't touch the doors!" Eilonwy warned. "They only accept DNA from the royal family. If you touch them, they'll—"
"EXTERMINATE!" came from their left.
"Couldn't have worded it better myself," Eilonwy remarked. She pushed the door on the right with all her strength, and it slowly creaked open.
"The second it's wide enough for you to fit through, run! We won't have to close the door behind us; once any Dalek touches these doors, it'll activate the self-destruct mechanism, and we'll have to run even faster to get away!"
"EXTERMINATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" A laser came from nowhere, and all four had to jump to dodge the beam. Jenny went through the door first, with Clara and the Doctor right behind her.
"Eilonwy, we're through!" Clara called. The child ran through the doors.
"Keep running! Now, all three of you listen to me! Doctor, your regenerations are in danger!"
"Wait—"
"Keep up with me, will you? Like I said, your regenerations are in danger! Now, there's only one woman who could help you because—well, I can't say why, but you have to find a woman named Emma Chance. She'll be twenty-five, and she won't be famous for anything yet! Only three of her friends will be alive, and—"
"She's in America!" Clara said. "It said on the news that she came from Florida!"
"Perfect! The book said you'd say that, so this is going according to the timelines," Eilonwy said. "Now, you can't have any memory of this conversation, because if you do, you'll put the pieces together faster than you should, and that would kill about—"
"Look out!" Jenny cried as a massive white column started to fall. Eilonwy grabbed Clara's hand and pulled her faster to avoid the falling column. With an ominous BOOM!, the column fell to the ground and crumbled, ripping away part of Eilonwy's now dusty robes.
"And I don't know how, but finding Emma Chance will give you the key to your home planet!" Eilonwy said. "Now, she won't trust you, but—"
"What happened to make you cry, Eilonwy?" Clara asked.
Eilonwy looked straight into Clara's eyes as they ran. Eilonwy's eyes were just like her sister's in their impossible light blue color, but they were full of fear instead of power (although there was plenty of that, too). "Clara, this is your last adventure with the Doctor. You'll find out why soon, trust me."
"What?"
"Keep running!" Eilonwy said. "I'm sorry, but it's all my fault. I didn't mean to—to—well, I don't want to say what's about to happen, because—"
"You're scared," Clara said.
"Terrified," Eilonwy corrected. "I'm sorry, Clara. Tell Megara I didn't want to be a bother."
"What do you mean?"
A terrible rumbling sound came from somewhere far behind them. "SELF-DESTRUCT MODE ACTIVATED! THIRTY! TWENTY-NINE! TWENTY-EIGHT! TWENTY—"
"Keep going!" Jenny said. "We're not out of the range of—"
"EXTERMINATE!" A beam of light cut through the dust. Eilonwy's hand slipped away from Clara's.
"I know the way from here!" Jenny said. "We're close to the throne room! If we just—"
A loud blast came from down the hallway, and a familiar figure came striding forward.
"It's Princess Megara!" Clara said.
"FIFTEEN! FOURTEEN! THIRTEEN—"
The young woman was moving at a speed matched only by her sister. A ball of fire flew from Megara's outstretched hand and surrounded an oncoming Dalek, which promptly exploded. Megara shot balls of fire as fast as the Daleks came. From somewhere beyond Clara's vision, tendrils of what looked like water snaked out from behind a wall, coiled around Daleks, and crushed them.
"TWO! ONE! ZERO!"
An explosion rocked the floor underneath Clara's feet. She and the Doctor fell to their knees, but Megara and her helper kept fighting.
Soon, it was all over. There was no sign of Daleks from where Clara had come from.
"Princess Megara," Jenny said cautiously.
Megara looked over at them, her eyes flashing.
"Eilonwy did this," Megara said ominously. "Listen to their minds, Mother! They know too much!"
"No, they do not, Megara Lynn," came the voice Clara remembered from before. "They only know what precious little your sister has decided to tell them. You really must learn to trust her, Megara. She will, after all, become your advisor when you become queen."
"But for now, she is still my little sister, and—"
"Wait," the Doctor said. "Where is she?"
Clara looked behind her. The girl was gone.
"Princess?" Jenny called into the darkness. "Princess Eilonwy?"
A pit of dread grew in Clara's stomach. Eilonwy's hand had been torn from hers some time in the confusion, but Clara's grip hadn't lessened. Eilonwy's hand had gone limp...
"EILONWY!" Clara cried out in total fear.
A piece of torn midnight blue robe.
That was all they had to aid their search.
During the fight, the hallways had begun to collapse, leaving rubble in their wake. The dust and dirt hadn't cleared from the air, so everything was thrown into a brown haze, with flecks of gold every now and then. Still, with strength she didn't know she had until that moment, Clara shifted boulders and shouted for the lost princess.
Clara felt a pair of hands help her move the debris, hands that she didn't recognize. They were covered by gloves that had probably been white before the hallways toppled.
Clara stared at the stranger in shock. She was completely covered in white shawls that even hid her face and eyes from view. The only thing Clara could see was the queen's circlet.
"I cannot reveal my face to the public," Queen Kida said softly. "It would be considered scandalous. Only Queen Emma had the power to rebuff society as she did, with her scars—"
"You have scars?" Clara asked bluntly. "Sorry," she amended.
"You are forgiven. They are from the previous Dalek attack. Megara was only a child, and I found myself having to fight for another person instead of just myself," the queen explained. "Hypawaria abhors imperfection, so it is essential for the Pure to hide what is imperfect."
"The Pure?"
"Those with more than eighty percent Hypawarian blood," Queen Kida said. "Because of my status as a Pure woman of Hypawarian, on go the gloves."
The two continued to search in silence after that. Rock after rock, shards of glass, pieces of spiders and not-plants...
Then Clara touched a white-blonde glint of hair.
Stupid Meg. Stupid Mom. Do they think I'm stupid, too?
"Clara?" the Doctor called.
Then, he fell silent.
Clara was seemingly frozen in the same position, touching the white-blonde hair of someone trapped under the rubble. Queen Kida, whose entire body was covered in white shrouds, was frantically digging out whoever was trapped.
"What's happened to her?"
"She's in a trance," Kida said. "When a Hypawarian dies, the first person to touch them feels their last emotions. Whoever this person is, they've been dead for at least—"
But the Doctor never found out how long the person had been dead for, because then Queen Kida uncovered the victim's face.
Running, running through a maze of lives. A timeline in my arms. Three other lives under my responsibility as a princess of Hypawaria. We keep running. Monsters chasing us. Meg still has nightmares about the first time, the day Mother was scarred forever. What can these things do? I don't want to know. Best to keep running, and find where the Doctor is on his timeline. Yes, this is what I'm supposed to do. But what do I want to do? I want to make sure Meg's all right. If we keep leading the Daleks through this maze, it'll keep more of them distracted. Maybe then I can activate the security systems Queen Emma put in place. Then everybody lives!
The queen was just as frozen as Clara was, but not because she was having flashbacks.
The Doctor watched as Queen Kida murmured ancient words in a weak, shaking voice. Some sort of blessing, he supposed, a blessing fit for a princess.
Now all I've got to do is make sure Clara and the Doctor won't have any problems after the memory wipe. If they do, I'll have to help them. It's my fault they'll have to do a memory wipe anyway. But... wait... that's not right. It says I'll be... killed?! By one of those awful things?! But... no... I can't die, I... no... no, I don't want to die! I don't want Clara to go! She listens to me! This isn't right! I have no idea what they're saying, but they're saying something. Just agree with it. That'll get their minds away from mine. But if I'm going to die in ten minutes and I have to tell the Doctor all this stuff, I'll have to find a way to tell Meg what to do. Maybe if she looks for me when I die, if she's the first to touch me... no, she wouldn't. Meg hates getting her hands dirty...
"Eilonwy!" came a call from the distance. "Eilonwy!"
Megara was still searching. The Doctor didn't have the heart to shout for her.
An enormous chunk of wall the size of a boulder fell down a pile of rubble when Megara lifted it with her bare hands and threw it aside.
"EILONWY!"
We're out. It's only a matter of luck now. I'll die any second. This is such a strange feeling. I don't want to go, but I can't do anything else, can I? If it's written by Hypawarians, then it actually happens, and that's that. Meg's told me that countless times. So if it says that I die, it's set in stone. I die. I'll tell Clara to apologize to Meg. She had to do so much to take care of me when Mum was off with her "official business". I know I was an accident, but could she make it more obvious? It's not my fault Dad died the last time the Daleks came and left Mum with unborn me. It's not my fault. I think. Meg watched me, helped me when I was confused. Meg cared, for a while. She even let me watch the Doctor and Clara be interrogated. She even let me help her interrogate them! She's amazing. Does she know I even care about her? I hope she does. I hope Clara knows I like her, because she's nice. Jenny seems kind, too, like her father. So families can pass on traits to their children. I'm glad it's the case for Jenny, but I'm glad it's not the case for me. I wouldn't hide under robes like Mum. I think her imperfections are beautiful. I wish Meg would stop hiding her freckles with those strange ground-up rocks from Earth that she calls makeup. I'm glad I don't have to be an advisor now that I'm going to die. No one listens, anyway. I hope Meg will be all right. I couldn't see if she survived today. What if—
"EXTERMINATE!"
Clara woke up to a scream.
She blinked. Megara was shaking, kneeling next to her dead sister. Her hair fell over her face as she cried, holding Eilonwy's head in her hands. Megara's tears were washing away the makeup on her face, revealing a scattering of freckles on her face.
"What—what just—"
"Eilonwy's last emotions," the Doctor whispered. "When a Hypawarian dies—"
"No," Clara murmured. "No. She was right there. I—oh, God, Doctor, she read ahead—"
"And made it impossible for the timeline to be changed," the Doctor said. "I know."
Eilonwy had been largely untouched by the rubble. Small scratches from broken glass marked her body, but no trace of her death remained in her face. It was as if she was about to prove to the world that she wasn't a child, that she would leap up any moment and say to Megara, "And you doubted me!"
No.
Maria sat at the back of the classroom, typing on a laptop while Clara spoke. She didn't mind. Maria had already passed most of the lessons, anyway.
Suddenly, she jumped out of her seat and shouted, "YES!" at the top of her lungs. Then, she looked around. "Sorry, Miss Oswald," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear again. "It's just... I made something really cool... can I call my mums?"
"Of course," Clara said with a roll of her eyes. Maria closed her laptop and ran out of the classroom. Clara shook her head as she went back to teaching the class.
Maria stuck her head back in the classroom. "I'll be gone for five days or so, by the way. See you!"
"Did you make that code you were telling me about?"
"Pretty much! Told you I could do it!"
Oh, God.
Would Clara ever be able to see Maria without seeing Eilonwy?
How many other children had died as Clara and the Doctor danced off to another adventure? Who was left behind to cry and rage over the people that couldn't save them in time? Would this happen more now? Would Clara see the tear-stained faces of former mothers? Would every child in her class become a physical representation of what she couldn't save in time?
Clara had to live a normal life, too. She couldn't just fly away from her problems (except on Wednesdays).
And Eilonwy had always been right before.
The Doctor and Clara backed away from the royal family that now consisted of two grieving women. As they left, Megara looked up.
Can you hear me? Clara thought as much as she could.
Megara winced and covered her ears.
A mere thought will do, Clara.
Eilonwy told me to tell you this. She wanted you to know—
"Clara, what are you doing?"
Clara whipped around and growled, "Shut up."
She then turned back to Megara. Your sister wanted nothing more in the world than to grow up to be just like you. She loved you as both mother and sister, and believed with all her heart that to be seen as a child meant that she would be seen as innocent and sugar-coated, which she certainly wasn't. Your sister wanted nothing more than to tear away those veils of your mother's and wash away the makeup you used to be wearing, because she also believed that flaws were not things to be hidden.
With that, Clara turned and led the way through a terrified town back to the TARDIS.
Jenny was gone.
There is a certain amount of pride in Hypawaria. The very essence of taking pleasure in proving others wrong resides in its forests, its creatures, and whatever it deems worthy enough to survive.
Hypawarians know this. They know, deep down, that they are not in charge, though they would like to pretend the opposite. Which is why rulers, by logic, must be flawless. A flawed civilization is a civilization born to fall; anyone who even glances at a history textbook knows that, and Hypawarians write history textbooks. And a flawed ruler is doomed to a fate worse than death: being remembered as the ruler who was different.
Hypawaria knows this. It knows that, through it all, it decides what lives and dies. It is the ruler. Meaning that the ego of the planet needed trimming... more like halving.
Fortunately for Hypawaria, someone was up to the challenge.
Emma Chance looked at the ceremonial robes she was wearing, and promptly ripped them to pieces. Everyone knew about her scars already, and her eyes. What was the point of hiding them? Other than pleasing a council of old men (this wasn't remotely interesting to her), there was none, so she happily shredded away her sleeves, traded the long white gloves for her simpler leather ones (after all, being crowned queen of a planet was a businesslike affair, and these were her best work gloves), and walked in her muddy combat boots down the velvety carpet, soaking in the astonished stares and relishing them.
"Is she gone?" the woman in the skintight leather dress asked.
"Clara's leaving, if that's what you mean," Jenny replied. "I've already apprehended the Hypawarian council. I don't think Clara saw enough of the timeline to need her memory wiped, but for our purposes, we'll have to find Dad. He knows entirely too much about your daughter. What should we do?"
"We'll have him wake up in his machine. That'll be comforting for him," the woman—Maria—said in her typical accent of mixed Scottish and American. "We'll need something convincing to put him on the track of the correct time. After Crystal, but before Katie. Right?"
"Exactly," Jenny said. "What then?"
"We inform him of his endangered regenerations," Maria said. "No sense in telling him about Gallifrey."
"Thank God he didn't look at the sky too closely," Jenny said. "Gallifrey's awfully close to Hypawaria, isn't it?"
"Well, that's to be expected. Emma wasn't thinking of the proper coordinates, was she? Off by... what was it? Well, it may have been a small mistake, but because this is Emma we're talking about, Gallifrey ended up in the wrong galaxy! We'd better be thankful for Yakartil. Without those scarves over the city, they certainly would have noticed a red planet in the sky."
"So, regenerations, no Gallifrey?"
"Correct," Maria said. "After that, it would be best to return me to my proper home."
"Where, back in Florida? You'll have to keep this a secret from your telepathic daughter!"
"Not for long, if the timelines are right," Maria said. "She'll be turning eighteen soon, and she's still distracted over that strange dream she thinks was a dream."
Jenny admired this woman's bravery. Though her death was imminent—and it wouldn't be a pleasant or quick one—she knew that certain things could not be changed. She also knew her granddaughter when she saw her, despite the fact that Jenny was taller then both her mother and her grandmother (though it wasn't easy to tell now, as Maria's high heels could have easily gone through Sontaran armor).
After a brief exchange of pleasantries that Jenny would remember every word of, Maria fiddled with a device most would think of as a watch, and vanished.
Chances certainly know how to wear leather properly, Jenny thought. Maybe I'll learn the family secret soon. Darrin wore it quite well, too, when he was alive.
Jenny slipped on a beaten leather jacket that was far too big for her and smiled. The fact that Mum had even let her touch this jacket, much less take it as her own, was a mark. Jenny was family now, even if she brought nothing but painful, awkward memories.
But for once—just this once—Jenny knew what happened next. She loved having the upper hand on her own mother, even if it was something as trivial as happiness and the control of it.
The man wasn't surprised that the woman in deep blue dress had talked to him—this was an especially handsome face, so most did—but he was surprised at her personality. Not many could pull off a look of casual wit and grace while explaining carefully to the leering men in the corner what exactly would happen to them if any unwelcome flirting came her way. This woman also managed to walk normally in stilettos. The man assumed she was used to wearing them, for she was quite short and young looking for somebody who claimed to be forty-seven.
"Gallifreyans and their attempts to murder me," she had explained. "Keeps me from aging for the next... oh, I can't remember how long, but it's insane."
American. Earth. Yet she claimed to be from Hypawaria.
He tried to read her mind—not read it, exactly, just approach it to test the waters—and found it to be unreachable. The only thing he could sense about her was that she knew exactly how unreachable her mind was, and it amused her to see him react to it.
The man didn't really care about what little conversation they had before nearly snogging the life out of each other. He barely even noticed her hand drifting over his second heart long enough to read his pulse until she pulled away slightly.
"Time Lord," she murmured. "No wonder you're so familiar."
Familiar?
"Now, there's only three options as to who you could be," she nearly whispered. "The first is laughable. The second is impossible."
"And the third?" the man said as he pulled her in again.
"You're not the one I've been looking for, but I've been hoping to meet you again for a long time."
Something cold and sharp pressed against his chest. It was a golden dagger, almost certainly Hypawarian.
"Not very in control now, are you, Master?" the woman said with ice in her voice. "Thank you for killing my friends. It brings me more pleasure to do this than to waste a night of my life at a bar."
A golden glow filled the room.
And... that's it!
One last thing. For those of you that follow me and/or know of some of my other stories, know that I won't be updating for a while. and by a while, I mean a month. I've entered an online writing contest that could mean I get my (original, not fanfiction) work published! The problem is, the deadline is October 1st, meaning I only have a month to write an entire novel. I've got a good start and plenty of fleshed-out characters to manipulate, but as you all know, that's only the beginning of the beginning when it comes to writing a book.
So, wish me luck! I'll be MIA for the next month, and now you know why! As always, reviews and follows are awesome!
Love you all,
carrie
P.S. HUGE thank-you to my best friend, Maria, who read this, cried a little, and encouraged me to follow my dream of making more people cry than Steven Moffat someday (well, she sort of shuddered, but I know she meant well).