This is the second version of this story, and, as you can see, it is now a one-shot. I have changed a couple details from the original, but I think it is better, and I now include more description. The cover image is on my DeviantArt (ElfDrake). The types of stone mentioned in the description below are real, and they really are pretty. Feel free to look them up.
The Daleks from the Void had come to the Pete's World Earth almost a year beforehand. And no one on this Earth had anti-Dalek weapons anymore. The ones Rose and Mickey had created were destroyed, after everyone had believed that the Daleks were gone forever.
And they were wrong. The Daleks had attacked Earth and no one had been able to stand against them. Jake had died, Mickey had died trying to save Jackie, Jackie had died anyway, Pete had died shortly thereafter, and then John Smith, the metacrisis, had died trying to save Rose. Rose had escaped and completed her assigned task. She had teleported off the Earth after there was no one else left, and she detonated the Osterhagen Key.
She watched as the Earth was blown up. What she didn't calculate for was that the explosion of the Earth (which killed the already weak Daleks) would hit her ship. Her ship shook and she clung to the side in vain.
Rubble fell on her, knocking her down. Something skidded out of her pocket. Freeing herself from the rubble, Rose looked at what had fallen. It was a watch. She picked it up in her hand, curious at to what it was.
"Hello, sweetie," Rose heard in her mind. She gasped, almost dropping the watch. Fortunately though, her fingers had the common sense to continue their grip on the watch.
More rubble fell on Rose, and she gasped in pain. A piece of her ship had fallen on her head, and she could feel blood oozing out of the open wound. Something told her that she had to open the watch. Perhaps it was gut instinct, perhaps it was the watch. Either way, she didn't care. All she knew was that it saved her life.
And she opened it.
Golden light surrounded both her and the watch, as a consciousness seeped back into her body.
She gasped, suddenly having memories of three lives before this one. She blinked, her mind adjusting to the change. She rubbed her forehead, and her hand came away bloody.
She stared at the blood as if it were some foreign object. She was starting to feel a little lightheaded, but then it wasn't light-headed. Gold started to flood her vision, and her head and hands felt impeccable hot.
She was surrounded by a golden light, and it felt like her entire body was being ripped apart, and indeed, it was. Pain. That was all Rose could register. Pain. Endless pain that suddenly stopped.
Rose slouched slightly, catching her breath. Something hit her on her toe. Oh, right. Her ship was being destroyed. Well, she had to get out of it somehow. He fingers drifted up to her neck, where she kept that little yellow button in case there was no other option. And from the way things were, going, that was what she would do.
Closing her eyes, she pressed the button and waited for nothing to envelope her. Nothing was cold, and it felt like some abominable cross between air and water that made it impossible to breath. Rose's lungs expanded and contracted violently, desperately searching for air. Much longer and she would regenerate from being in the Void.
And then there was light. Rose was standing in a marketplace. She laughed. She needed to find a vortex manipulator now if she wanted to find the Doctor anytime soon. she passed a mirror and caught sight of herself.
She now had hair as black as pitch. Her face was long and her cheekbones high. She fingered her pink lips absently. Her clothes were right in the hips, but on both her legs and torso, they were a bit on the short side.
She sighed. Apparently, she would have to get new clothes. And perhaps a new name too. . . It wasn't as if she were still Melody, Mels, River, or Rose anymore. She thought for a second. Marya, she decided. She'd go by Marya Atemieva. As her first name now started with M, it was, in a way, paying homage to her original name.
Marya walked over to a shop and tossed him a couple of coins she had found on the street. After she tried on different clothes for what seemed to be at least half an hour, she finally found clothing she liked. The bottoms were from a black, skin-tight material akin to that seen in the speculative fiction films, and the top was ruffled tank top of blue and orange. All of her past regenerations would have been horrified.
Satisfied, she walked over to a shop. Most people wouldn't have gone into this particular shop; it was clearly a part of the blackmarket. Indeed, it was quite possible that the last time it had seen proper business was the last time Marya (at the time River) had been in need of a vortex manipulator so she could meet the Doctor in Ancient Rome.
But now the vendor wouldn't recognize her. "I'd like a vortex manipulator." She declared as she sauntered inside.
The vendor stared at her, sure he had heard this attitude before from someone else. Someone with curly hair. The vendor nodded and pulled a box right from under the table. "On the wrist of a time agent," the vendor sneered, showing his missing teeth in a grin.
Marya averted her eyes and carefully slid the manipulator from the time agent's wrist. The vendor stretched out his hand to receive payment. Marya shook her head, grinning. She pressed a button on her new vortex manipulator.
The last thing she saw before spinning into the vortex was the vendor's dismayed expression. Marya smirked slightly before sticking her tongue out at him. She vanished.
When she landed, she was panting for breath as she collapsed. She stared at the ground a moment longer as she catalogued her aching joints. Finally, she lifted her torso off the ground with her arms.
She was not expecting to see an achingly familiar face stare down at her, a hand outstretched to help her up. It was the Doctor, his too-old green eyes peering curiously at her. She took his hand, allowing him to pull her up.
When she was standing, Marya felt a sudden desire to tweak the Doctor's bow tie the way she used to. She decided that bow tie tweaking would have to wait until after she had determined her location.
The sky was somewhere between magenta and indigo, and the trinary stars were already set, allowing the light of the five moons to be the primary sources of light. The constellations overhead were nothing like those of Earth.
The ground was cobbled with gemstones such Ammolite, Ametrine, Seraphinite, Sphalerite, and Verdite. The cobbling was astoundingly gorgeous no matter the light. Though, to some lesser species, it was somewhat dizzying. But the way the light from the moons or suns caught the gems, the road glittered and the colors swirled together like those in a kaleidoscope.
Surrounding the pavillion they were in were huge towers. The tops were mushroom shaped, or perhaps more meringue shaped and were made of a mixture of nuumite and diamond that reflected light, which made the towers look surrounded by ethereal light.
The rest of the towers were made from what appeared to be a variety opals. The light hit them in such a way that the towers themselves were practically incandescent.
The way all of it blended was almost as if light was dancing. The sight was indescribable and breathtaking, no matter if some of the colors would have clashed in any other location.
But the looks weren't even the most incredible part. No, that honor was given to the sounds. The towers emitted a gorgeous melody with an even more beautiful harmony. The music could have been about the dancing of the light, but the more common theory was that the music was the music of the universe. And the music was more beautiful than any other sound.
But then Marya realized that the Doctor was here alone. She looked the Doctor up and down. She had only ever see him wear this outfit once, and that was right before she had gone to the Library.
She realized that, in his timeline, that was exactly what had just happened. His River had just left to go to the library.
Marya stretched out a hand to touch the Doctor's cheek with her hand, trying to stay the pang of sadness that drove its way into her hearts when the Doctor flinched. "Doctor," Marya whispered.
She giggled slightly when the Doctor leapt away in surprise.
The Doctor was sputtering. "How do you know my name?"
This sent Marya further into hysterics, as she did, in fact, know his proper name. The Doctor just stared at her, and Marya realized he was about to break down.
"Sweetie," Marya started, but then realized that would probably hurt the Doctor further. "In the past, I would have told you 'spoilers' but that word has no more use here."
The Doctor stared at her, absorbing every detail of her face as if to see if she was River.
"Yes, I regenerated since I was River. And that really wasn't as impossible as you thought." Marya rolled her eyes when she said the word 'impossible'. Impossible did indeed tend to be a misnomer.
The Doctor opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. The one word that escaped his mouth was filled with so much of both hope and sorrow. "How?"
"Imagine this: a human girl absorbs the time vortex. She sees everything; she sees a woman get stuck in a computer. She creates herself. She forms the woman a body in London 1987, a baby's body. She transfers the woman's body into a fob watch that the baby will carry for the rest of her life. And then the baby will grow up into the girl who absorbs the time vortex. and then she gets trapped in a parallel universe. She comes back but is sent to the parallel universe with a clone of you. The Daleks break through the Void and kill everyone else on the parallel universe. She manages to destroy them, but ends up having to open the fobwatch and regenerate. She comes back to her original universe, steals a vortex manipulator and ends up here. Hello." She waved, and the Doctor's jaw dropped open.
"Rose? River?" He was clearly incredulous. He stared into Marya's eyes, trying to recognize them fully. Marya smiled, and the Doctor returned it with a broad grin of his own.
"Yep," Marya agreed. "But I go by Marya now. Marya Artemieva. Nice to see you again." She added the Doctor's real name to the end of her sentence. The Doctor shivered.
"And you," the Doctor whispered as her wrapped his arms around smiled into the Doctor's shoulder. Oh, how she had missed him dearly. And it was wonderful to be home.
She stared into the Doctor's face. A tear was running down it, so she reached up and brushed it away with her thumb. The Doctor smiled and kissed the corner of her mouth.
The Doctor grabbed her hand and led her back to the TARDIS. Hesitantly, he asked, "How long are you going to stay with me?"
Marya smiled. When she spoke, her voice was firm, the voice of promises. "Forever."
A month later, they were in Victorian London when they met a girl called Clara Oswin Oswald, the exact same girl who had died in the Dalek Asylum. They 'destroyed' the great intelligence at the cost of Clara's life. But if she was out there twice, then they believed she was out there at least a third time. They found her in London, 2013.
One month later, they were facing the Great Intelligence once more, and both Marya and Clara together leapt into the Doctor's timeline. Clara didn't know where she was, and she was sometimes seen by the Doctor before she died. Marya stuck to the shadows, and saved the Doctor in more ways than could possibly have been counted. The Doctor saved them both, but not before revealing his biggest secret. Marya and the Doctor removed it from Clara's mind, but Marya knew and forgave.
And they had some many wonderful adventures afterwards.
And never did Marya or the Doctor regret their forever.
So, how was it? I really hope it was better. I have been going through and editing my older stories. Check out my profile for more details!
And I shall not include my 'Stop it, Moffat!' rant this time!
~~Elf