Chapter Two: The Lovely Lost
There is a story of a beauteous land,
Where fields were fertile and where flowers were bright;
Where tall towers glistened in the morning light,
Where happy children wandered hand in hand,
Where lovers wrote their names upon the sand.
They say it vanished from all human sight,
The hungry sea devoured it in a night.
You doubt the tale? ah, you will understand;
For, as men muse upon that fable old,
They give sad credence always at the last,
However they have caviled at its truth,
When with a tear-dimmed vision they behold,
Swift sinking in the ocean of the Past,
The lovely lost Atlantis of their Youth.
-Ella W. Wilcox
"Where's Belle?" Jimmy asked as he tightened the belt on his gear.
"Still changing!" Belle called from the 'Closet'.
The Closet was the room off to the side of the consul where all the clothes were kept for the different times in case they were needed. Everyone but the Doctor had chosen clothes from the Atlantic era with a set of what Belle called "stereotypical adventure gear" of capris, tank tops, and big trekking boots underneath.
Belle joined them, wearing a light blue gown. The Doctor did a head count.
"It is two days from Sinking Day so we should have enough time to find River, get what we have to get, and get out of there in time for—"
"Everyone to die." There was a silent moment after Amy's comment.
The Doctor nodded. "Are you all ready?"
They all shuffled out of the police call box and into the beautiful world of…
"Is this an alley?" Amy said holding her nose.
They were standing in a small, dark crevice between to large edifices. And it did indeed smell awful. There were food scraps, moldy and rotten, all along the sides of the two buildings they were stuck between. The Doctor covered his face with the palm of his hand and pushed them forward. They were suddenly on a cobblestone street, amongst throngs of people.
Jimmy nodded a few times in a look of resignation. "We're in New York."
Belle shook her head but said doubtfully. "We're in Atlantis."
And they were. Carts of clothes, jewelry, bread, fish, and various fruits that Belle didn't recognize were clumped along the street. People were yelling and calling out to one another. There must have been a thousand people in the little market. The air was hot and thick with humidity.
The Doctor pushed through, trying not to step on anyone's toga.
"It's like rush hour." Jimmy said, dodging a large man with a melon the size of his head.
"Doctor, do you even know where we are going?" Amy asked from behind Belle.
"No, but I will when we get there." The Doctor called back.
People didn't seem to realize they were there and ignored them as they fought through the crowed. Finally they found another smelly alley that brought them to a nearly empty street where just a few children played.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screw driver and started pointing at all the surrounding buildings as his companions and the intrigued children watched.
The Doctor began to run down the street and his companions chased after him.
"What are we running from?" Rory called, looking behind them.
"We're not running from, we're running to." The Doctor stopped suddenly in front of a purple stone house. It was bigger than the other houses around it and seemed to scream wealthy people live in me.
The door opened a bit and a woman poked her head out. "May I help you?"
"We're looking for River Song." The Doctor told her.
The woman opened the door for them and they stepped in. It was at least twenty degrees cooler in the stone house. Stone bowls with corks in their sides held large quantities of melting ice. A small girl was empty the bowl into another bowl by pulling the cork out and letting the ice water out. She reached into a leather sack at her feet and started scooping for ice into it.
"How old is she?" Amy asked the woman who had shown them in.
The woman shook her head as if to say she didn't know or didn't care enough to find out. "I will take you to River Song."
They followed her through several rooms all filled with pillows and food. They passed another small child emptying a stone bowl. At last they entered a room that appeared to be a library, passing through a heavy felt draping over the door. There was no ice bowls in this room and it felt hotter and dryer than it had outside. And at a stone desk in the corner sat River Song.
"Hello sweeties. It didn't take as long as I thought it would." River said, eyeing Belle. "I wasn't expecting you here for at least another day or two."
"We wanted to come as soon as possible." Belle told her and hugged her.
"Did you tell him yet?" River whispered in her ear.
Belle shook her head curtly and stepped away for everyone else to have their turn.
When it was the Doctor's turn, they just stared at one another for a moment until he embraced her.
"If I didn't know you any better I would have thought you missed me." she told him.
"Well it's a good thing you know me better."
The woman who showed them in poked her head into the library again. "Dinner is served."
"Thank you Stella." River said stiffly. Once the woman had retreated Belle told them that Stella was ghastly.
"Whose house is this River?" Jimmy asked. "You can't tell me you own a home here too."
"It's my friend's." River said. "You will meet them at dinner. Come on."
"These are my friends: Amy, Rory, Jimmy, Belle, and the Doctor." River introduced them to Ryhl and Juni, the couple who owned the house.
They were a beautiful couple in their thirties. Juni had hair the color of fresh soil and deep green eyes that seem to remain smiling even when she wasn't (though she hadn't stopped smiling since they had walked in the room). Ryhl was tall and long, thick blonde hair that was braided in the back. His lips were full. He looked more feminine than manly. They had a ten year old daughter, Maya, who was the mirror image of her mother. She smiled shyly at Amy who waved to her.
"It is an honor to meet friends of River." Ryhl said, sounding like he meant it.
They sat down at the long, thick wood table as servants brought out plates of food.
"Will your son be joining us?" River asked.
Ryhl stiffened. "Yes, soon."
They ate in silence for a bit. Belle felt like she would go mad with questions when suddenly a tall brown hair young man came into the room. Everyone froze and Belle dropped the bread she was eating.
The young man wore no shirt to cover is massive glistening chest and arms. His pants were more skirt-like, like a long kilt with leggings. His hair was wet and stuck to his head.
"Really Ripple?" Ryhl sighed, nodding to his sons attire—or lack of one.
"You told me to get here as soon as possible." Ripple sat down across from Belle. "It is raining by the way."
Belle was staring at him openly, unaware she was doing it. Ripple smiled at her and Belle nodded hello and looked down at the large fish staring up at her, waiting to be eaten.
Jimmy looked from the awestruck Belle to Ripple. Oh hell he thought sadly.
"Please pardon my son's manners." Juni asked sipping her wine, through pursed lips, her eyes still smiling.
"He's pardoned." Amy and Belle said together.
The rest of the meal passed a bit awkwardly after that.
After dessert of some sort of fruit pastry made with local berries and goat's cheese, Juni said they should go out onto the balcony to watch the rain fall on the river.
The balcony, so far, was the most amazing thing about the house. It was larger than the dining room had been and hung out far over the cliff face that dropped into the river. It was covered and the rain did not come through. Ryhl and Juni claimed it was structurally sound but the companions waited for the Doctor to sonic it first before stepping on.
The city was laid out before them. Lights dotted the hillside on the far side of the giant river. Boats and small ships floated in the marinas and a few even dared to stay out in the massive down pour. It was breath taking, plain and simple.
"Where is it you are from?" Ripple asked Belle getting closer to where her and Jimmy stood.
"London." She said without thinking.
"Where is that?"
River came to Belle's rescue. "It is far east of here. It is very near where I live."
"And how do you know each other?"
"I'm a friend of Jimmy's father and I'm Belle's godmother."
The Doctor nearly choked on the piece of bread he was still chewing. River, a godmother?
"Where are your parents?" Maya asked.
"Maya!" Juni scolded her daughter.
"It's fine Juni." Belle knelt down and brushed a strand of hair out of the little girl's eyes. Her voice was soft and warm. "My parents are far, far away, with my little sister."
"Do you ever get to see them?"
Belle nodded. "In my dreams, every night." The words sounded like a rueful promise.
Maya hugged Belle.
The Doctor watched her for a moment. She hadn't just lost her parents but her sister too. She was alone. Like him.
Once Belle and Maya had parted, Jimmy came up close to her, letting her know that she was there. And in the dark, as they listened to the sky unleash its holy fury on the river, Belle wrapped her fingers in Jimmy's tightly. The Doctor saw this and realized she wasn't alone, not really. He smiled as he looked out over the marina and the rain continued to fall.
"How can it not bother you that all these people are going to be dead in just a matter of days?" Belle asked River.
River stared straight into her goddaughter's angry face. The Doctor and his companions had been in Atlantis for nearly two days and River and Belle had been arguing since that night on the balcony.
"It does bother me, it bothers me very much Belle, but the fact of the matter is we can't save them."
Jimmy and Rory were playing a makeshift version of chess, sighing each time Belle and River started arguing again. They had been trying to get a precise map of the chambers that led to the vault so they would know how to maneuver down there since it had been decided it was too dangerous to land the TARDIS somewhere they didn't know the layout of.
Amy told River to lower her voice a bit, afraid that someone would hear them talking about Sinking Day.
"The Scrambler is on." The Doctor said. "If they could hear us it would just sound like gibberish."
Amy nodded at Belle (whose side she had unofficially taken in this argument) and Belle continued.
"Just them, please, just them, just so…"
"Belle, I'm sorry, but it's just not going to work. Atlantis is a fixed point in time!"
Belle looked at the Doctor who was thinking about the time he had this conversation with Donna Noble. "You did it for the family in Pompeii!"
"How do you know about that?"
Before Belle could answer, Stella came in the room. "Master Ripple wishes to speak with Lady Belle."
Belle stood straighter. "Inform him that I will be there in a moment."
The woman looked at her in confusion. Belle realized that the scrambler was still on. She heard the sonic screw driver and then she repeated the statement. The woman nodded curtly an eye the Doctor, who had tucked the screw driver in his pocket deftly, before leaving.
Jimmy looked up from the game. "What does Pecamungus want now?"
Amy laughed.
"He wants to show me around the city."
"Is that smart, I mean, the last thing we need is for you to get lost in Atlantis the day before it…"
"I'm not going to get lost." Belle said, fixing her toga/dress.
"Yeah, just in his eyes." Amy laughed, biting into some pastry. "Anyways, there's a better chance she'll drown."
Jimmy and River froze, their eyes focusing on Belle, waiting for some sort of reaction.
Sensing the distress, the Doctor asked what was wrong.
Belle shook her head without looking at anyone. "Nothing." She left the room.
Amy was the first to speak. "Her family…did they…"
No one answered, but Jimmy got up and went after Belle, hoping to catch her before she met up with Ripple.
"Who is she River?" The Doctor said after a few minutes of awkward researching.
"What?" River didn't look up from her scroll.
"Belle, who is she?"
"She's an old friend's daughter."
"What old friend?"
"What does it matter?"
"Because I want to know."
River sighed in defeat. "I don't think this is going to get us anywhere."
"Then just answer the question."
"I meant this scroll, it just keeps talking about the trials."
"What trials?" Amy asked through a mouthful of her third pastry.
"The Trials of Good Fortune." Jimmy said watching the doorway, hoping Belle would return.
"What are the Trials of Good Fortune?" Rory asked.
"It is supposed to be some sort of security system." River eyed Jimmy. "How did you know about that, this is the first scroll so far that has had anything about it?"
"Belle found it interesting and told me all about it when she read about it online."
River put her head in her hands. "The one time I wish we had the all mighty power of the internet."
"So…what are the Trials of Good Fortune?" Amy asked, flicking through the scrolls she had been reading. "I haven't seen anything about them."
"There are four trials to test purity of each who try to get to the vaults. Trial by Fire, Trial by Earth, Trial by Water, and Trial by Truth. "
"That is terrifying." Rory said. "It almost sounds like a witch hunt."
"So why is it that they all sound like some kind of earth power thing until it gets to truth?" Jimmy asked.
"Because you don't truly show you are worthy until you reach the Truth." River said in her own cryptic way. "No one really does."
The Doctor was unusually quiet. How could Belle possible know about the family from Pompeii? Did he, in some Time, tell River, who told Belle? And what about the meeting with the future Belle, who was so much more different than the Belle he saw only moments before, so calm and collect? It was digging into his mind, rooting itself until he felt as if he would go mad.
Because you don't truly show you are worthy until you reach the Truth.
"Where are you taking me?" Belle laughed as she was pulled through the crowds of people, animals, carts, and buildings. She still couldn't believe she was in Atlantis, surrounded by what was possibly the most advance culture in history. They passed bikes and wooden carts that resembled small autos than actually carts. There was an actual street designed for these carts. Belle wished she had a camera.
"I'm taking you to my favorite place in all of the city." They were no longer on the street, but in the jungle, buildings still surrounded them, but they were older and vacant, just flora and fauna to inhabit them now.
Suddenly they were out of the jungle and on a small deserted beach. Birds sang and the river water embraced the sandy beach like star-crossed lovers, party quickly only to return for one last kiss.
"I used to play here as a child." Ripple turned around in circles, a silly smile on his happy face. He pulled Belle by the hand closer and closer to the water but she pulled out of his grip. He didn't really seem offended but began to pull off his clothes until he was left in those legging looking things. "Let's go for a swim."
He dove into the water, splashing Belle a bit. She stood as close as she dared to the clear blue water. When Ripple realized that she hadn't followed him in, he started trying to pull her in. "Come on, the water is lovely."
"No, I…I can't swim." She said pulling away from him so hard that she landed promptly on her backside in the sand.
Ripple laughed deeply. "I will hold you in my arms. Come."
Belle started to crawl away but suddenly she was being picked up in Ripple's strong, wet arms, and the next thing she knew she was under water. Her open mouth, in mid-sentence, filled with water. She was fighting Ripple, she beat against him and after what felt like hours under the water, she finally pried herself loose and stood up.
"What is it? You can stand, it is not deep."
But Belle was already tripping her way back to the shore. She pulled herself up into the sad and away from the water, gasping for breath. Her throat felt like someone had poured gravel into it by the time she was done.
"What is it?" Ripple asked. He was trying to pull her back into the water. "It's just a little—"
She didn't hear the rest of that sentence because she was running. She was running through the jungle, her now heavy dress kept tripping her. Somehow she managed to find the street again and then the house. Thank God for her good memory. She rushed into the house and hid in the first place she could think of.
"So, how long have you been in love with Belle?"
Jimmy cut his finger on the scroll he was reading.
"What are you talking about?" he didn't look at Amy.
Amy was grinning. "It's obvious the way you feel about her. Just in the way you move around her…a blind man could see it."
"I don't think…"
Amy raised her eyebrows. "Jimmy, don't even try to argue with me about this."
Jimmy didn't because there was no point. Yes he was in love with Belle, but he wasn't going to say it out loud. Because then, by rule, he would have to do something about it. But Amy took this as his answer and giggled a bit.
"Alright spill."
"Spill what?"
"Details?" Amy looked a bit annoyed. "I'm not normally this…girly. Say out loud, you know you want to. Please I just want to hear you say it, no one else is paying attention."
It was true. Rory was napping on the floor at Amy's feet like a tired puppy; River and the Doctor were in the far side of the library trying to draw a map of what they knew so far.
Maybe it was time he said something. He'd been in love with Belle for nearly two years—since he'd first met her—and had still never said anything.
"Fine, I—"
Ripple came bursting in the room, soaking wet and shirtless again. He looked worried. "Have any of you seen Belle?"
Amy sighed. "Told you she would get lost."
They hadn't turned the scrambler back on.
Jimmy stood up, anger plain on his face. "You lost her! How could you lose her!"
"I didn't lose her, she ran away!"
River was standing by the fuming Jimmy now, her face full of anger as well. "What did you do to make her run away?"
"I don't know, we were having a good time, and then I tried to get her to swim—"
"What do you mean you 'tried to get her to swim'?"
"She said she couldn't swim so I was going to hold her, but when I pulled her into the water, she started kicking and screaming. She ran away as soon as I let go."
"YOU PULLED HER INTO THE WATER!" Jimmy thundered. Suddenly he was pushing the soaking Ripple against the hard stone wall with all the strength he had. "You pulled her into the water without her consent?"
"I thought she would be fine!"
Jimmy brought his fist into the air, a perfect line up with Ripple's beautiful face, but he froze and brought it back down. "First of all, get a freaking shirt; second of all Ripple sounds like something a Woodstock baby would be called, so get a nickname like Rip, because that would fit you much better; and lastly if you ever touch Belle without her permission again, I will kill you is that understood?"
Ripple nodded and Jimmy pushed him out of the room. He turned to give Amy a pointed look. "Did I say it loud enough for you?"
Amy smiled and Jimmy left to go find Belle.
"What was that about?" River asked, the Doctor by her side.
"Just fate helping me prove a point."
"Belle?" Jimmy said stepping onto the balcony.
She didn't turn to look at him. He knew he would find her here, she had told him she loved it, because it was safe and beautiful. He thought it was an odd way to describe something, but had agreed.
"Ripple told us what happened."
Belle laughed bitterly. "Ten years, James. Ten years and I still can't even take a shower with feeling scared."
"Well, tell you what, I'll start taking showers with you, so you aren't alone."
Belle laughed again, this time, she meant it. Jimmy put his arm around the shaking Belle and she snuggled into him and his comforting smell.
"Am I damaged?" she asked him suddenly.
"What?"
"Am I just so mucked up that I'm damaged, like permanently?"
"I wouldn't say that."
"Yes you wouldn't; because you are too nice."
Jimmy wanted to laugh. Two years ago, before he was brought into River and Belle's world, he would have had to pay someone to tell him he was nice.
"I wouldn't say that because it's not true, Belle."
She was silent.
"Is this about Ripple, because—?"
She laughed. "It's not about Ripple."
"Then what?"
"It's about the Doctor. It's about my family; it's about River, you, and me."
Jimmy nodded, trying to understand. He thought he did: Belle was afraid that she was damaged and that it was hurting the people she cared about, including her family, even though she would never see them again.
"I want to tell the Doctor, James."
"You mean about..?"
"Yes. Maybe…maybe it will give me some sort of closure."
Jimmy laughed. "Closure?"
She hit him in the chest playfully. "Shut it."
They didn't leave for a while, but sat there, holding each other as they watched boats and ships rock on the waves of the Atlantic River.
The Doctor was on a quest for Amy: get the "chocolate pretzel thingies" from the kitchen. Amy was always hungry these days and it was beginning to concern the Doctor. It was nearly eight and the summer sun was just setting over Atlantis as he went to search for the TARDIS. He had thought about moving it into the merchant's home, but wasn't sure if that was such a great idea, so instead, he had moved it into the jungle like wood near the edge of the lower city and used the cloaking device on it so it wouldn't be disturbed.
When he finally found it, after swatting at the air for nearly five minutes, he headed straight for the consul and tried to give it a hug. Two days in an actual house, always remaining still, or not moving enough, was getting to him. Today he found himself talking to an exotic fish in a bowl, telling it how one day it's cousin the goldfish would be a key factor when the Bijouz tried to take over Earth. Then he told it that they would fail, but that was okay, the Bijoz would try again a thousand years after and succeed. And that they ruled very well.
Thinking of the story made him think of Rose Tyler. He had just returned from saving the world from the Bijoz and the goldfish when he had gotten a message from her saying she was about to die and how he could do nothing. But he had done something.
He had saved Rose, Donna, Jack, Martha, Mickey, Jackie, Pete, their son Tony, the Meta-Crisis Doctor (Who now went by John and was married to Rose), and their daughter, Noble. It had been great seeing them all even if they hadn't seen him. Since then life just hadn't been the same: he had this feeling like something was about to happen, something big. It was like the static before the lightning or the smell of rain in the air before the storm. And it was going to happen soon.
After his private moment with the consul, he went to the kitchen to find the chocolate pretzels. He dug around in the cupboard for a moment before he heard footsteps behind him. He whipped around, his sonic screwdriver in his hand.
It was Belle.
No it wasn't just Belle, it was the Future Belle, the one he had seen on Fisher Street.
"What are you doing here?"
"Looking for these?" she held up the bag of chocolate pretzels. They were open. "Sorry, I got nippish waiting for you."
He repeated the question.
"I wanted to see you before you left."
"What do you mean left?"
"You, River, me—the past me that is, Jimmy, and Amy are going into the chambers tonight." She set the pretzels on the table and picked up a small black bag off of the floor. She handed it to him.
"You're going to need these."
"You didn't say Rory." He said taking the bag without looking at it.
"Yes that is because he is going to be in the TARDIS, doing Amy's bidding as usual."
"Who are you?"
"You know who I am Doctor." She said smiling as she set down at the small table. Her hair was different; it now had a bright streak of aqua blue in it that matched her nose piercing. She was the same age as she had been on Fisher Street.
"I mean, who are you, really."
"I'm your friend Doctor, I always have been."
"You don't even like me…the present Belle, doesn't."
"That's because you broke her heart Doctor."
"How?"
Belle smiled. "You will find out tonight."
"If I guess it, will you tell me?" he asked, sitting across from her. "I am rather clever."
"Yes you are, but I doubt you will understand. Even River can't seem to wrap her head around it." She laughed. "My existence is sort of impossible."
"Why?"
"The same reason why present Belle can't stand to be in water." She got serious. "Something is going to happen tonight Doctor, you are going to have to make a choice, and I—she—we will hate you for it, but you will still have to do it."
The Doctor leaned forward. "You are nothing but riddles. Cryptic messages."
Belle leaned in as well. "And you are nothing but an old Time Lord who doesn't know when to quit. When to give up."
She stood up.
"Who are you." the Doctor said as she started to type in coordinates into the Vortex Manipulator on her wrist.
"I'm a friend Doctor, one you will need very soon." She smiled at him, but it was a sad smile. "When the Children of Time come together, once again and Amy makes her choice. When you make your choice." She shook her head. "You are very clever Doctor. Just not as clever as Her."
"What?" but Belle was gone and the Doctor was left again, with more questions than answers and a half eaten bag of pretzels.
"What are these?" Amy asked. She was holding the black bag and one of the five teleport bracelets that had been in the bag.
"Teleport bracelets." The Doctor said, snapping one onto his wrists. "These are what we are using to get into the Chambers. We will just teleport in, go through the trials, get what we came here for, and go home."
"Why not just teleport into the Vault?" Rory asked.
River shook her head. "There are barriers, set up by magnetics, that would hamper the devices. It's rather brilliant."
Jimmy glanced into the bag. "So how do they work?"
"Well, we all get in a little group—each of us with one of these on—and then we use the teleport manipulator on the TARDIS to teleport into the desired Chamber. And we have to do it all at the same time or we could end up…somewhere we're not supposed to be. Easy as that."
"There is only five." Belle observed, pulling two out. "And there is six of us."
There was a moment of awkward silence that the Doctor had wanted to avoid. Everyone looked to the bracelets and then at each other.
Rory swallowed. "Who's staying?"
Instantly, everyone looked to him.
"No." he said. "No. I am not staying while everyone goes off on an adventure."
"Rory—" Amy began but Rory interrupted her.
"Don't Rory me." Rory stopped. "I will stay. But only if Amy stays as well."
"What!" Amy jumped up and all trace of sweetness disappeared. "That is—"
"A wonderful idea." The Doctor finished. "Amy and Rory stay here, they have been asking for some alone time for some reason, and we—Myself, River, Jimmy, and Belle—go on the dangerous mission." He looked at Amy. "Do you remember how to fly the TARDIS, in case we don't return?"
Amy eyed her best friend as he rambled on. His eyes never met hers. She wanted to laugh as she got the secret message.
The Doctor began to explain in more detail about traveling by teleport. "Since these are old, they have a different way of working than the newer ones. If you are getting teleported it is safer to be holding onto one another; you have better chances of staying together then and ending up in the same place. And if we're not all touching, the chances of you ending up in some other part of the galaxy is high. So Rory, all you have to do is aim it at us as a group, and then flick this switch, and we're gone. Just like that."
"What do we use to contact you?" Rory asked. The Doctor pulled out five walkie-talkies and handed them to everyone but Amy, who was standing in the corner, looking sullen. "Alright, well, I guess we should get started."
Everyone changed out of their togas and robes and back into their more comfortable clothes. They check their talkies and held hands as Rory pointed what looked like a small laser at them. Belle closed her eyes.
"On the count of three." The Doctor said. "One…two…THREE!"
Belle saw a flash of light and then the musical hum of the police box disappeared. She opened her eyes and she found herself face to face with Jimmy who had bent down to adjust his talkie. Their eyes met and for a moment, Belle instantly forgot that they were in a tunnel that was dark, the only light came from blue-flamed torches that lined the walls.
"Doctor," Came Rory's static voice from the talkies. "Amy's disappeared."
