This arc is causing me more problems than I'd like to discuss. At this point, I would probably torch Pompeii myself. So. Anyway, sorry updates have been slow. There's also going to be one more part to this arc because it would have been twice as long if I tried to keep with the three parts per episode formula, and I really wanted to get something up for you. So yeah. Enjoy.


The Doctor said their best bet would be to find Lucius and try to figure out exactly where he'd gotten the plans for his stone circuits from.

"I bribed Rebel without a clue over there to show me the way to our illustrious augur's residence," he told Rose. "I'm going alone-no, stop it," he said quickly when she opened her mouth to argue. "You stay here with Donna. While I greatly respect you, and I'm frankly a little frightened of Donna, Lucius is a very…patriarchal type. I'll get more out of him without women around. I think."

Rose studied him for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Just don't...you know...get run through by a spear or something."

"I'll do my best," he said, fighting a smile as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "You keep an eye on Donna, make sure she doesn't...do...anything."

So, with that mission, she wandered toward the back of the house where she'd seen Donna disappear to with Metella and Evelina.

"You're not supposed to laugh," Donna was saying as Rose entered the bedroom. "Thanks for that."

"Nice toga," Rose said, nodding at the purple garment Donna was wearing.

"Do you think? How about this?" Donna asked, striking a dramatic pose. "The goddess Venus."

"Oh, that's sacrilege," Evelina said with another giggle.

"Nah," Rose said, sitting on Evelina's bed and leaning back on her elbow. "We've got a special relationship with godesses. Me and Fortuna go way back."

"You two have no fear at all," the girl said, her giggling becoming real laughs.

"Nice to see you laugh, though," Donna said. She stepped toward the bed, and Rose scooted over to give her room between them. "What do you do in old Pompeii, then... girls your age? You got... mates? Do you go hangin' about 'round the shops? T.K. Maximus?"

"I'm promised to the sisterhood for the rest of my life," Evelina said, shaking her head.

"You get any choice in that?" Donna asked.

"It's not my decision," Evelina said with a shrug. "I have the gift of sight. The sisters chose for me."

"Then...what can you see happening tomorrow?" Donna asked slowly.

"Donna," Rose said in warning voice, nudging her with a knee.

"I'm just asking," said Donna.

"Is tomorrow special?" Evelina asked with a confused smile.

"You tell me," Donna urged. "What do you see?"

Evelina sat up straighter and closed her eyes for a moment, then shrugged. "The sun will rise. The sun will set. Nothing special at all."

Donna glanced at Rose for an instant, then turned back to Evelina. "Look...I've got a prophecy too."

Evelina immediately covered her eyes with her hands, showing them only the painted ones on the back.

"Donna, stop it," Rose said, sitting up.

"No, I'm sorry, but someone should say something," Donna said, and Rose made an exasperated noise.

"No, you can't-"

"Evelina, I'm sorry, but you've got to hear me out," Donna said, ignoring her. "Evelina, can you hear me? Listen."

"There is only one prophecy," Evelina cried desperately.

"Donna, leave it!" Rose said, jumping off the bed to stand by the trembling girl.

"But it's tomorrow!" Donna snapped. "That mountain is going to explode. Evelina, please listen. The air is going to fill with ash and rocks...tons and tons of it and...this whole town is gonna get buried."

"That's not true," Evelina insisted.

"That's enough," Rose said with a tone of finality. "Stop it, Donna. She can't see it, and she won't believe you."

"She doesn't have to!" Donna said. "She just has to leave! Evelina please, just for one day, just for tomorrow. But you've got to get out! Just leave Pompeii!"

"This is false prophecy!" Evelina cried, dropping her hands and pulling away from them. "You are both blasphemers."

"Okay, just relax," Rose said soothingly.

"But we're not-"

"Excuse us for a second," Rose said, losing her patience as she pulled Donna away. "You need to stop, Donna. I know," she said quickly, holding up a hand. "I know you're trying to help them. We...might...I dunno, there might still be something, later. But right now, all you're doing is upsetting her with...false prophecies and doomsaying that means nothing to her. We can't stop Pompeii, and that's not going to change. We can't win everything."

"But it's not fair," Donna said softly. "She's just a girl."

"I know," Rose said softly, genuinely sympathetic. "I've...there's a lot of people I've met that I couldn't save, that I knew I couldn't. And it's never easy. But you've got to believe me when I say that this, what you're doing now, isn't going to make it better."

"But how do you live with this all the time?" Donna asked.

"Because that's the only option," Rose said with a shrug. "C'mon."

"Please stop," Evelina pleaded when they returned to her.

"Course," Rose said, sitting next to her again. "No more false prophecies from us, promise." She paused, looking the girl over. Breathing in that dust could definitely go far in explaining her ill health. "What happened to your arm?" Rose asked after a moment, examining the bandage that was wound around her forearm from wrist to elbow.

"It's a skin condition," Evelina explained, clearly relieved at the shift in conversation.

"Bit more than that," Donna said. "Rose, her arm...it felt like stone."

Rose frowned and opened her mouth to question them further, but jerked her head toward the door when she heard an odd pounding sound in the distance. At the same time, she felt the Doctor, mentally nudging her in warning.

"What the hell is that?" Donna asked as the sound came nearer.

"Nothing good," Rose spat, leaping for the door and running to the great room just as the Doctor came sprinting in from outside.

"Caecilius!" he shouted as Caecilius and Metella darted in from another room. "All of you, get out!"

"What's going on?" Rose demanded as he caught her around the waist, pulling her back.

"Doctor, what is it?" Donna asked.

"I think we're being followed," he said urgently, then spun around as the grille over the hypocaust was blown off. "Just get out!"

He turned and tried to herd everyone away, but they all froze as the hypocaust itself started shaking and cracking. Mere seconds later, it exploded completely as a creature forced itself through. The Doctor cursed in a low breath, his arms out to keep everyone back.

"The gods are with us," Evelina said, stepping forward.

"No god I've met," Rose muttered.

"Water!" the Doctor shouted, ignoring them both. "We need water! Quintus, all of you, get water! Rose, Donna! Go," he urged, glancing back at her briefly before turning back to the creature. She nodded, and she ran off as everyone else scattered, looking for buckets, pots, anything to carry water in. She and Donna returned at the same time, but had the buckets they were carrying whisked from their hands as several women grabbed hold of their arms, covering their mouths. Rose caught sight of Evelina watching fearfully as they were dragged away.

Donna put up less of a fight, most likely due more to surprise than anything. Rose however allowed herself to be pulled only as far as outside, so as not to distract the others and leave themselves open to the creature. Then she stamped hard on a woman's foot, who released Rose with a yelp of pain, then she rounded on the other woman, using the butt of her hand to hit her in the jaw. Once free, she debated for a moment between going back to help the Doctor and chasing after Donna, but quickly decided Donna would probably need more help.

"Oi!" she yelled when she caught up with the group, and the women holding Donna looked back at her in surprise. "That's my friend," she said, nodding at Donna. "What're you trying to take her for?"

She spun quickly when she felt arms trying to grab her again, facing the other women in red who now watched her warily.

"Who're you lot?" she asked, backing away a little to keep both groups in her field of vision, then pulled out her sonic pen in a burst of inspiration, levelling it at them. "And you can let Donna go right now, thanks."

The women released Donna, who hurried over to Rose.

"Will that thing actually do anything to them?" Donna whispered.

"So long as they think it might, that's all I need," Rose muttered back, then turned back to the robed women. "So, come on, talk."

"We are of the Sybiline Sisterhood," a redheaded woman said.

"And what's that mean?" Rose asked. "No...wait...the sisterhood. Evelina's in with you lot, yeah? So you're...part of whatever's going on. Alright. So what d'you want with us?"

"You come to our land bringing false prophecies," the woman said. "And for that you must be sacrificed at our temple."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Rose said, shaking her head.

"No?" one of the other asked. "Because if you actually meant your...device to harm us, you would have already done so. I think you are powerless...and outnumbered."

"Wouldn't go that far," a voice said from the shadows, and the Doctor sauntered out towards them. "You might've told me you felt like a stroll," he said to Rose.

"Well, you know, fresh air, moonlight," she replied with a shrug.

"Right," he said with a smirk. "So, sacrificed to a goddess, you are moving up in the world Donna."

"Yeah, I think I'll save the celebration for later," Donna said sarcastically.

"So who ordered this?" he asked, subtly moving so that he was standing between Donna and Rose and the group that had tried to kidnap them. "High priestess? Think I'd like to have a chat with her…"

"Men are not allowed in the temple," one of them said as he started walking away.

"You ladies tried to sacrifice my wife and my friend," he said, turning smoothly without breaking his stride. "Now is not a time to tell me what I'm not allowed."

oOoOo

The Doctor told Rose and Donna what had happened with the magma monster as he led them quickly through the winding streets toward the temple. The rest of the sisterhood had scurried off in another direction, but he preferred it that way...while surprise often afforded a good offensive position, he also had little doubt that there was something intelligent and calculating behind this that would be intrigued by the fact that Rose and Donna hadn't been willing damsels. And if there was someone behind all this...maybe he could stop it after all. He could stop something from burning…

No. It was still fixed. And it made him furious.

"Do you know, I met the Sibyl once," he said in a cheery voice as they entered the temple, denying the internal rage. The women inside spun around to them. "Hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance a tarantella. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me."

"Of course she did," Rose said with an eyeroll.

"Not the first time I've been a bit foxy," he said with a wink. "Mind you, I said it would never last. She said, "I know". Well, she would."

"Who is this man?" a dark haired woman who hadn't been part of the earlier group demanded. "Is he the reason the blasphemers escaped you?"

"Nah, the blasphemers did that on their own," the Doctor said with a shrug, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking around. "Let me tell you about the Sibyl...the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, eh? On the blade of a knife?"

"Yes...a knife that now welcomes you!" she cried, pulling out a decorative dagger and raising it to him while he arched an eyebrow.

"Show me this man," a raspy voice said from behind the curtains at the far end of the room.

"High Priestess, the stranger would defy us!" the woman with the dagger said in disbelief, spinning around.

"Let me see," the High Priestess insisted. "This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake."

"Ah, very perceptive," he said, walking toward the curtain. "Where do these words of wisdom come from?"

"The gods whisper to me," the voice said.

"Bet they've done more than that," Rose murmured, and the Doctor shot her a look, but she was staring fixedly at the curtain.

"Might I beg audience, look upon the High Priestess?" he asked, turning his attention back to the hidden priestess.

The curtains parted, and they were met with the grotesque sight of the priestess, an image of living stone, moving jerkily and looking almost mummified. His mind began whirring, flipping through his mental catalogue of species in the universe as he studied the creature before him.

"Oh my God!" Donna gasped. "What's happened to you?"

"The heavens have blessed me," the High Priestess said.

"If I might," he said, gesturing toward her in question. She raised an arm, and he stepped forward to kneel in front of her, fingers moving over the stone arm. "Does it hurt?"

"It is necessary," she said.

"Says who?" Rose asked, and he looked back to see her looking over the priestess, torn between concern and disgust.

"The voices," the High Priestess said.

"That happened to Lucius too, didn't it?" Rose asked, mimicking the way the augar had held his arm, and the Doctor nodded. "Evelina too...it's just starting with her."

"And the rest of you?" Donna asked, turning to the rest of the sisterhood.

"The blessings are manifold," the dark haired woman from earlier said, stepping forward and pushing her sleeve up.

"They're stone," Donna said, touching the woman gingerly.

"Exactly," the Doctor said, standing and walking back toward them. "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?"

"Breathing in Vesuvias," Rose murmured.

"Mhm," he agreed. "And a bit extra, I think…"

"This word," the High Priestess said. "This image in your mind, this "volcano", what is that?"

"Hang on, but I thought every seer spoke the truth," Rose said, frowning. "Evelina couldn't see it either. How come?"

"Good question," the Doctor said. "Big event that has a fixed place in history...yet you know nothing about it. Who are you?"

"High Priestess of the Sibyline," the creature said.

"No, no, no, no," he said. "I'm talking to the creature inside you. The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust in the lungs... taking over the flesh and turning it into...what?"

"Your knowledge is impossible," the priestess said.

"Oh, but you can read my mind," he said. "You know it's not. I demand you tell me who you are!"

"We... are... awakening!" she said, and the Doctor held out an arm to keep Rose and Donna back and looked around as her voice was echoed by several others.

"The voice of the gods!" one of the sisters cried.

"Words of wisdom, words of power," the sisters began chanting. "Words of wisdom, words of power."

"Name yourself!" he snapped, his patience gone. "Planet of origin, galactic coordinates, species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation."

"We... are... rising!" the voices said.

"Tell me your name!" he bellowed.

The High Priestess threw back her head and shouted, "Pyrovile!"

"Pyrovile," the sisters started chanting. "Pyrovile."

"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked.

"I'm guessing that," Rose said, watching the priestess warily and nodding at her.

"She's at the halfway stage," the Doctor said. "The Pyrovile is growing inside her."

Rose's eyes snapped to him. "That thing at the villa-"

He nodded grimly. "An adult Pyrovile."

"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor," the creature hissed.

"I warn you, I'm armed," he said, pulling out the water pistol he'd filled up back at the villa and jerking his head back at the hypocaust. "Rose, get that grille open."

"What are you gonna-" Donna started, but he silenced her with a look, and she moved to help Rose.

"What are the Pyrovile doing here?" he demanded, aiming at the sisterhood in turns.

"We fell from the heavens," the Pyrovile said. "We fell so far and so fast we were rendered into dust."

"Right," he said. "Creatures of stone shatter on impact. When was that, seventeen years ago?"

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years," the creature scoffed.

"Okay...so the earthquake seventeen years ago woke you up," he amended. "And now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourself, but why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts," the Pyrovile said.

"Yeah, okay, fine," he said quickly. "You force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that. I get that. Yeah, but... seeing the future, that is way beyond psychic, you can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"

"Doctor!" Rose shouted.

"Get down, both of you," he ordered, stepping back toward her while keeping the water pistol aimed at the Pyrovile.

"What, down there?" he heard Donna ask in disbelief.

"Oh, just shift," Rose snapped.

"Why can't this lot predict the volcano?" the Doctor asked. "Why is it being hidden?"

"Sisters, I see into his mind," the dark haired sister said. "The weapon is harmless."

"Yeah," he said, looking at it critically. "But it's got a sting!"

He shot a stream of water at the Pyrovile, where it steamed as the creature moaned in pain. Then he darted toward the hypocaust and dropped down after Donna and Rose.

"You fought her off with a water pistol," Donna said as he stood. "I bloody love you."

"That's nothing," Rose said, but grabbed his lapels and pulled him toward her for a hard kiss.

He took her hand as he broke away, looking down the tunnel. "This way."

"Where are we going now?" Donna asked.

"Into the volcano," the Doctor said.

"No way," Donna said.

"Yes way," he said, twirling the pistol in his other hand.

"Appian way," Rose said with a bright smile, and he flashed a grin at her before leading both women deeper into the earth.