AN: I am SO SORRY about the gap in updates! During the summer I got too lazy to update my stories, and then grade 11 started, and one test lead to another... But now I'm writing an extra long chapter to make up for it and to celebrate the second episode of season 9 of Doctor Who, which premiered on Saturday!
Enjoy!
Chapter 9: The Fires of Pompeii Part 2
As soon as the rumbling stopped and everyone had gained their footing again, the Doctor rose out of his crouch on the ground, pulling Donna with him, and stared at me profoundly.
Feeling stupid, like he was trying to give me an obvious message, I asked, "What?"
The Doctor glanced at Donna, who was too busy staring at Vesuvius with her mouth open to hear us, then replied in a hiss, "You let me travel to Pompeii the day before the volcano erupts." It wasn't a question. It wasn't even said nicely. In fact, I think the Doctor was pretty pissed.
"You had to!" I said, on the defensive with the way he was glaring at me like that.
"Damn you and your "had to's" sometimes, Joyce," he muttered while dragging poor Donna away and down the street. I stood where I was, too shocked to move. What had I done now? The Doctor acted like I had led him and Donna to their deaths, for god's sake! Okay, granted, it must seem like it to them now, but I knew for a fact how the original timelines went. I just had to make sure that they went down their proper paths.
Suddenly, I noticed that I couldn't see the Doctor nor Donna anymore. Shit! Had he actually left me behind? I ran down the streets I had seen him go in the episode, but he was nowhere to be found. Neither was the TARDIS. I swear, if he left me in Pompeii the day before Vesuvius erupted, I'll...
Then, I remembered that the TARDIS had gone missing in the episode and the Doctor and Donna had gone to Caecilius' house to get it back. I turned to a nearby vendor of pottery and asked, out of breath, "Excuse me, do you know the way to Caecilius' place?"
The vendor smiled and pointed around the corner, saying, "Go around the corner and take your first left. It's on Foss Street. A big villa, can't miss it."
I was already leaving, but I yelled over my shoulder, "Thanks!"
The last I heard of him before merging with the crowds around the corner was "No problem, miss!"
I fought my way through the mass of people, saying, "Excuse me!" when I needed to get through and "Sorry!" when people didn't move and I had to shove them away to get through. I finally made it to Foss Street and ran until I saw a big, fancy-looking stone house, or villa, as the Italians of this era called it. I spun on the spot, looking hopefully for the Doctor and/or Donna.
What did I do now, ring the bell? Knock? And what should I say when - or if - someone opened the door? "Hello, I'm looking for two friends of mine who I'm travelling in all of time and space with and who one of them is angry enough with me to abandon me. We're looking for our space ship/time machine/living sentient organism that apparently you have in your villa. May we have it back, please?" Yeah, I don't think so.
I sighed, wringing my hands. What am I going to do now? I thought desperately. I could leave Pompeii for the surrounding countryside before tomorrow, sure, but then I'd still be stuck in Italy in 79 AD. All of a sudden, I heard a pair of familiar voices and I glanced to my right, down the street. At the end of it, the Doctor was looking around frantically, muttering to himself, while Donna was calling something... "Joyce? Joyce!"
Oh! So now they're looking for me, eh? I was sorely tempted to hide and watch them panic more, but I figured that they had suffered enough, given the expressions on their faces. Plus, we needed to get this episode going. As I made my way to them, I was a bit pleased to discover that this meant that the Doctor hadn't meant to abandon me in a city about to burn, but he had only forgotten me. Actually, now that I thought about it, that wasn't that much better. How do you forget a whole person?
At last, I arrived in front of them, and the funny thing was that at first, neither of them noticed me. But then the Doctor caught sight of me and ran right at me, sweeping me into a crushing hug. "JOYCE! Oh my god, we found you! DONNA! I found her! You can stop yelling now! Oh, Joyce, where were you? I was running back to the TARDIS with Donna and I thought you were right beside me, but then after Donna said her piece about warning the villagers, I noticed that you were really quiet, then I couldn't find you..." here he trailed off, apparently too spent to continue.
I stayed still for a second, then fought my way out of his hug. The Doctor released me, looking confused, and I spied Donna goggling at me out of the corner of my eye. I, very calmly, looked the Doctor in the eyes, then slapped him, hard, across the face. The Doctor held a hand to his now red cheek and gaped at me, shocked. I heard Donna mutter dazedly, "Well, you go girl."
I marched back up to the Doctor and crossed my arms, looking up at him. "Never do that to me again. Are we clear?" I hissed, probably looking purely livid. And oh, how I was. The Doctor nodded hurriedly, his eyes wide.
I smirked in satisfaction and said more clearly, "I thought so." Then, I turned and started walking to Caecilius' villa, saying over my shoulder, "Come on. Let's go get the TARDIS from Caecilius."
Needless to say, neither the Doctor nor Donna dared to ask how I knew this while I'd been separated from them.
This time around, the Doctor knocked on the front door and showed the servant who answered it his psychic paper, saying that we were marble inspectors. As we were shown inside, I thought hard to come up with a good Roman name to introduce myself as. Finally, I came up with Tanaquil.
Just as we arrived in the what I would call 'living room', however, the ground started to shake again and I immediately clung to the wall. The Doctor, on the other hand, rushed to catch a falling marble bust before it could smash on the floor. "Woah! There you go!" he said as he caught it in time and placed it back in its proper place as the earth stilled.
Caecilius spoke up. "Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed today. I'm expecting a visitor."
The Doctor just grinned and shook Caecilius' hand. "But that's me, I'm a visitor. Hello."
Caecilius looked confused. "Who are you?" he asked as the Doctor walked away and turned to face him, me and Donna following.
The Doctor, clearly thinking on the spot, introduced himself as 'Spartacus', Donna following his lead. I rolled my eyes and said, "I'm Tanaquil." I saw the Doctor glance at me out of the corner of my eye but I remained steadfastly staring at Caecilius.
"Mr and Mrs. Spartacus and daughter," Caecilius deduced, eyeing all three of us. Donna and the Doctor immediately looked aghast as I giggled a bit and wondered if I really looked like the offspring of Donna and the Doctor. Maybe Caecilius needed glasses?
"Oh, no, no, no. We're not, we're not married," the Doctor amended, gesturing between the two of them.
"We're not together," Donna put in.
I was miffed that both of them neglected to mention that I was not their daughter and piped up, "And I'm not their daughter, by the way."
Of course, Caecilius decided that they must be related in another way. "Oh, then brother and sister? Yes, of course. You look very much alike."
The Doctor and Donna looked at each other and simultaneously asked, "Really?" and I had to suppress the urge to guffaw very loudly.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade," Caecilius stated, trying to get rid of us before Lucius Dextrus arrived.
The Doctor looked around and raised an eyebrow. "And that trade would be...?"
"Marble. Lopus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and designing thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man," Caecilius introduced himself.
"That's good. That's good, because I'm the marble inspector." The Doctor flashed his psychic paper at Caecilius and walked away, leaving the poor man to start panicking.
Caecilius' wife, Metella, who had remained silent during the whole conversation, said, "By the gods of commerce, an inspection." She grabbed her son's, Quintus, goblet and poured the wine out. "I'm sorry, sir. I do apologize for my son." I couldn't help but giggle at Quintus' cry of indignation.
Caecilius rushed to be more polite and welcoming. "And this is my good wife, Metella. I must confess, we're not prepared for an inspection."
The Doctor was all easy-going reassuring comments and smooth manipulation. "Nothing to worry about it. I'm, I'm sure you have nothing to hide. Although, frankly, that object looks rather like wood to me." Here, the Doctor pointed to the TARDIS, which was sitting in the corner, and headed over to it. Donna and I followed. Why were we always following him around?
Metella hissed to her husband worriedly, "I told you to get rid of it."
"I only bought it today," Caecilius said defensively.
"Ah, well. Caveat emptor."*
"Oh, you're Celtic. There's lovely." Oh yeah, Latin sounds like Celtic. Right.
"I'm sure it's fine, but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection."
But of course, Donna had to try her hand again. "Although while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?" She said innocently enough, but the loaded look she gave the Doctor definitely wasn't.
"Dont' know what you mean, Spartacus." The Doctor's voice held a tone of warning in it. Lay off it, Donna.
Donna continued to explain, seemingly oblivious to the Doctor's narrowed eyes. "Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son." She gestured to Metella, Caecilius and Quintus, who were looking on with bewildered expressions. "Don't you think they should get out of town?"
"Why should we do that?" Caecilius finally asked.
Donna looked incredulous. "Well, the volcano, for starters."
"What?" he demanded, looking more confused. I would too, if someone was talking to me about something I'd never heard about in my life.
"Volcano," Donna repeated. I sighed, exasperated.
"What ano?"
"That great big volcano right on your doorstep!" Donna shot back, getting more and more frustrated.
The Doctor finally stepped in and nipped this sorry little affair in the bud before it got out of hand. "Oh, Spartacus, for shame. We haven't even greeted the household gods yet. Come, Tanaquil." He steered Donna away and gestured to me with his head to follow.
As soon as we were out of earshot, the Doctor took some water and flicked it on each drawing of a household god, explaining as he did so, "They don't know what it is. Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet. The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow."
"Oh, great, they can learn a new word as they die," Donna replied, looking very much not impressed.
"Donna, stop it." I warned her. Her futile attempts at saving the city were making the whole thing even sadder.
"Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flying round with in outer space, but you're not telling me to shut up." I raised my eyebrows at her pure nerve. But she wasn't done. "That boy, how old is he, sixteen? He must be Joyce's age, for god's sake! And tomorrow he burns to death."
I saw the Doctor's jaw clench as he glanced between me and Quintus. Donna had hit a sensitive spot, it seemed. But he refused to give up. "And that's my fault?" he asked indignantly.
Donna looked even more pissed off. "Right now, yes," she replied, staring him down. I was about to get in between the two and separate them if need be, but we were all interrupted.
"Annoucing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government," said a man who had just walked in.
He stepped aside and a man with grey-white hair and a foul expression wearing a cloak over his right arm walked in like he owned the place. I immediately could tell that I wouldn't like him, even before he had said a word. I remembered from the original episode that this man was a sexist and arrogant to boot.
Caecilius stepped forward, intending on being a welcoming and gracious host. "Lucius. My pleasure, as always."
Across the room, Metella briskly told Quintus to stand up and he begrudgingly did so. Caecilius continued in his mission to get a reaction out of Lucius, who was just standing there, staring around the room. "A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house." He tried to shake Lucius' hand, but the rude man blatantly ignored his offered hand and Caecilius retracted his hand, looking embarrassed.
Finally, the dour man spoke. "The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west." Hey, I never said that what he said made a lick of sense in context. I glimpsed the Doctor's expression at Lucius' statement and had to physically cover my mouth to prevent myself from laughing out loud. In fact, I ended up making a weird coughing noise in my throat and Donna winked at me, knowing that I was trying not to laugh. I smiled back and returned my attention to the conversation we were watching unfold.
"Quite. Absolutely." Caecilus paused, then asked, "That's good, is it?"
"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow," was his obscure answer. I fought not to giggle hysterically at this utter nonsense.
Metella moved to her husband's side while he stated reverently, "There now, Metella. Have you ever heard such wisdom?"
"Never. It's an honour," she replied, continuing to flatter Lucius.
Caecilius noticed the Doctor, Donna and me standing off to the side and hastened to introduce us. "Pardon me, sir. I have guests. This is Spartacus," he gestured to the Doctor, "er, Spartacus," he gestured to Donna, "and Tanaquil," and he gestured to me.
We all waved and the Doctor grinned that foolish grin of his. Nevertheless, Lucius did not seem impressed. "A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind."
The Doctor replied, "But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark."
Lucius stepped forward and shot back, "Ah! But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?"
The Doctor glanced down and started, "I concede that every sun must set-"
"Ha!" Lucius proclaimed.
"-and yet the sun of the father must also rise," the Doctor finished, gesturing to Quintus and Caecilius. I sighed, wondering how the Doctor came up with this stuff. 'The sun of the father must also rise'? Where the hell did that come from?
Lucius looked disappointed. "Damn. Very clever, sir. Evidently, a man of learning."
"Oh, yes. But don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo."** I rolled my eyes. The Doctor just had to keep using Latin expressions!
Caecilius leaned in to Lucius and whispered apologetically, "He's Celtic."
The Doctor pointed away and said, "We'll be off in a minute."
He steered Donna towards the TARDIS, but she wasn't having it. "I'm not going," she protested quietly.
I heard Caecilius pronounce proudly behind us, "It's ready sir."
"You've got to," the Doctor muttered back to the fiery red-head.
"Well, I'm not," was her stubborn response. We were almost at the TARDIS. I glanced anxiously back to Caecilius, Metella and Lucius, who were poring over a slab of marble covered in a cloth. They needed to say something to get the Doctor's attention so that he could figure out the Pyrovillians' plan.
Finally, just in time, Caecilius declared, "The moment of revelation. And here it is." The Doctor and I looked back to see the marble circuit being unveiled. Bless the Doctor and his curiosity!
"Exactly as you specified. It pleases you, sir?" Caecilius continued.
"As the rain pleases the soil," Lucius admitted, coming as close to smiling as I had ever seen him in the episode.
The Doctor walked back to the group, crossing his arms and asking, "Oh, now that's different. Who designed that, then?" Donna followed him, probably also curious as to what the fuss was about. I, meanwhile, was one of the only ones in the room who knew of its true significance.
Caecilius turned to us and replied, "My Lord Lucius was very specific."
"Where'd you get the pattern?" I asked. I hadn't said anything since I had mentioned that I wasn't the Doctor's and Donna's daughter.
Lucius looked at me like he'd just tasted something bitter and answered, "On the rain and mist and wind." The Doctor gave me a raised-brow look of Seriously? Can you believe this guy? and I nodded.
Donna muttered to us, "But that looks like a circuit."
"Made of stone," the Doctor corrected.
This time, Donna addressed Lucius directly. "Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?"
"That is my job, as City Augur," Lucius tersely retorted.
Donna asked innocently, "What's that, then, like the mayor?"
The Doctor laughed and apologized to the others. "You must excuse my friend, she's from... Barcelona." Then, in an undertone to me and Donna, he remarked, "No, this is an age of superstition. Of official superstition. The Augur is paid by the city to tell the future. The wind will blow from the west? That the equivalent of ten o'clock news."
Suddenly, a new voice joined the room, and they said, "They're laughing at us. Those three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us."
We all pivoted and spotted Evelina, Caecilius and Metella's daughter, in the doorway. She looked like she was about to faint (and she soon would); she was swaying as she stood, her skin was unnaturally pale and the skin under her eyes looked bruised.
The Doctor was quick to correct her. "No, no, I'm not. I meant no offence."
Metella rushed to Evelina's side and apologized. "I'm sorry. My daughter's been consuming the vapours."
Quintus looked horrified, as well he should be. "Oh for gods, Mother. What have you been doing to her?"
"Not now, Quintus!" Caecilius hissed from behind him.
"Yeah, but she's sick. Just look at her!" Quintus retorted, pointing at his sister. She was so pale, you could hardly tell they were siblings.
Lucius stepped closer to the woman and girl. "I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift."
Metella remarked with pride, "Oh, she'd been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions."
Of course, Lucius, the git, had to figuratively shoot her down. "The prophecies of women are limited and dull. Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception."
Me and Donna both looked at him, eyebrows raised dangerously. Excuse me? I wanted to ask.
Donna declared, "I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate."
At her words, the ground shook a little, and Mr. Surly-Face said, "The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you."
The Doctor, hands in pockets, asked Evelina, "Consuming the vapours, you say?"
"They give me strength."
I snorted. "It doesn't look like it to me," the Doctor replied.
Evelina raised her delicate eyebrows and retorted, "Is that your opinion... as a doctor?"
I restrained myself from giggling. This was my favourite part of the episode.
The Doctor's eyebrows raised to his hairline, obviously astonished. He'd never said his name in front of her. "I beg your pardon?" he asked incredulously.
"Doctor. That's your name."
"How did you know that?" Now his eyebrows were lowered in contemplation.
Evelina looked towards Donna. "And you. You call yourself Noble." Donna looked confused and uneasy as the ground trembled again, as if in preparation for something. I could feel the rising trepidation and tension in the room, waiting to be released in one great burst.
Metella admonished her daughter, thinking that she meant noble as in the adjective. "Now then, Evelina. Don't be rude."
The Doctor glanced around the room as he insisted, "No, no, no, no. Let her talk."
Evelina looked to me now, and claimed, "You three come from so far away. But the girl is the farthest from home." The earth shivered as if in reaction to her words.
I looked at her, surprised that she would speak to me. Then again, with me in this universe, the timelines were irrevocably changed.
"The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries," Lucius spoke up.
The Doctor turned to Lucius, gaze furrowed, and observed, "Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you've been out-soothsayed."
Lucius stared at the Doctor challengingly and proclaimed, "Is that so, man from Gallifrey?" Now, as the land shuddered for a third time since the psychics started talking, the earth didn't stop shaking after a few seconds. It kept going.
The Doctor's attention was riveted to Lucius. "What?" he asked disbelievingly.
"The strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?" came the shocking answer. The Doctor's gaze was fixed on Lucius' face, scrutinizing every bit of it like it was something he'd never seen before in his long life.
Donna asked, panicked, "Doctor, what are they doing?"
This just got Lucius' attention rotated towards her. "And you, daughter of... London."
"How does he know that?" she demanded quietly, looking wary.
"And you, girl from another world. You are not meant to be here." This was directed to me. I remained silent, but stood stock-still, watching everything. I already knew how these people came about this knowledge, so I wasn't as shocked as Donna or as astonished as the Doctor.
Donna glanced between me and Lucius. "That's impossible."
"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth," he said to her. Then, his unnerving stare was situated on the Doctor again. "Doctor, she is returning." He meant Rose.
The Doctor's face began to look disturbed. "Who is? Who's she?" he asked anxiously. He got no answer; not yet.
"And you, daughter of London. There is something on your back."
"What's that mean?" Donna asked, discomfited and uncomfortable. I kept observing the room, noticing the quaking of the floor getting worse.
Lucius continued, "And you, girl from another world. They are entwining." Wait... what? Who are entwining? What was he talking about? And could people even entwine themselves anyway?
Evelina piped up again, slowly walking towards the Doctor with all the grace of a drunkard. "Even the word Doctor is false. Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord of Time." And finally, the scene came to a climax as the ground shook the hardest it had as of yet and she fainted dead away, slumping bonelessly to the floor.
Latin translations:
*Let the buyer beware
**the existing state of affairs
