Triton was standing on the deck of his ship staring down at Gargumenta. He smiled thinking of the Doctor down there amidst the chaos and destruction. When they had taken Rose down to the surface, they had made sure to put her in the middle of the battle. She pictured the female cowering in fear in the dilapidated old house while the Time Lord dodged laser blasts and bombs to get to her. With any luck one of them would hit him and then they would have their revenge at last.
"My brother."
Triton turned and saw Pelios standing in the doorway.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I just checked the scanners. Rose Tyler's collar has been deactivated." He said coming into the room.
Triton frowned.
"Deactivated?"
"Yes, my brother."
Triton turned and looked out the window. Pelios came up beside him.
"It seems that the Time Lord has found his mate." Pelios said.
"No, he can't have."
"Then, how do you explain the collar being deactivated, brother?" Pelios said.
Triton stared out the window in silence for a moment. Suddenly, he slammed his hand against the glass.
"NO!" he yelled. "He cannot get away! We will not be denied revenge! The Time Lord must die!"
"What shall we do then?" Pelios asked.
"Take his TARDIS. Deny him and his friends escape. They will stay there until they are dead."
"And if the Time Lord escapes some other way?"
Triton jerked his head around and glared at him.
"The Time Lord is not an idiot, brother." Pelios said gently. "You know as well as I that their race possessed extraordinary intelligence. If anyone could come up with a way to get off the planet, it would be him."
Triton considered that.
"You are right, my brother, the Doctor survived the Time War and managed to elude us up until now. Unlike the dull, infantile minds of his companions, he possesses a keen intellect. There must be another solution to this problem. If the Doctor can escape death, perhaps there is another way to gain revenge."
"How about his companions?" Pelios said. "His mate, perhaps if we put her to death, would that not bring him unimaginable torment?"
Triton scratched his chin thoughtfully as his tongue flicked in and out.
"Simply putting her to death is not enough. I want something more. I want the Time Lord to suffer until the day he draws his final breath. The female should have a living death, be alive but unable to respond to the Doctor. That would be better, I think."
He turned and looked at Pelios.
"Come, I shall show you something." He said to him.
Pelios nodded and followed his brother out the door. They walked along the corridors until they came to a room hidden near the back of the ship.
"I have never shown you this room before my brother because I swore an oath never to reveal its secrets. However I am the only surviving member so there is no harm in me showing you this. As you know, when I reached puberty, I was initiated into The Crystal Skulls who were dedicated to the passing down of certain magical secrets. I learned from Hadarack himself, a sorcerer reputed to be one of the greatest who ever lived. It was under his tutelage that I learned the spell I'm about to show you. You must swear not to tell the others what you see here. This spell is for your eyes alone. Now, swear."
"I swear, brother, I will not tell what I have seen here."
Triton nodded. He put his hand against the jet-black door. Pelios watched as a bright light formed under the hand and then the door slid open. Pelios followed his brother inside and looked around as Triton turned on the light. All around them were scattered weird magical artifacts, orbs, wands, ingredients in glass jars, and spell books. Pelios stared at them intently.
"Over here."
Pelios turned and walked over to his brother who was standing by a table. On the table sat a small crystal statue of a bird.
"Do you recognize this animal?" he said gesturing to it.
"Of course, it is a Qurtak. The bird native to our world." Pelios replied.
"Precisely. An animal that sadly is extinct now because of the Time Lord's actions." Triton said, his eyes burning with hate.
He composed himself and walked over to a cabinet.
"What do you notice about the statue, brother?" Triton said as he opened the cabinet door.
Pelios leaned down and examined the bird.
"There appears to be some sort of medallion around its neck." He said leaning back up.
"Very good." Triton said walking back to him. "A medallion that is identical to this one."
He held up the medallion suspended on a silver chain.
"This bird here was once a living being." Triton said. "And it lives even now. It is aware of everything we are saying. It knows what is happening and can still see, but it has been transformed forever into a crystal statue. No matter how much you interact with it, it will not respond. All it can do is sit there and watch life unfold in front of it."
He pointed to the medallion.
"This medallion is the cause of its petrifaction. It has a powerful enchantment on it that transforms any living being into a crystal statue. As you can see the statue still shows the minute details of the bird down to the smallest pinfeathers. So, shall it be with Rose Tyler. If we put this necklace around her neck, she will transform into a crystal statue that will resemble her exactly in every detail. She will still be able to see, to hear, and to know what is going on. But she will not move, will not speak, and will not interact with anyone. She will stay that way forever, doomed to a living death and there is nothing the Time Lord can do about it. There is only one spell that can reverse the transformation and I alone know what it is. I think seeing his beloved turned into a crystal statue is just as fitting a punishment for the Time Lord as killing him, don't you think, my brother?"
"Oh yes." He said.
He paused a moment.
"What of the other two females?" he said. "Will they be put under the same spell?"
"No," Triton said waving his hand dismissively. "The females are nothing. It is Rose Tyler who the Doctor loves. He will not ache for the two females, as he will for his mate. We will allow them to live to show the Doctor that we are capable of mercy."
He folded the medallion and put it in his robes.
"Come, we shall make plans to depart for the surface. There, we shall ambush the Time Lord when he returns to his TARDIS and put the medallion around Rose Tyler's neck. Then, we shall leave the Time Lord wallowing forever in misery and let his anguished cries echo across the universe forever."
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"Well, this is it." Namoc said as they reached the house about a mile away from the battlefield. "I'm sure no one will disturb you for tonight. The battle is far enough away that the bombs will not reach you."
"Thank you, we appreciate this." The Doctor said nodding. "Don't we guys?"
He looked over at the three women. Rose was fine, but both Martha and Donna were hobbling along now.
"If there is somewhere in there where I can lay down and take the weight off my feet, I will personally get down on my hands and knees and lick their shoes." Donna said wincing in pain as she limped towards the house.
The Doctor smiled at the three men.
"That means yes." He told them.
Namoc nodded. He watched as Martha followed Donna into the house. He looked back and saw that Rose had come up beside the Doctor.
"Thanks so much for all you've done." Rose said smiling at them.
"You're welcome." Namoc said as the Doctor put his arm around her shoulders. "I hope that you and the Doctor will be happy together."
Rose smiled at him.
"Oh, we will, don't worry." She said.
"You sure you guys won't spend the night with us?" the Doctor said. "We'd love the company."
"No, that's fine. We just want to get back to the battle and join up with a unit. We're needed much more there than here. We appreciate it though." He said.
The Doctor nodded.
"Good night then."
"Good night, Doctor and Rose." He said as Shova and Jallel nodded. "And tell the others we said good night as well."
"I will."
They watched as the three men turned and walked away. As the sun began to set, the Doctor smiled down at Rose.
"Hungry?" he asked her.
"Famished."
The Doctor smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Come on, I'll fix us supper then." He said.
Rose sighed contentedly as the Doctor's hand slid down to her arm. He kept his arm draped around her as the two of them turned and entered the house together.