Lady A: *dances into the room with a giant grin on her face* Surprise! Bet you were not expecting an update so soon, were ya?! I simply couldn't resist the keyboard any longer. It was beckoning me to type up the next chapter. *strikes a melodramatic pose* Looking forward: Things will be learned, a decision will be made, and Artimes is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Also, special shout out to JustThatOneYoutubeNerd that created the pairing name for this series. Theta + Artz = Thartz so this is a Thartz series! Now let's find out what is going on, shall we? On with the show!
Chapter Thirteen: Cold Revelation
Artimes and the Doctor returned to the den and it wasn't too long before Rose and the Timelord got into a rather heated debate about what to do about the Gelth. They were still debating, well more like arguing and there were occasional inserts from Dickens and Sneed. Artimes, herself, was focusing on the exhausted maid who seemed so lost and confused. The red head knelt down in front of Gwyneth, trying desperately to shove the images of the maid's future death from her mind and failing miserably.
The ginger haired woman did not want the dark haired lass to walk into her death with false hope and be completely oblivious to the lies being whispered to the maid by her so called 'angels', but how could you tell someone that they had to die to maintain the timeline, save countless lives, and that their 'angels' were lying through their metaphorical teeth. She didn't have the words and she was struggling internally to find them.
Gwyneth surprised her by taking both her hands in her own, causing the red head to look up at her.
"I understand, my lady." The maid said quietly, to avoid being overheard by the other four people in the room.
Artimes opened her mouth to reply, to say something…anything, but no words came. The images of the maid's death flowed through her mind like a never-ending reel on a projector, her emotions constricting her throat and preventing her from speaking.
"It's alright. I can see it clearly in your mind. You do not know the words to utter to warn of the danger that lies ahead, but you do not have to speak any for me. You wish for me to have a choice, not an obligation, but you also know that it must be done and if I refuse to do so then it falls on your shoulders to preserve the future and save so many lives by sacrificing yourself in my stead. This, I cannot allow. You must live, my lady, for you were born to save that which is impossible and that is what you must do. You cannot die here in this time and place. I won't let you." Gwyneth continued her voice steady and strong.
Artimes stared at her in awe and confusion, her voice coming back to her as she struggled to comprehend what the maid meant by her being born to save the impossible.
"What does that mean?" The red head asked tears beginning to build in her eyes yet again.
God, she was so tired of crying, but she just couldn't keep her emotions in check at the moment. She was barely holding herself together physically; emotionally was simply asking too much of her.
"You will understand one day, my lady. You travel with that wonderful man and save those he cannot. Just promise me one thing." The dark haired woman answered.
"Anything." The red head replied instantly.
"Remember me." She requested.
Tears flowed down the ginger's face at hearing those words. They were words she knew one day she would hear again, uttered by Clara Oswald inside the Doctor's tomb at the fields of Trenzalore. Those words made her heart ache in ways that she doubted anyone would understand. A woman ripped from the universe she was born in, her best friend never knowing her fate, her family never hearing from her again...probably not caring whether she lived or died considering they thought her to be useless and worthless, and the countless so called friends that had simply left her behind; she was someone that was always forgotten back in the other universe, with the exception of Mels but not here. Here in this universe, she meant something and she would make certain that Gwyneth would always be remembered.
"Yes. Yes, I will. I promise." Artimes replied giving the maid a watery smile.
Gwyneth wiped away the ginger's tears and smiled softly at her.
"Thank you for giving me the choice and for treating me as an equal, for showing kindness when no other would, but could you…" She started gesturing to the bickering pair a few feet away, "I doubt I would be able to stop them."
Artimes let out a weak laugh and dried the remainder of her tears.
"Leave everything to me, my wonderful and sweet Gwyneth." She replied standing up.
The red head rounded on the pair and glared hotly at the both of them.
"Shut up, both of you, NOW!" Artimes shouted drawing both their gazes to her instantly.
Rose was shocked that the red head had yelled at her and the Timelord stiffened under her unrelenting gaze. The ginger had no idea her eyes were glowing slightly with a reddish gold light. Both the Doctor and Rose kept their mouths shut, not wanting to anger her further.
"Rose, you need to be more open to alien cultures, races, and the plights of other species. Not all of them share the same values as you do and you need to stop showing how close minded humans can be!" Artimes snapped before turning to the slightly afraid Timelord, "And as for you, you need to remember that this isn't a war. We are not on a battlefield nor are we under attack. This is a rescue mission, plain and simple. Moreover, you need to get it through that thick skull of yours that humans can be compassionate, just as they can be aggressive and if you insist on seeing it as a military maneuver then look at this way, Rose and I are you advisors and a wise general would at least consider the advice of his counsel."
The ginger stopped to catch her breath, the reddish gold light fading from her eyes until it was gone, before continuing in a softer tone.
"Lastly, this is not a choice either one of you can make. This choice solely belongs to Gwyneth…" She continued and Rose opened her mouth to say something but Artimes cut her off, "…and before you start, Miss Tyler, she is well aware of what is going on and what is at stake. Furthermore, she understands the situation better than you do so shut it before I shut it for you."
Rose closed her mouth, her jaw clenched and her expression like that of a child who didn't get her way. The Doctor simply lowered his eyes to the floor, knowing what she said to be true and looking properly scolded. Artimes turned back to the slightly amused maid, her expression one of kindness.
"Now, whatever you decide, we shall abide by, my sweet and wonderful Gwyneth." The red head finished.
"They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mum on a holy mission. I choose to help my angels, so tell me what I need to do." Gwyneth decided giving the ginger a small nod in thanks.
"You don't have to do anything, Gwyneth." The Doctor said quietly.
The Timelord was feeling a right amount of guilt and shame for trying to force the maid into helping the Gelth. Rose did have a point and Artimes had been right to call him out on not listening to them. He had told Artimes to give Gwyneth the choice and to tell her everything she needed to know in order to make that choice with a full understanding of the situation, but he wasn't giving up on trying to rewrite time. Perhaps he could convince the Gelth to go to another planet and leave the girl and the Earth in peace.
"Tell me what I need to do." The dark haired woman replied her tone holding a fair amount of authority, shocking just about everyone in the room…except for Artimes, who seemed hard pressed to hold back a smile.
"We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mr. Sneed, what's the weakest part of the house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?" The Doctor started immediately jumping into action.
"That would be the morgue." Sneed answered after a moment's thought.
"No chance you were going to say 'gazebo', was there?" Rose commented still annoyed with the red headed time/space jumper.
Everyone looked at her with the exception of Artimes, who was trying not to laugh at that statement. The Doctor watched the ginger woman walk over to the fireplace and pick up a cast iron fire poker. What did she need that for?
"This will do." She stated twirling it in her right hand like an expert.
Everyone stared at her in confusion and various degrees of incredulity…except for Gwyneth, who was seeing what Artimes had mapped out in her mind as her plan of action against the Gelth. Artimes smirked and let the poker rest on her right shoulder.
"Can't have a party without someone on the floor." She stated earning a small giggle from the dark haired maid.
The Doctor out right laughed, an incredulous smile on his face. The others just gaped at her like she had grown a second head.
The group headed down to the morgue, the Doctor in the lead. Artimes was keeping herself close to Gwyneth's master. She had only one shot to get it right and she couldn't afford to muck it up. To do so meant another life lost and the red head refused to let that happen.
"Talk about 'Bleak House'." The Doctor commented.
"You need a better joke book, dear." Artimes dead panned, earning a playful glare from the Timelord.
She simply smirked at him and he huffed in mock annoyance.
"The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed because I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869." Rose stated matter-of-factly.
There were times when Artimes really wanted to smack the blonde, but she had to let it go because Rose was still new to the whole time and space thing and obviously did not have the red head's knowledge when it came to spatial/temporal mechanics.
"You want to take that one, Artz?" He asked referring to their earlier conversation about time.
She couldn't quite keep her heart from skipping a beat when he said her nickname so casually. She mentally scolded herself for allowing her feelings to control her. She'd admit it, she had feelings for the Doctor but she simply couldn't act on them and that frustrated her. She pushed it aside in lieu of answering Rose's question.
"Time's in flux, Rose. It's changing every second. The world you know could be rewritten in an instant." Artimes explained simply paraphrasing the Doctor's DW counterpart even though she really wanted to use Ten's version of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff.
It's dirty well that version. She grinned internally remembering the full explanation from the episode Blink. She was kinda missing Ten now, but she supposed it was to be expected considering he was the first version of the Doctor she had met in this universe. She still couldn't understand why he had kissed her like that. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the Doctor's sharp remark.
"Nothing is safe. Remember that, nothing." The Doctor snapped.
"Oi, rude." The red head scolded quietly.
The Timelord sighed softly, knowing she was right, but wasn't going to apologize for it. The man was just all sorts of stubborn.
"Doctor, I think the room is getting colder." Dickens commented his voice shaking slightly from either the cold or the fear she knew he was feeling.
She glanced at Sneed who was being eerily quiet. The phrase 'silent as the grave' would probably be an adequate description for the undertaker. Under normal circumstances, she would be really creeped out by the middle aged man.
"Here they come." Rose stated quietly.
The Gelth flooded into the room, swirling about a bit. Their leader positioned itself in the archway. Artimes attempted the swallow the lump in her throat, dreading what was to come.
"You have come to help! Praise the Doctor! Praise him!" It exclaimed, it's voice sounding very much like a child's.
Artimes shuddered under the onslaught of emotions crashing over her like waves. She had a feeling the Gelth were projecting their so called emotions of helplessness and desperation to make the Timelord feel sympathy and pity for them. No wonder the Doctor had been so inclined to help them, given he, no doubt, had a heightened mental awareness…being a Timelord and all.
The temperature was steadily dropping from the Gelth's presence and the ginger's limbs was starting to freeze. She tried hard to ignore the knot in her stomach, knowing that it was being formed by her own fear. This was only her second time facing down monsters and she wasn't bloody fricking Wonder Woman! She had every right to be terrified of these blue ghosts!
"Promise you won't hurt her!" Rose demanded.
She could kiss the blonde for that statement. It was exactly what needed to be said.
"Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth." It begged.
And, oh how they conveniently ignored the blonde's demand? Blimey, anyone else smell a set up here?
"I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer, somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, alright?" The Doctor bargained but did not receive a reply.
That should have been a big whopping clue for you, you big dumbo! Artimes internally face palmed at the Timelord's idiocy. What the hell was he thinking? She had warned him about this, that people were going to die and yet he was still going through with it?!
"My angels, I can help them live." Gwyneth stated but not in the happy, almost joyous tone from the show, but rather a resigned tone filled with resolve and determination.
"Okay, where's the weak point?" The Doctor asked moving things along.
Artimes felt another presence touch her mind, easing her frozen and stiff limbs. She looked around and locked eyes with the dark haired maid.
'Thank you, my lady.' Gwyneth's voice whispered in her mind, making Artimes go wide eyed in shock.
She hadn't expected the maid to be able to communicate with her on that level. Gwyneth's eyes were warm and apologetic. Artimes had to fight down the sob rising in her chest when she realized that it was the woman's way of apologizing for everything that had happened and for the pain Gwyneth's choice was going to put her through. The red head nodded in acceptance and Gwyneth smiled softly in return.
"Here, beneath the arch." The Gelth answered.
Gwyneth walked boldly into the archway and turned to face them.
"Beneath the arch." Gwyneth repeated.
Rose rushed to the dark haired woman.
"You don't have to do this." The blonde pleaded.
Artimes knew that nothing would change the maid's mind and moreover, this had to happen. There was no other way around it and it made the red head want to collapse into tears, curl into a ball, and simply disappear. Gwyneth placed her hands on Rose's cheeks, a small smile on her face.
"My beloved phoenix needs me." She stated with absolute certainty.
Rose staggered back, highly confused by the maid's words. Artimes, herself, was frowning deeply at the statement. That wasn't what Gwyneth was supposed to say. She was supposed to say 'My angels' so why did she say something about a phoenix. How did a phoenix, a mythical creature born from its own ashes that comes alive again and again, have anything to do with what was going on here in Cardiff 1869? She would have to think about it later. She shook her head clear and prepared herself for the other shoe to drop. Things were about to get really crazy and a whole hell of a lot more dangerous.
Lady A: Tada! Chapter 13: Cold Revelation is complete! What was the phoenix Gwyneth was talking about? What does it have to do with the Gelth and the rift? Why did this phoenix need her? What does it all mean? You'll just have to wait and see. Keep a lookout for Chapter 14: Golden Phoenix! Leave tons of reviews and stay tuned! Thartz…God, I love that! *giggles like mad*