When Lyssa reappeared in one of the TARDIS hallways, her hair was soaking wet, she had a towel wrapped around her shoulders, damp pajamas, and an annoyed expression on her face. Looking around her with a sigh, she wrinkled her nose with distaste.
"I suppose I should be grateful that at least I wasn't still in the shower when I jumped," she muttered. "And that I ended up on the TARDIS instead of some freezing wasteland." Raising her towel to her hair, she began to vigorously rub at it, trying to dry it with her towel as she picked a direction and began to wander down the hallway. "And I don't know where anyone is. Maybe they're on an adventure or something. Gives me more time to look presentable, I suppose." She frowned down at herself. "Now I just wish I knew why I feel so off today."
Ten minutes later, she was fairly certain that she was both several floors below where she normally went, and that she was definitely lost.
"I've never seen most of these rooms before," she murmured, trailing her hand along a door marked 'Wind Room,' from which a faint howling noise was emanating. "Hey, old girl? Do you think you could do whatever it is you do and help me out here? I'd rather not wind up wandering down here for eternity until I jump again. Not that I don't love exploring," she added hastily. "It's just that I can feel my hair drying into an unmanageable mess if I don't get a brush to it soon."
There was an amused hum from the ship before all the lights except for from one hallway shut off, indicating which path she should follow. She rolled her eyes and smiled fondly, setting off for towards the light. "Thanks. I know you were laughing at me just then, but thanks." After that, it only took a few minutes for her to find the familiar door leading to her room. She thanked the ship before pushing open the door, only for her mouth to fall open in surprise.
Instead of the creamy orange she was familiar with, her room was now a light shade of blue, accented with a silver trim, and there was a large, rectangular nook in the wall above her chair with a ladder leading up to it. It had fairy lights strung inside that gave a soft light to the small area, with soft blankets and pillows padding it and delicate white curtains tied back with ribbons on each side.
"Is that a reading nook?" she gasped with delight, dropping her towel on the floor and scrambling over to the area, clambering up the ladder and into the hollow. "It almost makes me think of Tinkerbell's bed in the book 'Peter Pan!" She felt the soft padding beneath her with glee and giggled. "It's so soft, I think I might just stay up here forever. This will be perfect for when I reread my favorite books!" She felt a cold drop of water land from her hair onto her neck and shivered. "But I should probably dry my hair first." Climbing back down the ladder, she picked up her towel and headed into the bathroom, grabbing her brush along the way.
Once her hair was brushed thoroughly and dried, she picked out a simple outfit of boots, fitted jeans, and a dark blue tunic that paired perfectly with her new charm for her necklace, which still made her smile every time she saw it. Pulling her hair up into a bun, she ran her fingers over her necklace and glanced over at her journal, which was resting on the nightstand by her bed. She had spent over an hour last night scribbling her Christmas adventures with the Eleventh Doctor and the gift he had given her, and had only jumped this morning, shortly after her shower.
"All right. I suppose I should find the Doctor, see which one I'm with now," she decided. "And maybe I can ask him what happened to my room." Shutting off her light, she headed out into the hallway, glad when she recognized the hallway as the one leading to the console room.
When she got there, she nodded in recognition at the empty room, seeing what the Eleventh Doctor had called his 'grunge phase.' "So, we're with Nine or Ten, then. Good to know. Now I just need to find out where he is, and what point we're at in the time stream." Looking over the console, she asked the TARDIS, "Is the Doctor, by any chance, still here?"
A red light flashed from a nearby bulb. "I'm gonna take that as a no, then. Wonder where he's at." She chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "And I can't just go after him. I have no idea if this planet is safe for humans or not, not to mention I could get lost, and he might just leave without ever knowing I was even here." She sighed and flopped down on one of the seats, her eye catching something sticking up out of the floor. She looked over at it curiously.
There were two sets of what looked almost a stand to hold wheels in place. She frowned, trying to remember an episode something like that might have been featured in, but came up blank. The door opened behind her, and she turned to see two people absolutely soaked to the bone come stumbling in, laughing so hard they were almost tripping over each other. They both looked absolutely delighted when they saw her.
"Lyssa!" the Tenth Doctor shouted, coming over to give her a hug. She scrambled around to the other side of the console, holding her hands up as a shield.
"Nuh-uh! You're all wet, and I've just dried myself off after jumping before I could even dry my hair after my shower this morning. I have no desire to get wet again so soon. And that goes for you too, Tyler," she added, swinging around to face the blonde that had been trying to sneak up on her, backing up towards the stairs. "I mean it! You two look like drowned rats, and that's not the look I was going for today."
"Aw, you're no fun," Rose pouted, adopting a hangdog look. "Just because the Doctor upset the Shrieking Fishes of Lamodix and they may have tried to drown us is no reason to push us away."
"Yeah!" the Doctor objected, coming to join Rose, a mock pout of his own appearing. "Though, it didn't exactly work very well. They marched us into the drowning pool, but it was only waist deep. Not a very efficient method, I have to say, but maybe their only criminals before now have all been veeeery short people. Or, possibly, tall people who trip and can't swim. And maybe the cat people of Sharazidan."
He grimaced. "It's not a pretty picture when they touch water. Anyways, the drowning didn't work, we escaped, and now we may or may not have also ended up engaged to some of the nobles. Still not sure how that one works, considering they tried to execute us." He frowned thoughtfully.
Lyssa took the opportunity to back up towards the stairs some more. "Well, how about you go dry off, and then we can have a nice talk, yeah? Figure out where we are? I'll give you guys five minutes to get changed, or I'll leave without you."
The Doctor's eyes landed on her neck, and she was sure he noticed the snowflake charm there when he smirked. "You're too early. You don't know how to fly her yet."
"Ah," she grinned. "But you've just confirmed that I will know how to do that in the future. Plus, I'm pretty sure that the TARDIS likes me, so she'll probably take me anywhere if I ask her nicely enough."
"Well, how about you ask her to take me to my mum," Rose interposed, wiping some of the water off of her face. "I've got some laundry that could use a washin', and it'd be good to see her again. I've got some trinkets I want to show her that I got from this market the Doctor took me to."
Lyssa frowned, the words sparking a faint memory in her mind, but dismissed them a moment later, giggling at the Doctor's look of dismay. "I'll see what I can do. You two go and change." She jerked her head towards the hallway and walked back down the steps.
"All right, all right, I'm going," the Doctor moaned, sulking towards the stairs. "I can tell when I'm not wanted." He stopped beside her and smirked suddenly. "But not without a hug from my favorite person first!" he declared, swooping her up in a hug and lifting her into the air as she shrieked for him to put her down. "Come on, Lyssa, a little water never hurt anyone," he grinned, putting her back down and gesturing for Rose to join the hug, which the blonde did with a gleeful laugh. "And the more the merrier!"
Lyssa wriggled free a moment later, escaping to the other side of the console and turning to glare at the unrepentant duo. "Thanks a lot," she groused, looking down at her now damp outfit. "I actually like this shirt."
"Meh. You'll be fine." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and waved it at her, drying up the wet spot. "There. All dried."
Rose wrinkled her nose at him. "And you couldn't do that to us?"
The Doctor shook his head. "We're too wet and dirty. Lyssa was only slightly damp. We both need showers and a change of clothing."
Rose nodded in acceptance. "All right. I suppose we could stop off at Mum's, drop off my laundry then."
Lyssa giggled at the somewhat displeased look on the Doctor's face. "Well, like I said, the TARDIS likes me, so... maybe I could get her to take us there while you guys change?"
The Doctor scowled at her. "And like I said, you don't know how to fly her yet. You're too young. So don't even think about touching the console, young lady!" he pointed a finger at her threateningly, although the effect was ruined by water dripping into his face from his soaked hair.
She beamed innocently at him. "Of course not."
He frowned at her skeptically, but turned and followed a dripping Rose into the hallway. Lyssa waited for him to step out of sight before a devilish grin broke out across her face as she reached forward, one finger outstretched to touch the console.
"I said don't touch anything!" his voice came floating back, making her break down into a fit of giggles.
Once she was sure he was gone, she looked up at the ceiling of the console room. "All right. I'm not going to touch anything, but could you show me what tells us the date and location?" A panel on the console began to flash. Wandering over to it, she nodded in satisfaction. Displayed in English was their current location and the date. "Alborui Province, 05 June, 2007," she read aloud. "Huh. That's pretty neat. Where do you enter the space-time coordinates to travel?" This time she was led to a small sphere set in the console. Unfortunately, the lettering around it was completely incomprehensible.
"That must be Gallifreyan," she surmised. "I'll have to ask the Doctor about it later."
She spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying to figure out the different devices on the console by a trial and error series of questions, although most of it ended up being error. She ended up with the conclusion that at least a portion of the devices were either for show, or unnecessary to drive the TARDIS. But, considering that she was pretty sure that the Eleventh Doctor had had ketchup and mustard dispensers at one point, it seemed to be a recurring theme.
She was trying to figure out the function of the little metal ridges in the floor when the Doctor came in, hair dried and fluffed up to its usual state. "Hey, Doctor," she called, drawing his attention to where she was laying on the floor. "What're these for? I don't remember seeing them here before."
He stiffened when he saw what she was looking at, but quickly tried to play it off as nothing, striding over to the console as she regained her feet.
"Those? Nothing important," he said, though she didn't miss the way his jaw clenched as he flipped a tiny switch set near the center of the console. In a blink, they had disappeared, and the normal flooring was there. "Just something left over from a previous adventure."
She blinked. "So that's what that switch does," she muttered, looking down at the floor then back at him. It was very clearly not nothing, but if it was something that upset him that much, she wasn't sure she wanted to start what could be a very unpleasant conversation if - and that was a big if - he wanted to talk about it. Especially with the bad feeling in her stomach growing worse, like the butterflies that would normally be there had mutated into angry tornadoes, or something.
"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late," Rose called as she ran into the room. She was looking much more put together in a blue sweater and black slacks, a red knapsack slung over her shoulder. "Almost forgot what I wanted to show my mum." Lyssa frowned, the outfit striking a chord in her memory. She couldn't quite remember what, but she knew it was bad, very bad, and then -
"It's a bottle that can help predict the weather, Barzelum, or somethin' like that. Got it from that asteroid market. Pretty cool, right?" Rose pulled a small bottle out of her pocket and showed it to Lyssa, her tongue in between her teeth as she grinned at them both.
Lyssa gasped and staggered back, her face going pale as they both turned to look at her in concern. The asteroid market Rose had mentioned, the plan to drop off laundry at her mum's and show her the weather abilities it possessed... and her clothes, she remembered them, remembered sobbing along with Rose as she pressed against the wall in the episode she had sworn never to watch again.
Doomsday.
"Lyssa? Are you all right? You just went pale all of a sudden." The Doctor was suddenly standing in front of her, watching her in concern.
She stared up at him, mind racing a million miles a minute and yet coming up with nothing. She swallowed hard, and opened her mouth to speak, but had to try twice before she could even get anything out.
"People are going to die." The Doctor straightened at her words, but didn't say anything, letting her talk. "I - it's going to be so bad; so, so bad, and I don't think I can stop it." She drew in a shuddering breath and looked up at him, tears filling her brown eyes. "I don't think I can do anything. I feel like there's this pit, just waiting to swallow me up, and it's going to be so bad, and you're going to hate me, but I don't think I can stop this."
Her breaths were growing uneven and rapid as she began to panic. "You're going to hate me, and it's going to be all my fault." She clutched her head in her hands in an effort to maintain some modicum of control over the situation, but it did nothing.
The Doctor swiftly drew her into a hug. "Hey, hey, Lyssa, it's all right. You're gonna be all right, I could never hate you." Looking over her head as she buried it in his chest, he made eye contact with Rose, who had been watching with increasing worry, and jerked his head towards the hallway. She nodded in understanding.
"You know what, I think I left something in my room. 'M just gonna go grab it real quick," the blonde said slowly, backing up before jogging out of the room.
Once she was gone, the Doctor gently pushed Lyssa away from him, but held onto her shoulders. Leaning down slightly so he could look her in the eyes, he asked her quietly, "What's wrong? Did something we say trigger one of your memories?"
She nodded and sniffed, swiping at her nose, looking down and away from his eyes. "Yeah. I- I uh, know what's going to happen. And it's going to be horrible. So many people are going to die," she whispered. "And you're going to win, but you're going to lose while doing it."
His face tightened, but he kept his voice calm. "Lyssa, out of ten, how bad is this?"
She swallowed. "Eleven. And I want to change it, but I feel like I won't be able to." She sniffed again. "And you're gonna hate me, because I knew it was going to happen, and I just let it!"
"Hey! You don't know that," he rebuked her gently, lifting her chin and forcing her to look at him. "And I know you're still young, but there is nothing you could do that would make me hate you. Ever. And how do you know that you can't change anything? Have you tried to look, and see what would happen if you changed it? I know that you've done it at least once by this point." She shook her head shamefully. "Then how do you know that you can't change whatever it is if you haven't tried?"
She looked up at him. His face was dead serious, and he was obviously worried about the danger she had hinted at, but she could also tell that he was more worried about her, and at the same time, encouraging her to try. She took a deep breath before closing her eyes, and trying to think about what she wanted to change, focusing on that and trying to come up with a logical outcome if she were to push Rose back onto the clamp. It felt like before, on the crashing ship with Martha, appearing incredibly realistic.
Then she felt things change. She felt herself actually standing on the floor of the final battle, seeing Rose and the Doctor hanging onto their clamps that protected them as the Daleks and Cybermen were sucked into the Void, only as if through a dark lens, as everything seemed to be touched by a darkness. And she could tell immediately that she wouldn't be able to open her real eyes until she had seen what she was meant to see. She could see the Doctor, his face worn and wracked by pain, and Rose, losing her grip on the clamp.
Then, almost appearing out of nowhere, she could see herself running towards them, tugging Rose back onto the clamp and smiling in satisfaction when the blonde's grip became secure again. For a moment, everything seemed perfect.
Then, one last Dalek appeared, firing wildly as it disappeared into the Void. A stray shot hit Lyssa, and all three of them looked shocked before her body collapsed, and the real Lyssa knew instantly that she was dead. What was worse, though, was that the shot knocked her backwards and into the Void. In an instant she was gone, beyond all hope of return and leaving her heartbroken friends behind.
Time sped up, and moments began to quickly pass by. The Doctor and Rose left Earth, refusing to stay for even a moment on the planet that had caused them both so much pain. Rose grew bitter at the loss of her mother and friend, and became more reckless on their adventures, becoming injured more often, though she rarely cared. The Doctor changed as well, becoming less kind, and more willing to use whatever option would solve the problem first, instead of the most peaceful solution.
But their problems were still not over. Because they never returned to Earth, they never stopped the Racnoss or saved Donna; the fully erect shields on the TARDIS preventing her from appearing. Earth was destroyed when the Racnoss ship left the center of the planet, leaving Rose the last of her kind as well. They never met Martha or Donna, and never saved all the people and civilizations that they had before. And when the stars began to go out, a weak, dying Mickey appeared, warning that their universe was dying. Pete's universe, and all its inhabitants, including Rose's family, were already gone.
They began to be vigilantes, meting out their own form of justice on those whom they deemed deserved it. Whispers and rumors began to be spread about them. They were no longer called heroes, but murderers; the Time Lord and the girl who could summon a golden power. For Rose had changed physically as well. Golden swirls now followed her, burning her up inside, and destroying whatever she bid it to.
But that wasn't all. They were placed on wanted lists across galaxies as they sought to go back and change time, attempting to rewrite it no matter the cost to others. But each attempt failed, and with each attempt they began to lose a little of their color, their bodies growing darker as Lyssa watched in growing horror.
The Cyberman began to fear them, combining with other forces they normally would have assimilated in an effort to wipe out the growing threat, only for their forces to be wiped out themselves as the Doctor - now the Time Lord Victorious, and Rose - now almost unrecognizable as a creature of darkness - sauntered back to the TARDIS. Once capable of bringing hope to all who saw or heard it, now those who saw the peeling paint, the faded lettering, began to run and pray for mercy that would never come.
A name began to be whispered across the worlds, about who they were - what they were. A name that made even the Daleks afraid. A prophecy that the Time Lords themselves had feared.
A name that they took with pride.
Lyssa, hearing voices whispering the name that promised death in the wind that whipped around her, strained to hear. There was a dark chuckle, before the wind changed direction, seeming to pierce her to her very bone with its chill as it carried the name to her ears.
"Hybrid."
The culmination of two warrior races that would stand over the ruins of Gallifrey and unravel the Webs of Time, breaking a billion hearts to heal its own.
The few remaining races in the universe gathered their armies for a final battle, eventually succeeding in killing the Time Lord Victorious. What was left of Rose decimated their forces and a hundred galaxies in her rage before finally succumbing to the fires raging within her and burning away to nothing; leaving fires raging across galaxies; and planets, once lush and filled with life, now dead and empty.
Lyssa stared at the darkness surrounding her, trying to open her eyes and return to the Doctor, but failing, only seeing the same empty blackness each time she opened them.
"What's going on?" she called out in fright. "Why did all that happen just because I died? I'm not that important; that should never have happened!" She stared at the emptiness in horror. "This is all my fault!"
She didn't expect anyone to answer her, but she didn't jump when a melodic voice came traveling back to her anyways, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, giving her a feeling of safety and comfort even though she didn't know it.
"You are here because you are meant to be. And it happened because of who you are."
"Then who am I?" she demanded, yelling into the darkness with tears filling her eyes. "What am I, that I could be responsible for that much death and destruction?"
A golden light appeared in the distance, slowly growing closer. As it became more clear, Lyssa recognized it as the familiar gold of the Time Vortex, slowly spiraling towards her. Once it was in front of her, it floated down to the ground, then slowly spiraled upwards, revealing an ethereal being beneath.
Once the gold dust had fallen away, she could see a tall, elegant woman, clad in a sleeveless golden ball gown, with chestnut brown curls tumbling down past her waist, and blue eyes that seemed filled with the stars of the universe. A golden crown adorned her head, and from her back came streams of golden light that took on the appearance of flowing wings.
She smiled at Lyssa, such a motherly smile that she had never gotten before that she wanted to flee into her arms, but held herself back, wondering at herself.
"Because I am the keeper of time, and you are my child. You are the daughter of time," the woman informed her, voice calm and soothing.
"Wait. What?" Lyssa blinked at her confusedly.
The woman gave a tinkling laugh. "I suppose I should explain myself better. I am charged with protecting time. It is my duty. And you, dear one, are a daughter of time. You were chosen to bear this burden and so have become my child. I cannot always communicate with you as I would like to, however. Unless you are connected to the time stream, which binds us both, I cannot speak. You know me better as a blue box, perhaps." Her eyes twinkled with merriment.
Lyssa gaped at her. "You - you're the TARDIS?" When the older woman smiled, laughing again, she sputtered. "But, but, I've seen what you look like when you had a physical form, and you -"
"Were confined to the body of a poor human girl, yes," the woman - TARDIS? - reminded her. "I was trapped, and forced into a container that was never meant to hold that much power. This," she gestured down at herself, "is my true form when I wish to take it, and I am not needed in battle."
"Battle?" Lyssa cocked her head curiously.
The woman frowned the unhappy expression out of place on her lovely form. "Yes. I did not wish to add to your burden so soon, but given what you have just witnessed, I knew that I needed to act. There is a creature of darkness that wishes to undo the fabric of Time itself and rewrite it according to his wishes. What you beheld was a possible future that he wished to create. To help protect the timeline, a carrier was chosen to receive Time itself and help us protect it." She caressed Lyssa's cheek gently, placing a loose lock of hair behind her ear.
"Long ago, before your Doctor was ever born, a threat to Time itself as it should be began to appear, threatening to change it for the worst; far worse than you could ever imagine. Subtle and hidden, his attacks were rarely physical, and tended to affect the time line, changing the outcomes of various events. My sisters and I were able to quell it, for a time, but not destroy it completely. We knew he would return someday, and begin to corrupt it before we could defeat him again, so we took part of the time stream that was as of yet still pure and hid it until we could find the proper guardian.
"We looked through all the universes until we found one who was worthy to take our gift and bear our burden. You were that girl, a noble warrior who cared for others and refused to give in to her own darkness even when in pain. So we chose you to become our child, to help protect the time stream as it should be." She saw the nervous look on Lyssa's face and smiled. "You will likely not have to fight for a great while, dear one. Our foe is still weak, and you have much to learn."
"Is there anything I'm supposed to be doing?" Lyssa asked weakly, choosing to just go along with what the woman was saying. "Any specific training, or don't change certain things, or anything like that?"
The woman shook her head, waving her hand at the darkness outside them. "You will know what to do when the time comes. The time in you fights to protect you, and will go far to keep you safe. What you just saw should not have been a possible future, even if you had changed things the way you believed. However, because of our common enemy, that is now the only possible future if you save the human Rose Tyler in such a way. Rose Tyler must fall now, or she will fall later, and the Doctor and the universe with her."
"But, but why?" Lyssa protested. "Surely we're not that important."
"But you are," the woman replied simply. "Though you do not yet know the full truth, you are incredibly important to the survival of not just my Thief and your friend, but the universe. Though our foe has not yet regained his full strength, the corruption of the time stream has already begun, though it has not yet changed much. If you fall before your time, time itself will be lost, for there will be nothing with which to heal the wounds that will be left."
The woman frowned suddenly, cupping Lyssa's chin in her hand. "But I'm explaining this incompletely, I fear, and we do not have time for an extended conversation. Already your soulmate calls for you, searching you. You have been gone a long time, and he cannot see me, not yet." She smiled again at the bewildered girl.
"Do not worry about what cannot be changed. You may be unable to save your friend and mate from brief pain, but if all goes well, they will yet have the happy endings that are in store for them. Rose Tyler will not die, and you will see her again, and she you. For now, I will dull the memories of this conversation until you are ready for them. You will need all your strength and focus to get through this day. Just remember, my child. Though I cannot always be with you physically, you are loved. Trust in the Doctor. He loves you, and will look out for you."
Only smiling at Lyssa's sputtered replies to her last comment, she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead, warmth spiraling away from the spot. "Peace, child. You will remember what you need to, when you need to, and you will know what to do when the time comes. Trust yourself." She paused. "And tell the Doctor this when you see him," she added, whispering a few words into her ear, before pulling away, and starting to return to her spiral form.
"Wait! What should I call you?" Lyssa called, holding out a hand to stop her even as she began to feel herself pulled backwards.
A tinkling laugh reached her ears. "I believe you humans would call it irony. My sisters call me Tirdis. It means, 'she who watches.'" Then everything blurred, and she was gone.
Lyssa's eyes popped open with a gasp, and she swayed, suddenly feeling unsteady on her feet now that she was actually on solid ground again.
" - you don't, Lyssa!" The Doctor was shaking her slightly, stopping when he saw her looking back at him. "Lyssa! Are you with me, now?" he asked, a look of relief on his face.
She nodded, clutching his arms for balance. "Sorry I scared you. There was something I had to do first, although I don't quite remember what..." she frowned slightly, then came back to the present. "Oh, yeah. Um, first of all, I can't remember everything, which I think was deliberate. Second of all, there was something important I had to tell you."
The Doctor frowned. "Must have been her again. What'd she say? It had to be important if she reached out to you."
Lyssa nodded. "It was. I can remember that much. I don't know what it means, though. She said to tell you, 'The Oracle can see, but cannot change. Beware the Siren's lament.'"
A/N: Apologies if this seemed like a weird and disconnected chapter, but it is highly important to the plot later on, and needed to happen. :D
Also, I had a link up to the image I used as inspiration for Tirdis, but it doesn't seem to be working. So if you want to see it, go to Google and search 'golden fairy' and go to images; it's three rows down and the fifth picture to the right.
Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to V, Rosealyn, and guest for reviewing! (They made for excellent Christmas presents :))
V: Hahahaha, thanks! That's so sweet! I know this chapter is a bit slow, but I hope you liked it anyways... there'll be more action next week, promise!
Rosealyn: Thanks! I'd been writing a bit of angst for my other story, and I knew I wanted to write something fluffy for Christmas before moving onto some less... happy chapters for this story. The necklace... Let's just say that there's quite a bit more to it than meets the eye... ;) Hope you like it!
Guest: Hahahaha, thanks! Your review was so funny! Hope you continue to like each new chapter. ;)
Anyways, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and now I'm wishing you all a very Happy New Year!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
General Disclaimer: I may have resolved to buy more copies of Doctor Who this new year, but I'm no closer to owning the actual series... *sigh*