Chapter 21- Goodbye Pompeii

I have a lot of regrets, some small and some large. This regret may be on the tiny side, but as a slight breeze made its way under the golden tinted skirt of the Roman style dress I was now wearing, I grit my teeth to keep from complaining. Once Evelina had woken up, she was able to convince her mother that Donna and I needed to "blend in" more because our clothes left too little to the imagination, apparently, and a loose fitting dress didn't. But, as I was trying to appease Metalla and Evelina, and Donna hurriedly agreeing without giving me an opportunity to say I'd rather not, we were now dressed in appropriate Roman attire. Another part of my regret, not jumping at the chance to help the Doctor go search for Lucius. He had come back to check on Evelina and to see if either Donna or I had wanted to go along with his plan to confront Lucius.

Unfortunately, he had come in the exact moment Donna was jumping excitedly at the chance to dress up. Donna saw him and immediately told him that whatever he had in mind, it could wait or he could do it without us because she and I were "in need of much more girl bonding time". I couldn't tell her about the spa at planet Midnight, but I tried to convey on my face to the Doctor to "get me out of there," and I was either just really bad at it, or he was a tiny bit more afraid of Donna's wrath because he just shrugged, said okay, and left. Dramatical betrayal sat in my mind, along my plans of vengeance stirring ever since the marriage stunt he pulled. I was like a cat waiting to pounce on its prey- a cold cat in a really nice dress that I was too miffed to appreciate.

Donna twirled again in her purple dress that really did look wonderful on her and I went to go sit on the right side of Evelina who was laughing at Donna's antics.

"You're not supposed to laugh," Donna mock complained. "Thanks for that. What do you think?" She turned at struck a pose. "The goddess Venus?"

Evalina laughed again. "Oh that's sacrilege."

"Oh I don't know, they're both natural works of art," I mused, grinning at the two of them. Donna threw her head back laughing before waving her hand at me. "Oh stop it, you. My head will get as big as the Doctor's." She turned her attention to Evelina. "Good to see you laughing and enjoying yourself though."

She made her way to sit on the other side of Evelina and I quickly sobered up, knowing things were about to get serious. "What do you do in old Pompeii then- girls your age? You got mates? Do you go hanging 'round the shops? T.K. Maximus?" Donna asked her and Evelina smiled wistfully, shaking her head.

"I'm promised to the sisterhood for the rest of my life."

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

Evelina shook her head again. "It's not my choice. I have the gift of sight, the sisters chose for me."

"Then," Donna paused and I gave her a warning look, which she pointedly ignored. "What can you see happening tomorrow?"

Evelina pursed her lips. "Is tomorrow special?"

"You tell me. What do you see?" Donna asked her and Evelina frowned but closed her eyes, brows furrowing as she concentrated.

"The sun will rise. The sun will set. Nothing special at all," Evelina stated and opened her eyes.

"Look, don't tell the Doctor I said anything 'cause he'll kill me, but I've got a prophecy too. Eli- er, Diana can back me up," she gave me a pleading look and I found myself agreeing. Evelina gave us both a scandalized look and covered her eyes with both hands. Something about that gesture nagged at the back of my mind, but I couldn't recall why. "Evelina, I'm sorry, but you have to hear me out."

Donna shared a concerned look with me before continuing. "Evelina, can you hear me? Please listen."

Evelina shook her head, backing away a little, eyes still covered. "There is only one prophecy."

"But everything I'm about to say is true," Donna stressed. "I swear, just listen to me. Tomorrow the mountain is going to explode. The air is going to fill with rock and ash- tons and tons of it- and this whole town is gonna get buried."

"That's not true!" Evelina bit out. I studied what I could see of her terrified face, her hands, and tried to concentrate on what I couldn't remember. There's eyes on her hands. Her hands- Oh my God! I quickly snatched both hands off of her face and held them down while she struggled urging Donna to help me.

"What? Why?" Donna questioned, albeit still helping me hold down the arms of the struggling and crying Evelina.

"When her hands are over her eyes, she can be in contact with the sisterhood. That's why she has eyes on her hands- the sisterhood could hear everything being said," I quickly explained.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"As of right now, yes!" I yelled so that Donna could hear me over Evelina's wailing.

"You're both wrong! False prophecy is horrible and you're just wrong!" she cried. As soon as she said that, loud thunderous sounds could be heard nearby. The three of us stilled.

"What is that?" Donna asked me, paler than usual. "More earthquakes?"

"Nope, worse," I responded, dropping Evelina's arms to get up. "Come on, the Doctor should be back now."

The loud noises continued to get louder and the three of us followed the shouts that came from the other room. Metallas, Caecilius, and their servant Rhombus stood staring around the room in equal, but also different, amounts of shock and horror. The Doctor ran in yelling for everyone to get out, Quintus right behind him. Donna gripped my hand, arm shaking a bit. "Doctor, what is it?" she shouted.

Suddenly, the grille over the hypocaust blew off and giant cracks started forming on the ground around it. The Doctor yelled at everyone to leave again but a piercing growl silenced him and everyone turned their attention to the huge rock and magma monster forming out of the ground, steam rolling off its hideous figure. Evelina stepped further behind Donna and I, muttering about the Gods.

"Oh, lava Godzilla is not pretty," I muttered while staring transfixed at the creature.

"Water! We need water!" the Doctor yelled, snapping everyone back to reality. "Quintus, all of you, get water! Donna, Elizabeth!"

Donna and Quintus rushed away to get water and I saw Rhombus make his way to stupidly embrace the evil creature from Hell. "Blessed are we to see - oof!" I rushed and tackled him mid sentence, barely missing the fireball that came from the mouth of the creature.

"Elizabeth!" the Doctor shouted. He raced to stand where Rhombus had been, hands up, trying to get the creature's attention away from Rhombus and me, and everyone else, onto him for a distraction. "Talk to me, that's all I want! Talk to me! Tell me who you are! Don't hurt these people!"

As the Doctor distracted the magma spawn, I got off of Rhombus who sat dazed. "It tried to kill me," he whimpered.

"Of course it did! What did you expect, a warm hug?" I retorted sarcastically. "That thing is not a God. Now sit, stay, and behave," I ordered the sad man before turning to go help Donna and Quintus get water. As I turned a corner, I felt hands grip at both of my arms and legs, a bag covered my head, and I felt myself get lifted as I tried to kick, elbow, and scream. This was not supposed to be happening because if I was right, the people taking me were a part of the sisterhood and they were supposed to take Donna. So, since no one seemed to hear my screaming, or see me struggle, that means that the teamwork they used to kidnap me was very successful.

The bag that was over my head had only been removed once I found myself tied down on what I knew to be a stone table meant for sacrifices. I hope the expression I had on when it was removed fully conveyed how thoroughly annoyed I was. The girl who had removed the bag scowled at me and I scowled back. She held a dagger over me to hover and I scoffed at it.

"What, seriously? You're using me as a sacrifice? For what? All I did was sever the connection!" I rambled on, getting louder with each word. The woman next to me sneered.

"The false prophet will surrender both her blood and her breath," she hissed.

I rolled my eyes, struggling against the ropes holding me down. "Like hell! I refuse to be the Daphne of this Scooby gang!"

"You will be silent," she stated.

"Oh! Did you want silence? In that case, maybe I'll start singing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' as loud as I can until your ears bleed!"

I opened my mouth to start, but the woman moved faster than anyone I have ever seen to gag me. I didn't know what she put in my mouth, but a list of diseases sounded off in my head and I had to resist the urge to vomit. "I, Spurrina, will have this prattling cease, forever," the woman announced, again raising the dagger over me and I closed my eyes.

"Try to do that, and you'll really wish you hadn't," a loud voice called out. I opened my eyes and looked to the side to see both the Doctor and Donna approaching us slowly from the temple entrance. Donna was holding a stick she must have found on their way over here, looking angry but cautious. The Doctor, however, looked more furious than I had ever seen him, and I was reminded of an expression eleven had worn when I had tried to help Merry in the Temple of Akhaten.

Spurrina glared at them. "No man is allowed to enter the temple of Sybil."

"That's alright, it's just us girls," Donna said, nudging the Doctor with her shoulder and he walked more toward us, hands in his pockets. He was still frowning and the contrast between this reality, and the seemingly light-heartedness I remembered he had in the episode when rescuing Donna, confused me. His eyes were cold and tension rolled off him in waves.

"You know, I met the Sybil once," he started, staring down the woman next to me. "Hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance a tarantella." As he talked and walked I could see him relax more and more the closer he got to me. "Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never work and she said 'I know'. She would." He and Donna were now directly on the other side of the stone table I was on and Donna quickly reached out to snatch the gag out of my mouth. I shot her a grateful smile, glad to be rid of the disgusting thing.

The Doctor looked down at me, irritation lighting his face, but there was also a hint of relief. "Care to explain why you let yourself get kidnapped?" he asked in a mock scolding tone.

I attempted to shrug, my movement a bit restricted due to my rope restraints. "I didn't volunteer if that's what you're implying. Besides, this is basically me getting a front row ticket to all the fun!" My attempted enthusiasm broke his angry facade even more than it already was breaking, because by the time he was bringing out his sonic screwdriver to break the bindings, his eyes were lighter than they had been when he entered the temple. Gone was the worry and coldness and I was relieved to be by his side again, not realizing just how shaken I had been being a Roman hostage.

After helping me up, the Doctor took my face in his hands, examining every inch, and it was nice to feel so cared for. Once done, he made eye-contact with me, grinning, and I returned the gesture. "Are you really okay?" he asked.

I nodded and patted his cheek. "Yep. Thanks for getting here in the nick of time."

His eyes were full on twinkling now and I swear he had a galaxy in there- I could see stars. He helped me down, keeping one of my hands in his, and said "But of course! That's me for you, isn't it? Always being here just in time!"

I heard a sniffle beside us and I turned to see Donna clasping her hands under her head, having dropped her defensive stick, her eyes shining as she stared at us. Her words from earlier about him being happy just holding my hand came to mind and I felt my face heat up, although I wasn't sure why I was feeling embarrassed. Shaking my head, I turned my attention to the original task at hand- confronting the sisterhood. Spurrina gaped openly at us, only finding her words as our attentions came back to her.

"What magic possesses you?" she hissed.

"Not magic, just science," the Doctor responded nonchalantly. He started walking toward her with me right beside him and Donna following. "Now, let me tell you something about the Sibyl. She'd be ashamed of you! You who turns her words sour. Is that how things are run now? On the blade of a knife?" Venom laced his last question because of his obvious distaste for weapons and violence.

Spurrina's grip on her knife tightened as she glowered at us. "Yes, a blade that now welcomes-"

"Let me see this man," a calm voice called out, interrupting Spurrina's threats. I recognized the voice as the one belonging to the high priestess of the sisterhood. Spurrina sputtered, turning to the veil that covered the high priestess i disbelief. "The stranger would defile us."

The high priestess asked once more to see the Doctor and this time no one questioned her. I was about to follow the Doctor to speak with the high priestess with him, when he stopped us, pulling me slightly aside. "Let me handle this one. You've done so much already."

I snorted. "Yeah, I'm so awesome- I got myself taken without meaning to," I said sarcastically.

"You know that's not what I mean. Besides I think you should talk with Donna while I ask my questions. She feels guilty about you getting kidnapped."

I sighed, but smiled at him, giving him a small shove in the direction of the high priestess. "Alright big boy, I'll talk to her. But try and be speedy with your investigation, alright Holmes," I teased and he grinned.

"Bet on it, Watson," he teased back before walking off.

Facing Donna, who appeared confused as to why we were staying behind, I crossed my arms and made my way to stand next to her.

"Why'd he stop us? Afraid we'd get straight to the point before he dawdles on and on?" she joked.

I smirked at the joke, but looked at her with a serious expression. "Stop that."

Her smile dropped. "Stop what?"

"As someone who makes jokes when they're upset or feeling overall uncomfortable, I know what you're doing. So stop it and stop blaming yourself."

She looked down and her shoulders slumped. "It's just- it was supposed to be me, wasn't it? They wasted to get rid of the 'false prophet' and I was the only one cornering Evelina about Vesuvius."

I started rubbing at her back, not liking how defeated she appeared. It was a stark contrast to the witty, strong-willed woman I was used to. "Stop blaming yourself Donna. I'm honestly glad it was me. Granted it was unexpected and I was just the tiniest bit scared, I wouldn't have it any other way. I will always take the chance to save my friends in a heartbeat, even taking their place in dangerous situations. So take that guilt and toss it aside, okay? Or if you need to blame someone, blame me."

She scoffed. "Like hell."

I laughed and her face softened. "Then that settles it, no blame, right?" She smiled and agreed.

"Tell me your name!" The Doctor's voice shouted out, startling us and bringing our attentions back toward him and the high priestess. Gripping each other's arms, we made our way next to the Doctor, slow chanting of "Pyrovile" following behind us and all around. Once Donna saw the high priestess, whose body was almost completely covered in dark stone, and her grip on my arm tightened. "Oh my God! Doctor what's happened to her?"

With his back facing us, the Doctor reached back and instantly I placed my hand in his, almost on instinct. My eyebrows furrowed as I wondered why I did that, but it seemed that was what he wanted because he didn't complain or let go, just adjusted his grip on my hand. While the Doctor answered Donna's questions, I noticed that the members of the sisterhood were moving slowly to start forming a circle around us. The Doctor jerked forward, bringing me with him and that's when I saw he had produced a small, yellow water pistol from his jacket and I remembered he was going to use this against the high priestess.

"I warn you! I'm armed! Donna, go get that grille open!" he shouted, using his head to gesture in the direction she needed to go.

"What? By myself? I'm not Superwoman!" she protested. Deciding to go help Donna, I gave the Doctor's hand a light squeeze before letting it go. He started reaching back again, looking back at me with eyes raised as if he just now realized I had been holding his hand and the emptiness was not welcome. I raised my hands in mock surrender, telling him I was going to help Donna with the grille. He nodded, turning back to raise the water pistol higher , aiming it at the face of the high priestess. Donna and I squatted by the grille, using our combined strength to move the grille of the hypocaust with ease so that the Doctor could finish his interrogation and we'd have an escape route. "We got it!" Donna shouted toward the Doctor and he yelled back for us to go down there. She looked at me in disbelief. "Is he serious?"

"Uh-huh. After you Spartacus."

Donna grumbled but made her way down into the steamy underground pathways. As I was about to follow her, the Doctor started shooting the water pistol and rushed my way. We both jumped down, the Doctor some extra time after me to close the grille over the hypocaust. Donna stepped closer to us, just now noticing the the water pistol as he shoved it back into his jacket.

"You fought her off with a water pistol? I bloody love you!" she exclaimed. I laughed at her response, not realizing I had said "me too" in between laughs. Donna let out a loud "Ha!" while the Doctor just froze stock still. My eyes widened when I realized what I had said and I covered my mouth.

A small "what" came from the Doctor and it was so quiet that I wouldn't have known he had said except for the fact that I was staring at him and saw his mouth move. I dropped my hands, deciding to feign innocence so that they stopped confusing the meaning of what I said. "Nothing, nevermind."

I started to walk away, just to get us going again, but the Doctor stopped me. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, it was nothing," I insisted, trying to maneuver myself away. "Is it me, or is it getting warmer in here? We should really get going." And without looking back I started walking in the way I was sure we were supposed to go to find the rest of the Pyrovile. I totally didn't mean that in a weird way, but now it certainly seems like I did. I just hope he doesn't take it the wrong way. Oh! But what if I've also hurt his feelings? Deciding to be a little brave, I did what he had been doing earlier and reached my hand back as I walked, feeling relieved when his hand joined my mine and walked a little bit ahead to lead. Okay, good. I didn't really know where I was going anyway. I snuck a glance at Donna to see her practically glowing she was smiling so big. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes because I know she means well. After a few minutes of walking, a booming roar echoed around us, signalling that the Pyrovile had found us. It was time to run.

Once we found out the world was at stake, we ended up in the escape pod used by the Pyrovile to get here. The temperature was rising each second and I swore I had never sweat so much in my life. We were faced with the decision of being used to blow up Pompeii so that the Pyrovile wouldn't use the volcano's power to destroy the world. It killed me to see just how much the choice weighed on the Doctor's conscience. Neither of us wanted to condemn Pompeii but that's part of the greater good isn't it- making the hardest decisions for the best outcome, even if a whole city were to be destroyed. At least the rest of the world would be okay.

Both Donna and I told the Doctor that this just him making this decision and that he should not let himself carry this burden on his own. He tried to tell us that the force of the explosion would make it so that along with Pompeii, we wouldn't be able to survive it either. While I knew we would be fine, he still needed to know that we were okay with it.

"Never mind us, this isn't about us right now," Donna told him, placing her hands over his on the lever that, once pulled, would set off Vesuvius. I followed suit, placing my hands over hers.

"We're all in this together, High School Musical pun intended," I said, giving him a weak smile. Determination renewed, we all pushed down the lever. The ride in the escape pod made me question ever going on a roller coaster as thrill ride ever again. We were tossed every which way in the tiny ship, likely bruising ourselves up. When we landed, both the Doctor and Dona started laughing in relief that we weren't all dead. I would have joined in, except the reality of what we'd have to face once outside kept me from truly feeling any relief. They soon sobered up as soon as the screaming could be heard on the inside of the pod.

Donna got out first and noticed a child that was by himself, she went to help him but was shoved out of the way by his hysterical mother. Ash and rock was falling everywhere and the sky was darker than I'd ever seen it. The screaming was loud and it just beat relentlessly against my consciousness and my eardrums. It followed us as we ran back to Caecilius's villa to get to the Tardis. The cries and shouts that came from Caecilius and his family scarred me so much that it was hard to think. I sort of just collapsed on the floor of the Tardis, sitting on the floor and just letting myself feel all the emotions that were going on around me and inside me. I couldn't get rid of the screaming from my mind and I didn't know I was crying until my vision started getting blurry. My head was pounding, my heart and eyes hurting, and I couldn't even really hear or focus on the yelling match going on between the Doctor and Donna on whether or not to go back and Caecilius. I started crying harder and just started repeating "save them," quietly until I decided to just yell it out. "Doctor just save them! Not everyone, just them! Please!"

I couldn't see him, but I knew he heard me, and save them he did- with open arms and a desperation to not have everyone die again driving him back to Pompeii to rescue Caecilius and his family. We were able to get them out of their crumbling villa and into safety on a nearby grassy hill. I didn't follow all of them out of the Tardis, though. No matter how happy I was that they were safe, it took only a minute or two to realize that seeing their happy family union was hurting me just as much as the screaming in Pompeii had. They almost died, but they still had each other. I could feel static crawl up my arms, blue light starting to shine all around me, but I didn't care. I felt wiped, emotionally and physically and there was no stopping the waves of family memories crashing around my thoughts. My high emotions bring on the hysteria and homesickness that I didn't even realize I had been putting off. How awful a child was I, to not once until now, wondered how my family was dealing with my disappearance? Why haven't I fought harder to get back to them? The grief that has decided to randomly punch me in the gut now was overwhelming and I just wanted to hide. I wanted to find a corner and sleep for a week- to just let myself wallow in my despair.

Once the blue light left my line of vision, I noticed that I was still in the Tardis console room, but instead of being alone, I ended up being greeted by an enthusiastic ninth Doctor. The familiarity of him hit me like a breath of fresh air, making the tenseness in my head fade just the slightest amount, but it was still hard to breathe. I could feel myself on the verge of the breakdown and I didn't want to cry in front of the Doctor again.

"Beth!" he beamed, standing from the seat he was at. "I am so glad you're here! Rose just went to sleep and I was thinking of what to do to pass the time while she rests. What do you say? We could go see- wait, why are you wearing a toga?" He was asking too many questions and I just wanted to go find my room.

I cleared my throat. "Actually Doctor, I'm quite tired myself. I need to go to my room too, if that's alright." I glanced at him to see his expression fall.

"I suppose you humans always need so much beauty sleep," he muttered and I snorted at his comment, despite the inner turmoil I was feeling.

"Tell you what, you let me know when you learn how to share all that excessive energy with someone, and maybe I'll sleep less and adventure more," I joked, walking up to him to poke him in the chest as I talked.

His reaction was instantaneous and he was grinning again, nodding to my suggestion. "You'll be the first to know."

I was about to walk away but hesitated. "Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I hug you?" I asked, holding my breath until he answered.

"'Course you can! ALways enjoy a good hug!" he said and opened his arms. My eyes started to sting and I dashed forward to hug him, knowing that I wanted to cry so bad, but used this as an excuse to bury my head in his shoulder. So warm.

"Are you okay? You're shaking," I heard him ask, face laced with concern.

I decided to be honest. "No."

"Hmm. Want to talk about it?"

"Probably. Maybe. I don't know," I pulled away, wiping at a tear that had escaped. "But I really am tired."

I didn't want to look at him again, knowing that his concern would bring on the waterworks full blast, so I was surprised when I felt him pat me on my back.

"Okay, later then. Go rest up Beth," he said and I was so grateful that he wasn't questioning me, that I hugged him one more time before bounding off to my room, feeling slightly recovered.

Thank you, Doctor.

*Author's Note* There's really no excuse for long it took for me to get this chapter up. I feel awful about it but I am happy with how this turned out. I just had this huge block with writing these past few months, a big writer's block. A lot had happened and it felt like I was forcing myself to write every time I tried to get back to finishing this episode. Luckily, I got my groove back. I wrote the rest of this chapter on paper before tying it up , just as I had done with the beginning of this story and it made it fun to write again. Thank you so much for waiting so long and thank you to everyone still reading!

Good News- next episode, due to majority vote, is "The Empty Child"! WOOP!

Thanks again guys!