Chapter 27
Rose felt something in her mind disappearing and sprinted back to the TARDIS. The Doctor followed her, dragging Donna behind at the same speed but for a different reason. Rose had a head start over the Doctor and didn't have to slow down so Donna fell behind so Rose had already reached the TARDIS and pulled the curtain away by the time the Doctor got there.
"She's gone. I felt her move." Rose said, panting from her run.
Donna caught up and saw the TARDIS gone. "You're kidding. Don't tell me the TARDIS has gone?" She asked in disbelief.
"OK." the Doctor said, his mind working at 90 miles per hour to try and figure it out.
Rose hit the Doctor on his arm and said to Donna, "Someone moved her. She is still in this time and place, just somewhere else in the city."
"Why didn't you say that space-boy?" Donna demanded, as Rose walked over to the stall holder Donna had spoken to before.
"You told me not to tell you." the Doctor said, hiding a smile as he followed Rose over.
"excuse me, there was a big blue wooden box over there, behind that curtain. Do you know what happened to it?" Rose asked the stall holder politely.
"Sold it, didn't I?" he said, smiling smugly at her.
"But it wasn't yours to sell!" Doctor said, frustrated.
"It was on my patch, weren't it? I got 15 sesterce for it, lovely jubbly." he said, polishing a jar that he was trying to sell.
"Who did you sell it to?" Rose asked, still polite.
"Old Caecilius. Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it out with him? He's on Foss Street, big villa, can't miss it." the man said, turning away to try and sell something else.
"Thanks." Rose muttered, walking away. The Doctor turned around and was about to ask the man another question when Rose pulled his arm and said, "What ever the question is, you don't need to ask him." the Doctor was about to protest so Rose sighed and said, "ask me instead."
"What did Caecilius buy a big wooden box for?" the Doctor asked her.
"To annoy you" Donna muttered, following the pair.
The Doctor came running back to the two girls who were standing around in the street.
"Ha! I've got it. Foss Street, this way." he said, grabbing Rose's hand and about to drag her along.
"No! Well, I found this big sort of amphitheater thing, we should start there, we can gather everyone together, maybe if we got a great big bell or something we could ring it, have they invented bells yet?" Donna said, grabbing Rose's other arm and pulling her the opposite to the Doctor.
"What do you want a bell for?" the Doctor asked, pulling Rose in his direction.
Donna pulled Rose in her direction while saying, "To warn everyone! Start the evacuation! What time does Vesuvius erupt, when's it due?"
"It's 79AD, 23rd of August, which makes volcano day tomorrow!" Doctor said, just wanting to get Rose and Donna out of there so they weren't in danger.
"Plenty of time! We could get everyone out, easy!" Donna said, smiling. She yanked on Rose's arm.
"Yeah, except we're not going to." Doctor said, yanking back on Rose's arm.
"But that's what you do, you're the Doctor, you save people!" Donna said, confused.
Rose had enough by that point and said, " OI! I like having two arms that aren't being pulled out!"
"Sorry." Donna muttered, dropping Rose's arm. Doctor stopped pulling but didn't let go of Rose's arm.
"I'm not going to save the people this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history, what happens happens, there is no stopping it." Doctor explains, turning around and going in the direction of Foss Street.
Donna grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Says who?" she spat, annoyed that the Doctor was going to let all these people die.
"Says me!" the Doctor half yelled in annoyance.
"What, you're in charge?" Donna yelled back.
"TARDIS, Time Lord, yeah!" Doctor said, his frustration leaking into his voice.
"Donna, human, no! I don't need your permission, I'll tell them myself! Rose come on!" Donna said, expecting Rose to follow her.
"Donna, we can't." Rose said quietly. Donna stared at her in disbelief. She had thought Rose would be a decent type of person but Donna must've guessed wrong. "Pompeii is a fixed point in history. It is one of the things that led to studying volcanoes, if people are warned, they'll get away and no-one will ever understand the proper dangers of volcanoes until another huge eruption and more people will die. You don't think it kills me to just walk away from these people, knowing they're about to die? Cause it's eating me up inside but, if you put your own emotions to the side for the moment you would see it is eating the Doctor up from the inside that he can't help these people and you could see that all that you are saying is making it harder on him."
Donna stared at Rose in shock that Rose had told her off, all calmly and quietly. "Come on, to the TARDIS, we're getting out of here." the Doctor said, quietly, running off without looking behind him to see if Rose and Donna was following.
The threesome entered the house just as another earthquake started. They heard a stranger call out, "Positions!"
The Doctor noticed a statue about to fall and rushes forward to catch it, setting it back on the ledge, the Doctor said, "There you go."
"Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor." the man said, thanking the Doctor for catching his statue.
"But that's me, I'm a visitor. Hello." the Doctor said, shaking the man's hand.
"Who are you?" The man asked the Doctor, Rose and Donna.
"I am... Spartacus." The Doctor said hesitantly.
"And so am I." Donna said, not knowing what names were suitable for this time.
"Mr and Mrs Spartacus?" he asked, confused.
"Oh no no no, we're not, we're not married." The Doctor said, meaning him and Donna.
"We're not together." Donna repeated, disgusted at the thought of that.
"Oh, then brother and sister? Yes of course! You look very much alike." the man said, smiling.
"Really?" Doctor and Donna said together.
"And this is...?" the man said, looking at Rose.
"This is Venia, My betrothed." Doctor said, saying the first name that came to his mind.
'Betrothed? Did I miss the proposal?' Rose sent the Doctor, amused.
"Congratulations." the man said happily. Turning serious again, he said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade."
"And that trade would be?" The Doctor asked. 'I had to say something. Being Donna's brother, anyone who would be interesting in courting her would speak to me first. You as my betrothed, saves that problem as well.' The Doctor sent to Rose, explaining why he said betrothed.
'Someone is jealous' Rose sent back. The Doctor ignored her and listened to the man explaining his trade.
"Marble. Lobus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man." Caecilius said proudly.
"That's good. That's good, cos I'm marble inspector." the Doctor said, pulling out his physic paper that now said marble inspector.
"By the gods of commerce, an inspection!" Caecilius's wife said, taking a glass of wine from their son's hand and tipping it in the pond behind them. "I'm sorry, sir. I do apologise for my son."
"Oi!" the boy said.
"And this is my good wife, Metella. I... I must confess, we're not prepared for..."
"Nothing to worry about, I'm sure you've nothing to hide. Although, frankly, that object looks rather like wood to me." The Doctor said, walking around and pointing to the TARDIS, hiding his happiness at finding her again.
"I told you to get rid of it." Metella hissed at her husband.
"I only bought it today!" Caecilius said to the Doctor, a way of apologizing.
"Ah, well... Caveat emptor." The Doctor said.
The Roman family looked confused and Caecilius said, "Oh, you're Celtic. There's lovely."
"I'm sure it's fine, but I might have to take it off your hands, for a proper inspection." the Doctor said, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Although while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?" Donna asked him, glaring at the Doctor.
"Don't know what you mean, Spartacus." the Doctor said back, keeping his voice and face pleasant and happy.
"Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?" Donna said through gritted teeth.
"Why should we do that?" Caecilius said, confused.
"Well, the volcano, for starters." Donna said pointedly before the Doctor could stop her. Rose watched silently, annoyed Donna hadn't followed her advice about trying to make it easier for the Doctor.
Caecilius stared at Donna in confusion, "What?"
"Volcano" Donna repeated.
"WHAT-ano?" Caecilius asked, not understanding Donna
"That great big volcano right on your doorstep..." Donna started to say before the Doctor cut in.
"Oh, Spartacus, for shame, we haven't even greeted the household gods yet." the Doctor said, dragging Donna away to a nearby shrine with a goblet in front of it full of water. Rose followed.
"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." the Doctor whispered to Donna, dipping his fingers into the water and flicking it onto the shrine.
Donna copied and said sarcastically, "Oh, great, they can learn a new word. As they die."
Rose flicked water onto the shrine and hissed at Donna, "Donna, stop it." Rose could feel the Doctor's guilt at leaving all these people to die and Donna was making it worse.
Donna didn't pay attention to Rose and said, "Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flying round with in space, but you're not telling me to shut up. That boy, how old is he? Sixteen? And tomorrow, he burns to death."
"the type of kids he flew round with were ones that understood he is already feeling guilty for this happening when it wasn't even his fault. You're just making it worse!" Rose hissed at Donna.
"You're not going to even try!" Donna hissed back at Rose.
"No because it's not his fault that the people here are going to die. He understands it better than anyone that once things happen and become a fixed point in time he can't change it. Don't you think if he was going to change history by saving everyone here, he would do something much bigger and go save planets that burned before their time. Like his own?" Rose hissed back, trying to get Donna to shut up. Rose felt a stab of pain and guilt from the Doctor and immediately felt bad.
Before anyone else could speak, a servant spoke, saying "Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government." an oldish man with grey hair and a cloak that covered his right arm entered the room. Rose and Donna fell silent as the two girls and the Doctor observed the newcomer.
"Lucius. My pleasure, as always." Caecilius said, smiling warmly at the man. "A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house" Caecilius stretched his hand out, to shake the newcomer but Lucius kept his right harm hidden under the cloak.
"The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west." Lucius said, a smug tone entering his voice as if he thought he was better than everyone else.
"Quite. Absolutely. That's good, is it?" Caecilius said, confused about the meaning of the riddle.
"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow." Lucius said, not giving a clue to what he meant.
"There now, Metella. Have you ever heard SUCH wisdom?" Caecilius said, smiling at his wife though still confused.
His wife was just confused as he was and said, "Never. It's an honour."
"Pardon me, sir, I have guests, this is Venia, Spartacus and... Spartacus." Caecilius gestured to Rose, Donna and the Doctor who waved, smiling happily like nothing was wrong at all.
"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind." Lucius said vaguely. No-one having a clue what he meant.
"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark." the Doctor said back, smiling.
"Ah. But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?" Lucius said, taking the Doctor's words as a challenge.
"I concede that every sun must set-" the Doctor started to say.
Lucius interrupted and said, "Hah!"
"-and yet the son of the father must also rise." the Doctor finished.
"Damn. Very clever, sir. Evidently, a man of learning." Lucius said, impressed at the Doctor's wisdom.
"Oh, yes. But don't mind me, don't want to disturb the status quo." the Doctor said cheerfully, putting his hands in his pockets.
No-one understood the meaning, 'status quo' so Caecilius said to Lucius as an explanation, "He's Celtic."
"We'll be off in a minute." the Doctor said, meaning himself, Donna and Rose.
"I'm not going." Donna muttered to herself.
Rose heard and whispered back, "We've got to go."
"I'm not!" Donna hissed, annoyed at the younger woman.
"It's ready, sir. The moment of revelation." Caecilius said to Lucius, uncovering a tile-sized circuit board made of black marble. "And here it is! Exactly as you've specified. It pleases you, sir?" Caecilius asked the older man.
"As the rain pleases the soil." Lucius said, still talking in riddles and similes and metaphors.
"Oh, now that's... different. Who designed that, then?" the Doctor asked, pulling out glasses and putting them on and studying the board.
"My Lord Lucius was very specific." Caecilius said, meaning Lucius designed it.
"Where did you get the pattern?" Rose asked, intrigued by the fact a circuit board was designed in 80AD.
"On the rain and mist and wind." Lucius said, not really answering the question.
"But that looks like a circuit." Rose said to the Doctor.
"Made of stone." the Doctor added, agreeing with Rose.
"Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?" Donna asked Lucius.
"That is my job. As City Augur." Lucius said, as if he was talking to a young child, not a grown up.
"What's that, then, like the mayor?" Donna asked, taking a wild guess.
"Oh! You must excuse my friend, she's from... Barcelona." the Doctor said, lowering his voice so only Rose and Donna heard, he said, "Not, but 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's the equivalent of Ten O'Clock News."
Rose noticed a pale, sick looking girl enter the room. "They're laughing at us. Those three, they use words like tricksters, they're mocking us." She said, pointing at the three travelers.
"No, no, no. I meant no offence." the Doctor said, honestly.
"I'm sorry, my daughter's been consuming the vapours." Metella said, walking over to the girl and leading her to a chair. The girl stopped where she could still see the Doctor, Donna and Rose and stood there, swaying and unsteady on her feet.
"Oh for gods, mother, what have you been doing to her?" The young boy, Caecilius's son said.
"Not now, Quintus." Caecilius said, trying to silence his son.
"Yeah but she's sick, just look at her!" Quintus said, feeling worried for his sister.
"I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift." Lucius said, sounding stuck-up.
Metella smiled proudly and said, "Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions."
"The prophecies of women are limited and dull, only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception." Lucius said with disdain.
"I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate." Donna said, annoyed at this sexist.
There was a loud roar from the 'mountain' and Lucius scowled and said, "The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you."
"Consuming the vapours, you said?" The Doctor asked the girl, curious.
"They give me strength." She said, still swaying on her feet.
"It doesn't look like it to me." Rose said quietly, feeling worried for this girl not much younger than herself.
"Is that your opinion... as a doctor?" The girl said, staring at the Doctor intently.
"I beg your pardon?" The Doctor said, shocked.
"Doctor, that's your name." the girl said, tilting her head to stare at the Doctor.
"How did you know that?" the Doctor asked the girl but got no answer.
"And you... you call yourself Noble." the girl said, turning to Donna.
"Now then, Evelina, don't be rude." Metella said, trying to maintain dignity.
"No, no, no, no, let her talk." Doctor said, amazed.
"And you, the Valiant Child. So far from home. All three of you have come from so far away." the girl said, staring at Rose. Rose swallowed, trying not to be scared. That was what the devil had called her. The Doctor grabbed her hand and squeezed it, comforting her silently.
"he female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries." Lucius said, still believing women couldn't have visions.
"Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you've been out-soothsayed." the Doctor said, excited at this new information and a little surprised.
"Is that so... man from Gallifrey?" Lucius said, his voice going strangely different with the last three words.
"What?" The Doctor said, starting to get worried.
"Strangest of images... your home is lost in fire, is it not?" Lucius said, not expecting an answer.
"Doctor, what are they doing?" Donna asked.
"And you, daughter of... London." Lucius said, turning to Donna. Looking at Rose, he said, "You daughter of London yet changed, to be more like him."
"How does he know that?" Donna asked.
"How does both of them know that?" Rose asked the Doctor, scared at being reminded about the devil.
"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth."
"That's impossible." Donna said, not believing it.
"Doctor, he is returning to destroy." Lucius said, ignoring Donna.
"Who is? Who's he?" the Doctor asked, wanting to know more information.
"And you, daughter of London... there is something on your back." Lucius said.
"What's that mean?" Donna asked him, angry and scared.
"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." the girl said.
Then, the girl and Lucius both gasped and their eyes rolled up into their heads. "Bad Wolf. Dea of Vicis. She is returning, stronger than ever." the girl collapsed, Lucius fell forward onto his knees, gasping for breath. He got up with some difficulty and stared at Rose in shock and amazement.
"Evelina!" Metella yelled, running to her daughter. The Doctor was by her side already, checking her vitals.
Donna and Rose stood in a room. On the bed in the room, Evelina was lying there, still unconscious. Her mother sat next to her, holding a bowl of liquid.
"She didn't mean to be rude, she's ever such a good girl. But when the gods speak through her..." Metella said, trailing off. She unwrapped the bandage on Evelina's arm, revealing grey skin that looked hard and rough.
"What's wrong with her arm?" Donna asked, feeling sorry for this young girl.
"Irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night." Metella said, about to rub some of the liquid, olive oil, into it.
"What is it?" Rose asked, her voice gentle.
"Evelina said you'd come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like…?" Metella asked, desperation entering her voice. The mother was worried for her daughter. Worried and panicked.
Donna reached over and gently touched it. "It's stone." she gasped. Rose brushed her fingers over it gently as well, her mind searching through every book the Doctor had made her read so far, trying to figure this out.
The Doctor pulled the metal grille of the hypocaust (the hole in the ground in the house to underground) and looked inside at the chasm below. "Different sort of hypocaust." The Doctor commented.
"Oh, yes. We're very advanced in Pompeii. In Rome, they're still using old wood-furnaces. But we've got hot springs, leading from Vesuvius itself." Caecilius explained.
"Who thought of that?" the Doctor asked, trying to find out as much information as possible.
"The soothsayers. After the great earthquake, 17 years ago. An awful lot of damage. But we rebuilt." Caecilius explained.
"Didn't you think of moving away? No, then again, San Francisco..." The Doctor asked, trailing off as he realized what he was saying.
"That's a new restaurant in... Naples?" Caecilius asked. The Doctor was saved from having to answer as a howling sound came from the chasm below.
"What's that noise?" the Doctor asked, crouching over the hole again, trying to see through the steam.
"Don't know. Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring." Caecilius said, shrugging.
Returning to their previous conversation, the Doctor said, "But after the earthquake, let me guess... Is that when the soothsayers started making sense?"
"Oh, yes, very much so. I mean, they'd always been, shall we say, imprecise? But then - the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth, again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision. " Caecilius said, smiling at a memory.
"Haven't they said anything about tomorrow?" the Doctor asked, curious why no-one is seeing this coming.
"No. Why, should they? Why d'you ask?" Caecilius asked, worried.
"No, no, no I'm just asking. But the soothsayers, they all consume the vapours, yeah?" The Doctor said, changing the subject. He didn't like not being able to save them any more than Donna or Rose but he knew it was inevitable.
"That's how they see." Caecilius said, nodding.
"They're all consuming this." The Doctor said, reaching into the hole and pulling his hand out, rubbing something between his fingers. He then tastes it.
"Dust?" Caecilius asked, taking a guess.
The Doctor pulled a face then said, "Tiny particles of rock. They're breathing in Vesuvius.
Quintus was lying on the sofa, completely bored.
"Quintus, me old son. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus, where does he live?" the Doctor asked, coming up to the boy.
"It's nothing to do with me." Quintus sighed, bored out of his skull.
"Let me try again. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus..." the Doctor said, reaching behind Quintus's ear and pulling out a gold coin. "where does he live?"
Quintus was holding the torch high, looking around slightly worried. He had caved and shown the Doctor where Lucius lived, now they were there, outside the window.
"Don't tell my dad." Quintus said, worried about getting in trouble.
The Doctor climbed up onto the window ledge and through the window. "Only if you don't tell mine. Pass me that torch!" he said.
After a moment of hesitation, Quintus followed the Doctor through the window and found the Doctor looking at six boards, similar to the one Caecilius made. One of them was the one Caecilius made.
"The liar! He told my father it was the only one. " Quintus said angrily.
"Well, plenty of marble merchants in this town. Tell them all the same thing, get all the components from different places, so no-one can see what you're building." the Doctor said, trying to figure out the puzzle.
"Which is what?" Quintus asked, confused.
"The future. Doctor, we are building the future. As dictated by the gods." Lucius said, coming into the room with two guards.
Evelina was sitting on her bed, laughing as she watched Donna pose in a purple toga. Rose was sitting next to Evelina, smiling as well. Rose was already in a gold toga, the only one in the house in Rose's size. Rose giggled as well.
"Neither of you are supposed to laugh. Thanks for that. What d'you think? The Goddess Venus." Donna said, holding another pose.
"That's sacrilege. " Evelina said, laughing still.
"Nice to see you laugh, though. What d'you do in old Pompeii, then, girls your age? You got... mates? D'you go hanging about round the shops? TK Maximus?" Donna asked, sitting next to the girl on the side Rose wasn't sitting on.
"I am promised to the Sisterhood for the rest of my life." Evelina said, her good mood evaporating.
"Do you even get any choice in that?" Rose asked. "I mean, if I was promised to a group that caused me to collapse and have a rash, I wouldn't want to stay."
"It's not my decision. The Sisters chose for me. I have the gift of sight." Evelina explained.
Donna looked at Rose who looked at Donna back. Donna could see in Rose's eyes it was killing her to not be able to save nay of these people here and Donna's respect for Rose grew a little bit. She was trying not to show she cared when it hurt the Doctor so much. But Donna couldn't do that. She had to try to save at least this family.
"Then… what can you see happening tomorrow?" Donna asked Evelina, trying a new tactic.
"s tomorrow special?" Evelina wondered.
"You tell us. What do you see?" Donna asked.
Evelina closed her eyes and smiled. "the sun will rise. The sun will set. Nothing special at all."
"Look, don't tell the Doctor I said anything cos he'll kill me, but I've got a prophecy too." Donna said. Rose glared at Donna but Donna ignored her as Evelina covered her eyes with her hands, one of them had an eye painted onto it, a sign of being part of the Sisterhood.
This action created a link to the rest of the Sisterhood in the Temple of Sybil. So everyone there could hear Donna as well.
"Evelina, I'm sorry, but you've got to hear me out." Donna said, persisting.
"Evelina, can you hear me? Listen..." Donna said, feeling bad for distressing the girl but knew she had to try.
"There is only one prophecy." Evelina said, rocking back and forth.
"But everything I'm about to say to you is true. I swear. Just listen to me. Tomorrow, that mountain is gonna explode. Evelina, please listen. The air is gonna fill with ash and rocks, tons and tons of it, this whole town is gonna get buried." Donna said, pleading with her. Rose stayed silent, she knew she should stop Donna but she didn't want Evelina to die either.
"That's not true." Evelina said, distressed.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. But everyone's gonna die." Donna said, trying a different tactic, Donna pleaded, "Even if you don't believe me, just… tell your family to get out of town. Just for one day, just for tomorrow. But you've got to get out. You've got to leave Pompeii!"
"This is false prophecy!" Evelina said, uncovering her eyes and standing from the bed, she walked out of the room, close to tears.
Donna said to Rose without turning to look at her, "Don't you dare tell me off, I did the right thing." hearing no reply, Donna looked at Rose to see her silently crying. "Rose, what's wrong?" Donna asked, worried, even if she was angry at her for the moment, Rose was kind of OK. Sometimes. Hugging the other girl, Donna said, "Look, I'm sorry if I made you upset-"
"It's not that." Rose interrupted. "Donna, don't you get it? You are right. We should try to save these people. To warn them and get them out so no-one dies. The Doctor and I know that. But we also know that we can't interfere with time lines. The Doctor learnt that at childhood and I learnt the hard way." Rose said, wiping her eyes.
"How'd you-" Donna started to ask.
"My father died when I was a baby. I asked the Doctor to go back and see him, just once. So we went to him and mum's wedding. I then asked if I could go to when he died. See, he died alone, in a car accident. Originally it was a hit and run driver, by the time the ambulance got there he was dead. I just wanted to hold his hand while he died. The Doctor took me back but when it happened, I froze up. I couldn't move, all I could think was not him. Not my dad. I ran away, it was too late by the time I came to my senses. I asked the Doctor if I could try again. Even though it was wrong. Even though he shouldn't have, he did. He took me back here. Half way through, the car was heading for him, I thought I could change this and ran out, knocking him out of the way and saving my dad even though he should've been dead." Rose took a deep breath and continued, ignoring the tears still running down her face. "It caused a hole in the fabric of time, and these aliens, reapers, came to sterilize the wound but destroying all that was in it. That meant the whole Earth. Everyone died. Old things were harder for the reapers to get through so me and the Doctor hid in a church where the wedding my dad was heading to was meant to be held. So many people died. The Doctor died. I was left alone, no way of fixing the mess and me being the cause of it. In the end my dad figured it out. The car that was meant to kill him was circling the block. Dad was meant to die. He ran out, got hit and everyone came back, and I still got to hold his hand while he died. But all those other people died, even if they came back. Even if they didn't remember it. I remember it. I remember seeing the Doctor being eaten by these great big winged bat like creatures right in front of me. He sacrificed himself to save the rest of us." Rose finished the story and sat up straight and wiped her eyes. "That's why none of us are going to save the town. The reapers will come back. And kill everyone."
"Oh." Donna said, understanding why the Doctor and Rose were reluctant to change history. But that didn't mean that could save some people, could they?
A disciple of the Sibylline Sisterhood spoke out loud, "A new prophecy. From the red-head." this woman had heard Donna talking to Evelina.
"Impossible! There is only one." another disciple exclaimed.
A rough, echoey voice spoke and all disciples in the temple, moved in front of the curtains surrounding a bed and a figure and knelt down. "What is going on?" the voice said, it was female yet not. Human but not.
"The noblewoman. She spoke of a new prophecy, the fall of Pompeii." the first disciple explained.
"Pompeii will last forever." The voice spoke. She was the High Priestess of the Sibylline Sisterhood.
"Then what must we do?" Another disciple asked, wanting orders to do something.
"The false prophet must die. Sacrifice her!" The High Priestess spoke, her voice ringing through the temple.
Part two done. Only Part three left.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it.
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