The young boy was nameless.
One whose identity was a question lost in eternity.
The lonely child was wandering about in a utopia of silver flowers. The landscape was covered in barren rust, with the overhead autumn sky like a sunset aflame. A majestic solitary citadel forged from iron was in the distance, protectively overlooking this otherworldly tranquility. An ancient place farther than the planet Earth, only radiated of a presence that outshone the universe. When this land burned, all of creation lamented its death.
A fallen alien utopia frozen in time, arisen once more to watch over eternity.
Gallifrey.
Those of this multiverse of Magic would give it the nickname of the Utopia of the Fallen Eternity.
The place where the Doctor was born.
The boy had grown older, becoming an elderly man. One who stole a lonely time-machine to wander about the rest of his home-universe. The elderly man fell, replaced by another identity. A traveler who continued to wear many faces throughout his long life, watching over the rest of space-time as a madman with a box.
A promise to be a healer.
This is who the Doctor is.
The girl was named Gray.
A young gravekeeper who was born to become a king.
The girl could have been a 'normal' human living in Britain despite her origin. Although this was never meant to be...not with the girl`s noble ancestry. The girl`s childhood home had a graveyard outside named Blackmore Cemetery, one which contained a ceremonial grave that symbolized her as the last distant descendant of a certain legend.
King Arthur Pendragon.
It was not long after her childhood when this ancestral secret was revealed. The spirit of Arthur lived on in Gray, who was then raised to become the would-be host of the resurrected king when she was older. A host whose previous identity shall become lost afterward. Although Gray was saved from this cursed future, the burden of this ancestry continued to haunt her on the inside. A cursed legacy the girl will have to carry until death.
The question then remained...would the girl ever be at peace when her past overshadowed everything she was?
"I dreamed of the Doctor once more..."
Gray awakened from her sleep.
The eccentrically-dressed alien stranger only named the Doctor, who was secretly a time-traveler with a box Summoned as a Ruler-Class Servant.
"The TARDIS...Time And Relative Dimensions In Space..."
Gray remembered when the Doctor first appeared out of nowhere with his box when she was once lost as a child, bringing the girl with him to outer space before taking her back home. Although Gray wanted to think all this was a childhood fantasy imagined out of loneliness, she strangely continued to dream about the Doctor throughout her life afterward. All of the Doctor`s past incarnations, witnessed as a beautiful eternal story in the girl`s sleep.
The one question haunting Gray was why this was happening in the first place. A Master along with their Servant are theoretically able to dream of the other`s pasts, only Gray knew her unique Magical Circuits as Arthur`s last descendant were far too abnormal to ever Summon one.
The sound of a bell in the distant Clock Tower of London reminded Gray that morning had come for her as an amateur magus of the Mage`s Association.
Gray hastily dressed herself. A young teenage magus clad in dark, wearing a black Mage`s Association jacket with a skirt, leggings, and boots. Her head was covered by a simple hooded grey cloak, obscuring her identity. A girl whose face she was told resembled King Arthur, only with ashen grey hair covered in golden streaks...a sign she was indeed growing to become like her ancestor when older.
Gray stood to reach for an unearthly cube-like metal container that was her Mystic Code named Add.
When activated, this Mystic Code would alter itself to become Gray`s signature weapon called the Grim Reaper (Scythe of the Death God)...only its true form was the last Noble Phantasm of King Arthur himself.
Rhongomyniad (The Spear That Shines to the Ends of the World).
The divine blade inherited through time after the fall of the Arthurian legend until it finally came to her.
Gray gave a sentimental sigh. The Mystic Code named Add was supposed to have awakened as a sentient artificial construct to become her companion, although this strangely never happened during childhood. This then caused Gray to become more lonely when she was growing older, learning to wield Rhongomyniad without anyone to watch over her. The reason why Add never awakened was a mystery, only Gray secretly thought the Doctor`s abnormal presence in her life had to do with it.
Although Gray could never bring herself to hate the Doctor because of this.
"A man who willingly wore many faces throughout his life..." Gray wondered what kind of man the Doctor was to be able to maintain his identity despite becoming another person throughout his past. After all...the young gravekeeper was cursed to wear the face of her ancestor since childhood, afraid of who she would become. What was it then that caused this man to continue onward as a walker in eternity?
The Moon was slowly disappearing overhead when Gray finally stepped outside her home, only the thought of the mysterious Doctor continued to haunt the girl on the inside...
The magus was once called Waver Velvet.
Otherwise known as Lord El-Melloi II, the youngest Lord of the Clock Tower of the Mage`s Association. The man who brought Gray to London as his personal student, saving her from a cursed future when she was a child.
"Teacher!"
El-Melloi gave a grouchy sigh when the young gravekeeper stepped into his personal study inside the Clock Tower. "Good grief, Gray...your hood."
"I...I`m sorry..." Gray blushed, distracted by her dream of the Doctor that she forgot to hid her face underneath the hood she wore. Although the girl was slowly learning to accept her face over time, the sentiment of the past continued to haunt those around her.
El-Melloi inspected his student closer, detecting the slightly distraught sound in her voice. "Another strange dream, I assume?"
"I..." Gray hesitated, having never told anyone about the Doctor from her dreams out of fear of what others would think.
"Gray...I know aside from your unique ancestry that you have been born as a Sibyl, a magus able to be mentally affected by the spirits of the past." El-Melloi`s voice became more gentle despite himself. "Whatever nonsense you dream about, it is only a fantasy in the end...the best you can do is move on from it."
The girl silently acknowledged she could not abandon the mystery of the Doctor, only this was not the time. "I understand."
"Good." El-Melloi reached onto his table. "Then where are those accursed jelly babies...?"
"Jelly babies?" Gray stared bewilderingly.
"I received an invitation earlier from the Wizard Marshall, Lord Zelretch. The Old Man of the Jewels told me he is about to visit our particular universe to investigate an abnormality called the Otherworldly Crisis. What we have to do is greet Zelretch later on, only he strangely wanted jelly babies too." El-Melloi was about to give up on his search before Gray handed him a bag of jelly babies that fell underneath the table. "Ah...then time to go."
El-Melloi moved out of his personal study, heading through the inner Clock Tower with Gray behind. A long moment passed before Gray discerned El-Melloi was aimlessly walking with no particular destination. "...Teacher?"
"Hush, Gray! Never meddle in the affairs of wizards unless the wizards come searching for you in the first place." El-Melloi admonished, continuing onward. "Observe."
Gray gasped. The inner Clock Tower she along with her teacher were moving through had become replaced by a void covered in darkness. The only object in sight was a simple wooden door standing in the distance of this shadowy landscape.
"The Wizard Marshall`s personal pocket-dimension, a place none could enter unless given an invitation first." El-Melloi carefully moved over to knock in the door before opening it. "Remember to bow."
Once the door opened, Gray sighted the spacious room within was empty aside from a simple throne at its heart.
On the throne was an elderly grey-haired man with blood-red eyes, dressed in a simple wizard`s tunic. One who radiated of an otherworldly presence despite his old age. A vampire-Magician with many names woven throughout history. The wielder of the Second True Magic, the 'Operation of Parallel Worlds' which gave him the supernatural ability to travel in space-time throughout this fantasy-multiverse.
This was the Wizard Marshall, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.
An ancient time-traveler who strangely reminded Gray of the 'Doctor' from her dream...
"Gray!" El-Melloi whispered grouchily.
Gray hesitated, bought out of her personal thoughts to give a bow like her teacher was doing.
"Rise, my dear mages." Zelretch`s voice was charismatically deep, hiding the ancient trickster underneath.
El-Melloi approached the throne, ceremoniously presenting the bag of jelly babies to the Wizard Marshall. "Lord Zelretch, the jelly babies you wanted are - "
"I do hope you brought me strawberry ones, otherwise the world is a sad place." Zelretch watched El-Melloi falter in surprise, enjoying the moment before standing to approach Gray.
The girl remained silent when Zelretch inspected her face with a roguish smile. "...Gray, was it? I remember observing another version of you in a distant universe. A gravekeeper of an 'Assassin', eh?
An Assassin?
Gray was bewildered at what the Wizard Marshall was going on about, understanding he meant no harm. "Lord Zelretch, I..."
The Wizard Marshall already forgotten her, addressing El-Melloi instead. "Mister Velvet...you are wondering the reason why I invited you here?"
"I rather be called 'Lord El-Melloi', please." The Lord of the Clock Tower grimaced at the mention of his old name. "You told me you are here to investigate an Otherworldly Crisis descending upon creation."
"I certainly am, Mister Velvet." Zelretch pretended not to hear him. "Magic itself is degrading throughout the multiverse at the moment, therefore I began to search for the cause of this. My Operation of Parallel Worlds has detected this particular universe is where the Otherworldly Crisis first manifested, although I am unable to identify anything abnormal happening here."
El-Melloi was mortified. Magic itself was slowly dying throughout the multiverse? "What could the Mages`s Association do about it?"
"All of you?" Zelretch thought about it. "Nothing, regrettably...aside from having me stay here to continue my investigation. My invitation was more for you to bring me my favorite jelly babies than anything else."
"...I...I understand?" The thought of becoming Lord Zelretch`s personal jelly baby deliverer was a mortal wound to El-Melloi`s inner dignity only he hid this to himself. "Then...could I ask a question? This Otherworldly Crisis...what is its origin?"
"I do not know." The voice in the Wizard Marshall`s voice became solemn. "The only sign of the Otherworldly Crisis aside from the degradation of Magic that I detected is a faint artificially-created prana of an unknown Heroic Spirit in the space-time of this multiverse."
El-Melloi stared in surprise. "You mean this Otherworldly Crisis was caused by a Servant!?"
"A Servant who should never be...an outside alien presence to this multiverse, since I know there is no entity on the Throne of Heroes who could have caused this." Zelretch added reluctantly. "The identity of this abnormal Servant is a mystery to me, since I have never traveled outside of this fantasy-multiverse."
"An unknown Servant-like entity from outside this multiverse?" All this had become a living nightmare from El-Melloi`s perspective. The Wizard Marshall was never one to interfere in the multiverse unless absolutely necessary because of the chaos his Operation of Parallel Worlds could bring. This Otherworldly Crisis must be an unthinkable calamity to bring Zelretch out of his immortal wandering as a Magician.
Zelretch became hesitant, remembering an old ally he once came upon as a young Magician in this particular universe. The man who first introduced him to jelly babies an eternity ago. "One hope remains at the moment. There is a man out there who I consider to be my rival, only of a Scientific origin who could hopefully aid me to resolve everything since he an alien 'outsider' too. A nameless traveler who walks in eternity like myself..."
El-Melloi was overwhelmingly curious at the thought of one who could rival the Wizard Marshall in legend. "Who is it?"
"Who, indeed..." Zelretch gave a faint smile. "A madman with a box, universally named the Doctor."
Gray gave a gasp of absolute bewilderment.
"The Doctor!?"
El-Melloi stared at his student. "Gray...?"
Zelretch became alert. "My dear, why do you know that name too?"
There was only regret blooming within Gray`s heart. Why did it have to be her to know about the Doctor? The girl never wanted to be the theoretical 'Master' of an alien time-traveling Servant, especially when the burden of carrying King Arthur`s legacy was already haunting her...only she then remembered that dream of a lonely young boy on his home-planet named Gallifrey.
The nameless boy once afraid of what his future would bring, like Gray herself was at the moment.
Gray hesitated shyly before finally giving her answer.
"I have been having these strange dreams about a man with a blue box..."
It was on the Moon that Zelretch came upon the Doctor for the first time.
A time that will happen in the Doctor`s distant future, only already happened in Zelretch`s past.
This is from the perspective of time-travelers, after all.
The young 'Moon Princess' named 'Arcueid Brunestud' had been born, the 'daughter' of the Type-Moon itself. Zelretch had been invited to attend her coming-of-age ceremony on an otherworldly lunar landscape covered in astral flowers. The ceremony was conducted in tranquility, everything ending almost peacefully until a mysterious blue box materialized out of nowhere.
It was the Doctor, having mistakenly landed the TARDIS late for the ceremony.
Zelretch thought about speaking to this nameless stranger after he stepped outside his mysteriously bigger-on-the-inside box, not understanding where the man came from. Although the Wizard Marshall stayed back to watch as this stranger with a box walked to greet the Arcueid alone, not thinking at all that he was crashing the ceremony.
The stranger introduced himself to be 'the Doctor' to the 'Moon Princess', giving her a simple flower from Earth before gently speaking about the way life deserved to be protected because of its fragile beauty.
Arcueid was bewildered at the presence of this 'Doctor', only promised to remember his philosophy when she grew older.
A philosophy that Zelretch himself admired, silently acknowleding the 'Doctor' was an ally of the World.
This was the beginning of an alliance of those who walk in eternity...
All had become silent when Gray concluded her story.
El-Melloi was ghostly pale, unable to speak.
Gray was able to dream about the life of an alien time-traveling Ruler-Class Servant?
A terrifying emotion began to bloom within young Lord of the Clock Tower. The emotion of a barely hidden fear. The fear of despite saving Gray from a cursed childhood, he would no longer be able to protect her from whatever was about to come. The girl was already living a sheltered life from carrying the legacy of her ancestry upon herself, what other burden could all this about an unidentified Servant bring upon her? "Gray should never be able to Summon a Servant, her Magical Circuits are far too abnormal to ever conduct a Summoning ritual!"
Zelretch was solemn, unsheathing his signature Mystic Code blade named the Jeweled Sword. "My dear Gray...could I?"
Gray watched as the Wizard Marshall approached, conducting an unknown Magecraft on her with his Jeweled Sword. A moment passed, then...
"Gray is not the Doctor`s Master..."
Zelretch observed a relieved sigh come from El-Melloi. "I am unable to detect anything about her that has to do with the Doctor. Although I admit the madman with his TARDIS remains an abnormal entity of Science that I myself do not understand, there can still be a secret on him which is the key to all this."
"I assume you couldn`t go searching for this 'Doctor' then with your Operation of Parallel Worlds?" El-Melloi asked bleakly.
"The Doctor is a wanderer like I am myself, it would be best for me to await him here whenever he lands his TARDIS back in this particular universe." Zelretch headed back to rest on his throne. "After all...the Doctor once told me home is a place hidden the long way around."
Zelretch then gave an assuring smile at Gray. "Gray...your dreams of the Doctor are nothing to be afraid of. Once I think about it, dreams are like time-travel too. All we could hope is the story would be a good one in the end. I promise...the Doctor is one who would never bring harm to you."
"I understand." Gray gave a bow along with El-Melloi before walking outside the pocket-dimension.
El-Melloi was silent, departing with his student back through the Clock Tower. What a hopeless man he was, with an unknown future ahead of Gray once more despite everything he did to protect her. The girl was not ready to walk upon the outside world with the burden she already carried within, what would the arrival of this mysterious 'Doctor' mean for her? Zelretch had assured the Doctor will never bring harm to Gray, only would the alien Servant himself fulfill this promise?
This was a question the magus formerly named Waver Velvet was unable to answer. "Gray...I..."
"I think everything is going to be okay, Teacher." Gray was strangely calm despite everything. A girl born as a gravekeeper surrounded by death, dreaming about a nameless 'healer' who protected all life.
Although Add never awakened, Gray`s dreams of the Doctor throughout her childhood had caused the girl to become less lonely on the inside once she thought about it.
The answer of why she dreamt of the Doctor despite not being his Summoner would have to remain a question.
All Gray could hope was when the Doctor materialized before her once more, this fateful mystery would be resolved.