AN: I know, I know, everyone hates the AN's that are at the start of the chapter. Hear me out, got some info to drop on you.
First off, if you haven't seen it already, I added trigger warnings to the last chapter. Apologies to anyone that was triggered by the story- that's a mistake on my part. There are less triggers this go around- I promise. If you do see one, please let me know.
Second off, yes I looked this shit up. The Doctor fought Morgana LeFay on two occasions: Battlefield, in his seventh face and Creations of Camelot in his Fifth (but I'm having trouble finding if that was canon or not). In Battlefield, she was called Morgaine, and she was apparently from another dimension where she was basically a warrior queen who fought 'Merlin'- that universe's version of the Doctor. So...for the sake of this story, that shit didn't happen...exactly as it did in canon.
Third off, yes I did research on quantum magic and YES BTC (you'll get it when you read it) is a real thing- you can look it up.
Fourth off, I'm done with this bullshit.
==ROTF==
In a land of myth, and a time of legend, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of one girl. Her name...Terra.
Okay not really.
Had you for a minute, huh?
But it was close.
Really the name was... Morgana LeFay.
Nah that's another lie- let's move on.
Her real name was Morgan Lafayette. One faded parchment changed history. Fucking historians with their bullshit. They- bitterly is plain this- got a few facts right. I was in the King's family, only- I was a ward. I had a child with Arthur (lesser minds called him a 'puppy' also that I was 'foolish for calling a canine my son', but he was a senile old man) we called Mordred.
Oh, I knew magic too. Quite good at it, might I add.
Merlin was a finicky bastard when it came to giving me lessons. For the first few weeks I nagged him about giving me lessons. He came round. After all, how scary was it if I did magic by myself? It took a couple lessons for him to understand I had a knack for magic, that I took to it like a duck to water.
Arthur and Guinevere liked that too. Their precious ward, skilled in sword and magic. There was little wrong I could do in their eyes.
Except when I left.
That was a crime for which I would never be forgiven.
My punishment came fast. It showed when I arrived back Home- jumping over to the history that was King Arthur & Merlin, two awesome legends who united all of England a thousand years ago.
Now with new added villain!
Morgana LeFay!
And her incestous son, Mordred.
Found in any Arthur's Legend near you!
Like...come on...really? My son didn't deserve that disrespect.
Rude historian bastards.
These were the thoughts crossing my mind while hurtling through space to the time of William Shakeaspeare, who at the time of our arrival was fighting against witches.
Witches like the Carrionites gave magic users like me a bad name. This personally insulted me- even back when I first watched the episode.
The TARDIS veered to the side again. I clutched to the console, trying not to fly about. It had been hard- I'd just gone off on a tangent about the past, anyone would be floored.
"But how do you travel in time? What makes it go?" Martha asked us.
"Oh, let's take the fun and mystery out of everything!" The Doctor remarked. "Martha, you don't want to know. It just does. Hold on tight." He reached up with his foot. "Don't mind me, Terra, I'll do it myself!"
"Alright then!" I replied,
The Doctor rolled his eyes, as he kicked the part he'd been reaching for.
The TARDIS came to a stop. Martha fell on her ass. I had the decency to land against the console.
"Ah, the first flight. You never forget it." I remarked. Standing to my feet, I brushed out the creases in my hoodie.
"Blimey." Martha groaned, pushing herself back to her feet. "Do you have to pass a test to fly this thing?"
The Doctor clearly gave no thought before replying. "Yes, and I failed it."
"I KNEW IT!" I called out.
He winced, whirling around to me. "Shut up!" The Doctor argued.
"I knew it!"
"I said shut up!"
"And I said I. Knew. It!" Bolstered by the revelation-as if I'd just learned it- I did a merry dance about the console floor. "You failed it! You failed it! There's a driver's test and you failed it!"
The Doctor waved me off, turning to Martha who was laughing at him too.
"What, is there some joke I'm missing?" Martha asked.
The Doctor shook his head. "Can't explain. We gotta make the most of it!" He grabbed his coat, rushing for the door. "We promised you one trip, and one trip only. Outside this door, brave new world."
I was still laughing as I walked to his side. "You failed it."
"Where are we?" Martha asked. She grabbed her jacket, holding it in her arms. Her eyes were full of delight.
The Doctor beamed at her, trying to shake off the roasting. "Take a look. After you."
Martha walked out the door, excited.
The Doctor gave me a look. "Drop it."
"What, you like dropped studying for the test?" The Doctor groaned. "I'll admit- that was weak. Give me time, I'll do better...that's exactly what you told your driving-"
"And we're going." The Doctor rushed me out the door. Now, we stood in the time of Shakespeare.
"Oh, you are kidding me. You are so kidding me." Martha gawked at the street, people bustling about in Middle Age wear. Basically, just existing in the time frame. "Oh, my God, we did it. We travelled in time. Where are we? No, sorry. I got to get used to this whole new language. When are we?"
"Mind out." The Doctor noted. He pulled Martha back. I stood to the side of it, avoiding the splash zone.
Above, a man emptied out his toilet. "Gardez l'eau!" He shouted as a warning.
"Somewhere before the invention of the toilet. Sorry about that." The Doctor apologized.
"I've seen worse. I've worked the late night shift A+E." Martha explained with a laugh. Martha turned serious suddenly, as we began our walk down the street. "But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?"
"Of course we can. Why do you ask?" The Doctor inquired.
"It's like in the films. You step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race." Martha pointed out.
He gave her an odd look. "Tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies. What have butterflies ever done to you?" He asked, offended on behalf of butterflies.
"What if I kill my grandfather?" Martha tried again.
"Ya got plans to kill your grandpa?" I asked.
"No." Martha admitted.
"Terrific." I patted her shoulder. "You just might live."
Martha smiled in excitement. "And this is London?"
"I think so. Round about 1599." The Doctor guessed.
"It's good. Tuesday. Did you know it was a Tuesday?" I asked him, walking ahead to catch up with him. The Doctor made a disgusted face.
"Never liked Tuesdays." He dismissed.
"Oh, but hold on. Am I alright?" Martha asked. We turned to her. "I'm not going to get carted off as a slave, am I?"
"Why would they do that?" The Doctor asked, because I- as an American- should not answer questions about slavery.
"Not exactly white, in case you haven't noticed." She pointed to her own face.
"We're not even human." The Doctor countered. "Just walk about like you own the place. Works for us. Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time." The Doctor motioned to men shoveling horse manure into a bucket. "Look over there. They've got recycling."
Martha beamed at all the culture, happening before her.
Two men, drinking from two cups while talking over a barrel.
"Water cooler moment."
"And the world will be consumed by flame!" A man shouted out to the street walkers.
"Global warming." That got a laugh of disbelief from Martha. "Oh, yes, and entertainment." The Doctor got a look of shock for a moment, dragging us towards the harbor. "Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark, right next to-"
We made it to the harbor street, exposing off in the distance: a theatre.
"Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened." The Doctor cheered. "Though, strictly speaking, it's not a globe, it's a tetradecagon. Fourteen sides. Containing the man himself."
"Always trying to kill the fun, aren't ya?" I teased. "Can't it just stay the Globe? What's so wrong with it being a tetradecagon?"
"Well, it's just a bit of false advertising, is all." The Doctor pointed out.
"I don't like you." Holding up my arm, I grinned at Martha. "Miss Jones, will you accompany me to Theatre?"
Martha was still looking out to the Globe. "Whoa, you don't mean- Is Shakespeare in there?" She looked at my arm. I nodded. "Miss Brown, I will!" She took my arm.
"Good. Let's leave behind the naysayers." With that, I began walking up the road.
"Now now, I wasn't complaining!" The Doctor argued as he rushed to catch up with us.
"There's room for one pessimist on this trip. We both know who has dibs on it." I pointed out to him.
He let out a barking laugh, throwing his head back to make his laugh sound higher. "When you get home, you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare." The Doctor mused.
"Then I could get sectioned." Martha countered.
"Sign me up!" I decreed with a laugh. That got the other two going.
==ROTF==
The play ended. The actors were bowing. The crowd was going wild to show their respect.
"Terra. Come on. You know they weren't played by actual lions." The Doctor told me.
"You had betrayed me. I don't speak to traitors." I replied, giving a polite golf clap to the actors.
"That was the wrong play entirely."
"Then you should've brought us to Hamlet, so it could be the right one. Oh! So you could've gotten the playwright!" I realized. The Doctor barked out another laugh.
Martha had done it. She'd successfully done it. She had figured out how to tune us out. "That's amazing! Just amazing. It's worth putting up with the smell." She leaned towards us. "And those are men dressed as women, yeah?"
"London never changes." The Doctor mused.
I cheered for that point alone.
"Where's Shakespeare? I want to see Shakespeare. Author! Author!" She shouted over the crowd. A few people gave her a mindful eye. "Do people shout that? Do they shout Author?" She asked us.
'Nah- that's just me if I'm having a bad day.'
"Author! Author!" A man near us shouted.
'You fools.'
"Well, they do now." The Doctor commented. He went on to chanting with the crowd.
After some more chanting, William Shakeaspeare walked out. He swaggered out, waving at the crowd. The crowd waving back.
"He's a bit different from his portraits." Martha mused.
"Genius. He's a genius. The genius." The Doctor praised him. It was making me smile fondly for how this scene went. "The most human human there's ever been. Now we're going to hear him speak. Always he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words."
"Ah, shut your big fat mouths!" Shakespeare shouted at the crowd. They let out loud final laughs, settling down for him.
The Doctor pouted, his dreams were crushed before him. "Oh, well."
"You should never meet your heroes." Martha recalled, trying her best to be sympathetic.
"I met mine. She was perfect, just the kind of person I looked up to. Nothing evil, nothing wrong, just her expected bright cheery lovely self." I sighed, happily. Memories of Penelope Garcia were always good. "I should meet up with her again."
"You've got excellent taste, I'll give you that." Shakeaspeare spoke to someone in the crowd. "Oh, that's a wig." They laughed.
I let out a cheer.
"I know what you're all saying. Loves Labour's Lost, that's a funny ending, isn't it?" Shakespeare asked. The crowd belted out their agreement. "It just stops. Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius."
I glanced to the booth above our heads. Just the idea that the witch was above my head, enraged me. Even just her being their with a voodoo doll- ugh- it's horrible.
Shakespeare shot up right. He stared at the enthralled audience. "When? Tomorrow night." He decreed, much to the confusion of the actors behind him. To Shakespeare himself by the look of it. "The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it Loves Labour's Won."
The Globe cheered.
The Doctor and I watched with apprehension.
As the crowd filtered out, the three of us conversed. It's actually incredibly easy to speak loud enough to be heard over the crowd while also keeping the talk to yourself.
"I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of Loves Labour's Won." Martha noted.
"Exactly. The lost play. It doesn't exist, only in rumours." The Doctor agreed. "It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. And no one knows why."
"Why do I get the terrible feeling we're gonna find out?" I asked, not feeling awful about it at all. This was actually going to be fun.
"Have you got a mini-disc or something?" Martha asked. "We can tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint."
He gave her a scolding look. "No." The Doctor shook his head at that.
"That would be bad." Martha reasoned, losing her joyful expression.
"Generally." I agreed.
"Well, is Terra right? Are we going to find out why it disappeared in the first place?" Martha asked.
The Doctor made a thoughtful expression, looking. "Well, I was just going to give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS, but I suppose we could stay a bit longer."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" I threw my arms around them both, dragging them through the crowd. The Doctor and Martha managed to keep up.
==ROTF==
Though I had been a spectacular magic user- in my own humble opinion- it had been some time since I performed any magic. Everyone had their own 'witch' phase, ya know? So it made sense that I couldn't sense the presence of Lilith, or her two witch comrades, as we approached the tavern.
Didn't stop me from being disappointed by it though.
The Elephant smelled exactly like you expected this area to smell: bad. The people around it were somewhat post-plague, yet they hadn't yet learned proper hygiene. Makes sense, considering the first man to consider 'hey- maybe everyone is dying of infection during surgeries is because we doctors don't wash our hands!' was told 'hey how about we throw you in the looney bin?'
Humans were slow learners, but they got there.
The Doctor had found Shakespeare's room first. I was walking with Martha, mourning/amused at the fact that the most feared witch in history was having trouble 'getting it up' magic wise.
Not that I liked being the most feared witch in history- the opposite. It's an awful badge. Who the fuck would be proud about that?
Besides my sister.
Obviously.
But other than that, who'd be proud?
Martha- beside me- was beside herself in excitement. Yeah she'd seen him onstage, but now face-to-face? She was downright giddy. Aw, to have her all fresh-faced and full of hope. Shame it's all going out the window with the shit-bucket.
So we walked into the room, hearing Shakespeare brushing off the Doctor like he was a giddy fanboy. Not that David Tennant wasn't a giddy fanboy...
"-and please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove-" The playwright stopped in his speech, gawking our way. Well Martha's way. And if I happened to be behind Martha then it was probably just a coincidence.
"Hey, nonny nonny. Sit right down here next to me." He pointed at the two seats across from his desk. He waved off his two actors in front of him. "You two get sewing on them costumes. Off you go." Shakespeare never once looked away from Martha.
The head of the tavern patted the actors on the shoulders. "Come on, lads. I think our William's found his new muse."
The actors let out laughs as they followed Dolly out of the room. I glanced towards Lilith on the side, looking completely innocent as a barmaid. She was cleaning the same post- doing so for ages.
"Sweet ladies." Shakespeare complimented.
I took the second chair, Martha beside me. Then it clicked in my head what he said.
"Such unusual clothes. So fitted." Shakespeare gave Martha a clear once over, before sliding over to look at me.
I bowed my head politely- well used to keeping up an appearance despite the shock on the inside. "Thank ya, kindly, Shakeaspeare."
"William, for yours truly." He corrected me, with a smile that can only be described with the terms 'swash' and 'buckling'. Shakespeare turned that smile towards Martha.
Martha easily floundered under the smile. "Er, verily, forsooth, egads." She greeted.
I shook my head, putting my hand over my face to hide the second hand embarrassment.
The Doctor walked up behind me, shaking his head at Martha. "No, no, don't do that. Don't." He pulled out the psychic paper. He held it up for Shakespeare to see over my shoulder. "I'm Sir Doctor of TARDIS and these are my companions, Lady Terra of TARDIS and Miss Martha Jones."
Shakespeare stared at that paper. With a confused yet smug grin, he told the Doctor "Interesting, that bit of paper. It's blank."
Martha leaned in her chair to read it. The Doctor was beaming once again. "Oh, that's very clever. That proves it. Absolute genius."
"No, it says so right there." Martha pointed to the sheet of paper. "Sir Doctor, Lady Terra, Martha Jones. It says so."
"And I say it's blank." Shakespeare countered, with added flirty grin. "You, Lady Terra?"
"It's-" So I looked at the paper.
Here's the thing.
I have read the psychic paper before.
I've been able to read it for ages-since way back when the Doctor first used it with Rose. I've used it a time or two.
But now.
That paper was blank.
What.
The.
Fuck.
Author.
"It's blank." I pointed at the paper. "Doc Brown it's blank."
The Doctor gave me an odd look. He looked to the paper, then to me. Great. Another talk we'll be having in the future.
"Psychic paper. Er, long story." The Doctor waved off the still curious Martha. "Oh, I hate starting from scratch."
"Psychic? Never heard that before and words are my trade." Shakespeare noted. "Who are you exactly? More's the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady?"
Martha gawked, jaw dropping while turned at the corners. "What did you say?"
"Oops. Isn't that a word we use nowadays?" Shakespeare asked, concerned but sticking it with his whole flirting thing. "An Ethiop girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric?"
Martha was laughing now. "I can't believe I'm hearing this."
"It's political correctness gone mad." The Doctor mumbled. "Er, Martha's from a far-off land. Freedonia."
That was when Shakespeare grinned at me. "And you. What a beautiful creature sitting before me. Where might you be from? Also of Freedonia?"
I let out a laugh, shaking my head. "This is not happening. This isn't happening." Of course, I was still talking about the psychic paper. Not being flirted at by William Shakespeare.
The door to the room swung open. I turned towards it, catching sight of Lilith staring at the door in confusion. A man walked in- looking like a bad lookalike to King Henry the VIII.
But it was just Lynley.
"Excuse me!" He demanded, storming up to the desk. "Hold hard a moment. This is abominable behaviour. A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mister Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed."
Shakespeare rolled his eyes tiredly at what Lynley was saying. Man, I almost felt bad he would drown in less than an hour. Less than ten minutes? "Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it round."
"I don't work to your schedule, you work to mine. The script, now!" Lynley demanded.
"I can't." Shakespeare stated, firmly. He was glaring sharply at the fat man, frustrated.
"Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled." Lynley stated, grinning as a shark.
"It's all go around here, isn't it?" Martha blew out a breath.
"I'm returning to my office for a banning order." Lynley shook his head, marching out the door. He stopped to give the world's most famous playwright a glare. "If it's the last thing I do, Love's Labour's Won will never be played."
None of the others in the room saw Lilith sneaking out after him.
==ROTF==
When she left, I knew there wasn't time. Not enough to stop poor Lynley from drowning on land. My mind had tried fishing up old spells- anything that could work. Yet I knew that even if I had that perfectly spell, I was too out of practice to really make it work.
Oh- but if it could work.
"Well then, mystery solved." Martha mused, drinking from a mug. I stared into mine, spells and limericks flying through my head. "That's Love's Labour's Won over and done with. Thought it might be something more, you know, more mysterious."
The universe itself wouldn't stand for a companion disappointed, so screaming came from the street below.
The Doctor and I shot up first, rushing out from the door. I knew it would already be too late- that Lilith had already spelled Lynley to drown- we ran past her with her hands in a bucket on the way down the stairs.
We all four made it to the street. Lynley was spewing out water. Like a faucet, he was spewing out water into the street.
"It's that Lynley bloke." Martha noted.
"What's wrong with him?" The Doctor rushed up to him. "Leave it to me. I'm a doctor."
Martha joined him. "So am I, near enough." The two tried to find the issue, to balance him back.
I glanced over my shoulder back the way we came. Lilith approached from the stairs, watching Lynley with no remorse. Oh, what I wouldn't give to curse Lilith right now.
There was a heavy thud. Lynley fell to the ground, his mouth dripping out water.
"Got to get the heart going. Mister Lynley, come on." Martha began chest compressions on the man. The Doctor looked up the street, running over to check for any signs of water. "Can you hear me? You're going to be alright."
Water spluttered out from his mouth. The Doctor came back, not seeing a water source.
"What the hell is that?" Martha gawked. She looked up, at first to the Doctor then looked back at me.
"I've never seen a death like it." The Doctor knelt down by the now dead Lynley's side. "His lungs are full of water. He drowned and then, I don't know, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow."
Martha looked down at the body, once again in confusion at his now soaked front. I looked down at it, at a loss. He couldn't have been saved but...
The Doctor stood up, walking up to a stunned Dolly. "Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away."
"Yes, sir." She replied.
Lilith walked up to her. "I'll do it, ma'am." She walked away, hiding her vindictive smile.
Martha walked up to the Doctor's side. I knelt down, closing Lynley's eyes. "And why are you telling them that?"
"This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages." The Doctor warned. "If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft."
"Okay, what was it then?" Martha asked, expecting aliens or the like.
"Witchcraft." I mumbled. Martha turned to me, confused at the admittance. The Doctor looked at me in silent agreement.
==ROTF==
Back upstairs, Shakespeare stumbled towards his desk. Some people were still shaken up when they see someone die.
I leaned against a bannister, slipping my hands in my hoodie pockets.
"I got you a room, Sir Doctor." Dolly mentioned with a thankful smile at the threshold. "You, Miss Terra, and Miss Jones are just across the landing."
The Doctor accepted with a nod. Dolly walked back to her business.
"Poor Lynley. So many strange events." Shakespeare mused. He gave Martha a thoughtful look. "Not least of all, this land of Freedonia where a woman can be a doctor?"
"Where a woman can do what she likes." Martha defended, with a tone that implied she'd defended herself like that before.
"And you, Sir Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?" Shakespeare inquired.
"I do a lot of reading." The Doctor replied carefully.
"A trite reply. Yeah, that's what I'd do. And you?" He turned to me. "You who stares at a man died of humors with a guilty soul?" Of course Shakespeare had seen that- what a pity. "More that, you have that same agelessness of the Doctor."
"Fell in love with melancholy- comes with perpetual guilt." I told him. Shakespeare gave me a grin. "No, Shakespeare, you can't use that."
"You could call me William." He reminded.
"Or I could not." I countered.
He smiled again, only more fondly. Great. Just great.
"And you? You look at them like you're surprised they exist." Shakespeare noted to Martha. "They're as much of a puzzle to you as they are to me."
Her expression flushed. "I think we should say goodnight." She left the room.
"I must work. I have a play to complete." He remembered, probably more for an excuse to end the conversation. "But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, Lady Terra, and I'll discover more about the both of you and why these constant performances of yours."
"All the world's a stage." The Doctor noted, walking towards the door. A nod to me had me following.
"Hmm. I might use that." Shakespeare mused. "Goodnight, Doctor."
"Nighty night, Shakespeare." The Doctor replied, walking out the door.
"Good night, my Lady." Shakespeare gave me a sincere smile.
I gave him a short curt nod. "Sleep well, Shakespeare."
His gentle laugh followed me out, echoing into the hallway.
==ROTF==
Dolly showed us to our room. It was small, yes, but it would function for the purpose we had for it.
"It's not exactly five star, is it?" Martha mused, holding up a candle.
"Oh, it'll do. I've seen worse." The Doctor admitted as he closed the door behind him.
"Yeah. I once slept in a box for a month." I recalled with cheer.
The Doctor laughed. "Nah- you didn't."
"Yeah I did." I settled myself down on the bench, laying across it while using the Bag for a pillow. "It was a good box. Had a tarp for rain." Came more fond recollections. Yeah, the box had been small but to be fair I was small at the time so it all worked out. Lucky, Jumba Jookiba had adopted me so I hadn't lived in the box forever.
"You actually lived in a box?" The Doctor asked. He looked like he couldn't decide to grin at the notion or to be disturbed.
"How is that any different than now?" I told him. That got him to decide: smile at the craziness I was giving him.
"Well you've got a tarp. I haven't even got a toothbrush." Martha pointed out to us.
"Oh. Er." The Doctor pulled out a clear toothbrush, capped for sanitation. He held it out towards her. Martha took it. "Contains Venusian spearmint."
"So, who's going where? I mean, there's only one bed." Martha noted, with a grin.
'-and there was ONLY ONE BED-'
"We'll manage. Come on." The Doctor hopped on the bed.
"Terra?" Martha prompted.
"Got a bench- I'm good." I noted.
Martha "So, magic and stuff. That's a surprise. It's all a little bit Harry Potter."
The Doctor "Wait till you read book seven. Oh, I cried."
I chuckled. "Cry? Always made me laugh." The Doctor looked at me as if he'd never seen me before. "What?"
"How could you laugh?" The Doctor asked, shaking his head.
"Did you miss the entire first half of the book? It was hilarious!" I defended.
"But is it real, though?" Martha insisted, still so confused over it. "I mean, witches, black magic and all that, it's real?"
"Course it isn't!" The Doctor dismissed. Not gonna lie, hurt my feelings.
"Well, how am I supposed to know?" Martha asked. "I've only just started believing in time travel. Give me a break."
"Looks like witchcraft, but it isn't. Can't be." The Doctor pondered. "Are you going to stand there all night?"
Martha put down the candle and toothbrush. She walked over to the bed.
"Budge up a bit, then." The Doctor scooted over, making room. Martha lied down beside him. "Sorry, there's not much room. Us two here, same bed. Tongues will wag." Martha joked, to a silent audience.
"There's such a thing as psychic energy, but a human couldn't channel it like that." The Doctor turned on his side, looking my way. "Not without a generator the size of Taunton and I think we'd have spotted that."
"Could it be- I don't know- actually magic?" I ventured. "Like...what was that old saying...any advanced form of science-"
"Clarke's Law. It's 'any advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic'." The Doctor corrected. "And- yes- it's possible that the opposite is true, but usually it's in other realities- dimensions." The Doctor got a faraway look on his face at the 'd' word.
'Gotta think gotta think gotta think-' "Well we know they're moving energy...any kind of science like that? I read about quantum physics the other day-light reading-"
"Quantum physics, light reading?" The Doctor repeated back.
"Yeah, duh. But it sounds like what happened. I mean, cause teleporting the water into his lungs is just silly plus it doesn't explain the blow to the heart. This looked like witchcraft- subtle, hidden. A bending of reality." I explained.
The Doctor hummed. "That's a good point." He gave me a proud grin. "You're getting better at this."
"Cause I'm the best at everything." I boasted.
His smile fell though, before long. He turned over in the bed again.
"No, there's something I'm missing, Terra. Something really close, staring me right in the face and I can't see it." He mumbled, unknowingly looking Martha in the eye. I kept watch over them from the corner of my own eyes, not at all interested in this one-sided thing they had going on. "Rose'd know. A friend of our's, Rose. Right now, she'd say exactly the right thing. Still, can't be helped. You're a novice, never mind. We'll take you back home tomorrow."
"Great." Martha replied with a huff. She turned dramatically in the bed, blowing out the candle thus sending us to darkness.
==ROTF==
Martha was asleep, not long after. It'd been a trying day for her- straight from near suffocation to family party then to here. Anyone would be tired after that.
Not the Doctor and myself.
We'd gotten sleep yesterday. More than that, I passed out earlier. Got all the rest I needed, getting my blood levels back to normal.
'Terra?' Spoke the Doctor in my mind.
'Doc Brown.' I replied.
'You...you know I care, yes?' He asked.
Oh Author- this is gonna be awkward, isn't it? I thought to myself. 'Yes, Doctor, I know you care. I care too-'
'Not like that- not like I don't mean it.' The Doctor cut me off. 'Not just because you're the last one. I mean it. I care about you. Really.'
But because of my family pride, I replied 'That's gonna be real awkward whenever my new personality shows up.'
The Doctor- to his credit- didn't laugh. 'Who we are changes, but not so much. Just the outside and few inside bits. Who we really are stays the same. That's the bit of you I care about. The bits that are all Terra.'
Fucking Emotions. Blowing out a breath, I braced myself. 'I care about that bit from you too, Doc Brown.'
There came after a long sullen awkward silence. Neither of us were tired, so napping was useless. Neither of us could think of another thing to say that would make it less awkward. Really, just let Lilith do her shit already. It would spare us the boredom.
'You've been different since you fell in.' The Doctor spoke up. Hesitance to his words, trying to show he meant no harm in his curiosity.
A sudden cold swept over me- reminding me of the terribleness that was the Void's cold/warm/absence of feeling at all. Just what I needed as I was lying on a bench in a dark tavern room.
'What did you see?' He asked- again, ever so careful for my reaction. His words like tiptoeing on broken glass.
Now, not just the feelings but the noises. The long howls of things long dead- better yet to have never existed then to be heard by mortal ears. What does one say when confronted by this? What is even possible to compare the horrors to, that even a Time Lord would understand?
'It was dark- no. Not dark. Just empty.' I replied. 'It seemed endless but...closed in. Like I couldn't move. But there was just so much of the empty. There were voices but they weren't human-'
They screeched in my memory. The same way a cat screeched when demanding attention, while dragging their nails on a chalkboard.
'I don't want to think about it.' I told the Doctor, trying to keep the memories at bay. My body had curled up as much as it could on the bench, searching for any sort of stability. 'I can't. It's too- there's so much-'
'It's alright. I'm sorry I brought it up.' The Doctor apologized. 'I was just- you're my friend, so I worry.'
'I'm going to rest.' As best I could, I turned over on the bench to face the window. If anything the streetlights gave a dim glow to the spot, like an odd nightlight. 'Goodnight.'
'Goodnight, Terra.'
Not long after, Dolly screamed just before dying of fright. The three of us arrived just in time to see Lilith flying away on a witch's broom.
For the record- I've never flown a broom in my life.
==ROTF==
Dawn- the sun finally came up from the horizon. It brightened the world, yet did nothing to put aside in our minds the two dead.
"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey." Shakespeare mourned. For Dolly had died in his room, just before his desk. He had been under the control of Lilith, so there was nothing for him to do. "She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place when we all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit."
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." The Doctor recited.
"Do not go gentle into that goodnight." I finished.
Shakespeare nodded, thoughtful. "I might use that."
"You can't. It's someone else's." The Doctor scolded. Shakespeare took it in stride.
"But the thing is, Lynley drowned on dry land, Dolly died of fright, and they were both connected to you." Martha pointed out to Shakespeare.
"You're accusing me?" The playwright sat up, near offense.
"No, but I saw a witch, big as you like, flying, cackling away, and you've written about witches." Martha admitted, not actually clearing anything up.
"I have? When was that?" Shakespeare tried to recall when witches had come up in his life.
"Not, not quite yet." The Doctor whispered to Martha.
"Peter Streete spoke of witches." Shakespear recalled.
"I've heard that name before." I admitted. "He...was the builder to the Globe, yeah?"
"Yes he was." Shakespeare agreed with a proud smile my way. "He sketched the plans to the Globe."
"The architect." The Doctor spoke. Shakespeare nodded his head. "Hold on. The architect!" He shot up in his seat, ranting in excitement. "The architect! The Globe! Come on!"
I shot out my seat, chasing after him.
==ROTF==
The Doctor rushed us back to the Globe. He stood in the audience, while Martha and Shakespeare stood on stage. I was using my phone to take pictures- sneaking them past Shakespeare, of course.
Martha leaned over to me. "Isn't that- I don't know- not safe?"
"If I published them, yes." Tucking my phone away, I smiled at her. "But those were for a friend." 'I'll lie and tell her where the lions come out- it'll be the best. She'll believe too. Of that I am sure.'
This only made her more confused.
"The columns there, right?" The Doctor spoke up, spinning around in the audience below. "Fourteen sides. I've always wondered, but I never asked. Tell me, Will. Why fourteen sides?"
Shakespeare shrugged. "It was the shape Peter Streete thought best, that's all. Said it carried the sound well."
"Fourteen. Why does that ring a bell? Fourteen." The Doctor pondered, pacing about the floor.
"There's fourteen lines in a sonnet." Martha guessed.
"So there is. Good point." The Doctor praised, thinking still. "Words and shapes following the same design. Fourteen lines, fourteen sides, fourteen facets. Oh, my head. Tetradecagon. Think, think, think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!"
"This is just a theatre." Shakespeare tried to dismiss the Doctor's half-mad ranting.
In it's own way, it did stop him. The Doctor walked over towards the stage. He leaned his chin so it rested on the downstage. "Oh yeah, but a theatre's magic, isn't it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis at the right time. Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy. Change them." His expression turned thoughtful. "You can change people's minds just with words in this place. But if you exaggerate that."
"It's like your police box. Small wooden box with all that power inside." Martha pointed out.
The Doctor beamed. "Oh. Oh, Martha Jones, I like you. Terra, any ideas?"
"Just trying to think out the number fourteen in relation to space. If it is aliens, maybe fourteen is part of their culture?" I supplied, idly tapping my foot on the stage.
He grinned. "Good thinking. Clever as always- tell you what, though. Peter Streete would know. Can I talk to him?" The Doctor asked.
"You won't get an answer. A month after finishing this place, lost his mind." Shakespeare admitted.
"Why? What happened?" Martha asked.
"Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled." Shakespeare explained.
"Where is he now?" The Doctor asked.
"Bedlam." Shakespeare answered.
"What's Bedlam?"
"Mental hospital- actual title Bethlem Hospital." I recited. Martha and the Doctor turned to me. "Carl."
The Doctor nodded in understanding. Martha was only more confused.
"We're going to go there. Right now." The Doctor ordered. He made for the exit. "Come on."
I leapt off the stage, walking after him.
"Wait! I'm coming with you. I want to witness this at first hand." Shakespeare demanded, climbing down the stairs of the stage.
"Then get moving! We won't wait for ya!" I called back over my shoulder.
As we walked out, two of Shakespeare's actors walked in. They took the finished script, then Shakespeare ran to catch up with us. We were already walking along the backways of the London street, following a map that the Doctor seemed to have in his head.
"So, tell me of Freedonia, where women can be doctors, writers, actors." Shakespeare asked Martha.
"This country's ruled by a woman." She pointed out to him.
"Ah, she's royal. That's God's business." Shakespeare countered. He gave Martha a once over again. "Though you are a royal beauty."
"Whoa, Nelly. I know for a fact you've got a wife in the country." Martha lightly scolded him, still totally flirting.
"Her name is Anne." I added in, cheery.
Shakespeare smiled at us both. "But Martha, my Lady-" He gave me a wink. "-this is Town."
The Doctor stopped in his running to come scold us. "Come on. We can all have a good flirt later."
"Is that a promise, Doctor?" Shakespeare asked, giving the Doctor a once over.
Like a strike to the hearts, I remembered Jack Harkness. For once he'd killed the mood.
"Oh, fifty seven academics just punched the air." The Doctor grumbled. "Now move!"
I ran after the Doctor, trying to push Jack out of my mind.
Push out his three hundred years of suffering.
Push out thinking that one stupid phone call from me hadn't been nearly enough.
Push out the thought that he would only suffer more in the days coming.
What good would my apologies be then?
==ROTF==
The screamings came up long before the hospital itself came into view. My hands gripped onto the Doctor's arm, suddenly reminded cruelly of the Void. Of the screeches that weren't human- that these humans in all of their combined might were actually doing a fair job of duplicating.
'It's alright.' The Doctor assured me, looking at the place with a detached coldness. Daring it to lay a harmful finger our way- my way. 'We'll be out soon.'
A keeper of the patients guided us towards Peter Streete's room. Other patients gripped their bars, reaching out for us. The suffering in their eyes echoed back from somewhere deep inside my chest. It made the hallway feel so much smaller, so constricting.
'Not soon enough.' My grip tightened as a patient slammed their fists on the bars.
"Does my Lord Doctor wish some entertainment while he waits?" The keeper offered, offhandedly. Like torturing his fellow humans was the same as offering a cuppa. "I'd whip these madmen. They'll put on a good show for you. Mad dog in Bedlam."
"No, I don't!" The Doctor replied sharply.
He had no care to the reply. He merely kept on with his business. "Well, wait here, my lords, while I make him decent for the ladies." The keeper went on down the hall. He slammed a stick on the cells of patients who were rowdy.
"So this is what you call a hospital, yeah? Where the patients are whipped to entertain the gentry?" Martha asked Shakespeare, up in arms. "And you put your friend in here?"
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
"Oh, it's all so different in Freedonia." Shakespeare snarked.
Another deep breath, let out more slowly.
"But you're clever. Do you honestly think this place is any good?" Martha questioned.
"I've been mad. I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again."
The voices came back- they came back again-
They're talking about me.
"It serves its purpose."
Talking to me.
"Mad in what way?" Martha asked, up in a strop.
"You lost your son." The Doctor revealed. He moved his free hand over my grip on his arm.
Martha was immediately chastised.
They're calling you.
They're reaching for you-
"My only boy. The Black Death took him." Shakespeare revealed. "I wasn't even there."
You're new to them.
"I didn't know. I'm sorry." Martha apologized, embarrassed at herself.
They missed you
"It made me question everything. The futility of this fleeting existence. To be or not to be." He stopped himself. "Oh, that's quite good."
"You should write that down." The Doctor noted.
"Maybe not. A bit pretentious?"
Welcome home.
'NO!'
I jerked, pulling myself out of the nightmare. Before a yelp could spill out from my mouth I clamped my had over my jaw.
"Terra?" The Doctor asked, on full pre-Coming Storm mode. "Terra are you alright?"
My hand was shaking, but kept a firm grip. How I hadn't started crying I'd never know. To answer him, I gulped down my fearful cries so I could nod my head.
The Doctor looked me in the eyes, trying to find that honesty. "Are you sure?"
I nodded again.
"Doctor. What's wrong with her?" Martha asked.
I couldn't get myself to look their way- to Martha or to Shakespeare.
"This way, my lord!" The keeper called out, cutting off any answer the Doctor could give.
==ROTF==
I ran my hand over my face, trying to get myself set back to rights. There was a job to do. Criers will be slapped on slight.
The keeper let us into Peter's cell. The man was hunched over on his bed, looking a breath away from screaming.
"They can be dangerous, my lord. Don't know their own strength." The keeper advised us.
"I think it helps if you don't whip them." The Doctor snapped. "Now get out!"
With a look of 'wonder what's his problem' the keeper left us.
The Doctor settled me to the side, against the wall. "You'll be alright?"
I gave a brisk nod. Leaning back, I worked on setting my hair back to rites.
The Time Lord nodded back. He turned to the architect.
"Peter? Peter Streete?" The Doctor prompted.
"He's the same as he was. You'll get nothing out of him." Shakespeare cautioned.
"Peter?" He knelt in front of Peter. He touched his fingertips to Peter's head. The man's head shot up, glaring glass green eyes at the Doctor.
Glancing at Martha, I let my voice drop to a perfect whisper. "Mind as glass...made from stone..." In my own mind, something shifted, like a heavy stone sliding in it's lock. "Bring back this man- his mind be his own."
"Peter, I'm the Doctor. Go into the past." The Doctor instructed calmly, almost caringly. Peter still seemed frightened. "One year ago. Let your mind go back. Back to when everything was fine and shining. Everything that happened in this year since happened to somebody else. It was just a story. A Winter's Tale. Let go."
Another force pushed back against me. It burnt- but like candle wax. Nothing too bad.
Gritting my teeth, I tried again. "Mind of glass, shattered stone. Restore the man- make the mind his own."
Peter's mind finally opened up to the change. It let the memories go. They were fading away, but to a point.
"That's it. That's it, just let go." The Doctor encouraged. Peter's eyes softened as the memories turned foggy. The Doctor laid him down on the bed, slowly. "Tell me the story, Peter. Tell me about the witches."
"Witches spoke to Peter." The half crazed man revealed, still calming himself down. "In the night, they whispered. They whispered." He scratched at the side of his head, as if the voices floated there. "Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. Their design! The fourteen walls. Always fourteen." He looked at me, eyes shrunken and full of worry. His eyes darted around as if waiting for the witches to return. Poor man. "When the work was done they snapped poor Peter's wits."
"Where did Peter see the witches?" The Doctor asked. The man still looked around in fear. "Where in the city? Peter, tell me. You've got to tell me where they were."
Peter seemed to pant with exertion, as if remembering the hurt that had been done to his wits.
Did I do a bad job?
Did I accidentally hurt him?
"All Hallows Street." He revealed.
I let out a small sigh of relief, immediately going back on my guard at the shift in the air.
"Too many words." A witch's scratchy voice scolded.
I snapped up, glaring at the witch that had magically appeared behind me. The Doctor took ahold of my arm, dragging me back towards them. My eyes stayed on Doomfinger.
Martha "What the hell?" Martha yelped.
"Just one touch of the heart." She held up a finger, complete with pointed nail.
"No!" The Doctor yelled.
Seeing Doomfinger raise her hand, I pushed forward. Slapping her hand away I added "Strike down thine pawn- dare take from a dragon's clutch! Peter Streete be a man thine can ne'er again touch!"
Doomfinger leapt back, holding her hand. Smoke rose from it, as if she'd severely burnt it.
Peter Streete fainted on the bed. Just fainted, his chest moved with breath.
A whoosh went over me- like a rollercoaster that had gone too fast too soon. It had been a stronger spell than the last one. Even then, the spell had been helped along by the Doctor.
Spells?
I'd done a spell!
It had worked!
"Witch! I'm seeing a witch!" Shakespeare warned.
Doomfinger hissed at me. I glared at her, openly seething.
"Who would you be?" Doomfinger snarled. "You who have such a power with words!"
"I be my own!" I replied.
"You will be next then!" Doomfinger snarled. "Just one touch- I'll stop your frantic heart!"
"I can kill you before you can blink!" I challenged, one hand reaching for my Bag. A classic Texas draw.
"After I have done away with her, then you poor fragile mortals will be next!" Doomfinger cackled.
"Try it!"
The Doctor reached forward, grabbing my arm. He pulled me a step back to his side.
"Let us out! Let us out!" Martha screamed, shaking the bars.
"That's not going to work." The Doctor told her. He kept a tight grip on me. "The whole building's shouting that."
"Ready to die, foolish imp?" Doomfinger taunted, glaring my way.
"Well, if you're looking for volunteers." The Doctor offered.
"She challenged me! It's my fight!" I told him. He tightened his hold in response.
"No! Don't!" Martha called out.
"Doctor, Terra, can you stop her?" Shakespeare questioned tensely.
"No mortal has power over me." Doomfinger sneered. "Not even she!"
"Then why haven't you killed Peter?" I taunted.
She hissed.
"Oh, but there's a power in words. If I can find the right one. If I can just know you." The Doctor countered.
"None on Earth has knowledge of us." Doomfinger hissed.
"Never assume this dog has more bark than bite!" I snarled, lashing out her way only to be leashed back again. "False witch, from the fourteen Rexel stars, I name thee Carrionite!"
Doomfinger shrieked.
I had a brief dizzy spell, held up by the Doctor's grip on me. He held tight- tight enough that on a human would surely cause bruises.
Through the blur I could see Doomfinger shrinking back against the wall. Her form curling more and more on itself, until she vanished in a brighter than bright flash of light.
When she was gone, the Doctor's grip loosened. I relaxed against him.
"Good thing we were here then." The Doctor mused. He turned me around so that I was looking him in the eyes. "What were you thinking?"
"Rexel planetary configuration- they have fourteen stars-" I began.
"That's not what I meant! I mean, it's impressive, but not the point!" The Doctor scolded. "She could've killed you!" Then, something bright lit up in his eyes. "The Rexel planetary configuration. Of course! Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy...fourteen! Blimey." He stared at me, the conflict of praise versus panic in his eyes.
"What did you do?" Martha asked. "Doctor. What did Terra do?"
"She named her. The power of a name." The Doctor explained. "That's old magic. Nice bit with the rhyming."
I tiredly tipped a hat in thanks.
"But there's no such thing as magic." Martha countered.
"Well, it's just a different sort of science." The Doctor explained. I sat myself down on the bed, pressing my palm against my head. "You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead."
"Quantum...magic...err-mechanics." I supplied with a groggy voice.
The Doctor barked out a laugh. "You figured out quantum mechanics after a bit of light reading?"
"...sure." I replied.
"Use words for what?" Shakespeare questioned, getting everyone back to focus.
"The end of the world." The Doctor revealed, as dramatic as that line could be dropped.
==ROTF==
As we walked back to the tavern, the Doctor attacked as my third leg. It was helpful as my mind was half-spinning, half-foggy.
"So. When did you really master quantum magic?" The Doctor asked. "It's impressive. Most Time Lords, we've got- well-"
"Time Lord science." I guessed.
"Yes: Block Transfer Computation." The Doctor corrected, but letting me have it. "It's-"
"-manipulation of matter with time and space." I nodded. "Yeah."
"We used it for the TARDISes." The Doctor agreed. He went off on an explanation for Block Transfer Computation, it's history involved with the Time Lords. It bled into quantum mechanics before long.
Lucky for us both- Martha walked behind us with a shocked Shakespeare. They were being left out of this complicated long winded science talk.
"-simply put, it's manipulating matter at the quantum level." The Doctor finished off.
Nodding along, I let out a relieved sigh. Like I needed another big nap. "That. I- did that?"
"So you did. Nice job." The Doctor praised. "Quantum mages can do incredible things. The Carrionites aren't that different from them. Warp reality, tretalogy, escape black holes-"
I tensed in his hold, really only moving forward because the Doctor was moving forward.
The Doctor understood what had happened. "But that's fine. Basic stuff. You did good, saved Peter Streete."
"I-" Taking a deep breath, I told my legs to keep moving forward. "I did?"
"You did." The Doctor nodded. "Even stopped Doomfinger from hurting any of us, figured out how to stop her. Good job, Terra."
"...I did do that, didn't I?" I asked, a small smile on my face. "That was good."
The Doctor beamed. He rubbed his hand on my arm, in what was supposed to be an assuring way.
"...but I didn't save Lynley." I remembered, sobering.
The Doctor stopped in our path. Behind us, Shakespeare and Martha stopped too.
"That was not on you." The Doctor stressed. I tried to look away, down at my shoes. The Doctor put a hand on my shoulder. "Terra." Bracing myself, I glanced up. The Doctor was looking at me with the fucking doe eyes. "That was not on you."
Tearing up- damn me- I nodded.
The hand on my shoulder gripped tighter, then gave me two pats. "It's alright though." He went up, pulling me in for a hug. "You did good today. That was- not even I could've done that. She moved too fast. If you hadn't been there, Peter would be dead. That's because of you that he's still there."
And you gave him back his mind. Another point floated into my head. That other spell- it could've worked. Maybe it just took time to click. You might've given Peter Streete back his mind.
Those...were good points.
He's not saying it out of pity. He's saying it because it's true.
That...is an even better point.
Martha watched silently as the Doctor pulled me in for a hug. Neither of us noticed her watching, an expression akin to the third wheel realizing what they were.
Shakespeare watched...understanding more and yet also less about these two strange people that had entered his life. This Sir Doctor, and the Lady Terra. Two lost kindred souls that found each other, the same kind of broken deep inside. Fortunate favored that they were together now.
==ROTF==
Back in Shakespeare's room, the Doctor was pacing as he explained what he hadn't on the walk back.
"The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend." The Doctor explained.
"Well, I'm going for real." Shakespeare voted. He was washing his face, getting ready for the show tonight.
"I'm still confused though." Martha turned to me. "What was with the rhyming."
I was sitting in a chair, snacking on a futuristic fruit bar. The Doctor said it helped get energy back. It was apple flavored, so I wasn't caring. "It's the only way I know how to use it. Out of practice, so it hurt. Think a muscle you don't use often getting strained. This is like that."
"Practice? When you'd use it before?" Martha asked.
I looked down at my Bag. My fingers poked at the buttons pinned to the sides. "That's- that's not important to this."
Martha huffed, clearly not satisfied but going with it. "How long have you done that? Couldn't you have done it at the hospital?"
"No. Personally, I think I'm only able to because the hags did it first." I noted. "They...loosened the stone? Broke some barrier that makes it harder to cast quantum magic like that, so it's nothing if I use it too. Chances are-if we live- when we leave that I won't be able to do it again."
Martha seemed to accept this explanation.
"The real question is what do they want?" I brought up, to keep from being asked questions. Nobody wanted to admit they were known throughout history as the most feared witch. I'm not keen to bring it up- especially when the other witches are proper hags.
"A new empire on Earth. A world of bones and blood and witchcraft." The Doctor guessed.
"They never want sunshines and rainbows. Why is it never a good world they wanna create?" I pondered. The Doctor gave me a quick smile.
"But how?" Martha asked.
The Doctor turned to the playwright. "I'm looking at the man with the words."
"Me?" Shakespeare asked, incredulous. "But I've done nothing."
"Hold on, though. What were you doing last night, when that Carrionite was in the room?" Martha pointed out.
"Finishing the play." Shakespeare excused.
The Doctor and I tensed. "What happens on the last page?" The Doctor asked.
"The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual." Shakespeare's blue eyes shined in comprehension. "Except those last few lines. Funny thing is, I don't actually remember writing them." He admitted.
"That's it. They used you. They gave you the final words like a spell, like a code. Love's Labours Won. It's a weapon." The Doctor reasoned. "The right combination of words, spoken at the right place, with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that."
Shakespeare grinned.
==ROTF==
The play was starting right now.
We were doing our best to stop it before that final act- the final scene with the summoning words to the Carrionite Style Apocalypse.
The Doctor was looking at a map of this London. He searched for it. But I had been playing this game longer. I found it first.
"All Hallows Street. There it is." I boasted.
"Brilliant! Martha, we'll track them down." The Doctor instructed. "Will, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop that play."
"I'll do it." Shakespeare smiled at the two of us. "All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you both, I know nothing."
"Oh, don't complain." Martha chided with a smile.
"I'm not. It's marvellous. Good luck, Doctor, Terra." He nodded at us both.
"As long as you don't infirm your purpose, everything will be fine." I told him. "Break a leg!"
"Infirm my purpose...I like that." Shakespeare commented.
"Then take it! Use it later, when you're theatre is safe." I told him.
"Good luck, Shakespeare." The Doctor waved him goodbye as he rushed to the door. "Once more unto the breach."
With a laugh, I left too.
"I like that. Wait a minute, that's one of mine." Shakespeare realized.
"Oh, just shift!" The Doctor snarked.
==ROTF==
We arrived at the street not long after.
"All Hallows Street, but which house?" The Doctor wondered.
"I think you mean-"
"The thing is, though am I missing something here?" Martha interrupted my question, definitely because she hadn't heard me. "The world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at me. I'm living proof."
"No you're not." I replied, definitely not because she'd interrupted my pun. "The day we took you? Yeah the entire world ended the next day. It all fell apart." Martha gawked at me. "Martha. I'm joking." She relaxed.
"Oh, how to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux?" The Doctor questioned. "I know. Back to the Future. It's like Back to the Future."
"The film?" Martha asked.
"No, the novelisation." The Doctor and I snarked at the same time.
Martha rolled her eyes at us. She gave the Doctor a look of 'are you done?'
"Yes, the film." The Doctor continued on. "Marty McFly goes back and changes history."
"And he starts fading away." Martha recalled. She then gawked in horror. "Oh my God, am I going to fade?"
"More like just blink away." I explained. "There one second. Gone the next. Like you'd never been there. Same for the entire human race from here onward."
"It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it." The Doctor warned. He looked around the street again. "But which house?"
The house in front of us creaked open. Classic horror movie trick, I'm not gonna lie it's impressive.
"I think you mean WITCH house!" I cheered.
The Doctor groaned. "I wanted to say it."
"Talk faster then." The Doctor reached up for my arm. I let him hold it. "What?"
"Terra. Be careful." He warned me. Beneath it, I heard what he was warning me about.
To comfort him, I gave him a brief nod of the head. "I get it. No crazy spells."
He gave me a look. "Terra."
"They won't be crazy- myself, personally, I think that's the best you're gonna get." I told him.
He let out a brief sigh. "Yeah...it is."
==ROTF==
Once inside, I led the group. The Doctor made sure to stand just behind me on my right, while Martha was last.
Pushing back a curtain, I stepped into the house. Doomfinger and other hag had left for the play. Nothing to be done there. Lilith was the big concern now.
"I take it we're expected." The Doctor joked as he walked in step beside me.
"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time." Lilith taunted.
"Right then, it's my turn. I know how to do this." Martha stepped in front of us.
"Um, not-"
Martha raised her finger. "I name thee Carrionite!"
Lilith faux gasped, then gave a smug grin when nothing happened.
"What did I do wrong?" Martha turned to me. I was gawking at her, sheer courage to even try. "Was it the finger?"
"The power of a name works only once. Observe." Lilith raised her hand. "I gaze upon this bag of bones and now I name thee Martha Jones."
Martha fell back in a dead faint. The Doctor caught her. I stepped forward, appraising.
"What have you done?!" The Doctor raged.
"She's only sleeping." I told him, keeping my eyes on Lilith. The hag eyed me back. "The naming has less impact on her."
"It's curious." Lilith noted, as if in agreement with me. Like we were just two experts, debating over a topic rather then two apparent quantum mages arguing over why her spell didn't kill a friend. Even with my lack of training in this, she was still so far out of her depth it was barely funny. "She's somehow out of her time."
I hummed.
"And as for you, Lady Terra-" She aimed her finger at me. A beat. Nothing. "Fascinating. There is no name. What kind of girl hides her name behind shame and loathing?"
In defense, I raised my own hand. She laughed. She assumed this wouldn't work because of her being a Carrionite. "I have found-you hag, a word to kill with. Tell me- feelin' lucky Lil-"
Lilith growled at me. I took a step back, cutting off the spell.
"Yeah...now you're seeing the problem with this fight, huh?" I challenged.
Lilith aimed her finger at the Doctor Another beat of nothing. "Sir Doctor. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?"
I glared.
Her look turned to sharp smugness. She'd found something.
"Oh, but look. There's still one word with the power that aches." She taunted.
"The naming won't work on me." The Doctor threatened her.
Lilith pouted in sympathy. "But your heart grows cold. The north wind blows and carries down the distant...Rose."
The Doctor stood to his feet, marching to her face. It was funny that he was a full head taller than her. And Lilith knew it. "Oh, big mistake. Because that name keeps me fighting."
Lilith turned to me. "And while he begs, screaming for mercy." Oh, you little bitch. My face grew into a snarl. I knew what name she would use. "I'll leave him to rot, alongside-"
I leapt at her. "The wagging of your tongue is foolish you knave, keep it up and you'll find an early grave."
Lilith's lips clamped shut. She seemed surprised at the development, but not disappointed.
"The Carrionites vanished. Where did you go?" The Doctor demanded.
Lilith frowned, mockingly. She pointed towards her own lips.
The Doctor turned to me. I huffed.
"I would take you to the finest restaurant, she'd give a dead baby's tooth. I would tell you how pretty you look tonight, the Carrionite will tell us the truth." I recited.
Lilith glared as the spell worked over her. No two ways around that.
"Start talking- or you'll find yourself worse off than your friend." I warned. "Tell me- is she still half melted?"
Lilith sneered at me. She turned, walking towards her supplies. "The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness."
"And how did you escape?" The Doctor demanded.
"New words. New and glittering, from a mind like no other." Lilith revealed.
"Shakespeare." The Doctor and I reasoned.
"His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance." Lilith revealed with a sadistic grin.
"How many of you?" The Doctor demanded.
"Just the three." Lilith admitted. "But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic."
I scoffed. "Your magic is child's play! You and your coven are no better than hags-"
The Doctor put an arm between me and Lilith. Definitely to keep me from pushing her out the window. "Hmm. Busy schedule. But first you've got to get past us." He warned. He walked closer to her.
"Oh, that should be a pleasure, considering my enemy has such a handsome shape." Lilith taunted. She reached her hands up to cup his face.
"Now, that's one form of magic that's definitely not going to work on me." The Doctor deadpanned.
"Oh, we'll see." She pulled back with a snip of the Doctor's hair.
I sighed. "Dude."
"What did you do?" He demanded.
"Souvenir." She held up the hair.
"Well, give it back." The Doctor ordered.
Lilith rushed out the window. Of course, she appeared floating not a moment later.
"Well, that's just cheating." The Doctor grumbled.
"Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets." The hag wrapped the hair around a voodoo doll. Behind us, Martha was waking up.
"Now, you might call that magic. I'd call that a DNA replication module." The Doctor noted.
"What use is your science now?" She stabbed the doll with her hair trimming scissors. The Doctor screamed, falling to the ground. "And for you-my magic, you'd call Child's Play? Bold words coming from Morgana LeFay."
Yeah it got blurry after that.
Super blurry- maybe even full on blackout. Cause the next thing I knew, the Doctor was holding my head, tapping my cheek to wake me up.
"Terra? Terra are you alright?" The Doctor prompted. I grumbled, blinking back to the shapes and colors. "Yeah, there's a girl. We got to go."
"Heart?" I mumbled.
"Martha jump started it." The Doctor explained. He helped me to my feet. I stumbled slightly before finding my balance. "What happened to you?"
"Don't-"
"She did the name thing." Martha told the Doctor. "To Terra. But I don't get it. Why would it work from Morgana LeFay? Wasn't she an evil witch?"
I stared at Martha for a long moment, feeling the kind of betrayal like when your friend tells your mom that you passed out at school because you weren't sleeping well. It's just not cool. That's gotta be breaking a bro code rule.
The Doctor turned to me, looking confused. "Morgana LeFay?"
'Time for the perfect exit!' "Why are we just hanging out?! The play is in danger!" I ran for the door.
==ROTF==
The others followed me out. I had paused in waiting, only so I could be sure the idiots didn't get themselves lost.
They started running up the road. A smart person should point out that was the way we came, which was a different direction than the way to the Globe.
"We're going the wrong way!" 'Martha I take back anything mean I've said about you.'
"No, we're not!...We're going the wrong way!" The Doctor yelled as he ran the other way. My way.
"How long did it take to notice?" I asked as we started running.
"Oh shut up!"
==ROTF==
A block away from the Globe, we could see it. The actors had spoken the ritual phrases aloud. The roof of the Globe seemed to be spitting out a flaming tornado.
No wonder Queen Elizabeth hears about us. She just heard about a fire tornado in London and goes 'the Doctor must be involved in that'...she's not wrong though.
"I told thee so!" The globe warning peasant from earlier shouted as we ran past. "I told thee!"
"Stage door!" The Doctor yelled, as we ran for the blazing Globe.
We pushed our way inside. The doors had been forced closed by the witches. The screams of the audience carried outside.
Once in we found Shakespeare. He'd been put down in a chair backstage, rubbing at his head.
"Stop the play. I think that was it." The Doctor recalled. "Yeah, I said, stop the play!"
"You also said 'good luck'. In theatre, that's as good as any curse." I pointed out. The Doctor gave me an offended look.
"I hit my head." Shakespeare excused.
The Doctor sighed. Nothing to say about it then. "Yeah, don't rub it, you'll go bald." More screams came from the stage curtain. "Terra, I think that's our cue!"
"With ya!" I ran onstage with him.
There was a spinning red vortex over the audience. The Carrionites cackled from their box seat, holding up a crystal ball meant to summon their sisters. To my delight, the one as Doomfinger was curled up on the side of the third, clearly not all back yet.
Well that does something to my pride.
Martha came up behind us, dragging Shakespeare with her.
The Doctor pulled Shakespeare forward, pushing him towards the end of the stage. "Come on, Will! History needs you!"
"But what can I do?" Shakespeare asked.
"Fix it!" I yelled over the roar.
"How am I supposed to do that?!" Shakespeare asked.
"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius. The only man clever enough to do it." The Doctor assured him.
"But what words? I have none ready!" Shakespeare excused. "Perhaps Lady Terra-"
"You are William Shakespeare!" I shouted at him. "Any words I have will be worthless compared to yours!"
"But these Carrionite phrases, the need such precision." Shakespeare argued.
"Then screw your courage to the sticking place!" I yelled at him. "We won't fail then!"
"Trust yourself." The Doctor adder in. Shakespeare turned his way. "When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they, like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm. Words that last forever. That's what you do, Will. You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise."
He took a step back. Myself as well, until Shakespeare was left standing center stage all on his own.
"Close up this din of hateful, dire decay, decomposition of your witches' plot. You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor-and my wisened Lady tell me I am not!" Shakespeare called out.
"No!" Lilith shrieked. "Words of power!"
"Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points-" He turned to the Doctor.
"Seven six one three nine oh!" The Doctor supplied.
"Seven six one three nine oh!" Shakespeare repeated. "Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee-"
The Doctor struggled for a word. He turned to me, and I turned to Martha. The future doctor shouted "Expelliarmus!"
"Expelliarmus!" I shouted.
"Expelliarmus!" The Doctor told Shakespeare.
"Expelliarmus!" The playwright shouted.
"Good old JK!" The Doctor cheered.
"I am definitely offended we used his spell for that." I huffed. The Doctor laughed.
"The deep darkness!" Lilith shrieked again. "They are consumed!"
She and her mothers screamed.
The vortex inverted on itself. Instead of spitting out Carrionites, it sucked them in. All the cackling witches now shrieked as they were lost to an abyss from where they'd not return.
Behind us, the stage doors whomped open. Script papers came flying out, rushing up towards the swirling vortex of witches.
"Love's Labour's Won. There it goes." The Doctor noted.
The vortex didn't stop until all the witches had vanished. With them, every trace of Love's Labour's Won. It opened up to a clear London night sky.
Slowly, the audience applauded. Until everyone out there was cheering.
The Doctor and I snuck to backstage. We ran around to the witches' box seat.
I got there first.
In there seat, was the crystal ball. Kneeling down, I saw the three Carrionites in their natural forms. They are seething, scratching out at the glass.
Chuckling, I held it up for the Doctor to see. "They're a cheery bunch, aren't they?"
He gave me a proud grin. "Put that away in your Bag. Don't want any getting any ideas."
Nodding, I shoved the Orb into my Bag. The witches silently shrieked from their prison.
"Dude. We yelled Experillarmus. To stop witches." I pointed out to him.
"I can't believe book seven made you laugh."
"Only until Dobby-"
"Nu-uh! Stop it! Stop it now!" The Doctor scolded. He pressed his hands over his ears. "I'm still recovering from that."
I gave him the facial expression equivalent of '?!'.
The Doctor rushes out of the box seat, trying not to be reminded of Deathly Hallows. Which meant I- as his friend- had to do so.
==ROTF==
The next morning, the Doctor and I searched around backstage. Like two kids with nothing better to do.
"Hey! Hey Doc Brown How do I look?" I asked. I'd taken a top hat, wearing it along with a tall cane.
The Doctor turned, wearing a classic Shakespearean neck brace while holding a long skull. He grinned. "Oh that's good. Me?"
"Ha!" I tipped my hat to him. "Good look for a good sir!"
The two of us laughed. It fell into a comfortable silence as kept sorting through it all.
"Terra?"
"What, you found a cape? Edna Mode says-"
"No. I mean, I wanted to ask." The Doctor walked towards me, toying with the skull in his hands. "That witch- in the house."
I tensed. "Oh- uh- I found out her name the same way she-"
"No. Not that- well not exactly that. Martha said she used a name on you." The Doctor admitted. "And then you fainted."
That made me stop again. My hand gripped tightly to the cane I was messing with.
"Terra. Why did the name Morgana LeFay Work on you?" The Doctor asked.
"...that's not my name."
"I know." The Doctor replied in sympathy.
"It's- it's not who I am." I added on, not feeling brave enough to look him in the eye. "They- they got my name wrong."
A hand was on my shoulder. I whistled around, lifting the cane in my grip. The Doctor held up his other hand, trying to show he wasn't a threat. I lowered the cane.
The Doctor squeezed my shoulder. I nodded, hearing what he wasn't saying.
'I know that's not what you're like.' He spoke in my mind. 'History painted you in a bad light, haven't they?'
I nodded. My eyes were begging to water at his words. 'I've never had sex with Arthur Pendragon. We just co-parented a dog.'
The Doctor chuckled. 'You and dogs.'
'I still haven't forgiven you for making me abandon my son-'
The Doctor groaned, storming off. "It was a stray dog! Not your lost son!"
I followed him, chasing him onstage. "He was as good as!"
Shakespeare and Martha stood waiting. They had been very close until we came out.
The Doctor noticed Shakespeare's almost glaring his way- probably impatient for that 'good flirt'. "Good props store back there. I'm not sure about this though." He held up the long skull. "Reminds me of a Sycorax."
"Sycorax. Nice word." Shakespeare mused. "I'll have that off you as well."
"I should be on ten percent." The Doctor stated. He put the skull down on the stage. "How's your head?"
"Still aching." Shakespeare answered.
"Here, I got you this." The Doctor took off the neck brace, attaching it around Shakespeare's neck. "Neck brace. Wear that for a few days til it's better, although you might want to keep it. It suits you."
"What about those spells Terra used? Can she still do that?" Martha asked.
I raised a finger, pointing it at the skull. "Sunrise peaks, and springtime jello. Turn this stupid fat skull yellow."
Nothing.
"There see?" The Doctor spun the skull in his hands. "Carrionites vanished, putting that barrier backup. Just like Terra said."
"For the best. It gets hard coming up with spells on the fly." I admitted. Taking off the top hat, I stuffed it away into the Bag. Along with the cane.
"What about the play?" Martha asked.
"Gone." The Doctor replied. "We looked all over. Every single copy of Love's Labour's Won went up in the sky."
"My lost masterpiece." Shakespeare bemoaned.
"You could write it up again." Martha offered.
"Yeah, better not, Will." The Doctor cautioned. "There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten."
"Oh, but I've got new ideas." Shakespeare admitted with glee. "Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons, in memory of my boy, my precious Hamnet."
"Hamnet?" Martha repeated.
"That's him."
"Hamnet?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Anyway, time we were off." The Doctor cut off any more questions before Martha could embarks herself. "I've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where that lot can scream for all eternity."
"Good because they aren't staying in my Bag forever." I snarked.
"And we've got to take Martha back to Freedonia." The Doctor told Shakespeare.
"You mean travel on through time and space." Shakespeare corrected.
I grinned. The Doctor blinked. "You what?"
"You're from another world like the Carrionites, with Terra being of your kind, and Martha is from the future. It's not hard to work out." Shakespeare explained.
The Doctor beamed. He believed in his hero once again. "That's incredible. You are incredible."
"We're alike in many ways, Doctor." Shakespeare gave him a conspiratorial wink. "Now, I must say goodbye to these beautiful ladies. Martha, let me say goodbye to you in a new verse. A sonnet for my Dark Lady."
I almost groaned. Crap. Can't avoid this then.
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate." Shakespeare recited.
Martha gawked. She was saved from further embarrassment when two Globe actors ran into the theatre.
"Will!" One called out.
"Will, you'll never believe it. She's here! She's turned up!" The other shouted.
"We're the talk of the town." The first one explained, beaming. "She heard about last night. She wants us to perform it again."
"Who?" Martha asked.
"Her Majesty. She's here." The actor cheered, near shaking with glee.
The trumpets sounded. I stood up straight, trying to hide a delighted grin. As the trumpet fanfare went on, Queen Elizabeth walked into the Globe. Though Shakespeare may not look like his portraits, Elizabeth certainly did.
"Queen Elizabeth the First!" The Doctor cheered.
"Doctor?" The Queen asked, her voice a near snarl.
The Doctor's jaw dropped, just a tad. "What?"
"My sworn enemy." Queen Elizabeth seethed. I snickered, turning my head to avoid anyone catching my grin. "And his accomplice, Terra!"
Okay that stopped the snickering. Turning back to the Queen, I stared in confusion.
"What?" The Doctor repeated.
"Off with their heads!" Queen Elizabeth ordered.
"What?!" The Doctor repeated once more.
"Never mind what, just run!" Martha yelled. She grabbed the Doctor's hand, then my own. She dragged us towards the back. "See you, Will, and thanks."
"Goodbye William!" I waved him farewell, rushing off before I could be killed.
William's laughter followed us as we escaped.
Well also Queen Elizabeth's guards.
"Stop that pernicious Doctor and Terra!"
==ROTF==
We were running down the streets. The TARDIS hadn't moved from where we parked her.
"Stop in the name of the Queen!" A soldier ordered.
Luckily, nobody on the streets of 1599 London thought to try and aid the guards. All of them let the three of us run past.
"What have you lot done to upset her?" Martha questioned.
"Whatever happened I blame him!" I yelled.
"How should I know?" The Doctor replied. "Haven't even met her yet. That's time travel for you. Still, can't wait to find out."
"Neither can I!" I admitted, for in my world we were already in season 7 with no fucking sign of what had happened!
The Doctor opened the TARDIS door. Martha rushed inside, myself following. The idiot himself stalled at the door, looking towards the guards. "That's something to look forward to."
They raised their bows.
I grabbed the Doctor's arm, pulling him in.
"Ooo!" He said as we both fell to the ground. I kicked the door shut, sending an apology up to Idris.
The arrow stuck through the door.
'Can keep out a Dalek, but not an arrow?' I thought, as the Doctor ran towards the console. 'No rest for the wicked...'
==ROTF==
AN: Little late! My bad- apparently I now value sleep over work. What happened to me?! Stupid Hurricane- messed up my priorites...either way hope y'all liked it! Less triggering things. I even wrote in some hearts-to-hearts between them! Aww...those were sweet...almost makes up for what I'm putting them through later...
Please leave reviews. They make me smile.
My explanation for the psychic paper: Terra gained Insight after leaving the Void. What's insight? Basically a temptaint but for Eldritch Horrors. What's a temptaint? Well...consider the coconut-
Thanks to PoisonCupcake101 and Goddess-of-the-Forest1013 for favoriting
Thanks to PoisonCupcake101 for following