It was clear that Rory was nervous, it as made even more evident when he started speaking. "So, basically, both of our parents are dead from getting the plague. I'm a gondola driver, so money's a bit tight. So having my sister go to your school for special people would be brilliant. Cheers."
That was when Francesco, the vampire that Amy and Rory had bumped into started looking Kari up and down. She didn't like the look in his eyes, they were hungry, and she knew what he was thinking.
Although it seemed that he was impressed, his mother, Rosanna wasn't. "Carlo, explain yourself. Why have you brought me this imbecile?"
The man quickly stood up straight, realising the woman was talking to him. "Signora, they have references from His Majesty the King of Sweden."
"What?" She asked in shock, looking from Carlo and to Rory and Kari. "Let me see."
That was Rory's cue, and he stepped forwards, approaching the woman and handing her the psychic paper. "Well, now I see what got my steward so excited." She said to Rory, before handing it back to him. "What say you, Francesco? Do you like her?"
He was walking around Kari, taking in every single detail that he could. "Oh, I do, mother. I do." He replied, his eyes gleaming a little.
"Then we would be delighted to accept her. Say goodbye to your sister." Rosanna said, smirking away.
"Tell Uncle D that I'll see him soon, okay? Everything will be fine." Kari called to Rory as he was practically dragged from the room.
After that, Kari was led by the steward up to the dormitory. She noticed the girls watching her as she went, and she knew that each and every one of them had been fully converted already. There was no hope for them, but there was for one other person in there.
"There are clothes on the bed. Get changed and wait here." Carlo said, before he left the room. All the girls that were in the room left as well, except for one.
"Isabella? Everything is going to be okay." Kari said, going and sitting next to the woman on the bed. "I know what they're doing here, and I'm going to do everything I can to get you out of here."
"The sunlight burns my skin…" The woman said, staring into space.
"I know, like candle wax. Isabella, listen to me, you're getting out of here. You're father is coming, and so are my friends." Kari assured her. "I have a job to do, just keep the faith."
The woman nodded at her, and Kari quickly got changed. She knew the way down to the cellar, and she knew what was going to happen to her when she got there. But she was prepared, she had a better plan than Amy.
A while later, Kari made her way down to the cellar, a lamp lit with a single candle in her hand. "Yeah, this place really is creepy." She whispered to herself as she made her way down the final few steps.
She noticed the hatch and was quick to pull the bolt away. "Okay, job done." She said, before letting out a sigh. She turned around and was faced with Carlo, and several of the girls. "Time for the chair?" She asked, before being dragged out of the room.
Kari knew what was coming, and she knew there was no point in struggling. They finally reached the green-lit room, where Rosanna was waiting for her. "Psychic paper. Did you really think that would work on me?" She asked her. "Where are you from? Did you fall through the Chasm?"
"Mother this is pointless. Let's just start the process and…" Francesco stated, looking at Kari eagerly.
"Hold your tongue, Francesco. I need to know what this girl is doing in a world of savages with psychic paper. Who are you with? You see, I scarcely believe your idiot brother sent you. What are you doing in my school?" Rosanna asked as the girls brought the chair forward.
"I'm running. From the silence." Kari whispered. "My home, it's gone. I don't even remember it anymore. I don't belong here, just like you, Rosanna."
The woman just looked at her, she had not expected that kind of response from her. "You ran from the silence?" Kari just nodded at her. "How did you end up here?"
"I… I don't really know. There were cracks, through the whole of time and space. This is where I ended up." Kari told her, just hoping that Rosanna would believe her. All she had to do was keep her talking until the Doctor came for her.
"And why did you come to my school?" Rosanna asked her, seeming a little calmer than she would have been with Amy.
"You're not human. You're using a perception filter. I figured that maybe someone else had fallen through the Chasm, that maybe I wasn't the only one." Kari told her, trying to make it sound as believable as she could. So far, she was rather proud of herself, Rosanna was falling for it, hook, line and sinker.
"Kari? Where are you? Are you okay?" The Doctor called to her in a panic.
"I'm fine. Been a slight change in the plan. You better come and get me." She called back to him. Kari was wondering how long it was going to take for him to actually get there, because she knew she couldn't stop Rosanna forever.
"You can join us, become one of us." Rosanna said, before Kari was forced into the chair and strapped down.
"Yeah, um, as much fun as that sounds, I'd rather not." Kari told her, now starting to feel a little bit nervous. "How exactly will I become one of you? Even though I'm completely against it."
"First, we drink you until you're dry. Then we fill you with our blood. It rages through you like a fire, changing you, until one morning you awake and your humanity is a dream now faded." Rosanna told her, walking around her in the chair, keeping her eyes fixed on Kari's neck.
"Or you die. That can happen." Francesco added.
"Oh, well that's peachy. And what if I manage to survive this process? What happens to me once I become one of you?" Kari asked, praying that the Doctor would get there soon.
"Then there are ten thousand husbands waiting for you in the water." Rosanna told her.
Kari let a smirk form on her face. "As tempting as that sounds, I'm going to have to decline. I think I recently got engaged, but thanks for the offer." She said, before kicking the spot where she knew the perception filter was.
Rosanna let out a scream, as she transformed into the giant lobster type creature Kari could always see in her mind when she looked at them. That was when she heard a commotion coming from outside of the room, and she knew her rescue party had arrived.
"Cab for Kari?" The Doctor called from outside of the room, faced with Rosanna, Francesco and Carlo.
While everyone else was distracted, Kari tried to tug herself free from the bonds that were keeping her trapped in the chair. "Come on, get me out, get me out." She whispered to herself, feeling the fear and panic starting to rise within her. It reminded her all too much of what had happened before, with Van Statten.
Kari was in luck, Isabella appeared at her side and started to undo the bonds that restrained her. "Oh, am I glad to see you, Isabella. Please, get me out of these." She pleaded. Kari hadn't really thought about how it would affect her if she were strapped down. It hadn't even occurred to her at the time.
Once she was free, they ran into the corridor and straight into the Doctor, Rory and Amy. "Kari!" The Doctor called, grabbing hold of her quickly.
"Move! She's going to seal the house." Kari said, pushing the Doctor forward. "Oh, and by the way, Doctor, they're not vampires." She told him as they made their way down a winding stone staircase.
"What?"
"Yeah, sorry. They're not vampires, they're aliens. I saw them, but I kind of already knew." Kari told him, waiting for him to be annoyed with her for not telling him sooner.
"Ha! Classic." He said, pointing the sonic at the hatch in hopes of slowing the others down.
"That's good news? What is wrong with you people?" Rory asked in horror. Amy was laughing, along with the Doctor. Kari was slightly different, she seemed to be in a bit of a daze and not really paying much attention to anything now.
"Come on, Rory. Move." The Doctor said, nudging him forward. "Keep moving. Come on, guys." He called, holding back the so-called vampires with his huge UV light.
"Quickly, quickly." Isabella called at she opened the door, letting the sunlight stream in. "Get out. Quick, quick."
They all ran out, moving as fast as they could so that they wouldn't be caught. "Come on, Isabella." Kari called, holding a hand out to the woman.
"I can't." She cried, flinching from pain in the sunlight.
"Yes you can, come on, Isabella. You're father is waiting for you. We can change you back, please." Kari begged. Isabella grabbed her hand, clenching her teeth as she stepped into the bright sunlight.
Before she had managed to take another step she was grabbed from behind and pulled back. "No!" Kari screamed, trying to open the door. Only she seemed to forget what would happen if she did, and electricity flowed through her, making her fall to the ground.
"Kari!" The Doctor cried, rushing to her side and she crumpled on the few wooden stairs leading to the door. "Kari? Can you hear me?" He asked, kneeling down next to her.
"Is she dead?" Amy asked, wondering if the same thing would have happened to her if she had been in the school instead.
"No, she's breathing." The Doctor told her. "Kari, come on, wake up."
It took a few minutes, but Kari finally started to regain consciousness. "Doctor?" She whispered, not yet realising where she was.
"Hey, how you feeling?" He asked her softly, brushing the golden locks from her face.
"Like I'm going to kill Jack Harkness the next time I see him." She moaned, not yet ready to open her eyes.
"Okay, why?"
That was when Kari finally came to her senses. She opened her eyes and sat up right. There was a concerned look on the Doctor's face as he watched the panic flash across her eyes before being replaced with relief. "Because he deserves it?" She said innocently.
"Kari, what happened?" He asked her, knowing that something had caused her to panic.
"Oh, nothing. They just wanted to drink all my blood and replace it with their own. Nothing to worry about really." She told him, playing with her hands slightly. "And they had me strapped to a chair." Kari whispered.
"Oh, Kari. I'm so sorry." He said, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Doctor. It was my decision to go in there. It's done, it's over. Now come on, we need to end this." Kari told him.
"You have a plan?" The Doctor asked her, understanding that she wanted to move on from what had happened.
"Sort of. I have a thing. Let's go and have a chat with Rosanna." Kari told him, before turning to Rory and Amy. "You head back with Guido. The Doctor and I will be there soon. No questions just go."
They both nodded at her and got into the gondola that Guido was standing by. He was upset, he had seen his daughter, and yet she hadn't been able to escape. Unfortunately, Kari knew what was going to be happening to her now, and she hated it.
"Long way from Saturnyne, aren't you, Sister of the Water?" The Doctor said, sitting on the throne as Rosanna walked into the room.
"No, let me guess. The owner of the psychic paper." She asked, causing the Doctor to nod a little. "Then I take it you're a refugee, like me?"
"I'll make you a deal. An answer for an answer. You're using a perception filter. It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. but seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank, hence no reflection." The Doctor rambled.
"Your question?"
"Why can we see your big teeth?" He asked, making Rosanna laugh a little.
"Self preservation overrides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain." Rosanna told him, wandering around the room a little.
"Where's Isabella?" The Doctor asked her, wanting to get straight to the point.
"My turn. Where are you from?"
"Gallifrey." He answered. Kari let out a sigh as she hid behind the throne. She knew that it was hard for him to think of his home.
"You should be in a museum. Or in a mausoleum." Rosanna commented, studying him carefully.
The Doctor just tried his best to ignore her. Kari had warned him that he wasn't going to like some of the answers. "Why are you here?"
"We ran from the Silence. Why are you here?"
He shrugged a little. "Wedding present. The Silence?" He asked.
Rosanna looked at him nervously before answering the Doctor. "There were cracks. Some were tiny. Some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people, and through others we saw Silence and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours, and the crack snapped shut behind us. Saturnyne was lost."
"So Earth is to become Saturnyne Mark Two?"
Suddenly something sparked in Rosanna's mind. "And you can both help me. We can build a new society here, as others have. What do you say?"
"Where's Isabella?" The Doctor asked, getting up from the throne. Kari knew that was her cue and was ready to come out of hiding.
"Isabella?" The confusion was evident on Rosanna's face.
"The girl who saved me." Kari called, stepping out and standing next to the Doctor. "But I already know what you've done to her. You've executed her. I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't from around here, Rosanna."
Rosanna look from Kari to the Doctor, trying to piece together how she fitted in with him before settling on the Doctor. "I need an answer, Doctor. A partnership. Any which way you choose." She said, taking a step closer to him.
"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you? I'm a Time Lord. You're a big fish. Plus, I think Kari would have something to say about that." The Doctor said, grasping Kari's hand tightly and grinning at her a little.
"Carlo?" Rosanna called. "You're right. We're nothing alike. I will bend the heavens to save my race, while you philosophise."
"This ends today, Rosanna." Kari warned her.
"We will tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone." The Doctor said, before seeing Carlo grab hold of Kari's arm. "Take your hands off her." He growled, before turning his attention back to Rosanna. "And do you know why? You didn't know Isabella's name. you didn't know Isabella's name."
The Doctor tightened his grip on Kari's hand before walking out of the gate with his head held high. "We better get back, Doctor. There's still a lot to work out."
"Kari, are you sure you're okay?" The Doctor asked her, as she dragged him back to Guido's home.
"Yup. Completely and totally fine." Kari told him.
It wasn't long until they were sitting around the table at Guido's. "Argh. I need to think. Come on, brain. Think, think, think. Think." The Doctor rambled, messing up his hair a little.
"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun." Amy said, trying to be helpful.
The Doctor quickly put his hand over Amy's mouth. "Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush."
"It's the school thing I don't understand." Rory added, earning a hand over is mouth as well.
"Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush."
Then it was Guido's turn. "I say we take the fight to them."
"Ah, ah, ah." The Doctor said, nodding at Rory, who eventually got the hint and put his hand over Guido's mouth. "Her planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time and end up here. Then she closes off the city and, one by one, starts to change the people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool." He rambled.
"Doctor, she's going to sink Venice." Kari said, moving away from the window. "And repopulate it with the girl's that have already been fully converted."
"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women. You need blokes." Rory pointed out.
"Yup, and she has blokes. There are ten thousand husbands waiting in the water. Only the male offspring survived the journey here." Kari informed them, keeping her eyes on the window.
The Doctor just looked at Kari. Something about the way she was acting was bothering him, she knew what was going on, and he knew that was well. That was when they heard a thump coming from above them. "The people upstairs are very noisy." The Doctor said looking at Guido.
"There aren't any people upstairs." Kari and Guido said at the same time, both of them looking at the ceiling.
"Do you know, I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that? Well, apart from Kari, obviously." The Doctor rambled.
"Is it the vampires?" Rory wondered.
"Like I said, they're not vampires. Fish from space." The Doctor called, before the window that Kari had been so interested in smashed, several women gathered there as well as at the door.
"Aren't we on the second floor?" Rory asked, as the Doctor pulled out his UV light and waved it at the women. That was when Kari pulled out her sonic screwdriver and used it so that everyone could see their true form.
"What's happened to them?" Guido asked, seeing the lobster creature that Kari had always been able to see.
"There's nothing left of them. They've been fully converted." Kari told him.
"Blimey, fish from space have never been so…" Kari whacked him around the back of the head. "Okay, move."
They all charged down the stairs and out of the front door. All except for Guido. "Stay away from the door, Doctor!" He shouted, before slamming the door closed and bolting it.
"No. Guido, don't do this!" Kari yelled, hammering on the door. "Stupid wood. Stupid sonic doesn't do stupid wood." She cried, kicking at the door.
"Kari, come on. We have to move." The Doctor said, tugging at her waist. "You know what he's going to do, we have to get out of the way." He managed to drag her away from the building, just as it exploded. The force of it knocked both of them off their feet, the Doctor landing on his back with Kari clutching onto his chest.
"That is it." Kari growled. "No one else." There were tears in her eyes now, she had tried to save Isabella but failed, and now her father had gone as well.
Before the Doctor could say anything, the sky darkened and a storm hit. People began to scream, running around in a panic. He helped Kari up, before turning to Amy and Rory. "Rosanna is initiating the final phase."
"We need to stop her. Come on." Amy said, ready to run off and straight into danger.
"No, no, no. Get back to the TARDIS." The Doctor told her, gripping Kari's hand tightly.
"The pair of you can't stop her." She tried to protest.
But the Doctor was having none of it. "We don't discuss this. I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it." He shouted at her. Kari could have sworn she saw tears in Amy's eyes as she ran away from them.
"Thank you." Said, before chasing after her.
"You're welcome."
Kari just looked at him. "You and Rory had a little chat on your way to get me, didn't you?" She asked him. He just nodded at her. "Not so happy about all the trouble Amy has been getting into?" The Doctor shook his head. "You did the right thing. Anyway, we need to go and stop Rosanna."
Kari and the Doctor charged through the streets, ignoring the panic and chaos around them. They managed to get into the house easily, since everyone was too busy screaming in terror. Kari led the doctor straight to the throne and pulled the back of it open, revealing a mass of wires and lights.
"You're too late." Rosanna said, spotting the pair in the room. "Such determination, just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."
"The girls have gone, Rosanna." Kari told her softly.
"You're lying." There was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.
"Shouldn't we be dead?" Kari pointed out, making her point. "Rosanna, there are two hundred thousand people in this city. Please, don't do this."
Rosanna just looked at her. "So save them." She said, before turning on her heel and walking out of the room.
"Time for you to be brilliant, Doctor." Kari said, looking out of the window and up at the sky. The storm was getting worse, and the rain was pounding down on Venice. "Possibly before the earthquake hits us."
"Earthquake?" He asked her, not having caught on to what she was talking about yet. It took him a few more seconds before it finally clicked. "Oh."
"Yeah, oh. Now get to work." Kari said, giving him an encouraging nudge.
A few minutes later, Amy and Rory both came charging into the room as well. Get out. I need to stabilise the storm." The Doctor shouted at them, while Kari was dragged along with him.
"We're not leaving you. Either of you." Rory declared.
"Right, so one minutes it's all you make people a danger to themselves, and the next it's we're not leaving you. But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets the…" The Doctor was cut off by a great rumbling and the ground beneath them shaking violently, knocking them all off their feet.
The Doctor grabbed hold of Kari and held her close to him, making sure that she didn't hit the floor.
"What was that?" Rory asked, getting back to his feet and helping Amy up.
"Earthquake." Kari called, as she and the Doctor got up.
"You okay?" The Doctor asked her quietly.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She replied, trying to find a reason for his sudden worry.
"Wait, an earthquake?" Amy asked, looking at the debris that had fallen from the ceiling.
"Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes." Kari told her, looking back at the throne and the lights flashing inside of it. "But hey, don't worry about them."
"No?"
"No. Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake." She said with a grin. "Hey, Doctor? How do you feel about heights in this regeneration?"
He look at her cautiously. "Why?"
"Well, you're going to have a climb. In the rain, to get to the roof." Kari informed him. "Or, if you still have a problem with heights, I'll go."
"Doctor, what is she talking about?" Amy asked, not able to follow the conversation they were having at all.
"Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the programme, so, tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything. We need it to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator." The Doctor said, following the thick wires leading out from the throne and to the window.
"It's one hell of a climb, Doctor." Kari warned him, as he started making his way out of the window.
"Behave, and stay safe. Don't do anything stupid." The Doctor warned her, before quickly kissing the top of her head.
She shook her head and went back over to join Amy and Rory, who were happily pulling apart the throne in front of them. There were sparks flying from it as they destroyed the machine inside. "I think that's damaged enough." Kari said, looking at the smoke billowing from it. "He should be on the roof by now."
Kari ran outside and looked up at the grey and miserable sky before turning her attention to the figure clinging on to the top of the building.
"There he is. Come on." Rory shouted, holding onto Amy's hand tightly as they watched the Doctor.
"It's a very tiny little switch, Doctor. You can do this, easy." Kari called to him, knowing that he was looking inside the brass dome, trying to work out how to stop it.
He flicked the switch and the rain stopped in an instant. The clouds all dispersed leaving a bright blue sky and the sun shining down on the people below. There were cheers and applauds coming from the crowds who had been watching the Doctor.
"Now he just has to get down from there." Kari mumbled to herself. "Hurry up, Doctor. We need to save Rosanna."
In a panic, the Doctor made his way back down, and rather quickly at that. He grabbed Kari's hand and they ran through the house once again, looking for Rosanna. When they found her, she was wearing a plain white dress, and standing close to the edge of a plank over the water.
"Rosanna!" Kari and the Doctor cried at the same time.
"One city to save an entire species. Was that so much to ask?"
"I told you, you can't go back and change time. You mourn, but you live. I know, Rosanna. I did it." The Doctor told her, carefully taking a step forward.
"Tell me, Doctor. Can your conscience carry the weight of another dead race?" She asked him. "Remember us. Dream of us." She said, before stepping off the plank.
The Doctor and Kari just weren't quick enough, and she plunged under the water, to be consumed by her children who would never leave that place. "We should have saved her." Kari whispered, as they walked back to find Amy and Rory. "We should have saved so many people today.
"Kari, you can't save everyone. You tried to save Isabella, you tried to save Guido and you tried to save Rosanna. You done everything you could, none of this was your fault." The Doctor assured her, hugging her tightly. He knew that she sometimes had moments like that, where she wished she could have saved more people, and blamed herself for the deaths.
"We need to find Amy and Rory." Kari whispered, pulling herself away from the Doctor a little.
"Now then, what about you two, eh? Next stop Leadworth Registry Office? Maybe I can give you away." The Doctor suggested, holding Kari's hand tightly as they walked back towards the TARDIS.
"It's fine. Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've…"
"Stay." Amy said, stopping and facing her fiancée. "With us. Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay."
The couple both turned and looked at Kari and the Doctor. "Fine with me." He said, glancing at Kari.
"Brilliant idea." Kari told them, giving them all her best smile.
"Yeah? Yes, I would like that." Rory said as they reached the blue box.
"Nice one. I will pop the kettle on. Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship, got my girl, got my boys. My work here is done." Amy said, before disappearing inside the TARDIS.
"Er, we are not her boys." Rory protested to the Doctor.
"Yeah, you are." Kari told them, before heading into the TARDIS herself. She started wandering aimlessly around the console, flicking different switches as she went. There was so much on her mind, and she was feeling so confused.
A/N: Once again, sorry for the rather long wait. I've been working pretty hard the past week, trying to get on top of everything. I hope you guys understand.
Thank you for all sticking with the story, and for everyone who has favourited/followed and my lovely reviewers.
Well, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. There is a lot to come over the next few chapters. And I just want to point out, I have been taking note of people requests, and they are on the list.
Pippa.