Okay, so this isn't going to be a 4 parter, it's going to be 5. I got a little carried away, the next chapter was meant to be the last one before we get back into the episodes, but that isn't exactly how it turned out.
Kari let out a groan as she rolled over on the bed. Her head was fuzzy and her body was aching a little. "Good morning, my sweet." A mans voice called from next to her, causing her to quickly open her eyes and look at the man beside her. The moment she saw the man, she jumped out of the bed and backed away from him. "It's okay, my love, I'm not going to hurt you." He told her softly, as she kept backing away from him.
Eventually she found herself backed up against the wall, with nowhere else to go. There was fear and panic in her eyes as she watched him step closer towards her. "Who… who are you? Where the hell am I?" She asked him, her voice shaking almost as much as she was.
A frown formed on the Master's face. He had removed the bracelets that were restricting the time vortex, that had been killing her. It was meant to solve everything, she was meant to get better and be her normal self once more. "You're on the Valliant, Kari. Do you remember?" She shook her head at him, wrapping her arms around herself. "You don't have to be scared, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Who are you? What am I doing here?" It was clear to see that she was scared. There were tears building in her eyes and she was trying to hard to control her shaking body.
The Master knew that he had to be very delicate. This was the perfect opportunity for him to get what he had always wanted. "Kari, my love, there is no need for you to be scared. You've not been very well, you've been sick. What is the last thing that you remember?" He was speaking so calmly and softly, doing his best not to frighten her even more than she already was.
"I… I don't know… I can't… I can't think. Please, just tell me who you are." Kari asked him, trying so hard to remember what had happened, to remember where she was and why she was there. But her mind was just blank, there was nothing there at all. She tried to think of what happened the day before, but there was nothing there. She tried to think of her parents, but it was all just blank.
"I'm Koschei. Do you remember? We met as children, we were best friends and we've been friends ever since. Do you remember that, Kari?" He wasn't sure what had made him give her that name, but it just felt right to tell her that. But all she did was shake her head at him. "Kari, my love, I promise you, I am not going to hurt you. I would never, ever hurt you." The Master told her, taking a step closer towards her.
Kari tensed up at his movements, and she could feel her chest pounding. "What happened to me? Why can't I remember anything? You said I've been sick, sick with what?" She was so confused, because nothing was making sense in her head.
"Oh, Kari, you've been very ill. You were dying. Someone done something to you, something that was killing you. But I stopped it, I stopped what they were doing and saved you." As he spoke, he took small steps towards her. "I would never let anyone harm you, Kari."
"Why? Who are you to me?"
The Master took this as his chance, the best chance he was ever going to have, he was not going to let it slip through his fingers. "Kari, look at your hand. Just look at your hand and you will understand." He saw her hesitancy, her indecision to do what he had said. "Please, just look."
Slowly, she looked down at her hands that were still gripping her arms tightly. Her eyes went straight to the ring that was sitting comfortably on her left hand, and her eyes widened. "What? But I… I don't…"
By now, he was standing right in front of her, only a small space between them both. "Kari, oh my precious Kari. If you let me, I can help you remember. Do you want to remember?" He was looking at her with pleading eyes, eyes that seemed familiar yet foreign to her. And so she nodded at him. "It won't hurt, I promise you." Again she nodded at him, and he took that moment to take a step closer to her.
The Master placed his hands gently on the side of her head, gazing into her eyes. He could see what had been missing now, the golden colour that was so bright in her eyes. The Doctor had noticed it, but he had failed to. But now, he was going to prove to the Doctor that he had won, that he finally had everything he had every dreamed of and worked for.
"Close you're eyes, my love, and relax." Kari done as she was told and closed her eyes, trying her best to relax. Only she was finding it very hard to be relaxed, especially when she couldn't remember anything. "This won't hurt, I promise."
As the Master closed his eyes, his focused on Kari's mind, on giving her the happy memories that the pair of them had shared, and ones that he had always dreamed of as well. He knew what he was doing, he was planting false memories, and making her believe everything that he had told her. Only things were not going to plan.
He was faced with a solid barrier, one that he just could not penetrate. "You need to let me in, my love. I can't help if you refuse to let me in." The Master whispered, wondering why the barriers around her mind were so strong.
"I don't… I don't know how. What do I do?" The Master could feel something stirring inside of him at hearing her voice. She was so scared, and he really did not like it.
"Just think, my precious Kari. Open your mind and let me in." He waited for a minute and tried again, but still he was shut out. It was with a frown on his face that he pushed harder, trying to force his way in, to break them down himself. That turned out to be a big mistake, as it backfired and sent a sharp pain through his own mind, as if he had been attacked.
When Kari felt his hands leave her head, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "What happened? I still don't remember anything."
She was confused, but so was the Master. Her mind was more protected than he had ever anticipated, which could prove to be a rather large problem for him. "You're scared, my love. And because you are scared, you won't let me in. But it's okay, it's all okay." He assured her. "We will try again later."
"So, can you at least explain everything to me? I mean, are we…" Kari didn't really know how to finish that sentence, but she was sure that it was pretty clear what she was asking when she looked back down at the ring. It felt so familiar to her, and she felt her hearts swell when she looked at it.
"We are to be married, my love." The Master told her, trying his hardest not to grin or smirk. He had to keep up the act, he had to get her on his side. "The day we were due to marry, you became ill. As I said, someone was trying to kill you."
Kari didn't really know what to think of what the man before her was saying. There was something nagging at her, in the back of her mind, there was something telling her that everything was not as it seemed. But she was too confused to know what to do. "And this person, the one who was trying to…" She had to stop to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Has been dealt with. You are safe, my love. I swear to you, you are completely safe. I would never do anything to harm you. All I want is for you to be happy. I live for the days to see you smile." He told her, tucking a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.
Kari remembered someone doing that before, their touch always so tender. But it didn't feel the same, it didn't feel like it was the man before her that had done it before. "I'm sorry, I don't remember. I wish I did, but I don't. I don't remember you, or anything about my life. I am so sorry." The first wave of tears finally began to roll down her cheeks, causing the Master to let out a small sigh.
"None of this was your fault, Kari. I promise you, none of this was your fault." Those words felt familiar to her, as if someone had said that to her before. But it wasn't the man who was saying it to her now, it was someone else, she was sure of it. "How are you feeling?" There was concern in his voice as he spoke to her, and worry showing in his eyes.
Kari closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "I'm confused. I am just so confused. I don't know what to believe. I don't… I just can't remember anything."
The Master knew that he had to do something. He didn't want her to remember her time with the Doctor, he wanted to replace that with false memories. He wanted to erase the Doctor from her life, and make sure that she would only ever remember him. But he had encountered a problem with that. "Give it time, my love. We have all the time in the universe. Go take a bath, just go and relax. I will be back in an hour, and we can talk some more. How does that sound?" Kari simply nodded at him, not really seeing any other option. "If you need anything, there are guards outside of your door."
That information caused her to frown at him. "Why are their guards outside? Am I under arrest or something?"
The man before her just smiled softly at her. "They are there to protect you. Someone tried to kill you, my precious Kari. I will not give them a chance to do so again. They are there to protect you, that is all."
Kari looked at him nervously, still unsure of him and the whole situation. "Thank you. I, uh… where's the bathroom?"
The Master took a gentle hold of her hand and led her towards the bathroom. "Take your time, my love." He told her, kissing the back of her hand. "I'll give you a some time by yourself, let you gather your thoughts and any questions you may have. But I assure you, everything will be fine."
"Thank you, Koschei. Not just for this, but for saving my life. I'm just sorry that I can't remember anything." The confusion was still on her face, but the Master knew that she was being sincere.
He actually felt a twinge of guilt, but he wasn't going to let it get to him. "Kari, I would do anything for you, my love. Now, enjoy your bath, and I shall see you soon." He told her, before exiting the bathroom and leaving her in there alone.
Her mind was just racing. She was trying so hard to remember what the hell was going on and who that man really was. Something was telling her not to trust him, that he was lying and trying to get her on side. There was a feeling in her gut whenever she looked down at the ring that occupied her left hand, that he was not the man who had given it to her. It was just getting all too much for her, and she wanted to break down in tears, to cry it all away, but instead she just closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could. Kari thought about the ring, and only the ring, trying to remember who gave it to her and when, while she let the bathtub fill up.
The Master stood outside of the bathroom door, listening quietly as he heard the water running and the tub filling up. He couldn't hear her crying, which was a relief for him. But now he had another mission, now he needed to find out exactly why her mind was so strongly protected and who had done it. He was confident that there was no way that she had done it, it had been done by someone with a lot of experience, someone who knew what they were doing. There was only one person he thought of that could have done that, the Doctor.
He stormed through the airship, making his way to the flight deck where the Doctor had been forced to live in a tent on the floor. The old Time Lord was constantly surrounded by guards, who were not afraid to shoot him if they needed to. He could think of no one else who could have shielded Kari's mind like it was, protected it so much that he couldn't break through it. It had certainly made him more than just a little angry, and the Doctor was about to find out just how angry he was.
The Master strode into the room. "Get him up. Now!" He shouted to one of the guards. Suddenly the men had reached into the tent in the corner and had the Doctor by the arms. He couldn't help but smile at the state of the once great Time Lord. "She's awake." The Doctor just looked at him, his eyes stone cold. "What? Is that is? You not going to ask how she is? Beg me to see her? Nothing?" The Master had expected him to be demanding to see Kari, to make sure that she was okay.
But the Doctor didn't need to see her to know she was okay. He could finally feel her again, in his head. Kari was back there, like she always had been, her stray thoughts filtering through and chattering away in his head. It was reassuring, it was something that he had missed.
"Really? You're just going to sit there and look at me?" The Master asked him, leaning forward in his chair. "Are you not even going to ask how she is? After all the fuss you made, all those threats, you've now gone mute, Doctor?" He didn't like the way that the Doctor was staying silent, it didn't sit well with him after everything that had happened.
He didn't say a word, he just kept his steel gaze focused on the Master. It didn't matter what the man done to him, he knew that his Kari was alive, that was the main thing. He had been so scared that those bracelets that the Master had created were actually going to take her away from him. She had just been so weak and struggled to remember the smallest of things. But as long as she was back in his head, he could survive, knowing that she was there.
"Well, if you don't want to talk, then I will." The Master told him, placing his hands together, his fingers gently touching his lips. "My precious Angel has awoken and is gathering herself together. Her eyes are shining brightly now, oh so bright." He gloated, trying to get a rise from the Doctor by calling her his Angel. "She's happy, Doctor. And once she is ready, you will see just how well she is now."
Still, the Doctor didn't move. His gaze was firm and so was his resolve not to let the Master get to him. There was something that he had noticed, a small little habit that he had spotted when they were both much younger. The Master had this little thing he would do when he was trying to control himself, when something was wrong but he didn't want to admit it. The green ring he had on his right hand was constantly being played with. That told the Doctor everything he needed to know.
"Kari will stand by my side, watching this world burning. Together, we shall rebuild it, we shall create a magnificent empire. The Empire of the Master and his Angel, a place where there is no room for you, Doctor." For some reason, the Doctor just wasn't taking the bait that was being thrown at him, and the Master really didn't like that. "For centuries I have thought about this moment, the moment when she would realise how perfect we would be together, how great a team we would make. I don't have to think about it anymore, because that time has come."
Although the Doctor's eyes were dark, there was a smile beginning to grace his wrinkled face. The Master was acting very big, but something was wrong. "If everything is so perfect, then why are you so worried? I know you better than anyone else, I can see that something is wrong, that something is bothering you." The Doctor's voice was strong, but a little rough. He hadn't spoken much at all, and after seeing the islands of Japan burn, he had taken to being absolutely silent. "Now, what is it? What has got you so worried?"
"Everything is perfect, Doctor." The Master replied, forcing a smile onto his face. "Kari is awake, and once she is ready, she will finally be mine. Forever."
"That will never happen. Kari will fight you all the way, you know she will. You will never break her, and she will never be yours." The Doctor was confident, because he knew Kari, and he knew that she would never follow the Master.
But the smirk that was on the other Time Lord's face made the Doctor feel a little uneasy. "Oh, how wrong you are, Doctor. You see, I don't need to break her, in fact, I don't need to do anything. My precious Kari has seen the truth, she knows where she belongs." He had wanted to ask about Kari's mind, about how protected it was, but now he couldn't, because then the Doctor would try to turn things around and try to turn Kari against him. He was not going to let that happen. "You poisoned her against me, Doctor, you and everyone else. I used to be able to make her smile, to make her laugh. But you wanted her for yourself so badly, you done everything you could to turn her against me, to make her hate me."
"She doesn't hate you. Kari has… Kari has never hated you." The Doctor told him, a little reluctantly. "You scare her at times, which is why she didn't want you to open the watch. She was scared of how you were going to act, of what you were going to do. And she was right, wasn't she? Just look at what you've done, and stop this."
The Master heard some truth in the Doctor's words, he had seen how scared Kari had been of him, but still tried to talk reason with him. He recalled how she had tried to save Chantho, the woman who had shot him and caused him to regenerate. "She was only scared of me because of you." The man ended up hissing at him.
The old man before him just shook his head. "No, you managed to do that all by yourself. You don't know how many times Kari has met you, and neither do I, but she was still scared of you, because she knows what you're capable of."
"You're wrong, and soon enough I will prove that to you." The Master got up from where he was sitting and strolled out, his mind completely set on proving the Doctor wrong, on showing him just how many lies had filled Kari's mind. He was not going to let him get away with it, not anymore.
While the Master had decided to go and take all his anger and aggression out on Jack, Kari had finally gotten herself out of the bath. Upon looking for something to wear, she found one expensive designer dress after the other, all of them either a golden colour or green. None of them really took her fancy, she just wanted something comfortable cosy. That was when she finally spotted a pair of jeans and a simple blue top, screwed up and tossed in at the bottom. "Finally." She muttered to herself as she pulled them out, quickly inspecting them.
She could tell that they hadn't been washed recently, they were creased and just looked a little worn, but they weren't covered in dirt. The outfit was also appealing because it was not a dress. It was only once she had pulled everything on that she noticed something in the back pocket. She reached in a grabbed hold of whatever it was, a frown forming on her face. "What is this?" Kari asked herself, looking at the leather strap she was holding.
Images flashed across her mind, images of a man, looking like he had just stepped out of an old photograph from the 1940's. Then she saw a woman, with some really big hair, winking at her. The next image to invade her mind was a man, with floppy hair, wearing a bow tie and a fez. Finally she saw a woman, with dark skin and dark hair, looking at her sadly with a tear rolling down her cheek. It was that last image that caused her to drop it, and stare at it with wide eyes as it fell to the ground. "What… what the hell was that?"
Kari's chest was pounding as she tried to make sense of what had just happened, of what she had just seen. It was as if she were remembering something, as if she knew those people and that they were so close to her. She tried to think of them some more, to remember who they were and how she knew them, but nothing came.
After a few more minutes of just gazing at the thing, she slowly bent down and picked it back up, holding her breath in case the same thing happened again. But it didn't, she didn't seem anything else in her head, all she could see was the leather strap in her hand. "River… River she…"Kari mumbled, before letting out a groan. Her head was just pounding, more and more as she tried to think about everything.
When her head finally cleared, she spotted a shoulder bag, partially tucked away under the bed. Her hand reached out and grabbed hold if it, dragging it out from under the bed. "Phone, weird metal tube thing, wallet…" She said, pulling the things out of the bag. "And a box." She started putting everything else back in the bag, including the leather strap, which the name of she just couldn't remember.
The only thing that remained in her hand was the small box that she had been so intrigued with. Kari brushed her thumb against the red velvet of the box, trying to decide whether she should open the box or not. Her chest was pounding when she finally took the plunge and opened the lid, holding her breath as she did.
Her eyes fell upon a golden heart shaped locket, gently resting on the pillow inside of the box. Kari's hand carefully reached out, and delicately scooped the locket up, while her gaze was completely fixed on the item. It felt familiar, but foreign to her at the same time. Her hands were shaking as she used her nail to open the clasp on it, so she could look inside.
A photograph of two young men with a woman who looked remarkable like her caused her to gasp, as once more her head filled with images that she couldn't explain. She could see the men, both of them smiling, laughing and messing around. They were happy, everyone was. And they made a promise, a promise to always be friends, to always help each other and to never let anything tear them apart. That was when one of them gave her the locket, the locket that had brought tears to her eyes when it had been given to her.
But while one man was smiling, put it around her neck, the other one was looking on with a hint of sadness in his eyes. It was as if he knew something that the other two didn't, something that was going to change everything. Kari could feel a pain in her chest as the images continued to floor her mind. There had been so many good times, but so many arguments as well. The young men were fighting, both of them on the ground, looking as if they were trying to kill each other.
Suddenly the images stopped, the locket no longer in her hand and a man kneeling on front of where she was sitting on the edge of the bed, a frown on his face. "Kari, my love, are you all right?" The Master asked her with utter worry in his voice.
"That… that locket… who's is it?" She asked him, her voice shaking as she tried to control herself. The truth of it was, she was scared, and she didn't like it. She couldn't remember anything, she couldn't really remember who she was, but she kept touching things and having all these different things flash through her mind.
The Master held onto the locket tightly, and smiled at her. "Who do you think it belongs to?" He asked her softly, brushing some of her hair out of her eyes with his other hand. "I'm sure you have an idea, so tell me."
"I… Well, I…" Kari didn't know how to explain to him what she had seen. "The picture, she looks like me. So, it's either mine or belongs to one of the guys in the picture. But why would a man have a golden locket?" It was clear that she was trying to make sense of it all, to work out who the owner of it was.
"Of course it's yours, my love." He told her, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. "I gave it to you a long time ago, soon after we had met. A token of how much you meant to me, and a promise to always look after you."
Kari looked at him, seeing some truth in his eyes. What she could also see was the kindness, and how caring he was. "And the other man, who is he?"
The Master let out a sigh, knowing he had to give her something to explain who the other person in the photograph was. "A friend of ours. The three of us used to be the best of friends."
"What happened? Are we all still friends?"
"Not anymore, my love. We haven't been friends for a very long time now, such a long time. Now, how are you feeling?" It was clear to Kari that he was trying to avoid talking about the other person, and it was giving her an uneasy feeling.
"Better. I'm feeling better. I still don't understand everything, I don't understand what has been going on or why. I still can't make sense of so many things." Kari told him, trying not to get emotional.
The Master needed to make sure that his plan was going to succeed. There was a lot of doubt that Kari was showing, and he needed to be completely certain that it wouldn't destroy everything he had been working towards for so long. "Come with me, I want you to meet someone." He eventually said, holding his hand out towards her.
Kari nodded at him, placing her hand in his and letting him take a hold of hers. It still felt wrong to her, to be holding his hand. She could remember her hand always clasping hold of someone's tightly, especially when they were running. Those were the little things she could remember, but she couldn't find a face or a name for that person, and it irritated her.
She didn't even pay any attention to where they had ended up walking, not that it really would have mattered. Kari could remember being in that bedroom that she woke up in and that was it. "I don't want you to say anything to them, I want you to talk to me and only me. This person can not be trust, do you understand?" The Master asked her, holding onto her shoulders gently. Kari nodded at him, which resulted in him giving her a small smile.
The guards opened the door, and the two of them were blasted with heat. Kari actually winced, and pulled back a little, only to find that someone was holding onto her hand tightly. When she looked, she saw that it was her friend Koschei.
"Kari. Oh, thank God, you're okay. What has he done to you? Because if he's hurt you, then there is nothing in the whole universe that can hold me back." An American voice called.
She just stood there, looking at him and blinking. She felt like she knew him, as if the man standing before her, chained to the pipes, was someone she was close to. There was worry in the man's eyes, it was as clear as day.
"Does it look like she has been hurt?" The man beside her spat at Jack. "My precious Angel is just struggling with everything that has happened. But she is perfectly healthy, and as soon as she is ready, we will be married."
Jack's mouth dropped open as he stared at the Master in utter shock. "You can't be serious? Kari would never marry you." He said, turning to look at her. There was a look of confusion on her face, and he just knew that something was wrong. "Kari, come on Princess, tell me this isn't true. Why would you want to marry him?"
She simply looked at him, trying to process what the hell was going on and why the man chained up had called her Princess. "Why did he call me Princess?" Kari asked, looking towards the Master. "How does he know me?"
A huge smirk formed across the Master's face, while Jack looked on in horror. "He tried to turn you against me, because he is jealous. You turned him down, my love, and he didn't like it." The Master explained to her, causing Jack to grow angry now.
"What the hell? Kari, listen to me, he is lying, okay? I promise you, he is lying. He's the Master, he is trying to take over the Earth. Please, you have to listen to me. He is nothing but a monster." Jack said, pleading with her to listen to him, to take in everything that he was saying. "You're my little sister, nothing more and nothing less. That's why I call you Princess. I called you that the first time we met, and I will call you that until the very end, I swear to you."
Kari didn't really know what to say, or what to do. The look in his eyes told her that he was telling the truth, that he was scared for her and worried about her. The pounding in her chest was telling her to believe him, to listen to his words and take heed.
The Master seemed to notice her thinking, the way she was contemplating Jack's words. "Enough. You've infected her mind enough." He spat, taking a slightly tighter hold of Kari's hand, hurting her slightly. "Do you really think you can turn her against me? You are nothing, your words are nothing."
He turned around, dragging Kari with him, but she managed to glace back, to look at the man who was watching her. She managed to give him a very slight nod, and she wasn't even sure he had noticed it, until she saw his eyes soften and a nod come back from him. Kari did believe him, she had no reason not to. She believed him more than that man who was currently dragging her through the corridors of some place that she didn't even know. She felt like she could trust that man, the man chained in the boiler room, she didn't feel the same trust with the man beside her.
A/N: So, I hope you liked it, even if it was just a little. I know there are people who think that the memory loss is overkill and whatnot, but there is a reason for all that I do.
Also, just so people know, I did not have to google Koshcei or look it up anywhere. I actually own a fair number of the books from the classic series, and it is mentioned in a novel called 'The Dark Path'.
I know it probably seems as if this is dragging out, but I promise, we are nearly at the end of this part. We should hit the final episode by chapter 80. Sorry it's taking so long, really I am.
Anyway, a big thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed the story. Also, I was to say an absolutely massive thank you to every single one of you who has taken the time to review. I love your reviews, I love reading them and knowing what you think. So thank you!
I'm going to shut up now and get back to writing a few more chapters. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and are all looking forward to the next one.
Pippa.