Remnant Who
By ReaderWarrior
I do not own Doctor Who or RWBY.
The Unquiet Dead (B)
Beta'd by: -
As always, please comment! It honestly makes my day to read your thoughts and opinions.
Tell your friends!
Honorary (dead) companions:
Clive, Raffalo, Moxx, Jabe
Fantastics:
3
Reviews: Trying something new here, will only respond to Guests here. If you have an account and reviewed, I directly PM'd you about your review.
Winters Queen - Thank you very much. That was a great scene for me because the Doctor almost perfectly encapsulated how fans can be around their heroes.
Carre - I will do my best! *Returns thumbs up*
Inside the kitchen/pantry area, Gwyneth lights a gas lamp before walking over to the sink. The burning flame illuminates the area as Rose walks inside. She grabs a towel and reaches for one of the dirtied cups from earlier.
"Please, miss," Gwyneth says, reaching for the cup in Rose's hand. "You shouldn't be helping. It's not right."
"And why not?!" Yang snaps.
"Because Rose is the guest," Weiss answers. "It would be rude to the host if their guests helped with the cleanup." Suddenly, the heiress was reminded of her first friend and servant, Klein. I should catch up with him one of these days.
Rose shakes her head. "Don't be daft! Sneed works you to death. How much do you get paid?"
"8 pounds a year, miss."
Blake frowns. "That doesn't sound like a lot."
"Well," the Librarian explains, "the inflation rate has grown greatly since the 1800's. But I do agree, that does seem pretty tiny." He begins typing at his watch. "Let's see… pounds to dollars is near $11. Then there's a rate of increase by 1,833.93%… that's about 213 dollars… Huh. So, she is roughly being paid about 23,550 lien a year."
"That little!?" [1]
"How much?" Rose repeats, her eyebrows jutting upwards.
Gwyneth smiles, "I know! I would have been happy with 6!"
Staring at the girl in shock, Rose scratches behind her ear and asks, "so, did you even go to school or what?"
"Of course I did! What do you think I am, an urchin?"
"Weiss?" Yang asks.
"I… don't know," she answers.
The Librarian frowns. "An urchin is a type of orphan who grows up on the streets. I doubt Remnant has progressed far enough to be able to classify types of orphans as more are just left from Grimm attacks."
"Oh."
"But some of my favorite worlds to visit circle around urchins. Maybe I should take you there sometimes." Probably not Aladdin. I don't want to risk a music-moment.
Gwyneth scoffs at the blonde as she continues to clean the dishes. "I went every Sunday, nice and proper."
"Wait, once a week?"
The maid nods. "We did sums and everything." She pauses before leaning forward with a smirk. "To be honest, I hated every second."
"Me too!" Rose agrees with a large smile."
"Me three!" Ruby adds.
"Don't tell anyone," Gwyneth whispers, "but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own."
Rose giggles. "I did plenty of that. I used to go down the shops with my mate, Shareen… And we used to go look at boys."
Gwyneth's giggling sharply stops. "Well, I don't know much about that, miss." She turns back to the sink and grabs another plate.
"Oh, come on. Times haven't changed that much."
"'Time's haven't changed'," Blake repeats with a frown. "So I guess it doesn't matter if people know they are time travelers?"
"It does appear that way," Weiss agrees.
"I bet you've done the same," Rose adds.
Continuing focus on the dishes, Gwyneth quickly responds saying, "I don't think so, miss."
"Gwyneth," Rose pokes, "you can tell me. I bet you've got your eye on someone."
Pausing, the maid turns back to Rose with a small blush on her face. "I suppose… there is one lad…" Rose smiles as Gwyneth gushes over her crush. "The butcher's boy, he comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him…"
"I like a nice smile. Nice smile, nice bum," Rose agrees with a smile.
Ruby blushes while her sister grins wildly.
"A cute butt makes a cute front," the blonde giggles.
"Yang!" Blake hisses.
"You're one to talk Bellabooty."
Gwyneth pauses, "well, I have never heard the like!"
The two women quickly fall into hysterical giggles. "Ask him out!" Rose proposes. "Give him a cup of tea or something, that's a start."
Studying the blonde, Gwyneth comments, "I swear, it's the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and all the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing."
Blake's frown almost forms into a snarl, "breeding!?"
"It's old-slang for she has a nice body," the Librarian defends, putting his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. "It's like 'she has good genes'."
"What do her pants have to do with this?" Yang jokes, earning a groan from all members of the viewing party.
"Maybe I am," Rose responds. "Maybe that's a good thing. You need a bit more in your life than Mr. Sneed."
The maid shakes her head. "Oh, now that's not fair. He's not so bad, old Sneed."
"He's a sexist bigot," Weiss adds with a deadpan.
"He was very kind to take me in because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was 12."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Gwyneth smiles. "Thank you, miss. But I'll be with them again, one day. Sitting with them in paradise. I shall be so blessed."
"That sounds nice," Ruby smiles. Then, almost like a lightbulb exploded into light within her skull, she turns to the Librarian with wide eyes. "Could you-?"
"No."
Yang, having the same epiphany opens her mouth as well." but-."
"No. Don't even go down that road."
"They are waiting for me," she continues before tilting her head slightly. "Maybe your dad's up there waiting for you too, miss."
"Maybe."
"Her father is dead?" Weiss asks.
Blake shrug-nods. "She hasn't been wrong yet."
"Um, who told you he was dead?" Rose asks after a moment.
Gwyneth, realizing she has said too much, quickly turns back around and reaches for the dishes. "I don't know," she answers, "it must have been the Doctor."
"My father died years back."
Ruby gasps. "Long before she met the Doctor!"
Placing a cup on a shelf, she responds, "but you've been thinking about him lately. More than ever."
"I suppose so," Rose mumbles. Then she shakes her head and peers closer at the maid. "How do you know all this?"
"Mr. Sneed says I think too much," Gwyneth answers. "I'm all alone down here."
"That's why you gotta get a hobby," Yang responds. "Helps clear the mind right up just doing a mindless task."
"Cleaning your bike?" Blake asks.
"Mhm!"
"I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, miss?" Gwyneth asks.
"No," she answers, "no servants where I am from."
"And you've come from such a long way."
Once again, Rose studies the maid. "What makes you think so?" She asks.
"You're from London," Gwyneth states. She slowly steps towards Rose and continues. "I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half-naked, for shame."
"She's reading her mind and seeing the future!" Ruby realizes.
"Technically, it's the present for her," Weiss critiques.
The maid continues to ramble, focusing harder on Rose with each statement. "And the noise, and the metal boxes racing past, and the birds in the sky…N-no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far. Further than anyone. The things you've seen… The darkness… The big bad wolf!" Suddenly, Gwyneth stumbles backwards and looks down in terror, frantically apologizing. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, miss."
"What. Was. That?!" Yan exclaims.
"It's like… she saw into Rose's present, but maybe also her future?" Blake puzzlingly answers.
"Then what's the big bad wolf?" Rose asks.
Weiss frowns. "Perhaps… a threat? An evil the Doctor needs to take care of?"
"It's all right," Rose responds.
"I can't help it," Gwyneth stutters. "Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it."
"But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?" A voice asks, causing both women to jump. They turn to the doorway and the Doctor stands with his hands in the pockets watching them.
Gwyneth nods. "All the time, sir. Every night… Voices inside my head."
"You grew up on top of the rift," he explains. "You're part of it. You're the key."
"So… she got her powers from living near the rift?" Blake asks.
"Possibly," the Librarian explains. "That. Or it nurtured what would have just died on the vine."
"I've tried to make sense of it, sir." Gwyneth continues. "Consulted with spiritualists, table-rappers, and all sorts."
He smiles. "Well, that should help. You can show us what to do."
"Do what?" Team RWBY asks in unison.
"What to do where, sir?"
"We're going to have a séance," he answers.
"A what, now?" Yang asks with a confused expression on her face.
"A séance," Blake answers, surprisingly. "It's kind of common on Menagerie. It's supposedly a way to communicate with ghosts or other dead spirits."
Ruby yelps. "Why, in the name of all that is pure and cookie, would ANYONE want to talk to a ghost!?"
"Making peace, usually," the Librarian answers. "But it's usually a bunch of fake hocus-pocus."
"Yay!"
"But that also depends upon the world."
"Not yay…"
"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in Big Town," Gwyneth explains as everyone else sits around a circular table in the living room. "Come, we must all join hands."
Dickens shakes his head and stands up. "I can't take part in this."
Team RWBY groans at the man's unwillingness to broaden his mind.
"Humbug?" The Doctor scoffs. "Come on, open mind."
Instead of sitting down, he turns back towards the group and snaps, "This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Seances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing!"
"Now, don't antagonize her," the Time Lord responds. He turns to Rose and a large grin spreads across his face. "I love a happy medium." [2]
Rose rolls her eyes, "I can't believe you just said that."
The watchers turn to Weiss as she giggles at the Doctor's joke.
"And they say my puns are bad," Yang grumbles.
"Come on, we might need you," the Doctor continues, nodding to Dickens. With a huff, he sits back down between Rose and Gwyneth and they all clasp each other's hands.
"Yes! You go, Charlie!" Ruby cheers.
Blake claps as well. "Even though he doesn't believe in all of this, he still is deciding to stay."
The Doctor smiles. "Good man." He then turns back to the psychic and nods at her. "Now, Gwyneth, reach out," he instructs.
She does, mentally. Her eyelids flicker as she stares at the space between them, focusing on something unseen. "Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden."
A whispering of voices begins to seep into the room, causing the group to look around in panic.
"Do you hear that?" Rose whispers, leaning forward.
"Nothing can happen," Dickens hisses. "This is sheer, folly!"
"Oh for Oum's sake," Yang sighs, "just SHUT UP and watch then!"
Nodding at Gwyneth, Rose gives a yelp and exclaims, "look at her!" The group stares in shock as the maid looks up at the roof and shakes slightly.
"I see them!" She whispers as the ghostly blue-wisps billow around them. "I feel them!"
Ruby, once again, grips her cloak and pulls it around her in fear. Even the others seem to scoot away from the screen.
The whispers grow louder as the mystic smoke condenses around them. Every member of the séance looks left and right as they watch the ghostly light surrounding the table.
"What's it saying?" Rose asks, not taking her eyes off the alien glow.
The Doctor, who also refrains from looking away, responds saying, "it can't get through the rift." He then turns to Gwyneth, "it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now, look deep. Allow it through."
"I can't!"
"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth."
"You can do it," Weiss affirms.
"Yeah!" Yang cheers, "You go Gwen!"
"Make the link," the Doctor orders once again as she closes her eyes.
A few moments pass before the maid's eyes snap open. "Yes!" She exclaims as the fog condenses around her. The light forms into a human-like shape standing behind her. Dickens' looks in awe at the glowing figures.
"Woah…" team RWBY gasps. Even Ruby opens her cloak wide enough to stare at the imposing figures.
"Great God!" Sneed cries out. "Spirits from the other side!"
"The other side of the universe," the Doctor corrects.
"Pity us!" The figure cries out, it's 'mouth' glowing as the words are heard. "Pity the Gelth! There is so little time, help us!" As the Gelth talk, Gwyneth's lips move with their voices.
"What do you want us to do?" The Time Lord asks.
"The rift," the Gelth answer, "take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge!"
"What for?"
"We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction."
"Oh no," Blake whispers in shock.
"Just like the Doctor!" Yang realizes.
The Doctor's face seems to darken. "Why? What happened?"
"Once we had a physical form, like you," the Gelth explains. "But then the war came."
"War? What war?" Dickens asks.
"You don't think…" Weiss begins to ask.
"The Time War."
"I'm afraid so," the Librarian responds.
Rose turns and looks at the Doctor while the ghostly figures tell their tale.
"The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."
"So that's why you need the corpses," the Doctor realizes.
Ruby gasps. "They want to have bodies again!"
"I guess they aren't as evil as we thought," Weiss agrees.
However, Blake frowns and remembers how lady Redpath attacked 'her' grandson. That seems a bit violent for a species just wanting to walk again.
"We want to stand tall," they plead. "To feel the sunlight. To live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us."
"But we can't," Rose answers.
"Why not?" The Doctor and team RWBY ask.
She turns towards her guide and stammers. "I mean… It's not-"
"Not decent?" He interrupts. "Not polite? It could save their lives."
Yang nods in agreement. "Yeah!"
"But think about it," Weiss realizes. "How disturbing that could be for those who see their loved ones walking again."
The Gelth continue to plead with the group. "Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth!" As the spirits give one last cry of assistance, their 'bodies' dissipate back into the gas lamps behind them. Gwyneth gasps and collapses forward when they vanish completely.
Rose quickly runs around the table and shakes the maid. "Gwyneth!" She calls out.
"Is she going to be alright?" Ruby panics.
"Probably," Blake answers. "It's likely she's just passed out from the effort."
"Kind of like aura depletion?"
"It would seem."
"All true," Dickens shudders as Rose checks on Gwyneth's wellbeing.
Rose continues to shake Gwyneth. "Are you okay?"
"It's all true," the author mumbles again in shock.
"Poor Charles," Weiss whispers. "His entire world-view is falling apart."
"I hope he pulls out of it," Yang adds. "He seems like a fun guy. And I'm sure his fans will be upset if he loses it."
Later, with Gwyneth now laying on her back on a couch, Rose pats her forehead with a damp towel. The maid's eyes flicker open and she looks around in panic.
"It's all right," Rose hushes, "you just sleep."
"Oh, thank goodness," Weiss mutters.
Ruby nods. "But doesn't she need to do that again? Can she handle it?"
"But my angels, miss! They came, didn't they? They need me!"
"They do need you, Gwyneth," the Doctor comments from a corner. He leans against it with his arms over his chest. "You're they're only chance of survival."
"Couldn't the Doctor make a cool gizmo or something to help with this?" Yang asks, turning to the Librarian. "Or use his sonic?"
The Librarian shakes his head. "There's no time to run back and forth between the T.A.R.D.I.S and here when innocent lives could be lost. Also, no. I doubt the sonic has a function for this. At least, not without some tinkering."
Rose turns around and snaps at the man. "I told you, leave her alone! She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles." The Doctor sighs as Rose grabs a glass from a nearby table and hands it to Gwyneth. "Now, drink this."
Weiss nods in agreement, "she needs to rest up."
"But what if they do not have the time?" Blake asks
Sneed looks up at the Doctor as Rose cares for her patient. "But what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?"
"Aliens," he answers.
"Like… foreigners, you mean?"
"Pretty foreign, yeah," he agrees. Then he points upwards towards the roof and adds, "from up there."
"Brecon!?"
The reviewers laugh at the comedic exchange, enjoying the limited-mindset of Mr. Sneed.
"Close," he smiles. "And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."
"Which is why they need the girl?" Dickens asks, placing down a half-empty glass of wine.
"They're not having her," Rose snaps, facing the author.
"Why isn't Rose letting Gwyneth help the Gelth?" Ruby asks.
"Because she's more worried about her right now," Yang answers, rubbing her sister's shoulder.
"But she can help," the Doctor explains, no, pleads. "Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through."
Dickens walks towards the Time Lord, remarking, "incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers."
"Good system, it might work," the Doctor remarks.
Rose, having enough, stands and marches in front of the men. "You can't let them run around inside of dead people."
Weiss nods her head, "as much as I would want to help the Gelth, it would be morbid to the humans."
"But the lives they could save is more important," Ruby explains.
"Why not? It's like recycling."
She stares at him. "Seriously though, you can't."
"Seriously though, I can!"
"But it's just… wrong! Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death."
The Doctor turns to Rose and asks, "do you carry a donor card?"
Hesitating, Rose answers. "Yes. But it's different, it's-"
"It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home."
Team RWBY gulps at the Doctor's change in attitude.
"What's got him so riled up?" Yang asks.
"Perhaps…" Blake starts, "he's doing whatever it takes to save an entire race? We know he's lost his, so maybe this is a sort of… absolution."
He steps up to Rose and looks into her eyes. "You heard what they said, time is short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying."
"I don't care. You're not using her!"
Gwyneth slowly sits up and asks, "don't I get a say, miss?"
Both the Doctor and Rose turn and face the maid. "Well, yes," Rose starts, "but… you don't understand what is going on."
"You would say that, miss. Because that's very clear inside your head that you think I'm stupid."
Weiss sigh, "not stupid, she's just grown up in a different, more advance, time period."
Rose gapes for a moment. "That's not fair."
"It's true, though," Gwyneth comments. "Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me. Doctor, what do I have to do?"
"You don't have to do anything," he assures her.
Yang frowns, "but doesn't he want her to do it?"
"That doesn't mean he's going to force it on her," the Librarian responds.
"They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me."
The Doctor studies the girl for a moment before smiling and walking back into the center of the room. "We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other." He turns to the master of the house and asks, "Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen."
Shivering, Ruby comments, "I vote we don't go there and find an easier, less ghostly, place."
"Like a meadow?" Blake deadpans.
"Exactly!"
"That would be the morgue," he answers after a moment of pause.
Rose sighs. "No chance you were going to say gazebo, is there?"
"It makes sense," Yang nods. "Closest place one can get to a ghost is a morgue."
"Not a cemetery?" Weiss asks.
"Nah. Not spooky enough."
The crypt was, of course, full of dead bodies. Sheets were haphazardly tossed over the corpses with little regard to keeping the full body covered. Tools, which could definitely not be called 'in-perfect-shape', stood at attention against walls and beds. Large stones lined the walls and dirt stained the floor. A door swings open with a loud creak and the Doctor walks in, quickly followed by the rest of his party.
"Huh," he remarks, "talk about Bleak House."
Instead of their usual laughter, team RWBY let's out a whimpered chuckle.
"This place sure is spooky, huh?" Yang comments.
"Y-y-y-yep!" Ruby responds with chattering teeth.
Rose shakes her head. "The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed 'cause I know they don't. I know for a fact that corpses weren't walking around in 1896.
"Time's in flux, changing every second," the Time Lord explains. "Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that. "He emphasizes with a snap of his fingers. "Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing."
"So if they aren't careful, they could be wiped from existence?" Weiss asks with a tremor in her voice.
"Yes," the Librarian answers. "Time is fickle. And the butterfly effect is a pain. If you make too much of a dent in the space-time continuum, other things warp out of shape too."
"Doctor, I think the room is getting colder," Dickens remarks.
The group looks around them as their breaths begin to fog up the air. Once again, the blue smoke of the Gelth begins to slither its way around them.
"Here they come."
The Gelth leader condenses and forms inside a room, underneath a stone archway. "You've come to help. Praise the Doctor! Praise him."
"Promise you won't hurt her," Rose cries, glaring at the ghost-like species.
"Hurry! Please!" They beg, ignoring Rose's plea. "So little time. Pity the Gelth!"
Once again, Blake frowns and ponders the Gelth's wording. "They don't seem to actually answer anything," she mumbles.
"Wassat?" Ruby asks.
"Nothing. Just paranoid, I guess."
The Doctor steps forward, "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?"
"My angels!" Gwyneth exclaims, taking a step forward and interrupting the Doctor's conversation. She looks at the Time Lord and smiles. "I can help them live."
He smiles in return before facing the Gelth once more. "Okay, where's the weak point?"
"Here," they answer, "beneath the arch."
Gwyneth shakily steps forward and places herself underneath the arch. She turns around, facing the group and echoing, "beneath the arch."
"So… is there a button they need to press or…" Yang jokes.
"She probably has to use her abilities," Weiss answers.
"You don't have to do this," Rose whispers as she grabs the maid's hands.
She lifts them up and cups Rose's face in return. "My angels-"Suddenly, Gwyneth's body goes rigid and stiff, pushing Rose away and snapping into attention.
"AH!"
"Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!"
Gwyneth's empty eyes don't move as she responds. "Yes… I can see you, I can see you. Come!"
"Bridgehead stabilizing."
"Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls!"
"It is begun. The bridge is made!"
Without warning, Gwyneth's body begins to glow brightly. Her mouth opens wide and bright blue wisps begin to stream out. The Gelth's gaseous forms quickly surround and twirl around the group.
"Wow," Ruby mumbles. "It's kinda like a light show."
"Rather a lot of them, eh?" Sneed comments as the group look around in awe and shock.
"The bridge is open. We descend." Then, the blue Gelth leader's body contorts and distorts. Fangs grow from it's teeth and the calming, blue light is refreshed with a harsh, red one. "THE GELTH WILL COME THROUGH IN FORCE," it comments, the voice now harsh and deep compared to what it once was.
Ruby screams and ducks back into her cloak. "A light show of death! Kill it! Kill it!"
Yang rubs her sister's shoulders in a comforting manner, but her eyes, now bright red, remain fixed upon the screen. "Those lying bastards!"
"I knew it," Blake mutters. "They never answered a straight question. Not to mention how much they pushed the Doctor to help them. It was almost childish."
Dickens glares at the figure. "You said that you were few in number!"
"A FEW BILLION," it snaps back. "AND ALL OF US IN NEED OF CORPSES!"
The Doctor turns to rose with a panicked look in his eye. They turn around and watch as the corpses within the room begin to toss off their sheets and sit up straight.
Weiss jumps and scoots closer towards her friends. "That's a lot of bodies!"
"Well… it is a morgue," the Librarian mumbles.
Rolling her eyes, she adds, "it seems more than what the Doctor can handle.
In a desperate attempt to help, Sneed barges forward and grabs Gwyneth by her shoulders. "Now, Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you!"
"Mister Sneed!" Rose gasps, pulling the Doctor's arm, "get back!"
One of the Gelth-corpses grabs the graying man around his neck, pulling him harshly into a wall. It easily puts him into a choke-hold and twists, reverberating a loud snap sound throughout the room. The group then watches as one of the Gelth swarms into him, turning his eyes blue and skin a ghostly-pale.
"... I think I'm going to be sick," Yang mumbles.
Blake hands her the barf-bucket but makes sure it stays within arms reach. "That's just… so wrong."
"Every person we lose is going to end up a soldier in their army," Weiss realizes.
"THIS IS WHY I HATE GHOSTS!"
"I think it's going a little bit wrong," the Doctor remarks as the recent corpse begins to stand.
"I have joined the legions of the Gelth," it comments in Sneed's voice. "Come… March with us."
Watching the corpse rise, Dickens stumbles back and lets out a cry. "Oh, Glory, no!"
"WE NEED BODIES," the leader hisses. "WE NEED BODIES. ALL OF YOU, DEAD. THE HUMAN RACE, DEAD!"
"The worst thing is," the Librarian comments, "this was probably a peaceful race. It probably wasn't until they fought in the Time War that they became this cruel and misguided.
If that's the case, Ruby thinks, then what changed with the Doctor?
The Doctor, keeping himself in front of Rose in a defensive stance, begins to step backwards towards a gate.
"Gwyneth!" Rose cries out, "stop them! Send them back, now!"
However, she remains frozen as the Gelth continues to billow from her.
"What's she doing?!" Weiss yells. "Close the gate or bridge or whatever it's called!"
"THREE MORE BODIES. CONVERT THEM. MAKE THEM VESSELS FOR THE GELTH!"
Dickens also begins to step towards an exit. "Doctor!" He yells over the sounds of the ghosts, no, demon-like forms. "I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so-"
He stops as one of the Gelth-corpses swipes at him, ducking to avoid the creature's attack.
"Not Dickes!" Blake exclaims, breaking out of her stoic attitude and earning a few eyebrow raises. "What? I like authors."
As he does, Rose and the Doctor quickly backpedal into the gated chamber and slam the iron bars closed behind them.
"GIVE YOURSELF TO GLORY!" The Gelth cry as their new bodies march forward with outstretched arms, grabbing for the bars and the duo that hides behind them. "SACRIFICE YOUR LIVES TO THE GELTH!"
"Never!"
"I trusted you. I pitied you!" The Doctor spat.
"We don't want your pity!" The Sneed-Gelth exclaimed. "WE WANT THIS WORLD AND ALL ITS FLESH!"
"Not while I'm alive."
"THEN LIVE NO MORE."
Ruby gulps, "as much as I hate to admit it, I think the Doctor might have a difficulty with this."
"Are you saying this because of ghosts, zombies, or the large army?" Weiss asks.
"YES!"
After ducking the Gelth's attack, Dickens falls to the ground and scrambles backwards. After noticing the Doctor and Rose being cornered and entrapped, he makes a hasty shuffle and crawls to the morgue's entrance. As he reaches it, the author stands up and runs. He doesn't stop until he closes the door to the chapel.
Dickens breathes heavily, leaning against the front door. However, the blue-smoke of the Gelth sleeps around the door. With a gulp, Dickens watches as it forms in front of him and smirks. With a yelp, he takes off down the street, the Gelth chasing him closely.
"Don't stop," Blake hisses. "Keep going!"
"And don't look back!" Ruby adds.
"But I can't die," Rose mumbles before turning to the Doctor. "Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet, it's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?"
However, he offers no support or assurance. Instead, the Doctor looks at his companion and says, "I'm sorry."
Yang's jaw drops. "Wait… can she?"
"Just watch," the Librarian answers with a harsh tone.
Dickens runs through the streets, gasping as he passes a lamppost. Even though the old man slows, the Gelth stops when it passes the light source.
"Failing! Atmosphere hostile!" It cries out before being sucked into the gas lamp.
"What… Was that?!" Weiss exclaims.
"It's like… it got sucked into the gas," Yang summarizes. "Maybe, they can't control the gas they 'ride' and just get swept into the seat if there's so much of it?"
"... Maybe."
Seeing this, and hearing the fear in the Gelth's voice, Dickens lets out a small cheer. "Gas!" He exclaims, "the gas!" Then he begins to trek back towards the chapel.
"But it's 1869," Rose exclaims, "how can I die now?"
"Time isn't a straight line, it can twist into any shape," he answers. "You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth and it's all my fault. I brought you here."
"So, just to be certain," Blake clarifies, "time can overlap and change"
The Librarian nods. "Think of time like cement. From where you are, those events are stone right now. However, the cement for future days is still drying on top of it. And if you mess up the foundation, the entire future can be shaped into something new."
Rose studies the Doctor before turning back to the bars. "It's not your fault. I wanted to come."
"What about me?! I saw the fall of Troy. World War Five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party. Now I'm going to die in a dungeon. In Cardiff."
Despite the situation, the viewers cannot help but laugh at the continuous riff of Cardiff.
"And it's not just dying," his companion corrects. "We're gonna become one of them." They both watch in terror as the Gelth-corpses reach at them through the bars.
Ruby shivers. "A fate worse than death."
Inside the chapel, Dickens begins turning off the lamps. Coughing, he places a handkerchief over his mouth as the room darkens with each lamp he shades.
"What's he doing?" Yang asks.
Blake frowns. "He's turning on the gas…" With a gasp, she repeats. "He's turning ON the gas!"
"We'll go down fighting, yeah?" Rose asks, turning to face her escort.
The Doctor nods. "Yeah."
"Together?"
"Yeah." He turns and faces the blonde, clenching her hand in his. "I'm so glad I met you."
"... Me too." They both smile as they accept their fate.
"This would be almost romantic if it wasn't so deadly," Weiss critiques.
"But Weiss," Yang jokes, "that's what makes it romantic!"
However, Dickens interrupts them, exclaiming, "Doctor! Doctor!" as he runs into the morgue. "Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room. All of it, now!"
"What are you doing?!" The Doctor implores the author.
"Turn it all on," he declares. While the Gelth were still occupied with the time travelers, Dickens runs over to another lamp and turns the flame off. "Flood the place!"
Blake nods. "Exactly! Flush them out!"
A look of understanding flashes throughout the Doctor's eyes. "Brilliant! Gas!"
Rose looks at the Time Lord with confusion plastered on her face. "What, so we choke to death instead?"
"Am I correct, Doctor?" Dickens asks as he turns to the duo. "These creatures are gaseous?"
He nods excitedly. "Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!"
"I still don't understand," Weiss comments.
"The Gelth are attracted to gas," Ruby explains. "And the Doctor said they use it like a car. But they can't control it, so they get sucked into the nearest gas-source."
"Exactly!" Yang smiles.
"... You have no idea at all, do you?"
Yang's smile doesn't waver as she answers, "nope!"
The Gelth, realizing the greater threat of leaving Dickens alive, quickly turn their backs to the Doctor and start shambling towards the famous author. Even the bodies of the Redpaths shuffle down the stairs and make their way towards him.
"I hope… Oh Lord," he mutters, covering his mouth once more. "I hope that this theory will be validated soon. If not immediately."
"Plenty more!" The Doctor smiles before turning to the side and ripping a rusted pipe from the wall. The sound of gas exhausting into the room grows higher, only to be out-pitched by the sound of the Gelth's ghoulish screams. The blue light returns once more as the bodies collapse and the creatures return to a floating, blue cloud.
Team RWBY cheers as the zombies begin to fall to the ground.
"Take that, you suspicious specters!" Ruby smirks.
Dickens, Rose, and the Doctor all watch as the Gelth rise up from the corpses and stream into the pipes around them.
"It's working!" Dickens declares. The Doctor and Rose then quickly push against the bars and heave the gate open.
"Gwyneth!" The Doctor calls out, running forward, "quick! Send them back! They lied, they're not angels."
The maid's body relaxes slightly as she focuses on the Doctor. "Liars?" She whispers.
Weiss covers her mouth, "she doesn't look all too well."
"I hope she hasn't pushed herself too hard," Ruby adds.
"Look at me," he responds. "If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!"
Rose begins to cough, clasping her hands over her mouth. "I can't breathe!"
"Then get out!" Yang yells. "Or you'll choke to death!"
"But she doesn't want to leave her friend," Blake comments before turning to the blonde. "Remind you of anyone?"
"Charles, get her out," the Time Lord orders. He tries to, dashing forward and grabbing her wrist in an attempt to pull her to safety.
However, Rose struggles and exclaims, "I'm not leaving her!"
"They're too strong," Gwyneth gasps, hunching forward as if in pain.
Ruby winces, "Weiss is right, she doesn't look that good."
"Maybe the Gelth are sapping her energy? Forcing her to keep it open?" Blake guesses.
"Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift."
"I can't send them back." The Doctor's frown deepens with the maid's proclamation. "But," she adds, "I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here." With a shaking hand, she reaches into her apron and pulls out a small match-box. "Get out."
"No!"
"The Doctor won't let this happen, right?" Ruby asks with pleading eyes to the screen.
Yang places a hand on her sister's back. "I don't know, Rubes."
"But he'll try," Blake adds. "He must."
"I'm sure he'll do all that he can," Weiss agrees.
Rose gasps and coughs. "You can't!" She rushes forward, reaching for the box, only to be stopped by the Doctor. He grabs her and holds her back.
"Leave this place," Gwyneth begs.
The Doctor grabs Rose by the shoulders. "Rose, get out. Go now. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!" He pushes the girl towards Dickens, who once again grabs and pulls her out of the morgue. The Doctor then turns back to Gwyneth and reaches out his hand, "come on. Leave that to me."
Instead of responding, she simply stares at him with her empty gaze.
"Not again," Blake mutters, thinking back to Jabe and her sacrifice.
"Won't the Doctor die if he does it? I don't want that either!" Ruby exclaims.
"This way!" Dickens orders as he escorts Rose upwards and outwards. They both cough as they run between the unlit gas lamps.
The Doctor frowns and places a hand against Gwyneth's neck and cheek. After a moment, his face turns dark. "I'm sorry," he whispers before placing a light kiss on the maiden's forehead. "Thank you." Then, the Doctor runs.
Yang's eye twitches. "What. The HELL. Was that?!"
"He just… left her to die," Weiss says. "Why would he do that?"
Gwyneth doesn't even blink throughout the entire transaction. As the Doctor leaves her line of vision, she steadily slides the box open and reaches for one of the matches. The Gelth swirling around her as she places the tip against the safety striker and looks down.
With a brief glance to the heavens, she lights the match.
"NOOO!"
The Doctor had barely made it to the front door when the flames engulfed the house. With a leap and the explosion's propulsion, he goes flying outward, landing on a pile of snow. The undertaker's building burns as stone and wood fly out, crashing into neighboring stores and houses.
Rose and Dickens run up and help the Doctor to his feet. When he stands up, the three turn and look at the blazing structure. The blonde glares at the Doctor as he brushes his leather jacket off.
"She didn't make it?"
"I'm sorry," he answers. "She closed the rift."
"You left her you bastard!" Yang snarls.
Blake's jaw drops. "He didn't even try to take it from her."
Ruby turns to the Librarian with tears in her eyes. "I thought you said the Doctor is a hero."
"He is."
"At such a poor cost… the poor child," Dickens adds, watching the flames grow into the night sky.
However, the time traveler's companion doesn't cease her gaze.
"I did try, Rose, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes."
"... What?"
"W-what do you mean?"
The Doctor turns back to the building before sighing and answering her. "I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch."
Blake gasps. "He took her pulse! That's why he didn't stay!"
"He still could have tried," Ruby cried. "He could have taken her with him."
"Then they both would have died," Weiss realizes. "She sacrificed herself because she was already gone."
With a growl, Yang punches the armrest. "Then what's the point if people just keep dying for him?"
"Because he saved more than he lost," the Librarian explains. "The Doctor will always need help from those he runs with. But he didn't force her into anything, remember? It was all her choice." Yang sighs, nods, and turns back to the screen.
Rose shakes her head, "but… she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us, she saved us. How could she have done that?"
Instead of the Doctor, Dickens answers. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor." The three once again look upon the wreckage.
"She saved the world," Rose mutters. "A servant girl. No one will ever know."
Blake turns to their guide. "What's that prayer you said when Clive died? A rightful life?"
"A rightful life. A wrongful death. May you find your heaven in the stars and may your next life be better than the last."
"For Gwyneth." Blake nods.
He places a hand on the Faunus' shoulder. "Don't forget Jabe. Don't forget any of them."
After some time, the trio head back towards the T.A.R.D.I.S. The Doctor reaches inside his pockets for the key as he turns to their newfound ally.
"Right then, Charley-boy, I've just got to get into my, um, shed. Won't be long!"
"What are you going to do now?" Rose asks, turning to Dickens.
"I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste," he answers. "This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital."
Ruby sniffles and smiles, wiping away the last of her tears. "He seems happier now."
"A life and death scenario is sometimes the best way to remind someone just how much they have," the Librarian states.
The Doctor and Rose smile at the man's plans. "You've cheered up!" The Time Lord remarks.
"Exceedingly!" Dickens smiles with a hearty chuckle. "This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them!"
Rose frowns. "Do you think that's wise?"
Blake nods in agreement. "Isn't it possible that could impact the future?"
"More so to the point," Weiss adds, "why isn't the Doctor stopping him from doing so?
"I shall be subtle, at first," he explains. "The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals'! I can spread the word, tell the truth!"
"Good luck with it," the Doctor smiles, grasping the author's hand and shaking it. "Nice to meet you. You are fantastic."
"There it is!" Yang cheers.
Rose smiles, also giving his hand a shake. "Bye, then. And thanks." She leans forward and gives him a light kiss on the cheek.
"Oh my dear," he blushes. "How modern! Thank you, but, I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?"
"Everywhere and everywhen," Ruby smiles. "But I hope Rose goes home to visit her mom first."
"Why? She has a time machine. She could be gone for 50 years and come back home a second before she left," Yang comments.
"It just seems like the right thing to do."
"You'll see," the Doctor smiles, opening the door for both him and Rose.
"Upon my soul, Doctor. It's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this: who are you?"
The Time Lord pauses for a long moment. "Just a friend. Passing through."
Team RWBY groans at the Time Lord's deflection.
"Just tell us your name!" Weiss exclaims.
"The Doctor," the Librarian answers.
"Or at least what you used to do," Blake offers.
"Be a doctor."
"... I hate you."
Dickens stares at the man. "But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you… My books, Doctor, do they last?"
"Oh, yes!"
"For how long?"
"Forever," the Doctor answers with complete sincerity.
"Aww."
Dickens smiles and swallows, holding back his emotions as best as he can. The Doctor then turns to Rose. "Right, shed. Come on, Rose."
"What? In the box?" Dickens ponders. "Both of you?"
Smirking, the Doctor responds saying, "down, boy. See ya!"
"Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?" Rose asks after the doors close behind her.
"In a week's time, it's 1870," the Doctor answers when Rose falls in beside him. "and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story."
"Wait, what?!" Blake hisses.
The Librarian nods. "It's true. That book he was talking about, wouldn't have its ending finished. For over a hundred years, the Mystery of Edwin Drood would be incomplete." [3]
"Nooooooo!"
"Oh no," Rose gasps as they look at him through the screen displaying the outside view of the T.A.R.D.I.S. "He was so nice," she adds.
"But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise."
Yang smirks, "let's show Charlie a sight he'll never forget."
To the surprise of the author, Dickens watches as the 'shed' begins to glow and evanescence. He smiles and laughs, listening to the whooshing of the box. After eight long wiezes, the T.A.R.D.I.S dematerializes and vanishes completely.
Ruby sighs. "That never gets old!"
He laughs. Louder and louder as he begins to march throughout the town with outstretched arms.
"Merry Christmas," a man comments to the author.
"Merry Christmas to you!" Dickens responds with a chuckle. To the side, a street choir begins to sing a pleasant song. "God bless us, everyone!" He quotes to himself as he walks through the snow-fallen Christmas night.
"Merry Nondescript Winter Holiday!" RWBY cheers.
"And a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night," the Librarian comments, holding out the remote in front of him.
*Click*
[1] The average minimum wage nowadays is close to 30,000 American dollars. In lien, which is a parody of Japanese yen, is 3,317,940.
[2] A happy medium refers to making a satisfactory compromise.
[3] Charles Dickens would die June 9th, 1870 from a stroke. And, like the Librarian said, the ending for the Mystery of Edwin Drood wouldn't be confirmed until May 19th, 2015.
Tada! Another chapter is done! I absolutely loved this chapter. Once I started writing, I found it hard to stop. This episode was so jammed-packed yet was perfectly paced. I love it.
Team RWBY is going to be constantly reminded that not everyone will survive. I hope they learn to accept this soon or I'll be basically writing the same story a dozen times over.
Next chapter, which will come after I update my other stories, will be another break. Mostly setting up the introduction of another character and getting ready for the first New-Who 2-parter. Which, besides the farting, is AMAZING. I honestly cannot wait to get started on that.
I PM'd a few of you regarding your own reviews. Be sure to check your accounts if you haven't as I love to continue conversations, especially if it involves wanting to help come up with a future chapter idea.
Before anything else, I want to inform y'all about something. That, and to make a plea. In the upcoming days I will be celebrating my 21st birthday (on the 6th). That's why I am posting it today. My wish is to see this story ascend even higher. Is it possible for Remnant Who to reach a few goals by the next chapter?
75 reviews?
100 followers?
And maybe 90 Favorites?
Seriously, that would mean the world to me. I'm so happy to share all of this with you and it makes me cry to see just one of those numbers grow by a single digit. So crushing that goal would be literally making my month.
I love you guys.
Please, feel free to follow and comment on predictions, thoughts, etc. I am always looking for new ways to improve my craft. Tell your friends!
Also, if you have the money, please think about supporting me.
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