The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 21
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, I would flirt with Amy all the time.
A/N: And here's the first chapter of The Fires of Pompeii. I know that I've been doing a lot of the 10th Doctor episodes, but the episode after the next one will be back to the Eleventh Doctor, and Rhea will finally get to meet Amy and Rory! Anyways, I hope you like my rendition of The Fires of Pompeii. I wonder what the soothsayers are going to say about Rhea's role in Season 4's finale. And please keep the reviews coming in, if you don't want to write one, feel free to tell me on Tumblr, so I know that my story's good to continue, even if you want to tell me that it's total crap.
Notes on Reviews:
Mionerocks: Thank you so much I'm so glad you liked drunk Rhea, she was so fun to write. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs in their relationship in the coming chapters, but yes, that was a huge step for them. Rhea's only had guys take advantage of her in that state and she was so surprised when the Doctor resisted her, not that he wanted to, of course, but he respects her so much that he doesn't want to compromise their shaky relationship, despite his feelings.
Aka-Baka Hoshi: I'm glad you like my story! There will be a snippet in my next chapter if I get to 100 reviews by then. Nine did have some great Oncoming Storm moments. There was Dalek and Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways. I think Ten had his own. He had The Idiot's Lantern (even if it was because of Rose), The Runaway Bride, Daleks in Manhatten/Evolution of the Daleks, The Family of Blood, The Doctor's Daughter, Forest of the Dead, Water of Mars. Eleven had quite a few ones as well, I think he had the best actually. The Eleventh Hour's last scene was amazing, where he's all "Hello, I'm the Doctor, basically, run.". His scene with the angel Bob on the radio in Time of the Angels was very good. His dissing of all of the aliens in The Pandorica Opens, so cocky and amazing. There was Day of the Moon, The Doctor's Wife, A Good Man Goes To War, Asylum of the Daleks, A Town Called Mercy, Cold War, The Time of the Doctor. So many with Matt Smith's Doctor.
Warnings: Swearing
The Fires of Pompeii: The Last Day
She looked around to see everyone gripping onto various structures in their vicinities, as stallholders did what they could to save their stalls and merchandise, in vain. She paled. "There are seven hills, but there's only one mountain here." Rhea breathed, gripping onto the Doctor's hand tightly. "One mountain, breathing smoke, which means we're in…" She trailed off.
"Pompeii." The Doctor said, with wide eyes. "We're in Pompeii...and it's Volcano Day!"
The Doctor, Rhea and Donna raced through the streets of Pompeii and arrived at the small tent where they had come from, only to find that the TARDIS was missing.
"You're kidding." Donna said, her mouth gaping, staring at the empty alcove. "Don't tell me the TARDIS is gone."
"Okay." The Doctor nodded.
"Where is it then?" Donna asked, looking around.
The Doctor looked at her. "You told me not to tell you."
Rhea reached up and smacked him up the back of his head. "Don't be a smartass in Latin." Rhea hissed.
The Doctor turned around and walked up to the same stallholder that Donna had been talking to earlier. "Um...excuse me! Excuse me! There was a box, big, blue box. Big, blue, wooden box...just over there." He pointed to the tent. "Where's it gone?"
"Sold it, didn't I?" The stallholder said, smugly.
Rhea came up to them. "But, it wasn't yours to sell…" Rhea said, slowly, trying to point out the obvious.
"It was on my patch, wasn't it?" The stallholder said, defensively, and Rhea threw her hands in the air in exasperation. Everything's about money. "I got 15 sesterce for it. Lovely jubbly" He rubbed his hands together.
Rhea looked at the Doctor, questioningly. Jubbly?
"Who did you sell it to?" The Doctor asked him.
"Old Caecilius. Look...if you want to argue, why don't you take it up with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa can't miss it." The stallholder sighed.
"Thanks." The Doctor said, and the three of them ran off, but the Doctor returned, a little bemused. "What did he buy a big, blue wooden box for?" The Doctor ran through the market streets back to Donna and Rhea. "Ha! I've got it! Foss Street, this way!"
"No," Donna shook her head. "I've found this big sort of amphitheatre I think... We can start there. We can get everyone together. Then maybe they've got a great, big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?" She rambled, looking around.
"What do you want a bell for?" Rhea asked her, confused.
"To warn everyone! To start the evacuation! What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?" Donna asked them.
"It's 79 AD, 23 of August which makes Volcano Day tomorrow." The Doctor said, his face hard.
"Plenty of time. We can get everyone out easy." Donna said, not seeing the problem in what she was suggesting.
"Except we're not going to." The Doctor said, grabbing her by the hand and motioning for Rhea to follow him as well. This was wrong. Very wrong. They shouldn't be here. Not for Pompeii. Not for a place where he couldn't do a damn thing to change it. Pompeii is fixed, you can't do anything.
Rhea paled as she realised what Donna was suggesting. The Doctor had made it very clear. Not this one, the future one, had explained about the delicate nature of fixed points in time. She guessed the destruction of Pompeii was one of those fixed points. They couldn't change it. She flinched. So many people. They were all going to die, and there was no damn thing they could do about it.
Donna, however, didn't budge at all, unaware of the turmoil rising in the other two. "But that's what you do. You're the Doctor. You save people." She said.
"But not this time." The Doctor shook his head, earnestly. "Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is no stopping it." He tried to make her move.
"Says who?" Donna asked, her hands falling to her hips.
"Says me." The Doctor said, lowly, not needing her objection at this point in time.
"What, and you're in charge?" Donna asked.
"TARDIS, Time Lord...yeah."
"Donna, human, no." Donna glared.
"Oh, come on, you two, don't do this now." Rhea groaned.
"I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself." Donna snapped at the Doctor, ignoring Rhea.
The Doctor breathed in, harshly. "You stand in the marketplace and announce the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer." He growled. "Now, come on. TARDIS, we are getting out of here." He stormed off, towards the direction of Foss Street.
"Well, I just might have something to say about that, spaceman!" Donna said, sarcastically.
The Doctor looked back at the two women. "Oh, I bet you will!" He said, not looking pleased about that at all.
Rhea rolled her eyes and grabbed Donna's hand, following the Doctor on his face to Caecilius' villa.
"Positions!" They heard a middle-aged man call out as they approached the entrance hall of Caecilius' villa. They entered the house just as another earthquake shook the ground. Barely managing it, the Doctor stepped forward and seized a large, marble bust that was about to fall onto the floor.
"Whoa!" The Doctor exclaimed, slapping its cheeks. "There you go." He said, handing it to the middle-aged man.
"Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor." The man told them. Rhea assumed that this was Caecilius. She frowned a bit, she remembered studying someone named Caecilius, who lived in Pompeii at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius. This couldn't be the same Caecilius. Could it? What are the chances?
"Oh, that's me." The Doctor said, leaning forward to shake Caecilius' hand. "I'm a visitor. Hello."
Caecilius frowned, looking between the two women and the unusual man. "Who are you?"
"Aurelia." Rhea said, quickly. You and your gold motif, Rhea.
"I am…Spartacus." The Doctor answered, ignoring Rhea's groan.
"And so am I." Donna agreed.
Rhea hung her head. Of course she is.
"Mr and Mrs Spartacus?" Caecilius asked, looking at them both.
Both Donna's and the Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh no, we're not married." The Doctor said. moving away from Donna and closer to Rhea so that their hips were touching.
"Not together." Donna agreed, shaking her head frantically.
"Oh, then brother and sister? Yes, of course. You look very much alike." Caecilius said.
Rhea looked at them, squinting, trying to see if she could find a likeness. No, sorry, nothing.
"Really?" The Doctor and Donna asked in unison, confused as much as Rhea was.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade."
"And that trade would be…?" The Doctor trailed of.
"Marble. Lucius Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man." Caecilius said, proudly.
"That's good." The Doctor nodded. "That's good, 'cause I'm the marble inspector." He said, abruptly, brandishing the psychic paper at the man.
One of the women in the room stood up, her eyes wide. "By the gods of commerce, an inspection." She glared at the young man next to her, taking his cup of wine by force. "I'm sorry, sir. I do apologize for my son." She apologized, pouring what was left of the wine into the pool.
"Oi!" The boy shouted.
"This is my good wife, Metella." Caecilius motioned to the woman who had just spoken. "I-I must confess, we're not prepared for a-" He stammered.
The Doctor smiled. "Nothing to worry about. I-I'm sure you've got nothing to hide. Although, frankly," The Doctor spotted the big, blue wooden box they had been searching for, tucked in a corner of the atrium. "That...object…rather looks like wood to me." The three of them walked towards the TARDIS.
"I told you to get rid of it!" Metella hissed at her husband, terrified of what the consequences might be.
"I only bought it today." Caecilius protested.
The Doctor shrugged in response. "Ah, well. Caveat Emptor."
"Oh, you're Celtic. There's lovely." Caecilius said.
"I'm sure it's fine but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection." The Doctor said, looking back at the man.
"Although…" Donna started, making Rhea and the Doctor look at her. "While we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus, Aurelia?" Donna said, meaningfully, looking at them both.
The Doctor pursed his lips, frustrated. "I don't know what you mean, Spartacus." The Doctor said, through gritted teeth.
"Oh, this lovely family, mother and father and son... Don't you think they should get out of town?" Donna said, eyeing them both.
Rhea shut her eyes. She could see where Donna was coming from, but it wasn't like they could do anything to save all of these people. If they did, the future might change dramatically. Things that happened because Pompeii fell might never happen. For that reason alone, they couldn't change things.
"Why should we do that?" Caecilius asked, confused.
The Doctor rubbed his eyes as Donna tried to explain to them without giving too much away.
"Well, the volcano for starters." Donna told them.
"What?" Caecilius looked puzzled.
"Volcano." Donna repeated.
"What-ano?" Caecilius asked, leaning forward slightly, in case his hearing was off.
"That great big volcano right on your doorstep." Donna said, slowly.
Rhea rolled her eyes and smacked her forhead. "Oh, Spartacus, Spartacus, for shame," She said, addressing both Donna and the Doctor with hard looks. "We haven't even greeted the household gods yet." She grabbed their hands and pulled them towards the shrine, without giving them time to protest.
"Where did you learn that?" The Doctor whispered in her ear.
"I studied Latin every year in high school, not to mention a year or two in college. I know a few things." She said, winking at him. She turned to Donna. "They don't even know what a volcano is."
"Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet." The Doctor explained, sprinkling water over the small statues. "The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow."
"Oh great. They can learn a new word...when they die." Donna hissed, sarcastically.
Rhea ran her hand through her hair. "Donna, please stop it."
"Listen," Donna snapped, looking at the two. "I don't know what sort of kids you two have been flyin' around with in outer space, but you're not telling me to shut up. That boy..." She pointed at Caecilius' son. "How old is he, sixteen? And tomorrow he burns to death."
"And that's our fault?" The Doctor asked.
"Right now, yes!"
"Would you two stop arguing like children?" Rhea said, angrily. She could feel a headache coming on because of their bickering. "I'm not babysitting you both."
"How can you be okay with this?" Donna hissed, looking at Rhea. Donna thought, of all people, that Rhea would be the one to object to letting all of these people die.
"Of course, I'm not okay with this." Rhea snapped, losing control of her temper. "There aren't many people who would be okay with letting twenty-thousand people die. But we can't do anything about it." Rhea said, through gritted teeth. "It could change our future." She said, calming down a bit. "Our own history could change, which means we might never come with the Doctor to save Pompeii in the first place. We might never have existed. The Doctor might have died centuries ago. So many things could happen differently by changing what happens here. But that's not the only problem. Fixed points in time cannot be altered. Time would collapse and die. Reality would fall apart." Rhea explained, repeating exactly what the bow-tie wearing Doctor had told her about fixed points in time in her own words. She didn't even want to know if he had first-hand experience with that.
A servant entered the entrance hall.
"Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the city government." The servant said.
Rhea, the Doctor and Donna turned on their feet to see who would enter. A greying older man strode in, confident in his position and his status, wearing his white and grey cloak so it draped over his right side. The man had a hard look on his face, one that told Rhea that he didn't have much fun in his life.
"Lucius, my pleasure as always." Caecilius said, generously.
The Doctor, Rhea and Donna left the shrine, curious to see the visitor.
"Quintus, stand up!" Metella hissed at the young man.
Quintus stood up with a long-suffering sigh.
"A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house." Caecilius gushed, holding out his hand, which Lucius ignored.
"The births are flying north… and the wind is in the west." Lucius remarked, mystically.
"Right. Absolutely." Caecilius said, puzzled. "That's good, is it?" He asked, nervously.
"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow." Lucius said in the same strange tone he had used before.
"There now, Metella, have you ever heard such wisdom?" Caecilius said, proudly, to his wife, motioning for her to come and stand next to him.
"Never." Metella smiled. "It's an honour."
"Pardon me, sir, I have guests. This is Spartacus, Aurelia, and, uh, Spartacus." Caecilius said, unwillingly.
The Doctor, Rhea and Donna waved.
"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind." Lucius said, not looking the three visitors in the eye.
"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark." The Doctor replied.
Lucius took a few steps forward. "Ah! What is the dark other than an omen of the sun?"
The Doctor hung his head slightly. "I concede that every sun must set..."
"Ha!" Lucius interrupted.
"...and yet the son of the father must also rise." The Doctor finished, pleased with himself.
"Damn. Very clever, sir. Evidently a man of learning."
The Doctor grinned. That was definitely an understatement. "Oh yes, but don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo."
"He's Celtic." Caecilius whispered to Lucius.
"We'll be off in a minute." The Doctor said, taking Donna's hand. The three of them headed for the TARDIS.
"I'm not going." Donna protested, subdued.
Rhea kept her eye on the augur, not trusting him at all.
"It's ready, sir." She heard Caecilius tell Lucius.
"You've got to." The Doctor growled.
"Well, I'm not." Donna said.
"The moment of revelation." Caecilius said, dramatically, as he unveiled a square piece of marble. "And here it is."
Rhea's eyes widened as the square piece of marble looked like it had a large circuit etched into it, which was definitely an anachronism in this day and age. She elbowed the Doctor in the back, so that he would look at the circuit. The Doctor turned around, annoyed, about to say something angry to Rhea when he caught sight of what Caecilius was showing Lucius.
"Exactly as you specified. It pleases you, sir?" Caecilius asked Lucius, nervously.
The three time-travelers stopped.
"Doesn't it look like a circuit to you?" Rhea whispered to the Doctor.
"It looks familiar." The Doctor said, his face hard. Rhea looked up at him, seeing his face set in stone.
"As the rain pleases the soil." Lucius muttered, vaguely.
The Doctor rejoined them, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Oh now that's...different. Who designed that then?"
"My lord Lucius was very specific." Caecilius told them, which only heightened Rhea's distrust of the soothsayer.
"Where did you get the pattern?" Rhea asked the soothsayer.
"On the rain and mist and wind." Rhea rolled her eyes.
"Well, that looks like a circuit." Donna added.
"Made of stone." Rhea finished.
"Do you mean you just dreamt that up?" The Doctor asked Lucius.
"That is my job...as City Augur." Lucius said,
"What's that then, like the mayor?" Donna asked.
Rhea flinched and she and the Doctor pulled Donna aside.
"Oh, ah, you must excuse my friend. She's from...Barcelona." The Doctor told the others before turning to Donna. "This is an age of superstition...of official superstition. The augur is paid by the city to tell the future. "The wind will blow from the west." That's the equivalent of the 10:00 news."
A young teenage girl joined them, Metella's arm around her shoulders, her face sickly pale and drawn and her eyes bloodshot.
She looks sick. Not just 'common cold' sick, but 'need to hospitalised' sick. She looks like she's going to fall down any minute. Her legs look like they can't keep her up. Rhea eyed the girl with worry and curiosity.
"They're laughing at us. These three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us." The girl accused.
The Doctor's eyes widened as he looked at the others, nervously. "No, no. I meant no offence."
Metella apologised on behalf of her daughter. "My daughter's been consuming the vapours." She explained, walking over to her daughter.
Quintus glared at his mother, furious. "By the gods, Mother! What have you been doing to her?"
"Not now, Quintus." Caecilius told him, sharply.
"But she's sick. Just look at her."
"I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift." Lucius said, narrowing his eyes at the girl.
"Oh, she's been promised to the Sybiline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions." Metella said, with all the enthusiasm of a proud mother.
"The prophecies of women are limited and dull." Lucius scoffed. "Only the men folk have the capacity for true perception."
Rhea snorted. "True perception, my ass." Rhea muttered. "If men had half the perception women did, the world wouldn't be going to hell."
"I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate." Donna muttered as well.
The ground shook beneath them, suddenly, Rhea was reminded of the fact that Vesuvius was due to blow any time now.
"The mountain god marks your words. I'd be careful if I were you." Lucius warned the women.
"Consuming the vapours, you say?" The Doctor asked, steering the conversation away from Rhea and Donna.
"They give me strength." The girl said.
Rhea snorted. Oh, honey, you look anaemic.
"It doesn't look like it to me." The Doctor said, voicing Rhea's thoughts in a more sensible and polite manner.
"Is that your opinion...as doctors?" The girl asked, cocking her head.
Rhea tensed and the Doctor's eyes went wide. She stepped up so that she was standing right next to him.
"I beg your pardon?" The Doctor asked, frowning at her, wondering how she could know that. He hadn't introduced himself as the Doctor and Rhea hadn't even spoken her name.
"Doctor. That's your name." The girl replied. She turned to Rhea. "And you, you are a physician of the mind."
Rhea pursed her lips, recoiling slightly. She didn't like it when she wasn't in control.
"How did you know that?" The Doctor asked the girl, bewildered.
"And you, you call yourself noble." The girl said, suddenly turning to Donna.
"Now then Evelina, don't be rude." Metella said, cautiously, coming up to her daughter, her eyes darting between the three unknown visitors, Lucius and her daughter.
"No," Rhea shook her head, eyeing the girl with suspicion. She knew too much. How did she know that? "Let her talk."
"The three of you have come from so far away." Evelina murmured, staring at them with red and empty eyes.
"A female soothsayer in inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries." Lucius sneered at Evelina.
"Oh, not this time, Lucius. I reckon you've been out-soothsaid." The Doctor said, not taking his eyes off Evelina.
"Is that so…man of Gallifrey?" Lucius asked, staring at the Doctor.
Rhea paled and spun on her feet, turning to face him the moment he uttered the name of the Doctor's fallen home. She felt the Doctor grip her hand tight, almost to the point of pain, and turned to look at him. His eyes were haunted and worried, his face hard, his mouth set. She rubbed his arm to give him a little bit of comfort.
"What?" The Doctor breathed.
"Strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?" Lucius asked.
"Doctor? How do they know that?" Rhea asked, but then Lucius' attention was directed towards her.
"And you, the golden woman, born in the waters of India but the light of Italy shines through you still." Lucius said, staring at her, intently.
Rhea swallowed hard.
"Doctor, what are they doing?" Donna asked, looking at their worried faces and getting a little anxious herself.
"And you, daughter of...London." The auger turned to address Donna.
Donna's eyes widened. "How does he know that?" She hissed.
"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth." Lucius explained.
"But that's impossible." Donna said, shaking her head.
"Doctor, she is returning." Lucius told the bemused man.
Rhea frowned. "Who is? Who's she?"
"You, the Italian daughter of Arabia, a woman who is tangled in the heart of Time and will be touched by her flames soon. At the End of Days, a goddess shall awaken from the ashes." The augur told her.
Rhea's hands shook and the Doctor's hand left hers to come around her shoulder, pulling her into his side, offering her some comfort as the soothsayer's prediction struck a chord in her.
"And you, daughter of London," Lucius fixed Donna with a stare. "You have something on your back." He said, ominously.
"What's that mean?" Donna asked, clutching onto Rhea's hand with an iron grip.
"Even the word "Doctor" is false." Evelina interrupted, looking at the Doctor. Rhea frowned and made to say something but Evelina began before she could say anything. "It burns in the stars of the cascade of Medusa herself. And in the future of a goddess." Evelina said, turning to Rhea. The girl paused. "You are a lord, sir. A lord...of time." She murmured and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Evelina!" Metella screamed.
Rhea's and the Doctor's eyes widened and Metella and the two rushed to Evelina's prone figure.
Evelina was lying unconscious on her bed, while Metella was taking care of her, and Donna and Rhea approached.
"She didn't mean to be rude. She's ever such a good girl." Metella tried to explain to them. "But when the gods speak through her..." She unwrapped a yellow cloth that was tied around Evelina's forearm.
Rhea frowned. "What's wrong with her arm?"
"An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night." Metella said, not taking her eyes off her daughter.
"What is it?" Donna asked, as the two women walked closer.
"Evelina said you both had come from far away." Metella looked at them, hopefully. "She said you were a doctor." She said, addressing Rhea. "Please, have you ever seen anything like it?"
When the cloth came off, Rhea could see that Evelina's forearm was utterly and completely grey and slightly cracked, like a rock. Donna ran her fingers along Evelina's arm, feeling the texture of the skin.
"It's stone." Donna said, confused, voicing Rhea's thoughts.
The Doctor and Caecilius sat beside the hypocaust and the Doctor removed the grill covering the heating device.
"Ah! Different sort of hypocaust." The Doctor exclaimed.
"Oh, yes, we're very advanced in Pompeii. In Rome, they're still using the old wood-burning furnaces, but we've got hot springs...leading from Vesuvius itself." Caecilius told them.
"Who thought of that?" The Doctor asked, frowning.
"The soothsayers after the great earthquake 17 years ago. An awful lot of damage but we rebuilt." Caecilius said, proudly.
"Didn't you think of moving away?" The Doctor paused. "Oh, no, then again, San Francisco." Then he winced. He didn't want to know what Rhea would say or do if she found out he was insulting her hometown.
"That's a new restaurant in Naples, isn't it?" Caecilius said, completely missing the point.
The Doctor looked down into the heating system, where he could hear a loud grating and rumbling. "What's that noise?" The Doctor asked, frowning.
"Don't know. Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring." Caecilius said.
"But after the earthquake..." The Doctor's eyes dawned with realisation. "Let me guess. Is that when the soothsayers started making sense?"
"Oh yes, very much so. I mean, they'd always been...shall we say "imprecise"?" Caecilius said, hesitantly, hoping to be as diplomatic as possible about a shaky issue. "But then...the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision."
The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "Have they said anything about tomorrow?" He asked, cautiously. If they were able to predict events so accurately, why wouldn't they know that tomorrow was the day that Vesuvius erupts?
"No." Caecilius shook his head. "Why should they? Why do you ask?"
"No, no, no reason. Just asking." The Doctor changed the subject, the less he spoke about tomorrow, the better. "But the soothsayers...they all consume the vapours?"
Caecilius nodded. "That's how they see."
The Doctor slipped on his glasses. "Ipso facto…" He murmured, leaning into the hypocaust.
"Look, you…"
The Doctor straightened. "They're all consuming this." He grasped a few shattered pieces of rock and pinched the particles between his fingers, rubbing them.
"Dust?"
"Tiny particles of rock." He corrected. He sprinkled a few before he put the rest in his mouth, tasting them. "They're breathing in Vesuvius." He said, grimly.
The Doctor left Caecilius and walked into comfortable place, where Quintus was lounging, sipping a cup of wine.
"Quintus, me old son...this Lucius Petrus Dextrus, where does he live?" The Doctor asked.
"Nothing to do with me." Quintus said, disinterestedly.
The Doctor nodded. He walked forward so that he was beside the lounge. "This Lucius Petrus Dextrus..." He started to repeat and pulled a coin out from behind Quintus' ear, smirking to himself when he saw the boy's amazement and the desire in his eyes once he caught sight of the gold coin. "Where does he live?"
Quintus, who was holding a torch, led the Doctor through a row of empty streets and stopped outside a house, which, the Doctor assumed, was the chief augur's.
"Don't tell my dad." Quintus warned.
The Doctor leapt onto a barrel in an impressive show, before climbing onto the windowsill. "Only if you don't tell mine." The Doctor gave him a parting glance before entering the villa.
When the Doctor entered the inside of Lucius' villa, it was completely dark with the exception of the light coming from the hypocaust.
"Pass me that torch." The Doctor told Quintus.
The Doctor looked around, making sure that no one was around. Quintus looked around, himself, nervously, before climbing through the window and joining the Doctor. The Doctor looked quickly behind a curtain and then handed Quintus the torch. With both hands free, the Doctor pulled down the curtain to reveal more pieces of marble with circuitry etched on them.
"The liar." Quintus said, staring the tablets. "He told my father it was the only one."
The Doctor slipped on his glasses and made to inspect the pieces of marble more closely. "Well...plenty of marble merchants in this town. Tell them all the same thing; get all the components from different places so no one can see what you're building." He explained.
"Which is what?" Quintus asked, looking at the Doctor.
"The future…Doctor." The Doctor and Quintus turned around, quickly. "We are building the future as dictated by the gods."
Evelina laughed as Donna and Rhea got used their new Roman gowns. Donna's was a purple gown that fell to her feet with half-sleeves and scoop neck. Rhea didn't even need to change, she just figured it would get hot very soon in her long white and black Indian dress.
"You're not supposed to laugh. Thanks for that." Donna said, wryly.
"I don't know, I think we look pretty ridiculous." Rhea said as she looked down at the pale green Roman dress she wore.
"What do you think?" Donna struck a pose, looking at Evelina and Rhea. "The goddess Venus."
"Definitely." Rhea said, grinning.
"Oh, that's sacrilege." Evelina said, laughing in disbelief.
Donna smiled and the two took their place on the bed beside Evelina. "Nice to see you laugh, though." Donna commented. "What do you do in old Pompeii, then...girls your age? You got...mates? Do you go hangin' about 'round the shops? T.K. Maximus?"
Evelina shook her head. "I'm promised to the sisterhood for the rest of my life."
Rhea frowned. "Do you get any choice in that?"
Evelina stared at her, confused. "It's not my decision. I have the gift of sight. The sisters chose for me." She said, slowly, as if she were explaining this to a child.
"Then… what can you see happening tomorrow?" Donna asked, hesitating.
Rhea stifled a groan and hung her head. Donna doesn't plan to quit, does she?
Evelina's eyebrows furrowed. "Is tomorrow special?"
"You tell me. What do you see?"
Evelina closed her eyes. "The sun will rise. The sun will set. Nothing special at all." She opened her eyes.
"Look…" Donna started, ignoring Rhea's glare. "Don't tell the Doctor I said anything 'cause he'll kill me...but I've got a prophecy too."
Evelina covered her eyes with her palms, but still was able to hear anything that Donna said.
"Evelina, I'm sorry," Donna said, mistaking Evelina's reaction as one of despair. "But you've got to hear me out..." Evelina didn't seem to be paying attention to her. "Evelina, can you hear me? Listen."
"There is only one prophecy." Evelina said, stubbornly.
"But everything I'm about to say to you is true. I swear." Donna pleaded. "Just listen to me."
"Donna, don't you dare." Rhea warned, dangerously.
But Donna ignored Rhea. "Tomorrow, that mountain is going to explode. Evelina, please listen. The air is going to fill with ash and rocks...tons and tons of it and...this whole town is gonna get buried."
Evelina shook her head and Rhea's eyes closed.
"That's not true." Evelina said.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but everyone's gonna die." Donna said, sadly. "Even if you don't believe me, just tell your family to get out of town...just for one day, just for tomorrow. But you've got to get out! Just leave Pompeii!"
Evelina looked upset and angry. "This is false prophecy!" She cried out and removed her hands from her eyes.
The Doctor was arranging the marble slabs. "Put this one...there." He murmured, taking another one from Quintus. "This one...there. Uh...I'll keep that one upside down. What have you got?"
"Enlighten me." Lucius said, folding his arms.
"What?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The soothsayer doesn't know?"
"The seed may float on the breeze in any direction."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that. But...it's an energy converter." He said, pointing at the slabs of marble.
Lucius frowned. "An energy converter of what?"
The Doctor grinned. "I don't know. Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing, keeps me on my toes." He walked over to stand beside Lucius. "It must be awful, being a prophet. Waking up every morning, "Is it raining? Yes, it is. I said so." Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius? Hmm? Who gave you these instructions?" The Doctor looked at Lucius, waiting for an answer.
Lucius glared at him. "I think you've babbled long enough."
The Doctor sighed. "Lucius, really, tell me honestly. I'm on your side. I can help."
"You insult the gods!" Lucius growled. "There can be only one sentence. At arms!"
Lucius' guards stormed into the room and the Doctor backed away, removing his glasses quickly.
"Oh, morituri te salutant." The Doctor muttered.
"Celtic prayers won't help you now." Lucius said, making the Doctor roll his eyes.
"But it was him, sir. He made me do it. Sir Dextrus, please don't." Quintus begged, shifting his eyes between the Doctor and Lucius.
The Doctor's shoulders slumped and he gave Quintus a disappointed glance. "Come on now, Quintus...dignity in death. I respect your victory, Lucius. Shake on it?" The Doctor said, slowly, holding out a hand. "Come on." He wiggled the fingers of the hand he had extended. "Dying man's wish?" He tried. Then, he lunged, grabbed Lucius' hand and yanked as hard as he could, giving a knowing look when Lucius' arm came right off.
"But he's…" Quintus stammered.
"Show me." The Doctor said, grimly, staring at the stone hand he was holding.
Lucius threw back his cloak to reveal the stump of a stone arm. "The work of the gods."
"He's stone!" Quintus exclaimed.
"'Armless enough, though." The Doctor joked. "Whoops!" He threw the arm back at Lucius and ran. "Quintus!"
Quintus threw his torch at one of the guards and clambered out of the window, while the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver on the circuits.
"Out! Out! Out! Hurry!" The Doctor shouted.
"The carvings!" Lucius cried out.
The Doctor jumped from the window onto the street.
"Run!" The Doctor shouted at Quintus.
They raced through the streets until the Doctor was sure that none of the guards were following them.
"No sign of 'em. Nice little bit of allons-y. I think we're all right." The Doctor said, panting. He patted the young man on the shoulder
"But his arm, Doctor. Is that what's happening to Evelina?" Quintus asked, with a worried look on his face.
Suddenly, they heard a loud booming sound. The Doctor's eyes widened.
"What's that?" The Doctor asked, looking around.
"The mountain?" Quintus asked and they both turned around as the sound continued.
"No," The Doctor shook his head. "It's closer."
The thudding continued and stalls and baskets near the two fell over, even though there didn't seem to be anything there.
"They're footsteps." The Doctor murmured.
"It can't be." Quintus shook his head.
"Footsteps underground." The Doctor said, staring at the underground with amazement.
"What is it? What is it?" Quintus said, panicking.
The Doctor turned Quintus around, forcibly, and they continued running. As they passed vents, steam blew up like geysers.
A/N: And there we go! The first part of The Fires of Pompeii, which showed quite a bit into Rhea's view on her travels with the Doctor. She accepts what he has to do and she goes along with him, because she understands he knows better. The explanation of what happens when you alter a fixed point was based on The Wedding of River Song and the information from the Doctor Who Wiki. And there was an interesting prediction from the soothsayers about Rhea, wasn't there? I do have plans for Turn Left/The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, however, as series finales go, I plan on doing Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords first. Season 4's finales won't be for awhile, I just wanted to get it out there. The prediction was kind of hard to write, I wrote like six different versions of it before choosing this one, so hopefully you all like it!
The chapters after the next one will be much slower because I start university in two weeks (exactly, actually) and I have four orientation days over the next two weeks as well. I'm wicked nervous about starting university. Because I'm starting uni, I wanted to have quite a few chapters written as I post, so the next chapter will be posted on the 13th, but any ones after that will have to wait until maybe Monday next week or even later.
Don't worry, though, I have posted the cover for Voyage of the Damned on my Tumblr, go check it out!
Anyway, Read and Review!