"You have got to be kidding me." Donna said, having woken to find herself at the mercy of the red-robed women who had kidnapped her.
"The False Prophet will surrender both her blood - and her breath." One of the women said, she had a necklace that none of the other women surrounding Donna had. She was also holding a knife with a curved handle.
"I'll surrender you in a minute." Donna quipped. She faintly heard a snort but she couldn't pinpoint the location. "Don't you dare!" She yelled at one of the women who got too close to her.
"You will be silent." The Woman ordered
"Listen, sister." Donna commanded, "You might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you'll have eyes be in the back of your head by the time I've finished with you!" her voice got louder "LET me GO!"
"This prattling voice will cease forever!" The woman said, raising the knife
"Oh, that'll be the day." The Doctor said, strolling into the room with one hand in his pocket and the other around Chris' waist. Donna gave Chris a pitying look, seeing that she had red puffy eyes and a runny nose.
"No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl." The head woman said
"Well, that's all right, just us girls." The Doctor said, smiling when Chris let out a small giggle.
"Do you know, I met the Sibyl once, hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella! Nice teeth. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last, she said, "I know". Well, she would." The Doctor was by Donna now, having distracted the women with his speech. "You alright there?"
"Oh, never better." Donna said
"I like the toga." The Doctor said, squeezing Chris' waist. He obviously was nervous about the condition that Chris was in. Donna had never seen her this bad.
"Thank you." Donna said before tugging at her binding"And the ropes?"
"Yeah, not so much." The Doctor said sonicking her hands free
"What magic is this?" The leader of the Sibyl demanded to know
"Let me tell you about the Sibyl, the founder of this religion." The Doctor said, handing Chris to Donna who wrapped the woman in a hug. "She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word? On the blade of a knife?"
"Yes, a knife that now welcomes you." The woman said, raising the knife
"Show me this man and woman!" An older woman called from behind the screen before anyone could react. All the women turned and knelt as Chris drew her feet up beside her on the bed.
"High Priestess, the stranger would defile us." The woman with the knife called
"Let me see." The High Priestess called again. "These two are different. He carries starlight in his wake. She carries the Rain inside."
Donna dragged Chris up so that she stood on the Doctor's left and Chris was on his right. She glanced at the black haired woman to see that she was a lot calmer than she appeared and she was looking around to room with keen eyes.
"Oh, very perceptive." The Doctor said with a glance at Chris, shoulders relaxing when she saw that she was looking better. Though her eyes were still puffy and her nose still ran. The Doctor fished in his pocket for a handkerchief.
"Where do these words of wisdom come from?" Chris asked, her voice strong.
"The gods whisper to me." The High Priestess said
"They've done far more than that." Chris quipped, giving the Doctor a hint. She accepted the handkerchief with a raised eyebrow and then noisily blew her nose, "Sorry bout that," She apologized, "allergies."
The Doctor and Donna scoffed, Chris glared at them.
"Might I beg audience?" The Doctor asked grinning at Chris who just shook her head at him, "Look upon the High Priestess?"
"Oh, my God." Donna exclaimed when the curtain was moved to reveal a woman who was almost all stone, "What's happened to YOU?"
"The heavens have blessed me." The High Priestess said
"If I might" The Doctor said, walking up to the High Priestess to inspect the stone closer, "Does it hurt?"
"It is necessary." The High Priestess told The Doctor
"Who told you that?" Chris asked the High Priestess, looking not at all shocked by the woman's body turning to stone.
"The voices." The High Priestess said
"Is that what's gonna happen to Evelina?" Donna asked before circling to look at the rest of the Silbylline priestesses "Is this what's gonna happen to all of you?"
"The blessings are manifold." One of the women said, showing her arm to Donna and Chris
"They're stone." Donna commented feeling the woman's arm
"Exactly." The Doctor said, stepping away from the High Priestess, "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone BEFORE the volcano erupts." He turned to face the High Priestess, hands in his pocket "But why?"
"This word, this image in your mind." The High Priestess said, "This volcano What is that? More to the point, why don't you know about it?"
"Who are you?" The Doctor demanded
"High Priestess of the Sibylline." The High Priestess spat out
"No, no, no, no, no, he's talking to the creature inside you." Chris said, stepping up next to the Doctor and grinning.
"The thing seeding itself into a human body, in the dust, in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into" The Doctor glanced around the room, "What?"
"Your knowledge is impossible." The High Priestess said, her body rocking back and forth.
"Oh, but you can read my mind, you know it's not." The Doctor said "I demand you tell me who you are!"
"We are awakening." The High Priestess said her voice sounding gravely
"The voice of the gods!" The other priestess called before beginning to chant, "Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom, words of power"
"Name yourself!" The Doctor called "Planet of origin. Galactic coordinates. Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation."
"We are rising." The High Priestess said, her voice was no longer her own.
"Tell me your name!" The Doctor shouted, throwing his arms out and nearly hitting Chris, wh who had to jump out of the way.
"Pyrovile."
"Pyrovile, Pyrovile, Pyrovile" The women began chanting. Chris reached her hand into her coat and pulled out a water gun that the Doctor had given her before they left Caecilius' house.
"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked, looking between Chris and the Doctor
"Well that's a Pyrovile, growing inside HER." The Doctor said, "She's the halfway stage."
"And that turns into-" Donna asked
"That thing in the villa was an adult Pyrovile." Chris said, "Nasty little bas-"
"Language," The Doctor yelled.
"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate YOU, Doctor." THe High Priestess threatened as she stood up before the group. Chris was surprised that she could move
"I warn you, I'm armed!" The Doctor said, raising his own water pistol "Donna, get that grille open." He gestured over to the side of the dias that the High Priestess had been sitting on
"What for?" Donna asked looking to where the Doctor had gestured
"He has a thing and he needs it open, Donna," Chris said so that the Doctor could focus. The sooner that they were out of there the better.
"What are the Pyrovile doing here?" The Doctor asked, gratefull for Chris' support.
"We fell from the heavens." The almost- Pyrovile said, "We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust."
"Right, creatures of stone, shattered on impact." The Doctor nodded along, aiming his water pistol around the room as Chris' kept her's pointed at the almost- Pyrovile
"When was that, 17 years ago?" Chris asked when she noticed that the Doctor was distracted.
"We have slept beneath for thousands of years." The creature informed them
"OK, so 17 years ago woke you up, and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves," Chris said before the Doctor interrupted her.
"But why the psychic powers?" The Doctor asked
"We opened their minds and found such gifts." The Pyrovile told them, almost smugly
"OK, so you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond, I get that, I get that" The Doctor said
"But seeing the future, that is way beyond psychic, you can see through time." Chris continued,
"Where does the gift of prophecy come from?" The Doctor asked
"Got it!" Donna exclaimed and the Doctor whirled toward her
"Now get down!" The Doctor ordered, turning back to face the Pyrovile
"What, down there?" Donna asked
"Yes, down there." The Doctor almost mocked, "You too, Chris."
Chris saluted him and ran over to Donna, ushering her down the grate opening.
"Why can't they predict a volcano?" The Doctor demanded to know as he too moved to the grate, "Why is it being hidden?"
"Sisters, I see into his mind." The leader of the priestesses called, "Their weapons are harmless!"
"Yeah, but it's gotta sting." Chris said, shooting water at the High Priestess and then pushing Donna down the hole.
"Get down there!" The Doctor yelled at her, also shooting at the High Priestess.
"You fought her off with a water pistol." Donna said once the three of them were down there. "I bloody love you two!"
"This way!" The Doctor said, having found the way into the volcano. He pulled Chris along, expecting Donna to follow
"Where are we going now?" Donna demanded, not quite willing to follow.
"Into the volcano." The Doctor told her
"No way." Donna said, refusing to move.
"Yes way." Chris said, grabbing Donna's hand and dragging her along.
"Appian way." The Doctor said brightly, moving ahead of Donna and Chris.
Back in the Sybilline cloisters the Pyrovile spoke as the High Priestess in front of the Sisters of Sybilline.
"The stranger would threaten our great endeavour. The time has come. The prophecy must ADVANCE!" The High Priestess told her Daughters in her raspy voice
In his own rooms Lucius was breathing in the smoke of Vesuvius.
"The prophecy must advance." The Augur said, "Thy will be done. Summon the Cult of Vulcan."
"Yes, sir." A servant told him
"We must go to the mountain. Vesuvius awaits."
Caecilius blew out the final candle. Daylight had come at last and the family felt braver due to the light. But they all knew it was far from over, Vesuvius was still angry.
"Sunrise, my love." Caecilius said, rejoining the distraught Metella on the couch she was seated on, "A new day. Even the longest night must end."
"The mountain's worse than ever." Quintus pointed out, he didn't need his father getting ahead of himself.
"We killed a messenger of the gods in our own house." Metella said, her voice quivering, "And Christi, oh my love, what of Christi?" She turned to Evelina, "Sweetheart, can you see? Tell us.
What's going to happen?"
"Just leave her alone." Quintus protested, only for Evelina to interrupt him.
"I can see" she said, letting her head fall back
"What is it?" Metella asked, watching her daughter with concern
"A choice." Evelina said, "Someone must make a choice." She opened her eyes and her family saw that she was in tears, "The most terrible choice. And there's nothing she can do to stop it."
"But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right, for you to stop it?" Donna asked after only moments of silence.
"Still part of history." The Doctor said, not looking back at Donna.
Chris could see how tense he was and wished more than anything she could help. But she couldn't screw it up. Not this time. This was a fixed point and there was nothing they could do about it. The sooner Donna understood that the better it was for everyone.
"But I'm history to you." Donna said, "You saved me, in 2008, you saved us all. Why's that different?"
"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux." The Doctor explained, "Pompeii is fixed."
"How do you know which is which?" Donna asked, The Doctor turned around abruptly and had to catch Chris to keep her from falling as she ran into him.
"Because that's how I see the universe." The Doctor said harshly, "Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of the Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left."
"How many people died?" Donna asked, not even pausing to let what The Doctor said sink in.
"Stop it." The Doctor warned.
"Doctor, how many people died?" Donna repeated her question. The Doctor stopped walking, Chris nearly ran into him again.
"20,000"
"Is that what you can see, Doctor? All 20,000? And you think that's all right, do you?"
"Donna," Chris started to admonish but she was stopped by the Doctor as the ground started to rumble and there was a screech
"They know we're here." The Doctor said, he said, grabbing both of their hands and tugging them after him. He let go once they reached an incline so that he had both hands to scramble up with. "Come on!"
"Almighty Vesuvius, accept these offerings, in Vulcan's design, and show unto us, I beseech you, the gods of the Underworld." Lucius called. He and seven others were standing at and opening into Vesuvius where one of the Pyroviles was exiting the mountain.
The Doctor led Chris and Donna closer to the heart of Vesuvius. Chris was at the back of the group now and the closer they go to the heart the more anxious Chris got. She was sweating buckets and felt parched. Her head was starting to pound and she felt a little faint too.
They never show this on TV Chris complained to Rain. The heat and the dehydration and the headaches. I mean, unless the headaches are necessary to the plot of course. But this stuff, climbing through dusty tunnels, they'd never show that.
Can you blame them? Rain asked, This stuff is boring. Imagine just having to watch it, not even getting to participate.
"It's the heart of Vesuvius" The Doctor said, preventing Chris from asking her next question. "We're right inside the mountain."
The were stopped at the edge of a cave which had thousands of Pyroviles inside. By then Chris was overheating and she could see sweat running down the backs of her two friends.
"There's tons of them." Donna remarked
"What's that thing?" The Doctor muttered, pulling out a small telescope
"Oh, hurry up and think of something, Rocky fall's on its way." Donna grumbled, looking around the cave nervously.
"That's how they arrived." The Doctor said pointing to a bit of bright red that Chris could barely see in the distance. She snatched the telescope from the Doctor to see that it was more compute chip looking things.
"Or what's left of it." Chris added.
"Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?" The Doctor said, "But why do they need a volcano?"
"Maybe it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something." Donna offered
"Oh, it's worse than that." Chris said, not really paying attention.
"How could it be worse?" Donna snapped as the ground started to shake more, "Doctor, it's getting closer."
"Heathens!" Lucius yelled and Chris looked up to find them, cursing silently as her vision started to blur. She did not like heat, not one bit "Defile us! They would desecrate your temple, My Lord gods!"
"Come on." The Doctor yelled, pulling Donna with him
"We can't go in!" Donna told them
"Well, we can't go back." The Doctor yelled before he began shooting at the rising pyrovile with his watergun.
"Crush them! Burn them!" Lucius was chanting as Chris struggled to catch up "There is nowhere to run, Doctor, and daughter of London."
"Now then, Lucius, My Lords Pyrovillian, don't get yourselves in a lava." He turned to Donna "In a lava?" She glared at him "No?"
"No." Donna and Chris said at the same time.
"No." The Doctor reiterated before turning back to the peoples he was addressing, "But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods, before we perish, once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?"
"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself." Lucius told the group, "An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilisation."
"But if you've crashed, and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?" Donna asked looking between the Pyrovile and the Doctor.
"The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone." Lucius shouted at the group
"What do you mean, "gone"? Where's it gone?" The Doctor asked, he looked at Chris for help but she just shook her head, he'd find out eventually.
"It was taken." Lucius explained, "Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise."
"Yeah, I should warn you, it's 70% water out there." Chris quipped sarcastically, "Haven't you heard that water beats fire?"
"Water can boil." The Pyrovile said in his gravelly voice. "And everything will burn, Doctor.
"Then the whole planet is at stake." Chris said turning to the Doctor and gesturing towards the pod they had been standing next to. He nodded and Chris ushered Donna into the room.
"Thank you." The Doctor said faux pleasantly, "That's all I needed to know."
"You have them, My Lords!" Lucius was yelling as The Doctor sonicked the pod shut.
"Could we be any more trapped?" Donna quipped.
"Little bit hot." Chris said heavily, trying to fan herself to create a breeze. She really did not like heat.
"See?" The Doctor said, pointing to something that Chris, could in fact, not see, "The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human. It's complete, they can convert millions."
"Can't you change it?" Donna asked, "With these controls?"
"Course I can, but don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano." The Doctor said, "There IS no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power, they'll use it to take over the world."
"But you can change it back?" Donna asked
"I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes." The Doctor said, he looked over to see that Chris was trying to hide tears, "But that's the choice, Donna. It's Pompeii or the world."
"Oh, my God." Donna gasped.
"If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history." The Doctor said, finally connecting the dots. "It's me. I make it happen."
"But the Pyrovile are rocks, maybe they can't be blown up." Donna pointed out
"Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs." Chris said, her voice thick with tears, "Nothing can survive it. Certainly not us."
Both The Doctor and Donna were staring at Chris. Her nose was running, she was covered with dust and sweat, and she was looking at them with so much guilt that Donna could help but speak.
"Never mind us." Donna said to the Doctor, who got right to work.
"Push this lever and it's over." The Doctor said, not once looking at his companions while he worked.
The Doctor set his hands on the lever but didn't push.
"20,000 people." He said, Chris could feel her heart breaking.
After a moment of contemplation, and with tears in her eyes, Donna placed her hands on the lever. Chris would have joined them but she was feeling dizzy and her throat was constricting.
How the hell are The Doctor and Donna not dying in this heat? Chris asked Rain, I mean, I'm over here with heat stroke and those two have barely broken a sweat.
They haven't recently crossed into an alternate universe and spent time in the void. Rain told her, worry in her voice, And it's not like you've been taking a break this past week. You're gonna work yourself to death.
Donna and the Doctor pulled the lever.
Everything started to shake and Chris closed her eyes and ducked down, covering her head. That didn't help her escape from any bruises but she was able to stay mostly in the same spot, unlike Donna and The Doctor who couldn't seem to find a point of balance.
After what felt like years they landed. When the door opened Chris found herself sprawled onto the ground. She looked up to see Donna and The Doctor staring at her, both of them looking worried.
"You alright?" Donna asked, she reached out a hand to help Chris up which she gladly took.
"It WAS an escape pod." The Doctor said as the ground started to shake.
"No shit Sherlock." Chris snapped before grabbing a hand each of The Doctor and Donna, "Now, might I suggest we run?"
The run back to Caecilius' house was treacherous and Chris fell several times. She found herself feeling jealous of the Doctor and Donna who both managed to stay upright the entire run back. Chris could hear the screams of the people they ran past and did her best to ignore them.
Chris lost sight of the Doctor and nearly started crying when she felt a hand grip her wrist.
"Come on," The Doctor yelled, pulling Chris after him.
There was debris and ash falling everywhere. When the two caught up to Donna she was trying to pick up a child only for him to be taken by his mother. Chris watched as Donna turned to the Doctor with tears in her eyes. He grabbed Donna's wrist with his free hand and pulled the two of them after him. He dropped their hands as they got closer to the Tardis.
"God save us, Doctor!" Caecilius called when he saw the Timelord.
The Doctor stopped and stared at the family, cowering in fear, for a few seconds. With a look of disgust in his eyes, disgust he felt for himself, the Doctor ran on.
Donna started to yell at him as Chris made her way to the family. She knelt in front of them, placing a hand on Evelina's arm and giving the rest of her family a reassuring smile.
"I swear on my life we'll be back." She told them before following Donna into the Tardis.
"You can't just LEAVE them!" Donna yelled at the Doctor
"Don't you think I've done enough?" The Doctor growled, "History's back in place. Everyone dies."
"You've got to go back." Donna yelled, "Doctor, I'm telling you, take this thing BACK! It's not fair."
Chris watched from her spot, leaning against the Tardis doors. She knew she had to let Donna convince him, but if something had changed and she couldn't then Chris would do her best to help. Until then she was just a spectator.
"No, it's not." The Doctor said, not looking at Donna
"But your own planet." Donna pointed out, "It burned."
"That's just it. Don't you see, Donna?" The Doctor said harshly, "Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can't. I can never go back, I can't. I just can't, I can't."
"Just someone." Donna begged, "Please. Not the whole town. Just save someone."
Chris watched as the Doctor walked out of the control room. Donna collapsed against the jumpseat and Chris knew she needed to intervene. She didn't know what would happen if The Doctor didn't save these people, she just knew it would be bad."
"Have you come to rub it in?" The Doctor asked, his voice void of every emotion.
"Have I done that before?" Chris asked, worried that she had.
"Never," The Doctor said, "But I never know what to expect with you."
Chris knelt in front of the Doctor who had fallen to his knees shortly after leaving the control room. She placed her hand under his chin and forced him to look at her.
"I'm going to be honest with you," Chris said, "And I want you to be as honest with me as you possibly can. Do you think you can do that?"
The Doctor nodded and Chris smiled at him.
"I don't know you, Doctor. Not really. All I know is this man, this brave wonderful man that was portrayed by an actor on a television program that millions of people watch." Chris said, making sure The Doctor was following her, "I know that you can't possibly be exactly like that man. The Doctor that I know. That's not how it works. But I want to get to know you. I really do." Chris squeezed the Doctor's hand. "Now tell me, is this who you want me to know? Do you want me to know this man who refuses to save one family? That's all she's asking for."
"But-" The Doctor started and Chris covered his mouth.
"What are your hearts telling you to do, Doctor?" Chris asked, "do you really think it would be so bad if this one family lives?"
"Christi-Anna Marie Wesley," The Doctor said, now smiling brightly, "I don't know what I would ever do without you."
The Doctor quickly kissed Chris' forehead, making her freeze, before standing and running back into the control.
Chris was glad she'd changed his mind but the next time the Doctor did something like that without her permission she was going to punch the daylights out of him.
"It's never forgotten, Caecilius." The Doctor said as the group of four Pompeiinites and three time travelers watched the destruction of Pompeii from the hilltop. " Oh, time will pass, men will move on, and stories will fade. But one day, Pompeii will be found, again. In thousands of years. And everyone will remember you."
"What about you, Evelina?" Donna asked, walking forward to stand next to the girl, "Can you see anything?"
"The visions have gone." Evelina told them, not looking away from her burning city.
"The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time. Just for a second." The Doctor explained, "That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not any more. You're free."
"But tell me, who are you, Doctor, Chris?" Metella asked, "With your words, and your temple containing such size within?" She looked at the Doctor before turning to Chris, "And your knowledge of things beyond what a woman knows?"
"Oh, we were never here." Chris said with a smirk. And then, without any notice, she was gone.
"Where'd she go?" Metella asked, panicked.
The Doctor shrugged, he was used to Chris' coming and goings after knowing her for so long.
"She does that from time to time." He explained like it was nothing, "you get used to it."
"You're saying she just disappears?" Quintus asked, having watched as Chris disappeared.
"Yeah," The Doctor said seriously "Just don't tell anyone about us."
The four nodded absently, having turned their attention back to the burning city. The Doctor and his companion exchanged wary looks before they both started to back up towards the Tardis.
They listened closely as Caecilius coined the term 'volcano' then slipped into the tardis. Donna hung back a little as The Doctor made his way to the controls.
"Thank you." Donna said as The Doctor prepped the Tardis for take off.
"Yeah," The Doctor said. He watched Donna for a second before continuing, "You were right. Sometimes I need someone. Welcome aboard."
"Yeah." Donna said, a small smile playing on her lips.
The two stared at eachother before breaking out into grins. The Doctor pulled the lever, sending the Tardis into the void so that the both of them could get cleaned up.
"But you're not replacing Chris," The Doctor warned Donna seriously, "No one could possibly replace Chris."
"I know." Donna said, still grinning, "I don't think she'd even let me."
Donna wasn't sure what she thought of Chris. The fact that she appeared at random moments spooked the temp a little. Not to mention the exchanges the two had had the first time Donna met Chris. She knew enough about the girl to know that later in her timeline, apparently, she would be extremely possessive of the Doctor.
"Let you what?" Chris said, having popped back into the Tardis moments before. Her speaking made both the Doctor and Donna jump. "Do I do that a lot? Pop off and then pop back in like five minutes later?"
"Not really." The Doctor said, watching Chris closely. "You alright though? You were looking pale earlier."
Chris frowned, taking in her physical well being. She was dehydrated and in need of a good shower. And maybe a week long nap. She expressed as much to the Doctor and he chuckled as he led Chris into the Tardis to show her to her room.
A/N: There you have it, the Fires of Pompeii: Part Two! This isn't my favorite episode with Donna but it was definitely fun to write. Let me know what you think, what episodes you want to see, any questions you might have, any concerns.