Short 9 - Story Time

As we approach the great moment to come, I feel it best to give us some levity that will be of effect later on.

I had, you may remember, made a bit to nudge a young princess down a different road, away from the path of megalomania and ambition to a path of curiosity and wonder. Naturally I sought to keep an eye on developments.

And so it was that I materialized the TARDIS on the planet New Avalon, the 16th of November 3067 local time, just in time for the fifth birthday party of Princess Katherine. I had, out of caution, transmitted my intentions at an earlier time period; the adults were prepared when I materialized in the grand hall where the birthday was being celebrated. Katherine, wearing a pretty and sparkly pink dress suit, bounced in delight as I stepped out of the TARDIS; the other children stared in slack-jawed wonder. "Doctor! Doctor!"

"Well hello there, my dear Princess Katherine the birthday girl!" I executed a grand bow. I had donned a more formal outfit, still of my favored blue color but with a midnight black bowtie and a magician's top hat. I even had gloves on to fill out the costume. A coterie of highly-born children and playmates for the Princess stared at me. I looked past them all to a small group of adults, including one older man with red hair. "And greetings to you, Majesty." I bowed again, this time at Katherine's father Prince Hanse Davion. "If any of you have not yet heard of me... I am the Doctor. I am a Time Lord. And tonight... I am here to give dear Katherine a very special birthday." I smiled widely. I slipped my hand behind me into the open TARDIS. Janias, whom I knew to be giggling, used the Force to hand me an object from the distance. I brought it back around. "First, a special birthday gift." I got onto one knee and held the box down.

Katherine took it and opened it, her eyes sparkling with the eagerness of a five year old to unwrap a magic gift. Within she found a mycosia flower, just like those her mother adored, suspended in a clear capsule with water around the stem. "You need only open it and plant it in a vase, Katherine," I said, "and it shall bloom no matter where you have it so long as you give a daily watering. You can take it with you into the coldest Tharkad winter and leave it out in the frost and it will be all the stronger for it. It will never wilt or die if you show love to it."

"Impossible," i heard one of the adult attendants scoff. "Those flowers are fragile!"

"Not this one," I said. "It's been made to survive anything as long as you give it the love it is due."

"Thank you, Doctor," she said, holding onto the capsule dearly.

A servant came to pluck up the flower, but Katherine insisted on holding it. I stood to my full height. "Now, I have come ready for telling stories of the wonders of the cosmos and perhaps a few magic tricks. If you will direct your attention to the magic box I arrived in?"

What followed next was a simple trick for me. With my "magic wand" - the sonic screwdriver - I controlled the TARDIS doors and had them direct to different chambers, closing and opening the door for each transition. I showed the library and swimming pool first, of course, and a couple of other chambers, including one with a few exotic animals I had picked up for the show. One transition revealed a shower with a young lady behind it in silhouette. The children began giggling while I feigned ignorance. "Doctor?!", I heard Camilla shout. She peered around the curtain.

I made a half turn to look in. "Oh dear! My apologies." I closed the TARDIS door as the laughter and giggling echoed through the hall. "My mistake. I am in so much trouble." Naturally that merited more laughter.

After showing a few more rooms I brought back the control center and retrieved a small wooden "theater". "And now, children, time for a puppet show. A good, old fashioned puppet show, in which I shall tell you the story of how a magical knight and I worked together to vanquish the eeeevillll Red Vampires!"

I had practiced a bit with the puppet show. I'm not sure it was as engrossing as I sought, but I did cause laughing as I depicted puppets of myself and my Companions and Harry Dresden ruining the day of some over-the-top evil Red Vampires. I may have exaggerated Harry a bit by having his constant refrain be "Set them all on fire!".

Just a bit of an exaggeration, of course.

The entertainment was enjoyed by my young audience so i switched to my second story. I stood tall and enjoyed a drink from a bottle I kept in my jacket pocket. Janias and Camilla stepped out, having volunteered to provide the female voices for the story at hand. "And now children, gather round, for I have a magical story to tell. I shall tell you, dear children, of the beautiful Kingdom of Arendelle and its ruler Queen Elsa, the Snow Queen. For when she was but a child, she held magic in her hands..."

Okay, so maybe I just summarized "Frozen". It's a decent story. And, well... I had my reasons beyond a fairy tale.

Plus I think I was excellent as the Duke of Weselton and as Sven, if I do say so myself. Camilla was rather swell as Elsa too.

When I reached the end I clapped my hands together. "And so ends the tale, my young listeners, and all of it true. I have seen the Snow Queen myself." And had watched her wage a snowball war with Avatar Korra, but I prefer to leave a bit of mystique with that story by not telling it.

"But a snowman can't be alive!", a young boy in the audience cried out. "That's silly!"

"Oh really? You doubt my word, my lad?"

"It's just a story," the boy insisted.

"Very well. If you want proof..." I held up the sonic screwdriver and triggered it. When we opened the TARDIS door again it was to a freezer chamber I had set up. In it stood a short snowman the height of a child, complete with a carrot for a nose. "Everyone, say hello to Olaf."

"Hi everyone!" The snowman's eyes popped open "I'm Olaf. And you are?"

I so enjoyed the hushed wonder and amazement on the faces of all assembled, even the adults. Katherine, her eyes as wide as saucers, stepped forward to the entrance of the TARDIS. "I'm... I'm Katherine." She reached out and touched Olaf's branch arm. She escalated to pressing her hand against his snow body.

"I love what you've done with the place," he said, taking another step out of the TARDIS. "It's so warm."

I looked down toward him. "Just remember not to go too far from the TARDIS. I'd hate to explain to the Queen that I let you go too far and that you melted."

"So, what's everyone up to?"

The narration will let off a bit here. The children all got a chance to verify Olaf was real. I stepped away briefly and found myself face-to-face with Prince Hanse himself. "So what is it? Some sort of automaton?"

"It's a living snowman," I answered. "Come now, Prince, a magician never shares his tricks."

"Ha!"

After several more moments I got Olaf to return to the TARDIS's makeshift freezer. The children waved goodbye to him as the door shut. "I am afraid it is getting late, my children, so I must bid you adieu."

Katherine hopped up to me. "When can I get a ride? I've been a very good girl!"

I knelt down beside her. "You're not quite old enough yet, my dear."

"But I wanna see Sir Harry and Queen Elsa!", Katherine protested.

"Oh, you will. The day will come when my birthday present isn't just a magic flower but a ride," I promised. "Patience, my dear Princess. Patience and love, and you will get everything you could want."

I gave her a pat on the head and returned to the TARDIS. As I stood in the doorway I looked back and snapped my fingers. The crack sounded through the hall. The TARDIS doors closed.

Although I could not see it from within, that act also triggered a device I'd set up on the top of the TARDIS, a one time use hovering holographic projector I'd bought on Coruscant. As the TARDIS VWORPED away, it hovered above it, displaying a multitude of bright shapes and the message "Happy Birthday Katherine!" in bright purple color.

A proper showman knows to make a memorable exit, after all.

We returned Olaf to Arendelle and headed off to a coastal area for a little relaxation. At least for the girls; I remained in the TARDIS, sitting in the library and pondering.

I was such a bastard sometimes.

To return to my choice of story... remember Katherine's likely fate without me, a future in which she becomes a figure who could justifiably be called the Ice Queen. That is, a cold and ruthless monster bent on power for power's sake who kills and abuses her family as is necessary.

And so I had told little Katherine a story about how a beautiful young queen is redeemed by the power of her sister's love. Katherine the matricide, Katherine the kinslayer (or would-be kinslayer at least), being exposed at an early and impressionable age to a story about the power of familial love. I had made another nudge.

It was no different than the manipulation I'd used on Homura Akemi to secure her help, simply done on a younger and less-experienced girl in a way that none might easily recognize without knowing the context of my actions. Upon thinking about it I realized I was manipulating Katherine, using her child's curiosity about me to prod her into being a different person. Manipulating her into behaving in ways she would not have ordinarily behaved.

I like to think I was doing the right thing. But looking back... it was perhaps another warning sign. I was interfering in the outcome of one life because I felt it justified;, turning someone into something completely different and on purpose. How much of a leap was it to go from that to manipulating entire societies? Entire galaxies? Entire timelines?

Even now I don't know the answer. I may never know the answer.

And with that downer note to an otherwise cute story, I bid you adieu.