Doctor And Assistant (Chap. 16)

Chapter Sixteen: A Nightmare

/the Doctor\\

Derpy bolted up, giving the Doctor a 1/2 hearts attack (Author's Note: Well, you know, because he has 2 hearts and only one stopped for a moment). He sat up too, draping an arm around her shoulders automatically when he saw she was trembling.

"What's wrong?" he asked, tilting his head out of concern.

She covered her closed eyes with her hands, shaking her head once.

"Come on, you have to say something..."

He held her to him tightly and she sniffled.

"Derpy, please? You need to tell me what the problem is. I'll do my best and fix it..."

Derpy gulped and met his eyes. "Nightmare," she whispered.

/Lilly\\

Her head hurt. She'd given up on sleep at around midnight. Now, it's 4 hours later and she was STILL bored.

"You have to sleep," Rachel said.

"Nah, what's the fun in that?" she laughed quietly. "But I do have a question."

"Yes?"

"How'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You changed your form and voice. Also, everyone could see you, not just me!"

"Oh, that," she laughed. "I thought you knew."

"Well, I don't, since I asked."

Rachel appeared, sitting on Lilly's bedside table. "Now, how intelligent are you? So I know how to explain this."

"Pretty intelligent."

"Okay," she nodded. "Spirits can posses, as you already know. But do you know how?"

Lilly pondered the answer in her head for a moment. "Don't your actual Spirits, like the Spirit inside of you, leave your Spirit-Body and then enter the other?"

"Well, sort of. I mean, mostly. But us Spirits can posses ourselves AND someone else at the same time. I basically possessed the Doctor, took some of his appearance and his voice, and used them."

Lilly nodded. "How did they see you?"

"I let them."

Lilly scrunched her face in confusion but before she could ask "how?" her head began thumping. Then, in a flash, it was gone.

Rachel paused, observing her. "You alright, kiddo?"

She shrugged, bewildered yet ecstatic. "I don't know."

Her door opened and the Doctor, with a concerned expression, walked in.

"Oh, hey," she waved at him, "what's up?"

"Derpy."

"What about her?" Lilly hopped out of her bed and walked to him.

"She's crying."

"Why?"

"I was thinking either you or Rachel could figure it out," he admitted.

Lilly nodded with a sincere smile. "Rachel, let 'em see you. Please?"

Rachel nodded, waving at the Doctor. "'Ello!" she smiled.

The Doctor blinked a few times. "Rachel?" he asked. "How are you..."

"Yeah, I can really understand it either," the Spirit laughed. "So what's been going on before she started crying? I mean, what'd you guys say or do?"

He began walking side-by-side with her, Lilly lagging behind. "She woke up and wouldn't talk. Only said 'nightmare'."

"And how long ago was this?"

"30 minutes or so," he said. He led them into the library.

Derpy was sitting on the couch. Her hands covered her eyes and soft sobbing echoed off of the walls.

"Derpy?" Rachel asked softly, walking cautiously to her.

Lilly took the Doctor's hand reassuringly and tilted her head to meet his eyes. "Trust me, Rachel is amazing at these things."

"I hope," he frowned. "I hate seeing her like this."

/(New!) Rachel\\

Rachel sat down next to Derpy, flashing a weak smile to Lilly. "Derpy, please say what's wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's horrible... And I can't get it out of my head...!" she whispered.

Rachel carefully took Derpy's hands away from her face. "Derpy, you need to say what's going on."

"Wait, who... Who are you?" Derpy asked, her voice cracking from crying.

"Rachel. I'm Lilly's Spirit Guide," she smiled, a hand on her shoulder. "Please?"

Derpy let another tear drop and the Doctor rushed to her side, sitting next to her. "Have... Have you ever had a bad dream, where you feel like you... Like you actually lived through it?" she asked.

"I have," the Doctor admitted.

"Me too," Lilly agreed.

"What happened in your nightmare?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not allowed to say anything..."

The Doctor rested a hand on her back and she looked at him. He gave her a soft look that said "please?" and she nodded, looking back at Rachel.

Derpy cleared her throat, tears racing down her face. "There was a dragon with dark purple skin, dark purple eyes, and 3 heads. He... He'll always appear in the beginning of my dreams, and then a silence is heard, and then a... A scream. I hear someone scream. Then I can walk."

"And what do you see when you walk?" Rachel asked.

"Mossy dark grey-bricked dungeon walls, long hallways. The... The hallways lead to cells."

"'Cells'?" Lill asked, sitting in front of Derpy on a table. "Anything inside?"

"U-U-Usually something from my past... orthingsIamscaredwillhappen," she said, adding the last bit quickly.

"Like what?" the Doctor asked, wiping away her tears when she looked at him again.

"Just does we have beaten. Daleks, Angels, Sontarans, Silurians, and then, also... Also people who we haven't beaten."

"Like who?" he questioned further.

She sniffled, tears streaming down her face even quicker. "Doctor, he had you and Dinky!"

/the Doctor\\

The Doctor gasped at her exclamation, holding her to him tightly. He kissed her cheek, mouthing Rachel a "thank you" just before she disappeared. Derpy cried on her shoulder and Lilly winked at him before she walked off too.

His mouth travelled to her ear. "Derpy, you need to say something sooner," he whispered.

"I'm sorry," she frowned.

"How long has this gone on for?"

She gulped, her non-casted hand playing with a few strands of his hair. "One month or so," she said under her breath.

The Doctor shook his head. "And you haven't seen any reason to tell us? We could've helped you, love," he reminded her.

"I know, I know, but... It's never been this bad," she said, burying her face in his suit as she tried to control her breathing.

"Why is it now severe?"

She leaned away, his eyes level with hers. "The purple skinned dragon said... He said... He said he is coming, Doctor. Coming for me. And there's no way to stop him!"

Her sobs grew louder and the Doctor tightened his grip around her. "What has he said before?"

"Y-Y-Yesterday he said he 'was closer', but he's threatened me, too..."

"How did he? What'd he say?"

Derpy let out a soft exhale and practically melted against the Doctor. He looked down at her but it seemed she was asleep.

"Derpy? Come on, dear, please, you have to wake up," he said. If she fell asleep, she'd surely have another nightmare. And if the dragon'd said he was coming in the last dream...

"Doctor?" Scarlet asked, ripping him from his thoughts.

He began running a hand up and down his assistant's back soothingly. "Yes?"

"What's going on?"

"She was... She had a nightmare. A really, really bad nightmare," he explained.

"What about?"

"Well, a... a dragon, and then foes, messages..."

During the silence Derpy whimpered over her dream and the Doctor held her tighter to him. His assistant wrapped her arm around, rested her head against his shoulder, and sat in his lap. "What can we do?" Scarlet asked.

"That's the problem," he frowned, "I don't know WHAT to do."

Scarlet pondered in her head an idea before blurting it out. "What if we found a way INTO her nightmare...?"

"But how? There's no way that'd w- the Eye of Harmony!" he gasped. Derpy tensed at the noise. "Sorry," he muttered.

"'The Eye of Harmony?'" Scarlet echoed.

"Yes! Lilly; can you go get Lilly?" he asked.

"Mmhmm," she nodded, running out of the room.

/Lilly\\

"Lilly, we need you," Scarlet said, panting from the length she had to run across the TARDIS.

"For what?" Lilly asked, hopping off of her bed and walking over again.

Scarlet grabbed her hand. "He didn't tell me so I'll just say there isn't any time to explain."

"Reasonable," Lilly laughed, following her.

Scarlet led her out of her bedroom and into the library where Derpy'd fallen asleep again. The Doctor spoke first. "Lilly, my assistant and I require your assistance," he frowned.

Lilly rushed over to them. "What happened? I thought she was okay?"

"Yes, she, she is. I think."

"Then what do you need me for?"

"Okay. There's something called 'the Eye of Harmony'. It's like a microphone, or projector, for your psychic powers. It'll open a wormhole and we'll jump into it to go into Derpy's nightmare."

"Where do I come in?" Lilly asked.

"We'll attach the Eye to your head. It'll be on a helmet. You'll use your abilities to open this wormhole which'll act as a teleport. It'll lead Scarlet and I into her mind and we will see Derpy's current nightmare," he explained, watching his girlfriend as he talked.

Scarlet was taken aback. "Wait, I'm coming with you?" she asked.

"Of course! I would get terribly lonely," he said.

Scarlet rolled her arms, crossing her arms.

"I sounded like Discord," he then laughed. "But, no, look: Lilly can't go through, as she'll be opening the portal. Derpy can't; it's HER nightmare. And I certainly can't do this alone," he reminded her.

Scarlet merely nodded. "Shall we?"

The Doctor shut his eyes tightly, kissing the top of Derpy's head before laying her on the couch and whispering something in her ear. He then pulled away, wiping a few strands of her hair away and out of her eyes. "I hate seeing her like this... She is scared, and she can only wait for it to end."

/Derpy\\

(Author's Note: Whenever the main POV character is in the dream world/nightmare, the entire passage will be in parentheses.)

(It was completely dark, only letting her see the dragon. She studied his features so she could tell the Doctor when she'd wake up. He had dark purple scales littering all of his outside skin, three heads with dark purple eyes. Large dragon wings sprouted from his back, extending for forever (even past her vision!). She flinched out of fear when he smirked evilly. "You're persistent, aren't you?" Only his middle head was able to talk.

"Let me wake up!" she demanded.

"May I please have a moment of your time? Just to explain something important."

He flew up and landed less than a foot away from her. She whimpered, trying to get up from laying on the floor so she could run away.

His faces were close to hers – too close. She tried to pull away but she was paralyzed. "I'm here. And it seems someone else is, too."

Darkness.

A familiar shriek chilled her to the bone.

"Welcome to your nightmare, Ditzy.")

/Lilly\\

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rachel asked.

"No. But I'll do it for Derpy."

"Are you aware this is going to hurt?" she questioned further.

"Now I am." Rachel frowned at Lilly's response, but Lilly smiled. "You know I still have to pay off my debts, Rachel. I am the only one who can do this. And it's the least I can do for the Doctor."

Rachel momentarily paused. "Fine."

"Thank you."

The Doctor walked out of the hallway and back into the library holding what looked like a crown with a bright jewel plastered into the middle. A thick cable followed it, and Scarlet pushed a chair closer to Lilly. The psychic smiled a "thank you" and sat down.

The Doctor froze. "Lilly, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Rachel asked me the same exact thing," Lilly laughed. "And I'll tell you what I told her. Yes. I want to do this. I'm the only one capable to do it, even though I am 'only 12'."

The Doctor placed the crown on her head. "All you have to do, Lill', I'd think of the nightmare. Project it," he said. "Maybe Rachel could help?"

"That I will," the Spirit agreed.

Lilly shut her eyes as the Doctor helped Scarlet and himself put on their harnesses, and then began to imagine how Derpy'd described it. The dark, dungeon walls. The 3-headed dragon Derpy had cried out in despair... – the Doctor laughed triumphantly.

"Lilly! You've opened up the wormhole!"

"What now?"

"Keep it opened! You'll be able to see what's happening. Keep your eyes shut, and keep Derpy asleep for as long as possible." He paused. "Good luck."

/the Doctor\\

The Doctor grabbed Scarlet's hand and jumped in without hesitation. The wires were connected to the inside of the TARDIS and would surely stay in one piece, so there was nothing to worry about. Scarlet looked at the Doctor nervously.

"And where are we going again?"

"Into my assistant's nightmares," he laughed.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the cliffhanger ending, as I have for some reason been doing lately.

But today, you all gave me a heart attack.

So, picture this: you come home from an epic school day and plop onto the couch with your two notebooks to write, your phone and earbuds for musical inspiration, and your iPad Mini. You log onto your account for your Fanfiction profile, and you do your daily ritual of checking your stats. When, all of a sudden, you see the number "2,009" under views for Beginnings.

Basically, long story short, I nearly lost my voice screaming.

What fun!

My point behind all of this:

Thank you guys, so, so, so, so, so, so, SO much. I could go on forever about how this profile has changed me, but just a few would work.

I have a purpose to watching all of these different shows. I've grown way more intelligent. And for some reason, I finally feel normal. I'm happier than ever before! My writing has gotten ex trembly better from when I was just doing rough drafts that made no sense on Microsoft Word or whatever. Now, every time I begin rubbing the fingerprints from my fingers off from how long I've been writing with a pencil, I know it's for a good cause. And like I said, I have more, but these will work for now.

Thank you guys. Thank you, so, so much. 2,000 is an outstanding number I have never seen ever before, nor thought I would ever see no matter how good I am. I know my stories sometimes make no sense, and I'm working on these god damned typos that come up like a tidal wave out of nowhere, but you guys just keep reading and demanding more installments, for more chapters, for just MORE.

Thank you, as I've said a million times before, and I will continue to say it.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, SO much.

– GothicPegasister