From then on I kept a close eye on Tardis. Wherever we went she was never out of my sight, and she started to notice it. "Dad, are you okay?" She asked me one day while we were strolling the beaches of a planet full of tropical islands. "Me? Fine! I'm the king of fine, and how about you?" She shrugged. "I'm okay." "What's wrong?" She just looked down at the sand. "Something about you has been different lately." Tardis stopped and stopped me. "Different how?" "You used to be fun and spontaneous. Now you never let me walk two feet away from you, barely let me leave the TARDIS, you don't even let me walk around the TARDIS by myself." I sighed. She was noticing me being protective of her, I had to tell her what happened eventually. I just hoped it wouldn't be now. "I had a visit from. an old friend a long time ago: The Dream Lord. I don't know how the pollen got in the TARDIS, but he visited me in a dream and showed me all my previous companions. They blamed me for everything. All that I'd done to them was my fault. Rose being stuck without me, Donna's memory loss, Pond's death, Clara..." I trailed off and Tardis grabbed my hand reassuringly. "It's not your fault, don't blame yourself. You don't need to worry about me, Dad." "Yes I do, it's my job." She shook her head with a little chuckle. "I'm different, Dad. Watch."
Her grip loosened and her hand slipped out of mine. I glanced over and she had her eyes shut tightly and hands clenched into fists at her side. I didn't know what to expect, but I heard the familiar noise of the TARDIS materializing close to us. I turned around and soon enough the TARDIS had landed behind me. "How did you do that?" I paced around the blue box, much like my companions did when they first saw that it was bigger on the inside, and wondered how it appeared here. "I've been practicing." She snapped her fingers and the doors swung open. "I used to only be able to open and close the doors, now I can move it." She puffed out her chest in pride and I clapped. "This is wonderful! You really are a brilliant girl, Tardis. Very special indeed." I tapped the tip of her nose and she smiled. "You don't have to worry about me, Dad. I can take care of myself. I can take care of you too." She hugged me and I stared at the ocean. "Let's go somewhere fun then?" I asked and Tardis nodded. Once we were inside, I shut the doors and Tardis ran to her room to get changed. I searched the TARDIS' computer for anything fun we could do, but it suddenly started itself. I thought Tardis had done it, but she yelled, "Why are we moving? I thought you'd wait for me!" I knew for sure we were in for a wild adventure at that point.
We found ourselves at the height of the Roman Empire. It was about noon and the streets were filled with vendors selling things from jewelry to fish. "Oh! A fish! We should have fish fingers and custard for dessert tonight." I suggested and Tardis nodded in agreement. "Would you like to change? When in Rome, wear what the Romans wear." "It's 'when in Rome, do what the Romans do,' Dad." She corrected, but ran back inside to go change into more "time-appropriate" clothes while I leaned on the TARDIS while staring around the street impatiently. I couldn't stand still for too long, but I couldn't leave Tardis alone. "Done!" She ran out with a totally new look. Not only had she changed clothes, but she also did something with her hair: it was curled and had some pieces pinned back out of her face. "How did you do that in a few minutes?" I wondered and tilted my head. "I was in there for an hour or two, Dad." I frowned for just a fraction of a second but smiled. "You look lovely. Where do you want to start?" Tardis dragged me behind her and we looked at all the vendor's stands. She ended up convincing me to get her a necklace with an aquamarine and asked me to put it on her immediately. "It's so pretty! I love it." She exclaimed and some bells rang in the distance.
The vendors started to pack up at an alarming speed, and soon the streets were practically empty within minutes, and I tugged on Tardis' arm. We followed the mass of people up the road towards a large building that looked much like a church. "A church? This is ancient Rome, they worshipped gods." I frowned in confusion and kept up with the crowd. It seemed that everyone was required to go to this church when the bells rang. I decided to ask a fellow civilian what was going on. "Excuse me, I'm a stranger from not around here, what's going on?" The man next to me stared at me strangely, but explained, "It's Wednesday, The Day of the Angels. We must go to the church and take an hour's worth of prayer." It was blunt, but I nodded and continued to go with the crowd. The church was gigantic. Much like a football stadium, really, but the stained glass and statues seemed so out of place. Everyone entered through large wooden doors held open by priests in red robes and reflective masks. "Strange..." I muttered, and one turned his, or her, head to me as we passed. "Stay close, Tardis." I pulled on her hand and the hall opened up to a vast room with many seats. I looked up and a large golden chandelier with cherubs was hanging high above us. The crowd branched off into three different directions: straight, left and right. There must've been another floor because the only room was in front of us. I kept Tardis close, just in case she got pulled off into the other direction, and was relieved when we made it into the main room. Seats lined the edges and left a center aisle open for people to walk. I took the seat closest to the door, just in case, and Tardis sat next to me. "Wonder why this church is so big? Does it hold everyone in the city?" Tardis looked around at all the people and I sat with my legs crossed waiting for the sermon to begin.
All the seats were finally filled after what seemed like forever, and three priests appeared: two in red and one in white. "Welcome, my children. The Day of the Angels has come once again. It is that time of the week again, and now we must pray." I stopped paying attention after that, and started to think about why the TARDIS brought us here. Well, for one thing, there's an over-sized church in the middle of a Roman city. The Romans worshipped a pantheon of gods, so they didn't need churches. They had temples specifically for a certain god, especially if it was a family patron. I'd expect for there to be many temples rather than just one central church. Also, the priests were very strange indeed. It seemed that the one in the white robes had the highest authority, and the ones in red were just there, compared to the one in white. Everyone had their heads bowed down and were repeating what the priest in white was preaching. I couldn't handle the waiting, how could humans just live like this? It was just tedious and boring. "Now for the Choosing." I perked my head up in curiosity. People in the audience got restless. "Those of you who do not wish to watch this can leave now, but must get their beads checked." I stayed put, but Tardis tugged on my sleeve. "I don't know why, but I've got a bad feeling. Can we go?" I looked from Tardis back to the priests a couple times, but stood up. We followed the line of people to the doors, and saw a commotion up ahead. "Let me go! My beads are bewitched! I can tell you who did it too!" I pushed through the crowd, holding Tardis' hand tightly, and got close enough to see what was going on.
Two red-robed priests had a man gripped tightly by the arms and forced him to his knees. "Wait a minute!" I called and the priests looked up at me behind their mirrored masks. "Why can't he leave?" Their answer was silence at first, but they replied with, "He is Chosen. He can't leave." "Chosen?" The priests held up some red beads that were hidden from view. "Who are you, stranger?" The priest on the left asked while restraining their prisoner. I pulled out my psychic paper and introduced myself. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Tardis." My daughter waved from behind me. "The Doctor?" It sounded as if they knew me, or heard of me. They took the man with the red beads back towards the altar and a few other priests appeared next to us. "We've been expecting you, Doctor, Tardis." They bowed unexpectedly and announced. "Citizens! This is the Doctor and Tardis!" Everyone gasped and I smiled while looking around confused. "Does everybody here know me?" "You are the protector, Doctor."
With that, the priests pushed me and Tardis towards the doors, and so the rest of the people in the church got up from their seats and followed us. "I wonder where we're going?" I asked Tardis with a grin and she grabbed my hand. "I've still got a bad feeling, Dad." Her voice sounded full of worry, but I held her hand tighter. "We'll be fine." The crowd pushed us along the streets, and I noticed that we were getting closer to a huge white building on a hill. We trekked up the stairs and finally reached the top.
"Theosis! The Doctor is here! He's really here!" A priest shouted. Silence followed until the doors from a porch above opened. "You've told me that every time, but it was never him." A man sighed and opened his eyes. He was speechless. "Is it truly him?" I waved and the man above started to take deep breaths and invited us in. "Come! We were just getting supper ready." I looked at the sky and saw that the sun was setting. "Just the Doctor! Thank you for bringing him to me." The man waved the crowd goodbye and retreated inside after calling down to me and Tardjs, "Come in! I shall meet you inside." We scaled the white marble stairs and entered the home of our mystery host.
Inside there were many paintings and statues of angels. It was the same at the church; angel statues were perched outside with lifeless eyes. "Doctor! It's such a great honor to meet you! Nobody had expected you to show yourself here!" He took my hand and bowed his head. "Really? Well, Theosis, I'm very flattered." He let go and looked over at my daughter. "And this is Tardis." I introduced and she stayed hidden behind me. "'With hair of fire and eyes filled with the night sky, the child of time was born.'" Theosis seemed to quote something, and I wondered what was up with this place we were in. "Supper is ready!" A woman appeared in a doorway to our right and she was bowing. "This is my wife, Nymphadora." He introduced and she stood up straight. Tardis and I waved and they ushered us into a grand dining room with a painted ceiling and pillars decorating the room. The long table was littered with food, from ham to lamb, potatoes to olives, and many other sides. Tardis stared at the food longingly with wide eyes.
"This is our son, Phoebus." Nymphadora introduced a young boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes, he looked close to Tardis' age. "Hello." I waved and Tardis stayed hidden behind me sheepishly. "Phoebus, this is the Doctor and his daughter, Tardis." He looked up and quickly stood up to bow. "It's like everyone is worshipping us." I muttered to Tardis. The two of us sat next to each other while Theosis sat at the head of the table and Nymphadora and Phoebus sat to each side of him. Everyone started to pile their plates silently before Theosis asked, "Doctor, is it true that you have a blue box that can travel in the stars?" I smiled proudly. "Indeed I do." The family stared in awe and Nymphadora asked, "Do you have a wand that glows green and unlocks doors?" With a smirk, I pulled it out of my coat. "Yes, I do." With a click of a button, the tip glowed green and made its usual sonic noise. They were very impressed with it and they forgot to eat. I was blasted with questions left and right until the fold had started to get cold.
"I think we should go." Tardis whispered in my ear. I was disappointed, pleased with answering all these questions, but dismissed ourselves. "You can stay in our extra room!" Nymphadora offered, but I insisted. "Will you be back?" Theosis asked and I thought for a moment. There a reason the TARDIS brought us here, and I had a feeling that it had something to do with that church. "Of course." "Would you join us tomorrow evening, then? Phoebus has lessons tomorrow and I'm sure Tardis and him can acquaint one another. She seems like a bright girl." He complimented and I nodded. "Tomorrow evening, then!" We found our way to the front and departed for the TARDIS. "Wait, Dad." Tardis tugged on my sleeve and shut her eyes tightly. The TARDIS materialized in front of us and the wind of it landing brought up dust. "Well done!" I patted her head and opened the door.
"Go brush your teeth and head to bed." I pointed and Tardis ran off. I locked the doors behind me and started to look over the TARDIS computer files. The time was accurate, but something wasn't right. That church was bothering me. It's impossible for a church to be here, so what was one doing in the middle of this Roman town city? Everyone seemed to know me and Tardis. It was very fishy... "Dad, there's no toothpaste." Tardis appeared at the doorway downstairs in her pajamas toothbrush in hand. "Check the closet next to the kitchen." I leaned on the console and massaged the bridge of my nose. "There's none there!" Her muffled voice yelled and I sighed. "Check harder!" Silence. Then she called again, "I'm not seeing it!" With big reluctance I ran downstairs and found Tardis. "It's right here!" I snatched the tube from a top shelf and handed it to her. "I'm not tall enough to reach that!" She grabbed the tube and stormed off to the bathroom. "Teenagers." I mumbled and hopped back upstairs.
I pulled the monitor over and noticed it was acting strange. The screen was fuzzy and the image would come in and out with different pictures every time. I pulled out my sonic screwdriver and soniced the screen to fix it. It reverted back to its normal state and I continued to search through the database of theTARDIS. Nothing out of the ordinary came up, so I searched the computer for the next fun thing we could do after I figured out what was up here. Maybe we could visit Earth in the future sometime, where there's no crazy religion based on angels and me. "Wait a minute..." I used the TARDIS to look outside and found the church. "The angels..." I zoomed in.
"Dad?" I jumped and caught my breath. "Tardis! What are you still doing up?" She rubbed her eyes and yawned, "I just woke up. Couldn't go back to sleep." I shook my head with a slight smirk and walked with her downstairs. "Come on, you need your rest." Her bedroom door opened and the air temperature changed. Tardis crawled into bed and I pulled the covers over her. "Goodnight." I kissed her forehead and she pulled my sleeve. "Don't leave." I stopped and pulled up a chair next to her bed. She grabbed my hand and I sat back in the chair. Soon enough, I fell asleep, though the chair was very uncomfortable.