AN: Hey! Thanks as ever for all your support, so glad you're enjoying the story!
Also, well done to JasperWhitlockHale'sMan- it was David Viscott, and I think that puts you on two points?
This chap's quote:
In order to create there must be a dynamic force, and what force is more potent than love?
OK, so last chap the Doc and Amy set the TARDIS on random and crashed onto a barren moon beneath the medusa cascade- on it there is a huge marble city, outside of whose walls the pair now stand.
When the TARDIS crashed, it froze, and we also know somewhere in this place is whatever's been interfering with the Time vortex...
So of course, they go through the doors, and into the city...
Enjoy!
Before them, an entire marble city sprawled majestically as far as the eyes could see. Magnificent domes and spires topped imposing temples, villas, halls and shops. The road was clean- barely worn down, and stretching out as wide a river before forking down several other streets.
A woman walked out of a shop a few feet in front of them in period dress, holding a cotton bag from which a feathered hat peeked out. She made her way to the crossroads- and then sort of froze. She vanished, and Amy frowned- looking to see where she'd gone.
A door creaked, and Amy looked back at the shop where the woman had come from. There she was again, with her bag and hat. She made her stately way to the crossroads- vanished and reappeared at the shop front.
Amy swallowed, eyes now flashing everywhere- seeing a man walk into a woman with a pile of papers- saw him crouch to help her and walk on, before it happened all over again. "Doctor…"
The Doctor nodded, taking her hand. His own was clammy and cold- Amy's eyes flashed to his face, fixed with that expression of fascinated perplexity that managed to entice and terrify her at once. She squeezed his fingers and he gave her a slight smile.
"Come on."
They began to walk through the city- following random winding streets- noticing people, all in the same sort of period dress, repeating the same action over and over. As they got closer to the city centre- repeating patterns began to appear on the building's otherwise featureless marble walls.
Amy frowned at one of them- like so many circles inside of the other, incredibly similar to the TARDIS display. She let go of the Doctor's hand to investigate before calling him over. A few metres behind her a little boy ran and stumbled on the pavement- his laughter turning to a cry as he hit the stone with a soft thud. Then he rewound to where he was before, running up the street again. Amy winced before he hit the ground, but then refocused her attention on the engraving in the wall.
She felt the Doctor come to stand behind her- his warm breath raising goosebumps on her neck as he reached past her shoulder to tentatively brush the pattern.
He swallowed. "Ok. So that's not good."
He turned, taking Amy's hand and walking away a little faster than before.
It wasn't long before they reached the city centre. A huge town hall- Parthenon-esque, dominated what Amy would call a town square if it wasn't round. Similar circular patterns spread across the stone in enormous relief, and at the centre, a huge clockface was set in the stone. Ignoring the various townspeople moving, then reversing, then moving again, the Doctor ran to the clockface.
It was- to Amy, a sort of hybrid, various clocks mixed together in a bubbling, concentric pattern, with far too many strange symbols in place of the standard twelve numbers. Six ornate dials- made of pure gold, moved in varying directions, ticking away with a faint snick. After about two minutes, there was a whirr in the mechanism and they all reversed to where they'd been.
The Doctor crouched, fingers tracing the surface of the crystalline substance that masked the clocks whilst he muttered nonsense to himself. Amy frowned- looking from the mechanisms to the Time Lord and back. Suddenly, something caught the Doctor's eye, and he ran across the clock face- which was a good three or four metres wide.
He moved to a medium sized clock inlaid in the larger one and stared fixedly at a certain point on it's face. After a few seconds, Amy joined him- beginning to feel severely creeped out by the half sleeping people- repeating the same action over and over, apparently unaware of their presence.
She stood next to him and looked where he was as he ran a hand through his hair in agitation.
"Doctor- what is it?"
The Doctor glanced at her in disbelief, then back at the clock face, pointing. "Don't you see?"
Amy bent and looked where he pointed- most of the numbers were worn, as if the hands had passed them a thousand times over. Judging from the way this place's somnolent people repeated themselves, she wouldn't be surprised. But three figures stood fresh and stark against the marble, neatly outlined in black ink.
As she watched, an intricate gold hand ticked round to the number before the first fresh one- then ticked over onto it.
Amy glanced around- everybody had moved a little further than they had before. There was a grinding crunch as the dial froze, and then it whirred back round to the start.
The scot glared at the Doctor- goosebumps lifting on her arm. "Ok, what does that mean?"
For a moment the Time Lord didn't answer, his jaw working. Finally, he glanced up at the enormous temple/town hall and replied. "It means the Time Loop is deteriorating. Probably because we landed on the planet- we've snapped the loop." He glanced at the people all around the square. "They all look like they can't see us, but they can, and they're waking up."
Amy thought about all the people trapped in the same continuous loop they'd seen on the way here- the hundreds more there must be trapped in the same repetitive monotony. "Isn't that a good thing?"
Shaking his head the Doctor stood- brushing imaginary dust from his trousers, though Amy hadn't seen a spec in the city's immaculate expanse.
"No."
His voice fell flat and she gave him a curious look, grabbing his arm and then following his gaze up to the roof of the town hall, where an enormous symbol loomed above the rest.
"Why? Surely it's good that they're not trapped any more."
The Doctor shook his head, walking away from the clock to the hall whilst Amy jogged a little to keep up.
"No- Amy, putting a place on this scale in a time loop would take immense effort and forethought, as well as power. It was done for a reason."
Still struggling to follow his chain of thought- and feeling a lot like she was missing some vital connection, Amy demanded. "What reason? What's so terrible about this place?"
The Doctor heaved a shaky sigh. They stood at the bottom of the steps up to the town hall, dwarfed by the marble columns- which were easily as high as the wall encircling the city.
"This is Omega."
Oooh- extra points if anyone figures out what Omega means and why I've used it to name this place!
So who are these people? What are these people? Why is the planet in a Time Loop? And what happens if it breaks?
Please do review, comment, criticise, question- I really do appreciate it, and am hoping this fic will get more reviews than the 'L' word, since it seems to have been better received.
Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you liked it,
Kat