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The Rings of Akhaten – Part One
It was a windy autumn day in Blackpool, 1981. The Doctor, Laura and Charlotte sat on a bench, peeking from behind a Beano magazine and a newspaper, watching a young man walking along the opposite pavement. In his efforts to figure out who Clara was, the Doctor had decided to stalk her…well, that was how Charlotte had described it, he preferred to think of it as 'timey wimey investigating'.
The man they were spying on was struggling to read what looked like a map. A dead maple leaf was blown off a nearby tree and right into his face, startling him so much that he stumbled out onto the road in front of a car. Who gets that spooked by a leaf? Charlotte wondered, as they watched a young woman pull the man to safety. They spoke to one another and smiled, clearly smitten with each other. "Don't they look cute together?" said Laura, ever the romantic.
Straight afterwards, relatively speaking, the intrepid trio watched Dave Oswald and Ellie Ravenwood come home from a date, giggling under an umbrella in the pouring rain. The noise of the rain made it impossible to hear what the couple were saying, but they saw Dave giving Ellie the leaf that had led him to meeting her, and the Whovians knew he was calling it "The most important leaf in human history". Then they kissed, and the Doctor looked away. Charlotte smirked in amusement and tugged him back towards the TARDIS.
Their third encounter with the couple happened in a park, where a young Clara Oswald had just kicked a ball at the Doctor's head. Charlotte and Laura couldn't help but laugh as he fell and then jumped up, striking a martial arts pose. "Oh my stars, are you alright?" Clara's mother asked as she hurried over.
"Fine" the Doctor replied quickly, "Marvellous, refulgent…possibly a bit embarrassed. That's not dangerous, is it?"
"What's not?"
"Embarrassment"
"Not usually. Not to my knowledge".
"Good. Hey. Phew" the Doctor nodded at Dave, who gave him a sheepish apologetic grin. "Mate, I'm so sorry. She wants to be Bryan Robson" he said, gesturing to his daughter.
"No worries, my fault. No harm done. Hello there" he smiled at the little girl, glancing at Ellie as if to ask her name, even though he knew it already. "Clara" she prompted.
"Ah, hello there, Clara" the Doctor greeted; then Laura stepped forward, holding the blue and yellow football. "Here's your ball back" she said, handing it over to Dave, "I'm Laura, by the way, and this is Charlotte and…John".
"Thanks. Clara, say thank you".
"Thank you".
"You're welcome".
Clara dropped the ball and kicked it away again, running after it. The three time travellers bid farewell to her parents and headed back to the TARDIS. "Are you sure she won't remember us?" Charlotte asked the Doctor.
"Do you remember who you met when you were six?"
"…Hmm, fair point" she conceded, pulling a packet of Jelly Babies out of her pocket to snack on and sharing them around.
They followed Clara's timeline through a few more key events, such as her first days at primary and secondary school (both normal, no sign of Krillitanes or Fish Vampires). One major event, the Doctor observed alone. Laura felt uncomfortable with spying on Clara when she was mourning her mother, and Charlotte had stayed behind with her in the TARDIS.
Both of them were waiting in the console room when the Doctor walked back in, and switched on the scanner, bringing up an image of the Clara they'd met in Victorian times. "She's just a girl" he sighed, "How can she be?"
The scanner switched to displaying Oswin's ID from the Starship Alaska. "She can't be!" he exclaimed, before the scanner displayed the current Clara tossing her mortarboard in the air after graduating. "She is! She can't be. She's not possible" he declared, pushing the scanner away.
"Someone's getting stressed" Charlotte remarked from where she was sitting on the steps besides Laura.
"I'm not stressed!" he snapped, and Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Obviously" she said sarcastically, beckoning to him, "C'mere, sit down".
Hesitantly, the Doctor walked over and sat down on the steps just below Charlotte, who then proceeded to reach down and rub his shoulders for him. "Ooh, oh, that's nice" he sighed as her fingers massaged the base of his neck, "Didn't know I needed that".
"You're welcome; I like to be useful" she replied, before adding, "You know you're probably thinking too much about this. Just relax for a bit and let's pick Clara up".
The Doctor clapped his hands together and bounded to his feet, moving around the console with his usual manic energy. They materialised outside the Maitland home; he hurried out and pressed the doorbell. This time Clara answered much quicker, grinning excitedly. The Doctor grinned back, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the TARDIS.
After greeting Laura and then Charlotte with hugs, Clara inquired curiously, "So we're moving through actual time? So what's it made of, time?" she asked the Doctor, "I mean, if you can just rotor through it, it's got to be made of stuff, like jam's made of strawberries. So what's it made of?"
"Well, not strawberries. No. No, no, no. That would be unacceptable" he asserted, straightening his bowtie.
"It's probably made of wibbley wobbley timey wimey stuff" Laura suggested; she and Charlotte snickered a bit, as if sharing a private joke…which they were, in a sense. Clara laughed a bit as well, more at how ridiculous it sounded, and asked "And we can go anywhere?"
"Within reason" the Doctor nodded, before amending "Well, I say reason".
"So we could go backwards in time".
"And space, yes".
"And forwards in time".
"And space, totally. So, where do you want to go, eh? What do you want to see?" the Doctor asked Clara, grinning enthusiastically. She beamed, and opened her mouth to say something…but then her mind went blank. "I don't know" she realised, "You know when someone asks you what's your favourite book and straight away you forget every single book that you've ever read?"
"No, totally not" the Doctor admitted.
"Well, that's a thing that…happens".
"And?" he prompted, "Back to the question?"
"Okay…so, so, so…so, I'd like to see…I would like to see…what I would like to see is…" Clara had turned her back to them; she spun around and smiled, "Something awesome". The Doctor immediately jumped into action, setting the TARDIS into flight and dematerialising them. Then he materialised them somewhere else, and when his three companions followed him to the door, he told them to close their eyes and hold hands.
They did as he asked, and he guided them out of the TARDIS. "Can you feel the light on your eyelids?" he asked them; they nodded or 'mm-hmm'-ed in affirmative. "That is the light of an alien sun. Forward a couple of steps…okay. Are you ready?"
"Yeah" said Laura.
"Yep" said Charlotte.
"Yes" said Clara, then "No. Yes?"
"Oh…" she heard Laura gasp beside her, and opened her eyes. It was an amazing sight, a huge reddish orb hanging in the sky, surrounded by asteroids, one of which was covered in buildings. All three of them stared at it in wonder; Charlotte had worried that knowing what was coming on this adventure would take some of the magic away, but…seeing it on a screen didn't do it justice. It was incredible.
"Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten, ladies" the Doctor said from behind them, smiling at the amazement clear on their faces. It never got old, this, showing someone a new world for the first time.
"It's…" Clara trailed off, unable to put it into words.
"It is" the Doctor agreed with a smile, "It so completely is, but wait, there is more".
"More what?"
"Wait, wait, wait", the Doctor checked his wrist watch and counted down, nudging them forward a few steps, "In about five, four, three, two" – some of the great rocks shifted, revealing a beautiful golden pyramid on another asteroid, shining in the sunlight.
"What is it?" Clara breathed in wonder.
"The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten" the Doctor replied, "It's a holy site for the Sun Singers of Akhat".
"The who of what?"
"Seven worlds orbiting the same star; all of them sharing a belief that life in the universe originated here, on that planet" the Doctor revealed, pointing to the largest asteroid with the city built into it.
"All life?"
"In the universe" the Doctor nodded.
"Did it?"
"Well…it's what they believe. It's a nice story".
"It's beautiful" Laura sighed, gazing at the pyramid and the city and the sun. Of course she knew the sun was actually a parasite, but right now, she didn't care. Charlotte nodded gently in agreement, unable to keep the smile off her face. "Yeah, as far as being awesome goes, this is definitely awesome" she murmured.
Clara couldn't agree more; without taking her eyes off the glowing pyramid she hopefully asked, "Can we see it? Up close?"
The Doctor smiled, and offered her his hand, chuckling fondly at the excitement in her eyes. The four of them hurried back into the TARDIS, which then dematerialised and re-materialised on Akhaten itself. The Doctor pulled Clara out first, the two Whovians hot on their tail; they emerged into a bustling marketplace, with a multitude of aliens going about their business and not paying the four any mind.
Laura winced slightly, bad memories coming to the forefront. Charlotte noticed her expression and put an arm around her, murmuring "Cheer up, I won't let them sell you anything dangerous".
"I'm not buying anything" replied Laura, she'd learned from her mistake last time. Part of Charlotte wanted to chew the Doctor out for bringing them somewhere that Laura would be reminded of a less than pleasant experience, but this adventure had to happen. Besides, she would make sure Laura wasn't left alone to be tempted or to get lost; as her best friend, it was up to Charlotte to be loyal and look after her.
"I can't pay for that" the three women overheard the Doctor say to an alien trying to sell him something. Clara, who had been staring around her in awe, asked curiously, "Where are they from?"
"Oh, you know, the local system, mostly" the Doctor told her casually.
"And what should we call them?"
"Well, let's see…Ah! There go some Pan-Babylonians" he said, pointing to a couple of grey-blue aliens with bulbous skin and elfin ears, "A Lugal-Irra-Kush", he pointed at an alien with a hooked, parrot like beak, "Some Lucanians", he pointed at aliens with green, bald swollen heads and high collared black robes, "A Hooloovoo", he pointed out an alien walking past with a strange helmet of some sort on its head, "Ah! Qom VoTivig" he greeted one hooded, slightly owl or frog like alien. The two performed some ritualistic greeting, and the alien moved on.
"That chap's a Terraberserker of the Kodion Belt. You don't see many of them around anymore" the Doctor told his companions, before exclaiming, "Oh! That's an Ultramancer!" he ran up to an alien in armour with glowing red eyes and tubes coming out of its helmet. "Do you know, I forget how much I like it here. We should come here more often" he remarked to the girls.
"You've been here before?" Clara asked, though she wasn't entirely surprised; after all, he must have been here at some point if he knew so much about the place.
"Yes, yes, yes. I came here a long time ago with my granddaughter" he replied all too nonchalantly, before darting off through the crowd. The smile fell off Clara's face to be replaced by shock. "Hang on!" she cried, all three women hurrying after him. When they caught up, he was holding a basket with four lightly glowing blue spheres inside.
"Exotic fruit of some description" he explained, scanning the orbs, "Right. Non-toxic, non-hallucinogenic…High in free radicals and low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder" he remarked. Each of his companions reached out and took one, biting into it. Clara chewed it and shook her head, grimacing a bit. "No?" he guessed from her expression that it didn't agree with human taste buds.
"It tastes sort of…sour" said Laura, smacking her lips and returning her unfinished fruit to the basket. Charlotte followed suit, saying "It tastes a bit like…drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth…so yeah, kinda gross".
"So, why is everyone here?" asked Clara; the Doctor set the basket down and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Ah, for the Festival of Offerings" he explained, leading them off through the market, "Takes place every thousand years or so, when the rings align. It's quite a big thing, locally, like err…err…Pancake Tuesday".
The Doctor headed off round a corner; Clara turned around to see if Laura and Charlotte were still there, and came face to face with a snarling alien who had rather sharp canines poking out of its mouth. It barked loudly at her like a dog, and she stumbled back fearfully. Then Charlotte stepped between them and made some yapping noises at the alien. It growled and barked at them again; Charlotte squeaked in fright and jumped back, bumping into Clara. "Sorry, sorry!"
"Doctor, come quick!" Laura called. The Time Lord ran back and yapped at the alien like a terrier, who didn't bark at him.
"What's happening, why's it angry?" asked Clara. The Doctor looked between her and the alien and protested, "This isn't an it, it's a she. Dor'een, meet Clara, Laura and Charlotte. Clara, Laura, and Charlotte, meet Dor'een" he introduced them all.
"Doreen?" Clara laughed a bit, bemused that an alien would have such a normal sounding name as 'Doreen'.
"Loose translation" the Doctor waved a hand dismissively; Charlotte wasn't sure if he meant the name or the TARDIS circuits. "She sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love actually, aren't you?" he beamed at Dor'een, tickling her under the chin, "Yes you are! No, actually, she's just asking if we fancy renting a couple of mopeds" he explained. Dor'een barked something and the Doctor frowned. "She also says…that you called her fat?" he asked Charlotte.
Charlotte winced and gave a nervous laugh. "Ah heh, oops; sorry" she apologised to Dor'een, "I didn't actually know what I was saying". Dor'een barked again, and the Doctor translated, "She says it's fine, she could tell you weren't a native speaker by your accent".
"There are two of them?" asked Laura; in the episode there had only been one. The Doctor nodded as Dor'een moved to let them get a better view the two sleek, futuristic vehicles. "Yes, they're in tandem. Whatever one moped does, the other copies; very good for taking kids out, or for couples" he explained with a cheerful smile.
"Couples?" Clara smirked mischievously, "Is this supposed to be a date?"
"Wha- no! Oi, you…shut up!" the Doctor rambled, clearly flustered, and his three companions couldn't help but giggle. "Aww, but you're so adorable when you're embarrassed" Charlotte grinned playfully.
The Doctor gave her an indignant stare. "Adorable?" he repeated in disbelief. Charlotte just chuckled and gave him a brief hug. He realised that she'd probably meant it as a compliment…of sorts…and couldn't find it in himself to be cross at her.
"So, how much do they both cost?" Clara inquired, nodding at the two mopeds.
"Err, not money" the Doctor informed her, "Something valuable. Sentimental value, a photograph, love letter, something like that. That's what's used for currency here, psychometry. Objects psychically imprinted with their history. The more treasured they are, the more value they hold" he explained.
"That's horrible" Clara frowned; Charlotte and Laura both nodded in agreement.
"Well, it's better than using bits of paper".
Clara shrugged and suggested, "Then you pay".
"With what?"
"You're a thousand years old. You must have something you care about" Clara reasoned. She looked around, laughing in delight, only to turn and find the Doctor had walked off. "Where'd he go?" she asked Laura and Charlotte.
"I think he went that way" Laura explained, pointing back the way they had come. They went to catch up with the Time Lord, but he'd already disappeared from view. "Man, he moves fast" Charlotte muttered, annoyed but also slightly impressed. Clara called out for the Doctor, but there was no response. Then a young girl in red robes, who seemed human except for the raised markings on her cheeks and forehead, ran around the corner and came to a halt in front of Clara. Of course the two Whovians recognised her immediately; it was Merry.
She looked afraid, and Clara was immediately concerned for her. "Are you okay?" she asked gently; Merry just ducked past the three of them and ran away. Moments later, two men in the same scarlet clothing appeared. One asked them, "Have you seen her?"
"Um, seen who?" asked Laura.
"The Queen of Years" the man replied.
"Who?" asked Clara, bewildered. The two men nodded to each other and split up to search for the Queen…which Clara then realised might have been the little girl. She looked at her friends to see if they'd come with her; they both nodded, as if they'd guessed what she was thinking, and the three of them went to find the child, whom Clara was sure needed help.
They ended up in a storehouse of some kind, filled with crates and strange alien artefacts. "Hello?" Clara called out; she was sure she'd spotted the little girl sneak in here, but there was no sign of her now.
A sudden bang made them all jump. "It's okay, I think it was just a door slamming" Charlotte said reassuringly. The three of them continued to walk through the deserted building; the sound of pattering feet reached their ears, and they turned to see Merry emerging from behind a wire crate. She stared at them all in alarm, and they smiled gently as they could, to try and put her at ease. "Hey, are you okay? Are you lost?" asked Clara.
She didn't reply, but simply ran away again. Clara, Laura and Charlotte hurried after her; it didn't take long for them to find her again, as she tried to sneak away from them but knocked into something by mistake. The noise made Clara spin around and gasp, made the child scream…then they both chuckled a bit, realising they'd been spooked by a pot.
"Are you alright?" Clara asked the girl softly…rather than run away again, she seemed to decide to trust them and nodded.
"How come you ran away?" Charlotte inquired, tilting her head a bit as if in curiosity. She did already know why Merry was trying to hide, but she was doing her best to act as if she didn't.
"I was hiding".
"Hiding from what?" asked Laura; she and Charlotte had both agreed to act as if they didn't know what was coming. It was difficult at times, but they'd managed to not slip up yet. They were just taking things one bit at a time.
Merry's brow creased slightly in disbelief. "You don't know me?"
"Sorry" Clara apologised, taking a few steps towards her, "Actually not".
"So why did you follow me?"
"To help, you looked lost".
Merry looked nervous. "I don't believe you…"
Clara looked over her shoulder at her friends and then back to Merry. "We've got no idea who you might be" she reassured the girl, "We've never been here before. We've never been anywhere like here before. We just saw a little girl who looked like she needed help" she explained.
"Really?" asked Merry, nervous and hopeful at the same time. Clara smiled and nodded, "Really, really".
"Can you help me?"
"We'll do our best" Laura promised.
"Because I need to hide" Merry explained fearfully, looking over her shoulder. They heard a whooshing noise, and then a sinister voice whispering "Merry. Where are you, Merry?"
"Well you're in luck; we know the perfect box" Clara smiled, holding a hand out to Merry. The little girl hesitated, so Charlotte stepped forward and beckoned to her. "It's okay, you can trust us. But we've got to go" she urged.
"Merry, where are you? Merry…Merry…"
The creepy whisper made Merry's mind up; she hurried forward and took Clara's hand. The three of them hurried out of the storeroom, trying to keep out of sight of the three robotic like figures walking through the storeroom in search of the little girl. Once they got out, they sneaked into the bazaar, hiding Merry behind them when aliens walked past. At last they made it back to the TARDIS, tucked away in a gated storage space.
"What's this?" asked Merry, staring at the large blue box.
"A space-shippy thing. Timey, spacey" Clara explained vaguely, checking to make sure they hadn't been followed. Charlotte smiled in amusement at her description and elucidated, "It's a spaceship and time machine, she means".
"It's teeny" Merry pointed out, the fact that it was a time machine not making her bat an eye. Clara smiled and gripped the door handles. "You wait" she told Merry, before pushing…and tugging…all to no avail. "Oh, come on" she groaned.
"What's wrong?"
Clara stepped away from the TARDIS. "I don't know" she replied, looking the box up and down. For some reason she got the feeling it was looking back at her. "I don't think it likes me" she declared.
"She's definitely not going to like you if you call her an 'it'" Charlotte remarked, reaching out to try the doors herself. They didn't budge for her either. "See? It's not just you" she pointed out to Clara.
"So why can't we get in?"
"Well, uh, the Doctor told us we weren't supposed to take strangers on board the TARDIS without his permission" Laura explained. Clara frowned in consternation. "Seriously? Not even…hey, where'd she go?" she asked, looking around for Merry.
"I think she went behind the TARDIS" said Laura. They found the little girl sitting on the ground behind the blue box; Clara sat down next to her and the two Whovians sat opposite them. Clara gave her a warm smile and murmured, "So err, we never got your name…"
"My name's Merry".
Laura smiled and remarked, "That's a lovely name. I'm Laura, and these are my friends Clara and Charlotte" she introduced.
"Hello…" Merry said shyly.
"So, what's happening?" asked Clara, "Is someone trying to hurt you?"
"No" Merry shook her head slightly. "I'm just scared" she admitted.
"Of what?"
"Getting it wrong" Merry replied simply.
"Okay, can you pretend like us three are space aliens and explain?"
"I'm Merry Gejelh" she revealed as if it were a big secret…which it was, to Clara at least. "Really not local, sorry" Clara admitted apologetically.
"The Queen of Years? They chose me when I was a baby, the day the last Queen of Years died" Merry explained.
"Okay".
"I'm the vessel of our history" said Merry, "I know every chronicle, every poem, every legend, every song".
"Every single one?" Clara asked in surprise; that seemed like a lot to learn for a young girl. "Blimey, I hated history" she half-joked. Laura smiled in reminiscence and commented, "I really enjoyed it…sorry, go on Merry".
"I have to sing a song in front of everyone. A special song. I have to sing it to a god. And I'm really scared" Merry explained in a small voice. She looked so small and innocent that Laura's heart went out to her. "It's alright, Merry. There's nothing wrong with being scared" she told the little girl comfortingly.
"Of course not" Clara agreed, "And besides, everyone's scared when they're little. I used to be terrified of getting lost. Used to have nightmares about it" she recalled, "And then… I got lost. Blackpool beach, Bank holiday Monday, about ten billion people. I was about six. My worst nightmare come true".
"What happened?"
"My world ended, my heart broke…" Clara smiled, "And then my mum found me. We had fish and chips, and she drove me home and she tucked me up and she told me a story". Clara could remember it as if it were yesterday…and she always remembered her mother's words. "It doesn't matter where you are, in the jungle or the desert or on the moon. However lost you may feel, you'll never really be lost. Not really. Because I will always be here, and I will always come and find you. Every single time. Every single time".
If only you'd been able to keep your promise, mum…
"And you were never scared again?" asked Merry, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, I was scared lots of times, but never of being lost" she replied, before asking "So, this special song. What are you scared of, exactly?"
"Getting it wrong" Merry answered, "Making Grandfather angry".
"And do you think you'll get it wrong? Because I don't" Clara reassured her, "I don't think you'll get it wrong. I think you, Merry Gejelh, will get it very, very right" she said confidently.
"You've just got to do your best" Laura added encouragingly.
"And if for some reason things don't go quite as planned, it won't be your fault" Charlotte added with certainty, "And if anyone tries to blame you they're gonna have to go through us. Especially Clara, she's scary when she's mad" Charlotte joked with a grin.
Clara shot her a mock indignant glare. "Hey!"
Merry giggled, and then reached across to hug Clara. She hugged Laura and Charlotte as well. They went back to the bazaar, where the two robed men were speaking to vendors; Clara gave Merry an encouraging nudge and she walked up to the men, who had spotted her approaching. She lowered her hood and one of them put a lei around her neck, before leading her away.
After Merry and the two choristers had disappeared around the corner, the Doctor decided to reappear, eating one of the glowing blue fruits. "What have you been doing?" he asked them casually.
"Exploring" Clara replied for all of them. The Doctor smiled, shrugged and walked off again; prompting Clara to spread her arms in a 'now what?' gesture. "Where are we going now?" she asked, as they hurried after him.
"The amphitheatre!" he replied, "It's right on the edge of the planet, there's going to be a special performance there in about...five minutes" he realised after checking his watch.
Clara realised that this must be the performance Merry was talking about; they definitely had to be there to support her. "Well, what are we waiting for then?" she inquired cheerfully. The Doctor grinned and grabbed her hand, breaking into a run.
/
They hurried into the amphitheatre a few moments before it was due to start. Charlotte had worried there wouldn't be anywhere for her and Laura to sit, but by a lucky coincidence there were four spaces. With quite a few muttered apologies to the other aliens, the four of them sat in a row; the Doctor right by the wall, then Clara on his right, followed by Charlotte and Laura.
"Are we even supposed to be here?" Clara asked the Doctor in a near whisper.
"Shh!"
"But are we?"
"Shh!"
Merry was standing on a small golden pedestal at the very edge of the semi-circular arena. She looked back over her shoulder to see Clara, Charlotte and Laura sitting in the stands. They smiled encouragingly at her; Clara gave a small nod, and Merry nodded back, before turning to face the shining pyramid and the sun. She began to sing. "Akhaten…"
Another voice, an older male voice, joined in, projected from the pyramid itself. "Lay down, my king. Sleep now eternal. Sleep, my precious king. Lay down…"
"O God of Akhaten…"
The Doctor had put on Amy's reading glasses again and was reading a leaflet of some sort. "They're singing to the Mummy in the Temple" he explained, "They call it the Old God, sometimes Grandfather".
"O God of Akhaten…"
"She's really good" Laura muttered to Charlotte, who nodded in agreement.
"What are they singing?" Clara asked curiously.
"The Long Song" the Doctor replied, "A lullaby without end to feed the Old God. Keep him asleep. It's been going for millions of years, chorister handing over to chorister, generation after generation after generation" he explained. All around them, the audience were raising objects in their hands towards the sun and the pyramid.
"What are they doing?"
"Those are offerings. Gifts of value, mementoes to feed the Old God" the Doctor explained. Clara, Charlotte and Laura watched in wonder as the objects dissolved into gold particles, floating up towards the sun as Merry and the chorister sang a duet.
"O God of, O God of, O God of Akhaten…"
"Sleep, my precious king…"
Everyone around them began to sing in chorus; even the Doctor. "Lay – lay down…"
"Rest now, my warrior" the chorister seemed to sing; it was hard to make out; but he faltered at the end, when a rumbling sounded. Both the chorister and Merry stopped singing, the little girl looking just as confused as the crowd, who were murmuring amongst themselves.
They could hear the chorister singing, praying…"Old God protect us…Old God protect us…"
Suddenly, Merry cried out as a golden energy beam grabbed her and began pulling her towards the pyramid. "Okay, what's happening? Is that supposed to happen?" asked Clara; for all she knew it was part of the tradition, but judging by the fear on Merry's face, it wasn't.
"Help!" the poor, terrified girl cried out. Charlotte was already on her feet, scrambling out of the stands, not bothering to apologise to anyone for practically clambering over them. The other three hurried to follow her. "Is somebody going to do something?" Clara demanded, looking at the congregation who were just sitting there, "Excuse me, is somebody going to help her?"
Nobody answered, at least not in a language she understood, so Clara hurried off after the Doctor, Laura and Charlotte. The Doctor was striding towards where the TARDIS was hidden and she mistakenly thought he was trying to leave. "Why are we walking away?" she demanded, "We can't just walk away. This is my fault! I talked her into doing this" she said guiltily.
"So did Laura and I" Charlotte reminded her, "And how were you planning on getting to Merry?" she asked pointedly.
"Listen" the Doctor instructed firmly, "There's one thing you need to know about travelling with me. Well, one thing apart from the blue box and the two hearts. We don't walk away" he declared, before turning and striding onwards. He headed straight for Dor'een's stall and barked at her; she barked in return, and he patted his pockets, before turning to his companions. "I need something precious" he told them.
"Well, you must have something. All the places you've seen, there must be something" Clara reasoned.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "This. And I don't want to give it away, because it comes in handy".
"You're a thousand years old and that's it? Your spanner?" Clara asked incredulously.
"Screwdriver" he corrected.
Charlotte was tempted to point out that he did have something precious, Amy's spectacles, but she didn't – and it had nothing to do with preserving the timelines. She just knew she'd feel guilty if she made him give up something that reminded him of a loved one…and the same went for Clara, she decided. "I've got something" she said quickly, taking off the amethyst necklace she'd been wearing when she arrived in the Whoniverse. It reminded her of both her parents, and then the rest of her family and her home…she held it out to Dor'een, who took it, and then shook her head and growled.
"It's not enough" the Doctor translated, dismayed, "It's not enough to pay for both mopeds".
Clara looked down and slipped a ring off her finger. "It's my mum's" she explained quietly, handing it to Dor'een. This time the alien nodded and barked approvingly; the ring and the necklace together were enough to pay for both mopeds. The Doctor and Clara jumped onto the main one, Charlotte and Laura climbed aboard the secondary one, and off they raced to save Merry Gejelh.