Author's Note:

We are almost finished with this story! I believe there will be two more chapters and the epilogue. (The epilogue will most likely be updated within the same time frame as the last chapter.) This has been one of my favorite chapters just because there's so much going on, and I really hope you love it! Please feel free to leave me a comment, critique, or review, they are very much welcome! I am really surprised and ecstatic about the amount of response this story has gotten, and I want to thank you for reading from the bottom of my heart! It's one of my favorite things to do, and to have this much support from such a fantastic community means a lot to me!

Happy reading!

Quick Edit: I was so excited about updating that I completely forgot to mention something! Be sure to read the epilogue of the story when it comes, because I will be including a sneak peek of my next story, which is all drawn out and ready to go!

Chapter Six: A Thousand Worlds

Before Artima could ask the Doctor what he was talking about, he was already racing down the stairs, talking to himself.

"You clever, clever things, you had me running in circles just like everyone else. But you forgot one thing, I am extremely clever! Ha!" The Doctor shouted, taking the steps two at a time. With Artima far behind him, the Doctor ran through the rows and rows of sick Niscorites. He didn't pause to see Clara; he couldn't bear the sight of her in pain. Besides, his mind was completely focused on one thing and one thing only.

The Doctor burst through the doors of the church, a wildly terrible grin on his lips. He went up to the first Niscorite he saw, looking straight into their dead eyes.

"I know you're in there, and I know you can hear me! You have taken over this body and I want to know why, so you had better start talking." The Doctor straightened so he was taller than the figure. "I would start talking if I were you."

"Doctor, they can't hear you!" Artima insisted, grasping his arm.

"Oh they can hear me alright; they've been able to hear me this entire time. ISN'T THAT RIGHT?!" He shouted into the Niscorite's face, his own features twisted with the most unkind anger. "You've been locking yourselves up in their heads, controlling their bodies to make everyone think this is some kind of plague. You're clever, I'll give you that, but all the cleverness in the universe can't save you from me." He hissed, seething with rage. "I am the Doctor!" The Doctor spread his arms out wide, his sinister smile darkening. "And you better start talking."

The Niscorite stared at him with their blank eyes, and to Artima they were completely void of life.

"You're mad!" She yelled, standing a good distance from the Doctor. "Doctor, you're mad! Don't you see, there's nothing living inside them anymore, their souls are gone! They can't hear you!"

"You're right Artima, their souls are gone and I am sorry, I am so very sorry I could not save them but there is something in their heads. There is something very much alive in there, and it's been harboring in their minds. They've been gorging themselves their life force, their very souls." He narrowed his eyes, his face mere inches from the Niscorite's. "You've managed to control their bodies, you've put them through so much pain and you, you are going to tell me why. TELL ME WHY!"

Artima looked on as the Niscorite opened their mouth and closed it again, as though they were trying to get the feel of talking. They were trying to find their voice. With absolute horror in her eyes, Artima watched they began to speak.

"We…are many." The voice was raspy and monotonous, void of any emotion at all. "We…were weak…but we are….strong…again."

"Of course you are, with all the people you have killed. Tell me, how many bodies have you taken, how many lives have you ruined? How many have you killed for the sake of your feasting?" The Doctor hissed.

"Oh my god…" Artima whispered, her large eyes wide with absolute terror. Her small body quaked with fear, and she clamped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god, they're alive. My people are alive!"

"No," The Doctor said, his eyes never leaving the Niscorite's. "I'm so sorry, but they're dead. But the things inside them are very much alive."

"Then…then what are they?!" Artima shifted away from them, her horrified eyes flicking to each Niscorite in the street.

"Philomites. They're a microscopic race that lives in the dust of the planets they destroy. We were so busy looking at the water that we were missing the one thing that was right in front of us the entire time. Dust. They've been living in the dust. You breathe them in and they enter your blood, reworking the system to fit their needs while sucking away your life force. That's why you get sick, that's why there's so much pain. They eat you alive from within. I have seen the Philomites take down a thousand worlds, I have seen them suck the lives of every living creature on the planet then destroy it without a second glance. They are a species of murderers." His anger grew more intense, his eyes black with rage.

"You…are not so different…from us…Doctor." The Philomites rasped within the Niscorite's body.

"I am nothing like you."

The Niscorite's lips twitched into a sinister smirk, their dead eyes locked on the Doctor.

"No…you're right. Philomites…do not kill their own."

The Doctor gritted his teeth, a wash of guilt appearing in his eyes before his jaw locked. He would not let them get into his head like that.

"What I don't understand is why make them think this is the doing of their god? The Philomites have never played it safe before, why would you now?"

The Niscorite opened its mouth again to speak. "We…were weak. We came…on an asteroid. Our empire…had fallen…and we…entered the atmosphere. Burnt up. So many…lost." The voice wheezed, as though they were catching their breath after a long run.

"So you came to Bahl to rebuild your empire."

"We…could not let them see. We…could not risk it. We were…so weak. But now…we are strong. We…are many. We…will destroy this planet." The voice grew harsher before it let out a sickening sound. They were laughing.

"Not while I'm here." The Doctor spoke in a low voice. "Your first mistake was coming to this planet, but your second was taking Clara from me. I will give you one chance and only one to leave this planet while you can. Leave this planet, its people, and Clara."

The Niscorite laughed again, the revolting sound making Artima's stomach lurch.

"You cannot…kill us. We are…many. We are…strong."

The Doctor's dark smile was back on his lips. "You are many, but I'm a Timelord. You will leave this planet or I will stop you."

"We…will rebuild…our empire. And no one…can stop us. Not even you….Doctor."

The Doctor straightened his back, looking down at them with his grin. "Just watch me."