II


"…don't you act so sanctimonious with me! You should not even be on this planet!"

"I have every right to be here. He's my Grandson as well. And, unlike you, with your limited abilities, I saw this was going to happen!"

"You made your decision to no longer have a place in this family, when you left to join the Sisterhood, leaving me to raise the Time Tots alone—"

"Time Tots indeed. Don't you dare exaggerate! Ulysses was already married…!"

Theta slowly opened up his eyes, blinking as he looked across the stark, white sheet covered, plastic medic bunk, over at where he could see Borusa, still in his robes of state, but minus the collar, standing at the end of his medic bunk.

His grandfather was arguing with a fair-haired woman, dressed in crimson-robes, and a semi-transparent crimson veil was draped from the top of her head.

Vaguely, Theta pieced together that this must be the woman who had been at his side when he'd crawled out of the Cloisters.

Over in the corner there was another Time Lord present. Red haired and with a beard, dressed in the all white, medic robes, he was reading over a com-tablet, clearly ignoring the argument between Borusa and the veiled woman.

The light from the medic room was streaming in from a large, arched window on Theta's right, casting a more golden colour from the mid-afternoon suns against the otherwise white space.

Theta let out a small groan, looking down and studying his hands, they were encased in clear covering orbs, floating in a healing, liquid, blue medicate substance.

"The boy is awake, Borusa." The strange woman's voice informed.

Theta looked over to see all three of the other occupants approaching him, and he looked reproachfully back up at them. "What?" He questioned, not liking the way they were looking down at him with wariness.

Borusa leaned closer, "Do you know who you are?"

Shrugging, Theta stared mildly back at Borusa. "Do any of us really know who we are?"

Surprised at his grandson's unusual flippancy, the middle-aged Time Lord was slightly taken back, but managed to recover, "Your name, I mean."

Theta noticed there was a force field barrier, holding him down in his bunk, and he wondered why there was such a thing, but finally answered Borusa. "My real name, or my Academy name?" He questioned.

"Either." The red haired medic interceded, pulling out his com-tablet and taking notes.

Feeling faint, Theta lolled his head to the side, "Iατρός…" he whispered in Old High Gallifreyan, making Borusa's heavy grey eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"What?"

Theta looked squarely at his grandfather, "Theta Sigma." He responded blithely in normal Gallifreyan, looking over at the veiled woman. "You're a Sister of Karn. You were there after I left…you held me."

The stern woman touched Theta's forehead. "Yes, boy. I'm a Sister of Karn. I'm also your Grandmother, Ohila." She revealed.

The injured Time Youth smiled widely, "That's nice. I always wanted a grandmother. I don't have a mother or father...you know, though, I did, once," he looked over at Borusa, inclining his head in his grandfather's direction.

"He could have stopped my father being exiled, but he didn't."

Borusa's mouth fell open, feeling the glare of Ohila, "How did…Ohila I did all in my power—"

"Liar!" Theta suddenly snarled, pointing with his encased hand. "You wanted to be my sole guardian, you wanted the power I—" He stopped mid-sentence. "—oh, please don't blame the President's daughter. She told me to wait, I just listened to the voices in my head instead, they took me away."

Theta laughed, closing his eyes as he lent back against the pillow. "She doesn't like me, you know? The President's daughter doesn't like future politicians. Isn't that funny?" He began to slip back into unconsciousness.

"Melialeirionmoria doesn't like me…"

The medic gently shook Theta's shoulders, "You have to stay awake, young man. You have to tell us in as much detail as you can, what happened to you down in the Cloisters." He insisted.

Theta's eyes shot open, "There are cameras, you must have seen…" he shut his eyes again.

"Yes, we did. We saw the footage of you entering the Cloisters, and then being surrounded by the Cloister Wraiths. But we didn't see exactly what happened, the footage went fuzzy and the audio cut out." The medic lent forward.

"You said 'they' called you down into the Cloisters, by they—"

"The Cloister Wraiths." Theta interrupted swiftly, turning his back on the medic and closing his eyes again. "Now can I sleep? I've had quite enough of all of these questions."

"Theta Sigma!" Borusa scolded.

"I don't think it will do any good." Ohila interceded. "The boy has had a shocking experience. No one has ever been called by the Cloister Wraiths. Nor have they ever survived, or escaped, to tell the tale of being surrounded by them." She rested her hand on Theta's head.

"He might never fully regain his wits."

Theta snapped open his eyes and peered up at Ohila. "Grandmother, I'll have you know I'm perfectly within my wits." He turned back around. "I just don't wish to be questioned any further. Like you said, shocking experience. Understatement of the millennia, by the way…"

"Just tell me one thing then, boy," Ohila bent down to be face to face with the bruised face of the Time Youth. "Why did they call you?"

Sighing heavily, Theta shut his eyes as he began to drift back to sleep. "They wanted to tell me about The Hybrid…I know…who…" he trailed off and slipped into unconsciousness.

-:-:-:-

"Thete?" A deep, solemn voice questioned. "Thete, are you awake?"

Flickering his eyes open, Theta tilted his head head and stared through half-lidded slits at the hazy, dark haired figure addressing him, opening his eyes fully, he stared at the thin moustached, dark haired young Time Lord staring mildly back down at him.

The Time Youth's telepathic connection quickly informed Theta of the relation of the older Time Lord.

"Irving?" Theta hoarsely questioned coughing slightly into his now bare right hand, it still smelt faintly of the medical solution it had been floating in.

The Time Lord reached for the tumbler of water and pressed it to his young, half-brother's lips. "Yes, Thete, it's me." Irving Braxiatel assured, removing the tumbler after Theta had taken a sip.

Clearing his throat, Theta blinked up at his tall half-brother, "You've regenerated. I wouldn't have recognised you without the telepathic link." He mentioned conversely, settling back against the pillows.

Braxiatel gave Theta a small smile as he placed the tumbler back on the side table, sitting back down in the white, moulded chair he'd pulled up to Theta's bedside, "Yes. You haven't regenerated and I still hardly recognised you. You've grown so much."

Matching his brother's small smile, Theta looked up at the ceiling, "Well, that happens in fifty years," he pointed out the time since he'd last seen his sibling.

Nodding, Braxiatel folded his arms over his chest. "I have been busy in my role as ambassador, and our Grandfather doesn't care for me very much, you know that, Thete." He leaned forward. "You should think about being an ambassador for a career yourself."

Theta shook his head and turned to regard Braxiatel. "No, thank you. Perhaps the travelling is good, but the whole bureaucracy, and being stationed for long periods of time, planet to planet, doesn't sound like my cup of tea." He dismissed the idea with a disinterested wave of his hand.

Braxiatel folded his hands together, "So, politics, then? Like Grandfather intends for you?"

Raising a tired eyebrow, Theta pulled the covers up to his chin and frowned, looking ahead at the blank wall in front of his bunk. "Grandfather intends a lot of things for me, and now I'm not sure if I want any of it, any more," he mumbled, looking aside at his brother, who wore a surprised expression.

"What's that look for, Irving?"

Blinking his eyes, Braxiatel looked closely at Theta, "I—never mind. I expect you're still in shock from the experience, it's just that you sound a little—?"

"Off my wits?" Theta interrupted dryly. "I can assure you, Irving, I'm perfectly within my wits—why do I feel like I've had this conversation before…oh yes, with Grandmother." He yawned and shrugged.

Braxiatel glanced to the side, "I see. I've read the official accounts, of course, but you—why did they call you down there, Thete?" He curiously questioned his young half-brother.

Theta rolled his blue eyes, "To talk. Chalk it up to another incident because of my half-human status. I'm starting to think I'm more of a freak than I ever did before," he sulked, causing his brother to reach out to place a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"You're not a freak, Thete. You're unique, but you are still a normal Time Youth, you can see that in your blood charts. Your human blood hardly impacts you at all, apart from several differentials in your blood-group and chemical make-up, I mean," Braxiatel withdrew his hand from his brother's shoulder.

"I don't know about when you get older, because Father always says there's a chance one of your hearts, biologically, is more human than Time Lord. However—"

Theta's head whipped around to regard his brother, as he interrupted, "What do you mean, 'says'…? Wait," he looked over at Braxiatel, who raised a dark eyebrow in repose. "Have you seen Father recently?"

There was a small smile, and Braxiatel pulled a satchel bag onto his lap, "I have. He and Penelope gave me a few things for you, if I managed to see you when I got back to Gallifrey," he admitted, reaching to the cloth bag and pulling out several items, depositing them on to Theta's blanket covered lap.

There were three, brown paper wrapped objects and Theta eagerly tore into the first package, revealing a Sol-3 hardcover book, reading the front of the dust-cover, he blinked. "The Time Machine…Mother would read this to me before bedtime." He flicked through the pages, finding the plain, red leather bookmark, with a bronze coloured tassel.

"We were half-way through…"

Placing the book to the side, Theta unwrapped another packaging, revealing another book. This one about Human Anthropology For The New Age. Confused, Theta also put it to the side, and reached for the last package, which was also the smallest and thinnest.

Slowly peeling back the brown paper, Theta revealed a black and white photograph in a dark wooden frame, of a man and a woman, standing on a grassy hill. A body of water, with a strange bridge across it, in the background.

The woman looked painfully familiar enough for Theta to instantly recognise her, it was Penelope Gate.

His mother looked at least twenty human years older than the last time he'd seen her, and the man beside her looked slightly younger, tall and light-eyed, with dark hair and a well trimmed beard. There was something in his stance that reminded Theta of someone.

Turning the frame around, there was writing on the back, and Theta Sigma cleared his throat as he read the Sol-3 English out loud:

"Dr. Penelope Gate and Dr. Daniel Joyce, in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, 1965…who is this Daniel Joyce?" Theta voiced curiously, and Braxiatel pointed over at the Human Anthropology For The New Age book and the Time Youth reached over for the heavy, green leather-bound book.

Reading the dust-cover, Theta found the author's name, "Dr. Daniel Joyce," he read out, looking over at his half-brother. "The same person?"

Braxiatel smiled indulgently, "Open it up and read the dedication." He directed.

Obliging his older half-brother, Theta cracked open the Sol-3 book and turned a couple of pages until he reached the dedication page, "To my wife, Penelope Gate…wife?!" Theta looked over at Braxiatel in shock, who reached over and tapped the page.

"Read a little further, Thete."

Theta scowled a little as he looked back down at the dedication page, "…,my eldest son, and especially to my youngest son, who will always be half human, and half stardust wonder, to me…" he trailed off, picking back up the photograph and staring. "Oh. He regenerated as well."

"They forced Father to, before he and Penelope were exiled," Braxiatel explained slowly, looking seriously down at Theta. "You can't let our Grandfather know I've given you this information. What you do with it will be your business, though, not his."

Nodding solemnly, Theta watched as his brother gathered up the books, photograph, and brown paper, stashing it back into the satchel, "Thank-you, Irving." He said sincerely, his older brother turning his head, a look of guilt on his face.

"Thete," Braxiatel handed the satchel over to his brother, before resting his hand on Theta's thin shoulder. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop them from sending you to the Drylander foster home. I didn't know, until after you were already at the Academy, or else I would have done something to stop it."

Looking up Braxiatel, Theta nodded, "It's all right now, Irving. Are you leaving soon?" He asked, and his half-brother looked regretful, his brown eyes narrowed.

"Borusa gave me permission to see you, on the condition it would be brief. He's probably lurking around, timing my visit as we speak." Braxiatel mentioned dryly, managing to sound exactly like Theta's memory of his father's tone whenever he spoke of Borusa.

Braxiatel leaned forward, "When you are a Time Lord, and it's only a few decades away, you will be free of obligations to Borusa." He squeezed Theta's shoulder gently. "Until then, I will try to see you, if ever I can, little brother."

Resting his newly healed right hand atop the one Braxiatel rested on his shoulder, Theta inclined his head, "Please do, Irving." He grinned. "You know, it might have been a near-death experience, but I think what I went through has opened up my eyes."

Braxiatel withdrew his hand, folding his arms as he regarded his bedridden young half-brother, "How so, Thete?"

Smirking slightly, as he yawned, stretching his arms slowly, painful bruises still making the movement difficult, Theta leaned back against his pillows, "I'm not quite sure yet, Irving. But I've got a feeling I'll figure it out, soon enough."

Smiling, Irving headed for the door, stopping mid-way to look back at Theta, "Put the satchel under your pillow, and get some rest." He winked. "I'll tell our Grandfather that you remained fast asleep during my entire visit."

Theta let out a chuckle, as his half-brother gave a wave of farewell, before slipping out the door, leaving the Time Youth to do as Braxiatel suggested, tucking the satchel with the books and photograph behind his pillows, hidden from Borusa's prying gaze.

"Half stardust wonder." Theta murmured as he closed his eyes, remembering his father's nickname for him, Stardust Wonderer.

Would I still be that to you, Father, if we meet again? I'm not so sure…

-:-:-:-

A few hours after Irving left, Theta was awakened again by a medic, who brought him his noon-time meal. Which was actually a pleasant array of vegetables, meat and salad. With the added treat of Sol-3 style chocolate and vanilla ice-cream, brought to him afterwards for desert, as Theta had requested.

Half-way through digging into his ice-cream, there was a knock on the hospital room door, and Theta lowered the spoon from his lips, and cleared his throat.

"Enter."

The door slid across and a smile parted Theta's features, when he saw his fair-haired aunt's head pop around the side. Flavia's hair was loosely braided down her back, and she was dressed in a simple, olive green gown, tied under her bust with a darker green cord.

"Are you good for visitors, nephew?"

Nodding, Theta waved his aunt forward, "Yes! I'm desperate for them," he encouraged, making his aunt laugh, as she straightened and entered the hospital room, followed by a large, hulking figure of a Time Lord.

Flavia's towering, Time Lord companion, had a full, dark brown beard, and was dressed in dark brown pants, shining, knee-high black boots, a brown vest and a white shirt. The sleeves of the shirt were cut off, exposing massive, muscular arms, the left of which had a distinctive, blue tattoo, of an Ouroboros, (a snake eating it's tail.)

"Ah ha! There's the likely lad, Theta Sigma," the bearded Time Lord boomed, as he walked over to look down at the Time Youth, his brown eyes twinkling with mirth.

"I knew, even when you were a Time-Tot, that you were an adventurer after my own heart. Going into the Cloisters and confronting Time Wraiths head-on. If I'd known you'd be like this as a Time Youth, I would have smuggled you off planet as my assistant the moment you asked to tag along with me."

Theta shrugged as he took another spoonful of his ice-cream, "It wasn't voluntary, Corsair," he mentioned, popping the spoon into his mouth, withdrawing it as he chuckled. "The way my Grandfather carries on, though, he probably swears I did it on purpose to get out of exams."

The Corsair let out a loud laugh and flopped down on the chair beside Theta's bunk, "And here I'd heard Flavia say you've become so serious," he looked over at his fair-haired companion, who had pulled another chair over to sit on the other side of her nephew.

Theta tapped the side of his head, "My Grandmother says I'm likely out of my wits now, that's probably why," he turned to look over at Flavia. "Am quite different, Aunt Flavia?"

Reaching over to pat her nephew's hand, the fair haired Time Lady sighed, "It's understandable if you are, you're still recovering from the shock," Flavia soothed, getting to her feet. "I'm going to go distract my father so you can have a bit more time to talk, just in case he's still patrolling the hallways."

Gliding over the medic-room door, Flavia glared over at The Corsair as the door slid across. "Don't go putting ideas in Theta head, Corsair, he's in recovery right now."

Leaning back on his chair, the burly Time Lord inclined his head, "Naturally, Flavia, my dear." After Flavia slipped outside and the door closed behind her, The Corsair looked over at Theta.

"Off to University soon?"

The Time Youth nodded, "Yes." Theta took a large spoonful of his ice-cream. "Although, Borusa is going to remain the Deca's mentor, so I doubt I'm going to get that much more freedom." He mentioned plainly, popping his spoon into his mouth.

The Corsair screwed up his face in sympathy, "Hard luck, old chum." He lent forward. "I tell you what, how about I find a way to get word to you whenever I'm on planet, and, if you'd like, you could sneak out and join me for a night out in the Drylander pubs, or maybe the Shobogan camps".

Smirking around his mouthful of ice-cream, Theta swallowed and nodded his head, "That absolutely sounds like a plan." He agreed gleefully.

Laughing, The Corsair rested his hand on the Time Youth's skinny shoulder, "Good. You can bring along whomever you'd like. Are you still friends with that young jackanape from Oakdown—"

The booming, jovial voice of the The Corsair, was cut off by an outraged yell from outside of Theta's medic-room.

"Who did you say is in there with my Grandson?!"

Jumping to his feet, The Corsair winked, "I think I just heard my cue to leave," he mentioned, making his way over to the door, and offering Theta a quick salute. "I'll see you around, Theta Sigma. I've got the feeling this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

Theta mimicked the burly Time Lord's salute, and watched as The Corsair ducked out of his room and laughed as he heard the sound of hurried boot-heels clicking down the hallway.

Reaching behind his pillow, Theta pulled out his copy of The Time Machine, and opened it up, pretending to be engrossed in it, before he calmly peered over the top of the book as his harried grandfather appeared timely into his room.

"Why, Grandfather," Theta smiled benignly, lowering his book slightly. "How nice of you to visit me."

Borusa eyed his youngest grandchild with a scowl, "Who was just in here with you?" He demanded, slightly out of breath, looking around the sparse medic-room, before looking back at Theta.

Blinking his blue eyes succinctly, Theta leaned back against his pillows, "Why, Aunt Flavia, of course." He responded blithely, closing his book and resting it on the hovering bed tray, beside his half-eaten bowl of ice-cream.

Borusa raised an eyebrow, and pushed back his hair in frustration, "I swear, young man, if you weren't so ill, I'd make you write out five chapters of the Scrolls of Rassilon, first in Old High Gallifreyan and then in Circular Gallifreyan." He sat down in the chair beside Theta's bedside.

Theta looked mildly across at his grandfather, "Have you come to keep me company?" He questioned, picking back up his ice-cream spoon, swirling his melting desert around its bowl. "That's nice of you."

Frowning, Borusa folded his arms across his chest. "Thank you. But, I'm going to make sure that no more further undesirable company comes into this room," he looked Theta over. "You're still not entirely recovered, and I won't have particular individuals stirring you up."

Theta glanced towards the door, "You mean you were nice enough to invite Prunell Glopthorpe to visit my bedside, and now you're going to keep her away?" He tutted and put a large spoonful of ice-cream into his mouth, ignoring the disproving glare from his grandfather, and laughing to himself.


Thank you for reading. The next chapter will be up soon.