Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I make any money from it.

A/N Thanks for all the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. I guess everyone is excited for the Guardians.

Without further ado, here is Part 3 of the story. We see Amy's test as well as the beginning of Rose's test. I guess the Guardian is evident from the title already.

Happy Reading!

The Quest: Azure

Previously

They kept moving straight until they came across a pair of deep blue double doors set in a gothic archway. Exchanging a look, they pushed the door open and Amy gasped when she saw what was inside.

"Welcome Princess," came the warm voice. Amy felt terror seize her heart. She knew this story far too well and if she was being thrust into the role of the princess then she had a choice to make.

A choice that could make or break the universe.

"No," said Amy. "Doctor! Don't let them do this! Doctor?"

Amy looked around but the Doctor was nowhere in sight. The doors behind her were shut. She ran to them and tried to open them again but they wouldn't budge. Amy turned back to see a young handmaiden dressed in a spun blue dress bow at her.

"Welcome Princess," she said. "This way, please."

Amy gave up struggling and followed the handmaiden to the castle at the edge of the cliff. She knew exactly how this story went. It had been her favourite story when she was a child.

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, lived a princess who lived in a castle as blue as the moon of Kerlone. Her hair was as red as blood, and she was lovely and very intelligent. But she was also very lonely for her parents had died when she was very young. She was raised by her uncle, called Onio.

Onio loved his dear niece very much and cared for her like any father would for his own daughter. He made sure that she had plenty of toys to play with and her smile meant everything to him.

"Princess," a man greeted her and Amy knew instinctively that this would be Onio in this convoluted reality.

"Uncle Onio," she said, curtsying like she had always done in front of the mirror after her mother had read the story to her.

"Come, my dear," said Onio with a kind smile. "Our people wait for you. Today, you shall ascend the throne and become our Queen. It is time for you to take your rightful place."

When the princess was old enough, she was deigned ready to ascend the throne and become Queen. It was a big day for the princess and dignitaries from all over the kingdom had come to witness this joyous event.

The princess was dressed in a gown so blue that it matched her beautiful castle. When she entered the throne room, everyone was struck by how beautiful the princess was. They all stood up to welcome her.

Amy's lips quirked at the irony of the blue dress she had chosen randomly in the wardrobe room earlier with Rose. Who knew? She curtsied again when the throne room full of people bowed to her.

Her face set in a fixed smiling mask, she remembered the next part of the story.

Onio, as her uncle, would be the one to crown her. He lifted up the beautiful crown and held it up to the throne room. "Ladies and gentlemen, dignitaries, and our dear subjects, the time has come to crown our princess. It is a joy that is unequalled..."

As Onio continued to give his speech, the assassin in the crowd went unnoticed. He moved stealthily through the masses and was soon right in the forefront. He drew a small crossbow that had the poison dart attached to it. He took careful aim.

Amy saw the assassin move through the crowd.

The dart flew through the air and hit Onio's chest, missing the Princess. There was a loud gasp as Onio choked loudly and fell to the ground, dead. The Princess wailed in sorrow as she saw her beloved uncle (who was like a father to her) die right in front of her, protecting her like he always had. She knelt by his body and wept into his chest.

The pure tears of the princess fell on the poisonous dart and began to cleanse the poison off. Slowly, Onio started to stir again. The love of the princess had brought her uncle back. Sorrow turned to joy and the princess became the greatest Queen their kingdom had ever had.

And they all lived happily after her.

Of course, that had been the version that she had been read to as a child. A few years ago, out of morbid curiosity, she had found a book containing the original story. It had gone a lot differently.

The dart flew through the air and hit Onio's chest, missing the Princess. There was a loud gasp as Onio choked loudly and fell to the ground, dead. The Princess wailed in sorrow as she saw her beloved uncle die right in front of her, protecting her like he always had. She knelt by his body and wept into his chest.

"Save him!" she begged. "Bring him back!"

"Nothing can bring him back from death," the people tried to tell her.

But the princess was stubborn and refused to accept it. She asked that her uncle's body be kept safe until she got back. And then she got on her Pegasus and flew to the mountains to find the old magician who lived there.

After nearly three full days, she found the old magician. "Help me," she begged. "Bring my uncle back."

"I cannot," he said simply.

"Please, I will give you whatever you want," she offered.

"For a life to be given back, a life must be taken. The balance of the universe must be maintained," he said. "Whose life will you bargain for your uncle's?"

"Mine," she said. "I shall bargain my own life."

"Very well," said the magician and gave her a dagger. "Stab your uncle in his poison wound with this. When he is alive and well again, you must stab yourself with it."

Elated at having succeeded, the Princess returned to the kingdom. She did as the magician had instructed and stabbed her uncle. Slowly, he began to awaken. The Princess felt joy seize her heart at having him back.

There was much pomp after Onio's resurrection. There were celebrations all over the kingdom. In all the happiness, the Princess forgot that she hadn't fulfilled the other part of her bargain.

Days passed and Onio was completely well again. But then misery started to spread through the kingdom. The lakes started to dry, the crops started to die, people started going hungry and getting desperate. And yet, no one died.

Oh, a few people came very close to dying but no one actually died. The Princess became distressed. She couldn't understand what had happened to bring such misery upon her beloved kingdom. It was only when Onio asked her how she had brought him back that she remembered that the old magician had told her about the balance of the universe.

She began to cry as she confessed everything to Onio. He felt his heart break at all that his niece had endured. He took the dagger, intending to kill himself and set the balance right. But the Princess wouldn't hear of it.

Amy frowned as she realised that the story's end changed at this point. Some books say that the Princess refused to let Onio kill himself and ran into the dagger herself which broke the curse upon their kingdom. Other legends say that Onio sacrificed himself to save the kingdom and the Princess and before he died, he made her promise that she wouldn't try to bring him back again.

The assassin was nearly at the front now and Amy had a choice to make. What would she do? Would she let Onio die? And if he did, would she make the deal with the magician or let him stay dead? The balance of the universe was important.

I, Amelia Jessica Pond, do swear an oath as a member of the Time Agency to uphold the laws of the universe and do my duty towards all its citizens. If ever there is a time when it comes between the universe and my own life, I shall pick the universe and will not hesitate to sacrifice myself in order to restore the balance of the universe.

She didn't exactly know how the TARDIS had landed her in this place but with the balance of the universe at stake, she really couldn't risk it. If there was a death that had to happen...

The assassin fired the dart and Amy pushed Onio out of the way. The dart hit her abdomen and she felt immense pain shoot through her. She knew she was dying but at least the universe was safe. Despite her not being a Time Agent any longer, she had kept her oath and done her duty.

The pain disappeared as quickly as it had happened and Amy was confused. She began to sit up, only to realise that she was in an empty room. "Well done," said a man and a gloved hand was offered to her.

Amy's eyes widened as she saw a handsome man with curly blonde hair and eyes so blue that she had to blink to make sure they were real and not a trick of the light. "What?" she asked, confused.

"A job well done, Amelia Pond," he said. "I suppose you are confused as to who I am. I am the Azure Guardian. The Guardian of Equilibrium and Balance."

"You're a Guardian of Time," gasped Amy. "I thought you were just a myth."

"Yes, we do prefer to let the ephemerals think that," he said dismissively.

"Then why bother with this ephemeral?" asked Amy sarcastically. She did not appreciate her sacrifice being a source of amusement for the Eternals.

He raised his eyebrow. "Your impertinence is a hindrance. If you had not passed this test, I would have delighted in reminding you of your place."

"A test for what exactly?" asked Amy, ignoring the poorly concealed threat.

"Unimportant for now," he said. "Enough to know that you passed. Better be on your way."

"Hang on, I've got more questions!" yelled Amy but he had disappeared. Grumbling under her breath, she left the chamber and found the Doctor pacing outside the doors.

"Amy!" he cried in relief when he saw her. "You went inside before I could stop you and the doors wouldn't open again," he said frantically. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, yeah," Amy nodded. "Met a Guardian of Time, though."

The Doctor looked at her sharply. "What?" he demanded.

Amy explained the story and the simulation that the Azure Guardian had trapped her in. The Doctor looked thoughtful by the time she had finished. "I see," he said, finally. "The Guardians seem to have taken interest in me again."

"Again?" asked Amy.

"Oh yes," said the Doctor. "It is not my first brush with them and certainly won't be the last. I wonder what they want this time. They haven't really tried to test my companions before."

"Guess we're just special then?" joked Amy.

The Doctor gave a half-hearted smile. "You know as well as I do that being on the radar of the Guardians can be catastrophic. Let's hope that Rose and Rory are not facing anything worse than this."

They headed down the corridor and slowed down when they heard quick footsteps coming towards them. The Doctor stopped Amy and moved ahead of her, trying to see who it was.

"...31 bottles of beer on the wall, 31 bottles of beer..."

Giving a sigh of relief, the Doctor ran towards them, Amy close on his heels. "I do hope that you haven't been singing that all along," said the Doctor with a wide smile.

Rory and Rose looked up and beamed in delight. "Doctor!" Rose exclaimed and ran straight into his arms for a hug. The Doctor picked her up and twirled her slightly. "Thank god we found you."

"So, you two run into Guardians too?" asked Amy as she squeezed Rory's arm in delight.

"Just one," answered Rory. "The Red Guardian. I got put in Apollo's shoes during Orestes' trial."

The Doctor winced at that. "That could not have been easy," he said sympathetically.

"It wasn't that bad," said Rory. "What is next, do you think?"

"That door I would say," said Rose, pointing at a pair of golden double doors that had seemingly materialised out of nowhere further down the corridor.

"Keeping with the theme, I would say that belongs to the Gold Guardian," said Amy.

"Who was the Gold Guardian?" asked Rory.

The Doctor sighed grimly. "The Guardian of Life and Death," he said.

"Who hasn't been tested yet?" asked Amy.

"Me," answered Rose as she looked at the doors. "My test is about Life and Death?"

The Doctor took her hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry," he said. "We are all going to be with you."

Rose tried to smile at his optimistic tone. She felt Rory grip her shoulder in comfort and saw Amy's comforting smile as she faced the door. She pushed them open and set foot inside.

The room was completely empty save for a woman dressed in a shimmering gold dress, standing calmly in the middle of the room. Her blonde hair was long and adorned with delicate gold chains. She seemed to literally glow an ethereal gold.

"Welcome Rose," she said in a soothing voice.

Rose wondered why she didn't greet the others, only to realise that she was completely alone. The Doctor, Amy and Rory were nowhere in sight. Trying not to let her panic show, she nodded at the Gold Guardian.

"Your friends are fine," said the Guardian with a smile. "But I suppose you must know that this is your test."

Rose nodded again, not trusting herself to speak yet.

"Very well," said the Guardian and a spotlight appeared behind her.

Rose gasped as she saw three long glass holding cells, big enough to hold one person each, illuminated by the spotlight. The first one had the Doctor, the next one had Rory and the last one had Amy. They were all in a trance-like state, unable to move or say anything.

"The test is simple," said the Gold Guardian. "Life or death. Except you can only save two of them. The third one will die. Your choice, Rose."

A/N End of Part 3. Thanks for reading.

To those of you wondering why the Doctor is not being tested, I would say it's because the Guardians know him well enough already. But he will still face a Guardian in the next chapter. But Rose has a choice to make. She can only save two.

Did you like Amy's test? I made up the fairytale using cobbled up bits and pieces of different fairytales.

Anyway, let me know what you thought of it. And now, it's past midnight here meaning that it's the 27th of March and I am officially 21 years old. I really don't feel all that different though.

The final part will be up on Friday. See you then!

~ Phoenix