The Fires of Pompeii- Part 2

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Donna and I were in Evelina'sroom which was a cool, shady place.

"She didn't mean to be rude. She's ever such a good girl. But when the gods speak through her." Metella told us.

"It is fine." I replied. "I'm sure she did not mean too."

"What's wrong with her arm?" Donna asked.

"An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night."

"What is it?" Donna asked softly as Metella staired oddly at them.

"Evelina said you'd come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like it?"

Donna strokes the dark rash on Evelina's forearm. "It's stone." Donna said.

I stood up, "I'm going to go check on the Doctor." I walked out of the room feeling two sets of eyes on my back.

I walked into the villa while the Doctor was saying, "What's that noise?" The Doctor looked up and saw me. I gave a faint smile.

"Don't know. Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring."

"But after the earthquake, let me guess. Is that when the soothsayers started making sense?" The Doctor guessed correctly.

"Oh, yes, very much so. I mean, they'd always been, shall we say, imprecise? But then the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision."

"Haven't they said anything about tomorrow?" I asked.

"No. Why, should they? Why do you ask?"

"No, no. No reason. I'm just asking. But the soothsayers, they all consume the vapours, yeah?" The Doctor said quickly.

"That's how they see."

"Ipso facto." The Doctor muttered.

"Look you." Caecilius said.

"They're all consuming this." The Doctor said.

"Yep." I added. "Dust."

"Corect." Caecilius said.

"Tiny particles of rock. They're breathing in Vesuvius." The Doctor goes to where Quintus is reclining on a couch, drinking. "Quintus, me old son. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus. Where does he live?" I watched with a smirk.

"It's nothing to do with me." Quintiles said, annoyed.

"Let me try again. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus." The Doctor produces a coin from behind Quintus' ear. "Where does he live?"

Night has fallen. Quintus holds a burning torch as he leads the Doctor and me through Pompeii." Don't tell my Dad."

The Doctor jumps up to a window and opens the shutters. I climb up after him.

"Only if you don't tell mine. He goes inside then leans out."Pass me that torch." Quintus passes it to me and I pass it to the Doctor.

Inside Lucius' villa the hypocaust is glowing red with heat. Quintus enters as the Doctor looks around, then takes down a curtain to reveal a wall of different design marble tiles.

"The liar. He told my father it was the only one. " Quintus said.

"Well, plenty of marble merchants in this town. Tell them all the same thing, get all the components from different places, so no one can see what you're building."

"Which is what?" Quintus asked the Doctor.

"The future, Doctor. We are building the future, as dictated by the gods." Lucius.

The Doctor goes up and rearranged the circuit boards. "Put this one there. This one there. Er, keep that one upside down, and what you got?"

"Enlighten me."

"What, the soothsayer doesn't know?"

"The seed may float on the breeze in any direction."

I snorted. "Yeah, I knew you were going to say that. But it's an energy converter." The Doctor looked at me, surprised that I was actually telling him something.

"An energy converter of what?'

"I don't know. Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing. Keeps me on my toes. It must be awful being a prophet, waking up every morning, is it raining? Yes, it is, I said so. Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius, hmm? Who gave you these instructions?" The Doctor replied.

"I think you've babbled enough."

"Lucius, really, tell me. Honestly, I'm on your side. I can help." The Doctor said.

"You insult the gods. There can be only one sentence. At arms." The guards draw their short swords.

"Oh, morituri te salutant."

"Celtic prayers won't help you now." Lucius said.

"But it was him, sir. He made me do it. Mister Dextrus, please don't."

I slapped him on the shoulder. "Hey!" I said.

"Come on now, Quintus, dignity in death. I respect your victory, Lucius. Shake on it? Come on. Dying man's wish?" The Doctor grabs at Lucius' right arm beneath the clock and pulls. There is a breaking sound.

"Argh!"

The Doctor is holding a stone hand and forearm. Petrus Dextrus, Stone Right.

"But he's. Quintus said, sputtering.

"Show me."

Lucius throws back the cloak. His entire right side has calcified. "The work of the gods."

"He's stone." Quintus said, stunned.

"Great observation." I said sarcastically.

'Armless enough, though. Whoops." The Doctor throws the arm back to Lucius. I laughed.

"Quintus! Susan!" Quintus throws the torch at a guard as the Doctor sonics the circuit boards, then we make our escape through the window.

"The carvings!" Lucius cried out.

"Run!" The Doctor and I yelled at the same time.

"No sign of them. Nice little bit of allons-y. I think we're all right."

"But his arm, Doctor. Is that what's happening to Evelina?" Quintus . A dog starts barking.

"What was that?" The Doctor asked.

Rumble.

"The mountain?"

"No." I said.

The rumbles are rhythmical.

"No, it's closer." The Doctor agreed.

Things start falling over as the ground shakes.

"Footsteps." I said, trying to give the Doctor hints.

"It can't be." Quintus said.

"Footsteps underground." The Doctor muttered.

"What is it? What is it?" Quintus said

"Run!" I said. We ran as the grills blow of hypocaust vents as we ran past.

"What is it? What's that noise?" Matella said anxiously.

"Doesn't sound like Vesuvius." Caecilius said, sounding very panicked.

"Caecilius? All of you, get out!" The Doctor said to the very startled family.

"Doctor, what is it?" Donna asked.

"I think we're being followed." The Doctor says. The hypocaust grill flies off. "Just get out!" Instead, they stand and stare as the floor around the hypocaust cracks, and the stone and fire creature appears. As it stands, it nearly touches the ceiling. I take a step back.

"The gods are with us." Evenglia says, awestruck.

"Water. We need water. Quintus. All of you, get water. Donna, Susan!" Donna and I rush to get the water.

"What the hell happened while you went out?" Donna asked me as we ran to the well with empty buckets.

"You know, the usual." I said, shrugging my shoulders, still running. Donna and I return with two buckets of water when the Sisterhood grabs us. Evelina looks at us. I'm struggling but I don't want to leave Donna alone so I let them take me.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Donna shrieks. Donna is tied to the altar, with me tied to a table, trying to stay awake after they drugged me because I started to fight back. Spurrina is standing over Donna with a knife.

"The false prophet will surrender both her blood and her breath." Spurrina said.

"I'll surrender you in a minute. Don't you dare."

"You will be silent." Spurrina spat.

"Listen, sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I've finished with you. Let me go!" Donna yelled, trying to sound tough.

"This prattling voice will cease forever." Spurrina raises the blade.

"Oh, that'll be the day." The Doctor said, sighing.

"No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl." Spurrina said, almost sounding shocked.

"Well, that's all right. Just us girls. Do you know, I met the Sibyl once. Yeah, hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella. Nice teeth. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last. She said, I know. Well, she would. You all right there Donna? Where's Susan?"

"Oh, never better." Donna said sarcastically. "Over there."

The Doctors eye fell upon mine, struggling to keep open. "I like the toga." He remarked.

"Thank you. And the ropes?"

"Yeah, not so much." He used the sonic screwdriver to cut us free. Donna scrambled over to me and helped me to stand.

"What magic is this?" Spurrina asked.

"Let me tell you about the Sibyl, the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, hey? On the blade of a knife?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes, a knife that now welcomes you."

"Show me this man." The High Priestess commanded. Her voice sounded familiar, where have I heard it before?

"High Priestess, the stranger would defile us."

"Let me see. This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake." My eyes widened as I remembered. This was Karen Gillan before she auditioned for Amy Pond. But in this universe she was actually both….ugg so confusing.

"Oh, very perceptive. Where do these words of wisdom come from?" The Doctor asked her.

"The gods whisper to me."

"They've done far more than that. Might I beg audience?" He looklooks upon the High Priestess Two Sisters draw the veil aside to reveal that the High Priestess is living stone.

"Oh, my God. What's happened to you?" Donna asked, covering her mouth with her hand.

"The heavens have blessed me."

"If I might?" The Doctor asked. She holds out her hand for him to touch.

"Does it hurt?" I asked.

"It is necessary."

"Who told you that?" The Doctor said.

"The voices."

"Is that what's going to happen to Evelina? Is this what's going to happen to all of you?" Donna asked. Spurrina shows Donna her stone forearm.

"The blessings are manifold."

"They're stone."

"Exactly. The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?" The Doctor asked.

"This word, this image in your mind. This volcano. What is that?" The High Priestess asked.

"More to the point, why don't you know about it? Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"High Priestess of the Sibylline."

"No, no, no, no. I'm talking to the creature inside you. The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust, in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into, what?"

"Your knowledge is impossible."

"Oh, but you can read my mind. You know it's not. I demand you tell me who you are." The Doctor commanded. The High Priestess speaks with two voices, her own and one deeper, which takes over.

"We are awakening." The High Priestess said, in a warning tone.

"The voice of the gods."

"Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom" Spurrina chanted.

"Name yourself. Planet of origin. Galactic coordinates. Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation!"

"We are rising."

"Tell me your name!" The Doctor shouted. I stepped away from Donna and grabbed the Doctor's hand and squezed it, trying to calm him down.

"Pyrovile."

"Pyrovile. Pyrovile. Pyrovile." The sisters chanted.

"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked.

"Well, that's a Pyrovile, growing inside her. She's a halfway stage."

"What, and that turns into?"

"That thing in the villa." I said. The Doctor glanced at me. I kept my gaze at the floor. "That was an adult Pyrovile."

"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor." The High Priestess said.

The Doctor produces a yellow plastic water pistol. "I warn you, I'm armed. Donna, get that grill open."

"What for?"

"Just. What are the Pyrovile doing here?"

"We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust."

"Right, creatures of stone shattered on impact. When was that, seventeen years ago?" The Doctor asked.

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years."

"Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up, and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves. But why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts."

"Okay, that's fine. So you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that, I get that, yeah. But seeing the future? That is way beyond psychic. You can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"

"Got it." Donna said, referring to the now open grill.

"Now get down."

"What, down there?"

"Yes, down there. Why can't this lot predict a volcano? Why is it being hidden?"

"Sisters, I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless." Spurrina said.

"Yeah, but it's got to sting." He squirts the water at the High Priestess. She cowers on the bed while the other sisters tart to advance.

"Get down there!" Donna gets in first followed my myself, still tired from the drugs then the Doctor, slamming the grill shut after him.