CHAPTER 97

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THE PROPHECY REVEALED

"I see there are new members among us today. Welcome, Sisters. Welcome to the fold and prepare to have the real history of Gallifrey revealed to you at last. The truth that the High Council doesn't want you to know with its Rassilon centric propaganda," The hooded man standing before me and Allison said with a voice filled with joy.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks. I look forward to it," Allison said as she gave me an annoyed look.

She had no idea why I had brought her here deep within the catacombs of the Capitol or who these people were, and I could tell that she was more than ready to get this over with already. I couldn't help but agree with her. These people were definitely more than a bit creepy alright.

She had no idea just how creepy yet but she soon would.

"Just go along with it. I want to see what they know," I whispered to her.

"Did you have something to say, Sister?" The hooded man asked in what almost sounded like an amused tone.

"Not really. I was merely telling my . . . friend here why you wear that hood. I think it's making her nervous since the rest of us have our identities exposed and right in the open for everyone here to see," I said thinking quickly.

The hooded man gave Allison a patient look as he said in a sincere voice, "There's no need to worry, Sister. We would never expose our members' identities. I only protect my own identity so that I may never be exposed if one of us is ever captured and interrogated by the minions of the High Council. It is done merely to protect the group as a whole however I assure you and not because I feel myself to be somehow above you all in importance. The Adherents of Ohm are already endangered enough at it is without turning on ourselves. After all none of us wishes to suffer the fate of Hedin. He died so that Omega might live. How can we continue to protect and preserve the legacy of Omega and the Other if we turn against one another? No, we must continue to survive so that the truth about their role in our history will survive and not be corrupted by Rassilon's lies. Am I right, brothers and sisters?"

That was new. They used to be all gung ho about Rassilon as well. I guess that changed after he tried to use the biodata extract stored in the Matrix to enslave all of the Time Lords to his will. That sort of thing tends to make you lose even your most devoted fans I suppose.

I quickly sat down and forced Allison to do the same because I definitely did not want to be involved in what I knew was coming next. It would be a whole new level of narcissism after all. Even for me.

"All praise Omega! All praise the Other! Praise Sekhmet!" Everyone in the room but Allison and myself suddenly chanted in unison.

I might be a tad bit vain sometimes but even I would never worship myself. I'll save that sort of thing for the Doctor.

You have no idea how much I wanted to crawl underneath one of the chairs in that room at that moment. I probably would have too if I hadn't been using a shimmer to disguise myself so that none of them knew who I was.

They would have instantly recognized me on sight otherwise because they secretly followed me around constantly and reported on my activities to one another just like that LINDA lot do to the Doctor. Only they're far, far worse than they are. At least the humans have the good sense not to actually worship the Doctor.

I bet that really burns him up too.

I immediately squirmed as I watched the others continue to praise me because despite what some people (I'm looking at you, Ohila) might say about me I did not think that I was a god. I definitely didn't want to be worshipped as one either. It made me feel more than a bit uneasy.

That's why I never would have come here at all if I had had any other choice. I had to try infiltrating the Adherents as a supposed new member though so that I could find out what if anything that they knew about the Keepers of Infinity. I certainly hadn't found out anything about the location of their last surviving member anywhere else after all.

So I reasoned where better to find out all about one secret organization of nutters than from yet another organization of nutters whose goals were diametrically opposed to it? The Adherents of Ohm's devotion to me might actually come in handy for once instead of being a constant embarrassment like they usually were.

Allison now looked at me in undisguised amusement and was all but laughing in my face as she noted my reaction.

Oh, this is priceless! They worship you and Omega here, don't they? No wonder you came here. I bet this really gives you a much needed ego boost sometimes doesn't it? Allison said to me telepathically with a huge smirk on her face.

I'll have you know that that this is the first time I've ever attended one of these meetings in my life. The whole concept is just . . . It freaks me out. I admitted in a bothered tone.

Uh, huh. Right. Allison replied with malicious glee.

How would you like it if someone worshipped you? I bet it wouldn't be so funny then would it? I replied in an indignant mental voice.

Hey! They might actually do that, right? I mean if I told them who you are and that I'm your daughter they might think that I was a goddess too. Hmm. Just think of all of the possibilities. Allison responded with a thoughtful look on her face.

Don't. You. Dare. I warned as I glared at her.

Allison only gave me a warm smile in response and I knew that she was just winding me up then. I couldn't help but immediately sigh in relief. Despite what she said, I knew that she would be just as uncomfortable being worshipped as I was.

I think.

Then my ears finally perked up as I heard the leader of the Adherents mention the very thing that had brought me here. When I had heard through the Gallifreyan grapevine that they were going to discuss this particular topic today that had made up my mind for me.

I knew then that I had to find out what they knew about it despite the risk of embarrassment.

"And now we come to the main topic of our meeting here today, Brothers and Sisters. We have come to discuss what may be the single greatest threat to not only our mission but to all of Gallifrey as well. The Hybrid," The hooded leader said in a serious voice.

"The Hybrid? I thought that was only some ridiculous myth though," One of the Adherents said in confusion.

The masked leader shook his head vehemently as he said, "Unfortunately that is not so, Brother. The Hybrid is very much a reality or at least they soon will be anyway. For you see there is another second piece to the Hybrid prophecy, one that has only been known to a select few until now, that narrows down exactly who this horrible beast's mother is to be and even gives us clues about when they will first appear."

Now I was definitely intrigued as Allison gave me a knowing look. She finally understood why I was here now.

This had never been about vanity. I needed to hear this second part of the Hybrid prophecy for myself.

Almost as if he had read my mind the hooded leader began to read the prophecy aloud in the very next moment as he said, "And there shall come to Gallifrey an immortal woman hell bent on its destruction. She will have lived so many lives and will have had so many names that she no longer even remembers her own anymore. Her original identity will have become long since buried in the back of her mind and all that will be left of her is one overriding goal. Domination. She will seek to bend all of Time to her will and will one day crush the Time Lords themselves beneath her feet in order to do so. Her reign, which will soon thereafter be called The Reign of Death, will start once she defeats a President of Gallifrey who is not Gallifreyan in battle and takes the Crown of Rassilon from their head."

"I think we all know who that President is too," One of the Adherents said in an angry voice.

The others around me nodded their heads and said in unison in voices filled with disgust, "Clara Oswald."

Another of the Adherents now echoed their disgust as he said, "Yes, the human upstart, Clara Oswald. Little did the idiots on the High Council in their infinite stupidity realize that they were signing their own doom on the day when they made her Gallifrey's leader. Better to have even let the traitorous Astalan rule than to have ever fulfilled the prophecy by allowing a human to come to power."

"And yet Clara Oswald has been nothing but good for Gallifrey even in her short time in office. Or so I hear," I couldn't resist adding because I didn't like the way that they were talking about her.

I heard several hisses and sounds of derision from the others around me then that the leader quickly silenced. It was safe to say that anti-human prejudice was definitely alive and well on Gallifrey at that moment despite the ban on humans being lifted long ago.

That had been the main reason why I hadn't brought Robin in here with me. If they had discovered who he was, they would have probably torn him apart.

Or at least they would have tried anyway since I would have definitely gotten to them first.

The hooded leader now turned to me with a tolerant tone in his voice that I definitely didn't hear in that of the others in his group as he said, "Yes, I don't deny that she is a good leader or that her heart is in the right place, Sister. None of that matters though unfortunately. The prophecy does not care if she is good or evil. All that matters is that she's there. The prophecy states quite clearly that a non-Gallifreyan President will one day fall before the Immortal Woman in battle and that is when her reign will begin. Such a thing as a non-Gallifreyan President would have once been thought to be impossible. Until now. What further proof do you need that Gallifrey is soon about to fall?"

I was starting to become very worried about Clara in that moment because she had already died once. Was that the beginning of the prophecy? Was the immortal woman who was destined to destroy us all Amaya?

It seemed as if someone else was echoing my own thoughts because she asked the very same question.

The hooded leader immediately said, "No, I do not believe that it is Amaya Nox because of the second part of the prophecy. It states that the immortal woman will 'defeat the President with the aid of the accursed child. The child of Gallifrey's ultimate doom.' Amaya is incapable of having any more children and that is one of the reasons why she desperately wishes to free her son Erebus from the Void. He also isn't a Hybrid. Therefore I think we can safely cross her name off of our list of suspects."

"What does it say about this child?" I asked as my curiosity overwhelmed my desire to remain as out of the spotlight as possible.

The Adherents' leader now began to read from the prophecy once more as he said, "The Woman Without A Name will bear the child of destiny. The child who will be a product of two warrior races and whose destiny is universal conquest. They shall be known forever as The Hybrid. The Hybrid and The Woman Without A Name will one day stand triumphant in Gallifrey's ashes together as they bend the entire cosmos to their will. Everyone even the very Guardians of Time themselves and their masters, the Grace, will fall before their combined wrath, and on that day every head in the universe will be made to bow before them. No will but hers will prevail from that day forward. All beings everywhere in every reality will live only to work and toil in her service and will be made to glorify her."

Many in the audience openly shuddered in fear now and I could hear several muffled gasps among them. If our illustrious 'leader' was trying to scare all of the remaining regenerations out of us, then he was certainly doing a perfect job of it.

"Surely that can't be all that it says. Is there no way out of this? Can't the great Sekhmet or the mighty Omega save us?" One of the Adherants asked in a frightened voice.

Well, I was certainly working on it.

The hooded leader nodded and said in a hopeful tone, "There is one addendum to the prophecy that does inspire hope I believe. It states the following: Do not despair all of you who read this. There is yet a chance to avert this terrible day or I never would have sent this warning to you down through the centuries. The Woman Without A Name and her Child of Doom can yet be stopped before the universe becomes forfeit to them if only the Children of the Vortex can be fully awakened in time."

"What?" Someone said out loud in confusion.

I had to admit that I was just as confused myself. Children of the Vortex? Could the prophecy possibly be talking about Rose's family? Somehow I didn't think so though.

Then a man in the audience asked a question that definitely made me sit up and take notice as they said, "Do we have any idea who this Immortal Woman is? She almost sounds like some sort of vicious parody of our own wondrous Sekhmet because that description could equally match her in many ways. Has this been done deliberately in order to mock her?"

I was definitely starting to get uncomfortable once again since he was talking about me in a tone of reverence. I guess when you're older than dirt you do tend to be confused with a divine being here and there but that doesn't make it true.

I couldn't even save my own unborn children from being destroyed by a raving madman that I've never even met. There was definitely nothing divine whatsoever about me.

"Some less intelligent people might actually be fooled into thinking that it is talking about Sekhmet, yes. I think this was one of the intentions that the Immortal Woman's masters had in mind when they picked her as their servant. They deliberately chose her knowing that she would be confused with Sekhmet so that the people would turn against one of the few beings who could stop their insidious champion in time. I know that the so-called Keepers of Infinity were definitely fooled in just such a way. They completely misinterpreted the prophecy and used it to justify their secret war on Sekhmet. Thanks to our efforts and those of our many agents throughout every strata of Gallifreyan society however they have now been completely wiped from existence and will never threaten her again," The hooded leader said with undisguised satisfaction.

I couldn't help but look at him in surprise. I had never known this. I had always assumed that it was the Celestial Intervention Agency or the High Council at work. I had never once thought about the Adherents having been behind the Keepers' demise. Apparently they knew long before I did that the Keepers had been out to get me and had done their best to protect me.

I have to admit that I was definitely beginning to see them in a new light in that moment. They were still undeniably creepy though. I wondered if I could talk them into becoming my fan club instead. I could live with a fan club.

Then my whimsical musings were suddenly brought to an end as the entire tone of the room suddenly changed in a single instant.

"Are you so certain of this, Brother? After all we once worshipped Rassilon too until we realized that he was a false god the day he turned his hand against all of Gallifrey. Could the same not be true of the woman known as Sekhmet as well?" A man in the back of the room suddenly said in a mocking voice.

I immediately stared at him intently with open suspicion as he slowly stood and faced the Adherents' leader with no trace of fear whatsoever. In fact, his voice never so much as quivered when the others around him began to give him dirty looks and openly called on him to sit down.

"How dare you question her? She and her children have saved us over and over again from one enemy after another. She has more than proven herself to be the very antithesis of the false god Rassilon in every way," My hooded admirer said in a furious voice.

I was still extremely uncomfortable but I had to admit that I definitely loved being appreciated.

Stop smiling so much. I thought you hated this sort of thing. Allison teased me telepathically.

I do. I protested with a frown that only made her smile even more.

"And yet maybe she and her children are only saving us so that they can conquer us for themselves. After all with the great power at the disposal of her family no one would possibly be able to stand against them if they were to suddenly turn on us all at once, would they?" The defiant man said with no concern whatsoever for the now open looks of hostility that he was getting from everyone around him.

"How dare you?!" Several of the Adherents shouted out in anger.

"Oh, I dare alright, 'Brothers and Sisters'. Unlike you I will always dare to ask the hard questions that will ensure Gallifrey's survival just as I will dare to do whatever action is necessary in order to save her from future ruin," The mysterious man said as he now openly ridiculed them.

Then he produced a small bomb from one of his pockets and held it up for everyone in the room to see as he said, "This is the Life Eater. I'm sure at least some of you have heard of it before."

The hooded Adherent leader now looked shocked as he said, "You're one of them. The Keepers of Infinity. Only they knew how to make such an abomination. But how? We destroyed them long ago."

I stared in anger at who I now knew for certain was the man who had been my secret enemy all of these years as he replied, "Not all of us. No one ever found me because much like yourselves I went underground in order to fulfill my mission. I promised the others in my group, the ones that you either imprisoned or destroyed, that I would never allow the future of the universe to die with me. I had to destroy the Hybrid before they could ever be born and up until now I've successfully accomplished that job. I've terminated each and every potential one of Sekhmet's pregnancies since Rose Tyler was born by keeping a careful watch on her biodata extract. Long ago I tapped into the Matrix without anyone ever realizing it and linked it to my TARDIS which is hidden deep beneath the Cloisters so that I could subtly alter Sekhmet's biodata each and every time that she became pregnant in order to ensure that the baby never survived. Thanks to my efforts she could never fulfill the prophecy no matter how hard that she tried."

I couldn't help but wonder if he had been born that insane or if he had had to work his way up to it.

"And did you suddenly think that if you came here today and told us this that we would reward you for doing such a despicable thing? Or did you actually think that you could gloat about this to our faces and still be able to make your way out of this room alive?" The leader of the Adherents said in a threatening voice.

"Actually I came here because I had learned that Sekhmet had recently found out about me and the true mission of my group from that fool Astalan, and I knew that because of this that she would be drawn here today to learn more about the prophecy that she was one day destined to fulfill. I just couldn't have her learning more details about it so that she could find some way to somehow still make it come true despite my best efforts to keep her under my control. So I came here to do what my predecessors failed to do so many long years ago and finally destroy her once and for all. Of course if I can destroy all of you in the process and avenge my friends then so much the better," The last of the Keepers said with no trace of emotion on his face whatsoever.

That was it. I just couldn't let this continue on any longer.

I suddenly stood up and switched off my shimmer then as I said, "That's enough. I don't know why you think I'm the mother of the Hybrid or how you could possibly believe that I'd ever hurt Clara who's a part of my family. Then again I don't think I could ever even come close to figuring out the kind of demented mind that would be able to do what you've done for all of these years so I'm not even going to try. What I am going to do however is stop you from destroying even more innocent lives in the process. There's no way that I'll ever let you set off another Life Eater. That's never happening again. Do you understand me?"

"Sekhmet," Several of the Adherents said in an awed voice as they stared at me in disbelief.

Oh, wonderful.

"And I'm her daughter," Allison said proudly as she stood up and waved.

Even better.

The last of the Keepers actually smiled now as he said, "So we finally meet face to face at last, Deceiver. You claim to be Gallifrey's protector but I know you for what you really are. You will be her final destruction unless I stop you."

"Clara is my granddaughter. Do you actually think I'd kill my own grandchild?" I said in frustration at his continual insistence that I was going to destroy my own world.

"Oh, I know that you will. The description that the prophecy gives could only match you, Sekhmet Ravenscliff. Until recently you had lost much of your memory of your past and you have adopted numerous names and identities over the centuries. You also have several children who could be possible candidates for the Hybrid already only my mentors long ago ruled all of them out since the Hybrid is always described as a child. There was never any doubt however that you would eventually create yet another Hybrid child which you would use to one day destroy us. Don't even try to tell me that you would never do such a thing because we both know that there's an extremely high possibility that you will one day lose your mind to madness and let Sekhmet the Destroyer, the mindless warrior that Rassilon made you, fully consume you. I know that you live in constant fear of that and the state that Astalan was found in by Commander Maxil only proved that Sekhmet is far from being under your full control. You're simply too dangerous and always have been. That's why I had to wait until I could develop a new and improved version of the Life Eater that would kill you almost instantly before I ever dared to confront you directly."

Even though I didn't want to admit it I couldn't help but wonder if he was right. I was always afraid of my dark side and constantly worried about what would happen if Sekhmet ever gained permanent control over my mind. Even she would never hurt Clara or destroy Gallifrey though.

Would she?

"Mum, don't listen to him. He's wrong and you know it," Allison said as she glared at the Last Keeper defiantly.

"Am I? Or do you simply not want to admit the truth to yourself just as these worshippers of hers won't? I've made it my life's goal to ensure that Sekhmet would never bring about the prophecy and now I'm finally going to keep my promise at last. This time I'm going to use a far more powerful version of the Life Eater to kill you forever, Sekhmet. It won't matter how many regenerations that you possess. It will drain them all!" The last of the Keepers shouted in a zealous voice as he began to slowly move his finger towards the detonation button on the bomb that he held.

"You'll be killed too," I pointed out even as my mind raced to think of some way to stop him in time.

"That sacrifice will be more than worth it to finally rid this world of you forever," The Last Keeper said in a completely unconcerned tone as his finger drew ever closer to the button.

Suddenly twin arrows flew through the air at lightning speed and pierced both of the Keeper's hearts at once. The Keeper's eyes went wide with surprise and he immediately dropped the Life Eater as he swayed back and forth while struggling to stay on his feet.

"The bomb!" I shouted with fear even as I raced forward to catch it before it could hit the ground.

If it landed on the detonation button, it would kill every Time Lord in that room within a matter of moments.

Long before it could ever reach the ground however yet another arrow flew through the air and somehow miraculously hit it without setting it off. It changed the course of the bomb's fall just enough to send it careening right into my hands just as if it had been thrown there.

I couldn't help but laugh as I said, "Well, someone's certainly been practicing haven't they? I knew I kept you around for some reason, Robbie."

Robin now emerged from the shadows near the entrance to the Adherents' secret lair where he had remained hidden all of this time still carrying his bow and said with a grin, "And I thought it was because of my incredible good looks and ability to kiss you like no other ever could, my lady."

"That too," I said with a chuckle.

"Please don't start with the flirting," Allison said with a sigh as I gave her a wicked smile.

"Sorry, Ally, but that's one promise I'll never keep," I said without shame.

Our happy little moment was quickly shattered however as the Last Keeper still doggedly hung onto life and struggled to stay on his feet as he said, "You think you've won, Sekhmet? You haven't won anything here today. All you've done is make certain that the universe will be destroyed. One day you'll realize that when you feel yourself finally losing your sanity forever only by then it will be far, far too late. On that day I hope you remember that you caused this. You did all of this. You will be Gallifrey's downfall, Sekhmet. You and only . . ."

Then he finally stopped talking and fell face down onto the floor. He was finally dead at last.

I had never even learned his name.

His words would haunt me forever though. What was worse was the fear that he was right. Even now after all of this time Rassilon was still destroying my life because he was just as responsible for all of my missed opportunities to have a child with Robin as the nameless Keeper had been. He was also responsible for leaving me constantly doubting myself thanks to what he had done to me.

"Lily, you're not going to destroy Gallifrey. This prophecy, if its even real at all which I seriously doubt, has nothing whatsoever to do with you. I know it doesn't," Robin reassured me as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I'd like to believe that. I really would," I said in an unconvinced voice.

And yet every time I tried I couldn't help but think back to what I had done to Astalan just a few days ago. If Allison hadn't stopped me from going too far, would I have stopped myself in time?

Would I?

"Mum, don't. Don't doubt yourself like this. Please. That means that the Keeper's already won," Allison pleaded.

That was when the leader of the Adherents stepped forward and hesitantly addressed me as he said, "She's right. He was wrong, Lady Sekhmet. I know that he was."

"And how can you sound so sure of that? That prophecy really did fit me to a T in so many ways. What can you possibly say that would ever reassure me that I will never wind up becoming this Hybrid's mother?" I said unconvinced.

The leader of the Adherents hesitated for a moment and then finally said more to himself than anyone else, "I have to show her."

"What?" I asked in confusion.

The Adherent leader actually looked a bit embarrassed or at least his body language suggested that he was anyway since I couldn't see his face at all through his hood. It was more than just simple embarrassment though I realized as I studied him further. He was acting just like Ally did whenever she was afraid to tell me about something.

That was when I knew. I somehow knew what I was going to see long before the Adherent leader ever removed his hood.

Robin and Allison however didn't and both of them gasped in surprise as the leader finally pulled the hood back to reveal a face that was far too much like Robin's to ever have been a coincidence.

"Hello, Mum," The 'Adherent Leader' said with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, you have definitely got a lot of explaining to do, kid. You may have just endangered your entire existence by pulling this stunt. Do you ever think anything through or are you just like your sister?" I said in a furious voice.

"Hey! How did I get dragged into this?" Allison complained.

And then I suddenly smiled and hugged my son tightly as I added, "Right now though I'm just so very happy to finally meet you."

As my future son hesitantly smiled at me and nervously waited for me to lower the boom on him I couldn't help but laugh to myself. I knew then that he was definitely no Hybrid.

I couldn't help but wonder even as I waited on him to tell me the whole story of how and why he was there just who was then? Who was the Hybrid and more importantly who was their mother?

I was soon about to find out the answer to that last question as the woman herself paid me a personal visit. I would have more in common with her than I would have ever imagined but that wouldn't stop us from becoming the most bitter of enemies.

And one day soon enough now I would find that I would be all that stood between her and complete mastery over everything.

Next: Lily and Robin's son explains everything or at least as much as he can anyway without changing the future. Plus as promised before Lily is paid a visit by the real woman in the prophecy. Who will it be and how has she been behind everything that has happened to Lily recently? Could it be that she was trying to get rid of Lily for a reason and what could that reason possibly be?