CHAPTER 19
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Marissa's TARDIS materialized on what was left of the Osirian homeworld of Phaester Osiris right in front of what Oswin assumed must be the Tomb of Anubus. The opening was covered over by several tons of stone and rock.
"Here's the first challenge to getting to the Scythe already. No wonder no one's ever tried to get into this place," Oswin said to Marissa and Molly.
"They didn't have a TARDIS though and I do. I'll take us inside. Come back in," Marissa said.
Marissa made a short trip in the Vortex, and her TARDIS materialized just inside of the entrance. Marissa quickly tested the atmosphere and assured herself that it was safe for both Time Lords and humans to walk around inside of the tomb. That wasn't counting the death traps that were supposed to lie ahead of course.
"Molly, please stay in the TARDIS," Oswin said in a worried voice as she looked at the darkened and ominous looking hallways lying ahead of them.
Molly was touched by what she knew was Oswin's heartfelt concern for her, but she still wanted to go. She had to go. She wanted to stand by her friends. Also, this might finally be the day for her to get what she most wanted.
"No, I'm going," Molly said stubbornly.
Oswin shook her head and started to walk forward as she used a portable wrist scanner based off of Dalek tech to scan the area in front of them for signs of potential traps. Marissa started to look over her shoulder to see what the scanner found as Oswin said, "What are you doing?"
"I'm looking to see if there's a trap ahead," Marissa said.
"Why?" Oswin asked suspiciously.
"I'm going in front of the two of you that's why," Marissa said as if it was obvious.
"No, you're not," Oswin said.
"Yes, I am. I'm apparently immortal plus I'm a Time Lord so I can regenerate. I'm. Going. First," Marissa said firmly.
"No, I am," Molly said as she raced straight ahead while the other two women argued.
"Molly!" Both Oswin and Marissa screamed in disbelief as Molly raced straight into the unknown.
Before either of her friends could catch up to her, Molly ran headfirst into the very first trap in the tomb. A set of transparent walls came down on all sides of Molly separating her from the others, and a holographic image appeared in front of her of an alien that she assumed must be an Osirian.
"This is the first test given to all unauthorized visitors to this tomb. This is the test of character. Lethal gas will be flooding into your area soon. You can save yourself by pushing the glowing red button in front of you and pump the gas into the same area as your friends, or you can do nothing and let the gas enter and kill you," the hologram said.
"Well that's a no brainer," Molly said as she did nothing.
"Molly, push the button. I have a force field that I can protect the two of us with," Oswin said.
"No," Molly said with no emotion on her face.
"Push the button, Molly!" Marissa screamed as she saw the gas begin to enter the transparent chamber that Molly had been sealed into.
Molly did nothing, and she was soon lost from sight as a swirling mist of gas covered her. Oswin tried to enter the cube, but something about the walls blocked her Temporal Shift. Even it couldn't get her inside. Oswin's force field couldn't break through the walls either in order to protect Molly.
"Molly," Oswin said sadly after several minutes had passed, and neither of them had seen any movement from her.
Then the gas was pumped out of the cube, and Oswin screamed with joy as she saw that Molly was standing there with an angry look on her face. The transparent walls went up, and the two women raced to Molly and hugged her tightly in relief.
"The test of character has been passed. Showing concern for others instead of one's self," the hologram said as it appeared again.
Oswin was confused as to why Molly looked so disappointed and angry. She began to wonder if the recklessness that she had thought of before as Molly's death wish was literally that, and that scared her.
"You can turn around now and leave safely, or you can proceed and face two more tests ahead. Proceed further at your own risk," the hologram said before it faded away again.
"What were you doing?" Oswin said in anger to Molly.
"I wanted to save you two. It was my fault that you were in danger because I rushed ahead. I'm sorry. I won't do that again," Molly promised.
"Why did you look so disappointed not to be dead?" Marissa asked.
"I wasn't. I was just mad that I put you two in danger," Molly said.
Oswin knew that she was lying, but she kept silent about it. "Never do that again, Molly," Oswin said.
"I won't okay. What are you, my mother?" Molly said in irritation.
Oswin and Marissa looked at each other in disbelief as they wondered what was wrong with her.
"Take Molly and teleport out of here now, Oswin," Marissa said.
Oswin and Molly both stared at her in defiance and didn't move. Marissa sighed and began to walk ahead of the others this time.
This time the transparent walls came down around all three of them. They were all trapped this time as the same hologram reappeared once more.
"This is the second test. The test of wisdom. This test has been configured based upon a biological scan of the majority of the inhabitants in this room which is human. Solve the following riddle or remain trapped in this cage forever. While traveling to the next town, I met ten people who had four dogs and two cats with them. Counting the dogs and cats, how many living beings in total are traveling to the next town?" the hologram asked.
The three women began to count up all of the people and the pets in their heads.
Molly spoke first as she said, "I know the answer. It's sixteen."
"That is incorrect," the hologram said.
"What? No, that's right. It has to be," Molly protested.
"It's not though. You forgot to add yourself. It said that you were traveling to the town too. The answer is seventeen," Marissa said.
"Oh, I'm so stupid! Of course!" Molly said as she hit herself in the head.
"That is incorrect," the hologram said once again.
"What?" both Marissa and Molly asked together in confusion this time.
"It's one," Oswin said.
"Correct. You have passed the test of wisdom as well. You may proceed," the hologram said as it vanished.
The walls disappeared once again freeing them. None of them moved forward this time, however, as Marissa and Molly stared at Oswin in confusion.
"How was that right?" Molly asked.
"It's a trick question. The only person who we know for sure is going to the next town is the speaker. The other people and animals are who the speaker says that they meet along the way. It's never specifically said in the riddle that they're going to the town too though. Do you get it now?" Oswin explained.
"That's pretty cool. I'm not sure that I ever would have gotten that," Molly said with a grin.
"I can't believe I didn't get that. My brain must be slowing down with age," Marissa said in frustration.
The three women began to move on ahead then until they came to a deep chasm that could only be passed by walking along a small wooden plank that could only hold one person at a time. Oswin went on ahead first this time. She was halfway across when she was rushed at by a man with a blaster.
Oswin briefly wondered how the man got in here through the debris in the front but didn't have too much time to think about it if she wanted to save herself from him. She blasted him with her gauntlets and sent him falling off of the plank. He lost his blaster in the abyss as he fell and grabbed onto the side of the plank for dear life.
The three women hurried across the wooden plank and made it safely to the other side. They started to go forward when they heard the man start crying for help. Oswin hesitated for a moment and then turned back to help him.
"What are you doing? He'll kill you," Molly warned.
"Let me do it. I can't die," Marissa said as she began to run behind Oswin.
Oswin raced on ahead anyway and helped the man get back onto the plank. The man smiled at her and disappeared along with the chasm.
The same hologram appeared again and said, "Third test completed. That was the test of compassion. You may enter the final chamber safely to claim your reward."
"It was all a test," Oswin said in surprise.
The woman continued into the next area, and a large door opened automatically to let them into the final chamber. They entered to see a large sarcophagus in the middle of the room. As they tried to walk towards it, a force field sprang up in front of them that Marissa and Molly slammed right into. Oswin however was able to continue walking right through it as though it wasn't even there!
"How?" Oswin asked as she saw Marissa and Molly still unable to go through the force field no matter how hard they tried.
The hologram appeared once more now as it said, "You and only you are allowed to claim the Scythe."
"Why just me?" Oswin asked.
"You are the only one to pass all three of the tests. You saved what you thought was a man who wanted to kill you even though it would have been to your advantage to leave him to die and passed the test of compassion even for the life of an enemy. You were the only one to guess the right answer to the test of wisdom. Finally, you alone passed the test of character when you were the only one who had something to lose and still thought of your friends first instead of yourself," the hologram said.
"Wait a minute. Molly didn't push the button. She was trying to save us," Marissa protested.
"Marissa told me to push the button. She was thinking about me not herself," Molly said.
"As I said, Oswin was the only one with something to lose. Marissa is immortal, and Molly wanted to die. Oswin was the only one who had a chance of losing her life and who wanted to keep it but decided to risk it for the safety of her friends," the hologram said.
"You wanted to die?" Marissa asked Molly in sadness.
"Don't look at me like that," Molly said as she looked away from her.
"You may proceed onto the sarcophagus and claim the Scythe of Anubus to do with as you wish. I must give you one final message before you do though. Once you have the Scythe, you will have the power of life and death over ever creature in the universe in your hands. Please consider everything that you do with it wisely," the hologram pleaded.
"I only wish to use it to take away the immortality of my friend so that she can live a normal life," Oswin said.
"This is your last chance. Turn back now before it's too late. Once you use the Scythe, it will be too late," the hologram warned.
"I just want to use it once to help my friend, and then I'll leave it here. I don't want to keep it," Oswin said.
"For even a single use of the Scythe, there are consequences. Are you willing to pay them in order to help your friend?" the hologram asked sadly.
"Yes," Oswin said without hesitation.
"So be it. I hope for your sake that you can live with the consequences of the choice that you have made here today," the hologram said as it disappeared.
Oswin then walked toward the sarcophagus and moved the lid of it aside. She saw a mummified body there holding a long scythe. She pried the scythe out of the mummy's hands and held it in hers.
The force field vanished then allowing Marissa and Molly to finally join her. As they got to her, Oswin said to Marissa, "I hope that I don't do this wrong. I think that it must respond to mental commands so maybe if I just command it with my thoughts to just destroy the Regenerative Element then it will."
Oswin concentrated as she took the Scythe and cut a very small mark across the back of Marissa's hand with it. The three women each held their breath in anticipation as they all waited for the cut to instantly heal just like every other wound that Marissa had ever received had since becoming immortal. When it didn't heal, they knew that the Regenerative Element was gone for good.
"I'm cured!" Marissa said happily.
"Oswin, you did it," Molly said as she looked at Oswin with joy.
That was the first time that she noticed that something was wrong. Marissa followed her gaze and saw that Oswin looked as though she were sick. She kept holding her head and shaking it as off she were confused or in a daze.
"Oswin, is something wrong?" Molly asked.
Oswin finally looked at her with a wide grin all over her face as she held the Scythe out threateningly in front of her. She began to move towards both women now with the grin growing wider and wider the closer that she got to them.
"Do you still want to die, Molly? I can do that now. I can give you what you want. My Scythe needs more energy. It needs more than just immortality now. It needs a life, and I will give it one. Sacrifice yourself to me, and I will spare Marissa. The Scythe only requires one life in order to fill its hunger . . . for now," Oswin said in a voice filled with glee.
"Oswin, what are you saying?" Molly asked in terror.
"Drop it, Oswin. Drop it!" Marissa ordered her.
"The Scythe must have more energy. It needs it. I need it," Oswin said.
To their horror, Marissa and Molly could see Oswin starting to change right in front of them. She was beginning to resemble the hologram that they had been seeing through the tests here. She was being changed into an Osirian.
"What's happening?" Molly asked in an upset voice.
The hologram reappeared one last time as it answered her question by saying, "She has activated the Scythe by using it to steal the immortality of your friend. Now the Scythe has her in its power and is making her into its new servant. The Scythe is a living sentient weapon. It requires the life forces of others in order to survive. In order to gain those lives, it possesses and controls a host who will then use it to get those lives for its continued survival. It will transform the host to whatever form that it feels will best serve its purpose and give them whatever power that they need in order to accomplish their goals. The Scythe knows the Osirian form and not the human one so it is transforming her into a form that it is familiar with and can easily fix if it becomes damaged. Your friend is now forever lost. Flee now or become her victims!"
Marissa and Molly fled before Oswin as she raced towards them with the Scythe. She cackled and laughed as she followed them back to Marissa's TARDIS. The two women got inside the TARDIS and dematerialized it just as Oswin reached them. She was now only half human in appearance and still rapidly changing by the moment.
"No matter. I will be free of this place, and then I will find the life that my weapon needs elsewhere. I will soon feed its hunger one way or the other," Oswin said.
The Scythe began to glow as she used its power to disappear from the tomb. She reappeared outside and began to walk across the ruined planet's surface as she looked at the stars in the night sky above her.
"There. I will go to that one. She knew that one well. Sol Three in Mutter Spiral. There are plenty of lives there. Enough lives to last us at least a couple of weeks," Oswin said as she disappeared from sight.
As Oswin headed for the Earth, Marissa and Molly raced towards the only group who they could find on short notice that they knew could help their friend as they headed for the secret Dalek Resistance base on Peladon. They had to get their help in order to save her. They both hoped against hope that she would be okay as they wondered if even the Daleks could save her now.
Both Marissa and Molly were thinking it, but neither of them wanted to say it. Was it already too late to help her? In order to save Oswin from a life of endless servitude would the Daleks have to kill her?
Next: Oswin vs. Dalek Epsilon and the Dalek Resistance as they have to fight their beloved Empress in order to stop her from destroying the human race. Isn't that a switch?