Chapter Fourteen: Remember Us
Guido was silent as they went back to his house. He disappeared into his bedroom while the travellers took up the kitchen. They were all quiet, until the sun began to set with no sight of the Doctor.
"How long have you been travelling with the Doctor, Emma?" Rory suddenly asked. Emma tilted her head to the side in thought.
"I'm not quite sure. At last estimate it was nearly seven-hundred years."
"That's a very long time," Amy remarked.
"Well, it doesn't feel like a long time when you've got a time-machine."
"Why are you so gentle?" Rory blurted out.
"Excuse me?"
"I would think that after seeing horrors like this for nearly seven-hundred years, you'd be much more hard-hearted."
"The Doctor shields me from the really gruesome things." Or at least, he tried. She always seemed to stumble into them anyway. He never seemed to be able to keep from breaking her heart either, with all his falling in love with his companions.
"Why?" Amy asked.
"Because—"
"Because the world needs kind, innocent people," the Doctor said, stepping into the room. "And because she's my best friend."
Emma tried not to show any emotions to his title for her. Best friend. It was all right, she supposed. If only she could be something a bit more. He sat down next to her and told them what happened while he was inside. He had met Rosanna Calvierri, found out that they weren't vampires, but rather aliens from Saturnyne, akin to Fish-beings. They had fled from their home world, choosing one that had water similar to theirs. "Now they are trying to rebuild their society here on Earth," the Doctor finished.
"Er, Doctor," said Amy. "She bit me."
"Ah!"
Grabbing his sonic, the Doctor scanned Amy's puncture wounds. He read the scans, then smiled at her.
"You're fine. Open wide." Amy's mouth opened and he popped in a small piece of candy.
"So, they're fish people?" Amy said. "Well, that explains why they hate the sun." The Doctor placed his hand against her mouth.
"Stop talking! Brain thinking. Hush!"
"It's the school thing I don't understand," said Rory. The Doctor covered his mouth too.
"Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush."
"I say we take the fight to them," added Guido. The Doctor frowned at him.
"Ah, ah, ah."
"What?" The Doctor nodded to Rory and the English man hesitantly covered Guido's mouth.
Now that no one would speak, the Doctor began rambling.
"So, her planet dies, they flee through a crack in space and end up here. Then she closes off the city, and, one by one, starts changing the people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. But then what?" He looked to Emma, as if he was speaking to her. She shrugged in response.
"Well," she tried, "they come from the sea, so they wouldn't be able to survive on land forever. What are they going to do?"
"She's likely going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable. She said, "I shall bend the heavens to save my race. Bend the heavens." Bend the heavens…" The Doctor's eyes widened, "She's going to sink Venice."
Shoving Rory's hand away, Guido spoke, his voice laced with horror.
"She's going to sink Venice?"
The Doctor nodded, "And repopulate it with the girls she transformed."
"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory scoffed. "You need blokes."
"She's got blokes," Amy told him.
"Where?" asked the Doctor. "In the canal. She said to me, "There are ten thousand husbands waiting in the water.""
"Only the male offspring survived the journey here. She's got ten thousand children swimming around the canals, waiting for Mum to take them some compatible girlfriends. Urgh. I mean, I've been around a bit, but that's just, ugh."
A creak came from upstairs, and the Doctor frowned at the ceiling.
"The people upstairs are very noisy."
"There aren't any people upstairs," said Guido.
"Huh, do you know that I knew you were going to say that?" The Doctor looked to his companions. "Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"
"Is it the vampires?" Rory anxiously asked.
"Like I said, they're not vampires," the Doctor corrected. "Fish from space."
The window was busted through, and the Doctor used the sonic to show the girls in their true forms. Guido stared at them in shock.
"What's happened to them?"
"There's nothing left of them," the Doctor said softly. "They've been fully converted. Blimey, fish from space have never been so buxom." He yelped when Emma hit his arm.
"All right, come on!" said Rory.
Running down the stairs, Guido grabbed the lamp from Amy. He held the door open for them, then pulled it closed.
"Stay away from the door, Doctor," he said. The Doctor shook his head as the others paused to wait for him.
"No, Guido. What are you doing? I'm not leaving you. What are you doing?"
He tried to sonic the door as Emma grabbed his hand.
"Argh, bolted."
"Doctor, we really should run."
"Why doesn't it do wood, Emma? That's so stupid!"
"Doctor!" She tugged on his hand again. "Come on!"
"Guido!"
"The barrels," Rory said. The Doctor's eyes widened and the group bolted away just as the building exploded.
Rain began to fall and the Doctor pulled off his jacket to cover Emma.
"Rosanna's initiating the final phase."
"We need to stop her!" Amy exclaimed.
"No, no, no," the Doctor said. "Get back to the Tardis."
"You can't stop her on your own."
"We don't discuss this. I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?" Amy glared at him and then stomped off.
"Thank you!" said Rory. He took off after her and the Doctor looked down at Emma.
"Follow them?"
Emma nodded, "Okay."
She found Rory and Amy near the Tardis, watching the skies. She followed their gaze and frowned at the sky. It looked as if it was boiling. How could the sky do that? It wasn't even warm yet. Just raining.
A man appeared in front of them, and Emma yelped as he grabbed her wrist.
"Hello Beautiful," he whispered. "What a prize you'll be." She slapped him, hard and he dropped her wrist with a hiss. He bared his vampiric teeth at her as Rory shoved him away.
"Amy, Emma, run!" The girls began to move away, and the man started to follow. Rory shook his head. "This way you freak! This way you big, stupid, great SpongeBob. The only thing I've seen uglier than you is your Mum."
The man stopped in his track.
"Huh?" He spun around to start stalking towards Rory.
"Did you say something about Mummy?" Rory picked up a broomstick and jabbed it towards the man. His eyes widened as the man drew his own, very weird, sword.
"Careful!" Amy shouted as they began to fight. "Careful, Rory! Okay, hit him. This way, bring him this way. Rory!" The broomstick was chopped up and Rory ducked a swing, causing the man to tangle in a washing line.
"Oh, you stink of fish," Rory said.
"Well, I'm hardly going to smell of cheese and biscuits," he hissed.
"Amy," Emma said quietly. "Do you have your compact mirror?"
"Yeah? Why? Is it really that important right now?"
"Refraction!" Emma said.
"Come on!" Amy started fumbling through her pockets as the man turned into a fish-creature. He launched himself at Rory, who made the sign of the cross over his chest.
"Hey! Mummy's boy!" Amy shouted. She used the mirror to direct the sunlight onto Francesco, who instantly burned and exploded, covering Rory with soot. Rory stared at Amy in shock.
"That was lucky," Emma murmured. She was ignored by Amy and Rory and she turned to let him have a moment.
She could hear them kissing and she made a face of disgust. There was something almost… it was like watching her parents snog when they thought she wasn't looking.
"Can we get to the Tardis?" she asked.
"How about we go help the Doctor?" Amy said. "He probably needs help right about now."
"But—"
"Come on, Emma! Live a little!" Emma rolled her eyes at the expression. She'd lived more than Amelia Pond ever would.
Heading back to the House of Calvierri, they managed to get into the throne room where the Doctor was working on something on a throne like chair.
"Get out," the Doctor snapped at them. "I need to stabilize the storm."
"We're not leaving you," said Rory. The Doctor's eyes darkened and he stepped close to Rory.
"Right, so one minute, it's all "you make people a danger to themselves", and the next it's "we're not leaving you." But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets the—"
The building shook, knocking them all off their feet.
"Doctor, what was that?" Rory asked.
"Nothing," the Doctor said. "Bit of an earthquake."
"An earthquake?" Amy repeated.
"Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes. But don't worry about them."
"No?" Emma asked.
"No," the Doctor agreed. He playfully bopped her nose then clapped his hands together. "Instead, worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake. Right, Rosanna's throne is the control hub, but she's locked the programme, so, tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy! Hit it with a stick, anything. We need to shut down and re-route control to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator." He started for the door and Emma called out to him.
"Where are you going?"
"Belltower."
"What?"
She raced out after him but stood back as began to climb up where a large metal lightning conductor was stationed. She squinted as she tried to best to watch him mess with the bell tower. Amy and Rory ran out to her, Amy grabbing Emma's arm.
"Where is he?" Emma pointed up at the belltower, and Rory cheered.
"Come on!" he shouted. "Come on!" Amy echoed.
A moment later, the rain ceased, the clouds vanishing. People cheered as they left their shelters.
"Emma! Go find Rosanna!" the Doctor shouted.
"What?"
"Go find Rosanna!"
Emma found Rosanna undressing beside the Canalside.
"Mrs. Calvierri," she called. "What are you doing?"
"One city to save an entire species. Was that so much to ask?"
"You're in mourning," Emma tried to sooth. "But you'll live. The Doctor did."
"Tell me, girl. Can the Doctor's conscience carry the weight of another dead race?" Emma's eyes widened as Rosanna inched down a plank that was hanging over the water.
"No!" Emma cried. "Stop it!" Rosanna met her eyes and her eyes turned soft at the sight of the young woman.
"You'll never forget, girl, will you?"
"My name is Emma. No, I won't."
"Remember us, Emma," Rosanna said. "Dream of us." Then she stepped off the plank.
The Doctor found Emma staring at the canal where she had watched Rosanna's children devore her.
"Emma," he said softly. She turned to him, eyes glistening, and cheeks wet.
"She's gone, Doctor." The Doctor sighed, then offered his hand.
"We did our best, Emmy."
"I know."
Taking his hand, she let him lead her back to where Amy and Rory were waiting near the Tardis. The Inspector from their arrival gave the Doctor a deep bow.
"Goodbye, sir," he said.
"Ah, yes. Goodbye!" He turned to Amy and Rory. "Now then, what about you two, eh? Next time Leadworth Registry Office. Maybe I can give you away."
"It's fine," Rory said. "Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've—"
"Stay," Amy interrupted. "With us. Please. Just for a bit." She turned puppy dog eyes on Rory. "I want you to stay." Rory looked to the Doctor, who shrugged.
"Fine with me."
"Yeah? Yes, I would like that."
"Nice one!" Amy cheered. "I will pop the kettle on." She smirked at Emma. "Look at this, we've got a spaceship, got our boys…" She dramatically flipped her scarf over her shoulder. "Our work is done." Rory shook his head fondly as he followed her back inside the Tardis.
"Emma… listen to that," said the Doctor. Emma gave him a small, confused smile.
"All I can hear is silence."
"Exactly."
"There were cracks. Through some we saw silence
and the end of all things."
-Rosanna Calvierri
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