Chapter 12:

POV: Mara

Date: October 11, 2025

I have no idea how long I drifted in the vortex until my family called me home.

Time moved differently when you were rushing headlong through it. I watched whole centuries pass before me as I hurtled along through the vortex endlessly, trying desperately to figure out how to get myself out of it. Mum had always made it look so easy; I have no idea how she did it. Just before I thought I would surely go mad, I'd heard a little pop in my ears, and had suddenly been standing in the console room.

I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light and looked around until my gaze finally settled on my family.

"Oh, thank Gallifrey," I breathed, and moved forward with open arms until I met them in a hug. They all gripped me just as tightly as I clung to them, and the feel of them near me made my hearts beat out in relief. I still couldn't feel them in my mind, and that caused tears to prick at my eyes, but I was sure that would be rectified soon enough.

"How did she manage it?" Jenny asked when we all finally pulled apart. "How did Neeklet get you away from Ohila?"

I pulled in a slow breath. "She was brave. I'm so sorry I couldn't keep Ohila from hurting her, Jen, is she…?" My chest squeezed at the thought that Neeklet might not have made it back in time for them to save her.

Jenny shook her head. "She's fine—she's in hospital right now."

I breathed out a sigh of relief, and then turned to Dad and Faeter. "We need to hide. I was able to take Ohila off the playing board, but the other Pythia will regroup quickly and when they do, they'll be coming for me."

"How did you manage to neutralize Ohila?" Dad asked as he continued to hold onto my hand.

Ruby shook her head. "Never mind that right now; what about Neeklet? If we need to run, can she be moved? She's recovering from surgery."

Jenny shook her head, and I didn't need our connection to see the sadness in her features. "It doesn't matter," she said softly, and turned toward the TARDIS doors. "I'll be back."

We quietly watched until she had exited the ship before Faeter turned to me. "Let's see if we can at least get those psychic dampeners that are on you turned off, ay?" He waved his sonic over the device on my chest and the bracelet before pressing a few buttons.

Relief filled my hearts as our family network came rushing back into my mind. "Oh, that's better." I hadn't realized how lonely I had felt until now. "So, what happens now? Is there a plan?"

"Now," Faeter said as he studied the bracelet with a close eye, "we regroup while we try to get this thing off you."

"Ohila said that it wrapped itself around my nervous system. If anyone tries to get it off and hits the wrong combination, it could kill me. Permanently." My hearts sank at the thought that even with both Dad and Faeter working together, I may be stuck with this thing on my chest indefinitely. "It might be impossible."

"Ah, no!" Dad shouted as he pointed at me. "You broke the number one rule, Cricket."

"Never say never ever," Faeter supplied with a smile. "We'll get it off you."

"We promise," Dad finished.

I wanted to tell them not to make promises they couldn't keep but knew how well that would go over. Instead, I nodded. "Tell me what you need to know."

POV: Jenny

Date: January 22, 2012 – Prior to Silence Will Fall No More

The audacity of the Kijxalians astounded me. Once we had arrived at their secret base they hadn't bothered to blindfold us as they led us to a holding cell. Kijxalians were known as an intelligent people, so I had expected to at least have them frisk us for weapons, but to my surprise, they hadn't even thought to do that. Perhaps they thought we couldn't possibly be hiding anything in the gowns we were wearing.

I supposed I should be grateful I had thought to tuck my sonic safely into my outfit this evening.

"Oi, watch it!" I griped as they roughly shoved us into the cell. "That's no way to handle a lady."

The Kijxalian lackey who had shoved me just rolled his eyes as he shut and locked the cell door. "Get comfortable, Princess. You'll be here a while."

Neeklet stared at him defiantly. "And who is to say I will not go telling everyone of the Duke's plan once we are free?"

The Kijxalian laughed. "The Duke already thought of that. Remember your little chat earlier this evening? He's arranged it so it will look like you had snuck off with that friend of yours, the one your betrothed's family is already suspicious of, just before the ceremony. He's got video ready and everything—it'll be your word against his."

He turned to walk away then, and I glanced at the princess. Her face was still full of defiance as she turned to meet my gaze. "So, miss Jenny, how do you propose we escape from here?"

I raised my eyebrows. I admired her focus on the current problem, despite the tumultuous emotions I was sure she must be feeling given our current predicament. "What makes you think we can?"

In a quick, efficient move, Neeklet broke free of the restraints on her wrists and reached out to remove mine. "Because, my dear, they did not even bother to properly restrain us. Knowing the Duke, as I do, I would say it is likely he hired the cheapest help he could find." She sniffed disdainfully. "Given his history, he would never untie his purse strings long enough to do otherwise."

I chuckled and reached into my dress to produce my sonic. I flipped it into the air and caught it with a flourish as I winked at her. "Well then, your Highness, I suppose it's lucky that being thrown into cells like this one is an average day for me. C'mon."

Her eyes widened a bit as I used my sonic to open the cell door. "Is that sonic technology? I have not seen sonic technology in this part of the galaxy since…" she trailed off, and I glanced back at her as we began to sneak our way down the hall. She appeared thoughtful.

"Since when?" I prompted as we dodged a camera lens. It didn't look on, but I didn't want to take the chance. The Kijxalian hideout didn't appear to be very big. The hallway we were in had stone walls and was poorly lit. I was grateful for my Time Lady eyesight, and supposed Neeklet's theory that the Duke had been cheap when he hired his mercenaries extended to their hideout as well.

"Well," Neeklet said in a hushed voice as we entered their cargo bay. "There was this one legend. An old wives' tale, really, of this powerful family. A family of Time Lords, if you could believe it, though some legends assert that the mother was something even more mysterious. They used to travel the universe, bringing hope to the desolate wherever they went."

My hearts froze at her admission, but I didn't allow my surprise to show on my face as I assessed the scene before us. We were back in the large hanger the Kijxalians had landed in. This place appeared to be some kind of stronghold left over from one of the ancient Ceolian wars, if I had to hazard a guess. The only exit I could find was the overhead hole that led to the sky.

I was grateful that I had an excuse to ignore her story. I turned to Neeklet. "We're going to have to take one of their ships to get out of here. When I say go, you run fast as you can. Get to that one." I pointed to the nearest ship. There was only one other in the hangar, and I doubted it was theirs. It looked like it had been here for years.

The princess nodded. "Can you fly a Kijxalian ship?"

I gave her a grin and a shrug. "I suppose we'll find out, ay? Now, go!" I didn't give her time to answer as I shot up from the boxes we'd positioned ourselves behind for cover.

I heard her squeak as she followed me. Quicker than I would have liked, the Kijxalians noticed our appearance and began to shout. "Get them!" the leader commanded in a roar. "Shoot the blonde one, but not the Princess!"

I let out a frustrated grunt as blaster fire started and pushed myself faster. Before they were able to catch us, I was inside the ship and rushing for the controls. I looked around to assess what I had to work with for a moment before starting up the sequence I needed.

Neeklet came pounding into the ship, and doubled over panting as the docking doors closed behind her and the engine began to whine. "Do you always run so fast?" she asked between pants as she stumbled into the chair next to mine. "How do you manage in that gown?"

I smiled widely as I began to pull the ship into the air. The Kijxalians were still firing at us. I knew we only had moments before they ran to try to revive the older ship. "Lots and lots of practice," I said, and laughed with glee at the adrenaline running through my system. "I told you; this is a typical day for me. Now, let's get you home in time for that ceremony."

Neeklet turned to the radar that was pinging next to her. "They are right behind us. That is an old Ceolian war ship—they will fire at us."

"I wouldn't worry about that, your Highness," I said as I pushed the ship faster. "I've been flying ships since I was born. I'll keep us from getting shot down." Not to mention I'd been born with every evasive flying maneuver known to the people of Messaline already programmed into my head. As luck would have it, they'd known a lot, and I'd only learned more over the centuries.

Neeklet's eyes snapped to my face. "I hardly think you were a capable pilot as an infant."

I chuckled. "That's a story for another time. Buckle in!"

I pulled the ship hard to the right as the Kijxalians began to fire at us. They were still far enough away I wasn't truly concerned about being hit, but our destination was this direction. I recalled the movements we had taken during our flight to their hideout and mapped my course back to the palace into the ship's computer.

I took note of the time as I did so. "If all goes well, I should be able to get you back in time for your ceremony."

Neeklet shook her head as she typed some commands into the weapons' systems. "I would not concern yourself with that. Let us focus instead on landing in one piece."

My eyes shot to her for a moment before I refocused on keeping us in the air. "You're not concerned you won't make it back in time for the marriage to move forward?"

The princess stiffened for just the shortest of moments before she shook her head. "No, of course, you misunderstand. I am just more concerned about our—"

We were suddenly jostled as the ship was hit by blaster fire. "Get those weapons' systems going!" I commanded as I used the sonic to push the ship even faster. It groaned under the strain, but we began to hurtle even more quickly back toward the palace. In the distance, I could see its light.

Neeklet furiously typed in commands to return fire and let out a cry of victory as one of her shots landed. "That should slow them down!" Her eyes sparkled as she grinned at me. "I must admit, I have not felt this exhilarated in some time."

I gave her a smile back. "It can be addicting, the adrenaline."

We were quiet for a while—Neeklet focused on her weapons' systems, and me focused on getting us to the palace as it grew larger and larger in the ship's windows.

Just as we were nearing our landing point—the palace courtyard—we were lurched forward by a particularly accurate shot from the Kijxalians.

"Hang on!" I shouted as I desperately tried to keep us from crashing right into the palace walls or the homes of the nearby townspeople. I pulled on the controls as hard as I could as we hurtled toward the ground.

Beside me, Neeklet reached out to squeeze my hand, and used her other to brace herself as we crashed and slid across the ground. The whole ship shook with the effort as our momentum seemed to go on forever. My hearts pounded and the blood rushed to my ears as I watched Ceolians, especially the royal guards, come rushing out of the palace. For a long, horrifying moment, it seemed like we were going to crash right into them.

When we finally began to slow and then come to a stop, I let out a shaky breath and a slightly hysterical laugh. "Oh, that's a landing for the books! Dad would be envious."

Neeklet laughed with relief as the Ceolian guard quickly moved to capture the Duke's lackeys. Other guards began to surround our ship, and she sighed. "I suppose that is my cue to explain what happened." She stood, and moved toward the back of the ship as I opened the doors for her.

My hearts gave a little pang of regret. My time with Princess Ser Neeklet of Ceolia was coming to an end, and I found myself wishing it wouldn't. She was the most fun I'd had since…

I forced my thoughts away from my family. They were fine. I'd spoken to Mara only a week ago—she was off on her own adventures and our parents had only just recently saved an entire galaxy from destruction. Everything was normal. As normal as it could be, at least, after Aqu.

I stood and followed the Princess back out onto the palace grounds. She was just finishing up explaining what had happened to the Ceolian palace guards, when her Prince approached her. "My lady!" he exclaimed as he took her hand. "If I had only known what my horrid cousin was planning, I would have put a stop to it. I hope your delicate self was not injured."

Neeklet stiffened ever-so-slightly at his remark but shook her head with a polite smile. "Thankfully not, and I have the wonderful miss Jenny to thank." She turned to me. "If not for her, I do not believe I would have returned in time for our ceremony."

The High Prince of Kijxal bowed his head to me. "Thank you for keeping her Highness safe. How can we repay you?"

I shook my head. "It wasn't a problem. I'm just glad the princess made it back in one piece." I turned to leave. "If you don't mind, I think I'll just leave you both to it." I couldn't bear to steal from her now, I'd just tell Tijal that I couldn't find the ring.

Neeklet's brow crinkled ever-so-slightly. "You are not leaving now, are you? Why not stay and enjoy the rest of the evening?"

"I would, but I promised a friend I would be in touch before the night was over. I don't want to keep him waiting." I would, in fact, keep Tijal waiting until I was halfway across the galaxy, but that was neither here nor there.

"Then allow me to see you off," Neeklet said, and followed me toward the exit of the palace grounds. Behind us, Ceolian guards were quick to follow from a respectable distance.

I fell into step beside the princess until we were at the gate to the grounds. "This is where I'll leave you," I said, and glanced back the way we'd come. "I hope the two of you are happy together."

"Yes," Neeklet said, and then bit her lip. It was the largest show of her own emotions that I had seen so far. "You know, you have yet to tell me who you are."

I chuckled. "I told you, I'm Jenny."

She waved a hand. "Yes, but I have been putting pieces together, miss Jenny. The sonic. The reticence to give a last name. The ability to fly ships since you were young…it reminds me of another Jenny." She tipped her head to the side. "You would not happen to have two hearts, would you?"

I froze, and then tipped my head back and laughed. "And if I did?"

Neeklet smirked at my response. "That would be an interesting thing indeed." She looked down as she slipped her ring off her finger and placed it in my hand. "If you will not tell me the truth, you might as well have what you came for. I saw you looking at it earlier. Though what the great Time Lady Jenny Tyler could want with a silly ring is beyond my purview, I am sure."

I swallowed thickly and looked into her eyes. "It was an honor, your Highness."

She gave my hand a squeeze. "As it was for me, Legend." She glanced back at the people waiting for her in the distance again, and sadness flitted across her face for just the smallest of moments. "It is so rare that I am allowed to leave these palace walls. I am glad our paths crossed." Neeklet turned back to me. "And where will you go now, I wonder?"

I shifted on my feet. "Well, I'll return the ring, and then…" I shrugged. "Onwards and upwards."

Neeklet tipped her head to the side to study me. "Alone?"

I nodded. "For now, yes."

"What of your family?"

"Oh." I waved a hand dismissively, and tried to speak through the lump that was suddenly in my throat. "They're off on their own adventures right now."

Her eyebrows pulled down with concern. "That sounds quite lonely."

"Princess!"

I glanced over her shoulder at the sound of the High Prince calling her. "You should go. Your betrothed is waiting."

Neeklet glanced back at him, and bit her lip. "Well," she said, and looked back at me. "I do owe you a debt, miss Tyler. I wonder, would my company do?"

Surprise made my eyebrows fly up to my hairline and my hearts began to pound out a frantic rhythm. "What about the High Prince? Your planet? The alliance?"

She shrugged. "I have heard that your family can ensure a person is able to return to where they are meant to be when they are meant to be there. That you have access to time travel. Do you not?"

I blinked. She was remarkably well informed about us Tylers. I would need to see what other myths we had started in this part of the universe. "We do, but—"

Neeklet smiled brilliantly. "Then, what are we waiting for?" She grabbed my hand. "Show me something awe inspiring, Jenny Tyler."

I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. If I were really thinking about my actions, I would acknowledge that taking her away was deeply selfish and would cause all sorts of chaos in this portion of the universe, but I couldn't help the giddiness that bubbled up at the idea of not traveling alone.

"As you wish, your Highness," I said, and tapped a few buttons on my Vortex Manipulator.

"Princess!" the High Prince was running now as Neeklet and I smiled at each other.

"Get ready for the adventure of a lifetime," I told her, and shot us off into the vortex.