Chapter 10 – Ancient History
The walk through the forest had been largely silent, only punctuated by the occasional cry of the native wildlife. The Rani led the way, half stomping half marching towards their location. Romana had to walk briskly to keep up with the older Time Lady, her thoughts churning with every step. The Rani knew far too much about the wizarding world for her liking and it wouldn't surprise her if the dark haired woman had interfered at some point in the past. The former President of Gallifrey kept thinking about the grey skinned creatures who had welcomed them to the planet. They gave her a horrible feeling and not just because of their looks.
The group eventually reached a rather primitive looking hut, a wooden structure held together with mud and rope. As far as Romana could see it was the only solid structure anywhere in the forest, "Not much to look at", Ron sniffed from his position next to the Time Lady.
"I don't know", Harry shrugged, "it reminds me a little bit of Hagrid's place". Romana nodded in agreement, apart from its normal size the half giant would look very at home in the hut, "not somewhere I'd expect to find a Time Lady though", he continued.
"Humans, still as brainless as I remember", the Rani scoffed and entered the hut without another word.
"The hut's just a disguise", Romana explained to the two humans, "this is the TARDIS we've been looking for, the hut is just the chameleon circuit helping it blend in".
Romana stepped towards the door and gently pushed it open. Just as she suspected the Time Lady walked into the console room of the Rani's TARDIS. The walls of the time ship were cold and grey although a few pink and red lights offered a break from the clinical feel. Dotted around the familiar hexagonal console were various pedestals with numerous jars placed on top. She instantly recognised a Tyrannosaurus embryo inside one of the jars, "Still fascinated by dinosaurs I see Rani", Romana commented.
"A species taken before they were ready", the renegade commented. She was standing next to the console with her arms folded tightly against her chest, "Just like some of my specimens really, perhaps one day I shall restore them to their full glory".
Romana remained tight lipped, that was exactly what she was afraid of, "Is this the same embryo you had before the Time War?" she asked to quickly divert the Rani's attention, "It must've been stewing away in this brine for a long time".
"It's perfectly fine", the Rani snorted, insulted at Romana's insinuation, "my preservation fluid can keep it in stasis for centuries without any loss of genetic material".
The centuries comment surprised Romana slightly. She knew that the Rani was much older than her, roughly the same age as the Doctor but Romana knew that the older Time Lady hadn't acquired the T-Rex embryo until a few decades before the War. There had been a small controversy when the Council heard that the renegade had stolen the egg of the dinosaur. When summoned back to Gallifrey, the Rani successfully argued that since she had stolen the egg from a species at a point in time just before extinction, she hadn't actually disrupted the timeline. It was a technicality but the High Council had no choice but to let her off.
Shortly after that Romana knew the Rani had encountered the Sixth Doctor and renewed their old rivalry. That had been just before the early skirmishes of the War so the embryo had been stored since that time, "I'll ask again Rani, how long have you been alone?" Romana asked a little more forcefully this time.
Before the Rani could answer Harry and Ron tumbled into the TARDIS. Despite the wizarding world having 'bigger on the inside' magic, Romana still had to smile at the awe on their faces at the sight of a time capsule. Almost immediately the red head's attention focused on one of the jars, "Bloody hell", he swore, "she's got one of those brains from the Department of Mysteries".
Romana turned her attention to the floating pink brain inside a jar. It did bear a striking resemblance to the things that had attacked Ron inside the Department of Mysteries. The dangling appendages flicked periodically and Ron nervously rubbed his arms in the spot where his faded scars were, "Curious species the Zlatan's", the Rani began, moving towards the jar, "of all the humanoid species in the universe, they have the largest brains". A cruel smile flashed across her face, "This one really didn't want his brain removed, I probably should've stunned him first but that would've damaged the tissue".
"Rani", Romana hissed dangerously, "that's not the point Ron's trying to make", she really didn't want to hear how the Rani plucked the brain out of a living creature explained in great detail.
"You spoil all my fun", the Rani sniffed and carefully stroked the jar, "reminds me a bit of Morbius, after the dramatic weight loss of course".
The Rani chuckled dryly and Romana pinched the bridge of her nose, "The brain in the jar, is it the same as the one's Ron is talking about?" she snapped, talking with the Rani was really giving her a headache.
"Never heard of the Department of Mysteries", the Rani began without making eye contact with anyone, "although it has been sometime since I visited the wizarding community". Romana sighed deeply, something told her she wasn't going to like this story, "Contrary to popular belief, the Court of King Arthur wasn't in the West of England but in the area now occupied by London", the Rani continued, "I believe that you stupid apes built your Ministry of Magic on top of the remains of Camelot".
Harry and Ron were stunned by this news, even Romana was too surprised to call the Rani out for insulting the human race, "Oh yes, I had great fun", the Rani continued with a broad smile, "humans of that time were so gullible, so superstitious that they would believe anything, if anything it was too easy".
"I'm not going to like this", Romana grumbled, cursing her TARDIS for ever bringing her back into contact with the Rani.
"Careful Madam President, you're starting to sound like the Doctor", the Rani teased. A small smirk appeared on the dark haired woman's face, "Camelot was nothing like the fairytales of course but there was a Merlin and Morgana".
"You met Merlin?" Ron gasped, "what was he like, did he have the long beard like his pictures?"
The Rani snorted, "Hardly, although he did have grey hair the first time I met him. Although he had a habit of changing his face and he never really stuck around Camelot for long which was perfect for me".
A feeling of dread washed over Romana, "The Doctor was Merlin wasn't he?" The Rani didn't acknowledge the comment but she didn't need to, the mischievous grin on her face told its own story.
"No way", Ron gasped, "your friend is Merlin", he said in Romana's direction.
"So it seems", the Time Lady answered, "which means that Morgana can only be one person". The Rani reached into her jacket and pulled out a small remote control. With a push of a button her appearance changed into a younger woman with long raven black hair. Her clothes shifted into a traditional set of witches robes mostly black but with a few red trim patches, "Terrific, just what I need", her headache was only growing in size with each passing second.
"My second face", the disguised Rani commented, "initially I shielded myself from the Doctor to prevent him from discovering who I was. Once I regenerated I created this holographic projector to keep up the ruse". She pushed the button and shifted back into her normal appearance, "And the famous Doctor never knew it was me, oh the fun I had messing with his precious humans".
Harry snorted, "You brought down King Arthur court and plunged the country into the Dark Ages".
"Earth still is in the Dark Ages little boy", the Rani snapped, "compared to the rest of the galaxy". She quickly regained her composure and straightened her jacket, "It was all in the name of science, I wanted to see if a primitive patriarchal society could follow a female leader if they were strong enough". A satisfied smile appeared on her face, "My hypothesis was completely correct and once that was proven, I left your dirty rock of a planet and moved onto my next experiment".
Romana could feel the anger coming off the two humans. Eager to avoid a confrontation with the dangerous Time Lady she decided to intervene, "Perhaps you two should step outside", Romana suggested, "I would like a private word with the Rani". Harry and Ron hesitated but complied with Romana's request. The moment the TARDIS door closed, the younger Time Lady rounded on the renegade, "You really haven't changed have you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about", the Rani replied stiffly.
"I knew what the High Council said about you", Romana began, "that you couldn't be trusted, that you only thought of yourself but I decided to give you a chance to help Gallifrey".
The Rani quickly turned on her heel to face away from Romana, "Help Gallifrey", he cried, "you led our planet into a war with the most dangerous species in the universe". She turned around, her eyes blazing with anger, "So tell me Madam President, exactly how did you help Gallifrey?"
That was a question that Romana had asked herself several times during her imprisonment. At the time a full confrontation with the Daleks seemed inevitable. They had discovered time travel technology and were using it to enslave planets throughout the space time continuum. Romana and the rest of the High Council believed the Time Lords were the only one's capable of stopping them. Going against their millennia of non interference, the Time Lords attempted to stop the Daleks with devastating consequences, "You're absolutely right", Romana practically crumbled in defeat, "I did nothing to help Gallifrey".
Silence descended on the Rani's TARDIS, the renegade seemed surprised by how easily Romana had caved in and had no idea how to proceed. The younger Time Lady wallowed in her own misery, even now she still questioned if initiating the attack on the Daleks had been the correct thing to do. The High Council reasoned that eventually the Daleks would attack Gallifrey and a pre-emptive strike was needed. Decades later and Romana wondered if that was the right decision, "For what its worth I think you did the right thing", the Rani's broke the silence.
"I must be going senile but that almost sounded like praise", the Rani merely stood on the spot, refusing to engage Romana any more than necessary, "how do you cope with the silence Rani?" Romana asked, "there used to be so many voices but now there's nothing".
The Rani stiffened slightly and the awkward atmosphere returned, "I'm not your precious Doctor", she snorted, "I'm not talking about your feelings whilst inside my TARDIS".
"Rani please there's only four of us now, can't you let go of that bitterness?" Romana begged.
"Only if you quit with the whiny attitude", the Rani snapped in return, "is this what the famous War Queen of Gallifrey has been reduced to, a moping attitude to match your underdeveloped body". Anger filled every fibre of Romana's being, "How do I cope with the silence? By doing what I'm best at so perhaps you should do the same".
Despite her anger towards the older Time Lady, Romana had to admit that the Rani was correct. Instead of concerning herself with her failures, she should be focusing on the positives. For the first time since her Time Lady consciousness had been restored, Romana finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. Spontaneously she crossed the floor and wrapped her arms tightly around the Rani, "Thank you", she whispered.
The Rani's body was totally rigid, unused to physical contact. Once the initial shock of the moment had worn off, she pushed Romana away, "You tell anyone that this happened and I will disembowel you very slowly and very painfully", she hissed angrily.
"Don't worry, your secrets safe with me", Romana smiled. It then occurred to her that most of the experiments on display hadn't been touched in a while. Some of the jars were covered in dust and one even had a small crack, "You said you cut back on the experiments Rani, just how long has it been since you played with your chemistry set?"
There was no response from the older Time Lady, even to Romana's deliberate jibe about her research. It made her wonder why the Rani had even bothered calling off her loyal subjects, she could've stayed hidden inside her TARDIS and Romana would never have been the wiser, "Do as I say, not as I do Romana", the Rani mumbled.
Romana was sudden filled with a soul crushing loneliness and it wasn't just her own. The Rani was always a solitary Time Lady but choosing to stay away from her fellow Time Lords had been a choice. Now it had been forced upon her which was a completely different story. Romana knew she was going to regret her next few words but she couldn't live with herself if she didn't make this offer, "Come help us", she began, "we're trying to stop a group of dark wizards from destroying the wizarding world".
"Why would I help you stop them?" the Rani sniffed, "I once led a dark army of wizards, remember".
"You did that for science, not out of desire", Romana wasn't sure if that was completely true as there was probably a fair part of the Rani that enjoyed the Dark Arts. "You put a lot of work into that experiment, it would be a shame to see that all destroyed". There was still no response from the Rani but the younger Time Lady could feel the mental wheels turning, "Aren't you the least bit interested to see what became of the world you helped shape?"
"Not really, I'm very happy where I am", the Rani replied without a hint of emotion.
Romana sighed in defeat but she approached the console anyway, "In case you change your mind", she input her eventual destination into the navigational computer.
"I won't, now get out of my TARDIS before I change my mind about letting you live", the Rani snapped. It wasn't a subtle dismissal and Romana walked towards the exit without further comment. At least the Rani wasn't going to be preventing her from stopping Voldemort, perhaps that was a small victory for Romana.