A/N: I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. Let's continue our Time Couple's adventures with their feisty companion, Donna Noble. These chapters take place during the episode The Fires of Pompeii.
I do not own Doctor Who. All I own is this story and my OC. Please review and no flaming will be tolerated.
Cheers :)
WHEN IN POMPEII…
"I've been staring at the coastline
Thinking of every choice I've made
To lead me here right now
Standing on solid ground
And I've been hiding in the shadows
Wondering if I'm on the right road
Some place I've never been
Is this how it all begins?"
– Calum Scott: 'Rise' (Bridges [2022])
Street
The Tardis parks herself in a small-curtained-off alcove on an unknown street. The double doors open, emitting the Heart who glanced about with interest before stepping completely outside so that the Doctor and Donna could come see for themselves where the Tardis had taken them this time. The Doctor brushes aside the curtain and steps out into the bright, warm sunshine with the Heart and Donna falling into step either side of him. The streets were lined with market vendors selling various goods.
"Ancient Rome," the Doctor reveals with an excited grin on his face. "Well, not for them obviously." He amended what he said as he gestures to the people milling about, minding their own business and oblivious to the strangers dressed in clothing that would not be seen for another 2,000 years. "To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome." The Heart grinned at him and tilted her head back into the sunshine to soak it all in and drew in a deep breath of the fresh untainted Mediterranean air, sighing with contentment. Donna stepped a little further into the marketplace away from the Doctor and the Heart, still obviously in wonder that she was here.
"Oh, my God. It's, it's so Roman. This is fantastic." She gushed.
"Oh, Donna. All this is just the beginning." The Heart promised sincerely, hooking an arm around the redhead's shoulders.
"I'm here, in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome. This is just weird. I mean, everyone here's dead." Donna realises and the Heart chuckled a bit awkwardly.
"It's probably best if you keep that part to yourself. I don't think these people would take that very well." She cautioned her. But then Donna frowned.
"Hold on a minute!"
"What?" the Doctor blinks at her.
"That sign over there's in English." Donna points towards a nearby burrow that had a sign displayed on the side that promised two amphorae for the price of one. She looks accusingly at the Time Couple. "Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"
"The Tardis is just translating it for you into English. Speech too." The Heart reassures her.
"That's right. You're talking in Latin right now." The Doctor tells her with a proud grin on his face.
"Seriously?" Donna looked dubious.
"Yep!" the Heart nodded.
"I just said 'seriously' in Latin." Donna looked amused by that.
"Oh, yeah." The Doctor nodded.
"What if I said something in actual Latin," Donna pondered, earning bewildered looks from the Time Couple. "Like veni, vidi, vici? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said veni, vidi, vici to that lot," Donna indicated towards a nearby fruit vendor. "What could it sound like?"
"Good question." The Heart shrugged as the Doctor lets out an exasperated sigh as well.
"You always have to think of difficult questions, don't you?" the Doctor pointed out to Donna who seemed to barely acknowledge what he had said because she was staring at the fruit vendor with determination.
"I'm going to try it." She decides, and the Heart gestures casually.
"Knock yourself out." She stated, stepping aside and turned to watch Donna stride confidently over to the fruit vendor to carry out her little experiment. The Doctor sidles up to his tether and leans in to mutter into her ear.
"This should be interesting, huh?" He observed with amusement, as the Heart giggled, leaning into his personal space as the Doctor automatically wraps his arms around her and kisses her on the temple. The fruit vendor Donna was aiming for, finishes with a customer and turns towards a pleasantly smiling Donna who was waiting for her turn.
"Afternoon, sweetheart. What can I get you, my love?" He asks her, giving Donna a polite customer service smile. Donna clears her throat before speaking.
"Er, veni, vidi, vici." Donna responded to the man, who blinks at her in confusion.
"Huh? I'm sorry?" The vendor looked at Donna apologetically. "Me no speak Celtic." He over-enunciates, making Donna pause and eye him strangely. "No can do, missy." The Heart struggles not to laugh as Donna gives the man a pained smile.
"Yeah…" She responds, before turning and walking away from him and back towards the Doctor and the Heart. She frowns at them in confusion. "How's he mean, Celtic?"
"Welsh." The Heart explained, succinctly. "You were speaking Welsh."
"There we go. Learnt something." The Doctor stated cheerfully as they continue exploring the Roman marketplace. Neither of them notices a young woman with a white painted face and wearing a red cloak, watching them go. Donna makes an observation of what the street vendors and townspeople were wearing and holds up her top with a puzzled frown.
"Don't our clothes look a bit odd?" She wondered, and the Doctor shakes his looking unconcerned.
"Nah. It's Ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger." He reassures Donna.
"You've been here before then? With the Heart?" Donna questioned but the Heart shakes her head.
"Never been here before. This is as new to me as it is for you." The Heart stated, brightly.
"I have been here before. Ages ago." The Doctor confirmed. "But before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me." Then he paused and backtracked a little. "Well, a little bit." He conceded. "But I haven't got the chance to look around properly. Coliseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus." He stops walking and pauses to walk around in a circle, taking in their surrounding with a puzzled look. "Mind you, you'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything?"
"Relax, and give yourself a break, sweetie. You obviously haven't been here for a while, you can't expect to know where everything is all the time." The Heart playfully chides him.
"Yeah, you'd think that. But it's not always the case." The Doctor grimaced. "Let's try this way." The Doctor pointed towards a different street and pulls the Heart by the hand with him while Donna follows closely behind them, so she didn't get lost in the hustle and bustle. The mysterious young woman continues to follow them through the streets until they eventually come out into a piazza. Donna spots a lone mountain with smoke rising from it off in the distance and frowns.
"Not an expert, but there's seven hills of Rome, aren't there? How come they've only got one?" She asked, and both the Doctor and the Heart paled; especially when the ground suddenly starts violently shaking.
"Here we go again…" a nearby vendor sighed heavily, as he and other vendors hang onto their stalls as pottery falls and breaks.
"Oh, please tell me this isn't where I think we are…" the Heart pleaded with dread.
"Pompeii." The Doctor confirms with alarm. "We're in Pompeii. And it's volcano day!"
"Oh, not good." The Heart groaned as all three of them turn and run back the way they came from towards the Tardis. Except when they finally finish elbowing their way through the crowd, they discover that the sentient ship had apparently and conveniently gone missing.
"You're kidding." Donna groaned. "You're not telling me the Tardis has gone."
"Okay…" the Doctor agreed, and Donna looked at him expectantly.
"Where is it then?"
"You told me not to tell you." The Doctor deadpanned at her, and Donna glowers at him, unamused.
"Oi! Don't get clever in Latin." She grumbles at him. The Heart rolls her eyes at their theatrics before going over to the fruit vendor that Donna had spoken to in Welsh, to get to the bottom of their dilemma.
"Excuse me. Excuse me." The Heart smiles politely at the vendor who had been in the middle of straightening up his stall after the brief earthquake that had happened minutes before. "There was a box, over there…" She points towards the vacant curtained-off alcove. "Big blue box. Big blue wooden box, just over there. Uh, where did it go?" She asks hastily and the vendor grinned at her.
"Sold it, didn't I?" He responded, and the Heart gapes at him while the Doctor, who had overheard him comes over to interrogate.
"But it wasn't yours to sell." He stated, looking a little peeved. However, the vendor didn't seem fazed by the Doctor's ire.
"It was on my patch, weren't it? I got fifteen sesterces for it. Lovely jubbly!" He looked proud of himself; and was failing to see the mystified looks on the Doctor and the Heart's faces.
"Who'd you sell it to?" the Heart recovered first and inquired.
"Old Caecilius," the vendor responded, looking rather impatient. "Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it up with him? He's on Foss Street." He suggested, obviously eager to send the three of them on their way so he could continue selling his wares. "Big villa. Can't miss it."
"Foss Street. Right. Thank you." The Heart repeated the directions before she and the Doctor turned and headed back to an anxious looking Donna who was waiting for them impatiently. But the Doctor returns after two seconds, frowning at the vendor with confusion.
"What'd he buy a big blue wooden box for?" He wondered.
Caecilius's Villa
In 79AD, a typical Pompeii villa had atriums with open roofs, and surrounded by bedrooms, dining areas, and living spaces; often with intricate mosaic flooring and vibrant wall frescoes, which opened up to a rear garden dotted with fountains, sculptures, and sometimes even a portico for outdoor entertainment. Caecilius's villa was obviously no exception, and it was quite obvious to the casual observer that this man was nouveau riche. Which explains why he had taken such a liking towards the Tardis.
"Modern art!" Caecilius exclaimed as he admired his latest purchase that he had placed in the corner of the family's living room. "Out of the way, that's it." He orders his servants before stepping back a little and takes it in. "Oh, Rombus, I'm a little bit peckish. Get me some ants in honey, there's a good lad." He requests from a nearby servant. "Ooh, maybe a dormouse?" The servant leaves as Caecilius's wife, Metella, walks into the room and looks at the Tardis with obvious distaste. He takes notice of her and gestures towards the sentient ship. "What do you think?"
"You call it modern art; I call it a blooming great waste of space." Metella gives him her honest opinion.
"We're going up in the world, my love." Caecilius chides her gently. "Lucius Dextrus himself is coming to the house this afternoon. What with that and our Evelina about to be elevated." The young girl in question enters quietly. She was dressed in a bright yellow toga and looked rather frail and weakened by an unknown ailment. Evelina rolls her eyes at her father's words.
"Oh, don't go on about it, Dad."
"If we'd moved to Rome like I said she could've been a Vestal virgin," Metella reminds her husband as she goes over and gives her daughter a side hug.
"Someone mention Vestal Virgins?" A young man in his late teens saunters into the room with a drunken swagger. He was the typical rebellious type, and it was obvious that he was the black sheep of the family judging by the exasperated frowns his parents were giving him.
"Quintus!" Metella snaps at him. "Don't be so rude. You apologise to the Household Gods." She scolds him as Quintus grimaced at the very idea.
"Get off." He grumbles. However, his mother was adamant.
"Apologise right now. The Gods are always watching." Metella insists, and right on cue there is a sudden ground tremor. Caecilius reacts almost immediately.
"Positions!" Everyone rushes towards a nearby precious artefact to prevent it from falling, except for Quintus, who rolls his eyes and takes a seat on the indoor fountain. When the tremors stop, Metella rounds on him.
"There, now you've made the heavens angry. Just say sorry." She insisted and Quintus groans and gets to his feet, heading towards the Household shrine. "I tell you, Caecilius, that boy will do no good." Quintus dips his fingers into a chalice of holy water and sprinkles some onto a carved plaque.
"Sorry, Household Gods." He mumbles out a half-assed apology, before sitting back down beside the fountain. Caecilius observes his son and aims a hard look at the boy who pointedly avoids eye contact with him.
"So where were you last night? Down at the thelopolium, I bet, cavorting with Etruscans and Christians and all sorts." He goes over to Quintus. "How's your head, sunshine? How's your head!" He growls, clapping his hands loudly near Quintus's ear and the boy moaned in pain.
"Alright, Dad. Give us a break."
"You want to smarten yourself up, Quintus, before Lucius Dextrus gets here." Metella suggested before smiling proudly at Evelina. "Look at your sister. She's giving us status." Evelina looks uncomfortable about being singled out by her parents, and Quintus aims a slightly resentful glare towards his sister.
"Oh yeah, because it's all about Evelina."
"She has the gift," Metella reminds him as she holds up one of Evelina's hands. An eye is tattooed on the back of it. "Be proud of your sister for once." She turns and looks at Evelina. "Have you been consuming?"
"Not this morning." Evelina admitted, which prompts her mother to guide her over to a raised grill. "Come on sweetheart, practice. It's hot today. The hypocaust is on full blast." They sit beside it. "The mountain God must be happy." Metella gestures towards the rising steam. "Breathe deeply. Remember what the sisterhood said." Evelina nods and leans forward to breathe in the hot steam. She winces.
"Oh, it hurts…"
"Oh, my love, is it too hot?" Metella asks her worriedly. But Evelina shakes her head and smiles at her mother.
"Sometimes in the smoke I see the most terrible things." She admits.
"Like what?" Metella questioned.
"A face. A face of stone."
"It'll make sense one day," Metella promises her daughter. "Sister Spurrina promised. The veil will be parted and you'll be a seer." Evelina nodded obediently and resumes inhaling the fumes. She is startled when she sees a creature of rock with eyes and a mouth of fire.
"Who are you?" She questions the creature.
Street
The trio made the decision to split up so they could find Foss Street. The plan was that once one of them found it, they would meet up at a designated place and regroup from there. And off they went. About 30 minutes later, the trio met up at the spot.
"Please tell me you had more luck than me," the Heart pleaded, looking frustrated. Donna shrugged, looking a bit defeated.
"All I did was get lost. Who knew Pompeii was so freaking huge?" Donna admitted. However, the Doctor looked very triumphant judging by the relieved grin he had spread across his face.
"I've got it. Foss Street's this way." He gestures back the way he had come when he was meeting up with the Heart and Donna before promptly snatching the Heart's hand (who grabbed onto Donna's) and practically dragged her towards the correct street. However, Donna managed to wrench away her hand at the last minute.
"Woah, hold up, Doctor." The Heart alerted him and both of them turned back towards the redhead, frowning questioningly at her. "What's up?"
"Well, I did manage to find this big sort of amphitheatre thing while I was searching. We can start there." Donna stated with a determination.
"Okay, why are we doing that?" the Heart asked.
"So, we can gather everyone together. Maybe they've got a great big bell or something we could ring." Donna confirmed, earning an alarmed look from the Heart and a confused one from the Doctor. "Have they invented bells yet?"
"What do you want a bell for?" the Doctor asked.
"To warn everyone." Donna looked at them flatly, like the answer should've been obvious. This made the Heart bite her bottom lip and look uncomfortable, while a sober, stony expression crossed the Doctor's. "Start the evacuation. What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?" She questioned the Time Couple.
"It's 79AD, twenty-third of August. Which makes volcano day tomorrow." The Doctor responded flatly.
"Plenty of time," Donna looked relieved. "We could get everyone out easy."
"Except that we're not going to, Donna." The Heart stated, firmly. Donna just blinks at them.
"But that's what you do. You save people." She pointed out, and the Doctor lets out a frustrated, heavy sigh.
"Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There's no stopping it." He states with a finality in his tone. He gestures for the Heart 'let's go' and she nodded without question and falls into step beside him. Donna couldn't accept that there was nothing that could be done.
"Says who?"
"We do." The Heart replied, looking back at her coolly. Donna speeds up to intercept the couple before they could go any further.
"What, and you're in charge?" Donna retorted, hotly.
"Tardis, Time Lord, yeah." The Doctor spat, frustratedly.
"Donna, human, no."
"Tardis, Time Lady, knock it off!" the Heart interjects, glowering at the both of them for arguing and wasting precious time. The Doctor fixed a resentful look at Donna who didn't look like she was likely to back down any time soon.
"Luckily, I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself." Donna insisted and the Heart gathered up all her patience.
"You stand in the marketplace announcing the end of the world, and everyone will just assume that you're a mad old soothsayer." She points out in an attempt to rationalise the situation.
"Now, come on. We need to get the Tardis back so we can get out of here." The Doctor added, stomping off towards Foss Street. Donna jogs to keep up with him, obviously gunning for a fight.
"Well, I might just have something to say about that, Spaceman!" Donna snipes back at him.
"Oh, I bet you will." The Doctor let out a derisive laugh. The Heart closed her eyes and pursed her lips out of annoyance, before she ran to catch up with them, missing the same young soothsayer that had been stalking them since they had first arrived in Pompeii, step out and cover her face with her palms which had the same tattooed eyes on the backs of her hands, like Evelina did.
"The blonde one, she calls us mad." She relays telepathically to her 'sisters' about the Doctor.
Sibylline Temple
Spurrina, the same woman whom Metella had been discussing with Evalina, covers her eyes with her hands as well to link into the conversation. She grimaces at the information her scout had just revealed.
"Then she is a stranger to Pompeii. Soon she will learn." Spurrina promises. She drops her hands moments before another 'sister' alerts her to more information about the three strangers.
"We have found it, Sister Spurrina, in the thirteenth book of the Sibylline Oracles." Thalina brings over an ancient looking tome and points towards a specific passage contained within it so Spurrina could see for herself. "The blue box. A temple made of wood. And yet the Sybil foretold that the box would appear at the time of storms, and fire, and betrayal."
"Sisters…" A wizened older female's voice calls out feebly, and immediately all the priestesses in the room head towards a curtained area behind an altar. Spurrina responds to the figure silhouetted behind the gossamer curtains.
"Reverend Mother, you should sleep." She urged, but the older woman wished to be heard.
"The Sibylline Oracles are wrong." She stated, bewildering the other priestesses.
"But we have venerated her words for generations." Spurrina protested.
"This is a new age. Heed my words. I predict a future of prosperity and might. An endless empire of Pompeii, reaching out from this city to topple Rome itself and encompass the whole wide world. If the Disciples of the Blue Box defy this prophecy, their blood will run across the temple floor." The ground suddenly starts shaking, indicating another earth tremor. However, the Sibylline see this as a positive omen.
"The gods approve…" Spurrina interpreted with a smile.
Caecillius's Villa
At the same moment, the Doctor, the Heart and Donna had finally located the villa; just in time to hear Caecilius shout "Positions!" and the rushing of frantic feet. They go inside and the Doctor manages to catch a large marble bust seconds before it could shatter on the ground.
"Woah! There you go." The Doctor pushes the bust back on its plinth before turning to greet a grateful looking Caecilius.
"Thank you, kind sir." Caecilius thanks the Doctor and shakes his hand. "But I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor." The Doctor is quick to respond.
"But that's me, I'm a visitor. Hello!" He gives Caecilius a sunny little grin.
"Who are you?" Caecilius questions, just as the Heart and Donna walk up behind the Doctor to take in the splendour of the Villa's living room.
"I am … Spartacus." The Doctor quotes the 1960s movie Spartacus, ignoring a 'seriously?' look aimed at him by his tether. Donna straightens up and turns to introduce herself also.
"And so am I." This prompts the Heart to roll her eyes and look bored of their immaturity. Caecilius beams at them.
"Mister and Mrs Spartacus!" He addresses, and the Doctor and Donna immediately recoil in disgust, with the Doctor throwing a panicked look at a smirking Heart who did not look at all sympathetic.
"Oh no, no, no. We're not, we're not married." The Doctor immediately corrects him.
"We're not together." Donna confirms.
"Oh, then brother and sister? Yes, of course. You look very much alike." Caecilius automatically assumes, and both the Doctor and Donna scrutinise each other in surprise.
"Really?" they comment in unison. Caecilius turns to greet the Heart, who smiles warmly at him and gives him her hand in greeting.
"And who might you be?" The Doctor immediately responded.
"This is my wife." Or at least she will be someday… the Doctor privately thought to himself.
"Charmed to meet you." The Heart greets Caecilius, and flushes pink a little at the thought she had picked up from the Doctor through their Time Lord psychic link. She aims a radiant smile at the Doctor who winks back at her before refocusing on Caecilius. The proprietor smiles politely at her before moving on with the conversation.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade." He stated apologetically.
"Oh? What trade might that be?" The Heart asked with interest.
"Marble. Lopus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man." Caecilius responded with a grin. The Doctor starts digging around his one of the coat pockets.
"That's good. That's good, because I'm the marble inspector." He flashes the psychic paper in Caecilius's face and the man immediately pales, as does Metella who had walked into the room at that moment to see what the commotion was.
"By the gods of commerce, an inspection." She plucks a glass of wine from Quintus's hand and pours it out in the fountain. "I'm sorry, sir. I do apologise for my son." She aims a disapproving glare at Quintus who was more put out that his drink was being disposed of than the fact that his parents were being inspected by so-called marble inspectors.
"Oi!" He complained.
"And this is my good wife, Metella." Caecilius introduces. "But I must confess, we're not prepared for a—"
"Nothing to worry about," the Doctor reassures him. 'Although, that's the general idea of an inspection. To show up unannounced…' "I'm sure you've nothing to hide." Then he spots the Tardis idling in the corner of the room. 'Jackpot!' He thinks triumphantly. "Although, frankly, that object looks rather like wood to me…" the Doctor stated moving towards the sentient ship purposefully, flanked by the Heart and Donna. Both Metella and Caecilius begin to panic.
"I told you to get rid of it!" Metalla scolds her husband underneath her breath.
"But I only bought it today," Caecilius protested.
"Ah, well. Caveat emptor." The Doctor shrugged.
"Oh, you're Celtic. That's lovely." Caecilius smiles politely at the Doctor who rolls his eyes, obviously just eager to get inside his ship and get the hell out of Pompeii with both the Heart and Donna.
"I'm sure it's fine, but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection." He insisted. Donna takes the opportunity to interject.
"Although while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?" She prompts the Doctor who glowers at her in annoyance.
"Don't know what you mean, Spartacus…" the Doctor responded through gritted teeth.
"Oh, please don't start, you two…" the Heart grumbled, already sick to the teeth with their argument. However, Donna ignores her.
"Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?" She hinted and Caecilius blinks at her in confusion.
"Why should we do that?" He asks. Donna looks at him like he was obtuse.
"Well, the volcano, for starters."
"What?" Caecilius frowned at her.
"Volcano."
"What ano?" Caecilius insisted.
"That great big volcano right on your doorstep." Donna told him, losing her patience and prompting the Heart to go over and link arms with Donna, leading her away from the suspicious proprietor.
"Oh, sister, for shame. We haven't even greeted the household gods yet." The Heart chides a confused Donna, prompting the Doctor to follow them as the Heart dips her fingers into the chalice with holy water and sprinkles it on the carved plaque. "Donna, quit while you're ahead. They have no idea what the hell you are talking about." She explains to the redhead.
"Vesuvius is just a mountain to them," the Doctor takes over the explanation; giving the Heart a 'thank you' look over Donna's head for intercepting the situation when she did. "The top hasn't blown off yet. The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano."
"At least, not until tomorrow." The Heart added, and Donna scoffs in disgust.
"Oh, great, they can learn a new word as they die." She retorts, sarcastically.
"Donna, seriously, let it go. You're making a scene." The Heart chastises her, irritably.
"Listen, I don't know what sorts of kids you've been flying around with in outer space, but neither of you are telling me to shut up." Donna snapped back, before turning and gesturing to an oblivious Quintus, who was sipping away at yet another glass of wine. "That boy, how old is he, sixteen? And tomorrow he burns to death."
"How is that our fault?" the Heart demanded.
"Because you're not willing to do something about it!" Donna stated.
"Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government." One of the Household Servants announces, drawing the trio's attention. A middle-aged man wearing a cloak over the right side of his body, walks into the room like he owned the place. Caecilius immediately walks over to him.
"Lucius. My pleasure, as always." He practically preens to the sour faced man. Metella nudges her son.
"Quintus, stand up!" She scolds him, and he rolls his eyes and gets to his feet, looking bored.
"A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house." Caecilius holds out his hand to shake Lucius's, but the other man doesn't take it.
'Rude…' The Heart thinks, disapprovingly.
"The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west." Lucius rattles off some indecipherable nonsense to Caecilius who smiles politely, but looks a tad confused.
"Quite. Absolutely. That's good, is it?" He asks Lucius.
"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow." Lucius responds, earning perplexed looks from everyone in the room.
"There now, Metella. Have you ever heard such wisdom?" Caecilius questions Metella who smiles cheerfully at Lucius.
"Never. It's an honour." Metella praises the man, who barely acknowledges the compliment. The Heart makes a face and discreetly turns to mutter into the Doctor's ear.
"What a load of waffle…" She stated, and the Doctor nodded in agreement. Caecilius takes notice of them and introduces the trio to Lucius.
"Pardon me, sir. I have guests. This is Spartacus, Spartacus, and er, Spartacus." Lucius looks the three of them up and down with mild interest.
"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind…"
"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark." The Doctor is quick to respond, increasing Lucius interest in them.
"Ah! But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?" Lucius counters, challengingly. The Doctor nods thoughtfully before responding.
"I concede that every sun must set."
"Ha." Lucius smirked.
"And yet the son of the father must also rise." The Doctor gestures towards Quintus who looks back at him in a bewilderment. Lucius looks impressed by the Doctor's words.
"Damn. Very clever, sir. Evidently, a man of learning."
"Oh, yes. But don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo." The Doctor reassures them, and Caecilius smiles nervously at Lucius, obviously not wanting to offend the man unintentionally.
"He's Celtic." He explains away the Doctor's indecipherable words. The Doctor takes the opportunity to wrap an arm around the Heart's shoulders and grab Donna's arm with his spare hand.
"We'll be off in a minute." He promises them, but Donna stubbornly refuses to cooperate with the Time Couple, much to their annoyance.
"I'm not going."
"It's ready, sir." Caecilius resumes his business with Lucius, as the Doctor attempts to persuade Donna to leave.
"You've got to." He insists, patiently.
"Well, I'm not." Donna drags her feet. The Heart looks back at Caecilius and Lucius, curious about what they were up to as the marble proprietor leads Lucius towards something that had been covered up with a cloth; obviously to protect it from the elements. The Doctor was about to hasten the distracted Heart along too when Caecilius suddenly speaks up, drawing his attention also.
"The moment of revelation. And here it is…" Caecilius flings back the cloth, revealing a stone tile that had been carved into the likeness of a circuit board. The Heart stops dead in her tracks, surprised by what she was seeing.
"Wow… that's not something you see every day." She mutters, as the Doctor also studies the stone tile with interest too.
"Exactly as you specified," Caecilius tells Lucius who has a pleased smirk on his face. "It pleases you, sir?"
"As the rain pleases the soil." Lucius responded. The Doctor decides that he needed to speak up.
"Oh, now that's different. Who designed that, then?" He asks, a little concerned.
"My Lord Lucius was very specific." Caecilius explained, all business-like.
"Where did you get the pattern?" The Heart asks, curiously.
"On the rain and mist and wind." Lucius responds, and the Heart grimaces in annoyance, but bites back her retort that the man spoke properly. Donna comes over to see the stone tile for herself.
"But that looks like a circuit…" She stated, confused.
"Made of stone," the Doctor concurred. Donna turns to Lucius, curiously.
"Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?"
"That is my job, as City Augur." Lucius tells her, frowning a little at the question. Donna raises an eyebrow at the strange occupation.
"What's that, then, like the mayor?" She asks, oblivious to the strange looks she was getting from everyone else. The Doctor chuckles awkwardly.
"Oh, ha. You must excuse my friend, she's from Barcelona." He pulls Donna aside and gives her an explanation. "No, but this is an age of superstition. Of official superstition."
"The Augur is paid by the city to tell the future," the Heart explains to Donna. "The wind will blow from the west? That the equivalent of the ten o'clock news." Nobody notices Evelina stumbling into the room behind them. She is swaying and looking extremely pale.
"They're laughing at us," Evelina speaks up, announcing her presence to the room. She points towards the trio. "Those three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us."
"I can assure you, I'm not." The Heart insisted, kindly. Metella goes over to her daughter's side and hugs her close.
"I'm sorry. My daughter's been consuming the vapours." She explains, nervously. Quintus sobers up the second he sees the state of his sister and becomes protective.
"Oh for gods, Mother. What have you been doing to her?" He accuses, walking over to them.
"Not now, Quintus." Caecilius chides his son, firmly.
"Yeah, but she's sick." Quintus ignores his father's warnings. "Just look at her."
"I gather I have a rival in this household," Lucius observes Evelina contemptuously. "Another with the gift."
"Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions." Metella explains.
"The prophesies of woman are limited and dull," Lucius dismisses this. "Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception." He stated, and both Donna and the Heart snorted at this.
"I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate." Donna sneers, with disdain. This causes a small tremor. Lucius glowers at Donna.
"The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you." He warns, and the Heart becomes protective.
"Don't you threaten her." She retorted. The Doctor inspects Evelina's condition from head to toe, curiously.
"Consuming the vapours, you say?"
"They give me strength." Evelina confirms.
"It doesn't look like it to me." The Doctor disagreed. Evelina smirks at him.
"Is that your opinion as a doctor?"
"I beg your pardon?" the Doctor is taken aback.
"Doctor. That's your name." Evelina accurately names him, and the Doctor looks at her, deeply disturbed.
"How did you know that?" He demanded, but Evelina ignores his question and moves on to the Heart and Donna.
"Your presence here echoes like the beat of a drum. Almost like a Heartbeat." She tells the Heart who shrinks back in alarm, causing the Doctor to reach out and grab her hand to give her comfort and reassurance. "And you," She turns her attention on a frightened Donna. "You call yourself Noble."
"Now then, Evelina. Don't be rude." Metella scolds her lightly.
"No, no, no, no. Let her talk." The Doctor requested, looking just as intrigued as he was disturbed.
"You all come from so far away…" Evelina accurately relays.
"The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries." Lucius was incredibly dismissive of Evelina's words. However, the Doctor defends her.
"Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you've been outsoothsayed."
"Is that so, man from Gallifrey?" Lucius questioned him, and the Doctor looks at him with shock.
"What?"
"The strangest of images," Lucius continues as though the Doctor hadn't spoken. He glances between the Time Couple. "Your home is lost in fire, is it not?"
"Doctor, what are they doing?" Donna demanded, looking freaked out. Lucius turns his attention on to her now.
"And you, daughter of … London."
"How does he know that?" Donna panicked.
"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth." Lucius explained with a nasty little smirk on his face.
"But that's impossible…" the Heart breathed.
"Time Couple, they are returning…" Lucius states ominously.
"Who are? Who's they?" The Doctor demanded, urgently.
"And you, daughter of London. There is something on your back." Lucius tells Donna who instinctively reaches behind to feel her back for a foreign object but finds nothing. She looks helplessly at the stunned Time Couple.
"What's that mean?" Donna asks, almost tearfully. Evelina breaks away from her mother and walks over to them.
"Even the names 'Doctor' and 'Heart' are false." She stated, and the Doctor and the Heart focus on her, warily. "Your real names are hidden. Burning in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You both are a Lord and Lady. A Lord and Lady of Time." Evelina then promptly faints on the spot, caught instinctively by the Heart who happened to be the closest to her at the time.
"Evelina!" Metella exclaims in alarm as everyone, except for Lucius, gathers around the fallen girl, worriedly.
Evelina's Room
The Heart, Donna, and Metella take Evelina back to her sleeping chambers, to let the clearly exhausted and unwell girl rest in her own bed. The room itself was a cool, shady spot. Very peaceful, as you could hear the cicadas chirping off in the distance. Metella glances sadly at both Donna and the Heart.
"She didn't mean to be rude. She's ever such a good girl. But when the gods speak through her…" She trails off and the Heart lays a kind hand over hers.
"Don't worry about it. If you could've heard the things I used to say when I was her age. You'd cringe." The Heart reassures Metella who smiles gratefully at the Time Lady. Donna spots something unusual on Evelina's arm.
"What's wrong with her arm?" She questions, curiously. Metella reaches over and unwraps a matching yellow bandage from her daughter's arm, revealing what looked like a dark rash on the skin.
"An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night." She dribbles a little bit of olive oil on Evelina's 'rash' and wipes it with a clean cloth. The Heart frowns at it with bemused interest.
"May I?" She asks, reaching for Evelina's arm, and Metella nods switching places with the Heart who carefully examines the rash.
"What is it?" Donna asks the Heart, curiously. Metella looks at the Time Lady with obvious hope on her face.
"Evelina said you both came from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like it?" The Heart shook her head.
"Never." She responded. Donna reaches out and gently strokes the rash for herself and reacts incredulously.
"It's stone."
Living Room
Lucius had long since left with his marble carving after Evelina had fainted and was escorted back into her room by the women. Seeing the Doctor, the Heart and Donna as not a threat, Caecilius allowed the trio accommodation inside his home, as thanks for giving aid to his daughter. Ever since learning that Evelina had been consuming the vapours of the hypocaust the family had installed in their villa, the Doctor took it upon himself to inspect it for something potentially nefarious. He removes the grill and mildly flinches away from the heat radiating from it.
"Different sort of hypocaust?" the Doctor enquires and Caecilius nodded proudly.
"Oh, yes. We're very advanced in Pompeii." He bragged, a little pompously. "In Rome, they're still using the old wood-burning furnaces, but we've got hot springs, leading from Vesuvius itself."
"And who thought of that?" the Doctor asked.
"The soothsayers, after the great earthquake, seventeen years ago." Caecilius confirmed. "An awful lot of damage. But we rebuilt." The Doctor shook his head at the naivety of humans.
"Didn't you think of moving away?" Then he paused when he mentally fast forwarded in time to the 1906 Great San Francisco earthquake and shrugged. "Then again, San Francisco…" He muttered to himself. Caecilius raised an eyebrow.
"That's a new restaurant in Naples, isn't it?" Both men pause when they hear deep, menacing growling noises coming from the hypocaust. The Doctor looks down into it with mistrust.
"What's that noise?"
"Don't know. Happens all the time." Caecilius responded, unfazed. "They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring."
"But after the earthquake, let me guess. Is that when the soothsayers started making sense?" the Doctor questioned.
"Oh, yes, very much so. I mean, they'd always been, shall we say, imprecise?" Caecilius confirmed. "But then the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision."
"Haven't they said anything about tomorrow?" the Doctor glances up at him slyly. Caecilius looked at him, puzzled.
"No. Why, should they? Why do you ask?" He looked slightly worried. But the Doctor waved him off, trying to look unconcerned despite knowing the disaster that would claim thousands of lives the next day.
"No, no. No reason." He stated. "I'm just asking. But the soothsayers, they all consume the vapours, yeah?"
"That's how they see." Caecilius confirmed.
"Ipso facto." The Doctor mumbled, earning a slightly irritated look from Caecilius.
"Okay, look you…"
"They're all consuming this…" the Doctor had picked up a pinch of what looked like soot from within the hypocaust and was rubbing it between his fingers.
"Dust?" Caecilius guessed, but the Doctor shook his head and sampled a bit of it on his tongue.
"Tiny particles of rock." He corrected him, then his eyes widened in realisation. "They're breathing in Vesuvius." The Doctor immediately gets up and replaces the grill back over the hypocaust before seeking out Quintus, who was reclining on a couch drinking yet another glass of wine. He chooses to use a casual angle to get information out of the boy. "Quintus, me old son," the teenager groans in annoyance. "This Lucius Petrus Dextrus. Where does he live?" The Doctor inquires.
"It's nothing to do with me." Quintus responded carelessly. The Doctor shakes his head.
"Let me try again," He leans forward towards the boy. "This Lucius Petrus Dextrus…" He produces a coin from behind Quintus's ear, which immediately grabs the boy's attention when he spots it. The Doctor smirks triumphantly. "Where does he live?"
Street
That night, the Doctor follows Quintus who surreptitiously leads him through the streets of Pompeii using a burning torch to light the way. They eventually reach an alleyway next to a large, ostentatious villa. Quintus looks about nervously.
"Don't tell my Dad." He begged, and the Doctor takes a running jump towards a window and opens the shutters. He makes sure the coast is clear before turning back and bargaining with the teenager.
"Only if you don't tell mine." He goes inside, then briefly returns, leaning out of the window. "Pass me that torch." Quintus hands him the torch then follows the Doctor inside the villa after the Doctor ducks back inside.
Lucius's Villa
The hypocaust was glowing red with heat as Quintus follows the Doctor inside while the latter looks around, before taking down a curtain, which reveals a wall of different designed marble tiles. Quintus instantly frowns in outrage.
"The liar. He told my father it was the only one." He bitched, and the Doctor merely shrugged, not surprised that Lucius had managed to con the other marble vendors that they were making him a unique design on a marble tile.
"Well, there are plenty of marble merchants in this town." He reminds Quintus. "Tell them all the same thing, get all the components from different places, so no one can see what you're building." The Doctor summed up Lucius plan in seconds flat. Quintus was confused.
"Which is what?" He asks, curiously. Both of them snap their heads towards a nearby doorway when Lucius's voice suddenly rings out.
"The future, Doctor. We are building the future, as dictated by the gods." He tells him as the Doctor goes over to Quintus and shields the teenager behind him protectively.
A/N: Stay tuned for the second part.