My Doctor (A Doctor Who Fanfiction)

Leo's Owl

Tha-Tha-Tha Thump

The whirring sound of the TARDIS begins as we land in Florence, Italy. I press another button on my wrist-watch that serves as a sort of cloaking device. I'm dressed in a long blue dress that sort of poofs at the bottom and has long sleeves with a draping opening about 3/4 of the way down, and a belt that goes just under my chest. My hair is up in a tight brown braid around my head.

"Oi. I never said you could come. I should be taking you home." the Doctor crosses his arms.

"But you can't." I wink at him and step out the TARDIS door. The town smells of fish. That's my first thought. The Doctor walks out behind me.

"This is it. The ending of the Dark Ages in Italy. The spark of inspiration begins." he smiles.

"Well then let's go get inspired. Who lived during this time period? Erm... Plato.. Leonardo da Vinci..." I continue for a while.

"Isn't that Leonardo da Vinci?" he points at a man with a long grey beard.

"That would be. Can we talk to him?" I ask.

"Looks like he's coming to talk to us." the Doctor raises an eyebrow.

As Leonardo gets closer he seems more and more bewildered and unsettled. His beard is more stringy and his eyes dart quickly, as if looking out for something.

"Your box. Your box! It came out of nowhere!" He points his finger at the TARDIS, slightly shaking. "You must be here for the monster."

"What monster?" the Doctor asks him.

"Come with me." Leonardo motions for us to follow him and we do as he says. "Who are you two? Certainly not from around here."

"I'm the Doctor. And this is Lily. Tell me about this monster of yours."

"It's huge. Massive. 4 metres tall at least. It hasn't attacked. It just sort of follows me around. It's on the ceiling. On walls. At the graveyard. And in my dreams."

"Can anyone else see it?"

"Nobody yet..."

Leo drags us into his home. "I-I've painted it." He grabs one painting and turns it towards us. It's a white, glowing owl with great golden eyes. "It speaks to me sometimes. Get the Doctor. He always says that. He comes at midnight. Anywhere I'm at. It's always midnight."

"D'you mind if we stay the night then? To see the owl?" asks the Doctor.

"Yeah. Fantastic. Perfect." Leo's eyes dart around the room.

 "So Doctor, It's only about 18:00 now. What're we going to do until then?" I ask.

"Well I'm sure there's something else going on around here. Why don't we find something?"

"See you later then, Leo." I say, waving.

He waves back and we leave his house.

"Leo?" the Doctor asks me.

"Well yeah. That's Leonardo da Vinci. Shortened the name to Leo. He responded, didn't he?"

He crosses his arms in a pouting manner.

"Oh so it's okay if you call Charles Dickens, Charlie, but it's not okay to call Leonardo, Leo?"

He sticks his tongue out at me. "Wait how'd you know that?"

"My dad told me." Tha-Tha-Tha Thump. "He had all of your memories."

We spend the next few hours walking through the town. We saw the last of the plague infested bodies being disposed of. We went back to Leo's house and had dinner. At last, it was 23:50.

"How long does this.. Creature.. Stay for?" I ask.

"About 30 minutes. But when I run out, it follows me."

I lay on my back and stare at the ceiling. A white mist begins to form, swirling around. "Doctor!"

The Doctor rushes over to me. "It's here." Leo whispers.

"Where?" the Doctor looks around. Leo and I both point upward. "I don't see anything!"

The owl emerges from the mist, and as Leo said is extremely large. It doesn't have pupils. Its eyes are mystical and golden. It looks into my soul. "The Timelord's Child." the owl speaks.

"Tell me everything it says, Lily. I need to know what it needs." the Doctor says.

"The Doctor can't see you." I speak to the owl. "You'll have to speak through me."

"So be it." It's voice is mystical. The owl swoops down and enters my soul, taking control of my body.

My eyes turn golden, as the owls were. I can feel the words escaping through my mouth, but I can't hear them. I pass out and reawaken 30 minutes later. I cough and sit upright. The Doctor and Leo are talking about 5 feet away but I can't hear them. All I can hear is a ringing in my ear. And my wristwatch is broken! My clothes begin to glitch and I go back to wearing jeans and a hoodie. I take out my sonic screwdriver and repair the watch and my clothes glitch back on.

The Doctor rushes over to me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Fine. What did it say?"

"It was a Mellowslac. Last of its kind, spread itself throughout time and space to find me. It wasn't exactly a being at the time. More of a ghost. It asked me to make it its own being again." He nods towards Leo who is now holding a Snowy Owl. "What did it mean? The Timelord's Child?"

"I thought you said you couldn't see it. It's nothing." I stand up. He looks at me unsure if I'm speaking the truth, which of course I'm not. Nothing is nothing. I stumble around for a moment. Why am I so weak?

"Of course you're weak. You've been possessed." the Doctor helps me back to my feet, where shortly after I collapse on the floor, passed out.

Tha-Tha-Tha Thump.