- 𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 !

039

—Chapter Thirty-nine | The Pandorica Opens

—IT WAS DARK. Eve was quite happy that River had a torch. The Doctor used his sonic to light a torch before grabbing it. River handed Eve the other one which she lit with the Flame of the one the Doctor had.

The Doctor removed the wooden plank keeping the door closed making it fall to the ground with a loud bang. They pushed the doors open to reveal a large box sitting in the middle.

"It's a Pandorica." The Doctor muttered.

"More than just a fairy tale." River smiled. The Doctor walked forwards before accidentally kicking something. A metal arm. They walked closer to the Pandorica.

"There was a goblin. Or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies." The Doctor said as he walked beside the Pandorica. "The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."

"How did it end up in there?" Amy asked.

"You know fairy tales. A good wizard tricked it." The Doctor began to walk around the place.

"I hate good wizards in fairytales." River took the torch off Eve and handed it to Amy. "They always turn out to be him."

"So it's kind of like Pandora's box, then?" Amy asked. "Almost the same name."

"Sorry, what?" The Doctor questioned as he put the Torch in a hole in the wall.

"The story. Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it. That was my favorite book when I was a child." Amy explained causing the Doctor to stop scanning the Pandorica. "What's wrong?"

"Your favorite school topic, your favorite story. Never ignore a coincidence, unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence."

"So can you open it?" Eve asked.

"Easily. Anyone can break into a prison. But I'd rather know what I'm going to find first." The Doctor told her while Eve walked up to the Pandorica too.

"You won't have long to wait," River informed them as she looked at the device in her hand. "It's already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one. Like it's being unlocked from the inside."

"How long do we have?" The Doctor asked.

"Hours at the most."

"What kind of security?" He asked.

"Everything. Deadlocks, time-stops, matter-lines."

"What could need all that?"

"What could get past all that?"

"Think of the fear that went into making this box." Eve and Amy turned around suddenly when a noise was heard. "What could inspire that level of fear? Hello, you. Have we met?

"So why would it start to open now?" River questioned.

"No idea."

"How could Vincent know about it?" Eve questioned.

"Yeah, he won't be born for centuries." Amy agreed.

"The stones! These stones are great bit transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone. The Pandorica is opening!"

"Doctor - everyone, everywhere?" River questioned.

"Even poor Vincent heard it in his dreams. What's in there, what could justify all this?" The Doctor asked as he walked back toward the Pandorica.