Doctor Who: The Boy Who Remembered (Fan Fic)

Chapter 15: Ghosts Of Paris

The Palais Garnier stood in all of its majestic splendor amidst the unfolding hours of the early evening. Bathed in the shadows of the drawing night, the golden angels of harmony and poetry glistened atop their perched vantage upon the roof. The façade held sculptures between the white colonnades which commemorated the celebrated masters of the opera. Names such as Rossini, Mozart and Beethoven, artists who had crafted works which would be remembered throughout human history. It was a testament to their undying spirit, a structure equally as celebrated as the Eiffel Tower throughout the Belle Epoque. And yet, high overhead, there hung a heavy reminder that all of this could soon be rendered nothing more than a memory of things that could have been. For in the sky hovered the motionless black cloud that had grown far larger than any other that blotted the sky; one which neither the stars nor the moon could hope to defy. And yet despite such danger, the low lamplit square just outside the Opera house had found a nearly forgotten spark of life.

Along the Avenue de L'Opéra, the desolate emptiness had been replaced by an endless mass of bodies. The missing citizens of Paris had been found, brought together in the square facing the southern façade of the Palais. Despite their unexpected emergence, these were still nothing more than apparitions of the people they had once been. Not one from amongst the gathered crowd looked any livelier than the next. In every direction there stood nothing save pale faces with cheeks that appeared almost transparent in the dim lamplight. Thin elegant ladies, and boney gentlemen, who now resembled children trying on their parent's clothes. These were not the same people who had once called this city home, these were nothing more than the ghosts of Paris.

Benjamin French had been unable to find a better fitted coat or slacks for the occasion. It had been some small comfort to see he was not the only attendee who had not found something which fit. The others from the Paternoster Gang had each changed for the event. Madame Vastra had kept her veil, if only to avoid the horror that would follow the discovery of a talking reptile, while adorning a black formal dress which flattered her slender scaled figure. For Strax, he had remained dressed as their attendant, only now having been given a top hat in hopes of drawing less attention his way. Even Jenny Flint had decided to forego her combat gear for a dress that had made her look like a proper lady befitting the period. The detective's wife had foregone such a transformation that it had taken Madame Vastra every ounce of will to resist the urges evoked by her ravishing stares. But of all those gathered that evening, only the Doctor had remained in his usual garb, still unwilling to part with his presumably fashionable bowtie.

"Why must humans all be so freakishly tall," complained Strax. "You would think some would fall over with such large heads placed upon their shoulders."

"Our heads aren't that big," protested Benjamin.

"Frankly I don't understand why we are wasting our time here," continued the battle hungry Sontaran. "If this cloud is our enemy would we not have better spent our time constructing a laser based canon with which to blow it from the sky?"

"Must it always be shoot first with you Strax?" questioned Jenny.

"And what would you have me do? Hmm? Question the cloud? Give it a firm handshake? There is no greater glory then victory by conquest in the name of the Sontaran Empire!"

Madame Vastra had chosen to ignore her attendant's outburst as she examined the unflinching grimace prevailing the Doctor, "What is it Doctor? Are you worried what we will discover within?"

"On the contrary," he smirked while fixing his scarf. "I'm rather curious what they're going to play this evening."

"Of course you are," sighed Benjamin. "Because it's not like we have more pressing matters to deal with."