"You have got to be kidding me." Donna hissed tied to an altar beside the Time Lady who was glaring at the Sisterhood holding hands in a ring around them with what Rita guessed as the leader standing above them with a knife.
"Sadly I don't think they are Donna." She said then looked at the priestess with the knife her skin pale with white powder and large eye shaped rings around her eyes, "I would be careful with that, it looks sharp." She nodded at the knife hovering above her.
"The false prophet and the one that mocks us will surrender both their blood and their breath."
"I'll surrender you in a minute." Donna hissed at them. "Don't you dare."
"You will be silent."
"Listen, sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I've finished with you." She snapped trying to break free of the ropes. "Let me... go!" She shouted.
"I would be careful what you say to a tied up angry redhead, I would know."
"Your prattling voices will cease forever." The woman lifted the knife high about her head ready to hit Donna with the knife.
"That will be the day." They all turned their heads to see the Doctor leaning against a pillar. "Sorry, I'm late dear." He waved over to Rita flashing her a grin. "Got a little busy."
"You took your time." She rolled her eyes before flashing him a grin herself. "What took you so long? Had a bit of sight seeing to do?"
"Nah, I can't go sight seeing without you" he smirked, "I planned a nice dinner and everything." He jokingly pouted slightly. "Can't do that now though."
"I was going to cook..." Rita shrugged.
"Oi!" Donna shouted cutting them both off. "You can flirt as much as you want when you get us out of here!"
"Sorry, Donna," Rita muttered blushing slightly as the Doctor looked down at his shoes.
"No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl." The priestess interrupted.
The Doctor looked up again and walked up the stairs. "Well, that's all right. Just us girls." He shrugged them off walking towards the altar. "Do you know, we met the Sibyl once." He nodded at Rita. "Yeah, hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella. Nice teeth. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last, with my Stone and all." He glanced over at Rita who couldn't help but smile shaking her head. "She said, I know. Well, she would. You two all right there?"
"Oh, never better." Donna joked.
"I've had worse." Rita shrugged.
"I like the toga" he eyed the purple dress Donna was wearing. "Stone where's your toga." He asked glancing over at her.
"If you get me out of this I might just wear one," she smirked at the look he was giving her. "I do have a new accessory of ropes, however." She wiggled her wrists a little. "Do you like them?"
"Nah." He shook his head. "I'll take up that offer of the toga however." He smirked while pointing his sonic screwdriver at the ropes freeing her hands
"What magic is this?" The priestess asked them.
"Let me tell you about the Sibyl," the Doctor switched the subject, "the founder of this religion." Rita freed her hands and then started to untie Donna's as he spoke. "She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour."
"Is that how you spread the word?" Rita asked standing beside the Doctor after freeing Donna other hand. "On the blade of a knife?"
"Yes, a knife that now welcomes you." She hissed raising the Knife up, the Doctor pulled Rita behind him as the priestess went to strike.
"Show me this man and woman." They were interrupted by a voice behind a large veil.
"High Priestess, the strangers would defile us." The priestess countered.
"Let me see. These two are different. They carry starlight in their wake." Rita squinted her eyes a little slightly making out the figure of a woman sitting on what looked like a bed behind the veil.
"Oh, very perceptive. Where do these words of wisdom come from?" The Doctor asked.
"The gods whisper to me." She said.
"Looks like they've done far more than that." Rita scoffed slightly clearly seeing that the woman's skin looked slightly grey through the thin red fabric.
"Might we beg of an audience?" The Doctor looked around. "Look upon the High Priestess?" He said looking at the Sisterhood as two of them drew the veil aside, to Rita's guess the High Priestess was indeed a living stone.
"Oh, my God. What's happened to you?" Donna gasped.
"The heavens have blessed me."
"Doesn't look like that," Rita muttered under her breath. The Doctor let go of Rita's hand and stepped forward towards the High Priestess.
"If I might?" He gestured to her hand, she approved and held out her hand, the Doctor lightly touched the back of her hand and looked up at her cracked stone face. "Does it hurt?"
"It is necessary."
"And who exactly told you that?" Rita crossed her arms stepping forward to stand beside the crouched Doctor.
"The voices."
"Is that what's going to happen to Evelina?" Donna asked in horror before turning to the other members of the Sisterhood. "Is this what's going to happen to all of you?" A member of the Sisterhood stepped forward exposing her arm which had slightly become cracked stone.
"The blessings are manifold."
"They're stone." Donna gasped.
"Sometimes I regret my name." Rita pursued her lips. "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?" She looked at the High Priestess.
"This word, this image in your minds." The High Priestess looked between the Doctor and Rita. "This volcano. What is that?"
"More to the point," the Doctor took over from Rita, "why don't you know about it? Who are you?"
"High Priestess of the Sibylline."
"No, no, no, no." Rita and the Doctor shook their heads. "He's talking to the creature inside you." She made it clearer for the High Priestess. "The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust, in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into, what?"
"Your knowledge is impossible."
"No that's just the Stone being brilliant." The Doctor grinned. "you can read her mind."
"As well as you can read his, who is also very clever if I must say." She glanced at the Doctor who shrugged as if it was nothing. "You know our knowledge isn't impossible"
"I demand you tell us who you are." The Doctor added.
The high Priestess began to speak her voice shifting from her own to a deeper voice which then took over. "We are awakening."
"The voice of the gods." The priestess holding the knife before breathed before kneeling down next to the rest of the priestess who were also kneeling down in a sort of prayer.
"Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom..." they repeated over and over Donna stepped away from them out of worry standing beside the blonde.
"Name yourself." The Doctor shouted. "Planet of origin. Galactic coordinates. Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation." He shouted at them.
"We are rising." The High Priestess breathed ignoring his demands.
"Tell... us... your... name!" Rita loudly shouted.
"Pyrovile." The High Priestess stated.
"Pyrovile. Pyrovile. Pyrovile." The Sisterhood repeated.
"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked Rita her face full of worry.
"Well, that's a Pyrovile." Rita nodded at the High Priestess "that's what is inside her."
"She's a halfway stage." The Doctor said taking the Time Lady's hand.
"What, and that turns into...?"
"That thing in the villa." The Doctor answered. "That was an adult Pyrovile."
"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor, Stone." The Doctor reached into his suit and brought out to Rita's amusement a yellow plastic water pistol. "I warn you, I'm armed." He pointed it at her. "Stone, Donna, get that grill open."
"What for?" Donna questioned as Rita headed over to it.
"Just." He jerked his head over at it.
"Don't question him." Rita whispered dragging Donna away. "He knows what he's doing, I trust him."
"And if you didn't?"
"I wouldn't let him do it." Rita smiled trying to pull open the grill with Donna's help.
"What are the Pyrovile doing here?" The Doctor questioned the High Priestess taken over by the Pyrovile.
"We fell from the heavens." It explained. "We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust."
"Right, creatures of stone shattered on impact. When was that, seventeen years ago?" He guessed remembering what Caecilius said about Pompeii being rebuilt seventeen years ago.
"We have slept beneath for thousands of years." It corrected him.
"Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up, and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves." He said in understanding. "But why the psychic powers?"
"We opened their minds and found such gifts."
"Okay, that's fine. So you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that, I get that, yeah. But seeing the future? That is way beyond psychic. You can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"
"We got it." Donna told him.
"Now get down." He told them.
"What, down there?" Donna asked.
"Yes, down there." He said as Rita tried to convince the redhead to follow as she jumped down. "Why can't this lot predict a volcano? Why is it being hidden?"
"Sisters, I see into his mind." The Priestess breathed in a dream like state. "The weapon is harmless."
"Yeah, but it's got to sting." He started to spray the water at the High Priestess who cried out as he backed up to the grill shouting at Donna who wasn't moving, "get down there!" She quickly followed his orders jumping down standing beside Rita, the Doctor jumped down after quickly hugging Rita as Donna gasped at him in shock. "You fought her off with a water pistol. I bloody love you."
"That isn't the most impossible thing he has done Donna." Rita laughed. "One time he..."
"And letting get going." He cut her off jerking away pulling Rita with him.
"I'll tell you later Donna." Rita grinned as the Doctor groaned.
"Where are we going now?" She asked following the Time Lords.
"Into the volcano." He shrugged like it was nothing.
"No way." She breathed.
"Yes, way." He smirked twirling the water pistol on his finger. "Appian way."
"Come on." Rita rolled her eyes. "Must you always act like a child sweetheart?" She shook her head.
"You like it really." He smirked at her seeing a slight blush on her cheeks that wasn't just because they were in a volcano.
"Doctor as much as I enjoy the slight flirting now isn't the time." She walked off dragging him behind her as Donna chuckled at them following behind.
"But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right for you to stop it?" She asked them slightly angry as the Doctor and Rita walked in front.
"Still part of history." The Doctor coldly stated as Rita slightly winced knowing Donna wasn't going to back down from this, she really hated the red head being so stubborn at times.
"But I'm history to you two." She said. "You both saved me in 2008. You saved us all. Why is that different?"
"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux." The Doctor explained.
"Pompeii just happens to be fixed." Rita added.
"How do you know which is which?" Rita tightly squeezed her eyes shut as the Doctor snapped turning around to the human woman his eyes dark and cold.
"Because that's how the Stone and I see the universe. Every waking second, we can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not."
"And that's the curse of being a Time Lord." Rita swallowed slowly turning around her soft green eyes filled with pain. "And we're the only one left." The Doctor sighed turning back around, taking the blonde's hand and quickening the pace.
"How many people died?" Donna blurted out. Rita froze in place her hand tightening on the Doctors.
"Stop it." He hissed at Donna worryingly looking at Rita.
"Doctor, Stone how many people died?" She asked as Rita squeezed her eyes shut the events reminding her of when she ran from the Time War.
"Twenty thousand." Rita quietly mumbled hey eyes glassy as a tear rolled down her cheek, "Twenty thousand lives." She slowly turned around looking at Donna right in the eye seeing the woman swallow at the horrible state the Time Lady was now in, the hurt and pain in her eyes clearly showing.
"Is that what you can see, Doctor?" Donna looked at him his own eyes cold and dark as he tightened his grip on the blonde's hand not wanting her to be alone. "All twenty thousand? And you think that's all right, do you?" Rita opened her mouth to protest before a loud road echoed the Doctor looked around, "they know we're here." He pushed Donna in front before glancing at Rita worryingly as she wiped her eyes with the hand not in his nodding at him to say she was okay then walking off with him following the red head.
They arrived a large space at the centre of the volcano. "It's the heart of Vesuvius." The Doctor quietly said crouching behind some rocks seeing large Pyrovile adults walking around. "We're right inside the mountain."
"There's tons of them." Donna gasped.
"What's that thing?" The Doctor frowned taking of a monocular and using it to look at the stones
"Oh, you two better hurry up and think of something. Rocky fall's on its way." She hissed.
"That's how they arrived." He frowned handing it to Rita who looked in the direction he looked in. "Or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?"
"But why do they need a volcano?" Donna asked while Rita handed the monocular back to the Doctor who then placed it in his suit pocket. "Maybe it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something?"
"Oh, it's worse than that." The Doctor muttered.
"How could it be worse? Doctor, Stone, it's getting closer." She warned them, the three moved closer as they heard Lucius shouting from the other side of the cavern standing high in rocks. "Heathens defile us. They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods."
"Come on." The Doctor took the lead Rita behind.
"We can't go in." Donna protested.
"Donna we can't exactly go back, trust us please." Rita begged. The red head swallowed before nodding, Rita smiled softly taking her hand in comfort seeing slight fear in the human womans eyes.
"Crush them." Lucius hissed slotting the three. "Burn them."
Rita glanced over her shoulder seeing a Pyrovile behind her the Doctor noticed and pointed the water pistol at it then sprayed it extinguishing it then running up to the escape pod, Rita behind with Donna.
"There is nowhere to run, Doctor, Stone and daughter of London." Lucius hissed angrily at them.
"Now then, Lucius." The Doctor loudly looked up at him. "My lords Pyrovillian, don't get yourselves in a lather. In a lava?"
"Doctor please no dad jokes." Rita groaned. He sheepishly looked at her then continued to talk to Lucius. "But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish. Once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?"
"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself." He told them the plan. "An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilisation."
"But if you've crashed, and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?" Donna shouted cutting in.
"The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone."
"Gone?" Rita frowned. "What do you mean it's gone? How could it just go? And where?"
"It was taken." He replied. "Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise."
"Fun fact about the Earth Lucius, out there are great bug oceans, this planet is 70% water."
"Water can boil. And everything will burn, Doctor, Stone."
"Then the whole planet is at stake." The Doctor nodded. "Thank you. That's all we needed to know." He turned around. "Donna." They then walking into the escape pod which held a circuit board. The Doctor closed the door with his sonic.
"Could we be any more trapped?" Donna mumbled before the escape pod started to dramatically heat up. "Little bit hot."
"See?" The Doctor and Rita started to look at the circuit board. "The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human. Now it's complete, they can convert millions."
"But can't you change it with these controls?"
"Of course we can," Rita shrugged, "That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano." She said in realisation. "There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power. They're going to use it to take over the world."
"But you can change it back?"
Rita opened her mouth to speak but the Doctor cut her off, "I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes. But, that's the choice, Donna." He looked at her seriously. "It's Pompeii or the world."
"Oh, my God." She gasped.
"If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history, it's me." The fear in his eyes clearly visable, fear the Time Lady had only noticed once before, when he let her go, when he told her what he was going to do on Gallifrey. "I make it happen."
"No." The Doctor's eyes snapped to her.
"But-"
"I said no." She cut in not letting him speak because she needed to tell him. "Not again, not ever," she took his hand in her own. "Doctor I left you, left you all alone, you did what you had to do alone while I ran away from it all, as long as I'm here I'm never letting you do something like that on your own ever again, I'm staying right by your side for a very long time." He swallowed at her words seeing the serious yet terrified look in her eyes knowing what happened's if they did it. "We do this together, my sweetheart, you and me." she placed the hand not in his on the Doctor's cheek her thumb stroking it lightly.
"Doctor, Stone," Donna cut in causing both of them to look at her, "the Pyrovile are made of rocks. Maybe they can't be blown up."
The Time Lords shook their heads sadly Rita removing her hand from the Doctors cheek as they both started to flick switches, the Doctor then pulled the lever up. "Vesuvius explodes with the force of twenty-four nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it." He looked between both girls. "Certainly not us."
Donna stared at the Doctor and Rita. "Never mind us."
"Push this lever and it's over." He avoided the eyes of them both his own showing unbelievable fear. "Twenty thousand people." He said horrified placing his hands over the lever.
"Together" Rita whispered looking right into his eyes. "I'm staying right beside you."Her breath shaking as she placed her hands over his.
Donna looked at them both then placed her hands over the blondes. The Doctor looked into Rita's eyes seeing the glassy tears in her own then looked over to Donna, the three shared a glance before pushing down on the stone lever, the pod suddenly shook throwing the three around the Doctor tried to hold onto Rita but there was no luck with them each getting thrown into the walls as well as each other. Donna screamed in fear as Rita bit her own tongue so she wouldn't scream. The pod suddenly came to a stop, the Doctor looked around before tightly holding Rita in a hug then opened the pod door and climbed out keeping a hold on the blonde's hand. "It was an escape pod." He murmured as Donna climbed out of the pod, they looked back at the volcano as an avalanche of ash began to roll down towards them, the Doctor began to run with Rita who took hold of Donna's hand the Doctor holding her other. They ran to the chaotic streets of Pompeii ash falling around them with people crying and running for their lives, the Doctor keeping Rita as close as possible while they ran, Donna following behind them heart broken at the sights. Rita fought back the tears in her own eyes hearing the cries reminding her of when her own home fell as she escaped the Doctor pulling her away saving her.
"Don't." Donna cried trying to help the people as the Time Lords tried to remember the way back to the Villa where the TARDIS was. "Don't go to the beach." She repeatedly shouted to the scared people running to hide. "Don't go to the beach, go to the hills. Listen to me!" She screamed. "Don't go to the beach, it's not safe. Listen to me."
Donna spotted a young boy crying and ran up to him. "Come here."
Presumably, his mother ran up taking him away from her, her own eyes filled with tears as she ran. Rita sadly looked on as the Doctor instructed them away lightly squeezing the Time lady's hand.
They arrived at the Villa seeing Caecilius and his family crouched down together in a corner or the room. "Gods save us, Doctor, Stone." He cried the Time Lords looked at the man before walking to the TARDIS. "No! Doctor, you can't. Stone!" They heard Donna shouting at them. blinking back tears Rita followed the Doctor inside, they couldn't save them. The Doctor slowly dragged himself over to the console starting the engines not looking at the blonde. Rita worryingly glanced at the doors waiting for Donna to appear
"You can't just leave them!" Donna cried storming into the TARDIS tears streaming down her face.
"Don't you think I've done enough?" He snapped angrily at the redhead. Rita whimpered slightly backing away from them both. "History's back in place and everyone dies."
"You've got to go back. Doctor, Stone!" She shouted. "I am telling you, take this thing back. It's not fair."
"No, it's not." He replied with no emotion.
"But your own planet. It burned." Rita's eyes snapped up to Donna the Doctors doing exactly the same.
"That's just it." He growled. "Don't you see, Donna? Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them, then I would." His voice started to shake. "But I can't. We can never go back. I can't." Rita swallowed shaking slightly while walking over to him embracing him in a hug as he hid his face in the crook of her neck shaking. "I just can't, I can't." Rita rubbed his back as Donna pleaded.
"Just someone. Please. Not the whole town." She cried. "Just save someone, just like you saved the Stone by telling her." She quietly said making the Doctors eyes snap open to look at her, he didn't know the Time Lady had told Donna, perhaps it came up one time. The Doctor took another shaky breath and returned his head to hide in the Stones neck. "Someone." Rita rubbed his back in comfort knowing how badly the Time War could affect him, there were still days where she would wake up and find him in the TARDIS library curled up hearing the screams in his head, she would sit there beside him and place his head in her lap as she ran her fingers through his hair trying to comfort him.
"Maybe she's right" Rita whispered to him through her mind. "You saved me Doctor, who's to say you can't save someone else? We bend the rules all the time, who's stopping us from bending them once more?"
"We can't" He protested shaking his head at her from where it stayed in her neck, lightly tickling her skin.
"But we know he survives, I know you know Doctor, it can't the time lines if we change how he survives." She said aloud in a whisper.
"What do you mean?" Donna asked.
Rita gently let go of the Doctor and looked at Donna. "About this time in Rome, there was a man called Caecilius." She started to explain. "I may have spoken to him once or twice, he told me he survived Pompeii, I asked him how and he said a man and woman who were never there. I think I know how he survived."
The Doctor swallowed slowly looking up his eyes meeting the blondes before he dashed around the TARDIS pulling levers on the console not saying a word. Rita's face broke out into a broad smile as her eyes met the Doctor once again before he ran over to the TARDIS doors sent a wink to the blonde then threw the doors open, he reached out his hand to Caecilius who looked up at him with hope while gasping at the sight. "Come with me." The Doctor told him reaching his hand out further. Hastily Caecilius reached up and grabbed his hand as the Doctor pulled him into the mysterious blue box.
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High above Pompeii the Doctor, Rita, Donna, Caecilius as well as his family watched as Pompeii fell surrounded and filled with volcanic ash. "It's never forgotten, Caecilius." The Doctor said watching the city below. "Oh, time will pass, men'll move on, and stories will fade. But one day, Pompeii will be found again. In thousands of years. And everyone will remember you."
"What about you, Evelina?" Donna looked at the girl. "Can you see anything?"
She shook her head. "The visions have gone."
"You're free." Rita smiled softly. "The explosion was so powerful that it managed to crack open a rift in time for only a second, even for just a second it was enough to give you the gift of prophecy." She explained slowly for her and the rest of her family to understand. "
"And it echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative." The Doctor took over. "But not anymore. Just like the Stone said, you're free."
"But tell me." Metella cried not looking at them. "Who are you two, Doctor, Stone?" Her voice started to crack. "With your words, and your temple containing such size within?"
"Oh, we were never here." He said. "Don't tell anyone."
"Just our secret."
"The great god Vulcan must be enraged." Caecilius stepped forward angrily. "It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of volcano." He then breathed deeply and muttered quietly, "all those people." His wife began to cry and they hugged as Quintus held his sister's hand. The Doctor reached for Rita's and pulled her away both of them nodding, Donna followed them into the TARDIS, without saying a word the two headed for the console to put them to drift in the Time Vortex them both needing some time to think.
"Thank you." Donna broke the silence softly looking between them.
"Yeah." The Time Lords both nodded as the Doctor then spoke up saying what they both were thinking. "You were right." He looked over at her smiling a little. "Sometimes we need someone."
"Welcome aboard, Donna." Rita smiled
"Yeah." She nodded back at them.