Authors Note: I have to apologize to anyone who got a heart attack or something upons seeing that this story finally had a new chapter. And I also have to apologise for how long this has taken me. The first part of this chapter, from the beginning to where they meet Caecilius was actually typed up a year ago, and then I just seemed to lose control on my life. This final year of school has been stressful. But school life if officially over, and I'm currently on summer break. So I'll try to get out as many chapters as possible before I go to college in September:)

Okay so here it is, the chapter everyone has been patiently waiting for. I just hope it's good enough.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, Donna and I following shortly after him. He pulled back a rough curtain. A huge grin was splayed across his face. This was Donna's first real trip, and the Doctor had known just the place to take her. He wanted it to be a surprise for her, and for me as well given he refused to tell me where we were as well, only telling me it was a place I hadn't been before. He stepped to the side, allowing us to have a look. My eyes gazed across the small market place with people dressed in robes either buying things or trying to sell them.

"Ancient Rome!" He exclaimed. He stepped down into the market place, the two of us following. "Well, not to them obviously. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome."

"Oh my God!" Donna breathed as she looked around herself. "It's so… Roman!" The Doctor and I giggled as she spun around so that she could look at everything; I forgot how great it was. The feeling of going on your first adventure. It may not be for me, but it was for Donna. And I could just feel the excitement that she was feeling. "This is fantastic." She turned back to us and pulled us both into a friendly hug. "I'm here! In Rome. Donna Noble, in Rome!" She continued walking along in a daze with me and the Time Lord following close behind, sharing a smile between one another. "This is just weird! I mean, everyone here's dead."

"Yeah, well don't go shouting it about." I said with a raised eyebrow as she spoke too loudly.

"Hold on a minute." Donna spoke flatly, all the excitement she had seeming to have gone in a flash. She pointed to something behind us and the Doctor and I turned around to see a sign reading 'two amphoras for the price of one'. "That sign over there's in English. Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"

"No, no, no, no. That's the TARDIS translation circuits." The Doctor replied quickly. Donna looked at him blankly so he began to explain. "Just makes it look like English. Speech as well. We're talking Latin right now."

"Seriously?" Donna asked. The two of us nodded. "I just said 'seriously' in Latin."

"Oh, yeah." I grinned at her and shrugged. "It's like you can be bilingual without even trying. It's amazing." It was strange how I still found the translation circuit so fascinating even after all this time.

Donna laughed. "So what if I said something in actual Latin?" She asked. "Like 'ven, vidi, vici'? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said, 'ven, vidi, vici' to this lot, what would it sound like?"

The Doctor thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure. You have to think of difficult questions don't you? I never got that from her." He gestured over to me before shrugging. "But then again even when I first met her she was Little Miss Know It All." My head snapped round, sending a glare at him. Ever since the Master that nickname would never be okay for anyone to say again. "Sorry."

Donna sent us both a confused look. "You know you two don't make sense when you talk to another." She arched an eyebrow up, but never questioned anything and instead went back to her previous idea. "Anyway, I'm going to try it." The excited grin went back on her face as she ran up to a nearby stallholder.

"Hello sweetheart." He greeted. "What can I get you, my love?"

"Um… Veni, vidi, vici." She answered.

The stallholder just stared at her blankly. "Huh? Sorry?" I raised an eyebrow with amusement. Actually speaking the language seemed to be something they didn't understand. That was new. "Me no speak Celtic. No can do, Missy."

"Yeah." Donna muttered before she walked back to the two of us. "What does me mean 'Celtic'?"

"Welsh." I answered simply. "Apparently you sound Welsh."

"Well, there we are. Learnt something." He turned as the three of us began to walk around aimlessly again.

"Won't our clothes look a bit odd?" Donna asked. I had to nod. Donna's purple top and jeans were far from Roman robes and togas everyone else was wearing. And my white crop tee, high waisted jeans and turquoise hi-tops were even worse.

"Nah. Ancient Rome anything goes." The Doctor answered, waving off our concern. "It's like Soho, but bigger."

"Have you been here before, then?" Donna asked.

"Mhm, ages ago." The Doctor answered. "Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me." He said and looked at us pointedly. I simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, a little bit." He finally admitted and a smirk spread across my face. He can't go anywhere. "But I never got a chance to look around properly. Coliseum…Pantheon…Circus Maximum… You'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything?" He stopped and looked around before leading us over to an arch way. "Try this way."

The arch way led us into a much wider street. But there was still no sign at all of any of the landmarks, which we should have most definitely have seen, even if just in the distance. But nothing. The horrible feeling started to bubble up in my stomach again, and as Donna spoke up again, she proved my feelings to be accurate.

"I'm not an expert, but there are seven hills of Rome, aren't there?" She asked and pointed. "How come they've only got one?"

Out in the distance was one rather large mountain. It seemed familiar. I tried to swallow down the lump that was forming in my throat. This place was Roman enough, but something told me we were completely far off. I seemed to be the first one to work it out. It was just another one of those things we covered at school. Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii.

"His steering's gone off again." I spoke quietly. The Doctor turned around to look as well, but he didn't have that much time to think before the ground began shaking, smoke rising from the mountain.

"Wait a minute…" Donna said over the commotion as it finally clicked with her. "One mountain, with smoke, which makes this…"

"Pompeii." I nodded once. "We're in Pompeii."

"And it's volcano day." The Doctor added. His voice shook slightly with panic and I tried to swallow down the lump that had formed him my throat.

It was bad enough that we were in Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius about to erupt at any giving moment, but the Doctor's, Donna's and my own life wasn't all that I was worried about right now. There were thousands of people living in this city, and even if you didn't know the story-which would be rather unlikely- it didn't take brains to work out that they all died when that volcano erupted-or will erupt in this case. I'd travelled with the Doctor long enough to know that even trying to stop this was not just way beyond my anyway, but the worst thing I could possibly do. But unlike the Doctor, who would contain himself on these things, it was already eating me up inside. And I just knew it would be doing the same to Donna as well.

"We've gotta go." He grabbed my hand, pulling out of my thoughts. He ran through the streets, dragging me along with Donna running next to me, both of us trying to keep up with the Doctor's pace. I was used to keeping up with him by now, but he was running a lot faster than usual. And he was tense. And I knew why. Not only would we die if we were here when the volcano erupted, he knew if we stayed long enough at least one of us out me and Donna were going to try and stop it. I guess after that situation with Rose and her dad he was a lot less trusting.

It wasn't too long until I found myself back in the same place we were when we came out of the TARDIS. The Doctor pulled back the curtain hastily, only to find that the blue wooden box was no longer there.

I stared at the space in complete disbelief, shaking my head slowly. "Oh no."

"You're kidding me." Donna, who stared at the empty space in just as much disbelief as I was, sighed. "Don't tell me the TARDIS is gone."

"Okay." The Doctor said simply. The two of us frowned turning to look at him when he didn't even start to tell us where it was.

"Well…. where is it then?" I pressed.

"She told me not to tell you…" He said, nodding in the ginger's direction, only for both her to roll her eyes at him and for me to smack him in the arm. "Ow!"

"Serves you right." Donna scolded. "Don't get clever with us in Latin."

The Doctor, not seeming too phased by our reprimands, turned and ran towards the same stallholder than Donna had gone up to earlier on. "Um… Excuse me! Excuse me!" He shouted over to the man frantically, catching his attention. "There was a box-big, blue box. Big, blue, wooden box… just over there. Where's it gone?"

The stallholder just smiled smugly over at him. "Sold it, didn't I?" I slowly shook my head again. He'd sold the TARDIS? Several questions ran through my mind. First off, why had he sold it? It wasn't his! And second of all, how did he sell it? Who would want a strange little wooden box? But, the Doctor seemed to be already voicing my thoughts.

"But…" He stumbled over his words for a moment, seeming to be more horrified and upset over the situation then I was. But then again, of course he would be. "It wasn't yours to sell!"

"It was on my patch, wasn't it?" The stallholder retorted, as if that was a good enough reason. "I got 15 sesterce for it. Lovely jubbly." He rubbed his hands together, the smug smile still on his face.

The Doctor's face just remained of one that resembled a goldfish. I sighed stepping beside him, bringing the stallholders attention back to me. "Who the hell did you sell it to?" I asked the frown still on my face. I was curious to know who would even think about buying it, and we obviously needed to know so we could get it back.

"Old Caecilius." The stallholder sighed. "Look, missy, if you want to argue, why don't you take it up with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa, can't miss it."

"Thanks." I grabbed hold of the still gobsmacked Doctor's hands and pulled him along, but suddenly came to a stop. There was still one thing nagging on my mind so I ran back over to the stallholder. "No, sorry, why the hell did he buy a big, blue, wooden box for?"

XOXO

The Doctor, after regaining his composure began dragging me around again as he asked for directions. Donna had gone off in another direction, gathering that if we had two sets of people asking we'd be able to find out where Foss Street was a lot quicker. I remained quiet for the most part. The more people we went up to, to ask, the more guilt I began to feel. It wasn't long until we finally got directions and the Doctor began dragging me back to find Donna again.

"Ha!" The Doctor cried as we soon bumped into her. "I've got it! Foss Street, this way!" He jerked his head over in the said direction.

"No, I've found this sort of big amphitheatre I think… We can start there. We can get everyone together." I let out a sigh, already knowing what Donna was planning. If I was thinking about it, it was only time until she did too. Only difference was I knew deep down that we couldn't. "Then maybe they've got a great, big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?"

The Doctor, not quite seeming to understand what Donna was trying to get at just stared at her with a puzzled face. "What do you want a bell for?"

"To warn everyone! To start the evacuation! What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?" She asked.

The Doctor, finally seeming to cop on, suddenly turned serious. "It's 79 AD, 23rd August, which makes Volcano Day tomorrow." I closed my eyes, the guilt washing over for yet another time, but Donna's cheery voice soon brought me out of my thoughts again.

"Plenty of time! We can get everyone out easy."

"Except we're not going to." The Doctor countered. He grabbed hold of her hand too, going to drag her into the direction of Foss Street. But Donna didn't budge and the two of us were pulled back.

"But that's what you do. You're the Doctor. You save people." At the Doctor's unchanging face she turned to me. "Katherine tell him."

I closed my eyes for a moment and shook my head. "We can't Donna, I'm sorry."

"What do you mean we can't?"

"Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is not stopping it." The Doctor explained. He tried to get her to move once more, but just like the last time, she didn't budge.

"Says who?" Donna asked.

"Says me." The Doctor said in a matter of fact tone.

"What, and you're in charge?"

"TARDIS. Time Lord… yeah."

"Donna. Human. No."

I rolled my eyes at the two of them. I should have known it would be like this. While I was more accepting of things because of the knowledge I had, other companions weren't as much. And if there was anyone that could argue it was more certainly Donna Noble.

"Katherine. Human. Shut your mouths."

Both the Doctor and Donna turned to look at me in surprise. And as I expected Donna was the first one to speak. "How can you be on his side?"

"Because, he is right. And you know he is deep down." I said pointedly. "People have messed with time before, and it's really not pretty. Please, Donna, trust me on this. Let it go."

She still wasn't having any of it though, and she turned back to look at the Doctor again. "I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself."

"You stand in the marketplace and announce the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer." He done some funny, mad gesture to try and emphasize his point. "Now, come on. TARDIS, we are getting out of here." His voice was a growl at the end, and he stormed off in the direction of Foss Street. And with my hand still in his, I followed.

"Well, I might just have something to do with that, spaceman!" Donna shouted.

The Doctor turned around to look at her, walking backwards. "Oh, I bet you will!"

He turned back, knowing that Donna would start following us sooner or later and the two of walked side by side in silence for a few moments.

"Thank you." The Doctor spoke suddenly, his voice soft and I turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"For what?"

"For agreeing with me." I merely shrugged, turning back to the path ahead of us. "I can tell you don't like it just as much as she does. But you didn't argue."

"I have a bit more knowledge on what happens when you meddle with time than she does." I told him. While Donna was wrong with her thinking, I could see where she was coming from. And being new to the whole time travel code of conduct thing meant she didn't fully understand yet.

"All the same, thank you." He squeezed my hand and I looked up at him with a smile. Though the smile was soon wiped off my face as a low rumbled filled the entire street and the ground started to shake again.

The Doctor's grip on my hand tightened and I found myself suddenly hurtling along the street as I was dragged along by the Doctor at a pace I was finding hard to keep up with. He ran into a rather large house of sorts, a mansion, I suppose. He didn't even bother to knock, just ran straight through. With good timing it seemed as he let go of my hand, only just catching a small statue before it fell to the floor from shaking. "Woah!" Making sure it was settled back in place, he turned his attention to the man before us who was dressed in robes appropriate for the time period, middle aged if the grey hair was anything to go by. Obviously the owner of the house, the exact man we were looking for. "There you go."

"Thank you, kind sir." The man said with a slight gasp. "I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor."

"Oh, that's me!" The Doctor grabbed his hand, shaking it as he grinned. "We're visitors. Hello."

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"I am…" The Doctor paused for a moment as he thought before finally throwing out; "Spartacus." The serious look remained on his face, and I raised a brow at him.

"And so am I." Donna added as the pair of them glanced at each other.

The man then glanced over to me, obviously wanting my name too. My mind fumbled over so many different names before I finally came across one that could possibly work. "Katerina." I blurted out. It was similar to Katherine so it worked, right? "Pleasure."

"Ah, lovely name." A small smile lit up the mans face as he turned back to the Doctor and Donna, looking between the two of them. "Mr and Mrs Spartacus?"

"Oh we're not married." The Doctor spoke quickly, a slightly horrified look on his face.

"Not together." Donna added with a similar look.

"Oh, brother and sister?" The man asked pointing between the two of them. His eyebrows furrowed. "That's funny, I thought it would be you and Katerina that were siblings." He gestured between the Doctor and I. "You both look very much alike."

The two of us looked at each other as we shared weird looks between one another. "Really?" The words fell from our mouths at the exact same time that I jumped back and shot him a look.

"Anyway, I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trading." The man said again.

"And that trade would be…" The Doctor trailed off.

"Marble." The man answered quickly, putting his hand to this chest proudly. "Lucius Caecilius. Mining, polishing, and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man."

"That's good. That's good." The Doctor mumbled as he rummaged around in his pockets. "'Cause I'm the marble inspector." He pulled out his psychic paper, holding it up for Caecilius to see before he moved further into the room, Donna and I trailing quickly behind.

"By the gods of commerce an inspection." A woman from behind Caecilius suddenly gasped. I quickly came to the assumption it was his wife, and raised brow as she took a wine glass from a younger man beside him, pouring it's contents into the pool. "I do apologise for my son."

"Oi!" The boy complained and I couldn't help the smirk that tugged at my lips. Kids certainly never changed.

"This is my good wife, Metella." Caecilius introduced, gesturing to the other woman. "I-I must confess, we're not prepared for a -"

"I wouldn't worry about it, sir. I'm sure you have nothing to hide." I spoke up, folding my arms across my chest and standing up a little straighter, in a hope to look a little bit more authoritative.

"Although frankly, that…" The Doctor pointed and my eyes followed, a small smile spreading across my lips as my eyes caught sight of the TARDIS. "Object, looks rather like wood to me."

The three of us began to walk towards it, and as I walked past I heard the woman turn to Caecilius. "I told you to get rid of it." She hissed at him.

"I only bought it today." Caecilius defended, making his way towards the three of us as we all came to a stop outside the TARDIS.

"Ah, well. Caveat emptor." The Doctor commented with a click of this tongue.

"Oh, you're Celtic." Caecilius said, his tone and facial expression one of surprise. "That's lovely."

The Doctor made a little show of acting like he was inspecting the TARDIS before turning back to Caecilius. "I'm sure it's fine, but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection."

"Although, while we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?" Donna asked of all of sudden. I bit down onto my lip knowing that this conversation wasn't going to do down well, either.

"I don't know what you mean, Spartacus." The Doctor answered, his tone one of warning.

"Well, this lovely family." Donna gestured to a rather confused looking Caecilius and Metella. "Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?...Katerina?" She turned to look at me expectantly and I sighed under my breath.

It hurt me to take the Doctor's side on this one, it really did. It just felt so awful to know what was going to happen to everyone in this town that we were surrounded by, and to just completely ignore it. The year that never was had seen me unable to save so many people from destruction, millions of people and it absolutely killed me. To have to do that again to so many more… it hurt. But if I chose not to ignore it, I would be trying to change history, and that could have consequences that could be potentially even more severe.

But then my thoughts went to that boy they had. Sure, there was nothing special about him. He was just a typical teenager. Rebellious, clearly has a like for drinking. He had his whole life ahead of him, but he'd never see it through tomorrow. Neither would his parents. It was so much harder to just pretend everything was fine after actually speaking to them. But I had to.

Or did I? My mind slowly thought it through. Trying to make reason. We couldn't stop the volcano from erupting. We couldn't evacuate everyone. But just a couple of people… that couldn't harm could it? Just three people. Ordinary people. They weren't going to change the future. It would be fine, right. Yes. It would be fine.

"I suppose." My voice was quiet and it wavered slightly. "Yeah… a little break outside of town would be lovely."

"I don't understand. Why should we do that?" Caecilius asked.

The Doctor rubbed his eyes, and my eyes shot down to the floor as Donna tried to explain. "Well, the volcano for starters."

"What?" Caecilius asked, slightly confused.

"Volcano."

"What-ano?"

"That great big volcano right on your doorstep." Donna gestured to outside and I glanced up at the couple, who were still staring at her with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Oh, Spartacus, Katerina, for shame. We haven't even greeted the household gods yet." The Doctor grabbed the two of us and steered us away from the couple towards a shrine. He began sprinkling the frieze with water as he talked to us both in a hushed voice. "They don't know what it is. Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet. The Roman's haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow."

"Oh, great. They can learn a new word as they die." Donna spoke bitterly and the Doctor's head snapped around to her.

"Donna, stop it." His head then turned around to me, a look of surprise and almost betrayal splayed across his face. "Why were you agreeing with her anyway? I thought you understood why we can't do such a thing."

"I know." My voice was hushed and I was barely even able to meet the Doctor's stare. "But this is only a couple of people. Look at them. They're completely ordinary. They're not powerful, they're not important. The history of the world isn't going to change because one ordinary families alive."

"Kat, you know what happened when R - someone changed the future? They claimed they weren't important. The whole world will be different because they're alive!" The Doctor hissed.

I bit down hard on my lip. He was right, I knew he was. Rose saved her dad and horrific things happened because of it. The whole world would have suffered if her dad hadn't noticed and made things right. And Pete had been completely ordinary. Unpowerful, unimportant. He wasn't going to do anything drastic that would change the world. But everything had still gone wrong. - I suppose I just simply couldn't reason with it no matter how much I wanted to. We couldn't save anyone. We just couldn't.

"Listen, I don't know what sort of kids you've been flying around with in outer space, but you're not telling me to shut up. That boy…" Donna argued as she gestured over to Caecilius and Metella's son. "How old is he? Sixteen? Not that much younger than Katherine. And tomorrow he burns to his death."

"And that's my fault?" The Doctor asked with a hiss.

"Right now, yes!"

This argument would have probably continued for ages, but the three of us were cut short as a voice boomed from behind us, and we all turned to see a servant had come into the room. "Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the city government!"

On queue an older man strode in, two Roman guards behind him, guarding the entrance. His hair was grey, a sneer was splayed across his face, and he wore a cloak that seemed much too big from him, draping down so it was mostly covering one side.

"Lucius, my pleasure as always." Caecilius soke, walking over to greet the man. The three of us moved away from the shrine, curious to get a better look at the new arrival. As we walked past, I heard Metella hiss at her son to stand up, and the boy let out an annoyed huff as he done as he was told. "A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house."

Caecilius held out his hand for the man to shake, but Lucius simply ignored it. "The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west." Was all he said and I frowned to myself. What an odd way to respond to a greeting.

"Right. Absolutely. That's good is it?" Caecilius said, seeming just as puzzled as I was.

"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow." My brows only furrowed further. I still didn't understand, and I'm pretty sure Caecilius still didn't either, though he certainly did pretend to.

"There now, Metella, have you ever heard such wisdom?" He asked, turning to his wife.

"Never." She answered, smiling at the new guest. "It's an honour."

"Pardon me, sir, I have guests." Caecilius spoke again, bringing attention to the Doctor, Donna and myself as he gestured to the three of us. "This is Spartacus, and uh, Spartacus, and Katerina." As we were introduced we all stepped forwards, giving what I could only saying were extremely awkward waves as we approached the man.

"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind." Lucius commented.

"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark." The Doctor responded quickly.

"Ah!" Lucius responded just as quickly, moving slowly towards the three of us, obviously seeming to have taken more interest in the Doctor than the man who he was actually here for. "But what is the dark other than an omen of the sun?"

"I concede that every sun must set…"

"Ah!" Lucius spoke up, but the Doctor who clearly hasn't finished, quickly interrupted him.

"And yet the son of the father must also rise." He gestured to the boy as he finished.

"Damn." Lucius spoke. The sneer was still on his face, but it was evident that he was impressed. "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 grinned. I saw Caecilius whisper something to the other man, and watching the movement of his lips managed to make out that he was saying 'He's Celtic'. "We'll be off in a minute." He grabbed Donna and I by the shoulders again and he this time moved us to the direction of the TARDIS, but Donna still had other ideas.

"I'm not going." She said to him quietly.

"You've got to." The Doctor spoke just as quietly as he continued to move the pair of us.

"Well I'm not."

"And here it is!" Caecilius announced in a loud voice. The Doctor and I both turned our heads at that, only for us both to be stopped in our tracks. The marble slab looked awfully familiar. In fact, it looked uncannily like a circuit board. It seemed like we weren't going to be leaving just yet. That was far too out of the ordinary to just ignore.

"Exactly as your specified. It pleases you, sir?" Caecilius asked.

"As the rain pleases the soil." Lucius answered.

"Oh now, that's... different." The Doctor spoke up, moving us all back over towards the piece of marble now that his curiosity has sparked. "Who designed that, then?"

"Our lord Lucius was very specific." Caecilius answered.

"Where d'you get the pattern from?" I asked, looking at Lucius, brows furrowed.

Lucius turned to me, answering vaguely. "On the rain and mist and wind."

The Doctor made a face at that. My brows remained furrowed, eyes trained to the marble slab, confused but intrigued. "But that looks like a circuit board." I spoke quietly so only the Doctor and Donna would hear me.

"Made of stone." The Doctor said.

"Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?" Donna asked.

"That is my job." Lucius answered. "As city augur."

I just stared at him blankly. I had no idea what an augur was. However, Donna was much more bold enough to speak out about it. "What's that then, the mayor?" She asked with a hint of snideness to her voice.

"Oh, ah, you must excuse my friend. She's from… Barcelona." He turned to the two of us, leaning in so he could whisper. "This is an age of superstition… of official superstition. The augur is paid by the city to tell the future. 'The wind will blow from the west', that's the equivalent to the ten o'clock news."

"They're laughing at us." Another, new voice spoke. And three of us turned to see a young girl had staggered into the room. She looked pale and extremely ill, and it looked like she was having a hard time standing up. She spoke again, her voice slightly slurred as she moved further into the room with difficulty. "Those three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us."

"No, no. I meant no offence." The Doctor defended.

"I'm sorry." Metella spoke as she rushed over to the girl. "My daughter has been consuming the vapours."

"By the gods, mother! What have you been doing to her?" The boy spoke up with concern.

"Not now Quintus!" Caecilius snapped.

He didn't listen though. "Yeah, but she's sick. Look at her!"

"I gather I have a rival in this household." Lucius commented as he strode forwards, examining the young girl. "Another one with the gift."

"Oh, she's been promised to the Sybiline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions." Metella spoke proudly.

"The prophecies of women are limited and dull. Only men-folk have the capacity for true perception." Lucius remarked.

My brow arched upwards with a snort. "Yeah. Right. Of course."

"I'll tell you where the winds blowing right now, mate." Donna commented.

Just as she had spoke, the ground began to shake again and Lucius turned to Donna and myself. "The mountain Gods mark your words. I'd be careful if I were you." He warned.

Before either of us could come up with some snide remark back at him, the Doctor spoke up. "Consuming the vapours, you say?" He asked the young girl.

"They give me strength." The girl answered weakly, her mother holding onto her to support her due to the shaking of the ground that was still going on.

"It doesn't look like it to me."

"Is that your opinion?" The girl asked. "As a Doctor?"

That seemed to have thrown all three of us completely off guard, and we all stared at the girl with wide eyes. How was that possible? How could she know that?

"I beg your pardon?" The Doctor asked.

"Doctor. That's your name." The girl said and I swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat.

"How did you know that?" He asked, more in bewilderment than the confusion and slight fear that I was feeling.

The girl didn't answer and her gaze adverted to Donna. "You, you call yourself Noble." Her eyes then moved to me. "And you, you are called a feline."

"Now Evelina, don't be rude." Metella spoke faintly, but the girl simply ignored us as she continued to stare at us, almost like she was looking through us, right into her souls, which done nothing for the nervousness I was feeling.

"No, no, no. Let her talk." The Doctor insisted, all of this only fueling his curiosity.

"You three come from so far away." The girl slurred again, glancing towards me. "But the feline comes the furthest." I subconsciously bit down onto my lip again.

"A female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries." Lucius stated snidely.

"Oh, not this time, Lucius." The Doctor argued. "I reckon you've been out-soothsaid."

"Is that so… man from Gallifrey." I quickly spun around to face the man at that moment, my eyes still on the girl until that point. The Doctor and Donna both whirled around, equally as stunned at what Lucius had suddenly said.

"What?"

"Strangest of images." Lucius commented. "Your home is lost in fire, is it not?"

"No." I shook my head, a pit beginning to form in my stomach. "They can't… it's not…"

"Doctor, what are they doing?" Donna asked, the nervousness clear in her voice.

Donna's words had only brought Lucius' attention to her. "And you, daughter of…" There was a brief pause before he suddenly spoke again. "London."

"No." I spoke again, to myself more than anyone. But that wasn't to say Lucius didn't hear me, and his eyes were quick to move to me.

"And you." He stared at me with that sneer on his face. He stared right into me, and I done my best not to look away. "Daughter of the parallel. You've done the impossible."

"How does he know that?" I choked out in fear.

"This is the gift on Pompeii." Lucius almost snapped. "Every oracle tells the truth."

"But that's impossible." Donna said.

"Doctor, she is returning." Lucius spoke.

The Doctor stared at him, the curiosity still there but now also confusion and a smallest bit of fear as well. "Who is? Who's 'she'?"

Lucius didn't answer his questions, instead turning to me once more. "Daughter of the parallel, he is coming."

I instinctively took a step back. His stare was scaring me even more now. He wasn't staring into me, reading me, anymore. He was staring right through me, looking at the future. Our future. My future. "What are you talking about? Who's coming?"

Just like the Doctor's, my questions were ignored and Lucius turned to sneer at Donna. "And you, daughter of London… you have something on your back."

Donna turned to the Doctor, wide eyed, hand moving up to her back as if to touch whatever was supposedly on there. Even I looked to see if there was something there. But there was nothing. "What does that mean?"

"Even the word Doctor is false." Evelina spoke up again, staring into the Doctor. "Your real name is hidden. It burns in stars of the cascade of Medusa herself. You are a lord, sir. A lord… of time…"

I looked to the doctor fearfully. And just as I did, Evelina's eyes fluttered shut and her body collapsed down to the floor in a heap.

"Evelina!" Metella cried instinctively rushing over to her, the Doctor, Donna and Caecilius doing the same. I, however, stood completely still. Unable to move. The words that had come from the two sooth-sayers mouths ringing in my ears, but Lucius' words more than anything.

Daughter of the parallel.

You've done the impossible.

He is coming.

XOXO

I watched from the entrance of Evelina's room with Donna as Metella tended to her daughter. We'd managed to help carry her into the room. Though, it was Donna doing more of the helping. I still couldn't focus properly, the words still running through my mind on a constant loop. They just wouldn't leave.

He is coming.

That one bewildered me the most. I knew it was about the future, and given everything else they had said was true, there was no point in trying to deny that this one wouldn't be. But who was coming? - It didn't take long for my mind to think of someone I probably shouldn't be thinking about, the memories from the year what never was still far too fresh in my mind. The Master. Was it him? Was he coming back, and was he coming for me? What was he going to do?

I quickly, mentally slapped that thought away. The Master was dead. More than just dead he had been burned the ashes, and I had been there to witness it. He definitely wasn't going to come back.

So who was he talking about?

"She didn't mean to be rude." Metella spoke, bringing me out of my thoughts. "She's ever such a good girl. But… when the gods speak through her…"

I nodded, still quite distant as I had been ever since earlier. I barely even noticed Metella unwrapping an bandage from Evelina's arm. However, Donna had.

"What's wrong with her arm?" She asked.

"An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night." Metella explained.

My eyes moved to the girls arm as the attention was brought to it, frowning in confusion as the bandage was unwrapped to reveal a grey, rough, cracking area of skin on Evelina's arm. "What is it?"

"Evelina said you'd come from far away." Metella spoke, looking over to me. "Please… have you ever seen anything like it?"

The two of us moved closer, me being the first one to touch the grey patch of skin, instantly recoiling, frowning even further. "But..."

Donna touched it, her reaction the exact same as mine. "What the hell."

I looked up to Metella, still not able to keep the puzzled look from my face. "It's… stone."

XOXO

Evelina giggled as Donna moved her arms around, trying to sort of the long purple shawl she'd borrowed from Evelina with a purple toga to match. Meanwhile I was shifting all over the place in a similar kind of dress to Donna, only red. "Your laughing doesn't exactly give me confidence you know?" I spoke, glancing at the young girl with a small smile. "Thanks for that."

"What do you think?" Donna asked before striking a pose. "Goddess Venus."

Evelina continued to giggle. "Oh, that's sacrilege!"

Donna just smiled. "Nice to see you laugh, though." The two of us moved to sit down beside her. "What do you do in old Pompeii, then, girls your age? You got… mates? Do you go about hanging around the shops? TK Maximus?"

Evelina shook her head. "I'm promised to the sisterhood for the rest of my life."

I gave a small smile. It was such a big commitment for a girl of her age. She couldn't be any older than fifteen, and to be promise to something for the rest of her life, not being able to live like everyone else her age was? It just didn't seem fair. "Don't you get a choice in that?"

"It's not my decision." Evelina explained. "The sisterhood chose for me. I have the gift of sight."

"Then...What can you see happening tomorrow?" Donna asked, giving a brief glance over to me as she did so. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I didn't think she would bring this up again, though I was stupid to think so, especially with the Doctor not here.

"Is tomorrow special?" Evelina asked with a small smile.

"You tell me." Donna said simply. "What do you see?"

Evelina's smile faded at that. But she did so all the same, closing her eyes for a moment before shrugging lightly. "The sun will rise and the sun will set. Nothing special at all." She opened her eyes to be met with Donna's look of sadness, and my look of confusion. The girl had known everything about it, everything she had said had been true. Yet, she was unable to see the terrible fate they had coming for them tomorrow? It didn't seem right.

"Look…" Donna began. "Don't tell the Doctor I said anything because he'll kill me..."

"Donna, don't you dare." I snapped suddenly.

"She needs to know." Donna argued. "I know you want to save them too, no matter how much you try to deny it and side with the Doctor."

"What are you talking about?" Evelina asked, her face now one of worry.

Donna turned away from me, looking towards Evelina as she spoke softly. "I've got a prophecy too." Evelina gasped at that, covering her eyes with her hands that had eyes painted onto the back of them and Donna moved closer, trying to keep the girls attention. "Evelina, I'm sorry but you've got to hear me out." Evelina, can you hear me? Listen!"

"Donna." I snapped again.

"There is only one prophecy." Evelina choked.

"But everything I'm about to say to you is true, Katherine knows this as well. Just listen to me." Donna argued. "Tomorrow, the mountain is going to explode. Evelina, please listen. The air is going to fill with ash and rocks. Tons and tons of it… This whole town is going to get buried."

"That's not true." Evelina argued.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but everyone's going to die." Donna said sadly. "You don't have to believe a word I'm saying saying. But… just take you and your family out of town tomorrow yeah? Just for a day. Just leave Pompeii."

"This is false prophecy!" Evelina cried in distress, bringing down her hands to stare at the two of us, though mainly Donna and I quickly muttered under my breath.

"You've really gone and done it."

Faint thumping noises echoed through the room, bringing any argument me and Donna could have potentially had to a stop before it could have started. It wasn't the mountain causing it this time, I could tell the difference already. This was something else. The thumping began to get louder, and louder, almost like it was getting closer to us and I jumped off of the bed, rushing back out into the main room with Donna and Evelina following me quickly.

As we got there, we were met by Caecilius and Metella, who were also worried about the thumping noise that still sounded as though it was getting closer, and closer. Just seconds after that, the Doctor charged in, quickly followed by Quintus. He sounded like he had been running, running for a long while, which gave me the impression he had been out of the house since I had last saw him, and had taken Quintus along on the trip as well.

"Caecilius! All of you! Get out!" He shouted as he rushed through the room and I managed to grab hold of his arms, bringing him to a halt.

"Doctor, what's wrong?"

"I think we're being followed." He answered. That only caused another dozen questions to fill my head, but before I could even ask one of them, the grille to the hypocaust was flung into the air, causing us to all jump with fright. "Just get out!" He ordered again, trying to herd us all out of the door.

Not one of us moved, though. A growling noise could be heard from the hypocaust and the ground around it began to crack, like someone was trying to break it from underneath. We all watched from our frozen positions as a large creature that looked like it was made from stone and lava burst through, the debris falling off as it rose up.

"The gods are with us." Evelina spoke, the fear in her voice unmistakable.

"Water! We need water!" The Doctor shouted again. "Quintus! All of you! Get water! Kat! Donna!"

Donna, Quintus and myself all rushed out to get water. Donna was the first to run back, quickly followed by me. But before Donna could even make it a group of women grabbed her bucket, chucking it down of the floor and covered her mouth with this hands as they dragged her away. I dropped my own bucket, running after her, but I was soon stopped as a group of the same women grabbed hold of me, gagging me and dragging me off into the same direction.

XOXO

"Oh, for God sake." My voice was a low growl as I stared up at the woman above me with narrowed eyes, my wrists struggling against the ropes they had used to bound me down to the stone table I was now on.

"You have not to be kidding me." Donna spoke from another stone table beside me, her voice telling me she was just as equally pissed off.

"The false prophet and her supporter will surrender both their blood and breath." The woman above me spoke, holding a knife into the air.

"Oi! I am not her supporter. Don't you bloody dare."

"You will be silent." The woman commanded and my eyes narrowed back down to glare at her.

"Listen sister," Donna began, taking her turn to put up a fight. "You might have eyes on the back of your hands. But you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time we're finished with you! Let us go!"

"This prattling will cease forever!" The sister spoke, raising the dagger above her head, aiming it to plunge into my chest.

"Oh, that'll be the day." The Doctor's voice ran through the room and all the sisters in the room turned around in the direction of his voice. I let out a gasp of relief, lifting my head as best as I could to look at him.

"Cutting it fine again, aren't you?" I joked. The Doctor just shrugged, giving off a small smile which was quickly returned.

"No man is allowed to enter the temple of Sybil!" The sister spoke, almost glaring at the Doctor.

"Oh, well that's alright. Just us girls." He replied, shrugging cheekily as he pushed himself off the pillar he had been leaning on and began walking casually towards us. "Do you know I met the Sybil once. 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'll never last', she said 'i know'."

"Well, she would, wouldn't she?" I commented, staring up at him and he finally reached the stone tables that Donna and I had been tied to.

The Doctor just smirked again, raising a brow. "You two alright down there?"

All I did was roll my eyes. "Just dandy."

"Never better." Donna added in the same sarcastic tone.

The smirk was still on his face as he reached into his pockets for his sonic screwdriver. "I like the toga." He commented. "Red is very you."

"Why thank you." I gave a falsely sweet smile as I nodded towards the ropes that tied my tightly to the table. "What do you think about the ropes? Are they 'very me', as well?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Eh, not so much." He used the screwdriver on the ropes and I quickly used my new freedom to sit up, my hands tentatively at the burns on my wrists that were caused due to me struggling against the ropes.

"What sort of magic is this?" The sister asked, staring at the sonic fearfully.

The Doctor however, just ignored her, flipping his sonic in the air before putting it back in his pocket. "Let me tell you about the Sybil. The founder of this religion." He began as he leaned against the table. "She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, eh? On the blade of a knife."

"Yes." The sister spat. "A knife that now welcomes you." She lifted it up to strike at him, but a voice was quick to cut her off.

"Show me this man." We all turned to where the voice was coming from to see a silhouette behind a curtain, and all the sisters suddenly kneeled down on the floor.

"High Priestess, the strangers would defy us!" The sister argued.

"Let me see." The High Priestess ordered again. "This one is different. He carries starlight in his wake."

"Oh, very perceptive." The Doctor commented, striding towards the curtain. "Where do these words of wisdom come from?"

"The God's whisper to me." The High Priestess answered.

"They've done far more than that." He mumbled. "Might I beg audience, look upon the High Priestess?"

Two sisters pulled back the curtain to reveal the High Priestess sitting on a bed, and I couldn't stop myself from gasping at the sight of her. Her skin was exactly the same as Evelina's had been. But it wasn't just a bit of her arm, the entire of the High Priestess' body had been turned to stone.

"Oh my God."

"What happened to you?" Donna gasped.

"The heavens have blessed me." Was her answer.

"If I might?" The Doctor made a gesture to ask if he could come forward, and the High Priestess held out her arm granting him permission. He stepped forward, kneeling down in front of her and his hand gently touched her arm. "Does it hurt?"

"It is necessary."

"Says who?" The Doctor frowned.

"The voices."

"Is that what's gonna happen to Evelina?" Donna asked, turning around to the other sisters in fright. "Is this what's gonna happen to all of you?"

The sister from before approached the two of us, holding out her arm and rolling her sleeve up to reveal her arm had turned to stone much like Evelina's. "The blessings are manifold."

I gently touched her arm, my head moving to look at the Doctor. "They're stone. They're turning into stone."

"Exactly." The Doctor nodded, backing away from the High Priestess and approaching me. "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?" He asked, turning back to the High Priestess.

"This word. This image in your mind. This… volcano. What is it?" The High Priestess asked, glancing at all three of us.

"More important question, how come none of you know about it." My brow arched upwards, the thought from earlier creeping back.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"High Priestess of the Sybilline." She answered proudly, but clearly hadn't been the answer the Doctor was after.

"No, no. I'm talking to the creature inside of you." He corrected. "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." The High Priestess rasped with a shake of her head.

"Oh, but you can read my mind. You know it's not." The Doctor spoke softly before suddenly raising his voice. "I demand you tell me who you are!"

"We...Are...Awakening." The High Priestess' voice started to echo, and the whole stance of the woman began to change… like something was taking over her. Exactly like the Doctor had said.

"The voice of the gods!" The sister gasped.

The rest of the sisters who had knelt on the floor began to slowly rock back and forth, chanting. "Words of wisdom. Words of power. Words of wisdom. Words of power."

"Name yourself!" The Doctor commanded. "Planet of origin, galactic coordinates, species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation."

"We...Are...Rising!"

"Tell me your name!" The Doctor shouted.

The High Priestess, or rather like the Doctor had said, the creature inside of her threw back her red hood as she spread out her arms, bellowing; "Pyrovile!"

As the creature shouted the name, the sisters picked up on it and began chanting the name instead. "Pyrovile. Pyrovile. Pyrovile. Pyrovile."

"What's a Pyrovile?" I asked the Doctor as I took a step closer to him. "The thing that you said is inside of her?"

"Yeah. It's growing inside of her. It's at halfway stage." The Doctor answered.

"What, and that turns into?" Donna asked.

"That thing at the villa. That was an adult Pyrovile."

"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor!" The High Priestess shouted, raising a finger to point at him.

"I warn you…" The Doctor spoke, reaching into his pockets. "I'm armed." I frowned to myself. What was a sonic screwdriver going to do against them? - However, much to my surprise he actually pulled on a water pistol, which really only made me even more confused. What was a water pistol going to do? The sonic screwdriver would have had a much better chance that a water pistol of all things. "Kat, Donna, get that grille open."

"But…"

"What the…"

The Doctor gave an annoyed look to the both of us, nodding his head towards the grille he'd referred to moments ago. "Just…" With one more look Donna ran over to the hypocaust. But I stood still for a moment, eyes fixed on the gun in bewilderment.

"But…"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Shut. Up. And. Open. The. Grille." He jerked his head towards it again, hands digging into his pockets as he pulled the sonic pen out. "Might want this back. Found it on the floor. I'm assuming it fell out when you got taken. Anyway… go." I sighed, giving the pistol one more glance before going over to the hypocaust to help Donna. The Doctor then aimed the pistol towards the High Priestess. "What are the Pyrovile doing here?"

"We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast we were rendered into dust."

"Right. Creatures of stone, shatter on impact." The Doctor mumbled. "When was that seventeen years ago?"

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years."

"Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up. And now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselfs. But why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts."

"Yeah, okay, fine. You force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that. I get that." The Doctor spoke quickly, brushing it off. "But seeing the future, that's way beyond psychic, you can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"

After fiddling around with the sonic pen for a while - damn these things were a lot harder to use sometimes than the Doctor made them out to be - we got the grate open, and both of me and Donna heaved a sigh of relief as we moved it over to the side. "We got it." I called over.

"Now get down," The Doctor told us as he made his way over, still aiming the water pistol at the High Priestess.

"What?" Donna asked, bewildered.

"Down there?" My voice went slightly high-pitched as I spoke, the heat that had been radiating from the grille was already bad enough, let alone actually being in there.

"Yes down there." The Doctor said, almost seeming to be mimicking my voice. "Why can't this lot predict the volcano? Why is it being hidden?"

"Sisters, I see into his mind." The sister who had been watching the Doctor the whole time suddenly called out. "The weapon is harmless!"

The Doctor suddenly stopped, shrugging slightly. "Yeah, but it's got to sting." He then sprayed water from the pistol directly at the High Priestess who began moaning out in pain as a sizzling noise came from her stone skin, the sisters running straight over to her. "Get down there!" He ordered again and the two us dropped down through the hole, not long followed by the Doctor.

"You fought her off with a water pistol!" Donna cried out in between deep breaths. "I bloody love you!"

"This way." The Doctor said as he peered around a corner.

"Where are we going?" I asked, picking myself up off of the floor and brushing the dust of the toga.

"Into the volcano." The Doctor answered simply.

I shot him a disbelieving look as I groaned, "No way."

"Yes way." The Doctor countered, seeming almost cheerful as he gave the water pistol a twirl before putting it back in his pocket. "Appian way."

XOXO

"But if it's aliens setting of the volcano, doesn't that make it alright? For you to stop it?" Donna asked as the three of us made our trek through the volcano and I sighed softly. She was really never going to let this go. Though she had a good reason not to… I could really see it was starting to affect the Doctor now.

"Still part of history." The Doctor answered quickly, like somehow that was going to end the discussion again.

"But, I'm history to you. You saved me in 2008. You saved us all." She argued. "How is that different?"

It seemed the Doctor was starting to get agitated by this point. "Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed." He tried to explain.

"How do you know which is which?"

The Doctor stopped at that question and turned around to face her. "Because that's how I see the universe. Every waking second I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. - That's the burden of a Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left." And with that he walked off.

But Donna still wasn't having it. "How many people died?" She asked, speeding up to catch up with him.

"Stop it!" The Doctor snapped.

"Doctor!" She called out and he stopped and turned around again. "How many people died?"

"Twenty thousand!" He responded in a dark tone, and my heart nearly stopped. Twenty thousands. Out of the billions I had to helplessly let die during the Master's reign, there was now another twenty thousand added to that list.

"Is that what you can see, Doctor? All twenty thousand?" Donna asked, though I was barely listening at this point, my mind still focused on that number. "And you think that's alright, do you?"

A loud screech from a pyrovile brought the conversation to a close and I felt the Doctor tugging on my hand as he tried to lead me away. "They know we're here. Come on."

XOXO

We snuck through the caves, trying to keep as much distance between us and the Pyrovile behind us as possible until we finally reached a large cavern. Multiple Pyroviles were walking around and the Doctor gestured for us to be quiet as we crept further in, hiding behind a rock.

"It's the heart of Vesuvius." The Doctor spoke quietly as he glanced around. "We're right inside the mountain."

"Doctor…" I spoke, my voice uneasy and pointed towards the Pyroviles. "There's loads of them."

However, the Doctor was looking at something else. "What's that thing? He pulled out a miniature telescope from his jacket to get a better look at it.

"Well you better hurry up and think of something." Donna commented as a loud thumping noise echoed through the cavern, signalling the Pyrovile that had been on our trailing wasn't far away. "Rocky IV's on it's way."

"That's how they arrived." The Doctor spoke as he caught sight of what looked like the interior of a ship. "Or what's left of it. Escape pod, prison ship… gene bank." He shrugged as he collapsed the telescope.

"But what do they need the volcano for?" I asked, pausing for a moment to think for myself. "The force of the eruption could surely be enough for blast that thing back into the sky… Is that what they're using it for. The volcano erupts, they're sent back into space and they can go home?"

"No, it's worse than that." The Doctor mumbled quietly.

"How can it be worse?" Donna asked. The Pyrovile in the caves roared and the loud noise echoed through the cavern. "Doctor, it's getting closer."

"Heathens!" Lucius' voice called out. My head turned in that direction to see him standing up on a taller part of the cavern. "Defilers! They would desecrate your temple my lord gods!"

"Come on!" The Doctor jumped to his feet as he made his way towards the cavern floor.

"You want to go down there?" I frowned, though I still found myself following him.

"We can't go in." Donna protested.

"We can't go back!" He argued and grabbed our hands to pull us along a bit faster.

"Crash them! Burn them!" Lucius shouted out to the several Pyroviles all of which were now roaring. One rose up before us, making us all come to a sudden halt as it did. The Doctor brought out his water pistol again, aiming it towards the Pyrovile who shied away from the water as it hit them, giving us a chance to run past it. "There is nowhere to run Doctor, Daughter of London, and Daughter of the Parallel!"

We came to another stop once we reached the rock like pod, standing just in front of it's entrance. "Now then, Lucius, my lord Pyrovillian… Don't get yourselves in a lava." He turned to look at me and Donna for a moment. "In a lava… No?"

"No." Donna shook her head.

I shook my head as well, "There's a time and a place for the dad jokes…"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed down at me at that comment, but his eyes quickly moved back 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?" He asked.

A Pyrovile moved past the man and towards us, crushing rocks in it's path as Lucius shouted over the noise. "My masters will follow the example of Rome itself, 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 asked, her voice still slightly breathless from all the running. I gave a small nod in agreement, she did have a point. Why take over the world when they have their own to go back to?

"The heaven of Pyrovillia is gone."

"What do you mean 'gone'?" I asked, brows furrowing. It was just like with the Adipose… they had lost their breeding planet. A whole planet. And now it's happened again. How could you lose a planet?

"It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost." That only made me frown anymore. How could someone just… take a planet? I looked to the Doctor to see him just as perplexed as well. "But there is heat enough in this world for our new species to rise." I scoffed at that. Clearly they'd never been to England…

"Yeah, I should warn you, it's 70% water out there." The Doctor pointed out.

"Water can boil!" Lucius argued. "And everything will burn, Doctor!"

The Doctor put the water pistol away again, glancing at the inside of the pod for a moment. "Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you, that's all I needed to know. Kat! Donna!"

He grabbed the both of us, pushing us into the little pod and followed us in not longer after. He turned, using his sonic screwdriver on the door so that it would close. His attention then turned to the circuit boards, all similar to the one we had seen at Caecilius' villa earlier one lining the side of the pod.

"Could we be any more trapped?" Donna asked. A strong hint of sarcasm was in her voice, but I still shrugged as I answered her question generally.

"Probably."

The temperature rose by what seemed like double in a matter of seconds. I assumed it had something to do with the Pyroviles outside trying to get us out of the pod. I brought my hand up in a failing attempt to try and cool myself down, glancing towards the Doctor for a moment. Honestly, I didn't know how he was managing to cope so well. Especially in that suit, of all things. But he barely seemed to be affected…

"A little bit hot." Donna commented as the room steamed up a little bit. Definitely the Pyroviles.

"See, the energy converted takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix which wields Pyrovile to human." The Doctor explained. "Now it's complete they can convert millions."

"Well, can't you change it… with these controls?" Donna asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Course I can. But don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all it's power. They're going to use it to take over the world."

"So then change it back." I said it like it was the most simplest thing in the world. "You can do that, right?"

"Well, I can avert the system so the volcano will blow them up, yes… that's the choice Kat. It's Pompeii or the world."

"Oh my God." Donna gasped. But I was completely silent as I stared at him, my stomach starting to clench and turn. The choice was obvious but still… it was the worst choice anyone had to make.

"If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history, it's me. I make it happen." The Doctor's voice got quieter as he spoke and I glanced up at him as he slowly began to move around the machinery, feeling sicker by the moment.

"But the Pyrovile are made of rock. Maybe they can't be blown up," Donna pointed out in a panicky voice. Despite the choice that was having to be made she didn't want this, and honestly I didn't either.

"Vesuvius exploded with the force of 24 nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it." The Doctor stopped fiddling with the machinery as he turned to look at us. "Certainly not us."

I merely shrugged at that. "There's twenty thousand people out there." I said, like that was an answer.

Donna nodded in agreement. "Never mind us."

The Doctor placed both of his hands on the leaver. "Push this lever and it's over." His voice slowly grew into one of horror and he looked distantly in front of him. "Twenty thousand people." He spoke softly.

This was just as hard for him as it was for me, and for Donna. In fact, it could be even worse. He'd had to make a similar decision all those years ago in the Time War, and that had cost him his planet. Billions of people. And now here he was, faced with a similar choice, and another twenty thousand people. I moved over slightly and placed my hands lightly on top of his, and then Donna done the same and rested hers over mine. The Doctor turned, staring at the two of for a moment. And then the three of us pushed down.

There was a sudden jolt, and the deafening noise of the volcano exploding filled around us. We were being thrown around, faint little screams coming from me and Donna as we all kept falling over one another as we tried to keep some sort of balance.

With a rather painful crash everything came to a stop. The Doctor was the first to pull himself up, opening the door to escape pod and climbing out. Donna and I soon followed, still pretty shaken. "It was an escape pod." The Doctor whispered to himself. We all looked back at it, and then that was when we saw the huge black cloud of ash a dust hurtling towards us. "Come on! Run!" He grabbed our hands again, rushing us away from the cloud as fast as possible.

XOXO

We ran as fast as we could to the village. The place was full of chaos. The sky has been darkened due to the black clouds of ash as it fell from the sky. People were running around, panicking, with Donna shouting to anyone who would listen to her. "Don't! Don't go to the beach! Don't go to the beach, go to the hills! Listen to me! Don't go to the beach! It's not safe! Listen to me!"

She caught sight of a little boy who was crying and slowly went over to him. "Come here…" Her voice was soft through her tears as she held out her hand. But suddenly a woman, I presumed was the boys mother grabbed hold of him, pulling him away as she ran off.

I stood in the center of the street, completely frozen. The images of this kind of catastrophe wasn't something I was a stranger to. The tears streamed silently down my cheeks in their thousands as my mind flashed back to Japan during that long year under the Master's reign. The Toclafane had descended. The whole island was burning as the faint outlines of The Valiant could be seen from the sky as he most probably watched. People were screaming, running in all sorts of directions trying to run to a place of safety that just wasn't anywhere. And there was nothing I could do to help them. I just had to keep running and do as the Doctor said.

As the thoughts rushed into my mind, I found it increasingly hard to breathe, which done nothing for my tears. My body was shaking and I wrapped my arms around myself as I tried to calm myself down. It was then that I felt a pair of hands on my and my eyes fearfully snapped up to see the Doctor's eyes looking into mine.

"Come on." He pulled one of my arms away and took my hand, using his free one to take Donna's as he pulled us along once more.

I was barely moving myself though, only stumbling as the Doctor moved me himself. My mind was still seemingly stuck in the past, I was unable to shake the thought away, my breath continuously got caught in my throat, and the tears seemed never ending. I felt the Doctor's hand let go as we reached the villa. Caecilius and his family were all huddled in a corner, frightened and shaking.

"God save us, Doctor!" Caecilius called out to him.

However the Doctor only just stared at them for a minute before he ran off to the TARDIS. My eyes widened as I stared at his retreating figure. "No! Doctor!"

"No! Doctor, you can't! Doctor!" Donna screamed.

The sound of the TARDIS engines started up as I continued to look at them through the bleary vision my tears had created. I felt Donna suddenly tug at my hand and I found myself being pulled through the TARDIS doors. The Doctor's eyes fixed on the console and he worked around the controls.

"You can't just leave them!" Donna screamed at him.

"Don't you think I've done enough? History's back in place and everyone dies." The Doctor said bitterly and I felt myself choke up again. He looked up at me for moment, and I just stared at him pleadingly, still unable to form words. But he just looked back down again.

"You've got to go back!" Donna screeched again. "Doctor, I am telling you, take this thing back!"

The Doctor released the brake and there was a sudden jolt as we were flown into the vortex. We all clung to the sides of the console and once everything settled down, Donna spoke again, but this time more softly. "But it's not fair."

"No it's not." The Doctor admitted quietly.

"But your own planet. It burnt."

"That's just it. Don't you see, Donna?" The Doctor snapped. "Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can't. I can never go back. I can't." His eyes moved back down to the console as his voice suddenly cracked and wavered. "I can't."

"You're not the only one who's seen people burn and can't do anything about it." I suddenly managed to speak up through the never ending tears and the Doctor's head snapped over to me. I was still shaking, and I was the Doctor's eyes soften and fill a little with guilt as he realised what I was referring to. "But we can do something about this. We can save someone. Not the whole town, but someone. We can save them. - Please, Doctor. I can't…"

"Okay." His voice was soft and he slowly made his way towards me. He pulled me to him and he held me for a few moments, rubbing circular motions in my back in a successful try at calming me down. He maneuvered us both to the console, still holding onto me slightly as he flew us back.

As we landed he sat me down onto the pilot seat, rushing over to the doors that would lead to Caecilius and his family still huddled as ash continued to fall over them. The doors opened and I saw the Doctor hold his hand out. "Come with me." And with that, he pulled each member of the family in, one by one.

XOXO

We all watched from the top of the hill. The cloud of ash and smoke covered the whole town, and the Doctor had to calm me down several times and I started to shake again and his hand never left mine even after that.

"It's never forgotton Caecilius," The Doctor spoke softly as the family's eyes stayed fixed on the town. "Oh, time will pass, men will 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 Evalina?" I asked softly. "Can you see anything?"

The girl shook her head slightly, "The visions have gone."

"The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time and space. Just for a second." The Doctor explained. "That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not anymore. You're free."

"But tell me… who are you Doctor? With your words… and your temple containing such size within?" Metella asked.

"Oh, I was never here. Don't tell anyone." The Doctor ended with a whisper. It was probably better off that this was kept a secret.

"The great god Vulcan must be enraged!" Caecilius spoke. "It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of… volcano."

I bit down on my lip and that. And there was the new word. Caecilius pulled his wife into a hug, and Quintus and Evalina held each other's hand. The Doctor, Donna and I all glanced at each other, and we took that as our queue to leave.

Donna closed the door behind us as we all backed away into the TARDIS. She slowly walked up towards the Doctor, who was flying us back into the vortex again and spoke up quietly. "Thank you."

"Yeah." He continued to look down and fiddle with the controls for a moment. "You were right." He suddenly said, looking back up at Donna. "Sometimes I need someone. Welcome aboard."

"Yeah." The two smiled softly at each other, and then Donna made her way towards the corridors, most likely to go and change. I went to follow, but the Doctor's voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Kat." I turned around expectantly. "Come back here a minute." I sighed softly, moving so that I was standing completely in front of him. "What you said earlier… you meant Japan, yeah?" I nodded slowly. "Why did you never tell me it affected you so much?"

I brought my shoulders into a shrug. "I didn't know it affected me so much.." We'd had a few adventures since all of those happenings. But nothing quite like that, where it reminded me so much of that area of my past.

The Doctor's eyes moved down to look at his shoes for a moment, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

"No." I shook my head quickly and the Doctor looked up at me with a raised brow. "It's not like we're talking about a bad day here." I tried to explain. Hell, it wasn't even like we were talking about a bad year, it had been worse than bad. "I just… don't want to. Not right now, anyway."

The Doctor nodded and I saw his eyes darken slightly. He felt guilty. And that was the exact reason I didn't want to talk about it any further. I sighed softly, resting my hands up on his shoulders for a moment. "That doesn't mean you need to feel guilty. And don't say you don't, because I know you do. - It all worked out in the end. We reversed it all back. We saved the world. All of that was worth it." I saw a faint smile tug at the Doctor's lips at that and I smiled softly as well before tapping his arm lightly. "Now go and fly us off to a distant galaxy… Spaceman." I smirked as I slowly backed up towards the corridor again and the Doctor chuckled slightly.

"Yeah."

Authors Note: And there is is. It seems Katherine isn't dealing as well with the year that never was as well as she thought she was. I'm sorry if it offended anyone in anyway, I am in no way taking subjects like that lightly. I just felt as the stuff that happened in the year that never was wouldn't be something so easy to bury under the carpet, and that Pompeii would most likely be some sort of trigger in bringing those bad memories back.

Also what is Lucius mean? He is coming? Hm….

Again, sorry for such a long wait. I'll try and get the next one up as soon as I can.