IT'S FINALLY HERE!
That's right, the prologue and Part One of the Virgo Interview Novel are here, complete, and ready to rock! They are a stellar example of the craft if there ever was one; a shining pillar of-
What? What's that? "Get on with it"?
Fine, be that way. Roll film!
Prologue
The Betrayal of the Girl in the Nighttime
Can you free me? The question hung in the air like smoke from a cigarette. Its intended recipient tried to appear calm despite her shaking hands.
That wasn’t a rhetorical question. Can you free me or not? The darkness was getting impatient. She needed to give it an answer. But did she fully know what her answer was? Betray her friends and free the darkness or find her heroic side and die right that second? Either choice would be undesirable. Did she want to live a traitor or die a hero?
“I-I’m not sure.”
Her voice wavered, and the darkness noticed.
Having second thoughts? “No, it’s not that,” the girl ventured, stalling desperately. Finally, she found the excuse she needed, and her voice gained confidence again. “I can bring you back, but I can’t break the last lock on your prison. For that, I’d need much more power.”
I can get you anything you need. It will take time, but I can slowly siphon my power into you. “How will that work?” she inquired, curious. “Won’t your power just be killed by the-”
The darkness’ voice rose in anger, the volume of it climbing drastically until its sound hurt her head.
I AM STRONGER THAN YOUR LIGHT ENERGY! IT IS NOT MY POWER THAT WILL BE KILLED! HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST THAT YOUR ENERGY HAS THE POWER TO DEFEAT ME?! NOTHING CAN DEFEAT ME! YOU WILL HAVE NO MORE NEED FOR THAT POWER WHEN MY FREEING IS COMPLETE! YOU WILL HAVE A MUCH GREATER POWER! The girl recoiled in fear. “Whoa, whoa, don’t get angry. I just overestimated the good guys is all. I mean, I used to be one of them.” She put more emphasis on “used to be” than she intended, and the words were spat out like a curse.
I see, the darkness mused, regaining its composure.
You really are devoted to me, little girl. The girl stiffened at the sound of the last two words. Their sound brought back memories of a person she’d known; somebody who had saved her life. One of the many people who she was about to betray. His name hung over her mind, and the memories of their time together flooded in, replacing the cold and objective facade she’d been working so hard to cultivate. His face, his eyes, his smile, the way he laughed triumphantly when he’d just won a fight, the feeling of hugging him in a spur-of-the-moment gesture of affection; all of these things she would forfeit by betraying the others. Also with the memories came the sadder times; times when he’d looked crestfallen, or sullen, or sulked because he couldn’t join a fight. Worse still, there were the times when she thought he was going to die. She turned away from the darkness, not wanting him to see the tears on her cheeks.
“D-don’t call me that!”
The darkness sounded annoyed.
So the memory of a reckless boy who is likely to get himself killed someday won’t let me try to become familiar with you. If we don’t get to know each other, then you’ll reject my energy. I can take away those happy memories which are holding you back. So long as you prize a memory, you cannot let it go and cannot move forwards. Let me take them all away.The girl backed away. “No, I think I’ll keep them for now. Those memories won’t get the better of me. I’d rather not forget certain things, though.”
The darkness’ voice became sharper.
There’s somebody else with us! Someone else is here!As if on theatrical cue, a voice sounded behind the girl. “Hey!”
She whipped around to see a child standing there, a little girl. She was holding a stuffed rabbit stuck full of pins, and looked indignant. Her unkempt blonde hair was falling into her angry deep blue eyes, and her tiny hands were balled into fists.
“What the hell are you doing here?!”
The girl relaxed, adopting a patronizing tone. “Isn’t it past your bedtime, Chie?”
Chie glared back at her, setting her stuffed rabbit on the ground. “You’re going to betray them, aren’t you? Deathmask and Aphrodite and Shaka and Saga and the interviewers and all of them. What will you do? Will you kill them? Are you planning to hurt all those people?”
The darkness snaked around the girl as she laughed coldly. Her feelings were disappearing, her memories were vanishing, and she felt so free. But now Chie of all people was going to stand in her way. “Why does it matter to you? You’re a child, I can’t expect you to understand. They’ve outlived their usefulness.”
Chie shook a finger at the girl and the darkness, smiling coquettishly. “If we were to use our true ages, then I have thousands of years’ seniority on you. It’s you who’s the child, not me. But I digress. You can’t kill the saints and their interviewers, and you can’t hurt them.”
The girl laughed again, harsher and throatier than before. “And why is that? What can you do to stop me now?”
The little girl sat down on the floor next to her rabbit and looked smug. “Because Missy said they were my toys and I could play with them all I wanted. They’re oh so fun to watch, and I think they’re my favorites. Sorry, Rabbit, but you’ve seen them. Those toys move and speak and breathe all by themselves. The ones I used to play with were dead. I understand that now. These ones are alive and well, and I have to watch and take care of them. So if you kill or hurt them you’d be breaking my favorite toys. You’re not allowed to do that. If you break my favorite toys, I’ll shatter you.”
The girl smiled evilly, taking a menacing step towards the child. “You’ll shatter me, Chie? Silly girl, you don’t even know what you’re dealing with in me.”
Chie stood up, and her small face hardened into an expression of anger. “I know exactly what I’m dealing with, an upstart. Take this!”
She leapt at the girl, hands igniting with her purple-black nightmare magic. The room around them began to distort, trying to form a nightmare landscape, but then the walls shimmered and returned to the normal shiny black stone of the cavern. Chie looked around her in shocked indignation.
“Why isn’t it working?!”
The girl shook her head, tut-tutting at her opponent’s ignorance. “The darkness is too great to allow your usual tricks, Chie. This room has rendered you powerless.” She gave another horrible smile and took another step towards Chie. “That means I’m free to do what I wish with you.”
The girl was upon Chie before she could do anything. The dark energy swirled around the child, burning her and opening wound after wound, even the oldest ones that didn’t even have scars left anymore. She screamed, but there was no response, nobody there to hear it. The girl continued to send wave after wave of dark energy at her still form, not hearing the heartrending screams turning to small, pitiful whimpers which came from it. She laughed, throwing back her head and letting the terrible sound ring against the cavern’s walls.
“How do you like that, Chie?! Do you think you can shatter me now?!”
Chie lay still except for her ragged motions in attempts to breathe. The girl walked over and kicked her side, causing blood to pool on the pristine stone floor.
“Had enough?”
Chie didn’t move, except to move her hand slightly and raise a certain finger into the air. The girl’s pretty face contorted and writhed into a tortured mask of anger and she fired the dark energy again, and drew out more pained screams from her enemy’s body.
“Submit!” the girl screamed. “Give in, already! You can’t possibly win this fight, you pitiful child!”
Chie moaned as blackness began to eat away at the corners of her vision. She could feel her grip on life slipping; she was losing the feeling of her body’s existence and floating.
Suddenly, a whirlwind of Nightmare magic engulfed her, pulling her from the room with the shiny black stone walls. Its last attack on her senses was the girl’s scream of rage at the loss of her prey. The whirlwind stopped and she was lying in the remains of a bed, surrounded by mangled stuffed animals. A figure was sitting across from her, bandaging her many wounds. Chie recognized him and managed to gasp out a name. “A-Avery…?”
The renegade Time Lord moved the dark hair out of his face, revealing one of his many long scars. “You alright, Chie? She did a real number on you, huh?”
Chie nodded, unable to speak. Avery ruffled her messy blonde hair and sighed sorrowfully. “I thought originally that her turning to the dark would be a wonderful asset to us. But now I’m not so sure.”
She coughed, and a myriad of blood drops soaked the sheets in front of her. “I’m not so sure about anything anymore, Avery. It’s too-” she broke off, overtaken by another coughing fit. When it finally passed, she was left shaking and weak. Avery noted this and threw his tattered longcoat over her shoulders.
“Take this and rest. I need to take care of some business.”
Chie looked at him quizzically and whispered her question, fearing that her damaged lungs would betray her again. “What business?”
Avery smiled sadly. “I think it’s time we both left this dump of a prison. If she’s joining us, then the two of us won’t live long. Look what The Master let the saints do to Rosita, her most loyal disciple, once she outlived her usefulness. You and I are quickly becoming obsolete. We need to get out of here before we’re shipped out in body bags.”
She nodded and watched him go.
A turncoat losing his resolve… Avery had been brought to them when he had no friends and nobody else to turn to. He had been young and bitter and had made a devastating decision to alienate himself from the people of Sanctuary who he had once counted as friends. But Chie had seen him age decades in the span of a single moment. She had just clawed her way out of the Meikai where Deathmask had thrown her after their battle and saw him on his knees beside the body of a young woman. He was crying brokenly and screaming. The words he’d yelled at the sky were burned into her mind.
“I’VE DISGRACED YOU, I’VE DISGRACED YOU ALL! FORGIVE ME, DEGEL!”
Then, Avery had collapsed, holding his sonic screwdriver but unable to perform the deed and end his life. Chie had run to him, heaved him up, and carried him away into the darkest depths of the Nightmare Realm, eking out a life for the two of them in the smallest nook she could find. He’d lain still for days and she had begun to think that he really was dead. Then, suddenly, he’d awakened and poured out his entire story in one long tearful confession. Chie had sat still, listening in riveted amazement to Avery’s adventures. She’d never heard such a story- saints and Time Lords and heroes and interviewers banding together to fight evil and the dynamics found within their motley team. They were more than just promised amusements now; those who resided in Sanctuary were real. They had hopes and dreams and thoughts and follies and flaws and talents that Chie had never seen. Her mind was made up; she had to become part of it all.
Looking around at the cave where they had hidden, she clenched her fists in frustration.
I know we’ve made mistakes and there’s blood on my hands enough for an entire war, but Avery and I can atone for what we’ve done. We can be more than just twisted sorrows playing at being alive. He and I will find happiness. We have to. Otherwise there’s no reason for us to continue living. What is our purpose if we can never escape the evil that plagues our lives and brought us together? She collapsed in exhaustion as far, far away, the girl in the nighttime meditated on her dark plans for the ones who had once been friends.
End Prologue
One
An Unusual Message
Beta and Aphrodite dashed through the collapsing tunnels, desperate to reach their destination before being buried alive. They’d tracked Rosita to these caverns after she and the rest of The Master’s strike team had attacked Sanctuary. Just when they’d thought they finally managed to defeat her without too much trouble, one of Aphrodite’s Pirhanian Roses struck the ceiling and was now proceeding to bring down said ceiling on the saint and his interviewer’s heads.
“Well, this is just great!” Beta shouted to her partner in disgust. “Got any more brilliant ideas? We’re lucky to still be alive with all the trouble you’ve caused on this mission!”
“You don’t like it, you carry the unconscious demon lady,” Aphrodite panted as he struggled under Rosita’s weight. “Clearly she’s never heard of a diet.”
Beta responded by rolling her eyes. Aphrodite and his obsession with physical beauty could really get on a girl’s nerves. Especially since every time they decided to do something together, he ended up ruining it by insulting somebody or mis-throwing a rose. Some days, she wondered why she bothered to even put up with him. It’s not as if she enjoyed the routine flights to Greece just to spend several weeks cooped up in the Pisces Temple with nothing to do. Although lately, she’d been almost enjoying herself. Aphrodite got a bit more tolerable if you waited long enough, and he really did seem to like having her around. Plus, he was vegetarian, and a man who didn’t eat chicken couldn’t be all bad.
They reached the entrance to the caves and tore out of it as though shot from a gun. The welcome center where they’d gone to enter the caverns through was deserted; it had been closed for hours. Aphrodite tossed Rosita’s limp body onto a bench and turned to Beta.
“Well, we survived.”
Beta couldn’t help but laugh. “True, we did that. But we also destroyed the Howe Caverns in the process. Kage will be furious.”
The gold saint of Pisces yawned and checked his hair in a compact mirror. “Why does Kage care about a few rocks? She doesn’t strike me as the geology type. More”
“She came here once as a kid. Said it was great fun. Although she never much talked about it, really. It was before she moved.” Beta mused, looking at the collapsed caverns. “It was a long time ago either way. Who knows, she may not even remember it.”
Aphrodite poked Rosita with a well-manicured finger. “She’s down for the count. This is one demon lady we won’t be worrying about for a while.”
Suddenly, the doors of the welcome center flew open, admitting Albafica and Annabelle, the two other inhabitants of the Pisces Temple. Technically, Albafica was the Pisces Saint of the eighteenth century, but he, along with the other gold saints of his era, was resurrected with the power of the Heart of the TARDIS, which Beta’s best friend Kage carried with her. The two of them were nice enough, but there had always been a clear divide between the two pairs. It wasn’t as if they fought much, but Beta had always felt like she had a certain loyalty to Aphrodite over Albafica. Despite his numerous flaws, he was her saint.
“What happened here? Did you get her?” Annabelle didn’t even notice the damage to the caverns. This spoke volumes on her personality- she was direct if nothing else.
“She resisted capture, but we got her in the end.” Aphrodite flicked his hair out of his face, smiling in a self-satisfied manner. Beta knew that look, it appeared every time her saint one-upped Albafica. There had been an unspoken competition between the two of them since the day they met, and it was still going strong today. “I see you two arrived late to the fighting. Were you going to help us or have Beta and I do all the work?”
“Knock it off! We got here as soon as we could!” Annabelle’s cheeks flushed red in anger. “There’s no need to rub it in our faces!”
Albafica stepped forward to stand next to his interviewer. “Yes, you captured Rosita, but you also nearly killed her and destroyed the Howe Caverns in the process. I’m sure Sanctuary won’t be thrilled with that.”
Now it was Aphrodite’s turn to blush in anger. “At least we got her!”
Annabelle laughed sardonically. “Alba and I manage to complete missions just fine without destroying landmarks along the way. But I see how you may not have the finesse to live up to our high standards.”
“Leave him alone, Aphrodite did the best he could! It’s not his fault if he messes up these missions a lot! You can’t expect him to complete them like Albafica can!” The words were out of Beta’s mouth before she could stop them. Albafica and Annabelle were staring at her in shock, and Aphrodite looked hurt. His eyes were downcast as he spoke.
“And why is that?”
Beta noticed the hurt look in his eyes and a lump formed in her throat. “I… well, it’s because…”
“Come on, let’s just get back to Sanctuary.” He swept off, looking even more hurt than before. Beta had no choice but to follow him, guilt rising in her chest. I didn’t mean for it to sound like I thought Aphrodite was inferior. Now I think I’ve genuinely hurt his feelings. Beta and her interviewer had always fought a lot; that was something they would most certainly never stop doing. And it was true that insults were as common as breathing for them. But never once had Beta seen Aphrodite look so sad after something she had said about him.
"Aphrodite! Wait!"
He didn't turn around, just stood and waited for her to catch up.
"I'm sorry. What I said..." She trailed off, unsure how to continue. Arguing with him came naturally, but apologizing was a different story.
"But did you mean it? Do you really think things would be better if he was the only Pisces saint?" Beta opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "I need to know, Beta. Do you really think I'm a failure?"
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind them.
"Cardinale?"
Aphrodite whipped around, leapt in front of Beta, and grabbed one of his blood-sucking white roses in one fluid movement. The teenage girl couldn't help but feel a little impressed at the way he'd chosen to protect her. I definitely shouldn't have insulted him like that.
The newcomer was revealed to be Rosita. She was bedraggled from the previous fight with Aphrodite, but her eyes were full of conviction.
"You look like Cardinale in that armor."
Aphrodite lowered the rose slightly, but didn't let his guard down.
"Who's Cardinale?"
Rosita laughed harshly, then spat blood onto the pavement. "An old friend. Before Missy stole me away, he was everything I ever had. He was beautiful and powerful, just like you. And she took me away from him. Broke his heart, I think. And I want you to help me."
"Help you do what?" Aphrodite retorted. "Help you finish your little mission for The Master? We’d never help you in whatever evil you’ve got planned."
"They really don't make Pisces saints like they used to. Now Cardinale, he was good looking and intelligent. You, you're an idiot," Rosita snapped, coughing up another stream of blood. "Put two and two together, pretty boy. I know you have a sense of smell. Can't you smell it? The scent of my blood? You must surely recognize it. Your mentor, you, Albafica, and all the Pisces saints in the future- their blood will all be filled with poison. I know this-" She coughed again, sending another few drops falling to the pavement. "-because that poison is in my blood too."
Aphrodite looked genuinely surprised. "You were a Pisces saint?!"
Rosita smiled in what Beta thought was definitely a very Aphrodite-like manner and then coughed another jet of blood onto the concrete. “Only an apprentice, darling. I would have been a saint had it not been for her. I was happy in the Pisces Temple of my time period, and well on the way to becoming a saint. In fact, the Red Bond had already begun. But then I was stolen away and my mentor became a different and changed man. He even attacked the Virgo saint of our time for no reason, even though he was only trying to protect Athena.” She sighed nostalgically. “Oh, how I miss the eighteenth century.”
Aphrodite looked shocked, then angry. “Ha! That’s impossible! The Pisces saint of the eighteenth century was Albafica, not this Cardinale person! This is all a trick for you to distract me!”
Rosita opened her mouth to respond, but instead coughed up more blood. Nevertheless, the self-proclaimed Pisces saint managed to gasp out a few words. “Find the… find the next dimension…” Energy utterly spent, she collapsed unconscious on the pavement. Aphrodite walked over to her and almost gently picked her up. Beta gave him a frantic look.
“Aphrodite, she needs a doctor!”
He nodded. “We’d better hurry. We won’t get any more information out of her if she’s dead, and I think I’d like to hear what this ‘next dimension’ is.”
They raced towards the car, Aphrodite carrying Rosita’s unconscious body. Albafica and Annabelle were already waiting.
“Start the car!” Aphrodite yelled as the ran up. “I’ll explain everything on the way!”
Annabelle gave him a quizzical look, but leapt into the driver’s seat anyway. Beta was underage, Albafica had never been behind the wheel in his life, and Aphrodite was frankly a horrible driver. Thus, the chauffeur services were left to Annabelle. She was capable enough, and if you ever needed to drive anywhere fast, she was your woman. However, Annabelle was also a formula one driver, and apparently nobody had ever taught her the difference between driving down the road and driving in the Grand Prix.
As they flew down the highway, Aphrodite turned to Beta. They were both sitting in the backseat of Annabelle’s car with Rosita in between them, and the windows were down. Annabelle was playing classic rock on the radio, and the windows were down in order to let in the warm night air. Beta was falling asleep until her saint spoke.
“But do you really think I’m a failure?”
The teenage girl yawned, still half asleep. “No, that just came out wrong. I don’t think you’re a failure. You may be a wuss and a narcissist, but you’re not a failure. I think you’re a good saint, you just haven’t had the chance to prove it yet.”
He smiled and brandished one of his seemingly infinite number of roses. “Well, what can I say? I’m beautiful and deadly- it’s a winning combination.”
Beta rolled her eyes. “Narcissist.”
“Philistine.”
“Idiot.”
“Jealous.”
“Arrogant.”
“Critical.”
“Annoying.”
“Short-tempered.”
The banter went on for some time, each insult getting more far-fetched. But this time, they were both smiling. Things had returned to the status quo between them. Their fighting was never meant to convey any real conflict; when Beta and Aphrodite were fighting, they were happy. Now that the words exchanged in the caverns had been absolved, they could continue their usual activities together because each knew the other didn’t want to insult them. They could continue slinging whatever insults they liked; neither one meant it.
A few short minutes later, the two saints of Pisces and their companions were waiting outside the ER in the nearby hospital. They sat in silence, hardly daring to breathe. All of them wondered the same thing; would Rosita survive and be able to answer their burning questions?
After what seemed like an eternity, a nurse stepped out from the ER and delivered the news which signalled the beginning of the four Pisces’ troubles.
“The patient you brought in- she’s vanished!”
Two
The Golden Round
Sky dashed down the stairs after Shaka, still not fully awake. Why did they have to form the Golden Round at five in the morning? All the gold saints had been summoned to meet in the Golden Round, a sort of summit for them to discuss a threat to Sanctuary. Of course, now that there were twenty-four gold saints instead of twelve due to time shenanigans on the part of a certain Heart of the TARDIS, there would be more people- and more opinions to listen to. In other words, they were definitely going to miss breakfast.
“Sky!” Shaka was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking restless. “The Golden Round is very important. Last time we convened it, Sanctuary was under attack from the Titans! Can you move any slower?”
Sky responded by sticking out her tongue at him. Not only were they saint and interviewer, they also happened to be siblings. While having Virgo Shaka as her big brother was pretty cool, even Sky had to admit that he could be a bit uptight. And this was especially true about Sanctuary’s rules.
Shaka allowed himself a small smile at the immature response, then became serious again. “Come on, Mother and Father left ages ago!”
Sky wasn’t surprised. Their parents, Virgo Asmita and a Time Lady known only as The Doctor, had worked for Sanctuary since before even Shaka had been born. They would try to get to the Golden Round as promptly as possible, hours before anyone else. Sky had heard from Sagittarius Sisyphus that once, they arrived a full three hours before it convened just to say they were the first ones there.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." She leapt down the last few steps and walked towards the door. "Wouldn't want to miss all the fun, would we?"
The two of them set off towards the halls where the Golden Round would convene, ready to face whatever crisis had befallen Sanctuary this time. Once, the place had been peaceful, but these days the gold saints and their interviewers regularly got into scrapes and enemies kicked down the door at least twice a week.
Meanwhile, the denizens of the Sagittarius temple were having less luck in getting out the door.
"Where is it?!"
Sagittarius Aiolos ran around the temple, searching frantically. "Kage, have you seen my headband?"
His interviewer looked up from watching Soul of Gold and sighed. "You lost it again?"
"Yes!" Aiolos shouted in frustration. "And I can't leave the temple without it!"
"Why not?" Kage inquired. "I think you still look handsome and impressive when you're not wearing it."
The Sagittarius saint blushed. "Oh, stop it, Kage! I'm not that good looking, headband or no headband. But it's not that. I wear that headband from a very memorable adventure! It has sentimental value!"
His interviewer smiled knowingly and mentally added "made Sagittarius Aiolos blush like an anime schoolgirl" to her list of unusual accomplishments. "I see. Would that adventure by chance be something you'll tell me about someday? And did it involve Shura?"
"I'll tell you about it after the Golden Round. But right now I really need to find my headband." Aiolos sighed. "If I show up without it, everyone will notice it's gone and start asking where it is. And if Shura hears I misplaced it, he'll probably curse at me in Spanish again! I don't want to be cursed at in Spanish, Kage!"
So it did involve Shura... Kage thought to herself. "Well, nobody wants to be cursed at in Spanish. I'll help you look."
The interviewer had just stood up when Sagittarius Sisyphus, the third of the temple's four inhabitants and eighteenth century saint of Sagittarius walked around the corner, holding Aiolos' red headband.
"Looking for this?"
Aiolos looked overjoyed. "Yes! Where did you find it?!"
"I was actually wearing it for some time," Sisyphus replied, "but then I noticed that it was a darker red color than mine, and had no holes in it. You prize that headband above all else, so I naturally assumed it was yours."
"Are we attending this Golden Round or shall I send the other saints a note detailing how we regret to inconvenience them, but we have a prior engagement pertaining to a headband?"
Giorgetta Fleming, the Sagittarius interviewer of the eighteenth century, was standing at the top of the stairs in one of her innumerable Victorian gowns. She gave Sisyphus a quick smile, then continued. "Shall we to the Golden Round, then?"
Aiolos nodded in affirmative. "I've found my headband, we can go now."
Kage pocketed her phone, and followed the others out of the temple. I can only hope that this isn't the beginning of something sinister.
In the third temple of the Holy Zodiac, Gemini, things were running even less smoothly. Saga and Kanon were fighting- again. Watching the two brothers go at it was their interviewer Scarlette, the twin Geminis from the eighteenth century Aspros and Deuteros, and their interviewer Kimberley Kass.
"At this rate, we'll never get to the Golden Round," Scarlette sighed. "Those two can fight for hours."
Kimberley laughed mischievously. "Now who else does that sound like?"
Aspros gave her an indignant look. "Surely you aren't talking about us! We don't fight like that, do we Deuteros?"
Deuteros nodded in agreement. "Definitely not. Really, Kim, we're far more mature than that. When we fight, we do so civilly and with proper decorum."
Kimberley responded by bursting out laughing. "That's funny, I'm sure I distinctly remember you two resorting to biting each other's earlobes at one point. Or is there another reason you have only three earlobes between the pair of you?"
Aspros looked embarrassed and fingered where his left earlobe should have been. "That was a low blow! And anyway, we weren't biting each other's earlobes. We were simply..."
Deuteros chimed in as his brother trailed off. "His earlobe had to be removed! It could have caused all kinds of medical problems in the future. I wouldn't expect you to understand what could have befallen my brother if he were to continue life with the normal number of earlobes!"
Kimberley sighed, rolling her eyes at their immaturity. "Sure."
Aspros fixed her with his most serious expression. “It really is hurtful that you believe I would lie about something as severe as my past health problems regarding my left earlobe. It’s a miracle I survived without it this long. All the same, I’m waiting on a transplant.”
“You’re full of it!” Kim shoved him playfully. “There’s no such thing as an earlobe transplant!”
Scarlette only half listened to their fighting, instead watching Saga and Kanon. Things had been almost normal in the temple of late, even with Aspros and Saga’s evil split personalities. All the same, the sudden convening of the Golden Round was worrying. What if something bad was going to happen? She sighed and continued watching her saints fight. I just hope nothing bad happens to them. They deserve to be happy after all they’ve been through. Please, just this once let it not be danger or adventures…
“Please, just this once let it not be burnt!”
One temple away, Deathmask was yelling at the toaster. “Why don’t you ever work properly anymore?!”
“Maybe because the soul of that mailman is possessing it?” Asphoxia suggested as she checked kun forums. “You shouldn’t have let him possess the toaster. Ever since that happened, it’s been spitting out nothing but burned toast.”
“Incognitoast!” The tiny, mustached piece of toast danced out from under the table, waving its thin arms in blissful ignorance. “Incognitoast!”
“Oh right, it did make that thing, too,” Deathmask muttered, unamused, “but I really wish it would make something actually edible.”
"Incogni-TOAST!" The temple's one sentient bread product added his two cents.
"I hear you, buddy," the Cancer saint added darkly. "That toaster's time has come."
"Stop right there!" Reticulum Aaron burst into the temple, brandishing a ripe satsuma. "Don't go near that toaster if you value your life, Angelo!"
Deathmask threw Aaron his darkest glare. "Don't call me Angelo again if you value your life, Aaron."
Aaron's partner, Horologium Mia, chose this moment to arrive on the scene.
"It's possessed by Bill Cipher!"
Asphoxia leapt up from her chair and away from the toaster. "Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope!"
Deathmask turned his dark glare towards the toaster. "That does it. This time I'm going to make that accursed flying tortilla wish he'd never met me! SEKISHIKI MEIKAI HAAAAAA!"
The toaster shattered with the force of Deathmask's cosmos, expelling Bill Cipher and sending him rocketing headlong into the underworld.
The Cancer Saint threw his audience a smirk. "Problem solved. No autographs or photos, please."
Mia rolled her eyes. "He won't stay in the Meikai for long. The guy is a demonic entity, you can't get rid of him that easily."
“Oh yeah?” Deathmask retorted. “Just watch me. Right after this stupid golden round, of course. Why they need to convene it is beyond me. Does anyone ever actually go to these meetings anymore?”
The rest of the temple's residents responded by ignoring him and heading for the door. Deathmask rolled his eyes and followed them, Incognitoast perched on his shoulder.
At the Golden Round, everyone was arguing and talking at once until Saga raised a hand for silence. Although it was technically true that his evil personality killed the previous pope of Sanctuary, everyone accepted him as the leader. That didn't mean, however, that his ideas weren't challenged constantly by all and sundry.
"Alright, everyone," Saga began, bracing himself for the interruption he knew was coming, "the Pisces saints and their interviewers found something last night while they were chasing Rosita."
"Was it a dairy bar?" Kage enquired, completely poker-faced. "Because I love a good dairy bar from time to time. We had this one day at writing camp when we all went down to the dairy bar at the university and-"
Saga rolled his eyes. "No, it was most definitely not a dairy bar. Aphrodite, Albafica, Annabelle, Beta, please enlighten us on your findings."
The four residents of the Pisces Temple strode up to the front of the room. Aphrodite turned to Albafica.
"Let me do the talking. I was the one who found her, captured her, and figured out all of this."
"Attention everyone," Albafica began, clearly ignoring Aphrodite. "Rosita is now at large and we believe she's severed her ties with The Master. Furthermore, before her disappearance, she gave us a strange command."
Aphrodite cut in. "She told us to 'find the Next Dimension', whatever that means."
"Hold it, hold it, HOLD IT!"
This time it was Kimberley who interrupted. "Did you say Next Dimension?!"
Albafica gave her a perplexed look. "Yes. Why?"
The fiery-haired Torchwood agent looked nervous. "Back in the old days, before I met the Doctor and entered this bloody time traveling insanity, the agency got a call about people vanishing and reappearing a few days later, saying they'd been to a place called the 'Next Dimension'. We dismissed it as nothing but now..." She looked fearful. "I think it may be a good time to reopen the investigation."
Aspros stood up next to her, followed by Deuteros. "We're going too! There's no way we're letting you go alone!"
Kimberley shook her head. "No, I'm doing this by myself. This is Torchwood business and neither of you are Torchwood agents."
With that, she swept across the room and out the door. Aspros and Deuteros both dashed after her.
"KIM!"
Albafica watched them go. "Should we go and-?"
Annabelle shook her head. "Nah, let 'em go. You couldn't stop Kim in one of her moods if you tried."
Meanwhile, Kimberley was shakily piloting the TARDIS. Aspros and Deuteros were trying frantically to help her, but the machine was fighting their control.
"Come on, you stupid piece of junk!" Kimberley pounded a fist against the controls in anger. "Where's Giorgetta when you need her?! This thing is damn impossible to work without her!"
"Maybe you should've taken Mia's plane," Deuteros ventured. "You actually have an idea of how to fly it."
The silver saint Horologium Mia had a plane; an old Sopwith Camel which she called Bree. Kimberley had piloted those planes before, but today stealing the TARDIS better served her purposes.
"It's too slow," she retorted. "I need to get where we're going immediately! It's urgent!"
Aspros climbed up from where he'd been thrown by Kimberley's reckless driving. "Which is where, exactly?"
Kimberley gave them a dark look. "Ordos, Inner Mongolia. I’d prefer you two didn’t come with me, but what can I do now?”
Aspros and Deuteros weren’t given the time to answer, as the TARDIS landed with a crash. They were both thrown across the control room once again; Aspros’ Gemini cloth making a dent in the opposite wall. Kimberley exited the TARDIS while they were incapacitated and dashed off into the night.
The darkness was alive. It felt, it saw, it smelled, it tasted, it heard, and most importantly, it THOUGHT. It thought about the city, so uninhabited and barren, so devoid of life. It thought about all the abandoned construction in Ordos, all the sites it could feed at but at once could not because they were bare. It considered its next meal. Would it be the solitary businessman walking the streets, the schoolgirls wandering the empty shops, or the lonely stray dog barking at nothing? The darkness couldn’t decide. It looked at all the people in the city, which wasn’t many. None of them were passionate and flavorful enough to be even a small snack. Just when the darkness thought it would be starved yet again, it heard the sound of high heels clicking against the pavement. The human it had been so searching for had arrived at last. The redheaded woman was so full of life and emotion- the perfect meal. She was all alone, with no weapons and no one to hear her cry out. The darkness smiled to itself and crept silently towards where its prey was walking. Reaching out with sharp, invisible fingers, it flew in, aiming for the victim’s eyes-“Kimberley, stay with us!”
Neither Aspros nor Deuteros had any idea what they were running from. But they did know that Kimberley was bleeding, and something in that alleyway had caused it. There was a horrible scar across her eyes that bubbled black liquid, and her breathing was ragged. Fear clouding his mind, Aspros struggled to fight the evil side of him rising up. The split personality was rarely ever triggered- not nearly as often as Saga’s- but it still flared up when he was afraid or angry. And excess amounts of blood had started to call him too. Aspros wondered briefly if this could mean Evil Him was taking over for good, but quickly dismissed it. Idiot. This is no time to be feeling sorry for yourself. Kimberley needs you to be sane right now. You can succumb to him later; when you’re alone. You can give in when you get Kimberley to a hospital. Deuteros will be with her then, he’s the saint she always deserved-
“There it is! Let’s get her inside!”
Deuteros took off towards the hospital, still carrying Kimberley. Her blood and the black liquid was soaking his shirt. He looked like he’d been through a war. Aspros watched him go, unsure whether to follow. He’d always known that his brother and Kimberley shared a deeper bond than he and the interviewer ever would. For all he knew, they may even have been in love. Aspros couldn’t tell what it was that Deuteros and Kimberley had; it seemed the feeling’s identity wasn’t constant. One day it seemed like romance, another like friendship, another like they were siblings.
Best just let them go, a voice whispered tauntingly in his ear.
They've never wanted you around anyway. Let them have their little romance, they're not your kind or your problem. You're an outsider, you're their burden. They never wanted you. Just walk away. Be the weak one like you always are. Keep denying your own feelings. It's worked thus far, hasn't it? Never mind the way your heart leaps when you see her; it's better to give up without a fight."Evil Me?" Aspros ventured uneasily. "Is that you?"
The voice laughed harshly.
That foolish split personality of yours? I hardly think so. I'm something much darker, yes, even darker than your dark side. Even darker than your brother's soul. You're the one who deserves Kimberley, so go over there and take her!Aspros looked around. Nobody was there; everything in his sight was shrouded in darkness. Oppressive, almost alive darkness. It was flowing everywhere, through the Gemini cloth, across his face and into his hair.
Let me help you, the darkness coaxed.
If you give me control, I can get you Kimberley. I can put your idiot brother in his place, I can-"Leave me alone!" Aspro yelled, struggling to get free. "I don't want or need your help!"
The being that was trapping Aspros just laughed even more harshly than before.
I see you don't want my help. It's a pity, I was planning to choose a less interesting human for my meal. Now that you won't cooperate, I suppose I'll just have to consume you.The darkness closed in for the kill once again, only to find its prey had disappeared. Hissing in rage, it shrunk back into a nearby alleyway to wait for another human to wander by.
Inside Kimberley's room in the hospital, a dimensional gate opened and Aspros tumbled out, brushing slimy black ectoplasm off his armor. Kimberley sat up, startled. She had medical bandages covering her eyes, but otherwise looked like the Kimberley Aspros knew.
"Kim!" He ran to her side. "Are you alright?"
She hugged him, and her voice was thick with sobs. "Aspros, they say I'm-"
"Brother!"
Deuteros came running in, no longer covered in blood and black liquid. He looked a mix between angry and scared.
"Are you alright?! What happened?!"
Kimberley's voice anxiously rose in pitch. "Deuteros, what do you mean?! What's wrong with Aspros?!"
"Your cosmos disappeared for a moment!" Deuteros continued, ignoring Kimberley. "I thought something horrible had happened! What did you just do?! Why didn't you call us for help?!"
Aspros sat down heavily on the bed, the full magnitude of what had just befallen him making itself known. Kimberley crawled out of the blankets and sat down beside him.
"Please, tell us what happened to you."
The saint of Gemini sighed. "That thing that attacked you came after me. It... got inside my mind. I could hear its voice, whispering the most horrible things!" He leapt up and stormed towards the window, pounding a fist against the glass. "I couldn't do anything except use Other Dimension to run away like a coward! I hate it! It's something I can't fight and I hate it!"
Kimberley stood up a little shakily and, holding on to the wall for support, made her way to him. Once there, she lay a hand on his shoulder.
"There's no shame in retreating. That means you'll at least live to see your brother and me again. We know you're an honorable, courageous, and powerful gold saint. Neither of us judge you for retreating." She sighed. "Now stop fighting with your brother. I have some... distressing news. You may want to sit down."
Aspros moved reluctantly over to the bed, and sat on the edge of it next to Deuteros. "What is it?"
Kimberley pursed her lips, unsure how to begin. "The doctors came in while you two were out. They told me..." Her voice wavered. "They told me I'm blind."
"What?!" Aspros was the first to leap up, eyes flashing dangerously. "That thing caused permanent damage?!"
Kimberley grabbed his wrist. "Please don't go and do anything stupid now! I was trying to tell you before, but then I saw the mood you were in! You have to promise me you won't try to hunt it down now!"
Aspros settled down, dejected. "Okay, Kimberley, but not to do that shadow creature any favors. Come on, let's get you back to Sanctuary."
The Gemini interviewer nodded and followed the twins out the door. Neither of the saints noticed her sadly finger the bandages or lay a hand lightly on the wall for support. Kimberley smiled sadly as Deuteros reached out a hand to help her.
You’re going to have to fight doubly hard for me, boys. I can’t help you anymore, not like this. Burdening you with this hurts like hell, but I know you’ll stick by me. If I can follow you and have your hands to hold, I’ll be okay.
Three
Family Matters
The Doctor stood in front of Aspros, Deuteros, and Kimberley, trying to mask her anger and stormy feelings.
“And just why did any of you think that going off alone to investigate was a good idea?!”
Aspros shrugged. "Looking back it may not have been one of our better ideas."
The Doctor pounded a fist against the TARDIS control panel. "How can you be so nonchalant?! Kimberley is blind because of your negligence! She's a sniper, sight is something she needs for her job! I certainly hope you feel guilty about this, because you've made it damn near impossible for her to fight again!"
"Please don't yell at them, Doctor." Kimberley felt her way uneasily toward the sound of Aspros, Deuteros, and The Doctor's voices. "Where are you guys?"
Deuteros wordlessly stood up and took her hands, guiding her over. The Doctor's jaw tightened as she watched, eyes clearly saying this is your fault. Aspros turned away and tried not to look at the way his brother was holding Kimberley's hands. Finally making her way over, she sat down next to him, smiling slightly.
"Are you Aspros or Deuteros? I can't tell you apart anymore."
“I'm Aspros," he replied. "Deuteros was the one who helped you over here."
Kimberley ruffled his already messy hair. "I thought it was Deuteros that helped me. I was expecting to grab armor when I reached out, so I think I latched on a little too hard." She laughed awkwardly. "You okay? You're not normally this quiet."
Aspros didn't get time to respond, as Sky burst in.
"Mom, where's my key?"
The Doctor sighed. "I think I saw that toast friend of Deathmask's playing with it. Now, I'm a bit busy right now reading these idiots the riot act if you don't mind."
Sky threw a questioning glance at the three Geminis, then left. The Doctor turned back to Aspros, Deuteros, and Kimberley, looking less annoyed.
"Aspros, Deuteros, may I speak to you two in private?"
Kimberley stood up and felt her way to the door, giving the twins a smile. "See you back at the temple, boys."
As soon as she was gone, the Doctor looked at both Aspros and Deuteros. Her expression was impossible to read as she spoke.
"Do you two feel guilty about what happened? Answer me honestly."
Aspros leapt up, eyes flashing dangerously. "Of course we do!"
"And you, Deuteros?"
Deuteros nodded silently, unable to speak.
The Doctor stood up and made for the door. "Then there's nothing more I need to say to you two. Guilt is the worst punishment there is. Reprimanding you would be pointless." She smiled slightly, and her voice took on a less serious tone. "I mean, do I look like Asmita to you?"
Both of them laughed uneasily now that her anger was past and followed Kimberley off to the Gemini Temple. For once since the accident, all three of them felt glad she was blind. With the loss of her eyesight, there was no way she could see the forced smiles and too-choppy laughter of her friends as they tried to pretend against all odds that everything was alright.
The Doctor turned in the direction of the Virgo Temple, intending to return home and make sense of her mixed feelings. I know Aspros and Deuteros didn’t mean to let it happen, but all the same… She couldn’t rightly decide whether to blame them for their actions or not. On one hand, they’d probably saved Kimberley’s life. On the other hand, however, they’d let her go off alone in the first place. It had been irresponsible of them, and she had every right to be angry at them for that. But try as she might, the Doctor couldn’t blame them for the accident. That’s what it was, an accident. A horrible, unfortunate accident. Those happen sometimes.
She shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts of her companion from it. What she really needed was rest. Ever since her impromptu resurrection and subsequent reunion with her children, it had been one adventure after another. This one afternoon was going to give her some time to unwind and think about everything that had transpired.
“Doctor!”
The Doctor turned around to find her husband, Virgo Asmita, standing there. He had an uncanny ability of sneaking up on people. You’d never know he was there unless he told you so himself.
“Asmita!” She tried to muster up a smile and failed.
He noticed and lay a hand on her shoulder. “I heard about Kimberley.”
"I'm sure you did." Her already-weak smile faltered. How could he know so quickly? She'd hoped that Asmita would let her sort things out herself.
"Angel..."
"Don't call me that, I'm not in the mood." His little pet name for her was cute, but now wasn't the time for flirting.
Asmita sighed. "Very well, I'll be blunt. I have some news, and you're not going to like it. Not after... what just happened."
"News?" The Doctor's voice turned shrill. "What is it?"
Her husband turned away, hesitating. Finally, he spoke in the too-calm voice he always used when trouble was brewing. "Rosita has been sighted in Ordos, and I was one of the ones chosen to go and apprehend her. Gemini Kanon, Cancer Deathmask, Sagittarius Aiolos, Pisces Aphrodite, and myself will be departing in a few days."
The Doctor felt her twin heartbeats accelerate. "Ordos?! But that was where-!"
"Yes," Asmita replied, a hint of sadness creeping into his voice, "that was where Kimberley was attacked."
"Let me go in your place!" The words were out of her mouth before she could properly consider their meaning. "I can't let you be put in more danger! I can't let you-"
Unable to finish, she grabbed him in a hasty embrace. "Please promise me you'll make it home. I can’t lose you- not again-”
Asmita smiled slightly. “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. You don’t need to fear for me. I can take care of myself.”
The Doctor watched him walk away, fearing for him more than ever before.
“So they’re sending Dad?”
Sky petted Skittle lazily as she asked the question, not really caring what the answer was. She and her mother got along well, but her father was a different story. Her brother had too many memories of Virgo Asmita’s strict nature for her to get along with the man. When their parents had separated them, Asmita hadn’t even given Shaka the time necessary to saw goodbye. That wasn’t something Sky was willing to overlook easily. She knew that her father and mother cared about each other, but she couldn’t help but wonder what The Doctor saw in Asmita. In the time she’d known him, he’d seemed too lecturing and rigid to be the man her mother had fallen in love with.
Shaka nodded. “Yes, Father is going with the others to find Rosita.” He looked regretful. “I can’t say I don’t wish to have taken his place. They chose to send Aphrodite over Albafica, Deathmask over Manigoldo, Kanon over any of the other Geminis, and Aiolos over Sisyphus. And yet, instead of sending me, they send our father. How… unusual.”
Sky looked at Shaka in surprise. “Are you trying to compete with Dad?”
Her brother shook his head, laughing. “It’s nothing like that. I just wish I had a chance to prove to him that I’m not a child anymore. You’re a teenager; you can still depend on them for a while. I’m twenty and I can’t do that. I mean, I grew up completely without a family. I need to prove to them that despite not having their guidance, I can still make them proud.”
Skittle added to the conversation with a loud meow.
Now it was Sky’s turn to laugh. “Apparently Skittle agrees.”
Shaka smiled a little and scratched Skittle behind the ears. “You’ll agree to anything I say, you silly cat. After all, I let you nap on top of me while I meditate, even though it’s slowly but surely breaking my one leg that you lie on.”
The cat replied by purring as her ears were stroked. Suddenly, she leapt up and hissed, then ran away. Sky and Shaka immediately leapt up as well, dropping into fighting stances. Their time fighting countless enemies had made them fairly jumpy. However, this newcomer was no enemy.
"What, no hello?"
Michael Fey was standing in the doorway, smiling slightly. "You two need to relax. If you greet everyone like that, people will begin to think you like fighting too much."
"Michael?!" Shaka looked surprised. "I thought you were living on one of the islands!"
The scientist ran a hand through his messy hair. "Well, the house is getting some work done on it, and all that dust isn't great to be living around. I thought I might come here to see what you two are doing."
"What about Mina and the baby?" Shaka enquired. "Where are they?"
Michael sighed, looking sad. "They're on vacation with the rest of her family to celebrate her parents' anniversary. They're on some cruise for several months. I wasn't brought along since after the whole business around the wedding, they don't exactly... like me. It's lonely out there in the house, so I thought I'd come visit you guys to take my mind off it. You see, I heard they're trying to match her up with some 'nice Greek boy' they've brought so she'll stay away from me." Unable to continue, he buried his face in his hands.
Shaka patted Michael awkwardly on the shoulder. "There there, Fey. Mina loves you, I can tell. You'll be fine." His voice turned a bit less serious. "Now, we can allow you to stay here with us for the time being. But be warned, some things have changed here in Sanctuary and-"
"Shaka?"
Nobody noticed that Deathmask had entered until he spoke from behind them. Sky, Shaka, and Michael all jumped in surprise. Shaka whipped around, trying to hide the fact that he'd been surprised.
"Angelo, don't do that! What is it?"
Deathmask tossed him a dark glare. "Call me Angelo again and you die. Only my interviewer, my girlfriend, and Aphrodite get away with that. I don't care if you are the most powerful gold saint; I'll still end you. But I need to talk to you about the strike team."
Shaka did his best to hide his embarrassment at the mention of the strike team, but his cheeks still flushed red. "I-I'm not on the strike team. They're sending my father-"
"Which is exactly why I needed to talk," Deathmask cut in. "Me and the others don't wanna work with him. He's not the Virgo saint anymore- you are. Plus, the guy's way too lecturing for my taste. Which is why I'm going to try to get you and Sky sent on the mission instead."
"Are you sure?" Shaka argued. "Perhaps my father would be better for this mission."
Deathmask rolled his eyes. "That's not true and you know it, Virgo. You're a thousand times better than he is. As much as it kills me to be complimenting a good guy, I respect your ability. I'm not putting my life in the hands of somebody I don't respect or trust."
Shaka cut him off yet again, voice rising indignantly. "I both respect and trust my father, Deathmask. He's a good man, and if you can't see that, then you're sadly misguided. Be careful what you say about him; he's more like me than you think."
The saint of Cancer ignored Shaka's apparent agitation and sat down in one of the chairs, lazily kicking his feet up on the table. "Shayaka, Shayaka, Shayaka. You're nothing like Asmita. True, there are times when you can be just as lecturing and bothersome as him, but you're not so like that all the time. I can actually stand being around you. But Asmita... none of the others respect him, least of all me. Plus, I'm not willing to trust a guy I've barely met on this mission."
Shaka blushed at the mispronunciation of his name. "Fine, do what you must! But know that I don't sanction it! If you're going to get me on this mission, it will be against my wishes!" He stood up and stormed off, but whipped around for a last shout. "And don't call me Shayaka!"
Deathmask watched him go, calling cheerfully after him. "Whatever you say, Shayaka! I'll gladly drag you kicking and screaming on this mission and enjoy it thoroughly!"
With that, he stood up and made for the door, turning to Sky as he went. "Go console him. I don't feel sorry for him because of how my methods made him feel, but I'd prefer if I didn't have to deal with a scared and angry over-powerful godlike warrior when the team does set off. You and whatshisface with the cat translator are probably his closest friends, so go make sure I didn't do him any damage."
Sky watched him walk away. "I'm never going to understand that guy."
Michael nodded in agreement. "Let's go find Shaka. I hope he's alright."
"Okay, where should we look first?" Sky asked. "He disappears to all kinds of places."
Michael stroked his unshaven chin, looking thoughtful. "I might have seen him going off towards the TARDIS. Let's try there first."
As they were walking away to find Shaka, Sky turned to Michael again. "Michael..."
He looked back at her, smiling. "Yeah?"
She sighed. "Can I tell you something?"
"Okay, go ahead," Michael replied.
Sky let out a breath and spoke. "He missed you a lot. We both did. When you left and stopped contacting us, he seemed very unhappy. In fact, he thought it was his fault you never came back to Sanctuary. Shaka was convinced that you still blamed him for the incident with Mina. He thought you both still hated him because of the Theotokopoulos case a couple of years back. My brother tried to contact you thousands of times, but you never answered. It's been hard for him to accept the fact you weren't coming back."
Michael looked sad. "The reason I didn't contact Shaka is because Mina thought it would be best if we just cut all ties with Sanctuary quickly. I disagreed; Shaka and you believed in me before anyone else. But she pleaded that it would be safest if we didn't get Helene, our daughter, involved in all this. I wanted to talk to him, I really did, but danger follows you two like a shadow. I couldn't risk my family's lives."
Sky turned away, unsure how to respond. Michael did have reason for leaving, but he'd also hurt her brother in the process. But something kept Sky from blaming Michael for all this, something that worried her. She sensed that he'd changed a lot since they'd last met. Something about Michael was different; older. He seemed less playful and more like the frail, melancholy person that she and her brother had found sitting on a curb crying while they investigated Leo Aiolia's disappearance. All the confidence he'd gained in the time Sky had known him was gone. Michael was a shell of his former self. Something has obviously happened to him; something that he was hiding from the two Virgos. And Sky was going to find out what.
Arriving at the TARDIS, both of them immediately noticed the door standing open and the raised voices coming from inside.
"If that is the will of the others, you are going on this mission, Shaka!"
"I can't! It would be disloyal of me! I can't just betray Father like that!"
"Ah, he'll get over it! Now stop moping and take this mission!"
"No!"
"Virgo Shaka, as your mother, I order you to take that mission in your father's place!"
"But-"
"No buts! You're going and that's final!"
Sky stifled a laugh. Their mother could be forceful when she wanted. While Asmita lectured without his authority being much respected, The Doctor somehow managed to command everybody's loyalty and respect. Although she was clearly neither saint nor mere interviewer, the mysterious Time Lady was considered a leader by the others. She had thousands of years of experience, and who could argue with that?
The Doctor turned, seeing Sky and Michael. Her face broke into that smile of hers which made you think she couldn't possibly be thousands of years old. "Sky, who's this?" She turned to Michael. "I'm The Doctor, a Time Lady and the mother of Sky and Shaka. I assume they explained to you about how they are related to each other."
Michael looked shocked. "I'm Michael Fey, an old friend of Sky and Shaka. Did you say they were siblings?!"
The Doctor looked at him quizzically. "You didn't know? I would have expected my son and daughter to tell you.” She gave Shaka a dangerous look. “I thought I told you to stop being so antisocial!”
Shaka let out a long-suffering moan. “Honestly Mother, I’m twenty years old!”
Sky resisted the urge to laugh. “In the life span of a Time Lord, that’s barely a child!”
Michael interjected, sounding confused. “Wait, now Shaka’s a Time Lord? What’s more, he’s only twenty?! We’ve been the same age all this time?! I thought he was much older than me!”
Now it was Shaka’s turn to look confused. “Why, how old did you think I was?”
Michael shrugged noncommittally. “I was figuring thirties or forties-ish.”
The Virgo saint looked insulted. “Forties-ish?! Do I really appear to be that old to you?!”
Michael shrugged again. “You act like you’re in your forties sometimes. How was I to know that by rights we should have graduated together?”
“I act like I’m in my forties?!” Shaka shouted more loudly than he’d intended. “I should say that I don’t! Sky, do I act like I’m in my forties?!”
Now it was his sister’s turn to shrug. “Sometimes, yes.”
Michael looked at Shaka triumphantly. “See? We had no way of knowing you were twenty. You act much older.”
“You could have simply said I acted too mature to be in my twenties,” Shaka muttered darkly. “There was no need to call me middle-aged.”
The Doctor smiled triumphantly. “But as we’ve already established, you’re a child in terms of Time Lords. So you are the equivalent of an uncannily mature four-year-old.”
Sky laughed, ruffling her brother’s long blonde hair. “So he’s a four-year-old who acts like a forty-year-old!”
The victim of the hair-ruffling gave a put-upon sigh. “I do not act like I’m forty, so please refrain from professing that I do in order to get a rise out of me. It’s not going to work.”
Michael laughed. “It’s a little too late for that!”
Suddenly, Asmita walked up, reminding everyone of the initial reason they’d gathered. His expression was unreadable, but then again, it usually was. Sky stood up a little too hastily, followed by Shaka and Michael. All three looked incredulous.
“What is it?" Asmita inquired. "You all look guilty."
The Doctor tried to muster up an easygoing smile and failed. Seeing that breaking it to him gently wasn't going to work, she dropped the facade. "Asmita, honey, I have something to tell you."
Asmita's expression hardened. "I believe I may already know of this." Those watching expected his voice to break, but it stayed painfully level. "You all have decided that Shaka and Sky would accomplish the mission far better than I. Therefore, you and the others have decided to have me removed from the team."
The Doctor gave him a pleading look. "It's not anything you've done. Please, Asmita, try to understand."
He turned away. "I do." He turned to Sky and Shaka. "And I wish you both the best of luck on the mission. Please don't put yourself in danger in my place."
With that, Asmita strode off, looking unhappy. The Doctor looked towards Shaka and Sky.
"Well, you two?"
Shaka sighed, and walked off after Asmita. "I'm going after him."
The Doctor turned away. "Because you want to or because you feel you have to?" When both children looked shocked, she just shook her head. "Don't play dumb with me, I know how you feel about your father. You think you hide it well, but I can tell you both loathe him. I can say without much doubt in my mind that he knows it too. So don't go after him. It'll only make him feel worse. You have no idea how much it hurts to see all the ire and hate you show him. He's taking all the blame for our separation, even though we all had a part in it. Let me handle your father."
Sky watched her walk away. "What can I say? It's true. What Dad did to this family was unforgivable. He's the reason I didn't know of my connection to you sooner. It's his fault we separated. It's his fault that we barely know each other. Who cares about him anyway?"
Shaka also watched The Doctor walk away, but he looked sad. "It wasn't his fault, Sky. We were given up for our own safety. Father made the right decision."
Sky rolled her eyes. "Really? There were much better choices he could have made. He could've challenged Sanctuary's rules or given up being a saint. If he truly wanted children, then why did he send us away?"
"They wanted one child," Shaka cut in. "Mother and Father wanted one child. A girl. One who wouldn't have to follow in her father's footsteps and become the saint of Virgo. While Sanctuary has been more accepting in recent years, women aren't usually pressed into training. I can only think of one female saint who was forced into it of our current warriors. Mother and Father wanted a baby girl. They wanted you."
Sky looked perplexed. "Shaka, what do you mean?"
Her brother sighed. "Sky, I read Mother's journals from the time I was conceived. It was... My existence wasn't planned for. She herself said that she hoped the baby would be a girl, so that the child wouldn't have to become a saint. When I was born, it caused many problems for our parents. This is the reason we had to separate. Therefore, Father is not to blame. I am."
"Shaka-"
He looked sad. "You can't deny the facts, Sky. It's the truth. I was never meant to exist."
His sister gave him a dark look. "Shaka, you were meant to exist. Our parents love you and so do I. You're the best older brother anyone could ask for and a wonderful Saint. So if you ever say or imply they don't again, then I will personally murder your face!"
With that, she hugged him, muttering "idiot" under her breath. Shaka sighed, and gave her a tiny smile. “Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I must be satisfied with my circumstances. Sky the Time Lady commands it!”
His sister shoved him playfully, trying to pretend to be angry, but ended up laughing instead. They both shared a moment of happiness together, and for that moment, it seemed like they were normal siblings.
As they mock-wrestled with each other, Shaka heard the sound of fires lighting, and Sky saw the great clock of Sanctuary’s twelve blue flames glowing in the distance. It was time to leave on the mission, and their fun was over. They stood silently, both knowing in their hearts that something was beginning.
Their happiness had passed, and they were Time Lady and Saint once more.
End Part One
Well, that happened.
Glad you like it! Deathmask cannot seem to get rid of Bill Cipher. It's like that evil chair; he keeps coming back.