the hourglass (doctor who fan fiction)

Time of the Angels pt. 3

We climbed down a rope ladder into a humongous underground space. "Do we have a gravity globe?" the Doctor asked. "Grav globe." A Cleric handed a globe to the Doctor. "Where are we? What is this?" Amy asked. "It's an Aplan Mortarium, sometimes called a Maze of the Dead." River replied. "What's that?" The Doctor responded, "Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone..." he kicked the globe into the air, illuminating a vast array of mausoleums and statuary. "The perfect hiding place." I said. "I guess this makes it a bit trickier." Octavian looked around at the many statues around us. "A bit, yeah." I looked around as well. The statues seemed a bit off, though. "A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."

"A needle in a haystack." River nodded. "A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle of death. A hay-alike needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine." I chuckled at the Doctor. "Right. Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection." Octavian turned to the Doctor, "One question. How do we fight it?" he asked. "We find it, and hope."

The Doctor, me, and Amy started up the terraces. I  paused to rub my eye, the sensation was weird. It felt like some sort of dust got into my eye and wouldn't come out. "You all right?" River asked. "Yeah, I'm fine." I nodded. "So, what's a Maze of the Dead?" Amy questioned. "Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls. Okay, that was fairly bad. Right give me your arm. This won't hurt a bit." River injected Amy. "Ow!" she yelled. "There, you see. I lied. It's a viro-stabiliser. Stabilises your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship." River explained. "Wait, I won't need one?" I asked. The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, you, me, we're fine." he walked ahead.

"So what's he like? In the future, I mean. Because you know him in the future, don't you?" Amy asked River. "The Doctor? Well, the Doctor's the Doctor." she smiled, "Oh. Well, that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?" I felt someone behind me. "Yes, we are." I said. "Sorry, what?" I turned to the Doctor. "Talking about you." I grinned. "I wasn't listening. I'm busy." he muttered. "Ah. The other way up." River said. The Doctor turned River's portable computer around. "Yeah." he mumbled. "You are so his wife." Amy smirked. "Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy. This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?" River looked at me. "Yep." Amy popped the p. "You're good. I'm not saying you're right, but you are very good"

We heard gunfire. The Doctor, River, Amy and me ran back to the main group. A young Cleric had shot up a statue. "Sorry, sorry. I thought. I thought it looked at me." the cleric rubbed the back of his head. "We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?" Octavian scolded. "No, sir." the cleric responded. "No, sir, it is not. According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor." Octavian said. I walked up to the cleric. "What's your name?" I asked. "Bob, ma'am." he replied. "Ah, that's a great name. I love Bob." I smiled.

"It's a Sacred Name. We all have Sacred Names. They're given to us in the service of the Church." Octavian explained. "Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh?" the Doctor joked. "Yes, sir." Bob replied. "Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron." I yelled out. "Carry on." the Doctor said. "We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes." Octavian announced,

"Isn't there a chance this lot's just going to collapse? There's a whole ship up there." Amy worried. "Incredible builders, the Aplans." River smiled. "Had dinner with their Chief Architect once. Two heads are better than one." the Doctor commented. "What, you mean you helped him?" Amy asked. "No, I mean he had two heads." The Doctor turned to River, "That book, the very end, what did it say?" he questioned. "Hang on." River pulled the book out. "Read it to me."