The Fires of Pompeii, part 2 -
Upon their request Caecilius showed the Time Lords their hypocaust. The Doctor removed the grill on top and looked back up at Caecilius.
"Different sort of hypocaust?"
"Oh, yes. We're very advanced in Pompeii. In Rome, they're still using the old wood-burning furnaces, but we've got hot springs, leading from Vesuvius itself", Caecilius explained.
"Who came up with that?", the Oracle asked and sat down by the hypocaust to look down.
"The soothsayers, after the great earthquake, seventeen years ago. An awful lot of damage. But we rebuilt", Caecilius explained and joined them.
"Didn't you think of moving away?", the Doctor asked, "Oh no, then again, San Francisco."
"That's a new restaurant in... Naples, isn't it?", Caecilius asked.
"What's that noise down there?", the Oracle asked, leaning down.
"Don't know. Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring."
"What, and you just let your daughter breathe that in? The gods of the Underworld?", the Oracle asked.
"Yeah, well, let me guess, after the earthquake the soothsayers started making sense?", the Doctor assumed.
"Oh, yes, very much so. I mean, they'd always been, shall we say, imprecise? But then the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision."
"Haven't they said anything about tomorrow?"
"Doctor", she scolded.
"No. Why, should they?", Caecilius looked between the two, "Why do you ask?"
"No, no. No reason. Just asking. But the soothsayers, they all consume the vapours, yeah?"
"That's how they see", he told him.
"Ipso facto", the Doctor reached into the hypocaust to retrieve what they were breathing in.
"Look you", Caecilius said.
"Therefore", the Oracle translated.
"They're all consuming this", the Doctor let it sprinkle back in.
"Dust", Caecilius said.
"Ash. Tiny particles of rock, directly from Vesuvius itself", the Oracle told him, "Why would you let your daughter do that?"
The Doctor tasted the ash.
"Oh, do you have to do that? You can just eat like a normal person", his wife shook his head at him.
"They're breathing in Vesuvius."
He took her hand and went outside where they found Quintus.
"Quintus, old son. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus. Where does he live?", the Doctor asked.
Quintus rolled his eyes, "It's nothing to do with me."
"Let me try", the Oracle let go of her husband and walked up to Quintus. She produced a coin from behind his ear, "This Lucius Petrus Dextrus. Where does he live?"
Quintus smiled playfully, took the coin and jumped up. He led the way through the Pompeii night with a torch in his hand.
"Don't tell my Dad", he said when they arrived.
The Doctor jumped to the window and opened the shutters, "Only if you don't tell mine."
He went inside, the Oracle followed and turned back around, "Pass me that torch."
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To Be Loved
FanfictionThe Oracle and the Doctor found each other after years apart. While they're rebuilding their love mysteries unravel around them as they're trying to connect the dots around themselves. [Part 2 in the To Be Series]
