Right! This is the last chapter!

Melody - x.

Chapter 7

The diminishing hole of the trapdoor above her lit up her fall that seemed to last for minutes when it really was a few seconds. She was falling but it seemed that she was not creating air displacement, as though she was slowly floating down.

As the shadow of a head started to appear in the aperture, the trapdoor suddenly closed, preventing Borusa, the High Priestess and the guards to follow them. They will never be able to open it again. As Borusa mentioned it, it had been made by psychic masters that no one could outsmart. No one… except the Doctor.

Floating in the darkness, Melody could not see or hear a thing around her, it was just black and empty. Suddenly, out of the void, something made its way to her. It was not coming from the outside though, no, she was still alone in a pitch black darkness, but coming from within. Something calling her, summoning her even, a soft beating echoed in her head, making her heart beat harder as though it was longing for joining the caller that was singing a soothing lullaby. Like a mermaid on an oily sea, like a beacon on a far away shore, the song guided her as she let herself being carried away and, as she opened her eyes again, the dark was not so dark anymore, the light started to surround her, warm and nice until it gently put her down, back on her feet.

She blinked a few times and looked around her to discover her new surroundings: grey walls and floor with red signs bearing old high Gallifreyan on them. It smelled like oil, fuel and metal down there and the orange light was only coming from the outside by small windows just under the ceiling.

As footsteps echoed in the corridor she landed in, a hand grabbed her and pulled her in the shadow of a pillar. The Doctor just against her put a finger on his lips to tell her to keep quiet as two males in dark red working jumpsuits passed by them without noticing them as they were having an animated chat about which clog they should use.

When they were gone, the Doctor and Melody stepped out of the shadows and he led her to an adjacent corridor. Now sure they would hardly be found here, Melody asked:

"What was that when I jumped? Felt like I was floating."

"Just an antigrav bubble, I activated it when you jumped. Couldn't take the risk to have you smashed down to the ground and get us caught, could we?" he said with an amused smile.

"How did you do?"

"Oh, I used that: it's a er… sonic screwdriver, took it in the storage room. Cool eh?"

He was having fun! He was such a child… Well, to be honest, she was having fun too.

She looked around: capsules made of a grey material that was not stone, nor concrete, nor metal, nor plastic were standing there in a line against the wall. They were high cylinders with a door that seemed to slide on the side. She recognised what they were easily, her heart beating faster in excitement. Finally!

"Tardis repair shop…" she started in a whisper, a smile stretching her lips as her eyes wandered on the different capsules before them, sparkling. "We're in the Tardis repair shop! Those are Tardises!"

"Yes! Fancy a trip in Time and Space with me?" he said, awkwardly leaning against a Tardis, trying to look cool. How easily she could picture him in his tweed jacket and bow tie when he was doing that. "Though…" he continued, scratching the back of his neck, "We probably don't have much choice as it's this or getting caught."

As an answer she only nodded with a bright smile: finally! Finally they were going to travel!

"Right then!" he exclaimed, smiling back as he pointed the sonic screwdriver toward the Tardis he was leaning against a few seconds ago, trying to get it open.

As Melody looked around at the other time machines stored here, her eyes met the one in front of her, right next to the one her friend was working on. This one was exactly the same as the others, yet it was completely different. Now matter how hard she tried to take her eyes off of her, she would still be staring at her. The sensation she had felt before and that never quite left her invaded her again, stronger as it pushed her forward. Mesmerised by the grey capsule, she lifted a hand and stretched it toward the door, her eyes becoming deeper as she was getting closer. Her fingertips touched the door and at this contact, golden circles ran briefly on the Tardis, letting appear a hint of blue underneath. A hint of the bluest blue ever.

She closed her eyes and a warm sensation came from within her as the soothing song came back, her hand against the machine making a link, a link that had been missing since her arrival on Gallifrey and that she needed.

It was her… It was her…!

The song faded and she opened her eyes, turning to the Doctor who had his back turned to her as he was working.

"Doctor?" she started. She knew what she had to say.

"Yes, what is it? What do you want?" he said, looking at her.

"Sorry, but you're about to make a very big mistake." she said. As he looked confused she smiled. "Don't steal that one, steal this one. The navigation system's knackered, but you'll have much more fun." she added and leant against the Tardis she had touched seconds ago, making new golden circles appear and the door slide open as she did so.

"How did you…" he started, but the alarm of the repair shop started to ring, warning the workers that someone was stealing a faulty Type-40 Tardis.

They both quickly stepped inside, in the all-white console and rushed to the unit. To be honest, Melody was not very familiar with the first console unit settings, but as the Doctor was nervously pushing some buttons and switches, the sensation came back and urged her to push a lever. As she obeyed, the whole Tardis shook, sending both of them to the ground as the time machine took off with her typical groaning sound, as though she had been waiting here for too long that they finally come to steal her and travel through Time and Space.

The grey capsule was slowly drifting through space, not very far from the Medusa Cascade, safe and out of reach from the Time Lords, only adventure ahead.

The white desktop of the console room not being very much to the liking of the young Doctor, he decided to redecorate it to make it more personal and homely.

As Melody had gone wandering in the depths of the time machine, finding the new corridors looking very much like the future ones - series 7 if she remembered well - she arrived at the console room. He had finished.

Amazed, she stepped in the new console room by climbing the few stairs that led to the platform where the console unit was. The disposition was very similar to the future one, in a thousand years, yet the mood itself was different. Very different.

The material composing the floor, the rails, the stairs, the walls and the unit was a dark but warm shade of grey, almost brown. The roundels covering the lower part of the walls, held in hexagons, were generating a circle of a soft orange light, almost golden. A catwalk was running around the upper part of the walls which were covered with wooden bookshelves, the wood engraved with golden high circular Gallifreyan. Here or there would be two dark red Victorian-style seats with a side table where a floating globe was warmly lighting up the corner. Above the shelves, more golden high circular Gallifreyan writings were circling up the console room.

But the most stunning part was just above. Starting from this line, the entire ceiling was a projection of space, and not any kind of projection of space: it was a projection of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia, her favourite. It swirled around, copper dust making it sparkle as though tiny little particles were caught in her rotation, in the dance of the universe.

And at her center, the dark material was emerging in a surprising but delightful harmony, the time rotor with its three levels and decorated with more Gallifreyan writings, going round at the rhythm of Cassiopeia, just like an extension of the supernova.

Six tubes of orange light in the central glass column was linking the time rotor to the console unit and down to the center of the Tardis. Laying her eyes on the console unit, she detailed the new controls: there was the psychic interface softly glowing with multiple colors, red levers, blue stabilisers, two screens, a brass time rotor throttle that looked like the clog of a complex watch, and many other gilded metal switches and clogs. Lightly touching the console with her fingertips, Melody thought the new desktop looked very… steampunk, somehow. Gallifreyan steampunk, she chuckled.

"What do you think?" a voice spoke up from behind.

She turned around to see the Doctor leaning against a door frame.

"I love it. Especially the ceiling." she said, smiling.

"So, where to now?" he started, walking up to her "Wherever, whenever, all of Time and Space, everything that ever happened or ever will, where do you want to start…?"

"Well, I've been living on Gallifrey for twenty-five years now, I think it's about time you discover my planet: Earth." she said with a smile.

And not taking her eyes off of him, she pushed the brakes lever, flying away to a new, yet familiar, destination.

Earth.

Alright! I really hope you liked that one 'cause it took me a hell of a long time doing all the research part on the Gallifreyan lore!