THE LAST TIME LORDS OF GALLIFREY
A/N New chapter Please review Beta read by Sunnykisses Disclaimer I own nothing. "Pandora," Donna repeated slowly. "But, that's a myth." Braxiatel raised an eyebrow. "Indeed, but all myths have a little truth to them." "Well, I've got nowhere to go, start talking." Donna took a seat. "Very well," Brax settled into his own chair to begin. "Pandora was a female Time Lord who existed early in Gallifreyan history. She was the first female president of our people, before Romana. "According to legend, she sought to overthrow the traditions of Rassilon, lead Gallifrey to war and use time travel to reshape the Web of Time to her own design. She used an off world bodyguard who killed all who opposed Pandora's will. She then declared herself Imperiatrix. "In time, however, the High Council managed to convince the bodyguard to betray Pandora in return for the Time Lords improving her people's livelihood. However, once Pandora was betrayed, the High Council took the bodyguard back to her planet, where she was placed in an eternal 6.8 second time loop from which there was no escape. "The captured Pandora was dispersed and executed. She now existed only in legends. The dispersal chamber was in our old capitol, which was destroyed in Gallifrey's civil war. The new capitol was built over the ruins, which became the Vaults. The legends said that Pandora's dying screams still could be heard in the Vaults. She eternally cried for vengeance." "From her last remaining presence in The Matrix, Pandora manipulated Time Lord genetics through the centuries until the result was Romana. During her time at the Time Lord Academy, Romana visited the Vaults, enticed by Pandora's voice. Pandora told Romana of her Imperiatrix Imprimatur and of her destiny to rule Gallifrey under Romana. Disturbed by the encounter, I hypnotize her into forgetting both Pandora…and me." "Why?" Donna asked. "Pandora would live again if Romana kept going to her. I did what I thought was right. She was just a child back then " He then continued with his story. "Sometime later, during her travels with the Doctor, Romana was tortured by an agent of the Black Guardian. The Guardian released some of her forgotten memories, thus forcing Romana to regenerate in order to repress them. Not long after, Romana exiled herself to E-Space. "What I didn't know at the time was that Pandora apparently engineered Romana's return to Gallifrey, and her ascension to the presidency after the disastrous President Flavia was deposed. I supported her campaign in order to closely observe her for any sign of continued influence by Pandora, even though Romana did not remember me." "Were you together by then?" "Yes, Romana and I were involved twenty years after she became president; we became close after her ordeal with the Daleks. During her presidency, accompanied by her own off world bodyguard, Leela, Romana again encountered Pandora. Pandora used the energy of Coordinator Narvin to take the physical form of Romana's first incarnation. Through this meeting, Romana learned of her own history. Pandora was trapped in the Matrix by K9, but only temporarily. "Shortly afterwards, Castellan Wynter—a young Time Lord—came into contact with Pandora. He was driven mad and murdered," he said gravely. Brax still remembered what the creature had done to Castellan, how his hands had being crushed, his tongue removed and his body burned beyond recognition. "As a more stable solution, I absorbed the past and present aspects of Pandora from the Matrix and went into exile to isolate her from other Time Lords. I did it to keep Romana safe. I made a deal with Pandora; I would let her inhabit my body so long as Romana was safe. She was all that mattered. "I contained the past and the present aspects of her, leaving the future aspect still present. In spite of the risks involved, Romana continued to seek advice from Pandora through K9 on the various challenges during presidency. Pandora's advice was generally to declare herself Imperiatrix and to rule by decree. "Meanwhile, Darkel, an evil, twisted, power-mad Time Lady had been receiving guidance from a disembodied voice in the Vaults. She ran against Romana in the next presidential election. Before voting could be held, Romana declared herself Imperiatrix and dismissed the High Council. Pandora materialized, again in the form of Romana's first incarnation, claiming superior rights to the title. "A short, but bloody civil war ensued. It was the more reactionary forces of Pandora (including Darkel, Valyes, Janartis and –superficially—K9) against the more progressive elements and those concerned with maintaining the technicalities of the succession (Romana, Leela, Narvin, Hallan, Annos and - waveringly - Matthias). The war was won not by military might, but rather by Romana and K9 tricking Pandora back into a Matrix partition, and then destroying the Matrix entirely, killing Pandora. "The remaining aspects of Pandora became a force of pure hate, and when I returned to Gallifrey and was cajoled into releasing the force by Darkel, it consumed her rather than me. With still a tiny part of Pandora remaining in my mind, I returned to exile, the threat neutralized. "It's not as bad, now. There is only a small part of Pandora inside of my head, but enough to not be able to connect to other Time lord minds." Braxiatel looked away. He knew there was enough truth in his story for Donna to believe him. He told himself it was the lies she wanted to hear, so he wouldn't feel as guilty not that Braxiatel would. He was a good liar and a brilliant actor.
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