The Master returned to his TARDIS, going over the knowledge he had acquired. “Well, that was invigorating,” he muttered. “I’ll just set the coordinates to take us into the Time Vortex… and I had best go searching for Danica. It’s time we discuss our options.”
As he approached the console, however, he noticed that someone was attempting to contact his TARDIS. Activating the view-screen, he observed a strangely familiar masked woman, who immediately spoke up. “Master. I must assume that Danica has left your presence, yes?”
He raised an eyebrow. “No,” he responded cautiously, “she’s not with me at the moment. She’s certainly somewhere on my TARDIS, but I am not certain where at the moment. But who are you? An acquaintance of Danica’s, I presume?”
Her eyes widened. “Ah, I mistook you for someone else. I am an acquaintance. Of sorts.” She contemplated on telling him her real name, and found no harm in doing so. “I’m known as Septima, the plague mistress. You are?”
The Master gave a sort of half-bow. “I am usually referred to as the Master. Pray tell, how did you know that Danica was with me if you were speaking with someone else?”
"You see, I was speaking with… your future self. Also, I almost always know where Danica is. I can’t quite explain it. I suppose that she’s still here then." Septima paused to think, but then continued, "I can locate her, however she cannot locate me due to the constant cloaking I do."
The Master nodded. “I see. So you are the arch-nemesis she spoke of, then?”
Septima couldn’t help smiling. “Really? That’s what I am now? I suppose you could call me such a thing.”
"So, then. May I inquire as to what you think I should do with your enemy?" The Master began the dematerialization process. "She is currently within my TARDIS, after all."
"Hmm? Ah, well, I do intend on bringing her back. Possibly letting her watch me take over planets. Captive audience. That sort of thing. I could do battle with her, seeing as it’s been quite a while. There are quite a bit of things."
"So I suppose you wish her brought to you?" the Master asked, frowning. "I could, but I would require payment for my generosity. As the Earth saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch."
Septima looked at him before raising an eyebrow, “You need something? I already gave a future version of you a rather good plague, I’m not quite sure of what else I can give you in particular.”
"Merely a small favour; a trifle, really," he explained. "The Doctor is currently relying on a mercenary band native to Earth to aid him in fighting me. I don’t suppose you can… take care of them for me?"
"How about this, I take care of your Doctor issue, and you dispose of her yourself?"
"Very well then," he nodded. "We have an agreement. Do be careful. The Doctor is quite crafty. He has a habit of undoing your whole scheme when you’re on the verge of victory.
"It is a pity, though. I shall miss the challenge. Ah, well. I’m certain I shall have other opponents in the future."
Septima paused for a moment. “I’m quite sure of it. There’s plenty of… things here that you may find to be worth opponents. Ah, what I do in the event he regenerates? Which one is he on right now?” She paused again. “This may take a while.”
"The version of him I last encountered was his second regeneration. As for how to take care of him if he regenerates, all you need do is interrupt the regeneration," he smiled. "Preferably by doing whatever caused the regeneration again."
"I see… anything else that you know about him, that I should be told? I do like to be prepared."
"Let me see," the Master spent a few minutes thinking. "I suppose a physical description of this incarnation would not go amiss. He has a great mane of white hair, and is always dressed in particularly fancy clothing; velvet, frills, opera capes, that sort of thing. As his TARDIS is stuck, he has taken to using a bright yellow automotive to travel; you should have no problem spotting him. He has a sonic device capable of scanning and manipulating electronics; it is quite simple, but I would avoid incorporating electronic devices into your plans because of it. And do be careful of his lab assistant, Miss Josephine Grant; she may appear to be an idiot, but she has come out with surprising bursts of ingenuity on occasion."
"I see. To be honest, based on your description of him, it doesn’t… seem he’s attempting to be subtle in any form. Ah, well, I will try, and I do hope to be back sooner or later."
"Subtlety was never the Doctor’s strong point," the Master chuckled. "Farewell for now, Septima; I look forward to hearing of your success. Good luck."
Danica had spent several hours exploring the Master’s TARDIS, and had entirely lost track of where she was. She glanced around, frowning. “Terrible. I always get lost in these places.” she exhaled, “Since when was my sense of direction so terrible?”
Suddenly, she heard the Master’s voice emanating from some indeterminate spot. “Ah, Danica. I have activated the TARDIS intercom. I don’t suppose there are any noticeable features near your location like, ah, unusual doors, paintings or murals on walls, and that sort of thing.”
"Well, there’s a green door to my left, it appears to have some kind of symbol on it… There’s this rather large chandelier above me, it has some different coloured jewels on it as well… Do you know where I am?" Danica questioned worriedly.
The Master considered what he knew of his ship’s architecture. “I believe you’re quite deep in the TARDIS, my dear,” he stated. “Unless I miss my guess, that green door leads to the Eye of Harmony - the power source of my ship. I suggest you not go in there; time tends to go a bit odd near such things. Fortunately, I have a Transmat system installed on my TARDIS; go down the corridor until you reach the tapestry depicting Rassilon fighting the Vampires, go behind the tapestry, proceed half a mile, turn right, and it will be behind the thirty-second door on your left. Unless you’re left-handed, in which case it will be the twenty-third door on the right. Once you’re there, I can transport you to the console room.”
"Right." She followed his directions and entered the thirty-second door on the left. "I’m here now."
"Splendid. Just hold still a moment and I’ll transmat you here. Try not to be too alarmed; you’re still rather close to the Eye and time may go a bit funny for a secon -"
Suddenly, Danica felt an uncomfortable sensation, as the world around her seemed to blur. Snatches of noise resounded and were silenced. “- All the time when I had the option of a slow, -” “- I am not Bruce. It took me a minute -” “- You wistful, you craven-hearted spineless poltroon. -” “- The centre of a mighty empire! The greatest that the cosm -” “- And look at him now. Stealing screwdrivers. -” “- Than the desire for revenge. But, if you follow the -“
As Danica recovered from her journey, she realized that she was in the Master’s console room, with the man himself standing at the controls. “And here you are!” he said, smiling. “I do hope the Transmat was not too disorienting.”
"Erm… I just heard a few people talking at once… That is normal, right? As in, that’s something that tends to happen? I am quite sure that was a few versions of you. All at once. It was… rather strange."
The Master nodded. “A side effect of your proximity to the Eye of Harmony, I expect. Or your prior proximity, to be accurate. Now then, it seems to me that I have quite the conundrum on my hands. What am I to do with you? We can chase after the other Master, and repay his treachery; he has left the Library, but I can follow his time traces. Or, we can go after your enemy, as you had intended to do with him. Or, if you prefer, I can simply leave you at the place and time of your choosing.”
"Hm. I believe we should follow the other Master, there is a large chance that he is with my enemy, and then I can hit two birds with one stone," Danica said after some thought.
"Very well then," the Master responded jovially. "I just have to track the time traces… Let me see… How curious. Our destination is on Earth. This fellow must be obsessed with the planet. Looks to be Italy, 165 AD, or thereabouts. Splendid, I might be able to visit my old friend Marcus Aurelius while we’re there."
"Ah. All right then. Italy in the year 165? Rather strange, I wonder what he could possibly be doing there?"
The Master thought for a moment. “I believe Rome would make a convenient meeting-place; it was ever one of the great cosmopolitan cities. A Time Lord and a deity can go without any real notice in such places. Why, I shan’t even get any odd looks for my jacket, though the style is something around 1,800 years yet to come. I suggest we take a look in the Forum of Rome itself; we can pick up on any odd news there.”
"That’s quite a comfort. I suppose we should head towards there, then. Wait, you know I’m a deity?" she asked.
He nodded. “My apologies, my dear Danica, but ever since what I had believed to be a human friend of mine betrayed me, I have taken to checking that anybody who travels with me, however briefly, is not an agent of the Time Lords. Basic precautions, you understand.”
Danica nodded, “I suppose, I was a little surprised, that’s all. Shall we go?”
"Certainly," the Master responded. As they left they TARDIS, he breathed in with an air of great satisfaction. "Ah, springtime in Rome! I must say, I have always found this one of the most impressive lands on this planet. Such strategic brilliance, these Romans have; it is a pity about the slavery and gladiators, certainly; but I find that the evils of the situation do not entirely diminish the good." Turning serious, he stated, "Now then, I think we ought to split up and look for clues; if you would eavesdrop on the talk in the Forum while I shall seek an audience with the Emperor, and inquire of him what oddities might have occurred recently, and thus cover more ground faster, as it were."
"Sure, I’ll go, but… you won’t leave me here, right?" Danica turned around to look at him, a bit suspicious.
"Of course not, my dear; I am a man of my word." He removed his TARDIS key from his pocket. "If you need further reassurance, here is my TARDIS key; I cannot enter my TARDIS without it."
Danica gave a small smile, “Thank you. Where are we going to meet after we finish with our respective duties?”
"The Colosseum, just east of the Forum, should prove a suitable landmark. We can regroup at the first entrance to it. Good luck, my dear. I do hope we find this other Master."
"I too, hope that he is found. I will see you later." With this, Danica left to the Forum.
The Master looked around the streets. “Now then, which way to the palace… Ah, there we go. I wonder if Marcus has begun his book yet.”
Soon enough, the Master was dining with one of the Emperors in the Flavian Palace. “Now that we’ve gone through the formalities, Imperator, tell me; what have you been up to?”
"I have had a major victory in Parthia," responded the Emperor, "but surely you know of this; it is the talk of all Rome. I sent an ambassador to Sinae a few weeks ago, but already I have greater concerns. My brother Emperor has fallen ill. The plague grows daily, and the people say that we brought it with us when we returned to the city."
The Master frowned. “I believe that plague is the reason I am here, Imperator; unless I am mistaken, I shall stop it at its source. Tell me, what do you know of it?”
"There is little to tell," Marcus Aurelius spoke, "the plague came upon a few days ago, and the people are in an uproar. They seem to think that I can heal it. I believe that the worshippers of the god Glycon are spreading this disorder; but I have not been able to catch them at it."
"Tell me more of the cult of Glycon, Imperator," asked the Master. "I feel it might be important."
The Emperor gestured towards the window. “They come from the east, worshipping a man-headed snake they claim is the son of the God Apollo; this is Glycon, their god. They are led by a man called Alexander; for several years now they have been just one among many local cults. Now a man called Coconnas has come to Rome, and has convinced many of Rome’s people to worship this new god of his; even several of the Senators. I know nothing of Coconnas; he claims to be from Byzantium, but my tax collectors have never heard of him. I would arrest him, if I could ever catch him spreading sedition; but I am a just man, and will not arrest him without evidence.”
"But then where did he come from?" the Master stood, pacing back and forth. "You can’t sit there and say you don’t know."
"I do not know." The Emperor looked at the Master sharply. "Magister, will you stop this plague? I will not ask you to cure it, but I ask you save my empire."
"I will do my best, Imperator," the Master accepted, "in fact, I might even be able to leave an able healer in Rome. I must leave now. My companion is doubtless waiting for me."
As the Master headed to the door, Marcus Aurelius called out, “If you betray me, old friend, you may rest assured: I will find you, and I will have you disembowelled.”
The Master turned, and spoke. “I hope that will not be necessary, Imperator. Goodbye.” With that, he left the room; and shortly after, the palace.
At the same time, Danica walked through the Forum slowly, listening to see if she would pick up any interesting news. The weather, the prices on certain things… She noted that there were mentions of many people dying in the past few days, which was strange, as it wasn’t the time for that sort of thing, and there was some mention of a new plague that they had never witnessed before. At this, Danica began listening carefully.
"Excuse me miss, may I ask you about something?" Danica asked, walking up to a small woman who was watching her children. "Has anything… erm, strange happened lately?"
"What isn’t strange these days?" the woman retorted. "People fallin’ ill left and right, and the Emperors are just sitting in the Palace, watching. My husband’s almost dead, and they don’t care. It’s good fortune for us that that Coconnas fellow is giving out spells left and right to drive the plague away. At least someone’s helping."
"The Emperor’s done nothing about this?" Danica paused. "And who, if you don’t mind me asking, is Coconnas?" she asked.
"Oh, he’s the high priest of Glycon," the woman explained. "Came out of nowhere a few days ago, said he could cure the plague. Don’t know if I quite like the look of him, dressing in black all the time - and that beard! He looks like Pan himself come down from the hills! Still, if he’ll keep us alive, then I’ll obey him like he asks. Better than following that man in the palace. His own brother and co-ruler is ill, and he’s done nothing. Only planning for his wars next year."
Danica made the connection but kept a stony face. “I see. Has he actually cured anyone? I mean, it’s worked, right?”
The woman looked confused for a moment, then spoke, slowly. “My sister told me that her husband told her that his cousin told him that his patron told him that he met a shopkeeper, who told him that his mother was cured by Glycon. They can’t all be wrong, can they?”
"I suppose," Danica replied, internally shaking her head at it all, before finally bidding the woman goodbye and heading for the Colosseum.
Meanwhile, across the Forum, a man in black motioned to one of his companions. “You. Follow that foreigner with the bow, but do not let her know. If she is who I think she is, she could stop the rise of Glycon. She must not be allowed.”
Yes, Coconnas,” replied the gladiator. “I obey your will.”
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