The Ghost of the Past

Darkness...Anna slowly opened her eyes, seeing only darkness around her. She was floating aimlessly in complete darkness...But she was used to it. It happened every time she faded from a place. Just a moment of complete darkness and relaxation, just to be thrown in another chaotic journey. Just a moment for herself, where she could see all. The past, the present and the future. But not hers. Never hers.
A loud noise broke her chain thought and Anna quickly opened her eyes to find herself in the middle of the street. Vivid colors and loud noises attacked her, and for some minutes she was disoriented, not knowing where to go and what to do. All that knowledge about time was fractured, just a part remaining in her mind. Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with a speeding car. The bright lights made her eyes hurt and she stayed frozen in her place, until a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her arms, and dragged her away from the street. She blinked twice, disoriented and confused. She was supposed to do something, she came there with a reason...what was that reason again?

Sonya gaped at the woman she gripped, trying to wrap her mind around what she had just saw. She had just materialized in the middle of the street then stood there as the car barreled towards her. "Oi, are you mad? That car could have killed you! Squashed you flat, blown you to smithereens!" She shouted, her voice rising an octave as she spoke, trying to get the woman in front of her to pay attention. Her gaze was distant, like she had no idea where she was or why she was even there at the moment. Then again, neither did Sonya, but that wasn't going to stop her from lecturing her about safety. "Listen, I don't know where your from, how you did that, or what you were even doing in the street, but I do know that normally when you stand in the road, you are bound to be hit by a car eventually." She added, her voice dropping down to a calmer tone as she looked her over nervously, checking for any damage she could have gotten. "What's your name anyway?"

Anna blinked twice, listening to every word the woman said...the...Sonya said. She turned to her, smiling brightly "Oh Hello there Sonya! Didn't see you. How've you been!" as she /finally/ understood the last question, she pouted. "You don't know me do you?" she whispered, sighing disappointed. Why couldn't she just one time go to someone that knew her? It was annoying!
Anna blinked twice again, looking around to figure out where she was...it looked like a city..probably around 2000..."Where are we by the way? Is it summer? Oh I /love/ summer" she grinned, absent-minded starting to rock back and forth on her feet.

"Um yeah.. Early summer how do you know me?" Sonya asked curiously, raising an eyebrow before grasping what she said and her eyes brightened. "Ah! You traveled back from the last time we met, yeah? Brilliant, I can't travel far, so I tend to run into people in my own timeline." She flashed her a smile and let go of the woman's wrists while checking her over again. "Again, I don't know you right now, what is your name?" She added curiously, her hands probing along the woman's arm while checking for any bruises or damage. "I mean, I don't generally meet time travelers besides the Doctor, and he's... Well he's a bit difficult to explain or even try to understand. Apparently though, he knows me far enough back that there is no chance of me meeting him in the form I know the most or any of his past ones..." Sonya trailed off and glanced up at her with a sheepish grin on her face. "I ramble when excited, I ever get like that with you in the future, just remember to give me a good shake or just give me a look that says 'shut up', that would do it."

Anna giggled "Oh I don't really know where we've met. I just know it's in the future. But I can't know the future, so I don't know the future. But I know we've met...or will meet...Blimey verbs are confusing" she rambled, still rocking slightly back and forth "Oh! You call me Anna!" She smiled brightly "And I know the Doctor...well knew...will know....one of those" she shook her head, though still smiling.
"So where are we exactly? And when? Never forget the 'when'..." But her attention was drawn to a peculiar-looking graffiti, with circular forms inside it "Now that's not normal" she mumbled going closer to it

Sonya felt her eyebrows shoot upwards as Anna rambled. If she sounded like that when excited, no wonder several people gave her exasperated glances when around her. She glanced over at the wall and tilted her head curiously. "That's Gallifreyan... I've been studying it intensely. Haven't cracked the language quite yet, but I'm getting closer every day..." She mumbled, wandering over to stand beside Anna as she stared at it closely. "If I have my verbs right, that word there is beginning..." She added, pointing at the second half of the circle, her fingers tracing the color as she did.

Anna put both of her hands on it, tracing the circles. She backed from it, frowning and chewing on her lower lip. There was something about it that she just couldn't place her finger on it. Then, her eyes widened. "No beginning with no ending" she whispered her eyes wide and a bit scared, but they soon went for a bit dazed then back to their childish sparkle., and then pouted crossing her arms "What does that even mean?" She turned to Sonya, her hands behind her back and rocking slightly back and forth on her heels "What do you think?"

"Well... It might possibly mean that without a beginning there is no ending." Sonya said with a shrug, her eyes sliding over to Anna as she spoke. "It makes sense, for instance, if you don't start a book, then there is no ending to said book because it was never written." She returned to the circles and tilted her head to the side, studying them for a moment longer before turning around to face the street and the people walking along it. "The question is, who wrote it and why?"

Anna shrugged "It could have been me. Or you. Or the Doctor. Or any Doctor" she came closer to it, looking at it closely. When she went to put a hand on it, she noticed her hand was a bit transparent. Oh no, that meant she didn't have too much time. And she was starting to find something really interesting too!

Sonya blinked slightly and glanced around the area again, a grown working onto her face as she thought. "But why would anyone wow that? Is it a warning? A threat, or just some thing that was put the for the hell of it?" She let out a low groan, one thing that was a constant thorn in her side was the of clues or puzzles she constantly ran into whenever she found someone connected to the Doctor, or the man himself for that matter. And it always ended up dangerous and life threatening. Looking back over at Anna, she forced a grin onto her face and lifted her shoulders up in a small shrug. "We won't find anything out just standing here, any ideas?"

Anna pouted in thought, hiding her slightly fading hand behind her back. "Where can we go?" Her eyes were a bit wide and innocent-looking "Is there any place we could go? I'm kinda...lost" her eyes saddened a bit, looking down "I don't really know how I've got here. Or where here is in particular." She shrugged, but then smiled brightly at Sonya "We should go and find more clues! Be like Sherlock and Watson! OH oh I wanna be Sherlock! I always loved Sherlock...will love? No no loved was good" She grinned, rocking back and forth on her heels. She backed from the graffiti, still looking at it curiously. There was something she forgot, something that she knew it was important to remember but she just couldn't.

"Why do I have to be Watson?" Sonya grumbled before smiling brightly at Anna and beginning to head down the sidewalk. "Any ideas on where to start first, Sherlock? Or are you just gonna go wherever feels right?" She called over her shoulder to Anna, her hands finding their ways into her pockets as she strode along, not really paying attention as several passerby cast irritated looks at her while moving quickly to get out of her way. "Because I haven't the faintest idea of where to go, I don't normally jump into situations, they usually find me first you know."

Anna shrugged and pointed forward "Let's go that way!" But she frowned, pointing behind her back "No that way!" She frowned again, looking at her finger "Why can't you decide?" Shrugging, she started to walk to the right "Well I'm just following my hearts" She smiled brightly, shrugging again and walking with a small bounce in her feet

"Sounds like a good deal." Sonya said cheerfully, striding along beside Anna as they wandered about, her eyes roaming around the area as they did. Searching for anything that might stand out in the neighborhood. Turning a corner, she spotted something that caught her attention, nothing alien or out of place, but something that brought her spirits up at the sight of it's sign. "Ohhh, Chips!" She said in excitement, reaching over to grab Anna's arm and pulling her towards the door and tantalizing scent drifting from it. "Let's grab some chips and eat, maybe some food in our stomachs, yeah?" She cast a hopeful smile at Anna, silently pleading with her to agree. It had been a few days since she had eaten anything honestly, she had been hopping from place to place too often to settle down long enough to get something to eat.

Anna grinned, now tugging Sonya to the stand. When they got their chips, they were strolling aimlessly through the busy street. Anna's plate of chips suddenly fell on the ground, and she stuffed her hands in her pockets, smiling apologetic at Sonya "Sorry I'm quite clumsy" She shrugged. But that wasn't it. Her hands were fading and she knew, that whatever she came here for, wasn't in that direction "Let's go that way!" She exclaimed, suddenly turning 180 degrees and going back the way they come. She wan't really worried about her fading, it was a normal thing, but she wanted to know why she came here. Well, curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back

Sonya frowned slightly then followed Anna as she headed back the way they came from. She had no idea what was so interesting back there besides the Gallifreyan printed on the wall, but either way, she couldn't complain the woman was pretty interesting in her own odd way. Finishing up her chips, she dumped them in a passing bin before hurrying to catch back up with Anna. "Well, any ideas on what to do? I'm tapped out, I only came here to relax for a few days honestly, I wasn't expecting anything to happen that would involve me indirectly." She said with a shrug, her hands reaching up to grab the straps on her knapsack as she spoke, her eyes drifting sideways to look at Anna.

((*pokes head in* can I join?))

Anna shrugged "Well I don't really know either. I just kind of...dropped by...literally" She chuckled, though keeping her hands in her pockets. She didn't want to freak Sonya out. "But what I know for sure is that whatever it is it's important, to me, or you, or Earth, or any Doctor. Because there are little people who actually know how to write in Gallifreyan. So, either is a message from our future, or someone needs help" Anna continued to stroll back, stopping and inspecting the reading again. Nothing new. She pouted, looking around.

((Theta of course you can join^^))

Sonya shrugged her shoulders and glanced around the area with a slight frown on her face. "Why do you keep dragging us back here anyway? We've seen the message, shouldn't we wander off to find whoever made it?" She asked finally, looking back over at Anna with a raised eyebrow. She was a tad bored with hanging around in the one area for so long. Something inside of her just wouldn't sit still long enough for Sonya to be happy just sitting here. She wanted to move, she wanted to figure the mystery out and then go on with her life. Maybe run into one of the Slitheen she had seen mentioned in the journal. That would be interesting.

Anna hesitated, then turned to face Sonya. She took her hands out of her pockets, extending her so she could see them. They were still see-through "Because when I leave an important place, I fade. And most of the time, I appear in another important place. That's mostly how I live" She shrugged, as her hands returned to normal "So, I know this graffiti is important, because I can't get far away from him" She turned to look at it but then smiled warmly at Sonya "But if you want, you can go. I won't hold you here. You're free to go anywhere, but I must solve this, before I fade again" Her gaze returned to the graffiti, looking at it with wise old eyes "There /must/ be a hidden meaning....no beginning without ending...how poetic"

No beginning without ending. A saying, like Anna had mentioned, poetic. In Gallifreyan, foɑsəri fɛnunalipo.

Theta Sigma, one week behind the two girls, had been trying to find out why the Gallifreyan saying was written on the Earth wall for about twenty minutes now, or even who could have written it. Passerbys looked at the man oddly; for he was now a man, 50, with the appearance of a 25 year old human. 20 years had passed since his entrance to this universe. 20 glorious, horrifying, depressing, and amazing years that he wouldn't trade for anything in any of the universes, even a way home. He'd already been through that.

The Timelord sat cross-legged, just staring at the words intently. He wore his usual attire; a brown tweed coat, blue jeans, a blue bowtie to match, and white tennis shoes. However, over the years, a slight stubble had appeared on his chin. He'd also grown his hair longer. Absentmindedly he pushed a strand out of his face and resumed his out loud thinking.

"Hmm...foɑsəri fɛnunalipo, losɑk fonalipo fɛnuɑsəri. Odd...maybe a warning or threat of paradox creation? Or perhaps a comfort, I know mum used to tell me that when I asked about regeneration..."

Theta scratched his chin stubble in confusion. Not only was it odd because only someone who knew Gallifreyan could have written it (and very few in this universe knew what Gallifreyan was, let alone how to write it), but they had done it all over. And when he meant all over, he meant all over space and time. Like his counterpart and the saying 'bad wolf', it had been popping up a lot for him over the past year. He smacked the palm of his hand into his forehead repeatedly.

"C'mon Thete, think! Why do they keep writing it...? There needs to be a reason!"

(Theta, I'm going to use my epic phone to call you.)

Sonya stared at the lettering again before she flipped a phone out of her pocket and scrolling through the contacts almost absentmindedly for a few minutes. "I know someone that might be able to help. He's a bit excitable though, so don't be surprised if the guy jumps around like a jackrabbit." She cautioned Anna before lifting the phone to her ear and listening to it ring on the other end. "Come on Thet, pick up for Rassilon's sake." She grumbled under her breath while pacing back and forth in front of the wall, her eyes locked on the ground and her feet as they slapped against the sidewalk with each stride.

Thete's eyebrows furrowed in confusion when his phone began ringing. It hadn't rang in, what, almost a year? He glanced at his pocket where the ringing was coming from cautiously, sticking his hand in it gingerly, as if the pocket itself was going to bite him. He brought the phone out and flipped it open. Theta felt his mouth go dry at the name.

Sonya. Call from Sonya flashed on the small screen, accompanied by the ringtone, which went to the tune of that one song, Demons or whatever it was called. He pressed the button, and slowly lifted the device up to his ear.

"...Hello?"

Sonya grinned from ear to ear and held a finger up to Anna before walking a bit away for some privacy. "Thet! Long time no talk, Where are you right now, I have a bit of an issue and want your opinion on it?" She asked quickly, her shoe scuffing at the sidewalk in front of her as she nervously shifted from foot to foot. "If your busy with something, its fine, I just thought I'd ask. I haven't heard from you in a while, started to get a bit worried you had been kidnapped by some species on some planet and held for medical experiments."

"Uhh..." Theta's older sounding voice came over Sonya's phone, sounding kind of lost and confused "Not really busy for me, um, not being experimented on, just trying to decipher something. H-how long has it been for you, then?"

Back a week earlier, Theta paced back and forth with the phone to his ear, running a rut into the ground where he had been sitting, flattening some of the bright green grass that grew there. He couldn't believe it. This Sonya just sounded so...young. Obviously, it was after the point they had been traveling together, and before the time he last saw her, but how long? However long it was, he knew he was ahead of her timeline. He just needed to know how much time before that event happened. Time travel; it got confusing, especially when both people did it.