I can't put into words how much I love this episode, the speech from the Doctor at the end, the song, the VISUALS (sorry I am excited) I hope I did the episode somewhat justice but that's enough from me, let's get on with it!

─── ｡ﾟ☆･*.☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ───

With the Stone and Araya on one of the bikes and the Doctor and Clara on the other, they sped off as fast as they could through space and towards Merry who reached out of Clara's hand. "Merry!" She shouted as the girl was pulled into the pyramid, the door slammed shut behind her.

"Brakes!" Clara shouted just after seeing the Stone slam on hers. "Brakes!"

The Doctor quickly put his in. Skidding the bike to a stop, making Clara clutch onto him. "Okay, time to let go." He wheezed out.

"I can't." She replied eyes tightly closed shut. The Stone chuckled slightly thankful that she had Araya on her bike and not Clara.

"Clara, you have to."

"Why?"

"Because it really hurts." He said making her let go and he let out a sigh.

"Sorry."

Araya and the Stone jumped off the bike. The Stone scanned the door with her screwdriver and frowned as the Doctor did the same, interested in why she looked so confused. "Oh, that's interesting." He glanced at the Time Lady. "A frequency-modulated acoustic lock. The key changes ten million zillion squillion times a second."

"Can you open it?" Clara looked between the pair.

"Technically, no." He grinned making the Stone instantly know what he was going to do. "In reality, also no, but still, let's give it a stab." He ran to the door and launched himself at it, groaning loudly when his shoulder collided with it.

"How can they just stand there and watch?" Clara asked watching the Time Lords scan the door again.

"Because this is sacred ground."

"And she's a child." She countered.

"And he's a god." The Doctor reminded. "Well, he is to them, anyway."

A high-pitched scream echoed through the pyramid and the walls and door, Araya quickly hid behind her mother, and Clara started to pound on the door. "Merry!" She hit her fist on it. "Merry, hold on! We'll be there soon. Doctor?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes." He grinned brightly. "Oh, hello."

"Hello, what?" She questioned.

"The sonic's locked onto the acoustic tumblers."

"Meaning?"

The Stone smirked. "Meaning we get to do this." They forced the door to move with their sonics. The Doctor winced a little when he moved to stand under it but of course, he wasn't alone, the Stone was right by his side helping him hold the door with her own screwdriver.

"Hello there." He nodded to Merry who looked at them terrified, a mummified creature sat on the large chair in the glass case, and the Chorister kneelt in front of the glass box still singing. "I'm the Doctor, this is my wife the Stone and you've met Clara and our daughter, Araya." He nodded at the little girl hiding behind his legs. "They were supposed to be having a nice day out, Araya hasn't actually been outside in space before, then again neither has Clara. Still, it's early yet. Are you coming, then?"

"Did we mention that the door is immensely heavy?" The Stone said through a wince.

"Leave." Merry protested. "You'll wake him."

"Really quite extraordinarily heavy." The Doctor panted as they were both pushed to their knees, "Clara?" He said as she stepped past them and headed into the pyramid.

"Rae go with Clara." The Stone nodded.

"But-" the little girl winced.

"It's much safer with us in there than out here by yourself Rae." The Doctor quickly replied. She nodded and quickly followed Clara in.

The Chorister continued to sing. "Merry, we need to leave." Clara held out a hand for her.

"No." She stepped back shaking her head. "Go away."

"Not without you."

"You said I wouldn't get it wrong and then I got it wrong. And now this has happened. Look what happened!"

Araya frowned. "You didn't get it wrong though."

"How do you know?" Merry huffed out from being upset. "You don't know anything. You have to go! Go now, or he'll eat us all."

The Doctor growled at that. She was only a child and upset but no one told his daughter that she didn't know anything. "She's a child Sweetheart, leave her be." The soothing voice of the Stone entered his mind. Somehow she sounded relaxed with a heavy door hovering above her.

"Well, he's ugly." Clara moved around to stand in front of the mummy's box. "But you know, to be honest, I don't think he looks big enough."

"Not our meat, our souls." She touched her temples and purple energy forced Clara back. Sticking her back to the mummified box.

Araya made a small yelp and backed towards her parents. "He doesn't want you." Merry shook her head, "He wants me. If you don't leave, he'll eat you all up too."

"Yes, and you don't want that, do you?" The Doctor cut in. "You want us to walk out of this really quite astonishingly heavy door and never come back."

"Yes."

"I see." He nodded, "Right. Clara's right. Absolutely never going to happen," He nodded. "dear?"

The Stone winced as she forced herself onto her feet and stepped forward still holding the box with her screwdriver, the Doctor let go of his sonic and quickly rolled away from the door as it slammed shut behind them He stood up and fixed his hair and straightened his jacket.

"Did you just lock us in with the soul-eating monster?" Araya asked.

"Yep." He nodded hugging her tightly, her fear was practically radiating off of her. She was completely terrified. If only they had decided to go somewhere relaxing like Barcelona, he still had to take the Stone there too.

"And is there actually a way to get out?" Clara questioned.

"What?" The Doctor asked whispering with his hands cupping his daughter's ears, not wanting to make her anymore scared. "Before it eats our souls?"

"Ideally, yes."

"Possibly." He nodded. "Probably. There usually seems to be."

Clara frowned and nodded at the Chorister. "Doctor, why is he still singing?"

"Old God, rest your weary, holy head." The Chorister continued.

"He's trying to sing the Old God back to sleep, but that's not going to happen." The Stone knelt down behind him. "I'm sorry but he's waking up, buddy. He's coming, ready or not. You want to run."

The Chorister stopped singing, his eyes widened and stared into the Stones. "That's it, then." The Doctor said. "Song's over."

"The song is over." He confirmed. "My name is Chorister Rezh Baphix, and the Long Song ended with me." He stood up and touched a button on his bracelet making him disappear.

The mummy suddenly roared and stood up. "Ah ha! Look at that." The Doctor said as Araya ducked behind her mother's legs, the Time Lady placed a hand on her hair and ran a hand through it, trying to calm her shaking daughter down.

"You've woken him." Merry gasped.

"It's awake?" Clara asked, unable to look from where she was pinned up against the glass case. "What's it doing?"

The Stone hid her wince when the monster started bashing its fists on the glass. "Oh, you know a nice stretch, possibly a dance."

The Doctor looked at Merry. "No, we didn't wake him. And you didn't wake him, either. He's waking because it's his time to wake and feed. On you, apparently. On your stories."

"She didn't say stories. She said, souls."

It's the same thing, Clara." He informed.

"The soul's made of stories, not atoms." The Doctor said. "Everything that ever happened to us. People we love, people we lost." glanced at Clara for a moment. "People we found again against all the odds." He shook his head. "He threatens to wake, they offer him a pure soul. The soul of the Queen of Years."

"Doctor." The Stone whispered through her teeth feeling her daughter shaking and noticing the fear on Merry's face. "You're scaring her and definitely scaring Araya now."

"Good." He nodded. "She should be scared." The Stone shot him a dark threatening look. "But not Araya, poppet you will be fine, he won't hurt you I promise." He reassured looking down at her. "Would I ever lie to you?"

"No." She shook her head.

"And why's that?"

"Because you love me?" She guessed.

He smiled. "Not just that." He rubbed her hair. "Because you're my little girl, okay?"

"Okay." She smiled.

"What about Merry though?" Clara asked.

"She should be scared, terrified even, because she's sacrificing herself. She should know what that means. Do you know what it means, Merry?"

"A god chose me."

"It's not a god." He answered. "It'll feed on your soul, but that doesn't make it a god. It is a vampire, and you don't need to give yourself to it. Hey, do you mind if I tell you a story?" He crouched down to her. "One you might not have heard. All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a faraway star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, these elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings. Until eventually, they came together to make you. You are unique in the universe. There is only one Merry Gejelh. And there will never be another. Getting rid of that existence isn't a sacrifice. It is a waste."

"So, if I don't, then everyone else-"

"-Will be fine." He nodded.

"How?"

"There's always a way."

"You promise?"

"Cross my hearts." He smiled and crossed them both. Merry nodded and took a hand he held out. She released Clara. The mummy continued pounding on the glass and a crack formed in it. 

"Having a stretch, possibly a dance?" Clara quoted.

"The second part was more for Araya." The Time Lady informed. The asteroid rumbled making Araya tightly hold her parent's legs as they held their arms out for balance.

"Something's coming," Clara said shifting her feet to stay balanced.

"The Vigil." Merry whimpered.

"And what's the Vigil?" The Doctor asked,

"If the Queen of Years is unwilling to be feasted upon..." she swallowed hard.

"Yes?"

"It's their job to feed her to Grandfather." She stepped back shaking her head as a puff of black smoke appeared in front of them, clearing to reveal three robotic figures. "I'm sorry." She apologised. "I'm sorry."

Araya looked between Merry and the robots. The poor girl was practically all alone, without thinking she stepped back to join the girl. Grasping her hand she smiled up at Merry who looked quite shocked. Araya was smaller than she was herself and yet she was standing with her.

Clara narrowed her eyes and stood in front of Merry while the Stone stood in front of Araya. "Don't you dare. Clara warned.

"Yeah, stay back." The Doctor took his screwdriver out. "I'm armed. With a screwdriver."

The vigil in the front set out an acoustic blast that knocked his screwdriver out of his hand before also knocking him back with another wave. The Stone's eyes widened and Araya gasped as the Stone and Clara were also knocked back, the Time Lady protectively holding Araya, making sure she wasn't hurt badly.

Her head still collided with the cold floor though.

Merry looked at the four on the floor and whimpered as the Vigil walked forward, guiding Merry away from the Time Lords and Clara.

The Doctor groaned and rubbed his head as Clara did as well, the Stone instantly was worried about Araya who slowly blinked up at her mother making the Time Lady sigh in relief and hug her close.

"Clara. Sonic." She grabbed the screwdriver after the order and threw it to the Doctor. The vigil went to attack, using a beam that was ineffective against the shield the Doctor made with his sonic, it almost became impossible to break when the Stone stood up joining him, the pair holding their screwdrivers up side by side.

Merry ran back over to Clara and Araya. "You know all the stories," Clara looked at Merry. "You must know if there's another way out."

"There's a tale. A secret song. The Thief of the Temple and the Nimmer's Door."

"And the secret songs open the secret door?" Araya asked and Merry nodded.

Clara smiled. "How does it go? Can you sing it?"

Merry began to sing a string of notes and the door slid upwards and opened.

The Doctor gritted his teeth, they were becoming stronger. "Go!" He ordered Clara, Araya and Merry. "Stone."

"Three against one is hardly fair." She smirked.

"Ah well, there is that." He gritted out. They managed to get a shield around the vigil, trapping them just as Clara shouted for them both to hurry.

They ran out and the mummy broke free, an energy beam fired at the sun and the Doctor swallowed hard when the vigil disappeared.

"Where did they go?"

"Grandfather's awake." He answered. "They're of no function any more."

"Well, you could sound happier about it." Clara advised.

"Actually, I think I may have made a bit of a tactical boo-boo." He grasped the Stone's hand. "More of a semantics mix-up, really."

"What boo-boo?" Clara carefully nervously.

"I thought the Old God was Grandfather, but it wasn't. It was just Grandfather's alarm clock."

"Sorry, a bit lost. Who's the Old God? Is there an Old God?"

The Stone slowly nodded now taking Araya's hand in hers. "Unfortunately, yes."

The sun grew brighter and what looked like eyes and a mouth formed inside it.

"Oh, my stars." Clara whispered staring. "What do we do?"

"Against that?" His eyes grew wide. "I don't know. Do you know?" He asked her. "I don't know. Any ideas?"

"But you promised." Merry cried. "You promised!"

"I did." He nodded hitting his head with the palm of his hand and walked away from them groaning. "I did promise."

"He'll eat us all. He'll spread across the system, consuming the Seven Worlds. And when there's no more to eat, he'll embark on a new odyssey among the stars."

Araya whimpered at that shifting closer to the Stone.

"I say leg it." Clara suggested.

"Leg it where, exactly?" The Doctor turned to her.

"Don't know. Lake District?"

"Oh, the Lake District's lovely." the Doctor smiled, his face brightening. "Let's definitely go there. We can eat scones, Araya will you like to go there?" He asked and the girl nodded. "They do great scones in 1927."

Clara sighed as the Doctor looked up at the star thoughtfully. "You're going to fight it, aren't you."

The Stone rolled her eyes, of course, he was going to do that. "Regrettably, yes. I think I may be about to do that."

"It's really big."

The Stone snorted. "I've seen bigger."

The Doctor gasped at her. "Araya's right there!" He exclaimed pointing at the girl who blinked in confusion.

"As if she understands that." She laughed.

"Have you really seen bigger?" Araya asked.

"Are you joking?" The Doctor asked and was scolded by a light hit on the back of his head from his wife.

"I'm staying with you." Clara announced.

"No, you're not." The Doctor instantly shot back.

"Yes, I am." She crossed her arms. "I can assist."

"No, you can't."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What about that stuff you said. We don't walk away."

The Doctor paused for a moment to look at her. "No. We don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run. We run and run as fast as we can and we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow." He looked from Clara to the Stone. "You too dear."

"Doctor-" She began warningly.

"Protect our daughter." He ordered, his eyes meeting hers, practically begging for her to listen this once. He couldn't live with himself if she was harmed. "Please protect yourself and our daughter this one time. I need to know that you're both safe."

"If you don't get this to work I will kill you, Doctor."

"I'll keep you up on that dear." He smirked. "Love you." He kissed her.

"Love you too sweetheart." She smiled kissing him longer than what was probably necessary, she didn't really care though.

"I'll see you later poppet." The Doctor said aloud picking Araya up and smiling.

"Love you, Daddy." She kissed his cheek and hugged him.

"Love you too, look after your mum for me, eh?"

"Will do." She brightly smiled and ran to her mum when he let her down.

"Now, off you pop." He nodded at them. "Take the mopeds. I'll walk."

The Doctor turned around hearing the engines roar as the bikes headed back, the sound quietened down. Slowly he walked towards the sun. "Any ideas?" He whispered to himself and paused, hoping for an idea to suddenly pop in his head. "No, didn't think so." He grumbled. "Righty-ho, then." He stared at it. "Lordy."

×××

They got off the bikes and stood in the Amphitheatre, the sun in front of them with the pyramid between them and it. "Isn't he frightened?" Merry asked.

Araya nodded and the Stone picked her up, of course, she could sense it, even when he tried to hide it the Doctor couldn't fully seal the fear now. "He is." She looked at the Stone. "I can feel it, he's really scared isn't he mummy?"

The Stone sighed and kissed her hair. "He really is."

"I want to help." Merry looked at them.

Clara nodded and the Stone smiled. "So do I," Araya replied.

Merry stepped on her pedestal and started to sing. "Rest now, my warrior. Rest now."

Hearing it even from where he stood miles away the Doctor smiled.

"Okay, then. That's what I'll do. I'll tell you a story."

The crowd began to join in. The Stone chuckled looking at Araya and began to sing as well, brightly smiling when the Stone raised a finger to Araya's temple she let her mother in and the words of the song flowed through her mind as if they had been there all along. She sang along with the others. "Please, wake up. And let the cloak of life cling to your bones."

The Doctor smiled not only hearing everyone singing aloud but he also heard two voices in his mind, two very special voices that made him fight for each day. "Can you hear them?" He asked the sun. "All these people who've lived in terror of you and your judgement? All these people whose ancestors devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves, to you." He paused and closed his eyes momentarily before opening them and looking up at the star that grinned evily down on him. "Can you hear them singing? Oh, you like to thing you're a god. But you're not a god. You're just a parasite eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them." He grew louder. "On the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow." He opened his arms up now. "So, come on, then. Take mine. Take my memories." Energy tendrils flew out towards the Doctor and reached him, almost pushing him back as they grabbed on. "But I hope you've got a big appetite because I have lived a long life and I have seen a few things."

The Stone tightly hugged Araya whose head rested on her shoulder. Clara looked around in awe and stared at the sun hoping that the Doctor could stop the God. The Doctor continued to talk to the sun, telling it his story. "I walked away from the last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time. No space. Just me. I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a madman." He winced and started to grow tearful from the pain, holding it from his daughter so she wouldn't grow terrified and scared, having no idea what was happening to him. She didn't need that. "I've watched universes freeze and creations burn. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. I have lost things you will never understand. And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze. So come on, then. Take it! Take it all, baby!" He exclaimed. "Have it! You have it all!" The sun roared happily and the face of it rolled in on itself.

"Wake up. Wake up." They all continued to sing. The Stone and Araya smiled only for their faces to fall again after a series of explosions revealed the Sun God to not only return but return possibly even bigger and stronger. The Stone looked at Araya and swallowed hard. "Darling I need you to stay here." She kissed her daughter's forehead and put her down on the ground.

"No." She whimpered grabbing the Time Lady's hand and shaking her head, pulling with all her might to stop her mother. "Where are you going?"

"Your father needs me, darling, I need to go and help him with this, there are some things he just cannot do alone."

"I'll look after her." Clara nodded and took Araya's hand. The Time Tot reluctantly let go of her mother and watched the Stone head towards the bikes.

×××

It didn't take her very long until she arrived and jumped off the bike before quickly finding the Doctor crouched on the ground. 

The Stone growled quietly as she looked up at the sun, the Doctor panting for breath on the floor. "Still hungry then?" she chuckled giving it a dark look. "Don't worry, you won't be for long."

"Stone." The Doctor panted, his voice quivering as he tried to reach out to her.

"You want memories big guy? I got them all." She stepped forward holding out her arms ignoring the Doctor, who was now staring at her with a face full of horror. "I'm the one who knows the Doctor's past and his future, all the things he never encountered or done are here locked away in my mind," she tapped the side of her head and the Doctor's eyes widened. "It's all ready to be taken. Only I know these stories, only I remember them. Everything he still has to come is known by me and me only!" The sun's eyes grew wide a smile forming on its face as the energy reached out, wrapping itself around the Stones wrists. "I'm the Time Lady who helped to create the box, ending the biggest war you will ever know. Stories past down from my father and his father to me. Prophecies told by the Time Lords for me. Things I ignored and learned all in this one mind. I know two worlds parallel to each other but so, so different! Memories of a human life in a world exactly like this that never got lived is waiting for you. I've got one mind that lived two lives." The sun's eyes widened and it tried to pull away. The Stone growled and grabbed the energy, her hands didn't go through it though, she gripped and pulled at it, forcing the sun to keep listening. "What's wrong big fella? I'm giving all that to you." She smirked seeing how scared the sun now looked. "I thought you were still hungry?"

"Well, come on then." The Doctor groaned and grunted as he stood while the sun growled at them. "What do you mean you're full?" He chuckled as the sun growled again. "I thought you would be because there's quite a difference, isn't there, between what was and what there could have been. There's an awful lot of one, but there's an infinity of the other and an infinity's too much, even for your appetite."

×××

After saying goodbye to Merry, Clara stepped inside the TARDIS. The Time Lords hadn't been inside the box very long, the Doctor still leaning against the Time Lady for support. The Doctor turned as Araya ran in after Clara. The Stone met Claras eyes and nodded. The human smiled and nodded back before heading down under the console to give the Time Lords some privacy. The Doctor carefully turned around and crouched down as Araya came up behind him. "Daddy." She swallowed hard and fell into him, squeezing his neck tightly.

"I know." He whispered. She really was scared today. "I know poppet, I really do."

"Are you okay?" She sniffled rubbing her nose as she pulled away to look at him.

"Yeah." He smiled. "I've got a brilliant and beautiful daughter looking out for me." He lightly rubbed her cheek and she giggled at him, her face radiating with light. "Go on, tell Clara that we'll take her home now."

The Doctor straightened and looked at the Stone who pulled him in for a bone-crushing hug, having not had the time to properly do it earlier. "You terrified me today." She whispered.

"You do that to me every day." He chuckled before growing serious at the look in her eyes.

The Doctor swallowed and he reached into his pocket, bringing out a silk cloth, making her the Stone's eyes widen, "how did you-"

"They all wanted you to have it back, especially Merry." He handed it to her. "I also wanted it back just as much as you."

"Thank you." She warmly smiled at him placing the cloth in her pocket. "What about Clara?" She raised a brow.

"Got her ring in my pocket," he winked.

×××

The Doctor did a little dance around the console room in the TARDIS, causing his daughter to giggle. "Home again, home again, jiggity jig."

Clara opened the doors of the TARDIS, frowning at the house outside, "it looks different," she accused.

"Nope." The Doctor shook his head. "Same house, same city, same planet. Hey! Same day, actually. Not bad." He pretended to swing a gold club. "Hole in one."

Frowning for a moment she stared at the two older Time Lords. "You were both there. At mum's grave." She narrowed her eyes. "You were watching. What were you doing there?"

"I don't know." The Doctor shrugged. "We were just making sure."

"Of what?" She crossed her arms.

"You remind us of someone." The Stone replied.

"Who?"

The Doctor looked at the ground. "Someone who died."

"Well, whoever she was, I'm not her, okay?" Clara looked at them. "If you want me to travel with you, that's fine. But as me. I'm not a bargain basement stand-in for someone else. I'm not going to compete with a ghost."

"No." They agreed. The Doctor fished into his pocket and pulled out her ring, handing it to her. "They wanted you to have it, the Stone has our cloth." He smiled.

"Who did?"

"Everyone." The Stone answered. "

"All the people the Stone saved and how you looked after their Queen. You and Araya looked after her. No one else, Clara."

She smiled and took the ring slipping it on her finger before leaving. The sound of the TARDIS wheezing behind her.

─── ｡ﾟ☆･*.☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ───

Reminder: Don't mess with the Stone... 

And sorry, Clara, I know you had your great monologue about the leaf and all but I had to have some acknowledgement of the Stone because while a leaf is good and all parallel universes are better. ;)