Here we go! Please let me know if/where I have made errors, and if any of my Whovian history is off. The Librarian is an OC I created that was the Doctor's teacher at the Academy, and taught him much of what we know him to be.
The Librarian: A Doctor Who Universe Story Part 1Velvet black space specked with silent stars drifted by a boxy wooden object, out of place and forgotten in the universe. Its outside was delicately carved with Tudor roses and vines intertwining in an almost Celtic knot pattern. Long doors were bejeweled with elegant brass handles which carried the vein motif.
The doors opened.
A pale yellow light shone out and an elderly woman peered out into the blackness, old young eyes gazed upon the vastness of open space. She wore a long black skirt and a puffy white blouse that was buttoned high, its neck covered by the long lacy black scarf she wore. Her snow white hair was pulled lightly up into a simple bun and her glasses sat like a crown atop of it. Pulling her skirt aside, she took a seat, perching on the edge of the Wardrobe. She took the antique book she had been holding and placed it on her lap, pulling her glasses down to rest upon her nose, glasses she really didn’t need.
The Librarian had been adrift out in space for years. Served her right she supposed, having run away from the War and all. At the time she had reasoned that someone had to save the books as no one else seemed to be concerned for their salvation. Now she wondered if it had been worth it. Time drifted by, and years began to take its toll. She seldom looked into a mirror anymore; she wanted to remember herself as she once had been, young and beautiful. She knew it was her pride that made her feel that way, a definite flaw in most of her kind.
She looked up into the darkness that surrounded her. Coward. She told herself this every day. If she had stayed, she might have been able to do something different. There had been a time when even the Council had come to her to seek wisdom. Maybe she would have found a way to win the War without the Ultimate Sanction. Instead, she listened to the Doctor and helped him destroy their people and time lock the whole War. She had been knocked unconscious by the event, and when she had awoken, her sense of time had been jarred. It had taken her years to realize that she had been asleep for nearly a hundred years. She never heard from the Doctor, and assumed that he had also been caught in the blast. She was just fortunate to be alive. So she drifted alone, the last Time Lord.
The Library was a cavernous room, filled floor to ceiling with books, scrolls, and data storage devices, the shelving almost seeming to stretch on to eternity. Each stack was labeled in beautiful Gallifreyan script organizing the collection. Her boots clicked gently against the wood of the floor as she passed by several stacks before she found where she needed to go.
She was just placing her book back on a shelf where it belonged when, without warning, her vessel jolted and bucked, sending her reeling back against a stack of books which toppled off their shelves, bouncing off her and onto the floor. Getting her footing, she bolted back towards the console room once more. The monitor blinked a nasty red warning. Her TARDIS was falling out of time and space.
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Alyssa Lydel was board out of her mind. She had read all the books in her room—twice—and used up all the sketch paper in her artist’s book. It was raining, yet again and she really didn’t feel like going out. Normally on a day like this she would pull on her Wellies, don her trench and head over to the Library, check out a few books, then spend the rest of her day over at the coffee shop round the corner. Today it just didn’t strike her fancy. She gazed out the window, watching the drops of water hit the puddles and ripple in different directions.
She could work on editing one of the books her boss had sent to her this week she supposed, but that didn’t seem to perk her interest either, and besides, she had plenty of time before they were due back to him. Cuppa tea was in order she decided, and pushed back from her desk chair, making her way to the kitchen.
That’s when she noticed the wardrobe.
It loomed against the wall in her room, stately and elegant. She had always wished she owned an antique that fine, and suddenly here was one, striking to behold. Gingerly, she approached it, baffled by its sudden appearance.
The wardrobe doors swung open into the room, golden light and steam spilling out into the room. Alyssa fell backwards and shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness. As her eyes adjusted, she could make out a thin figure peering out of its doorway. It was an old woman dressed in Victorian looking apparel. The lady stepped down out of the cabinet and glided toward her and held out a hand to help the younger woman up.
‘I’m so sorry to have startled you, my dear.’ The lady had a lovely speaking voice, full of grace. Getting to her feet, Alyssa blinked a few times, trying to make sense of all of this.
‘How did you and that,’ she pointed at the antique closet that hadn’t been there moments before, ‘get in here?’
The elderly woman glanced back over her shoulder, ‘Oh yes, sorry, again. Somehow I got knocked out of the time stream and I think it sort of decided on its own when and when it was going to land.’
Clearly this woman was nutters. ‘Land?’
A graceful smile lit up the lady’s face. ‘Yes, that behind me is a time machine. Well, actually it’s a Time and Relative Dimensions in Space craft, or TARDIS for short. Now I must ask,’ She looked about the room inquisitively, like a child gazing around an amusement park, ‘Where am I and what year is this?’
Alyssa decided to humour the old woman. Obviously she needed help. Once she had the woman settled down, she would call the police. They would sort it. ‘Well, the year is 2013 and you’re in London, England.’
The strange lady turned about again to face her. ‘Really?’ She clasped her hands together in joy. ‘Brilliant! I can finally have a decent cup of tea.’ She started forward. ‘Which way to the kitchen, my dear?’
The lady was rather pleasant company, and if she hadn’t spoken so strangely at first, she never would have thought her mad. Alyssa set down the tea pot and cups, pouring for the pair of them. The lady fixed her tea the way she liked it and took a sip.
‘Ah, it’s been ever so long since I’ve had such an excellent cup of tea, my dear. Thank you.’
Alyssa handed her a tray of biscuits smiling.
‘I must admit, I wasn’t prepared for company, but it’s a nice distraction.’
Taking a biscuit, the lady broke off a piece. For a tick, the whole moment felt like old hat, something they had done many times before. ‘I do feel ever so rude, I never asked you your name.’
‘Oh! I’m Alyssa Lydel.’ She found herself blushing, even though she had no reason to, but perhaps it was because she had begun to feel so comfortable around the lady and had forgotten that she had only just ‘landed’ in her study. There was just something almost familiar about her, like she had known the woman for years.
‘Alyssa Lydel—I once knew an Alice Lyddle. She was a sweet girl with a big imagination. But never mind that.’ She smiled widely at Alyssa. ‘I’m the Librarian.’
‘Librarian…’ She waited for a last name, but the lady’s smile just widened.
‘Just the Librarian. I’ve had other names, but they didn’t really suit me.’
‘Oh.’ Suddenly the fact that this lady needed serious help brought Alyssa out of the lovely moment they had been sharing. ‘So, why Librarian? There has to be a reason.’ Perhaps if she asked some questions, she could use what she found out to help the ambulance when get got a moment to call the hospital.
Finishing the last drop of tea, the Librarian set down her cup and got to her feet. ‘Come with me and I’ll show you.’ She led the way back to the wardrobe in the study and opened the doors. Bright light poured out the doors again, and the Librarian stepped up and into it.
Alyssa shook her head and sighed. ‘I can’t believe I’m going to do this.’ She stepped up and into the closet, hoping to humour the woman.
What she saw inside made her stagger backward. A cavernous room lay before her. The walls were paneled with wood, richly decorated with books, flowers and vines carved into them. Books lay in carts, shelves and stacks all about the room, and in the center of the room reaching the ceiling was the console. It lit the room with a golden light from its transparent tube. At waist level, six panels stuck up geometrically with knobs, buttons, and dials. A view screen jutted up from one of the panels in the back with circular designs dancing about it. Alyssa paced slowly around the room in awe.
‘It’s, it’s a ship.’ The Librarian nodded. ‘It’s bigger on the inside.’
‘Yes, it is.’ The lady stepped up next to her. ‘Alyss, welcome to my own, personal Wonderland.’
Staggering backwards, Alyssa stepped backwards into the study once again to glance on either side of the unassuming wardrobe that stood there. Running a hand through her long brown hair, she stepped back inside, looking all around in awe once again. The Librarian laughed lightly at her bewilderment and awe. ‘I forgot how delightful it was to see someone enter the TARDIS for the first time!’
‘Okay, so this is a what, a spaceship?’
‘Of sorts. It’s a TARDIS—Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. Like I said before, it’s a time machine. I use it to travel all of time and space, except I haven’t done it in quite a long time.’ The Librarian looked sadly at the floor and took a seat on an ornate antique-looking setae.
Alyssa gently took a seat next to her. ‘What do you mean?’ The older woman’s eyes suddenly looked ancient and sad, like the weight of the universe was in them.
Breathing in a sigh, she dropped her head and continued to stare at the floor. ‘Well, my dear, I am from a planet where the people governed the laws of time and space. There, I was care taker of the culmination of knowledge of our ancient and wise race. Then one day we went to war. A race called the Daleks sought to destroy all life in the universe. We fought back. Many lives were lost, and my people began to change, to do things that I couldn’t agree with. A man called the Doctor felt the same, so we formulated a plan. We would destroy both our enemies and our own people, as they had become a danger to not only themselves, but the rest of the universe. We saved the library and went through with our plan. But I lost contact with the Doctor as the event became locked in time. I fear that he sacrificed himself for the good of the universe and that I am the only one of my people left.’
They were quiet for a moment, Alyssa shifting in her seat. When finally she spoke, her throat felt dry. ‘So, you’re all alone?’
Nodding, she looked up at the young woman. ‘I’m afraid so. And I’ve spend ever so long just drifting in space, hardly knowing what to do with myself. Living each day with the guilt of knowing what I’ve done.’
Trying to think of a way to reassure the Librarian, Alyssa took the older woman’s hands in her own. ‘But what if you’re not alone? What if this Doctor friend of yours did escape?’
She smiled softly and shook her head. ‘No. I shouldn’t think so.’ She was lost in thought once more, gazing at the ornately grated floor. It nearly startled the younger woman when the Librarian looked back up sharply and squeezed her hands. ‘No, no, that cannot be possible.’ Quickly, she let go of her hands and jumped to her feet. ‘But, maybe, just maybe.’
The older woman’s hands flew across the TARDIS console as she flipped switches, turned knobs and typed in commands. ‘What is it?’ The young woman was bewildered at this sudden change.
After a few more dizzying moments of movement, the Librarian stopped what she was doing and put a hand to her mouth. Slowly, she turned around. ‘He’s still alive.’
The TARDIS’s ancient engines started up, groaning to life as the central column began to pump, energizing the machine. ‘What do you mean? You found him?’ Alyssa tried to get the Librarian’s attention as she tore about the machine, still pushing buttons and turning knobs. ‘Librarian!’
The woman stopped, cocking her head to the side. ‘That’s the first time you’ve called me by my name, Alyss.’ She smiled gently and went back to work.
Upset, she followed the lady around the console. ‘What on earth is going on?’
The Librarian stopped, and gently splayed her arms to the side. ‘We’re not on earth, I’ve got two hearts, I’m not human, I’m a Time Lady from Gallifrey, and I’m not alone.’ She turned back to the console and pulled a lever back. ‘Excelsior!’
The Librarian threw back a leaver and the whole ship bucked, causing both women to grab hold of the console, the young woman crying out in fear, the older woman laughing like a child at an amusement park. For a few moments, the TARDIS gave them a wild ride before the engines suddenly died, giving off a sound that resembled a car battery giving up life. ‘Oh dear, no. This won’t do.’ The Librarian rushed to the monitor. ‘Goodness me, that was a very short trip.’
Rushing over to the view screen, Alyssa peered at the image before her. ‘We’re—we’re in Cardiff?’ She frowned, realizing what had just happened. ‘Oi, wait a moment, you took off just now without even asking me if I wanted to come.’
A moment of silence passed before the Librarian turned back to the young woman. ‘You mean, you didn’t wish to come?’ Her eyes looked hurt.
Now Alyssa felt guilty. ‘No, it’s not that, but you’ve got to ask a person before you just take off like that.’ She heaved a sigh, then looked back at the screen. ‘So what happened, why are we here?’
The Time Lady pointed at what looked like a gauge off to the side of the projected image. ‘We’re out of rift energy so we can’t travel any further. The TARDIS landed here because it was the closest location to power up. It’s like stopping for petrol.’
‘Wait, there’s a way to power up the TARDIS on Earth?’
The Librarian grinned and nodded. ‘Quite so. Cardiff has a rift in time and space which we can use.’
Frowning, Alyssa leaned up against the console. ‘Is that dangerous for the people who live here?’
‘Not at all. Now,’ The Librarian glanced back at the monitor, ‘We’ve got a few hours before the ship will be back to rights. Shall we venture out?’
‘Where to?’
Smiling widely, the Time Lady’s eyes shone. ‘Where else would a Librarian go?’