Chapter Text
One ring. Two. Three.
“Hello?” Tosh hadn’t heard her mothers voice in so long. “Captain harkness?”
She realised that the area code was the same as Jack would have used so it was an understandable mistake. “It’s me.”
“Toshiko?”
“Yes. It’s me.” She could feel the lump in her throat forming.
There was a long silence. “You… Won’t you get in trouble?”
“No. I’ve been pardoned. I wanted to tell you myself.” Tosh sobbed, half laughing.
Toshikos mother descended into a mess of sobs and loving words that melded into one another. Finally her speech slowed enough to be understandable again. “Can you visit us?”
“Not yet. It’s going to take a while to get a passport but you can visit me.”
“Yes. Yes. As soon as we can.”
“I can pay for a hotel and the plane tickets.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“Really, it’s fine. I have more than enough money for that… Please?”
“Let me tell your father and we’ll work out the first date we can get to you. Oh Toshiko it’s been so long. I thought I’d forgotten how you sounded and then… I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too. I’ll send you my mobile number and email address so as soon as you know I can arrange everything.”
“Can I meet your boyfriend?”
Tosh blushed. “I’m sure he’d be happy to meet you.” He wouldn’t but she was sure she could convince him.
“I can’t wait. I’m going to start crying again.”
“Same here.”
“We can finally catch up. I can’t wait to see your face again… Are you happy? I mean with where you are. If you’re free now you could go anywhere.”
“I’m very happy. I have friends, a home, a job I love. And now I can have my family back.”
Jack beamed, eavesdropping from the walkway above. It was something he never thought he’d hear and hearing her so happy just warmed his heart. All he wanted was to run down there and hug her but then she’d know he’d been listening, not a smart move.
“Sir?” Said Ianto before Jack swiftly shushed him and pulled him aside, out of earshot.
“What’s up?”
“Were you just listening in on -?”
“No… Maybe… It’s not important. Anyway, what did you need?”
“A holiday, a good nights sleep and dinner out, but right now I need you to look at this.” He handed the captain his PDA, a video ready to be played on the screen. The footage was blurry at best but it was clear enough to make out a circle of people chanting around an altar of sorts. A woman was dragged, bound up, and placed upon the stone table. Jack expected some guy in a robe, three sizes too big, to waltz out and stab her but they didn’t. Something slithered out from under the stone altar top, wrapping up and around the still struggling woman. The tendrils glowed a bright yellow and the woman was seemingly vapourised. A glimmering mist rose and was absorbed by the chanting figures. One turned to see the hapless cameraman and the footage cut.
“Well, the dinner out I can offer and I’m sure the good nights sleep can come afterwards. Are you sure this is real?”
“We can never be a hundred percent but it passes all of our usual checks. I managed to find the name of the poster and as luck would have it, he’s local.”
Jack smiled. “Let’s go have a chat with our filmmaker.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to take Gwen?”
“You want to be here when Tosh gets off the phone, don’t you.”
“That’s the only way those of us who don’t eavesdrop can find out how it went.”
“Fine. I’ll take Gwen.”
“It’s been quiet this morning. Aren’t we short two people?”
“Owen and Elise have the morning off. Something about therapy.”
“For which one?”
“I’ll tell them you said that.”
“I bring the coffee. I’m immune to their annoyance.”
Owen wasn’t a fan of the smell of chlorine and public pools weren’t as clean as he’d like but he was doing this for Elise, not for himself. He sat on the edge of the pool, a towel hung loosely over his shoulders, feet dipped just under the surface of the water. He’d paid the staff a large amount to have the pool to themselves. They hadn’t been enthusiastic but after he explained why they needed the place quiet and calm he’d managed to talk them round. The sound of slightly damp footsteps made him look up. Elise walked out, her pose closed off and nervous.
“Over here.” He smiled, patting the tiles next to him. He’d placed himself at the shallow end to try and reassure her he wasn’t going to try and push her too fast. She approached with both hands clasped to her chest. Her heart was pounding in her head and even looking at the pool made her feel like she couldn’t breathe. She carefully made her way over and sat, her knees pulled up so she wasn’t touching the water.
“I… I’m worse than last time… I don’t know if I can do this.”
“Don’t give up just yet. Come on, a ten year old would have trouble sinking in water this deep. Just put your feet down, that’s all.”
She looked down into the blue liquid. “I’m ok… It’s not deep… It’s just like the bath.” She chanted to herself, dipping her toes into the still surface. The cool water sent a jolt of adrenaline through her. Memories of being pulled down into the cold depths by the water horse and again by the fear feeding creatures charged through her mind. She snapped back to reality as she felt an arm wrap around her.
“Eli’, try and stay with me. You’re ok.” He soothed.
She lent heavily on him, wiping the tears from her face. “I’m sorry. I know it’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid.” He kissed the top of her head. “I get it. I do. If you weren’t working right next to the water I wouldn’t ask you to even be here. You can’t let this control you all your life.”
“I know.” She mumbled into her sleeves. “I wish I could just will myself through it but I can’t.”
He tossed the towel aside and slid down into the water that only just reached his stomach. “Look, nothing is going to be able to drag you down. You can see the floor.”
She rubbed her eyes and looked into the water before taking his hand and sliding down. She stayed as close to the side as she could, within grabbing distance, just in case.
“Isn’t there any water in the rift?”
She shook her head. “Not really. Well, there’s one place. One tear leads to an ocean planet. Every time it opens it turns into a salt waterfall. The sand underneath is pure white and there are sometimes white salt crystals around there. If you get there at the right time the light from a dying star shines through the water and projects rainbows into the darkness. It’s beautiful.”
“What else have you seen in there, that’s good I mean.”
“Um.” She looked down at the shimmering surface of the water, just reaching her chest. “There are these little purple blue fire motes that live inside whatever structures they can find. You can tell whenever something new has landed because they all swarm it. They’re the only real source of heat there when you haven’t got an open tear that leads to a sun, so the beings that live there collect them.”
“Can’t they make normal fires?”
“No. Normal fires just won’t light. Heat is a commodity. I think it’s something about the makeup of the air.”
“I didn’t even think there’d be air at all.”
“There is but it just leaks in from everywhere else.”
“You still ok?”
“Huh?” She’d almost forgotten she was in the water. In fact, she was up to her shoulders in the water. “Oh god.”
“See? You just need to think of anything else.”
“Plentyn gordderch.” She breathed, her heart pounding in her head.
“I can’t take an insult if I don’t understand it.”
“You absolute bastard!” She slapped his arm, though there wasn’t much force in it.
He chuckled lightly. “But you’re ok. That’s the point, right?”
“Owen I can’t move!”
“Yes you can. You can walk back whenever you want.” He squeezed her hand softly. “There’s nothing to be afraid of in the water.”
“I know! I just… Gah!”
“Adrenaline runs out after about forty minutes. The panic’ll ease off and you can think your way out of it.”
“This is cruel” She whimpered.
He pulled her into a hug. “You’re fine… Think you’re up to a walk around the edge? I’ll stay on the side of the water and you can push me in if you want.”
Gwen knocked on the red painted door of the address she’d been given. It was answered by a tired looking, older man.
“Yes?”
“We’re looking to speak with Simon Gwyllt?”
“I wondered why he suddenly decided to visit. One sec.” The man hobbled to the bottom of the stars and shouted up. “Si!... Simon, there’s people here looking for you… Simon?”
There was a loud thud, followed by quick footsteps down the side of the house. Simon sprinted away down the street.
“Wait!” Jack called after him, trying to catch up. Gwen followed close by, seriously hoping the frightened man didn’t run out into traffic.
Three streets down and Simon was running out of stamina. He’d never been great at cross country and now it was going to get him killed. The vision of being tied up and turned into glowing mist was the only thing keeping him going. He turned a corner, expecting the long line of shops but realised he’d overshot and he was cornered behind the corner store. There wasn’t even anywhere to hide. His knees felt weak. Dots decorated his vision as he backed up, almost willing the wall to somehow disappear.
“Please. I’ll delete the video.” He begged, sliding down the wall. “Please don’t kill me.”
Jack shook his head. “If you’d stop to listen for a second-”
“We’re not going to hurt you. We aren’t from whatever that cult is.” Gwen interrupted, not wanting to scare the man more than he already was.
Simon took a moment to let what he’d been told sink in. “Then… Then who are you?”
“How about we go somewhere for a sit down and a chat.” She offered her hand to him and he took it, clambering to his feet.
“The pub’s just at the end of the next street.”
“Sounds good.”
The pub was quiet and Simon had managed to calm down, just settling into a half exhausted state.
Gwen gave a slight, sympathetic, smile. “Just tell me what happened.”
“I was back in Aberystwyth. Some of the lads at uni said they’d heard about this group of weirdos that the pagan society kicked out. I thought it would just be a group of nutters running around, naked, in the dark, you know? I thought it would be funny. My friend Kelly said she’d heard about where they’d be hanging around so I drove out there. I was a bit late out so I didn’t catch the start of whatever they were doing but… Well, you saw it.” The man looked thoroughly shaken and disturbed. Jack placed their drinks down on the table and sat. He’d been listening in, as always.
“What happened afterwards?” The captain asked.
“I ran… I just… They followed me until I got to my car and drove home… The next morning, after I posted the video, there was a lambs head just left on my doorstep. I don’t know how they followed me home. I was so careful to check if I was being followed. I thought if I came back here. Stayed at my parents house for a bit they might just forget about me.”
“That’s why you ran away from us.”
Simon nodded and took a gulp of his drink.
“Do you really think they followed you here?” Asked Gwen.
“I… I got this through the letterbox this morning.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “I had to hide it before my parents saw.” He unfolded the letter to show a symbol drawn in what looked like blood.
“Listen, I’ve got some friends in the police. They can set up someone to patrol outside and a number just in case these people come back.”
“I didn’t think the police would believe me.”
“I think they’ll believe this.” She gestured to the paper, before Jack took it and stored it in his coat. “Let me make a call and we’ll see what we can do, eh?”
Simon sighed deeply, staring down into his drink, rethinking every decision he’d ever made.
“Did you know her?” Jack asked.
“Huh?”
“The girl on the altar.”
“Oh… Not really. I’d seen her around campus before. She was always tagging along with one group or another. Never really fit in… I don’t even really know what happened to her. She was there and then she wasn’t.”
“What about the people in the robes?”
“No idea. The pagan society might know. I know they kicked them out but that’s it.”
“Any idea how to contact them?”
“Um… Yea. Let me…” He took out his phone and looked through the contacts. “Garth runs it so he should be able to help.”
Jack took the phone and noted down the number. “And where was this cult filmed?”
“I could point it out on a map for you but it’s a bit off the beaten path. It’s in the middle of Penglais woods. Not by the quarry but hidden in the trees. I only found it because of these little lights they’d hidden half in the soil. I’m sorry I haven’t got much more to tell you. That video’s pretty much everything… Do you know what that thing in the altar was?”
“No. But I’m going to find out.”
Ianto placed down two cups of coffee and two small plates with biscuits on Toshikos desk. She looked up, still smiling but with slightly puffy eyes.
“Are you joining me?” She asked.
“Well, being as you offered.” He pulled over a chair and sat, picking up his own cup.
She laughed softly. “I thought you were listening in like Jack was.”
“You did notice then.”
“I saw his shadow. It went well by the way.”
“Will you be needing some time off?”
“No. Mum said she’s free this weekend, even if dad isn’t. It’s probably for the best. I don’t think dad would approve of Owen.”
“You think your mum will?”
“No, but he has a better chance with her. Dad won’t accept anyone I date.”
“You’ll always be his little girl.”
“Exactly.” Her smile faded.
“What?”
“Hmm? What about what?”
“You’re upset.”
“I’m just a bit worried about… Explaining everything. Do you think I should? I mean I don’t want the first time I’ve seen my mum in years to end in an argument.”
“Understandable. I’m sure Elise would say the same. You know how much she wants you to be happy.”
“I know but it feels like… Lying? I know that’s silly because I’ll be lying to her about work and most of my life but… It still feels wrong.”
“Do you feel like it’d be better if you did tell her?”
“Probably not. I don’t know what she’d hate more, that I have a second partner, or that my second partner is a woman. She’s … Traditional.”
“It’s not an excuse, you know that.”
“I know. I know! Maybe she’ll accept me, maybe she won’t. Maybe I could talk her round.”
“It’s worth a shot. She could surprise you.”
“I hope so.”
“There are some people you’ll never be able to talk sense to. They’re set in their ways, but your mum really loves you. You can tell from her letters. That means a lot.”
She smiled warmly. “Thanks… If… If this goes badly I…”
“We’ll all be here for you. I’ll be here for you. I know how hard it is to admit something you know your family won’t approve of.”
“Thank you. I mean it.”
He took one of the chocolate hobnobs from his plate. “What are friends for?”
Elise lent heavily on the cafe table, hair still slightly damp but thankfully not smelling of chlorine. With the changing room empty she’d had chance to shower properly. Owen placed a paper cup of tea in front of her.
“How’re you feeling?” He asked, cringing at the watery excuse for coffee in his own cup.
She sat back and wrapped her hands around her cup, warming her fingertips. “Tired… A bit cold. Otherwise I’m ok.”
“Sorry if I was a bit rough on you.”
“No. It’s fine. I understand why but… This isn’t going to be easy.”
“Better than being terrified for the rest of your life.” He reached into his bag for his phone as it began to buzz. “Work.”
“Please be good news.”
“Hello?”
Jacks usual, almost cheery, voice popped from the speaker. “Are you heading to work soon?”
“We’re all done here so we can be with you in ten. Why?”
“The usual. A cult sacrificing people to some kind of alien being in the middle of a forest.”
“Greeaaat.” Owen droned. “Be with you asap.”
Elise sipped her tea. “World ending?”
“Alien cult.”
“Great.”
“Any chance of grabbing lunch on the way?”
“Probably not.”
“I’m napping if we drive anywhere.”
“Deal.”
“I called Garth and he’s sent me a map of where they think the ritual site is. Apparently one of the cult turned up and started trying to recruit new members. They said they’d found a fountain of youth and could give immortality to everyone there.” Said Gwen, turning her chair around.
Jack nodded solemnly. “Probably what their ritual was about. Any idea what the symbol is?”
“It’s a glyph. It basically says leave. We’ve found a few items with this text on but never with anything living involved.” Tosh gestured to the set of glyphs on her screen.
“If we set off now we might be able to find their altar and remove whatever’s in there before they even know what’s happened.”
Elise put her hand up slightly. “Can we get lunch on the way?”
“Good idea. I assume I pulled you away from your chance.”
“Yep, and I didn’t have breakfast. Stupid swimming.”
“Huh?”
Owen smirked. “I took her swimming. Trying to get past that fear of water. She was up to her shoulders before she froze up and started questioning how legitimate my parenting was.”
“So it went well then.”
“Very. I didn’t even expect her to make it out of the changing room.”
“I’m glad your expectations were so low.” She grumbled. “Come on, we’re losing time.”
The forest was beautiful. It had been well cared for and was rather popular even on a cold day. It was actually nice to get some fresh air and real daylight. Tosh made her way up a slight incline, away from the path, following the map they’d put together.
“I’m surprised you can even tell where we are.” Owen said, grabbing onto a tree for support as he made his way over the uneven terrain.
“There are plenty of signs to use as landmarks. If the map is correct then it should be a straight line to the altar.”
“Why can’t these things just be in a building somewhere? I mean making this trip must be a real pain in the arse in robes. Never understood the robe thing anyway.”
“Modern pagans don’t often wear robes unless it’s a special occasion. And that’s just talking about wiccan groups. Other faiths have different traditions.”
“How do you know?”
“I did some research on the way here.”
“Ok, what about the whole dancing around naked thing?”
“Sounds like fun to me.” Interjected Jack, receiving a group roll of the eyes.
Elise yawned. “They don’t do that around here anyway. That’s more of a warm climate thing. Try that around here and you’d get frostbite in places you really don’t want frostbite.”
“Have you been researching too? I thought you were sleeping.”
“The guy who runs the music shop I go to is big into the norse pantheon. We chat about it sometimes. There are groups in Cardiff too you know.”
“It’s never come up.”
Gwen chuckled to herself. “I remember that group. What’s his name?”
“Everyone just calls him Red.” Eli’ smiled. “When did you meet them?”
“I got called out to one of their gatherings once. Someone thought they were a satanic cult doing god knows what. He invited us to join the barbecue if we wanted. It smelled amazing but we couldn’t. They weren’t doing any harm so we left them to it.”
“That sounds about right. Red’s a big lad but he’s a softie really.”
“I think that’s it.” Tosh called from the front, carefully approaching the smooth stone box.
A long crack ran down the side of the stone and symbols had been etched around it messily. They looked like bad copies of the ones carefully carved into the rim of the lid. Ianto pulled two spools of rope from the bag he’d been carrying, handing one to Jack. The plan was to pull off the lid to see what they were working with and go from there but they didn’t want to risk touching the stone directly, just in case. The two men carefully tied the ropes around both ends of the stone surface and stood back.
“Ok then everyone. On my mark…” He made sure everyone had a good grip. “One, two, three, pull.”
The stone gave a deep grinding noise as it was slowly dragged away from the box. Finally it landed with a thud on the soft earth. From afar they couldn’t see anything move. Jack dared approach, followed by the others as he studied the box. It wasn’t a box. It was the top of a hatch. The box acted as an access shaft to a tunnel. There was no ladder so there had to be another way in somewhere.
“What now?” Asked Gwen. “We haven’t got any climbing equipment and we could be here for days looking for another way in.”
Jack looked at her then back down the hole. “We have rope.”
“You’re joking.”
He grinned and threw one end of the rope down the hole before taking off his coat, handing it to Ianto, and making his way into the darkness.
Gwen rolled her eyes for the second time that day. “Is this on a voluntary basis?”
“Always.” He called up.
Owen shrugged and hopped the short wall of the altar, sliding down the rope.
“I’ll stay here. I’ll see if I can find any record of these tunnels.” Tosh said, making herself semi comfortable on a downed log.
Ianto joined her. “And you shouldn’t be alone.”
“See you in a bit then.” Elise clambered down before Gwen finally followed, every fibre of her being telling her this was a bad idea.
The walls of the tunnel were etched with lines of those symbols.
Elise raised the light from her wrist comp to see them better. “I’ve seen these before.”
“Yea?” Jack paused to look back at her.
“Yea. There was a tablet half buried in rift sand, not too far from the angel statues. It was huge and there were bones behind it. The skull was the size of a fridge. It had three sockets for eyes but I didn’t see a jaw of any kind. I’d say they were just separate bits but the tablet had a stylized version of a three eyed being in the centre.”
“So this thing could be big and without a mouth it was probably using those tendrils to feed. We know what to avoid then.”
“That and the murder cult.”
“That too.”
“Lights off.” Owen hissed, seeing the flickering of a candle at the end of the long tunnel. Plunged into darkness they could clearly see someone, dressed in robes, holding a candle and peering into the darkness towards them. After a minute, that seemed to last hours, the figure turned back and their footsteps could be heard fading as they walked away.
“That was close.” Gwen breathed.
“Agreed.” Jack nodded, as if he was visible. “ Let’s see where he went.”
They all moved, as quietly as possible towards the dull and fading light. They could hear movement as they approached a doorway. Inside was a cavernous room, lit by candles, with a large creature glowing eerily. It appeared to be sleeping. Two robed figures were tending to it, sweeping away any dust or debris. Remembering the video Jack wondered just how much of that dust used to be a human being.
“Mable’s bringing the next one.” The sweeping figure said.
The other looked over and sat down on one of the rugs on the floor. “How old?”
“Eighteen. He should last us at least three months.”
“What about the invader?”
“He left town. The quality of his little video isn’t good enough to identify any of us but we should still lay low for a while. This isn’t the first time we’ve had an invader.”
“You’ve dealt with one before?”
“Not since nineteen seventy two. Nosey little journalist. He was young so he made a decent sacrifice.”
“So, you’ve been serving the great light for a long time?”
“Oh yes. Eighty years or so now. Mable’s been a follower for over a hundred. You doubted the lights power?”
The figure shook his head. “No, no. It’s just so long. It’s hard to imagine.”
“You’ll get used to it. You were chosen, remember that.”
Jack stepped out of the darkness, gun drawn. “I don’t think that thing would care who fed it. Nice little trick though. The whole eternal youth thing.”
The figure on the floor put his hands up but the woman who’d been sleeping simply looked enraged.
“How dare you enter this sacred place uninvited!”
“Sacred? Not really. Just old.”
“The light is a god!”
Jack chuckled. “I’ve seen better. So how many people have you fed to that thing? If this little cult’s been around as long as you say then you’ve murdered hundreds.”
“They weren’t living any kind of life. At least with their youth we could do things they never even cared enough to dream of.”
“Like standing in a hole, cleaning up after an overfed alien?”
“I’ve had enough of your blasphemy!”
“Don’t even think it. We will shoot if you make it necessary.” He growled. “Why don’t you just sit down and let us do our jobs.”
The woman scowled. “Oh great and powerful light, defend us from the blasphemers!”
The creature opened its eyes and Jack fired but the bullet sunk uselessly into one of its thick tendrils. It reached out in every direction and grabbed at everything in reach. Both of the cultists were lifted into the air and vapourised as the creature defended itself. Its eyes were milky and blind so it lashed out at whatever it could. Gwen and Owen backed off, just out of reach and Elise hit the floor to avoid a tendril flying over her head. Jack was caught in the things grasp, glowing under its grasp. Elise pulled her blade and sliced off one, then two, then three of its flailing appendages but there were more that replaced them. She stared up in horror, fully expecting Jack to be destroyed. He fell limp but was still very much in one piece. The creatures glow became a bright light. Owen grabbed Elise and pulled her to the furthest corner where Gwen had taken cover behind a half excavated wall. The creature, still trying to feed, flailed. Lighting even brighter before finally exploding. Jacks body was thrown against the wall as the whole area shook. The room was plunged into darkness.
Ianto held Toshikos hand tight, pulling her up and away from the caved in tunnel. They’d seen a flash of light and the land had shaken before imploding. Once she was on stable ground he tapped his earpiece.
“What’s going on? Is anyone hearing this?”
Gwen coughed before answering. “We’re ok. I think.”
“What happened?” He asked, sounding relieved.
“The creature tried to eat Jack and… I think he overfed it. It exploded. I can’t see the tunnel we came from.”
“It caved in. We’re going to have to call in heavy machinery to get you out.”
“Wasn’t there another way in? Maybe we can get out that way… We have to find Jack first.”
“Keep us updated. If you haven't found a way out in twenty minutes I’m calling in help.”
Tosh sat herself on the edge of the pit. “The way out is most likely nearer the quarry. That’s the only place a digging operation could go on without anyone noticing. That’ll be on the other side from where you entered, so if you see another tunnel ahead of you it’ll probably lead out there.”
“Thanks Tosh. We’ll keep you guys updated but I’ve got to help search.” Gwen said, the signal weak.