The Legend of Gallifrey ~ [Doctor Who]

Part 7 | The Confessions of a Time Lord

The Doctor knew something was going to go wrong when the bald, withered man appeared in the TARDIS control room.

Bald men who mysteriously appeared in control rooms were never good news, especially when they were ancient Time Lord legends. The Doctor recognized the man instantly as a member of an ancient Time Lord legendary species called the Shakri, who served something called the Tally. Normally, this led them to wipe out races that would one day infect the universe, but they'd also been known to act as judges over other species as well. They also had a thing for the number seven, which explained why they were appearing to the Doctor now. This was his seventh form.

The Shakri raised its hand and pointed at the Doctor. For a moment, nothing happened, but then something in the Doctor's pocket began to heat up. Before it could set him on fire, he pulled it out and dropped it on the ground.

It was a disc of golden/bronze colored metal with one side covered in Gallifreyan writing, the Doctor's confession dial. Bigger on the inside and psychically aligned to the Doctor, so on the eve of his death he could enter it and make peace will all his demons. They were created on Gallifrey by the very best of timesmiths and were given to all Time Lords as they graduated.

The disc spiraled open. The Doctor had once heard a rumor that the inside of a confession dial looked different every time it was opened, but he'd never opened his dial before, as it wasn't meant to be opened until a Time Lord's death day. The inside of the confession dial in this moment looked like an ancient maze made of stone with vines hanging everywhere. In the center was a large patch of grass, likely where the Doctor would start out.

"You will enter," said the Shakri.

The Doctor looked up at it. "Why?" he asked.

"The Tally sees that it is your time to confess to us your seven deadly secrets to us," is said. Then it raised its hand and the open dial began to glow fiercely, and the light began to envelop the Doctor.

A moment later, the Doctor stood in the middle of the clearing he'd seen earlier. The walls were much higher than they'd seemed from the outside, there was no chance that the Doctor would ever be able to climb them.

Through the sky, he could see the ceiling of the TARDIS until the dial began to close. Then a normal sky was visible way over the Doctor's head.

The Shakri appeared in the sky. "Your worst fear is chasing you, Doctor. If it catches you, you will have to confess to it or die."

Behind the Doctor, something shuffled through the grass. He turned to look. There were six people shuffling towards him slowly, all with rotting skin and milky white eyes. One was an old man who dragged a walking stick behind him. One was a black haired man with a crooked bow tie and a recorder hanging from around his wrist. One was a man with curly white hair and frilly sleeves. One was a man with curly brown hair, a hat, and a long scarf that dragged behind him. One was a blonde man with a stick of rotten celery on his lapel, and one was a man with curly blonde hair who wore a brightly colored coat. They were zombified versions of the Doctor's past regenerations.

The Doctor turned and ran towards the opening of the maze. The zombies were relatively slow, but the Doctor would tire out eventually while the zombies wouldn't.

The Doctor ran for what felt like hours, taking every left and every third right. He remembered this as he ran in order to find his way back. He finally stopped for a breath at a dead end.

Something behind him scratched. He spun around. The old man with the dragging cane slowly stumbled towards him. A zombified version of his first incarnation was coming to kill him unless he confessed something to it.