The Gentle Music of a Bygone Age, by Matthew Clarke (my fan fiction)

This story is inspired by the above painting, The Gentle Music of a Bygone Age, by John Melhuish Strudwick.

Three young Gallifreyan women, all students at the academy gathered in an ancient room within the Prydonian academy to recite the ancient songs of their race. They sat on antiquated chairs, as old as the room itself, carved with depictions of the heroes of the Old Times, along with angelic Eternals and horrible beasts of legend. They wore the robes and sandals that would have been worn by maidens of the Old Times. One of them sang, the other two played on ancient Gallifreyan harps.

Their songs told the story of the Time Lords. They sang of the greatness of the Gallifreyan empire, forged when the universe was so young. They sang of Sphinxes and other great and terrible beasts. They lamented the passing of the Pythia. They praised the greatness of Rassilon who brought the great enlightenment, who banished chaos and mastered time. They mourned for Omega who had passed away into shadow. They sang of the Other whose work made the mastery of time a reality. They sang of long, terrible wars now forgotten and of the unknown horrors faced by Rassilon. They sang of the founding of the worshipful law of Gallifrey and the establishment of the Great Houses.

As Romana sang these ancient ballads, tears came to her eyes. Something in her heart yearned for the glory days of the Old Times. She knew that those days were lost forever. The universe was no longer young.

Gallifrey was no longer the place it was. Where once there was nobility, now there was corruption. Where once there was pride, now there was intrigue. Where once there was glory, now there was indifference. It broke Romana's heart to know how much had been lost.