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Once upon a time, long long ago in the Old Times when Gallifrey was young, Rassilon set up the Matrix and was made first President of the Time Lords. And to be sure that none could challenge his rule, or threaten the safety and harmony of the Time Lords, Rassilon asked the Matrix a question.
He stood in the Great Hall of Time, where a portal to the Matrix hung above the debating table, and he asked the Matrix:
"Matrix, Matrix that sees over all, who has the power to make Gallifrey fall?"
And the Matrix replied: "Only you, oh Rassilon. Only you, through the Eye of Harmony have that power."
Each and every day, Rassilon asked the same question.
Each and every day he received the same reply.
Until, one day, the Matrix replied: "Snowana the Fair, using the Keys of Doomsday, she has the power to destroy all of Gallifrey."
Rassilon was enraged by this response, and summoned the High Council of all Time Lords. They met for many hours in the Panopticon, to decide the fate of Snowana. Some argued that she must be vaporised, others that she was only a young girl not yet even attending the Academy, and that the Matrix was wrong.
But Rassilon knew that the Matrix was never wrong. And with sorrow and heavy hearts, he banished the girl into the wastelands of Outer Gallifrey, where she could do no harm and would surely die. So that he would never be faced with a similar decision, Rassilon never asked the Matric the question again.
But Snowana did not die. She was a brave and clever child and survived on fruit and berries, sheltering from the sun and the wind. She found other 'Outlers' living outside the Citadel of Gallifrey, and over the years Snowana grew into a beautiful woman. The Outlers called her Snow White, because her skin was so pale as she kept out of the sun.
One of the Outlers was a handsome man named Selendor, and he fell in love with Snow White. But she did not love him, for she knew he was a cruel and selfish man who had escaped to Outer Gallifrey after murdering his own brother and father. So she rejected his love, and that made Selendor even more angry. Ever since he left, Selendor had been intent on revenge. He blamed Rassilon and the Time Lords for his crime, and his self-imposed exile, and he was determined to destroy Gallifrey and bring the Time Lords to their knees.
Digging deep in the ground, Selendor discovered a powerful ore which he mined and fashioned into an awesome weapon. He created a terrible machine, and from the ore he made seven keys, one for each of the 'crimes' of the Time Lords of Gallifrey. There was a Key of Pride, and a Key of Injustice. There was a Key of Power and a Key of Exile. There was a Key of Knowledge and a Key of Wisdom. And last and greatest of all, there was a Key of Nevermore.
When his machine and its keys were complete, Selendor called the Outlers together and he told them of his plan to bring Doomsday to the worlds. Even though they were outcasts themselves, they begged him to reconsider, but he refused. He started to insert the keys into the machine, and as its terrible power grew, the Outlers fled and hoped to find safety.
All except Snow White, who begged Selendor not to destroy the world. She lied to him, and said he was all the world to her. If he would not stop, then he should at least let her use the last key to have her own revenge. Knowing that Snow White had been unfairly banished by Rassilon, Selendor gave her the Key of Nevermore, sure that she would use it.
And so it was that the Matrix was proved right. Snow White who had been Snowana held the Key of Nevermore, and with it she had the power to make Gallifrey fall.
But instead of using that power, she took the Key of Nevermore, and she ran from Selendor and hid. He sought her through the wastelands, and she knew that one day he would find her. She could not destroy the Key, and so she used her knowledge to fashion herself a place of safety. She used the Key to blend force fields together and create a box. And she lay in the force field box, and was safe from all the world and the Key was safe with her for none could break into the box without destroying the power of the Key.
After seven years, Selendor found, as if dead inside what appeared to be a glass coffin. And he wept for the loss of his love. But the love he wept for was not for Snow White but the Key of Nevermore and the end of Gallifrey. It is said that he wept until he had no more tears, and still he wept until he passed away from grief and Selendor the Destroyer was no more.
But Snow White slept on, one of the Seven Keys of Doomsday clutched to her hearts.
Some say she is sleeping still.