#don't ask me how many times it took to do the iron throne

[the-magpie-collective]

[Part 2/3]: Let's drink the Styx down to the last drop

Part 1

And that brings us to Part II, or why it seems trivial to escape a pact even when the game tells us otherwise.

We come to the second time we are directly quoted Wyll's pact:

Clause A, Section Two: 'Should soul-holder choose to abandon his patron, he is freed from his duty. His father, Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard, will be thus fated to die by an enemy's hand.'

Now Wyll's father dying as consequence of Wyll not fulfilling his pact is narrative horseshit. The only thing Wyll signed away with the pact was his soul. Wyll doesn't have the power to sign away his father's life. If it was that easy to guarantee someone's death every devil would be adding on nonsense clauses: 'Such and such person I dislike is fated to die tomorrow'. If devils' pacts actually had that power, hell would have already won. It makes no sense.

So let's say Ulder Ravengard is fated to die and Mizora just so happens to know this and it has nothing to do with Wyll's pact. Wyll doesn't need know that it has nothing to do with the pact and well, Mizora is petty enough it's believable that she would expend power to ensure Ulder's death happens by her hand so that Wyll feels personally responsible. But the way this clause is introduced in the game makes no sense.

The player frees Mizora in exchange for breaking his pact and Mizora rewards Wyll with a weapon and saunters off la-di-di-da. What? I don't know about you, but I was left sitting there thinking I had made a mistake in choosing my dialogue options and she was using some bullshit 'well Tav saved me so I don't actually have to free Wyll from his pact' cop-out. But no, they just have Mizora show up later to free Wyll from his pact because reasons?

Oh wait it's so they can railroad the player.

The main reason why BG3 works so well as a game is the illusion of choice and for Wyll's entire storyline this simply does not exist. Wyll is the only character who is not allowed to make his own choice at the climax of his story. 

The only way to save Wyll's father is by getting several specific cutscenes in a specific order. I had to redo the Iron throne so many times not because it was difficult but because I kept missing a goddamn cutscene. The player can't save Ulder Ravengard in the Grand Hall when he crowns Gortash even though nonlethal damage is introduced right at the beginning of the game and is used in exactly this way to save Minsc. Ulder Ravengard is just magically dead if you don't talk to Mizora twice before going to the iron throne. And none of this makes sense with what we have been told are the rules of how this game works.

So they use that bullshit pact clause to smooth over their shoddy story writing.

Now I understand that the reason why they did this was to make saving Wyll's father difficult, but come on. If you know anything about game design you know that forcing your player to follow a strict series of easy to miss steps in order to succeed is just bad game design. There are better ways to increase a scenarios difficulty. There's a reason why Larian didn't look at Honor Mode and go 'I know what would make this harder, if they don't talk to specific people in a specific order everyone in the Grove just dies for no reason :)'.

And fixing this wouldn't even be that hard. You have Wyll free Mizora and she rewards him with the rapier and then immediately call her sisters from hell and break his pact as promised. There's no reason why the six month clause* should prevent the pact from being broken then and there. It's not like she waits six months to let Wyll break it anyways. And then on the way out she can go, 'oh, I forgot to mention. Remember that clause that says your father is fated to die if you break your pact? Whoopsie. Toodaloo.' It would hit all the harder when Wyll watches the three BBEGs tadpole Ulder because he could be left wondering: is this my fault?

(*this is another bullshit clause that they never actually do anything with so I don't know why they even bothered to put it in.)

And then the player arrives at Baldur's Gate and sees Ulder standing at Gortash's side. Give the Player the opportunity to save him then and there. We already know it will be a hard fight between the Steel Watch and everyone else. There will be plenty of opportunities where Ulder could accidentally get killed, but having him just die no matter what is stupid. Mizora can still come around and threaten Ulder's life and give Wyll the opportunity to remedy things by re-sealing his pact. I mean there's already a bunch of bullshit clauses, what's one more that states something along the lines of 'If soul-holder agrees to re-sign the original pact within three tendays after choosing to abandon his patron, all consequences as a result of abandoning his patron are null and void'. And hey, if Wyll refuses, I know I wouldn't be complaining about it triggering a fight with Mizora. Anything that gives me an opportunity to actually get rid of her.

Or let's say the player listens to Wyll and doesn't attack Gortash and Ulder in the Grand Hall. Now, because Mizora has already stated that Ulder will die the player has a reason to confront Mizora when they see her standing on the bridge outside of Wyrm's Rock. And this is where things can stay the same, Mizora can dangle the hope of rescuing Wyll's father over his head and offer to provide information as to where Gortash is keeping him.

And if the player still doesn't talk to Mizora, then just keep the confrontation in the iron throne. Maybe add in an extra line of dialogue on Mizora's part, that she would have offered to help if they had come to her but now she's here to kill Ulder instead.

These are minor changes that offer the player the illusion of choice. A few changes and the player isn't required to do anything in a specific and arbitrary order just to save Ulder Ravengard. It doesn't entirely fix the issues with the writing around Mizora's Pact, but by the gods the way they have it currently in the game makes my teeth itch. It takes all of the tension and fear around the pact and just turns it into frustration because the consequence of Ulder dying does not fit with everything that has been outlined as the rules for the player so far. Why go to such lengths to make BG3 feel as close to an actually D&D campaign as they can, only to remove any freedom of choice when it comes to Wyll's story?

But wait, there's more.

Part 3

[myimaginationplain]

I've found that when it comes to discussing who has the best claim to the iron throne and/or the Targaryen dynasty, there's often this implicit assumption that when Jon finds out about his true parentage, the knowledge will inevitably leak to the general Westerosi public. People love to theorize about whether or not the Northerners would continue to support Jon if his being Rhaegar's son came to light, or if he would be pushed as heir to the iron throne over Dany & Aegon, & I'm just like...how would any of them find out about it? Why would any of them find out about it?

I feel like some people believe that when Jon finds out about R + L = J, he'll, I dunno, send out news letters about it or something? Publicly renounce his status as Eddard Stark's son? I don't exactly understand what people think Jon would do with the information, but anything less than keeping as tight a lid on it as possible would be very out of character for Jon. Guys, we're talking about the same guy who purposefully gave a young mother the wrong baby. He's not gonna be cavalier about this.

The only people we can really be certain he'd feel the need to tell the truth to are Arya & Sansa. We know that Bran is likely to already know the truth himself by then through his greenseer tree-god bullshit; Rickon, even if he is found & taken to Winterfell by the time the other siblings reconvene (which I find highly unlikely), would probably be considered too young to trust with information like that.

Daenerys is also an extremely likely candidate for being one of the few people Jon would tell, although this is variable, as it depends on what sort of relationship you believe she & Jon will have by the time R + L = J is revealed. I for one am betting on she & Jon already being involved in some capacity by the time he finds out, thus making her one of the people he'd tell. But if you're in the camp of people who think they'll be enemies by then, he probably wouldn't tell her in that scenario.

Sam is furthest down on the very short list of people Jon would probably tell. I think it's likely, seeing how much he trusts Sam & leans on him for support. But still, it's not a sure thing.

So, including Howland Reed (who has successfully kept the secret for ~17 years now), that makes just 6-7 people who would be privy to Jon's parentage. None of whom would have much motivation to go screaming about it from the hilltops in any scenario where they're still behaving like themselves. (If any of you bring up show!Sansa here, then I'm gonna beat you with a hammer. Don't be a hypocrite; if you can acknowledge & accept that literally every other character was wildly ooc in Season 8, then do the same with Sansa. Betraying Jon's trust after swearing not to before a heart tree is just as ooc for book!Sansa as purposefully burning Kings' Landing to ash would be for book!Daenerys.)

Even in the event that Jon rides a dragon, I think that can easily be explained away by lying about Jon's mother. "Oh, why can I ride a dragon? Not many people know this, but my mother was actually a Lyseni whore. You know they have some Valyrian blood in them. She died in childbirth, though, which is why my lord father took me in." Who's gonna call his bluff on that? Ned's resolute silence on Jon's mother would absolutely work in his favor. The historical precident set by Nettles & others like her means that Jon can 100% just say his mother was the daughter of some unknown dragonseed or something.

IMO, the real question we should be asking is, if Jon were to have children, would he ever tell them the truth?

[paulyenvol6]

Called to the Devil (Chapter 3)

Contains: mentions of masturbating

Wordcount: ~2.10k

Masterlist of this story

The next morning Elayne and Daemon met again in the corridor. The rogue prince had a smug look on his face which only upset her further but she remained cool and gave him a sweet smile.

"Good morrow, my prince.", she purred though she was almost certain that he could see behind her facade.

He lifted his eyebrows when he saw her and by now it was a familiar view for Elayne.

"I hope you had a good sleep, my lady.", Daemon said cloyingly and nodded at her while walking past her.

Elayne tensed her jaw but kept walking until she was around the corner. What was she to do? Her pride had been injured and she couldn't just accept things the way they were right now. And most importantly, she wanted him. She wanted to feel him, touch him. Daemon had triggered a fuel inside of her which wasn't yet satisfied.

That was why Elayne decided to make him want her. At least she tried to. All day long she played the innocent while giving him seductive glances. The prince seemingly didn't notice them but the girl asumed that he did judging by the way he would sometimes scoff or the corner of his mouth would twitch. Elayne playfully threw her head back when laughing, bit her lip when she saw Daemon's gaze on her profile and made her eyes glisten when hers met his'.

And yet she wasn't certain if her attempts had any effects on the king's brother. At least he didn't stop her, didn't ask her for a private conversation and seemed to ignore her apart from some smug glances at her. That's why she remained unsatisfied though she was confident and determined in her attempt to see him struggle.

On that very same evening Elayne seeked Daemon's presence again and managed to find him as she walked past the door to the thrones room. He stood in front of the iron throne and seemingly admired the swords and the girl decided to sneak up on him.

"Imagining yourself on it?", she asked and the prince spinned around.

"I'm not made to wear a crown.", Daemon said cooly and Elayne crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Who is?"

Then she walked back and forth while looking up to the magnificant seat.

"I think you would look rather impressive up there. 'Daemon Targaryen, first of his name. Protector of the realm....' It has a ring to it."

She lifted her right eyebrow and the rogue prince chuckled darkly.

"Would that be if I were born first."

"So you do have ambitions.", she whispered mischievously.

Daemon wrinkled his nose. "Ambitions don't make a man act treacherous. They rather make them…. dreamers."

"How very disappointing.", Elayne sighed and Daemon turned to look at her squeezing his eyes.

"The king could have your tongue for this."

She smiled. "Yes. He could."

Daemon kept his gaze on her for a little longer until the Baratheon girl took another step towards him to close the gap between them. She leaned up to him until her mouth was close to his ear.

"But it would be a waste. Where my tongue could be used for so many better things." She heard him inhale sharply and triumphed in silent.

"I know that you're fighting it, my prince. I'm telling you, don't. Don't fight it."

Elayne shrieked silently because Daemon had suddenly grabbed her upper arm and held her a bit away from him.

"If only my dear brother knew what a little devil he has brought into his home."

She bit her lip and her eyes flashed at him. She was consumed by desire and lust and wanted to touch him.

"This is nothing, my prince. I can be so much worse. Let me show you."

Daemon chuckled loudly and his fingers dug into her arm. "You think you can show me something that I haven't seen a hundred times? A 16 year old?"

But Elayne didn't give in and had her chin high. "Please. I want you."

"Quite pathetic, isn't it?", he whispered, emphasizing every word. "What you're doing is called begging, little one. Don't you have any dignitiy left inside of you? You're begging for a married man to break his vows."

His words were truthful and yet she didn't care. She never was someone to give a lot about tradition, customs and honor. She wanted to get what she wanted and didn't see anything wrong in it.

"I don't fucking care about my dignity. And you can do whatever you want to. I'm sure you already do or do are you telling me you live in abstinence while you lady wife resides in Runestone?"

Elayne hesitated for a moment and then leaned forwards to press her lips on Daemon's. They just looked too seducing and for a moment she tasted them and enjoyed being so close to him until the prince pulled away and left her dissatisfied.

"Why?", she hissed.

Daemon smirked widely and lifted her chin with his finger to to adjust her head to his liking.

"I think you're a spoiled brat. You think everyone wants you? I think you just took whatever it is you want all your life and it's a good lesson for you to see that you can't always get what you want. Perhaps you were able to seduce you're little stable boy but you should learn that not everyone is willing to bend themselves to your will."

Elayne's eyes were spitting fire and Daemon could really sense her Targaryen parentage for a moment.

"Fuck you.", she pressed and tried to squirm from his grip around her chin but Daemon held her tightly.

"Ugh uh.", he made. "Be calm, little girl. You need to learn to control you're anger if you want to become a noble woman worthy of her name."

"I don't want to be a noble woman.", Elayne spitted and his face came closer to hers.

"For once in your life, it doesn't matter what you want."

And then he kissed her on her forehead and let go of her. Without turning around again Daemon strut away and left a both angry and desperate girl behind.

~~~~~~~~~~

That night Elayne decided to fight the heat between her legs again just by herself but though she managed to reach her high she felt unsatisfied afterwards. She would give everything for it to be Daemon's hand between her legs and pouted in the darkness.

Why didn't he give in? She had seen what her words had done to her. He had even slipped his hand between her legs the other night and Elayne was certain that he wouldn't have done it if he didn't feel drawn to her. All she wanted was for him to bed her, it wasn't like she had asked him to marry her. But once again he had rejected her and not even her own skilled finger could satisfy her needs at this point.

Her want for Daemon had at least one good aspect. She didn't miss her home this much right now because thinking about the rogue prince drew her attention away from thinking about her family and Storm's End all the time. Of course she missed them but Daemon gave her a purpose in some way and so she wasn't that bored and didn't swim in memories at all times.

The next few days went rather uneventful. Elayne was invited to spend the afternoon tea with the king's wife Laena Velaryon and didn't have a choice but to agree. It wasn't unpleasant though it didn't take long for her to feel bored. The topics simply weren't interesting to her but even Elayne, who didn't care about other people's opinions found herself respecting the queen who had a majestic aura about her. So she didn't run her mouth the way she usually did but answered Laena politely when she asked her about her home and youth.

Apart from that the girl went on strolls through the gardens, sat through the lessons with her septa Ysa, hunted after insects when no one was looking, rotted away in the lady chambers while gossiping and knitting scarfs with the other noble women and walked through the city.

At first she had been told that she wasn't allowed to do so because it was too dangerous and her father wouldn't approve of it. But Elayne's face had turned red with anger and the knight who had forbade it had just widened his eyes in fear and acted as if he didn't see her leaving the walls of the keep. She genuinely enjoyed it and besides Daemon the city was the only thing she knew she knew she would miss if she was to return to Storm's End. Elayne liked to listen to the traders on the markets and just enjoyed the hectic and excitement that seemed to buzz over the city like a summer heat.

The next day she had decided to spend the evening there because she imagined King's Landing to be even more thrilling when there were musicians and artists showing their talent and when everyone was drinking and laughing under the night sky. And it turned out to be true as Elayne learned.

There were people dancing in the midst of the streets, men and women, women and women and men and men fucking against the walls only hidden by the shadows cast by the houses. She was stunned, fascinated and soon her nightly strolls became her favourite activity.

On her 7th day after her arrival she couldn't sneak out though because the king was hosting a celebration in the throne room. It was his 31st name day and even lords and ladies from the Vale and the Westerlands had come to the feast. She was told that her own family wouldn't be able to make it but she honestly didn't care a lot as she was angry with most of them anyway.

But Viserys' name day was reason to celebrate for the court so Elayne dressed up in a red gown that went beautifully with her brown hair. Judging by the look on her septa's face she was surprised that the girl had obeyed this far and attended the celebration in the piece of clothing she was supposed to wear and Ysa quickly led her down into the hall as though she feared that Elayne would change her mind. She watched over the scene, spotted some familiar faces and then decided to speak with the lady Arika.

She was the youngest daughter of Lord Warrek, the king's hand and Arika was a girl her age and to be truthful, she was easy to impress. Most of the times she watched everything with big eyes, frightened and in awe of her surroundings and yet it would be wrong to assume that she was stupid. Elayne just suspected that Arika had always been in the shadows of her elder siblings and was used to people ignoring her.

That was why she had started to act as if she was invisible and didn't open her mouth unless it was necessary. Still, there was something Elayne liked about her so she had recently started to speak to her more regulary and though at first she had been frightened of the resolute Baratheon girl, Arika had started to open up a little.

"Good evening.", she now said quietly with a shy smile on her face and the lights of the many candles and chandeliers made her red hair shimmer.

"Good to see you, Arika.", Elayne answered and took her arm to guide her through the hall.

"How boring is it, my friend?", she rolled her eyes and the other girl giggled against the hand over her mouth.

"Not too unpleasant actually."

It was easy to make Arika laugh and at first Elayne had thought it to be a little strange but now it made her happy to see her friend smile.

"My father told me there will be an acrobat tonight who is rumoured to be able to do a flip on horseback. Though I don't think they will bring a horse in here."

Now it was Elayne who smirked as her eyes searched the crowd. Only when she spotted Daemon a little to the side of the action did she realize it was him she had been looking for. She wrinkled her nose at the memory of their recent encounters and pulled at her arm.

"Arika?", she asked, her eyes not leaving the prince.

"Mhm?"

"Let's have a good time tonight."

[zephyrrr101]

Take me away

Pairing: Robert Baratheon x Named Targ OC

TW: Abusive words, Harrasment, Talk of murder, Robert Baratheon being an angry chihuahua, all the ASOIAF world warning.

Part Two

Cries echoed in the silent halls of Red Keep. Ned Stark frowned at the new sound that had tore through the almost deafening quietness. He turned to look at his companions in the throne room.

His friend, now King Robert Baratheon sat at the Iron Throne.

The same throne that sat many Targaryen kings on it. The same Targaryens that the now King had swore upon killing. Each and everyone.

He did not agree with his friend on this.

Rhaegar Targaryen had taken his sister.

Aeyrs Targaryen had killed his father and brother.

He had felt the fire of vengeance run through him until they were alive but it was quelled the moment he met his dying sister.

And then he had felt disappointed and regretful.

Thousand people lost. Innocents put to sword.

The only good thing he thought came out of it was the end of the Mad King, albeit he didn't like the way he was killed by the Lannister White Knight, but still was a relief.

Another cry shook him out of his thoughts, now much louder, and he then turned to Jon Arryn, his mentor and now the Hand of the King. "What is this? Who is it?"

Jon Arryn did not answer. Even he wasn't sure what was happening. It was clear from the confused look on his face.

His eyes then found that of the new Commander of Kingsguard, Ser Barristan. He looked terrified at the best. He could not think of what could leave the man such as him so struck with fear.

The door of the Throne Room opened.

Now he understood Ser Barristan's horror.

Stannis Baratheon, King Robert's younger brother, marched in. His arms wrapped around silver tresses, he much more of dragged the woman he had come to know as Princess Alyssanne, cries leaving her mouth along with words of pleads to let her go.

What in the name of Gods' was happening?

Stannis came closer to the steps of the throne and pushed the silver haired princess to the floor, left of mercy of all the men in the room.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ned asked and he quickly moved over to the princess.

Her hair dishevelled, her dress dirty and almost seemed to falling off her shoulders. He did the quick work of pulling his cloak off him and covered the princess. Her eyes raised from the ground to meet his. Purple eyes filled with tears and her cheek wet and red.

"The boy escaped with the new born girl," Stannis started, "the Queen was dead. We only got in time to capture her. Dragonstone is ours."

"And you this needed you to drag a woman in such state?" Ned glared Stannis. He had known him almost as long as he knew Robert. He was like his own brother too. But this man he did not recognise.

Stannis opened his mouth, anger surging in his blood. But before any words could leave him, Robert yelled at the top of lungs. "What do you mean they escaped?! What else did I sent you there for!"

Stannis looked at his brother in shock. How could he even say such thing. "It was not in my hand! Willem Darry looked as if he had it already planned. He quicked the younger ones out. It was fortunate we could capture her!"

"You could have gotten there faster! I sent you there to killed them all! Not to bring the bitch back!" He glared at his brother for a moment before his anger took it's turn to Alyssanne. "Where did they go? Where did those runts run off to!"

Alyssanne flinched seeing him stand. Robert was always a tall man with broad shoulders. It intimidated anyone who didn't know him dearly. And not know him, the princess did. She whispered out some words in terror, her hold on the grey cloak of Stark was deathly. And Robert roared his question again, making her crawl a little back.

"I don't know! Please! Robert, we are kin!" She cried out, her voice broken from screaming some moments before.

"Kin? Kin! You are no kin of mine!" Robert sneered, "I'll find each and every one of your filthy white haired bastard and kill them just like I killed that son of whore of your brother! Just like I'll kill you!"

"No! Please! Robert!" Ned had never quite seen any woman in such a distress. He didn't even know what he was to do. "They are but children! Please just... Let them be. Let me go. I will find them and make sure we never return to Westros. I swear it! Please!"

"Let you go!" Robert looked disgusted at the thought, he started treading down the stairs, "You want me to—"

Ned stepped in Robert's way just when he was about a few steps away from Alyssanne and he caught Ser Barristan beside him. The princess had started fo move behind, draging herself back, trying to make distance between the enraged man.

"You grace, despite your anger she is your kin. An honourable man and king does not harm their kin or a woman," Ser Barristan said, trying to stop the enraged man to get his hands on the princess.

"Robert, she is a woman, a lady," Ned glared at his friend and Robert for a moment calmed.

For a moment they were not in the Throne Room of Red Keep but in Vale, fighting boys who tried to pick a fight with them.

Jon Arryn mean while had too moved. He approached the princess as one would a frighted and injured predator, who was actually contemplating the last moments of their life. He helped the princess get up, he eyes moving warily around, it didn't take anyone to be too wise to see the distance she tried to keep from Stannis and his men.

"Let us talk about this after tempers have cooled." Jon said. And he could say everyone agreed, even the Baratheon's, reluctantly, but they did.

Alyssanne had not slept for even a second in the following night. And it was not an understatement.

She had been far too worried about what was happening. From what she could tell, there was a storm forming across the Blackwater Bay which was streched all over the Narrow sea she could see from her room.

Yes, her room.

Jon Arryn had done her the courtesy of letting her be in her room. Something about finding calmness in familiarity.

She could bet whatever she had that she would never find calmness ever again.

She could not get her mind off anything. Her worry for her little brother and sister who had sailed just a day before. A storm on their flight would not do them good, specially the baby Daenerys, what her mother had named the babe with her dying breath.

Alyssanne had promised her mother to protect Viserys and Daenerys. How was she supposed to keep them safe, protect them when she was locked in the highest floor of the Maegor's Holdfast. Curse her father for giving her this room. What the hell was that mad man thinking! What was Rhaegar thinking? What was anyone thinking?

Another reason for sleep fleeing her was fear for her own life. She trusted Ser Barristan posted outside her room. The man had been their when she was born and had seen her grow up. Seven Hells, he was the one who had sent for her mother when she had her first moon blood. But even after all that, she could not sleep. Ser Barristan may have been another father figure in her life after Rhaegar, he was still a man who followed his King's command. And unfortunately, her cousin who was hell bent on having all of her family annihilated, including herself. Her father's Kingsguard had drawn the sword through his chest. Her father may be been the most horrible man to breath but she would not trust anyone now. Specially now.

"Princess," She flinched at the slight graze at her hand shuffling away on the opposite side on her bed. Alyssanne blinked, her wide eyes found a terrified woman standing across her.

"Princess... I—we are here to bathe you," The maid said. Yes, a maid, it was only a maid, Alyssanne sighed and looked around the room, there were three more women, all of them older than her, two bringing hot water in one putting a dress on the dressing screen and the last one was the one who had scared her.

"Yes, yes," she nodded and got off the bed hesitantly. None of the women seemed familiar. She was sure they didn't work here.

The maid who had scared her made a quick work of taking off her dress, if there was much left of it. There had not much left of her clothes in her room when she had tried to look in her dressers.

She wasn't even sure what happened in King's Landing. All her mother had told her was that her father, good sister, niece and nephew were dead and had then crowned Viserys King in Dragonstone. Now she was starting to wonder if asking for details may have been a good idea.

Why do good ideas never come at the right time?

Alyssanne couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as she put her leg in the hot water. She could thank whoever had to the maids to have the water almost boiling hot. Her skin tingled as warmth started to seep in her body. It almost felt like she was back in time when nothing was wrong. That her mother would be bringing Viserys in her room to spend time with, Elia following her with little Rhaenys and Aegon.

Alyssanne sighed, biting her lip as she let the maids wash her. She had to control herself. Her eyes cautiously moved around her. Even when the maids were just doing their jobs. She couldn't let her guard down.

She sent a prayer to whatever Gods would listen her. Please keep my little brother and sister safe. She whispered. Keep them out of Robert's reach, please.

[blakeswritingimagines]

All is well, loves

Summary: Between losing a baby and the iron throne Rhaenyra and Daemon are lucky to you have same as your lucky to have them.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the House of The Dragon/Fire & Blood characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used nor do I claim to own them.

Word count: 2.6k

You had been up early in the morning choosing to busy yourself once ready for the day as you let Rhaenyra and Daemon rest for longer, helping the dark-haired princes with a smile as you listened to their plans for the day nodding along to what you viewed as your own children as well. Once Rhaenyra and Daemon woke up and joined everyone for breakfast you sent them both a wink and blew a small kiss waiting until the prayer was over and everyone to start eating to look over at Rhaenyra with a small smile knowing she might still be hurting different from Daemon "How are you doing love?".

Daemon first spoke "I'm fine." as Rhaenyra slightly shrugged her shoulder and spoke softly "I'm fine as well." Daemon rolled his eyes and spoke as he looked over at you "She lies." Rhaenyra shot a glare for such a blatant accusation but Daemon gave her a smirk before speaking once more. "She was up most of the night." Daemon looks towards Rhaenyra and grins. "I offered my assistance but she didn't want it." You smiled fondly as you looked between the two listening to them even if they acted like this you couldn't help but enjoy the two other halves of you, giving Daemon a certain look as you shook your head while speaking, "You don't have a gentle touch my love" Looking over at Rhaenyra as you tenderly took her hand into your own giving a comforting squeeze "None of us are fine right now but it's okay because we're here for each other and you know that...Right?."

"Of course." She answers. Despite her best attempts the blonde woman still wore a frown on her face. Daemon watched before he spoke "You need to lighten up." Rhaenyra rolled her eyes as she spoke with an icy tone "…And you need to shut up!" Rhaenyra's brow knit together as she let out a sigh. The rouge prince sighed "Oh, come off it will you. I don't know how you'll ever rule anything if you won't learn to control your emotions." You continued to hold Rhaenyra's hand as you both ate only to look up at both loves of your life before letting your jaw drop slightly at your husband as he spoke to your shared wife "Daemon", Giving him a look knowing none of you were okay after losing the baby but didn't want your lovers to shift into a dark place for it especially since more had been topped onto it in only so many days that passed "She controls herself just fine and she'll make an amazing ruler but we all still need to take time after what's happened*. Sighing as you nodded your once all three boys asked to leave as if they could feel the tension building but looked between your husband and wife "No duties will be met for the next few days we're going to simply rest and I'm going to take care of everything nor will I hear a word that either of you will do anything is that understood?".

Daemon sighs as he looks at you "Fine.. but not for too long.." Rhaenyra looks to you in appreciation and nods her head in agreement. Daemon glares at Rhaenyra. In truth Daemon is annoyed that he had to agree with her and that she had agreed with you. Daemon speaks up again, now speaking to Rhaenyra. "I won't be doing nothing all day. I have things to take care of."

Leaning in close as you gave Rhaenyra a gentle kiss on the lips happy to hear the agreement from the blonde ruler since you knew she still felt the toll of losing a child, listening to Daemon as you shook your head while the servants started to clean the table as you stood up from your seat and walked over starting to massage his shoulders leaning close to his ear whispering softly as you placed soft kisses on his jaw "Much like taking care of yourselves...won't you do this for me? let me take care of you and our darling wife?".

Daemon let out a small moan as you whispered in his ear and kissed his jaw. Your touching alone sends his spirits to the sky. Daemon puts his arms around your neck, moving his chin so he can kiss you. When you both break apart Daemon smiles. "I don't have to be told twice. I'd do anything for you." Rhaenyra watches the affection displayed by the two, rolling her eyes when Daemon puts his arm around you.

You smiled at his words and lightly nodded your head as you kissed his cheek "Thank you love" Leaning into his touch as you looked over at Rhaenyra and smiled as you gently cupped the woman's face in your hand, raising a brow not knowing how to best help your husband and wife but knew you couldn't act as if nothing had happened letting the loves of your life continue on especially when you started to notice them pull away more and more or heard the things they would say to each other.

Daemon had a small smile on his face and said "Come on, let's go to bed." Rhaenyra sighed as she got up from her seat speaking toward him "You won't be trying your luck tonight." Daemon sighs, rolling his eyes, turning to you to see if you'd let him get away with something. "Please?" Rhaenyra looks to you as well, seeing if you'd do Daemon any favors. You watched on as the two blondes moved closer together even if it was a little tense but smiled as you stepped closer to Daemon and placed your hand on his chest "Nyra is still recuperating but I'll take care of you later", Leaning close as you pressed your lips against his gently and whispered into his ear "Just be gentle with her for right now my love" Kissing Rhaenyra tenderly on the lips as well and gave her a smile knowing she wouldn't push to much "You can give affection even if just a little bit can't you?".

Daemon moans into your lips as you kiss him. When you pull away Daemon looks frustrated and speaks softly."Fine… I'll take care of myself tonight." Daemon goes to grab Rhaenyra's arm, pulling her close. Before Daemon can even speak Rhaenyra shoots him a look. Their words and glares get increasingly heated until they're yelling at each other again. Daemon tries to touch Rhaenyra and she slaps his hand away. Your eyes widen watching on while the two now fought only to sigh as you stepped closer to Rhaenyra and wrap your arms around the blonde "Alright the both of you", Looking between them both until your eyes settled on the rightful heir and kissed her cheek a few times before looking into her eyes "It's time to relax now, I'll have the servants get a bath going and I'll take care of you okay?". Looking at Daemon as you gently took hold of one of his hands and pulled him closer to the two and looked up at him "I'll take care of you but later, right now I just want to see you relaxed as well."

"If I have to wait that long…" Daemon spoke as he tried to pull Rhaenyra closer but she resisted his attempts "Fine. Fine. I'll relax. For now." Daemon finally looks at Rhaenyra and smiles. "I'll keep my hands to myself." Rhaenyra finally gives in and allows Daemon to pull her close, "Alright… I'll relax.. for now." You smiled as they both finally gave in and watched as they held on to each other like you all had been grabbing at each other as if none of you knew what to do without the others, nodding your head as you spoke to a few servants to go get a bath going before you started dragging the two of them back to the private chambers you all shared "Good because none of us are going to get better or anything done if we keep this up."

Once back inside the room that the trio shared Daemon immediately heads to the washroom and starts stripping. When finished he walks out to Rhaenyra who is also stripping. Daemon smiles at his wife, putting his arms around her waist. Rhaenyra leans back into Daemon's arms, smiling as she wraps her arms around him. As the two embrace Daemon spoke up again. "Is Y/N coming? She promised to take care of us.." Daemon whispered to Rhaenyra.

You had the two go into the room first as you spoke with a servant letting them know that unless it was about the boys or something that absolutely needed attention to not bother any of you, making your way to where your two now bare lovers stood and stopped in your tracks as you took in the tender moment they were sharing before you let your voice be heard "Alright you two in the bath it's time to relax."

Both Rhaenyra and Daemon groan. Daemon looks behind him to see you and rolls his eyes as he says "Oh come on, can't we just put the bath off for later?" Daemon tries to caress Rhaenyra's rear but she dodges his reach. "Alright, alright. We're going." Rhaenyra softly spoke as she started to strip the last bit of her clothes off, leaving her naked. Daemon's eyebrows rise as he looks at his wife, his expression changing to delight the moment he sees her nude. He then looks back at you, who hopefully doesn't notice anything. Daemon smiles and follows you both into the bath. Once inside Daemon whispers up to you. "Should I tell her she looks good naked?"

Smiling to yourself as you moved closer to the two choosing to pamper them yourself as you wanted everything to be easy and gentle right now, rolling your eyes as you listened to Daemon but knew it was his own special way to compliment Rhaenyra and yourself but nodded your head as you whispered back to him "Find a sweeter way to tell her but yes I think that would be nice". Gently started to wash them both letting her hands glide across their pale skin easing the tension in their bodies while placing small soft kisses against their warm wet skin.

"So…" Daemon looks up at Rhaenyra as she bathes with him. "… You look absolutely… ravagingly beautiful." Rhaenyra looks up at Daemon then down at herself as she blushes. Daemon looks back down at you with a grin. "Is that better?" You nodded your head with a small laugh at Daemon's question "Much better" Moving over to Rhaenyra as your hands gently moved across her body and placed the same small kisses onto her wet skin showing her appreciation before looking into her eyes "He is right even after all these things you're going through, you are still just as beautiful". Knowing it would take a long time until you each felt right again after losing a baby and the greens taking over the Iron throne in recent days but softly kissed her lips "Everything will work out I'm sure of it."

Rhaenyra smiles as you kiss her. Rhaenyra looks down towards herself, still not understanding Daemon's words of praise, but is happy to hear them anyway. Rhaenyra wraps her arms around you as she speaks quietly "Thank you, love.. for everything." Daemon smiles at Rhaenyra once again as she thanks you. After that he wraps his arms around you as well. Daemon doesn't say anything but his eyes do the talking. Once out of the bath you pampered both Rhaenyra and Daemon to a massage where you took your time making them both feel good, having dinner come to their chambers as you all quietly ate together before getting ready for bed. Laying down in the large bed together cuddling and waiting until your lovers fell asleep before slowly pulling away and getting out of the bed as you went to sit down in front of the fire closing your eyes as tears started to pour finally allowing yourself to get your emotions out since you had been hurting just as much.

Daemon slowly noticed that you left the bed after he tried to pull you closer, and called up to you quietly. "Y/N love? What's wrong? Come back to bed.." Rhaenyra doesn't say anything but she looks over to you with a face full of worry. You let out a small shaky breath as you lightly shook your head but kept your eyes closed as your voice came out barely above a whisper* "I'll be fine", Trying to be strong but couldn't help the pain you were going through even if you didn't want to burden your husband and wife.

"I'll be damned if you'll be 'fine'." Daemon said as he jumps out of bed, quickly walking over to you. Daemon looks you in the eyes, his face full of concern and annoyance that something happened. "What's wrong?" Daemon's tone changes to be much more soft and caring. "I don't want you to go through anything alone. Especially right now. Let us help you." You sighed as you heard his words even as he made you look up at him knowing you still had tears falling down your colored skin as you let out a broken whisper "I can still hear and see what Nyra went through...every-time I close my eyes it just keeps replaying", Shaking your head as you wrapped your arms around yourself as you let more tears flow down out of your eyes feeling like you could still hear the broken scream that came from Rhaenyra and even the hurt that flashed in Daemon's eyes when he learned what happened or the anger that came off of them both when learning what the greens had done.

Daemon sighs. He wraps his arms around you pulling you into his chest. Daemon kisses the top of your head before speaking. "I'm so, so sorry this happened. I wish that I could take away your pain." Daemon takes a deep breath, pulling you closer. "It'll be okay. I'll make sure of it." Daemon kisses you again, rubbing your back. He wipes your tears with his hand, gently caressing your face. "Nyra.. she'll be okay. She's just hurting right now." Daemon looks you in your eyes once more and gives you a small smile. "Do you want to go back to bed? We could cuddle if that'd make you feel better." Rhaenyra watches Daemon comfort you with a smile on her face.

You leaned into Daemon's touch as you looked up at him nodding your head believing everything would be okay at least at some point, letting out a small sigh as you nodded your head again before slowly getting up with him and laid down in between him and Rhaenyra before giving them both a tender and long kiss on the lips as you cuddled into them both "I love you both so much."

Daemon smiles softly as he watches you embrace him and Rhaenyra. It almost feels like you're all just one being right now. Keeping his voice low as he spoke into your ear "We love you too.." Rhaenyra looks up at Daemon as he holds onto you. Rhaenyra smiles when she hears Daemon tell you both that he loves you, before she leans in. Rhaenyra kisses Daemon on the cheek, before turning her attention to you. She begins to gently stroke your hair then spoke softly to you "I'm glad we have you, my love."

[daenerystargaryen06]

Times Daenerys has Shown Compassion

A Game of Thrones:

"She brought back a haunch of goat and a basket of fruits and vegetables. Jhiqui roasted the meat with sweetgrass and firepods, basting it with honey as it cooked, and there were melons and pomegranates and plums and some queer eastern fruit Dany did not know. While her handmaids prepared the meal, Dany laid out the clothing she'd had made to her brother's measure: a tunic and leggings of crisp white linen, leather sandals that laced up to the knee, a bronze medallion belt, a leather vest painted with fire-breathing dragons. The Dothraki would respect him more if he looked less a beggar, she hoped, and perhaps he would forgive her for shaming him that day in the grass. He was still her king, after all, and her brother. They were both blood of the dragon. She was arranging the last of his gifts—a sandsilk cloak, green as grass, with a pale grey border that would bring out the silver in his hair—when Viserys arrived, dragging Doreah by the arm. Her eye was red where he'd hit her. "How dare you send this whore to give me commands," he said. He shoved the handmaid roughly to the carpet. The anger took Dany utterly by surprise. "I only wanted … Doreah, what did you say?" [..] "Khaleesi, pardons, forgive me. I went to him, as you bid, and told him you commanded him to join you for supper." [..] "No one commands the dragon," Viserys snarled. "I am your king! I should have sent you back her head!" The Lysene girl quailed, but Dany calmed her with a touch. "Don't be afraid, he won't hurt you. Sweet brother, please, forgive her, the girl misspoke herself, I told her to ask you to sup with me, if it pleases Your Grace." She took him by the hand and drew him across the room. "Look. These are for you." -A Game of Thrones - Daenerys IV

"Across the road, a girl no older than Dany was sobbing in a high thin voice as a rider shoved her over a pile of corpses, facedown, and thrust himself inside her. Other riders dismounted to take their turns. That was the sort of deliverance the Dothraki brought the Lamb Men. I am the blood of the dragon, Daenerys Targaryen reminded herself as she turned her face away. She pressed her lips together and hardened her heart and rode on toward the gate. "Most of Ogo's riders fled," Ser Jorah was saying. "Still, there may be as many as ten thousand captives." Slaves, Dany thought. Khal Drogo would drive them downriver to one of the towns on Slaver's Bay. She wanted to cry, but she told herself that she must be strong. This is war, this is what it looks like, this is the price of the Iron Throne. "I've told the khal he ought to make for Meereen," Ser Jorah said. "They'll pay a better price than he'd get from a slaving caravan. Illyrio writes that they had a plague last year, so the brothels are paying double for healthy young girls, and triple for boys under ten. If enough children survive the journey, the gold will buy us all the ships we need, and hire men to sail them." Behind them, the girl being raped made a heartrending sound, a long sobbing wail that went on and on and on. Dany's hand clenched hard around the reins, and she turned the silver's head. "Make them stop," she commanded Ser Jorah." -A Game of Thrones - Daenerys VII

"The girl was trembling, her eyes wide and vague. Her hair was matted with blood. "Doreah, see to her hurts. You do not have a rider's look, perhaps she will not fear you. The rest, with me." She urged the silver through the broken wooden gate. It was worse inside the town. Many of the houses were afire, and the jaqqa rhan had been about their grisly work. Headless corpses filled the narrow, twisty lanes. They passed other women being raped. Each time Dany reined up, sent her khas to make an end to it, and claimed the victim as slave. One of them, a thick-bodied, flat-nosed woman of forty years, blessed Dany haltingly in the Common Tongue, but from the others she got only flat black stares. They were suspicious of her, she realized with sadness; afraid that she had saved them for some worse fate. "You cannot claim them all, child," Ser Jorah said, the fourth time they stopped, while the warriors of her khas herded her new slaves behind her. "I am khaleesi, heir to the Seven Kingdoms, the blood of the dragon," Dany reminded him. "It is not for you to tell me what I cannot do." Across the city, a building collapsed in a great gout of fire and smoke, and she heard distant screams and the wailing of frightened children." -A Game of Thrones - Daenerys VII

"I will carry you, blood of my blood," Haggo offered. Khal Drogo waved him away. "I need no man's help," he said, in a voice proud and hard. He stood, unaided, towering over them all. A fresh wave of blood ran down his breast, from where Ogo's arakh had cut off his nipple. Dany moved quickly to his side. "I am no man," she whispered, "so you may lean on me." Drogo put a huge hand on her shoulder. She took some of his weight as they walked toward the great mud temple. The three bloodriders followed. Dany commanded Ser Jorah and the warriors of her khas to guard the entrance and make certain no one set the building afire while they were still inside." -A Game of Thrones - Daenerys VII

"Mago seized her, who is Khal Jhaqo's bloodrider now," said Jhogo. "He mounted her high and low and gave her to his khal, and Jhaqo gave her to his other bloodriders. They were six. When they were done with her, they cut her throat." [..] "It was her fate, Khaleesi," said Aggo. If I look back I am lost. "It was a cruel fate," Dany said, "yet not so cruel as Mago's will be. I promise you that, by the old gods and the new, by the lamb god and the horse god and every god that lives. I swear it by the Mother of Mountains and the Womb of the World. Before I am done with them, Mago and Ko Jhaqo will plead for the mercy they showed Eroeh." The Dothraki exchanged uncertain glances. "Khaleesi," the handmaid Irri explained, as if to a child, "Jhaqo is a khal now, with twenty thousand riders at his back." She lifted her head. "And I am Daenerys Stormborn, Daenerys of House Targaryen, of the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and Maegor the Cruel and old Valyria before them. I am the dragon's daughter, and I swear to you, these men will die screaming. Now bring me to Khal Drogo." He was lying on the bare red earth, staring up at the sun." -A Game of Thrones - Daenerys IX

A Clash of Kings:

"We follow the comet," Dany told her khalasar. Once it was said, no word was raised against it. They had been Drogo's people, but they were hers now. The Unburnt, they called her, and Mother of Dragons. Her word was their law. They rode by night, and by day took refuge from the sun beneath their tents. Soon enough Dany learned the truth of Doreah's words. This was no kindly country. They left a trail of dead and dying horses behind them as they went, for Pono, Jhaqo, and the others had seized the best of Drogo's herds, leaving to Dany the old and the scrawny, the sickly and the lame, the broken animals and the ill-tempered. It was the same with the people. They are not strong, she told herself, so I must be their strength. I must show no fear, no weakness, no doubt. However frightened my heart, when they look upon my face they must see only Drogo's queen. She felt older than her fourteen years. If ever she had truly been a girl, that time was done. Three days into the march, the first man died. A toothless oldster with cloudy blue eyes, he fell exhausted from his saddle and could not rise again. An hour later he was done. Blood flies swarmed about his corpse and carried his ill luck to the living. "His time was past," her handmaid Irri declared. "No man should live longer than his teeth." The others agreed. Dany bid them kill the weakest of their dying horses, so the dead man might go mounted into the night lands." -A Clash of Kings - Daenerys I

"Dany hungered and thirsted with the rest of them. The milk in her breasts dried up, her nipples cracked and bled, and the flesh fell away from her day by day until she was lean and hard as a stick, yet it was her dragons she feared for. Her father had been slain before she was born, and her splendid brother Rhaegar as well. Her mother had died bringing her into the world while the storm screamed outside. Gentle Ser Willem Darry, who must have loved her after a fashion, had been taken by a wasting sickness when she was very young. Her brother Viserys, Khal Drogo who was her sun-and-stars, even her unborn son, the gods had claimed them all. They will not have my dragons, Dany vowed. They will not." -A Clash of Kings - Daenerys I

"Yet even as her dragons prospered, her khalasar withered and died. Around them the land turned ever more desolate. Even devilgrass grew scant; horses dropped in their tracks, leaving so few that some of her people must trudge along on foot. Doreah took a fever and grew worse with every league they crossed. Her lips and hands broke with blood blisters, her hair came out in clumps, and one evenfall she lacked the strength to mount her horse. Jhogo said they must leave her or bind her to her saddle, but Dany remembered a night on the Dothraki sea, when the Lysene girl had taught her secrets so that Drogo might love her more. She gave Doreah water from her own skin, cooled her brow with a damp cloth, and held her hand until she died, shivering. Only then would she permit the khalasar to press on." -A Clash of Kings - Daenerys I

"They saw no sign of other travelers. The Dothraki began to mutter fearfully that the comet had led them to some hell. Dany went to Ser Jorah one morning as they made camp amidst a jumble of black wind-scoured stones. "Are we lost?" she asked him. "Does this waste have no end to it?" [..] "It has an end," he answered wearily. "I have seen the maps the traders draw, my queen. Few caravans come this way, that is so, yet there are great kingdoms to the east, and cities full of wonders. Yi Ti, Qarth, Asshai by the Shadow . . ." [..] "Will we live to see them?" [..] "I will not lie to you. The way is harder than I dared think." The knight's face was grey and exhausted. The wound he had taken to his hip the night he fought Khal Drogo's bloodriders had never fully healed; she could see how he grimaced when he mounted his horse, and he seemed to slump in his saddle as they rode. "Perhaps we are doomed if we press on . . . but I know for a certainty that we are doomed if we turn back." Dany kissed him lightly on the cheek. It heartened her to see him smile. I must be strong for him as well, she thought grimly. A knight he may be, but I am the blood of the dragon." -A Clash of Kings - Daenerys I

"Dany smiled. "Perhaps it's the camels you're smelling. The Qartheen themselves seem sweet enough to my nose." [..] "Sweet smells are sometimes used to cover foul ones." My great bear, Dany thought. I am his queen, but I will always be his cub as well, and he will always guard me. It made her feel safe, but sad as well. She wished she could love him better than she did. -A Clash of Kings - Daenerys II

A Storm of Swords:

"No," said Dany. Groleo watched them from the forecastle, and his crew was watching too. Whitebeard, her bloodriders, Jhiqui, every one had stopped what they were doing at the sound of the slap. "I want to sail now, not on the tide, I want to sail far and fast and never look back. But I can't, can I? There are eight thousand brick eunuchs for sale, and I must find some way to buy them." And with that she left him, and went below. Behind the carved wooden door of the captain's cabin, her dragons were restless. Drogon raised his head and screamed, pale smoke venting from his nostrils, and Viserion flapped at her and tried to perch on her shoulder, as he had when he was smaller. "No," Dany said, trying to shrug him off gently. "You're too big for that now, sweetling." But the dragon coiled his white and gold tail around one arm and dug black claws into the fabric of her sleeve, clinging tightly. Helpless, she sank into Groleo's great leather chair, giggling." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys II

"Dany's mouth surely twisted at that. Did he see, or is he blind as well as cruel? She turned away quickly, trying to keep her face a mask until she heard the translation. Only then did she allow herself to say, "Whose infants do they slay?" [..] "To win his spiked cap, an Unsullied must go to the slave marts with a silver mark, find some wailing newborn, and kill it before its mother's eyes. In this way, we make certain that there is no weakness left in them." She was feeling faint. The heat, she tried to tell herself. "You take a babe from its mother's arms, kill it as she watches, and pay for her pain with a silver coin?" -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys II

"None." Was it Mormont she was angry with, or this city with its sullen heat, its stinks and sweats and crumbling bricks? "They sell eunuchs, not men. Eunuchs made of brick, like the rest of Astapor. Shall I buy eight thousand brick eunuchs with dead eyes that never move, who kill suckling babes for the sake of a spiked hat and strangle their own dogs? They don't even have names. So don't call them men, ser." [..] "Khaleesi," he said, taken aback by her fury, "the Unsullied are chosen as boys, and trained—" [..] "I have heard all I care to of their training." Dany could feel tears welling in her eyes, sudden and unwanted. Her hand flashed up and cracked Ser Jorah hard across the face. It was either that, or cry." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys II

"When Aegon the Dragon stepped ashore in Westeros, the kings of Vale and Rock and Reach did not rush to hand him their crowns. If you mean to sit his Iron Throne, you must win it as he did, with steel and dragonfire. And that will mean blood on your hands before the thing is done." Blood and fire, thought Dany. The words of House Targaryen. She had known them all her life. "The blood of my enemies I will shed gladly. The blood of innocents is another matter. Eight thousand Unsullied they would offer me. Eight thousand dead babes. Eight thousand strangled dogs." [..] "Your Grace," said Jorah Mormont, "I saw King's Landing after the Sack. Babes were butchered that day as well, and old men, and children at play. More women were raped than you can count. There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs. The scent of blood is all it takes to wake him. Yet I have never heard of these Unsullied raping, nor putting a city to the sword, nor even plundering, save at the express command of those who lead them. Brick they may be, as you say, but if you buy them henceforth the only dogs they'll kill are those you want dead. And you do have some dogs you want dead, as I recall." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys II

"Valar morghulis," said Missandei, in High Valyrian. "All men must die," Dany agreed, "but not for a long while, we may pray." She leaned back on the pillows and took the girl's hand. "Are these Unsullied truly fearless?" [..] "Yes, Your Grace." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys III

"Within the perimeter the Unsullied had established, the tents were going up in orderly rows, with her own tall golden pavilion at the center. A second encampment lay close beyond her own; five times the size, sprawling and chaotic, this second camp had no ditches, no tents, no sentries, no horselines. Those who had horses or mules slept beside them, for fear they might be stolen. Goats, sheep, and half-starved dogs wandered freely amongst hordes of women, children, and old men. Dany had left Astapor in the hands of a council of former slaves led by a healer, a scholar, and a priest. Wise men all, she thought, and just. Yet even so, tens of thousands preferred to follow her to Yunkai, rather than remain behind in Astapor. I gave them the city, and most of them were too frightened to take it. The raggle-taggle host of freedmen dwarfed her own, but they were more burden than benefit. Perhaps one in a hundred had a donkey, a camel, or an ox; most carried weapons looted from some slaver's armory, but only one in ten was strong enough to fight, and none was trained. They ate the land bare as they passed, like locusts in sandals. Yet Dany could not bring herself to abandon them as Ser Jorah and her bloodriders urged. I told them they were free. I cannot tell them now they are not free to join me. She gazed at the smoke rising from their cookfires and swallowed a sigh. She might have the best footsoldiers in the world, but she also had the worst." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys IV

"The chant grew, spread, swelled. It swelled so loud that it frightened her horse, and the mare backed and shook her head and lashed her silver-grey tail. It swelled until it seemed to shake the yellow walls of Yunkai. More slaves were streaming from the gates every moment, and as they came they took up the call. They were running toward her now, pushing, stumbling, wanting to touch her hand, to stroke her horse's mane, to kiss her feet. Her poor bloodriders could not keep them all away, and even Strong Belwas grunted and growled in dismay. Ser Jorah urged her to go, but Dany remembered a dream she had dreamed in the House of the Undying. "They will not hurt me," she told him. "They are my children, Jorah." She laughed, put her heels into her horse, and rode to them, the bells in her hair ringing sweet victory. She trotted, then cantered, then broke into a gallop, her braid streaming behind. The freed slaves parted before her. "Mother," they called from a hundred throats, a thousand, ten thousand. "Mother," they sang, their fingers brushing her legs as she flew by. "Mother, Mother, Mother!" -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys IV

"Ser Jorah looked unhappy. "We'll starve long before they do, Your Grace. There's no food here, nor fodder for our mules and horses. I do not like this river water either. Meereen shits into the Skahazadhan but draws its drinking water from deep wells. Already we've had reports of sickness in the camps, fever and brownleg and three cases of the bloody flux. There will be more if we remain. The slaves are weak from the march."[...] "Freedmen," Dany corrected. "They are slaves no longer." [..] "Slave or free, they are hungry and they'll soon be sick. The city is better provisioned than we are, and can be resupplied by water. Your three ships are not enough to deny them access to both the river and the sea." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys V

"It is known," Jhiqui agreed, as she poured. "Not to me." Dany set great store by Ser Jorah's counsel, but to leave Meereen untouched was more than she could stomach. She could not forget the children on their posts, the birds tearing at their entrails, their skinny arms pointing up the coast road. "Ser Jorah, you say we have no food left. If I march west, how can I feed my freedmen?" [..] "You can't. I am sorry, Khaleesi. They must feed themselves or starve. Many and more will die along the march, yes. That will be hard, but there is no way to save them. We need to put this scorched earth well behind us." Dany had left a trail of corpses behind her when she crossed the red waste. It was a sight she never meant to see again. "No," she said. "I will not march my people off to die." My children. "There must be some way into this city." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys V

"Children ran behind their horses, skipping and laughing. Instead of salutes, voices called to her on every side in a babble of tongues. Some of the freedmen greeted her as "Mother," while others begged for boons or favors. Some prayed for strange gods to bless her, and some asked her to bless them instead. She smiled at them, turning right and left, touching their hands when they raised them, letting those who knelt reach up to touch her stirrup or her leg. Many of the freedmen believed there was good fortune in her touch. If it helps give them courage, let them touch me, she thought. There are hard trials yet ahead." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys V

"Do all gods feel so lonely? Some must, surely. Missandei had told her of the Lord of Harmony, worshiped by the Peaceful People of Naath; he was the only true god, her little scribe said, the god who always was and always would be, who made the moon and stars and earth, and all the creatures that dwelt upon them. Poor Lord of Harmony. Dany pitied him. It must be terrible to be alone for all time, attended by hordes of butterfly women you could make or unmake at a word. Westeros had seven gods at least, though Viserys had told her that some septons said the seven were only aspects of a single god, seven facets of a single crystal. That was just confusing. The red priests believed in two gods, she had heard, but two who were eternally at war. Dany liked that even less. She would not want to be eternally at war." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys VI

"Dany was shocked. "They want to be slaves?" [..] "The ones who come are well spoken and gently born, sweet queen. Such slaves are prized. In the Free Cities they will be tutors, scribes, bed slaves, even healers and priests. They will sleep in soft beds, eat rich foods, and dwell in manses. Here they have lost all, and live in fear and squalor." [..] "I see." Perhaps it was not so shocking, if these tales of Astapor were true. Dany thought a moment. "Any man who wishes to sell himself into slavery may do so. Or woman." She raised a hand. "But they may not sell their children, nor a man his wife." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys VI

"Your Grace, the slavers brought their doom on themselves," said Daario Naharis. "You have brought freedom as well," Missandei pointed out. "Freedom to starve?" asked Dany sharply. "Freedom to die? Am I a dragon, or a harpy?" Am I mad? Do I have the taint?" -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys VI

"A dragon," Ser Barristan said with certainty. "Meereen is not Westeros, Your Grace." [..] "But how can I rule seven kingdoms if I cannot rule a single city?" He had no answer to that. Dany turned away from them, to gaze out over the city once again. "My children need time to heal and learn. My dragons need time to grow and test their wings. And I need the same. I will not let this city go the way of Astapor. I will not let the harpy of Yunkai chain up those I've freed all over again." She turned back to look at their faces. "I will not march." [..] "What will you do then, Khaleesi?" asked Rakharo." -A Storm of Swords - Daenerys VI

A Dance with Dragons:

"She had not forgotten the slave children the Great Masters had nailed up along the road from Yunkai. They had numbered one hundred sixty-three, a child every mile, nailed to mileposts with one arm outstretched to point her way. After Meereen had fallen, Dany had nailed up a like number of Great Masters. Swarms of flies had attended their slow dying, and the stench had lingered long in the plaza. Yet some days she feared that she had not gone far enough. These Meereenese were a sly and stubborn people who resisted her at every turn. They had freed their slaves, yes … only to hire them back as servants at wages so meagre that most could scarce afford to eat. Those too old or young to be of use had been cast into the streets, along with the infirm and the crippled. And still the Great Masters gathered atop their lofty pyramids to complain of how the dragon queen had filled their noble city with hordes of unwashed beggars, thieves, and whores. To rule Meereen I must win the Meereenese, however much I may despise them. "I am ready," she told Irri." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys I

"If he proposes again that I wed King Cleon, I'll throw a slipper at his head, Dany thought, but for once the Astapori envoy made no mention of a royal marriage. Instead he said, "The time has come for Astapor and Meereen to end the savage reign of the Wise Masters of Yunkai, who are sworn foes to all those who live in freedom. Great Cleon bids me tell you that he and his new Unsullied will soon march." His new Unsullied are an obscene jape. "King Cleon would be wise to tend his own gardens and let the Yunkai'i tend theirs." It was not that Dany harbored any love for Yunkai. She was coming to regret leaving the Yellow City untaken after defeating its army in the field. The Wise Masters had returned to slaving as soon as she moved on, and were busy raising levies, hiring sellswords, and making alliances against her." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys I

"The noble Grazdan had once owned a slave woman who was a very fine weaver, it seemed; the fruits of her loom were greatly valued, not only in Meereen, but in New Ghis and Astapor and Qarth. When this woman had grown old, Grazdan had purchased half a dozen young girls and commanded the crone to instruct them in the secrets of her craft. The old woman was dead now. The young ones, freed, had opened a shop by the harbor wall to sell their weavings. Grazdan zo Galare asked that he be granted a portion of their earnings. "They owe their skill to me," he insisted. "I plucked them from the auction bloc and gave them to the loom." Dany listened quietly, her face still. When he was done, she said, "What was the name of the old weaver?" [..] "The slave?" Grazdan shifted his weight, frowning. "She was … Elza, it might have been. Or Ella. It was six years ago she died. I have owned so many slaves, Your Grace." [..] "Let us say Elza. Here is our ruling. From the girls, you shall have nothing. It was Elza who taught them weaving, not you. From you, the girls shall have a new loom, the finest coin can buy. That is for forgetting the name of the old woman." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys I

"Reznak wrung his hands. "N-nine, Magnificence. Foul work it was, and wicked. A dreadful night, dreadful." Nine. The word was a dagger in her heart. Every night the shadow war was waged anew beneath the stepped pyramids of Meereen. Every morn the sun rose upon fresh corpses, with harpies drawn in blood on the bricks beside them. Any freedman who became too prosperous or too outspoken was marked for death. Nine in one night, though … That frightened her. "Tell me." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys II

"Reznak mo Reznak gasped. "Magnificence, where is the coin to come from to pay wages for so many men?" [..] "From the pyramids. Call it a blood tax. I will have a hundred pieces of gold from every pyramid for each freedman that the Harpy's Sons have slain." That brought a smile to the Shavepate's face. "It will be done," he said, "but Your Radiance should know that the Great Masters of Zhak and Merreq are making preparations to quit their pyramids and leave the city." Daenerys was sick unto death of Zhak and Merreq; she was sick of all the Mereenese, great and small alike. "Let them go, but see that they take no more than the clothes upon their backs. Make certain that all their gold remains here with us. Their stores of food as well." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys II

"How else, to grow a soldier? Your Radiance enjoyed my dancers. Would it surprise you to know that they are slaves, bred and trained in Yunkai? They have been dancing since they were old enough to walk. How else to achieve such perfection?" He took a swallow of his wine. "They are expert in all the erotic arts as well. I had thought to make Your Grace a gift of them." [..] "By all means." Dany was unsurprised. "I shall free them." That made him wince. "And what would they do with freedom? As well give a fish a suit of mail. They were made to dance." [..] "Made by who? Their masters? Perhaps your dancers would sooner build or bake or farm. Have you asked them?" [..] "Perhaps your elephants would sooner be nightingales. Instead of sweet song, Meereen's nights would be filled with thunderous trumpetings, and your trees would shatter beneath the weight of great grey birds." Xaro sighed. "Daenerys, my delight, beneath that sweet young breast beats a tender heart … but take counsel from an older, wiser head. Things are not always as they seem. Much that may seem evil can be good. Consider rain." [..] "Rain?" Does he take me for a fool, or just a child? "We curse the rain when it falls upon our heads, yet without it we should starve. The world needs rain … and slaves. You make a face, but it is true. Consider Qarth. In art, music, magic, trade, all that makes us more than beasts, Qarth sits above the rest of mankind as you sit at the summit of this pyramid … but below, in place of bricks, the magnificence that is the Queen of Cities rests upon the backs of slaves. Ask yourself, if all men must grub in the dirt for food, how shall any man lift his eyes to contemplate the stars? If each of us must break his back to build a hovel, who shall raise the temples to glorify the gods? For some men to be great, others must be enslaved." He was too eloquent for her. Dany had no answer for him, only the raw feeling in her belly. "Slavery is not the same as rain," she insisted. "I have been rained on and I have been sold. It is not the same. No man wants to be owned." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys III

"I know that the Mother of Dragons will not abandon us in our hour of peril. Lend us your Unsullied to defend our walls." And if I do, who will defend my walls? "Many of my freedmen were slaves in Astapor. Perhaps some will wish to help defend your king. That is their choice, as free men. I gave Astapor its freedom. It is up to you to defend it." [..] "We are all dead, then. You gave us death, not freedom." Ghael leapt to his feet and spat into her face. Strong Belwas seized him by the shoulder and slammed him down onto the marble so hard that Dany heard Ghael's teeth crack. The Shavepate would have done worse, but she stopped him. "Enough," she said, dabbing at her cheek with the end of her tokar. "No one has ever died from spittle. Take him away." They dragged him out feet first, leaving several broken teeth and a trail of blood behind. Dany would gladly have sent the rest of the petitioners away … but she was still their queen, so she heard them out and did her best to give them justice." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys III

"It was all Dany could do not to laugh. "Not well. Last night three Qartheen galleys sailed up the Skahazadhan under the cover of darkness. The Mother's Men loosed flights of fire arrows at their sails and flung pots of burning pitch onto their decks, but the galleys slipped by quickly and suffered no lasting harm. The Qartheen mean to close the river to us, as they have closed the bay. And they are no longer alone. Three galleys from New Ghis have joined them, and a carrack out of Tolos." The Tolosi had replied to her request for an alliance by proclaiming her a whore and demanding that she return Meereen to its Great Masters. Even that was preferable to the answer of Mantarys, which came by way of caravan in a cedar chest. Inside she had found the heads of her three envoys, pickled. "Perhaps your gods can help us. Ask them to send a gale and sweep the galleys from the bay." [..] "I shall pray and make sacrifice. Mayhaps the gods of Ghis will hear me." Galazza Galare sipped her wine, but her eyes did not leave Dany. "Storms rage within the walls as well as without. More freedmen died last night, or so I have been told." [..] "Three." Saying it left a bitter taste in her mouth. "The cowards broke in on some weavers, freedwomen who had done no harm to anyone. All they did was make beautiful things. I have a tapestry they gave me hanging over my bed. The Sons of the Harpy broke their loom and raped them before slitting their throats." [..] "This we have heard. And yet Your Radiance has found the courage to answer butchery with mercy. You have not harmed any of the noble children you hold as hostage." "Not as yet, no." Dany had grown fond of her young charges. Some were shy and some were bold, some sweet and some sullen, but all were innocent. "If I kill my cupbearers, who will pour my wine and serve my supper?" she said, trying to make light of it." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys IV

"The Astapori stumbled after them in a ghastly procession that grew longer with every yard they crossed. Some spoke tongues she did not understand. Others were beyond speaking. Many lifted their hands to Dany, or knelt as her silver went by. "Mother," they called to her, in the dialects of Astapor, Lys, and Old Volantis, in guttural Dothraki and the liquid syllables of Qarth, even in the Common Tongue of Westeros. "Mother, please … mother, help my sister, she is sick … give me food for my little ones … please, my old father … help him … help her … help me …" I have no more help to give, Dany thought, despairing. The Astapori had no place to go. Thousands remained outside Meereen's thick walls—men and women and children, old men and little girls and newborn babes. Many were sick, most were starved, and all were doomed to die. Daenerys dare not open her gates to let them in. She had tried to do what she could for them. She had sent them healers, Blue Graces and spell-singers and barber-surgeons, but some of those had sickened as well, and none of their arts had slowed the galloping progression of the flux that had come on the pale mare. Separating the healthy from the sick had proved impractical as well. Her Stalwart Shields had tried, pulling husbands away from wives and children from their mothers, even as the Astapori wept and kicked and pelted them with stones. A few days later, the sick were dead and the healthy ones were sick. Dividing the one from the other had accomplished nothing. Even feeding them had grown difficult. Every day she sent them what she could, but every day there were more of them and less food to give them. It was growing harder to find drivers willing to deliver the food as well. Too many of the men they had sent into the camp had been stricken by the flux themselves. Others had been attacked on the way back to the city. Yesterday a wagon had been overturned and two of her soldiers killed, so today the queen had determined that she would bring the food herself. Every one of her advisors had argued fervently against it, from Reznak and the Shavepate to Ser Barristan, but Daenerys would not be moved. "I will not turn away from them," she said stubbornly. "A queen must know the sufferings of her people." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys VI

"They're past cursing," said Symon Stripeback. Little children with swollen stomachs trailed after them, too weak or scared to beg. Gaunt men with sunken eyes squatted amidst sand and stones, shitting out their lives in stinking streams of brown and red. Many shat where they slept now, too feeble to crawl to the ditches she'd commanded them to dig. Two women fought over a charred bone. Nearby a boy of ten stood eating a rat. He ate one-handed, the other clutching a sharpened stick lest anyone try to wrest away his prize. Unburied dead lay everywhere. Dany saw one man sprawled in the dirt under a black cloak, but as she rode past his cloak dissolved into a thousand flies. Skeletal women sat upon the ground clutching dying infants. Their eyes followed her. Those who had the strength called out. "Mother … please, Mother … bless you, Mother …" Bless me, Dany thought bitterly. Your city is gone to ash and bone, your people are dying all around you. I have no shelter for you, no medicine, no hope. Only stale bread and wormy meat, hard cheese, a little milk. Bless me, bless me. What kind of mother has no milk to feed her children?" -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys VI

"Daenerys gave him a quizzical look. "Lions?" [..] "Three of them. The dwarfs will not expect them." She frowned. "The dwarfs have wooden swords. Wooden armor. How do you expect them to fight lions?" "Badly," said Hizdahr, "though perhaps they will surprise us. More like they will shriek and run about and try to climb out of the pit. That is what makes this a folly." Dany was not pleased. "I forbid it." [..] "Gentle queen. You do not want to disappoint your people." [..] "You swore to me that the fighters would be grown men who had freely consented to risk their lives for gold and honor. These dwarfs did not consent to battle lions with wooden swords. You will stop it. Now." The king's mouth tightened. For a heartbeat Dany thought she saw a flash of anger in those placid eyes. "As you command." Hizdahr beckoned to his pitmaster. "No lions," he said when the man trotted over, whip in hand." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys IX

"Never, said the grass, in the gruff tones of Jorah Mormont. You were warned, Your Grace. Let this city be, I said. Your war is in Westeros, I told you. The voice was no more than a whisper, yet somehow Dany felt that he was walking just behind her. My bear, she thought, my old sweet bear, who loved me and betrayed me. She had missed him so. She wanted to see his ugly face, to wrap her arms around him and press herself against his chest, but she knew that if she turned around Ser Jorah would be gone. "I am dreaming," she said. "A waking dream, a walking dream. I am alone and lost." Lost, because you lingered, in a place that you were never meant to be, murmured Ser Jorah, as softly as the wind.  Alone, because you sent me from your side." -A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys X

Many antis love to say that Dany is evil, a slave master, uncaring, etc. Yet here we see in her passages that she is compassionate, sympathetic, and has a high disdain for unnecessary violence.

[egypquotes]

Hiiii, I've been seeing your content for a while now, and I think it's great, could you tell me the headcanons you have of the Egyptian gods,especially from Taweret, I love reading them😈

*pull up a chair* oh boy, this is gonna be long. How much time do you have?

Just to let you know, I don't responsabilize myself for how many hcs I have here but im so happy you asked it

Ok, this is a little long and I have more. Press at your own risk

• Osiris and Isis raised Anubis from a baby because Nephthys was afraid to raise him near Seth. Seth was extremely sad about this separation, but refused to ask for his son because of his proud

• Ironically, as the years passed, he became closer to Seth than to Nephthys and still had the good education his uncle and aunt gave him.

• Horus and Serket married after he took the throne and had Hapi, but they never saw each other as a couple and they became good friends over the years. When Horus asked for a divorce to marry Hathor, Serket was happy to help prepare the wedding

• Tawaret and Thoth love to bet on the gender of the pharaohs' babies, the two have been tied for centuries

• Shu loves crafts and sometimes makes small souvenirs by hand for others. He says they are from Tefnut.

• Ra has a perfect memory and yet he still gets his children's names wrong

• Anubis is the kind of guy who just gets tired and leaves a place. Sometimes he does this during conversations and never brings up that again.

• Tawaret and Bes are very close and they often help travelers with small children together, especially if a woman in the group is pregnant. This brought them very close and he always makes her laugh a lot with his jokes.

• Hathor cries at romance movies and likes to randomly quote her favorite scenes. But she is really into mystery series and will give huge speeches about them.

• Heka never ceases to be amazed by humanity's medical advances. Yes, he already knew the cure for this disease, but isn't it amazing that they discovered it too?!

• Thoth loves the color purple and light blue, his outfits are always in this palette.

• Anput started wearing her hair in braids after seeing some foreign women wearing them. She looks stunning

• Osíris is the kind of father who would send a good morning message with flowers and a loud audio in the family group

• Isis and Tawaret are good friends. Tawaret helped her during her pregnancy with Horus, and Isis is extremely grateful for everything. They go out for tea and gossip about the pantheon.

• Hapi and Imseti are very close and are partners in crime. If you see them both running in any direction, go the other way.

• On the other hand, Ihy and Kebechet are a very well-behaved and calm duo. Despite being two children, literally, they are both very easy-going and spend much more time talking than being chaotic

• Horus and Anubis get along very well and see each other as brothers, but neither of them will admit it. Anubis is Horus' right-hand man and always helps him make decisions for the pantheon.

• Khnum sometimes makes personalized statues of the gods he doesn't like and then crushes them. It's therapeutic.

• Tefnut and Nephthys are very sensitive, sometimes they meet and talk about their feelings to make it easier to deal with them.

• Seth and Isis are a great duo, but they can't stand being around each other for too long.

• Nefertem, Sekhmet, and Ptah are a good family and are very close. Even when Ptah and Sekhmet are having a hard time due to their different personalities, they still put Nefertem first and appear at social events together. It's a little chaotic at times, but he makes her smile in a way no one else can.

• Duamutef has an appreciation for music and has learned to play all different types of instruments.

• Ma'at rarely appears to the pantheon, too focused on her work in the Duat to maintain order and peace. She appears once every few millennia, so she and Thoth always go on cute dates and enjoy the few hours they have together. This time apart has never affected either of them, as Thoth is also very busy, and they are a very much in love couple.

• Bastet is definitely a daddy's girl and loves to rub it in her siblings' faces.

• Khonshu has a collection of pictures of the gods falling/making weird faces for fun

• Anubis and Anput are very affectionate and they will stop appearing at some pantheon event to simply be together.

• Qebui likes to race with gods from another pantheon, like Hermes, and the results are between acceptable and chaotic.

• Heka and Apollo are friends and sometimes hang out together.

• Wadjet has caused at least three fights among the pantheon by accidentally saying something too loud.

• Nekhbet is the type of person who doesn't like you and say it on your face

• Heqet is a very sweet and kind goddess, but she is also very gossipy and loves to know all the news of the pantheon.

• Seth, Sekhmet and Sobek are a chaotic and rude trio, but they trust each other a lot. Trust me, you wouldn't want to be against their team

• Nefertem and Seshat are very intelligent and calm gods, but they have -1 IQ when they are together and even laugh in the wind. Osiris don't let them sit together during meetings because they kept disturbing Horus with their laughter.

• Nut is a complicated goddess at times. She is a good mother and grandmother but loves a bit of chaos so her reaction is unpredictable sometimes

• Gebe, on the other hand, is really firmer in his principles. It's easy to know how he will react to certain things and generally the gods feel comfortable talking to him. When Gebe gets angry, which is very rare, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen

• Kebechet is attached to Anubis and learned everything from him, which she is very proud of. Physically, she looks a lot like Anput.

• Khonshu and Ihy really like each other. Sometimes Ihy sneaks out of his parents' house to show Khonshu her new songs. Khonshu travels a lot, but he always brings back a souvenir for Ihy.

• Bes is a great cook and listener. Unintentionally, he became a therapist to several gods because of this.

• Ptah and Khnum sometimes get together to create their sculptures together, but they don't talk much. It's a nice, peaceful silence

• Naunet has a terrible fashion sense and no one has the courage to tell her that

• Bastet is great at gymnastics and likes to use artistic moves during combat. She confuses Seth with this, especially when they are in the middle of a battle.

• Nu can appear in a physical form and interact with other gods, he just chooses not to do so because he is too lazy to interact socially and does not want to get involved in the frequent chaos of the pantheon.

[allkordelia]

The Final Chapter

"What in the seven hells are you talking about you didn't tell him." Daemon hiss at his brother, rhaelle stood next to her husband with her hand on his middle back.

They were in the throne room with  viserys sitting on the iron throne and otto at the bottom with his usual conniving look, the wedding was three days away and viserys was now telling them that he didn't talk to aemond about the consummation.

"Dear brother, aemond is at that age–" Viserys says a bit weak.

"I don't want to hear it. She is thirteen and he is fifteen, they should be waiting until they are older more so her than him."

"I do not see the problem, rhaelle was much younger than princess jaenara when we were married and had our children. Yet, here she is thriving with you." Otto said.

Daemon flicker his eyes over at otto before looking back at his brother, he refrain from interacting with the hand for the sake of his wife.

"My king, you understand that even at my age back then it was a miracle that I survive childbirth, I fear jaenara isn't as vigorous as me or her mother. She is a delicate child." Rhaelle says distress making viserys furrow his brows a bit.

"As sadden I am to hear that, rhaelle. I can not control what aemond do on his wedding night with jaenara," he said with no hint of remorse, "It is how it always been, jaenara is no different than the many young ladies who had to go through it at her age." Rhaelle scoff in disbelief at viserys's words.

"You are his father. How can you be so heartless to allow this to happen to your own granddaughter." Daemon seethe making viserys weakly turn his head to his brother.

"The king you know is very sick and does not have the energy to speak to his son about insignificant –" rhaelle look at otto with a angry look.

"Insignificant? This is life or death," rhaelle look at viserys again, "If jaenara gets pregnant she could die, viserys."

The king sigh moving his hand to his face, he use his fingers to massage his temple.

"That is the gamble...she must pay for being born a woman, I do not have the power to stop the stranger for taking her."

Rhaelle look disgusted at viserys, she couldn't believe that he did not care that his own flesh and blood could die, she look away from to daemon as he step forward.

"Are you that weak that you can only have enough in your heart for four people," viserys stare down at his brother with a frown, "What kind of man...can't even talk to his own son for the sake of his granddaughter." Daemon glares at his brother as the king sat silently on his throne.

"How is your own son doing, prince daemon." Both rhaelle and daemon turn their heads at the mention of their child,"I heard from a little wyrm that he was off somewhere with a lover."

Rhaelle look at daemon as he gives otto a death stare, aemon was a sensitive topic for them nowadays, a long time ago when aemon thirteenth nameday came around. The family traveled to King's Landing to have a week long celebration for aemon, one night during their fifth day staying there, aemon sneaked out with aegon and went to brothel.

Where aemon lose his virginity to mysaria and some older whore, it took them until Maekar nameday for aemon to tell them and around that time. The older whore came to court claiming she was carrying their son's child, so rhaelle made daemon go to fleabottom and deal with them. Aemon didn't know about alleged pregnancy. When he heard of the old harlots death he presume the whore died of an accident.

But, a two springs later aemon announce to his parents that he was in love, and ask about the girl he told them it was a commoner he meet when he sneaked out of the castle to go to the village. Rhaelle and Daemon were happy for their son that he found a girl that could make him so happy, so they told him to invite her to a private dinner that consist of his parents and himself.

When the day came to their horror what they thought was a girl close to their sin age was actually a woman, a grown woman who looked to be around daemon's age. Aemon also left out that she was a whore or what he kept telling them:

"She isn't a whore she just works in a brothel."

A long story short, a messy argument broke out between them which lead to aemon running away with his "belove", and they haven't seen him since that day. A lot of things were said that night and daemon blames himself mostly for it.

"This isn't about aemon, this is about jaenara and aemond." Daemon grits out, otto tilt his head to the side with a small smirk as daemon turn to look at his brother, "If you won't talk to him than I will, brother." Viserys move to open his mouth only for otto to talk over him. 

"Why do you care so much for the princess, she is not your daughter nor your concern. If this was a worrisome issue then princess rhaenyra would have come to her father on her own."

"Jaenara is more than family, she is our stepdaughter and we care for her. In our family, we protect each other. But, you wouldn't know anything about that since our children and your son despise you." Rhaelle condemned making daemon smirk at her before casting his eyes over  to otto to see the disdain look on his face.

"Maybe, so but atleast i knew to keep them in line. Unlike you, who is one child short." He spat looking her up and down with a sneer, rhaelle grab daemon's arm to keep him from stalking over to otto.

"Daemon–"

"Speak of my son again, and I will come over there and blind you with those spikes." He jab his finger at otto angry making viserys slam his cane on the ground.

"Enough...both of you...this.." viserys coughing caught the others attention, otto motion to one of the knight to receive the maester as he climbs the steps to help the king up with another knight.

"The king needs to rest," otto states as he climb down the stairs before letting another knight take the king, "This conversation is over. The king should be focusing on feeling better," Daemon's face twist into a lour as otto talk.

"Fine. Maybe, I'll have a better chance talking to your grandson than his incompetent father." Daemon turns his head looking at viserys being held up by a knight while the other stands near by.

"Just give it up, my prince." Daemon turn his head to look back at otto, "My grandson and your...stepdaughter will consummate their marriage, and soon they will have a child of their own. But, atleast you will be able to meet this grandchild." Daemon and Rhaelle look at bemused at otto.

"What–"

"I forgot how can you know of aemon and lady miranna's soon to be child," he said nonchalantly making rhaelle's face drop as her husband lost all emotion in his features, "From what I heard she could be six or seven moon–" rhaelle gasp as daemon punch otto in the mouth.

"I'm going to fucking kill you." Daemon seethe as he grab otto by the collar.

"...daemon...let him go." Viserys says snapping his cane against the cane trying to go over to his brother but the knight kept him at bay.

Rhaelle grab daemon's arm pulling at him as she tells him to let otto go, but  daemon wouldn't listen pushing her away so she didn't get hurt while he kill her ex husband. Daemon shook otto and spat words of hatred to the other man's face as he back him towards swords.

"Daemon, goddammit let him go." Rhaelle shouted.

Daemon stop and look at his wife for a second before looking back at otto, it took him a moment before pushing him away making the hand stumble back. Otto spit blood on the floor before wiping his wipe with the back of his hand, rhaelle grab daemon's arm pulling him to her she grab his face to get him to look at her.

"Daemon, look at me. He's not worth it. He's nothing." Rhaelle says as her husband stare down otto who look at him with a croak smile.

"You have gotten soft, rogue prince. I expected as much since you allow your wife to do the man's work for some time now, rhaelle always did...like taking control." Otto look at rhaelle with glint.

"Shut up, otto." Rhaelle hiss as she keep daemon from actually killing the other, "Daemon, let's go, come on." Daemon allow his wife to pull him away.

Daemon and rhaelle made it into the hall before stalking over to he staircase.

"Useless. Both of them. You should have let me kill him, why did you stop me." Daemon said heated up.

"The last thing I need is my husband being thrown into the dungeons," she chided.

"How did he know her name," daemon ask looking at rhaelle, his wife shook his head.

"I don't know, but we can't dwell on it now," she said as they got to the second floor, "Now, we must deal with jaenara and aemond." Daemon grunts.

"We can call off the wedding." Daemons suggested.

"That won't work. Aemond will not let jaenara go not without a good enough reason, the boy is infatuated with her you seen how he is when his around her." Daemon growl annoyed, "If we just take jaenara and call off the wedding, a war could start and aemond will come for jaenara." Daemon thought for a second knowing what he was said spoke some truth, he stop rhaelle in the corridor as he face her.

"We can make it look like a accident, like we did with that whore in fleabottom." Daemon says making rhaelle shake her head.

"No killing. As much as the little freak make my skin crawl, he is still our family." Daemon roll his eyes.

"What else can we do." He says disgruntle.

Rhaelle glance around the area in thought.

"You said you still had a few  kingsguards who were still loyal to you, right." Daemon furrow his brows and  nod.

"Yes, why?" He ask.

"The greens has taken over the red keep, no longer do they serve the dragon but the flame. We did not realize it then but we are basically handing her over like a platter to these sharks." Daemon frown a little at the thought, "We will need the man to be her sworn shield, which mean you will have to talk to viserys–"

"His useless–"

"That he is but you need to put that all aside and convince him to put your man as jaenara's sworn shield for her sake." She says making huff through his nose as he look away trying to calm himself down before nodding and look back at her, rhaelle give her husband a grateful look before kissing his cheek, "Thank you, husband. Would you be okay if I leave for a bit, I'll back around the hour of the wolf." Daemon furrow his brows before nodding.

"Of course, but where are you going." He ask.

"Magonsæte. I, too, will get someone who can help." Daemon hmm in response knowing who his wife was thinking about.

"Be safe." He kiss her forehead before  bidding each a farewell, they depart going their separate ways.

                                   —

It was finally the day of the jaenara and aemond's wedding, all the great houses were their to see the union between the princess and the prince.

The wedding was held in the great sept to rhaelle and the other women dismay, rhaelle wanted her neice to have nice valyrian wedding like she did with daemon. But, alicent wouldn't have it and rhaenyra didn't even try to fight for it, but it was nice to see daemon walk with jaenara and give her away to aemond. That's was probably the only thing sweet that came out of it.

Once the wedding was finish, they move to the great hall to celebrate and eat. Rhaelle and Daemon were the first ones to give out a toast to jaenara and aemond, painfully having to say good things about aemond and their marriage.

"....and we want you to know jaenara that you are love and no matter what." Rhaelle had her cup raise along with daemon and the other,"Dragonstone will always be your home and safe haven." Rhaelle smile making jaenara smile back at her aunt.

"Naejot lentor." Daemon toast with his cup raised.

"To family." Rhaelle smile making the crowd cheered before they drain their cups.

After the toast, some members of the family got up to fraternize on the floor, rhaelle was one of three who stayed seated to watch her family have fun. Her glance around seeing her children and husband, daemon was dancing with galea while gaemon dance with his grandmother, baelon and rhaena were dancing as well with baela and jacerys close by, maekar was talking to his cousins along with alyssa and alys.

Everyone was having was a swell time even rhaenyra and alicent were talking to one another with valaena next to them with her two sister in laws, corywn and aeron along with baelor were drinking and laughing with their nephews and sons.

"Rhaelle." Rhaelle move her eyes from her family to the man standing next to her, "May I sit." He ask making her look at him for a moment before looking away and shrug her shoulder, corlys pull out the chair and sat next to her,  it was quiet between them for a second before corlys spoke.

"You look well." corlys says looking at her, rhaelle hum in response, "Your speech was beautiful." Rhaelle side eye corlys before looking away.

"...thanks.." she said montone making Corlys frown a bit before sighing and  looking over to the floor where his grandchildren and great grandchildren were.

"They all look so happy," Corlys comments making turn her head slightly toward corlys, "You did good raising them, you and daemon." Rhaelle look at corlys with a suspicious look.

"Why are you saying these nice things to me." She ask making corlys look at her taken aback before he shrug his shoulders.

"Is it against the law to compliment my daughter–"

"I'm your daughter, now." She ask with a brow raise making corlys sigh.

"You have always been my daughter." Rhaelle let out a scoff with an eyeroll, "...and I'm sorry that I stop treating you like one all years ago." Rhaelle blanch at corlys's words never in lifetime or the nexg expecting him to say that to her, she clear her throat and turn away when she saw the look corlys was giving her.

"Why are you telling me this." She mumble.

Corlys move to touch his daughter hand but the monetary she felt his palm, she snatch her hand off the table so she can fidget with her nails in her lap. Corlys bow his head at the action before speaking.

"I will soon be leaving to the stepstones, and i want you to come with me to take it back from the triarchy." Rhaelle shook her head with a sneer on her lip.

"I see. You need my dragon to reclaim the islands," she snicker moving her hamd to massage her eyes, "You actually had me thinking you care–"

"I do not want your dragon, dear child. I want you to come with me and fight, side by side and reclaim the islands properly and give it to your children." Rhaelle look at corlys, "I have made many mistakes in my life, and I can never say sorry to the ones that were taken for us too soon." Rhaelle cast her eyes aside, "But, I still have you and I owe you so much."

"No, you don't." She said looking at him.

"But, I do. You could have taken my grandchildren away from me, you could have told them of what I did to you. But, you didn't. You even saved my marriage with your mother when laena left home, you didn't have to do that but you did." Corlys clench his jaw as he close his eyes before opening them, "I have demean you, ridiculed you, disown you, and you still allow me to have a speck of happiness." Rhaelle bite the inside of her bottom lip as her chin gently starts to wobble, "I'm so sorry that I put you through all of it, I wish in every part of my being that I could take those early years and replace them with better ones." Rhaelle turn her eyes up so her tears wouldn't fall.

"I need some air." Rhaelle voice crack as she push chair back, before she rush away her father grab her forearm.

"Know that I do not deserve anything from you, not your forgiveness or your love, but I need you to know." Rhaelle couldn't look at corlys as he says the three words that she dream to hear from him, "I loving you and you will always be my sweet girl." Rhaelle could only shake her head  before pulling her arm from corlys's grip, corlys watch rhaelle as she  rush off through the crowd.

Rhaelle left the great hall in a haste before going down the hall to find a space to be alone, she found double doors that lead out to the balcony that overlook the city. Rhaelle lean forward using her elbows to rest on the balustrade and cover her face with her hands, she sniff before dragging her hands down her face before moving them to clench her hair.

"Rhae." Rhaelle flinch at the sudden voice of her husband, she wipe her face and turn to daemon's concern face.

"Damnit, daemon, you scared me." Rhaelle says as she wrap her arms around herself, daemon comes closer to stand in front.

"Who made you cry." He ask moving his hands to grasp her jaw tilting her head up for him to see her, "Give me a name and I'll make sure no finds his body." Rhaelle gave a small smile.

"No one made me cry, i'm just..." rhaelle halt before shaking her head, "it doesn't matter, let's just go back to the celebration." She grabs his hand and move to walk pulling him along but he stop her pulling her back.

"Rhaelle." Daemon says looking at her with a look that made her look down.

"Corlys–"

"I'll kill him." It was rhaelle turn to grab daemon's arm and pull him back.

"He wasn't being malice, he..." rhaelle pause making daemon look at her, "...he said he loved me and that he was sorry." Daemon look at his wife surpise.

"So, they were happy tears?" He ask making shake her head.

"No, I mean...I was overwhelm by his words, after all these years. He apologized to me." Daemon furrow his brows as move rhaelle to lean against him.

"Isn't that what you always wanted." Rhaelle look at daemon and shrug.

"Yes, but...when I imagine my father apologizing to me, I always thought that I get some closure from it." Daemon tilt his head slightly to the side.

"But."

"I don't feel it. I don't feel relief or resentment, I just feel like I always felt. Fine. Its not a good feeling or a bad feeling, I guess...I grew too use to it that it just don't effect me like I wanted it to." Rhaelle frown sadly, "And now, he wants me to go with him to the stepstones with him." She sighs, daemon was quiet for a moment before he spoke up.

"You should do it." He said making rhaelle at him.

"I can't–"

"Why not." He ask making rhaelle look at him slightly taken back.

"Because I am mother. I have responsibilities–"

"But, doing this could be good for you, maybe bonding with your father is what you need to get that feeling that you always wanted." Rhaelle was left speechless, she knew daemon was right and the chance to reconnect with her father could be good for her but.

"I can't go, daemon." She said knowing she will have no choice but tell him, rhaelle sighs grabbing her husband's hands and look up at him, "...I'm pregnant." She whisper.

Daemon's eyes shine as he move his hand to rhaelle's stomach, "That is joyous news, my love. How far? How long have you know." He ask looking down at her stomach knowing was covered by the corset.

"Two maybe three moons." Rhaelle says, "I didn't found out until fourteen days ago."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner." Rhaelle gave daemon a look.

"It was never the right time, with alyssa wanting to live in magonsæte to be closer to Aegor and jaenara's marriage along with founding out our baby boy is going to be a father soon. It was too much to bare." Rhaelle said moving to the balustrade to lean against it as she look at the sleeping city, daemon move to stand behind her resting his chin on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist, "All of our children are growing up, soon maekar would want to leave then alys, and I know baelon is going to find his way onto a ship to the stepstones." Rhaelle sigh exasperated.

"All we will have left is rhaena, the twins and daena. And I know once the baby comes, daena will feel left out and the worst part is we may miss the birth of our grandchild." Rhaelle said heartbroken.

"Love of my life, it's a bittersweet moment when our children start growing up, but we did our part, it is time they do there's. You know whatever happens they will always come back to us," Daemon says," and you should know you have nothing to worry about with baelon, alys, and daena. Baelon will never leave rhaena, alys can never stay away from you for too long, and daena has joffrey to occupy her. You still have time with your babies and as for aemon, i vow to found him and bring and his...belove home in time for the birth of our grandchild." Rhaella lean away from daemon and turning his arms, she wrap her arms around his shoulder give a half smile.

"Thank you, daemon. In our fifteen years of marriage, I always that I would be giving you this speech," daemon grins down at her, "Who would have thought the rogue prince and the serpent queen would be here now together no less, back then no one could have predicted this union." She lays her head on daemon's chest hearing his rhythmic heartbeat, daemon move his arms from her waist making rhaelle's arm drop to his waist so his arm can be around her shoulder.

"Can I tell you a secret." Rhaelle look at her husband intrigued, daemon lick his lips and chuckle, "When I saw you in the tent back in dwarfstone, I had a dream that night..." he smile thinking back on it as if he had it just yesterday, "You were there...on a beach standing in the water with two young boys and a little girl, you all were laughing. Your stomach was round no more than 6 moons and in my lap was a little babe," Daemon swallow hard feeling emotional as he look down, "I didn't see a dragon in my dreams, but yet it all felt so real and so true," Daemon look back at his wife who eyes were drowning in tears, "And ever since then I couldn't take you out of my head, you consume my thoughts night and day, and I knew if I died out there. Your face was going to be the last thing I saw." Rhaelle let a teary smile slip into her features, daemon close his eyes as he lean his forehead against his wife before whispering, "The gods has been good to me for so many years, they gave me you and you gave me our beautiful children, I thank them everyday for the life I never imagine I could have with anyone else." Rhaelle bump her nose against daemon's nose as her hands squeezing his arms.

"Oh, you silly fool." She whisper lovingly making daemon open his eyes looking at her, " the gods had nothing to do with it, I was going to love you any way." She confess.

Daemon smile wide and lean to press a sweet kiss to rhaelle's lips.

"I love you, rhae."

"I love you more, daemon."

"Impossible, love."

@beggarsnotchoosey @cleverzonkwombatsludge @avidreader73 @green-lxght @spderm4nnnn @supermassiveblackhope @watercolorskyy @stargaryenx

[sweetmuffynsblog]

Midnight Rain

Why i write this again?

English is not my first language, it's not a second either, it's my 5th language. So, if you notice any grammar wrong, please correct me! Thank you, in advance!

I broke her heart 'cause she was nice

Lady Y/N L/N was a daughter of Lord L/N and his Lady-Wife, they were the supporter of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen's claim to the Iron Throne. Since young age, Lady Y/N was a playmate to both Velaryon Princes, it was not suprised when Rhaenyra announced the engagement between Prince Jacaerys and Lady Y/N.

Jacaerys loved Y/N, of course he did, he knew her the longest, for a long time, she's always been there, standing in his side, she was supposed to be his wife, the future Queen, his future Queen.

Y/N of course felt the same, she always believed that she would marry Jacaerys one day, that's why she's been waiting, until she turned twenty name days, regardless of what other people at the court said about it. She's been waiting for Jacaerys to marry her.

***

Jacaerys Velaryon felt anxious, he must've gathered as many Lords(Ladies) as possible to bend their knees towards his mother, he is her Heir, it's his job, and his obligations. Married is out of question right now, he had fiancée already and he loved her more than anything, he would marrying her, when the time came.

Lady Y/N was expected to entertained the Nobles, she was good at it, the people in the court kept praising her for her gentleness and her elegant demeanour, she was every bit a queen. Jacaerys was so proud of her fiancée, he kept praising her infront of his mother and step-father, along with his siblings and step-sisters. Baela even told him that she was so done with his fool.

Wearing a red and black dress, Lady Y/N walked hand-in-hand with her cousin, who married into the Tarly family, Jenissa L/N or Jenissa Tarly now, was her dearest cousin and companion, they both in the same age, and when the time came, Jenissa was betrothed to Lord Tarly's eldest son and heir, and now she already got two beautiful children and one on the way. Jenissa and Y/N grew up together, attended lessons together, it was not surprised to anyone that they grew closer to each others.

"How's everything doing, cousin?" Jenissa asked, both sat in the garden watching her children played around,

"it's good." Y/N answered her, a small smile graced her lips, "as good as incoming war can be."

"i'm glad, Y/N." Lady Tarly stroked her belly, "when can i expected the wedding?"

Lady Y/N's smile froze in instant, but she forcefully smiled again, "i think soon? Jacaerys and I don't talk about marriage too much. We are just going with the flow, besides, it's still in a mist of war, they don't have a mood for merry."

Lady Tarly took a deep breath, "Y/N, you know that you are like a dear sister to me, right?" Y/N nodded, "i'm sorry for this but people in the court has whispering..."

"Whispering?" Y/N looked at her cousin practically sister with a disbelief, she forcefully laughed, "when do they never?"

"but they whispered about you and Jacaerys, cousin." Lady Tarly said, took her cousin's hands in hers, silence engulfed the young woman,

"what kind of whisper, Jen?"

"they said that, you and Jacaerys will never married. He will not marrying you, he keeps you by his side for appearences and for the support of our House and our allies."

Y/N gave her cousin a false smile, "of course it's not true. Jacaerys and I have been engaged since i was only in my thirteen name days, and we will be married, of course we will."

"that's the reason, dear, you and Jacaerys have been engaged since you were able to bleed, if he wanted to marry you, he would marrying you and by now you and him will have children and heirs running around. Heirs are so important for a Prince like him, and a future King at that? Think again, sister."

Y/N shook her head, "no. He will marrying me, now is not a right time."

Right? Y/N kept saying that now is not the right time, but deep down she acknowledged her cousin's words, if Jacaerys wanted to marrying her, they would be wed long time ago, and they would have at least two children running around by now. She loved Jacaerys, by the seven, she did but her cousin's words echoing in her mind, she was not getting any younger, the women in her age already had at least two children with their husband, but here she was, waited and waited for Jacaerys to gave the Queen his words, and to wed her. She was not a man, she was born as a woman, by any means she couldn't wait.

Y/N knocked the door infront of her, the door opened and revealed Jacaerys, who sat in his chair and read the letters from the Lords, he smiled at her sight, Y/N hummed in anxiety, she was cowering,

"i have something to ask you, do you have a time?"

Jacaerys nodded, he smiled again at her, "you can ask me anything, My Love?"

Y/N coughed a little, "i want to ask, by any means, when can we have a wedding ceremony? Both of us aren't getting any younger and i think it's the right time for us to be wed? Everyone will expected us to have heirs soon..."

Jacaerys wet his mouth, "Y/N, my love, i love you but i can not marrying you now. I have a lot of things to do, and this is really not the right time."

"we are preparing for a war soon, Jace, once you grandsire passed, the war will break out. I'm just ensuring the continuation of our line, in case something happened, we will have heirs to ensure it."

Jacaerys shook his head, "now is not the right time, Y/N."

"this is not the right time is only your aliby, isn't it? If you really want to marry me, you will marrying me sooner."

"what?!" Jacaerys parted his lips, "why you think like that? You know i love you."

"because people keep pointing at my back, Jacaerys! They talk about me! They talk as if i am a spinster! I am a woman, not a man like you, i don't have a choice regard everything, i just want to live in a stability, and have children of my own. Is that too much to ask for?"

Y/N's crying right now, Jacaerys felt as if his heart has been ripped out from his chest,

"tell me, Jacaerys, do you want to marrying me or not?"

Silence.

Y/N bit her lips to stopped the sobbing, she inhaled, then she nodded, "you can't expect me to always be there for you when you can't offer a stability to me. I love you but i need an insurance. Goodbye, Jacaerys."

The next day, Lord L/N told The Queen about the annulment of the engagement between Lady Y/N and Prince Jacaerys. Everyone was shocked, Lady Y/N stood proud in the middle of her parents,

"do you really want to cancel the engagement, Lady Y/N?" Rhaenyra asked, Y/N looked at Jacaerys who stood with his family, then at the Princess of Dragonstone,

"yes, your grace."

Rhaenyra looked between Y/N's stoic face and Jacaerys's pained expression then sighed, "very well, i declared that from now on, Lady Y/N of House L/N and Prince Jacaerys Velaryon are not betrothed anymore.

And the life i gave away

Five Years Later

The Blacks won the war, Jacaerys was a Prince of Dragonstone and his mother ascended the Throne as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, First of Her name. Every Houses who supported the Blacks were invited to the red keep to celebrate the victory, and after the war, everything are started to calm down.

House Tyrell, of the Reach was one of many noble houses that was invited by the Queen, they were the main provider for the Army's foods during the war, they supported the Blacks after Lord L/N's daughter marrying the Tyrell Heir, Lord L/N was known as the biggest supporter of Queen Rhaenyra, it was not surprised that when Queen Rhaenyra ascended the Throne, he was the Hand of the Queen.

Lady Y/N Tyrell was beautiful as ever, a mother of a son and daughter, her Lord-husband was a good man, with too much Tyrell-men's traits, a rose. Lady Y/N took the thorn part, she was widely known as the Queen of Throns, taking after her mother in law.

The Tyrell House entered the Red Keep, the people of King's landing were gasped when they saw how the Tyrell's entrance were grand, their carriage were followed by multiple carriage who carried the Arbor wine and a lot of foods, fruits and vegetables, the Tyrell was surely very rich.

"Lord and Lady Tyrell!"

Lorcas Tyrell and his Lady-Wife along with their children entered the throne room, there's sat Queen Rhaenyra in the Iron Throne, and her children and husband, along with her Hand and small councils, and many Nobles of the Court. Whispered filled the hall, the Tyrell walked proudly, Y/N hold her son's hand in her, her Lord-husband carrying their daughter, her husband bowed while she curtsyied to the Queen,

"welcome to the Red Keep, Lord and Lady Tyrell." Rhaenyra said, her smile widened at the sight of Y/N, "you are so grown up, my dear, motherhood suits you." Rhaenyra complimented, making Y/N blushed,

"thank you, Your Grace."

Jacaerys watched them with envy, he was supposed to be her husband, he was supposed to be the man in her side, the one who whispered something to her and making her blushed, and grinned.

But alas, he was so ambitious back then, kept making her wait, taking her for granted, he thought that he still had a chance with her after their broken engagement, but Lady Y/N married six months after to the Tyrell heir. Her father said that it was an advanteged marriage, he made her daughter marrying the Tyrell heir to ensure their loyalty to the Blacks, Lord L/N, loyal as ever. But Y/N looked so happy, and his mother was right, motherhood suits her the best.

End

[safely-in-vhagars-belly]

Pillars of salt, Pillars of sand; Chapter 5: The wrath of a mother.

You were once a princess, now you are Aemond's prisoner. You are taken to King's Landing to bend the knee to Aegon.

WARNINGS:WARNINGS FOR READING: This fanfiction is dark. It will contain themes as: Non-con, dub-con, dom/sub themes, murder, torture, blood, graphic descriptions of sex, graphic descriptions of murder and graphic description of torture. As well as animal abuse, war crimes, genocide, massmurder, sadism, power-abuse and incestious relationships, as well as intended murder, breeding kinks, mentions of non-con and sexual marital abuse. Warnings will be updated as the fic goes on.

The last time you were in the throne room, you were there with your mother, your grandsire, your brothers and Daemon's children. People who you would call your family. Perhaps more than that, as family is only blood. What you share with your parents and siblings is something deeper than blood. It is something stronger than what the Greens have.

Or so you tell yourself when you are dragged by your Black locks into the throne room. You notice the change of red banners to Green. And a known yet unfamiliar young man wearing a stolen crown, sitting a stolen throne.

When you were a little girl, barely able to figure out politics and love, you had a small little tiny crush on Aegon. A crush that was one-sided and ridiculous. All members of your family adored how you chased Aegon around and kept seeking his affection. Viserys claimed you were just a child. Aegon for one, was annoyed with your crush. He took one of your dolls and threw it in the river before threatening to throw you in next.

You doubt he remembers it now, many years later. You doubt he remembers anything about that time. If he did, Alicent made sure to replace every positive memory with a dozen of negative ones.

They drag you closer to the throne and Aemond grins before throwing you on the stone cold tiles. Your red with black gown was already stained with rain, blood, remains of your brother's body and smelled of horse. Now it is dusty as well.

Aegon steadies himself by slightly making himself more comfortable on the iron throne and puts his long arms on the armrests. You do not know what the Greens have planned for you. You don't. You tried listening in on Aemond and Otto but the carriage does not let noise out or in.

Soldiers, guards, even servants gawk at you as you calmly sit on your knees in front of the throne. You refuse to bow to the king. You refuse to acknowledge him. From Aegon's throat comes a warm chuckle.

Ser Criston Cole never leaves his side when you are near the King. ‘’What is she doing here?’’ He demands, his sword drawn and leveled at your throat.

Otto Hightower fills the commander in with a brief recap. ‘’Aemond captured her. He set a trap at Storm’s end for her, and Lucerys.’’ The Dornish classic eyebrows of Cole rise a tiny bit, and you read clear pride and approval in his eyes.

Aemond returns a smile to his teacher and you scowl at both of them. He smiles smugly at you, folding his hands neatly on his back and not speaking. He is not asked anything and so he is silent.

Aegon looks around the room, and after a few minutes of waiting he speaks. ‘’Where is Lucerys?’’ He wonders. ‘’That is the little brat who stole my brother's eye, isn't it?’’

You are shocked that Aegon can tell Jace Luc and Joffrey apart and that he even cares to acknowledge what happened to Aemond. You are not the only one. When you turn your head to Aemond he seems as shocked as you are.

He bites his lips very briefly and lowers his gaze, speaking with chosen words in a respectful manner. ‘’He was, your Grace. He took my eye. I made him pay the debt to me, before I killed for being a traitor to the realm.’’ You turn your head to Alicent and Helaena who are both disgusted and angry with Aemond's revelation.

The only two pleased souls are Aegon and Cole.

To prove his point, Aemond approaches you and Aegon and shows him the sapphire entrusted box with the two eyes of your brother. You avoid looking at the box with all cost. You might throw up if you see Luc's eyes again, knowing that his voice will never call your name again. You are his elder sister. And you failed him beyond words.

Alicent approaches Aemond with a vicious look in her eyes you remember for when she attacked your own mother. She turns to her son, grabbing him by his shoulders and forcing him to look up at her as if he is a little boy. ‘’Tell me that is a lie, Aemond. Tell me you weren't stupid enough to kill Lucerys.’’ She begs him, shaking him until he responds.

He shows her the box, opening it and showing her your brother's brown eyes. Harwin's brown eyes. ‘’For you, mother.’’ He says, so gentle and different. You see her become disgusted and angry all at once.

Aemond smiles but his smile is not returned. You watch as Aemond is slapped across his face with a slap so powerful that it leaves a mark. The Queen dowager glares at her second born son.’’Out of my sight! You despicable monster. What is wrong with you?’’

‘’You would know: You made me who I am, after all.’’

‘’Stay, brother. You will not be treated as a dog. You did well. You served the realm and the crown courageously and with honor.’’ You want to snap Aegon’s neck.

Helaena cries and you find it very annoying. She carried no love for Luc. She is a Green. Why would she? For a reason unknown to you, she is crying and her mother is comforting her by rubbing her back. Helaena slaps her hands away from her back, ignoring her mothers touch. In a way, it is just as what Alicent did with Aemond. You dare not look at the prince when he has been so insulted.

‘’A shitday is turning out to be pretty good after all.’’ Aegon speaks, keeping his voice lighthearted. He smiles at you, still on your knees in front of him. ‘’Tell me, niece. Why should I spare your life?’’

You have no answer. You will happily die before begging for your life. It is Otto who saves you. And yet it is Otto who brings you your end. ‘’We have a proposal. The princess is unmarried.’’ You turn your head slowly to the hand, giving him the chance to reconsider what he is about to say. Aegon is unimpressed and unbothered by the proposal, but you are already balling your hands into fists and ready to tackle that snake to the ground.

The King smirks. Who will they marry you to? You know that Daeron is still free to marry, and Aemond's marriage is not yet set in stone. You turn your head to Aemond who only glares at his feet and likely can't wait to leave the room full of people that saw him be humiliated today. He expected to come home a hero, not a war criminal and a monster.

‘’What a lovely occasion. Who is the lucky man who will wed my niece?’’ The king asks, blissfully ignorant.

The hand approaches him with swift broad steps. ‘’You are.’’ Aegon's smile dies within mere moments as you make your hands fists before glaring at the Hand.

They plan to marry you to the king. The usurper and the man you spent your first few years on this world obsessed with. A cruel joke on their behalf. A witty solution to mend the houses and to make sure that they have a pawn against your mother that she won't dare to hurt.

You are not blind. You are not the only pawn on this board. Aegon feels as horrible as you do. His smile fades from his lips, before reappearing again in a matter of seconds. ‘’No, Grandsire. You must be forgetting. I already have a lady wife.’’ He nods to Helaena who avoids looking at her husband at all costs.

The hand approaches fast and comes closer and closer to the king until Ser Criston stops him. ‘’You will take her to wife. You will become her husband.’’ He says as if he is lecturing a little boy.

You scoff and let out possibly the worst insult yet. ‘’Aemond’s eye is more likely to grow back than that I will marry that awful usurper that is warming my mother’s throne!’ Swords are drawn, Aemond's and Cole's included. Alicent shields Helaena and you boldly stare Cole down, begging him to use his sword on you.

Aegon warns you. ‘’I can have your tongue ripped out for that comment.’’ He says. You shrug.

Aemond snickers. ‘’Don’t. A wife without a tongue is a boring one.’’ His joke falls very flat and no one finds it funny. Save for Cole, he chuckles. If Daemon were here, he might have laughed as well.

You see a scared little man sitting that monster of a throne. He sees his freedom being threatened once more. He slams with his hands on the throne, raising and making himself taller than his grandsire. ‘’Her husband? I already have one wife, you want me to take another?’’ He barks at the poor old man. You still sit on your knees and you feel very vulnerable.

You are shocked he dares to address his own grandsire this way, but if you see who raised him it is no shock at all. Otto shouts back at his king. ‘’I want to win this war. Your recent tax raises have not been appreciated. You are called a usurper and a thief. People hate you. Take this sweet innocent princess and throw a wedding, and the people will love you once more.’’ He says as if it's that simple.

You huff. ‘’You are a fool for believing him. All of you are! You can still let me go and we will talk about peace.’’ Your words are met with adored little smirks from guards, who likely take you for a sweet innocent girl. Or scoffs from Aemond and Cole. Or just plain sympathy and a soft nod from your aunt, Helaena who wishes that it could be that way.

You become enraged by their silence. ‘’I will not consent to this! You can’t force me to marry him!’’

Aemond finally finds his tongue again. ‘’Your consent does not matter.’’ ‘’He is the king, his word is law and truth.’’ You see he has his hands empty and folded on his back. You scoff and keep your face calm turning it away....

Until you storm at him, surprising him as he backs away, grabbing his dagger in self defense. You advance as Helaena screams and Alicent yells at Aemond to behave himself. Two guards, Cole and Ser Arryk are needed to hold you away from Aemond.

He smirks as the guards restrain you. Ser Otto sighs with great misery at both his grandsons. He goes to his granddaughter instead and whispers something in her ear. She is first a bit hesitant and looks at you, before nodding. She makes her way over to the throne and whispers in Aegon's ear before fleeing the room.

Otto speaks. ‘’Perhaps the Princess can stay in the gardens with her grace the queen, when the princess regains her posture and good manners."

Ser Criston speaks, surprising everyone. ‘’He is her husband to be. Let him discipline her.’’ You feel your eyes narrow and your heart quicken as you glance at Aegon. To your horror he nods.

You except to be whipped and perhaps even raped on the castle floors yet he instructs the guards to carry you away. ‘’Send the princess to the gardens with my sister, the Queen. Both will be watched as hawks." That is his punishment for you. To be locked in a garden with your aunt and to have no way to control your life any longer.

You pass Alicent and she walks to you. She has tears in her eyes when she takes you into her arms, looking you into your eyes. Her big brown eyes are full of regret and compassion. And helplessness.’’My sincerest condolences-’’ Rage consumes you. Or is it madness?

You spit at her face causing her to recoil. ‘’You once asked for Luc's eye. You never liked him. You never liked any of us! You objected to countless marriage proposals between me and my siblings and your own children’’ If she had, perhaps this war never would have happened. Luc would be alive.

You tear up by that thought but hide it very well. You jab your finger into her chest, touching her star necklace of the faith. ‘’Luc's blood is as well on your hands as Aemonds. May the Gods save you from my mother's wrath, your grace. You will need every single one of the Seven to protect you.’’ You promise. Her eyes become only bigger as her tears start to fall and her lashes blink them away.

Aegon loses his patience when Aemond watches, fascinated by your outburst. ‘’Enough!’’ The king screams. ‘’Escort her out. Now!’’ He yells. You make a mocking little bow before leaving with the guards to the gardens.

[adecila]

I think they are doing this to us on purpose...

I love this fandom, I was sad and depressed because of the 💩 ending but after reading all of this amazing jonerys fics I felt happy and no matter what I still found comfort on this.

Please I now it's a lot to ask but don't go don't let them took away this bubble of happiness (you and the others on this fandom created for all of us) from us too.

On purpose? Yes if by that you mean the purpose of doubling down on the season 8 ending and milking whatever they can from the old Game of Thrones fan base. You know, the same ones who are so easily swayed by CGI dragons and will tune in to watch The House Of The Dragon. And the ones who think that the only thing wrong with the ending was that Dany's turn was too quick (but they thought she was mad in the first place, so that's not why they're raging about the ending), the ones who wanted Jon to kill the Night King instead of Arya and the ones who wanted Jon to end up on the Iron Throne.

WE ARE NOT THE SAME WHAT THE FUCK IS NOT CLICKING

Now that I'm heated again and in light of what Emilia said, I'm gonna say this respectfully but you're giving too much credit to HBO AND Kit.

Let me refresh your memory!!!

HBO agreed to the ending we got. Have y'all suddenly forgotten?? The HBO CEO watched the rough cut of the 6 episodes and thought hey these are great

In fact HBO stood by the ending after the petition to redo the season gained worldwide popularity

HBO even thought it appropriate to insult the fans even further and stick by their ending when they gave D and D a cameo in Westworld in which they chop up Drogon

While Kit himself feared that the ending would be divisive, he thought that it was justified:

I'm not saying he wasn't traumatised because it obviously fucked with his head having to kill off his friend on screen (READ THAT AGAIN) I'm just saying y'all are mistaking his grief related to the end of GoT as to the grief for Dany's botched up story.

In fact Kit thought that Jon's ending was "really sweet" 🙃

I cannot overstate how much Kit has in fact stuck by the writing choices

Emilia saying now that this spin off (told y'all the news was real and legit, even if it the spin off might currently be in just the very beginning stages) is certified by Kit doesn't mean shit to us Dany fans!!!

Because tell me what in everything I showed you that Kit said regarding season 8 sounds like a man who would ONLY do a Jon Snow spin off in order to revive Dany and retcon season 8?? It just sounds to me that he loves the character so much he'd probably play it again in most circumstances now that he has had time to deal with his mental health.

Like an asoiaf podcaster said, who if given $10M to play Jon fucking Snow would say no out of principle?

Exactly.

And I'm not "letting them take away anything." Please. I was amongst the last women standing when the last episode aired. I was one of the few still trying to hold everyone's hand through the grief we've had to deal with. I have and still am pouring my heart into so many jonerys fics and I will continue to do so until I can't do it anymore. I've stuck with jonerys through all the shit Kit has said since the ending of GoT, I just tune him out now (after the proper rant ofc) because I really don't trust his judgement on a lot of things 😃

And before you come for me I can still like Kit and drag him for all the shitty things he's done and said. It's called nuance 🤍

Go read an old jonerys fic today and show the author some love. We don't need HBO. We don't need shitty spin offs. We've done well for ourselves for the last 3 years, this isn't going to suddenly make me love jonerys more. Thank god my love for Jon Snow (the legit one, not the s8 one), Daenerys Targaryen and jonerys doesn't depend on what Kit Harington says or does.

[tolkien-feels]

.... Okay, you wore me down. Do you have any links to the Silm musical you keep talking about, and do you think it's accessible for people (aka my parents) who are medium-big LotR fans but have no experience with any First Age content?

There are multiple Silm musicals actually, but I know my hyperfixations so I'm sure you're talking about the Beren and Luthien one lol

I do in fact have links! The most important atm is @sewn-with-lilies-fair 's pinned post (and the Lay of Leithian tag) but so far this is being a great year for the Lay of Leithian rock opera fandom because we're getting so much stuff?? It's great, but it also means that maybe if you ask me like, next week, I'll have more stuff to share because this is very much an ongoing production.

Anyway! I've successfully had at least one friend who never got through the Silm watch the show and love it, and I know other people have had similar experiences. Of course, the more you know the source material the more you get out of it (nods to the source material my beloved <3) but it's a love story, so the story beats are probably followable even if you've never heard of Tolkien, let alone if you're familiar with LotR!

You know how you miss A Lot of LotR the first time you read or watch it, but you get the general idea that these people are trying to get to a volcano to destroy a ring? It's basically the same situation here.

Understanding each and every detail isn't mandatory as long as you remember that Local Man Must Steal Sauron's Boss's Crown Jewel To Marry Elf Princess. That's really all there is to it. If it helps, remind your parents that Aragorn and Arwen are Beren and Luthien 2.0, and that just as Aragorn must become king to marry Arwen (and she must give up her immortality to marry him), Beren must steal the most heavily guarded jewel in the world to marry Luthien.

Alternatively, if your parents don't mind spoilers, you could just........ have Aragorn tell them the story........ Like, he straight up sums up the rock opera to the hobbits when he's explaining the context for the Song of Beren and Luthien. Here's the quote for your convenience

Beren [son of Barahir] was a mortal man, but Lúthien was the daughter of Thingol, a King of Elves upon Middle-earth when the world was young; and she was the fairest maiden that has ever been among all the children of this world. As the stars above the mists of the Northern lands was her loveliness, and in her face was a shining light. In those days the Great Enemy, of whom Sauron of Mordor was but a servant, dwelt in Angband in the North, and the Elves of the West coming back to Middle-earth made war upon him to regain the Silmarils which he had stolen; and the fathers of Men aided the Elves. But the Enemy was victorious and Barahir was slain, and Beren escaping through great peril came over the Mountains of Terror into the hidden Kingdom of Thingol in the forest of Neldoreth. There he beheld Lúthien singing and dancing in a glade beside the enchanted river Esgalduin; and he named her Tinúviel, that is Nightingale in the language of old. Many sorrows befell them afterwards, and they were parted long. Tinúviel rescued Beren from the dungeons of Sauron, and together they passed through great dangers, and cast down even the Great Enemy from his throne, and took from his iron crown one of the three Silmarils, brightest of all jewels, to be the bride-price of Lúthien to Thingol her father. Yet at the last Beren was slain by the Wolf that came from the gates of Angband, and he died in the arms of Tinúviel. But she chose mortality, and to die from the world, so that she might follow him; and it is sung that they met again beyond the Sundering Seas, and after a brief time walking alive once more in the green woods, together they passed, long ago, beyond the confines of this world. So it is that Lúthien Tinúviel alone of the Elf-kindred has died indeed and left the world, and they have lost her whom they most loved. But from her the lineage of the Elf-lords of old descended among Men. There live still those of whom Lúthien was the foremother, and it is said that her line shall never fail. Elrond of Rivendell is of that Kin.

I mean, there's more to it but that's the gist of it.

If I had to add anything, I would say that:

The Great Enemy is called Melkor or Morgoth

Melkor is a god. We meet another god in the rock opera: Mandos, keeper of the halls of the dead. A god of death, basically

Luthien's kingdom is called Doriath, and it's magically protected by her mother Melian, who is as powerful as Gandalf or Sauron

At some point, Beren asks for the help of Galadriel's brother Finrod, who's been close to Beren's family for generations

Finrod has two scheming cousins who in the musical are essentially comedy relief, but one of these cousins has a giant talking dog called Huan, and this dog is an important character

There's more to it still but that's way, way, way more than you actually need to know to follow the storyline

[jackoshadows]

Hi! I have an ask, I hope you don't mind. I really like your views on Jon. I was just wondering if you find him particularly selfless and who do you think is more selfless between him and Daenerys. For purposes of thinking whether/which one of them will sacrifice themselves in the fight against the Others. Thanks!

On the face of it, Daenerys is obviously more selfless. Her goal is the Iron Throne. Freeing those slaves in Essos and giving them a better life provides no advantages for her in Westeros. Only disadvantages - Young Griff gets to Westeros before her. She delays her campaign, against advice, and stays in Meereen because it's the right thing to do. Which is her ethos as a ruler - that a queen should do right by her people. Which is why she feels that claiming her birth right and the Iron Throne is doing right by the people of Westeros.

Meanwhile, Jon's desire to save the Freefolk is entangled with the need to defend the Wall and not provide the Others with an army of more dead. He also needs manpower and recruits for the Wall. In fact, this is one of the arguments he makes to the likes of Bowen Marsh and Othell Yarwyck.

At the same time, Jon's post as LC is in itself a selfless position IMO. Being a Night's Watch brother is a thankless role. There is no acknowledgment and reward for what they do. This is embodied in what Jeor Mormont says to Jon.

Mormont gave a whistle, and the bird flew to him again and settled on his arm. “A lord’s one thing, a king’s another.” He offered the raven a handful of corn from his pocket. “They will garb your brother Robb in silks, satins, and velvets of a hundred different colors, while you live and die in black ringmail. He will wed some beautiful princess and father sons on her. You’ll have no wife, nor will you ever hold a child of your own blood in your arms. Robb will rule, you will serve. Men will call you a crow. Him they’ll call Your Grace. Singers will praise every little thing he does, while your greatest deeds all go unsung. Tell me that none of this troubles you, Jon… and I’ll name you a liar, and know I have the truth of it.” - Jon , ACoK

And it's not just Jon Snow. It's also the other brothers. There’s Cotter Pyke who sails off to Hardhome on Jon’s orders to save Freefolk and who is probably dead. There’s Maester Aemon and Jeor Mormont. Donal Noye. Or Squire Dalbridge who stays behind to hold off the Wildlings while Jon and the others make their escape.

Or Qhorin Halfhand:

“ We can only die. Why else do we don these black cloaks, but to die in the defense of the realm.”

“Our honor means no more than our lives, so long as the realm is safe.”

They are some of the unpraised, unspoken heroes of this story. No one knows about them. No one sings songs about them. They have no titles, no lands, no crown.

Jon could have accepted Stannis' offer and become Lord of Winterfell. He could have put personal ambition above the greater good. However, he is reminded of his oaths to the Old Gods and his sense of duty pushes him to stay at the wall and get it ready for what's to come.

This

“I know what I swore.” Jon said the words. “I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. Were those the same words you said when you took your vows?”

“They were. As the lord commander knows.”

“I am the shield that guards the realms of men. Those are the words. So tell me, my lord—what are these wildlings, if not men?”

is the equivalent of this bad-ass scene:

Jorah: We don’t need Yunkai, Khaleesi. Taking this city will not bring you any closer to Westeros or the Iron Throne

Daenerys: "How many slaves are there in Yunkai?"

Jorah: "Two hundred thousand, if not more."

Daenerys:  "Then we have two hundred thousand reasons to take this city".

So I would say that both Daenerys and Jon are selfless characters in the series who put the good of the people above personal ambition. In ADwD, Jon did end up putting his personal interests - Arya - above the greater good and pays the consequences.

And this is why I think that if there is any sacrifice of a character to be done, it's going to be Jon. Jon is currently dead. One chapter of his story is over. As per GRRM, resurrection in ASoIaF is not clean and perfect. Resurrection in ASoIaF is Lady Stoneheart and not Gandalf. He's going to be different. Rand al'Thor, the protagonist in the Wheel of Time has never healing injuries till the end of the series. I suspect the same could be true for Jon Snow and his numerous stab wounds. I therefore think there's a better chance that 'Zombie' Jon sacrifices himself than Daenerys. Like, imagine if Jon is Arya's Nissa Nissa and she ends up using Needle on the person she loves most. Stick ‘em with the pointy end 😭

Sacrifice can also mean giving up something very important to them. Considering all 5 key characters survive the series in some form (As per the OG outline), this is most likely what happens. This is why one of the possible semi happy endings I can envisage for both Jon and Dany is that in order for true peace and victory over an existential threat from the Others, they go off into the Lands of Always Winter while the rest of Westeros think the Last Targaryens are dead. Depending on what type of Jon comes back, it could be Jon and Dany being a family and Dany finally getting her house with the red door. Now that would be a bittersweet ending.

[fruitcoops]

Hi, Eve

Rose here from yesterday, thank you very much for the Birthday message, I wasn't expecting you to read it let alone reply but I was looking for Coops kids Birthday fluff specifically. It doesn't matter if you don't have time however as I don't want to be a bother.

Hello Rose, and happy (belated) 20th birthday! Sorry for the wait--I really wanted to get this one right to celebrate such an important number. I hope your day was absolutely fantastic! SW credit goes to @lumosinlove, but Stella is an OC

Combined with asks for Sirius lightly making fun of Remus' accent and Remus yelling at a game show (@nazar4114)

“Medusa!” Stella shouted with all the force in her thirteen-year-old lungs. Remus leaned forward on the couch. “Medusa!”

The front door opened with a creak. “I’m h—”

“Yes!” they cheered in unison as Nicole answered correctly. Remus turned and gave Stella a double high-five, feeling his heart squeeze at the vivid joy on her round face. “Good guess.”

“I knew she was gonna get it,” Stella said with a pump of her fist as she turned back to the show and folded her legs underneath her.

“Gonna,” a familiar deep voice mimicked from the doorway. Paper bags rustled before footsteps stopped behind the couch; Remus tilted his chin up without sparing a glance, and Sirius pressed a laugh-laced kiss to his cheek before dropping one on Stella’s head as well. “You sound too much like your dad.”

“Love you, too,” Remus said wryly.

“I’ll take ‘Myths and Moths’ for 400, please.” Nicole’s voice snapped his attention back to the screen, and Stella narrowed her eyes.

“Daily Double!” the automated voice announced. Stella gasped; Remus bit his lower lip. “This mythical shield was wielded by Athena, and is sometimes said to be made of goat skin.”

“Aegis,” Stella whispered, then raised her voice. “It’s the Aegis, Nicole. You know this.”

“We know you do,” Remus said, scooting forward. “You just guessed whose head is on it.”

Nicole’s buzzer went off with two seconds to spare. “What is the Aegis?”

“Hell yeah!” Stella whooped.

Remus turned to her and raised his eyebrows. “Excuse you.”

“Sorry.”

“Are you two going to do this the whole afternoon?” Sirius asked from the kitchen, obviously amused. “We might need to get the neighbors some noise-cancelling headphones.”

Stella blew a dark lock of hair out of her eyes as she flopped her head back. “It’s almost final Jeopardy, papa. We have, like, ten minutes.”

Sirius blinked at her, then shook his head. “I swear you two share genes.”

“Ope, you caught me,” Remus said over the noise of the commercial break. “When I was 20 and had literally never left Wisconsin, I went and had a secret kid in Maine who looks terribly like you just so that someone would watch Jeopardy reruns with me thirteen years later. Oops.”

“It’s the truth,” Stella said with great gravity. “I remember.”

“Mon dieu,” Sirius muttered, though he couldn’t keep a smile down. He had never been able to hide around Stella, not once in the three years since they had adopted her. It was one of the things Remus loved most about him. “By the way, nobody under the age of fourteen is allowed in the kitchen for the next…hour. Ish.”

Stella squirmed around until she could rest her arms on the back of the couch. “What if I get thirsty?”

“I’m sure you can invoke birthday privileges and ask your dad to get something for you.”

“Birthday privileges?” Remus scoffed. “Nobody in this house has a birthday today. Yours was last month, and mine’s in March.”

“It’s my birthday,” Stella said.

“What? No, it’s not.”

“Yeah-huh.”

“Your birthday is in June.”

“It’s today.”

“Or maybe July?”

“It’s today, in December, when there’s snow,” she insisted, throwing herself back against the pillows. “Come on, dad, that’s not funny anymore.”

Remus raised his eyebrows. “Is somebody too old to find their poor old dad amusing now? Can you go back to being twelve so somebody will laugh at my jokes again? I know, I know, we're super lame compared to all your friends’ parents—”

“So lame,” Sirius agreed from the kitchen.

“—but I like to think we get one more year of pre-teen cuteness before the teen angst takes over.”

Stella sat up again with a groan. Looking at her, Remus saw a mix of himself and Sirius that had always baffled him, considering they had adopted her comparatively late in her life; beneath it was something uniquely Stella. Maybe it was her double-jointed elbows, or the board-straightness of her hair next to their curls, but there was no mistaking that she was her own person through and through. He loved that about her. “I’m not going to be a terrible teenager.”

Sirius poked his head around the edge of the kitchen—his nose was adorned with a smudge of flour. “Can I record that for future use?”

“Non.”

“Ooo, using the French,” Remus hissed. “That transformation is already beginning.”

“It’s not like you were bad teenagers, right?” She settled upside-down on the couch with her flamingo-patterned socks high in the air.

“I almost convinced Grandma to let me dye my hair blue, but otherwise I was pretty good.”

“I was terrible,” Sirius laughed. “I didn’t talk to anybody for a solid three years.”

Stella frowned. “How? I think I’d die if I did that.”

“He’s stubborn,” Remus stage-whispered.

“I heard that.”

Stella suppressed her laughter as best she could, but she was about as good at hiding her emotions around them as Sirius was. She didn’t really giggle—the amount her voice had deepened over the past three years always gave Remus whiplash—but her laugh had the same cadence as it did the first day they heard it. While Stella had been quiet at first, it only took love and time to bring her out of her shell. Within a year she settled into their lives like she was always meant to be there.

A thoughtful look crossed her face. “This is my last year before high school.”

“Does it feel different?”

“Not really.” She paused, then shrugged. “And a little. I don’t feel older. It just feels like there’s stuff I won’t get to do anymore.”

“And a lot more you will get to do.” Sirius left his dishtowel on the counter before joining them on Stella’s other side. “You can drive soon, you’ll get a longer curfew, you get more freedom…”

“I guess.”

“What are you going to miss?” Remus asked as she toyed with the hem of her shirt. It was a basic Lions FAN jersey; he was fairly sure she bought it to be ironic. That, and she only wore one of theirs if she was upset with the other, or if one needed a boost at a game.

“I dunno.” A few beats of silence passed. “My classmates. My team. It feels like everything’s going to turn upside down.”

“You can still keep in touch with your friends, and I bet your team won’t be too different,” Sirius said quietly. “Even if it does, that doesn’t mean you have to give all of them up. People change in different ways. They come and go on their own time.”

“There’s going to be a lot of upside-downs over the next couple years, kid.” Remus offered her a smile. “But you’re going to be just fine.”

“You two sound like such dads right now.”

“This might shock you, but that’s because we are.”

The corner of her mouth tugged up and she lolled her head to the side to look at Sirius. “Is the cake done?”

“Fifteen more minutes.”

“Will you watch final Jeopardy with us?”

“What’s the category?”

“US Presidents.”

Sirius exhaled through his nose, but nodded. She grinned and turned herself upright to snuggle against his arm. “You just enjoy watching me lose.”

---------------------------

“Alright, is everyone ready?” Sirius called from the kitchen.

“On three,” Remus said, raising his phone camera. “One, two, three!”

“Happy birthday to you,” over a dozen voices sang. They were off-tempo and so out of key the composer was probably spinning in his grave, but Stella’s clear joy didn’t waver for a millisecond even as her cheeks reddened. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Stella, happy birthday to you!”

Finn, of course, dragged out the last note. So did Leo, Logan, Kasey, James, Lily, and Talker in varying degrees of awful harmony attempts. It was terrible, and beautiful. “Make a wish,” Sirius said softly as he set the cake down and stepped back. His eyes were the brightest quicksilver Remus had seen in many moons.

Stella closed her eyes, took a breath, and blew as hard as she could—the entire room erupted into cheers when all the candles went out. She was laughing and blushing at the same time when Remus turned the lights back on, though the humor won out in the end and she helped pass plates of cake to her many aunts and uncles. Like every year prior, Regulus managed to smear a bit of frosting on her chin, only to immediately deny it with great offense when she noticed. It was becoming a bit of a tradition—one that Remus never grew tired of.

I know what I would wish for, Remus thought as he looked around the table at their patchwork family. Celeste, Dumo, and his own parents had no doubt spoiled their first grandchild with ‘cusp of adulthood’ gifts, and Natalie and Lily would certainly steal her away after cake for some girl time. Finn and Logan would remain the fun uncles while Leo and Regulus kept their thrones as the cool uncles; Stella would interrogate Jules on the intricacies of high school for at least an hour before they destroyed everyone in a snowball fight. The world they built together had a place for everyone.

I would wish for this. This, for us, forever. It wasn’t a bad eternity to imagine.

[charliedawn]

Imagine being a corrector (someone there to erase mistakes) and witness Iron Man's progress throughout his life to judge him on his final moment.

" And how many people will die from this impressive weapon ?"

You asked and Tony smiled widely at your question, as if he had impatiently expected it.

" Hundreds ! With only one big boom, all of America's enemies will be annihilated !"

Stop smiling, you dirtbag. You are selling this as if it was a party cake. You're going to sell a weapon of massive destruction to the US army that will exterminate hundreds of people in a few seconds with it and you can still look at me dead in the eyes with this repulsive self-absorbed smile..You thought and sighed before looking at the paper in your hand where was written in bold letters.

TONY STARK : SAVE/ERASE?

You looked at him and his stupid smile again, wondering if you should erase his existence. It was your job after all, to erase everything and everyone that may be nocive for the world, or that may end up being a problem..Mistakes could happen of course, but taking a life was always hard, no matter how you looked at it. Now, Tony Stark..He was a difficult case. He was an idiot, there was no doubt in your head about that..but, he also had potential..If given the right opportunity, he could even be great. You decided to take a step back and looked at his file. You could give him a bit of time..You had loads of time to watch him and his every move. You wanted a change. And would spare his life, for now. You stepped back into the shadows and disappeared as Tony Stark entered a nearby black car.

A few years later :

Why ?

Why did you save that idiot ? You ask yourself while watching him snap his fingers. Your wide eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. You had given this man so many choices and chances..All that for that. What a disappointment..! You sigh before walking towards the now floating soul of Tony Stark, still in his eye-catching red super suit. Typical. He finally notices you and eyes you up and down with an eyebrow raised.

" I thought angels would look a little bit more..feathery ? And less like one of my ex-associates.."

Oh boy..Here it is, the introduction part.

" Hello, Mr Stark. I am Y/N, your corrector, my job consists in making sure that your life hasn't been wasted or meaningless.."

He smiles proudly before answering in a pompous voice that daddy's rich boys usually took when asked the question.

" I didn't waste any of it ! That's for sure !"

You frown before writing something on the file, moron..He was a complete moron. But, you still had a job to do. You force yourself to stay polite and look back at the record in your hands.

" So, Mr Stark.."

" Please, call me Tony."

You ark an eyebrow, but don't linger on the subject and only look at the file in your hands even though you already knew what was written on it. You had to pretend, if only to make him realize how lying wouldn't help him.

" I see here that you don't believe in any particular religion..So, you will have the privilege to choose which god will supervise your transfer to the afterlife..Your judge, if you will ?"

He seems to think for a moment before having an idea and looking back at you with a wide grin.

" I know ! Can I try to go to the Valhalla ?"

You ark an eyebrow again at his surprising answer, but then remember that Thor was a friend of his during his life. He surely wanted to see a familiar face during the trial. Understandable. Maybe he wasn't such an idiot after all ?

You nod understandingly before looking back at the file again.

" As it is procedure, I will ask you a few questions and you'll have to answer them as truthfully as possible, alright ?"

Tony agrees and you start with the first one on the list.

" Okay..So, did you ever experience love in your life ? Did you care about anyone, more than yourself that is ?"

He snorts at that last part before replying sarcastically.

" Nope. Never more than myself. Because I've been raised to look after number 1..However, I would say that Pepper and my girl will always be my first priorities.."

You nod before adding.

" And your father ?"

The question catches him off guard, but he quickly composes himself and seems to hesitate before replying.

" My father and I had a..a very complicated relationship..I admit having hated him for a long time, but now ? I only feel pity.."

You raise an eyebrow at his answer, knowing that he had also admired his father in his youth and felt a certain regret as to not have been able to save him and his mother..But you don't comment on that and only go to the next question.

" Do you think you died a better person than you were at the beginning of your life ?"

He smirks confidently at that question before answering ironically.

" Let me see..I've gone from weapon smuggler to superhero..So, yes. I think I changed. Greatly."

You bite you lip in order not to brutally state him the facts that he's killed more innocents as a superhero than as a weapon smuggler.

" Fine. And finally, are you satisfied with the life you've lived and do you think you deserve to go to the great beyond ?"

He laughs, as if it was some sort of joke and shakes his head before looking up at you.

" I saved the world, isn't that good enough ?"

This is the last straw. You close your book with force, which makes him jump a little as you look at him with your nose scrunched in obvious anger and eyebrows furrowed in clear disappointment.

" You, Tony Stark, are the most selfish blind stupidest man I've ever met ! You really think that all of this is funny ?! Are you really satisfied with the life you've lived or do you really have no idea of the chaos and misery you've created around you ?!"

His mouth is agape in astonishment at your sudden outburst and you decide to show him. You flick your fingers and you both find yourselves in front of a burning city that Tony recognizes as New York..the night when the chitauris attacked.

" I..I don't understand..Why show me this ?"

He asks as his eyes linger on the fire ans the people crying and screaming for help. You smile sadly at his own unawareness..

" Because, Tony, the damage you caused didn't stop when you stopped the bad guy. People died before, during, and after you've fought the bad guy. It takes time to rebuild a city, and human ressources that you seem to have overlooked because, what ? You've send them some money ?!"

Tony brawls his hands into fists, his knuckles turning white and suddenly turns towards you with determination in his eyes.

" I think I did okay !"

He argues, but you only snort mockingly.

" Okay ? OKAY ?! You died, you moron ! You died before you've had the chance to truly do good..The money you've accumulated during all those years ? You were going to give it all to the families of all those who died during all those attacks. You were going to have a child ! You were going to be a wonderful father ! And you gave it all away..The money will now be used by the Shield to create more weapons and destruction ! Your daughter will never grow up to be a hero, because you will not be here to inspire her..And Pepper will be forced to raise her all on her own ! You selfish bastard !"

You yell, not noticing how you get carried away, while pointing an accusative finger at him.

" You could have lived your life ! Happily Ever After ! But no, instead you had to die, leaving a child and your wife behind ! How does that sound, genius ? Does it sound like you did "okay" ?! Now, tell me, before I send you either back to Earth or up there. Tell me why I should let you live ? After you messed up the last chance I gave to you ?"

His breath hitches at your words and he looks at his hands, as if considering what he had done before looking up at you with, what you can only describe as, a feeling of loss.

" I did what I did to save my friends. As far as I know, I didn't waste my life, I saved lives. Those lives were as important as mine, who would I be if I hadn't saved them ?"

You roll your eyes at his hero speech before looking at your datapad. You were only a small gear in the mechanism of Earth's afterlife. You were supposed to bring souls to their final destination..However, there were always tricky situations, like Mr Tony Spark. He had been good, there was no doubt about that, but he had also been awful..Damn awful judging by his long list of infractions and lives sacrificed..You sigh before looking up at him in silent contemplation, wondering what you should do with this one..? Suddenly, an idea pops up in your mind and you smile before advancing towards him and extending your hand.

" How about you come and work for me as a way to get your redemption and reunite with your wife and child ? My work may be tedious, but you'll soon come to find that it had its perks..Of course, you'll still have to get the approval of god you chose..but I don't think he'll deny it. A few years as a corrector, and you'll be able to go to the other side, how does that sound ?"

He looks at your extended hand, and then at you before asking something that you had not thought about.

" Please, could you bring me to Asgard ? Just to say goodbye to an old friend ?"

You sigh loudly, of course he would want to see Thor..He would surely ask the god to save him, try to make him pass without any setbacks. But, who were you to deny a soul its last wish ? You flick your fingers and appear at Asgard. Obviously, you couldn't bring him to a place that didn't exist anymore and not right after his death, this is why you had decided to appear just before its destruction..When Loki was in charge..However, unlike what you had previously thought, Tony doesn't seem lost and walks towards the royal hall with alarming confidence. You tag along and soon find yourself in the throne room with Odin (aka Loki) staring at you with a hint of surprise, but still remaining in character.

" What are you doing here, mortals ?!"

He booms and you sigh, another brilliant idea, as always..Loki would surely report you to the High Council and it would be finished of your career. You try to say something, maybe something to keep you both from being shifted into nothingness..But Tony steps towards him and, to the greatest astonishment of Loki and you, embraces him.

" You've done good, son..You've done good.."

Suddenly, as if the both of them had had a silent conversation, Loki wraps his arms around Tony and starts crying against his shoulder.

" I can feel it..You're gone, aren't you ?"

He asks with grief in his voice and you are too shocked to answer..even Loki, the god of Mischief, the bad god as some would call him, was crying for this mere human..You didn't understand why ? Why would he tear up over his death ? A mortal that he hates..The notion was incomprehensible for you and Loki seems to notice and straightens up to look at you.

" I assume he chose Thor as a judge ? Unfortunately, my brother is out of Asgard at the moment.."

Before he could continue, Tony shakes his head negatively before looking back at you with a slight smile.

" No. I've chosen you, reindeer game."

Loki's eyes widen significantly and he repeats, visibly as dumbfounded as you are.

" M..Me ? But..But why ?"

You couldn't have asked it better, why did he choose him ?! Out of everyone else ?! You grab Tony and put on a wide fake smile for Loki.

" I'm sorry, but I must discuss with him for a moment. We'll be back soon, I promise."

You then proceed to drag Tony out of the throne room and, as soon as you are sure to be out of reach, lose your smile to look angrily at Tony.

" Are you mad ?! You could have chosen Thor and go on your merry way to Valhalla, Paradise or whatever..But nooooo, you had to choose the god that despises you the most !"

Tony doesn't seem that worried and only shrugs with a confident smile.

" I know..Loki is the first one to be chosen, ever. He wasn't the one that was supposed to be king, he always got left behind and never got any chance to prove that he could be better..Maybe, for once, he could be my first choice ?"

You open your eyes wide and want to face-palm yourself so hard..Damn heroes and their moral codes !

" It's not about his redemption ! It's about yours !"

He nods, keeping his wide smug smile and replies nonchalantly.

" I know..This is why I chose him. If even him can forgive me, then I'll know that I definitely deserve to go to..whatever is best after.."

You gape at his answer, but finally sigh in defeat. You couldn't make him reconsider, you know that..He was the most stubborn man that you had ever worked with..You drag him back inside and look up at Loki defiantly and warn him, to his utter astonishment.

" Okay, I know now that I can't change my client's mind..But, I can assure you that if you try to sabotage his only chance to go to the great beyond, I'll personally take care of your case when the time comes..Understood ?!"

Loki's eyes glance at Tony then at you, all malice out of his eyes as he nods in agreement.

" I may not be fond of the Avengers, but I know better than to mess with you people..You are not merely humans and even though we were on opposite sides, I still value the life of the human beside you, as a warrior and the worthy opponent that he is.."

" Aww..Love you too, Reindeer !"

You glare at Tony to shut him up as he only smiles smugly at you. Damn Stark..You extend your hand towards the king, aware of the procedure, he takes your arm and looks directly in your eyes.

" Do you promise to be impartial and to not speak of this trial to any living beings as long as you will inhabit the land of the living ?"

" I promise."

He answers solemnly and takes back his appearance, as he was supposed to judge as Loki, not Odin. He then looks at the coin that had appeared in his hand, either he would give it back to you with heads, and Tony's soul would be saved..or tails, and his soul would be lost forever. You take a big breath before beginning the trial.

" We will start with the beginning. Tony Stark is a selfish egocentric man who did spent most of his life searching for recognition, money and fame.."

Loki and Tony both open their eyes wide, not expecting you to be so hard from the start.

" Hum..Aren't you supposed to be my lawyer ? You're supposed to be on my side, remember ?"

Tony asks, a hint of worry in his voice, but you narrow your eyes at him and respond in all seriousness.

" I am not your lawyer, Mr Stark. I'm a corrector. I am supposed to tell the truth and not hide anything from the judge..Now, is any of the things I just said wrong ?"

He gulps loudly and lets out a defeated sigh, looking at the floor and shaking his head.

" No. You're right.."

Your expression softens, at least he had the decency to admit it..

" However, he has proven on multiple occasions that he was a particularly good man that inspired many that will do good in the future. And, became a very good father figure for Peter Parker that will accomplish great things in the future..I have seen a lot of men change in my career, for better or for worse..But none of them were as impressive as the one of Tony Stark that came from being only an average man to a hero that will inspire millions in the future.."

Tony's eyes widen as you start showing holograms of moments of his life in the air, showing every moment of his life to Loki. The god looks and listens attentively as he plays with the coin in his hand, toying with Tony's soul. However, he seems to take it seriously and looks at each moment with great interest. You are more than happy to answer every question he asks and add.

" I must confess that Tony Stark was and is an incredible man that devoted his life to helping others..even if sometimes he was lost or misguided..He always had the best intentions at heart..You, of all people, should know what the fear of failure feels like.."

You try to appeal to his own history for him to feel pity for Tony, but the god of Mischief knows when someone is trying to play with his feelings and only asks with a small tremor in his voice that sounds like a reproach.

" However, Tony never had any beliefs. His only god is money and that he spent on very trivial things..Plus, he had the audacity to think himself a god, Zeus above his friends that he also considered above anyone else..Why should he get to spend his life in bliss when all he ever did was to mock anyone around him and have very big illusions of grandeur !"

You bite your lower lip, you couldn't say that what he was saying is wrong..However..

" However, he never used his money for destruction, he always had the greater good in mind when using it. He also made sure that Peter Parker don't focus on money to accomplish his goals.."

Loki only laughs before searching for one of his memories and projecting it for everyone to see..It was the man. The man that had helped him build his first suit and that had died, even though Tony had promised to save him..

" You tell me about his accomplishments..but what about his failures ? He sacrificed that man. He made a promise and broke it. How are you going to justify that ?"

You clench your jaw in obvious frustration, knowing that Loki was provoking you. Even if he had no grudge against Tony, he still had the ego the size of the Empire State building and more..He wouldn't let go so easily. You glance at Tony that is looking at the short movie of his life with tears in his eyes..He had surely forgotten about him, or he hadn't ? You couldn't tell..

" That man tried to save Tony..It is not his fault if he died while doing so. He saved many like him afterwards and never asked for anything in return..He always thought that the security of his friends and family was above everything else."

Loki stands up at your reply in disagreement and grits his teeths before reaching for another memory.

" Are you sure about that ?"

You frown at his question before you see the moment he had invented Ultron..

" He created that knowledge monster and, even with the green man's warnings, didn't listen to what was safest..Now, do you think he really always had the purest intentions at heart ?"

He is one tough cookie, you'd give him that..You search in Tony's memories to get the vision he had when Wanda manipulated his mind and show his worse nightmare, the Avengers all dead.

" This, this is his worst nightmare. You have to admit that it is proof of the value of his comrades to his eyes..like Asgardians, he fought side by side with his friends and would have died for them..as he did."

However, Loki doesn't back down and finally yells in frustration.

" HE HELPED MY BROTHER TO PLOT MY DEMISE !"

You ark and eyebrow at that before replying, your arms crossed.

" Well..I don't see how's that of any relevance to him being a bad man.."

Flabbergasted by your words, he stares at you with tears in his eyes before sitting back down, visibly shocked at your answer. But, you know that he is thinking about it..You smile and look up at him to announce.

" This is why, I ask you to welcome Tony Stark to the great beyond, or at least let him work his way there !"

At your words, his eyes flash at you with a certain interest.

" Go on.."

Your smile widens. You know that Loki would not let Tony enter if he hadn't been trained before.

" Make him a corrector. Allow him to correct his mistakes and apologize to all those he wronged.."

Loki seems to consider it for a moment and, finally nods.

" I'll allow it, however, I'll also accept him in Valhalla directly.."

You raise your eyebrows in surprise at his sudden act of mercy..but you quickly understand when he adds with a small smirk.

"..If Tony accepts to kneel in front of me."

You close your eyes, knowing already the reaction of Tony that doesn't waste any time voicing his disagreement.

" Dream on, goat head !"

You sigh loudly, pinching the bridge of your nose and turning towards Tony that still had his mouth wide open, ready to protest. You want to intervene, but Loki does it for you as he suddenly stands up again and grits his teeths at Tony before ordering.

" Kneel ! Or you can say goodbye to your soul !"

You open your eyes wide in fear as he starts crackling the coin in his palm. You turn towards Tony that feels as if he was being crushed himself. You then look back at Loki before yelling at him.

" The trial is not over, your Highness ! You have no right..!"

He glares murderously at you before cutting you short by laughing maniacally.

" That's where you're wrong ! I have every right !"

You look between the two men with panic seizing your whole being before sighing and getting out a lasso. You use it to grab Loki's arm and yank him on the floor, letting go of the coin by the same occasion that starts rolling before stooping just in front of you. You take it in your hand and Loki looks up at you with his jaw clenched and eyes red with fury. However, you don't let yourself be intimidated and take him by the collar to drag him back to his throne.

" You'll regret this.."

He whispers in your ear and you only laugh at his threat before tying him up to the throne.

" There are many things that I fear in this world..But, prince Loki, you aren't one of them.."

You can feel him tense at your words, but still put back the coin in his hand with a small smile.

" Now..I know that my existence is a mistake and that your huge ego can't handle the fact that a mere woman is keeping you still..But, there is no reason for you to deny Tony his afterlife. You said it yourself, he was a worthy opponent and never wielded, even once. He is prideful, a recognition seeker and a liar..But he is also the Iron Man, the man of steel who defeated far more powerful beings than you..I didn't tell you how he died, but I think I should.."

You suddenly turn around and extend your arms to show two things..One is the day Tony died, and the other..when Loki did.

He looks at the images with wide eyes and, even after seeing it over and over, can't believe it..He had died. And Tony had avenged him. He almost laughs at his choice of word: avenge. He looks up at Tony with a new-found respect and Tony doesn't shy away from his gaze that he meets with determination. Loki then glances at the coin in his hand before throwing it at you..it lands on tails and you smile widely at Loki that nods in affirmation.

" I'll allow it..I'll allow him to enter by the doors of Valhalla to the other side. However, as agreed, Tony Stark will have to serve as a corrector for as long as it takes for him to understand the true repercussions of his mistakes, it means until I allow him to pass..Are we clear ?"

He looks down at you intently and you nod vehemently, happy to have saved his soul. Tony himself can't seem to believe it and looks shocked as he looks at you. You can't help but smile widely at him and he reciprocates. You then turn towards Loki and, to his surprise, bow down to him.

" Thank you, your Highness."

He then coughs loudly, making your head shoot up and realize that he was still..well, attached. You blush widely before clapping your hands and the magical lasso loosens to get back around your waist. Loki stares intensely at you and you feel cold sweat rolling down your back. You swiftly turn around to grab Tony and get out of the throne room, too afraid that he would ask for your name and report you to the High Council..When you're far enough, Tony suddenly takes you in his arms and twirls you around to your surprise.

" We did it ! I'll be able to see my wife and kid again ! Thank you so much !"

You can't help but giggle as he spins you around and when he finally puts you down, he frowns, his brain working full on as he seems to realize something.

" You helped me and were so angry at the fact that I had wasted my time..even though you now seem so happy that I made it..Who are you, really ?"

You let out a small sad smile as you look back at him with your eyes filled with tears. You should have known he would guess it eventually..

" I love you 3000.."

You finally mutter and his eyes widen as he understands and his own eyes prickle with tears as he gently runs his hand against your cheek.

" You're..?"

You nod and take a step back to smile at him through your tears.

" It was nice to meet you, dad."

He tries to hold back his tears before taking you in his arms.

" You've grown so much..How..How are you here ? You're not dead, are you ?!"

He asks worriedly, looking at you as if for the first time and you chuckle at his fatherly concern.

" No, Dad..I became a corrector because I wanted to meet you..Some are humans. I asked uncle Thor to make me one."

He nods, and then remembers that you have access to all of his memories..For the first time today, Tony Stark feels a pang of guilt in his chest.

" You must have felt ashamed of your old man, huh ?"

He asks and you smile kindly at him before answering him truthfully.

" I must admit that multiple times, I asked myself if it was good for the rest of humanity to let you live..that I wasn't being selfish in wanting to save you, but, at the end, I knew that you would become a great man..And, you did."

He smiles proudly at you before kissing your forehead lovingly.

" I'm sorry for not being there, sweetheart..I really am."

You shake your head and wipe your tears before answering him with a hopeful smile.

" It's okay..At least, I'll be able to spend time with you, until your final departure at least.."

He smiles at you, understanding now why you wanted him to become a corrector so bad and takes you in his arms again.

" That's my daughter. Scheming plans to spend time with the old man..Stark material, I tell you."

You can't help but snort at his comment while tightening your grip on him and finally closing your eyes in contempt.

" I love you 3000, dad.."

You feel his lips etch into a smile against your skin as he answers back.

" I love you 3000 too, kiddo.."

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Divided I Fall

IT'S FINALLY DONE! I am so sorry this took so fucking long, it took me like a year to write because my art brain forcibly took over my body for a stupid amount of time but now it is DONE and you can SEE it with your EYEBALLS. Anyway... This, This is a project I have been planning for YEARS but took some stuff lining up just right for it to sift to the top of my oneshot backlog. It is, to keep it simple and not spoil too much, an origin story for a character that's shown up in my stuff before.

As one important note before I begin... This fic stars a character of a fakemon species known as Vahirom, created by @kynimdraws on Tumblr/kyleenim on Twitter, used with permission. If you steal it I will be offended on her behalf and personally boil your toes. Got it?

ANYWAY:

Divided I Fall

Zygarde had a dilemma.

Unova had too many humans and they had it too good. But there was nothing they could do to thwart them without letting the other Legends in on his game. What to do?

As they stewed on this, lurking on the edge of civilization, they looked up, and there they saw it.

A meteor, careening down toward the nearby hills. It crashed, sending out sparks of light and a shockwave, which Zygarde weathered easily. They were a god, after all.

"Lots of those since AZ broke the sky," they muttered.

They slithered through the earth until they got to the impact crater, emerging in its center to find, surprise surprise, a meteor. However, it was one they could tell was a Metionite, a kind made of an extremely rare, alien ore.

It was then they got an idea.

An awful idea.

Zygarde got a wonderful, awful idea.

They started burrowing their own cells into the Metionite, pumping it full of energy. Godly energy. Draconic energy. The Meteonite contracted and curved until it turned into a small gray orb.

Zygarde tapped it.

And it burst to life.

--------

What am I?

What is this place?

Those were my first thoughts as I gazed around, wide-eyed, until my eyes fell on a strange green and black titan.

"Who are you? Who am I?"

"I am Zygarde, the guardian of order, and you are my creation!" the titan said in a booming voice.

"You created me?"

"Yes! For one purpose!"

The titan pointred a claw to the southwest. "There's an infestation of these pests called humans around thataway. Deal with them for me."

I looked in that direction. Seemed simple enough.... But something didn't feel right.

"...Very well."

Tubes extended from my shoulders and attached to my tail as my wings flared. I took off.

-------

I arrived to find strange structures,domes, blocks and pyramids, and walking among them strange creatures. Were these the humans Zygarde mentioned? "Deal with them." What did that even mean?

I got closer and as I did they started acting strangely. They seemed... Afraid?

"You creatures! What are you?"

They were making loud screams now. They didn't seem less afraid. Maybe they couldn't understand me? How DO I talk to them then? Come on, think think think-

~-Think!~

Thehumans stopped, gazed up. I had communicated by... Thinking really hard?

~Uh... Humans! I mean you no harm! I just wish to... Deal with you!~

The humans started murmuring among each other before a more elaborate-looking human came forth.

"You, great dragon! What do you propose as a deal?"

Oh, I can understand THEM fine. But good question...

~Let me think.~

What do I even tell this person? I guess... If they were afraid of me, they had other things to be afraid of. That wasn't good. Maybe...

"If you give me shelter and a home, I will aid you however I can. Is that a satisfactory deal?"

The elaborate human slowly blinked several times slowly before rapidly nodding.

":We will accept your offer... B=but my warriors will keep an eye on you."

I looked to the "warrior" humans he spoke of. They were trembling. Everyone was looking at me with unease,

This would take some adjusting.

-------------

I was in my own corner of the city, surrounded by more of these warriors. They were taking shifts watching me, but they all seemed scared. Almost as if they felt if I tried anything they couldn't stop me.

I didn't feel like doing anything that needed stopping... but then I wasn't sure WHAT to do. I had made the deal with the humans but I wasn't sure how to enact i-

Just then I heard a roar, in the distance. The warriors looked to me, then to the source of the sound. They seemed confused that it wasn't me. Soon another warrior rushed up to them.

"T-there's a Scolipede trying to take over the farmland!"

"O-one of those? Why?"

"They're immensely territorial! It claimed the farms as its own!"

What was this beast? The humans needed help. But they wouldn't let me help...

...Then again they couldn't stop me.

I activated my tail turbine and lifted off as the warriors panicked, and I jetted off to where the other warrior had came from.

---------

When I arrived there was indeed a large, purple, insectoid Pokémon rampaging about. Several warriors and their Pokémon were trying to pierce its chitinous armor, to no avail. It was much bigger than the humans, that's for sure.

...But it was much smaller than me.

I flew ove4r to and landed right in front of it. It looked up but seemed unphased.

"What do YOU want?"

"I want you to stop bothering these humans."

"Why should I? This is MY turf." "No it's not. As far as I can tell the humans were here first." "Well it's mine now."

I narrowed my eyes. "Leave. Now."

The Scolipede scoffed. "Make me."

"If you insist."

I flicked him with a claw.

He went sailing back into a tree with a very loud thud and collapsed, unconscious.

Humans started gathering around, looking on in awe. Then they started cheering. It was only then I realized the magnitude of what I'd done.

-------------

Things changed after that rather quickly. Or, they did from my perspective anyway.

The humans, after that, regarded me as a protector. Not only that, they gave me authority. It wasn't much at first, I started as captain of the warrior, but as time went on and I helped the humans more and more I ascended to the right-hand mon of their rulers.

They called me Vahirom, or more commonly, the Iron Arbiter.

They adored me. And I grew to adore them. They cared for me and I cared for them back. And after time things changed. I learned how to alter my form to be like them.

It started simply, firsty with mimicking their speech, but then I started to learn how to alter my physical form, this way and that way, until I had come to resemble them in my own way. It was at that point the Iron Arbiter was both a dragon Pokémon and a human.

And someone didn't like that at all.

One day they returned, while I was alone, sitting on the throne the humans built for me. I looked up into their glowing green eyes as they glared down into mine.

"What is THIS? This isn't what you were supposed to be doing! And why do you LOOK like them?" They stomped a foot on the ground.

I sighed. "It is less intimidating to them than my natural draconic form. And why do YOU look like them? Don't you have forms that are oh so superior?" They winced, and in an instant cells swirled around them to return them to a more traditional serpentine form. "Only to subvert them, manipulate them. You do it for sick kicks! You were supposed to DESTROY them, not help them!"

"There is no need to destroy them. They are flawed yes, but have kindness and charity in their hearts if you know where to find it. I seek to bring that out in them. "You're wrong! All humans are a sin against the natural order! MY order! They need to be purged!"

"Your view is dangerous. And I will not have you threaten my people."

I grew and stretched and bent into my true, draconic form.

"You may have given me life, but I am not yours. They are not yours. Leave, or I will force you to."

Zygarde hesitated, then let out a long, pronounced hisss before disintegrating into cells and vanishing.

I sighed again, then resumed my post.

-----------

Decades passed, that turned into centuries. I saw many humans and their Pokémon come and go, and cherished them all dearly while they lasted.

But then one day two were born that would change my life forever, for better and for worse.

They were twins, born to the current queen and king. They were shown to me soon after they were born. They were lumpy and chubby as human babies were but they had fire and lightning in their eyes from the start.

And thus their parents named them Tentay and Pethakhon, Ancient Unova's words for fire and lightning. As usual, I was assigned to be their guardian. I did not realize then how special they would be to me - and how that would be my downfall.

-------------

The children grew quickly. Their tiny grasping hands grew inquisitive, groping for anything they could reach. At first, I let them pull and tug at my human form, but as they grew older and nimbler I allowed them to play on my dragon form as well.

Eventually they started to talk.

"Say mama!" "Say dada!" their parents clamored. But every time they both pointed at me and said "va va!"

They didn't care. They just laughed.

When they got old enough to learn, I was their teacher. I taught them.... Well, not everything I knew, I was too ancient and powerful for that, but I tried to teach them a good amount. And I definitely tried to answer their many questions.

"How old are you?" asked Tentay. "Older than you can comprehend."

"What's your favorite food?" asked Pethakhon.

"I do love corn cakes."

"Do your parents let you stay up past bedtime?" asked Tentay.

I had to pause and think about that one. My only "parents" were Zygarde and the stars, so...

"I don't listen to my parents. I do what I want."

The twins gasped and looked at each other eagerly. "You can DO that?" they said. I chuckled. "I can. You probably shouldn't until you get older."

The two visibly deflated.

"Not fair..." said Pethakhon.

"I guess we have to listen..." said Tentay.

"No way! We can't!" said Pethakhon. "But we gotta! Or we'll get in trouble!"

"Nuh-uh! We can do it!

I chuckled. By all means this was amusing.

And yet. Something deep inside felt off.

------------

It came suddenly, swiftly.

The king and queen fell ill, from a terrible disease. They were isolated, only taken care of by a select few.

It was too little, too late.

A grand funeral was held, several ceremonies, a feast, a fitting sendoff. But none of it filled the hole in all our hearts.

Especially not the twins'.

I visited their room afterwards., They were huddled in a corner together, curled up, sitting only a few inches apart. In human form to fit in the room, I pulled them into an embrace.

"I know better than to say it's all right, but... I am here for you."

"But... Mom and dad... They're gone forever," said Tentay.

"They're never coming back... What's gonna happen to us?" said Pethakhon.

I sighed. "I have seen many leave forever just as they did. I can escape it, it is both a gift and a curse, but for your kind it is inevitable. But it is not truly the end. You two will grow to be great, and your children, and your children's children, and so on. I assure you of this. You can pick up the pieces and carry on in their stead. They would want you to."

"...Okay, Va." said Pethakon.

"...I guess so, Va," said Tentay.

They nestled into my arms further. I patted their heads.

We stayed that way a while.

--------------

The two started to near adulthood for their kind, and thus I started teaching them how to rule. . ~Now, you two, I have a question.~

They both shifted in their seats in the courtyard we were in. Teenagers were antsy about being taught. Especially when their teacher was an ancient and powerful dragon.

~Say that there is a famine. What are your main options for dealing with such a thing?~

"Simple," said Tentay. "You spend the royal budget on improving the crops."

~Ah, but such a solution would be expensive... And could be unsustainable."~

"Then we improve the harvest infrastructure over time!" said Pethakhon enthusiastically.

~Yet that could take a long time. Too long. People could starve.~

"Well my method is clearly better!" said Tentay. "It gets more immediate results!"

"You're wrong!" said Pethakhon. "MY plan won't doom us all later!" "It MIGHT not. It will definitely make people starve."

"We have to consider the future!" "The future is NOW, Pethakhon."

"Moron!"

"Imbecile!"

The two continued arguing like this until they finally noticed me waggling a claw mockingly.

~Now now now. Have you considered these solutions aren't mutually exclusive?"

The two of them stared at me. Then started sheepishly rubbing their heads.

"You have a point..." said Tentay. "That could work.." said Pethakhon.

~See?" I said. "If you work against each other nothing gets done. But if you work together...~

"Yes, we understand the moral, well done," said Pethakhon. "Why must we learn things we know already?" said Tentay.

~Because with you two it bears repeating.~

The two blinked and staredbefore rubbing their heads sheepishly again.

"...You have a point," said Tentay.

"We'll. We'll work on it.." said Pethakhon.

I simply smirked.

------------

They quickly became adults, true kings of Unova, and soon their first test was upon them. The ruler of a desert kingdom smack dab in the middle of Unova was a Volcarona by the name of Heliana. Shee was called before them for a diplomatic meeting, and we all assembled on the border between the desert and greener land.

"Why hello there!" said Heliana, floating before us.

Tentay and Pethakhon stared then turned to me, each whispering.

"She, uh, is a little hard to--" Pethakhon started to say.

"She's a Pokémon, but she can't speak telepathically, so we can't understand her," said Tentay.

"...That." said Pethakhon.

I chuckled. ~Don't worry, I can translate. She just says hi.~

The two nodded and turned back to Heliana.

"Right, hello," said Pethakhon.

"Shall we get down to business?" said Tentay.

"Oh, yes, yes!" said Heliana. "There was a matter of grave importance I wished to speak of with you! It was... Oh, hm, what was it..."

"She isn't very professional," Tentay whispered.

"Shhh!" said Pethakhon, nudging him.

"Oh! I remember now! It was wood!" said Heliana.

"Wood?" said Pethakhon. "My kingdom doesn't exactly have many trees," said Heliana. "I want cedar in particular! I'll offer you our finest textiles and minerals in return!":

"Hmmm. But we need the cedar for-"

"Shhh!" said Pethakhon. "She's making us a great offer!"

"More like a ridiculous one. We can't give her all that cedar!" "But we need the minerals and textiles!"

"She hasn't even specified WHAT minerals and textiles! Think before you leap!" "Well ask her!"

"Fine!"

Tentay took a deep breath and looked Heliana straight in the compound eyes. "You're being awfully vague about what those "minerals" and "textiles" are... Could you be more specific?"

"Oh! Lots of iron, copper... and Silk! Me and my babies spun the silk ourselves!"

"Wait, the silk comes from-" Tentay started to say.

"Sounds great!" said Pethakhon. We'll-"

"No. We need that cedar."

~Now now you two.~ I said. ~Put your heads together. Your wants and needs aren't mutually exclusive.~

They stared. And blinked. And... Well they didn't literally put their heads together but they did start mutually putting their hands to their chins thinking.

"There's some places we could grow... Cedar groves?" said Tentay.

"Yes! And we could loan those groves out to you!" said Pethakhon.

"They would take a while to grow normally but our Grass-types can make them grow faster!" said Tentay.

"Excellent!" said Heliana. "It's a deal! And Hekla and Katla will get started on the silk straight away!"

"Hekla and Katla?" said Pethakhon.

"Who?" said Tentay.

It was then two Larvesta emerged from Heliana's fuzz and divetackled Tentay and Pethakhon each with cries of "Friend! Friend! Friend!"

"My children!" said Heliana. "They spin the finest silk in all the land!"

"Well they sure are cute," said Pethakhon, holding up Hekla to get a good look at her.

"Easy little one," said Tentay, cradling Katla.

I just smiled.

---------------

I was in my throne room, and human again. I was alone, and it was quiet... until I heard a telltale slithering again.

"...Hello Zygarde."

The serpent congeals in a flash from their cells before me.

"You're still doing this. Why are you still doing this."

"They appreciate my help. And they are clearly better in my hands than yours."

The snake withed, their form rippling.

"Look, if you can't stop yourself from messing MY order up, I WILL."

I scoffed. "How?"

"You're awfully fond of those two humans, aren't you?"

My eyes widened. I clenched my fingers on my seat. "...Petty threats will get you nowhere."

"Oooh, I struck a nerve, didn't I? Don't worry, I won't do anything to them... Physically anyway. Unless you try to warn them that is, in which case I can always arrange an accident...."

I shifted to dragon form, knocking several things over in the process. "What are you planning, Zygarde?"

"How does the saying go, something something for me to know and you to find out?"

I roared and slashed at them with a claw, but before I made contact they scattered into cells and disappeared from whence they came. Guards rushed into the room shortly after. "Arbiter! Is everything all right?"

I panted heavily, looking at where Zygarde had gone, before turning to the guard.

~It's... It's fine. Just spooked by a shadow.~

--------------

From there it became apparent something was very quickly going wrong.

It started small at first. The brothers being more snippy with each other than they were before. But it soon blew up into full-on arguments, and everything I had raised them to do was falling apart before my eyes.

I knew exactly why.

I stalked the halls of the castle until I found a hound, ducking and weaving through the corridors.

"You!"

The hound stopped, looking smug. "What is it?"

"What are you doing to them?"

"Oh nothing much. A lie about one here, a rumor about the other there, did you realize exactly how easy it is to turn them against each other?"

"How... How dare you!"

I fired a metallic burst, a small-scale version of my Origin Flare, but they were already gone, and the brilliant beams of light only sank into the corridor, reducing chunks of it to rubble.

It was then I panicked. As long as Zygarde could keep spreading their lies...

...There was nothing I could do.

------------

Soon enough came a day that would come down in history as a fateful one.

The two of them were having a particularly heated, particularly philosophical argument about the future of the kingdom. Said argument was happening in the throne room, right in front of me, a dragon silently watching as their two human charges escalated to potential civil war right before their eyes.

"Do you really think your deluded visions would ever lead this kingdom to greatness?" said Tentay, "Your ideals will only bring ruin!"

"Your plan is built on a flawed foundation," said Pethakhon, "and faulty delusions of truth!"

It was becoming all too clear for me.

They would not reconcile this time.

I would have to choose one.

...But I couldn't.

I couldn't possibly-

One side of me wanted one. Another wanted the other.

But I couldn't choose.

I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't I couldn-

CRACK

-------------

When I awoke, I could not move. I had reverted to the God Stone I use to sleep and could not get out.

But I could see everything. I could see Tentay and Pethakhon beholding two dragons that I quickly realized had split off from me, by sheer will to leave neither one behind. I could also see I had rolled off to the side, where no one could see me.

But if those two pieces of me were out there... What was the rest of me doing in here?

As I wondered this I witnessed the argument between the two brothers escalate further, and eventually they stormed out of the room.

Time passed. Day turned into night. Then the serpent came.

"Well well well, that was an entertaining show. I knew your powers were unstable but I never expected them to do THAT. Oh well, it works out for me plenty - those two idiots you were so protective of will decimate humanity by their actions, and those bits of you that spawned for them will only help.

I wriggled in my prison, trying desperately to escape and put Zygarde in their place. They noticed and chuckled.

"Oh how foolish. Don't try too hard to escape dear. You don't know what schisming off so much of your power has done to you."

Their form rippled.

"And besides. It's too late for you. I've already won."

He gave a hearty, echoing laugh as he dissipated into cells and disappeared.

----------

Throughout the night, I continued to wriggle and squirm. I HAD to fix this, I HAD to prove Zygarde wrong, I HAD to-

And then I broke free.

And then I felt it.

I could tell I was not the being I used to be. I felt weak. I felt empty. There was a gnawing hunger and emptiness at the bottom of my soul that I could not overcome.

I staggered through the hallways of the castle, in confusion and pain, when I came upon two guards, who recoiled at my approach.

"H-Halt! What monstrous kind of P-Pokémon are you?" said one.

I looked at that guard. And I hungered. The emptiness gnawed at me as I yearned for something to fill it.

I lunged.

The other guard screamed as my fangs sunk into his compatriot. I started devouring him, purely by instinct, rending flesh from bones.

"M-Monster! Monster!"

It is then I snapped back to my senses and realized exactly what I was doing.

I tried to say, "Wait, no, you don't understand!" but all it came out as was staticky buzzing. Then the guard fled.

Overwhelmed with grief, shock, and horror, it was then I did the same, leaving the tall pyramid castle I had called my home for centuries and never turning back.

-----------

I holed up in the crater I had first crash-landed in from thereon out, never emerging. Still, I saw many things.

I saw Unova burnt by a deluge of fire and electricity.

I saw Unova rebuild, become more technologically advanced, more close totheir Pokémon, then further away, then closer again.

I saw people settle the area where I lived, and grow to fear me as others had.

I saw one bit of kindness from a boy from those people.

I saw the white dragon that split from me return, join with me once more, filling my emptiness but causing her unbearable pain that racked me with guilt.

I saw all this, but one thing remained the same, for the most part.

I was alone. And I was unsure if that would ever truly change.

So all I could do was mourn all I had lost.

***

Bit of a downer, huh. But I hope you enjoyed it! WILL Kyurem's situation get better? We'll have to find out later - I've got other shit I've really got to get to writing.