Winterfell, a few minutes earlier.
It had been only less than ten minutes before Dany was escorted to her room in Winterfell by Davos and Arya, accompanied by Jorah, two Unsullied guards and two Dothraki, along with Missendei and Tyrion. Dany did notice that Sansa had pulled Jon away so that they could speak in private, 'I have a feeling I know what it is about' Dany thought upon reaching the door. The entire walk was uncomfortably silent; Dany wanted to say something to Arya, but no words came out of her mouth- just the sounds of their shoes hitting the hard and cold floor of the castle. The truth was that she felt unease at the girl walking next to Ser Davos. Dany glanced at Tyrion, who looked back at her with a look that said, 'everything will be alright'.
It was Tyrion, her Hand, that told her back at Dragonstone before Jon arrived, that the North was a different creature altogether- they looked to their own and that a Southern ruler, or in Dany's case a foreign ruler, would find it immensely difficult to hold that entire region. He further explained that demanding Jon, as the King in the North, bend the knee to her would cause some tension given the recent history between the two houses.
'And it went as well as it did in our first encounter,' Dany thought to herself looking away from Tyrion, 'but I am the Queen on the Seven Kingdoms. And he is the King in the North, one of the very kingdoms that I intend to rule. Bending the knee? There was no choice for me but to insist he bend the knee. I want to rule a united kingdom. Not one that is fractured.'
"This is your room," Arya said, her voice edged with a hint of anger as she turned and placed a hand on the door. She and Dany stared at each other for a few seconds, one not turning away from the other while Arya continued, "it may be cold in the North, your Grace, but the pipes running through the walls provides us with enough warmth. And this room is the warmest there is."
"Thank you, Lady Stark," Dany said nodding her head before breaking eye contact with her- there was a part of her that was relieved since it felt as if Arya was staring right through into her very soul. Dany turned her head and nodded at Grey Worm, the leader of her Unsullied forces. Grey Worm opened the door while the Dothraki took their places on either side of the stone door frame. Arya stepped to one side and stood with Ser Davos as Dany stopped at the threshold of the room before turning to face Arya. She had seen Arya hug Jon tight the moment he got off his horse, she had seen the look of pure love in her eyes for her brother before she turned to her when Jon introduced them to each other. It was then that Dany saw the anger in Arya's eyes.
It was something that Jon had already warned Dany about; it was something that even Tyrion and Jorah had warned her about- that there would be a lot of anger at a southern ruler forcing the North to bow down once again.
"Jon made a choice, Lady Stark," Dany said facing the younger girl, "he bent the knee willingly, and..."
"A choice that.. well… you made for him, your Grace," Arya interrupted with a passive look on her face with Dany feeling her eyes boring right through her, "at least that's what I heard." And Arya was telling the truth. After Littlefinger's death, Sansa showed Arya the message Jon sent by raven. Arya had to read the message four times before looking back at Sansa with eyes wide open in surprise and asked how Jon could have simply bent the knee. It would be later that very night that the two of them went to Bran who told them everything that happened between Dany and Jon.
"You heard?" asked Tyrion confused about what Arya could have been talking about, "what have you heard?"
"Many things," Arya said staring at Dany before she stepped back without saying anything else, "you need your rest, your Grace. The other Northern Lords will be arriving at the Great Hall in an hour."
"I…." Dany stopped before she said anything else. She knew that convincing the North wasn't going to be easy no matter what Jon told her. She knew the pain her father, the Mad King, had brought to Westeros… especially to the North with what happened to Brandon and Rickard Stark; followed by her brother kidnapping and raping Lyanna Stark. Dany knew that there was a lot of work to do, and that it all needed to begin with the war against the Night King. Dany simply shook her head before saying, "I will rest for an hour, Lady Stark."
Ordinarily, Arya would have told Dany not to call her 'Lady Stark' or 'my Lady', but for now she didn't want to say anything. She was angry, just as Sansa was, at Jon when he wrote that he bent the knee. However, seeing him again riding through the front gate overwhelmed her. She pushed those feelings to one side, rushed over to him just as his feet landed on the ground, and then hugged him tight.
'Sansa will tell him how angry we are,' Arya thought to herself as she stared at the Dragon Queen standing in front of her. She then sighed before turning to Jorah and saying, "I'm sure Lady Mormont will be glad to see you."
Jorah knew that Arya meant what she said in a mocking way, but his heart was racing at the thought of meeting his cousin, 'would she want me to leave? Would she hate me? Would she kill me?' he thought to himself. Straightening himself, Jorah told Arya that meeting his cousin would be interesting, "but at another time."
Arya nodded her head before she took her leave, along with Davos. Dany sighed, knowing that she had a lot of work to do to repair relations with the North, before nodding her head at Arya and Davos. She watched them turn around before she herself turned to Jorah, Tyrion, Missendei, and Greyworm while the Dothraki guards stood on either side of the door to her room. Dany had her hand on the stone door frame while she gave her orders to Greyworm, and was about to turned to Jorah to help acclimate the Dothraki and the Unsullied making camp outside the walls of Winterfell to the snow and cold.
However, before she could finish her orders, Dany felt a cool breeze in her room rush out from behind her. It brought a chill up her spine as she turned her head to her left, towards the inside wall of the room. From the corner of her eyes, Dany noticed Arya suddenly stop walking before turning around to stare at her with eyes wide open.
"Something's wrong," Arya whispered.
And then things happened fast… too fast to comprehend. Dany looked to the movement coming from her left side, within the room near the large bed. She heard steel being pulled out of their scabbards, she heard Jorah yell "my queen!", she heard Greyworm pushing Missendei away while Tyrion yelled, "No!" All the while, Dany stared into lilac eyes and froze, everything seemed to suddenly shift into slow-motion for her. Dany felt the icy grip on her hand pulling her away from the grip of Greyworm, she saw the silver hair, the familiar madness in the eyes, the familiar sneer on the lips. Dany was roughly turned around as an arm squeezed into her neck while she was pulled back into the room as the figure that appeared out of nowhere stood behind her. He then placed his left hand held down on her abdomen and squeezed.
"Ah!" she yelped before gasping for air as the arm tightened into her throat.
"Who is that?" asked Tyrion, his heart racing at the sight before him, before he was pushed aside by Greyworm and the two Dothraki guards. He rushed to the side of the room and tried to make out the crazed man holding his Queen hostage.
"Davos," growled Arya before running into the room past Missendei, who was pulled away by Greyworm to the far wall next to Tyrion, "call Jon… call Jon now!" Davos nodded his head and ran to find the former King in the North while Arya, with her Needle, out in her hand stood next to Jorah on the left side of the scraggly looking man who seemed to have burn marks all over his face as well as patches of silver hair singed off, exposing the burned scalp underneath.
"Where am I?" he growled in Dany's ear as her heart raced. The one thought going through her head was that the man holding her was dead. And she knew he was dead because she had seen it in front of her- she saw Khal Drogo pour molten gold over his head. Dany remembered the screams of pain from him… from her brother… from Viserys Targaryen. "I remember you standing there with a smug look. I remember you standing there while I died. The gods must be kind to bring me back. They must be kind to have revenge on you, sister."
"Sister?" Arya asked glancing at Jorah who gulped while holding his sword out, and aimed at Viserys.
"You died," Jorah whispered. It was a sentence that had Greyworm, Arya, Missendei, and Tyrion glance at JOrah in confusion, "I… I was there. I… I saw you die, Viserys."
"Viserys?" asked Tyrion as the Dragon Queen's terrified eyes shifted towards him, "Viserys Targaryen?"
"Let her go," Greyworm commanded as he aimed a spear towards Viserys' shoulder while the two Dothraki guards flanked them; however, none of them dare make a move with their queen so close to danger. Viserys stepped back further into the room threatening to break Dany's neck.
"You took my army, didn't you, Dany?" Viserys hissed into her ear, "where are we now, dear sister?"
"Win… winter… fell.."
"You came to the usurper's dogs?" hissed Viserys into Dany's ears before he sneered, "you came to…."
Before Viserys could finish what it was that he wanted to say. They all felt a cold breeze, and then heard a gasp. Upon hearing the gasp, the ones facing the bed; one of the Dothraki, Greyworm, Missendei, and Tyrion all stared with eyes wide open in surprise at the corner of the room where a figure appeared out of thin air. It was the same with Viserys who turned his head to see who had made the gasp; and it was both Jorah and Arya, facing away from the one who made the gasp sound who used the distraction to dash forward after dropping their swords which clattered on the floor. Jorah pulled Dany away from the still stunned Viserys, and then pushed her towards Missendei. Jorah and Arya then rushed Viserys and held him down. Missendei pulled Dany back just as Greyworm, who returned to his senses from witnessing something awesome, then turned back towards Viserys screaming at Arya and Jorah demanding that he be released from their grasps.
"I am the rightful king! I am the rightful king!" Viserys yelled just as the Dothraki guard and Greyworm were about to stab him while Jorah and Arya held the struggling 'king' back.
"Stop!" Dany yelled staring at her brother with wide eyes, "don't… don't kill him!" The spears and knives stopped at Viserys' throat while the wide-eyed Tyrion walked forward, his legs trembling as he reached for and grasped the wooden side of the bed with his trembling hands. Instead of staring at the raving 'king' to his left, Tyrion's eyes were on the young woman. Tyrion stared at the young woman in the corner who herself was staring at the sight of the still struggling Viserys. Tyrion could barely hear Dany ordering Jorah and Arya to take Viserys to the dungeons. And then after that, Tyrion could barely hear Dany call for him.. instead the dwarf was staring up at the young woman as he took one step after another towards her.
"I…. I…." the young woman with flowing blonde hair, green eyes, and a blood stained dress, stared at the people before her. She then looked down and her eyes were affixed to the dwarf who now stood at the corner of the bed, "I was on.. on a boat."
"How?" Tyrion stepped back trembling. He heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw the Dothraki heading towards him and the girl who looked up, stepped back, and let out a gasp. "Stop! Stop!"
"Halt," Dany issued an order to the Dothraki, who immediately stopped before Tyrion, his face as white as a freshly cleaned sheet, turned back to the young woman while Dany though, 'did she just say she was on a boat? Who is she?' "Lord Tyrion? Who is…"
"Unc.. Uncle Tyrion?" the young woman said as Tyrion grabbed the bed to balance himself as his heart raced while walking towards her. He ignored Dany's question as a name slipped out of his lips, "M… Myrcella? How? I…. I heard you…"
"I felt myself… myself die," Myrcella said before Dany and the others stared at each other in confusion, "I… I was in father's arms and… I.. saw…." Tears gathered in her eyes as she collapsed on both knees. Tyrion rushed towards his niece, 'my dead niece. How can... how can she be here… how?' The last thing that came to Tyrion's mind was that the young woman in front of him was a Wight or a Whitewalker. That thought was quickly pushed aside upon not having seen the typical blue glowing eyes that signified those monsters. Tyrion rushed forward and hugged the young woman who started to sob, occasionally muttering that she remembered dying. Tyrion felt Myrcella's warmth permeating into him as tears formed in his eyes as well- somehow, he had gotten his niece back from the dead.
"Lord Tyrion?" Dany asked walking towards him.
Tyrion released Myrcella while tears flowed down his cheeks. He looked into his niece's eyes and placed both hands on her cheeks, a smile on his face as he felt the young woman's warmth. Tyrion then pulled back, wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and then turned to face his queen. Dany listened, standing with Missendei next to her and the Dothraki guards on either side, as Tyrion said, "your Grace. I… I am proud to introduce you to… to…" Tyrion was still in disbelief as he turned back and stared at Myrcella. He was afraid that she was a dream… that he was lying somewhere drunk off his ass.
Tyrion hugged Myrcella once again. And this time he laughed. He laughed out loud before whispering, "whatever gods there are- old or new- thank you." Tyrion pulled back and looked back into Myrcella's eyes again. He wiped her tears with his short fingers while saying, "you're real. You're real."
"I.. I thought this was… was the life after," Myrcella said, "when I.. I saw you, Uncle. I… I thought you died as well and… am… am I in the afterlife?"
"This is real, my niece," Tyrion whispered.
"Niece?" Dany said, her eyebrows furrowed, 'didn't he say that Ellaria Sand killed his niece?' Dany glanced at an equally surprised Messendei while the surprised Greyworm listened, "Lord Tyrion, I demand an answer."
"Myrcella Bara…"
"Hill," Myrcella whispered as Tyrion's eyes went wide wondering if she knew the truth about her parentage, "I.. I know… I know everything, Uncle. I… I know about father. I.. I know the truth about father and mother. I… Knew when… when I died."
"Your Grace," Tyrion's voice shook while wondering how Myrcella knew she was the daughter of his older siblings. But he shoved that aside while turning around and facing Dany, "I present to you my niece, Myrcella Lannister." Tyrion gulped as he stared at Dany while Myrcella reached out and held his hand, "I… I don't know how, your Grace. But.. but this is my niece."
Dany stood confused about what was happening with first her brother, and now the sudden appearance of Tyrion's dead niece.
In fact, strange things weren't just happening in Winterfell. All throughout the realm, people once dead were returned alive for no apparent reason. It was the same in the Free Cities, Qarth, and various other places. Those attuned to magic sensed that a major event reverberated throughout the magical planes- an event that sparked a great backlash in the form of the dead, both good and evil, returned to life.
Back in Kings Landing, Cersei was in her room drinking wine and looking out at the sunset when she heard a bump behind her. Narrowing her eyes, the woman stood up and called out for Ser Gregor, her own sworn shield, while turning around. She suddenly gasped and dropped the golden cup in her hand upon staring at the sight of her oldest boy.
Her dead Joffrey. But all Cersei could do was scream out loud while stepping back, her hands outstretched calling loudly for Ser Gregor. The armoured man, if he could be called a man anymore, strode into the room as Joffrey turned around with a quizzical look on his face. His heart raced once he laid upon the helmed knight- the blue tinge on the face of the monstrosity clearly seen through the gaps in its helm.
"Mother!" a terrified Joffrey took several steps back, the back of his legs hitting the side of Cersei's bed, before he fell backwards onto the feathered mattress and silk sheets, "mother! What.. what… what is he?" The monstrosity reached out for Joffrey, and he screamed, "mother!"
"Stop!" yelled Cersei as she stared at the blonde haired boy who looked so much like Joffrey, even up to the clothes he was wearing. It was then that Cersei smelled the odour of blood and vomit coming from her son, 'no. I… I recognize the clothes. It.. it's the same he wore his wedding day. The same… no. I saw the Wight Ned Stark's Bastard brought when he and his whore treated with me. I saw the dead, and my son is dead… my son is…'
"Mother!" Joffrey called out as he scurried back on the bed while Ser Gregor stood still staring at him, waiting for his orders, "I…."
"You.. you're not Joffrey," Cersei whispered wide eyed and fearful about the being in her room, "you are not my son."
"Mother!" Joffrey screamed as he scrambled towards her on the bed.
"Ser Gregor!" yelled Cersei in fear when Joffrey reached the end of the bed, and then scrambled around to his feet hitting the floor. All Cersei saw now was the Wight at the Drogon Pit running to her. She was the Queen then.. she couldn't show fear in front of everyone. But now? Now she was absolutely terrified as the young boy who was supposed to be dead was coming towards her. Cersei called out for Gregor again- and he complied by rushing around the bed, taking out his sword, and then swinging it down all in one swift motion.
The Godseye, at that same time.
Lyanna felt dam soil beneath her as she groaned. The last thing she remembered was a flash of light, followed by a tunnel. 'And then before that… before that I remember Ned. I.. I was in the tower. There was Ned… I remember he burst in and… and…'
"Promise me," Lyanna whispered as she rolled onto her back and stared at the cloudy sky. She saw snow flakes falling down onto her; she focused on one of them as it gently landed on her bare arm and then melted from the warmth on her skin. She closed her eyes and recalled Ned holding her child. She remembered begging him to protect her child, "Promise me, Ned." Lyanna opened her eyes when she remembered Ned saying yes, that he would take her son as his bastard and raise him at Winterfell.
"Ned," Lyanna whispered staring up at the clouds as a cool breeze brushed past her. She shivered before the stench of blood entered her nostrils. She looked down at her and started to pant when he saw the entire bottom section of the cream coloured nightgown she was wearing and parts of her legs covered in blood- dried blood. Lyanna gagged slightly from the stench of dried blood as she slowly got up to her feet.
She looked around at her surroundings of tall grass and weeds before setting her eyes on the island is the distance lying in the middle of a lake, 'the isle of Faces,' she thought looking away, 'Rhaegar.' Seeing the place where she married the Prince forced Lyanna to relive the moment when Ser Arthur Dayne called on her n the tower. Lyanna remembered the look of devastation on his face- it was the same when he and Rhaegar told her about the Mad King having killed Brandon and her father. Lyanna's thought immediately went to Ned- she was about to ask if Ned was the one who died when the Kingsguard knight said, in a broken voice, that it was Rhaegar who died. That Richard Baratheon killed her husband.
Tears started to flow down Lyanna's cheeks when she recalled sobbing as she collapsed onto her knees. She lost her older brother, and her father. And now she was a widow with the child of the Prince. As Lyanna stared at the Isle of Faces, her hands instinctively settled on her abdomen, "my son. Aegon, I'm coming. I.. I am certain that Ned has taken good care of you, and…." Then another memory burst into Lyanna's mind, that of the gravest news she had yet to hear. It was Ser Gerold Hightower, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, along with Ser Arthur Dayne who told the stunned Lyanna that they received news.
"That monster killed Ellia, Aegon, and Rhaenys," Lyanna whispered shaking her head before she stared at the Isle of Faces, "I.. I remember. I wanted my child to have a Northern name. I.. I wanted Jon. But after the murders, I decided to honour Rhaegar by naming my child either Aegon or Visenya. I…."
Before she could say anything else, Lyanna heard a rustle behind her. Turning around, she laid her eyes- which went wide as if seeing a ghost- at a silver haired man with his back to her. Lyanna saw the figure in the red and black armour move his head from the left to the right, the hair silver with areas of red splotched all over. Lyanna's heart started to race as she took a step forward, at the same time wondering what was happening. She recognised the armour, she recognized everything about the man to stood in front of her.
However, recognition still hadn't surprised her when he turned around with a confused look on his face. Their eyes locked, each in disbelief. Lyanna shifted her eyes down to his chest plate where the armour was visibly cracked, the three headed dragon sigil adorning the chest plate ruined with the rubies that lined the edges and the eyes of the dragons missing. Lyanna's eyes then shoot back up to the man's eyes as the stood in shock several feet apart.
"Rhaegar?" Lyanna whispered before running towards the man. She was laughing and crying at the same time while she watched Rhaegar take several stepped forward before stepping back as she jumped into his arms.
"Lyanna. My Lyanna," Rhaegar whispered, tears in his eyes as he hugged Lyanna tight, "is.. is this the afterlife? Is this…"
Suddenly, the both of them, while still holding each other, turned their heads towards the lake surrounding the Isle of Faces. Their eyes widened in surprise when a blue hued breech opened wide; the two of them stepped back… hearts racing, while Rhaegar pushed Lyanna behind him while reaching for the pommel of his missing sword. It was then tat he remembered that the grip around his sword loosened the moment Robert slammer his Warhammer into Rhaegar's chest. "Step back, Lyanna," Rhaegar said while they stared at the breach close, but not before they heard a woman scream upon exiting the breach.
"Son of a bitch!" Buffy yelled before she hit the soft grass covered ground close to the bank of the lake. The two of them heard a thud, looked at each other with confusion on their faces, and then rushed over to the mysterious woman. The two held their hands together, all the while wondering if this was a dream or if they were now in the afterlife, while they ran. Rhaegar and Lyanna wanted to belief that all this was real… that they were really alive, 'but I died', Rhaegar thought to himself, 'I remember I died.'
But then again, he couldn't deny the blood rushing behind his ears as he ran with Lyanna's hand in hers. He glanced at his wife, and felt warm just as he did with Elia. 'Elia? How long has it been? Months? Days? Year? Are you safe? Are you and my children safe?' The racing of his heart thinking about Elia, a political marriage between Houses Targaryen and Martell- made Rhaegar question if he was still dead. His mind was confused, just as Lyanna's was as she glanced at her husband while they ran towards the groaning woman slowly getting up to her feet.
Rhaegar and Lyanna stopped when the blonde woman, Buffy, stood up and stared at them, and then she looked around with a confused expressed on her face.
"My lady?" Rhaegar asked while Lyanna stared at Buffy curiously.
Buffy turned her head back to Rhaegar and Lyanna before asked where she was.
"Westeros," Lyanna said with so many questions forming in her mind, 'what was that thing in the sky, and who is this woman?' "Who are you?"
"Long story short?" Buffy said while the surprised couple stared at her without a word for a few seconds, "okay then," Buffy continued shaking her head, "the short story is that I'm here from another world chasing a monster that kills people. Now, have any of you seen any thing weird out her? Other than me, I mean."
And all Rhaegar and Lyanna could do upon hearing that story was stare at Buffy.
"Oh, my name's Buffy by the way." Buffy said, "well? Anything?"
The Army of the Dead, three weeks away from Winterfell.
One half of the legendary sword, Excalibur, in his hands, Collin was thrust out of the breach and found himself landing on his feet in front of a vast army of dead people, animals, and giants. He extended his fangs while his eyes yellowed, his hand gripped the handle on the sword tightly as he stared at the dead stopping their march. He growled at the ones in his line of sight before looking up upon hearing the sound of a screech emanating from the clouds.
He looked up and saw a dragon with damaged wings and blue eyes flying high over his head. Collin saw that dragon bank left, the rider staring right back at him with glowing blue eye. And all he could do was sneer while tightening his hold on his half of Excalibur.
TBC