(The Night before Ser Barristan's Death)
Jaime Lannister was sure that he was dreaming as his eyes opened to see an empty courtroom. The only thing that confirmed him it was the court in the Red Keep was the hulking monstrosity known as the Iron Throne, which he noticed was occupied by a shadowy figure. Before he could say anything, the figure spoke up in a strange rattling noise.
"Yes, you are in a dream world, son of Tywin Lannister. The Gods have decided to pull you in for an important mission."
He wasn't able to stop himself from asking sarcastically.
"Oh, which gods should I thank you for this then?"
He wasn't able to see the shadowy figure's face, but the impression that the figure was smiling was clear.
"The ones to whom you swore your first oath, Jaime Lannister."
The figure waved its hands, and six people appeared in the room.
"The gods whom you have prayed to, The Father, The Mother, The Crone, The Warrior, The Smith, The Maiden."
The figure had stood up from the throne and had been pointing one by one at the six people. His own voice had gone dry as he tried to believe it was all an imagination.
"And finally, The Stranger, and no, we are not an imagination, Jaime Lannister."
"Wh..Why am I here?", He inquired, still not believing it was true.
"You will know soon enough, Jaime Lannister. We are waiting for one more soul to join us."
A moment later, smoke started forming up next to him, and then Ser Barristan stepped out of it in his full armor. The older man was calm as he looked around, his eyes stopping at him finally.
"Ser Jaime?"
He tried to say something, but nothing came out. Fortunately, the figure calling itself the Stranger spoke up, introducing itself and others to Ser Barristan. The aged knight frowned after it was done and looked at him. He shrugged, still not knowing whether it was real or imaginary.
"We have brought you here to impress a task upon Jaime Lannister. A task that would help him save the world of the living and fulfill the one oath he regrets failing the most."
All thoughts of amusement and confusion had fled his mind as the Stranger repeated the exact words he had used while praying alone in a sept. This was not something he had ever told anyone, not even Cersei, his other half. A huff seemed to come from whom the Stranger had called the Mother, but before he could say anything, the Stranger waved his hands again.
"You will see everything that was, is, and would be, Jaime Lannister. You will learn from the decision of those who are gone, those who are there, and those who will be; finally, you will feel how you should always have been. Witness, what happens as your progress towards the end you wanted but not in the way you expected, Jaime Lannister."
Everything went black around him, and the only thing he could see was Ser Barristan. Then, the visions started. Both the Knights saw the Faith and the Maesters conspiring against the houses that were even the slightest bit different than normal; they saw the systematic culling of Rhoyanish Blood in Dorne, Durrandon blood in Stormlands, the possible legacies of the Kings of Rock, and the Runics that had made a home in Vale. They saw how both Faith and the Maesters failed to do so to the North and how House Gardener unknowingly escaped their fate and prospered when they bent to the demands of the Citadel, at least until the arrival of Dragons. The Targaryen managed to break the hold of the Faith but never considered the danger the maesters were. They saw how the maesters pushed and pulled the Royal family with everything they, dismantling them day after day with their glowing achievement of the Dance of the Dragons. The Knights relived the horrors of the rule of Aerys Targaryen, and they saw the love between Rhaegar, Elia, and Lyanna. The vision of two Lord Pramounts planning against the Royal Family shook them, especially when it became clear that it was Tywin Lannister's ego that stopped it from being five. The anger they felt when they saw Littlefinger and Lysa Tully provoking Brandon Stark, Robert Baratheon throwing dirt at Rhaegar when he was losing while Eddard Stark watched on, and finally, when Elia was raped and killed after she had watched her son die. At the same time, a girl's cries rang from far away, and the Knights cried, knowing what it was.
The anger was then joined with hate as they saw Arthur Dayne being stabbed in the back. While the knowledge about Rhaegar and Lyanna's son softened those feelings, everything came back with full force when they saw Eddard Stark leaving their brother's bodies to rot while burying only his companions. Even Barristan Selmy, who had never known to shown anger, was gritting his teeth at the vision he was seeing. Jaime Lannister's fury, which had truly waken up after seeing his mentor's Death, smoldered a little more with every vision that came after it. He watched as Eddard Stark refused to let Howland Reed take young Rhaegon with him and force the Lord of Greywater Watch into an oath never to speak the truth to anyone. His fists tightened as he observed Eddard Stark make the decision to deny his Nephew his birthright in favor of his friend. Guilt and shame swirled inside him as he saw himself sleeping with his sister and enjoying a luxurious life while Rhaegar's son suffered under the Hand of the people who should have loved him. He studiously ignored the judging eyes of Ser Barristan, all the while keeping an eye on a young Jon Snow's face as he cried alone in Godswood of hunger. When the vision, in which Eddard Stark had been deliberately ignoring his wife scolding his Nephew without any reason while he wrote a letter to Benjen for Jon joining the Night's Watch was over, the Stranger's voice reached them once again.
"Now that you have seen what has been, you will see what should have happened, Jamie Lannister."
The visions started once again, this time showing them as Jon Snow caught a pox. Things improved for Rhaegar's son after recovering from it, but only for a short time. After the young boy defeated the Stark heir in front of his parents, the punishments and cruelty returned, but this time it was more severe. From then, the visions came faster and faster. He saw Littlefinger giving Lysa poison for Jon Arryn before sleeping with her, Baratheon moving to Winterfell with the entire court, him pushing Bran Stark out of the window, Rhaegar's son leaving for the Wall, Stark being appointed as the Hand and killing a Direwolf cub, Baratheon announcing another tourney, Stark failing to act even as a barely competent Hand and more interested in listening to Littlefinger than any other, the quarrel between the King and his Hand, Catelyn Stark taking Tyrion prisoner and Tywin and his retaliatory actions. He saw Baratheon die and how things started going from bad to worse. The Red Wedding
He was sure that it was due to the god's intervention that he was still able to think, as all that he was learning in a short time would have been too much otherwise. The visions kept on coming, and he saw all his children die, Dragons coming back to Westeros, and dead men walking. When the black brothers murdered Rhaegor's son, even Ser Barristan cursed, but soon after, Rhaegaon was breathing again. Both the Knights watched as the Living battled the dead before which Rhaegaor's son unknowingly fell into love with his own aunt. After seeing his older self marching alone in Winterfell to fight, a strange sort of comfort spread inside him despite knowing what his fate might become, but that feeling was soon lost as things started coming between the two monarchs. None of the advisors of either of them seemed to be happy with their decisions, and the Targaryens themselves were becoming victim to the things they had learned in their hard life till then. Then the end came, and just as the Stanger had said, he died as he had always wanted, together with Cersei, but not as he had expected, being crushed by a collapsing ceiling. The visions kept on going, his younger brother's Death as he tried to defeat a common folk rebellion, Brienne and his child being kicked out of The Rock where Tyrion sent her before the fall of Kingslanding, and finally, Rhaegor's son dying alone in far North with only his Direwolf for the company in his last moments.
When they reappeared in the court room, the familiarity of it finally broke whatever that was holding him together. He fell down on his back, his mind and emotions filled with so many things. Tears were leaking from his eyes, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop them. At that moment, the things that he kept in for so long broke at once. He cried for the Mother he had lost so young, for the Father he had never got, for the love the world would never accept, for his brothers who died in the most underserving ways, for a queen he could never protect, for a Princess who died when he could have saved her and finally, for a young girl who would always smile at him no matter what was happening. The Stranger waited until the man had calmed a little before speaking.
"We would have been happy had the things happened like you saw, but something crucial changed in the timeline a few hours ago."
Once more, a vision appeared before them, and it didn't take long for both the Knights to identify what they were seeing. Rhaegon, the son of their Prince, was convulsing on a bed in a small and dark room.
"Unlike what you had seen earlier, the punishment the lad received for defeating his brother was much harsher this time. His body, already tired and pushed at its limit due to the disease, could not cope up with it."
"He is dead." Ser Barristan spoke up in a hollow voice.
For the first time since he had opened his eyes in the dream, someone other than the Stranger spoke up. It was the Father who answered, and his tone held a little anger.
"Had we not interfered along with the other Pantheons, yes, Barristan Selmy, your prince's son would have died tonight."
The daughter joined in after him, her voice more vigorous than either of them expected.
"Had it been someone else, we would not have interfered, but the lad known as Jon Snow is not a simple mortal. He is the nexus of the two precognition that were decided by fates themselves. While the fulfillment of the pact of Ice and Fire resulted in him being Born, The Song of Ice and Fire is still in work, and the world of Living depends upon it."
The Crone then interfered.
"And we don't appreciate our blessings being wasted. Catelyn Tully prayed that she would care for the lad should he survive the pox. We listened to her prayers and saved the young man, but less than a moon later, she went back on her words, her actions ultimately killing her Nephew."
The Warrior glared at Crone as he spoke up.
"Three Mortals were hence chosen to bear the foreknowledge, one by the Old Gods, one by the Valyrian, and one by us. You are our choice, Jaime Lannister. It would fall upon you to ensure that the lad named as Jon Snow is ready for the battles that would come."
Jaime Lannister did nothing but watch the Gods with a vacant stare. Ser Barristan, who was still shaking a little, decided to speak up.
"If Ser Jaime is your chosen, what is my purpose here, My Lords, My Ladies?"
The Father stared at the old knight for a few moments before speaking.
"Do you agree with our choice, Barristan Selmy?"
"Yes, I do. Out of both of us, Ser Jaime is the better choice. He is younger, as much talented, has a reputation as a fighter, has connections that are important, and most importantly, he is the son of Tywin Lannister. If he holds true to his oath to Rhaegar, Jaime Lannister does have the power to be the Kingmaker."
The man in question was looking at the elderly knight with hopeful expressions. Ser Barristan shook his head as he noticed it.
"I have not forgotten your actions with your sister, Ser Jaime. That act was shameful and made you unworthy of being a Kingsgaurd. It destroyed every bit of respect I had for you after learning why you killed Aerys, but it does not change the fact that you still have a conscience, Ser Jaime. Your future self went alone to Winterfell to fight the dead because he had given his word. So I know that you will fulfill the oath that you gave to Rhaegar now that you might have a way to do so. That's all I care about, Ser Jaime, nothing more, nothing less."
Jaime Lannister nodded as he stood up, having expected that. The smith gave a hearty laugh as he looked at Barristan Selmy.
"I can say that I didn't expect you to be so blase about it, Barristan Selmy. You are here because an act like this has its cost. For Jon Snow to come back from the land of Death, you would have to forfeit your life voluntarily. We brought you along to give you a chance to make a decision. "
The older knight nodded.
"tis my duty."
"But... No.."
"No, Ser Jaime. Rhaegon Targaryen will need Jaime Lannister more than he would need Barristan Selmy. The most I can do is provide good advice, validity, and an old guard, which would not be enough. My decision is made, Ser Jaime."
The Golden-haired knight nodded, tears appearing in his eyes as he said farewell to the last of men he honestly considered as his brothers of Kingsgaurd. The Stranger walked up to the younger knight and put a hand on his head.
"All you need to do now is go back to sleep, Jaime Lannister."
With that, everything around him turned black again.
Hey all. The inspiration of this story came from a imagined scene. I have an end game idea, but nothing in the middle, not even a single bit, so I am still unsure how it would proceed. There is also the point of not making it look like a copy of Dragon cub.
Do comment what you think about this.