Sansa watched from the walls as Theon and his escort disappeared down the road. She felt horribly alone. Terror clawed inside of her, desperate to crack out and devour her. It was almost a relief to hear the quiet footsteps of another person approaching her. And there were very few who Brienne would allow past her without question.
"Lady Stark." The god's voice greeted. She didn't come too close, leaving just over an arm's length separating them as she stood near her on the wall. "I'm sorry your friend left."
Sansa didn't look away from the fading figures along the road. "He was like a brother to me. He betrayed our family, took our home from us leaving my brothers alone and vulnerable in the world. But he was there when the night was so dark I did not see an end to it."
"Ah." Silence fell between them, though it was not awkward or tense. There'd been an understanding in the god's voice. After some time the god spoke again. "Betrayal never gets easier, but it only can hurt because you trusted them."
Sansa felt too much, and perhaps nothing at all. So she risked a question perhaps she should not have in the quiet that had fallen between them once more. "Do you have family, your Holiness?"
The god sighed, leaning forward and against the stone bullworks. "I was stolen from my family when I was a baby and raised in an orphanage." She seemed to consider something. "A human one, thought I was human. Which, finding out you're not human, can't recommend it. 10/10, super sucks."
She turned ever so slightly, to see the face of the woman. Unable to completely hide her surprise. Of course she'd had questions from what she'd heard between Fitz and this god. But hearing it confirmed was... she wasn't sure what it was.
"My dad found me." Her face turned...it would have been bitter if she hadn't looked tired. An old wound then. "He'd spent years searching, he'd done things to make himself...more than human." Her lips twitched without humor, clearly she'd noticed or felt something from Sansa then. "I'm half human. My father was...the closest you have is a maester, no rules of celibacy and only the healing bits though."
Sansa risked a further question then. "What happened to him?"
"He went mad." The god's face was pained. "He became a monster. There are things that can make a human more than just human. But it burns away what makes the person human in the first place." She scoffed. "If it doesn't make you explode. He thought the risk was worth it, to be strong enough to save his family."
Daisy looked...she grieved for this man. "When he found me he was a monster. But sometimes when it was just us, he was almost who he was before everything happened. And he did save me, in the end." Her face tightened. "But it'd been too late for him for years. He was a threat to everyone around him. So I asked a favor of Coulson, and we erased every memory and year that'd ruined him. And we gave him new memories, better ones. He's a vet now." Her eyes flicked to Sansa away from the land below them. "A person who helps sick animals?" She shrugged. "Either way he gets to have a good life now. Even if he doesn't know he ever had a wife, or a daughter."
Sansa had lost her father, she could understand why this god would beg a favor for this alternative to what would certainly have been death. But it was tragic in its own way. Though it filled her with a sense of fear at the thought of her memories or experiences being taken from her. She looked away from the god, back out over the land. Theon was no longer in sight. She had questions, so many of them. But she'd pressed her luck enough. "They cut my father's head off."
"Was he as good a man as they say?" Daisy's voice was gentle and kind as she asked.
Sansa had been forced to call her father unkind things for so long. 'Traitor' chief amongst them. It had never been safe to speak of him as he'd been. But she was in her home, and this god may be dangerous but she had not shown herself to be cruel. "He was the most honorable man in the Seven Kingdoms. But to me he was just my father. He was fair, kind and loved us. He was safety and shelter in the world."
The wind blew past them. The fur on Sansa's cloak tickled at her jaw. Sometimes she felt cold as ice up here, away from everything. But in this moment she was...relieved she didn't.
"Is there a way I can assure you I'm not going to hurt you?" Daisy turned then, facing her fully. She must have seen something on Sansa's suddenly still features. "I see." Her head tilted to the side. "I doubt it'll help, but if it would feel free to ask. I'll answer anything, or well not be insulted by the question even if I don't answer."
Sansa could feel her heart beating in her chest at that. She should have expected her court mask would only go so far with a god. But...it was reasonable for the god to find her distrust irritating. Why this meant this offer she didn't know. That said she'd spent too long in the capital to do the right thing here. It was an opportunity, and not one she could pass. "Your name, is it truly yours?"
Daisy laughed, a bemused smile on her face. "My father named me Daisy and his surname was Johnson, so yes it's really my name." She paused. "But I've had a few names. The nuns...uh think your septas, called me Mary Sue Poots which is a terrible name and I got rid of it as soon as possible. I named myself Skye when I was fourteen and went by that till I found my parents. I've used a few others in missions but nothing I'd consider well mine." She shrugged.
"Why are you still here?" Sansa kept her words careful and measured. "Your Fitz is awake, travel to a place with more resources, weather you don't dislike, and not on the brink of war is possible for you now. Why stay?"
Daisy paused as she seemed to consider that. Her features and actions so incredibly human. Though human blood likely explained that. Finally she replied. "I broke the balance of power here. Killing the Boltons was the right choice." Her face hardened. "It wasn't hard to realize they were scum. But then in the courtyard, Roose was going to send his men to hunt down and kill a man for poaching. The man's wife and any daughters as payment to the men."
And oh, that clearly infuriated this god. Which explained the sudden change from formal, slightly standoffish to wrecking utter ruin. "I see."
"It's not just that of course." The god seemed to be struggling for words here. "I'm an agent of SHIELD, Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. Which is a very long way of saying we're the line between the world and the much bigger world that humans aren't ready for. Like there's some weird crap out there. And sure this isn't my world, but being part of SHIELD means something. It means when I hear White Walkers bring an endless night to kill every human, I can't not help. It's the right thing to do."
Daisy seemed to see something in her face, and so she continued. "I've learned some of your world. SHIELD is an organization made up of people willing to sacrifice everything, their lives, their bodies, their minds to protect people. It's a bit like an order of knights sworn to a Master of Whispers. Of my team...Ward was a traitor and is dead, Coulson died, came back in a horrifying way, lost an arm, died again, May will probably never walk without a limp, Fitz's mind is...well it is what it is now, Jemma is probably the most...whole of all of us for a given value, and I...well I turned out not to be human. But that's the job, no family, no kids, no roots. It's hard and is nothing but sacrifice, but it's what I believe in."
"Kingsguard only for the realm instead of just the King." Sansa knew that could mean less than nothing as a moral gage. But it was...a reason. If this god thought like a soldier and had taken the Long Night as a mission though….
Daisy gave a slight nod. "Kinda, more assassination, spying, theft, and like no chastity or religious value." She snorted. "Which is ironic considering how many gods we dealt with. You'd think there'd have to be a god of 'picking up after yourself'. Sadly no, or if there is, they're bad at their job."
She arched an eyebrow, a certain tenseness leaving her. This Daisy might not be trustworthy, and certainly dangerous, but she had nothing to motivate her but provide for her companion. Anything else was on a whim in line with her habits. But that was a far clearer level of clarity in motive than anyone from Westeros could provide. At least if she wasn't lying. "Why do you care that I not fear you?"
"Most people fear me, at least to some degree." Daisy shrugged, her manner carefree, but there was pain there that Sansa's years at court let her just barely catch the ghost of. The god continued, not giving time for her words to be considered without it feeling like she was distracting from what she'd said. "But I can be of more use than you're asking of me."
/
Daisy was tired and in an odd way bored. She'd never missed her phone so much in her life...no wonder everyone could do some kind of music, drank too much alcohol, and everything was crafted to a gorgeous degree. There was nothing else to do. She was pretty sure she'd read more in the last two and a half months than she had in the last ten years of her life. Maybe if she just shoved her face into this book on the Rule of King Jaehaerys I it would be absorbed and she wouldn't have to look at it anymore.
"Your Holiness?" A voice asked from behind her.
She looked over her shoulder and grinned. A distraction that promised to give her an excuse to leave the library! "Please say you're here to tell me there's something that needs me?"
"I am not. I wished to ask if you were done with the volume besides you." The woman's posture was painfully formal as she looked pointedly at the book on the seasons of Westeros. But what was more noticeable was just frankly how she was clearly unique among women in this world. And forget the book, Daisy was taking advantage of the opportunity in front of her.
Daisy smiled, hoping to put the woman at ease...if the woman was capable of untensing. "You know, I worked with a woman about your height a few years ago. She was a pretty awesome warrior too."
"You're not unique as a woman warrior in your world?" Brienne asked, her face cracking slightly in surprise.
She nodded easily. "I was trained by a woman. She was tiny, the scariest person I've ever seen. Took down whole legions of soldiers without any powers or abilities. Just a human who punched gods in the face."
"A formidable woman." Brienne hesitated, but then spoke. "I don't know what you want or are planning. But god or not, I will not let you hurt Lady Stark."
Daisy's smile grew. "I've seen humans fell gods before." Or well Kree, and apparently aliens were gods now. Bullshit, but fine.
"Good." Brienne gave a solemn nod. "I will die before any harm comes to Lady Stark."
Daisy took a moment to think how to deal with this. She didn't feel like getting stabbed in the back by a badass lady knight. "You should probably teach me how to use the weapons from this world. Cause, I'm gonna be honest, I don't have a clue how to use any of this stuff except for the knives."
"You want to learn how to use a sword?" Brienne frowned slightly.
She grinned. "And the bow. I mean frankly I'm bored. I can be way more useful than just for turning castles to dust and snapping necks."
"I'm sure one of the others could teach you." Brienne's jaw tightened. "I'm needed at Lady Stark's side."
Daisy stood up from the library table. "You are, but not all the time."
"I can begin to teach you the bow before I'm required back at Lady Stark's side." Brienne allowed while stepping to the side.
She loped over to the knight. "So I'm most used to a weapon similar to a bow, but it's used completely differently."
"Let's see what you can do." Brienne turned and marched towards the courtyard.
Daisy beamed, that was someone who needling would be easy, probably inadvisable most of the time. But the woman was one of the good or evil sorts. Kinda like Talbot had been, before. "So, I don't see a lot of lady knights here. And like you're totes a snack. But that doesn't seem usual around these parts."
"I did not understand that." Brienne was looking at her, baffled.
Daisy laughed. "I'm saying you're an attractive lady. Especially for people into their lover being able to bench press them. Which that is so a thing." She winked at the woman. "But I'm pretty sure you're not just a knight cause you've got the whole blessed by the gods for war build going on."
"Blessed by the gods?" Brienne's cheeks had heated and she was looking at Daisy like she was some sort of crazy. "I was good at it, it was my path. And no one has ever gotten me to give it up."
Daisy snickered. "Did you break the rules so you could kick ass?"
"I don't back down." Brienne led them out from the halls, and into the yard. She deftly ignored how the attention of everyone there focused on them as she picked up a bow from the rack. "You are very strange."
Daisy accepted the bow. "That's a step up, usually it's all 'monster' and 'where you go death follows.' or my friends saying they need protection from me. I don't think I've gone from terrifying to just strange in less than three months before."
"Your own people fear you?" Brienne's hand didn't release the bow.
She sighed. "Change is terrifying, and it took me a long time to learn how to use my powers. I still haven't really mastered them. I just don't bring down buildings because I had a nightmare anymore."
"Why are you telling me this?" Brienne frowned.
Daisy pulled the bow out of Brienne's hand. "Because I'd like to not be stabbed in the back. I think you'd rather know I'm dangerous than fear how dangerous I might be." Daisy turned towards the targets and took her side shooting stance. "So, I'm guessing I use the notch here on the arrow to attach it to the string?"
"Yes, lay it along the hand grip." Brienne watched with sharp eyes. "Pull back as you raise the arrow towards the target. Don't straighten your arm!" The woman tapped her arm till it was bent ever so slightly. "The string will take your skin off if your arm is where it shouldn't be. Yes, there press your thumb to the edge of your mouth. Good. Just release when you're ready."
Daisy breathed out, feeling her heart slow. And then relaxed her fingers, the arrow loosing towards the target. She ignored Brienne's sound of approval. Four inches from the center. Taking another arrow she notched it and pulled the bow back again. She adjusted her aim slightly. And then loosened. Daisy grinned as she lowered her arm. "Bullseye."
"How?" Brienne was gaping.
She winked at the woman. "I've used a weapon similar to this, not this uh...slow though. Guns were way more practical." Daisy picked up another arrow. "I'll keep working on it till this doesn't feel weird."
Daisy's muscles ached with a familiar and welcome burn. She set her bow back on the rack. Stepping forward she made her way to the target and started pulling arrows out. "I get why Hawkguy used a bow now."
She pulled out yet more arrows...maybe she went a bit too long. This damn target was half hedgehog with all these arrows. Finally she carried the bundle of arrows back and dumped them in the bucket. Daisy paused, eyeing the courtyard. It was certainly a more pleasant area without the corpses.
"Your Holiness!" Hogg came jogging towards her.
Daisy smiled as she saw the guy she was starting to consider a sort of friend. Bit of a puppy. "Do you need something?"
"Some of the men were uh wondering about your thoughts on visiting the whore house? I pulled the short straw for asking you." His cheeks were bright red.
Daisy snorted. "You want to ask me about whether hiring a prostitute is ok or not?"
"Well some of the men think you're a patron god of maidens and that sort of thing might...not be a good idea." He winced, licking at his lips nervously.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not a patron god of maidens. And as long as you're not hurting anyone I don't see a problem with it. Your future wife might, but I don't care."
"Do you think it'll make it harder to find a wife?" He asked, frowning as if such a thing had never occurred to him.
Daisy patted his shoulder. "Definitely."
"But we're men, there's like...it's how men are." Hogg tried to explain, his ears turning red.
She wanted to cackle. Fake religion was turning out kinda fun. "First of all I happen to know you idiots are strong enough to keep your dicks in your pants if you want." She saw the other clearly eavesdropping men wilting. "Men are the same in every world."
"Is that a bad thing?" Joran asked carefully.
Daisy squeezed his shoulder in sympathy, he was just a teen. "Look, women are just as sexual as men."
"What?" Joran looked at her with wide horrified eyes. "That's not possible."
"Buddy." Daisy dragged him to the side and shoved him onto a bench. "It's true. Women are just as human as you men are. And finding a wife will be harder when you're wasting your money, treating women like objects, and expecting your future spouse to be virtuous while you're off doing whatever feels nice."
The man was practically drooping. "But…"
"But you people clearly do not listen to the women in your lives enough. That said there's nothing wrong with going to a brothel. Just don't be an ass about it. And know if you hurt the girls there I'll revisit those pains a hundred times over on the idiot who did it. Good?"
"Yes." Joran ran a hand through his hair. "Do you think...are the seven hells real?"
Daisy blinked. "Probably. I know of one realm where your fears are made real. And I punched the guy in the face who takes souls to the hells. So I'm gonna go with they're probably real. I also know the dude who takes souls doesn't care if you spent your money at a brothel."
"I think I'm gonna go to the god's wood." Hogg nodded before sprinting off.
She huffed, shaking her head. As she stood there she fell more serious. As she'd worked on her powers, and the dark ages and space travel had that in common lots of time to work on control, she'd found noticing the world around her by vibration was beginning to come naturally. She could feel Fitz in his workshop.
Daisy pulled her cloak back on as she walked, which how the hell they were meant to grow anything in this weather she didn't know.
"Your Holiness!" A woman bustled over, and then promptly shoved a baby into her arms.
Daisy blinked as she automatically tucked the kid against her. She wasn't surprised when the woman then promptly left as fast as she could without actually fleeing. Shaking her head slightly she kept walking. Once at Fitz's door she wrapped her knuckles on the wood before stepping in. "Hey, sup."
"Daisy." He looked up from work only to pause. "Is th-that a baby?"
She rubbed the kid's back. "They think I'm a god of maidens or children. Women just shove kids at me and run. Whoever this guy belongs to will be back in an hour or so."
Fitz stared and then scoffed. "That's ridiculous."
"I know, but it's not a big deal so, whatever." Daisy hopped up on his work table. "And no judgement, don't think I don't see the minion you've somehow acquired."
Fitz's hands were ink stained, a certain manic energy to him that was unstoppable by anything short of Nazis or Jemma in a low cut top and new lingerie. "Lady Sansa g-g-gave him to me. Do they just give ch-children to people here?"
"I'm pretty sure I get handed kids so they can be blessed." Daisy twitched. "Is this what the pope feels like? Cause it's weird." She hid her smirk against the baby's hair, she was amused that Lady Stark had apparently been proactive in installing a spy with Fitz. It was smart, kid might not even know he was a spy. She'd pass her compliments on the maneuver to the woman later. "Lady Stark has been very gracious. So a tiny amount of manners if you emerge from this place."
Fitz's nose scrunched as he went back to his design. Which looked like it would be one of his dwarves. "The soo-sooner we're gone the better. If I can c-confirm we're in the same reality I just need to make a beacon and Jemma will find us."
"That is the hope." Daisy paused. "If it is the case, we're still helping with their ice zombies, White Walkers, whatever evil magic is happening."
Fitz's hummed under his breath. "S-s-sure."
She wondered when she'd stopped understanding him, or maybe begun to understand him too well. "Do you need my help with the beacon?"
"No." Fitz grabbed what looked like several coins and likely a chemical of some kind.
Daisy could tell when she wasn't going to be of any help. She glanced at the baby. "I guess we're reading about Jaehaerys I." Looking back up at Fitz she just felt...sad. "I'll be back to make sure you've eaten and plan to sleep."
"I've got to f-f-finish this." His voice was sharp, an edge that he'd be angry if she pushed.
She wanted to flinch, though she refused to do so. "If you collapse it'll take longer and you know it." Daisy didn't wait for his reply, she just left.