Uhhh... hi there. I'm still alive, just very slow in writing the past few months.
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294 AC
King's Landing
"This has gone too far, Harry! He's your younger brother!"
Harry looked at his raging mother with a blank face. This hadn't been the first time this argument had come up, and Harry was certain it wouldn't be the last. However, there is no chance that he would change his mind.
Harry sighed and said, "Yes, he's my brother. That's why he still lives. The only reason Joffrey's not in a cell is because of how much you care for him."
Cersei looked at her eldest son with a mixture of pride and anger. She still remembered how happy she had been to give birth to a son that would carry on the new dynasty. That was also a time when Cersei had hopes that Robert would be a worthy king and husband for her. Obviously, that had changed soon after Harry's birth.
The constant whoring and the pain of having her new husband calling out for the wolf bitch, Lyanna, wore down Cersei. The hopeful optimism of having a good marriage turned into pure hatred. The only good thing that came from Robert was Harry, a son that Cersei worried about constantly.
He had been reserved as a child, preferring books and solitude over the company of people. That had only intensified when Harry grew into a young man. Cersei suspected that Harry would have never left his rooms if his princely duties didn't require it. This sort of behavior would have been acceptable for a spare son but not an heir. She had been thinking about encouraging Harry to go have some fun in a whorehouse, even though Cersei despised thinking of her precious son sullying himself with a lowborn woman. But if it brought Harry out of his shell, Cersei would look past it for his sake. Luckily, that hadn't been necessary.
A few moons ago, Harry seemed to have changed into a new personality. He still spent time in the books that he loved so much, but Harry wasn't constantly holed up in his room anymore. Cersei had noticed that he had started to spend much more time with his youngest siblings, and Jamie had told her that Harry was giving a little more effort with his training. Cersei wasn't sure what had caused the change, but she was glad for it.
That was until she heard of what happened a few days ago.
"You go this far for mere street orphans?" Cersei asked with a hint of anger.
Harry narrowed his eyes, "I would go further. Like I said, Joffrey's lucky that he's my brother. I have no desire to be a kinslayer, so my best choice is to lock up that monster."
Harry watched his mother's face rapidly change expressions before settling on outrage. She stormed out of his room without another word, leaving Harry rubbing his brow in frustration.
He knew that he couldn't be called a good brother. Harry could count the number of times he took the initiative to talk to Joffrey on a single hand. To his shame, it wasn't much better with Myrcella and Tommen. Joffrey was most likely a lost cause, but Harry would be paying far closer attention to his youngest siblings from now on.
While Harry was deep in his thoughts worrying about his youngest siblings, someone knocked on his door.
"Prince Harys, the small council will meet in a few minutes."
Harry sighed and stood up to leave his room. If Ser Barristan hadn't reminded him, Harry would have forgotten about the meeting altogether. Joffrey had been taking up far too much place in his mind recently. He kept second-guessing the decision of locking his brother in his room, but there wasn't a better option right now.
He opened the door to see Ser Barristan waiting for him with a blank gaze. Harry gave him a smile before walking to the meeting. It wasn't that surprising for the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard to personally guard him. Harry knew that it always meant that his father had one of his whores accompanying him in his chambers.
"I assume that the King won't be joining us, Ser," Harry stated blandly.
"He won't, my Prince. The King is… occupied."
Harry snorted at Ser Barristan trying to be diplomatic. It wasn't a secret to anyone in the Seven Kingdoms of the whoring drunk that was Robert. Harry often wondered why his father became king at all.
Not that it mattered, it was the past, and that could never be changed. Harry had reached the door to the meeting room and opened it to see that he was the last person to arrive. He nodded at the Lords seated while taking his own.
With Ser Barristan standing guard behind him, Harry said, "Sorry for my tardiness, my lords. I was speaking to the Queen about some of her concerns."
"That does not excuse you for the delay, nephew."
Harry looked at the stern visage on his uncle, Stannis. He had always been a stickler for the rules, but at least he was better than Renly. That man was only interested in the pleasures of life.
"Apologies, uncle, I'll try not to let it happen again."
After Stannis gave Harry a brisk nod, the Hand interjected, "The King has ordered a tourney for Prince Harys. He demanded that all of the major houses must attend. Lord Petyr has found some coin that we can spare, but it depends on Lord Tywin now. The Queen has sent a raven to her father, so we should have word within the next moon."
"This… is not as foolish as my brother's actions usually are. It will show the Lord Paramounts that the dynasty will endure with another King."
Harry could see that the sentence was said unwillingly by his uncle. Stannis never did forgive Robert for giving the seat of the Stormlands to Renly.
"When do we start to make preparations, my lord?"
And there was Petyr Baelish. Harry still couldn't find out why he disliked the man so much. He had never done anything particularly offensive to Harry, other than being a suck-up, but Baelish always felt off. Now that Harry had his magic back, his senses were going even more haywire. If there was one thing that Harry had learned to listen to, it was his gut instinct. And his gut was telling him that Petyr Baelish was the most dangerous man in the Red Keep.
Lord Arryn replied, "It would be ideal if we could start tomorrow, but we must wait for Lord Tywin's reply."
The rest of the meeting melded together as they focused on the details of the tourney. It was never in the interest for Harry to watch men fight with swords or on horseback. He knew that it was a dangerous disinterest to have, but his memories of the wonders of magic and even the sheer brilliance of muggle technology made all of this seem so primitive. But this was his life now, and if Harry didn't adapt, he would fall even with magic.
"What do you think, Prince Harys?"
Harry snapped out of his daydreaming with a guilty look on his face. He knew that Lord Arryn and his uncle would lecture him after the meeting was over about the importance of paying attention.
He looked at Lord Baelish and asked, "What was that, my lord?"
It felt like Petyr was barely hiding a smirk as he said, "I was asking about the seating. Since this is supposed to be for your betrothal, do you have any families you would prefer to be seated close?"
"The Starks and Tyrells," Harry said without thinking, "Those are the two most obvious, and there is no need to change it."
He went back to making appropriate noises when needed as the meeting sped by. The Starks were a given even though Harry didn't think that a match with them was wise. However, the King would throw a fit if they weren't seated close. As for the Tyrells, that was because Harry intended to make a Queen out of their daughter. It would settle the Kingdoms down into a peaceful period and let Harry focus on his pursuits, mainly his magic.
Before he knew it, the council session ended as the members slowly filed out. Right when Harry was about to walk out, the Hand called out, "Prince Harys, I'd like to ask you something."
Harry quirked his brow at that and shrugged slightly before sitting back down.
"I heard about the imprisonment of your younger brother…."
Harry scoffed and interrupted immediately, "I beg your pardon? I wasn't aware that living in a fully furnished room along with servants tending to his every need could be called imprisonment."
Lord Arryn calmly replied, "It may seem like a light punishment in your eyes, my prince, but to outsiders, it signals something far different. The nobles are aware of what the previous dynasty did to less… stable members of their family. Doing the same to your brother diminishes the value of Prince Joffrey in their eyes."
Harry's green eyes glinted angrily, "Good. That's exactly what I intended."
The Hand's eyes widened in shock, "My Prince? …What exactly has he done to deserve this?"
"The murder of countless young men from flea bottom. I'm not sure if it's by his hands or through others, but from what he said to me, I suspect he might have done so personally."
"The smallfolk?" Lord Arryn muttered.
Harry narrowed his eyes at that. Luckily, the Hand didn't attempt to diminish the lives of the smallfolk in an attempt to change his mind. Harry knew why Lord Arryn was so concerned about this. The current dynasty was still unstable, with many families still having hidden loyalty to the old regime. The only thing that kept the Baratheons in power was the support of Tywin Lannister and the shred of Targaryen blood that ran through their veins. The news of Joffrey confined to his rooms would be a blow to the brand new dynasty.
"I might not be King yet, Lord Hand, but it is within my power to restrict a spare heir that I suspect to be mad."
Lord Arryn hesitated before sighing and accepting it. With that, Harry left the room to wander back down to the cellar with the dragon skulls.
295 AC
King's Landing
"Foolish boy. You have wasted your time with the bones of long-dead dragons for moons with no results. Why do you persist? Do you really think that it was the one that unlocked your powers?"
Harry shuddered in fear as he looked around frantically into the dark space around him. It was vaguely reminiscent of when Death itself spoke to him but somehow felt an order of magnitude lower.
"Heh, you're not as stupid as you have acted so far. Death is something that comes even for us Gods. How would my presence feel the same as it."
"Gods?" Harry croaked out, pausing in surprise at the fact that he could actually speak in this strange place.
"Who do you think brought you here? Mortals are forbidden from traversing worlds, but we fixed that by making you the Master of Death," The voice stopped before chuckling a little, "A curious title."
"Why did you bring me here?" Harry asked, his anger slowly growing, "Why did you take me from my friends?!"
"…Do you think your anger means anything to us? You were brought here for one purpose and one purpose only. Defeat the coming darkness, and we will set you free. We do not care what you do in this world as long as you fulfill what we ask."
Harry slumped in defeat. He had purposely avoided thinking of the life he had back home. Harry even thought that since he could no longer feel the deathly hallows on him, he should be free from its effects. There was always a tiny niggling thought that hoped he could use his newly recovered magic to eventually find his way back home. But from what this… being was saying, Harry was somehow shackled to this world while the 'darkness' existed.
"Your world is out of reach, Harry Potter. Focus on your new life and your new family. We have made you a prince. Soon we will return your powers and more, all in order to help you with your goal. Think of this as a chance for a better life, and as long as you fulfill what we ask, we care not what you do otherwise. Drown yourself in the pleasures of flesh, become a hated tyrant, call yourself a god with your magic…. We do not care."
"Heh," Harry snorted sardonically, "What if I decide to wipe one religion in favor of another?"
The voice chuckled, "Do as you will. Mortal games will not affect us."
After that, Harry felt his vision flash a bright white before he gasped and sat up in his bed in fright. He sucked in deep breaths as his heartbeat slowly calmed down. Harry wiped his forehead with a quivering hand to see that it was drenched with sweat.
That wasn't just a dream. It was far too similar to what he had experienced with his rebirth. Harry never imagined that there were gods that were active in this world. He was never a history buff, but Harry was aware that the gods on Earth had stopped taking part in the world ages ago. He shivered again in fear. Somehow, Harry had become involved in a game between the gods. If the stories of Earth were anything to go by, none of the mortals touched by the gods ever ended well.
With a sigh, Harry moved to get off the bed. It could be a dream after all, and if he truly had all of his powers back, how could anyone in this world hope to compete against Harry?
As Harry moved to put on new clothes before leaving, he froze in shock and stared in trepidation at an innocuous wooden stick that sat on the table. He knew what this was, and in fact, Harry had died with this in his hands. He walked over slowly and hesitated before picking up the wand. Harry felt a rush of warmth and acceptance when his magic was linked again to the Elder Wand.
He was happy that he finally had a tool for magic again, but this also meant that the dream was all too real. Harry had truly been brought here to be the lackey of some god, and he had no choice. With a hardened expression, Harry hid the wand under his clothes.
He needed to see just what differences there were between this world and this original. The first thing he would do was meet Jarden again for the first time in many moons. There had been no reason for Harry to do so before, but since that boy had taken his offer to be a guinea pig in return for rooms outside flea bottom, he would be his first test subject.
It was hard to be inconspicuous with a kingsguard following him closely. Still, Harry arrived at the inn quickly and was soon outside the room that Jarden was staying in.
A female voice giggled coquettishly, "You're so impressive, milord. Did you really mean it when you said the crown prince is your friend?"
"Ha!" a young man laughed confidently, "Who do you think is paying for my stay here?"
Harry's face fell as his fists clenched in anger. He usually wouldn't care about the boasts that Jarden spouted to the woman with him, but to do so when he was genuinely living here with his grace was infuriating. Harry eyed Ser Arys and tilted his head to the door.
He watched dispassionately as the kingsguard broke down the door to reveal Jarden about to receive oral pleasure from the woman he was with.
"Jarden… I see you have become too comfortable."
Jarden had been about to yell at the man who dared to interrupt him with the whore he had hired, but he went as quiet as a mouse when he saw that it was the Crown Prince. Jarden felt a growing fear as he realized that he might have gone too far while staying at the inn. After a few moons with no visits from the Prince, Jarden had assumed that he was forgotten about and lived like there was no tomorrow. He used the money provided to eat the best food and hire whores to his heart's content but never thought about the consequences if the Prince gave him a visit.
"Leave."
After Harry's command, the woman gathered her clothes and scrambled to leave the room as quickly as possible. Ser Arys closed the door after her to give Harry some privacy.
"So… it looks like you have had no regrets from accepting my offer."
"M-My Prince, I swear I didn't mean to say that I was your friend. I know I'm not worthy of it, p-please spare me!"
Harry smiled, getting Jarden to calm down a little, "I'm not angry about that, Jarden… unless you intend to go back on your word?"
"M-My word?" Jarden stuttered in confusion.
"The reason you're in this inn at all. I required you to do something last time, and if you want to continue to stay here, then you must do the same again."
Jarden was a little startled by how Harry's eyes seemed to be glowing, but he dismissed it as a trick of light that was exaggerated by the fear he had right now. He nodded his head as fast as he could, "Of course! Whatever I can do to help you, my Prince!"
Harry smiled, "Good. Hopefully, this will pass before you even know it."
Ser Arys Oakheart saw a flash of white light leak out from the closed door as he pointedly ignored whatever his prince was doing. His duty was not to question but to protect the royal family. Though as a human being, he couldn't help but wonder what was happening inside.
Harry twirled the Elder Wand between his fingers as he thoughtfully stared at it. It was surprising that everything was working as it should have, though Harry wondered what else would be given to him. He clearly remembered that the voice said that he would be given something in addition to his powers… but why?
Is the enemy he was about to face that great of a threat? With just his powers, Harry could easily run over the entire continent of Westeros and even Essos if given enough time. Who in the world could be a match to him in a mostly magicless world.
Harry frowned in thought before pushing it aside. He could somewhat relax in security for now. Jarden had been very useful to him, and while he might be addled for a couple moons before returning to normal, Harry would make sure to compensate him for the rest of his life.
Everything was working effortlessly. Even his shoddy legilimency was working, though it would be somewhat uncomfortable for the person he used it on, considering Jarden's reaction. There was, however, one thing that he discovered in Jarden's mind that alarmed Harry.
He was offered gold from Petyr Baelish to report on what Harry would do. Luckily for Jarden's wellbeing, he had a somewhat moral view that refused to spy on Harry. Though, it made Harry think of who else could be spying on him.
Harry was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on the door, "My Prince, the Tyrells are due to arrive later today. You are required to welcome them into the keep."
Harry frowned as he got up from the chair. He had almost forgotten that the tourney was right around the corner, and the Red Keep would soon be filled with new arrivals. No matter, Harry would weed out the spies around him slowly. Now that he had the Elder wand, there wasn't much to be concerned about.
