Chapter 4 – A Universe in a Pocket part 1
Suddenly the room shook with violence. "HE is here" Hissed The Crone "We are out of time."
The Warrior unsheathed his sword "I shall go and check on the defences immediately. Brother, please join me, I may very well need your help" he asked The Smith "I shall Brother." The Smith replied, joining the The Warrior as they heading for a door set into the far wall.
"The rest of us shall prepare for rewinding time while you inform the souls of what we require them to do. All we need is a target date." The Crone said as she turned to the others to begin preparations for the spell.
The Stranger looked at the R'hllor and inclined his head in invitation to join him in explaining to the two souls just what was at stake here and the rules they needed to abide by. Just as R'hllor reached the small group, the room shook even more violently, causing some of the pillars that supported the roof to collapse along with part of the roof itself, the force of this threw people down to the ground as a great cloud of dust rose up into the air. Jon recovered first
"Tyrion! Are you hurt?" Jon asked in concern. They had already been through so much, survived so much that they had forged bond of brotherhood as men do in war and while Jon was devout in his worship and respect for the Gods, he wasn't concerned for them. 'Their Gods, if they can't look out for themselves, then they're not much good are they' he thought to himself as he helped Tyrion to his feet. "I'm fine Jon. Just a little shaken up, so to speak" Tyrion replied while he looked around the room.
What he saw wasn't good. Some of the Gods were fine but The Mother and Maiden were injured and trapped under some of the debris and The Crone was unresponsive to attempts to wake her. Suddenly, there was a high pitched scream that chilled the soul. Jon and Tyrion looked at each other and grimaced. They knew that sound. The Night King was here.
White Walkers suddenly started pouring through the door that The Warrior and Smith had left through only moments ago. The others knew that they were already dead and that they were next. The Stranger started cursing, very creatively, in High Valyrian.
Tyrion, who now spoke High Valyrian fluently, thanks to dear sweet Missandei, stared at The Stranger in awe. "You know, as interesting as that sounds, I don't think that it's actually physically possible." He said with a chuckle "but if you don't mind, I'd like to steal that threat off you. I know someone I'd just LOVE to use it on."
Jon shook his head and just had to laugh. After all, it's not like he had a weapon on him to fight off the Walkers and Tyrion definitely had the knack of inappropriate timing, no matter how apt his jests were at the time. R'hllor started to throw a couple of balls of fiery light at two of the White Walkers. They burst into flames and just…..melted like candle wax much to the surprise of Jon and Tyrion.
The Walkers stopped for a short moment at looked at the Lord of Light. R'hllor used that brief moment to erect a wall of pure light between the Walkers and the rest of the room. "If you're going to do something, you best do it now. That wall won't hold them back for long…." R'hllor said to The Stranger.
With a snarl of wordless anger, The Stranger suddenly changed from the handsome male he portrayed to a skeletal figure, dressed in a black hooded robe, with a scythe in his hand and a golden hourglass hanging from a gold chain attached to his belt. With two skeletal hands on the handle of the scythe, The Stranger lifted it into the air then brought in down to make hard contact with the floor, while chanting three words in a language no one present had ever heard before "Et nolite Tempus" Suddenly, everything and everyone except for R'hllor, Jon, Tyrion and The Stanger, disappeared.
"Fuck me! What just happened?" Tyrion exclaimed. There was a grin on that skeletal face which should have been impossible considering that a skull and bones was all he was at this moment. Death shrugged his shoulders.
"They call it a pocket universe, in another universe" he said, amusement colouring his tone.
"And your transformation into...this?" Tyrion asked partly in fear, partly in curiosity.
"My true form. In order to stop time, I needed access to more power than I would normally have at my disposal as The Stranger. In my true form, I'm simply known as Death." He answered.
This time, R'hllor's jaw joined Tyrion's and Jon's as their jaws dropped in a combination of fear, disbelief and awe. Death started laughing. He couldn't help it. Death couldn't remember the last time he was this amused at the reactions given at the revelation of who he truly was.
"Brother" R'hllor croaked. Death just laughed harder. R'hllor cleared his throat. "Brother" he tried again "You've been keeping secrets. I don't understand. This is your true form? How is this possible?"
"Ah Brother, you thought it to yourself not so long ago. There are many Gods, but there is only one Death and I am he. The Stranger was but one aspect of me. One of many beyond counting."
Tyrion looked intrigued. "One of many" he breathed. The concept was just beyond his grasp. Giving time he could grasp it….
"I'm sorry, but do we have time for this?" Jon asked. "I think I understand what you did. You have…somehow…. moved us here to this place but what about outside this place? Your fellow Gods are dying as we speak!" Jon exclaimed.
Death looked at Jon. "You are partly correct, I transport us somewhere else" he said. "In this time and place, time has no meaning. You could stay here in this "bubble" of no-time and never age, never starve, never thirst, never die and yet not a single minute would pass outside this pocket universe." Jon looked confused. He turned Tyrion, "did you understand any of that?" he asked his friend. Tyrion smiled at his brother in arms. "Yes Jon I did and yes, we have all the time in the world to discuss things."
"Shall we sit?" Death asked. R'hllor, Jon and Tyrion turned around and saw a table with comfortable looking chairs where there had been empty space a moment before. There was even wine much to Tyrion's delight as he walked over to a chair that was his built to his exact dimensions. He climbed into it, sat down with a sigh of pleasure and reached for the wine jug and starting pouring glasses of wine for Jon and R'hllor as well as himself.
"Um, please do not take offence, but can you even drink wine in that form?" Tyrion asked before taking a sip from his cup. His eyes widen in pleased surprise. "Oh my, that is an excellent Dornish Red. Where did you find such a fine vintage?" He asked. Death started laughing again as The Strangers form took place of his true form.
"Please, I may be Death, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the finer things you cleaver mortals have come up with" He said with a grin and poured a cup of wine for himself.
R'hllor took a sip of his wine and gathered his thoughts. Now that they had gained some time, pun unintended, they could now explain to Tyrion and Jon exactly what was going on. They were without a doubt confused as to what had happened to them but were coping with everything with remarkable fortitude. R'hllor was impressed. 'yes' he thought 'these two are the correct choices. They will change our future for the better.' He looked at two of them. "Tell me, what is the last thing you remember before waking up here?" He asked in a gentle voice.
"The Night King, pain, then nothing." Tyrion replied in a short tight voice. "We died" Jon said staring at the table. "That nothing, that's death. I should know as this is now the third time I've done it" he continued and a voice devoid of emotion "Actually, Jon, those first two times, you were in what I call a waiting room." Death said. "I knew you weren't going to stay with me long, thanks to a drunken Red priest and a priestess who was questioning her faith." Death said with a dark, angry glare in R'hllor's direction.
"You Brother need to control your people. They cause more harm than they do good. Souls come to me when they are meant to for the most part but they are not meant to leave until I allow it. Your people snatch the souls out of my domain without permission in the most violent of ways and you allow it! Fool! Have you any idea of the damage that does to the soul in question? I had one that was brought back from the dead time and time again. The soul was so damaged that I don't think it will ever truly heal."
R'hllor once again looked ashamed of the unthinkable acts of evil that his followers had committed in his name. He knew not what had happened to the original teachings of his church, but could only put the perversions they now practiced down to free will, bad translations and interpretations and of the sacred texts.
"You know, I quite liked Kinvara. As annoying as her tendency to speak in riddles was, she was highly intelligent and very charismatic and absolutely terrifying on the battle field against the Wrights. That woman wields fire like a man wields a sword and with better skill." Tyrion mused.
"Anyway, I suppose you should tell us why we are here not in one of the seven heavens, or hells, depending on what we deserve" Tyrion said with a smirk, "Because honestly, I think it's safe to assume you need us for something or you of left us dead. You're Gods, so you must need us for something a God cannot do, although I cannot for the life of me figure what that may be."
Death looked at R'hllor, "I like this one too" he stated simply with a smile. "You're very quick My Lord of Lannister. Yes you're correct. We need you for a task we cannot do."
"And what task would you ask us to undertake My Lords?" Jon asked. "Oh it's quite simple really. We want to send your souls back in time with all your knowledge intact and save the world." R'hllor said with a look of innocence on his face.
Jon and Tyrion's jaws dropped for the third time and with a look on their faces of pure and utter shock. "I'm sorry, you want us to WHAT?!" Tyrion shouted. "Save the world and all those who live in it from the Night King and The Great Other…My Prince" Death said with a bow of his head to Jon. "You are the Prince who was Promised, Jon Snow. It is your destiny to kill the Night King before he can free The Great Other and you Lord Tyrion, have been chosen to help him with this task."
Jon sat trying to comprehend the enormity of what they had been asked to do. Save the world and all those who live in it. How, how could they possibly do this? He had no idea what to think let alone think of where to start. He was just a solider. A simple man who just happened to have a gift for leadership but that was all. Tyrion on the other hand, once he had recovered from the shock of this task, was already putting his formidable intelligence to work to form the beginnings of a plan.
Next chapter, the beginnings of a plan is born