A Game for a Prince

~XxX~

First Steps

So I really am Viserys Targaryen…

Yes you are. I thought we already cleared that.

"Oh can you not?" I groaned, speaking out loud and probably sounding like a loon for doing so. "Are you going to take my ability to monologue in peace as well?"

Hey bitch, I've given you the ability to live life like a video game character, with all the good and the bad that come's with it. Having a voice in your head seems like a small price to pay, wouldn't you say?

"Perhaps, I still would like to have some privacy, and last I recall, game's had an options menu that allowed to turn the volume and subtitles off. So where is your mute button?"

Shit, I think there's glitch or something. As soon as you get a stable internet connection, you can download the day one patch. That might fix it.

"So you are developed by ubisoft. Should have guessed."

...that's harsh.

"Yeah? Suck on it."

...Well, since I'm apparently developed by ubisoft...you owe me 130 bucks, you are playing the Digital Delux edition...with extra fetch and follow quests. I'm quadruple A bitch so pay up.

"Forget that I said anything."

That's right.

"Smug bastard." I sighed but couldn't quite keep the smile off my lips. I might just get along with the system after all.

Anyways, I really was Viserys Targaryen.

Astute observation. I might just give you a level for that incredible detective work.

"Oh shut it, I'm trying to think here."

I sigh…

I really was Viserys Targaryen and I didn't really know what to think or how to feel about it. The nerd in me was giddy at the prospect of getting to life in a fascination world like the one George R.R Martin had created, and yet that was a very scary prospect as well.

Though if I was honest with myself, the more I thought about it, the more the prospect excited me. My life was boring as shit so far, and the world back home wasn't any better then this one, just far more pretentious and self righteous.

I was a line cook, working a 5 to 9 and while I was content with it, if something better would have come along, I would have jumped at the chance, to either make more money or to get some new and different experiences.

And now I had that.

The chance to have a grand old adventure.

The chance to be a King.

That was amazing. No way around it. And it might be falsely placed arrogance talking here, but I truly believed that I could be a good King. Not only did I have the education of a citizenm of 21st century europe, I also went to collage and had a degree in history. I didn't do anything with that back in my old life, but now it would come in handy.

And more than that. I was knowledgeable about this world. I read all the books, and I've watched the show. For all intents and purposes I knew the future. I knew who the true threats were, and I knew how to stop them before they could become dangerous. I knew that the White Walkers existed and I knew what worked to kill the fuckers, Valyrian Steel, Obsidian and Fire.

True the Night King might not be the one from the show, but I could improvise and by the time the fucker became a problem, I might already be a fully leveled superhuman bad ass.

But we'll see how things go. Possibilities are high that I won't live that long, after all, Viserys wasn't really the most popular guy around and had no shortage of enemies after his ass. And let's not forget that most of the people that wanted to see me dead were fucking terrifying.

And if the Euron Greyjoy from the Books was in this world then I needed all the damn luck in the world to make it out of that shitstorm alive.

But, again, we'll see how things go. Baby steps and all that. For now I needed to get my bearings and figure out where I was, and where to go from here on out. One thing though was certain, I wouldn't make the same mistakes as the real Viserys.

"Viserys!" Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

I turned towards the door of the room I was in and watched it fly open before a lithe thing of a girl came rushing in and barreled straight into my arms.

"You are awake! I was so worried! What happened!? One moment you were fine and the next you fell over screaming and thrashing!"

"Shhh, calm down." I wrapped my arms around her and gently cooed the panicked girl, rubbing her back soothingly.

Don't get me wrong, I was fucking confused and didn't rightly know how to treat Daenerys, after all I wasn't really her brother. But on the other hand, no matter how I decided to treat her, it would still be worlds better than the real Viserys treated her.

I was actually a bit surprised that the girl hugged me and worried about me. If I was in her position, I would have probably killed the sleeping Viserys the first chance I got. But no, what am I thinking? She was just a child and didn't have anyone else.

I think that their caretaker, William Darry had already died by this time, but I wasn't sure. I wasn't even completely sure if Viserys already treated Daenerys badly or if his abuse only started in Pentos when they were guests of Illyrio.

I knew the plot and story of the Son of Ice and Fire, but not in minute detail and Viserys was sadly a character I didn't read too much into.

"What happened Viserys?" The girl hiccuped and looked up at me, her bright amethyst eyes filled with watery tears. "I was so worried that I would loose you."

I smiled at her and gently brushed her cheeks. "I don't really know. I'm sorry for worrying you."

She looked surprised before surging forward and burying her head into my stomach, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me tightly. "Did you take care of me?" I asked while running a hand through her hair in an effort to calm the emotional girl.

She nodded against my stomach, "I did…I…"

"You can say what you want to say, I won't get mad." I reassure after she stumbled over her words.

"I took your coin. I know you said I wasn't allowed too, but I couldn't carry you alone. I payed some men to help me, and then I payed for this room. I...I'm sorry. I know you don't like it when I do something without asking you. But I was so worried and you...you were, I though you were gone, like Ser Darry."

I sighed. This must have been a lot for the poor girl.

"You did well." I smiled at her surprised expression.

I guess if nothing else then this here alone made it all worth it; Daenerys did deserve a proper brother figure.

!Level Up!

Viserys reached Level 2

5 unspent Stat Points.

Chose an Attribute to increase…

'Huh? What did I do?'

...nothing...that was just so beautifully cheesy that I couldn't help mysel

Ha? Well I wouldn't complain, that's for sure.

'Hit points. And you are a wuss, system.'

I'm proud of it

HP: 30/55 (Weakened)

I chuckled lightly, which prompted the girl to look up at me strangely.

"What's so funny big brother?" She asked with a cute tilt of her head.

Daenerys was a pretty girl though that was hard to tell right now, with her eyes red and teary, cheeks puffed and snot running down her nose. She had fine silvery hair and the fair skin that only a child could have.

"You are." I chuckled before reaching out to wipe her face with the sleeve of my tunic. She mumbled something that I couldn't make out and tried to pull away without avail, and when her face was clean and I let her move back she shot me a disgruntled look but didn't rebuke my actions. "I'm sorry for making you worried."

Again her surprised look was heart wrenching. A girl shouldn't be surprised by receiving normal decency, but well, that was one of the first things that I would change.

"Can you tell me what happened before I...fell sick?" I asked her and she nodded determinedly.

"We were headed for Lys like you wanted us too, and had just boarded a ferry when you started shaking and shouting. The sailors on the boat had all laughed at first, said that you were scared by the ocean. But then you fell and were foaming by the mouth, they didn't laugh then. It took ten men to keep you still. One of the men had something that he gave you, it made you sleep. I took your coin then and payed the sailor men to help me get you to Lys safely."

"So we are in Lys." I mutter and she nodded. "Do we have any coin left?"

Again she nodded. "Yes."

"That's good." I sigh in relief before something else came to mind. "Do you know what I wanted to do in Lys? I seem to have forgotten."

She scrunched up her face and then shook her head. "You didn't tell. But I think you would've wanted to meet with the magisters, it's what you do whenever we get to a new city."

Yes that's something that Viserys would do, isn't it. Though it's not something I'm going to do, it's about time to stop relying on others to do the things that Viserys should have done on his own. There were no excuses for him not trying harder and doing more.

"That's something we'll have to change." I smile at Dany, lightly ruffling her hair. Though my smile did vanish when she winced at my touch.

Right. How could I forget that I had the body of an abusive asshole?

"I'm sorry." I told her before standing up, wobbling lightly on my feet which prompted Dany to reach out and try to help steadying me. "I'm fine, just a bit weak in the knees."

"Shouldn't you rest for a while longer?" Dany asked.

"No it's fine." I reassured her softly. "I think I've idled long enough." I stretched out my body and winced lightly. I had some sores, and my muscles felt tight, but it felt no different than any other time I could recall waking up after laying still for a long time.

"What are you going to do Viserys?" My new little sister asked me and I pondered the question for a while. What was I going to do?

!Quest Started!

First Steps

You've gained your bearings, now it's time to build a foundation and make your First Steps in this strange new world.

Objectives:

Raise 2000 Gold: 0/2000

Hire 1 Companion: 0/1

Recruit Fighters to start a Company of your own: 0/15

Quest Rewards: ?

"I'm going to make us some coin." I told Dany while pacing around the room.

"You are going to beg?" She asked and I faltered for a moment before chuckling and shaking my head.

"Not if I don't have too." I looked down at my own body and took note of the clothes that I was wearing. They were finely made, I'm not sure out of what, but they weren't rags and should be worth a bit.

And about that, "do you know how much coin we have left?"

Again she scrunched her face cutely and I had to stop the urge of pinching her cheeks. "A few dozen Gold Dragons...I'm not good with my numbers yet."

I chuckled, "we'll change that soon enough. Can you give me the coin?"

She nodded and quickly ran off. She darted out of the room and I could hear the pitter patter of her feet as she headed for her own room if I had to guess before she came running back with a large leather bag between her hands which she held out to me.

"Thank you." I took the bag, it was a weighty thing, and I briefly wondered where they got it from. Last I remember, after Darry died, their servants stole what little coin they had left.

+250 Gold

"It's the last coin from mother's crown."

...geeze...yeah now I remember. There was that, wasn't there.

"Who did we sell the crown too?" I asked her lightly.

She looked surprised and hopeful, "the spice merchant from Volantis, have you forgotten?"

"Yes, I seem to have. Would you recognize the man if you saw him again?"

She nodded quickly, "good girl." I ruffled her hair and this time she didn't shy back, which made me smile.

"Are we going to buy the crown back?"

Probably not buying perse, but she didn't need to know that, did she? "In time. For now we need to survive until we get the chance to meet the man again, right?"

Again she nodded, a look of determination on her face. I gently weighed the bag I held in my hand before opening it and taking a look inside.

'Damn.' I whistled lowly under my breath, I've never held this much pure gold in my hands. Back in my world this bag would be worth a fortune. This was easily five kilo's of pure gold right here.

"That right here is more than a few dozen coins, sweetie."

"Well...that's because I didn't count. It was a guess, is all." She defended while looking away from me.

"It's no trouble. Just remember to count next time. You should always know how much coin you have before deciding to spend any of it." I said thinking that it was as good a time as any to start imparting some life lessons to my new little sis.

She nodded and fidgeted before me, I guess I was confusing the lass quite a bit with my behavior. I would hope at least. One things for certain, I wouldn't become known as an abusive asshole like the actual Viserys was.

Now then. I had 250 Gold. That was something at least. I'm not sure of the exact value a gold coin had, but I think it was something like two or three hundred silver. Or a few thousand copper.

Gold Dragons- equal to 210 Silver Stags, or 11,760 Copper Pennies.

Silver Stags – equal to 56 Copper Pennies

Copper Pennies – also commonly encountered is the "Halfpenny" coin, worth half a Copper Penny, and the "Copper Star" which is worth 8 Normal Pennies.

Thanks System, but damn if this system of currency isn't confusing, and I still didn't know exactly how much my coin was actually worth.

"Can I help you with something?" Dany asked me making me look at her. "You look like you are troubled by something."

"I am." I told her openly. "If you were to go into the markets of Lys, what's the most expensive thing that you could buy?"

"Pleasure Slave's, it's what Lys is famous for." Her answer was quick and it took my breath away.

"Of course." I muttered, fucking hell, almost forgot which world this was. "What's a pleasure slave worth exactly?"

"A lot." She said, "I don't know the numbers, but I saw an auction happen while you were asleep. A merchant bought a pair pleasure slaves, and payed in chests filled with gold and gemstones, bundles of silk and a dozen common slaves and three dozen horses."

Fucking hell.

"Let me rephrase," I massaged my temples lightly. "What's the cheapest thing you can buy?"

"Slaves." Again her answer was quick and depressing.

"What?" I looked at her through my fingers, feeling a headache approaching.

"I saw someone trade an elderly slave for a chicken." She said as if that was normal.

I felt bile rise up my throat and had the sudden urge to burn this city to the ground, which not going to lie, I might do once I had the power to do it.

The next best thing to killing nazi's in games, had to be killing bandits and slavers. I guess I would find out if that was the case in real life too.

But I guess asking Dany wouldn't help me in this situation, and I did want to move my legs a bit, so might as well go out into the city myself and have a look.

"C'mon sweetie, let's head out for a walk." I told Daenerys, reaching out to grab her hand. "Stay close to me, alright?"

She nodded and squeezed my hand, a strange look on her face as we both headed out of the door and into the foyer of the inn.

~XxX~

[Dany]

Her brother was acting strange. She didn't mind it but he was acting strange, she hoped whatever flight of fancy had him behave like this would last. He made her feel safe almost, as she was walking beside him, holding his hand tightly.

They walked out of the inn she had bought a room in and she was hti by the salty breeze coming up from the bay. The square brick towers of Lys were black silhouettes outlines against the setting sun. Dany could hear the singing of the red priests as they lit their night fires and the shouts of ragged children playing games echoed from some ally to the side. For a moment she wished she could be out there with them, barefoot and breathless and dressed in tatters, with no past and no future.

As that thought, her secret wish, passed through her mind she looked over at her brother. He stood taller, walked straighter, and he no longer looked as gaunt as she remembered. Different, that was what he seemed like.

Stronger.

She didn't know if that was a good thing.

Her brother, the Prince, and she the princess. As Viserys led them through the bustling streets of Lys, passing so many colorful people and downtrodden slaves, her mind wandered, to somewhere beyond the sunset, across the narrow sea. To a land of green hills and flowered plains and great rushing rivers, where towers of dark stone rose amidst magnificent blue-grey mountains, and armored knights rode to battle beneath the banners of their lords. The Dothraki called that land Rhaesh Andahli, the land of the Andals. In the Free Cities, they talked of Westeros and the Sunset Kingdoms. Her brohter had a simpler name.

Our Land, he called it. The words were like a prayer with him. If he said them enough, the gods were sure to hear. Ours by blood right, taken from us by treachery, but ours still, ours forever. You do not steal from the dragon, oh no, the dragon remembers.

And perhaps the dragon did remember, but Dany could not. She had never seen this land her brother said was theirs, this realm beyond the narrow sea. These places he talked of, Casterly Rock and the Eyrie, Highgarded and the Vale of Arryn, Dorne and the Isle of Faces, they were all just words to her. Viserys had been a boy of eight when they fled Kings Landing to escape the advancing armies of the Usurper, but Daenerys had been only a quickening in their mothers womb.

Yet sometimes Dany would picture the way it had been, so often had her brother told her the stories. The midnight flight to Dragonstone, moonlight shimmering on the ship's black sails. Her brother Rhaegar battling the Usurper in the bloody waters of the Trident and dying for the woman he loved. The sack of Kings Landing by the ones Viserys called the Usurper's dogs, the lords Lannister and Stark. Princess Elia of Dorne pleading for mercy as Rhaegar's heir was ripped from her breast and murdered before her eyes. The polished skills of the last dragons starting down sightlessly from the walls of the throne room while the Kingslayer opened Father's throat with a golden sword.

She had been born on Dragonstone nine moons after their flight, while a raging summer storm threatened to rib the island fastness apart. They said that the storms was terrible. The Targaryen fleet was smashed while it lay at anchor, and huge stone blocks were ripped from the parapets and sent hurtling into the wild waters of the narrow sea. Her mother had died birthing her, and for that her bother Viserys had never forgiven her. She did not remember Dragonstone either. They had run again, just before the Usurper's brother set sail with his new-built fleet. By then only Dragonstone itself, the ancient seat of their House, had remained of the Seven Kingsdoms that had once been theirs. It would not remain for long. The garrison had been prepared to sell them to the Usurper, but one night Ser Willem Darry and four loyal men had broken into the nursery and stolen them both, along with her wet nurse, and set sail under cover of darkness for the safety of the Braavosian coast.

She remembered Ser Willem dimly, a great bear of a man, half-blind, roaring and bellowing orders from his sickbed. The servants had lived in terror of him, but he had always been kind to Dany. He caleld her "Little Princess" and sometimes "My Lady," and his hands were soft as old leather. He never left his bed, though, and the smell of sickness clung to him day and night, a hot, moist, sickly sweet odor. That was when they lived in Braavos, in the big house with the red door. Dany had her own room there, with a lemon tree outside her window. After Ser Willem had died, the servants had stolen what little money they had left, and soon after they had been put out of the big house. Dany had cried when the red door closed behind them forever.

They had wandered since then, from Braavos to Myr, from Myr to Tyrosh, and on to Qohor and Volantis and then Lys, never staying long in any one place. Her brother would not allow it. The Usurper's hired knifes were close behind them, he insisted, though Dany had never seen one.

At first the magisters and archons and merchant princes were pleased to welcome the last Targaryens to their homes and tables, but as the years passed and the Usurpers continued to sit upon the Iron Throne, doors closed and their lives grew meaner. Years past they had been forced to sell their last few treasures, and now even the coin they had gotten from Mother's crown was nealry gone. In the alleys and wine sinks, they called her brother "the beggar king." Dany did not want to know what they called her. We will have it all back someday, sweet sister, he would promise her. Sometimes his hands shook when he talked about it. The jewels and the silks, Dragonstone and King's Landing, the Iron Throne and the Seven Kingdoms, all they have taken from us, we will have it back.

Viserys lived for that day. All that Dany wanted back was the big house with the red door, the lemon tree outside her window, the childhood she had never known.

"What are you thinking about that has got you looking so sad?" Dany was startled and looked up at Viserys and then her breath caught in her throat. He was smiling at her in a way that she couldn't remember seeing from him, the setting sun behind him making that image that much more ethereal.

He was different, no other way about it.

"I was thinking of Braavos, the big house with the red door and Ser Willem." She said and studied his face. His smile slipped and his eyes glazed in sadness and then she felt his hand on her hair, big and warm, tussling her silver locks, it felt good.

"I'm sorry." he said and Dany didn't know what he was sorry about. It was not his fault that the servants had stolen their coin back then. "I should've been a better brother to you, but don't worry, that's going to change from now on."

Was it really? Still she nodded at him, she knew better than to question her brother when he wove his web of dream. His anger was a terrible thing when roused. Viserys called it "waking the dragon."

"What are we going to do at the marked big brother?" She dared to ask despite knowing that it might be a terrible idea, and yet he only turned to her with a pleasant look to his demeanor.

"We are just going to have a look and maybe we'll find a way to make us some more coin while we do that."

"Are we not going to introduce ourselves to the Magisters of Lys?" Again she asked, finding comfort and courage in his calm and gentle expression.

"No, it's high time that we stop relying on the charity of some pampered asses who don't give a shit about either you or me." She blinked and blinked again in wonder. That was not something she expected to hear from Viserys.

Her brother loved the attention he received from the wealthy merchants and magisters of the Free Cities. Viserys also liked the fine things, getting pampered by the slaves and servants of their hosts, and taking their women to bed. She had thought that that was something he could not go without.

She was silent as they walked through the markets of Lys, watching how her brother sampled various good, recoiling at the look in his eyes whenever they came across an auction of slaves or whores. They woke the dragon, she shivered, though, her brother collected himself every-time. Visibly leashing his anger and moving on steadfast.

They came across an ironmonger and her brother had asking him what he would give for his cuff-links. They haggled and then Viserys sold them for five honors. They moved on to another merchant, this one selling fabrics and dyes. Dany watched her brother haggle again, for his clothes, the clothes he wore.

He sold them, his finery and boldly undressed right then and there, giving away his silks and leathers, and his shoes, selling all of it for a couple of Gold Honors.

Dany was aghast.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, her voice small and again her brother gave her that small smile that was so unlike him even as he dressed in some rags he had bought for a handful of coppers.

"Because the fabris of the clothes was expensive." Ha said as if that explained everything. "The coin serves us better then looking pretty does. But don't worry, I'm not going to sell your clothes if that's what you worry about."

What happened to the Viserys she knew? Did the sickness change him so that she could hardly recognize the man that stood before her? Was it wrong of her to hope that her brother could stay like this?

Perhaps.