A New Path
Disclaimer: I don't own Baldur's Gate 3 or Game of Thrones. Nuff said.
Summary: Fleeing the Githyanki, the Nautiloid makes an unscheduled stop in an undiscovered Realm, much to the horror of the natives. Now, new passengers, new paths and new fates lie in store for Jaime Lannister.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay in updating, but it couldn't be helped. Still alive and writing, but at a snail's pace. Had a couple of bad months, my grandmother was sick and just recently died :( Anyway, for those wondering, I'm still writing the Raven's Plan, should have written that instead of this chapter, but my muse disagreed and said write this chapter. Anyway, so many fun things happen here, it demanded to be written. Heh, what can you do? So hope you all enjoy this chapter, Jaime is going to be freaking out a LOT now ;D
Chapter 3
Jaime looked at the scene before him, "What the FUCK!"
'We are here…' the voice repeated, ignoring Jaime's expletive, 'Free us'.
A voice beseeching them to help in their minds leading them to the tortured remains of a man missing the top of his skull.
Jaime never had his brother's gift for words, only a long string of expletives came to his mind as Jaena continued to speak with whatever this abomination was as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Jared stood a step behind them, mute and staring at the exposed brain, clutching his crossbow to his chest with all his strength to keep from running away.
Jaena suddenly reached forward, fingers sliding into fleshy gaps between the brain and skull, grasping the brain with her bare hands.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Jaime gasped in horror.
Jaena looked at him and winked rakishly, "Don't worry." The next second, she reached in and with deft hands pulled the brain from the skull of the dead man. She then focused on the brain for a moment before suddenly sticking her thumb into its center. And then she dropped it to the ground.
Jaime frowned, what was the point of all this? Why did she pull out that corpse's brain?
Then suddenly the brain grew limbs like a cat or a dog, flickering tentacles and claws like a shadowcat!
Jaime took a step back in frank fright as Jared let out a yelp of terror.
The voice was speaking in his mind again, We're free!
Jaime stared at the thing in mute horror.
"We have a new friend now," Jaena explained simply, with a placating gesture, "it's going to follow us and help us."
Quickly, come, we must go to the helm, the singsong voice urged them in their minds, the urgency and emotions behind the words could be felt. Quickly, we must help!
Jaime clutched the hilt of his sword with both hands, his knuckles turning white with how hard he was holding on to it, like a lifeline for him to stay sane in the face of the insane and the impossible. He continued staring at the brain with tentacles and claws, unmoving.
Jaena and the brain were speaking now, she was asking questions of it and it was answering, but Jaime wasn't paying attention, his sanity was hanging on by a weak string now.
In what sane world did brains turn into creatures like this? But that was the crux of the matter, the world had gone insane the moment he'd laid eyes upon a kraken flying over King's Landing.
He gulped, and noticed Jaena giving him a concerned look, he felt a flash of images behind his eyes and he felt her concern for him and Jared. For a moment he saw his own face, ashen and white, strained with shock.
He shook the images away, and squared his shoulders, "What now?" he asked, ignoring his questions about the walking brain. Their new companion apparently. He looked at Jared and clapped the lad on the shoulder.
Jared looked at him in surprise. "Tighten up guardsman, you represent House Lannister here! You will not shame us today!" he commanded gruffly.
The surprise vanished and a focused look appeared on Jared's face, "Yes ser!"
Jaena nodded at them, "We might have a way off the ship- either that or we're about to jump into the fire." she finished with a nonchalant shrug.
Jaime grimaced, "It's not like we have a lot of options, do we? This helm, yes? Like the helm of a ship?"
Jaena smiled and nodded, "That's the spirit! And yes, that's it exactly! Forwards then!" she encouraged them enthusiastically, "But first let's search the room, we need more potions and you never know what we might find here," she suggested, though considering how alien the surrounding area was, Jaime took them as orders, whatever else he was, he recognised just how out of his depth he was.
Jaime nodded at Jared and jerked his head to the far side of the room. They spread out and searched as she'd ordered. Jaime kept in mind that what was unimportant to him, might be important in this new and insane world he found himself in.
He didn't see any other bodies or chests. He kept an eye out for potions and potentially magical scrolls as Jaena called them. Apparently, the bottle and scroll he'd discovered in the room he'd awoken in were magical and would be of great use to them.
He searched his side of the room, this was emptier than the one he had awoken in. No chests, just the dead body the creature had grown from. There was a desk, with strange stone slates upon it. He reached out and touched one of the tablets…images assaulted his mind, a thousand years of humanoid history- elves, dwarves, humans and more flashed behind his eyes. Names for creatures he'd never seen or heard of were suddenly in his mind and clear.
"Fuck!" He dropped the tablet back onto the table and reeled back several steps.
"What is it?" Jaena was suddenly by his side.
Jaime pointed at the tablet, "That thing- " he found himself at a loss to describe what had happened.
Jaena followed his finger in confusion that turned into interest and understanding, "Ooohhh! A Rune Slate!"
"What?"
"They're the Illithid versions of books, you don't read them, they psychically implant information in the reader's mind," she explained simply, she picked it up and her eyes became unfocused for a moment, before tucking the tablet in a bag, "We can sell it later for some gold, if we're lucky some collector will pay a pretty price for this and the others I found," she finished gleefully.
Psychically? The word was unknown to Jaime, but the rest of the statement was clear, and highly disturbing. A book had no business getting into his mind all on its own!
"Come on," Jaena pushed him forward, "finish looking around."
Jaime ground his teeth and finished searching, he didn't find anything else, but Jared found another Rune Slate, next to the corpse of some diminutive green monster.
They gathered and prepared to move forward, to continue searching for an escape, the only way forward was through a hole in the damn wall. The scorched edges of the hole left no question of what had blown a hole in the wall.
They approached the hole cautiously, peering out to wherever the Nautiloid had taken them. They could see the clouds passing them by, the wind roaring and drowning out all other sound. Hot air blew in through the hole. There was a ledge and a path under the hole, but little else was apparent from inside.
Jaena shared a look with Jaime before smiling, she winked once and then jumped without hesitation out the hole. Jared let out a strangled yelp at the unexpected action.
"Come on! We don't have all day!" she shouted up at them.
Jaime sighed, their new friend was turning out to be more than expected.
The brain with feet jumped down even as they were watching, and down below Jaena gestured for them to hurriedly join her.
"Come on Jared," Jaime stated unhappily, "It doesn't look like we have a choice." He didn't wait for Jared and jumped down.
The view was clearer here and a short distance past him was the edge of the path. Beyond which was a drop that momentarily made him dizzy. He'd looked down from the highest point of Casterly Rock many times in his life. That height paled in comparison to the view in front of him now.
As Jaime watched a red dragon flew past them, fire blazing from its maw, tail undulating back and forth like a snake and hands rending the air around it. The fire was not directed at the Nautiloid, but at flying creatures that swarmed around it. Large and small flying creatures swarmed the dragon.
Down below was a desolate volcanic landscape, red and dusty, ash tinged the air, even as high up as they were. Heat blasted Jaime's face with every gust of wind. Despite the heat, Jaime was chilled by the sight of two armies battling it out beneath them. Battle Lines were drawn between them as far as the eye could see, warriors and creatures in uncountable numbers, some looked like men, others had forms that defied his understanding. Even from so far away, a distant din of battle could be heard.
It was like a scene out of the Ages of Heroes, not something that he ever imagined seeing with his own eyes.
"Fuckity, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!" Jaena cursed loudly.
Jamie managed to draw his eyes away from the battlefield visa that spread out as far as the eye could see. She looked unnerved. Up until this point their new companion had seemed unflappable. Seeing her now unnerved did nothing for his own fear. Today was a day of many firsts, fear, actual fear was something he truly hadn't experienced in a long time.
"Dark Maiden protect us. I know where we are. This is…Avernus." she stated the name with ominous tones.
"Avernus?" he questioned unsettled.
"We're in the first and outermost layer of the Nine Hells, the archdevil Zariel rules here," she explained simply, the simplicity of the words belied the meaning and import of them.
"We're in the Hells?!" Jaime screeched, his voice sounding far too high toned to his ears. Every sin he'd committed, every oath broken, came rushing back at him, bringing his mind to a screeching halt.
"What do you mean Nine Hells?! There's only seven!" Jared exclaimed in disbelief.
Jaena gave Jared a strange look, before shaking her head, "No there's nine; Avernus, Dis, Minauros, Phlegethos, Stygia, Malbolge, Maladomini, Cania, Nessus. The Nine Hells."
Nine Hells? Sure, why not? Considering all the evil bastards he knew, seven hells were probably not enough to house them all. Two extra hells might not be enough either, a small part of his mind thought.
"How can we be in the Hells? How do you know?" Jared asked before pausing and leaning in to whisper in terror, "Are we dead?"
"You don't have to be dead to visit the Hells," she explained simply. She pointed out to the warring armies, "Plus, that's the Blood War out there."
The hairs on the back of Jaime's neck rose, "What's the Blood War?" he asked apprehensively.
"It's the war between the Devils of the Hells and the Demons of the Abyss," she breathed heavily, "They've been at it since…well…Forever."
Jaime used to be a man that didn't keep much stock in the Gods. The Seven had never really been real to him- at least before today. Standing in the Hells, Jaime suddenly found himself wondering about a lot of things he'd never really believed in. At this point he was far, far beyond unsettled. More importantly, what the fuck was the Abyss?!
His eyes turned back to the warring armies, getting lost in the butchery of the war.
Jaena shook him out of his apparent stupor, "We have to move, we're out of the frying pan and in the fire now- but I'm not ready to give up now, are you?" she asked him pointedly.
Jaime stared at her for a moment, finding his faculties again, "No…no. I am not ready to give up." He clenched his fist and shook his paralysis. He looked around again and caught sight of Jared, pale as a white sheet, and swaying with every gust of wind, a mere moment away from keeling over in shock.
He walked over to him and slapped the side of Jared's helmet. The boy yelped and brought up his crossbow preparing to attack, Jaime grabbed it with one hand and held it away from him, "Good reflexes, we've got places to go."
Jared blinked and gulped, "Yes ser."
Jaime turned back to Jaena, "Let's go," he commanded grimly.
She nodded and started forward, but apparently interruptions were going to be plenty today.
They took only a few more steps before something shifted above them. He looked up in alarm and saw a creature on a ledge above them. Light flashed across silver armour, catching his eye.
He raised his sword, "Watch out!"
The creature took a prodigious leap, sailing over them and landing quietly in front of them. Yellow green skin with black markings all across her face, a sunken, almost eaten away nose, brownish short hair, and large pointed ears that were almost like a serrated blade. Up close, the creature was obviously female and wearing a shiney heavy breast plate, arm bands and boots, but more importantly she was threatening them with a longsword. She held the sword in guard that he'd never seen before.
She sneered at them, "Abominations, this is your end!" she sneered.
Jaime's head throbbed suddenly and he grabbed at it, lowering his guard. Visions rushed past his mind's eye; a dragon's wing, a silver sword. A flash of Jaime's and Jared's faces seen through the strange woman's eyes.
The strange woman's face turned confused, "My head…what is this?" Suddenly understanding seemed to flash across her face and she smiled toothily, "Tsk'va, you are no thrall! Vlaakith blesses me this day, together we might survive."
"What?" Jaime asked in confusion. Jaena's eyes were filled with suspicion as she scrutinised the yellow skinned woman.
"We carry Mind Flayer parasites. Unless we are cleansed- our bodies and minds will be tainted and twisted. Within days we will be ghaik. Mind Flayers."
Jaime blinked and took a deep breath, what the bloody fuck! "What the fuck is a Mind Flayer?!" he roared in rage.
"Illithids," Jaena explained with one word, not taking her eyes off the woman. "Mind Flayers are Illithids"
"K'chakhi, fool of a man, that does not matter now! First we must exterminate the imps," she gestured ahead, "Then we find the helm and take control of the ship. We will address the matter of a cure for this infection once we reach the Material plane. Htak'a!"
Sure, why not? It was one more insane thing in this new world! He felt like his skin was trying to crawl off his bones. Abducted and transformed into whatever these Illithids or Mind Flayers are…what a fate for a noble son of House Lannister. And Mind Flayer? That sounded worse than Illithids- far, far worse. And what in the Nine Hells is the Material plane?!
And I am not turning into a fucking Mind Flayer!
Jaime gritted his teeth scornfully, "Fine- we kill these…imps. We're wasting time, let's go," He snarled back at the woman.
The woman sneered back at him, dismissing him with her eyes before gesturing them all forwards.
"Come on," Jaena whispered tersely to him, her eyes still locked on the other woman, "we can trust her, for now…"
Author's Notes: Hope you all enjoyed this! :) So Jaime's worldview has been completely shattered here. And his sanity is hanging on by a very frayed thread. Expect him to lose his shit soon! ;D lol. Jaime's mental remarks may have been a little repetitive, but I did that on purpose, to demonstrate the simplistic mind he has, especially compared to Tyrion. Ok, I'm tempted to make a Jared POV next chapter, though that'll just be more work without really advancing the plot. I'll have to think about that. Tell me what you think! :)