People covered their eyes as the light got brighter, anticipation building to see who had been brought to watch the future with them. It had to be someone important to the story, someone who plays a major role in one or many lives.
It could be an ally.
Or it also be an enemy.
As the people wondered who it could be, as the names rolled through their heads, the light began to die down from a blinding blaze to a dim warmth.
And then it died completely.
People moved their hands from their eyes.
There stood the woman who had kneed Robert in the balls, in a better mood than before. She was grinning ear to ear and practically glowing.
And there was the man who brought them all here, looking slightly ruffled and out of breath. But still serene in a way with his wings fluttering like he stood opposing the wind.
And in the middle of the two stood a man taller than the woman but not as tall as the man. His skin was milk-white, his hair long and white, and his single visible eye red like wine. On the right side of his face, he had a wine stain blotch mark, not a burn but a mark, that extended from the throat up to his right cheek. He was not so muscular, leaning more to the lean side and had a grim forbidding aspect with sharp, vaguely sinister features. He wore a scarlet tunic with black boots and a smoke-coloured cloak.
Most of them mistook him for a Targaryen at first.
None of them recognized who the man was.
But all of them couldn't help but be wary of him.
"Now you behave," said the woman to the albino man, her slitted serpentine eyes pinning him with a warning look. "What you watch will be important. And it will show you that your inclination to not involve yourself sooner has consequences.
The man remained silent, moving in silence to a corner of the hall far from the rest.
"Who… is he?" Jon Snow questioned, flinching when the woman's eyes snapped to him. But she was grinning, so he was able to feel calm.
"Someone important, I can assure you," the woman said calmly and kindly, "he can be a great asset to you all against what is coming for you."
None of them asked what she meant. They already knew the threat.
The woman grabbed her husband's hand and the two vanished with a burst of bright white light.
It took a moment for them all to collect themselves.
Ned was the first to move, making a beeline for Robert who had a dazed look on his face. He grabbed the man by the shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.
"We need to talk. Now."
Robert did not argue, knowing well enough that the tone meant Ned did not want to hear an argument against his demand.
"Jon" Ned motioned to his foster father, "Stannis and Renly, join us please."
The three men nodded and stood.
The five walked to the door and one after the other they walked through it. Ned stopped before he did.
"Lady Joanna, please join us as well."
The Lannister woman was taken by surprise. But she was gracious in her acceptance of the offer and followed.
"Daenerys, we need to have a little talk as well," Rhaegar said to his little sister.
The youngest Targaryen stared up at the oldest and gave a stiff nod.
"I'll join you," Elia said, challenging Rhaegar to argue her decision.
He did not.
Instead, he invited two more people to join him.
Doran and Oberyn were only slightly surprised.
With Ned and his Group
Tense silence welcomed Ned when he walked into Jon's chambers, which turned quickly to something more volatile from Robert when Joanna Lannister walked in.
"What is she doing here?" Robert snarled.
"I asked her to be here" Ned answered coldly, deciding to meet Robert's explosive anger with his dead cold façade. It worked in the past, so he hoped it worked now. "She is needed for our discussion."
"What is there to discuss? Cersei and Jaime die once we return" Robert grunted.
"They will" Ned agreed. "But you still owe Lady Joanna an apology for the way you handled her."
Robert's face reddened.
Ned's eyes turned cold.
"Regardless of who you are now, of what sins her children commit, you had no right to attack her like you did."
"I told her to move aside."
"To assault my grandchildren" Joanna hissed. "What grandmother in their right mind would let someone assault their grandchildren?!"
"They are bastards!"
"So is Mya" Ned said coldly.
Robert's glare turned to Ned.
"Careful Ned-"
"No. you will listen to what I have to say. The children are not at fault for the shit their parents have done. They did not ask for them to cuck you, they did not ask to be born through incest, and they definitely never saw you as anything other than their father."
"But I'm not am I" Robert laughed, booming and hollow. "Robert fucking Baratheon! King of the Seven Kingdoms, Demon of the Trident, Slayer of Dragons! Cucked by his wife and her brother! I have no legitimate children, Ned! Do you understand that? I have no heirs!"
"You have an heir" Ned said smoothly, motioning to Stannis with his gaze. "You have him Dragonstone for that reason, did you not? Because he was your heir. That has not changed has it?"
Robert looked at Stannins and Stannis looked back at Robert.
"It's not the same" the man grunted, falling back on his ass on the bed. "I have no children, Ned! I… I thought that maybe I had a chance at redemption. That with the children I could help undo the damage I did all these years as King who sulked and drowned himself in wine and whores because the woman he loved was taken from him. Another lie which is" he laughed, gentle but broken. "What do I live for now? No wife, no children, my brothers have their own lives, you have your own life, what do I have? Nothing! I am alone, Ned. Cucked, used, and a fat lump of waste! My whole life has absolutely no meaning."
Ned's cold gaze wavered and warmth seeped in. The man took a seat beside his long-time friend.
"You are not nothing" he told the man fiercely. "You are Robert fucking Baratheon, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, King of the Andals and the Firstmen, Protector of the Realm. You're the most powerful man in the realm, a man who can enact severe changes with a single order! You are not some fat lump of waste. You're just fat."
Robert snorted.
"I am fat, aren't I."
Robert looked up at Joanna Lannister.
"I- apologize for harming you. I do not have much control over myself when I'm angry. This is why I have Jon here with me to mitigate any damages I might do in my anger when performing my duties as King. I apologise."
Joanna only nodded, lips pursed. It was the only thing she could have done.
Especially because she needed to be on their good side for what she was about to ask of them.
The woman fell to her knees.
Robert and Ned both stood in shock.
"I ask for mercy for Myrcella and Tommen" the woman pleaded, her tone desperate. "They are only children, they do not know of any of this. They are both equally as shocked when they find out. Please, your Grace, spare them. Let them live."
"Stand" Joanna raised her head to see Robert looking slightly uncomfortable.
"The children may live… but I will declare them bastards and have no part in raising them. They are not my bastards for me to worry about."
"Your Grace" Joanna nodded. "Allow them to be raised as Lannisters."
"You think Tywin Lannister would accept them?" Renly questioned.
"Tywin is not here. He is irrelevant to the future."
The declaration surprised all.
"What are you trying to say?"
Joanna looked up and met Jon Arryn's eyes.
"Those gathered here, we were all chosen for specific reasons. Those of us who are dead are here for comfort and lessons for the living and nothing more. Those that were not brought here are not needed for the future the man with wings wants to see. Tywin is not here, Cersei is not here, Joffrey is not here."
"Speak plainly, woman" Stannis snapped. But he already had an idea of what she wished to say.
"I wish for Tyrion to succeed Tywin as soon as possible, and once he does please, naturalise Myrcella and Tommen as Lannisters. Tyrion will raise them both to be better people than what their parents were."
"You wish to kill your husband? The strongest man in the seven kingdoms after the King and the Hand?" Renly asked.
"I love Tywin with everything I have, but this is a matter of the future for the House, for my grandchildren. I can't allow for my husband's bullheadedness to ruin them all."
The chamber turned silent for a moment.
"You know, Lady Joanna, you might be just as ruthless and cutthroat as your husband," Renly said with a smirk.
The Targaryens and Martells
They all gathered in Daenerys' chambers.
"This does not look like the chambers we saw you in when we first started watching" Oberyn observed.
"This was my chambers in the first house we lived in when we came to Essos. The only place I call home."
Rhaegar frowned.
"What do you want to speak about?"
Daenerys' question snapped Rhaegar's attention back wholly to her. The girl was waiting for him to speak, with a level of confidence he hadn't seen the first time around.
That he was happy about.
"It's about what you said."
"When?"
"When Viserys was killed."
Daenerys blinked.
"That fire can't kill a dragon?"
"No, about him deserving it."
Daenerys raised an eyebrow.
"He did deserve it."
"He's your brother."
"And I'm his sister" Daenerys pressed with a slight glare. "He still had no problems pointing a sword at my belly and threatening to cut my baby out of me. And me being happy he dies in the future is what's bothering you?!"
Rhaegar went to speak, but Elia stepped in with a look at her husband.
"Your brother means well, even if he is not the best at saying it."
Rhaegar went to complain but Elia gave him a look and he just sighed and nodded.
"What he means is, even if Viserys does deserve it, do not let vengeance take root inside of you. It is an ugly emotion and it burns everything good about anyone. It changes a person into something that nobody will recognise."
Daenerys stared at the woman before nodding softly.
"I know" Daenerys whispered. "Viserys was… not always like this. When we were younger he used to play with me, read me stories and tell me all about the history and glory of House Targaryen. Which I've now learned was a biased point of view" Daenerys shook his head. "It all changed once he had to sell Mother's crown. He changed completely."
"He became obsessed with revenge" Elia added and Daenerys nodded. The woman smiled and ruffled her hair. Then she turned to her husband.
"I don't think you need to worry about her dear" Elia said with a smile.
Rhaegar smiled back, smiling also at Daenerys who smiled back at him.
"All of this fine and all, but why are we here?" Oberyn asked.
Rhaegar turned to his good brother.
"I wished to ask you to lend support to my sister when she needs it" Rhaegar lowered his head. "My brother Viserys is not the man he should be, and Daenerys is in danger around him. I want you to rescue her from him the moment we return. Before he sells her off to the Horselord."
"She seemed to be quite happy with her Khal" Oberyn pointed out, his sharp eyes shifting to Daenerys.
The girl held his gaze a moment before lowering them.
"She got used to her situation and made herself believe this was the best she could have" Elia cut in easily. "She does not deserve that brute. She is a Princess and she will have someone who deserves her."
"Like Rhaegar's son?" Doran raised a brow.
"My son? Aegon is dead" Rhaegar said blankly.
Oberyn snorted and Doran just gave his sister a look.
Elia sighed.
"Gods damnit you two."
Viewing Hall
The future was set in stone, his being here made no sense.
Yet those that brought him were not human, higher beings no doubt with what they achieved. They were even able to heal him to the extent he felt like he was back in his prime.
"Excuse me."
The man's lone eye looked up to find a boy before him.
Brandon Stark.
"You seem familiar."
The man smiled slightly.