A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts

by Jebest4781

Venturing outside of the Heart of his Somebody, a Nobody enters a World where it's at the brink of self destruction. Will he be able to handle and survive the Game of Thrones. Rated M for language, violence, etc. Pairings hidden at current time. KHXGoT/ASoIaF CoWritten by free man writer. Cover Image by Carlos M. Please leave reviews.

27. Great Houses

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Disney, Square-Enix, Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire or anything else. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Writing/Singing

"Foreign Language/Flashback"

-Scene Shift-

Chapter 27: Great Houses

Jon Snow felt weightless as he drifted down into the endless black abyss around him.

This place… he had been here before.

The Dive to… wherever it is that he kept showing up at.

-Insert Kingdom Hearts II: Dive Into The Heart-

Turning himself around in the air to face downward, Jon saw the familiar platform of the artistic rendition of him with the five smaller circles of the five individuals that signified those who have connected to him on a personal level others have not.

Robb, Arya, Lord Stark, Ghost and Roxas.

Even though it was good to see some familiar faces, even if it was through such means, Jon was tired of reverting to such means.

For the majority of his visits to this place, he'd only shown up here and ended up fighting Heartless that would plague his slumber. There was no exploration as to why this kept happening nearly every time.

And when he wasn't fighting, he would be questioned by phantoms of those he'd met throughout his life.

It was rather maddening, yet therapeutic.

Since he'll never really "meet" most these people ever again, unless he becomes a Ranger, he would vent his frustrations and give his thoughts about them; more towards those he has such frustrations which he kept within himself.

This often lets him wake up either satisfied or disturbed in some cases.

One instance dealt with Lady Catelyn's phantom, firmly expressing his feelings and thoughts towards her. He told her it's unfair on how she treats him, but explains his reasons as to why he doesn't want to openly react to her treatment towards him or else he would end up proving what claims there are towards him.

A hostile bastard trying to usurp his full blooded siblings.

Jon is the complete opposite as he loves them dearly. He would never wish to truly upset them and take what is rightfully theirs. All he wants from them is their acceptance and love.

Practically everyone in Winterfell and some parts of the North knows of this.

And yet Lady Catelyn thinks otherwise.

At the end of that little triade, he never got the lady phantom's response as he would storm away and not witness whatever response she would give him.

And yet prior to the end of these sessions, he would always see this one simple, yet beautiful woman no older than him. With her shoulder length, rich brown hair and slightly round face.

She never says a thing, yet Jon feels like she desperately wants to.

Whenever he gazes into her warm brown eyes, he keeps seeing utter love behind them as they are aimed towards him.

The woman would then fade away as he would wake up not long after, leaving him in a state of confusion on who she is and why she was there in the first place.

One again, maddening.

Gazing towards the stained glass platform once more, Jon could only question his present circumstance.

Would this visit be either fighting or questioning? Or would it be both on the rare occurrences?

He would surely know rather soon.

Gently landing upon the familiar platform, Jon looked around, silent and waiting as he was expecting something to happen.

For the first few seconds, nothing occurred other than a strange sense of ambient noise that he "heard" but couldn't quite "hear".

If that made any sense.

This whole place barely made sense as is.

And he had been fighting shadowy creatures of Darkness and is now standing at a wall that was undoubtedly built by magic.

He wasn't a skeptic after everything he had seen Roxas perform.

Walking forward, stained glass staircases appeared before him leading to another large tower. Without hesitation, Jon began running up the glass staircase before arriving at the next platform.

As usual, it was of him with the five individuals he connected with the most; only the coloring of the platform was more white and blue then the black and grey of the first one.

Strange.

He figured after taking the Black, the platform would reflect this change. Still, the surrounding void was black and endless so there that was.

Seeing as nothing was happening, he steeled himself for what may-

"Jon?"

The Bastard blinked.

That was a voice.

A clear and distinct voice that he heard with his ears rather than his mind.

Someone was here!

Jon began to desperately look around.

"Hello? Who was that? Is anyone there?"

"Jon? Jon is… is that you?"

It took him a moment as he squinted his eyes and concentrated on that voice. It was of a young boy no doubt. Actually, now that he thought about it… that voice was way too familiar.

"Jon!" The voice said in elation. "It is you!"

Wait… there was no doubt in his mind.

He knew this voice.

He had grown up with it in Winterfell, watching over him since he was a babe up until the final day that he would see him before going to the Wall.

"Bran?" Joan croaked at him with a thought coming soon after. 'My Bran?'

He dared not hope. No... This couldn't be possible.

There was no way this was his Bran because the "Bran" he kept seeing in this place was just a phantom and hardly made any reactions at all after whatever short conversation there was before "Bran" faded away.

This didn't seem to be the case when he soon stumbled in his step back, halting him from falling onto his ass. And he firmly felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist with a head below his ribs.

"Jon, it's me."

The Bastard of Winterfell didn't know if this was real or a fantasy, but he didn't care right now. All he did now was wrapping his little brother in a hug with tears slowly forming in his eyes.

Joy slowly filled his heart from the embrace.

"Bran." Jon spoke with a shaky but joyful voice, holding his brother closely in a tight hug that his little brother returned.

"I've missed you, Jon." Bran said, tears of his own flowing down his cheeks. "Why weren't you there with Robb when I woke up?"

"I… I…"

Jon didn't know how to answer that because quite frankly, he didn't want to. Much as he despised how Lady Stark treated him, he could never say anything against her due to his love and devotion to his siblings. They didn't need to know what their mother was doing to him.

No, having them in his life was enough to get him through those harsh days.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Bran." Jon said, stroking his younger brother's hair. "But, I'm here… now… whatever this place is supposed to be."

When he first got the letter upon learning of Bran's awakening, Jon couldn't contain his smile. And said smile threatened to break his face in half when he read the details that Bran was able to walk again.

Despite not having taken his oath just yet, Jon wanted to ride back down to Winterfell right then and there and see Bran.

But now...

"How… How is this possible?"

"My friend."

Jon broke the embrace and looked at his little brother with a questioning look.

"Your friend?"

"He's referring to me."

Looking towards the source, Jon saw a young woman who appeared to be around the same age as Sansa. Her shoulder length blonde hair was like Lannister gold; perhaps even lighter and brighter. Her eyes were bright blue which held much warmth and kindness.

And her attire was the strangest thing he'd seen, being a pure white dress which reached her mid-thighs to reveal much of her legs. On the top of her dress, it was cut off at the shoulders with only two small straps along the shoulders holding it in place. And her footwear was a pair of white laced sandals.

"Who… are you?" Jon asked in bewilderment.

This girl didn't seem all that threatening, especially with that disarming smile of hers.

"A friend…"

She took a moment to glance down at the artistic rendition of Jon, eye's going over a specific individual within the circle of five that surrounded Jon's head.

"You know Roxas?"

Jon blinked, looking at the picture of the boy and then back up at the girl. "How do you know of him?"

"He and I have a history," she said enigmatically as she changed subjects. "I admit it's rather surprising to see you here of all places, but there have been stranger things to occur at the Station."

"Station?"

"The Station of Awakening. It's what this place is called." Said the blond girl.

"You know Roxas." Jon murmured. "And you know Bran… Who are you?"

"My name is Namine." The girl introduced herself. "And you're Bran's older brother Jon."

"I am." Jon nodded.

"Namine has been helping me, Jon." Bran spoke up.

"Helping you? With what?"

"From falling." Came the young pup's answer. "Every time I… sleep, I keep falling. It feels like forever with this bird cawing at me. Cawing at me to fly, but I just can't. But Namine shows up and saves me every time."

Most of what Bran had said didn't really make sense to him but Jon could tell how grateful his little brother was to this girl. She clearly must be helping him internally with dreams and if he were being honest with himself… it's insane how much that made sense to him.

Look at where he was right now, for Gods' sake.

"I guess I should thank you then." Jon said, Namine responding only with a cheerful smile.

"Think nothing of it. I'm only doing what should be done."

"But… how did you meet?"

Namine's hand hovered over her chest. "He… reached out and without realizing it, I responded."

"What's this about cawing and falling?" Jon asked, now standing up with his brother by his side."

Namine scrunched her face up into one of annoyance. "Just a bothersome raven who doesn't know how to be direct with his message."

"What now?"

"It's weird to explain, Jon." Bran answered making his brother snort.

"Weird you say?" Jon said, gesturing to their surroundings. "Weirder than this?"

Bran gave his older brother a smile in return.

Jon smiled back before he frowned slightly, looking back up to the girl he had just met.

"Namine." she perked her head up a bit. "You called this place… the Station of Waking?"

"Awakening." She clarified.

"Right… what does that even mean?" He asked. "I know I fell asleep at the Wall. How is this the Station of Awakening if this is happening in my dreams?"

"To simply put it, it's a place that represents your Heart."

Jon was flabbergasted on the answer. "You must be jesting. How can this place-"

"I mean what I said, Jon." Namine said. "For everyone, it's different to a degree. But you are a special case that stands apart from most."

"How?"

"It's difficult to explain." Namine admitted. "Something that I myself don't fully understand at times but it is the truth. This place is the manifestation of your Heart."

Jon took a moment to look at his artistic glass rendition of himself and the five occupied circles that were around his head. He then gazed about the emptiness that surrounded them.

"Not much in here." He couldn't help but jest, eliciting a giggle out of Namine and a laugh out of Bran.

Hearing his little brother laugh again warmed Jon's Heart to its core.

He didn't think he'd ever hear it again but hearing it now gave him such peace within himself…

He couldn't really describe it.

Just as he felt comfort wash over him, he heard Namine sigh aloud.

"I wish we had more time right now." She said dejectedly.

Jon tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

All he got was a forlorn smile. "Be careful Jon. It's going to be difficult for you but keep to your bonds that you have made with your Heart. It will keep you strong in the darkest of nights."

Jon didn't really have the chance to ask what she meant by that. A moment later, light started filling the space as both Bran and Namine disappeared from his sight.

"No!" he called out. "Wai-"

-Waking World; Castle Black, The Wall-

Waking up with a groan, Jon blurry opened his eyes. He soon closed them back up and held the blanket closer to him in order to keep himself warm. Hoping he can return to his state of slumber a little while longer.

Sadly, that wasn't the case when Ghost trotted up to him and started nudging his head towards his human companion's.

"Go away." Jon grumbled.

Ghost didn't respond as such, merely licking his rough tongue onto the bastard's face.

"Ah, alright alright." Said Jon. "Just stop."

Prying the sheet off of him, Jon was in the sleepwear he'd grown to wearing at the northernmost point of Westerosi civilization. Given the deep cold, he needed to basically wear his normal attire and nothing less in order to keep himself warm.

There was no luxury in wearing less in being a place where he lived at now.

Soon enough, the snores finally reached his ears, making Jon not look around to see the many people he was bunking with.

Seeing as he was up and awake now, the bastard of Winterfell headed out in order to get ready for the day.

At the far edge of the realms of civilization, there lies the largest structure the world has ever seen; standing 700 feet tall and spanning 300 miles.

It is really physically imposing how much the Wall really is, even when so far away. When you approach it from the King's Road, it looms in the distance even when you're still many miles away; stretching up remorselessly into the grey skies above. And the closer you get, the more imposing it becomes as it cuts off your view northward until your vision is filled with ice and snow and sky.

Along the vertical length of the Wall lies an iron cage, large enough for ten fully grown men to fit inside as it's pulled towards the very top and lowered back towards the icy earth below through an attached winch and pulley system. It takes a long time to go either way, more so when it swings back and forth at times due to the gusts of wind. At least it's a whole lot faster than the staircase anchored by beams frozen into the Wall itself.

When reaching the very top, one would need to be extra precautious as one slip up might lead towards one's untimely demise; even if the gravel continuously winched to the top in order to not let that occur. Not to mention one would need to wear extra layers in order to keep a hint of warmth onto themselves as they walk about to and fro.

No one really knows the exact width of the Wall as various parts of it differ at every other area. But about a dozen men, fully armored and standing side by side can walk across the width just fine to some extensions.

There were defensive structures, catapults, cranes, trebuchets and other means to combat against any opposition beyond the Wall. Yet most of them have fallen to disrepair, given they have been frozen over and not been maintained properly.

The Wall was once built by Bran the Builder with the help of both giants and the Children of the Forest and some bits of magic here and there after the First Long Night. Many modern minds would scoff at such a tale, but once seeing the structure up close one could think otherwise on such a feat.

South of the Wall lies Brandon's Gift, a large stretch of land to help out the Night's Watch and any other small villages occupying it; one of which is Mole's Town, the last village to pass prior to reaching the Wall. It's a beautiful area that could seem to be a nice bit of paradise when being stuck at the Wall for so long.

North of the Wall, however, is very opposite to the lands south of the illustrious structure. The view is rather bleak with the snow ever present. For half a mile, the ground is cleared of everything until it hits the Haunted Forest, which stretches as far as the eye can see. Reason for this is so that no wildling can sneak up all that well and have the Night's Watch be alerted of their presence.

Throughout the years, the Night's Watch has been quite the honorable order to join up. So many would take part that each of the nineteen keeps would be filled to the brim. But now only three are manned with only a thousand residents occupying Castle Black, the Shadow Tower and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.

Out of the nineteen original castles and garrisoned keeps stationed along the Wall, Castle Black has and still is the central headquarters of the Black Brotherhood.

Much like the other nineteen forts along the Wall, Castle Black has no curtain walls surrounding it. It was to be a reminder to not just them but the rest of the realm that they solely protect the realms of men from any threats beyond the Wall. Not to mention the Order stays out of the ever-changing politics and turmoil of the South, given they have their own to worry about.

Inside of the structure, there lies a motley collection of mismatched towers made out of various stones and wood; given they had to be repaired quite often over the years with whatever material they could acquire. Below the central keep lies a large oak door, opening up to the barred pathway leading out to the otherside of the Wall.

For countless days, the air was filled with the clanging sound of the resident blacksmith hard at work on his craft. The iron cage being winched by itself to and fro to deliver provisions up to the top. The hubbub of the crows and ravens and the constant bustle of Night's Watchmen going about their endless duties.

This is part of what Jon Snow will be familiarizing himself with now since he came to the Wall and as he'll be living here till his dying day.

After eating his morning meal with everyone else and taking care of his morning tasks, the Bastard of Winterfell was in the training yard, assisting the Master-At-Arms breaking in the newcomers.

"Leg, shoulders, leg." Jon said slowly to the Night's Watch recruit as he was presenting the motions. "Left foot forward… Good. Now pivot as you deliver the stroke, Grenn. Put all your weight behind it."

"You got it, Jon."

"And Pyp, you'll need to have a firmer grip on your sword this time." Jon stated to the other trainee before him. "Not to mention your stance needs more balance."

"I know, I know."

Jon nodded as he and his fellow recruits kept on practicing. In this time, he thought back on things for the upteenth time since arriving at Castle Black.

Everyone knew of the current state of the Night's Watch, with his father being a prominent one. Jon knew his father tried to dissuade him from joining, trying to convince him to travel and enjoy what the world had to offer. Yet the stubbornness in his bloodied veins made him ignore his father's plea and come up to the Wall. But he can only blame himself for not asking the right questions beforehand.

Jon honestly missed his family back in Winterfell, even Lady Catelyn of all people despite her faults.

There was a kind warmth back in Winterfell with its residents having one of their own. Yet here at Castle Black, the warmth was rather scant with the walls quite cold just like most of its residents.

When he first got here, Jon can admit he ended up having a bit of a superiority complex. Here he was, a highborn bastard amongst lower bastards, rapists and thieves as he was well trained against those who weren't. Jon should've gone a bit easier on the new blood, as it were, but he was taking out his frustrations on them during their sparring sessions.

Prior to meeting Roxas, Jon never really had the chance to go all out amongst his peers. He was surrounded by true borns and high borns all his life and it was hard to let things come out. The moment he came through the gates of Castle Black, he let it all flow out.

Jon could only imagine how bad it would've been if he didn't meet Roxas in the first place.

Even if he was well trained by the likes of Ser Rodrik Cassel and Roxas, Jon is no better than any of his peers right now. He was told of this, at first, by Tyrion Lannister and again by his uncle Benjen sometime prior to going north of the Wall in order to perform his First Ranger duties.

"I'm ready to come with you, uncle. I won't let you down."

"You're not going. You're no ranger, Jon." His uncle Benjen said to him on top of the Wall.

"But I'm better than every-"

"Better than no one! Here… a man gets only what he earns when he earns it."

These words stuck with Jon quite well. The latter ones were understandable, but he did question the former.

Eventually Jon decided to reach out and make amends with a number of people he was aggressive towards, soon earning their friendship. After all, they were going to be brothers till their dying day and will be living and working together until their Watch ends.

Grenn was a farmhand throughout his life. His father left him when he was three and lived with his neighbors. He was rather close to his caretaker's daughter, but he was a rare, willing volunteer for the Watch as he left when he felt he couldn't provide her with a happy life.

Pypar, or Pyp for short, was a singer who traveled in a murmur's troupe all over the Seven Kingdoms. He was caught stealing a wheel of cheese near Acorn Hill in the Riverlands, given that he seemingly didn't earn enough coin to help feed his sister one day. He was arrested because of it and was sent to the Wall. Yet this seemed not to be the case as Jon had a feeling there was more to the story Pyp spoke of. But chose to let his fellow recruit tell him when the time was right.

And then there was Eddison Tollett, or Dolorous Edd or just Edd for short. He was once a squire for House Tollett of the Vale as he was of a lesser branch of his family. Edd was one of those rare recruits who volunteered not because of a crime, but out of willingness. He grew tired of his crude House and wanted a way out. And it just so happened around this time did Yoren come around and picked him up to join the rest of the Crows at the Wall sometime prior to Jon's arrival.

Jon could've been alright with Rast, but merely tolerates him. It could've been better if it weren't for the fact for the trainee being a convicted rapist.

Despite him earning a few small friendships and cleaning up his attitude since his arrival, there was one man who bugged Jon the most. A man who seemed to have it out for him in almost every shape and form; Ser Alliser Thorne, the Master-At-Arms of the Night's Watch.

The trainer of the old order was a tough, prickly, stubborn man. One can say part of it was due to the cold nipping out whatever warmth the man once bore prior to coming to the Wall. But in fact it was much sooner than that.

Ser Alliser was a part of House Thorne of the Crownlands in which both he and his family were Targaryen loyalists during Robert's Rebellion. When the Targaryens fell, so too did his House. It didn't have to be, but the Thornes did not want to bend the knee to the newly crowned Robert Baratheon. As a result, the members were given the option to be sent to the gallows or to the Wall. Practically everyone of them died, all except for Alliser.

It was from that did Jon learn of the man's distaste for him. Since Jon was the bastard of Robert's right hand, Ned Stark, Alliser wanted to make things extremely hard for the Night's Watch recruit.

There was a bit of a saving grace from the Master-At-Arms in the form of the order's Lord Commander and resident Maester, Jeor Mormont and Aemon respectively.

The 997th Lord Commander of the ancient order at the Wall was once the Lord of Bear Island. He remembered hearing about "The Old Bear" once years ago as he resigned from his position as the Head of House Mormont in order to join the Night's Watch. Yet there was an incident a while back where his son went into exile, resulting in Jeor's sister -Maege- becoming head of the family. Despite this, "The Old Bear" was able to quickly rise through the ranks and became the leader he is today, earning the respect and giving it where it's due.

Maester Aemon… was a very old blind man. Nearly a century old, made Jon wonder how one, such as him, could even live that long here at the Wall. He's well respected by the older members of the Night's Watch. The Winterfell Bastard learned Aemon loved to read, but due to his blindness, it's ultimately hard to perform the act. It's quite ironic, given Castle Black has an ancient and well-stocked library consisting of thousands of books; some of which are rumored that not even the Citadel have possession of.

Now because of his blindness, Aemon requires the assistance of others to physically read any letters sent to him by messenger-ravens. Though Jon did wonder how the old maester could properly write very clearly without actually seeing the script. The bastard figured it must've been years of trial and error to perfect it.

Jon was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Grenn speak. "What in seven hells is that?"

Jon turned, seeing one of the fattest men he'd ever seen walking beside Ser Alliser, probably twenty stones or so by the looks of it. He didn't know if the gambeson clothing the new arrival wore underneath the training armor would stretch out and break. Even some of the double chin seemed to get sucked into the gambeson jacket of his. And his little sausage like fingers held onto a blunted training sword.

"They'll need an eight hell to fit him in." Pyp jested, earning a laugh from nearly everyone, except for Jon.

"Tell them your name." Alliser ordered the new recruit.

The chubby man complied. "Samwell Tarley… of Horn Hill- I mean, I was of Horn Hill. I've come to take the Black."

"Come to take the black pudding." Rast chuckled out, earning more laughs from the others. But yet again, Jon didn't laugh.

"Well, you couldn't be any worse than you look." Thorne said evenly before turning to Rast. "See what he can do for us."

The convicted rapist complied as he went into a fighting stance. Samwell hesitated for a few moments before following suit. He tried to wear an intimidating face, but Jon could see the worry and timid nature in the Tarly's eyes.

The moment when Rast struck the new recruit with his blunted sword, Samwell yelped several times; falling onto the ground and shaking like a leaf all the while dropping his sword. "I yield!" Shrilled the Tarly. "Pl-Please, no more."

Some of the surrounding trainees laughed at the sight of it, yet again, Jon didn't.

"On your feet." Alliser commanded tiredly. "Pick up your sword." When the new recruit didn't budge away from the snowy dirt, he looked back at Rast. "Hit him till he finds his feet."

When Rast started smacking Samwell with the blunted sword, making him yelp over and over again, the surrounding trainees began to no longer laugh. It was an awkward moment to watch as there was no joyment to watch from it.

Throne halted Rast's assault on the Tarly. "It seems they've run short of poachers and thieves down south." Said the Master-At-Arms. "Now they send us squealing bloody pigs."

Jon Snow took a step forward, which Pyp quickly grasped his shoulder. "Jon, don't." He whispered.

"On your feet." Thorne repeated.

Rast eventually resumed his sparring onslaught on the cowering Tarly, causing Jon to shake off Pip's hand. "Enough! He yielded!" He snapped at both Rast and Thorne. Reaching down, Jon grasped Samwell's arm and hoisted him up.

"Looks like the bastard's in love." Alliser said in a cold, sharp tone seeing Jon drag Samwell off to the side where Grenn, Pyp and Edd stood. "Alright then, Lord Snow, you wish to defend your lady love, let's make it an exercise." He then gestured to Pyp, Grenn and Edd. "You three, come here." The trainees complied as they stood away from Samwell and Jon to join Rast. "Four of you ought to be sufficient to make lady piggy squeal. All you've got to do is get past the bastard."

Seeing his friends standing against him on this spar, Jon voiced the obvious, rhetorical question. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"No." Grenn said simply as the other friends were the same.

"Sorry-"

Rast interrupted the bastard, coming in with a thrust of his training sword. Jon was quick to parry it and turn it away before kneeing him in the gut.

When Pyp came in, he swung the sword, which Jon ducked to avoid the blow. He returned in kind by delivering a sidestroke into the former singer's ribs, which earned him a muffled grunt.

He soon blocked an incoming swing from Grenn. Holding the blades in place, Jon pushed him away before sending an elbow jab into the center of his chest, causing the former farmhand to stumble to the ground.

This left an opening for Rast to come down swinging with an overarching attack, striking Jon's back. In retaliation, the bastard quickly turned and kneed the rapist's groin. When Rast tried to stumble back, Jon grasped his head, pulled him in and kneed in one more time for good measure.

The moment Rast fell onto the ground, seething in pain, Edd came in with a thrust of his training sword. On instinct, Jon seemed to have adopted one of Roxas' moves as he quickly spun and got behind the former squire and swung his blunted sword on the backs of Edd's legs. This got Edd to fall down right after.

"I believe we all yield right now." Edd grunted out, earning several 'ayes' in return.

Ser Alliser Thorne surveyed the scene with disgust. "We're done for today." He then eyed the bastard. "Go clean the armory. That's all you're good for."

With that said, the Master-At-Arm's left the training field.

Getting onto his feet, Pyp chuckled at his fallen friends. "Well fought."

"Oh piss off." Grenn said sharply.

"You have to hit so hard, Jon?" Edd muttered out, rubbing the back of his legs.

"Had to, Edd." Jon remarked, a ghost of a smile appearing.

Rast, meanwhile, merely spat out a loogie at Jon's feet before walking away.

"Did he hurt you?" Samwell said after his long bit of silence.

"I've had worse." Jon said truthfully. After the training he got from Roxas and combating the Heartless on several occasions, he was getting a good amount of experience.

Samwell nodded. "You can call me Sam… if you want. M-My mother calls me Sam-"

"It's not going to get any easier, you know?" Jon interrupted. "You're going to have to defend yourself."

"Why didn't you get up and fight?" Grenn inquired, making the others nod in agreement.

"I… I wanted to. I-I-I just couldn't." Sam stuttered.

"Why not?" Asked Pyp.

"...I'm a coward." Sam admitted with sadness in his voice. "My father always says so."

Jon then spoke. "The Wall's no place for cowards."

"You're right. I'm sorry." The Tarly said weakly. "I just… wanted to thank you."

Saying his piece, Samwell picked up the training sword and heavily walked towards the armory.

"Bloody coward." Grenn muttered out loud enough for his friends to hear him. "People saw us talking to him. Now they'll think we're cowards too."

"Oh you're too stupid to be a coward." Pyp drawled out.

"I am not-"

"Yes you are." Edd said aloud. "If a bear attacked you in the woods, you'd be too stupid to run away."

"I would not." Grenn insisted. "I'd run away faster than any of you."

It was then did the former farmhand notice the growing grins on both Edd and Pyp, soon realizing what he just said. In an instant, Grenn charged forward as both Pyp and Edd ran, laughing at their friend's expense.

"Quick now before Summer's over!" Yelled the singer over his own laughter.

Jon meanwhile merely snorted at their expense before his eyes drifted towards where Samwell walked off to. No doubt wanting to talk to him later when the Tarly wasn't so depressed at the present time.

Hours have passed since Jon was assigned to clean up the armory… again… on top of his typical duties at Castle Black. It was so new recruits can experience many different tasks, to learn where their true skills lay upon later job assignments.

The one he hoped he could be assigned to is being a Ranger, just like his uncle Benjen.

Until then, like his uncle told him, he's gotta earn it. And so he did, day in and day out working hard to prove himself.

Like earlier after taking care of the armory, the Lord Commander sent him to the winch cage with four barrels of freshly crushed stone to scatter over the footpaths atop the Wall. He kept quiet, accepted the task and did his duty.

Besides, Jon used those hours to think to himself, thinking of Samwell Tarly and oddly enough, Tyrion Lannister.

Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it, the dwarf had told him on their travel here. The world was full of cravens who pretended to be heroes. It took a queer sort of courage to admit cowardice as Samwell Tarly had.

Tarly… the one House that gave the Rebels their first decisive loss at the Battle of Ashford nearly twenty years ago.

The Hunters of the Reach were a family old in honor, and from what he had heard from the Lord Commander, Samwell was born heir to rich lands, a strong keep and the Valyrian greatsword Heartsbane as it was his to own as per tradition from father to son for the past five hundred years.

In these past decades, Lord Randal Tarly became widely known as the only person to win a single victory for the Loyalists in Robert's Rebellion. Yet Mace Tyrell stole the glory, saying it was all his plan all along on what happened at the Battle at Ashford.

Jon had agreed with Ser Rodrik and his father that it was unfair and uncalled for on what the Warden of the South and Lord Paramount of the Reach did.

After spreading out the freshly cut gravel, Jon was tasked yet again to keep watch on the Wall in the nightfallen hours until daybreak.

The winds were kind this evening, not making it unbearable for Jon to stand and pace through for hours on end. He can just stand and lean against a wooden wall and not deal with any sort of unpleasantries.

And he wasn't alone this time around as he got Ghost to come along with for company. If he did end up falling asleep, his white furred direwolf could awaken him if something was aloof.

"Hello."

Jon looked back and saw Sam walking towards him with a thicker amount of clothing to help keep himself warm this very night.

Jon was merely silent, looking at the Tarly with a desired explanation.

Samwell soon gave him one. "Ser Alliser said I'm to be your new watch partner. I should warn you; I don't see all that well."

Jon looked away for a second to hide his grimace and replied. "Come stand by the fire. It's warmer."

It was a kind gesture that he wanted to at least make towards his fellow new recruit.

"No, that's alright. I'm fine."

"You're not. You're freezing." Jon said in a matter of fact tone.

Hesitantly, Sam joined him by the fire… eventually.

The Tarly boy inched closer and closer to the edge of the watch post before he noticed Jon's furry companion lying beside him.

"Is that a direwolf?" Sam asked in astonished awe, gazing upon Ghost.

"He is. Just like the sigil of my father's House."

"Ours is a striding huntsman. I… hate to hunt." Sam admitted before he looked over the ledge and shook a little. "And I don't like high places."

It was at this point did Jon snap a little and look at his new watch partner dead in the eyes. "You can't fight. You can't see. You're afraid of heights and almost everything else probably." Jon firmly stated. "What are you doing here, Sam?"

In all intents and purposes, Jon couldn't think of a worse place for the round Tarly to be at rather than here at the Wall.

Sam looked down, mind flashing back to a particular nasty memory. And his round face seemed to cave in on itself a little as he spoke in a calm, dead voice as if whatever happened occured to someone else.

"On the morning of my eighteenth nameday, my father came to me. 'You're almost a man now', he said, 'but you're not worthy of my land and title. You have given me no real reason to disown you for your brother Dickon to become my heir. Tomorrow, you're going to take the Black, forsake all claim to your inheritance and start north. If you do not', he said, 'then we'll have a hunt and somewhere in these woods your horse will stumble and you'll be thrown from your saddle to die… Or so I'll tell your mother. Nothing would please me more."

Upon hearing this, Jon could only stand there wide eyed. He was utterly shocked and revolted on what would've happened. And as the former heir to Horn Hill spoke, not once did he weep.

Silence reigned for a manner of moments, having Jon to finally understand how Sam came to be at Castle black and his heart went out to him.

Sam was expected to become this capable fighter and hunter for his House, only to not so apparently. If not, then he would be viewed as someone not worthy to properly run their House when the time came, thus dishonoring the family name.

When this occurred, Ghost got up from the ground and trotted towards Sam. His head brushed against his hand and looked up at him with a warm pair of red eyes.

Understanding the gesture, Sam knelt down and petted Ghost's head as a hopeful means of calming him down.

"Ser Alliser's going to make me fight again tomorrow, isn't he?" Sam said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes, he is." Said Jon, wincing as he remembered how Sam had been beaten earlier that day.

"I'm not going to get any better, you know?" Sam whined.

"Well… You can't get any worse." Came Jon's reply.

Thus the embers of a new friendship was kindled that night as the pair eventually shared a laugh.

-Morning, The Rose Road-

The sounds of wooden wheels groaning and scrapping across the gravel was heard amongst the horses' neighs. Boots stomped alongside each other as their owners were positioned around a number of carriages and wheelhouses in order to protect the occupants inside.

Fluttering about in the gentle breeze were a trail of banners. They were emerald green in color with a single golden rose placed in their center.

This was the retinue of House Tyrell.

Inside of the central wheelhouse were four women. Three were in their late teens while the last was an elderly woman in her mid to late sixties.

The oldest of the bunch currently wore blue and cream colored garments. Her head was primarily covered in a hat-like shall that only revealed her old, wrinkled, wizened visage. Not far away from her was a finely carved cane to help sell her appearance of a frail being. Yet if one would know of her reputation and look past her facade, they'd see the sharp, cunning creature that made her rather infamous in a number of highborn circles and still holds much influence in most parts of the continent.

This here is the "Queen of Thorns" and elderly matriarch of House Tyrell, Lady Olenna Tyrell nee Redwyne.

She was quite frankly exhausted and annoyed by this overbearingly long trip towards the Capital by this point. All this rattling about in her carriage is doing her now favors in her aged body, resilient as she is.

Opening the window panel beside her, Olenna peered through to see her second grandchild, Ser Garlan Tyrell, riding on horseback.

He is a tall, broad lad with short curly brown hair with a short, trimmed beard and tan brown eyes. The man presently wore a set of green and silver armor with a insignia of two golden roses instead of the typical singular rose for their House.

He is strong as he is an exceptional swordsman after many years of training. Garlan is quite the Gallant knight, even if he is less famous than his younger brother Loras, due to the second brother of the three not seeking glory.

A fine trait that Olenna greatly appreciates.

Unfortunately for many women of the Reach, he is already taken by Leonette Fossoway as they are happily together. And presently, they are expecting their first child in the coming months, to which Garlan is both excited and frightened for.

"Garlan."

"Yes, grandmother?" The Galant Tyrell asked of her.

"How much longer till we reach the capital?"

"We are actually nearing King's Landing, Grandmother."

"...Are you sure we're near? You must be jesting."

"I'm most positive. Just half an hour by this point."

Lady Olenna blinked in surprise even further when the confirmation reached her ears. "Huh… I haven't been able to catch the wafting fragrance of shit in the air."

"I'm just as surprised as you are."

The Queen of Thorns couldn't help but chuckle. "At least this trip of ours won't end in such a sour manner."

This caused the three teenage women in the wheelhouse to either giggle or nod in agreement.

The ride was rather bumpy for most of their journey from Highgarden to King's Landing. But the occupants who were seated inside of the wheelhouse would have to admit that it's kind of expected the road would've been full of potholes and uneven surfaces. Nothing can be exactly perfect, yet it's supposed to be maintained as the Rose Road is a main highway for transportation and connections with the Seven Kingdoms.

One would really complain about it, wanting it to be cleaned up on a regular basis in order to make a journey all the more smoother. Yet the same person would overlook a crucial detail on the reason why the road was in such a state with the potholes and uneven surfaces.

Countless number of people traverse the road every day, and as they move to wherever it is that they are heading, their steps have degraded the surface of the road enough for potholes and uneven surfaces to develop.

The only way for this to effectively be dealt with would deal with smelted earth, something only those from Old Valyria knew back when they existed, or by installing carved stone work for hundreds of leagues. Yet this would be a pricey project that no one would actually want to put forward.

So for now, like for hundreds of years, those within the Tyrell wheelhouse had to deal with the irritated discomfort they rode through; even if it was just a little longer towards the capital.

"My, my grandmother. What a crass mouth you have. What would father make of it?"

"Please… You know it's the only way to reign his stupidity in, Margaery." Olenna said with a scoff.

A sigh escaped her granddaughter's mouth. "Unfortunately."

Looking onward, Olenna gazed at the three girls who wore silky dresses that were simply designed in colors appropriate from the Reach. Arms left uncovered with flower and branch designs on their jerkins.

In the center of them was Margaery Tyrell, the "Rose of Highgarden" and the only daughter of the Warden of the South.

The brunette is a beautiful young lady with slender curves which would be enticing to any man, and some women, who saw them. Her warm and caring hazel eyes bore a lot of light in them as they held a lot of ambition, cunning and whit; something that was molded by her grandmother and mentor.

She, along with her brothers, are the future of House Tyrell.

And Olenna intended on shaping all of them into the proper future Lords and Lady of the Reach where they can represent their House with pride. A far cry better than her oafish son.

Where she failed in having Mace be the proper ruler, she will not with her four grandchildren. A mistake she made when her late husband was still alive when it came to shaping Mace.

"What do you make of all these rumors that have been flying about, Grandmother?" Garlan asked, horse trotting alongside the carriage.

"Skeptic, if I were being honest." Came Olenna's answer. "Then again, I was once a skeptic twenty years ago with those ghastly creatures roaming about."

"Those unversables?"

"Unversed, I believe, was their names." Olenna corrected.

They were such little horror stories that were made years ago prior to Robert's Rebellion. Whereas the North had their Others, the South seemed to adopt the concept with the Unversed in some circles.

"What of this boy with the strange weapons, Lady Olenna?" Inquired the girl to Margaery's left.

"If he's anything like that other boy that came before, then I have an idea as to what they are."

"They would be Keyblades, Sera." Spoke the girl to Maraery's right.

"How do you know that, Mira?" Sera asked.

"My siblings back home have told me a great deal of many events that have transpired back home in the North." Mira revealed. "Some were descriptive and others not so much but they consistently spoke of several continuous topics. A boy in a black coat with blue eyes and blond hair named Roxas, his weapons being called Keyblades and the strange creatures called Heartless."

"Heartless you say?" Garlan spoke up, having caught wind of the conversation. "I've been hearing some unsavory rumors about them."

"What kind of rumors?" Sera inquired.

"The nasty kind that leaves nightmares." Mira replied in a blunt manner.

"Mira!" Margaery said in an aghast but greatly amused manner that made Olenna smirk at the Northern girl.

Sera Durwell was a nice, pretty girl with soft brown hair with matching eyes. She was the first one to become Margaery's handmaiden once she came of age. Prior to that, she was a servant in the Tyrell household whose mother was once Lady Olenna's handmaiden prior to her passing, essentially leaving her an orphan some years after her birth. She's quite the hard worker, a means of overcoming her moments of shyness.

Of course, only certain people within House Tyrell know the truth of the embarrassed reason of Sera's shyness; yet never voices it out of respect.

And Mira Forrester was a nice Northerner with soft grey-green eyes and rich brown hair. And for a couple of years now, she has faithfully served as Margaery's second handmaiden and became a close friend alongside Sera.

It wouldn't be the first time a girl of noble birth would become a handmaiden. It's sometimes a means to help boost one's reputation from a lower Household. Upholding a promised duty. Or building relations.

Mira's case was the third option whereas Sera was the second.

How this came to pass was simple, given her mother Elissa Forrester (formerly of House Branfield) wanted her eldest daughter to learn of the Southern courts once she came of age. She had reached out to her childhood friend, Margaery's mother, and Mira was able to become Margaery's handmaiden as a result.

Whereas Sera was shy, Mira was reserved and didn't talk all that much. The Forrester didn't enjoy gossiping, but she was a very attentive listener. And where most of the Tyrells found the Northerner quite simple and somewhat mannerless -in their eyes- a few found her quite intriguing, intelligent and direct while not being rude at all.

Throughout the years, Margaery and Olenna both found Mira's company rather refreshing at times with how straightforward she was; something rather alien back in Highgarden; but found it interesting.

It did show a bit of a contrast when one viewed Mira and Sera together, yet it did give Margarey better insight on a number of details to improve her character. The Rose of Highgarden often sought their input and advice above the liars in the Reach; well outside of her grandmother.

She did recall Mira offering her to one day go up North to her home where she would experience nothing but honesty from everyone.

No lies, no deception, no ulterior motives. Just straight forward Northern honesty… well some depending on some Houses like the Whitehills. Every group has their black sheep of the bunch.

And Margaery figured that since they were going to the literal den of liars, taking up her friend's offer on going up North would be just what she may need to retain her sanity if she were to survive this "game" that so many have spoken of.

"Wonder what the Capital will be like." Sera murmured aloud thoughtfully.

"Can you not smell the disgusting stench yet, my dear?" Olenna asked in a dry voice, flustering the young Handmaiden.

"Grandmother." Margaery wrapped a defensive arm around her friend. "Don't say such things in front of my handmaidens."

"The truth you mean?" Olenna remarked. "Very well. Far be it from me to force reality down upon the young."

The girls chortled at that.

Garlan smirked slightly at their conversation when he looked ahead and his eyes sharpened drastically.

In an instant, he had his horse charge forward while drawing his blade.

"Garlan?" Margaery said in alarm.

It was at that moment that the four women felt the wheelhouse slowing down to an abrupt halt.

"What's going on?" Sera asked in anxiety.

It didn't take long for them to hear the sounds of swords being drawn and the guards that had accompanied their retinue engage in a battle up ahead of their small caravan.

"My ladies," Said one of the men stationed outside of the wheelhouse. "Whatever you do, stay inside and don't come out!"

"Whatever for?" Sera asked in alarm.

"We're under attack!"

The sudden announcement caused the wheelhouse's occupants to stiffen.

Under attack? And so close to the capital?

Have bandits become so bold as to attack a retinue of nearly a couple hundred of the Reach's finest?

No, something else was going on with how high alert the men reacted.

Mira and Margaery glanced at one another before looking at the window and both stuck their heads out a second later.

"What's happening?" Sera voiced Olenna's present thought.

"We're being attacked by… I don't know what they are." Margaery said aloud.

Mira however took a moment to narrow her eyes at one particular individual. It was a humanoid creature of some kind with a silver helmet but… on its chest was a bit of a familiar emblem.

Where had she seen that emblem before?

She momentarily thought back to her siblings at Ironrath and the letters that they sent to her over the course of these last few months.

Were… were these the Heartless that had plagued the lands up North?

Before their gaze, they saw some men of the Reach being stabbed right through their chests by the creatures as they soon turned into dark vapors. And from those vapors they saw glowing Hearts before they were consumed by said creatures.

"Oh gods…" Mira whispered out.

"What happened?" Olenna asked sharply, greatly distrubed by the horrified expressions the two girls shared.

Margaery was distracted at the moment at the sight of her older brother swinging his sword and falling to eliminate any of the surrounding creatures. All he was able to do it seemed was to parry them and keep them at bay.

The Rose of Highgarden's eyes widened dramatically when she saw one of those helmeted humanoids jump up high from behind her brother.

"Garlan!" Margaery cried out in a terrified voice.

The Galant Tyrell heard her sister's yell and instinctively turned back. And from behind his helmet, his eyes widened when the creature came close with it's claws poised towards his chest now.

In an instant, he wished his family was back in Highgarden right now so he could be with his pregnant wife and nowhere else.

'Leonette, forgive me for not returning back to you.' Was his final thoughts as he awaited death.

Yet death will not come to him now.

In an instant, a black and silver blur struck the creature from the side. And from that blur, it landed not far away as the being crushed the creature from it's armored boots as it faded into dark vapors. From there, it zoomed away and went to combat the other creatures plaguing the Tyrell retinue.

"W-What?"

Looking towards his savior, Garlan saw a black coated individual barreling towards the monstrosities as it delivered a volley of blurred kicks and punches that soon disintegrated them. Leaping into the air and rapidly spun around to send a number of them flying all over in order to defend the other Tyrell guards.

Looking onwards, Garlan saw another one of them swooping in from the sky above that was reminiscent of a giant raven with red markings on its wings. It's talons poised in digging into someone in particular when a chain shot out from the coat wearing individual and struck it hard.

The bird-like entity shrieked in pain as the chain quickly retracted before it struck it once more. This time, the chain wrapped around its neck and hurled it towards the earth to crush another of its allies. It's wielder zoomed in on it as he was pulled by his very weapon as his armored boot crushed the bird creature's head in.

Moments later, Garlan heard several shouts of attack coming from above.

The Second Son of House Tyrell looked up to see a man in similarly black attire weidling a giant sword that seemed to exceed the height of most individuals with a black wing protruding from his back.

The flying man effortlessly wielded that large sword, slashing and cleaving through any and all of these strange creatures that had attacked them.

"Seven Hells." Garlan muttered out.

What was he witnessing right now?

"Come on you bastards, is this all you can muster?" Yelled a grizzled voice with the sound of swinging swords and the strange warping sound that came after every time one of these dark creatures were destroyed.

Not far away, Garlan also saw some other people combating against these creatures and surprisingly enough, they were being vanquished quite easily.

He couldn't get a good look at them, given the chaos ensued in the present area.

"Cloud." The one with the chain shouted out.

"I see 'em." The one now identified as Cloud said, swooping down to the ground with his sword facing downward to the ground.

He slammed down onto the dirt road with his sword embedding itself deep in the ground whilst a shockwave of energy burst out from his form and impacted the surrounding enemies.

Some were destroyed whilst the rest was sent flying back.

The individual in the black coat landed beside the broad sword wielder and held out his hands to conjure forth two weapons that greatly resemble large keys.

The pair went back to back before launching off one another to attack these new adversaries with Garlan just watching on in astonishment.

In the middle of all these dark and twisted creatures, a spear wielder was quick in his strikes with no wasted movements. He batted each of them around as his bladed weapon pierced and slashed right through them. And he was assisted by a man wielding a flaming sword and another whip wielder.

"Doing well there, Nymeria."

"Thank you, Dondarrian."

The whip wielder hurled her arm around to let her whip snap against one of the monsters. The contact struck true as it was sent flying into Dundarian's reach. When it drew in close, he cleaved the monster before rushing in to jab his sword into a monster that tried getting close to her blind side.

After a few moments of fast paced action and combat, the surrounding area was cleared of these bizarre and deadly looking foes.

"Whew." The boy with sandy-blond hair and blue eyes wiped his brow with his sleeve. The armored pieces he wore and the combat cross he wielded reformed into a pair of key shaped weapons before disappearing in wisps of light.

Upon seeing them, Garlan remembered hearing Mira speaking of such weapons earlier.

Could this person be… him?

When he was drawing in close, Garlan saw the sandy-blonde teen address the whip wielder, who the Galant Tyrell realized was a Dornishwoman.

"You sure have handled yourself well."

"It's not my first battle, but it's good to put my skills to good use. Granted this isn't the type of battle I'm used to as I was more or less defending myself this time around." Nymeria admitted to herself.

"Facing against the Heartless never is. Improvising along the way, most of the time." the boy said with a shrug. "Those Unversed are just as tricky."

Overhearing the conversation, Garlan addressed them with a blaring question.

"Those were Heartless?" he asked aloud, garnering the attention of the assembled group before the Tyrell caravan.

"Garlan Tyrell?" One of the men spoke up, spear in hand. "It's been a long time."

It took him a moment but it was quite easy for him to recognize just who it was that he was speaking to.

The Galant Tyrell narrowed his eyes at the Martell. "Too long in fact, Oberyn."

"Seems you are still distrustful with me since we last met." The Red Viper said conversationally.

Garlan merely crossed his arms. "After what you did with Willas, I have every right to be."

Years ago when Willas became a squire, Mace encouraged his son to enter a tourney. He wasn't good enough for the melee just yet and the Fat Flower didn't think archery was well suited for his firstborn son at the time. So he had Willas enlisted in the joust.

Everything was fine and good until he traded lances with the Red Viper.

Willas lost the joust against Oberyn once knocked over. Yet an accident occured when his foot was caught in his stirrup as he fell and he pulled his horse on top of him. This resulted in having his left leg being crushed and leaving the heir to Highgarden a cripple.

Oberyn merely exhaled a sigh. "When will you realize that it was just an accident. And blame your father for forcing your brother into participating at his age back then."

"It will be a long while till I can finally forgive you for that."

Oberyn merely rolled his eyes.

It was at this point did a young man in his late teens come up to Roxas.

He had long curly brown hair and fair tan colored eyes. He was dressed in the most lavished armor Roxas has seen yet, gleaming steel plate styles with jeweled flowers on the breastplate and shoulders. Even the silvery white cloak had white roses weaved into it.

"I owe you my life."

"Don't worry about it." Roxas waved off.

He remembered seeing the Archraven Unversed about to attack him from behind, yet Roxas intervened from that happening. And it appeared this person was able to take note of it.

"I'm Roxas, by the way."

"I'm Loras Tyrell."

"Are you hurt, brother?" Garlan asked out of worry.

"I'm fine, Garlan. I would've perished if it wasn't for him."

"So you're the Tyrells that are coming to King's Landing?" Roxas asked aloud, making the two brothers exchange glances before nodding. "You guys are giving Ned a headache, you know that?"

That… wasn't quite what they were expecting to hear out of the boy.

Oberyn Martell proceeded to guffaw aloud at the boy's bluntness with the tall blond named Cloud smirking at the comment.

Not far away, Beric and Thoros chortled alongside Nymeria.

Well that was one way of exchanging greetings. The way he said it almost reminded Garlan of Margaery's friend and Handmaiden that came from the North.

"We best see our sister and grandmother. They are no doubt worried." Loras said, turning to jog back to the carriage.

Garlan turned back with his horse, catching up to his younger brother.

When drawing close to the wheelhouse, the door burst open with Margaery running out. She soon wrapped her older brother in a fierce hug from utter worriment.

"Are you alright?"

"Alive and well." Garlan replied, patting his worried sisters back. "That's all that matters."

"And it's clear that the matter of favorite brother has been decided." Loras japed with Margaery scoffing.

She pulled away from Garlan and turned to flick Loras on the forehead before hugging him tightly as well.

"I take it, it is safe to come out now." Olenna said, slowly stepping out of the carriage.

Seeing the elder matriarch, Oberyn smirked. "Ah, the Queen of Thorns herself."

"The Red Viper of Dorne." Olenna said in kind. "I had figured it a rumor that you were here but things seldom ever are rumors when it comes to you."

Oberyn's grin only widened. "You flatter me, my Lady."

The Elder Tyrell huffed though there was a clear glint of amusement in her eyes directed at the Dornish prince.

Not far away, Sera and Mira came out as well as they looked at the colorful assortment of individuals who helped save them. There they greeted the members of the Tyrell household with Margaery being the last one to do so.

Upon seeing Roxas, who took notice and smiled at them, the two handmaidens couldn't help but blush when seeing how handsome he was.

Seeing this happen, Margaery smirked before going over to the two handmaidens.

"Come on, you two. Don't be shy. Introduce yourselves."

Neither of them had the chance to really move when the Keybearer came up to them.

"Hello, I'm Roxas." the boy greeted kindly.

The Northerner was the first to speak once composing herself. "Mira Forrester."

It was at that moment did the pair quickly recognize each other's names.

"Wait, you're Rodrik's sister." Roxas stated aloud, pointing at her with a small grin appearing.

Mira nodded as she smiled at him. "And you saved my family and my home. I am truly grateful I am able to thank you in person for that deed."

"Well, I owed your family a lot for helping me get accustomed to Westeros." Roxas said bashfully. "It was the least I could do."

"I'm at least glad to hear directly from you on how well my family treated you. They will surely not forget your deed."

"The North remembers."

"They surely will."

Sera, meanwhile, was a little shy and didn't know what to say to him. But a small nudge from her friend got her to finally speak up.

"I'm Sera Durwell." she said quietly.

"Nice to meet you." Roxas said pleasantly with the girl tilting her head down slightly to hide her growing blush.

During some of the fight earlier, Sera was able to peer through one of the windows and saw him in action. She greatly admits he was quite the valiant fighter with how he moved all over in taking down those monstrosities.

And now conversing with him was leaving her a little smitten.

As small talk was exchanged between the two parties that were now beginning to trek towards King's Landing, one Queen of Thorns observed all this with an analytical eye as she and the three young women were back inside of the wheelhouse.

"Hmph." Olenna hummed aloud, a gleam in her eyes as she gazed upon the Capital in the distance. "Starks, Baratheons, Tyrells, Lannisters and Martells all under one roof? Perhaps this visit will be worthwhile indeed."

"Don't let the excitement get to you, Grandmother."

Olenna chuckled as she addressed her second grandson. "I would think nothing of it, my dear."

At this point did Margaery soon ask a revolving question to the Keybearer, who was walking beside the wheelhouse.

"I do wonder why you and your companions were out here in the first place."

The Keybearer gestured to himself, Cloud, Berric and Thoros. "We were asked by Ned to greet you all." Then pointed to the two Dornish people. "They tagged along out of boredom. But then we saw some Heartless and Unversed nearby and went to find you before it was too late." Roxas explained to the young Rose.

"Lord Stark sent you?" Olenna said with a raised brow. "How polite of him."

"More like making sure nothing bad would happen." Cloud interjected as he walked beside the wheelhouse. "Case and point."

"And did you say Unversed?" Loras said while he was on horseback.

"I did."

"Something which I'm not fond of hearing." Oberyn said under his breath as he too rode on horseback with his daughter beside him.

"It's clear we came to King's Landing at quite the interesting time." Olenna remarked aloud. "I never thought I'd live to see five of the great Noble Houses of Westeros within the same vicinity that did not involve the prospect or aftermath of war."

"Let's hope it doesn't dissolve to that." Garlan grumbled out.

The large combined retinue drew closer and closer to the Capital with Margaery and her Handmaidens scrunching up their faces as the raw stench of the city became more pronounced.

Taking notice of their reaction, Roxas reached into his coat.

"Oh, right." He pulled out several bracelets and necklaces each with the same charm on each of them. "Put these on."

"What are these supposed to be?" Mira asked, eyeing the trinkets curiously.

"Special charms that nullify and block the smell from the city."

Olenna's eyes widened briefly. "God's be good boy, you had better not be jesting."

"He's not." Cloud said aloud. "We all wear it."

To emphasize this, several individuals, including Oberyn all reveal either necklaces or bracelets around their person.

"Works like a charm." Oberyn commented.

Not needing any further incentive, Olenna was the first of her retinue to take one of the bracelet charms, placing it around her wrist.

In mere moments, it felt like a blanket overlapped her senses.

While she could smell most everything around them, the one key component was the lack of the disgusting scent of King's Landing.

"God's be good." Olenna muttered out in astonishment. "Where in heaven's name did you get these?"

"From a trusty friend." Came the vague answer.

"At least the smell is supposed to get a little better with the sewers getting cleaned up now." Beric Dondorrian commented.

"It'll get worse for it to get better." Thoros grumbled out. "Do wish it'll be sooner."

"We all do, my friend."

"Glad to hear that changes are finally happening in this city." Olenna commented.

During this exchange, Margaery and her two handmaidens saw Roxas making small stops and pulling out gold dragons from his purse as he handed them out to the nearby smallfolk.

The large fellow Cloud appeared to ignore the smallfolk for the most part that was until several kids came up to him.

He sighed aloud, pulling out several Gold dragons and flicking it at them with them giving the swordsman grateful looks before running off.

Upon witnessing this set of exchanges, Margaery and her two friends were honestly surprised; more so with Roxas.

It's not often one would see people be freely handing out gold dragons to the lower class like it was nothing.

It looked as though he didn't really care about the money he possessed. As if it didn't matter to him.

No doubt they'll be asking about this later when possible to sate their curiosity.

Eventually, after trudging through the streets of the Capital, they arrived at the Red Keep and saw none other than Eddard Stark awaiting their arrival.

When the wheelhouse opened up, the elder Matriarch strode out with Margaery not far behind.

"Lady Olenna." the Hand of the King greeted courteously. "Lord Garlan, Lord Loras, My Lady Margaery. Welcome to King's Landing."

"A Hand who greets guests at the front door?" Olenna said with an amused look. "Jon Arryn wasn't nearly as courteous as you, Lord Stark."

"Anything to get myself out of that blasted tower." Ned openly declared earning a bark of laughter out of the elderly Tyrell.

"Ah, to think there would be that Northern honesty here in the Capital." Olenna quipped. "Thank the Gods that we chose now of all times to visit."

Ned quirked a brow at her comment when he saw Margaery step out to greet him with her two handmaidens.

Rather than focusing his gaze on the youngest Tyrell, he instead gazed at the young Lady with Green-Grey eyes.

Seeing her gaze upon her, Mira stepped forward and addressed him.

"Lord Stark." She said with a small smile, bowing her head towards him.

"Mira Forrester." Ned said in recognition.

"You know of me?"

"I am the Warden of the North, am I not?" Eddard asked rhetorically with a calm smile gracing his expression. "I recognize a number of details from what your brother told me of you when we last spoke. Of not just your description, but of you in service of House Tyrell. Your father and mother spoke of you whenever they were in Winterfell. They will be pleased to know you are doing well, my Lady."

Mira could only beam in a bashful manner. To think that the Warden of the North would know of her and instantly recognize her… she'd be lying if she didn't feel a tad bit smug about being from the North.

Most Lords knew each other's families quite well. It was what separated most Northern Houses from the rest.

The sense of unity of the North.

Ned then turned to Cloud and Roxas' group.

"Were there any losses?" he asked straight away.

Beric was the one to answer. "We did the count and about a few dozen, I'm afraid."

"I see." Ned addressed the Tyrells once more. "I'm sorry for what has happened to your men."

"More would've been lost if not for their arrival." Garlan firmly stated.

Ned nodded as more of the Tyrell retinue filed into the Red Keep. "I'll be sure the Crown will pay for the compensation of your losses."

"And will the Crown pay for all of it?" Olenna said bluntly.

"Perhaps." Ned said. "But if not, Roxas and Cloud here will be a much more suitable solution."

The retinue regarded the two blonds for a moment.

Cloud merely exhaled a sigh as he soon glared at the Warden of the North.

Roxas, however, merely nodded rather firmly.

"Now then, I'll have my men escort you all to your present living arrangements for your time at the capital." Ned informed the Tyrells as servants began unloading the number of wagons the newly arrived guests brought with them.

-The Wall-

Walking into the mess hall of Castle Black, Jon had some bags under his eyes as he was quite tired, despite the excuse for him and his other night watchers being able to sleep in.

Once grabbing his first meal for the day, he went to sit at the table Grenn, Pyp and Edd were presently eating at.

Grenn was the first to notice his approach. "Where have you been?" He asked.

"Watch duty." Jon simply said. "With Sam."

"Ah, Prince Porkchop." Pyp jokes. "Where is he?"

"He wasn't hungry." Jon replied.

"Impossible!" Pyp said with faked disbelief with both Grenn and Edd chuckling.

Jon, however, didn't seem amused. "That's enough. Sam's no different from the rest of us. There was no place for him in the world, so he's come here. We're not going to hurt him in the training yard anymore. Never again, no matter what Thorne says. He's our brother now and we're going to protect him."

From the table beside them, Rast heard Jon's little speech and turned to address him. "You are in love, Lord Snow. You girls can do as you please. But if Thorne puts me up against Lady Piggy, I'm going to slice me off a side of bacon." He crooned and the others at his table laughed.

But Jon… Jon only stared at him before turning back to his meal… with something formulating in his head.

-Gardens of the Red Keep-

Ned presently strolled through the gardens as he needed something to help clear his head. No amount of wine or sleep could relieve him of this, even whatever paperwork was on his desk in the Tower of the Hand to distract him of his worries.

He still had to thank Roxas for the charm he presently wore. It gifted him to clearly smell the fine fragrance the surrounding foliage provided for him. If not for it, then he might be smelling the overpowering stench of the sewers being cleaned out at the present time.

As far as he knows from recent reports, the workers were making headway of flushing the mess out. By month's end, the sewer system will be cleaned out with new pipes replacing the old.

Even then, the mess of the city will take time to vacate in more ways than one.

Yet this wasn't the only thing that troubled Ned's mind. The sewers were the least of his worries even.

One of them dealt with his investigation in Jon Arryn's murder. He made no headway so far once he procured the book from Pycelle; the last item his predecessor was looking through in his final days.

Outside of the vague phrase "the seed is strong", there was no viable clue to break through the investigation.

Another issue was with the recent arrival of the Tyrells.

With their presence, another one of the Great Houses was here in the capital.

The last time all of the Great Houses were present in the capital at the same time -outside of the Greyjoys- was years ago during the wedding of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Princess Elia Martell.

It was a customary gesture for representatives of the Great Houses to be present in the royal weddings. And many thought the event was the start of a new era of change.

This was during a time of peace, even with some tensions made from the union. From Tywin Lannister not happy with Aerys not letting Cersei marry Rhaegar to a few Martells feeling Elia could've done better.

And of course everyone knew what happened years later.

In a way, Ned somewhat saw what was presently happening as a sign. He didn't know exactly what would occur, but something was bound to occur very soon.

At least the other Houses present in the capital were being civil with each other for the time being. Once the Tourney has come and gone, the Tyrells and Martells will return to their homes and tensions will greatly lessen.

And the Warden of the North was at least thankful Mace Tyrell wasn't here or else a number of old wounds might reopen.

For all of the man's ignorance, the Fat Flower of Highgarden was the source of a couple of problems people still have issues with.

Dishonoring House Tarly by stealing the rightful win Lord Randal Tarly earned for the Loyalists at the Battle of Ashford. Besieging Storm's End for the better part of a year of Robert's Rebellion; causing so many to starve and witnessing a harsh side of war up close until Davos Seaworth sailed in with his smuggled goods and Ned uplifting the siege sometime later.

Yet the biggest one of them all, arguably, was his deciding vote on Ser Gregor Clegane.

What the Mountain did to Elia Martell and her children was horrendous. The act alone would have rekindled the war and no one wanted it so soon, given how much was lost from just about all sides.

Once everything was over, a meeting was held to see what was to be done with Gregor. Most wanted the mad dog executed for the crime, some wanted him sent to Wall and Tywin Lannister wanted his bannerman left alone.

After some arguments, a vote was made where it all left to Mace Tyrell on what his decision will be casted towards. And of course, since he wanted to appease the newly crowned king and the man backing him financially, the Lord of the Reach decided to have the Mountain be left alone.

Wounds were further made because of his idiotic action, something which Ned and Oberyn would never forgive, yet alone forget.

If only Stannis was the elder brother, things could have ended differently as Ned no doubt knew he would've voted for Gregor's execution or departure to the Wall.

The other issue present on Ned's mind was the presence of the Unversed.

When Roxas, Cloud, Beric and Thoros returned from their mission to clear out the sewers, the Small Council expected to hear a simple report. The encounter with the Heartless and giving the detailed current state of the sewers; simple as that.

And sure, there was the reported detail that part of the city that had quite the massive hole made in the ground due to the aftermath of clearing out the dark threat. That was fine because the hole can be properly filled and repaired in time.

Yet shit was thrown into the wind when the four reported the return of the Unversed.

The Small Council thought this was an utter jest, something which they hoped was false. Yet the testimony of Beric Dundarian, a man who personally fought against the Unversed nearly twenty years ago, proved beneficial.

Some thought the Unversed that were once present in the sewers were merely remnants from the Rebellion, hiding and biding their time. And once they were dealt with, none would be seen in the world ever again.

Unfortunately, they were seen again in some parts of the capital and outside of it's walls.

Ned was brought out of his thoughts when he heard someone speak beside him.

"I hear you're reading a boring book."

Ned slowed his step and briefly turned his head to see Petyr Baelish walking beside him now.

Registering the Master of Coin's words, Ned clicked his tongue. "Pycelle talks too much."

"He never stops."

"Is there a reason for this, Lord Baelish? I doubt you want to come here from your precious time and speak with me."

"I promised Cat that I'd help you."

That took Ned back, somewhat. Promise or no promise, he could not find it in him to trust Baelish, who struck him as too clever by half.

"You have something for me?"

"Someone." Littlefinger corrected. "Four someones, if truth be told. Had you thought to question Lord Arryn's servants?"

Ned frowned. "Would do that if I could. But Lady Arryn took her Household back to the Eyrie."

His good-sister did him no good in that regard; taking everyone close to her late husband when she fled: Jon's maester, his steward, the captain of his guard, his knights and retainers.

"Most of her household. A few remain." Petyr began listing them off. "A pregnant kitchen girl hastily wed, a stablehand who joined the City Watch, a potboy discharged for theft and Lord Arryn's squire."

"His squire?" Ned was pleasantly surprised. A man's squire often knew a great deal of his comings and goings. "Who is he?"

"Ser Hugh of the Vale. The king personally knighted him immediately after his master's untimely death."

Ned blinked. "Knighted for what?"

"Out of respect, most likely." Baelish smoothly stated. "Robert wanted to keep what was left of his late Hand close to him. What better than to keep Ser Hugh in the capital for rising him from a squire to a knight."

Ned looked at Petyr with some suspicion, wanting to see if this was in fact true. But for now, he now has a possible lead for his investigation.

"Where is Ser Hugh? I'll speak to him and the others."

"A singularly bad idea." Petyr replied and nodded towards two boys playing near a tree in the garden. "Do you see those boys there? One of them is of Varys' little flock of birds. The Spider has taken a great interest in your comings and goings." Ned frowned when he took notice of Petyr nodding towards an old servant working near a flower patch. "That man belongs to the Queen. And do you see that Septa pretending to read her book?"

Glancing over, the Stark was able to see a Septa reading a book beside a handmaiden doing some embroidery work out in the open.

"Varys or the Queen?"

"No. She's one of mine." Petyr smirked when seeing his startled reaction. "There are others, many unknown even to me; even unknown to them. The Red Keep is full of eyes and ears. Why do you think I hid Cat in my brothel in the first place before young Roxas fetched you?"

'Seven Hells, is everyone someone's informer in this cursed city?' Ned thought in utter worry as he glanced as the "birds".

They started making him rather uncomfortable.

At least the Warden now knew how these spy networks roughly worked now. Something which he'll store this piece of information for later as Ned now knows that the Queen, Varys and even Petyr had eyes and ears everywhere.

"Is there someone in your service whom you trust completely?"

There were already a number of individuals who Ned can trust completely; making the Warden voice a confirming "yes".

"The wiser answer was no, my Lord. Get a message to this paragon of yours… discreetly. Send him to question Ser Hugh. After that, you might want him to visit a certain armorer in the city. He lives in a large house at the top of the Street of Steel."

Ned frowned once more. "Why?"

"I have my observers, as I said, and it's possible that they saw Lord Arryn visit this armorer several times in the weeks before his death.

Ned contemplated the information in his head before talking. "Lord Baelish, perhaps I was wrong to distrust you."

"Distrusting me was the one of the wisest things you've done since you climbed off your horse." Petyr gave a devilish grin and proceeded to walk away, leaving Ned to contemplate his words.

-Training Field-

Knights, squires, soldiers and the occasional dedicated lords were busy training on dummies or sparring against each other. This was quite the typical activity throughout each of the training grounds and fields in various areas in Westeros; more so here in the capital.

With the Hand's Tourney just around the corner, many who wish to compete are currently working up their forms, stances and styles in hopes of winning the different events.

Others, however, are doing it for other reasons as of late.

In one part of one of the larger training fields of the Red Keep, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and his former brother-in-arms were presently observing a three-way sparring match before them.

"They are quite good." Lewyn commented. "Very good."

"They are indeed, old friend." Said Barristan as they kept up their noted observations.

The focus of their attention lied towards Roxas, Jamie and Garlan as they were constantly moving as they fought; stepping forward and to the side whenever on the offensive and defending themselves. Their forms were balanced, yet flexible in nature for any fight. And neither were gaining any true edge over the other at this time.

Of course this was all being built up for an eventual release.

Shortly after resting upon arrival at the capital, Ser Garlan approached the Keybearer in hopes of learning more on the Heartless and the Unversed on top of combating them. When the second son of the Tyrells found him, Roxas was already in the training field as he was chatting with Ser Jamie, Ser Barristan and Lewyn Martell.

After some discussions and getting up to speed, Garlan requested to combat against the Keybearer and the Kingslayer. Instead of single combat, the Galant Tyrell wanted to spar against both at once due to old habits. While it would be truly challenging to fight either one of them, due to their prestige and respective combat experiences, Garlan was rather insistent.

Roxas was a little hesitant about the idea, but Jamie convinced him to take part as he wanted to finally spar against his future good-nephew after these many weeks. Not to mention Jamie wanting to witness the Tyrell's skill personally after hearing a number of tales about him.

In an instant, the Lannister and Tyrell lunged in with their grasped swords as they went to deliver a series of quick and powerful blows on their younger opponent.

Roxas appeared unfazed by their aggressive assault, with his borrowed swords lashing out to clash with each strike his older combatants gave out. And it was obvious from the tense looks Jamie and Garlan showed they had a lot of force behind each blow, even if it was delivered from one hand. Something which both hoped to overwhelm and outmatch the young Keybearer, but were failing to do so.

Roxas' stance shifted, withdrawing his borrowed blades from the double sword lock. The guards of his two opponents were down for a mere moment as they had to quickly adjust from the slight stumble. Just in time as they were forced back with the assault their young combatant had towards them.

"I must applaud the next generation, even if they could use some refinements here and there."

"There's plenty of time for that." Said Lewyn. "It all depends if most can get out of their stubbornness."

"Sad to say, but Jamie has been wasting most of it."

In Barristan's opinion, Jamie's talent with a sword is astounding; even at a young age. A prodigy all on his own, something which he and his other Kingsguard members nearly twenty years ago wanted to refine. Yet his overconfidence often spoils it, something which one could exploit when given the opportunity.

To be fair, Barristan was like Jamie in his youth. But time and tribulations have gotten him to break out of that mold and harden his resolve into becoming the man he is today.

"Only because he probably didn't have an opponent to actually push him."

"You're right about that."

"Of course now whatever method you tried to quell him has been thrown out of the window. With Jamie fighting Roxas now, due to him being Ventus' son and being a dual wielder to boot."

Barristan gave a firm nod in remembrance. "Jamie has never gotten over the fact that he'll never fight the likes of Arthur ever again."

"And yet with the presence of Roxas and Cloud, that changed."

"Most certainly as both can quite certainly fit the bill of effortlessly combat with two weapons with little to no issues."

Soon enough, the fight shifted from focusing on Roxas as both he and Jamie went to combat Garlan.

The Tyrell took a double step back as he was now on the defensive against the two skilled fighters. Roxas tried to get a good hit on Garlan, but he slid away from the Nobody prior to blocking two sword strikes with a following parry on a third from Jamie. Of course he was knocked back when Roxas leapt into the air and slammed his sword into Garlan's. The blow rattled his arm as he ended up losing ground as a result.

The Galant Tyrell gritted his teeth from the strike as he was quickly thinking how well of a good fighter Roxas was at this time. And he wasn't the only one to think of such things.

"Roxas' form is a little unorthodox as there's some openings one could exploit." Barristan noted. "Then again, he did say he was mostly self taught as he admitted he's been working on fine tuning it from a number of people."

"At least he's not letting pride take over him, like most people out there." Lewyn commented as he kept his observation. "Taking a better look at his style now, I see it's designed to primarily kill with hints of protection."

"My thoughts exactly. Unfortunately, that aggressiveness is sadly needed when combating against the Heartless."

Lewyn hummed aloud in agreement. "Much like what we noticed years ago with young Ventus, but the style was the polar opposite with adaptations along the way to adopt lethality to combat the Unversed when they first showed up."

"Indeed. And right now, Roxas is holding back much of his strength so he can try to make this a fair fight."

"That would be quite the sight to see when it's not focused on the Heartless and Unversed."

Once the spar focused on Jamie, some blows were aimed at both his head and upper torso, but the Lannister was quick to parry the first away to quickly intercept the second after performing a sweeping dodge. He soon retaliated a little with a few jabbing thrusts that were knocked aside. He tried to rely on his speed when Roxas backed off with a roll so Garlan could get a shot in at the older blonde for some moments.

Coming back up, Roxas shot forward with his borrowed swords in an "X" formation. The older combatants were momentarily knocked back as the trio went to fight against each other instead of the quick two on one bouts.

"Garlan is quite good. A second Jamie if I do say so myself." Barristan pointed out.

"Sounds about right. Someone who takes their fighting seriously." Lewyn chortled out. "Somewhat a shame he can't exactly join the Kingsguard. He's already starting a family of his own at this point."

"Give it a decade or so and he probably might once he helps deliver a good amount of children to his House." Barristan soon pondered for a few moments. "Then again, I believe I heard his brother Loras wants to possibly join sometime in the future."

"Second and third sons usually do, working their hardest to prove their medal. And it's rather hard pressed if they were a House's heir, like Jamie."

A nod was given as the pair left to wander further through the training field.

In their little trek, they witnessed several other people training in their own respective manners.

By the archery stands, the pair saw the heir to Dorne letting loose an arrow as it soon landed dead center at the bullseye. Beside her was Myrcella, who struggled to pull back the string and have the arrow land in the ground not far away from the desired target. Not long after, the Dornish woman was giving blonde haired teen pointers. And not far away was Sansa and Jeyne Poole, which the former looked on in a little sense of yearning as if she'd want to try out archery like the two princesses.

Seeing the look his old friend presently bore, Lewyn spoke. "Asides from horseback riding, Arianne had taken up archery from her eldest cousin, Sarella, who is quite the prodigy."

The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard nodded in affirmation.

High born ladies of many Houses throughout Westeros usually take up the standard activities that are befitting of their status, such as embroidery work and singing in most cases. Primarily in Dorne, however, they can choose to take up more physical ones such as various forms of combat as it's not frowned upon there unlike other parts of the continent.

"You believe she'd want to compete?"

"Perhaps." Came the vague response.

They soon passed through another area of the field, which held a large contingent of soldiers, knights and lords who were going all sorts of activities in preparation for the coming tourney.

Yet in one part, the pair had to momentarily halt in their step upon seeing quite the rare spectacular sight these days…

Robert Baratheon training.

After the end of the Greyjoy Rebellion, the King of Westeros trained little by little as one of his favored activities was replaced with whoring and drinking became more prominent.

Ever since the arrival of the Heartless, Robert had slowly been getting back into his old training regimen. A means so that he could take part in fights once again to relive his old glory days.

Granted, it's a mere fraction as to what he once did all those years ago but he is slowly getting there. Yet it would take years for him to get back into the fighting shape he once had before he had let himself go.

Of course he'd been pushing himself even further to the near brink of collapse as of late once he heard of the Unversed making their return. It was as if a flame reignited within him as it slowly roared like his fury towards the Targaryens during the Rebellion.

Robert fell to the ground with his hammer clattering aside whilst Cloud stood over him with his arms crossed and an unimpressed look upon his face as he gazed upon the sweating Baratheon.

"That's the best you could do?"

"Seven Hells, you kick my bloody ass enough with your training regimen of yours, no need to Lord me over it." Robert barked back though there was a sense of excitement in his tone.

Picking up the war hammer with one hand, the blonde mercenary quickly tossed it high into the air and effortlessly caught it without even looking. Spinning it around, Cloud had the handle presented to the king.

"C'mon, you still need to do a couple more reps."

"Blasted fool, I'm not monstrously strong like you and Roxas!"

"And?"

The growl the King of the Seven Kingdoms let out was rather comical.

Cloud's expression grew a bit more serious over his usual aloof self.

"You wanted this, remember? To get back the strength you lost." Cloud said, walking right up to Robert now and shoving it into his hands. "Telling me you didn't want any ass kissing cunts to get you back to it. So you turned to me. So get your fat ass in gear and get back to swinging."

Robert's brow and eyelid was twitching at a furious pace before bellowing out and beginning to attack the blond swordsman once more.

And again, Cloud blocked, parried and dodged the blows.

A second later, a palm to Robert's chest sent him flying onto his back once again. The King however flailed back up to his feet and the pattern resumed once more.

Gazing at the scene from afar, Lewyn was hard pressed in barking out a laugh.

"Don't know how long the other Kingsguard members will stand by and watch their king be treated in such a way."

"Either until Robert gives out the order or he's at the brink of death." Said Barristan as he slowly let go of the handle of his sword.

Witnessing the assault had kicked in years of body memory, wanting to jump in to protect his king.

"Which one do you think will occur?" Asked the Martell.

"Hard choice, if I were to admit." Barristan said with a grimace, wincing at how casually Cloud was swatting aside Robert's attacks.

Seeing Robert land face first onto the ground and burst into a fit of cursing and rage directed at Cloud and even himself made Lewyn choke in laughter, trying his best to contain himself.

"Me witnessing that does make up for me coming here."

"Of course you would." Barristan remarked with an amused sigh before his expression fell slightly. "I just wish you had never left."

"Come now, Barristan. You should know why I could never remain in the Kingsguard." Lewyn said expectantly.

"I know, I know." The aged Knight said in understanding. "I'm not one for regrets but…"

Lewyn placed a comforting hand upon his old comrades shoulder.

"I know, old friend. I miss those days as well." Lewyn stated. "In all honesty, I never enjoyed being outside of Dorne. Being the second born, I could've been like Oberyn and explored most of the world."

"And yet you stayed to serve and protect your family."

"I do and I never regretted it. And when Loreza had gotten Elia betrothed to Rhaegar, I promised to stay with her and be a part of the Kingsguard so I can protect my loving niece." Lewyn reminisced. "First time leaving Dorne and I started hating it after the wedding."

In his honest opinion, Lewyn never felt belonged in the capital due to how most of the royal court saw him. Even if he proved himself time and time again in being a valued and beloved member in the Kingsguard, there were still people who looked at him in disdain.

Even years later, he can still see those looks once coming back to King's Landing, even coming from Robert himself.

"Quite frankly, Oberyn was always right about this shit stain of a city." Lewyn said, nose curling up. "These charms Roxas provided for us may blot out its ungodly stench but the air itself…"

"I understand." Barristan said.

The two then heard Robert let out another frustrated shout with Lewyn chuckling lowly to himself.

"But, this place does have it's high points every now and then."

"At least you find this entertaining." Barristan said with a dry voice.

The Martell snorted as they kept walking along.

"I often question myself why Robert would keep you and Jamie, given you both are the remnants of Aerys' Kingsguard."

"You know why, old friend. I am from the Stormlands on top of my reputation. Jamie is due to his father backing the throne."

"True. Even going so far into keeping the Spider and the Grand Maester as they too were Aerys' servants." Lewyn released a sigh. "I do know it would be rather hard to replace Varys, but Pycelle is a rather easy solution once Robert sends the request to the Citadel."

"It's because of their service."

"Yes, to the realm. But I find that arguable with Pycelle. Varys is quite the mystery if his allegiance holds true."

Barristan said nothing to properly comment about that as they kept their walk around the training field.

-Hours Later, Street of Steel-

Riding on horseback, Ned and Jory were traversing their way towards their destination from the Red Keep.

The streets were starting to become fuller with each passing day as the Tourney of the New Hand of the King drew nearer.

More lords, knights and young hopefuls were flooding in, making things ever more difficult for the City Watch and the guards of the Great Houses to manage. At least there may or may not be too much, given the entrance fees for the tourney events for the combatants.

As he and his captain of the guard were slowly passing through the populous, Ned was thinking of the past hours of this day since he had spoken with Baelish.

With the help of Cloud, Jory was able to question the four people of Jon Arryn's household that were left behind by the man's widow.

The serving girl had been pleasant and said Lord Arryn had been reading more than was good for him; given his old age, his young son's frailty and his wife's gruffness. The pot boy had been full of kitchen gossip about the new kitchenware Jon had commissioned. The king's own brother, Stannis, helped design it even.

The stableboy -now watchman- reported on a number of details. He had been fast friends with the late Hand as Jon respected them and gave the stableboys several coppers on their namedays. And even spoke on the horses Jon rode as he never rode them too hard while always bringing them carrots and apples prior to riding them.

When it came to Ser Hugh, the knight had been brusque and uninformative for the most part; given how rude he was to Ned's two paragons. Even when they informed Hugh of them being sent by the Hand himself, he asked for their status. But upon hearing neither of them were knights, Hugh soon ignored them and went to do his own thing in preparation for the coming jousts.

Ned scoffed derisively. 'A knight. They strut around like roosters down here. Even the ones who've never seen an arrow coming their way.' He thought to himself.

There were more knights these days than grass on a field. Most don't even know how to wield or swing a sword, only having it as a fancy title and not truly earning it. And like any Northerner, Ned thought many of the Southern knights were Knights of Summer instead of Winter. Only obtaining the title through one knowing a fellow knight or a high lord and not doing anything to properly earn it.

In the North, they don't do "knights" as are crowned as such if they follow the faith of the Seven. It was a prestigious honor for them down below the Neck.

And yet there are a number of individuals in the North who are anointed knights and the Northerners are believe those are in fact true knights who reside in the North or of Northern lineage: Ser Rodrik Cassel of Winterfell, Ser Royland Degore of Ironrath… and unfortunately Ser Jorah Mormont of Bear Island.

Back to the matter at hand, Ser Hugh would've continued his own devices in the practice fields if it wasn't for Cloud taking a more… direct approach.

From what Jory described to him, Cloud suddenly became rather intimidating; scary even with the stare when pulling the man aside to a secluded area rather effortlessly.

Jory stated that Hughes couldn't break free of the swordsman's grip and when he threatened to attack him, he was brusquely tossed into a wall. Just as he was supposed to rise, he was halted when Cloud shoved his gargantuan blade right next to the man's head to emphasise his point that he wasn't going to mess around.

After that, Ser Hugh sang like a bird.

The anointed knight from the Vale had no possible idea as to why Lord Arryn had died in the first place when the detail of "poisoning" came around. Jon was well respected by his House's retinue, even by himself as Hugh was going to be knighted by his Lord himself if it weren't for his abrupt illness and passing.

Hugh, however, did note that Lysa Arryn had been acting rather odd around that time. The pair questioned him on this, earning a number of details; like for instance the Lady of the Vale never once loved her husband and often distanced herself from him. Yet prior to Lord Arryn's illness, she started to slowly warm up to him from out of nowhere.

While Lord Jon took no notice of this, due to his busy workload, a few of the Arryn retinue did. Something which Ned would no doubt look into when possible on his good sister's sudden change of behavior.

And when asked about any of Jon Arryn's activities in the weeks leading up to his death, Hugh informed Cloud and Jory everything. From reading through the one book that is presently in Ned Stark's possession for days and nights on end to visiting a number of locations throughout the capital with Stannis Barratheon himself on a few occasions.

Once exhausting the knight of the Vale of questions, Cloud let Ser Hugh go prior to reporting back to him.

Ned did question why Stannis was involved in all of this. What did the stoic Baratheon know? It left him rather curious. Jon Arryn and Stannis had been cordial, but never friendly. Yet while Robert had been riding North to Winterfell, Stannis had removed himself to Dragonstone all of a sudden.

If Ned was able to get in touch with Stannis, then this investigation of his might be blown wide open.

"Perhaps Lord Stannis will return for Robert's tourney." Ned said to Jory, prior to departing towards the Street of Steel.

"That would be a stroke of good fortune, my lord."

Ned merely scoffed. "In other words, not bloody likely."

Until he can get in touch with Stannis, Ned will need to speed up his investigation through himself and a number of his closest paragons.

When traversing through the crowded streets of King's Landing, eventually making it to the Street of Steel, Ned and Jory were keeping an eye out of his surroundings. They were trying to be sure they weren't going to be followed by one of the agents of Littlefinger, the Spider or the Queen. Said individuals would be noting every one of their movements.

Of course, this was a failing act to follow.

"You shouldn't be out here, my Lord. There's no telling who has eyes where." Jory stated with a hint of worry.

"Let them look." Ned replied, not caring at this time, as he climbed off his horse when they arrived at their destination. "Stay here and watch the horses. Hopefully I won't be long."

Jory nodded as he saw his lord walk into Tobho Mott's residence.

Passing through the doorway, Ned was greeted with the smell of sulfur and smoke wafting in the air. And he guessed if he were to walk deeper into the shop, he would be blasted with the hot air from the kilns.

A slim young serving girl passed on by and took note of Ned's badge and the sigil on his doublet. She scurried off while calling out for her master to come to the entrance quickly.

Not long after, he was greeted with the presence of the master of this shop, who presently wore a set of proper smithing clothing.

"Hello, my Lord Hand, I am Tobho Mott." He greeted Ned. "If you are in need of new arms for the coming tourney, you have come to the right place."

"I have come none for that, unfortunately." Ned apologized. "But I have seen the fair share of works Roxas had brought back to the Red Keep. I must say I'm quite impressed."

Tobho chuckled. "Hearing this from you personally, I'm thrilled to know the works coming from my shop are able to satisfy you."

"They have, quite well in fact. I can't thank you quite enough."

Tobho only grinned widely, obviously pleased to hear that the Hand of the King himself was praising his shop's work.

"Though, my good friend Roxas has told me that you don't do this alone." Ned said. "Something about a special helper."

"Ah… yes, him." Tobho said a bit sheepishly. "He told you about him and his race, I take it."

"Roxas tells me much about the going's on here whenever he can." Ned stated. "I trust him as he does me."

"Well, if that's the case, I wouldn't have minded in you meeting him and some of his kind but they're actually not here right now." Tobho admitted. "Left a while earlier, telling me they needed to get more materials for future projects. Apologies My Lord."

"No need to." Ned raised his hand. "I didn't know so nothing to apologize for. But I would like to know when they would return."

"Of course, My Lord. I'll send word to you when it happens." Said the master blacksmith. "So is there being any other purpose in coming here? I don't believe the next batch of orders Roxas had requested are ready quite yet."

"I'm not here for whatever Roxas had ordered, I'm here for something else."

"Being what exactly?"

"I was told that Jon Arryn came here." Said Ned. "Did you perhaps make a suit of armor or some weapons for him?"

"The former Hand did call on me, my Lord, several times." Tobho informed the present Hand, while wiping sweat from his face with a dirty rag. "I regret to say he did not honor me with his patronage."

"What did Lord Arryn want?" Ned asked interestedly.

"He always comes to see the boy…"

"I'd like to see him as well, if you would be so kind." Ned stated patiently.

He had made no notion of who the boy might be. But if Lord Arryn had come for him…

The master blacksmith looked at him cool and carefully for a few moments, but nodded nonetheless.

"As you wish, my lord. Gendry!" Tobho shouted over his shoulder.

From a secluded area of the workshop, Ned could see a tall young man quickly settle his work down and walked towards where his mentor and employer presently stood.

The moment the lad came into the light, Ned quickly took note of his features of a man close to Jon and Robb's age. How well-built he was with short black hair and a particular set of blue eyes within a particular face.

In an instant, Ned almost stepped back in shock as he gazed at a young man who strongly resembled a young king Robert.

"Here he is. Strong for his age. He works hard and is quite friendly once you get to know him." Tobho presented Gendry to the Stark patriarch. "Show the Hand the helmet you made, lad."

Gendry nodded and hurried back to his workstation to retrieve the item his mentor asked him to bring.

Coming back, he presented a helmet stylized as a bull to the Lord Hand. Gently taking it from Gendry's grasp, he inspected the piece of armored headwear.

"This is fine work." Ned said after inspecting the well crafted work.

"It's not for sale." Gendry said suddenly.

"Gendry! This is the King's Hand!" Tobho chastised his apprentice. "If his lordship wants the helmet-"

"I made it for me." The lad replied stubbornly.

Ned smiled a bit. This Gendry fellow even had the Baratheon blunt stubbornness.

"Forgive him, my Lord." Hurriedly said the blacksmith.

"There's nothing to forgive. Just admiring the craftsmanship." Said Ned, handing back the bull's head helmet back to Gendry. "When Lord Arryn came to visit you, what would you talk about?"

Gendry shuffled a little in his spot as he tried his best to look at Ned dead in the eye. The Lord Hand did take note of his odd bit of nervousness.

While Ned didn't voice it, he could tell this type of nervousness wasn't out of the distance of social and status hierarchy, but of something else. It wasn't about him being a Lord, that was obvious otherwise he would have been so defensive about his helmet.

Before anything else could be thought of, Gendry finally answered.

"He just asked me questions, m'lord." Gendry stated.

"What kind of questions?"

The young lad shrugged his shoulders. "About my work at first, if I was being treated well, if I liked it here. But then he started asking me about my mother."

Ned narrowed his eyes a little on this particular bit of detail.

Strange for a Hand to care so much about a smith's apprentice. But then again, Gendry was no simple boy as he is most likely one of Robert's bastards.

"Your mother?" Ned asked.

"Who she was, what she looked like." Gendry clarified.

"And what did you tell him?"

"She died when I was little. She had yellow hair. She'd sing to me sometimes." Gendry shortly summed up.

Ned eyed him a little further as he gave Gendry a firm nod. "Sorry to have bothered you from your work lad."

The blacksmith gave him a small smile. "It's quite alright, m'lord."

"Was there anyone else with Lord Arryn when he came to visit you at any time?"

"You mean Lord Stannis?" Gendry informed him, getting a small nod from the Hand. "I heard Lord Arryn speak of him by name."

"Did he question you, perhaps?"

Gendry quickly shook his head 'no'. "Never said a word to me, just glared at me like I crossed him somehow."

Ned realized Stannis was probably analyzing him. The particular look Gendry described of the Lord of Ships was one such look as if he was running many thoughts all at once.

When Gendry returned to his workstation, Ned turned to Tobho. "You know who the boy is."

"He's my apprentice. Before then, he was just the son of a dear friend of mine."

"I see…"

Ned wanted to press more, but seeing the look Tobho giving him made him choose otherwise.

He clearly can tell how defensive the blacksmith is towards the young man.

"If the day comes when he'd rather wield a sword than forge one, send him to me." Ned requested him. "Until then, you have my thanks."

"I will, one way or another, my Lord."

Ned was about to go but seeing that Gendry was out of earshot, he looked to Tobho once more.

"But tell me, if possible, why was he nervous around me?"

"Pardon?"

"He could hardly look me in the eye."

Tobho momentarily squinted at Ned when he chuckled aloud in understanding. "That? Why, that's because you're the father of one of his friends."

"...I beg your pardon?"

"Your daughter, young Arya." Tobho revealed. "Quite the nice girl. Rather blunt and stubborn, but I don't hold it against her. Comes here quite often with Roxas and she speaks with Gendry all the time."

"I see… Thank you for informing me."

Whatever reason why Baelish wished for him to investigate one of Robert's bastard children was a mystery to him. But as far as he knows, his trust in Littlefinger waynes to and fro.

But now another thing crossed his mind: what did his second daughter know of Gendry? Did Roxas know of this as well? And for how long?

-Meanwhile, Street of Silk-

"The streets sure are busy today."

"What did you expect, Roxas? With the tourney happening in a few days, a lot of places in the capital are picking up business."

A groan escaped Roxas' mouth. "Don't remind me."

"Pwii~ Pwii~"

The Nobody chuckled a little when he felt ChoCho rub his feathery head onto his cheek in order to comfort him. Once done, he flew back into his sandy blonde locks.

Traversing northward from the Street of Sisters, the Keybearer and Sand Snake were heading towards their present destination.

Earlier that day, Ned Stark asked Roxas and Cloud to help him look into a number of places for this one investigation of his. The pair complied, which the Nobody was willing to do while the mercenary was only interested due to the earlier task the Hand gave him with Jory which connected to the present one.

So while Ned and Jory were focusing on a few leads, Cloud and Roxas went off to take care of several others for the day. And due to the number of places Lord Arryn and Stannis visited in the city, the two blondes had to split up their assigned locations.

Roxas ended up taking the orphanages, due to him being more familiar and having good relations with the former. Cloud took the shanty-like residences spread out along the city walls and gates with how knowledgeable he is with such places. And by a coin toss, Roxas ended up taking the Street of Silk, much to the Keybearer's mild-confusion on being wished the best of luck.

Of course before Roxas left the Red Keep, Tyene popped up and decided to tag along.

Taking care of the orphanages was rather easy, due to Roxas' good relationship with them; making the questioning done rather quickly. And so far they all had some things in common, from Jon Arryn having helped fund the places for some time to Stannis wanting to see one or two of the residential children which had dark black hair and blue eyes.

With all those out of the way, Roxas and Tyene needed to take care of the Street of Silk and they would be done for the day.

Passing by a couple of brothels, Roxas quickened his pace at the sight of the many women who were eyeing him like a delicious piece of meat. Seeing this, Tyene giggled a little at the sight she was seeing. But then it grew stale at one point, causing her to wrap her arms around one of Roxas' and bringing it close to her chest like how her mother does it with her father. And instead of being all inviting like what her mother presented to others, the young Sand Snake was rather venomously in order to not only assert her claim but to also make the whores back off.

Roxas didn't see the look Tyene gave out, but saw the partial end result; to which he was thankful for as he was rather uncomfortable.

At least he was more focused on the locations he needed to go to on his list.

Heading closer towards the western side of the ruined Dragon Pit, the surroundings had started to become more lavish in quality. From Roxas' understanding, asides from this street containing most of the city's brothels, it was where the richer merchants and most nobility lived. Some residences were built along the hillside of Rhaenys' Hill, where old yet maintained structures were still present since the capital's founding.

Both the Keybearer and Sand Snake saw a number of people exiting and entering a number of establishments, such as hair stylists to clothing boutiques, all in order to look more presentable for a number of things. Like going to the nearby brothels in hopes of charming the resident workers to getting ready for the coming tourney.

Yet one place seemed to stand out the most from all the rest.

From what Tyene could describe it, it was a building that could've been plucked out from Yi Ti. And in Roxas' perspective, it was something reminiscent from the Land of Dragons where Mulan and Mushu reside from.

-Insert Final Fantasy VII REMAKE: Wall Market Madam M-

Entering through the doorway, they were greeted with quite the sight with how clean and proper the place was.

The wall designs were of ornate flower patterns with all sorts of pots and urns sprawled about. All sorts of calligraphy were sprawled on hanged scrolls. And there were a number of candles lit, giving off quite the pleasant smell within the establishment.

"Welcome, welcome."

Roxas and Tyene broke away from observing their surroundings as they were greeted by a receptionist, who gave the pair a cordial smile.

The receptionist who greeted them was a woman in her late twenties with a slender physique. She has light skin, black hair pinned up with elaborate golden hairpin, dark brown eyes, and sports purple eyeshadow and red lipstick. She wears a black kimono with a golden flower pattern secured by a patterned orange obi tied in the front, rather than in the back and a pair of black geta sandals. Her left shoulder was left bare, letting them see the white wraps she wears underneath the kimono and a hint of her breasts. And to finish off her look was a folded up fan in her grasp which matches her kimono.

"Hello." Said Roxas and Tyene.

"Step right up." She said softly towards the pair. "What manner of massage do you two desire?"

The pair looked a little confused, making the receptionist take quick notice.

"This is your first time in my establishment, right?" The lady said with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"You can say that." Tyene said, taking a moment to look around. She had never seen anything quite like it. The decor was very much not Westerosi.

"I don't even know what this place is, Miss..."

"I go by Madam M, young man. I own and run this place."

The identified Madam M then released a small sigh with a shrug, soon speaking in a manner as if what'll come next was rehearsed time and time again.

"We are a hand-massage parlor." She said with a smile. "An excess of fatigue and tension can make even the simplest task a terrible strain. Even later on in one's life you'd suffer from utterly stiff hands that're like boulder-like appendages. And it is our pleasure to relieve our patrons of that tension as best as possible." She then gave out a chuckle. "And what better way to seek relief than through the skilled ministrations of a professional?"

The pair nodded as they thought it was a good business idea. With all of the people in this city, putting in the hard work for hours on end, one would no doubt want to relieve such problems instead of just going to a brothel.

Of course with how lavish this establishment was, it seemed like certain clientele can get such services.

"Question." Roxas said quickly. "Is it just the hands or do you do additional services?"

"We primarily focus on the hands, young man, as those are more… manageable. Other body parts, while are often off the board, cost extra." Madam M clarified.

"Let me guess, because most people in this city don't take care of their feet all that well or other parts of their body." Tyene summed up.

A sour look crossed the owner's face. "Correct. Any of those circumstances costs a whole lot more." Madam M then composed herself as she wore her signature smile. "So now that we understand each other, what manner of massage do you desire?"

"I'm sorry, Madam M, but we're not customers." Roxas said apologetically.

Tyene nodded. "We're not here for a massage."

The parlor owner then spoke in a way that tittered on trying to keep some interest while losing some, due to them not being potential customers.

"Oh. And why are you here then?"

"We're here because the Hand wanted-"

Tyene was soon interrupted when she heard a growl from Madam M.

"Oh for the love of- Say another word and I'll shove this fan right down your throats!"

The pair quickly jolted back from surprise with her change of attitude coming out of nowhere.

"What's wrong?" Roxas dared to ask.

"What's wrong? What's wrong are people coming into my establishment and proclaiming someone from the Small Council, or the fucking king and queen themselves, had requested to give out my services for free to certain people." Madam M practically had a fire surrounding her with the fury flaring off her form.

"Whoa! Calm down!"

"Calm down? Calm down?! This is a massage parlor- legitimate, respectable establishment!" She yelled out. "If you're not actually here for our services, then leave or else I'll have you both dragged out and killed for wasting my valuable time!"

Roxas frowned. "Hey. We're just asking for your help. You don't have to be so rude."

Tyene bore a similar look. "He's right. We were actually sent by the Hand, Eddard Stark."

"And for what?"

"An investigation he has going on pertaining to Jon Arryn." Roxas revealed.

Whatever fury was emanating from Madam M quelled, only ever so little.

"I see…"

In an instant, Madam M got in close, too close up to both teenagers as she was inspecting them from head to toe. She had taken note of how clean they were along with their present attires.

With a flick of her wrist, she aimed her folded up fan towards the Keybearer.

"Name?"

"...Roxas."

She then flicked her fan towards the Sand Snake.

"And yours?"

"Tyene Sand."

The parlor owner hummed a little before speaking one word.

"Hand."

"Huh?"

"Give it to me! Both of you!"

The pair quickly shot out a hand towards the parlor owner. Soon after, she quickly put her folded fan aside as she took their presented hands into her grasp.

Madam M gave some squeezes on the presented hands as she was focusing her attention on the muscles and joints.

"Hmm…" She gazed at the two teens before. "The strong, firm hands of a fighter… yet they possess a certain elegance and grace, young man. And as for you young lady… smooth and gentle with an emphasis on precision over power." Madam M soon let go of their hands. "How about a deal. You two each purchase my luxury courses and in exchange I'll give you what you desire."

"You will?"

"What's a Luxury Course?" Roxas asked, though his question was ignored.

"Most certainly. Nothing held back… only if you can actually pay for it."

"And how much does the luxury courses cost?" Asked the Sand Snake.

Madam M soon gave out the desired amount, making Tyene pale a little.

"That much?"

Madam M unfurled her fan and had it cover up the smirk on her face. "Of course."

"B-But I don't have that on hand-"

"Here you go."

The two women blinked as Roxas held out a small bag filled with coins.

Madam M quickly took the bag and gave it a calculated glance. Opening it up, she soon poured it's contents into her hand and saw the large amount of silver stags that came out.

"...Seems you either came prepared beforehand, are rather convenient or have sheer dumb luck."

"I don't think dumb luck applies to him." Tyene remarked with a dry look directed at him.

Madam M said nothing at first as she was quickly counting the amount. Once seeing the full amount now in her possession, she poured the silver stags back into the bag and walked behind the counter to deposit them into a safe.

"So which one of you will want to go first?" Asked the massage matron.

"I'd like to go." Tyene volunteered.

The owner nodded and called out one of her employees named Bella, a woman in her late teen years with curly coal black hair and blue eyes who wore a less stylized kimono attire, as they presented themselves in the nearby hallway. Walking up to the worker, Madam M softly spoke to her for a few moments, getting her to nod.

The parlor owner then turned her attention to the Dornish girl.

"If you'll follow Bella here, she'll take you to the back for your session."

The Sand Snake nodded as she was escorted towards the back.

"Now then, young man." Madam M then gestured to the nearby couch. "If you'll sit right here, I'd like to speak with you."

Roxas seated on the long couch near a small table as she took up the one person couch nearby.

"Now then, what was it exactly the Lord Hand wanted you to look into?"

"Well, actually, it was for something the prior Hand of the King did." Roxas revealed. "He came here with the King's brother a while back and Ned told me to ask about… uh, someone that works here."

At the mention of the prior Hand and Master Of Ships, Madam M's eyes sharpened drastically.

"Did he now?"

"Don't know who the person is exactly that works here, but was told-"

"Yes, I get it."

"Then could you-"

"What I'm about to say does not leave you, your friend or the Hand, got it." Madam M said in a sharp tone with an intense gaze directed at him

Roxas nodded as he could hear the harsh defensive tone she spoke with.

"You remember seeing my apprentice Bella a moment ago?" Roxas nodded as she continued. "Lord Arryn and the king's brother came to see her."

"Was it because they were repeated customers or-"

"Nothing of the sort. Granted Arryn did consider wanting to come back here due to his arthritis as of late, but he never came ever since."

"Then why-"

"Because they wanted to know some personal history with one of my girls." Madam M stated with a huff. "Lord Arryn was polite at least but Lord Stannis would do well in learning some manners. Nearly frightened my little Bella."

"Uh… what… what did they ask about Bella?"

Madam M waved her fan at herself, recollecting the past meetings with Jon Arryn. "Who her mother was for starters and where she came from. It was something which Bella wanted to move away from as she sought a new life from the one she previously had in the Riverlands."

"Did something bad happen?"

"Not entirely, just something which Bella is ashamed of. And I don't blame her as many of my girls once shared her life until I came around and took them with me."

"For what exactly?"

"I gave them a better life, young man. I saw potential being wasted away in brothels as women can use their talents in other ways." Madam M released a sigh. "Granted some of their previous knowledge does help in some arguments, but I don't want them to heavily rely on their previous professions as whores."

Upon hearing the details of Madam M's employees who were once whores, Roxas started to understand their circumstances.

A few of the orphanages he had visited in this city were run by former whores. They expressed their desire to finally leave that life once saving enough money to find something better for themselves and for whatever child they sired from the wetlock.

"How well is Bella and the others?"

"Treated fairly. A roof over their heads, a warm bed and three good meals per day as long as they work for me. Some of my girls had left when they had gotten the chance of being happily married and I didn't stop them from their decision. Others did stay in such circumstances."

"Right. But was there anything else? Like what exactly Lord Arryn and Stannis wanted to know from Bella?"

Before Roxas could be given a response, a loud moan-like shriek could be heard from the back.

"...What was that?"

Madam M could only chuckle as a few more pleasure filled shrills could be heard.

"Just your friend truly experiencing what some of my establishment's services can give her."

Roxas nodded as he continued to talk with the woman before her.

Time had passed as things were rather pleasant in the air as Roxas had to occasionally ignore the moans in the air.

Of course some parts of their conversation had to be halted when some customers came walking through the door, causing Madam M to help take care of their requests before sending them into the back.

Some more odd moans were eventually heard once the patrons were given their service. And of course Roxas had actually jumped in his seat a few times when he heard the painful yells and swears at some point.

"Relax." Madam M said. "That's just all part of how things are conducted here."

After what felt like a long time, despite Madam M was keeping him company, Tyene finally came out from the back. Upon seeing her, Roxas saw the utterly pleased expression on her course for some part, there were hints of embarrassment, given how red her cheeks were.

"Was it good, Tyene?"

She didn't say anything at first as she carefully walked towards the couch and sat down while keeping her hands close to her.

"Yeah… it was." She said rather bashfully.

Roxas tilted his head as he wondered what made her act that way as she couldn't exactly look at him in the eye. And why was it that she was trying not to move her body so much.

Of course Bella came over to give Tyene a large cup of water for her to consume; stating she needed to drink it all to help flush out a number of toxins that'll exit her body from her massage.

"Alright, Roxas. It's your turn."

No. XIII nodded as he got up from the couch and walked down the hallway. Of course this time, Madam M trailed behind him, to which he quickly took note of.

"Aren't you going to have one of your workers-"

"I'll be taking care of you personally, given you were quick to pay the sum total for both yourself and your lovely companion." Madam M said, a mischievous look in place.

-Insert Final Fantasy VII REMAKE: Luxury Massage-

Roxas nodded as they soon entered the back where he saw a small bed large enough for a full grown person situated at the very center of the space.

"Alright, gloves, pants, boots and coat off."

Roxas blinked on the request but none the less nodded as he pried off the mentioned items and put them at a nearby table. From there, he gently plucked ChoCho out from his hair and placed him onto where his clothes were at. Once done, he laid down on the bed in a relaxed position.

Madam M soon pulled the cloth separating the room and had it closed to give them some privacy. She then approached the bed with a soft chuckle being heard from her. "This exclusive treatment is reserved for our most well-to-do patrons… and with the amount you gave made me throw in an extra service for both you and your friend."

"Extra?"

The mystery was left lingering in the air as Madam M ignored his question with a smile.

Going to a nearby shelf, she procured a bottle and came back to the bed. Once seated, she uncorked the bottle and poured some of the contents onto her hands. Taking her patron's left hand, she soon spread the bottle's contents onto the appendage.

"First… our essential oils…" She said softly. "A generous coating for each and every one of your richly deserving fingers…"

Once his hand was lathered up, Roxas could start feeling a tingling warmth seeping into his skin. He soon felt Madam M put some focus onto his fingers.

"Now then, let's start with the tips…"

The parlor matron soon noticed Roxas' reaction when she started applying some pressure onto his digits. He was trying to relax, but it was a tad hard with the sensations he was now starting to feel.

"Relax, Roxas. I'm only here to help." She said softly.

Roxas nodded his head as he tried to control himself. He was breathing softly as she was working thoroughly with his fingers. With the unique pressure and the oil's warmth, it soon made him release a moan from his lips.

"Oh~ Did that hurt?"

Roxas shook his head 'no' in the process.

He honestly didn't know how to describe it. It was honestly alien to him. But it was rather… good? Great?

Madam M smirked as she eventually finished up the fingers on his left hand.

"Now… I'll be moving onto… the base of the fingers…" She said, once repositioning herself on the bed to get things at a better angle. "Let's see if we can't improve your circulation. Get the blood flowing."

When the massage was proceeding to this particular step, Roxas' breathing hitch a little as he was feeling the unique pressure pressing down around the second knuckles to make them pop before quickly relieving the mild discomfort. When more good feelings were coming back to full swing, he started to grunt a little more.

"No, don't fight it. Stress is poison to the body."

Roxas honestly tried to as she kept applying her work onto his left hand. He didn't know how long it was, but felt oddly torturous with the great feeling he was experiencing.

Soon enough, she brought his hand down as it gently laid beside him, palm up. Roxas eventually felt her finger gently moving down his bare arm all the way down to his palm.

"And finally… some gentle stimulation for the palm. No more than a touch."

She brought his hand back up and with one hand, she applied some pressure onto his palm with just her thumb.

"Just…"

She applied some more pressure onto a particular area of the palm as she started spreading it out.

"Like…"

Something was happening to Roxas when she soon hit the ball of his hand and did her magic.

"This…"

This breathing started to become deep and erratic as his face was starting to flush a little more with a sound escaping his lips in the process.

"Oh?~ What was that? A cry of pleasure?"

"I… I…"

He was quite speechless, something which Madam M took great pleasure in.

"Is this how you like it?" She asked softly as she continued her work onto his hand. "How about this?" As the massage matron kept going at it, she saw him squirm in the bed as she heard his soft cries of pleasure. "Or maybe this?"

Soon enough, at the very moment she was nearly done finishing up his left hand, Roxas let out a loud moan.

…..

…..

"How was it?"

"...It… It felt…"

Madam M giggled into her hand. "Can't find the proper words, I don't blame you for your first time."

Roxas could only nod as he felt his face was rather hot from the experience. He moved to get back up, but he was gently pushed back down.

"You think that was it?"

The Nobody quickly eyed the massage matron in utter confusion. "Huh?"

"We're just getting started. I still need to do your other hand." Her teasing grin then grew even wider. "And your extra service."

If he were able to, Roxas would be paling right now. Yet he was incapable to with the blood rushing towards his face with the coming continuation of the pleasurable service he will receive.

A moment later, he was flipped around on to his stomach, his expression wrought with trepidation as Madam M let out a coy giggle.

"Just relax~ my dear." The masseur said, fingers trailing over his shoulders. "You will enjoy this greatly."

While he wanted to adamantly deny such a claim, he knew that he'd just be lying to himself.

"Can we rescheduMMPH."

His face was shoved down into the pillow of the table as Madam M smirked to herself.

"Now then, let's continue now, shall we?~"

Time had passed as it seemed to become a blurry haze for the Nobody. He honestly didn't know how long he was being treated. Some part of him wanted this to end, but it was quickly stomped down by the rest of him as his body requested for the pleasure to never end.

Eventually, at long last for what felt like a much longer time than anticipated, Madam M was done with his "massage". If he would even call it that by this point.

When the session was done, Roxas felt his body was rather tingly, but it was the good kind. As he curled his hands and fingers, the Nobody realized they were loose and limber. And it wasn't just his hands but his other limbs as well as the muscles and joints honestly felt amazing!

"If that was to your liking, do come again."

Roxas said nothing, only nodding once he had gotten himself dressed back up. Of course it ended up becoming slightly slower than he was used to, given how sensitive his body still is.

He even had to carefully put ChoCho back into his hair as even his head felt rather similar with the rest of his body.

Upon arriving at the entrance area, he spotted Tyene was looking at him with quite the massive blush on her face.

"So… how'd it go for you?" Tyene asked quietly, face flushing even more.

"...I… I can't quite say… I might want to come back." Roxas admitted.

The Sand Snake said nothing as she looked back to Madam M, who hid the massive smile of hers behind her fan.

Standing up from the couch, she walked over to the woman and asked her a few things with an utter pleading look on her features.

"How did he-"

"Your friend is quite handsome, young lady. And that body of his is quite the fine specimen to work with."

Tyene nodded as she gazed over to Roxas, who appeared to have a far off look right now.

Feeling her already heated expression only increased in temperature as she turned back to the owner of this establishment. "Could you… Could you teach-"

"Perhaps."

Madam M wore a larger smile, knowing the Dornish girl would want to use such talents to quickly take in the young man from any possible suitor out there.

Upon leaving the massage parlor, the pair slowly made their way back to the Red Keep as Roxas no longer could continue on with the rest of his given task for the day. And Tyene could not blame him, given what she also went through.

The Dornish bastard will no doubt want to come back here at some point and have another session if given the chance. Not only that, but also learning exactly what Madam M and her workers know in their skills as they might expand her knowledge in the human body.

Both in fighting and in pleasure.

If there's one thing for sure, she'll no doubt remember those pleasure filled sounds she definitely heard from Roxas.

-Night, Castle Black-

In the barracks where all of the new recruits were all dead asleep, the only sounds present were the cackling of the fireplace and the emanating snores.

The rapist, Rast was abruptly awakened when something tugged on his limbs. When he woke, he was suddenly gagged with a thick cloth around his neck.

Seeing his attackers, he saw Grenn and Edd holding his limbs down while Jon kept the gag from coming out from his mouth.

He was about to yell out, hoping to awaken his fellow recruits when the direwolf Ghost crawled onto his body and fiercely growled right into his face.

The white furred beast's features bore of something utterly wrathful and promised murder on the man before him if he were to do anything stupid.

Rast was so focused on the beast on top of him, he was almost ready to soil himself if the direwolf were to bite and tear into him.

It was then did he hear Jon speak to him in a cold, harsh whisper. "No one touches Sam."

With that said, Jon released the gag with him and his friends leaving the rapist alone.

When morning came, Rast was presently in the training yard with many other trainees. Presently the rapist recruit was pitted up against Sam once more with everyone else encircling them with Alliser Thorne watching.

Rast looked to Jon, who was staring right at him, his eyes promising pain if he didn't heed last night's warning.

"What are you waiting for?" Thorne barked.

Sam chose that moment to lunge, but his sword was batted away with no effort by Rast.

Ser Alliser's patience was wearing thin at the lack of battle. "Attack him!" He ordered Rast, who looked to Jon.

Knowing what was best for him, Rast gave Sam what's essentially a love tap-like smack to the shoulder.

Seeing nothing really happening, Ser Alliser reached for Rast and pushed him out of the ring.

"You, get in there." Ser Alliser ordered Grenn to be Sam's new opponent.

Taking his position, Grenn looked around for a second before whispering to Sam. "Hit me."

Sam was utterly confused at this moment, so he looked to Jon for guidance. All the Bastard of Winterfell did was give him a small nod, telling Sam to comply with Grenn's request.

Seeing Sam not responding, Grenn spoke a bit more forcefully this time, making the others around hear him. "Go on, hit me!"

Sam did so, smacking Grenn across the arm with his training sword.

The moment it came into contact, Grenn shouted, jumped backwards and fell to the ground in an over exaggerated manner. "Aaaargh! Argh! I yield! Yield, yield. I yield."

The other recruits laughed at his acting and when Ser Alliser looked to Jon, he quickly caught onto what was happening.

Glaring daggers at the bastard, Thorne stomped his way towards Jon and roughly grabbed him by the collar. And by the looks of it, the Master-at-Arms was ready to throttle him.

"You think this is funny, do you? When you're out there beyond the Wall with the sun going down, do you want a man at your back? Or a sniveling boy?"

The training area grew silent as every trainee present was processing the words.

Thorne was most certainly an asshole, but he made a really good point. Even Sam was inclined to agree with him.

A few hours had passed as Jon and Sam were presently inside of the mess hall. Both were assigned to clean up the area once everyone finished up their meals. It was a punishment for the both of them, due to the little stunt in the training yard. And there was no chance a man like Throne would let a slight on him go without any repercussions.

Presently, the pair were scrubbing the tables.

"-I know for a fact that some of the officers go to that brothel in Mole's Town." Said Sam.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Jon replied.

As far as any member of the Night's Watch can go down south without being considered a traitor, while coming back, is reaching Mole's Town. It was a place where many brothers of the Watch go to when not wanting to be cooped up at this decaying Keep at the Wall.

"Don't you think it's a little bit unfair?" Sam asked. "Making us take our vows when they sneak off for a little sally on the side?"

Jon snorted, mirth evident in his voice. "Sally on the side?"

"It's silly, isn't it? What, we can't defend the Wall unless we're celibate? It's absurd."

"I didn't think you'd be so upset about it." Jon commented on his ranting.

Sam suddenly went still and turned to Jon with a more than little annoyance. "Why not? Because I'm fat?" Jon was about to protest, but Sam just continued. "But I like girls just as much as you do. They might not like me as much. I've never… been with one. You've probably had hundreds."

Silence filled the mess hall, with only Jon breaking it as he smiled solemnly.

"As a matter of fact, I'm the same as you."

Sam scoffed. "No, I find that hard to believe."

"I came very close…"

There was one servant girl Jon took a fancy to back in Winterfell. She was rather new and rather pretty. He mustered up the courage to try and talk to her for weeks, a means to properly introduce himself while learning her name and getting to know her better.

When the opportunity came to do so, he botched it by tripping and falling over her, landing face first into her stomach. He quickly apologized for the incident and didn't come out of his room for a few days.

It was a rather mortifying experience for him and he didn't pursue the girl ever since. And he promised to never speak of that incident ever again.

But the other…

"A while back, I was alone in a room with a naked girl, but…"

"You didn't know where to put it?" Sam interjected and they both shared a slight chuckle.

"I know where to put it." Jon shot back.

"Was she… old and ugly?"

Jon shook his head. "Young and gorgeous. A whore named Ros."

"What color hair?"

"Red."

"I like red hair. And her… her…"

Jon looked over and saw Sam gesturing to his chest area and quickly knowing what he's implying.

"You don't want to know."

"That good?"

"Better."

"Oh no. So why exactly did you not make love to Ros with the perfect-"

"What's my name?"

Sam was rather started when Jon cut him off from continuing. He was even unsure where this was going but complied nonetheless. "Jon Snow?..."

"And why is my surname Snow?"

Sam hesitated for a second but answered. "Because… you're a bastard from the North."

"I never met my mother." Jon informed him. "My father wouldn't even tell me her name. I don't know if she's living or dead. I don't know if she's a noblewoman or a fisherman's wife… or a whore. So, I sat there in the brothel as Ros took off her clothes. But I couldn't do it. Because all I could think was what if I got her pregnant and she had a child, another bastard named Snow? It's not a good life for a child."

The entire hall fell into a deep silence upon Jon's confession.

Sam felt sympathy for his new friend and didn't know what to really say. Was Jon so afraid of his status as a bastard that he wouldn't be with a woman at all? A possible excuse for him wanting to join the Night's Watch in the first place?

After some tense silence, Sam said the only thing that came to mind in order to hopefully lighten the mood.

"So… you didn't know where to put it?"

In an instant, Jon threw the dirty scrubber at Sam and ran around the table to get to the fat Tarly. The pair laughed as they ran in circles.

That was until the door to the hall suddenly slammed open and Ser Alliser walked in as he overheard the commotion moments prior. The pair quickly ceased their laughter and went back into scrubbing the tables.

"Enjoying yourselves?" he asked sarcastically. "You look cold, boys."

"It is a bit nippy."

Jon felt like he wanted to facepalm from hearing Sam's blunt reply.

"A bit nippy, yeah, by the fire, indoors. It's still Summer. Do you boys even remember the last Winter? How long has it been now? What, ten years? I remember. Was it uncomfortable at Winterfell? Or at Horn Hill? Were there days when you just couldn't get warm, never mind how many fires your servants built?"

"I build my own fires." Jon shot back whereas Sam didn't.

Alliser smiled derisively. "That's admirable. I spent six months out there, beyond the Wall during the last Winter. It was supposed to be a two-week mission."

The Master-at-Arms quickly drew in their attention, making him recount his assignment. "We heard a rumor Mance Rayder was planning to attack Eastwatch. So we went out to look for some of his men. Capture them, gather some knowledge. The Wildlings who fight for Mance Rayder are hard men. Harder than you'll ever be. They know their country better than we do. They knew there was a storm coming in. So they hid in their caves and waited for it to pass… And we got caught in the open."

A particular far off look graced his vision, remembering the unsettling experience. "Wind so strong it yanked 100-foot trees straight from the ground, roots and all. If you took your gloves off to find your cock to have a piss, you lost a finger to the frost. And all in darkness." Silence started to creep into the room, with only Thorne's voice filling it more with dread. "You don't know cold. Neither of you do."

Alliser exhaled a frustrated sigh. "The horses died first. We didn't have enough to feed them, to keep them warm. Eating the horses was easy. But later when we started to fall... That wasn't easy." The Master-at-Arms then glanced over at Sam, but more so towards his plump body. "We should have had a couple of boys like you along, shouldn't we?" He walked around the table and grasped onto Sam's arm to get a good feel of it. "Soft, fat boys like you… We'd have lasted a fortnight on you and still had bones leftover for soup."

Thorne let go of Sam's arm, who's owner started having trouble breathing.

"Soon we'll have new recruits and you lot will be passed along to the Lord Commander for assignment… and they will call you 'men of the Night's Watch', but you'd be fools to believe it. You're boys still. And come the winter you will die... Like flies."

Silence filled the mess hall once more as Alliser left the area to resume his prior duties.

For Jon, all he could think of now were some of the stories Old Nan once told him as a child. The horror beyond the Wall with the White Walkers.

While those were of fantasy, what Allister spoke of was reality.

Jon knew of some tales his uncle Benjen told him some years back, but he clearly remembered none of what was just spoken.

Either his uncle never went through such struggles in the last winter or he withheld them from the rest of his family.

As for the Tarly…

'He's right.' Sam thought, looking down with a disheartened expression. 'I'll only be a burden when it truly matters. Just like father told me.'

-Roxas' Room, The Red Keep-

The boy lay in his bed with a dazed look in his eye.

Since coming back from Madam M's establishment, Roxas was rather adamant about avoiding everyone.

The Starks were bewildered by this action, though really it was everyone.

Some, mainly the Tyrells, had noticed that Tyene held a similar demeanor to the blond Keybearer and had wished to question her though she too had opted to stay in her own quarters.

ChoCho was by his head, resting upon it with a small breath of air occasionally tickling his nose as his growing Chocobo slept peacefully against him.

It was a little surprising to see how big the chocobo had grown since yesterday as the golden bird was now the size of his head. He pretty much wondered how it was possible without him really noticing.

Shaking his head, he thought back as to what went on since his return from the Street of Silk.

Asides from giving his report to Ned on his given task, who came by his quarters yesterday, he was just reading from his Keyblade book to help expand his knowledge.

The only other human contact he had since arriving back into his quarters was a servant to give him his dinner and breakfast before they came back again to retrieve the dirty dishes.

Other than that, Roxas had cut himself off from everybody.

He really needed some proper time to himself to feel out everything that had been done to him.

His arms were still tingling with sensation as were his shoulders, and left calf and foot.

It was freaky that the effects had lasted this long.

As he laid there, he heard the small chest containing the Carpathian Mirror opening up. The distinctive mirror pieces clinking against each other as they floated out of the box before assembling themselves.

Rising from his bed, Roxas saw the mirrored surface glow. Once getting off the piece of furniture, he walked over to where the enchanted mirror resided just as the glow died down.

"Roxas." Came a familiar male voice before the reflection on the mirror changed into that of two faces that belonged to friends he had made a while back.

"Hey Trevor, Sypha. Good to see you." Roxas said in a slow manner.

"Hey Roxas." Sypha said cheerfully. "How are you?"

When he finally got in touch with his friends from Wallachia earlier days ago, Roxas was excited upon seeing them from the enchanted mirror. He had tried for a long time in getting in contact with them, never giving up hope by doing his attempts each day.

It was only by luck did Sypha and Trevor get in contact with him. After that, they talked for hours. Roxas learned a number of assignments the pair went through of clearing out some Night Horde nests on the way to Breila while the others learned more of what the Nobody went through since arriving at King's Landing.

And once ending his conversation with the Speaker and Hunter, he had even gotten into contact with Alucard, catching up with his dhampir friend for a good long while to the point that he didn't realize the sun had set.

The Belmont Hold and Dracula's Castle was holding up for the most part with Alucard still fixing parts up of the two structures. The clean up did take time to finish up as he was doing it by himself. Once done with the task, he started to properly explore his family home while he started installing electric lights into the underground library.

In comparison with what was happening on his friends' respective ends, Alucard found it rather exciting in a number of details. Made him wish to hopefully go and join them somehow for a time before resuming his watch of the Belmont Hold and his family castle. But alas, he needed to stay until he could find the proper means of warding the grounds so no one can enter without his permission.

Until then, his conversations through the enchanted mirrors would have to suffice.

Belmont quirked his brow, having noticed Roxas' rather aloof and dazed demeanor.

"Roxas? You alright there mate?" Trevor asked on his end.

"Huh?"

"You're a bit off." Sypha said, leaning her head against Trevor's shoulder. "Did something happen?"

Roxas paused, gazing at his hand momentarily.

"You could say that." Roxas said vaguely.

The Belmont squinted his eyes at the teen, noting how it was slowly starting to turn red. At first, he didn't quite understand what was going on but then the gears in his head began to move and a wide grin began to appear.

"Roxas… you didn't happen to have popped your cherry now, would ya?" Trevor asked with Sypha gaping at such a blunt query.

"Trevor! You don't say such things to such an innocent boy!"

Trevor ended up laughing his lungs out.

"Oh please~ He's not really innocent."

"Popping my cherry?" Roxas repeated. "What's that mean?"

"See?" Sypha emphasized.

Trevor only rolled his eyes. "Okay, I might stand corrected. So, what happened Roxas? Cause you're all spaced out in the eyes and all."

Seeing no harm, Roxas recounted most of yesterday's events as to what led him to his present state.

By the end of it Trevor laughed aloud, wiping a tear away from his eye.

"Oh god, that must've been better than sex."

This got the Wallachian speaker to elbow the Monster Hunter in the ribs.

"Trevor, don't say such things."

"Oh c'mon, Sypha, he was handled quite well with a master of the human body and from a lovely lady to boot. Of course he would end up experiencing such things without-"

The Belmont was soon silenced when Sypha aimed her palm at him and casted Aerora directly at him, shooting him to god knows where off to the side. But it didn't take long for the Hunter to come back, but now his hair was all over the place with his clothes disheveled.

"How have you guys been?" Roxas asked.

"Travelling still for the most part." Trevor said with a shrug. "Been encountering more of those nasty buggers old Drac called upon scattered around."

"Even ran into a few Heartless here and there."

Normally, Roxas would show concern when hearing about others encountering the Heartless. But seeing that Trevors and Syphas profession sorta lined up with his own in regards to hunting monsters, he wasn't as worried for their well being.

"One of the more exciting encounters dealt with the night creatures riding on flying goats." Sypha recounted.

"Flying goats? Why?" Roxas couldn't help but ask.

"Something that was truly out of the ordinary, I suppose. Did have to avoid the flaming shits falling down from the sky." Trevor detailed.

"That must not have been pleasant."

"Most certainly was not. Not something I would want to go out on." Trevor remarked.

"It wasn't that bad." Sypha said with a small laugh."So how's ChoCho?"

"Oh the guy's doing well." Roxas moved over, leaving a clear view of the sleeping Chocobo.

"Oh~ The little one got more adorable~"

"Sypha, he just got bigger." Trevor plainly said.

"You just lack the women's point of view."

"So you keep telling me."

The bird of attention momentarily fluttered its wings out, yawning before resuming its sleep.

Sypha soon cooed at the sight.

"Oh how I wish to come over there and see him in person." Said the Speaker. "Cuddling him, washing him, feeding him."

"I'll bring him over when I see you guys next time." Roxas promised. "Though, I think he'll have gotten pretty big by that point."

"With what you told us, he just might be."

The trio then went into a small conversation, simply talking about what they had all been up to overall since their last chat with Roxas talking about the upcoming tourney whilst Trevor and Sypha spoke more of their travels. Of course at this time, the two Wallacians had no luck in finding Sypha's Speaker tribe just yet, but the magician wasn't giving up hope just yet.

A rapping on his chamber door was soon heard.

"Just a second." Roxas called out before turning back to the Carpathian Mirror. "Sorry if I have to cut things short-"

"It's fine, Roxas. You do you." Said the hunter.

The Speaker gave the Keybearer a soft smile. "We just wanted to quickly check up on you. Have a good one."

The Nobody nodded as he brought the small chest lid down, causing the enchanted mirror shards to break up and flow back into the chest.

Getting over to the door, Roxas unlocked it and was soon greeted with the sight of one of the Red Keep's servants.

"Yes?" Roxas said patiently.

"Pri- Roxas." The servant said, aware of the boy's annoyance with the title.

"You have been requested to appear in the Gardens for a luncheon."

The Keybearer nodded, figuring it was either someone from the Martells or his soon to be in-laws. But given how things were going yesterday with the Tyrells, Roxas guessed it could be someone from that retinue.

Once being told of the specific location for the luncheon, Roxas changed into one of his more presentable attires he acquired from Radiant Garden before leaving his quarters and making his way to the destination.

The location of the luncheon he was requested to attend was at a certain area of the gardens where one can get quite the view of Blackwater Bay.

Upon arrival, Roxas immediately spotted a lone individual standing within the Gardens with his back facing him.

A moment later, hearing Roxas's footsteps, the man turned to the Nobody.

He was quite tall and imposing, with cold and piercing green eyes flecked with gold. His thinning and balding white blond hair with an aged yet hardened face. His appearance was quite regal with the slender form with broad shoulders in his finely designed attire with crimson red and gold being the prominent color scheme.

In a blink of an eye, Roxas saw a slightly younger man before him as his hair was a bit more fuller and a bit more gold in color. But when he blinked again, things returned to normal.

He approached the familiar individual with a wary look.

"So, you're him." the tall imposing man said gazing down at him.

"Huh?" Roxas tilted his head. "Wait, you're the one who called for me?"

The man nodded. "I am."

"Who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Tywin Lannister." the older man stated. "And you… are Roxas, the son of Ventus. I can see why many would believe so."

Roxas's eyes narrowed at the old yet Great Lion of House Lannister.

"Why did you call for me, my Lord?" He said as politely as he could.

"There's a lot of rumors and stories flying around King's Landing and Westeros really by this point." Tywin said, turning to face Roxas completely. "About a young lad wielding weapons and skills that have felled many great creatures and adversaries."

Roxas kept a stony visage while eyeing the elder Lannister.

He didn't really know what to feel about this man he had heard much about. A man who's practically backing the Crown as they owe so much money towards. A man who crushed two rebelling Houses prior to his ascension of being Lord Paramount of the West. A man who had taken part in the War of Ninepenny Kings prior to becoming the Hand to King Aerys the Second for twenty long years.

A man who was held in great contempt by several individuals from the Great Houses of Westeros.

Like House Stark, House Martell and House Tyrell.

All of whom were here now.

Tywin kept his even look at the Keybearer as he soon sat down at the nearby table and gestured to him to sit in the only other available chair there.

"But most of all, I would like to meet the young man who is going to marry my granddaughter."

Roxas nodded as he pulled out the chair and sat down before putting his undivided attention at the Old Lion.

"Alright, let's talk."

-End Chapter-

AN:

It's been quite a while since touching on this story and I blame that on a number of things.

For one, I've been helping free man writer out in our one Mass Effect/Kingdom Hearts story "I'm Nobody" for quite a while. The second being the obvious stuff with work being a bit time consuming.

Lastly, I've been looking for places as of late as I plan on moving from my one apartment which I've lived in for like five years. Had to do so given that my roommate, who is also my little sister, had gotten married last month and moved out shortly after. So after some time searching and waiting, I was able to find a place that suits me quite well. So towards the end of next month I'll be doing the big move.

FMW: Suffice to say that a lot has been keeping the two of us from this story cause I also got a new job recently and have been going through the motions of training and such. Jeb and I have had our hands full to put it plainly. Coupled that with the literal marathon the two of us had in getting out 24 chapters in a two month period with our newest story, I'm amazed our minds are even functioning. When going back to some of our other stories, my mind was like… "Fuck, I forgot how to write for this one."

Jeb: Sorry if most of you guys got a little turned off when the marriage discussion came up in the last chapter. I was trying to touch on a detail many of you have addressed in the past with Myrcella marrying Roxas or not down the line. To be honest, that portion is going to be difficult to write, but I hope I try to make it well.

FMW: There's also the fact that we're gonna have some crazy shit to come now that we have practically all of the Great Houses under one roof save for several overall.

Jeb: Asides from that… oh boy so many things were happening entertainment wise. I mean just a few days ago was practically a nerdgasm with the Video Game Awards and the stuff from Sizzle. Not to mention the latest episode of Helluva Boss, which I kept watching for hours on end.

FMW: Yeah, seriously, it's a welcomed avalanche of good over the avalanche of shit we've been dealing with this year. Marvel, Star Wars, Video games (SEPHIROTH IS IN SMASH, HOLY FUCK), so much nerdy goodness that made us forget about how shitty all our situations are right now. Mandalorian's latest episode with Bill Burr, oh man, that was golden.

Jeb: Hopefully this will all give us a bright beacon in the end of this dark year for what will come in 2021.

FMW: Indeed. So now, we're getting back into the swing of things with this story and our other works. Infinite Wars and several other personal projects on both our ends. Here's to hoping we can do it consistently but like J said, he's moving, I got a new job so we can only try.

Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!

R&R