Chapter 14

Aryan appeared inside a cave and promptly collapsed, his new body unaccustomed to the sensation of squeezing through a tube. Unlike Harry Potter, Aryan Stark was taller and more muscular for his age. He shook his head to clear it and warily looked around. He found that he was in an underground cave surrounded by Weirwood roots. Somehow, he felt that he was not in Westeros anymore. Most of the cave was in darkness. He saw several pairs of glowing green eyes looking at him from the shadows.

'I hope they are not big cats, like the shadow cats that are said to be at North of the wall,' he thought. He was helpless and unarmed. Suddenly, green lamps lit around him, and he got a better view of the cave.

"The Children of the Forest," he whispered. The source of those glowing green eyes revealed itself: lean and short beings with pale skin and emerald eyes. They were beautiful in their own way. Their dresses were made of leaves, and they carried spears and bows crafted from Weirwood, all of which were currently aimed at him.

"At ease, my friends. Lord Stark is a guest. We do not harm our guests, do we?" A voice behind him said, which he recognized as Bloodraven's.

'I have not even taken guest rights,' Aryan mused to himself as he turned towards the source of the voice and was taken aback by Bloodraven's appearance.

He was a pale, skeletal man in rotted, black clothing, sitting in a weirwood throne of tangled roots. His skin was white, aside from a red blotch on his neck and cheek. Bloodraven had fine, white hair long enough to reach the earthen floor. He was missing one eye, while the other was red. Weirwood roots surrounded the man and grew through his body, including his leg and his empty eye socket. His voice was slow and dry, as if he had forgotten how to speak.

'A cursed life,' Aryan thought, looking at Bloodraven.

"In a way, Lord Stark, but I am used to it," Bloodraven said, reading his mind.

"It is considered rude to read others' thoughts," Aryan said, irritated at the fact that Bloodraven was able to bypass his shields so easily.

"I apologize. It has been far too long since I had human contact," Bloodraven replied.

Aryan nodded and asked, "So who are you exactly, and what is your name? I doubt you were born with the name Bloodraven."

"I wore many names when I was quick, but even I had a mother, and the name she gave me at her breast was Brynden. As I was a bastard born in the Crownlands, my last name is Rivers," Bloodraven replied.

Aryan racked his brain to remember the history Maester Luwin taught him. 'Yes, Brynden Rivers, the bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen and his sixth mistress, Lady Melissa Blackwood. A spymaster and the Hand of Aerys I and Maekar I Targaryen and a Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, who was forced to take the black by Aegon V Targaryen,' Aryan recalled.

"The one with a thousand and one eyes. Isn't that what some used to call you?" Aryan asked.

Bloodraven replied with a faint smile, "That credit goes to the Faith. I used to follow the Old Gods like my mother's family. I also exposed some of the High Septon's schemes, which the Faith did not take kindly to. So they accused me of sorcery and tried to rally the smallfolk against me."

"In which they obviously failed, considering you remained the Hand to two generations of Kings," Aryan finished for him.

Brynden did not say anything. So Aryan asked the next obvious question, "So what happened to you?"

Brynden told him, "It would be better if I showed you. Would you allow me to show you?"

Aryan reluctantly agreed.

Memory Begins

The next moment he saw that he was standing somewhere with ice everywhere. Mountains of ice could be seen at the horizon. He saw three rangers walking through the ice, though the visibility was clear.

"We are inside the Lands of Always Winter. My two fellow brothers and I were on a ranging operation. This is when I first met them," Bloodraven said, standing beside him.

"Who?" Aryan asked.

"You will see," Bloodraven said, looking intently toward the three rangers.

Suddenly, wind started to blow, and a dense fog enveloped them. An unearthly screech echoed through the surroundings. The rangers stopped, drew their swords, and started to look around.

"They are coming," Bloodraven said, gazing at a certain direction.

Aryan followed Bloodraven's gaze and saw two otherworldly beings coming towards the rangers on horseback. They had very pale skin, glowing blue eyes, and mist surrounded them. The horses reflected their riders, but looked rotten with patches of missing flesh and skin.

Remembering Old Nan's stories, he said, "I assume they are the Others." Bloodraven nodded at that.

One of the two Others came toward the rangers and attacked them. The first ranger blocked the Other's first blow, but his sword broke into pieces as it made contact with the Other's unnatural blue sword. The man gaped at that, and the next moment, the Other killed him. The second ranger met the same fate. The Other then moved to the third ranger and attacked. Unlike the first two, his sword did not break. Both the ranger and the Other looked surprised, and they started to fight. The hood of the ranger fell off, displaying his pale white hair.

'So this ranger is Bloodraven,' Aryan decided. Finally, Bloodraven slashed the Other with his sword, and the Other burst into a thousand ice pieces. Bloodraven was panting and then looked towards the next Other, who had yet to join the fight. This one looked more regal with a bluish armor and an ice spear in his hand. The Other then made some kind of gesture. The two fallen Black Brothers then animated and stabbed Bloodraven in the back. Bloodraven gasped and fell after the first blow. The animated corpses repeatedly stabbed him in his weakened state and then went towards the Other. Soon, all of them disappeared into the mists. Bloodraven lay there in a pool of blood.

"That one is the Night King. Apparently, they can be killed by Valyrian swords, as you saw me killing one of them with Dark Sister. Let us go back, Lord Stark," Bloodraven informed him.

Memory Ends

Back in the cave, Aryan asked, "You should have been dead. If not from the wounds, then from the cold."

Bloodraven replied, "Even I thought so, but I was not dead. When I opened my eyes, I was here, surrounded by these Children, who used their powers to nurse me back. But I was wasted. My hands and legs had stopped functioning. They then gave me a paste of Weirwood trees prepared with their magic, and my greenseer abilities awoke. Since then, I have always lain here, surrounded by these roots. Some of them even grow inside me, but I cannot feel them. As I had all the time in the world, I honed my skills as a greenseer. I have been watching you. All of you. All your lives, with a thousand eyes and one."

Aryan then asked, "You mean the Others will invade Westeros while the Seven Kingdoms continue to play their games?"

"Like I said, Lord Stark, that was before you were born. Now that future is no longer set. Perhaps you are destined to stop it. There is even a prophecy of the Prince who was promised. It goes like this..."

"Stop. Just bloody stop. Not one more word about any prophecy. I have had enough of prophecies! One prophecy ruined my life in my old world. I do not want to hear another. I was never able to recover from it. I was unhappy and broken throughout my entire life. That is why I jumped at the opportunity to come to a new world. But no, here it is again. I will not let a bloody prophecy ruin my life. Do you hear that, you old fossil?" Aryan roared at Bloodraven.

"Like you, I have my own ghosts, Lord Stark. A brother that I loved, a brother that I hated, a woman I desired. Through the trees, I see them still, but no word of mine has ever reached them. The past remains the past. We can learn from it, but we cannot change it," Bloodraven said, not at all offended.

Aryan asked, "What ghosts of my past are you talking about?"

"The day you were born, I had a vision of your previous life and of others who had a connection with you. Watching your life from my perspective, I came to a conclusion. Whether you realized it or not, you were a broken man after your war with Voldemort, I believe his name was. You did not have an anchor in your life. Throughout your life, you were in search of that anchor to balance yourself. A failed marriage and a series of failed relationships, all of which you were responsible for but never accepted the blame. But you love your family, don't you? Didn't you promise yourself to protect your pack at any cost? If not for the prophecy, do it for your family. You were a powerful sorcerer in your world. Perhaps you can deal with the Night King and Others easily. When they are finished, then I can pass on peacefully," Bloodraven said.

During the conversation, Aryan thought about his past. He agreed with Bloodraven. Everything was his fault. He never considered Ginny's aspirations and what she wanted. Instead, he only thought about having a family. And when she had the abortions, he flipped out and ruined their relationship instead of discussing things amicably. Poor Gabi loved him with all her heart. She even went against Fleur and her family to be with him, but still, in the end, he ruined it. The same happened with many others. For fuck's sake, he abandoned his son with Daphne Greengrass.

With a sigh, Aryan said, "You are right. I blamed others for my own shortcomings and ruined many lives. But it is in the past, and I cannot change it. I will deal with the Others. Not for the prophecy, but for my family. Anything to protect them. But like I told you, I need my wand to use magic to my full power. Can you provide me a wand like you said?"

"With the Weirwood and the Children's help, you will have your wand. But then you must promise me that you will deal with the Others," Bloodraven said.

Aryan told him, "In my old world, the wand chooses the wizard and not the other way around. If this wand does not work for me, then there will be no hope. Marwyn and I had researched for years, and my only hope is the Children of the Forest. But if the wand works for me, then I will promise to deal with the Others, provided you tell me where I can find them and about their origins."

"That will do. The Night King and the Others are in the Lands of Always Winter, where there is no life—so no Weirwoods. I cannot find them unless they come out of it. As for how they were formed, well..."

Memory Begins

Aryan and Bloodraven were standing in ice at an unknown location. Aryan looked around and saw stones arranged in a spiral formation with an ancient Weirwood tree at the center. A man was bound to the tree while the Children of the Forest surrounded him. Then one Child came forward and stabbed him with a shining black stone, which Bloodraven identified as obsidian. Slowly, the man's features changed—his skin turned icy, his eyes glowed blue. Finally, he transformed into what Aryan had seen earlier: the Night King.

Memory Ends

Looking at the Children, Aryan asked in a cold tone, "Somebody rightly said—we create our own demons. What made you do this? Necromancy is considered one of the vilest magics even in my old world."

One of the Children came forward. It was the one who stabbed the man in the memory. The Child began to speak in a sing-song voice in the Old Tongue, "It was the time when we were at war with the First Men during the Dawn Age. They were cutting the forests and Weirwoods for their settlements and thus destroying our homes. We fought with them for centuries... and we were losing. In a desperate bid to gain the upper hand, we created the first Other. It was supposed to listen to us, but the Other turned on us and started to destroy all life. When all was lost, then he came."

"The Last Hero?" Aryan asked, already having heard Old Nan's stories.

The Child nodded. Suddenly, Aryan was standing in another memory.

Memory Begins

Aryan was standing in the middle of a war. The humans and the Children were fighting the Others and their army of the dead. But his attention was drawn toward another sight. A man was busy burning the Others and the dead army surrounding him with a manic grin on his face, as if this were a game to him. And he was using—Fiendfyre. The remaining Others were retreating while the Night King observed their defeat from a distance. Aryan started to run towards the dark-haired man and soon was standing face to face with him. His eyes widened in shock.

Memory Ends

The black hair, aristocratic face with a mischievous smile, and the grey eyes.

"Sirius," he whispered to himself.

Bloodraven said, "Yes, your godfather, Sirius Black, is that person. He defeated and drove away the Others. Then, taking the name Brandon the Builder, he built the Wall with the help of the Children and Giants. After that, he founded House Stark."

By then, Aryan had already guessed that. The characteristic grey eyes of the Stark line—like in Eddard, Benjen, and Arya—originated from Sirius. He must have altered the memories of the humans after that to hide the role of his magic in the war. Now, legends only spoke of the Last Hero, or in the case of R'hllor's followers, Azor Ahai and his sword, Lightbringer.

'Brilliantly executed, Sirius. Best prank on all of humanity. But how did none of his Stark descendants exhibit any magic?' Aryan wondered. 'A question for Death the next time we meet.'

"After the Last Hero's death, we slowly retreated to the North of the Wall as the Age of Heroes began," the Child finished.

Aryan sighed. "Why don't you go back to the South again? I can offer you protection in the North."

"We will speak of this some other time, human. Now let us make your wand. Give me your blood," the Child said. She then showed him a wooden bowl. Aryan hesitated, then bit his finger and let a few drops of blood drip into the bowl. The Child then walked away, followed by several others.

Aryan was about to follow them, but Bloodraven stopped him. "They don't trust you yet, Lord Stark. Wait here until they are finished."

Aryan did not trust the Children with his willingly given blood, especially after what he had seen in the memory. But he didn't have another choice. A wand was very necessary for him. So he started to pace inside the cave. After some time, he asked Bloodraven, "Didn't you say you can see the past? Show me the circumstances leading to Prince Rhaegar's and Aunt Lyanna's elopement."

Memory Begins

Bloodraven and Aryan were now standing in the midst of a tourney. The dilapidated but humongous Castle of Harrenhal loomed in the background.

"We are now at the Great Tourney of Harrenhal where everything began. Rhaegar had financed the whole tourney. The Tourney was a ruse for Rhaegar to meet certain lords and gain their support for overthrowing Aerys and taking the throne. But it failed," Bloodraven informed him.

They saw a knight in mismatched armor defeating three other knights and humiliating them. He then rode away calling himself the Knight of the Laughing Tree. The Mad King, with uncut nails and hair and a gaunt face, became enraged and ordered Prince Rhaegar to catch the mysterious knight. The prince then bowed and left to pursue the rogue knight.

Aryan was now standing in a Weirwood grove. He saw the knight removing their armor. It seemed that the prince had also found the knight but hid himself behind a tree to identify them. When the knight finally removed their helm, the prince was surprised because it was a woman beneath the armor.

Rhaegar revealed himself, saying, "So you are the Knight of the Laughing Tree. I must say, I never expected a lady in a knight's armor."

The woman with dark hair and grey eyes replied, "I am no southern flower who only wants to get married and have beautiful babies. I am a warrior too."

Rhaegar smiled and said, "Of course, my lady. It is refreshing to see a change. May I know your name?"

"I am Lyanna Stark of Winterfell," she introduced herself and, with hesitation, added, "My prince."

Aryan saw Lyanna had a wild beauty about her. She looked like a grown-up version of Arya. No wonder King Robert still remembered Lyanna and ignored Cersei. Lyanna Stark was like Helen of Troy. Kingdoms bled for both of them. The difference was, Helen lived after the Trojan War, Lyanna did not.

Suddenly, they heard distant approaching footsteps. After nodding to Rhaegar, Lyanna disappeared. Soon, Ser Arthur Dayne and Prince Lewyn Martell arrived, and Rhaegar showed them the armor, telling them that the knight had escaped.

The scene changed...

Rhaegar, in his armor and dragon helm, defeated Ser Arthur Dayne in the final tilt. He passed over his wife and then crowned Lyanna as his Queen of Beauty.

Here, Aryan started examining the reactions of some people. Lyanna was blushing, while her brothers—his father Brandon, Uncle Eddard, and Benjen—looked angry. Another person was Robert Baratheon, who looked furious. Elia, her brothers Doran and Oberyn, looked outraged. The Mad King himself was indifferent to the whole issue and was more interested in looking around suspiciously for possible threats. The red-haired man whom Bloodraven identified as Jon Connington looked jealous. Most of the other people looked scandalized.

Again, the scene changed...

They saw several memories of Rhaegar and Lyanna walking and talking privately, showing that they had begun their romance.

The scene changed...

"We are at the Red Keep," came Bloodraven's voice.

Rhaegar and Elia were sitting in their bedchamber.

"I apologize, my lady, for dishonoring you," Rhaegar said.

"I almost died while giving birth to Rhaenys and Aegon, and you still dishonor me like this in front of everyone. You have your heir now. What more do you want?" Elia shouted in anger.

Rhaegar did not say anything immediately. After some time, he said, "Darkness is coming, Elia, and to face that, the dragon must have three heads. Once, I thought I was the prince who was promised. But now I know it will be my son. The dragon must have three heads. I already have my Rhaenys and Aegon. Now I need just Visenya. I am going to marry Lyanna Stark. Not only will this unite two ancient bloodlines, but it will also fulfill the Pact of Ice and Fire made between Cregan Stark and Rhaenyra Targaryen."

"Does Lyanna Stark even know that you only want her as a broodmare for the sake of a prophecy? You are destroying her life and her dreams," Elia asked.

Rhaegar said without any emotion, "Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. Perhaps I will dispose of her once she has done her part. Nobody will replace you as my queen."

Elia raged with fury in her eyes. "You have gone mad. You will be the end of all of us."

Rhaegar did not say anything and, as he was about to leave, Elia warned him, "Don't do anything stupid. Your obsession with this prophecy will damn all of us."

The scene changed...

Aryan identified the location as the clearing in the Wolfswood. Rhaegar was standing there in a cloak with his close friend and Aryan's uncle, Ser Arthur Dayne. After some time, Lyanna Stark came, accompanied by Benjen. After a tearful goodbye between the siblings, Lyanna rode away with the prince and Arthur.

The scene changed...

Aryan was standing in a Weirwood grove. In front of him, Rhaegar and Lyanna were reciting their wedding vows, officiated by a Septon. Then they kissed.

'Is this also an act to woo Lyanna?' Aryan mused.

The next memory...

Bloodraven said, "This is the last memory which I think may be important. After the marriage, most of their time was spent making love, which I don't think you would be interested in viewing."

Aryan nodded and saw that they were standing in front of a lone tower in the middle of nowhere.

"This is the Tower of Joy. Though it didn't give any joy to its last inhabitants," Bloodraven intoned.

Aryan saw his Uncle near Howland Reed, helping him tend to an injured William Dustin.

Several people lay dead—four Northmen and three Kingsguard. He saw his silver-haired uncle, the legendary Ser Arthur Dayne, lying dead, still clutching Dawn tightly.

A scream came from the tower following which Eddard hurried towards the source. Aryan followed him slowly knowing what to expect. He found his Uncle kneeling holding Lyanna's hand while she was breathing heavily and sobbing. She was lying surrounded in the Blue Roses of Winterfell. Her clothes were coated in blood while a child wrapped in linens was beside her. But he could see that the child was not breathing.

"I am sorry. I am so sorry. Father and Brandon and so many others all dead because of me." She sobbed.

Eddard assured her, "No Lyanna. It was not your fault. All fault lies with that Mad King. He started everything."

"I wrote Father a letter when we were at Riverrun but it never reached him. If it had then this war would not have happened." Lyanna said with tears in her eyes.

"Let's not talk about the past. Rest. I will take you home soon. You will be well." Eddard said.

"No Ned. I think my time has come. Love is a very beautiful song, Ned, but I have come to realise it does not always have a happy ending." Lyanna said, and then pointing at the child she asked Ned, "Give him to me, Ned. I want to hold him one last time."

Eddard gave her the baby. Lyanna kissed Jon and then gave him back to Eddard saying, "I wanted to name our son Aemon Targaryen. Rhaegar has married me secretly. But he was a stillborn."

"Promise me, Ned... I thought... I thought..." Lyanna pleaded one last time, her voice failing her.

Ned held her hand tightly and said, "I promise."

And then Lyanna closed her eyes and lay still.

Memory Ends

Aryan was back in the cave. He started to pace back and forth inside, trying to piece together what he had seen. Rhaegar never loved Lyanna. She was just a broodmare for him to produce a heiress to fulfill a prophecy.

"Rhaegar believed in the prophecy. He had grand plans. He knew that the Others are coming. But Aerys never agreed with any of Rhaegar's ideas. Rhaegar wanted to unite the Seven Kingdoms and form a combined army to deal with the Others when the time came. That was why he sponsored and organized the Great Tourney of Harrenhal, believing Aerys would never attend. This was an opportunity to meet with other like-minded lords and form an alliance to overthrow the king. But Aerys surprised everyone by attending the tourney, and Rhaegar's plan fell apart. In the end, Rhaegar's obsession with the prophecy led him to his downfall."

Aryan told Bloodraven, "In a way, I don't blame Rhaegar. He was doing what he thought was best to protect humanity. So he did what must be done. In my old world, Albus Dumbledore did the same thing. He was ready to sacrifice me for the greater good of the people. While I know nobody can decide my fate, I understood his intentions. Good leaders must be ready to make sacrifices. I only feel sad that Princess Elia and Aunt Lyanna were used in the process."

"I don't think that the prophecy is valid anymore. With your arrival, I am now sure that humanity will have a better chance against this threat. You are more powerful than the Last Hero and can easily defeat the Night King."

"We will see about that," Aryan said.

They were distracted by the sound of the Children returning, led by the one who had taken his blood. She held their creation in her hands.

Aryan gingerly took the wand from her hand and was assaulted by the same feeling he experienced when he got Holly and Phoenix from Ollivander. A breeze blew inside the cave, and he felt a warmth filling him. To test it, he performed the Patronus charm, concentrating on the memory of his new family. He waited for Prongs to come out, but what emerged was a large, majestic direwolf. The whole cave was filled with positive emotions. Even the Children looked happier compared to their earlier gloomy expressions.

"Thank you for making me this. I always felt incomplete without my wand. Now that I have it, I can complete several of my projects." Aryan thanked them.

Bloodraven choked with emotion and rasped, "Even though I did not see whatever magic you did, I definitely felt it. For an old man sitting here, wasted, that magic of yours brought back my old memories."

Sunlight started to peek at the cave entrance, seeing which Aryan said, "I think if I stay here for any longer, people would be worried about my unexplained absence. Once again, I would like to invite all of you to Winterfell."

The Children looked at each other, and their leader, who identified herself as Leaf, said, "We will see. We cannot leave the Three-Eyed Raven here alone."

Aryan agreed with them and was about to leave when Bloodraven spoke to him again. "Lord Stark, we don't have time, so I will tell you this: your father Brandon Stark was killed by someone's machinations. Remember, in the Game of Thrones, you win, or you die. And if you want to win, you must think big and look at the bigger picture. Now, I think you can go."

Nodding at Bloodraven's parting words, Aryan Stark disapparated back to Winterfell.