4

Percy's dreamscape…

Percy had died before. So he knew how it felt to be dead. There was no light at the end of a tunnel or even the appearance of Thanatos, the god of death. Death was nothing but darkness. It was like falling into a dreamless sleep. But perhaps his view of death was a little biased. After all, not many people die via being shredded apart atom by atom by a primordial being.

He woke up on the same beach he had dreamed of all those years ago. It looked just as hellish it did the last time.

'I tried to warn you, Perseus.'

The same voice that had been prevalent within his mind ever since he had been reborn spoke to him. Unlike the last few times though, Percy was going to get answers.

'I'm getting sick of you popping up in my head without at least knocking. Who are you?' He received an amused chuckle in response.

'As unhinged as ever. Very well.'

The sound of a trumpet blared into existence, jarring the glassy sand. Percy covered his ears but it did little to block out the ominous sound. And then something straight out of a Bible verse happened, as slowly, a behemoth sized figure rose from the sea of flames.

The sun grew brighter, its rays pierced through the thick clouds of ash like spears of light. A wave of oppressive and hellish heat, so hot that even Percy began to sweat, sweeped over the beach.

His eyes slowly widened as the sheer size of the being began registering in his mind. It was taller than the tallest skyscraper. Bigger than the biggest mountain. It had a humanoid body that looked to be made up of fire and shadow. Eyes like miniature suns beamed down on him with a harsh light. Huge bat-like wings made of fire spread out from behind the being, completely overshadowing the beach. A whip made of fire and a huge, one handed axe made of shadows formed in the beings clawed hands.

This being was powerful, very powerful. It had an aura that would make most people either freeze in fear or bow in reverence.

"Please don't tell me your name is Hyperion." Percy prayed to anyone who'd listen.

Only the brief disappearance of the being's sun-like eyes notified him that it had blinked at his comment. Another moment later and it began laughing, a dark and deep laugh that sent tremors through the ground.

"That was amusing. No, I am not that weakling you remember to be the Lord of light."

"Do you think you could tone it down a bit? I don't know if my eardrums can rupture in a dream but I really don't want to find out." Percy said, clutching his ears.

"Ah, I forgot how weak mortal ears could be."

A second later, a huge explosion of fire and shadow enveloped the being like a nuclear blast making Percy avert his eyes on instinct. He didn't know if this being was from his old world but it was obviously a god. And whenever god's suddenly exploded into a supernova it usually meant that they were showing their true forms. A god's true form was powerful enough to incinerate any mortal in their presence and powerful enough to kill a demigod if they were dumb enough to look. Percy would rather not find out if that same effect applied to this new god. After a few moments, the intense wave of heat and light died down.

"You can look now." This time the words were said in a much lower and feminine voice.

Percy turned to see a woman standing in front of him. She was unnaturally beautiful with pale skin and sharp elven features. Her hair was a deep crimson red and her eyes were like glowing red embers instead of the suns that it used to be. A red ornamented dress showed off her curves and the top of her ample cleavage.

"Why couldn't you just appear like this the first time?" Percy deadpanned.

To his amusement, the goddess gained a silvery blush of embarrassment. "I wanted to impress you." She muttered, nervously wringing her delicate hands.

Percy chuckled at her excuse. "Well, consider me impressed. I've seen some pretty cool things but you're definitely in my top ten. So, uh, what do I call you?" He asked.

She looked thoughtful. "You could call me mother, I suppose." He blinked at her response.

"Woah, hold on a second lady. First off, I don't even know your name. And second, I already have a mother in this world named Elia." Percy told her.

A small frown formed on the goddesses perfect brow as she hummed to herself. "Perhaps we should sit down for this conversation." Before Percy could reply, the goddess waved her hand through the air. The world around them rippled, warped and distorted until Percy suddenly found himself sitting at a dinner table in a dark chamber. Candles, plates and utensils were set up.

"You must be hungry. Please, eat." The goddess smiled at him from across the table.

Percy blinked dumbly as different varieties of his old world's food materialized in front of him. Just looking at all of his favorite dishes from his home world made his mouth water. The food in this world was nowhere near as tasty as the food in his old world.

"Isn't this just a dream?" Percy asked the goddess while picking up a slice of New York style pizza.

She nodded. "In a sense. You're in my domain. Reality is what I make it. So while only your consciousness is here, I can make it so that this feels real to you." Well that explained why he could feel his hunger.

"So what do I call you?" Percy asked, taking a bite out of his pizza. He almost let out a moan as the cheese melted in his mouth. 'Man, I really miss the food in my old world.' He silently bemoaned.

"I have many names, but you may call me R'hllor. If you do not wish to call me mother." She looked a bit sad at the last part.

Percy raked through his memory to try and figure out where he had heard the name R'hllor before. "Are you the god those fire priests people follow?" He asked slowly.

"Yes, the red priests and priestesses are some of my most faithful followers. Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I have appeared before you." R'hllor said.

"I'm no child of Athena but I'm not stupid. I am gonna go off on a whim and assume that I'm now somehow your demigod child. I'm also gonna assume, since you said my consciousness is here, that I am still alive." Percy concluded.

"You are smarter than what people give you credit for, Perseus. And yes, you are still alive. The poison you were fed was strong but thankfully you didn't drink much of it. While only a sip would be fatal to most, you are obviously not like most mortals." R'hllor smiled cryptically.

Percy sighed in relief. "That's some good news. So how are you my mother. Did you masquerade as Elia Martell?" He asked, only to receive a swift denial.

"No. Elia Martell was a real person. Unlike the gods in your old world, I do not have a physical form. I am simply the concept of life, light, fire and shadow." R'hllor told him.

So would that make R'hllor kind of like Gaia and Tartarus, a god but just without the ability to have a physical body? "So then how are you my mother?" Percy frowned in confusion.

"While I can't affect the world as brazenly as your gods do, I can still influence it. It's incredibly difficult and most god's aren't able to but some of us can intertwine our eternal soul with a mortal one. We then have children that way. Although, the vessel usually dies shortly after. Their body's are simply incapable of handling our power." R'hllor explained.

So there were gods in this world, they just couldn't physically manifest themselves. That was a good thing. Now he wouldn't have to potentially deal with any dickhead gods like Ares.

"So you killed Elia Martell just so you could have a child?" He didn't know Elia personally but the whole thought of possessing people until they withered away didn't sit right with him.

R'hllor gently shook her head. "Elia was already dying from illness when I merged with her. I couldn't have saved her even if I wanted to. He practically had his claws in her." Her face wrinkled in disgust at whoever he was.

"How did I end up in this world? I should have gone to the underworld when I died." Percy said.

"Due to your...peculiar death, when you died your essence was scattered across chaos. If you were just a normal soul it would have been impossible to stitch your essence back together and you would have been swallowed by eternal darkness. But since you were half god, I was able to bring those pieces of you back together. I then put you inside of Elia's unborn child." She told him.

Percy loudly sipped his coke as he pondered this new information. So the fact that he had been killed by Tartarus was the reason for him not going to the underworld. And if what R'hllor said was true, then he would have still been scattered through chaos if it weren't for her. He would have ceased to exist without even knowing it. It was a truly frightening thought.

"So what about the other gods in this world? Do they have children too?" Percy asked R'hllor.

R'hllor shrugged. "I don't keep track of those imbeciles so I wouldn't know. Most of them aren't capable of having children though. Their power is widely based on faith. The more followers they have, the stronger they are. That rule applies to me as well but not as much as them." She explained.

"Great, so they're potentially other demigods out there and with my luck they'll probably want to kill me. I hate my life." Percy groaned pitifully.

R'hllor giggled. "I wouldn't worry too much. Demigods aren't nearly as common here as they are in your old world. Most also aren't that dangerous… physically at least." She added.

Her last comment brought forth a question Percy had been wondering, "Why am I so weak compared to my old body? I thought I was still a demigod." While his physical strength had increased over the years, he wasn't nearly as strong as he used to be. It wasn't as if he desperately needed his old strength back, his sword skills were still top notch, but it just would make achieving his goal that much easier.

"The power you inherited from me is only spiritual. Here's an example: in your old life you were essentially half god/half mortal, both physically and spiritually. But now you are mortal physically, while your soul is almost completely divine." She explained to Percy.

Percy frowned thoughtfully, "So while my soul, therefore my powers, will be stronger… My body will be a lot weaker." He ended lamely.

He'd much rather have greater physical strength than more powers. He didn't mean to sound picky but even though he used to be a son of Poseidon, he rarely ever used his powers. Mostly because he almost never needed to. Most of his enemies, the weak ones at least, would usually die to his sword.

R'hllor let out another amused giggle at his expression. "It may sound bad, but once you actually learn to use your powers it won't be. Although, there is another way for you to get stronger physically." She teased.

Percy perked up. "How? I thought you said I'm just spiritually strong now." He said.

"Yes, your soul is mostly divine. And with that comes the ability to be empowered by the faith of mortals." She informed him.

Percy frowned for a moment before his brows shot up. "So you're saying I can get stronger by having people sacrifice BBQ to me?" He asked excitedly.

R'hllor took on a confused look. "The more faith people have in you, the more your soul grows stronger. As that happens your body will automatically adapt to become stronger in order to keep holding your essence. Usually a mortal body would wither away due to containing so much energy but your body has been exposed to it since it's gestation. As your powers develop, your old strength will begin to return." She explained.

Percy sighed, looking deep in thought. "This is a lot to take in." He murmured.

Just as R'hllor was about to speak, something made her pause. After a moment of concentration she looked back at Percy. "It seems that we've run out of time. We'll soon speak again. Oh, and please try to be more careful in the future. I won't allow a son of mine to die of something as pathetic as poison. Bye, Perseus!" She waved at him before his vision blackened.

oOo

Outside of Myr, Golden Company Camp...

Percy sat up with a sharp gasp. His mouth was dry and his body was stiff but he was alive. And while he was also back in his tent, neither Daenerys nor Viserys were in sight.

His talk with R'hllor was still fresh in his mind. There were other questions he had but until he saw her again they'd have to wait. Now he had to let his family know that he was fine.

After finding and equipping his armor and sword, Percy made his way out of the tent. He ran right into the sellsword company's maester who seemed to be making his way toward their tent, arms filled with medicines and supplies. The maester froze when he noticed him, all of the items in his arms dropped from his hands as looked at him in shock.

"Where is my family?" Percy calmly asked the gobsmacked maester.

Still stupefied, the maester was barely able to point dumbly in the direction of Harry's tent. Percy quickly thanked him before walking off, ignoring the passing men's looks of shock and surprise. Most of them had probably assumed that he was in critical condition.

The sound of faint yells grew louder as he neared the Captain-General's tent. It sounded like Viserys. Percy deftly stormed inside of the tent and was then greeted to the sight of Viserys delivering a hard backhand across a girl's face.

Most of the tent's occupant had their backs turned to him. Daenerys was saddled next to Tristan, who was rubbing her back in comfort (Percy was really tempted to chop off his hand) and Jon was standing next to Balaq overlooking the crying girl on the floor.

Meanwhile Harry was the only one to notice Percy's entrance as he was purposefully looking away from the girl, his face green as if he was sick.

"Your grace!" Harry exclaimed making everyone in the room pause.

Everyone turned to see Percy grinning at them. "Perseus!" Daenerys bolted forward and dove right into his waiting arms.

She hugged him tight as if she were afraid if she let go he would disappear. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you these past few days! I didn't mean anything I said, I swear it." Daenerys sobbed into his chest.

Percy smiled and patted her back. "It's okay, Dany. I forgive you." He told her.

Daenerys looked up at him with puffy red eyes, "B-But you almost died and I was so mean to you." She sniffled.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Everyone grows up eventually. I didn't accept that you had grown up. But now I do." Percy said truthfully.

"I'll never take the time we are together for granted. We're going to make up for these past few days too. Maybe I can style your hair and dress you up like a princess again." Daenerys mumbled.

Percy reddened in embarrassment and he skillfully avoided looking at the smirking men in the room. "Dany, I thought I told you not to say anything about that." He gritted out.

In his defense, he had only allowed her to do those things because Daenerys had no real friends growing up. So he essentially had to fill in all the spots. That included playing the part of princess in Daenerys's fairy tales.

"Sorry." Daenerys said before she finally stopped hugging him, though she still remained close to his side.

Viserys then walked up to Percy with a wide grin. "You had us scared for a moment, nephew." He brought Percy into a bear hug.

"It'll take more than a bit of poison to kill a dragon." Percy joked, earning a bark of laughter.

Jon walked up to him looking guilt ridden. "I'm sorry, your grace. I failed to protect you." He hung his head solemnly.

"Don't blame yourself, Jon. Nobody could have known." Percy told him.

"Hey, head up, Old Griff! Perseus doesn't need a moping knight. We'll just make sure you drink out of his cup first next time. I'm sure you wouldn't mind the excuse, you drunk bastard." Viserys smiled broadly.

"My foot would be up your ass if you weren't a prince." Jon grumbled to himself, a smile tugged at his lips.

Tristan approached Percy and grasped his hand. "I'm glad you're okay, Perseus. I heard how easily you beat Duncan. It wouldn't do for my only competition to die." He said with his usual smirk.

"Competition? I'd love to see it someday." Percy quipped.

He sent a nod at Balaq who nodded back with a small smile. The man wasn't one for heartfelt words but he looked genuinely glad that Percy was alright.

"Thanks to your last words, we were able to catch the wench that poisoned you, your grace." Harry gestured to Lora who sat chained to the floor.

Her face was heavily bruised, probably due to Viserys. Usually Percy wouldn't allow for anyone to be beaten in his presence but, well, she wasn't exactly on his list of innocents.

"Who sent her?" Percy calmly asked getting into a crouch in front of the sniffling Lora who avoided looking him in the eye.

Viserys spat on the floor next to Lora. "The traitorous bitch wouldn't say who hired her." He told Percy who looked back at the girl in front of him.

"Lora, right? Why is it that all of the women who have fucked me over have a name that starts with an 'L'." Percy mused before his expression darkened.

"You'll only get one chance to reply so I want you to listen to my next words very carefully. Who hired you, Lora?" The soft cries continued but Lora otherwise remained silent.

He sighed in disappointment before he steeled himself for what he was about to do. Percy didn't consider himself a cruel person. Most of the time he was calm and chill. But everyone had a breaking point.

Percy grabbed onto the girl's arms, holding her firmly as she struggled. "Dragons are magnificent creatures don't you think? Legend says, dragons were born from a second moon that crashed into the sun and cracked open like an egg. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?" He chuckled, only Lora was able to see the red glow that was forming in Percy's irises.

"No one really knows how dragons came into existence. Well, maybe the Valyrians knew. They could hatch and ride dragons after all. No one knows just how they did it. Some say it was magic, others say it was interbreeding. I like to think that it was a mixture of both. I mean there just had to be a reason as to how Valyrians could be so close to dragons without accidentally being turned to ash. They had to be special in order to survive being around their dragon counterparts." Lora's eyes began to widen in a mixture of disbelief and horror as Percy's hand gradually glowed hotter.

Unable to see why Lora was so scared, the others had no clue where Percy was going with his speech. "Your grace, what are you-" Harry's words died in his throat with one dark look from Percy.

Percy focused back on Lora who was looking very panicked as the heat around her wrist was stinging at this point. "Fire and blood, the words of House Targaryen. The blood part is easy enough to find out. Only the descendants of dragons can ride a dragon after all. But haven't you ever wondered what the fire part meant?" Lora let out a horrified screech and jerked wildly as Percy's hand glowed bright with heat. The skin on her arms sizzled at the contact. Everyone but Viserys looked absolutely shocked at the supernatural phenomenon happening in front of them.

"I'm sure it's starting to feel hot, no? I wouldn't know. You see, us Targaryens are pretty resistant to heat. We could probably stand in a pit of fire and only come out with a few soot marks. But you... are not a Targaryen." Percy finished coldly as Lora screamed in pain, the skin around her wrist sizzled and began to peel.

"I'll ask again. One. Last. Time." Percy said slowly, unfazed at her desperate attempts to pull away from him. "Who hired you?" He asked.

"It was a man named Littlefinger! I swear it, I swear it." Lora bawled.

Percy let go of her. "Who's Littlefinger?" He inquired.

Lora sobbed quietly, holding her burnt arms to her body. "He's the king's master of coin. King Robert learned that you were still alive. So he ordered for you to be killed. The reward was twenty-five thousand gold dragons and a lordship." She told him.

"How does that bastard always know where to find us?" Viserys hissed.

Even after all the years of hiding, Robert Baratheon continued to try and kill them. It seemed obvious that their game of cat and mouse wouldn't end until the king was dead. But if King Robert still wanted him dead, then he'd have to see to the matter personally. Luckily for him, Percy was tired of running.

"Harry, do we have enough men to take the Seven Kingdoms?" Percy suddenly asked.

Harry, like the others, looked surprised. While he had sworn fealty to Percy, he didn't think they would be invading Westeros this soon. "We have been waiting for this moment ever since the day Aegor Rivers founded the company. But to win against the full might of the seven kingdoms... I don't know, your grace." He said truthfully.

Percy frowned thoughtfully. "Even if my family in Dorne joined us, we'd still be outnumbered. We need more men to even the numbers." He mused aloud.

"It'll take at least a year to train enough soldiers to match even one of the armies in the seven kingdoms." Tristan points out.

There wasn't enough time to train more soldiers, that much was certain. Sellswords also didn't just appear out of thin air. Many of them were already aligned to a sellsword company. And while Percy could simply buy the allegiance of other sellsword companies, the risk of betrayal would be too high. Most sellswords were greedy and vain men that only cared about gold and what woman they'd fuck next. Even in the honorable Golden Company there were still those who would kill him for a bag of gold. Lora was proof of that.

Percy's eyes slightly widened as an idea formed in his head. "How much would it cost to buy at least five thousand Unsullied?" He asked them.

Daenerys frowned thoughtfully. "Around twenty-five thousand gold pieces. An Unsullied child is bought from their parents for one silver. Their harsh training increases their value to about five gold pieces, each." She says.

"As brilliant as always, Dany." Percy smiled with pride before looking at Harry. "Well, do you have that much gold?" He asked him.

Harry looked offended. "Of course I do. I have ten times that much, but I don't see how five thousand Unsullied will be of any help." He said.

"Unsullied are the best shield warriors in the world. Even though we'll still be outnumbered, a shield wall will make a huge difference in battle. With a little pre-positioning and help from the terrain, most armies will charge right to their deaths." Percy briefly explained.

"Ah, I see… that's brilliant thinking, your grace!" Harry asked with awe across his face.

Percy looked back at Lora who flinched away from him in fear. "I told you everything I know, I swear." She promised.

"And I appreciate that, Lora. Don't worry, I won't kill you." She let out a sob of relief at his words. "Do you have any family members?" He asked.

Lora slowly nodded. "My little sister, Anna. Our mother died last year." She said solemnly.

"Then you know it feels to lose someone close to you. Your actions almost made my family feel what that's like. They should never have to see me like that." Percy sighed.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to take care of my sister!" Lora cried.

Percy reached out causing Lora to flinch only to be stunned when he gently wiped her tears away. "You made Daenerys see the potential consequences of her actions. It's only fair that your sister learns that lesson as well." Her eyes widened in fear.

"Please don't hurt her, I'm begging you!" Lora pleaded.

He gently shushed her. "Anna, wasn't it? That's a beautiful name. Don't worry, I won't hurt your sister. It wouldn't be fair for her to suffer for your actions. But she still has to learn what not to do." Percy stood up and cupped her face in his hands.

Lora stared up at him with big, wet brown eyes. "How?" She asked softly.

Percy took on a solemn look. "By seeing the consequences of your actions." And with that, he jabbed his thumbs straight into the eyes of Lora.

She let out a blood curdling cry as Percy gouged out her eyes, his thumbs then began glowing with heat. Everyone cringed at the scene of Lora's eyes being gouged out and cauterized at the same time.

Once the job was done, Percy gave the thrashing and newly blinded Lora one last look of pity before he turned away. "Make sure you patch her up and get her home safely. And give her sister enough money to survive for a few months. Be quick about it, we have a lot to do." He ordered before grabbing a stunned Daenerys's hand to begin making their way out of the tent, closely followed by the grinning Viserys.

Everyone in the camp could hear the horrifying screams Lora continued to let out. It wasn't long before her punishment spread through the camp and beyond.

oOo

A few months later, some ways between Yunkai and Astapor...

After dealing with a few things, Percy immediately set out to the city of Astapor. The trip from Myr all the way to Astapor spanned almost half of Essos so he had been riding for roughly two months now. He could have rode faster without the five hundred or so men from the company, but he wouldn't have been able to carry the trunks of gold by himself. Daenerys also needed to be well protected since she insisted that she go with him.

Ever since Percy revealed his fire powers, Daenerys had been practically glued to his side. She constantly barraged him with questions and theories on how and why he was able to produce fire. It was taxing at times but it wasn't like he could really blame her for her interest. To her, he was probably the closest thing to a dragon in a technical sense.

Even though he revealed his powers to Daenerys, Jon, Balaq, Harry and Tristan, Percy still hadn't revealed that he was the son of R'hllor. Even if they believed him, he didn't want to promote to the world that he was a demigod just yet. There were potentially other demigods out there who could have some grudge against R'hllor and wish to take it out on him, so he simply let them believe his powers were connected to him being a Targaryen.

Balaq galloped up to where Percy and Daenerys sat upon their white horse. "We're six days from Astapor, your grace." He was the only commander to accompany them on their journey to Astapor. Percy left Jon and Viserys with the rest of the company to prepare the ships and supplies for the trip to Westeros.

The hardest part about getting to Westeros were the oliphaunts. Due to their size, barges needed to be built in order for them to travel over water. It meant more time spent not invading the seven kingdoms but the oliphaunts would be a huge boon for them. Percy was already thinking of ways to catch armies by surprise with the behemoths.

"Let's stop for the night then." Percy decided, Balaq quickly signaled for the men behind them to stop and begin setting up camp.

"I'm going to scout ahead, Balaq." Percy told the dark skinned man who nodded in return.

With that, Percy whipped his horses reins and galloped away with Daenerys. They didn't go too far, only to the top of a hill in order to overlook the surrounding area. For miles around there was nothing but hills and barren land.

"Beautiful." Daenerys murmured from where she sat behind him.

Percy looked at her over his shoulder. "I look like this every day." He joked with a grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Not you, flame brain. I'm talking about the sky." Percy looked up. The sky was ink black and riddled with countless stars that sparkled like diamonds. The full moon was also out, casting its pale light over the earth. It was a beautiful sight.

He blinked as he just now registered her words. "Flame brain?" Percy raised a questioning brow at her.

Daenerys reddened in embarrassment. "You gave me a nickname, so I have you one too. You're reckless and you can make fire, so you're a flame brain." She said smartly.

Percy's eyes glazed over, Daenerys's words unknowingly made him think of when Annabeth used to call him seaweed brain. He wondered if she had moved on after his death or refused to believe that he had really died. Annabeth could be pretty stubborn when she wanted to. A part of him hated himself for putting her through that. But the other part knew that he wouldn't have forgiven himself if he failed to get her out of Tartarus.

"I don't have to say it if you don't like it." Daenerys muttered bringing Percy back to reality.

He quickly shook his head and smiled. "It's fine, I like it. Although, you could have at least picked a name that was endearing in some way." Percy chuckled.

She pouted childishly, "Well, I like it. So you have to like it too." Daenerys said firmly.

Percy grinned. "As you command, princess." He laughed when Daenerys playfully hit him.

They fell into silence for a while, they calmly looked at stars and the occasional comet. "Do you think we could reach the stars one day?" Daenerys asked suddenly.

Percy snorted. "Stars are just giant balls of fire. Do you still want to reach them?" He asks, amused.

"A true Targaryen can't burn, we'll be fine." Daenerys smiled confidently.

That was doubtful. Sure they could withstand some heat, even more so in Percy's case, but no one could reach the sun without turning into ashes... no mortal at least. R'hllor's words about his potential to become a god came to mind.

"I'll take you to see the stars one day." Percy promised.

Daenerys looked at him like he was crazy. "I wasn't actually being serious, Perseus." She said, amused.

"I know, but I'll find a way." Percy smiled before blinking at the pinky finger that appeared in his face.

"If you're serious then make a pinky promise." Daenerys told him.

He chuckled before connecting his finger with hers. "Pinky promised." Daenerys beamed at him before resting her chin on his shoulder.

They stayed like this for a while. Looking up at the stars in content. And for that single moment, all of Percy's worries and regrets disappeared.

oOo

The City of Astapor...

Astapor rightfully earned its name, the Red City. Most of the city's infrastructure was made of red brick and stone. Giant red pyramids with golden harpy statues on top of them were spread throughout the city. The all encompassing red dust of the city threatened to get into the eyes of its inhabitants.

The majority of the people they passed all wore slave collars. It made Percy uncomfortable to know that such a thing was popular in Essos. At least it wouldn't be a problem for him in Westeros.

"They look so sad." Daenerys muttered from his side.

They had only been allowed to take Balaq and a small group of men inside of the city. The rest of the men wouldn't be allowed inside of the city gates for obvious safety reasons.

"Most of them are probably being mistreated by their owners." Percy told her.

"Can't we help them, Perseus?" Daenerys scowled as they walked past a line of slave children being led away by a fat, olive skinned man in expensive robes.

As much as it pained him, they couldn't help these people. Not now at least. The only reason the golden company swore fealty to him was so that they could rightfully return to their home. The sellswords wouldn't lay down their lives for slaves.

"Not today, Dany. One step at a time." Percy said. She looked disappointed but ceded to his point.

When they reached their destination, they were greeted by a girl that looked no older than ten years. She had dusky skin, molten gold eyes and long curly black hair. Next to her was a Good Master who Percy assumed to be the one they were supposed to meet with, Kraznys mo Nakloz.

Percy nodded politely as they reached the two, only for his eyes to darken at the man's words. "Tell the boy and his whore that we are pleased to meet them." A grumpy Kraznys told the girl beside him.

By the blank faces around him, except an angry Daenerys, Percy assumed the Good Master was speaking in High Valyrian, the main language used in Astapor. It was a language the Targaryens had learned due to their connection with Old Valyria. Though Percy didn't really need to learn it due to his ability to somehow understand different languages. The next time he saw R'hllor he would have to ask why he could understand the languages in this world.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to say, Good Master Kraznys." Percy responded in High Valyrian.

Kraznys looked shocked. "I didn't know you could speak High Valyrian! Forgive me. The weather makes me irritated." He apologized.

Percy pinned the man with a hard gaze before shifting his attention to the girl. "What's your name?" He asked her.

The girl bowed. "This is Missandei. It is nice to meet you, Perseus and Daenerys Targaryen." She greeted them politely.

"Please, follow me." Kraznys told them.

They walked past numerous other Good Masters and slaves as they followed Kraznys. Daenerys asked about almost every statue and artifact they passed. While Kraznys looked annoyed, Missandei answered all of her questions with a smile. Eventually they were led into an open roof courtyard filled with a group of Unsullied who were currently training under the harsh sun.

"These are some of my finest warriors! Just one of these vermin are worth five of the others. Get in line, Vermin!" The Unsullied immediately formed into a single line facing them.

Kraznys looked at them with a smile that made Percy's stomach turn but he ignored the urge to burn the slaver and looked over the group of a dozen or so men. They were of varying ethnicities. Some were Lyseni, others looked Braavosi or Dothraki, there were even some that looked similar to Kraznys.

Walking down the line of men, Percy looked at each of them. Most of them were completely devoid of emotion. He paused when he reached the last man.

The Unsullied was young, probably in his early twenties. Like the others, he was fit and stocky with no facial hair, his brown hair was cut short. He had the same serious look as the others but there was something in his eyes that caught Percy's attention.

"What's your name?" Percy asked the soldier.

After getting permission to speak from Kraznys he spoke. "Grey Worm." He replied.

"Pick up your spear, Grey Worm." Percy said simply before taking off his travel cloak revealing his armor underneath.

Grey Worm looked at Kraznys who frowned but nonetheless nodded, allowing the Unsullied to pick up his spear. Percy handed Balaq his cloak and began doing stretches.

"What are you doing?" Kraznys demanded.

Percy glanced at the man as he stretched his arms. "I am testing one of your best warriors." He told him.

Kraznys scoffed, "Don't be foolish. Unsullied are the best fighters in all the Known World." He boasted.

Ignoring the man, Percy drew Truth and practiced a few sword swings to get used to the weight. He really missed his old sword, Riptide. Finally, they each took their respective fighting stances.

Percy was already going through the numerous times he had faced a spear user. If Grey Worm was any good, he would try and keep distance. His best chance to win was to close the distance between them as quickly as possible and apply pressure.

His move decided, Percy made the first move by dashing toward Grey Worm. The Unsullied immediately sent a straight jab that would have ripped through Percy like toilet paper if he hadn't sidestepped it.

Only slightly surprised, Grey Worm quickly swiped his spear head towards Percy's torso who crouched under the spear, spinning like a top before sticking his leg out to backsweep Grey Worm off of his feet.

It was Percy's turn to be surprised as Grey Worm elegantly hopped over the leg and came back down with a downward spear thrust. Percy rolled away just in time, allowing the spear to stab into the dirt where he had just been a moment before. He was quick to retaliate. Before Grey Worm could unstick his spear from the ground, Percy stood to his feet and delivered a flying knee. Forced to abandon his spear, Grey Worm backed away to avoid the knee and then drew a long, wicked looking dagger. Grey Worm flipped the knife in his hand, holding it like a butterfly knife as he took a boxer-like stance.

With no words to be said, Percy rushed the Unsullied with his sword raised. They went back and forth: slash, sidestep, stab, deflect. Neither of them let up as they entered a deadly dance. For the first time since he had been in this world, the fight was fun for Percy. Other than Viserys, no one had lasted this long against him.

Deciding to break the ongoing routine, Percy suddenly threw his sword at Grey Worm who hurriedly moved out of the way. Running forward at full sprint, he ducked under a slash and went for Grey Worm's torso, wrapping his arms around the man's waist as he circled behind him. With a grunt, Percy lifted the man up and suplexed him into the ground. Grey Worm's dagger was thrown from his grip but he recovered quickly and stood back up. He was immediately forced to block a powerful right hook from Percy.

Taking an odd turn, the fight quickly changed into a street fight as both fighters began delivering blows, uppercuts and kicks at each other.

Percy chuckled as he ducked under a left hook before giving a body shot to Grey Worm hard enough to make the man's knees buckle. Stumbling back from the force of the punch, Grey Worm's eyes widened when looked up to see Percy flying at him with a superman punch. Sidestepping the punch, Grey Worm sent a high kick to Percy's head. Instead of ducking under the kick, Percy reached out and grabbed the man's leg in a tight grip. In one swift motion, Percy hooked the back up his foot behind Grey Worm's other leg and jerked him off of his feet, sending him falling to the ground with a thud.

Before the Unsullied could recover Percy was on top of him with the two sharp points of his wreath positioned just inches away from the soldier's wide eyes.

Everyone was impressed at arguably one of the best fights they had seen. Both fighters had worked to take away the other's strengths and both had to make momentary sacrifices in order to gain the advantage. In the end, it simply came down to experience and skill. Both of which Percy had in spades.

"That was a really good fight, Grey Worm! You did great." Percy smiled and helped the Unsullied onto his feet.

Grey Worm remained stone-faced, though one could see the corners of his mouth twitch. "Yes, that was a good fight." He respectfully bowed his head to Percy.

And then Kraznys suddenly exploded into rage. "You dare humiliate me in front of this boy and his whore. Take your life at this very moment. The Unsullied have no place for weaklings!" Grey Worm grew stiff at the order.

Percy whipped around to face the slave master. "Call her that again and I will rip your tongue from your fucking mouth!" He shouted, his eyes began glowing like heated coal and the temperature spiked to sweltering.

"Calm down, Perseus." Daenerys approached Percy, the heat not affecting her in the slightest. "I'm fine. It's only words." She gently brought down his face to look at her.

Percy's eyes immediately dimmed when they met hers and his rage plummeted. He exhaled a calming breath, and slowly the temperature was brought down to the level it was originally at.

Though he still wore a scowl, Percy turned back to Kraznys. "Forgive me. The weather makes me irritated." He mocked.

Kraznys audibly gulped before quickly nodding. "Y-Yes, it must be the heat making us like this. Shall we continue with our business, King Perseus?" His now respectful tone was noted by all, it was no doubt due to Percy's supernatural showing.

"Five thousand Unsullied for twenty-five thousand gold pieces. Grey Worm will be part of that five thousand." Percy's voice indicated no room for debate.

"I intended to give you this one in order to translate to the Unsullied-" Kraznys gestured to Missandei, "-but you seem to already know our language well enough."

Daenerys tugged on Percy. "Can we take her with us? She knows a lot so I'm sure she'd be a lot of help to us." She said hopefully.

He knew that she probably only wanted someone to talk to that wasn't a man so it didn't take long for him to make a decision. "Sure, why not. We'll take Missandei as well, Kraznys." He told the Good Master.

"Well, that would be an extra-" The man's words died in his throat when Percy's eyes started to glow again. "Actually, consider this a gift, from me to you!" He chuckled nervously.

"Perfect!" Percy smiled brightly.

Once he gave the gold to Kraznys, Percy was handed a scourge that would apparently allow him to command the Unsullied army. He would hang on to it for now but eventually he would make it so that he wouldn't need the scourge at all. It would be bad if his own army turned against him just because someone stole the scourge.

"You should really smile more, Grey Worm. You're a free man now." Percy said as he rode alongside the Unsullied.

The man had wanted to march behind with the other five thousand Unsullied but Percy wanted to get to know him a bit more. After all, there weren't many who could make him sweat in a fight.

"I'm still a slave. I only have a different master." Grey Worm said simply, stone faced.

Percy snorted at that. "All of you Unsullied could pack up and leave right now and I wouldn't stop you. Sure it would be a bit disappointing after spending so much gold, but I wouldn't blame you if you ran." He said truthfully.

Grey Worm looked at him with a peculiar expression. "You would just allow us to leave?" He asked slowly.

"I need more than just an army, Grey Worm. I need men who actually believe in me and the future I plan to achieve." Percy told him.

A brief moment of silence. "And what future is that?" Grey Worm asked curiously.

Percy looked ahead at Daenerys and Missandei who rode their own horses whilst talking to each other with happy smiles on their faces. "A future where people can live their lives without fear of losing all they have based on a whim. A future where everyone, noble or not, can speak about their differences with each other without the need for hate." A future where he could finally hang up his sword and live in peace until the day he died, surrounded by his family.

Grey Worm was silent for a long time as he absorbed this new information. Then he spoke, "And how do I fit in this future of yours?" He asks.

"You'll be the one to lead my new shield guard. Commander Grey Worm." Percy grinned before galloping ahead to ride alongside Daenerys and Missandei.

Grey Worm watched as the boy who freed him, laughed and joked with the two girls. For his entire life he had been nothing but a living weapon. He used to resent being just a weapon destined to be discarded. But it didn't sound too bad to fight for the future that Percy wanted. Every king needs a sword, and Grey Worm would happily be that sword for someone like Percy. Or rather, his spear.

oOo

Coast of Myr, 299 AC...

Percy lounged alongside Viserys, Daenerys, Jon, Tristan, Missandei and Grey Worm as they overlooked the coast of Myr.

Hundreds of ships were out in the sea, as soldiers loaded supplies, weapons and other items onto them. The oliphaunts had already been led onto barges with minor difficulty.

The five thousand Unsullied integrated into the army easily enough. They all now sported golden armor with spiked helmets and carried their spears and shields. It took some work to get the Unsullied to work efficiently alongside the rest of the company. Most if not all of the company's men really liked the idea of having a shield guard made up of one of the world's best warriors. Though a few like Duncan and Denys complained about all the action they would miss by standing behind a shield wall.

About a week ago, Percy had sent out a letter to his family in Dorne asking for their alliance in the upcoming invasion. They were still waiting for their response.

Their first move was planned. They would take Griffin's Roost, Jon's old castle in the Stormlands. Once the castle was theirs they would see how the other great houses would react to their return and then act accordingly.

If he was being honest, Percy was actually pretty excited. Not for the needless deaths of course but for the challenge that war brought. He was more than a little experienced when it came to war games so it would be fun to see what type of strategies the enemy generals used.

"Your grace, I bring important news!" Harry frantically called as he ran up the hillside. Viserys snickered at the out of breath Harry who was obviously unused to doing any hard labor.

Percy waited for the collapsed and panting man to regain his breath, "What's news?" He asked him.

Harry took one last breath before standing to feet. "Robert Baratheon is dead! The new king, Joffrey Baratheon, has been crowned. But apparently Joffrey had Ned Stark, warden of the north, executed. The North has declared independence and war. Stannis and Renly Baratheon, have also declared themselves to be the rightful king." He ranted.

"Who is allied with who?" Percy frowned.

"The North and the Riverlands are allied to Robb Stark. The Westerlands for King Joffrey and a few of the Stormland lords have joined Stannis. Renly has the support of most of the Stormlands, he's also backed by House Tyrell and Highgarden. The Vale and the Iron Islands are silent for now." Harry told him.

Well that was a lot to take in, but this whole debacle may actually work in Percy's favor. "And what about Dorne? Any word from them?" Percy asked.

"They have chosen to remain neutral. I believe they're ignoring our messages." Harry said grimly.

Well that was a bit disappointing. Percy had hoped to get his Dornish family's support. He couldn't help but wonder why they weren't answering him. Viserys had told him that they had been furious at the Baratheon King for the death of Elia Martell and Rhaenys. So why wouldn't they support him? He was the last living child of Elia, their beloved sister.

'Oh well. As long as they stay out of our way we'll be fine without them.' Percy thought before he turned back to overlook the sea. "This is kind of perfect for us actually. We won't even need to take Griffin's Roost now. Since most of the Stormlands soldiers are going to rally behind Renly in Highgarden, we can go after the bigger fish." He smiled deviously.

"You want to take Storm's End before Renly can send enough men back to reinforce it." Tristan guessed.

"We'll need to bring more food and supplies. Stannis and his men were stuck in the castle during Robert's Rebellion with no food to feed themselves for months." Jon said.

Viserys frowned. "So we're going to hide inside of Storm's End while the rest of the Kingdoms fight each other?" He asks.

Percy shook his head. "Once we're barricaded in the castle we can do anything we want. As long as there's men at Storm's End, we can slowly pick at the other Kingdoms armies and fall back to the castle before they even know what hit them." He explained.

"So we'll be running away with our tails between our legs." Viserys grumbled.

"It's more like a tactical retreat. And since we have the smaller numbers, we have no choice but to use such methods." Tristan told Viserys who begrudgingly ceded to his point.

"Well then. It looks like we have a war to crash." Percy grinned.