Chapter 16
JON
'Bran…It's really you' -Jon disregarded everything else going on right now as he saw his brother.
"My lady…Your…Grace?" -Edd said to Melisandre and awkwardly bowed towards Jon. Jon just kept staring at his long-lost brother, who he thought had died long ago.
"Bran…" -Jon finally said as he approached his brother. He didn't care if this was going to generate some confusion. He hugged Bran with all his being, and kissed his forehead "Little brother…I thought you were dead!"
Bran just stared at Jon "Daenerys Targaryen. Have we met before?" He didn't seem shocked at all at the fact that a stranger was calling him 'brother'.
"Bran…I'm-" Jon said as he took a step back. Edd was looking at him with a very surprised face, as both he and the girl carrying Bran lowered him to the ground.
'Was straight up revealing my identity the wisest move?' – Jon thought for a second, but he then disregarded his thoughts as he approached his friend Dolorous Edd and hugged him too "Edd…"
Dolorous Edd just stood there, flustered.
"I'm sorry…" -Jon said as he turned towards his real body "I guess I have some explaining to do"
"Let's all have a seat" -Melisandre suggested
"…"
"…"
"…"
A couple hours had passed by. Jon and Melisandre where sitting at one side, and across them Bran, the girl who had introduced herself as Meera Reed and Edd.
Jon told them their story, Bran and Meera told him theirs. Edd talked about what had transpired at the Wall while he was gone. About how they had executed the traitors…Olly.
"…"
'An all-seeing Three-Eyed Raven?' -Jon pondered about Bran's even crazier story 'I guess that after what happened to me, there's no reason to not believe them.' Jon then saw Melisandre staring suspiciously at Bran.
"…"
"Seven fucking hells…you really are Jon" -Edd finally directly addressed Jon, as he carefully inspected him, from his silvery hair to the more feminine features "Imagine if our friend Sam the Slayer was here, he wouldn't even be able to look at your current-self straight in the eyes"
"I saw your body come back from the dead, so there's no reason for me to doubt you"
Jon smiled nervously, not knowing how to react 'Sam…I wonder if he's alright'
"Say, uhm…Jon… can you control the Dragon Queen's dragons?" -Edd asked
"A dragon is not a slave, they can never be controlled…but I don't know if they'd be willing to listen to me as they did their…mother"
"But aren't you their…uhm, mother right now?" -Edd questioned again
"… I suppose so" -Jon answered, not really having thought about how Dany's dragons would react or if they would even realize that their mother is not really their mother anymore.
"…"
"Dragons are the embodiment of fire" -Melisandre stated after a brief silence "Our Lord has provided you, his champion, Azor Ahai reborn, with that body so you can make better use of them"
Jon was once again annoyed at hearing her talk about her prophecies and this gibberish about him being the 'Chosen One' again. The way she talks about Dany being nothing but a sacrifice that was necessary to get him to this point also unsettles him.
"…"
"Bran" -Jon asked "You say you can see the past?"
"I do. I'm the Three-Eyed-Raven after all" -He answered plainly
"Have you seen…in your visions…any instances of this…my current situation happening?"
"Not yet" -Bran responded
"…"
"About the Night King, you said he attacked you beyond the wall?"
"He did. After he marked me"
"Marked you?"
"Yes" -Bran responded, as he uncovered his forearm
Jon could see that Melisandre was deeply unsettled by whatever she saw.
"What's the meaning of that mark?"
"It means that the Night King can feel me, he knows where I am…"
"Child." -Melisandre interrupted him "Did they attack you after you got the mark?"
"Yes."
"…When did you both arrive at the wall?"
"We came directly to this room upon arriving at Castle Black" -Meera answered in his steed
Melisandre gasped as she stared at Bran
"…"
"Yes. I'm responsible for the Night King's attacks. If that's what you're thinking" -Bran said bluntly, answering the question Melisandre was going to ask, as he glanced at the broken window and Jon's real body. "Both the one that occurred back in that tree…and the one here".
Jon clenched his fists as he realized what that meant 'So if Bran hadn't arrived at that given moment…I'd be back at my real body and Dany would be alive?'
Melisandre just stood up and pointed at bran "This child is cursed! He might as well be the Great Other's champion for all we know!" "I suggest we immediately-"
"Don't even mention it" -Jon interrupted Melisandre as he angrily pushed her aside. He fell to his knees in front of his brother and touched his shoulder "Bran…What is done is done, we'll need all the help we can get in this war against the dead, and your abilities seem like a priceless asset for the living"
"…."
"Sansa's forces have secured Winterfell" -Bran said after a brief silence "I need to get there. To the Godswood. That's the place where I can truly harness my abilities as the Three-Eyed Raven"
"I think that'd be best" -Jon responded, already knowing that his sister had in almost all certainty taken back Winterfell.
'Did she realize that Daenerys Targaryen was the one who helped the Stark forces defeat the Boltons?' -Jon pondered for a moment
"Jon" -Bran requested his brother's attention
"This was the only possession the late Three-Eyed Raven, Brynden Rivers, had. We took it with us as we left that cave" -Bran said as he nodded towards Meera
Meera took something out of the brown bag she was carrying around. It was a sword.
Meera handed him the sword. It was beautiful. The pommel had a fiery pattern, and a ruby was encrusted into the guard. The blade shone the same way Longclaw did. It was as long as Longclaw, but much slimmer and lighter.
"This is Valyrian steel" -Jon said as he continued inspecting the sword with his now petite hands 'Even in Dany's body I would easily be able to handle this sword, unlike Longclaw'
"Not only is it Valyrian steel; but it's the sword that Visenya Targaryen herself wielded three hundred years ago during Aegon's Conquest… Dark Sister"
"That's…Isn't that one of the long-lost ancestral swords of House Targaryen?" Jon Said as he quickly remembered the stories about Aegon's conquest.
Bran nodded "It's yours"
"What good is a weapon for a cripple anyways?" -Bran half-jokingly said "Besides, you wouldn't be able to handle your usual sword in your current state"
"Thank you, Bran" -Jon said as he continued inspecting Dark Sister.
"And Bran…one last thing" -Jon said, facing Bran again
"Yes?"
"Have you seen Arya in your visions? Is she alive and well?"
"She is. Last time I saw her she was on her way to Winterfell"
"I'm glad…"
Jon remembered the last time he saw Arya. When he gave her that weapon… Needle she had called it 'Arya…little sister, stay safe'.
"And little Rickon?" -Jon asked
"He perished during the battle of Winterfell, slain by Ramsay Snow"
"…"
"…"
"…"
A while later, Jon had asked the others to give him a moment alone.
He closed the door as the others left, it was only him and Ghost inside the room.
"I miss her boy" Jon told Ghost as he massaged his fur "I miss her so very much. At least Bran and Arya are both alive"
Ghost howled.
He let go of Ghost and approached the mirror Melisandre had in the room, and saw Dany's reflection as his own. Except that now his eyes were grey, not unlike the ones he had back before this all happened, instead of the vibrant violet ones that Dany possessed. His expression was definitely different too… sullener.
Being in Dany's body was nothing new to him, but it felt so different this time around.
"Dany…" -Jon called to her as he turned over at his limp "real" body. 'Are you really in there?' He then gently pried his real body's eyelids open, expecting to find Dany's violet eyes, but he only found his regular, grey ones. They had told Jon that his body made erratic moved every now and then, and even accepted food, as if it had some kind of self-preservation instinct.
"…"
'That cunt…the Night King… he's the one responsible for this' … 'What if he has her soul, her very being in his clutches?' -Jon theorized, as he remembered the figure of the Night King taunting him back at Hardhome.
'Perhaps…perhaps if he was to be destroyed -Jon thought, not realizing that Dany's impulsiveness was permeating him.
Jon glanced at Dark Sister.
'The White Walkers are vulnerable to Valyrian steel… and Valyrian steel is said to be forged with dragonfire'
'Perhaps I can end this war in one quick swoop, and get my Dany back in the process…'
"…"