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[---]
123 AC, Chroyane
However, it was also different; impossibly, she could almost hear words, intent, in the screaming. She didn't understand the language. She wasn't even sure it was a language at all. But the meaning struck her all the same, "WHY ARE YOU HERE?"
Helaena Targaryen had thought that nothing could terrify her, not after Valyria, at the very least. With her gift, she had seen one future after another, many of them quite horrible, with her family tearing each other apart, with the realm falling to cold and darkness, with the sad cries of dragons mourning. Many futures were bright. She liked to concentrate on these, on the small moments of happiness in the world, on the proof that not everything was destined to end so horribly.
And yet, despite her many visions, she thought that the impossibility of the Outsider, the horror of the great beast, was by far, the worst that the world could offer, that there were no horrible places like Valyria in the known world, and yet, despite this all, the statue of the woman, made of Black Stone unnerved her far more than the Outsider ever had.
She did not know why.
There was something that simply felt wrong in all of this, in the woman moving Black Stone. Even the statue itself was unnerving, with the woman looking almost human, but not quite. Her features were distorted in a way Helaena couldn't explain. The skin looked especially oily, even for Black Stone. When she looked closer, she noticed that her tears were not clear. In fact, they looked almost murky, staining the ground as they made their way to the Rhoyne. And the scream. Helaena still shivered thinking about it, even if it was over.
The Potters looked unnerved as well, with Lord Harry being the first to steel himself and answer the question that was asked, "Well, we're here for some answers, if you don't mind. Are you Mother Rhoyne, by any chance?"
That was Mother Rhoyne, the kind god venerated by the Rhoynar so much? Helaena could not see the resemblance, but then again, she knew very little of gods.
Her musings were interrupted as the statue of Black Stone released another scream, only this time, Lord Harry put his hand on her shoulders, and that negated much of the pain. It still wasn't pleasant by any means, but it hurt less, and she was still able to understand the god's intent, "MOTHER OF ALL. MOTHER OF RIVERS. MOTHER OF NAUGHT BUT ROT AND SORROW."
That didn't explain much, at least not to Helaena, but she could feel the weight of these words, nonetheless. Lord Harry seemed to understand it somehow, "As I said, we had some questions, and we were told that you had some answers. It's about what came before the gods, before the war."
The statue did not move at all, and yet, Helaena could almost feel its displeasure. No, that was an understatement; if anything, it was more akin to fury than mere displeasure. Helaena did not know why the goddess was so angry, so furious with them, only that it was.
Her next words were proof enough, "LEAVE ME BE."
That was it. There were no justifications, no arguments, just a simple order that would have made all of this expedition end without achieving anything. No, that wasn't true. They had removed Garin's mist, which, while merciful for the sorcerer's sake, would make Chroyane a much better target for pirates and greedy Essosi merchants who would likely fund expeditions of their own to find old Rhoynish treasures.
She did not know exactly what was happening in Chroyane, the twisted reality which Mother Rhoyne was responsible, but she knew that she did not think that it was a good idea for some Essosi merchant, or even worse, a sorcerer or Red Priest, to have access to it, especially since according to Lord Harry's theory, Fate had ensured that the city would remain inaccessible for as long as Garin's legend remained known.
She expected Lord Harry to reply with something clever, but his eyes were completely fixed on the statue of the woman, specifically, on her chest. He walked forward, leaving her and his wife behind him, his gaze completely focused on something that Helaena couldn't see. "You're injured."
Lord Harry waved his hand, creating dozens of small circles with the usual strange symbols on them, and on the goddess's chest, the Black Stone seemingly parted, revealing what looked like a stab wound, which Helaena couldn't stare at too much without her head hurting.
The sorcerer, though, was completely unconcerned. "Who did that to you?"
Then suddenly, the magic circles cracked and broke as if they were made of glass, and the goddess's wound sealed itself. She moved once more, the stone groaning at the movement. She stood up, this time, and, looking straight at Lord Harry with a look of pure anger on her face, "BEGONE!"
This time, the cries felt far stronger, far more authoritarian, than before, and the entire temple shook, as if respecting her commands. Lord Harry's frame was sent flying back, only for the man to create other glowing circles of magic that somehow made him land in front of her and Lady Daphne.
In the chaos, Helaena looked out from the broken walls of the hall, only to freeze utterly as she saw that their surroundings had changed completely. The world had remained devoid of colour, but she couldn't see the river anymore. She couldn't even see the ground anymore, just an endless void, with parts of Chroyane's ruins, stray towers and fragments of palaces, floating around them.
Surrounding them was a strange circle of wind that kept spinning endlessly. She had heard of this event once in her lesson, claiming that it happened every few decades near Storm's End, some kind of strange storm that they called Sky Fangs.
As if to confirm her suppositions, bolts of lightning started to rain down randomly from this storm, touching a few of the floating ruins, making them change their directions. Helaena couldn't help but feel awed by the sheer power that she was witnessing, but of course, it was overshadowed by the terror that she was starting to feel with every moment.
Her thoughts were broken as the golden-haired woman turned to her husband and gave him an unimpressed look, "You seriously couldn't help yourself, could you?"
Lord Harry had a sheepish look on his face and blushed in embarrassment, "Hey! It's not my fault that I'm getting mixed signals here."
Helaena spoke up loudly, "How is she doing this?"
She remembered the lesson Lord Harry gave her on gods, the fact that they existed elsewhere in other realms, and could only interact through worship or mediations, much like the Black Stone, and even then, it was barely more than whispers, trinkets, and not at all what she was witnessing.
"This is her dream, her perception of reality. I don't know how, but when Chroyane fell, she was able to leak out enough of her intent to project it over the city, extend her realm, in a way. If I had to guess, it would have been the injury that she somehow received. Either way, since we're in her dream, she has much more power here, which can explain the moving Black Stone, oddly enough. But the mist… Oh, I understand it now."
He obviously had more to say, only for a giant bolt of lightning to come from the storm at the edge of the city and come down at them. The sorcerer immediately created dozens of spikes of ice around them, which somehow absorbed it, but the hall was fractured by this.
Lady Daphne looked at her husband and addressed him, "Can you get us out of here?"
"Yes, but we probably shouldn't," he answered.
"Why not?"
"The mist," he answered.
Lady Daphne looked confused for a second, only to freeze, her eyes widening in shock at whatever revelation she had. Helaena did not have the time to ask them, despite her confusion, as the hall trembled once more, this time, originating from behind them.
Helaena was barely able to turn to see the figure of a gigantic crab, one as large as the Old Man of the River, leaping towards them. Thankfully, Lord Harry had created a gigantic golden circle of magic that protected them from the gigantic pincers that threatened to cut them to pieces.
Then, the crab landed in front of them with a heavy thud, its weight shaking the cracked floor. Its shell was chipped, leaking dark liquid from old fractures. Its eyes glowed faintly, and much like the Old Man of the River, it spoke, "LEAVE HER!"
The Potters shared a look and then nodded in unison. Lord Harry turned back to Mother Rhoyne, while Daphne and Helaena continued staring back towards the giant crab.
The crab then glowed a crimson light, and Lord Harry's shield that had protected them was shattered. Its claws approached with surprising speed, only for Lady Daphne to conjure a wall of ice, protecting them.
She waved her arms, and vines from around the hall slithered down and started binding the giant creature, and glowed for a fraction of a second. It worked for a few seconds, but then the crab glowed once more and released a burst of pure power that all but vaporised them, but also enlarged the hole on the floor of the hall that the previous lightning bolt had caused.
Of course, at that time, the spikes of ice released the lightning that it had absorbed earlier, hitting the giant crab with a thunderous sound. It was so overwhelming that Helaena didn't notice as she lost her footing and stumbled from the larger hole.
Helaena was no stranger to soaring into the skies, having ridden Dreamfyre for years, but she had never done it without her trusty companion. Strangely enough, as she fell down, likely to her doom, she did not feel fear. However, there were a few regrets about not seeing her children grow, about what would happen to her family should she disappear, and the possible civil war that would burn down the continent.
Her eyes widened as she saw Lady Daphne, the most composed woman she knew, jump out after her, and hold her tightly, before grabbing a vine that redirected their fall towards a piece of the Palace that was floating nearby.
The golden-haired woman patted her down, "Are you well, Helaena?"
The young princess shakily nodded, and the woman released a sigh of relief. Of course, that was when an explosion occurred in the distance, as the palace was all but destroyed by a gigantic bolt of lightning that Lord Harry was able to redirect into fractals towards the statue of Black Stone.
Helaena didn't have the time to observe the rest of the battle between Lord Harry and Mother Rhoyne, as the giant crab returned, somehow floating on a cloud of mist, appearing towards them, "I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU GOT PAST THE FOOLISH TURTLE, BUT YOU WILL LEAVE MOTHER!"
It released a spray of boiling hot water that Lady Daphne defended against with a shield of clear ice. It then flew down towards them, its pincers ready to kill them, only for the black vines to appear, and create a wall that thrummed with light, which repelled the flying creature, and sent it flying back. In the meantime, Helaena took out her dagger, despite knowing that it would likely do nothing against such a creature.
Lady Daphne immediately commanded the vines to recede and sent a burst of white light that froze the cloud the crab was riding in the air, stopping completely. Yet, the crab leapt from it like a platform, ready to kill them, once more, and Lady Daphne threw a spear of ice at its belly. The creature was hurt by the attack, given its screech of pain, but it healed itself at amazing speed.
The witch was barely able to use vines to dodge its next attack, which sent them flying towards another floating island. As they were flying, an instinct told Helaena that there was something attacking her, and despite knowing how foolish it was, she threw her dagger at its source.
Helaena froze as the much louder screech that she heard after her blind throw, and turned to see her dagger stuck to the creature's shell, which was making it thrash in much more pain than Lady Daphne's attack ever had, as it stood on their cloud.
The witch must have noticed as well, given the look that she gave her when they landed, "Well, that's an interesting property to experiment on later, but for now, we need that dagger back. I knew I shouldn't have left mine at the manse."
"How do we get it? It's stuck on the creature."
"I'm the bigger threat, so it'll be going after me. I'll distract it, and you get the dagger," Lady Daphne then waved her hands towards her boots, which glowed softly, "That should help. Give me the dagger and I'll handle the rest."
Lady Daphne then pushed her to the side as the giant creature released a burst of crimson energy towards them, all but destroying the floating ruined temple against them. Helaena felt herself fall again, only this time, her boots glowed and pushed upwards in the air somehow.
She couldn't help but giggle at the feeling. It was clumsy, but she was all but flying and without a dragon as well. The princess barely had to time to enjoy the feeling, as she noticed giant cracks in the sky, which were leaking colours in the world, and Lord Harry standing on a platform, as a giant woman of water, almost as large as an entire city, tried to crush him with her giant fists, while he protected himself with his strange fractals that Helaena still did not understand.
In the meantime, she heard a loud screech, as the giant crab's inhuman voice pierced the battlefield, all but chasing Lady Daphne across dozens of floating ruins of Chroyane, "LET HER SLEEP. LET HER MOURN. LET HER ROT. LET HER FORGET FOR THE SAKE OF HER PEACE."
Helaena found her moment as he and Lady Daphne remained locked in a stalemate, with the creature releasing a beam of his crimson light, while the golden-haired witch sent a wave of frost to counter it. She commanded her boots to push her upward towards where their battle took place, and without the crab noticing her, she grabbed her dagger, which had been impaled into its shell, and it screeched in pain as she retrieved it.
She threw it to Lady Daphne, who had a smug smirk on her face, and she cut her palms with it and stabbed it into the ground. Immediately, a gigantic tree with a similar while glow to the dagger grew at blinding speeds, with its branches starting to bind the giant crab, whose crimson energy simply couldn't affect.
Somehow, the branches of the giant tree connected most of the ruined fortresses that Lady Daphne battled in, and grabbed them, bringing them together, all but crushing the giant crab, while one of the branches grabbed her and Lady Daphne and deposited them near one of the untouched ruins.
In the distance, Helaena couldn't help but stare in awe at Lady Daphne's magic, and even the witch, herself, looked quite proud as she handed her back her dagger. "We never really tested how this material could have anti-divine properties. Very strange, but useful.
"Divine?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, you didn't know? That crab is a god. The Crab King, a supposed rival to the Old Man of the River, also has a physical existence, somehow. That little cage should keep him occupied for a while, at the very least, until Harry does his thing, at the very least. Speaking of which, that should be pretty soon."
The young princess did not have the time to think of the fact that she had just helped fight a god and won, instead focusing on the sheer spectacle that was the battle between Lord Harry and Mother Rhoyne.
The sky seemed to battle between returning to its greyness and the kaleidoscope of colours of Lord Harry's fractals. She stood there alongside Lady Daphne as a spectator, as Lord Harry spoke clearly, "Something happened when the Valyrians came, didn't it?"
The goddess did not have time to reply, as lord Harry released a wave of… something, which bent the very world, and destabilised the goddess's giant watery figure, allowing him to continue, "When they came to burn this city to the ground, to enslave your children, one of them had a different goal, didn't he? He came here, likely alone, while you were helpless, bound by your own limitations due to your nature. He came here with some kind of weapon, something tainted, that somehow reached across realms. He stabbed you with it, and something in you just snapped."
This time Mother Rhoyne was able to reply with another screech that overwhelmed Lord Harry's fractals, "A ROTTEN WORLD. A HEART OF STONE!"
The sorcerer smiled sadly at that reply, "That's right. I should have seen it. It's been niggling at me since I first saw it, how all these stone men were still alive. Despite their disease, they should have moved on, their life force should have depleted, and yet they didn't. Because of you. You probably didn't even mean to do it, to leak a fragment of your power, specifically your grief, your sorrow, corrupted by your wound, and let it go. Your attacker was likely the first one, patient zero, who spread it across the invaders."
As he spoke, the man created a giant circle of magic that spouted a gigantic flame, which the Mother Rhoyne fought with more water, and he finished his speech, "They are all utterly mad, the stone men. They are all consumed with grief, your grief, as they lose sensation of everything, as they lose the ability to feel, turning to stone in the face of a world that hurt them, to protect themselves."
"A WORLD OF STONE. A WORLD OF SILENCE. A WORLD OF MERCY."
Once more, the entire realm shook as the goddess spoke, and she could feel a newfound pressure surround her. She looked to find its source and found herself in complete shock as the very sky was turning to immovable stone. It wasn't stopping at that; everything was turning to stone, what few pieces of vine and moss, and even Lord Harry's fractals.
Yet, the sorcerer didn't seem concerned, "Garin's mist was never to protect you from the world, but to protect the world from your sorrow, from your grief. And for that, I am sorry about what I'm about to do."
And just like that, Harry stood in front of the goddess as the world was turning to stone, opened his mouth, and started to sing. It was a startling melody, one that was as heartbreaking as it was comforting, and all around him, the world gained back its colour, something that Helaena barely realised that she missed.
The dome of colour battled against the heavy stone, and it was pushing it back slowly, especially as Lord Harry slowly walked forward on thin air, approaching the moving statue of the goddess, whose eyes had widened in fright at the display of magic.
When the colours touched her, she froze, as if she had returned to her original state of being stone. Lord Harry approached her, before sadly raising his hand, a familiar scythe appearing inside it, and with a flick, he swung it directly towards the goddess's wound.
Slowly, light started to spread across the statue like cracks, before glowing brightly, and then, everything turned white.
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AN: That chapter was a tough one to write. There will be more about the Crab King later, since I felt it didn't really fit here. I also wanted Mother Rhoyne's dialogue to be a bit different, while I'll explain a bit in the next chapter. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
[---]
If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.