Chapter Text
Jon
“You learn fast,” Melisandre comments. “It usually takes years for one to finish their shadowbending training.”
Jon shrugs. “The perks of being the Avatar, I assume. And everything is easier for me after mastering water and icebending. For a born firebender, nothing is harder.”
Even bloodbending is easier to learn, from what little he’s managed to get from Arya so far.
“How is your energybending training going?”
“I’m close to finishing as well,” he replies. “There are a lot of details and small tricks to master, so it’s not as quick to learn.”
Still, according to Lady Shiera, he is close to mastering it—which is a relief, because he has little time to spare.
“Good. The sooner, the better, as we all know. Besides, your friends must be getting bored to death.”
He sighs. After the devastatingly shocking news of Myrcella’s death, Brienne left alongside Jaime, Mya, Arya and Aegon, being ‘replaced’ by the latter, Nymeria and Gendry. This is the team supposed to go to Yi Ti after he masters shadow and energybending. At one point, he and Ygritte had a discussion on whether she should follow him to the Five Forts, an argument she won by stating she was the only one truly capable of evaluating how useful non benders would be there—or if they’d only be of use at the Wall.
He and the Red Priestess talk about a few other small matters and wave goodbye for the day. As usual, suntime is long gone when he leaves the temple, and the city is filled with colored lanterns and bursting with activity, as it usually happens by mid afternoon. He contemplates taking a detour through the market before heading to Shiera’s, but a shout interrupts his thoughts.
“Jon!” Ashara calls as she runs in his direction. “Thank the gods I found you quickly! I’m not young enough to run around the town anymore…”
He frowns. “Why did you run after me instead of waiting for me to go back?”
“It’s urgent,” she replies. “Come, let’s find somewhere to talk. That house is too crowded.”
They find a secluded bench, far from the market. Jon saw a few couples making out there before, and he’s a bit uncomfortable to sit there with Ashara, but there is no better option.
“I was taking a nap,” she begins, “and then Bran dreamwalked into my head.”
“ What?! You mean he finally succeeded?”
“It wasn’t even his first successful attempt. He visited Arya’s dreams a couple days ago, which is part of the story he had to tell me.”
She then proceeds to describe what she heard from his cousin: Asha’s arrival at Astapor with news regarding her uncle, followed by him warging into a fox and listening in a conversation between Euron and the spirit Asha mentioned. By the end of her tale, he’s pacing around her.
“The evil spirits need sacrifices to open a portal that connects Yeen to Stygai, just like they have one connecting Stygai to the lands beyond the Wall.” Ashara nods. “Well, we can say for sure they haven’t succeeded in that goal yet, but they may be close. We have to act quickly… I’ll go back to the temple.”
Ashara stands up. “Wait, what about Shiera? I didn’t tell her a word, but she should know too, huh?”
He nods. “Would you ask her to meet me and Melisandre at the temple? I’ll tell the others everything later; no need to concern yourself with it.”
She sighs and agrees, leaving immediately. He heads back to where he came from and asks for the Red Priestess.
“With all due respect,” Melisandre says, “but I hope you have good reason to call me from my duties.”
“Of course I do,” he scoffs, then turns serious again. “It’s a discovery my cousin made about the evil spirits and their goal in Sothoryos.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Sothoryos? What do they want with that wasteland?”
“A lion spirit called Lysinth dwells there, and it wants Glowworm to open a portal connecting Yeen to Stygai. The spirit promised Euron Greyjoy my power in exchange for his help, by offering human sacrifices to harvest energy for Glowworm to create the portal.”
Melisandre’s mouth falls open. “What?”
“Exactly what I said, Melisandre. Someone out there wants to steal the Avatar’s power for the gods know what, and for that he’s actively helping evil spirits.”
She mutters something under her nose; although he doesn’t understand, he bets it’s a curse. At this moment, Shiera enters the temple. He repeats his explanation, and she looks almost as shocked as the priestess. “Lysinth… the name rings a bell,” she comments. “A lion spirit, you say?”
“That’s what Bran told Ashara. The spirit was hidden under Greyjoy’s eyepatch, apparently.”
“Hm… and he wants to transfer your powers—the Avatar’s powers—to this man, right?” He nods. She hums again. “All the more reason for you to go to Yi Ti.”
“Er… why?”
“Your tale reminds me of an old legend. The Lion of Night, the god who fathered the first emperor in the Great Empire of the Dawn. Some stories depict him as benevolent, others as a demon.”
“A few Asshai’i worship him,” Melisandre comments. “They have one of the worst reputations in the city, and not unfairly. I wouldn’t recommend approaching them for research.”
“Why?” Jon asks. “What do they do?”
“Bloody and torturous sacrifice,” she replies. “Local guards deal with kidnappers from their group all the time. Thank R’hllor none of them are benders; they reject bending and view it as a corruption of their god’s power. Otherwise, no one would be safe here. But anyway, is there any reason why this spirit dwells in Sothoryos?”
“My cousin only said that he overheard the reason Sothoryos is a wasteland is because the spirits wiped it out after Kyoshi’s death. If they manage to defeat me, they’ll have power to eliminate life in Westeros and Essos too.”
“Talk about pressure,” Shiera sighs. “Well, good thing you master the elements quickly. I don’t know about you, Mel, but I feel confident in letting Jon go as he is now.”
He turns to her. “Really? I was expecting a master’s trial before leaving.”
She laughs quietly. “There is no such thing with energybending, especially when I’m the only teacher left.”
He looks at Melisandre, who shakes her head. “No trial needed. I advise you to plan your next steps according to what you have learned, that’s all. And remember what I told you about the darker uses of shadowbending; you don’t want to resort to those.”
(He remembers asking Melisandre if using shadowbending for evil would corrupt him. She looked at him as if he was dumb. Not in a mysterious, magical way, no. But it’s like a drug, addictive and destructive.)
He and Shiera bid their goodbyes to the Red Priestess and head back to the teacher’s home. Suddenly, he has an idea. “Shiera, would you mind being the one to deliver the news to my friends?”
She stops and turns to face him. “I don’t, but what brought this on?”
“I’d like to try to speak to Avatar Kyoshi.”
“Oh. Alright, see you later then.”
It takes a while for him to find a place to meditate in peace, but he eventually manages. After some time and effort, he opens his eyes to find himself in a place similar to where he met Aang. So once again I’m not meeting the Avatar I’m looking for.
“Aang,” he calls. Instead, he hears someone else’s voice singing. Someone new.
Over mountains payed with gold and through the valleys of the slain
Our quest will lead us onwards to the journey of the brave
When the time has come to stand for the power we believe
We will ring the sound of victory for one and all to see
He follows the smooth voice, going through several statues of people of the fallen Air Nomad tribes. The song is soothing, despite its lyrics.
Sometimes in your darkest dreams you will feel the haunting pain
Silent tears of your hidden fears come to haunt you once again
Fight on for the memories of the everlasting dreams
Their pain in the silent lands on wings of glory free
Finally, he finds a brown-haired woman with a blue arrow tattoo on her forehead, just like Aang. She must have been an old airbender-born Avatar, though he wonders when she lived.
“My lady?” he calls.
She interrupts her singing and turns to him. “Jon Frost,” she replies. “The current Avatar. My name is Yangchen. Welcome to where once stood the Western Air Temple.”
“Is it the same one Aang was born at?”
“No, he was from the Southern one. Anyway, we’re not meeting for pleasantries, are we?”
He shakes his head. “Though I was looking for Kyoshi. I wanted answers about the spirit who claimed to have destroyed her homeland.”
“You speak of Lysinth,” she replies, nodding. “Neither Kyoshi or I have personally faced Lysinth, or, as it was called in my day, Lion of Night.”
“So it is the god Shiera mentioned.”
“Yes, though obviously there is no godhood in it. I don’t have time to explain its backstory to you, but know this: Lysinth is the demon who embodied the Night King. Do you remember what Aang told you?”
He nods. “The Bloodstone Emperor was killed by the spirits he served, then used as a vessel for the Night King. So, it was possessed by Lysinth?”
“Yes, and it seeks to do the same to the man in whose eye it dwells. But Lysinth is not the only demon you have to worry about, Jon. Euron Greyjoy befriended not one, but two shadow demons.”
A blinding light surrounds them, and suddenly they are in the ruins of Old Valyria. “Back in my day,” Yangchen says, “this was one of the most beautiful and glorious cities. A pity that all that remains is ruins that few people can cross and survive.”
“I’m guessing Euron Greyjoy was among these few people,” Jon comments, “if you brought me here.”
“Yes,” she agrees. “He survived because he befriended the demon that lies in the heart of the ruins, the one I fought when I was the Avatar. See that fog over there?” He nods. Indeed, there is a large fog near a couple ruined towers. “That is the Fog of the Lost Souls. In its center, you will find Shadowfrog, a frog-shaped demon who feeds on memories. If you are unfortunate enough to step foot in the fog and foolish enough to say ‘no’ to Shadowfrog, your soul will be bound to it. Even if you somehow escape, you are doomed to spend your afterlife there, trapped by your worst memories.
“When I was the Avatar, nearly a thousand years ago, Shadowfrog resided in the Hidden Sea, near Carcosa. The city was livable back then, but its residents had numerous legends and horror stories about the sea and its dangers. Long story short, there was a crisis, I went there to solve it and managed to banish Shadowfrog from the human world. But, without destroying it, as you did with Koh, I made it possible for the demon to return.”
He places a hand on her shoulder. “You couldn’t have known.”
She smiles sadly. “No, I couldn’t. Still, the wish to have done more remains. Now Shadowfrog is allied with Lysinth and Glowworm, using the souls he feeds on to open a portal in the ruins of Valyria. If it succeeds, the Fog will be able to spread over the Shadowlands, Sothoryos and the lands beyond the Wall.”
“So I must defeat Shadowfrog and Lysinth before the portals are made,” he muses. “Why not defeat Glowworm first?”
Yangchen sighs. “I remember my fight with Shadowfrog. It was capable of teleporting, which was very irritating. I fear it might be able to open portals without Glowworm’s assistance, if it takes longer. The safer route is eliminating Shadowfrog first. Then you can see what is more feasible, to defeat Glowworm or Lysinth.”
“I know nothing of Lysinth except for its current location.”
“Yes, and I wish I could tell you more, but there are people who know about it even better than I do. When you go to Yi Ti, don’t go straight to the Five Forts. Head to Yin first. You will find the Beifongs there. They descend from Toph Beifong, who mentored Aang, Korra and Kyoshi; the only mentor who survived the Long Night. She was granted a mansion and a noble title by the last Opal Emperor at Aang’s request, and was the only one able to retain it after the Empire of the Dawn was replaced by the Empire of Yi Ti. She and her descendants have kept the Avatars’ memories alive ever since. Go there first, and you’ll have plenty of guidance without resorting to seeking us.”
He nods, and Yangchen fades.
By the time he goes back to Shiera’s and finishes explaining the situation to his friends, he’s beyond nervous about what to do next.
“I can’t waste any time learning,” he mumbles to himself. “I have to act quickly. One of these spirits must be eliminated soon to buy us time. Shadowfrog looks like the obvious choice, but Lysinth wants to create another Night King…”
Ygritte grabs his shoulder and lightly slaps him on the face, interrupting his thoughts.
“Jon, listen to me,” she says firmly. “If you go south to fight the pirate’s possessed eye, you’ll lose. If you go west to fight the freaky frog in the dead dragon city, you’ll lose. And you know why? Because they’re both spirits. And yeah, I know you defeated Koh in Braavos, but you had the element of surprise, and you won’t have it with them. You need Bran and his spiritbending training for this, and it makes no sense for you to go back to Winterfell without taking at least a look at the Five Forts, not to mention all the talk about the Beifongs. You have to stick to the plan, because you have to be prepared. And why fight them now? Neither spirit seems to plan to leave their hideouts anytime soon.”
“But—”
“But nothing. We’ll go to Yin. If you want to take a detour, I suggest you do what Aegon said, but you probably didn’t listen.”
He turns to Aegon, confused; he indeed didn’t hear him talking. The man sighs.
“I said we should go back to Astapor for a day to grab your dragon,” he repeats. “You and Druk need to get used to each other as soon as possible, and the people of Yi Ti may take you more seriously if you show up on your dragon’s back than someone else’s.”
To be honest, he’s not eager to fly on his dragon, but Aegon has a point: he has to, sooner or later. “Alright. Besides, I can ask if Jaime, Brienne or anyone else wants to join us.”
Shiera assures the others will stay safe in her home. “But don’t take too long,” she says. “My chocolate reserve is nearing zero, and the shipments will only arrive next month.”
He snorts. “I’ll miss your odd sense of humor, Lady Shiera.”
She smiles. “Don’t worry, Avatar. We will see each other again when both the sun and the moon go down.”
He stares at the woman, but asks nothing else. If she wanted him to know more, she’d tell him at once.
Aegon
The ride to Astapor is way faster with only him and Jon on the back. Poor Fang, he reflects. At least now, with Druk on our side, we’ll be able to split the weight. He hopes not too many people volunteer to join the party to Yi Ti.
When they arrive at the dragonpit, he instructs Jon to approach Druk while he heads to the palace to warn the others of their arrival. In truth, he is eager to see Daenerys again. He knew he’d miss her during this trip, but didn’t anticipate how much.
Much to his luck, his queen is at the palace’s door and gives him a warm hug. “Glad to see you back here,” she says as they break their hug, “but why?”
“Jon and I came to fetch Druk,” he explains, “and to see if anyone wants to go to Yi Ti with us. Let’s go inside; I’ll explain all that Jon told me.”
“Wait,” she says, holding his arm. “There is… something I want you to know.” Her cheeks go red, and she looks at her feet. Why is Daenerys so shy all of a sudden?
He grabs her forearms and whispers in what he attempts at a soothing voice. “Alright. You know you can tell me anything.”
She takes a deep breath. “I… I love you.” She closes her eyes forcefully. “There. I said it.”
His heart melts at the (slightly rude) declaration. “Oh, Dany,” he says, hugging her again. “I’m sorry you had to be the one to say it first. I love you too, and I’ve missed you like hell every day we’ve been apart.”
“What do you say of us getting married, then?”
That catches him off guard. He breaks their hug and looks at her with wide eyes. “Right now?”
She laughs. “Of course not, silly! But certainly before we reach Westeros. I don’t want their lords throwing their sons at my feet when the man I love is right by my side.”
He places his hand on her right cheek. “Are you sure you want this? I’m not your best choice, politically speaking.”
“Nonsense,” Dany replies. “I’ve spoken to others while you were away. Uniting Houses Targaryen and Blackfyre is a good move; it will show that the days of discord between the two families are over, and the dragon is whole once more.
“Besides, if you are thinking about me marrying a lord of Westeros… well, I can only marry one, two if I want to follow the Conqueror’s footsteps. What about the rest of the realm? Better to wed none of them than only one.”
Her reasoning is sensible, and who is he to refuse his queen? “Alright. But not now. I’d like to at least make a decent proposal. You deserve it.”
“So we’re not even engaged?”
“You can say we are betrothed. I just haven’t courted you yet. I’d like to, even if only for a day or two before the wedding.”
She beams at him. “Great! It will all be ready when you return!”
He smiles. “Now, now… may I kiss you?”
She responds by once again taking the initiative, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. He makes it easier for her by bending down. He doesn’t know for how long they kiss, but a sound coming from behind him interrupts them. He turns to see Jon.
“I understand the eagerness,” he says, “but mind if we head inside?”
He and Dany enter the palace with their hands clasped together.
Without realizing it, they let go of each other’s hands shortly after getting inside as each goes in a different direction. Together with Jon, they find and summon everyone.
He takes a moment to look at Lady Cersei. She stands straighter and the bags around her eyes have lessened. Even though it’s been less than a month since Myrcella’s death, she’s getting better already. Good, he thinks to himself. She needs her strength back. We all do.
Jon explains the entire situation to the group, earning shocking expressions from most of the room. “We have to stay calm and collected,” he says at the end, “but we also must be quick. With that in mind, I came here with Aegon not only to retrieve Druk, but to invite you to come along. The current team has a non bender, a lightningbender, two sandbenders, a lavabender and an earthbender. Although I’m the Avatar, able to bend multiple elements, I might not be able to assess the usefulness of them all at once. The more, the better. We have two dragons to carry everyone.”
Daenerys sighs. “I wish I could join you,” she says, briefly glancing at Aegon, “but my immediate duty is to Astapor. I need to prepare the city for when we go to Westeros.”
“It’s alright, aunt. I’m a born firebender; it’s my natural element, so I’ll be able to test it better there.”
Lady-Ser Brienne raises her hand. “Jon, has Shiera told you about her time fighting spirits?” The Avatar shakes his head. “Let me summarize it for you, then: the most useful elements are air and fire. All of their forms, including shadow. Shiera wasn’t so sure of lava and lightning, due to their rarity. Waterbending is only useful for healing, metal is useless, earth is nearly useless, sand and plant have gone untested so far.”
“So you, Cersei and I have nothing to do there,” Jaime points out, sighing. “Might as well go back to Westeros already.”
“Maybe you and your bride may,” Cersei replies. “I have duties to my Queen.”
Aegon frowns. “Now that you mention it, Ser Jaime, I think we could have some of you sent back to Westeros. As you said, there is no reason for you two to remain any longer, and there are others who could and should return, like Lady Arya, Lady Mya, Lady Margaery, Lady Arwyn, Lady Asha, Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah.”
“I will not abandon my post,” Ser Jorah protests. “Like Lady Cersei, my duty is to my Queen.”
“The same for me,” Ser Barristan adds.
“I have the Dothraki here,” Dany points out. “Perhaps it is best if some of you return early. I can get you there, while Cersei runs the city in my name for a few days.”
Lady Margaery raises her hand. “Excuse me, Your Grace, but I’d like to travel to Yi Ti. As a plantbender, I’d like to test my bending in the Five Forts.”
“I’d also like to go,” Lady Asha says. “Even if my bending turns out to be useless, I’ll be useful among my people as an eyewitness. The Ironborn will only believe the word of another Ironborn.”
After a long talk (he’s pretty sure they spend over three hours in the room), decisions are finally made. Margaery and Asha will go to Yi Ti. Dany will take Ser Jaime, Lady-Ser Brienne, Lady Arya, Lady Mya and Ser Jorah back to Westeros. Margaery’s daughter will stay with the couple of knights, who already voiced their desire to go to the isle of Tarth. Lady Cersei and Ser Barristan will stay in Astapor and run it in the days Dany is gone.
Before he leaves, he gives Dany a good kiss on her lips. “Take care,” he says. “Fly at night, when they can’t see you. It’s not time to show yourself off in Westeros yet.”
“I know,” she replies. “You take care, too. We still have to get married.”
He smiles, kisses her once again and follows Jon and the girls to the dragonpit.