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Crown Princess Rhaenys Targaryen is born with her mother’s darker skin and the pale, pale gold hair of Old Valeyria. Her grandfather still wrinkles his nose over her mother, but at least the girl visibly shows the dragon blood. She still smells Dornish, and the King won’t touch her, but no one can deny Rhaenys is a Princess of House Targaryen.
Cid Highwind wakes up with the Lifestream whispering in his ear, telling tales about evil and madness taking the Planet’s Champions away before their time. Of the voices that would call to arms the Planet’s defenders against the Calamity going still and silent. Cid blinks, and stares at the pond he’s standing beside, and realizes that he is a toddler-aged child, and a girl, and that the world he’s living in is incredibly, horribly fucked because the King who is Cid’s grandfather makes Hojo look sane. So Cid slips away from the nannies and maids who are supposed to be watching him and goes deep into the catacombs under the Red Keep. When he see the shine and glimmer of crystalline light over stone, Cid bares his teeth in a grin and shoves his hands into the glowing water.
When Armory Lorch and Gregor Clegane came upon Princess Elia and her infant son they were excited to follow the orders of their Lord. They were not expecting Princess Rhaenys Targaryen to drop down behind them and shove three foot lances through the back of their knees. They lived just long enough to see the three-year-old princess grin, and gesture, the large pearls on her wrist bangle gleaming, glowing, and then lightning ripped through the Lannister men at arms. Elia clutched Aegon close to her chest and gaped in astonishment as her little girl clambered over their still-smoking charred bodies and trotted up to her with a cheerful smile.
Cid drags his mother and brother all the way to Dorne, the news of Robert Baratheon’s forces taking the City of King’s Landing chasing their travels. Rhaegar Targaryen is dead, Lyanna Stark still missing, and half the King’s Guard is unaccounted for. Cid has a bad feeling about this. So he steals the spears his uncle had bought for the younger Sand Snakes and tells Prince Doran he’s going to go see Ashara Dayne. Her connection to Arthur Dayne might be the key to sorting it all out.
In Sunspear, Elia is half hysterical as she describes what she’s seen her daughter do. Suddenly Rhaegar’s insistence that he hadn’t named their daughter after himself, that she was Rhaenys come again was looking a hell of a lot more plausible. Oberyn accompanies Rhaenys to Starfall along with a company of men at arms. They find Ned Stark there, begging Ashara Dayne for the location of his sister. Oberyn, his sister and her children still alive, has nothing but sympathy for the new Lord Stark. Under their combined insistence, Ashara gives them directions to the Tower of Joy.
The shithole his father had dragged his underage girlfriend to was falling apart. Cid was not impressed. Spear in one hand, Ned Stark’s sleeve in the other, Cid stomps right by the flabbergasted King’s Guard stationed outside the Tower. They look like they want to protest, but Cid’s glare shuts them up. Up on the second floor they find Lyanna Stark. The room stinks of blood and rotting flower petals, although the wet-nurse seems to have tried to stop the bleeding. Still, Wylla isn’t a maester or a midwife, and Lyanna is dying. Cid’s glad he got Ned here soon enough to say goodbye. Cid has a Revive on his bangle, but he can tell Lyanna’s given up. Only 16 and incredibly sheltered, Lyanna Stark isn’t strong enough to face the results of her selfish actions. She can’t handle being the reason her father and brother are dead, that Rhaegar is dead, that the Realm bled and tore itself apart.
Lyanna is crying, begging Ned to forgive her, she didn’t know it would come to this. That Rhaegar had promised to break her betrothal to Robert, that she hadn’t wanted this. And her son, her son, Ned… he’s innocent. Rhaegar married Lyanna in front of the Old Gods, he had at least that much honour. Her son is no Snow. He is Jaehaerys Targaryen, like the lawmaker, the conciliator. Teach him to be a Stark, Ned. Promise me, promise me you won’t let his father’s madness take him too. Ned Stark picks up his nephew, and promises. Little Rhaenys watches all of the drama with a blank expression and then holds her hands up to Ned before imperiously demanding he hand over her new brother so she can meet him. Lyanna gets to laugh, to see her stepdaughter holding her son, before she dies in her brother’s arms.
Cid doesn’t dare put the baby down, not with the way tensions are rising between the Northmen, the Dornish, and the King’s Guard. Ned Stark is deep in mourning, and he needs to take his sister’s bones home. There’s a lot of arguing as they make their way to Starfall, but they keep it down out of respect for Cid and Ned’s pain. Ashara’s babe was stillborn, so Cid hands little Jae over to his mother’s best friend and is relieved to see the life return to her expression. He thought he’d left politics behind when he quit Shin-Ra, but it looked like some habits never died.
Ned leaves his nephew in the care of Ashara Dayne and Howland Reed, in the protection of House Martell in Sunspear, and returns to King’s Landing. Once there he has an almighty row with Robert. Because Elia and her children escaped, Ned has not seen the extent Robert is willing to go to take petty vengeance, so he actually shouts back at his best friend. Ned’s not hiding Jon’s parentage this time, so he has all the more reason than ever to stand his ground against Robert, who is still Ned’s friend first and his King second, and argue his point.
That Robert Baratheon could boom like thunder when he was furious was well known, that the Quiet Wolf could snarl fit to freeze your blood had not been. It’s much easier for those who witnessed the argument to understand Robert’s affection for the Northman afterwards. Ned asks if Robert was going to prove Rhaegar right. That the Targaryen Prince fooled Lyanna with stories about Robert’s worst habits and rages, scared her into thinking being married to him would be torture. Is Robert going to be Lyanna’s nightmare, or her true Knight? Is Robert the monster Rhaegar used to scare Lyanna into the Dragon Prince’s trap, or is he the man who should have been Ned’s good brother?
That breaks through Robert’s fury. He wanted nothing more than to be Ned’s brother in truth. It was that desire that formed at least half of his affection for Lyanna in the first place. Quiet again, now that Robert has stopped shouting, Ned tells Robert that they are brothers in all the ways that matter. Not by blood, Robert mourns. Would you love me better if we were? Ned asks. Do you think I could love you better, be more loyal to you than I am now? Do you doubt my affections for you so much? That stops Robert in his tracks, startled realization dawning in his eyes. No. Robert finally admits. No, there is nothing that could possibly make our brotherhood more real. We both loved her. Ned says. Take the time to mourn, Robert. And when you’re ready to wed, we’ll see about making a match between our children. Leaning against Ned’s shoulder, Robert agrees to his foster brother’s council.
A Grand Council is called in Harrenhall, where the chain of events that set the Realm bleeding began. The Targaryens lost the Iron Throne, that much is not in dispute, but it’s still Robert’s Targaryen grandmother who gives him the rightful claim, so inheritance things need to be sorted. Robert is crowned King, Cersei Lannister is to be the first Baratheon Queen. Rhaenys Targaryen, newly turned four and representing the displaced Targaryen House, announces that she’s going to marry Renly Baratheon. There’s a lot of sputtering from the adults, but it’s a good idea all told, so it’s agreed to.
Robert decides, after a lot of shouted back and forth with Ned, that he’s still going to take his revenge. House Targaryen will die, but he isn’t going to kill children to do it. Elia’s marriage to Rhaegar is annulled, and her children will be Martells of Sunspear. Jaehaerys is now Jon Stark of Winterfell. Renly and Rhaenys will hold Dragonstone, and will be raised in King’s Landing. Aegon will remain in Sunspear, while Jon will be raised in Winterfell. The realm settles back into something resembling peace. Robert’s hate is for Rhaegar and Aerys alone, so Stannis not being able to catch Viserys and Daenerys at Dragonstone isn’t the big deal it was in canon. Especially since all of Rhaegar’s children are still alive and thus have the stronger claim to the Iron Throne for any would-be Targaryen loyalists. Stannis becomes the Lord of Storm’s End, and Robert talks about Stannis having a seat on the Small Council in a few years.
Unknown to anyone, Renly Baratheon actually met the Stranger while Storm’s End was under siege. His heart and breath grew still in his sleep while Stannis scoured the keep for any remaining scrap of food. No one ever learned this, because he woke up again the next morning without any sign that things had gotten that bad.
Vincent Valentine winced when he woke up, his body stiff and cold in a familiar way. He had felt exactly this chilled when Lucrecia raised him from death the first time. Chaos and the rest of his demons are chattering in the back of his head, excited to see what the Planet has in store for them this time. It’s deeply uncomfortable to be in the starved body of a small child, but Vincent bears up under it. At least he does not have to fear starving to death in the way that preceded his awakening, thanks to the alterations made to his enhanced body. The siege drags on, stalemated and boring, until Eddard Stark arrives and frees Storm’s End. Vincent lurks quietly in his elder brother’s shadow and watches, collecting information the way a Turk was supposed to. The story of how the Lannister men sent after Princess Elia and her children had been charred and speared made him pay further attention.
The first time Renly Baratheon met Princess Rhaenys Targaryen soon to be Martell was interesting for the watchers. The little boy looked at the little girl easily carrying a spear that should have been far too large for her to even lift, told her she had pretty hair, and then offered to be her “Valentine”. (Whatever that was supposed to be.) The Princess blinked, and grinned, and dragged Renly into the court where the Lords of the Realm were sitting in Council to announce her betrothal to Renly. It took a bit more haggling between Dorne and the Iron Throne after that to set the betrothal terms, but the Dornish were remarkably accepting of a four-year-old girl choosing her future husband.
Robert’s year of mourning ends, and he weds Cersei Lannister before the next year is over. Given he wasn’t shoved into marriage before his former betrothed even got her funeral rights, Robert starts off on a better foot with Cersei. She gets pregnant fairly quickly, of course, since Cersei isn’t scheming against Robert (yet.) But the Greyjoy Rebellion is brewing up, and Robert takes off to smash some squids. Cersei’s labour, when it hits, is the stuff of nightmares and legends. Because she births three sons, triplets with silver hair and green, green eyes. They’re all Baratheon in their faces, in their bones, and it’ll only become more obvious as they grow.
Rhaenys looks after them for the moons it takes for Cersei to recover from the birth. Renly is enchanted by his nephews, helping his betrothed entertain them. There are whispers traveling through the Red Keep, that the gods had seen three heirs removed from their Iron Throne, and decided to give three heirs back. By the time Robert makes it back from the Rebellion, the boys are big enough that their resemblance to their father is obvious. Renly had insisted on Baratheon names, and Cersei had agreed (it would endear them to Robert the way Lannister names would not, and already Cersei feared Robert’s reaction to the Targaryen hair on their heads.) Orys, Steffon, and Ormund greet their father cheerfully enough, although it’s obvious to anyone who cares to look that they prefer their mother at this point.
Cid cackles in clear amusement as Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz shriek indignantly over being stuck in the bodies of infants. Vincent tends to be amused by everything about their new world, even if he’s still a little put out about the lack of indoor plumbing. Meanwhile, the triplets very much enjoy having Mother right there and are devoted to Cersei in a way that actually calms her down. (She’s obsessive, but lacks empathy, so having her sons obsessive right back at her makes sense in her world. Which, again, keeps her mind balanced.)
The following pregnancies that might have produced Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen end in stillbirths. (Due in part to the mako lingering in Cersei’s body after the triplets are born. Robert’s seed would have survived the environment, thanks to magic, but Jaime’s an Andal.) Cersei is horrified, because she has three children who live, and then three blonde babes dead in the womb. (Gold will be their hair, and gold will be their shrouds.) Cersei takes it as a sign from the gods, that she will never have Jaime’s children. She curses the witch for misleading her, but after a while Cersei will actually be better off than in canon. Saner, at any rate, and definitely happier. Especially in her marriage to Robert. The King still carouses, but with a wife who doesn’t mock and belittle him every time he visits her it’s much less of a focus. Sometimes Cersei even comes along, and they have fun together. Jaime pouts a lot, but Cersei’s always prioritized herself. It’s just lucky that it all works out better for the realm that Cersei’s selfishness results in a happy King Robert this time.
Viserys Targaryen and his baby sister are the last to claim the name of the fallen house, although should they ever return to the Seven Kingdoms they will discover that they have been remanded to House Blackwood in memory of their great-grandmother. At three and ten, Viserys takes over a sell-sword company and builds a fearsome reputation. It takes until Viserys is twenty for someone from Westros to track him down. Jorah Mormont was planning to play on the sell-sword King’s family history to get into his confidences. The exiled Northman was not expecting to be dragged into the same kind of trial Lord Stark would have given him if he hadn’t run.
Sephiroth watches his mother die with dry eyes, taking his little sister into his arms as they flee across the sea. He has never had a sibling before, but he knows from before that elder brothers are supposed to protect their little sisters. She’s a sweet girl, his Dany, and he will keep her safe. Sephiroth misses his SOLDIERS, and so he sets out to find that camaraderie again. Taking over a mercenary company was no harder than conquering Wutai had been. When the Westrosi exile arrives in his camp, Sephiroth remembers a lifetime spent dancing on puppet strings at the whims of people who thought themselves his masters. He condemns Ser Jorah Mormont for the crime of selling free men into slavery, and asks what his fate would have been if Lord Stark had been to one to catch him. Death, Jorah admits in grim resignation. Death or the Wall. Well, Sephiroth notes, you have already refused the Wall by running here, which leaves only one recourse. Sephiroth draws his sword and asks if Jorah has any last requests. Only two, the resigned Northman says. That Sephiroth swing the sword himself, and that his ashes be sent back North.
In response to the gift of honorable justice and the return of her nephew’s ashes, Lady Mormont sends “Ser Blackwood” an invitation to visit Bear Island. Viserys Blackwood’s return to Westros with his little sister and a reasonably sized army of mercenaries causes a bit of a stir, but the former Prince is mostly interested in getting to know his relatives. Even the Baratheon princes.
Benjen Stark never forgives himself for letting his sister run away. Maybe if he had spoken up she would still be alive, even though he would not trade Jon’s life for anything.
Angeal Hewley wakes in a world where is honour is held in the highest esteem, and he has a House to serve as the third son. There’s magic in the walls of Winterfell, a Memory singing loud in the Godswood for anyone who cares to listen. He remembers everything when Jon is placed in his arms for the first time, and grey-violet eyes meet his. Oh, hello there, Zack.
Zachary Fair has everything he needs to be happy. His family is large and loving, and while he regrets the distance between himself and his brother and sister, he has Angeal there to ease the sting.
Meera Reed makes a trip to Winterfell when she is three and ten and confronts Jon Stark in the middle of the courtyard. You still owe me a cart, she says, and the future Lord of Moat Cailin drops to his knees and asks her to marry him. Ned sputters a bit, but Howland is one of his most loyal banner men, and cannogmen forces on Moat Cailin would not go amiss.
Angeal finally gets to meet Zack’s girlfriend, and he approves of Aeris mightily. She teaches them how to listen to the Weirwood trees, and they can hear the warning on the wind. Something was coming. The Calamity was growing in strength.
Edmure Tully visits his sister in Winterfell while Viserys is there, and immediately strikes up a rivalry with the former prince, and a friendship with Benjen Stark.
Genesis gleefully poked fun at Sephiroth for the way he doted on his little sister. Genesis had two sisters and he knew how tedious they could get. But he had Angeal back, and the puppy was there, and at least Sephiroth could be counted on to give him a good fight.
Tyene Sand sometimes frightened her sisters. She never scarred, and her skin never hardened no matter how hard she trained, and her bruises always seemed to disappear overnight. But Tyene loved her sisters fiercely, and respected her father, and was every inch a princess of Sunspear no matter the manner of her birth. She favored her father’s skill with tinctures, and her poisons were as strong as her potions. She carried many, many knives on her person, and the first time Oberyn watched her snap them all together to form a massive blade as tall as she was he dropped his wine.
Cloud Strife had been born a bastard last time too, so being a Sand was nothing new to him. Although the heat of Dorne took some getting used to. The North sounded much more appealing as a place to live. But the silver hair and madness of the Targaryens was familiar too, and so Cloud stayed in the Water Gardens with his cousins, and watched Aegon very, very carefully. The boy seemed to take after Uncle Doran a lot, so that was good.
Viserys and Daenerys returning to Westros changes things, and Robert decides that it’s time for another big Tourney. All the Lords need to come so they can sort out the last few bits of the Targaryen Dynasty. So it’s a bit like a Royal Family Reunion, and the reactions to the meetings vary. Robert really doesn’t like Viserys, but then the sell-sword king gets into a knock down drag out brawl with Tyene Sand that demolishes two wheelhouses and knocks down half the tents. Once they’re done, Tyene says very seriously that she’s going to be keeping an eye on Viserys and Robert is so amused that he legitimizes Tyene on the spot and asks if she wants a keep.
In the North, if possible, if it pleases his grace. Cloud answers without taking his eyes off Sephiroth. Cloud is doing the thing where he stares like a creep, and Zack is dying this is hilarious. Sephiroth’s eyebrows are raised so high they’ve disappeared into his hairline. Angeal and Genesis are face palming and cackling like madmen respectively. Cid is calling Cloud ten kinds of an idiot and that he brought it on himself. Brought what on myself? Cloud asks. Vincent sighs because he knows how his eldest brother’s mind works.
Viserys Blackwood and Tyene Martell are married in the Godswood of Harrenhall with most of the realm in attendance. Tyene was radiant, but looked like someone had slapped her in the face with a fish for most of the festivities. A charming combination of appalled and utterly confused. Viserys maintained an expression of genial amusement through everything that didn’t break even when King Robert ordered him to take over lordship of the Gifts and support the Wall to the fullest possible extent.
By the time the direwolves arrive, the Children of the Planet have had several years to make plans and prepare and build their forces. Aeris as Meera has been busy planting Weirwood trees everywhere she can get away with it. Zack as Jon has rebuilt Moat Cailin. Sephiroth as Viserys and Cloud as Tyene have settled the Gifts into something capable of keeping the Wall manned and properly fed. The Nightwatch is something honorable again, not just a place to dump criminals and disinherited heirs. Cid as Rhaenys and Vincent as Renly have built the Royal Fleet into a superior force. Genesis as Edmure is reinforcing the Riverlands, Angeal as Benjen is doing the same to the North. The triplets are helping Big Brother make sure that Mother stays safe.
Then Daenerys figures out how to hatch dragons and they know they’ve run out of prep time. It was time to fight the war against the Calamity again. Good things they’ve got all this materia on hand, and siblings/cousins who have been trained in how to use them. The Night King is not expecting to get a Bahamut to the face.
Just saying. It’s almost like cheating. Only all’s fair in the zombie apocalypse. Even calling in a Meteor strike.
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