[Victoria's POV]
She enjoyed nothing more than soaring high with her own wings, looking down on the world and seeing it all from afar. It was a gift that she alone possessed as of now. No one could stop her from going wherever she wanted.
Although, for all the joy it brought, it was also… isolating. No one would say it to her face but she knew all too well. Even as she descended to the ground, she was largely alone. The children at her age thought of her as a freak - if not a monster entirely.
Dragon wings, a tail, horns, she could grow it all at will.
Her father had taught her to not have shame in her abilities, and she held faithfully to his word. Even if she decided to hide it, what would be the use? All knew what she was…
Not just the blood of the Dragon, no… the fire, soul and body of one. She was a true dragon.
This couldn't be changed, only embraced.
And yet, as she looked from afar, she envied the love a more plain Alysanne received. The common folk, the nobility, children their age and even her own full-blooded siblings preferred her. The greatest sting was that she was their father's favourite… and that mattered far more than all the rest.
Being all too proud, she saw no use in pleasing anyone… and simply focused on herself.
…
The journey to Storm's End was delayed because of Alysanne's desire to aid those along their path, alleviating the harsh winter and replacing it with her false 'Spring'. It seemed overly draining… for a little sunshine over the horizon.
As everyone made camp for the night, Victoria observed William 'duelling' Artoria with wooden swords. They were born less than a month apart, yet William had the benefit of being a boy and the son of the strongest warrior in the world. He had the clear advantage, besting her consistently...
Victoria considered sleeping early, but she didn't fancy her brother's unearned confidence.
"How about fighting someone your own size?"
"My own size..." William paused, glancing at her. "You're a great deal taller than I am."
They were only born nine months apart (Daenerys and Edric had been quite busy), yet by size alone, Victoria seemed a year or two older. She was not only taller but a great deal wider as well.
"Scared of losing for once?" Victoria grinned slightly. "And I thought boys were meant to be stronger..."
"... We'll see," William gave the reply she wanted.
"Let me show you how it's done, Artoria."
Victoria took Artoria's wooden sword and gave it a spin. She swung first, and William blocked... yet she overwhelmed him with one push forward. His sword went flying, and she smacked him across the face like a clap of thunder. He fell to the floor, face bruised and a few drops of blood on the grass.
"Have you gotten weaker?" She questioned, tilting her head. "I didn't think it would be that easy..."
"Was that necessary?" He replied.
"Mayhaps," Victoria smiled slightly as the blood on the grass seemingly vanished. "Thank you for the duel, little brother. I hope you put up a better fight next time."
"... Right."
After walking off, she took the blood she had spilt and had a taste. It was not much, only a few drops... but the difference between her brother and anything else was night and day. It was not only quite delectible, but also empowering.
Using it as a source of power, she practised a bit of blood magic. Rather than killing, she made an attempt at giving life to something out of curiosity. Something small...
She used her own blood, condensing it into a sphere before moulding it in her image. Her eyes widened as the blood hardened and took shape into a living life form. At first, she considered an ant or a butterfly, but it turned out to be an odd spider.
It was like a cellar spider, rather small and thin... yet it was alive to an extent. It could only follow her will, however, it was incapable of moving on its own.
"A living puppet..." Victoria remarked.
Still, it was better than nothing. She was quite satisfied with the result, deciding to produce more.
Before long, she was playing a game of conquest between her army of bugs and insects and the local ant colonies. They were not only winning, but she noticed that whenever her own were defeated and eaten, they would infect the living - only adding to her horde.
It was a losing battle for those who opposed her little children, yet all the more entertaining watching the red spread across the land.
Before long, tens of thousands of small crimson red bugs littered the ground with nothing remaining to oppose them. With one raise of her hand, she moulded them all together into one greater creature. She chose a spider in memory of the first, creating one that was large enough to fill most of her palm.
"Aren't you beautiful?"
At this point, given her lacking mastery over blood magic, she was quite drained and simply decided to play a little prank to end her night escapade.
She had taken it to the camp, stealthily manipulating it to crawl onto her little sister's leg. Given its weight - such a creature was noticed immediately.
"SSSSS-SPIDERRRRR!!!"
She jumped and screeched so loud it was almost deafening. Her dragon, which she named 'Brightfyre' because of its colourful scales, jumped in and snatched the spider away, biting into it without much hesitation. Victoria wanted to laugh at her sister's response... but the dragon's actions were a little more pressing.
She forced out her blood from the dragon before it became infected.
Elizabeth pouted at Victoria, teary-eyed. "I was so scared..."
"It's okay," Alysanne smiled, patting her head. "It was just a spider."
"Oow..."
She sniffled, embracing Alysanne.
Victoria's expression twisted.
She is not your sister, she wanted to say, but the words didn't come out as she noticed the looks of disdain, disgust and fear.
"... Sorry," She mumbled so low it could not be heard before flying off.
...
"You need to cut the habit of flying off on your own."
Once she caught up, Brienne scolded her. Beside the knight was Alysanne... which was odd.
"Why?"
"It is needlessly worrying, for one."
"You are needlessly worrying. No one can do anything to me,"
"You didn't skip out on your father's arrogance," Brienne remarked.
"You don't need to pretend to care about me, either..." Victoria shook her head.
"Lady Brienne, may I speak to my sister in private?" Alysanne requested.
"... Of course," She nodded.
Once the Kingsguard was a good distance away, Alysanne's blue eyes flashed green. It was odd... eerie, even. Victoria felt unsettled by her older sister for the first time. They returned to blue within a second.
"You're not the monster everyone sees you as... nor the one you're trying to make yourself into because of that."
Those words were not what she was expecting in the slightest.
"Don't act like you know me, bastard."
"You felt justified when you hit William because he stepped in front of you in succession... but that fight isn't against your brother, but the laws of this land. You do love Elizabeth, but feel distaste because she is closer to me. A result of your 'tough' love approach to begin with..."
"..."
Victoria's eyes widened, it was as if she had seen into her very heart.
"Despite me never acting against you in any way, you also despise me because of the love that I receive... love that you believe should be rightfully yours. You feel pride in your draconic form, yet despise it all the same because of how it has isolated you. As a result, you lash out and only dig a deeper hole, leading the cycle to continue and reinforce itself. You don't have to be alone in that..."
Alysanne stepped closer.
"I'm here for you."
Victoria was taller, but she felt... small in her sister's embrace. She wanted to hate her, yet couldn't summon up any reason to do so. Alysanne was wholeheartedly a virtuous person.
"Why do you care... You should feel like everyone else does."
"I'm not everyone else, Victoria. I'm your big sister... and it's my duty to take care of you, even if you intend to push me away at every turn. I should have done this sooner, but... I was not aware of your struggle."
There could be no doubt in her sincerity, as much as the cynical half of Victoria wanted to believe otherwise.
In the end, she relented and accepted Alysanne.
She was not the rival she imagined her to be, but the key to overcoming her more sinister underlying nature, which she had been cursed with.
[Edric's POV]
As Winterfell neared, I had more time to consider my approach. More time to calm my fury and see the field with clarity. Storming Winterfell was, no doubt, the reaction the Great Other desired. Whatever he had planned would not be in my favour...
But the matter of his Champion... I could delay him directly by using my Greenseer abilities. Even a slight disadvantage over a long enough period of time would allow Arthur to intercept him before he wreaks havoc in an undesired location.
Using my network of birds, I caught the eye of the Other and saw right into his soul, promptly invading it. It was a space occupied by only frozen waste with nothing of substance in any direction.
"Quite audacious to fly so south..." I said, raising an eyebrow. "Why don't you fly a little north-east instead? It is colder there, which suits you."
"..."
His expression remained unchanged as I began to gain a majority of control over his body. Indeed, his body turned the bone creature north. I would have possessed it instead of him... if not for the fact that it had no soul. It was merely a tool, a puppet on strings.
"You are tiresome, Edric Storm."
"You know, serving your 'Great' Other is rather foolish... there's a far better and sustainable liege you could turn to. Someone with a true path forward."
"Your honeyed words have no effect on me," He replied with indifference. "I am the Great Other's sword... nothing more."
"And if I become the Great Other, would that still be true?" I questioned, stroking my chin. "You could very well sit back and watch this conflict unfold. Why risk my fury? I am impartial to your kind."
"You lie..."
"Why? I am part Other - whatever fear the world has for you shall be shared with me. You could be useful to me, besides. A great warrior like you? I only have one who can equal your might."
"..."
The Champion remained silent for a while. I began to wonder...
"I could make you the Night King's successor, leader of the Others. You may even be able to take the Great Other's place as a god... would he allow you to take that seat, hm?"
"Cease your attempts at turning me. My loyalty is without question."
The balance began to shift back in his favour. My grasp on his soul was slowly slipping... the distance between us was far too great for me to maintain it for a long period.
"Is it loyalty or foolishness? One thing I know for certain, you would only fall to my second. For a master who cares not for your wellbeing... is such an end worth it?" I questioned. "What benefit do you have in serving the Great Other?"
I was honestly bullshitting to keep his mind distracted, but there seemed to be an avenue for my diplomacy skills to genuinely pull through.
"I came to this world for that reason," He answered. "I am nothing more than that."
"How can you know that for certain without breaking past the chains that bind you? You could be a more worthy sovereign than the Night King without even knowing it. Seven hells, you could be anything you want... an architect, a steward, a sailor, a farmer - without even knowing it. I see so much untapped potential in your soul that the Great Other would never allow you to explore."
"But... I would. You could, at last, become complete. Your true self," I smiled. "Spend a year with me, and you'll learn what it means to be alive. You'd discover purpose in life other than this... frozen servitude."
"..." He blinked, seemingly considering my offer.
Suddenly, the Night King's shadow emerged.
"What is this game you play, Harbinger of the Storm?"
Oh... my beloved nemesis came to play.
"The craven who broke his body apart in fear of me..." I grinned slightly. "Don't you have shame showing your face here?"
"Don't you for trying to turn our second to your side?"
"If I recall, you tried to slay me while possessing Arthur's body after Euron was put down by him... which is just so very rich coming from you. Do us all a favour and stay your ass in Winterfell. Wait and wait - like you always do. I won't be too long now."
"Such hubris after completing your Lightbringer."
"It is not hubris. It is raw, untainted, fury... I dream of you crawling at my feet like the worm you are. My fury will drive me as far as I need to go to see that come into reality."
"We could be one," He replied. "You need not turn the Others against us when we have a common enemy. You have gained what you sought from my defeat, have you not?"
"At the price of my soul... which will be avenged. If R'hllor is a foe, I will crush him just as well. I do not need you for that."
"But you need my Champion to step aside?" The Night King tilted his head slightly.
"I can't quite yet travel across the continent in an instant. If I could... well, we wouldn't be talking."
"You are deadset on this path, then," The Night King almost looked disappointed. "So be it. We will be waiting."
The Night King joined his spirit with the Champion's, pushing me right out.
I was so close... bastard cucked me right as I was getting to the good part.
Ser Arthur gained a bit of time, which might just be enough for him to catch up in time. If it isn't, I'd still be in a likely prolonged duel against the Night King at the very best, who'd make destroying the Tree of the End supremely difficult. Mayhaps going straight south is better...
I supplied Viserion with a greater surge of my magic, pushing his already absurd physical attributes far past their ordinary limit.
Fly, Viserion... fly faster than any dragon could dream.