Meera Reed
Meera had always felt a bond with Jojen. They shared a bond of siblings, but even then, she could always feel whenever he was not okay.
When they were little, he had once hurt his knees badly but refused to tell their father, afraid to delay them on their adventures. She had told their father, who quickly took them back home.
She knew, she did not know how, but she knew.
She had been enjoying the feast, the gorgeous dress, the dances, the food.
Maybe she disliked some of the jealous looks she received, but her mother had trained her from a young age to navigate those kinds of situations.
And then.
Then, a foreboding feeling incrusted itself in her mind, like an itch that she could not even scratch. She recognized that something was wrong, for with Sebastian's training, her sensibility to this type of situation had increased. She tried to search for Jojen, only to be dismissed by him, as he claimed to have a headache.
She wanted to go, to take care of him, just like whenever he liked to nap under the trees as she guarded him.
"Enjoy, sister. It's not everyday a Reed steals all the pretty boys at a feast. Even then, you need to remain, for the Reach must know that the North remains strong" he joked while explaining his reasons.
She felt something wrong with those words, a deeper feeling of wrongness that refused to let go.
And that was not a good sign.
He did not joke like that she thought.
And, and...
Alas.
She had to remain, for a Reed had to be present to show unity with the Starks.
But she wanted to go, she really wanted to go to take care of him.
And the next morning, something strange happened.
Jojen did not remember anything about their talk, and Theon had been found unconscious beside the weirwood trees.
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Robb Stark
"How is he?" Robb asked the masked butler, who had just helped Theon drink water using a clean rag.
"He does not respond, Robb, but at least his instincts remain sharp. I was able to shove some porridge and water down his throat. His eyes are moving… he is… dreaming…" Sebastian explained to Robb.
Theon was loud, boisterous, cocky, happy, and expressive.
Robb looked at the unconscious body, who was none of that. A gaunt young man, who breathed harder as time passed.
It was sickening.
"And, what about… your, your healing?" asked a worried Robb.
Sebastian shook his head.
He had tried it seemed, but it had not worked.
Robb sighed. "Would you… consider at least…" Robb tried to ask Sebastian.
"No," Sebastian refused, as if it were a mere fact.
"Sebastian, I am your Lord, I ORDER YOU TO REST!" Robb ordered with worry in his eyes. "IT… it has been four days… you need to rest, Domeric will take care, please." Robb pleaded with worry.
Sebastian had been taking care of Theon day and night.
Robb also wanted for Theon to wake up, to brag about the best whore in the nearby brothel, to live as always. For his friend to recover, but Sebastian also needed some rest.
The masked butler looked at him, his suit pristine, his back straight, and not a single hair out of place.
"You are not my Lord, Robert, not yet. And by the time you ascend to your rightful place—" the quiet crawled in the room like sharp nails digging through metal. "—sadly, I will not be there for you. I made myself clear in Barrowton. Now… you should rest, please leave" Sebastian said with finality.
Robb left the room, rage, confusion, sadness, and the impotence of a young man facing a threat he could not slash.
A friend 's illness.
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"Sebastian"
He looked at the body in front of him, his chest going up and down, up and down once again. He had tried medical ninjutsu, acupuncture, herbs, whatever.
He had tried.
He had failed.
He had failed once again.
He took out his mask, his Sharingan circling fast as a bear protecting its cub.
One tomoe.
Two tomoe.
Three tomoe.
His eyes spun violently one last time, shifting into mismatched patterns. One with three rapiers spinning toward the center, the other with the blades facing outward. He had done this before. He knew how.
And then… then he saw it…
"Magic remnants" he muttered as the whole room drowned in killing intent.
"Howland is too far away, and this… this feels cold. We… we need to get to Dorne. The orphans..." Sebastian said to an unconscious Theon.
He looked at the magic afflicted patient and saw a frozen aura surrounding him. He needed time, so he prepared…
"One for all…" he activated the ability, but something strange had happened.
"What?" an impulse born out of the deepness of his own body manifested.
One for all had activated… But something had been off. It was a black mist that went directly to Theon.
Sebastian tried to shield him from that strange thing, until it spoke.
"Miauuuu."
He stopped, the cat was now licking Theon's face.
Sebastian was surprised and quickly felt the 'gap' inside him.
What he had been protecting since he had come here.
"Are… are you… it can't be…" Sebastian smiled while looking at the black cat, who looked back at him with summer blue eyes.
"Bast…"
The cat hissed, recognizing but denying the butler's claim.
Sebastian took a step, gently took the cat, and finally hugged him.
"I…I…" he tried to speak, but words did not come easily.
What came quite easily were tears.
The lonely traveler, the Uchiha patriarch, the efficient butler.
None of them were present now.
Just a man happy to see someone who had been forever lost, only to reunite once again.
"You must have come to protect him…" Sebastian muttered to the cat, while the black bundle enjoyed the attention.
"Don't worry, I will help him" Sebastian said with a melancholic smile.
The cat instinctively realized what he wanted to do. He hissed while he tried to scratch Sebastian to interrupt his concentration.
"One for all" Sebastian muttered softly, while vitality flew to Theon's spirit and body.
The ill young man recovered the color on his cheeks, he looked less gaunt. It seemed as if even his spirit took a deep breath. The black cat looked sadly at Sebastian.
"It's alright… I am going to be fine…" Sebastian reassured the small cat while cleaning the blood flowing out from his eye.
He mourned internally, his own being feeling now… less whole.
Even then, he smiled.
He tried to change the subject.
"So, I can't use your original name?" Sebastian asked with a soft smile.
The cat hissed violently.
"What about a new name?. Would you like that? A new name, a new you" he offered happily.
The cat purred with contentment.
"I will think of one. After all, your captain will not fail you… Neither of you…" said Sebastian to the unconscious Theon and the small cat in his arms, who kept purring on his lap.
And so, after four days of an unconscious Theon, a meeting with a viper had to be arranged.
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Theon
He was, and then he was not.
He felt like drowning.
Have I drowned once? he thought while he tried to claw his way out of it.
Then, there was light.
Splash.
"Haaaahh," he gasped, salty air entering his nostrils as he cleaned his eyes out of the salty water.
It smelled familiar, wet, humid, and just like…
"Home" he muttered softly.
A voice interrupted him.
"HEY EVERYONE, THE SLEEPING BEAUTY FINALLY WOKE UP!" a childish voice roared while a bunch of other voices celebrated with him.
"Finally!" one of them said.
"A shame… I wanted his portion…" a small glutton lamented.
"You always want everyone's portion, fatty!" a small girl added with a smile, and the whole group laughed.
"What?" He tried to recover and looked around him to distinguish where he was. It looked like a rotten boat that had been stranded on a beach.
"We are in our hideout, Tits. Fancy place to be, plenty of fish and a crew of wonder" the small voice said beside him.
He quickly tried to rebuke that voice. "I'm not Tits, I am Th…" the boy beside him covered his mouth with his hand.
"HEY EVERYONE, IT SEEMS TEACH NEEDS SOME FRESH AIR! KEEP THE PARTY GOING!" he said, while the group celebrated once more, for one of their own was safe and sound.
"That was dangerous, you know" the voice rebuked, and now outside, he could finally see the fellow boy.
He was the same height as him; he wore a big straw hat with a big smile plastered on his face.
And when he tried to look at his eyes, he could not.
They were covered with a half-mask.
Sebastian?! What are you doing here?!! he thought.
"You sure got hit quite badly in the head, it seems. You should not reveal your identity casually. Some of the crew had not… had… the best experiences with the Greyjoys" the smiling boy offered.
He tried to speak, but words did not come.
I can't move, he realized.
"Sorry cap, force of habit," Theon's lips said.
But Theon had not wanted to speak.
What?! he thought, surprised.
"As long as you remember, race to the hideout?" the strawhatted captain offered.
"You are on!!!" said Theon, while his own self was imprisoned in his own small body, screaming for a help that would not come.
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Author thoughts: Sorry for not posting that often, time is getting scarce (I am back to classes, much to do, little time to do it).
Hope you like it, to explain some stuff:
The orphans are the orphans of the greenblood, a group that traveled with nymeria but refused to assmilate to Dorne. They have ( in my mind) Rhoynar water magic (to help Theon with his magical problem that our beloved Bryndan pal made him).
The cat's identity is a secret/not so much a secret. Think about him as unexpected and innocent collateral damage (he is from westeros, so no weird stuff from naruto's universe coming along). The name will be chosen carefully to reflect his past. (I really like adding references, even if no one catches them. Like Beacrox gloves). Heck, I unintentionally gave it away when I refer to him as "Bast...". (what was weird and fun was how it was a coincidence that Bast is also the name of an egyptian god). The cat is a male (just to be clear)
Theon is trapped in memories. This are not allucinations, this are memories that had been sealed once (and one that will be introduced in the next chapter). They are my way to show what the f happened in the Iron Islands.
And finally, Sebastian is not a god. I can make him as much as a gary su as I want, but there is a real price to pay each time he uses his eyes (That price I imagined it at the start of writing this, in december last year).
Because an op mc is boring. So, how can I spice it up to be more entertaining.
(beware, I like to use inspiration from the current work that I am reading, and I am reading some of Re:zero. Rip).
Sorry for the long rant, hope you like it.