Chapter Text
" Friction is the resistance of motion. When 2 objects rub together, Friction reacts and opposes movement, however, it is different with walking, as it acts according to the motion "
Barbrey Dustin heard the class going on in the small structure as she stood behind the door out of sight, as it was slightly left open.
This was the first gathering at Winterfell since the Greyjoy Rebellion. As the North prospered and everyone had good food to eat, many banners and people wanted to get a good look at the 'witch' who made it all possible.
Barbrey was in disguise as she listened and was finally able to believe the stories. This woman could give the maesters a run for their money.
Ever since Catelyn Tully and her brood got wiped out, and good riddance !, there have been rumors and speculations of the witch becoming the future Lady Stark, given her closeness to Jon Snow and her help to Ned Stark in improving the North and making all this possible.
Barbrey had also been eager to meet the boy Jon Snow as he also knew the magic that this woman knew. She had asked around and was very surprised from everything she had heard.
Even if he was Ned Stark's son, he was everything his father was not. The locals said how the boy despises his father, blaming him for his near death at Catelyn Tully's goon's hands. The only reason he was here was because of Snape and her daughter, and that they have a close bond.
She was shocked at hearing of what the boy does to those who insult him. How he once mutilated a guard to death with his bare hands while he was alive and fed pieces of him to his Direwolves, as the man watched in agony. No one dared to disrespect him then.
This was what Brandon would have done. Jon Snow might have the blood of Ned Stark, but he had the spirit of his uncle Brandon, the man she loved and lost to the Targaryen madness.
The way he used his magic to help others and does his own dirty work speaks volumes of his character. If the North had a King, a High Magnar like that, then no one would dare touch it.
Barbrey knew a war would erupt when Ned Stark died.
The North had enjoyed peace because their Lord is friends with their King, but the King's son is rumored to be mad, and that he cut a pregnant Cat's stomach once, and given how uppity the Lannisters are, it would get worse, considering how much the North has grown and how other Kingdoms feel about it.
They needed a strong ruthless King for what comes next.
" Fire itself is a reaction of 2 gases. Oxygen, the very air we breathe, and the Atoms within, which we spoke about in yesterday's class. When 2 stones rub together, it causes the sparks that friction emits, however, only some ..... okay, break time "
Barbrey had to move out of the way as almost a 100 bloody children ran out, to her shock, and started throwing around red lights and summoning balls, throwing them around in the air, and even other children.
Barbrey stared inside the classroom to find it as big as the great hall, to her shock and could only gasp " it is magic ".
" yep " Statiera arranged some papers. Statiera wore a dark brown jacket and a grey shirt underneath with dark jeans and boots.
Barbrey had seen her style of clothes somewhat similarly worn by many people in Winterfell, only the style was different. Jackets were an improvement on cloaks as Barbrey had seen, and the zip or buttons to cover the torso was a bonus.
" Are you Statiera Snape ? " The woman in front of barbrey was pretty, with dark hair that reached past her shoulders and stopped at her breasts in curls, and the obsidian eyes that stared deep into your soul. Her accent was also different to what Barbrey had experienced..
" Yep " Statiera stood up to leave " hello, Lady Dustin ".
" I never told you..... you can read my mind, can't you ? " Barbrey was surprised as she nodded. She had clearly underestimated her magical abilities.
" Jon wants nothing to do with this place, because it reminds him of the abuse he suffered at that Riverbitch and her staff's hands " Statiera said, and Barbrey was still surprised that this woman could read minds " he only stays here because of me. He doesn't want the Stark name either ".
However, she still took in her words and felt a surge of anger " Eddard Stark, that useless man...... he should have died instead of Brandon ".
" Jon thinks the same " Statiera said in amusement.
" What.... " Barbrey trailed off in shock before gathering herself " The North needs to be under a strong leader. You have seen what I think, you know I am right ".
" Jon is still a kid "
" He's 12 !, almost a man grown !! "
" why should he be forced to help fix an idiot's mistakes ?!. He owes nothing to anyone !!!. He did his part to help by helping plant those crops around the entire North and feed you people. He had to rest for days because of it !. He's not the perfect boy wonder you delude yourself to think he is !. He is human and he makes mistakes too !!! ".
Barbrey had no answer for that " you're right, he did..... and that's why he should rule, because he's a better person for it that way and because he's not perfect, it is why he should rule, like his Uncle Brandon should have. You are already changing the North by teaching those children about what you know, and they will grow up to teach a thousand. Jon Snow is not the only jon snow around these parts, because there are more Catelyns and Aerys' out there..... put that boy on a throne and make sure no one else has to bear his pain, because he would know better ".
Statiera was silenced and closed her eyes in resignation " it's not my place to tell him what to do.... I loved him and raised him like he is my own son.... all I want for him and my daughter is to be happy ".
Statiera walked away.
-
Lyarra Stark looked around at her home as she walked in her modest dark blue dress underneath her fur cloak. It had changed significantly since she left it 10 years ago. She had anrrived earlier and ahead of the Flint retinue, and many other Northern houses coming for the gathering.
For one, there were more stalls, then there were these new garbs called jackets and jeans worn by some people that she heard rumors about. Of course, it was inspired by that woman Statiera Snape's garb that she also kept hearing rumors about.
Her eyes went wide when she saw a pack of 6 Direwolves enter the gates of Winterfell and run inside with squirrels or rabbits in their jaws and release them on a butcher's stall as he, to her surprise, thanked them as they ran off again. No one was scared of or surprised by them, but instead waved at them, and the Direwolves gave nods, as if it was a common occurrence. Lyarra had to admit that they looked breathtaking.
" Lady Lyarra ! " many gasped as Ser Rodrik approached her with Benjen and quickly bowed to her, apologizing for not noticing her.
" It's quite alright. I have been away for a long time " Lyarra placated them.
Benjen hugged her wholeheartedly.
" it's been so long " Benjen sadly said.
" just 3 years since you visited my home to recruit men as a Ranger " Lyarra somberly said, but then pouted playfully " even when you are a free man, I see no wife near you !, nor ever grandchildren running around ".
" that's not exactly true " Benjen uncomfortably said.
Lyarra grimaced. She shed no fear for Catelyn Tully, but she did shed a tear for her 4 dead grandchildren. She was furious after she heard what that woman had done to Jon.
She heard rumors of the boy training in magic and brutally slaughtering a guard to feed him to a Direwolf. She heard that the once gentle and respectful boy had become brutal, merciless and unforgiving after being lost from Winterfell for a good part of the year.
Lyarra should have returned earlier and partially blamed herself. She should have been there for her sons, not distancing herself from Ned and pushing him away for building a Sept. She damned her husband to the abyss for sending Ned to the Vale as a child. She damned herself for not seeing how broken Ned was from the rebellion and that
" That's right, where's your brother and that grandson of mine, I only saw him when he was a year old " Lyarra said, but then noticed everyone giving each other uncertain looks.
" Yes mother, I'll take you to Lord Stark " the uncomfortable look on Benjen's normally cheerful face disturbed her.
-
To say Lyarra was horrified would be an understatement.
Benjen had told her of everything happening once he had taken her to the crypt.
Her family was broken beyond repair..... to the point where her own grandson wished his father had died in his older brother's place.
" Where did it all go so wrong ? " tears came out of her eyes.
" Everywhere " Benjen vaguely answered, because even he didn't have the courage to condemn his father, curse his sister's name, or blame his mother.
" I have another granddaughter across the Narrow Sea.... she is alone - "
" That girl is not alone ! " Benjen felt a surge of anger within him " she's raised with her siblings who are alive and they are raised by Ashara Dayne..... Jon's mother who abandoned him ....... how ironic that the innocent boy is abused for a decade while the daughter of that whore lives well - ".
" Do not insult your sister !! " Lyarra snapped.
" She is a whore ! " Benjen growled " she's no sister of mine, that hypocrite bitch. 'Love is sweet, but can't change a man's heart' my arse !, she refused to marry Robert but instead ran away with a married man and father of 2 children... all this time I blamed myself for her running away and not being more attentive, I joined the fucking Night's Watch thinking I deserved it !!!. Martyn Cassel joined the Watch to protect the secret of that whore's brat and is still there !!. Ethan Glover and Mark Ryswell exiled themselves across the Narrow seas !!!. Brave men fighting for our house and their Kingdom had their lives ruined !!! ".
Lyarra went silent in sorrow, for the men she had seen grow up or grown up with.
" Jon..... he was given the worst plate since he was born ..... he almost died ! - ".
" Benjen, stop !!! " Lyarra screamed, now fully crying.
Benjen didn't move to comfort her, because he felt his own tears on his cheek as he stood in front of his oldest brother's statue.
" Let's not shed tears in front of Brandon " Benjen wiped his own, and Lyarra looked to her older son's statue and the coffin below him. She wiped off her tears.
" How did he even come back here ?.... he hated ..... your brother, right ? " Lyarra dreaded to ask that question.
" Statiera brought him back " Benjen said " she found him, she saved his life from the Tully Dogs.... she awakened his magic, she taught him..... she is more of a mother to him than Ashara Dayne ever will be ..... she is why he would even stay here, something Statiera said about strong magic in Winterfell that would be good for his training..... The day she leaves, he will leave as well, not caring if his father lives or dies ".
Lyarra was so horrified that she couldn't even stand straight. She couldn't bear how broken her family was. Couldn't bear the thought that the year old grandson who played in her lap, had become a cold, heartless sociopath.
-
Jon Snow had traveled the Multiverse and had seen a lot of things. He visited many worlds and had seen the cities that Statiera described to him.
He had tasted the good food in cities like New York, Boston and London. He even played the video games and wore different types of clothes. Thankfully, he had kept himself and Ghost out of sight, and stolen some new clothes in the beginning to not look out of place, while casting a spell on Ghost to delude others into thinking he was a Dog.
Of course, he found some works and brought books of science, like physics and biology, as well as math textbooks.
He had also met some strange and normal people and gotten in strange situations like protecting a family consisting of a grandfather and his 2 grandsons from a ghost of a blind man who the grandfather had killed in a street fight.
He fell in love with guns and wanted them but the fact that they required ammunition to work annoyed him. Of course, a sword also needed a whetstone but a Valyrian steel sword didn't.
And that's when an idea struck him.
Of course, now it had him running from many greyscale infected in the ruins of old Valyria, carrying a bunch of Valyrian steel blades in a small bag, as Ghost ran near him.
" Worst fucking idea ever !!! " Jon growled and then touched Ghost, transforming them both into black dust particles as they flew off to their ship.
It was a pirate ship that Jon took after killing off its crew, and Jon panted as he and Ghost lied on the deck of their ship.
Jon turned to inspect the bag which contained 22 (temporarily and magically shrunk) Valyrian steel swords, 14 daggers and 17 pieces of some jewelry or something. And all of them were intact and Jon grinned " Jackpot ! ".
He turned to Ghost and asked " how would you like some armor on you, boy?. you would look awesome piercing through enemies with a long-horned helmet ",
Ghost confirmed with a bark. The Direwolf was the biggest of its kind, as he was big as a 19 hands tall Shire horse.
Jon knew how to remake the already existing Valyrian steel objects after he had stolen the information from a blacksmith through legilimency and killed him. It's not his fault that the blacksmith was a cunt who wanted Ghost's head on his walls in exchange for teaching Jon in the first place.
He then used his magic to set the ship's course for Westeros.
He also turned the sails black but had the head of an albino snarling Direwolf on it, in honor of Ghost. The Direwolf licked him in approval.
Jon decided to get some shut-eye as it was night approaching, and Ghost did too.
-
He slept after a long day of work, but he didn't expect what would happen in his dream, or technical dream.
He walked between the material world and the afterlife, due to his yoga classes with Statiera that opened his 7 chakras and expanded his senses, be they magical, physical, mental or spiritual.
The thing is that he could do it willingly, but he never did it except for the first time, he learned it from Statiera who woke him up.
This time, he was summoned.
He found himself walking in the Afterlife, in a land that was the replica of the North, and walked in the halls of its Winterfell.
" great " Jon scowled. The whole point of his 2 month journey was to get away from fucking Winterfell and its fucking Lord, not be brought back into a replica.
Jon prepared to leave when a voice called him " wait, grandson ".
Here, he turned around to look at an older man with specks of gray in his dark brown hair and beard. The same man who now rested in the Crypt, the author of his misery.
" I hoped you would be happier to see me " he sadly said
" Happy to see you ?. You brought that fucking Riverbitch into my life, you're the fucking reason I almost died ! " Jon gritted his teeth " The people of Winterfell were tortured and miserable at her hands for your choices !!!, YOUR OWN SON DIED BECAUSE OF YOUR GREED !!! ".
Rickard Stark flinched and looked at him sadly " I thought I was doing right for Winterfell and the North, I had no idea things would get out of hand - ".
" RIGHT FOR WINTERFELL ?!!. YOU HAD SOUTHERN AMBITIONS!!! " Jon growled.
Rickard flinched but said in an annoyed tone " remember that I was burnt at stake ! ".
" YOU FUCKING DESERVED IT !!! " Jon roared and Rickard was suddenly lifted in the air as he felt immense amount of pain, screaming in agony " DO YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE KEPT IN A CELL FOR DAYS IN THE COLD, NAKED AND BEATEN DAILY ?!!!. THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE !!!!!. EVEN AFTER 3 FUCKING YEARS, I AM STILL HAUNTED BY THOSE MEMORIES!!!!. I STILL REMEMBER THAT PAIN !!!!. YOU SAID YOU WERE BURNED AT A FUCKING STAKE..... I WAS TORTURED AND KEPT ALIVE TO BE TORTURED DAILY DURING THE GREYJOY REBELLION !!!!! ".
" child.... enough " Jon dropped Rickard and turned around to find himself face to face with an old man, who he realized was Rodrik Stark, his great-grandfather on Lyarra Stark's side.
Rodrik looked at Rickard in disapproval " satisfied now, boy ? ".
Rickard looked at Jon in some fear and Jon rudely asked " what the fuck do you want with me ? ".
" Got a mouth on you, huh ? " Rodrik raised an eyebrow " well, since you're asking so nicely ..... Rickard wants you to free the North ".
" Not my fucking problem " Jon scowled, shocking both men.
" You are a Stark, it is your duty ! " Rickard barked.
" I am not, and it's not my fucking job to clean up after you fuckers " Jon spat.
" You are the only heir left " Rickard pleaded.
" Go into your useless son's dream and tell him to pop out more brats then " Jon said, and he left the Afterlife.
" Stop being so selfish ! " Rickard glared at him.
" Look who's talking " Jon laughed in derision.
Rickard felt shame and anger at the same time, but calmed himself down and said in remorse " please, I have made many many mistakes and you have the strength to right my wrongs. You have already tilled fields and brought respect back to the Stark name - ".
" I don't exist to clean up your fuckups " Jon coldly said " Starks, Targaryens, Tullys..... you all can burn in hell ".
Jon then disappeared back into the mortal world.
" he is right, you know " Rodrik glared at Rickard " he doesn't exist to clean up after you and your fuckups, nor that son of yours'. You both are responsible for his suffering and it's your fault how he turned out today. You should thank that Witch Snape for making him stronger, that he's not dead and with us ".
Rickard slumped down on a seat, deflated " I truly am the worst grandfather ever ".
Rickard then growled in anger " Damn that fucking Tully bitch..... good thing that she's rotting in purgatory ".
It was true. 2 years ago, Statiera had summoned Catelyn's soul using whatever was left of her bones, and mutilated it so much that Catelyn screamed endlessly in agony. Catelyn was expelled from the mortal world and because of her mutilated soul, she suffered in a limbo, unable to move on for eternity.
Rodrik flinched " it's still horrifying to think of ".
-
Jon woke up from his sleep, feeling furious.
He calmed himself down by petting Ghost and a few hours later, they both reached White Harbor.
Jon flew off and landed on the docks with Ghost and the bag, as Manderly guards surrounded him, but paled when they noticed that it was him. Even when the entire Manderly family came, they also paled.
The last visit of the boy to White Harbor ended in the deaths of 23 treacherous guards, a burned Septon and Sept. Even they almost died when he threatened to kill them.
" Jon Snow, you have grown up " Wyman Manderly said neutrally, with some respect in his tone, and slight fear.
Jon looked at the Manderlys and sighed. The last visit he had was disastrous. The man and his family had helped feed thousands of Northmen through thousands of Winters. Even if he was an Andal, he was still a Northern by heart, and Jon felt ashamed of himself for threatening him. The fear for Caylie's life took over the last time.
" I'm sorry about last time. Calm down " They were surprised but sighed in relief.
Jon then pulled out 2 Valyrian steel swords out of his and enlarged them to their original size as a Longsword and Bastard sword. They both levitated in the air as they shocked the Manderlys.
Jon then put them in scabbards and handed them to Wyman as he took it with surprise and delight.
" Where did you get them ?!. How many do you have ?! " Wylis asked in astonishment.
" I raided Valyria and got more things " The revelation shocked the Manderlys " I have my own plan for them ".
There was a surprised silence until Wyman bowed " House Manderly will not forget the gifts bestowed to our House by House Stark - ".
" House Stark didn't do shit. I gave them to you " Jon bluntly said.
The Manderlys flinched but nodded and Wylis asked " we are riding for Winterfell tomorrow. Would you do the honor of joining us ? ".
" Okay " Jon shrugged " but don't touch my ship. I'm gonna go there and sleep to wake up early ".
Jon then flew off back to his ship as he dematerialized into black dust particles and flew off.
" He really is a strange one " one of the Manderly guards said in confusion " he threatens to sink us first, then he apologizes, then he gifts you a rare bloody blade ! ".
" He's a Stark, even if he doesn't have the name " Wyman proudly said and everyone agreed