Warning: Death, mention of grief, flashforward, descriptive anxiety-inducing moments, mention of wounds.
Words: 1, 867k
Author's note: The gif is not mine, as usual, it belongs to its owner/creator. This is my brainchild, the very first series I was able to finish writing IN MY LIFE. It took me three years, blood, sweat and tears, the love of all of my readers and the release of House of The Dragon for it to happen. I'm very proud of it, but that doesn't mean I won't change it someday ( by change it I mean rewrite some parts or add some things...) So thank you all for your support and your patience, I love you all very much.
Masterlist OGW Masterlist
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Part one, Part two, Part three, Part four, Part five, Epilogue.
Extra : Before Brin’s birth
Taglist: @aegonslover, @aemondsluvr, @yash98.
For love never falters when memories fade
It was a dark, cold night when the lady of the castle awakened, drenched as if she had run for miles. Something deep in her bones ached in panic. The lady couldn't fathom the reason for such a fright.
Her breath came in short, laboriously working its way from her lungs to the cold chamber, leaving her in clouds.
Heart beating erratically in her throat and the feeling of an imminent danger lurking still vivid in her mind, the lady of the castle choose to rise from the warmth of her furs to take a short walk. Hopefully, checking on her sons would calm her nerves if she saw they were alright.
For they were to be safe and sound, of course.
It had been many moons since her nightmares plagued her sleeping moments every so often. Shadows slithering in the dead of night, bringing cold and ice in their tracks. A muted grey light flashed before a freezing feeling in her bones. Red wine splattering in the snow. For months, she'd been woken up with cold sweat ruining the furs for the night, short and panicked breaths waking Bran in turn.
There was nothing he could do to ease her fright on those nights.
For weeks Lady (Y/N) had made her sons sleep between her lord husband and herself. It took a long time for Bran to convince her that their guards were adequate to protect them from anything. Even then, he offered her a long knife for her name day.
"You won't need it." He'd whisper on her neck one night, fingers sliding up and down her naked arm, in his best effort to reconcile her with the night.
"Hmm…" (Y/N) had humoured Bran but never took the knife from under the pillows. He never asked for her to either.
It was silly that the thing made her feel at ease when she slept alone in their room. For Bran was gone. Back to his duties once more.
(Y/N) made her way silently in the castle's halls toward her son's shared room. Bran's knife swiftly concealed in her sleeping gown and furs still failed to ease her mood. The two guards were posted at the entrance, and a simple nod was given to her when she entered.
Her free hand had slithered its way to her belly, where a soft bump was starting to show.
Brin and Aeron were sleeping like she knew they would. Brin had his father's features, even at six years of age. Aeron held more of you, from your complexion to his mannerism. Nagga and Aeron's pup, Leviathan, named after one of their mother's many stories, curled at the feet of the boy's respective beds.
Nagga was the only one to open an eye when (Y/N) sat in the rocking chair near the door. She shushed him passing by, holding one of his ears gently between her fingers before settling. Covering herself with the embroidered duvet Meira had gifted her at Aeron's birth, the lady of the castle let her anxiety diminish at the sight of her sleeping sons.
Breaths evening to a slow, repeating rhythm, eyes growing heavy with the lack of stimulation, (Y/N) let herself get caught in the room's darkness and the duvet's warmth, finding herself floating in comfort for the first time in too many nights.
It was a bit later that the lady's eyes opened once more. Now in the shadowed room of her children. Her heart was racing, sweat rolling down in beads from the nape of her neck to her spine, yet an aching cold held the room captive. Her breath once more elevated before her eyes, paler in the room's darkness than the rest.
Lady (Y/N)'s eyes travelled from her eldest son's bed -closer to the door- then to her secondborn, farther away, scanning for anything moving that shouldn't be there. Nothing. She tried to bring warmth back to her nose. The room was colder than when she'd entered it.
A light 'thud' from outside made her heart in a tormenting frenzy, faster than it had already been. Instinctively, her hand clenched around the knife's handle and tossed the duvet aside as she rose from her seat. Her furs followed next. Arms free to move as she pleased, only encombered by the nightdress she wore. Moving from the rocking chair to stand closer to her eldest son's bed, she took the stance Bran showed her when she'd asked.
(Y/N) made sure, however, not to stand in front of the door, so she could keep the element of surprise like Walton had taught her long ago. Nagga and Leviathan stood right in front of the door, the fur around their neck raised and low growls escaping their throat.
Nagga moved first, jumping on the door (Y/N) hadn't known being opened. The dog must have surprised whoever had been on the other side, for a yelp echoed on the stone walls as the creature lashed at them.
A clatter soon followed the chaos, and a shadow slithered its way inside the room, slashing Leviathan's neck as it pounced toward it. Cutting its roar short, leaving only the wet choking sound of air and blood mixing.
Lady (Y/N) didn't need more time to think when she jumped forward, slashing with all her might at the grayish shadow before her. It tried to attack her too, but (Y/N) jumped back just like her older brother had once shown her. It stopped for a second, and the lady took action once more. Dark glare met icy cold emptiness for the first time before combat was launched.
Grabbing a limb and twisting to turn it towards her. She'd managed to pierce the skin, she thought, when a heavy hand threw her aside.
Cold consumed her ribs like a lake suddenly becoming ice, and the shock of her back meeting the stone cut her exhale short, and a cry escaped the woman's lips before she could stop it, but she made no movement to feel the injury. 'Must not show weakness.' Walton had once said. She hadn't had the chance to take a new breath or regain her sense of orientation when something heavy sat on her chest.
Lady (Y/N)'s hands rose instinctively toward those of her attacker. She caught them before the blade could break the skin of her neck, yet she could still feel the coldness of it too close to her throat for her comfort. Unable to release one hand to grab her knife, she tried using her legs to destabilize the thing on her.
"Mother!"
Nagga's growls and sharp calls must have woken the boys, (Y/N) knew it. The sobs she could hear were those of Aeron.
With a new desperation, she pushed the hands farther up and grabbed her knife, knocking the blade with her arm as she struck. Icy cold with yet a fiery warmth following it flowed in the armed she used as a shield, the weapon stuck in her shoulder, and a grunt left the lady. She didn't try to cower, instead trying to strike once more.
Aiming to hurt or destabilizing over killing just yet. It managed to push its damned blade deeper inside her shoulder despite the lady's trashing around.
Pushing what was over her to the side, she struck it again in the head. Then, again and again, she made sure it stayed down before turning to her sons.
"Stay here." Her breath was coming in short, and she must have twisted her ankle while falling, for pain shot through it as she walked.
The lady exited the room to join a whining yet still growling Nagga on the other side. It was slowly losing its battle against the assassin, blood wetting its fur as it had Leviathans.
Making the best of the crouched position her assailant was in, Lady (Y/N) lunged toward it and struck again, aiming for the face.
Once again, cold erupted in her, the lungs incapable of drawing breath for a short time. The assassin had lodged its blade under her breast. (Y/N) moved before it could remove the weapon and kicked at the creature to keep it away.
The commotion had risen the guards toward the boy's room, and soon, the second assassin was eliminated. All happened in a blur, and the lady was removed before it could resolve itself completely. With the danger now taken care of, she could barely stand alone and was forcefully escorted back to her room. Standing between two tall guards making her feel like she was a little girl again. They could not contain her before getting the maids to bring her sons and Nagga.
Apparently, they removed the bodies of the intruders and burned them. The two guards and Leviathan were brought out of the room to be given proper funerals. When mother and sons were finally bunched together, safe, warm and loved, the lady kissed both her boy to sleep.
While being fussed over by maesters, Lady (Y/N) asked for a crow to be sent to her husband. "So he'd be informed of the situation."
She also asked for her brother Urion to be sent a messenger informing him of the situation. Breathing was becoming laborious, and her cough sounded wetter by the minute.
In the letter addressed to her brother, the maester wrote that lady (Y/N) had not been conscious when her death occurred. Sleeping with her children, exhausted from the battle and the blood loss. It was also written to the man that Bran was yet to know about his wife's death, as his crow left four hours before Urion's.
Brin and Aeron cried their little heart out when a maid ushered them out of their mother's cold embrace once the sun came out. Maester somberly nodded their heads as they covered the lady of the castle's face.
Bran could remember the funerals held for her. The crown of roots placed on her hair, a dress in the Stark's colours and a blanket of her family's crest placed as if she was resting beneath it. He could remember the cold in his chest as he watched the fire take her form.
The empty hole it left in his heart as he clenched his son's shoulders.
He could feel the brief warmth of tears rolling on his face before the wind turned them into ice droplets.
Bran could also remember -being shaken as he was sitting in the chariot trailing him to King's Landing- the imagery of a Lady carved in the rocks. He could still see the stone sepulture, both as it was first and as he saw it when he was a boy. The eroded face was once detailed as his aunt was. The sculpture's hands crumpled from the touch of those her loss had hurt the most.
Bran could remember all those things of the ghost he saw that night when winter had lost. But he hadn't found anything relating her story in the archives of the Starks. Brandon's wife had never been mentioned. Only his firstborn Brin, well, Brandon, was named.
Bran could remember that her statue was the only one made with a crown.
Dazai walked down the hallways of the Port Mafia base, staring coldly ahead of him he walked away from the torture chamber.
"Hey Dazai~" Called out a familiar voice, Dazai turned to find (y/n) peeking her head around the corner, " What are you doing?" She asked, Dazai put a friendly smile on his face.
"Why, just talking to a friend of ours, that's all," He said brightly. She nodded, walking up to him and swinging an arm around his shoulder rubbed her knuckles on his head.
"Thata boy, getting the job done," She said winking. Dazai smiled childishly and poked her in the side,
"What are you doing?" He asked, she sighed and let her arm drop.
"Well, the boss wanted me to fetch you but since I don't feel like going all the way back up to the top of the building how about rewarding you for your good work, and let's go out somewhere?" She asked.
"Mori-san isn't going to like that," Dazai said
"I know, but since I am Elise-chan's favorite it will be fine. Besides it's not anything suuuuuuper important, let's go." And with that (y/n) dragged him to the front door. Dazai reluctantly went along,
"If Mori-san gets mad it's not my fault, I am blaming you~," He said.
"Fine, whatever, treat your best friend like that then," She said back,
"We are best friends?" Dazai asked
"Dazai! I am offended! Of course, you are like a little brother to me after all" She said messing up his hair. Dazai smirked
"Well, I better play the part then." And with that, he held up (y/n)'s favorite necklace that was on her neck moments before,
"Hey! Why you-" She began and tried to grab the necklace but Dazai dodged her,
"I will only give it back if you pay for the meal," He said dangling the necklace right in front of her, she grumbled and nodded. Dazai laughed evilly, and gave her back the necklace,
"But I get to pick the place to eat then," She said and walked ahead of Dazai. He sighed and wondered how someone so nice and friendly could make it into the mafia.
A couple of months later
Dazai glanced at the paperwork that sat on his desk, he didn't feel like doing anything though. Instead, he thought of ways to prank (y/n), it was hilarious and cute to see her reaction. His phone rang throughout the office, sighing he picked it up,
" Hello?... You want me to see you right now? ...Fine," Dazai sighed again and shut the phone, Mori had called him up to talk to him. As Dazai sat in the elevator he thought about the one conversation he had with you
Flashback
"So Dazai, do you like anyone~" (y/n) asked him
"Nope, do you~" He asked back, she smiled sadly and shook her head
"I have had my share of bad relationships, I doubt anyone could really love me. You know who we are." She said staring out into the distance, Dazai stared at her. It was the first time she had truly opened up to him, he patted her on the head
"Well I am sure there is someone," He said, (y/n) smiled and gave him a hug.
"Thanks for the comfort."
End of flashback
Now he thought about it, he thought about love. He had seen plenty of couples and such in Yokohama but had never had a desire to be in one. He was still curious about what it was like, and the feeling that he felt inside of him when he was with you. At first, he dismissed it as nothing but over time it happened whenever he was around (y/n). The elevator stopped and Dazai got out, walking into Mori's study, he saw Mori complimenting Elise's drawing. Mori looked up and saw Dazai, clearing his throat he straightened himself up,
"So Dazai-kun, there is something I want to talk to you about."
"Yes, boss?"
"It's about (y/n.)"
Dazai froze and stared right into Mori's eyes.
"What about her," He said, demanding an answer.
"Well, you two have gotten awfully close, and I am sorry to say this, but, in a recent mission she got shot."
silence
"Where is she." It wasn't even a question.
"In a better place, I am sorry. She had in her room, and it was addressed to you,"
Dazai robotically grabbed the letter that was in Mori's hand and turned to walk away.
" I expect you will grieve for a long time, but that doesn't mean you can stop working, Dazai-kun," Mori said and Dazai shut the door, once he got to the roof he opened the letter.
Dear Dazai,
This is a just in case I die thing, so if you find this in my drawer while snooping then PUT IT BACK. If you read on then, I guess I am gone, well, that's weird to think about. There is a lot I want to say to you person to person but that's a smidge bit difficult now that I am in the clouds, so, even though I have had trouble in the past with love and family. I just want to let you know, well, you deserve to know that I saw you more than like a little brother or a friend. I kinda have fallen for you. Before I thought you were just another friend or a companion of darkness I could relate to, but over time I have started to begin to love you. I began to love your jokes, your smiles even if they were fake. And I also loved your dark side, no matter how sad or afraid you were. But I couldn't man up in time I guess to tell you how I felt, I am sorry for leaving you behind. And I am sorry that you will have more paperwork to do, but I just wanted to thank you for letting me be friends with someone who is hilarious and can be caring. My hand is starting to cramp up, so I will end it around here, I am sorry I couldn't tell you how I felt in person. Goodbye, and make sure to stop by my stone sometimes.
Love,
(y/n) (l/n)
The paper was splotched with water that fell from Dazai's eyes, he wiped them so he wouldn't ruin the beautiful handwriting. Kissing the paper Dazai mumbled, "I love you too."
Monster Feature: Reader x F!Harpy
Warning: SFW (no sexual content, death, a wounded child, mentions of blood, non-citrus)
Word Count: 1982
Note: Based on @monsterkinkmeme prompt of this ANGST where the reader can trade places with a dying person.
It came as a dream, the great goddess had bestowed a gift for you and while at first, you didn’t believe it, soon people were showing up to your small hovel begging you to trade your life for someone in the village. Then it was the lord of the lands who appeared. After that it was kings and queens who arrived, asking you to consider trading places with someone who was on their death bed.
It never stopped. Everyone kept coming to bother you—to convince you to save someone.
You had heard everything. Every piece of logic.
You’ll be rewarded by the goddess.
You could save the royal family who will protect our lands.
Save me, please!
It became too much to listen to on a regular basis that you hid away, deep in the woods far from civilization. You lived off the land and were careful when you went into town, covering yourself from head to toe so no one would know who you were. All the while you kept any relationships at a distance despite the overcoming loneliness that began worming its way into your heart.
That is until one day you spotted something small huddled next to your firewood pile. You were slow and cautious as you tiptoed around the corner finding a small harpy child, clutching its chest as it shook. A snap of a branch had the girl panicking, her frightened eyes wide with her cheeks stained with tears and dirt.
She was injured.
“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” You spoke softly, crouching and keeping your distance as you watched the girl’s body quiver. She was scared of you, but she was even more terrified of the voices talking farther behind you. You made out “where did it run off to?” before it dawned on you that she was being hunted.
They didn’t even consider her a living, walking, talking person. Just a thing to prey on. They sickened you.
“Get inside my hut and hide under the bed. Don’t come out until I make sure they’re gone okay?”
At first, she didn’t move, until you turned your back to her, glancing back, “Go on before they see you.”
Her eyes darted to you and then past you before she scrambled around the hut. You heard the door open and close, causing you to smile only for a moment before the voices came closer.
You began idly chopping some wood before the voices finally drew nearer that you could see they belonged to three men. All were equipped with bows and arrows and strapped knives. They were hunters. From the number of leathers and furs they wore, they were good at what they did. Possibly even professionals.
Pausing, they waved, “Good afternoon! Say, have you spotted a small harpy in these parts at all today?”
You stopped chopping wood, wiping the beading sweat on your brow before squinting at them, “A harpy? What’s it look like?”
The hunters snickered to each other, “You know—it looks vaguely humanoid but is bird-like. Lots of feathers. Basically a large animal.”
“You’re hunting a bird?” You asked, playing dumb, “There’s plenty of birds here in the forest.”
“Not a bird, you idiot. A harpy. It would be no bigger than a human child and has lots of black feathers.”
You propped yourself on your ax, giving your chin a good scratch, “Can’t say I’ve seen one recently. But I did hear some commotion further that way.”
You pointed into a part deeper into the forest, an area that you steered clear of knowing full well what kind of beasties lurked in its depths. But these hunters seemed cocky enough that they would go further in. A wounded prey would be easy as soon as they caught up and there’s no way they’d resist it even if other creatures lay in wait.
They chatted amongst themselves before they started heading in the direction that you suggested, “Thanks, you’re a bit daft but you might have saved us some time. A coin for your troubles.”
The coin landed at your feet as they chuckled, immediately quieting themselves as they picked up their pace. You picked up the coin, watching their backs until they all but disappeared behind the trees. As you stuffed the coin in your pocket, you waited, going back to chopping wood until you finally heard it. The terrified screams of three grown men and one hungry beast that was probably chomping into them.
It was then that you finally went inside, carrying a bundle of sticks and putting them in the hearth to stoke the fire.
“It’s okay to come out now, they can’t hurt you anymore.”
You see a pair of glowing yellow eyes from beneath your bed and they are keeping a careful watch on you as the child slowly shuffles out. It’s only when she does so that you notice the blood that’s smearing along the wooden planks of the floor that your face scrunches with worry.
“You’re hurt. I should probably take a look at it.”
She pulls back under the bed, her hand instinctively clutching at her wound.
“If I don’t look at it, you could bleed out and die.” You say softly, turning your attention back to the fire to poke at the coals.
It doesn’t take her long before she comes out, and she cautiously comes closer. You offer her a small wooden stool for her to sit as you gather what spare healing herbs you have and some cotton bandages. It takes her some coaxing to move her hand away and as soon as she does you can see that it’s part of an arrow jutting from her.
“Shit.” You breathed, seeing the blood drip down her now messy black feathers. “You snapped the shaft but you didn’t take out the arrowhead. I’m going to have to try to remove it, okay?”
At first, she flinches away and her big yellow eyes are pleading as if asking you to not do it.
“If I don’t, the wound won’t heal properly and if they’ve put poison on it, the longer it stays the worse it will be later.”
Wordlessly, she nods, her small hands clutching the chair beneath her as she turns her head away. Taking that as a go ahead, you clean your hands before you set to work. You need to get your finger in near the arrowhead to make sure it’s not in the bone.
It hurts your heart when a child cries from pain, but this time it’s especially hard as she clenches her teeth and whimpers as you try to make sure it’s just in the flesh. Once you’ve made sure it’s not in the bone, you tell her that you need to widen the cut to get the sharp metal out before you start.
The entire process was taxing on both of you, taking nearly an hour to clean the wound and stitching her up as best you could. You could only imagine how traumatized the child was after the ordeal, but she was keeping her eyes open as she sat on your bed.
“It’s okay to sleep. I’m going to cook some food for us okay?”
She was beyond tired and you couldn’t blame her. She had barely managed to escape from the hunters and given how deep the wound was, you didn’t think your handy work was enough. Harpies were different after all, and you had little to no idea of how she would recover. If she would recover.
The blood loss alone was more than you thought possible and since you weren’t a medicine man by any means, you really had no idea if what you did would only prolong her suffering.
That thought alone made you more tired as you prepared a basic stew with some leftover rabbit meat you had cooked up recently. Once it was finished, you made sure to scoop in as much of the meat as possible into a bowl for the girl who was sleeping soundly. You hated to wake her, but she was going to need to eat and you were scared if she slept, she wouldn’t wake up.
You managed to just touch her head slightly as her eyes fluttered open and you could see the momentary fear dissipate.
“Food.” You gestured, holding the wooden bowl in front of her so she could see it.
She struggled to sit up and eat, but she managed before she put the bowl down and looked at you.
“Mama.” She pointed for the door before pointing at herself.
“Do you want me to find your mother?”
She breathed, her hand clutching her wound as if the pain flared up, “She’s coming.”
No sooner had she spoken did the door on your humble abode swing open and a large but menacing harpy set her fiery gaze upon you. With teeth bared, she hissed at you before the child began whimpering and speaking a different language that was not common tongue.
You breathed a small sigh of relief as the harpy moved for the child, her anger was snuffed into fear and care, going into overdrive as she held her daughter. But that relief was short-lived as the child weakly continued to speak and the mother rocked her child back and forth in slow motions. It didn’t feel like you should be there, so you took your food and walked outside to finish the remainder.
At least the girl was with her mother now. She should be fine.
You finished your meal but when neither of them came out, your exhaustion pulled you under and you succumbed to sleep only to be awakened by the sound of a loud sob. You jolted up to your feet and went inside, the fire was slowly dying so you must have been out for a while, but the scene that lay before you hurt you more than it should have.
The child was dead.
Her body was limp and lifeless, no longer drawing breath as her mother shook and cried until her cries became bitter shrieks of despair. You had been trying to help the poor thing survive and in the end, it didn’t matter. Your efforts did nothing but stave off the inevitable. That hurt more than you imagined it would have.
How many people had come to you in hopes of this very thing? To avoid death. How many people had grieved, shaking with raw unbridled emotion simply because you wouldn’t trade your life for theirs?
Too many was what you decided as you stared at the child, your heart stinging with pain.
“What would you say if I could bring her back to you?” you asked, glancing up at the mother.
She didn’t answer at first until she finally managed to swallow and sniffle back her tears, “I’d say that there’s no way you could.”
“But I can. I can take her place in the underworld and bring her back to you—I want to.”
“Why did you hide and try to save her? She is not your own. Why would you offer this gift to us?”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
At first, she looked as if she didn’t believe you, but then she nodded, “I have nothing to offer you in return.”
You gave a low chuckle, “I’ll be dead, your offering would have little good to me. Just promise me that you’ll take good care of her.”
“You have my word.”
That was all you needed as you moved to touch the girl’s forehead. You closed your eyes and felt a sudden weightlessness as your world shifted and spun into a small carved out room with lit candles decorating the walls.
The girl was waiting with her eyes bright and filled with life as she looked at you. Silently, she took your hand and gave it a squeeze before she slipped away out of existence with only a small whispered, “Thank you.”
