The white dragon - The power of souls (Patreon)

Aemon Targaryen, Grimmauld Place

"I don't like this place Sirius" Aemon said with a frown, walking slowly through the corridors of Grimmauld Place, in his hand he had a spell ready for any eventuality

So far, they'd dealt with a couple of pixies and other magical pests, but nothing really dangerous.

For now.

"Hush, I can hear it, it's over here," Lord Black said, walking through the corridors with his wand in hand

Aemon frowned, there was something strange about his sister's father, as if being in this place kept him in a constant state of rage

Sirius was a calm and smiling man most of the time, he had his character, but he had never behaved the way he was doing at this moment

There was something really wrong around here

"Stay alert Aemon, something is terribly wrong in this place" Arrax said in his mind, the voice used denoted seriousness and caution

So Aemon, trusting in Arrax, obeyed

"This mansion was beautiful in its time, it's a pity that it belonged to such a rotten family as mine," Sirius snapped walking towards a particular room

Lord Black's voice emanated unparalleled hatred and contempt, it seemed that Sirius had lost complete control over his emotions

Aemon followed, watching, but couldn't help but comment

"Your family is ancient Sirius, the Blacks have been on this island for thousands of years, your ancestors, like mine, shaped the magical society as we know it, it is unfair and an insult that, because of a generation, you spit on the legacy of the Blacks" Aemon said firmly, as he looked around the room where he was

"Bah, a rotten legacy, the last Blacks were imbeciles more concerned with the stupid purity of blood than with anything else, what matters, is magical talent, that's the real power, I checked it with you" said Sirius, looking at his family's family tree with obvious contempt

But Aemon just frowned in concern, something was really wrong with Sirius

"Come on," he said in a monotone voice and wand in hand, as he walked around the house in a monotonous way

Aemon followed, setting up a spell on his hand hidden in his back, the feeling of unease increasing more and more and Sirius looking more and more eager to get to some particular place

"It's close, it's close," Lord Black said as he shook his head over and over again, until exploration led them to the Blacks' kitchen, specifically to an old cupboard

"I found you," said Sirius, his eyes going wild, as he opened the cupboard doors and began to pull things out with a sickly need

Until, with triumph in his eyes, he took a kind of jewel, a necklace, lifting it up and laughing maniacally

And without wasting a second, Aemon cast the spell he had prepared, a simple stupefy, causing Lord Black to lose consciousness and the jewel to remain on the floor, totally "innocent"

Aemon frowned at it, looking at the object with obvious contempt

And in his mind, Arrax's voice confirmed his suspicions

"That thing is terrible Aemon, and abomination, I feel a broken and rotten soul, but its power is great, be careful" he warned

Aemon inhaled hard, as he approached the "innocent" object, and then...

He began to hear the voices that Sirius was talking about, they were quite subtle whispers, barely audible

"Aemon, Aemon, Aemon" over and over again, making empty and meaningless promises, yet the white dragon's occlumency was relentless, so he wouldn't fall for this stupidity

With a will of steel, Aemon took the locket, it was heavy and cold, and the plague of dark magic permeated its entire surface, but it was sealed

"Arrax, do you say you detected a broken and rotten soul in this?"

And his guardian replied

"Yes, it is an abomination, an ancient and rotten ritual, in which the nature of the soul is abused, mutilating it, to anchor the body to the earthly world" by the voice used, Arrax felt a great contempt for the object

"We must destroy it," said Aemon, thinking about how to destroy this thing, at the same time that a crazy idea began to form in his mind, remembering one of Donna's many lessons

If anything has to do with the soul, the metaverse will have the answer

Inhaling, Aemon squeezed the locket, channeling his magic, remembering the lessons of his beloved and beautiful guardian, searching for anything that could provide direction in the infinite ocean of souls, something that, though simple in the real world, was truly meaningful, a distinctive trait of each individual

Aemon was looking for a name

And the locket, reluctantly, provided it to him

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," he whispered, channeling his soul's power through the object, with a single intention

Finding the mutilated and rotting soul that was hiding inside the mysterious object

"Be prepared," was Arrax's only warning, before the Black house disappeared completely, being absorbed by an overwhelming darkness, at least for an instant

A moment later, Aemon found himself on a street in London, lanterns lit up the dark night, the sky was red, and there was nothing around but shadows, hidden in the darkness, watching the young dragon, but not daring to face him, but everything looked old and old-fashioned, as if this moment had been many years ago

"No, please, I..." said the voice of a terrified old man, and his last words were stopped by a cold and cruel voice

“Avada Kedavra” followed by a sickly green light, a spell that, although known to Aemon, he had never witnessed in person

Aemon looked at the person responsible, he was a shadow, monstrous in nature, mutilated and disfigured, taking the appearance of an elegant man, with bearing and attractiveness, but with a pale face and red and disfigured eyes, who watched Aemon with curiosity and cruelty in equal parts, in his hand, he carried a white wand, with a texture similar to bone

Aemon looked at him indifferently and said

"I guess you must be Tom" knowing the answer

The corrupted shadow didn't respond, it just moved its head to the side, looking at and studying Aemon with great interest, and began to walk towards him, its intention more than evident

Behind him, a huge snake made of shadows appeared, showing its menacing fangs towards the young Targaryen

Something that the white dragon would not allow

"Let's play then," whispered the young Lord, as his eyes changed to a yellow color and he screamed

"To me, Arrax! PERSONA!" shouted Aemon, as a blue glow manifested behind him, freeing the emperor's arcane and Supreme God from the Valyrian pantheon, Aemon's personal guardian

The imposing vision of the king of dragons emerged, clad in his divine armor and his humanoid dragon body gave him a celestial appearance

The shadow, seeing the divinity of his Persona, became fully alert, screaming and becoming defensive, evidently nervous

"Let's dance," said Aemon, raising a finger and pointing to the shadow

If whoever this Tom Riddle was wanted to play with souls... he would be in for a big surprise

Aemon would take care of that in person

Robert Baratheon, somewhere in the Stormlands, Vanaheim 

"Is there a long wat missing old man?" asked the burly man, he had walked for hours and his feet were destroyed, but he would not give up

It was close, too close, he could feel it

The "crazy old man" simply spat and looked at "Bob" in annoyance, before answering

"We'll get there when we have to arrive, you were the one who interrupted my rest at my house, I warned you that it would be a long trip, so shut your mouth," said the old man riding an old mule over the rugged passages

Robert was looking for a cave, but not just any cave, but THE cave, where rumors mentioned that the ancient kings of the storm rested, a location that was lost with the death of Argillac, who never entrusted the location to Argella

The Storm's End manuscript that Robert had found in his childhood mentioned the "King's Rest" as a hidden cave overlooking the ocean, with regular storms periodically flooding the cave, keeping the tomb robbers away

However, for more than a decade the Baratheon monarch was not able to obtain more information, while his bastard brother was in charge of weakening lions and falcons alike, Robert did the most important task of his life

"We're here, it's the cave I mentioned to you," said the old man

And Robert couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, focusing all his attention on the cave in question

It was huge, evidently abandoned, with remnants of walls and stone structures, with crowned stag’s banners on all sides, though evidently worn by the passage of time

"The last resting place of the Durrandon, the true kings of the Storm, King Robert," said the cunning old man, laughing thoughtlessly at the king's gaze

As perplexed as he was impressed, Robert simply asked

“How long have you known it?”

The old man got off his mule with difficulty to breathe a sigh of relief and said

"Since I saw you, you are the living portrait of your father, Lord Steffon, and there is no way that a real Baratheon will end up like the pig that sits on the Throne of King's Landing," the old man blurted out as he spat on the ground

Robert just looked at the old man with respect, before looking down at the ruins he had searched for so long

"How do you know about this old place?" asked the monarch, as he walked through the ruins, reverently caressing the statues of deer, hidden in bushes

"My family has always lived on these coasts, as a child I played with my brothers in this place, in the same way that my father and his father did," said the old man, looking at the ruins with obvious nostalgia

Robert frowned, he wanted to tell the man that it wasn't ideal for a commoner to use the last kings' rest as a playground, but that could wait, his mission here was more important

"Have you ever entered?" asked the monarch, who was pleased to see that the old man shook his head

"No, I may not be the sharpest knife in Westeros, but I recognize the royal stag, the last thing I need is to be executed for some invented stupidity, no offense," said the old man, who apparently had a sharp tongue

Robert could respect that

"Well, today is your lucky day, come on," ordered the king, as he walked towards the central door, which would give him entrance to the cave, for a moment, forgetting about the old man

And so, overlooking how, for an instant, the old man looked directly at him with a disturbing smile and cold, calculating eyes

Robert, unaware of this peculiar fact, placed his hands on the huge doors and, with a roar, began to push, opening the heavy doors for the first time in centuries, the old hinges creaked and the spider's web and dust abounded inside, revealing an old and wide corridor, with architecture similar to that of Storm's End

"For the Seven," said the old man, taking off his hat looking at the cave and the king, the awe more than clear on his face

And Robert, feeling magnanimous, replied

"The place for the last rest of the kings of the ancients Storms, prostrate yourself and humble yourself before them," Robert ordered, as he knelt down in respect for all his ancestors, an act that the old man imitated, putting his forehead on the ground

Without wasting a second, Robert stood up and began to walk around the place with reverence, this place was similar to the Stark crypts that Eddard told him so much about, all the tombs had a statue, they all looked like imposing and fierce warriors, and Robert looked proudly as most of them carried war hammers, Apparently, the gun was a recurring choice in his family

However, although this place was interesting, Robert was not interested, at least at this moment, in his prize, it was located further down, in the deepest part of the crypt

"Wait here, old man," ordered the monarch, who began to walk into the depths with firmness and determination

As he went down, the visibility got worse and worse

"Shit, I wish there was light in this place," the monarch snapped aloud

And then...

Robert was startled to hear a kind of screeching, while a smell of ozone flooded the cave, for an instant, the monarch of Westeros did not know what was happening, until, without warning, the light came on

Literally

Lightning began to move through the rock of the walls, illuminating a kind of symbols unknown to Robert, but which, surprisingly, emitted light

They were rough, rustic, and wild in a way

"So, you're real," said the Baratheon monarch, as he watched in amazement as the magic lightning moved in a cyclical fashion, and the most impressive thing was that the most impressive thing was to do so.

They moved in a specific direction, as if they somehow wanted to guide Robert to some particular place

And trusting his instinct, Robert followed them, really curious about what he could find, and the deeper he went into the cave, the more sophisticated, large and magical it became, the corridors began to be ten meters high, while the statues were at least five, all in heroic or warlike positions that, to his surprise, move!

And something that the monarch noticed is that they all seemed to carry the same weapon

A war hammer... a rather special one, one that had come to Robert in a dream 

And the objective of this expedition

The monarch began to walk more hurriedly, his face contorted with madness, until he reached the last chamber of the crypt

It was circular, with descending stairs, the chamber was made of huge stones that created an underground dome, the colossal chamber was adorned with statues of furious stags while, in the center, a huge statue, at least 20 meters high crowned the entire place

It was the statue of a stocky man, clad in armor with a helmet adorned with antlers, the warrior holding with two hands the same hammer as the kings Robert had already crossed

As he descended and reached the central statue, Robert looked reverently at the carved name

“Durran Godsgrief” with barely a whisper, the name was powerful, just mentioning it

The statue was imposing, a huge man for a huge name, and at the foot of it, was the sarcophagus in question

Made entirely of gold, with a carved stag on the lid

Robert inhaled hard, this was the place, this sarcophagus contained what he would need...

To prevent the dragons' ascent, the monarch thought with a crazed look

Oh he'd seen it, Rhaella Targaryen's spawn, she'd get fucked by a Dothraki, she'd have an army of a hundred thousand men, and she'd bring back the damn winged lizards

Robert wasn't going to allow it, he would exterminate every last fucking dragon, even if it was the last thing he did

Concentrating again on his mission, Robert Baratheon screamed furiously, alluding to his name and pushed the heavy lid of the sarcophagus by himself, it was evident that it had not been opened in thousands of years

Inside there was no body, only dust, remains of armor and the greatest treasure of his family

"I found you," he whispered out of his mind, taking the relic delicately

It was a war hammer, his family's weapon of choice, made of black steel with gold accents, with the crowned stag engraved in the bronze, surrounded by hundreds of strange symbols, which began to glow as soon as Robert touched the weapon

Suddenly, an aura of lightning began to emanate from the powerful weapon, invigorating the monarch with overwhelming power

Robert shouted with joy, as the lightning became more and more powerful, and then, he raised the hammer

And the heavens roared...

A lightning storm swept through Westeros, as fierce as never seen, while forces that, for millennia lay dormant, began to move again

Outside the crypt, the decrepit old man looked up at the sky with a cruel smile, while for an instant his eyes turned completely white, before he fainted, his mind overwhelmed by the possession he had been subjected to by the abomination beyond the Wall

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, another rotting entity made its own move, it was simple, to name the Black dragon its champion

And spread the light of R'hllor throughout the world 

Mitsuru Kirijo, Wolf’s Den

"We've arrived, Mistress," said her personal chauffeur, as they passed through the beautiful and lively village of Cranleigh, straight to her fiancé's castle

"Thank you" Mitsuru said absentmindedly, observing the beautiful landscape, this would be her new home, as soon as she finished school, she would study her university in London and marry Jon, apparently, her father wanted a branch of Kirijo Industries to move to London

To be honest, the prospect excited the red-haired heiress, Jon was a gentleman in every sense of the word, Mitsuru knew that he was not interested in meddling in the affairs of Kirijo Industries and most importantly

Jon was aware of the metaverse, or as he calls it, the ocean of souls

A blessing that Mitsuru was grateful for every day of her life

She had everything ready, her father had authorized Mitsuru to visit her fiancé with a free letter in the last month of the holidays, he even ordered several of the company's female assistants to get her an entire wardrobe to please Jon at night…

Something the red-haired young woman still couldn't believe, to be honest, although the prospect of spending her nights in her man's arms was much better than using her fingers, as she had been doing for the past six months

Suddenly, Mitsuru felt as if he was going through a curtain of cold water, indicating that they had crossed the wards of Wolf's Den and would soon be in the castle

The beautiful Japanese inhaled strongly and used the last few minutes to focus, practicing her posture, her voice, everything necessary to please her owner

"We have arrive, mistress" said the driver, as he opened the door elegantly

Mitsuru thanked politely, but was speechless as soon as he saw the castle

The coats of arms of House Stark had changed, being replaced by ones with a dragon, a wolf and a tree, it was beautiful, but different from what she was used to

"What happened here?" she asked herself, at the same time that, to her concern, the voice of Penthesilea, her Persona, spoke to her

“I detect a Raid, in London, a Persona, a powerful one, fights against a powerful shadow”

Mitsuru inhaled hard, before rushing towards the castle, as far as she knew only one person on the entire island could be on a raid in the metaverse

And she refused to lose her wonderful husband before she enjoyed him

She had to talk to the rest of the girls and fast, before it was too late