fics I read

Arc 1: Clash of Kings

299 AC

oOo

Shipwrecker Bay, with Percy...

"So this is Storm's End, huh? It doesn't look like much." Viserys commented flippantly from where they stood at the front of the ship.

Percy sent Viserys a look before looking back at the ominous grey castle. Storm's End definitely did look like much. It looked like quite a lot in fact. The entire castle was surrounded by an outer wall that was at least one hundred feet high and quite thick. A single, spiked tower sprouted from the middle of the castle, towering over everything else.

"How many soldiers are usually left behind?" Percy looked to Jon on his other side.

"If Renly is as stupid as I remember, I'd say maybe two hundred or so men." Jon told him.

"They're probably already scrambling to send out ravens. It won't be long before Renly comes charging back here." Percy began absentmindedly tapping the wooden railing. "Are you sure your way inside will work?"

Even with only two hundred men defending the castle, they'd never be able to successfully siege it before Renly came back with reinforcements. And if the whispers in regards to Renly's army were true, then Percy really didn't want to get caught with his pants down mid-siege.

Jon nodded confidently. "If I remember correctly, there's a part of the wall on the backside of the castle that has enough hand holds to properly climb. Since there aren't enough men to man the entire wall, all we'd have to do is distract the majority of the garrison away from the group infiltrating the castle." He explains.

"I volunteer!" Viserys quickly said, no doubt excited about sneaking into an unbreachable castle.

"Sounds like fun, I'll go too." Tristan smirked.

"We will not fail you, my king." Grey Worm vowed.

Percy silently debated if he should just do the task himself. With his ability to blend into shadows he would be perfect for the job. Although, that didn't mean he would be able to hold the gates open by himself. At least not without burning everything to a crisp.

"Alright, we'll sneak into the castle at nightfall. Harry and Balaq, you two make sure the army is in position." Percy ordered, earning nods from both Balaq and Harry before they left.

"This is going to be dangerous, your grace. There's always a chance of failure. It wouldn't be very good if you were caught and held as a captive. Perhaps I should go instead." Jon said cautiously.

Percy pondered the man's words carefully. While he was sure everyone knew that he was far from defenseless, it wouldn't be good if he somehow got himself captured. Their invasion would end before it ever truly began.

"Don't worry, Perseus. We'll get the gates open. Just be ready to storm in when we do." Viserys assured him.

He didn't like it, not one bit, but he knew that he couldn't be as reckless as he once was. The risks were far too great now and if he was forced to use his fire powers, he could end up doing more harm than good.

"Fine, just make sure you survive." He wasn't naive. There would be deaths in this war. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try his hardest to prevent those inevitable deaths.

oOo

Outside of Storm's End, with Percy...

The only noises that could be heard were the brays of the horses. The army was wisely positioned a few yards from the castle gates, just out of reach from the archers that sat atop the walls.

Percy sat on his armored, white horse at the very front of the army. He planned on leading their one thousand strong cavalry directly into the castle when the time came. Of course the others thought it was best he not be among the ones to go inside the castle first but this was a decision he wouldn't budge on.

Once Viserys and the other's opened the gates, the castle's garrison would be on them like bees to honey. He wanted to make sure they wouldn't be overwhelmed too quickly. They were all skilled fighters in their own right, but even they couldn't take on that many men by themselves.

"They should've opened the gates by now." Harry murmured nervously from atop his own steed.

Percy remained calm. "It's fine. None of the soldiers on the walls have moved so they haven't been found yet." And there were a lot of men on the wall at the moment. Probably because they assumed that they were about to be attacked. Which they were, just not in the way they were anticipating.

His eyes narrowed when the gates rumbled before slowly beginning to open. The men on the walls all looked either panicked or confused as they began scrambling to get down to the gates.

Percy drew his sword, turned towards the army and raised it high into the air. "Soldiers, advance!" He roared before whipping his horse to begin stampeding toward the gates.

War horns blew as the soldiers roared their battle cries and followed after Percy. He could now see inside of the castle as the gate was almost halfway opened. There were people fighting at the gates, he knew it was Viserys and the others. More men swarmed down onto them. It wouldn't be long before they were swamped.

His worry unknowingly willed his horse to run faster and he sped ahead of the rest of the cavalry, ignoring the calls of Harry. A volley of flaming arrows began raining down on them, knocking more than a few unlucky riders off their horses.

Eventually Percy reached the gates and then all hell broke loose as he along with the rest of the cavalry barreled inside of the castle. He wasted no time in swinging his sword down to decapitate one of Jon and Grey Worm's opponents.

Jumping from his horse, Percy swiftly batted away a soldier's sword before stabbing him through his chest. Truth sliced through their chain-mail armor with little to no resistance. He quickly made his way over to Viserys and Tristan, who were fighting off a dozen or so men. They looked a little tired but were otherwise unharmed. Once they recognized the army's arrival, they continued fighting with renewed vigor.

Time became irrelevant as Percy entered 'battle mode', his swift movements became almost machine-like in its efficiency. He barely noticed when his men began to chant his name as he continued on, his sword became an arc of destruction, quickly ending the life of anyone foolish enough to meet him head on.

"Targaryen!" Percy ducked under a sword slash, driving his own sword across his opponents midsection in the process before whirling around to lock blades with the person who had shouted his name.

The man was completely bald with a full red beard and worn out features. But was by no means weak, Percy could feel the strength behind the old man's sword.

"You defile this castle with your presence! King Robert is rolling in his grave." The man seethed pushing back against Percy, who allowed himself to be put at a short distance.

Percy regarded the man with a cool gaze, his sword absently twirling in his grip. "You must be the castle's castellan. I'd order my men to surrender if I were you. You've already lost." He says.

"I am a knight of House Penrose. I will die for my honor." The newly dubbed, Ser Penrose snarled before squaring off.

"Don't be stupid, Ser Penrose. Would you really sacrifice the lives of your men for your pride?" Percy asked.

The knight's gaze flickered around to his dwindling number of men. Even with just the cavalry first entering, it was a one-sided battle. Now that the rest of the army had begun streaming in, it was quickly turning into a massacre.

"They will die defending this castle. By doing so, their honor will remain intact." The knight's eyes hardened.

Percy frowned at the disappointing response but nonetheless readied himself. He had tried to reason with the knight but the man seemed hellbent on dying for his cause. It was respectable to some degree.

Before they could begin their duel however, a blade suddenly pierced through the neck of the knight. There was a brief flash of shock before the knight's eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground, dead. A teary eyed squire with a bloodied sword stood above the corpse of Ser Penrose.

"W-We surrender! Please have mercy." The boy fell on his knees, throwing down his weapon in the process.

After witnessing the death of the castellan, the rest of the men quickly began throwing their swords down as well. The army roared at their first victory in the war and began rounding the enemy soldiers up. Viserys and Tristan swaggered up to Percy, sweaty and covered with the blood, smiling like madmen.

"I guess not everyone saw the honor in dying for an old castle." Viserys laughed mockingly when he sent the squire sprawling into the mud with a kick.

Percy frowned at the boy who cowered pitifully at Viserys's feet. Backstabbing one's own commander wasn't exactly the most honorable act, but at least no one else would have to die needless deaths.

"Make sure you clear out the castle thoroughly. I don't want to find a knife stuck up my ass while I'm sleeping." He finally told them.

"What do we do with them?" Tristan gestured to the surrendered soldiers.

Walking over to his horse, which had miraculously survived the whole ordeal, Percy mounted the beast. "Round them all up and send them on their way." He said simply, before galloping back out of the castle at a moderate pace.

Daenerys was no doubt worried sick by now. Gods knew the girl was probably moments away from riding out to check on them herself. She never did learn the importance of being patient.

oOo

Bitterbridge, Stormlands...

Two fighters grunted as their weapons clashed against one another.

Even though no one could currently see under the man's helm, one of the fighters was an exceptionally handsome man with curly brown hair and bright brown eyes. His armor was completely silver and decorated with bright sapphires and an intricate thorny rose design. He was currently wielding a long axe.

The other fighter was a taller and more muscular woman. She had shoulder-length, straw colored hair and ocean blue eyes. Clutched in her hands was a morningstar.

Backing away from a mighty swing, the silver knight swiftly retaliated with an overhead slash that was ultimately blocked by the woman. The two opponents continued their ongoing duel.

"You can defeat her, Loras!" Shouted a beautiful young woman with thick, curly brown hair and hazel brown eyes. A low-cut brown dress adorned her slender yet womanly body.

Lounging next to her on a makeshift throne was a handsome man with jet black hair that fell to his shoulders. Green eyes that sparkled with life matched his greenish attire and a golden antler crown adorned his head.

"Don't worry, Margaery. Ser Loras won't lose. Although, this woman is quite skilled to have gotten this far." smiled Renly Baratheon, self-proclaimed King of the Seven Kingdoms.

Ever since the death of his brother, King Robert Baratheon, Renly thought it right to declare himself to be the rightful king. Neither his nephews nor niece were fit to rule in his opinion. And if the whispers about their real lineage were true, then they really didn't have the right to sit on the throne.

With the allegiance of the Reach, gained from marrying the daughter of House Tyrell, Margaery Tyrell, along with most of the lords of the Stormlands at his side, Renly had the biggest army among all of the current contenders for the iron throne. With well over one hundred thousand men at his command, victory was all but assured. All he needed to do was reach the capital, King's Landing, and cast out his cruel nephew, Joffrey.

There was of course his older brother, Stannis Baratheon, to deal with. But once his brother saw the futility of resistance, he would come to reason. And then once Renly claimed the throne, he would come to an agreement with Robb Stark and the North. The sudden news of Balon Greyjoy crowning himself King of the Iron Islands was troubling but it was nothing he couldn't handle once he claimed his rightful throne.

"Surely there are better ways to spend time, King Renly." A middle-aged woman with long, auburn hair and bright blue eyes spoke from Renly's other side.

Catelyn Stark was a stern woman, much like her late husband, Lord Eddard Stark, who Renly respected a lot. It was one of the main reasons why he entertained her talks of coming to her sons, Robb Stark's, aid.

Renly chuckled at her comment. "What better way to uplift the spirits of my men than a melee tourney, Lady Stark?" He said before focusing back on the ongoing fight.

Ser Loras was again forced to back away from a swing that would have done a lot of damage had it connected with him. But for all the burly woman's strength, Loras was too nimble and quick for her to land a decisive hit. Ducking under another swing, Ser Loras stepped inside the woman's guard and managed to knock the morningstar from out of her grip. Instead of accepting defeat however, the woman quickly pulled Ser Loras into a bear hug.

The surrounding audience all took an intake of breath as the woman lifted Ser Loras with some effort before slamming him down onto the ground. Unable to find the strength to wrestle the admittedly stronger woman, Loras was forced into a submissive position on the ground. The fight was over.

Everyone remained silent, unable to comprehend how a woman could have beaten a skilled knight like Ser Loras.

Renly eventually overcame his surprise and stood up from his throne. "What is your name?" He stared at the woman in curiosity.

Getting off the still struggling Ser Loras, the woman stood up and approached the king. Two of Renly's personal guards, one dressed in purple armor and the other in orange, each put their hand on their swords as a warning.

"I am Brienne of Tarth, your grace." She knelt before him.

Renly looked down at her for a moment before a warm smile formed on his lips. "You have earned the right to ask of me one favor. What do you ask of your king, Brienne of Tarth?" He asks her.

Brienne kept her head bowed. "I humbly ask that you allow me to join your personal guard, my king." She replied.

Ser Loras began spluttering in indignation but immediately fell silent when Renly raised a silencing hand. Stepping down from his throne, he drew his sword and approached the kneeling Brienne. He then gently laid his blade on each of her shoulders.

"Brienne of Tarth, as rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms I, Renly Baratheon, hereby grant you knighthood and the position as the blue knight of my Rainbow Guard. May you serve me and the Seven Kingdoms till the end of your days." Renly announced.

Brienne placed her fist on her chest. "I will lay down my life for you, my king." She proclaimed, her face filled with determination.

Renly kindly helped her to her feet before raising her hand high into the air, prompting the surrounding men to begin cheering for the newly appointed blue knight.

Amidst the cheering crowd, a messenger boy hastily broke through the line of soldiers. Brienne and Loras dutifully blocked the boy from reaching Renly.

"Your grace, I bring terrible news from Storm's End!" The messenger cried out over the shoulders of the knights.

At this, both Margaery and Catelyn quickly joined Renly's side. "What has happened?" Renly frowned, allowing the messenger boy to speak.

"Storm's End has been taken!" Exclamations and gasps of surprise rang throughout the crowd.

Renly's frown deepened. "Has my brother taken the castle?" He asked.

"It was the Targaryens, your grace!" More noises of disbelief and shock went up. "They opened the gates and led their men straight into the castle. Ser Penrose is dead and the castle's garrison surrendered." The messenger told Renly who growed angrier by the second.

The Targaryens weren't even supposed to pose a threat to him. According to recent reports, they should have still been in Myr with the Golden Company. How could a sellsword company, no matter how infamous, take Storm's End when not even the full might of the Reach could breach its walls. This was bad, very bad. As long as the Targaryens stayed behind those walls they could attack his army from the rear whenever they wished. He needed to take back his castle.

"Ready the cavalry! We ride to Storm's End." Renly ordered before he stormed off towards his tent.

Margaery had to lift up her dress and run in order to catch up to her husband. "But if we lay siege to Storm's End it will give the Lannisters more time to reinforce King's Landing." She tells him.

Renly clicked his teeth in frustration. "Don't you think I know that? But we can't just attack King's Landing when the Targaryens are at our backs." He left her behind whilst silently cursing the Targaryens for ruining his plans.

Why couldn't they just have remained in exile? They already had their chance to rule. It wasn't as if he could just ignore them either. If Robert were still alive he would have focused all of his forces toward retaking the castle. His brother wouldn't have allowed a Targaryen to stay in the halls of Storm's End for very long. It was the ancestral seat of House Baratheon. Renly didn't really care for the castle all that much but if he, the current lord of Storm's End, couldn't retake his own castle then how could anyone think he would be able to take King's Landing.

If only he could just throw the responsibility of the castle onto someone else. It would make his life much easier. Unfortunately the only true Baratheon's he could think of giving Storm's End to was his brother Stannis (who claimed himself to be king so giving the castle to him was an obvious no) and Edric Storm.

He paused in his steps when he realized in horror that Robert's bastard, and probably his only true heir, had last been fostering inside of Storm's End. If the Targaryens realized who Edric was, then they would surely kill him, or worse… torture him. There were already whispers about how Rhaegar's son, Perseus Targaryen, had gouged and burned out the eyes of a servant girl who had tried to poison him. Some even said that the Targaryen boy created dragon fire to do it but he wasn't one to believe in such fairy tales. Regardless, just imagining what they would do to Edric made his stomach turn.

Renly's lip curled in disgust. Already the Targaryens were showing the ruthlessness of their predecessor, the Mad King. Renly wouldn't allow another Aerys on the throne, the kingdoms wouldn't be able to take it.

The reign of the dragons was over. Now it was the time for the stags to rule.

oOo

Dragonstone...

Elsewhere, the tall and broad-shouldered Stannis Baratheon stood glaring into a fire. He had the basic features of a Baratheon. A head of thinning black hair and blue eyes with bushy eyebrows.

Next to him stood the red priestess Melisandre, a red haired woman with fair skin and unsettling blood red eyes. She was a beauty, with full breasts, a narrow waist and a heart shaped face. Robes of scarlet and velvet adorned her curvaceous body and a golden choker was fastened around her neck just above the top of her cleavage. A red ruby gem was embedded in the choker, it glowed a dim red as she peered into the flames, her soft features contorted in concentration.

"What do you see?" Stannis grunted impatiently.

Melisandre was used to her king's impatience by now. "I see two paths. One where you assault King's Landing and perish on the sands of Blackwater Bay. And another that leads to Storm's End." She told him.

"What happens at Storm's End?" Stannis asks her.

A deep frown formed on her face. "The path is shrouded in shadows. I know not why, but the Lord of Light does not wish for me to see any further." Melisandre tells him.

Before Stannis could reply, the chamber door burst open and Ser Davos Seaworth stormed in with a grim look. "My king, I bring terrible news." He said gravelly.

Stannis motioned for him to continue. "Storm's End has been taken by the Targaryens." Stannis's eyes widened.

"What? How could that fool Renly allow the Targaryens to take our ancestral seat!" Stannis roared in anger before quickly calming himself. "We must take the castle back from them." He scowled, still fuming inside.

Melisandre looked away from the flames. "Let's try to reason with these Targaryens first. And if they refuse you, then the Lord of Light will deal with them." She smiled.

Ser Davos frowned but stayed silent as he waited for Stannis to make the decision. The sudden emergence of the Targaryens plunged the kingdom into even further chaos. If the reports of them gaining the allegiance of the Golden Company were true, then they had at least ten thousand men. That was more than enough to defend Storm's End. Stannis meanwhile only had five thousand men. And even if he had more, he knew better than anyone how impossible it was to successfully siege the castle. But perhaps he could accomplish it with the help of Melisandre. Her magic had been a great boon to him thus far.

"Ready the ships. We sail for Storm's End." Stannis decided.

oOo

Storm's End, with Percy...

Percy had run into a few problems after the battle.

In the midst of clearing the castle of any stowaways, the men had found a young boy. Usually this wouldn't be of any consequence but this was no ordinary boy. This boy's name was Edric Storm, the bastard of the late king, Robert Baratheon.

Edric had been absolutely terrified when he first saw them. Percy couldn't necessarily blame him. They were the last survivors of his father's opposition after all. But even though Percy very much disliked Robert Baratheon, he wouldn't take out any of his dislikes on his son. But that decision had given him an entirely new problem to solve.

They couldn't simply let him go. Even if he did, apparently Queen Regent Cersei had ordered the deaths of all of Robert's bastards so he would most likely be gutted by some bandit if he went out on his own. Jon had advised that he keep Edric as a hostage. Renly obviously had some feelings toward the boy since he was being fostered in Storm's End. It wouldn't be far-fetched to say that Edric would become the new lord of House Baratheon after Renly ascended the throne, since there were some outspoken doubts of the true heritage of the current royal family.

So for now they would keep Edric hostage if only to serve as a slight hindrance to Renly's plans. Percy always got a nice warm feeling inside when he ruined an enemy's plans.

They had also just received word that Renly was storming his way over to them with an army of twenty thousand men. And though it was a sizable amount of soldiers, it wouldn't be enough to retake the castle, so Percy wasn't very worried.

But now there was a newly discovered problem.

"I don't think the oliphaunts will be able to fit through the gates, your grace." Jon noted as they watched men struggle to try and get an almost 40 foot tall oliphaunt through the mere 20 foot gates.

It wasn't working out very well to say the least...

"Well we can't just leave them outside." Percy bemoaned.

Jon remained silent in thought for a long moment. "Ah! Maybe we could keep them at Evenfall Hall, it's an island to the west of the bay. Although, there's currently a noble house living there." Jon added less enthusiastically.

"Which house is it?" Percy asked curiously.

"House Tarth. They're a small house but they have a good number of men. Mostly archers." Jon tells him.

Slowly, a brilliant plan worthy of Athena herself came to fruition within Percy's mind. One that could quite possibly allow them to take care of a good portion of Renly's army. But it could also cost them the war if they failed. Unfortunately, it was a risk they needed to take.

"Take the oliphaunts and ten thousand men to Evenfall. Attack fast, at midnight when the castle is asleep, so they can't get any ravens out. Leave some men at Evenfall, then after that, sail south to Bronzegate." Percy told Jon.

"You want to flank and catch Renly's army by surprise?" asked Jon, intrigued.

Percy nodded. "Is it possible?" He asks, wanting the war veterans honest opinion.

Jon thought long and hard. "One of the towns near Bronzegate will surely try and send word to Renly but they'll have to send a raven to Bitterbridge first and then a messenger would have to go on horseback to inform Renly. That should give us plenty of time. That being said, it will take us about a week to make it to Bronzegate and then back here. The biggest problem is Renly's patrolmen. If his army is already prepared for us, he'll be able to push us back." He pointed out.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the patrols. Take Grey Worm and Tristan with you. Have Harry stay at Evenfall, I'm sure he won't mind being away from the battlefield." Percy joked lightly.

Jon gave a dutiful nod before he made his swift departure. If Percy's plan worked, Renly would be taken care of along with a sizable portion of his army. The war would then shift in their favor.

Once Renly's men arrived, they could defend the castle easily enough with just five thousand men. After they forced all of the castle's previous handlers to leave, Percy had the small section of wall that Viserys and others had used to climb into the castle smoothed out just like the rest of the castle's walls. So there was no way for their enemies to do the same thing that they did to them.

Renly's safest bet would most likely be to have his men camp outside of the castle walls while he and the rest of his army marched onto King's Landing. The men he would leave behind will most likely assume that they'd simply have feasts outside of the castle walls and slowly starve them out, as the Reach did to Stannis and Renly during Robert's Rebellion. But they were sorely mistaken if they thought that they would be able to sleep easy at night.

Ever since he found out that he could blend into shadows he began thinking of what else he could do with them. Nico had been able to do a number of things with his shadow powers. The most notable was his ability to shadow travel. If Percy could find out how to master that ability then he could essentially materialize anywhere he wanted to. He would also be able to deal with the patrols quietly.

Sadly, shadow traveling proved to be a bit hard to do. While actually traveling through the shadows wasn't the hard part, his personal experience shadow traveling with Nico or on the back of Ms. O'Leary helped him a lot in that regard, he still couldn't use the ability anywhere near as good as either of them.

Thankfully, unlike last time, it wasn't disorienting traveling through shadows. The bone chilling feeling and darkness didn't really bother him anymore. That was probably due to him being the son of a goddess with the domain of shadows. And unlike before he could actually see where he was going. It was kind of like entering a dark tunnel and trying to reach the light at the end of it.

But instead of being able to move through different dimensions or states like Nico and Ms. O'Leary could, the best Percy could do was travel through the shadows he could physically see. When he went into a shadow and envisioned himself appearing outside of the castle walls, he ended up materializing in Viserys's chamber whilst the man was vigorously relieving his sexual frustrations. Thankfully, Viserys's eyes were closed so he didn't notice his appearance but the experience was still mortifying enough to make Percy stick to getting the hang of moving through the shadows he could see. Hopefully with more practice he'd get the hang of it by the time Renly and his army arrived.

As Percy traversed the halls of the tower, a muffled moan caused him to pause on his way to his chamber. He carefully made his way to where the noise was coming from. Coming to stop in front of a chamber door he pressed his ear to the door to listen.

It would have been hard for anyone without his hearing to hear but Percy could make out the sound of two separate sets of lips and tongues meeting with each other. Whoever was in the room sounded like they were in a heated make-out session.

Percy quietly backed away from the door. If anyone came into the hall right now they'd probably think he was a pervert or something. Percy definitely did not need that attached to his image.

As he made his way back down the hall, a sickening realization hit him like a stampeding oliphaunt. There were only two females in the entire castle. One was Missandei, who was only ten years old and as innocent as a baby deer so it couldn't be her, and unless there were some men who were hiding in the metaphorical closet, that left Daenerys. He whipped around to look back at the door and to his utter horror he saw that it was indeed the door to Daenerys's chamber.

His anger and mortification must have temporarily brought back his old physical prowess, because he was back at Daenerys's door in a blur of speed.

Not caring about any locks, Percy kicked the door wide open, nearly breaking it off its hinges. Just as he feared, Daenerys was laying down on her bed, on top of her was none other than Tristan Waters.

"Perseus!" Daenerys exclaimed as she quickly sat up, making Tristan fall off the bed with a surprised yelp.

Tristan got back to his feet and acknowledged Percy's presence with wide eyes. "Your grace, I didn't know you would be back so soon." He said weakly.

Percy noted the absence of Tristan's shirt and the much more noticeable absence of Daenerys's undergarments. "Leave." He archly ordered Tristan.

"As you wish. I'm, erm, just gonna get through here." Tristan awkwardly skirted around Percy before bolting out of the door.

Nothing was said between the two Targaryens for a long moment as Percy silently reigned in the raging fire inside of him.

"Why him?" Percy finally asked.

Daenerys chewed her lip nervously. "He's nice to me." She mumbled.

Percy rubbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "Dany, just because someone is nice to you does not mean you just throw yourself at them." He told her.

"I did not just throw myself at him! I genuinely like Tristan." said Daenerys, offended.

"Tristan only wants you because of how you look. Can you not see that?" Percy threw his hands up in exasperation.

Daenerys glared at him defiantly. "That's not true! He always compliments me on how smart I am. He says that I know more than any maester he's ever met." She argued.

"For the love of the gods, Daenerys, he literally boasted about having a silvertongue around women!" Percy let out a humorless laugh.

"Maybe I'm just different from the other women he's met, Perseus!" Daenerys glared.

"Just wait until the war is over, Dany. Then if you still like him, you can be with him." He tried to reason with her.

"I'm so sick of you and Viserys telling me what I can and can't do! If I want to be with Tristan then I'll do just that. And if I want to, I'll let him fuck me and there's nothing you or Viserys can do about it." Daenerys screamed at him.

To say Percy was shocked was an understatement. He was quite frankly baffled at Daenerys's words. Did she really resent the way he and Viserys treated her? No, that couldn't be right, they only did what any other brother would do. Neither Percy nor Viserys wanted to ever see Daenerys heartbroken.

One would think Daenerys had learned that family always came first after he was almost poisoned but she was still acting like a child. But what should he do? There was no way he would allow Tristan to even have the chance to hurt Daenerys. He didn't dislike Tristan but he definitely wasn't what he considered 'boyfriend material'. The bastard seemed more like a male version of Drew, hopping from partner to partner whenever things got boring.

Percy had tried to get her to see things his way through reason but that obviously didn't work out. Now he would need to resort to other methods to get his point across.

"From now on you're staying in my room. The only visitors allowed to see you will be Viserys, Missandei and myself. Guards will be outside the door to make sure you don't run off." Percy said with a stone look.

Daenerys gaped at him, completely shocked at what she was hearing. "Y-You can't be serious. We're in a war, you can't keep me locked up in your room!" She said.

"Storm's End is unbreachable, so you'll be safe here while Viserys and I secure Westeros." Percy told her.

"Perseus, please. I won't talk to Tristan anymore just please don't keep me locked here!" Daenerys flung herself onto him in desperation.

"You made it quite clear that you wouldn't listen to me or Viserys. And I can't do anything while worrying if you are safe or not." Percy said, trying to keep himself from folding under the weight of her tears.

Daenerys shook her head in denial. "I'll listen to you from now on. Just please, don't do this!" She sobbed into his chest.

Percy closed his eyes, to remind himself that he was doing this to keep her safe. There would be deaths in this war. It could be any one of them that would die. If Viserys didn't learn how to fight from Percy himself, then the same treatment would apply to him. And even now Percy wouldn't allow Viserys to stray far from his side. But by making sure Daenerys was always safe then he could focus on conquering the Seven Kingdoms without having to worry about her.

His entire reason for being in Westeros was to give his family a peaceful future. If they died, then Percy's reason for being in this world died with them. He couldn't take the risk that Daenerys wouldn't do something stupid when they inevitably marched to face off against the armies of the Seven Kingdoms.

Percy hadn't failed Annabeth when he promised her that she would make it out of Tartarus. And Perseus wouldn't fail in his promise to keep Daenerys safe.

"I'm sorry, Daenerys. But I'm doing this because I love you." Perseus murmured softly before leaving behind a sobbing Daenerys.

As he strode his way to a very specific chamber. Perseus's eyes hardened with each step. He would do anything he needed to do in order to keep Daenerys safe.

Anything.

oOo

A few days later, Storm's End...

As Percy casually leaned against the top of the wall, overlooking Renly's army, he couldn't help but be impressed at the size of it.

The self-proclaimed king seemed to have taken his entire cavalry with him as all twenty thousand men were on horses. How they planned to siege a castle with just horses, Percy didn't know.

"They don't look so tough." Viserys flippantly commented from his side.

Percy sighed. "Do you enjoy downplaying everything in Westeros?" He says dryly.

Viserys chuckled before he suddenly became more serious. "I just don't see how my brother lost to these people." He said a little bitterly.

"I'm pretty sure my dad was more worried about the Stark girl than winning the war. By the time he joined it, it was basically already over." says Percy.

"Your majesty!" Percy and Viserys turned to see a soldier running up to them. "There's a fleet of ships approaching from the bay. They bear the flaming banner of Stannis Baratheon." He informed them.

"Stannis is here too? Maybe he'll fight Renly for us." Viserys said in amusement.

Percy dismissed the soldier before he turned back to look at Renly's army who were bound to notice Stannis's ships soon.

"Maybe they've joined forces to take back their ancestral seat." Percy mused aloud.

Viserys scoffed at that. "I heard that Stannis and Renly are practically opposites. They'll tear each other's throats out before allying with each other." And so they waited for the two king's to make their move.

oOo

With Renly…

"Look at them. They're so smug from on top of those walls." Renly scowled from where his army had set up camp some ways from the castle.

They had rode night and day to get to Storm's End as fast as possible. Alas, they were too late. The Targaryens and the Golden Company were already fortified inside of the castle. Even the ships they arrived in were gone, probably back to whatever Free City they got them from.

"Well they are quite secure. I'm sure you know how hard it is to take Storm's End." said Catelyn Stark, who insisted on riding with them to continue the talks about aiding her son.

Renly knew how hard breaching the castle was. He had been quite embarrassed when he was informed of how a small group of the Targaryens men scaled the only portion of the castle's walls that had been uneven enough to climb. Irritatingly enough, the Targaryens had that section of the wall smoothed out and they had more than enough men to distribute them equally along all sides of the wall.

"I'm not here to siege the castle, Lady Stark. I'm here to try and reason with the Targaryens in order to get my nephew back." Renly told her.

Edric was not among the women and men allowed to leave the castle. This could only mean that the Targaryens had figured out who he was. It was Renly's duty to his brother to make sure that his true heir was safe and secure.

Catelyn balked. "Are you crazy? The Targaryens won't reason with you. All of them are mad!" She said.

Ser Loras threateningly put a hand on his sword. "Take care how you speak to your king, Lady Stark." He warned her.

"It's fine, Loras. Lady Stark just hasn't seen my persuasive skills yet. I'm positive I can make a deal with them. They are outnumbered by ten thousand men. Surely they will be open to negotiations." Renly said, confidently.

A knight dressed in green armor rode up to them. "My king, a fleet of ships bearing the banner of Stannis Baratheon just entered the bay!" Proclaimed the knight.

"This may be good for us. I can deal with my brother and the Targaryens at the same time." Renly smiled at the news.

Ser Loras frowned. "Do you think Stannis and the Targaryens will parlay, my king?" He asks.

"There's only way to find out. Send word to the Targaryens and my brother, Ser Morrigan. Tell them I wish to parlay." Renly told the green knight who quickly galloped away to do as ordered.

Things were beginning to look up for Renly. If he got his brother and the Targaryens out of the way then he would have little resistance when he marched to claim the throne.

Everything was going perfectly for him.

oOo

With Stannis…

Stannis Baratheon was not thrilled to see that his brother, Renly, was already at Storm's End with an army. "How did you not see this in the flames?" Stannis angrily asked Melisandre.

Melisandre narrowed her eyes at his tone, but answered nonetheless. "I told you, the Lord of Light does not wish for me to see what will happen." She told him.

"Maybe your lord has abandoned you." Ser Davos grumbled.

"R'hllor would never abandon one of his priestesses or the Azor Ahai. No matter how dark things may seem." Melisandre says wisely.

Stannis clicked his tongue. "Well there's no hope for us here. We will have to retre-" He paused to look at the beach.

A squire boy was waving a white flag toward them. It was most definitely Renly's doing, Stannis couldn't the Targaryens ever waving a white flag.

"Let us parlay with your brother. Perhaps the Lord of Light will give me a vision." Melisandre tells Stannis who frowned thoughtfully.

"Take us to land." Stannis finally grunts.

He'd give his brother one chance to join him before he let Melisandre work her magic. As for the Targaryens, well, there would be little choice given to them. It was either back to exile or death.

oOo

With Percy…

"Does he think he can get us out of this castle with words?" Viserys snarked.

When a squire had come to the wall waving a white flag and announcing that Renly wanted a parlay, Percy's first thought was to just ignore the call. But then he realized that the perfect opportunity presented itself to him.

Percy stood up straight. "Guess I'm going to parlay with King Renly." He says mockingly.

Viserys raised a surprised brow. "Are you really going to trust them not to just kill us?" He asks incredulously.

"That's why I'm only going." Percy replies.

"Why can't I go? I'm not Daenerys, you can't lock me in my room forever." snapped Viserys drawing a glare from Percy.

Even though Viserys initially agreed to keeping Daenerys under lock and key, he quickly began to change his mind once she began to rarely speak. It was sad to see the usually energetic and lively girl look so dull and depressed.

"If Renly tries something, don't you think it would be best to have at least one more Targaryen alive? These men wouldn't fight for Daenerys's claim to the throne. At least not once they start to starve. They'd throw her to wolves to save themselves." Percy tells Viserys, who realized what he was pointing out.

Viserys growled in frustration but relented. "Fine. But if you aren't back in an hour, I'm storming their camp. Outnumbered or not." He says.

Knowing that he couldn't persuade Viserys otherwise, Percy simply nodded and left. Soon after he rode out of the gate on horseback, accompanied by six soldiers and Missandei.

It didn't take long before they arrived at the parlay point some ways between the enemy camp and the castle. It was basically just a simple, old wooden roundtable with three chairs and white flags surrounding the area around it.

There were six knights that for some odd reason all wore different colored armor. At one part of the table, sat a lively looking black haired man in golden armor with a gold stag crown on his head. Standing behind him was an auburn haired woman, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but where she currently was, and a wavy, brown haired man who looked like a typical son of Aphrodite dressed in silver ornamented armor.

Across from whom Percy could only assume was Renly, was a balding black haired man with thick eyebrows and a permanent scowl on his face. This must have been Stannis Baratheon. Behind him was a thin brown haired man that stood alongside a beautiful red headed woman. Five soldiers also stood a few paces away from them.

Percy calmly dismounted his horse and approached with Missandei beside him, his men stopped a short distance away from the table.

"Ah, you must be Perseus Targaryen, son of Rhaegar Targaryen!" Renly greeted him by respectfully standing up.

"The one and only." Percy nodded to man, noting how Stannis didn't rise from his seat.

Renly smiled brightly and gestured toward the last remaining seat. "Please, have a seat. There's much to discuss." He said before re-taking his seat.

Percy pulled out his chair and sat down, making sure to position himself to be able to draw his sword quickly if need be.

"I don't have any bread or salt, my apologies. But I do have this quite delectable lemon cake." Renly says, gesturing to the platter of lemon cake in the middle of the table.

"No thanks. The last time I took something from a stranger I was poisoned." Percy said blandly.

Renly frowned at that. "My deepest condolences. Thankfully you survived though." He said with enthusiasm.

"I think you mean sadly, brother." Stannis grunted, speaking for the first time.

Percy looked at the man, unbothered by his comment. "You must be Stannis Baratheon. And yes, it was a sad situation. For both parties in fact. My family had to go through that horrific experience. And the would-be assassin now has to live her life with the regret of trying to poison an innocent man." He smiled.

The auburn haired woman spoke. "That sounds very one-sided. I doubt the girl cared." She says dryly.

"It's quite simple really. No one should ever see their loved ones so heartbroken. So I took away her eyes so she wouldn't have to go through what I did." Percy said darkly, making everyone stiffen.

Stannis's lip curled. "All you Targaryens are the same." He said in disdain.

Percy laughed humorlessly. "Don't pretend like you're better than me, Stannis Baratheon. You've been hunting me and my family since we were babies. And now you're going against your own family in order to sit on a throne that was never meant to be yours." He told Stannis, who looked just about ready to leave the parlay.

"Perhaps we should focus on the present!" Renly quickly interjected. "Perseus, I believe you have someone in your possession. Someone very important to me." He hinted.

It wasn't very hard to realize who Renly was speaking about, there had only been one other person in the castle that wasn't on Percy's side.

"Oh, you must be talking about Edric, Robert's bastard." Percy shrugged. "You can have him."

Renly blinked dumbly, not expecting such an outcome would be so easy. "You would simply give him back to me? Without anything in return?" He asked, confused.

Percy nodded. "I didn't let him leave with everyone else because Cersei Lannister ordered his death. And it's not like I need him." In reality, he wasn't going to give back to Edric. Or at least not in the way Renly hoped.

Renly finally reigned in his shock. "Excellent! That was quite possibly the quickest negotiation I've ever had." He said, looking quite proud of himself.

"This isn't over yet! You need to leave Storm's End. Or better yet, leave Westeros." Stannis said firmly.

"Ah, sadly that's where my hospitality ends." Percy says, feigning an apologetic look.

The silver knight frowned. "Just what do you hope to achieve? You're surrounded by twenty thousand men and the bay is now blocked by Stannis. You have no hope of escaping nor winning." He told him.

Percy looked at the knight. "Sorry, I didn't quite get your name. Ser...?" He trailed off.

"Ser Loras of House Tyrell. The Knight of the Flowers and Lord Commander of the Rainbow Guard." Ser Loras said, preening like a peacock.

Percy tried to hold it in, he really did. His face reddened in strain and his lips sucked into his mouth. Unfortunately, one glance at the other proud looking, multi-colored Rainbow Knights and he simply couldn't hold in his laughter any longer.

"Oh gods, I can't-!" Percy howled in laughter, almost falling out of his seat.

He had been just kidding when he compared Loras to being another Aphrodite boy but this just cemented that fact. There was no way this was happening. A Knight of the Flowers was Lord Commander of the Rainbow Guard. This had to be a prank crafted by Hermes himself.

And he wasn't the only one who thought it was funny. The brown haired man behind Stannis was smiling in amusement, while their and Percy's men were outright laughing. Even the stern auburn hair lady couldn't hold back a small smile. And Percy could have sworn he saw Stannis's lips quirk.

Ser Loras glared at Percy who continued to laugh, tears in his eyes. "Just what is so funny, Targaryen!" He demanded angrily putting a hand on his sword only to be half-heartedly stopped by a frowning Renly.

Seeing that the Rainbow Knights were moments from drawing their swords, Percy slowly straightened himself out, still letting out a few giggles.

"I can't wait to tell Viserys about this." Percy chuckled, wiping his eyes.

Renly remained unamused. "Perhaps we should get back to the matter at hand, Perseus Targaryen." He said, his previously jovial tone was practically non-existent now.

"Look man, I don't know what to tell you. The castle is nice, I like the castle, my men like the castle. We're staying in the castle." Percy shrugged.

"So you are prepared to starve? You're prepared to eat your horses and eventually your dead?" Stannis asked menacingly.

Percy snorted. "You really think I would take Storm's End without stocking up on provisions? We have enough food to last five years. Ten, if we ration." This was a complete bluff on his part. While they had brought extra food, it would only last them about two years. And that was with rationing...

The red haired lady behind Stannis finally spoke. "Why not simply join Stannis? He is the rightful king and R'hllor's chosen one." She told him.

Well this was a pretty big coincidence. Even after researching extensively into the gods of this world, Percy only read about one Lord of Light. And she just so happened to be his mother.

"Interesting, you're a red priestess aren't you?" Percy curiously looked the woman up and down.

It wasn't every day you met a worshiper of your godly parent. Percy couldn't remember if he ever met a worshipper of Poseidon before.

"My name is Melisandre. And yes, I was sent by R'hllor to help the Azor Ahai claim his throne." She smiled.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "The razor what? You know what, don't tell me. I don't care to be honest. So tell me, Melisandre. You can communicate with R'hllor and stuff, right?" He asks.

Melisandre shook her head. "I only see what the Lord of Light allows me to see." She tells him.

Typical cryptic priests.

"Alright. So tell me what your god thinks about me." Percy says simply.

He was actually very curious if R'hllor would reveal that he was her son to this woman. It would gain him a potential follower and if Melisandre really believed she was sent here to help some chosen one then who better than the son of R'hllor.

Melisandre peered at him in concentration, Percy immediately felt like she was trying to see through his soul. The ruby encrusted in her choker glowed dimly.

After a moment she finally spoke. "R'hllor does not allow me to see your future. Or any future in regards to you." She said in disappointment, although her eyes shined with intrigue.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, I thought so. Because your god probably would have told you how this all ends." He says simply.

The auburn haired woman narrowed her eyes at him. "And how is this going to end?" She asked, cautiously.

"Well it ends with me sitting on the iron throne. While all of you beg and grovel at my feet for mercy and forgiveness for all the suffering you caused me and my family." Percy says, as if it were obvious.

"The suffering we have caused you? Your grandfather burned my husband's father alive and then killed his brother! And then your father kidnapped his sister and raped her." She said furiously.

"Yes, I agree, the actions of my grandfather and father are unforgivable. But what about my sister, Rhaella, who was stabbed a hundred times? What about my mother, Elia, who was raped and split in half afterwards? I understand I'm not perfect, but don't preach to me about your pain when you yourselves have helped cause even more of it." He tells her.

"This is a foolish act of revenge. One that will see the rest of your family dead." Renly threatened.

Rage kindled inside of Percy at Renly's threat. "You know maybe I spoke too early before, King Renly. I think I'll keep your nephew. And just maybe I'll move him to the dungeons and feed him bread once a week." He threatened back.

"You have no hope of winning against me, Targaryen." Renly scoffed.

"You can't even defend your own ancestral home. Do you really believe yourself to be a king? It takes more than a cute little stag crown to make yourself a king, Renly Baratheon." Percy snarks.

A look of absolute fury marred Renly's face, he leaned toward Percy. "The swords of House Florent make me a king. Houses Rowan, Tarly and Caron make me a king, with their axes, maces and war hammers. The arrows of Tarth and the lances of Penrose make me a king. Crane, Oakheart, Beesbury, Morrigen, Cuy, Fossoway, Dunn, Selmy, Estermont, even your old allies House Tyrell, they make me a king! Twenty thousand men ride with me and that is the least of my power. I have another hundred thousand spears and swords at my beck and call. And you plan to defeat me!? With what, pray tell?" He sneered.

Silence reigned for a long while. Renly's declaration had made everyone pause, even the steadfast Stannis. At a certain standpoint, it truly was suicidal to go up against Renly and his army. The amount of men he had at his command was ludicrous. So it was very much within reason that any opposers would be highly reluctant to face him.

So it came to the surprise of many when Percy suddenly began laughing madly. To them it probably looked like the sheer hopelessness of his situation had broken him. Perhaps something had broken inside of him, long ago...

"So you do have some of that Baratheon fury inside of you! That's good. I can work with that." Percy murmured to himself before suddenly snapping his fingers in realization. "You know what? I think I will allow you to have your nephew back. I did promise him to you after all. Denys, can you come and bring Edric back to his loving uncle?" Everyone took on confused faces as a grinning Denys approached the table holding a brown sack.

Denys reached into the sack. "Your grace." he sneered mockingly to Renly before tossing the decapitated head of Edric Storm in front of him.

Gasps of horror and shock filled the air as they all looked upon the head of Edric, the boy's face eternally frozen in pain and terror.

"You fucking monster!" Renly yelled in fury, he quickly stood from his seat to draw his sword prompting Percy to do the same. Soon enough, everyone had drawn their weapons.

"Ah ah, King Renly. This is a parlay. Don't do anything stupid." Percy tutted, his sword drawn.

Renly was practically frothing at the mouth. "I will kill you and your family. All of your corpses will hang from these very walls when I'm done with you!" He snarled but did not attack.

Percy slowly made his way back to the horses. "And I suppose the Rainbow Knights will help with that?" He mocked before mounting his horse along with the rest of his people.

"Try and retake your castle, Renly Baratheon. If you can't even do that, don't bother marching to King's Landing. The Seven Kingdoms doesn't need another failure on the throne. Your brother's stench is still fresh after all." Percy smirked at the furious Renly before galloping away back toward the castle.

Missandei rode next to Percy. "Do you think that was the wisest choice, your grace?" she asked nervously.

"Renly will be far too angry to just leave for King's Landing now. He'll call the rest of his army. But by the time that happens, he and his men will be dead. And the rest of his army will be coming right to me to swear their allegiance." Percy told her.

Killing Edric Storm wasn't his proudest moment by far. It truly had been a spur of the moment thing. His protectiveness towards Viserys and Daenerys had ultimately overridden his senses once again. It was hard to believe that the old Percy would ever think of pulling such a tactic so it baffled and even scared him to wonder what had changed.

Percy shook his head to get rid of his jumbled thoughts. Now wasn't the time to think about such things. He had a war to win and a family to protect. There could be no regrets about what he did. Not now at least.

Jon and the others should be sailing to Bronzegate by now. And he needed to finish working on his shadow traveling in order to deal with Renly's patrols.

The war was officially starting.