[Edric's POV]
"Since birth, Alysanne was so much better than me at magic," Garth told me as I took him away from the others to speak in private. "While she was able to greatly accelerate the growth and heighten the resistance of practically anything that grew from the ground - whereas all I could do was create some rocks."
"And that turned you away from practising it?" I questioned.
"I wanted to make the most of my talents rather than keep watering a wilting plant."
"By convincing yourself that you lacked talent in magic, you only made it more true. What if you were just a late bloomer and, without knowing, intentionally crippled your own future by not remaining dedicated?"
"And if I was right?" Garth questioned.
"Fortunately, you're dead wrong. Seven hells, you can use two elements…" I shook my head. "Beyond that veil of doubt lies a truly extraordinary individual. You are my son, Garth Flowers-"
"Why do you insist on calling me that?"
"Were you raised in the Stormlands?"
"... Well, no," Garth admitted.
"Then what right have you to have that surname? As far as I'm concerned, your mother simply sought to…"
"Make me into a second you." Garth finished, nodding slowly. "The same face, the same name… and yet I lacked everything else. Since I was a child, I could notice the disappointment in my mother's heart. She wanted me to be a king where I… was content with being a humble bastard. I could never bring myself to step over others, either…"
"Hahaha…" I couldn't help but laugh. "Hahahahahahahaha."
"What's so funny?"
"We are far more alike than you might realise, Flowers." I chuckled. As much as I didn't like facing a mirror of my younger self, I found it rather amusing at the same time. "Now I have a question for you… will you choose yourself or the Realm? Which will you sacrifice?"
"... I can't be King."
"You and Alysanne are the last of my blood. It's not a case of whether you want to or are able to. You must. Your heart seeks to rebuild the Realm, no? That movement needs a symbol to rally behind."
"I'm most certainly not that symbol, nor would it be right for me to-"
"Then become it." I stared into his eyes. "Ask yourself this; if you don't, who will?"
"Is that what you ask yourself?"
"Always."
It was an exaggeration, to be sure, but the thought has lingered in my mind for a while.
"What would you consider your duty?" I questioned.
"To aid my house and… my mother, to the best of my ability. That's why I became the steward of Highgarden as I've always had a good mind for numbers."
"You're the steward at your age?" I stroked my chin. Being in that position at just sixteen isn't exactly normal, especially as a bastard. "How'd you get into that position?"
"I was given the opportunity to prove myself and simply outperformed everyone else."
"And here I thought you were entirely hopeless."
"You'd be surprised."
"It seems to me that you, indeed, do have a strong will. You deeply value loyalty, family and duty. It is why you so strongly despise the Other me, right?"
"You could put it that way, yes…"
"In essence, you're mommy's good boy and will do anything she wants you to do-"
"- That isn't true."
"Oh, there's no shame in it." I chuckled. "I was a momma's boy too."
"You?" Garth scoffed. "From what I've heard, you did everything you could to distance yourself from her."
"Well, here's a secret. The Florent lady wasn't my first mother."
"... What?" That baffled him. "What do you mean?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" I smiled all mysteriously. "Back to the topic at hand, you're willing to devote yourself to anything as long as it aligns with your sense of duty as long as it doesn't mean betraying those around you, yes?"
"... What of it?"
"In this case… your mother is right. I don't know, nor care, which Tyrell is the Reach King, but you're going to need to step up and over him. That is your duty."
"Yet I have no legitimacy or right to do that."
"You have the blood of kings, from both parents. Even if no one will acknowledge it, you will make them. You're just making excuses to remain the same person you are now. A content tool for everyone else to use at their whim. Indeed, if I stayed in the picture, you would be the perfect little bastard son… but that is not the Garth Storm your Realm needs."
"It needs a warrior to crush and sweep away all the scum that inhabit it, a conqueror to make all the kingdoms into one again and a king to rule it. Again, I ask you, if you don't do it… who will?"
A strong gust of wind passed as Garth Storm remained still.
"I'm beginning to understand you… and, in turn, myself." Garth closed his eyes for a brief moment and when he opened them again, they flashed golden for a brief moment. "It is true that I've convinced myself that what leaves me content is my duty when that couldn't be further from the truth."
The Inspiring Leader perks are becoming a little scary.
"So, who will do it?" I grinned slightly.
"I will… if I can."
"No, there's no 'if I can' or 'I'll try', you will do everything you set your mind to and be the greatest to ever fucking do it. You got that?"
"Yes, Your Grace," Garth said, half solemn and half sassy. "One Garth Storm is but a small price to pay for a greater future."
He said the last part with a look of stubborn determination.
Those words sunk to the very depths for me. Because of the Other Edric's choice to abandon the crown, both of my children will have to walk a treacherous path and change themselves to right my wrongs.
And Garth especially… the parallels to myself are all too eerie.
Still, it was the only way forward for him.
"Good." I forced a smile. "With this change in mentality, your growth will be exponentially greater."
I think I might've consumed too much motivational content in my day…
~
I really was in a rush to get out of Winterfell. Once everyone had their rest and everything was prepped, I intended to ride right out. The place was quite… interesting, unfortunately I was on a little time constraint.
Me and the company that had arrived with me rode right out after saying our farewells. It was unlikely that I'd see this place for a good while. I had spent quite a while in the North… longer than I ever imagined I would. At the same time, it was necessary to speed along the reinforcement of the Wall and promptly put the wildlings in their place.
The King's Road had no obstacles to speak of as over a hundred hooves thundered across the path.
…
Eventually, we set up camp and I returned to my inner world as I slept.
It… was almost like a whole different world. Outside of the red clouded skies and crimson moon, all of the items I had stored were neatly organised. The weapons were in wooden weapon racks, ordered by the type of weapon, and my armour collections were placed on stands. There were plants, small trees, flowers and seemingly even crops growing everywhere around the core.
"Wow…" I chuckled in disbelief.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Alysanne smiled warmly. "I thought this place was rather dull, messy and just overall depressing. Soooo myself, Garth and Lady Raiden have all worked together to improve on it since you were away."
"Your daughter is quite an anomaly." Raiden Shogun remarked.
"... Yeah, she did most of this." Garth chuckled.
"You've definitely brightened up the place." I nodded. "And so quickly, too. Very impressive."
"Well… if I didn't recover from overusing my magic almost instantly, it would take far longer to produce results like these." Alysanne added. "This place is truly wonderful. I can practice endlessly without my body holding me back."
"Yes, it's brilliant for training things such as technique, mind and spirit. It's not entirely the same as using your real body, however, as it remains unaffected by anything you do here."
"That's quite the advantage." Garth noted. "Where others rest, you could have dueled a thousand times or put ideas to practice endlessly."
"Indeed, I've refined my skill greatly since acquiring this ability and it is the reason why I never doubted that I could make a warrior out of you. Provided I had enough time, of course."
"In your absence, I will be able to aid with that." Raiden added. "That would also give your daughter a more realistic experience."
"That would be great." I nodded. "I can only be here for a third of every day, if not less. But, for now… let's not waste any time. Get your weapon of choice."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"I'll break your skull." I chuckled.
Alysanne didn't move, whereas Garth formed a rectangular rock that could almost be called a sword. Meanwhile, I took my Warhammer.
"You made that pretty weapon rack just to never use it?"
"We simply don't like disorganised things." Alysanne shrugged. "Well, outside of nature."
"This rock suits me just fine."
"Well, go on. Strike."
I noticed branches growing out of the ground immediately, stepping away before they grabbed hold of my feet. With me partly distracted, Garth advanced. Good start.
He proceeded with a telegraphed swing. I stepped to the side and smashed my warhammer into his back. It struck like thunder. He crumbled like a lawn chair, falling to the ground.
Then I rushed Alysanne, who could only really put up a wall of small trees in time. I simply dashed around and was about to hit her, but stopped myself. She flinched back.
"Once I get past Garth, you're absolutely defenceless," I noted, lowering the Warhammer. "You need time for your magic to have any real effect and time is a luxury in battle. Practice to be quicker… and more lethal. Those branches were nothing more than a nuisance."
"Yes, father." She nodded solemnly.
"As for you, Garth, I could see your swing coming at me a decade ago. You need to be more than unpredictable… and ditch that silly rock unless you intend to refine it. All it's doing is weighing you down."
"Once I master it, that silly rock will surpass any regular weapon."
My lightning 'sword' was definitely powerful, albeit tiring since I needed to constantly dump energy to keep it existing. For him, however, he only needed to create his weapon once, as the rock seems to be more… solid. If he shaped it better, it would be very effective.
Now that I think about it, couldn't he make me a weapon once he improved…?
That's one way to pay rent in my inner world.
"Wonderful choice." I nodded approvingly. "Let's continue."
~
Where I was unable to be in the Plane of Euthymia all the time due to my real world obligations, Raiden Shogun subbed in. And, well, she didn't have the same reluctance that I did when it came to beating up my daughter. She was absolutely ruthless. Despite her actions saying the opposite, I could tell she had a fondness for the girl, however.
The twins were genuinely talented in magic. As Garth built his confidence, his proficiency in Geo and Anemo steadily rose. He also gained invaluable experience in fighting. As for Alysanne, she learned not to be as much of a liability and how to make use of her magic in a battle scenario. She was the perfect 'support' with frightening healing and buffing capabilities. If Garth was a great warrior, her lack of fighting ability would hardly matter. Hell, they'd be invincible as long as she was protected.
We kept riding down the King's Road without any interruptions. I thought about visiting Lord Frey and paying my condolences for all the sons I killed. Alas, I doubt I could make myself seem sincere and would just make the situation worse. Besides, it was off to the west, and I wasn't going to waste my time on that weasel.
Days turned to weeks and soon enough, King's Landing was in sight. We continued down the King's Road straight through the Gate of the Gods. The gold cloaks immediately straightened themselves and my appearance drew in many eyes. It seemed like King's Landing was faring quite well compared to its canon counterpart.
We continued up to the Red Keep, where quite a gathering of nobles awaited me.
"And so, my nephew returns with more tales of glory." Renly smiled.
"I hope to hear that all of my decrees have gone through…" I dismounted from my horse and helped Arya off hers before turning to Renly. "Have they, Lord Regent?"
"They have, Your Grace."
"I'm glad." I smiled, moving in for a hug. "Come here, it's been too long."
"Ah, of course… try not to squeeze the air out of me."
"I'm not that inconsiderate."
After a warm hug, I stepped away.
"I truly appreciate all that you do in my absence, both you and Stannis." I glanced at the Lord Hand. "While I'm riding all over the place, it's you two keeping it all together here."
"You flying all over the Realm has provided yields that no order from the Iron Throne could." Renly shook his head. "So much of the Vale sings your name, and no doubt the North will too."
"On that, we are agreed." Stannis nodded. "You are ruling in your own way."
"Someday I'll settle down… mayhaps." I chuckled, turning to Arthur and moving in to give him a hug. "And you, my greatest friend, how have you been?"
"I'm doing well… Your Grace."
I probably embraced a little too tightly. Just thinking of him dying unsettled me. Surely I could prevent that… no, I will. That future is not mine.
"We have much to catch up on, Arthur."