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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
ASOIAF and all of its characters belong to GRRM
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 97: The Void
The world came back to Joffrey in fragments...flashes of sound and color that pierced through the darkness that had consumed his mind.
He could hear the clash of steel, the guttural growls of the wights, the desperate shouts of those fighting for their lives.
The cold wind bit at his skin, carrying the scent of blood and ash and the peculiar tang of magic that usually hung in the air.
But most of all, he could hear Ned Stark's voice, sharp with desperation, calling his name.
"Joffrey! Joffrey, wake up! We need you!"
Joffrey's eyes snapped open, his consciousness crashing back into his body. He blinked, his vision swimming for a moment before it cleared, and he took in the scene before him.
The White Walkers had closed the distance while he had been lost in his vision. Three of them were now mere feet away from the carpet, their ice swords raised in the air, their blue eyes burning with fury.
Ned Stark stood in front of them, Longclaw in his hand as he fought for their lives. He was parrying the strikes of one of the Others with desperate skill, the Valyrian steel singing as it met the ice of the creature's blade.
Sparks flew with each impact, the ancient steel holding where lesser blades would have shattered.
But he was being overwhelmed by their sheer numbers alone, his movements slowing as exhaustion set in.
Val was beside him, her spear thrusting and striking at the Others from behind Stark, but her weapon was useless against them.
The steel bounced off their bodies like water off stone, leaving no mark, no wounds. She was fighting with courage, but courage was not enough against such ancient evil.
"Wake up, please!" Gilly's voice was high and terrified, cutting through the din of battle. "They're going to kill them!"
Joffrey's mind cleared in an instant, his training taking over. He raised his hands, his magic surging through him like a flood, and pushed outward with all his might.
"Depulso Maxima!"
A wave of invisible force erupted from his palms, striking all the White Walkers at the same time and hurling them backward. They flew through the air like leaves in a storm, their bodies crashing into the ruins of Hardhome with bone-shattering force.
The wights that had been pressing forward were scattered as well, their shrieks filling the night as they were thrown aside like rag dolls.
"Get back on the carpet!" Joffrey shouted, his voice commanding, brooking no argument. "Now!"
Ned stumbled backward, his chest heaving, his eyes wide with shock. He had been moments from death, his strength nearly spent, his sword arm trembling with exhaustion.
But he did not hesitate. He grabbed Val's arm and pulled her onto the flying carpet, which was now levitating mere inches from the ground, its worn surface humming with magical energy.
"What happened to you?" Ned demanded to know, his voice tight with anger and fear. "You froze! You just stood there while they attacked us!"
Joffrey's jaw tightened, his green eyes flickering with something that might have been frustration. "Something is coming. Something far worse than these creatures. We will die if we stay here a second longer."
He did not say that they might die anyway. There was no point in adding to their terror.
Ned's face contorted with anger, his grief for his lost son overriding his reason. "I will not leave without my son! Bran is still out there-"
"Your son is already dead or too far away from here!" Joffrey snapped, his voice sharp as a blade. "I cannot feel him anywhere. And if we stay, we will all die. Do you understand? We will all die!"
Ned opened his mouth to protest, but before he could speak, Joffrey raised his hand and directed the carpet into the sky.
It shot upward, leaving the ruins of Hardhome behind in a blur of white and grey and red.
The cold wind howled past them as they moved at an impossible speed.
"Joffrey, please-"
"There is nothing I can do." Joffrey's voice was cold, brooking no argument. "If I could find him, I would. But I cannot. And right now, survival is our only priority."
Ned's face was a mask of grief and rage. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He could only watch as the settlement of Hardhome grew smaller and smaller beneath them, the distant figures of the wildlings and their attackers fading into the darkness.
Joffrey pushed the carpet faster, his magic straining to break free of the world below. He could feel the presence of the ice creature growing stronger, could feel its gaze boring into the back of his skull like a drill.
It was following them, hunting them with an insatiable hunger. The air grew colder around them, the darkness deeper, as if the creature's shadow was already reaching out to claim them.
And then they saw it appear out of nowhere.
A vast shadow rose from the frozen wastes to the north, its form so immense that it seemed to blot out the sky itself.
It was not a creature of flesh and bone, but something else, something much more terrible. It was a living shadow, a void in the shape of a nightmare, its countless limbs reaching out to grasp the flying carpet, its countless eyes fixed on its prey.
The eyes were cold and blue, like the stars of winter, and they burned with an ancient malevolence that made the Others seem like child's play.
"W-what is that?!" Val's voice was barely a whisper. Her face was pale and contorted with terror, her spear clutched uselessly in her trembling hands.
She had faced the Others without flinching, had watched her people die around her without breaking. But this... this was something beyond her comprehension.
Joffrey did not answer, for he had no answer to give. What was this creature? A timeless god? A cosmic being? The physical representation of some lost concept? Something created from a nightmare?
He had met its counterpart in Stygai, had felt the fire creature's power and understood its nature.
Now this primordial being was awake and had taken notice of him.
The mass of shadows moved with incredible speed, covering the distance between them in the span of a heartbeat.
Joffrey had no time to move away or flee. All he could do was raise his hands and summon the most powerful barrier he could conjure.
"Magna Custodia!"
A translucent shield erupted around them, its surface gleaming with several layers of protective magic. Runes of ancient power floated across its surface, glowing with a soft golden light that pushed back against the encroaching darkness.
It was the most potent defensive spell he could create with such short warning, a barrier that could withstand the attacks of dragons and entire armies.
But the creature did not attack in the way he expected.
Instead, it opened its maw...or what looked like it could be its maw. It was a vast, gaping void that seemed to stretch into infinity, a nothingness that made the darkness around them seem like light in comparison.
And it swallowed them whole.
The frozen lands of the north dissolved around them. The light faded, the sounds disappeared, the wind vanished.
Joffrey felt his stomach lurch as they plummeted through the darkness, the carpet tilting wildly beneath them.
He tried to summon his magic and fight, but there was nothing to push against. The void was empty, devoid of any substance, any anchor, any point of reference.
And then, just as suddenly, they stopped.
The carpet was floating again, suspended in the endless darkness like a ship on a sea of nothing.
Joffrey looked around, his eyes straining to distinguish any shapes or forms, but there was nothing to see. No light, no sound, no sense of direction. They were in a truly empty void, a place where the laws of the world no longer applied.
"What happened?" Gilly's voice was high with panic, her baby clutched tightly to her chest. "Where are we?"
"I think that black creature... ate us," Val suggested, her voice flat with disbelief.
Ned peeked out of the corner of the flying carpet, his eyes searching the darkness for any sign of hope. "We are still... floating."
Joffrey frowned, his mind already analyzing their situation. The creature had indeed swallowed them, but they had not been consumed. They were still alive, still intact, still protected by the barrier he had summoned.
But the situation was dire...more dire than any he had faced in this world or the last.
"Give me a moment," Joffrey said while he used his senses to reach out, probing the darkness for any trace of the world they had left behind.
Nothing. He felt nothing outside this place.
"Oh..." His expression fell, a rare moment of vulnerability crossing his features. Out of all the scenarios he had predicted, this may be the worst one.
"Joffrey?" Ned noticed his grim expression, something that he had never seen before in the prince. The boy had always been confident, even arrogant, his power and knowledge a shield against the uncertainties of the world.
But now, that shield had cracked.
"We are... no longer in Westeros," Joffrey said, trying to keep his tone calm, though a note of tension crept into his voice.
"We are in the belly of that beast, right?" Gilly asked, her voice trembling.
"Cant we just get out?" Val added, her tone sharp with desperation. "I'll poke a hole with my spear."
"What do you mean we are no longer in Westeros?" Ned was the only one who started to understand the severity of the situation, his face growing pale.
"We are technically in the stomach of that entity, yes, but... it is more complicated than that," Joffrey said. "Lumos."
He extended his fingers, and several orbs of light appeared, their soft glow illuminating the darkness around them. The lights flew out in different directions, and the group looked at them, searching for any sign of walls, of boundaries, of anything that might give them hope.
However, no matter where they looked, those lights did not seem to reveal anything...only more darkness. No walls, no ceiling, no flesh... there was nothing except for more darkness.
"I don't know how to explain this in a way you would understand," Joffrey said, his voice measured. "But the place that we find ourselves in is more like a pocket dimension that is somehow connected to the body of that creature. This pocket dimension is nothing more than an empty space... I believe there is nothing here except for us."
"A pocket dimension?" Val looked confused, the concept foreign to her.
"Nothing? How can there be nothing?" Gilly sounded equally confused, her eyes darting nervously into the darkness.
"So, how do we leave?" That was the only thing Ned wanted to know. His son was still out there, and he needed his help. Every moment they spent in this void was a moment Bran was alone in the frozen wastes.
"That's the issue... we can't leave," Joffrey replied, his voice flat. "My magic is not all-powerful. I cannot cross dimensions. That is beyond my capabilities."
"We are trapped here? Forever?" Val's expression fell as she began to comprehend their situation, her last shred of hope crumbling.
Ned's face went pale, his eyes hollow. "Then we are dead. We will starve to death in this void-"
"Calm down." Joffrey's voice was firm, commanding. "Panic will not help us."
Val glared at him, her eyes blazing with anger, grief, and fear. "How can you be so calm? We are trapped in the stomach of a monster! We are going to die!"
Joffrey met her gaze, his expression cold and unreadable. "If I panicked, would that make the situation better? Would it help us escape?"
Val opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again. She had no answer.
Joffrey continued speaking in a measured tone, his voice cutting through the darkness like a blade. "I need to keep my wits and focus. The only thing keeping us alive right now is this barrier, and this carpet, and my magic is what's keeping those two things working. If I lose control, even for a second, we fall into this endless void. And that would really be the end for us."
He paused, his eyes scanning the darkness around them, searching for any sign of hope. "Worse, I cannot draw magic from the environment here. There is no ambient power to replenish what I use. Eventually, my reserves will run out. When that happens, the carpet will fall. So you don't have to worry about starving to death... we won't last that long."
A heavy silence descended on the group. The weight of his words pressed down on them, crushing their hope like ice beneath a boot.
"How long?" Ned asked, his voice flat, his eyes empty. "How long before your magic runs out?"
Joffrey considered the question, his mind calculating the remaining reserves of his power. "A day, perhaps two. It depends on how much energy I have to expend to keep us afloat. The more I use, the faster it fades."
"So we are going to die anyway," Val said, her voice bitter. "We escaped the Others only to be swallowed by a monster. And now we will die in its stomach."
"I am still thinking about a solution... I just need a bit of silence now."
He settled onto the carpet, crossing his legs in a meditative pose. His eyes closed, his brow furrowed in concentration.
The others watched him in silence, their faces a mixture of fear and hope, their breath misting in the cold air of the void.
Time passed. Joffrey did not know how long...minutes, perhaps hours.
The void offered no markers, no way to measure the passage of time. The darkness pressed in on all sides, suffocating and absolute, broken only by the soft glow of the barrier and the dim light of the orbs that still floated around them.
But eventually, the silence was broken by a sound.
A baby's cry.
Gilly's child wailed, its sharp voice echoing in the emptiness of the void, cutting through the oppressive silence like a knife.
Gilly shushed it, rocking it gently in her arms, her face flushed with embarrassment and fear. But the baby would not be comforted.
"Even while flying in a void between dimensions, there is still a crying baby on board..." Joffrey sighed, his voice dry with dark humor.
Gilly looked up, her face flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. He's just hungry. I haven't been able to feed him properly since we escaped Castle Black. The milk has been... it's been difficult."
Val shook her head, her expression softening despite everything. "Babies are always hungry. They eat and eat and never seem to be full. It's the way of things."
Joffrey's eyes snapped open.
"That's it!" he said, his voice sharp with sudden realization. "Hunger! I just need to feed him!"
The others stared at him, confusion written across their faces. They had expected despair, resignation, perhaps even anger. Not this sudden burst of energy.
"What are you talking about?" Ned asked, his brow furrowed. "Feed what?"
Joffrey reached into his enchanted pocket, his fingers closing around the object he had been carrying with him since his journey to the East.
He pulled it out, holding it up for the others to see. It was a large egg, its surface pitch black and completely smooth, as if it had been carved from obsidian. It seemed to absorb the little light they had from the remaining orb, drinking it in like a miniature void.
"What is that?" Val asked, her eyes wide with wonder. "How did you keep something so large in your pocket?"
"Enchanted storage," Joffrey replied, his voice distracted. "It is larger on the inside than it appears on the outside. A simple trick, but useful."
He held the egg up, his eyes studying its surface with an intensity that bordered on obsessive. "This egg may be our ticket out of here. I have been studying it for a while now, and I am fairly certain I know what is inside."
Ned's brow furrowed, his eyes fixed on the strange object. "What are you talking about? What is in that egg?"
Joffrey looked up, his green eyes gleaming with a strange light, a mix of hope and something darker. "Something that might be able to break us free of this void. But I will need to feed it first so it can hatch...with my blood essence and magic."
Ned frowned, his face pale. "Is that a good idea? You told us that your magic is the only thing keeping us alive. If you exhaust yourself trying to hatch this egg, what will happen then?"
Joffrey's expression did not change. "With no way to gain more energy from the environment, it is already a matter of time before my reserves are depleted. A day, maybe two, and then the carpet will fall. If I do nothing, we die. If I try this, we have a small chance for survival."
Of course, if it did not work, they would just die faster. There was no point in sugarcoating it.
The others exchanged glances, their faces a mixture of fear and uncertainty. But no one had a better idea to offer.
"Very well," Ned said, his voice heavy with resignation. "Do what you must. We'll leave it up to the gods."
"Yeah... at least it's something," Val agreed, though her voice lacked conviction.
Gilly simply nodded and clutched at her child before closing her eyes to pray, her lips moving in silent supplication to gods she was not sure were listening.
Joffrey nodded. He drew a small blade from his belt, its edge gleaming in the dim light of the void. Without hesitation, he cut his palm, the blood welling up in a crimson line across his skin. The pain was distant, and secondary to the urgency of the moment.
He pressed his hand against the egg, letting his blood and magic flow into its surface.
The egg absorbed it hungrily, drinking in the power like a parched man drinking water, its black surface pulsing with a faint inner light.
At first, nothing happened. The egg remained cold and still, as if it had rejected his offering. But then, slowly, the egg began to warm.
The black surface grew hot, almost too hot to touch, and thin cracks began to appear across its surface.
Light poured through the cracks, bright and golden, illuminating the void around them like a newborn sun.
"Joffrey..." Ned's voice was filled with awe, his earlier despair forgotten.
The cracks spread, the light growing brighter and brighter until the egg seemed to explode in a burst of fire and light.
The shell shattered, sending pieces flying in all directions, fragments of obsidian and gold that spun through the void like falling stars.
One of the fragments landed on Gilly's lap, and she flinched, expecting to be burned. But the shell was only mildly warm, its heat already fading. She picked it up, holding it close to her chest for warmth, her eyes fixed on the spectacle before her.
The others ignored her, their attention fixed on the center of the void, where a sphere of golden light had appeared.
It pulsed and shimmered, its form shifting and changing as it grew, as if it were a star being born in the darkness.
"What is it?" Val asked, her voice barely a whisper. "A dragon? A demon? What have you unleashed?"
Joffrey shook his head, his eyes fixed on the light, his expression one of wonder and satisfaction. "No. This is something else entirely. A direct descendant of the fire creature resting under Stygai... the true descendant of a god."
The light began to take form, its shape coalescing into the silhouette of a large bird. Its wings spread wide, its feathers shimmering with gold and orange and red, like flames frozen in time.
It let out a cry...a sound that was both beautiful and terrible, a song that seemed to resonate with the very essence of creation.
"What is it?" Ned asked, his voice filled with wonder, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Joffrey's lips curled into a thin smile, the first genuine expression of hope he had shown since they had entered the void.
"We are witnessing the birth of a phoenix," he said.
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