Braavos
Game of Thrones
The House of Black and White was one of the places in the Multiverse that remained hidden from the gazes of the Timelines and Deep Ones, despite not having any Bounded Field around it.
Limping, and wearing a black hooded robe, Simon walked up the steep steps of grey stone.
There was an eyepatch on his left eye, a crooked smile twitching on his face.
He approached the door and knocked twice.
The wooden doors were twelve feet high and carved. The left door was weirwood, the right ebony. In the center of the doors was a carved moon face ebony on weirwood, weirwood on ebony.
The door opened and a kindly, old man eyed him, wearing a cowled robe with black on the right side and white on the left. He was the priest in charge of the temple.
"Valar Morghulis, Priest," Simon greeted, touching his forehead with two fingers and letting them fall. In the palm of his other hand, he flashed the Iron Coin of Braavos.
The kindly, old man returned the gesture, eying the coin. "Valar Dohaeris… Bishop."
The Faceless Men entered the Temple, Simon following the black man with a limp.
There were many servants working inside the temple, Worshipers were lighting candles before the huge statues of thirty gods. Some were praying near the poisoned pool, its periphery lit with dim, red candles.
Among them, at a far corner, Simon spied Arya Stark, mopping the floor.
As they passed by, the girl lifted her head and looked at them. Simon smiled at her, showing his crooked teeth.
The Priest brought the Bishop to the Sanctum where they sat opposite each other on two stone benches.
Simon ignored the Gaze directed at him from hundreds of light-years away. He had never prayed to the Many-Faced God. He hadn't come here to act as HIS priest, anyway.
"Andrik the Twice Drowned has overplayed his part in this timeline," Simon said. "It's time for him to descend to the Watery Halls of the Drowned God and his face to decorate the Black Walls of the Temple."
The Title Dimensional Leader had two of three places already filled.
One of them was Shinobu, an irreplaceable follower, her presence more important than anything for Kai's plans to come to fruition. The other was Andrik the Twice Drowned, who Kai had turned into a follower a very long time ago during his Mission to deliver Dragon Eggs to Daenerys Stormborn.
At that time, Kai was still a novice and had yet to truly step onto the grand stage of the Multiverse.
To test out his newly obtained epithets of the Cosmic Authority — Outer One, he had chosen Andrik to be the subject, turning him into a follower, and also obtaining the Dimensional Leader as the Title.
However, Andrik as a storyline Character had nothing special about him.
Even if Chaos adjusted his strength when called upon to another Random World, it wouldn't be as ridiculous as Shinobu, who was part of the Verse Fusion, with a storming Bankai.
It didn't come as a surprise that Kai wanted the man gone.
What if after upgrading the Title the followers became permanent? One of the things Kai hated the most in his followers was mediocrity.
But… Kai couldn't kill Andrik. The man was a storyline Character and had a part to play for years to come.
Timeline Applaud wouldn't work, either, as it could let him injure the man, but not outright erase his existence.
The only way left to Kai was to make a character from the timeline itself kill the man.
Then, he could replace Andrik as the follower with another storyline Character from this timeline; something Kai had already confirmed through Chaos.
The Byagoona's Priest in-charge of the House of Black and White in this timeline nodded.
"The High Priest said he would agree to your request if you let us dictate the nature of your new follower," the kindly, old man said.
Simon didn't frown, but his black eye narrowed imperceptibly.
Kai wasn't truly a part of the Temple of Byagoona. He was a Faceless Man, nonetheless. And, he shared an odd history with the Temple as well.
One could say that it was Kai's week-long research under the Chief Bishop of the Many-Faced God on the 4th floor that had started all this.
Kai knew he was just too important to be outrightly rejected by the Temple of Byagoona, especially now that they knew he was the descendant of the Banished One. Still, they refused to serve his willful requests without getting something in return, it seemed.
"Who?" Simon asked.
"The girl."
Simon looked outside as if he could still see Arya Stark mopping the floor. "Her potential?"
"Give her the face of a Storyline Character and she can entirely replace the Character's existence for some time," the Priest said. "Even the Timelines and the Deep Ones won't tell her apart from the replaced Character."
Simon kept a straight face, but Kai was shocked.
Wasn't this similar to the Cloak of Disguise Artifact given to him by DEATH THE ARTIFICER?
The Cloak let him copy a timeline's unique signature, making it impossible for anyone to tell if he was a Contestant.
As per the Priest, Arya Stark not only could do that, but she could copy all the powers as well?!
Hmm… Kai ruminated, the Ad Infinitum and the Lucky Intuitions working on the hidden implications. "Has she become an Acolyte?"
"No." The Priest replied. "You must be the one who grants her that title."
Simon smiled. "I agree."
The kindly, old man smiled back amiably. "It's done."
…
[
Contestant Kai D. Stormborn
You have lost your follower — Andrik the Twice Drowned
Your Title — Dimensional Leader — has lost a Title Point
…
Title: Dimensional Leader
Specification: Make 3 main-storyline Characters follow you voluntarily and unconditionally
Status: (1/3)
Effect:
— Correspondence +5
— Worth +15
— Charisma +25
— Skill: Dimensional Summoning
]
…
That was fast, Kai thought, standing up. But it didn't surprise him that the Faceless Men had planted an assassin on Actaea.
"You will need to spend at least a week teaching the girl," the Priest said.
Simon let out a crooked smile. "I will be back shortly… just need to take care of a storm…"
**************
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