You know, out of the Hallows, I really did use the stone the most. It's just so goddamn useful. As it turned out, everybody and their mother wants to talk to their deceased loved ones, and Jon Snow was no exception.
I went into the meeting alone, promising Daenerys that I would bring him to our house later. And it went about as well as one could expect. In fact, it went the same way it did with her. He wished to talk to his mother and father, which I gladly arranged.
"My Lady, how often can I talk to them?" Jon asked after his parents started fading back into the afterlife. Something I had no way of stopping just yet. I could call them back immediately, sure, but their time among the living would be shorter and shorter each time I did it. I already tried that with Queen Rhaella, her time was shortened almost by half, and she actually experienced pain, which is kinda alarming, because you know… she is a ghost.
"About once a month would be my guess. More often, and you risk damaging their souls." I was just guessing here, but it made sense. I was not the one sustaining the souls once they were here, I only provided the power to make them cross. The rest was all them.
"You have my sincere thanks, my Lady." He gave me a deep bow and smiled.
"You're welcome, kid. What about my offer to help? Have you thought about it?"
"I have to decline, you've already given me more than I can ever repay. I cannot ask more of you."
"Well, I'm not going to try to convince you, it's your life and you must know what you want. Just know that my offer stands. Are you ready to meet your Aunt?"
"Aye. I am."
"Then step through that portal, she is waiting for you." I said to him and pointed at the portal, which Jon eyed with suspicion.
"Haha~ There is no reason to glare at it. It won't bite." Laughing, I slapped his back with a bit more strength, making him stumble through it.
—
Daenerys watched as Jon stumbled through the portal like a newborn deer. Stiff, awkward, and mildly confused. Emily was right behind him, sporting a grin.
"Sorry about that, kiddo. See that little girl? That's your Auntie. Go say hello." She pointed at Daenerys and then skipped off to do whatever it was that she did. Though there was a small chance that she simply went out of sight and then returned while being invisible.
"So you're Jon Snow…" She eyed him up and down with a curious gaze, trying to size him up.
"And you're Daenerys Targaryen. My Lady." He replied in a stiff, unsure voice. It was not unkind, it reminded her of how Stark spoke yesterday.
"None of that, we are family. So? How does it feel to have your life turned upside down by her?" She said with amusement.
"It's… strange? In a good way, I suppose, but strange. It just happened so fast."
"*sigh* I know, right? Come, let's go and sit. She did the same thing to me. Did you know that I am technically kidnapped?" Daenerys bid him to follow her and led him to the house.
"Kidnapped?" That caught him off guard.
"Hmm~ Yes."
"A–are you not going to elaborate?"
"Oh, I will. I just wanted to see your reaction." She said with mirth in her voice.
"Oh."
The initial awkwardness slowly started to melt away as they started talking. It was still there, mostly because Jon was stumbling on his words, occasionally throwing in "My Lady" and such. Other than that, they mostly talked about their childhoods, shared some fun stories, the few that each had, and somehow bonded over the fact that Emily changed the trajectory of their lives on a whim.
"What are you going to do now? I know that, should you wish it, Emily would welcome you here."
"Aye, she told me as much, but… I'm not sure I want that. For a long time now, I wanted to join the watch, now though? I'm not so sure. My parents… they were not really happy with that choice. I've talked about it some yesterday with my uncle." The word uncle sounded strange when he said it, like it was something he was not used to, and well, he wasn't.
"Of course, they were not happy. Even in Essos, its a known fact that the wall is manned by the scum of society. Please tell me you're not intending to still join. I would like to talk to you some more." Daenerys said with a displeased expression. She just met him.
"It's an honorable calling…" He said resolutely.
"But?"
"But now that I know, I'm not sure anymore. I mean, I still plan to go there, especially since Uncle Benjen promised to take me... but a part of me is starting to hesitate. I would still like to see and talk with my parents, and being at the wall would make that nearly impossible." He replied with a sad shake of his head.
"Yes, it would. I do not like it either, Jon. I've just found you, and I don't want to lose another part of my family. Especially not to the watch." She kept the knowledge that Emily could easily teleport to the wall to herself. It's better if Jon doesn't know, or he could actually decide to join.
"But let's leave heavy topics behind for now. You still have time to decide." Daenerys waved her hand in dismissal and continued.
"You wanted me to elaborate about my 'kidnapping', right?" She replied with a grin tugging at her lips.
"Aye… you— are you in any danger?" His voice was tinged with a light concern.
"Pft. No. Not since I was 'kidnapped'. It's quite the story, and it started like this…"
—
I watched the retreating form of Jon with Daenerys by my side.
"Satisfied, little dragon?"
"Yes… He is so unlike Viserys it's almost startling." She muttered.
"I wouldn't have allowed him to get anywhere near you if he was like that, you know?" I smiled at her. The girl needed good people around her. People who wanted nothing from her but her company.
"Thank you. Did you know Jon broods a lot?"
"Yeah, I'm honestly not that surprised. I bet that Eddard does too. They both give off that impression."
"When can I meet with Jon again?" She asked eagerly.
"Huh? Whenever you want. Just tell me and I'll pop over there and bring him, okay?"
"You don't mind? This is your home after all."
"Why would I? You live here as well." I just shrugged.
"Again, thank you."
"Don't thank me, I'm just keeping my promise. But let's not get all mushy, okay?"
"Okay… So what now?"
"Now? I dunno. I guess we can start working on the tower? We still have so much time until the entertainment arrives." I said and started walking toward the tower with Daenerys in tow.
"Why don't you start figuring out how to hatch the eggs?" She asked curiously, and I suddenly stopped walking.
"... you're right… the eggs." I mumbled and changed our course to the treasury.
"Did—did you forget about them?!"
"Hehe~ Maybe… You know what they say. Out of sight, out of mind." I said with a forced laugh. I just put them in the treasure and totally forgot I even had them.
"I don't know that saying, but I guess it makes sense. But how can you forget? They are dragon eggs!"
"Well, in my defence, I'm dumb." I looked at her like she was the stupid one.
"... you said it, not me…"
"You're supposed to say it's not true…" I grumbled. Come on, girl, stroke my ego a bit.
"Isn't lying to gods a sin?" She smiled at me cheekily.
"... I'm speechless. Hahaha~ Come on, smartypants. Let's go get the eggs."
We then made our way to the treasury, and now it wasn't I who was speechless, it was the little dragon instead.
"Is—is that a giant lump of gold?" She pointed at the blob, proudly standing in the middle.
"Impressed?" I grinned.
"With the lump? Not really. But everything else? Yes."
"Why does nobody appreciate the blob… You can pick anything you like in here. Just show it to me first, okay? A lot of these items are magical, and I don't remember their exact effects."
"I can? Really?"
"Yeah yeah you can…now, where the hell did I put the goddamn eggs…?" I waved her concerns off and scanned the cave.
"Aha! There they are!" I noticed the chest just lying on its side in the corner. I must have just thrown it here without thinking.
"Do you have any ideas?" She asked me once I hauled the chest outside. I was not about to start doing magical experiments inside a cave, thank you very much.
"Magic, and if that doesn't work, then more magic." I told her and started to cast diagnostic spells on the eggs.
"What's that?" She asked me curiously, eyeing the wand.
"Oh, this? That's a wand, it helps with casting magic." I said distractedly as I tried to focus on the results coming from the spells. They were pretty much what I expected. The dragons in Westeros were no different from any other magical beast that lived in the wizarding world. So the usual familiar rituals should do the trick.
"Good news. The eggs are surprisingly still somehow alive, even if barely."
"And how do you hatch them then?" Daenerys asked eagerly.
"I think that they should hatch like any other dragon. With a lot of fire, a great deal of magic, and blood."
"Blood?"
"Hmm~ Yeah, blood. That's so they would recognize us as their parents. Otherwise, they would be nothing more than wild beasts."
"Fire and Blood… how fitting. How much blood though?" She asked thoughtfully with a small grimace.
"Just a little bit, don't worry. It has to be our blood, willingly given. They need it just to connect to us. I won't bleed you dry, kiddo." I said with a laugh.
"That's reassuring…I quite enjoy being alive, you know?"