Chapter 153: The Primordial Light

Disclaimer:

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 153: The Primordial Light

Jon's eyes widened.

For a moment, he simply stared at Joffrey, his mouth slightly open, his grey eyes filled with shock. Then his expression shifted to resignation when he understood that, of course, Joffrey knew. He had already stated that their minds were all open to him.

Jon glanced at Bran, but his brother's face was calm. Composed. As if he had expected this all along.

Bran leaned back in his chair, his blue eyes fixed on Joffrey. "This makes things easier then. We don't have to explain it to you."

Joffrey gave him a knowing smile that did not quite reach his golden eyes. "That is not true. There are things that you will need to tell me. I don't know everything."

He paused, tilting his head slightly. The golden light in his eyes seemed to pulse, as if it were alive, as if it were listening.

"But I am curious," he continued. "Where did you learn about this Light? And what do you think it is?"

Bran took a moment to collect his thoughts. He did not speak immediately. Instead, he seemed to be choosing his words with care.

"I learned about the Light from the Children of the Forest," Bran said finally. "As to where they learned of it... that is not clear. The knowledge has been passed down for many millennia, until the source disappeared."

He paused, his eyes meeting Joffrey's golden ones.

"But they believe that this Light is the only thing capable of stopping the Shadow King."

Joffrey raised an eyebrow. "Shadow King?"

"That is what they call it," Bran said. "The thing that sleeps beneath the ice. The ancient being who created the Others, and all the other unnatural creatures inhabiting the far north of the world. The one who will bring destruction upon our world if it ever wakes from its slumber."

Joffrey was silent for a moment.

'They knew,' he thought. 'The Children of the Forest knew about the Ice Being. They knew about its power, its nature, its intentions.'

He should have guessed it. The Children of the Forest had been living in this land since long before the First Men arrived. They had witnessed the coming of the Others, the Long Night, the building of the Wall. They must have explored the Lands of Always Winter at some point. They must have encountered the Primordial Being in some form.

'In that case, they may know more than I do,' Joffrey realized. 'I only know what I saw in the visions and the fragment of the being, the avatar it sent to fight me. But the Children... they have lived with this threat for thousands of years.'

"They know a lot, yes," Bran admitted, as if reading his thoughts. "Or they used to. Right now, there are only a few Children left. Their species is nearing its end."

'Another race fading from the world.' Joffrey lamented.

"Which is why they made the decision to pass their knowledge and power to a selected human," Bran continued. "The one people call the Three-Eyed Raven. Is not just one person but more like a title passed down from one human to the next. Now… it's my turn."

Joffrey nodded slowly. He understood their logic. They knew the threat of the Shadow King, the Ice Being, whatever name it bore…but they did not have the tools to stop it. They were too few, too weak, too close to extinction. So they had chosen a champion to fight for them. A human who could carry their knowledge, their memories, and their power.

'They chose Bran,' he thought. 'A boy from Winterfell. A Stark.'

"Let's get back to the point," Jon said, his voice sharp with urgency.

Joffrey turned to look at him. Jon's grey eyes were intense, and he could feel why. Jon's concern was his family, stuck in Winterfell, a very short distance away from where the undead were rising.

"The Others are getting stronger," Jon said. "Their armies keep growing. The only thing standing between them and my family at Winterfell is that Black Wall you made."

He paused, his jaw tightening.

"But you said it before…it will not last forever. When you fought that strange creature made of shadows..."

"It's true, I did say that," Joffrey said. "The current Wall should be enough to stop those undead creatures you call the Others. But if their creator awakens..."

He paused, letting the weight of his words settle over the room.

"It will shatter like glass. I do not doubt that."

Myrcella shivered. She had not been present for the battle at the Wall. She had not seen the shadow creature, had not witnessed the power that had nearly torn the world apart. But she could feel the tension in the room, the gravity of what was being discussed.

"That shadow creature that you fought," Bran interjected, his voice calm but curious. "Was it another of its creations?"

Joffrey shook his head slowly. "That was a mere fragment of the real being. An avatar of sorts, wielding a tiny fraction of its true power."

Jon's eyes went wide.

"That thing that almost destroyed the entire Wall was only a fragment of the Shadow King?!"

"The Children believe that the Shadow King is close to awakening," Bran said. "It could be in around…"

"Two years," Joffrey said, cutting him off.

The room fell silent.

Myrcella, Bran, and Jon all stared at him, their eyes wide with shock.

"Two years?!" Jon exclaimed, rising from his chair. "That's it?!"

"Oh no..." Myrcella whispered. She did not fully grasp the complexity of their conversation…the Primordial Beings, the Shadow King, the ancient war that stretched across millennia. But she understood enough. She understood that the world was in danger. That this was bigger than any war for the throne.

Bran was the first to recover his composure. He studied Joffrey with those ancient eyes, searching for something.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked. "Even the Children could only give us a vague estimation."

"Because I can feel it," he said. "Its sleep is not natural. It has been caused by another being of equal power."

He paused, his golden eyes growing distant.

"But unfortunately, the being keeping it sleeping... is dying."

Bran's breath caught. "Another being of equal power... what other one? What are you talking about?"

Joffrey looked at him, and for a moment, he seemed almost surprised. "You do not know?"

"Know what?" Bran demanded. "The Children spoke only of the Shadow King. They said it was the only one of its kind. A dark god that slept beneath the ice, waiting to awaken and destroy the world."

Joffrey was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed.

'They did not know,' he thought. 'The Children of the Forest never knew about the Fire Being. They never knew that there was another.'

He should not have been surprised. The Fire Being rested beneath the Shadow Lands, in the far east of Essos. The Children had lived in Westeros, separated from the eastern lands by the Narrow Sea and thousands of miles of distance. Their knowledge, however ancient, was limited to their own corner of the world.

"The universe creates everything in pairs," Joffrey said, his voice taking on a tone that was almost instructive. "Light and darkness. Life and death. Order and chaos. When one thing comes into being, its opposite must also exist. It is the nature of existence itself."

Bran frowned. "What are you saying?"

"I am saying that the Shadow King is not the only Primordial Being," Joffrey said. "There is another. One made of fire, light, and life. The opposite of the being that sleeps beneath the ice."

The room fell silent again.

Jon looked at Bran, then back at Joffrey. "Another one? There's another one of these... these gods?"

"Yes." Joffrey nodded slowly. "They have existed since the dawn of time. Two beings of immense power, locked in an eternal war. One dedicated to creation, the other to destruction. One that brings life, the other that brings death."

He paused, his golden eyes distant.

"They clashed on this planet countless eons ago. Their battle was cataclysmic, reshaping the very land itself. Mountains rose and fell. Seas boiled and froze. The world trembled beneath their fury."

Myrcella's eyes were wide. "What happened to them?"

"They wounded each other," Joffrey said. "Grievously. Neither could continue the fight. So they retreated. The being of ice and darkness went to rest in the far north, in the lands that would become the Lands of Always Winter. The being of fire and light went to rest in the east, beneath the Shadow Lands."

He looked at Bran.

"It is beneath the city of Stygai that I found it. That I met it. That I received its gifts."

Bran's ancient eyes were filled with wonder. "There was another one. The Children never knew..."

"They could not have known," Joffrey said. "The Fire Being rested far from their lands. They had no way of discovering it. Their knowledge was incomplete."

He paused, letting the revelation settle over them.

"From the blood of the Fire Being, life began to appear," he continued. "Dragons were the first. Then many others came next, until humans finally appeared."

" Eventually, the being was discovered by a primitive tribe of humans who venerated it as their God. They received the gift of wisdom from the being, and gained mystical powers. They used these powers to create the city of Stygai where I found it, still resting."

His voice softened.

The room was silent. The weight of his words pressed down on them like a physical force.

'They are learning the truth of the world,' Joffrey thought. 'A truth that even the Children of the Forest did not know. A truth that could change everything.'

Bran was the first to speak. "The Light," he said. "Do you know where it is? We must find it. It's our only chance to survive. Is it in Stygai?"

Joffrey smiled. He did not answer immediately. Instead, he simply opened his palm.

"I know where it is," he said. "And no, there is no need to travel that far. It has been right here all along."

He opened the palm of his hand.

And then, with a thought, he summoned the box.

It materialized out of thin air... a small container made of black stone, its surface smooth and polished, warm to the touch. It was no larger than a man's fist, but it radiated a power that made the air around it shimmer.

Bran's eyes widened. Jon leaned forward, his breath catching in his throat. Myrcella stared at the box, her green eyes reflecting its dark surface.

With a mere thought, he willed the box to open.

The lid slid back, revealing what lay within.

The orb.

It was small and made of pure energy... light given form, radiance made solid. It glowed with a warmth that was not hot, a brightness that did not blind. It was the most beautiful thing any of them had ever seen.

The Primordial Light.

Bran stared at it, his ancient eyes filled with wonder. "It's... it's real."

Jon could not speak. He could only stare, his grey eyes fixed on the orb, his heart pounding in his chest.

Myrcella felt tears prick at her eyes. She did not know why. She did not understand what she was seeing. But something about the light made her feel... hopeful. As if everything was going to be all right.

Joffrey looked at the orb, and for a moment, his golden eyes reflected its radiance.

"This is what you came for," he said. "This is the Light that can stop the Shadow King, according to the Children of the Forest, at least."

He looked at Bran.

"But you cannot use it."

Bran snapped out of his trance. "What?! ...why?"

Joffrey looked at him, his golden eyes steady.

"I asked you before if you knew what this orb was and what it signified. This..." He glanced at the orb, its light reflecting in his eyes. "Is the very essence of the Primordial Being of Life. It is its legacy, its power, its very soul. And the amount of energy contained inside..."

He paused, letting the words sink in.

"Would be enough to decimate the entire world. No human can handle this power. It would just destroy you if you tried."

Bran stared at him, his mouth open. "Then... then how? How can we use it?"

Joffrey looked at the orb again, and for a moment, something flickered in his golden eyes.

"You cannot," he repeated. "But I may have a way."

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