I think that the universe must have decided to mess with me today. You see, we woke up, and everything was going good, great even. We had a nice breakfast and walked around White Harbor for a short while. And when the time came for us to leave and continue our travel to Pentos, a group of strange people found us.
We only just got to the spot we landed on yesterday, when I heard shouting from way behind us. Both of us turned and watched as a group of what I think were the red priests, the barkeep was grumbling about yesterday, desperately running after us.
"Please wait! We've been searching for you!" A woman wearing beautiful red robes shouted.
"What do you think, Pyra? Do we hear them out?" I whispered to her as I watched them get closer and closer.
"Might as well." She just shrugged.
"Kay. It should at least be interesting."
"So what do you want from me, red priest?" I asked the woman once she stopped in front of us.
"I greet my Lord's chosen!" She, along with the others, knelt on the ground with a sincere and devout expression on her face, which made me want to puke.
"Stand up. Don't kneel." I instantly bent down and dragged her up by her shoulder. I did not want this.
"Never kneel to me. You understand?" I whispered to her softly when I noticed her frightened expression.
"I cannot stand in your presence without showing proper respect and reverence."
"Yes, well, now I'm telling you that you can, and your people too."
"Tha—"
"ts ts ts… No talking back. You want something from me, so you either do what I say, or we'll just leave, and you'll never find me again." I immediately cut her off when she started to speak.
"I—but that is— Very well. Your wish is my command." I saw the conflicting emotions flash through her eyes, but in the end, she did listen.
"Yay! So, what do the red priests want from me?"
"Our Lord has guided us to you, to aid you."
"Help me? With what exactly? And by Lord, I assume you mean your god, right?"
"Yes, the Lord of Light. He has shown us all a vision of you fighting the true enemy beyond the wall."
"The Night King?" I asked curiously, because if so, then these people were pretty late to the party.
"Ah, you already know about him, yes, him and his armies are gathering and growing beyond the wall, as we speak. Soon, he will march on the world of the living to bring the eternal winter. "
"Well, the Night King is already gone. I destroyed him like three weeks ago." Yep, that broke their brains, it seems. Yet, the woman shook it off first.
"That— that cannot be… only with the Lightbringer can Azor Ahai end the darkness…"
"Don't know what you're talking about, lady. Night King is dead, and his armies were turned to ash by us. When exactly did you get that vision?" I asked.
"F–four weeks ago. They lasted for an entire day. We immediately set sail after that."
"Hmm~ That about tracks with when we found them first, right, Pyra?" I think I know what happened. The priests must have thought they saw the future, but instead they saw what was happening in the present.
"It does… Priestess, I think you were seeing it as it was happening."
"Yep, I think so too. I'm sorry that you wasted your time by coming here, but I guess you can go back home. " I looked at the lost-looking priestess apologetically. The ones behind her were not looking much better, because they all looked like they had lost their entire purpose.
"No… I need to… Yes, I need to verify it." She was mumbling to herself, but we all heard her.
"That's going to be hard, you know? The Night King kind of exploded into thousands of tiny pieces of ice."
"Exploded?"
"Oh yeah, I stabbed him in the chest. The fucker actualy withstood my fire for four seconds before he croaked. Do you want to see it?"
"See it? See it how?" She asked confusedly.
"I can show you how I killed him. I assume that you can recognize him, correct?"
"I— Yes, I should be able to."
"Then wait a moment." I opened a small portal, just big enough for my arm to go through, into my treasury and summoned the Pensieve with that memory in it. When I brought it out, all of the Red Priests were looking at me even more reverently. Which was really fucking wierd.
"Touch the surface and you'll see." I placed it on the ground before her, and she immediately did what I asked. She didn't check if it was dangerous, she didn't ask what it was, she just obeyed me.
After two short minutes, she came back, and the prior confusion and disbelief were instantly gone, and something worse was in their place: Worship.
"If you kneel again, I'll punch you." I threatened when I saw her knees bend a bit.
"You can punch me, beat me, or even burn me alive. I've seen it, You saved us all. It would be an honor to be the one to sate your anger, Daughter of Fire." She didn't listen and knelt anyway, once again followed by the other priests.
"Oh my god. You're insane. Why the hell would I do that?! No. You know what? I don't want to deal with this. Let's go, Pyra." I wasn't running away, no way, it was a tactical retreat to keep my sanity intact.
"NO! Wait! Please… do not leave." She panickedly yelled, looking like she was on the verge of tears.
"Listen to me. This whole worship bullshit? I don't care for it, and I don't want it. Either treat me like I'm a normal person, or I will leave. I told you that already." I leveled her with a cold gaze, and she squirmed for a while, as if battling with something.
"You– You cannot leave us… not when I finally found you… I will try my hardest." She sounded so desperate that I actually felt a bit sorry for her. What the hell kind of indoctrination was this?
"Make sure that you do… what's your name anyway?" I realized that I got too caught up in this whole thing to ask before.
"I am Kinvara, the High Priestess of the Red Temple of Volantis… my…lady…?" She sounded so unsure at the end. Like she was fighting it.
"Okay, this is probably the most you can do now without imploding mentally. Hello. I'm Emily, and this is Pyra."
"We greet the paramour of the Daughter of Fire." The priestess, Kinvara, gave Pyra a deep bow. Well, at least she didn't kneel again, so progress?
"Um? Pyra? What's paramour?"
"Just a different word for a romantic partner."
"Oh. Okay, so like a girlfriend, yeah?"
"Yep."
"Neat. So, Kinvara. What do you want from me? I already killed the Night King."
"Please, allow me to serve and follow you, my lady. I would want nothing more than that."
"Serve me? I have magic that makes the need for servants obsolete, Kinvara."
"Please! Even if it's just a bed slave… "
"No. I have Pyra." I said resolutely.
"..."
"*ehm* Priestess Kinvara, we were traveling to Pentos before you interrupted us. Perhaps… you could act as our guide there?" Pyra looked like she had an idea of what to do with this woman.
"Yes! Lady Pyra. Of course. Nothing would make me happier." She beamed like a child who got a present they wanted all year.
"But only you are coming, understand?"
"Of course, my lady, but what of the other priests?"
"Hmm~ Pyra? A moment?" I whispered to her and pulled her out of earshot. She looked like she had a plan of some kind.
"What are you planning?"
"That priestess could be useful. You were right, we don't need servants, but somebody like her? I think that she could be quite handy in the future. The title she holds is not just for show. She is at the top of their church, she must have connections all over the world. "
"Okay, I get it, but if she kneels one more goddamn time, she's getting left behind. It freaks me out, Pyra."
"Oh, I'm sure she won't. She looked genuinely terrified that you would really disappear. She'll be careful."
"What about the rest of them? Do we just send them back?" I asked, looking over at the group of priests.
"I know you might hate it, but I think you should at least give them something to do. You know, like a long-term mission of some kind."
"Yeah, but what? Umm~ Something good, yeah? Free the slaves, feed the hungry? I can't think of anything else this quickly." I said, scrunching my face.
"... That will take a lot of time, right? Freeing the slaves, I mean." I continued my train of thought.
"Yeah. Essos has plenty of them."
"So the priests won't bother me too much, right?"
"No, they won't, and you'll be making them do a good thing. So, win-win."
"Okay, we'll go with that then." I nodded decisively.
*CLAP*
"Right! Kinvara is coming with us to Pentos, and for the rest of you, I'm giving an important mission. Once you're back in Essos, I want everybody to start working on ending slavery. Free them, feed them, and help them get back on their feet." As I finished, I looked each priest in the eyes.
"My lady… slavery is a major source of income for many cities. Even our temples engage in it." Kinvara spoke quietly to me.
"Major source, huh?" Well, in for a penny, in for a pound as they say.
"Yes. Most places engage in it."
"Okay! An addendum! Kill every single slavemaster. The temple will obviously free theirs as well." Poor Kinvara could only stare wide-eyed.
"What? You wanted a Daughter of Fire. This is her."
"Yes. Of course, my lady! You heard her! Spread the word of our new purpose!" After quickly pulling herself together, she barked orders at the priests, and they started a mad scramble back to the city.
"Ugh— How annoying…*sigh* That should keep them busy for the next couple of years at least…"
"If I may ask, why are you going to Pentos?"
"I want a pet dragon."
"Ah! So you know about them too! You truly are the Lord's chosen! I assume you want the girl?" She asked, looking between a confused me and a bewildered Pyra.
"Huh?" "Huh?" Both of us said at the same time.
"Huh?" Kinvara joined the choir when it dawned on her that we had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
"OH! You actually meant a dragon! My apologies. I thought you meant the two Targaryens residing in Pentos at the moment. But all is well. The girl will receive dragon eggs as a gift."
"Will? Are you sure?"
"Yes. The visions of our Lord might be confusing at times, but of this, I'm certain. I've seen it happen. I've seen her hatch them."
"Wow! You're useful already. Heard that, Pyra? She said them. So you'll be getting a dragon too."
"Thank you. You intend to steal them?"
"Of course, I do. I want them."