Chapter Text
The world faded around Lucerys Velaryon, leaving only a void of darkness behind. Confusion and uncertainty gripped his spirit as he struggled to comprehend the surreal circumstances that had led him here. The last thing he remembered was the searing pain in his side, as his uncle's great beast bit into him and ripped away a whole chunk of his body. He thought he remembered his uncle's frantic pleas for Vhagar to stop, but he couldn't be sure that it wasn't just his own subconscious playing a trick on him, still hoping their old friendship wasn't entirely lost, despite everything. But now, he stood alone, surrounded by an ethereal presence he couldn't quite fathom. As his senses adjusted to the emptiness, a soft glow emerged from the depths of the void.
"Hello?" He called into the emptiness, hoping to make sense of whatever was going on.
"Lucerys," somebody answered, but it sounded more like an echo coming from all around him, rather than one single person speaking to him.
"Who are you?" He said, his voice sounding pathetically frightened, even to himself.
"Do not fear, young pearl. It is only us, those who should have protected you and yours all along, but are now suffering the consequences of our inaction," this time only one voice answered him.
It seemed to belong to a woman, but Lucerys was still unable to see beyond the void entrapping him.
Just when he was about to repeat his question, the void was suddenly filled by a blinding light. The suddenness of it made him cover his eyes, to avoid being blinded. For a second, he thought that this might have been his eternal punishment for the very sin that had led them all to this - that fateful night when he violently removed his uncle's eye to protect his beloved elder brother from harm.
A voice chuckled and began to speak, "This is no punishment, young pearl. If this encounter is to be called by any name, it would be an apology as well as a chance to rectify what we should've prevented from happening in the first place."
Now that his eyes had adjusted to the light, he was able to recognize that it was not one single light, but an accumulation of fourteen bright presences that stood in a circle around him. Even in the lost state he found himself in, he was able to recognize that something about these fourteen strangers was special.
"Allow me to introduce myself," spoke the same woman as before, "my name is Meraxes. I usually pride myself in my appreciation for harmony and peace, yet I fear that this time I've stood by idly for too long, trying to hold onto the peace that has ruled this realm for many years. And in the process, I've allowed myself to become complicit in the crimes against your family."
"Meraxes?"
"Ah yes, one of your ancestors named her dragon after me many years ago. Meraxes was a beautiful beast indeed, worthy of a name like mine own," she chuckled.
"Meraxes, dear, stop teasing the poor boy and start explaining to him what is going on," one of the men said.
"Why must you always ruin my fun, dearest? Well, I suppose I should introduce myself properly, then everything should be clear to our young pearl. My name is Meraxes, and I am the goddess of healing, harmony, peace, grace, serenity, balance, wealth, and justice. Or at least I was in before the Doom and before Aegon gave up his belief in us as easily as one would remove a piece of clothing," the supposed goddess scoffed.
"It's been over a hundred years, sister, would you get over it already?" Yet another female voice spoke.
When Lucerys looked over at the new voice, he was momentarily shocked at the visage of the woman. She shared the same face as his dear mother, sharp features yet with a softness to her that only appeared when in the presence of family. But instead of the beautiful golden tresses of his mother, this woman's hair was a glowing bronze, more similar to his hair than his mother's had ever been.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Shrykos, the goddess of family, parenthood, the hearth, the home, domesticity, and the sacred fire. I suppose that is also why your subconsciousness views me as a replica of your own mother, as I am considered the mother of all Dragonriders and humans of Valyrian blood," she introduced herself gently.
"Wait, hold on- so you're telling me that you are- the actual deities of Old Valyria?" Lucerys was still trying to process that part of the information.
Another woman chuckled, her voice having an alluring quality to it, "Why, yes, young prince. They used to call us the Fourteen Flames, back when the people of Old Valyria were still around. Now only a few remember us and even fewer remember our names. Which is a pity, seeing as mine is truly a magnificent one. Meleys, doesn't it have a nice ring to it? Well, I suppose I'm still lucky in that regard, seeing as my name currently lives on in one of the swiftest and most beautiful dragons of this time and age."
"Must you always do this sister? Just introduce yourself like the rest of us are trying to do," a mischievous yet slightly exasperated voice told the goddess.
What a concept, telling off a goddess. Well, Lucerys supposed that if anyone would be able to do so, it would be another divine being.
"If you insist, dearest little brother. Meleys is my name, goddess of love, passion, desire, romance, lust, emotions, and sensuality," she purred.
The beautiful woman reminded him strangely of his uncle Aegon, or at least a younger version of him. The version of him that used to have a head full of lustrous white curls and a healthy complexion and demeanor, not yet plagued by the harsh realities of adulthood and alcohol.
"Oh? I will take that as a compliment then. Young prince Aegon used to be quite the beauty and he had so much potential, what a pity he was ruined by that Hightower wench and her power-hungry father."
"Yes, yes, now it's my turn! Vermax, at your service! God of trade, travel, diplomacy, commerce, messages, cunning, mischief, wit, and all that other stuff. I've waited so long to meet you! My namesake's rider's dearest person, what an honor, truly," he grinned at Lucerys, who found himself smiling back, reminded of his elder brother, which likely also came from the young man's brown curls that resembled those of Jace and himself.
Yet in the same breath, he turned oddly melancholic. Wherever he was, it was clear that Vhagar's attack had left him without his life and Jace was going to be devastated when he found out. He wished he could shield his brother from it somehow, yet he also knew that coming back to life did not just happen to anyone.
"We'll get to that part later, youngling! This is taking way too long, let's just do a quick introduction round to get this part over with and then we get to the interesting part! The name is Caraxes, god of protection, victory, honor, courage, strength, weaponry, and sacrifice," said a man who reminded him of Caraxes's rider, yet just like the goddess Shrykos, he had dark hair.
"I am Terrax, pleased to make your acquaintance young prince. They call me the god of the harvest, agriculture, the earth, hunting, wilderness, and animals," a man with long blonde waves and a friendly gaze spoke to him.
"Urrax, god of the sky, celestial bodies, stars, universe, planets, and constellations," said a man who looked like the stoic counterpart to Vermax - the god Vermax, not the dragon.
He was slightly amused when he spotted Meraxes pulling the man's ear and scolding him for seeming so unfriendly.
"Vermithor. God of fire, volcanoes, smiths, metalworking, crafts, masonry, and technology," a copper-haired one said simply, yet smiling awkwardly at him, clearly trying to avoid the same scolding Urrax was still suffering from.
"Hey there, I'm Syrax and it's so nice to meet you! Goddess of vegetation, fertility, festivity, pleasure, entertainment, and ecstasy!" She greeted him lazily while sipping from a cup of what seemed to be red wine.
She may have had golden hair instead of golden scales and the appearance of a human, yet she reminded him eerily of his mother's she-dragon who shared the goddess's name. Strangely enough, Lucerys felt as if she embodied his mother's younger self.
"They call me Tessarion, god of the oceans, waters, storms, natural disasters, exploration, and the weather," Lucerys was a little confused when a man spoke instead of a woman, associating the name with his youngest uncle's bright blue she-dragon, yet he quickly realized that the god's gender must've been misinterpreted over time. He was a rather handsome god, with wavy silver hair and bright ocean-blue eyes.
"My name is Tyraxes, goddess of the night, the moon, dreams, crossroads, innocence, and childhood," the next goddess smiled gently at him.
Her hair was almost white with only a slight silver shine to it, yet her pale complexion and the slight spotting of freckles on her nose, which seemed rather uncharacteristic for a goddess of the night and the moon, reminded him of his aunt Helaena. Helaena, if she had been able to choose her destiny instead of being forced into her mother's and grandfather's schemes from an age where she wouldn't have even been able to understand why she was suddenly being forced to marry her older brother.
Now only three deities were left. An androgynous-looking man with similar features to Tessarion and hair as black as the void he had experienced earlier spoke next, "I am Balerion, god of death, souls, secrets, transitions, endings, oaths, and contracts."
Lucerys suddenly felt small under the god's gaze. The god seemed to watch his reaction to his introduction closely until he started to smile slightly. Whatever he had found in Lucerys's reaction, he seemed to approve.
"My name is Vhagar," the next goddess started, yet paused deliberately as if she had already known that Lucerys would grow wary at the name.
"I know you have bad experiences with my namesake, in fact, your last interaction with her ended deadly for you so I do not begrudge you for your reaction. But allow me to prove that not all Vhagars are out for your blood. I am the goddess of wisdom, handicraft, weaving, good counsel, strategy, war, and warfare. And I also realize that it is quite ironic of me to say that I'm not out for your blood while also revealing myself to be the goddess of war, yet I promise you that you are not the enemy I wish to conquer in the upcoming war."
Lucerys merely nodded, too nervous to do anything else in the beautiful goddess's presence. Yet he recognized the irony in the fact that the namesake of his uncle's mount looked extraordinarily similar to himself. Aemond would never believe him if he told him, but then again, there was no scenario in which the both of them would ever get to have friendly banter again, or any type of friendly interaction.
Now only one god was left. He looked magnificent, brighter than any of the other gods. His hair was long and wavy and shimmering in either gold, silver, or copper, depending on how the light hit it. It was almost pearlescent in its beauty and Lucerys found himself recognizing the pearlescent quality of it very well.
"Arrax," he breathed out before the god could start his introduction.
Said god grinned brightly at him and nodded, "Indeed, young pearl. I am Arrax, the god of light, the sun, the day, life, inspiration, beauty, art, music, knowledge, and truth. I found myself very honored all those years ago when you named your young dragon after me. I have watched over you ever since, yet found myself unable to interfere at the other gods' insistence. Yet this time, I promise you, this time will be different."
"This time?" Lucerys found himself asking.
Whatever the Fourteen Flames had come up with, Lucerys knew that it either meant his doom or his salvation.