401 WORLDFINISHER

The remaining Wildlings that just wanted to live their lives away from the kneelers, were asked to make a choice. They could be given glasshouses to keep themselves fed without having to move or uproot themselves, or they could be given their own lands far away from the cold and the snow.

Not surprisingly, they all chose the second option. It also kept them very far away from the kneelers they hated so much and it was much easier to farm and care for animals on actual land than in what they thought was the limited spaces inside the glasshouses.

That also put an end to their nomadic ways of moving around each season as they hunted for herds of animals to use as food and clothing, because they had an actual home to return to instead of a tent or a hut they built out of scraps of animal hides and pieces of wood wherever they ended up.

The lifestyle change was both shocking and a relief for most of them, especially the women. They quickly adapted to the new social dynamic of neighborhoods like ducks to water,too. Their men still had useful skills, even if they grumbled about having to go to school to learn to read first before they were allowed to use those skills.

*

Arya Stark's fifth nameday celebration wasn't as huge of an affair as Sansa's was, since she was only the second daughter. Quite a few people still showed up, since her name had been spread around fairly far after she went missing. The girl couldn't have been happier, because she was getting attention for who she was and not because she was Ned Stark's daughter.

Her prowess in the training yard had also spread pretty far. She had been able to sneak away from her afternoon lessons and everyone easily saw Jon Snow's influence of the girl's movements and her tactics. No one questioned how good she was with the training sword or ever found out she had a training dummy hidden in her room to practice with.

Speaking of Jon Snow, he showed up at midday at the southern gate of Winterfell riding a huge horse. He greeted the soldiers and was allowed through without hassle. He also waved and greeted the smallfolk as he rode towards the keep. Only a few people questioned why he was doing so, since the other times he had been seen around Winterfell, no one had really seen him arrive before.

He dropped his stallion at the stables and it was treated like royalty, much to the horse's pleasure. The stableboy was also delighted to have such a fantastic animal under his care and everyone offered to help him pamper the thing, which he accepted.

Jon's gift to Arya would be the golden violin, which he had started teaching her to play during his late night visits. The song he played and sang before he handed it over was eye-opening and shocking. The slightly reworked lyrics to David Bowie's China Girl were appropriate words to become Stark Girl.

“I could escape this feeling, with my Stark girl. I'm a wreck without my, little Stark girl.” Jon sang and played the violin. “I hear her heart beating, as loud as thunder, like the stars crashing down. I'm a mess without my, little Stark girl.”

Everyone in the Great Hall stared at him, especially Arya and Sansa.

“I wake up in the morning, where's my little Stark girl? I hear her heart beating, loud as thunder, like the stars crashing down.” Jon sang. “I'm feeling sad, like I'm a beggar for food, when I look at my Stark girl. I could pretend that, nothing really meant too much, when I look at my Stark girl.”

Now even Catelyn was staring at him with a conflicted look on her face.

“I stumble into town, just like a errant goat, with visions of welcoming hearths in my head and plans for everyone!” Jon sang and played. “You can see them in the whites of my eyes.”

That really gained everyone's attention, because everyone had heard about the symbol of Freedom Harbour. Was Jon Snow going to travel there?

“My little Stark girl, you shouldn't mess with me. I'll ruin everything, you are... and you know it.” Jon sang with a smirk at Catelyn's gasp. “I'll give in to your demands. I'll give you everything. I'll even give you someone that wants to save the world!”

He played the violin like it owed him money for a few moments, then calmed right down.

“When I get excited, and try to tell you... my little Stark girl says, oh baby, just you shut your mouth.” Jon softly sang and every woman and girl in the place blushed. “She says, 'shhhh'. She says, 'shhhh'.”

He softly played the violin, almost hauntingly. “When I get excited, and try to tell you... my little Stark girl says, oh baby, just you shut your mouth. She says, 'shhh'. She says, 'shhh'. My little Stark girl.”

The song ended and Jon closed his eyes as he walked over to a teary-eyed Arya at the main table and handed her the violin, added a fancy carved wooden case from his burlap sack, then he bowed to a crying Sansa, a stone-faced Catelyn, and a worried Ned Stark.

“Happy Birthday, Arya Stark.” Jon said, then he turned and bowed to the crowd before he walked out of the Great Hall through the main doors. He didn't use the servant's entrance this time, which surprised them all. For some reason, they somehow knew that meant Jon Snow wasn't coming back to Winterfell for a very long time.

*

Tyrion Lannister's raven to Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, had set the proverbial wolf among the sheep. There were several long small council meetings about the disturbing news, and more rumors, and the confirmation that the new nation was much better than their expectations. That was a horrible thing to discover, because if word spread about what was really there, it could gut the smallfolk population.

The council went to work, spreading counter-rumors about how Freedom Harbour was all a lie and how it was a trick to make people volunteer to become slaves. Surprisingly, this played right into people's natural disbelief and nearly everyone that heard the new rumors accepted them.

While that was happening, Varys slipped away and gathered his holdings and money, sold everything else, and boarded a ship. He disappeared from onboard a short time after departure and would never be seen again. His things were split among the crew and they changed their destination to Braavos.

*

I tried to not be upset that I couldn't use my clairvoyance powers to search for the Others. Whatever was affecting the world's magic, clouded everything that had to do with them. I knew it took time to raise dead bodies for their army and hoped to get ahead of it, only to be blocked with every attempt.

The only thing I could do was to go out and physically search for them, which could take many years, because the land beyond the wall, the place of permanent Winter, was a huge place and was under constant snowstorms and white-out conditions. I couldn't just fly over the area and search, because you couldn't see the ground from the air.

It was annoying that I couldn't set the entire upper continent on fire and hope to catch some of them unaware. They had their own magic to combat it and it was never going to be that easy. There was also no guarantee that a surface fire would even do anything against them. They could be in a blocked off cave or even underground, which would potentially save them from any flames, even fiendfire.

“There is no rush, Jon.” Melis reassured me. “You've set the darkness back by an unknown amount of time. It will need all that time to build up again to try and counter all of the good you have set upon the world.”

I sighed and sat beside her on the couch. “I feel like I'm stagnating with the big things done.”

Melis softly laughed and leaned against me. “R'hllor is very happy with everything.”

I had to smile at that. “Is it because some of the people are associating the hearth flame symbol with the lord of the light?”

“Your symbol is quickly becoming a symbol of hope, Jon. Everyone that goes there to discover what you've done, sees the wonders you've made and their minds open up to all the possibilities.” Melis said and opened her book again.

I put an arm over her shoulders and she gave me an odd look. “I'm a hugger and I'm not sorry.”

Melis huffed and unconsciously cuddled in a little more as she continued to read.

As we sat there on the couch, I went over everything that I did, what I still had to do, and I realized that it really would be years before anything significant was going to happen. I had changed so many things that none of my previous knowledge was applicable anymore.

That alone should have worried me; but, I didn't feel worried in the least. The brewing conflict in Kings Landing as they tried to stop the people of Westeros from fleeing, even if it was only in their minds that it would happen. People weren't that fickle and assumed their lives wouldn't change very much if they moved from one kingdom to another.

Even if they believed Freedom Harbour was the promised land, where they would have no problems or worries, they still had to live their lives, take care of themselves and their children, and survive. The only thing that would change was where they lived. When given the choice, most people with a normal life will stay where they are and with the people and places they know.

I closed my eyes and used my clairvoyance power to look in on Tyrion Lannister as the caravan finally came into sight of the newly created inland sea. The little man's eyes widened at the huge island floating above it, with dozens of gigantic waterfalls splashing down from it into the sea, and he kept his gaze transfixed onto it until they came to a stop at the main resort.

They were greeted like honored guests by the staff I had hired and everyone in the caravan spread out to enjoy themselves. None of them had ever seen anything like a resort, or heard stories like it, so they were all in awe at the whole thing.

Tyrion himself was brought to the biggest suite and told the schedule of events, the things he could do if he so chose, or he could relax by the many pools and just enjoy the scenery. The little man was stunned with the whole thing and he pretty much collapsed into bed and stared at the ceiling. His thoughts were mixed, with some being unable to fight against such odds and the rest wanting to stay there forever.

His next report to Kings Landing should be an interesting one. I thought and stopped using my power. I knew whatever he told them wouldn't change anything, though. They would work overtime to keep their stranglehold on their population of smallfolk and all that would do is allow more of them to slip through their fingers.

It would only be a trickle at first, the sad and downtrodden, because all they want is a glimmer of hope. Just like Melisandre said, hope was going to spread and that by itself was going to fight against the darkness without having to fight the Others directly. Not for a long time, anyway. Tales of White Walkers moving around would remain tales for many years to come.

World Paused.

Congratulations! You have reached a perpetual balance between the Light and the Darkness on this world. It is well known that one cannot exist without the other, for without the darkness, there would be nothing for the light to do.

Huh, I never thought about it like that. I thought, relieved the asshole British voice that tried to take over handling my system was no longer the one speaking. I was all set to destroy the wights and work my way up to the source of it all.

Conceptual powers are difficult to combat, since they are empowered by everyone's belief that they exist. You would need to remove everything that ever existed to change anything like that on a fundamental level. Destroying the manifestation of evil might not remove the evil itself, just its influence temporarily.

Well, that's good to know. I thought with a chuckle and glanced around the white space. I assume I'm being given the option to live out the rest of my life or to move on?

You are correct!

You can choose where you want to go, the options you want, and who the protagonist will be when you go there.

I'll still receive the memories of a dimensional clone as soon as I choose? I asked.

Of course. It's now standard procedure to ensure you never miss out on anything.

You can always choose to go back and live them out in first person at any time, especially if you want to meet the many women you have set up as potential partners this time.

I laughed, because I had set quite a few of them up for that and it wasn't on purpose. I was just doing what I always did to help and they appreciated it more than I thought they would. Rather than stay around and waiting for years for any of that to happen, I chose to move on and received all the memories I would have had if I lived out the rest of my life there.

To my surprise, Arya actually chose to foster under Lady Mormont instead of Lady Olenna Tyrell, whom had accepted Sansa Stark years before. The court-trained young woman got along very well with Margaery, Dany, Elinor, Alla, and Megga, and soon became so close that they were all set up with betrothal contracts at the same time and all agreed to foster their children together.

Sansa always held a hidden love for Jon Snow and only ever admitted it to one other person, whom also always had a hidden love for him, Dany Rivers. They married highborn men and lived their lives as best as they could, with Dany managing to meet someone she got along with well and had a son she named Jon, in my honor.

I did visit the Mormont Islands when I was of age and was pretty much used as a baby factory dispenser. It was almost funny that they each wanted me to remain hands off when the children were born, because they didn't want undue influences on their children. Not surprisingly, they were all girls, since that was what they asked for in the heat of passion.

What I hadn't planned on was Arya slipping into the rotation and taking me for herself. She had waited years to tell me she loved me and hadn't had the courage to until Lady Mormont instilled into her that her needs were just as important as everyone else's. If she didn't take me when she had the chance, she was afraid that she would never get the chance again. She had a little girl, too.

Melis moved to the floating island and I built two temples there, one for Goddess Hestia and one for R'hllor. Both had braziers with eternal flames inside and both were decorated as temples of worship were supposed to be. I even installed a teleportation circle for Melis to use to travel to the others.

The populations of the cities grew and more people showed up to start new lives. It was a self-perpetuating machine, thanks to the schools that taught new ways to build houses and to maintain the structures already there. No one would ever be without a home again.

Arianne Martell was quite grateful to me when I eventually showed up in Dorne to claim my reward. The three women I had rescued were already married by then, so it was only her and her handmaidens that thanked me for giving her the kingdom. They each asked for daughters as well and I was happy to provide them. She never married and her bastard daughter became the Princess of Dorne with no one protesting it.

Life went on for everyone else in the seven kingdoms, with King Robert living to a ripe old age and having several children with his mistress. He never did marry again and his eldest son assumed the throne without anyone putting up a fuss about it. The kingdom had been at peace for many years and changing rulers wasn't as big of a thing as it could have been, if Robert had died when he was younger.

Tyrion actually moved to the resort and opened his own brothel there. He sent for the tall woman that had intrigued him so much, and she agreed to live with him and run the place with him. They never married, despite the Imp asking her to get hitched every morning.

All the woman did was tell him she appreciated that he could always make her laugh by being so silly. They had three children, two girls and a boy, and none of them were afflicted with the same condition their father was. Tyron was relieved that they wouldn't suffer through their lives like he had and he thanked the old gods and his woman every day for the three miracles.

As for me? I didn't have to do anything else after setting everything in motion. I wasn't needed as a family man, even if I wanted to be, so I gave my glasshouses to Lady Olenna Tyrell and retired to my mansion in Freedom Harbour. When I reached the ripe old age of fifty, I decided to move on and that was where the memories ended and I appeared here in this space again.