33 Chapter 33: The Man Who Would Be King...

*Roar!!*

*Rattle*

*Rattle*

The undead chained to the side of the mountain thrashed about, making the chains clink around as it tried and failed to get to everyone that was watching.

"They're real..." John whispered, though everyone still heard him.

"That's right!! These undead fucks are all over the north, but we've been doing a fairly good job of lowering their numbers." Will said calmly, not sounding the least bit worried about a cataclysmic enemy.

Walking over to the thing, Will used a regular sword to cut its legs off, showing everyone that it was still alive and would try to crawl towards them.

Stabbing the thing over and over in all of it's vital organs did nothing either, just proving how much of a threat these undead fucks could be.

"As you can see, the walkers are a little special. The only known ways of killing them are by fire." Will paused to ignite the legs with a torch, showing everyone how easily they burned, and how effective fire was against them.

"And with Dragonglass." Will added, stabbing a Dragonglass blade through the undead's heart.

"Valyrian steel works better, it being a blade of magic, but they're harder to find than Dragonglass." Will explained, making everyone gape at the sight.

Well, everyone but the giants and Drox. They had already dealt with the undead quite a bit in the past, so this was nothing new to them.

"We need to tell the lords of the south!" Jon exclaimed, worried about these things making it across the wall.

In his mind, he was thinking that everyone in Westeros needed to band together and march to the wall as soon as possible to combat this threat.

"As if that would do anything! They all believe the white walkers are a fairytale. They would sooner laugh in your face than march here. And if by some miracle you did convince them, then what? At best they would reinforce the Wall. They don't care what happens to this land, so long as they can continue to live their lives." Will explained, getting a frown in response from the young kid.

"My father- I mean, Lord Stark might..." Jon said, though by the tone of his voice, even he wasn't so sure about that.

"It's okay, Jon. I didn't show you all this so you'd bring a force to come and fight them. In fact, some of the Free Folk hunt them for sport." Will said, getting a confused look, not just from Jon, but most of the others as well.

"Why show us then?" Rhaenys asked, not seeing what other reason there could be.

"To show you that not every outrageous story is a lie, and that there are things that defy all understanding out there. Magic is a powerful thing, and if you just believe what others tell you, you might not survive out there." Will answered, knowing this was something that needed to be said.

It was true. In this world most people relied on rumor and hearsay, but if he wanted them to actually survive in this world, it would be best to take rumors with a grain of salt. Like a certain man in the south, it would be best to check things with your own eyes, and not just laugh at it because it sounded ridiculous.

Hell, Will was the perfect example of this. Many Lords in the south thought claims about him to be Ludacris, but that wasn't the case at all, and it wouldn't be all that hard to confirm either.

Still, many thought it was beneath them to look into things such as this, and it was this very thing that he wanted them to avoid.

They all walked back towards the little home they had been staying in, only now it had been upgraded to accommodate everyone that had come along with them.

Once they were all gathered around the fire, Will went into a big lesson about magic and some of the things they would all need to know about it in this world.

The first thing Will talked about was money, giving them all a little lesson on throwing their wealth around. He wasn't sure he was one to talk given how he spent seemingly endless amounts of gold like it was going out of style, but he hadn't even scratched the surface of what he owned.

This topic was mostly because Will had seen the way Oberyn's three eldest daughters spent gold in Asteria. He assumed it was how Robert Baratheon was spending the kingdom's gold, only it was just Dorne's, not the rest of the Kingdom's wealth they were spending.

With the topic of money brought up, Will explained that they couldn't just help themselves to whatever they wanted in the city and expect him to foot the bill, and how they shouldn't expect Oberyn, Elia, or Ellaria to foot the bill either

. Hell, Dacey had a job, and she was... let's just say she's a special woman.

"What about me?" Rhaenys asked, sticking out her lower lip and widening her eyes to hopefully gain a little bit of leeway with him.

"You've been learning about poisons from Oberyn for the last few years, so I'd recommend working in the Healing house on making some salves and ointments. You might even learn a few interesting things there." Will answered, surprising a few people, while making Rhaenys frown.

"What could be interesting about that?" She asked curiously, not shooting the idea down completely, but still not sounding too thrilled at the idea.

"Well, for starters you could learn how to heal someone who was hurt. You could also learn how best to hurt someone, or pleasure them in some cases." Will answered, getting a thoughtful smile from her in return.

She wasn't sure how she could learn that in the Healing House, but if Will said she could then it might very well be possible.

To Will's great horror, almost every person seemed to find working in the Healing House suddenly appealing. Even Elia looked like she was interested, making Will grumble something inaudible under his breath.

Moving on from what was no doubt going to be a headache in the future, Will addressed another topic, one that a certain few members of the group actually really wanted to know.

"I'd like to hear your opinions on how much longer you all want to keep your identities hidden." Will said, speaking to Elia, Rhaenys, Aegon, Daenerys, and Jon.

Sooner or later the rest of the world would find out they were alive, and it was most likely getting quite annoying for them to try and keep themselves from being exposed.

Daenerys even went so far as to color her hair red weekly, and that wasn't even mentioning the other crap they did.

Elia had the most noticeable reaction, looking a little concerned at the thought of them finally exposing themselves to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms.

Oberyn on the other hand looked rather excited at the thought, most likely envisioning himself going to war against the Lannister's and wiping them all out, which would no doubt happen should they expose themselves.

The Lannister's and Baratheon's would never be allies to the Targaryens, and would call their banners the moment they learned of a different claim to the throne with a strong backing. (Dorne, not Will.)

Robert slew Prince Rhaegar personally and took the throne, while Tywin sacked the city, Jamie killed the previous king, and Cersei was married to Robert.

Plus there was no way Tywin was going to give up his grandchildren being on the throne, it just wouldn't happen.

That basically meant the Stormlands and the Westerlands would be going against them should a war break out. Highgarden was on their side, or at the very least they wouldn't go against them once Will explained his connection.

The North was most likely out as well, as Will doubted that Ned would be willing to help Robert kill his nephew, no matter how close they were.

The Riverland's were iffy, with Jon Ayrn being married to Lyza Tully and Ned being married to Catelyn Tully, their father, Lord Hoster Tully would be at odds.

The Vale was questionable as well, mostly because Will wasn't sure Jon Aryn would go against Ned, but he would most certainly stand beside Robert. He would just do everything in his power to not have to go against Ned.

The Iron Islands were most likely out. Will had weakened them quite a bit over the last few years, and any sea battle was his without question. It was one of the reasons he didn't consider Stannis to be a major threat, him being Master of Ships and all.

Honestly, making Renly Lord of Storm's End was one of the stupidest things Robert could have ever done, in Will's opinion. Not only did it go against the laws of Westeros, where the eldest male child inherited the seat of power, but it divided the Stormlands.

Had Renly and Stannis joined forces instead of fighting it out in the show, they could have swept over Kings Landing and Ruled the Seven Kingdoms, though how long that lasted, Will wasn't sure.

Still, the North might have joined them if they weren't fighting each other, and they would have had Highgarden due to Loras and Renly being butt buddies.

It was a shame really, and all because Robert wanted to punish Stannis for not killing Daenerys and Viserys before they fled Dragonstone. It wasn't his fault the royal fleet was caught up in a storm, shit just happens.

Again though, Stannis was a lost cause the moment the Red bitch started whispering in his ear about being 'The prince who was promised!' That was a load of crap in Will's opinion.

Arya had been the one to kill the Nightking, and she wasn't royalty. She was just some little girl who got lucky with a knife. With that thought in mind, any swordsman with a magic blade could be the so-called 'Prince who was promised!'

It was one of the reasons Will hated prophecies. If he had the power to kill off some undead cunt, but was told not to because someone else would eventually rise up to do it instead, was he supposed to just sit back and watch? No, that was just fucking ridiculous.

There was also the fact that the Red bitch pretty much required everyone to worship the Lord of Light and then burned their own people alive. Sure, let's burn everyone loyal to us in hopes that some God might give us some power, that's a good idea!

That was basically the Mad King right there, and Will was willing to bet that Stannis realized that the day he burned his daughter alive, he was just too far gone to stop it at that point.

Back on track, Will looked over to Rhaenys and Aegon, wondering which option they would pick. They were all old enough to understand the consequences of their actions, and Will wondered how much longer they could keep their covers.

"I'm willing to wait a little longer. We only really use our covers when we're around other people, but we're not around others all that often. Plus it wouldn't hurt to thin out our enemies a bit before we go public." Rhaenys said, dragging her thumb across her throat to emphasize how she wanted to assassinate a few of the bigshots who might come after them when they did expose themselves.

It was a little dark seeing that coming from her, but Will would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly aroused by it.

Oberyn looked all for assassinating the Lannister's, preferably with poisons that made them suffer for a long while. The funny thing about that was Will could totally see Oberyn do that.

Elia frowned at her daughter, but she didn't say anything about it. In truth, she would much rather kill off those who would harm her family, and it would no doubt save the thousands of lives that would be ended in a war.

Jon stood up, looking at everyone before saying, "I'd like to wait a few years, at least until I'm capable enough to hold my own in a fight. I'm still growing, and if the last few weeks are anything to go by, I need to get better with a sword."

It was a valid excuse, and one that even Will found himself agreeing with. It was basically his own thinking on the matter. Get strong enough before you fight your enemies instead of rushing in and dying.

"I agree!" Daenerys shouted as she jumped to her feet. "I want to know what it feels like to love someone... not just... be a prize." She said, getting quieter after each word until she was speaking barely above a whisper.

That was a fair request. She didn't want a political marriage, not that Will was sure how she would go about actually meeting someone to be with romantically, still it was a thought.

Maybe he could introduce her to the children of a few lords and see if she hits it off with any of them. There were a few that came to mind, but he'd wait until later so it was a bit more private, maybe with just him and Elia there with her.

Finally the last of them to speak stood up. Will was a little shocked at how quiet Aegon was being. He expected him to be the first to shout out his answer, but he seemed to have been thinking the question over.

"If we didn't want the throne, but instead wanted to remove those in power, would you help us then?" Aegon asked, looking directly at Will.

The question actually caught Will a little off guard, and he wasn't quite sure what to say. On one hand he didn't want to get wrapped up in that sort of thing, but on the other he couldn't just turn his back against his family.

If anyone ever came after them, he would ride out front to meet the fuckers head on, but it was a different story if Aegon or someone else was asking for the fight. However Aegon's question seemed to give Will a new line of thought.

'Is it really wrong to get rid of those I know are going to come after them?' Still, that left a very important question.

"Who would sit on the throne?" Will asked, wondering if any of them would try and claim the iron chair.

"Why can't we just install the council like Will wanted?" Aegon asked, thinking it would solve all of their problems.

Get rid of the Baratheon's and Lannister's, and presto, no one else should want them dead. And if Westeros was ruled by a council, there shouldn't be any concern about a Targaryen rising up to be king, as that position would have been removed.

"I like what you're trying to do, but it's not gonna happen. At least not right away." Will stated, looking around to everyone in the room.

"Someone would have to appoint the council members, otherwise the rest of the Seven Kingdoms are gonna go to war over who should be king. My idea only works if a king appoints members from every kingdom and then runs the kingdom for a few years, then have the king step down. But think about it. No one is going to step down from being king and give away all that power. Humans crave power, it's what separates us from everything else. People are greedy by nature, and the council would no doubt turn into its own form of warfare. Everyone would be striving to be on top, most probably cheating the system to put gold in their own pockets, until it devolves into warfare. A king however can keep the council in check, which currently works. There just needs to be more of a requirement to rule than someone telling you you're special. Just look at Robert. That fat whoremonger should never have been allowed to sit on the throne." Will explained, getting frowns from everyone else.

They hadn't really thought about that, especially not to the point Will had. From that information alone, everyone could pretty much guess that it would take decades, if not centuries for Will's idea of a council to take hold on the kingdoms, and it still wasn't certain that it would ever happen.

Just look at the Targaryens rule. They had been killing each other off for the last 300 years because everyone believed they could do it better or because they wanted power.

Seeing as how everyone was still thinking about his words, Will spoke up again. "The idea of a council was just that, an idea. I honestly don't think it will ever happen in our lifetimes. As for getting it started, get a wiser king on the throne and have him choose a representative of each kingdom for his council."

It was true. Will had never intended to create a council for the Seven Kingdoms, it was just a better idea than having one dumb cunt making all the wrong decisions and everyone had to follow along with it because they were told he was special.

"That still leaves the question, who should sit on the Iron Throne?" Oberyn asked, bringing them all back to where they started.

"Why don't you take the throne?" Drox spoke up, looking pointedly at Will. The room had gotten oddly silent as everyone processed that little idea.

The benefits of Will sitting on the throne far outweighed the negative reasons. He actually cared about his subjects, at least the ones in Asteria, and he already had everything he needed to take the throne.

The backing of the Iron Bank, the Faceless men couldn't be used against him, he was rich beyond compare, powerful, well known throughout the world, allied with at least three of the Seven kingdoms, and had somewhat of a claim to the throne through Rhaenys.

Everything seemed to fit, other than one major flaw. "Fuck that!!" Will had no intention of sitting on the throne.

"I can tolerate people in small doses, like Asteria. Try to put a whole continent in my hands and I'd probably end up killing everyone. I'd rather burn most of the kingdoms to the ground, and I'm greedier than anyone else. You think I got rich because of my charming personality?! Fat fucking chance!" Will stated, shutting down the idea of him ever sitting on the Iron Throne.

It was actually a lot more complicated than that, but he didn't really want to go into detail about it.

The responsibility of so many people's lives in his hands wasn't something he wanted, nor did he want the political stress of knowing everyone and their dogs were out to get not only him, but anyone close to him that could be used as leverage.

There were also the mind numbingly boring meetings every day with people he didn't like, and the drama that went around. It just wasn't for him.

"If you won't sit on the throne, who do you think should?" Rhaenys asked, wanting to know if there was anyone Will actually would follow.

The question actually made Will have to stop and think about it for a minute. Of the Baratheon's, maybe Stannis before the Red bitch sunk her claws into him, but again, Will wasn't sure if he would continue after the Targaryens, so he was out.

With the strained relationship between the Martells and Lannister's, Tywin was out. Plus he was too old, and none of his children or grandchildren were suited for the Throne. Tywin would also never settle for leaving a threat to his rule alive.

The Starks didn't do well in the south, and they didn't know how to scheme and fight dirty, which was kind of a necessity when being a king, so they were out.

The Greyjoy's were out by default. Will would prefer to just wipe out the Iron islands, making it the Six Kingdoms instead.

Jon Aryn was out, him being too old and his son not being his son but the bastard of Petyr Baelish.

The Tyrells were a maybe, Will thinking that Willas might be smart enough, plus Highgarden already supported most of the Seven Kingdoms, and had the second largest military force of any of the other kingdoms.

As for house Martell, they were out. The first thing they would do would be to wipe out a few houses, something Will didn't think would go over too well.

Sure there was Aegon or Jon, but Will still wasn't sure if they were even up to the task of ruling. Sure, in the series Jon did lead the Night's Watch, but he got killed pretty quickly.

Then he was king of the North for a few episodes before he gave it to a power hungry cunt. Sure it was his aunt, and he only did it to save not only the North but the entire world, but he still never remained in charge very long. He was more suited to being a knight over anything.

As for Aegon, well... Will had no idea. He was never in the show, so he didn't have any future knowledge of the boy that might give him any ideas.

Sure he was smart, and pretty good with a sword, but Will honestly wasn't sure how he would do in a leadership position. There was also the fact that Will wasn't sure Aegon even wanted the throne, him never having shown any interest in it.

"We'll put that aside for another time. I don't know who would be best suited to rule, and I'm not gonna make some rushed decision that could lead to more harm than good." Will said, bringing an end to the subject of who would rule.

Still though, the subject had at least given Will a little bit of an idea to do in the future. He would put both Aegon and Jon in positions where they would actually have control over the lives of people, and see how they acted. Who knows, maybe one of them might surprise him in the future.

Anyway, there was still one more subject Will wanted to go over, and it was noticeably the hardest for him to talk about. The Gods.

It was something he knew had or would be brought up to them in the future, and it was best to get this over with now.

Will explained that the Gods in this world did in fact exist, but none of them were better than the others, and it was up to the people to pray to whichever one they chose.

He had to quickly add that he didn't worship any of them, and if he could he would rather see them all rot away into the nothingness.

The Old Gods, the Seven, the God of Light, the Drowned God, the God of Death, and so on. Will told them all about the ones he had heard about, even going so far as to bring out a book about religions in this world.

Mostly it ground down to worshipping a God who was closest to what you believed.

Like the Fertility Goddess in Lys with all the titties. If you were a whore, that Goddess might be the one to worship, whereas the Drowned God would be better for those who liked to fight at sea.

It was stupid, but Will figured it best to explain this so they wouldn't do what Tommen did in Game of Thrones and give the faith all the power.

One of Will's biggest points he made was that a God gained their power from their worshippers, so it was a two way street.

One of the most interesting topics came when Daenerys asked, "If the Gods are so bad, why do people worship them?"

Rather than Will explain it, Elia did. "The Gods watch over us, and sometimes they help us in our greatest hour of need. They give us strength to continue on, and when the day finally comes where we draw our last breath, they are there to guide us to our next journey." Elia explained, somewhat satisfying the little girl.

"There is also the magic they grant." Will chimed in, drawing all eyes to himself. Rather than waiting for someone to ask him to explain, he took the initiative.

"The priests and priestesses of Rholar are granted magic by their god to better help them sway more people to worship him. I'm sure the other gods give something, but I'm not certain. I think Warging comes from the Old Gods or the first men, but again, I'm not certain." Will explained, getting thoughtful looks from the others.

"If that's the case, why did we get Warging magic? Neither of our parents worshipped the Old Gods." Aegon commented, getting a nod of agreement from Drox, who knew full well that his parents never worshipped some trees.

"I said I wasn't certain. All I am saying is it's important to know these kinds of things because you'll most certainly meet others out in the world who don't follow the same beliefs as you do, and that's perfectly okay. Just don't think that everyone else has to think exactly like you do. That's how wars start." Will said, showing a rare moment where he was on the side of peace over chaos.

"What about you? You said you don't worship any of the gods, but is there one whose teachings you follow?" Jon asked curiously, despite knowing that Will didn't particularly like any of the Gods.

"None... I believe that many of the Gods do exist, while there are some that people just made up so people would do stupid things. As for worshiping a God or following a God, why should I devote myself to any of them? What have they done for me?" Will answered plainly, taking the question better than Aegon and Rhaenys expected him to, though he asked some confusing questions of his own.

"Didn't they give you magic?" Daenerys asked in confusion, remembering how Will brought up the fact that Gods did grant magic.

The room got unnaturally silent, the only sound coming from the crackling fire that grew a bit bigger all of the sudden, but died back down just as quickly.

Will didn't answer right away, instead getting to his feet. The question brought back memories he had preferred to remain locked away.

Sure the divine fuck granted him great magic, but at what cost? His parents, his older brother and his older sister. For the first time in years, he could see their faces perfectly in his mind, just as they had been before that night.

"It wasn't worth the price." Was all Will said before he walked outside, leaving everyone to wonder what happened between him and the Gods.

---------

A little over an hour after he left the others, Will was sitting on a stone chair beside a lake, staring off towards the water.

Whether it was conscious or not, Will was using water magic to create the images he was seeing in his mind, creating replicas of those he had lost.

His father wasn't overly tall, but he was a well built man with an almost too big of nose that carried thick square glasses.

His brother was a little trickier considering he was never sure how tall he was, he was just taller than him. Still, he had his mess of curly hair and goofy smile. Will even added the missing front tooth from when Tom missed the baseball their dad had thrown 2 weeks before.

Thankfully none of them inherited their father's nose, but Tom got Dumbo's ears. Will couldn't help the laugh that escaped him when he saw them. He never realized it considering he thought his brother was the coolest person ever, but now it was funny as fuck.

Moving on to his sister, Will was taken aback. She was like a mirror image of their mother, only with glasses. She had apparently inherited their father's poor eyesight.

He remembered her crying at him the day she got glasses, asking why she had to have his eyesight.

Her hair was up in her usual ponytail, which was the exact opposite of their mother. She had always worn her hair down, which might be why he never realized how closely the two resembled one another. That, and he was a kid who never really paid all that much attention to details like that.

Still, Sarah was as beautiful as she had always been. She had blossomed into a beautiful young woman, not that he ever noticed her like that.

It made more sense why Greg was always trying to ask her out, the little creep. God did he hate Greg. That little ball of cunt!!

Turning his head to the side, Will saw his final creation. The sight of his mother made him take a step forward, his hand reaching out to touch her.

A small part of him expected to feel her comforting hands wrap around him and tell him this had all been a sick twisted dream, but dreams were cruel that way.

She was gone.

When he touched her hand, it was neither cold nor warm. It just felt like he was touching a random object. Still, seeing her eyes and smile, he couldn't help how his lips curved upwards into a smile.

His mother was perfect in his eyes.

He often remembered his father saying how lucky he was to get a woman like her, and a few of his dad's friends thought the same thing.

He could still remember one guy asking why she settled for someone like his father, only to get a laugh in response before she replied, 'Who says he didn't settle for me?'

Will wasn't sure who settled for who, given how his dad always said he fell for his mom the moment he heard her sing, while his mother would say she fell for his dad the night he asked her to dance.

Both of them were really into dancing, even going so far as to try and get him and his siblings into it. Sadly only his sister shared their enthusiasm for the 'Art of Dancing' as his parents called it.

With a simple thought, the sculpture of his mother stepped forward towards him, holding her arms out in position. He could almost hear her telling him where to place his hands, even going so far as to remind him to not step on her feet.

He couldn't help how his smile grew wider, and for a moment he actually thought he was back in their house. You know, if the lighting was better, and he wasn't by a lake.

Before he even knew it, he was humming a Frank Sinatra song as he moved around, dancing with his mother. He only wished it was the real thing.

Still, he had always promised he would get at least one dance in with her where he didn't mess up. It still hurt thinking about that, but he pushed it away.

Will wasn't sure how long he moved around the area, or even how many songs he went through, but the sun had set long when he saw a hint of movement off in some trees.

The spell was broken, and the sculpture of his mother stepped back onto the water, standing next to the rest of his family who had remained completely still the entire time he had been dancing.

The only difference between now and earlier was that the sculptures were glowing, looking like when he was channeling magic into water to heal someone.

It really brought out their features, though without the color it still looked wrong. Looking back to where he saw the movement, he saw Elia walking towards him.

"My apologies for interrupting." Elia said once she got over to him, her eyes not on him but on the glowing water sculptures a few feet out on the lake.

"Don't be. I can't keep living in the past, otherwise I'll never move forward." Will said, drawing Elia's gaze to his.

"There is nothing wrong with cherishing memories of those you love. By keeping them with you in your heart, you're not holding yourself back." Elia said, bringing her hand up to caress his face.

"It is these bonds that give us strength when we need it, and show us why we continue to move forward each day. Hold them close to you, and never let them go." She added before she wrapped her arms around his back and hugged him.

Will stood there thinking about what Elia just said, and he couldn't help how his eyes kept moving towards the sculptures on the water.

Looking back on his life since coming here, he did most of what he did for reasons relating to the memories of those he lost, aside from stealing everything in sight. That was more of his true self then he cared to let on.

Anyway, he had never intended to forget his family, he just wanted to move on from the guilt he felt whenever he thought about them.

Sure he had no control over the matter from the get go, but they had died because of him. Again not something he did, just drew a bad card when it came to divine assholes.

He didn't want to feel like shit whenever he thought about his parents, and he didn't want to always be angry whenever he thought about the Gods. The odds of the last thing happening were slim to none. He hated them all with a burning passion.

Will was brought back to reality when Elia finally pulled away from him, her eyes meeting his, with that warm angelic smile that so much reminded him of his own mother.

She held his gaze for a few seconds before she turned to look at the glowing water sculptures, admiring the detail Will used when creating them.

"These are them? Your... family?" Elia asked, sounding a little sad when she said 'family'.

"This was my older brother, Thomas, but everyone just called him Tom." Will said, getting the replica of his brother to step forward before it gave a bow.

When the sculpture rose back up to its full height, Elia could see the playful smirk on its face, making it seem as though it was almost alive.

She glanced at Will to see if she was messing with her, but he seemed completely indifferent. It was unclear if he was doing this unconsciously, but Elia figured it was best to not say anything.

"This was my older sister, Sarah." Will said, and like the sculpture of his brother, this one too stepped forward, only it curtsied instead of a bow.

Like the brother, the sister also smiled, only it was a wide happy smile, not the smirk the brother had.

"This one here was my father, Henry Castian. It's obvious I didn't get my good looks from him." Will said in good humor. Hell, even the sculpture of his father flipped him the bird as it stepped forward, smiling warmly at them.

"And finally, this was my mother... Asteria Castian, named after the Goddess of falling stars and the night herself." Will said, sounding as though it was harder to speak about her than the others.

It still didn't stop the sculpture from moving forward like the others, giving a magical curtsy before she rose back up to her full height.

If Will was correct in how tall he made her, she was slightly taller than Elia, maybe by an inch or two at most. Looking at her, Elia couldn't help but smile as she stared at the sculpture.

"She was very beautiful. I can see now where you got your looks." Elia said, making Will smile.

"Yeah, I definitely look more like her than my father. Sarah used to tease me about it, saying I looked prettier than most girls my age. I always got so mad, I'd hide her toys from her." Will spoke, looking as though he was seeing the memory right in front of him.

"What happened to them?" Elia asked sadly, bringing up a question she knew Will didn't want to answer, and one she herself dreaded to hear, but she needed to know.

She could see how little things would make him angry, and especially how the subject of the Gods seemed to piss him off. She wasn't sure how she might be able to help him once she knew, but she would at least have a better understanding.

Taking a few deep breaths, Will calmed himself before he turned to the sculptures. After letting out a sigh, he recounted most of what happened, while leaving a few things out.

For one thing, he made sure not to mention anything about him coming from a different world, which was hard when telling the story. He also left out the part of it taking years to kill everyone involved, simply stating he killed them.

Rather than tell her he met a literal God, Will explained that the people who were responsible for his family's deaths followed a God that got off on seeing people suffer, and how they did it all for him. It was somewhat of a reason to hate the Gods, just maybe not all of them like Will did.

After he finished recounting the story, Elia hugged him again, tears streaming down her own face. She could sympathize with him, having almost gone through something very similar had Will not been there that day, only it wasn't by worshippers.

When they finally separated, they both looked back towards the lake where the sculptures were still standing. Will let out a deep breath, and before Elia knew what happened the sculptures turned to ice.

Clenching his fist, Will watched as the sculptures shattered into millions of tiny pieces, then turned and began to walk back towards home with Elia walking in step beside him.

His old family might be gone, but he had a new one here that depended on him and looked towards him for guidance.

He was strong enough to protect them this time, and he would be damned before he let the same thing happen to them.