Chapter 35: Stark Reunion

As Aiden left a scowl formed on Catelyn's face, "How dare you Ned, he uses magic, the Seven say magic is evil, I shall not that bastard practicing such abominable and detestable things such as magic. He could've harmed our son."

Ned looked at her strangely, "Why weren't you complaining when he healed you, he performed no blood magic. Did you see any blood used?"

"I was mearly being polite, he may have blood stored elsewhere that we don't know about. He is a bastard Ned, a trickster and seducer, he is trouble Ned." Catelyn said as she rubbed her belly.

The reason he didn't say anything during the display of power was due to the calming effect he had used to ease her mind and body, so she was in a state of euphoria and wasn't thinking on what Aiden was doing. Now that he had finished she realized what he did had to have been magic.

Aiden heard everything, he chose to ignore such blatent ignorance, contining on Aiden easily found the room that was reserved for when the royal family members visited Winterfell, it used to be Bran the Builders room and all other Stark Kings after him, it wasn't until Torrhen Stark who bent the knee to Aegon that the room was given up and the main room relocated.

It didn't take long for Aiden to set up the device, he had used a direwolf statue as a cover for the device so that no one would suspect anything abnormal.

The device used phantom zone technology to connect to the Fortress of Solitude as well as Kandor, this would allow ease of teleportation no matter where in the Omniverse his Fortress was. This technology also interlinks any other Fortress he sets up in any other universe in the future.

Aiden already had the desire to explore the cosmos, the only reason he had yet was he knew the Night King and Brynden Rivers were a huge danger. He didn't want to leave this world by itself. However things had changed, he had learned of his ability to split himself, so now he could leave a copy here and go explore.

It was the only way to get stronger and to break his self imposed limits, he understood that this world was very low, even the gods of this world weren't very strong. Much of their strength had been depleted thanks to their own wars against each other. They relied on faith and sacrifices, as it is today, The Many-Faced God and The Great Stallion were the strongest.

The Many-Faced God was actually the strongest due to he was worshipped the most, he had several names. The Stranger from the Faith of the Seven, The Old Gods of the Forest, the Drowned God, R'hllor, The Black Goat, The Weeping Lady of Lys and The Lion of Night were all the same god. They just represented the many different aspects of The Many-Faced God.

Aiden was unsure of how to handle such a God of Death, he knew that the God wasn't exactly evil, it was humans that misinterpreted the teachings. This wasn't an uncommon thing.

Take Melisandre for example, originally she thought Stannis was the "Prince Who Was Promised" but as events unfolded she began to realize that she had misinterpreted the vision. Humans are biased, even if you try to be neutral, you have certain subconscious likes and dislikes that can effect your decisions.

Aiden had thus decided to not be proactive regarding the gods, not unless they themselves began to cause another holy crusade, which would be something he would detect, like how he detected the influence of Brynden Rivers.

After everything was completed Aiden send a notification to Kelex to have him inform Lyanna that the device was set up, she would now have access to visit Winterfell any time she wished. Almost immediately after the notification was sent, there was a flash of light and Lyanna appeared along with Arthur Dayne, Jaime Lannister, Aegon VI, and Ashara Dayne.

"It's about time you set it up, I was beginning to wonder if you had something against my family." Lyanna stated with a big smile, she hadn't seen her brothers in so long.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't like them very much. However your brother actually changed my mind recently, he stood up to Robert and has cut ties with him and Jon Arryn completely. I thought he valued honor over family, especially after he remained loyal in a sense even after you told him the truth. But he has changed. He backs your son now rather than that fat stag." Aiden said with a shrug.

"It's about time that idiot saw things for what they truly are." Arthur stated, which earned him a elbow into his side from his sister.

"So where is everyone?" Ashara asked as she looked around.

"Downstairs, Lady Stark is pregnant with their fifth child now, but due to recent event began to have some complications, so I healed her body and mind a bit to keep it from deteriorating further." Aiden said with a shrug.

"Do they know I am here?" Lyanna asked.

"Nope, I only asked for a room to set up a few things and that was all they knew." Aiden answered.

"Good. I wanted it to be a surprise. Come son, lets go meet the rest of your family." Lyanna said as she took Aegon's hand.

Aiden looked strangely at Ashara, he knew she had history with Ned, so he couldn't help but ask, "What made you decide to join in on this trip?"

Ashara just gave a smile and pointed at her brother Arthur as he and Jaime followed Lyanna to go meet the others.

"I have to make sure he behaves around Ned, he wouldn't dare start anything with him while I'm around. So have you found yourself a wife yet?" Ashara said teasingly.

"Not quite. You do realize that I may not be staying much longer right. I do plan on doing some exploring myself but eventually I will go check out other places."

"Oh, so you would never return once you leave?" Ashara asked a little somberly.

"That's not it, besides I would set up another Fortress in another universe so I can easily return and even you all could visit those universes too." Aiden responded with a smile.

"Good. You better not just run away, I wouldn't mind seeing these new places you go visit too." Ashara said as she made sure to bump up against Aiden as she passed by him.

Aiden turned and followed them down to the main hall which was now abuzz with excitement and joy as soon as they entered the room.

"Lyanna! Is that really you?" Ned shouted as he shot up from the dinner table.

"Of course it's me you idiot, I had to come see my older brother and my nieces and nephews. I have missed you." Lyanna replied as tears began to form in her eyes.

The rest of Ned's family were stunned by this sudden events, but quickly joined in on the celebration. This was the first time they had met their Aunt, Ned had talked about her rarely due to not wanting it to accidentally get out in case Robert ever came north.

The servants were asked to bring more plates, to which Lyanna and the others denied the need. They had already ate for one and also the food they had available within Kandor was much better.

Aiden couldn't help but laugh at the awkward atmosphere when Ned had noticed Ashara was also there, but it quickly evaporated due to Aegon, he was extremely intelligent and hit it off with everyone. He was very outgoing and quickly made friends with his cousins, as well as gaining the approval of even Catelyn herself.

Aiden smiled at seeing the family once again reunited after so long. After a bit Lyanna finally looked around and noticed one of her brothers weren't in the hall.

"Ned, where's Benjen? Is he out on another of his hunts or something?" Lyanna asked curiously.

Ned shook his head, "Nay, not long after Roberts Rebellion was over, Benjen went and took the Black. He is a Ranger now with the Nights Watch."

Lyanna's face hardened, "You allowed this? Why would he do such a thing?"

Ned shrugged, "I couldn't stop him even if I tried, he chose his path, although the Nights Watch isn't what it once was, they are always in desperate need of men. Out of the nineteen castles along the Wall only three are actually in use. Shadow Tower, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and Castle Black. All the others are empty, so he and some others went to join. He still comes and visits to recruit men and grab supplies for the Wall, he should be coming soon, he hasn't been here in a few moons, he usually comes around every third moon or so."

"Good. I plan to stay for a bit, visit father and Brandon in the crypts, show Aegon where I grew up, if that's ok with you." Lyanna stated as she looked to see if Aiden had given her family the bracelet.

"Of course it is, in fact I would enjoy that greatly." Ned said with a beaming smile.

"Aiden-El! Why don't I see bracelets on my family members." Lyanna demanded, to which Aiden shot up out of his seat quite quickly.

When she used his real name he knew she meant buisness, so he quickly responded, "Hey hey, I just kinda forgot ok. A lot has went on you know. Sheesh, chill just a bit. I'll give them now."

Ned and the others chuckled at the scene, however Catelyn looked a little confused, "El? Isn't his last name Sand? Isn't he a Dornish bastard?" Catelyn asked.

"You would like that wouldn't you? Unfortunately he isn't. Elia only called him that so he could stay with her easier, she claimed him a bastard of her Uncle Lewin Martell of the Kingsguard. Otherwise they would've forced her to send him to Dorne and not allowed him to stay at Kings Landing with her to raise as her own." Ashara said sternly, she knew Catelyn's feelings on bastards very well.

Aiden ignored their conversation and had multiple bracelets appear from his storage and began to hand them out to each Stark, once he handed them out he gave Ned two of them and explained their use.

"These will allow you to go to my city, as well as communicate with myself and any other braclet wearer. To go to Kandor, you just need to enter the royal chambers and touch the symbol on the top, you will then appear within my city. If you want to talk to someone, just say the name of the person after you hold your finger on the same place and it will allow you to talk to them."

"You never said you owned a city, where is it? Essos? Westeros?" Ned asked as he looked at the bracelet.

"Neither, its up in the sky. It's so beautiful, you should see it. The food is wonderful and the technology is so advanced. There's these things called televisions that have moving pictures and sounds, flying carriages called ships, and there's even all sorts of wildlife that you can see. It's wonderful." Lyanna explained.

All the Starks were shocked by this explanation, seeing the doubt in their eyes, Lyanna continued, "Don't believe me? Let's go now, you can meet Rhaenys and everyone else. You can come whenever you want."

Catelyn however had a scowl and said, "Magic is evil, I'll not allow my family associated with such vile things."

"It's not magic. It's science. Although thats all magic really is, science you don't understand. Take that bracelet for example, it is science, it does only what it is made to do, you don't need magic to use it, anyone who has it can use it and it will work. Obviously it will only work if I allow it, you have permission to use so it will work, but say if Maester Luwin were to steal it he doesn't have permission so its just a normal bracelet to him. That too is science, its linked to you by your fingerprint and voice among other things." Aiden explained, he avoided saying blood since he knew any mention of blood would just be more trouble and they wouldn't understand DNA either.

"So no not magic, not even what I did earlier was magic, I won't go into how I accomplished it because you wouldn't understand it anyway. But you also don't have to join them, I won't force anything onto you or anyone else. Now if you all would excuse me, there is something that I need to do." Aiden then walked out of the hall.

Just as he made it outside, Aiden flew up into the air quickly.

This shocked many of the guards, seeing a man fly away was surprising. Ned shoock his head and asked, "Maester Luwin, what do you think?"

Maester Luwin had a contemplative look on his face, "I have studied magic, that is why I have this Valyrian steel link, I have never thought about it that way. It does make sense, many people have likened our healing to magic when we make concoctions and potions for healing. I always wondered why they would think so, but to them who don't know the effects of herbs and their uses, it would seem magical. Magic is science you don't understand, intriguing indeed, I must speak more on this with him."

"Come on, we can return quickly, you have to see where I have been living. I'm bring my nieces and nephews anyway so you may as well join us." Lyanna stated, she wanted to try to smooth things over, the only way to prove it was seeing it for themselves.

She didn't want them giving Aiden any trouble, she knew she would need to have a talk with her brother and sister-in-law to clarify a few things.

Lyanna guided the Starks for a quick tour of Kandor, it was mainly to show how they could escape Winterfell if ever in danger, or needed medical attention since Kandor had advanced medical facilities, never could be too safe in a world where betrayal occurred daily.

Although it wasn't as prevalent in the north as it did in the south, it still occurred, however the house that always led the trouble was now extinct and surrounded. Ned had arranged to leave in a few days to travel to the Dreadfort, he had just arrived from a long journey, so having a few days rest was to be expected.

As the Starks left to visit Kandor, Aiden had detected a battle to the west, after listening in he found it to be a pirate attack, being carried out by the Ironborn once again.

'Didn't they just rebel? Must be they know that the kingdom is fractured once again.' Aiden thought as he flew high into the atmosphere to get a look at the bigger picture.

Looking towards the Iron Islands he was able to see what was going on, after knowing what was happening he began to descend to assist Bear Island, they were loyal to House Stark so he was obligated to help them.

Also the other places being attacked by the Ironborn had better defenses, plus it was the Westerlands they were attacking so he didn't mind.