Chapter - 31

Doran Martell sat on his balcony overlooking Sunspear, thinking about the news he had been receiving about a certain healer. The sound of his door opening broke him out of his thoughts, but he didn't turn around to look. He knew who had just entered; he had called for him.

"Oberyn," he said.

"Brother, how are you this fine morning?" Oberyn asked.

"I am as well as I can be, but a certain matter has been clouding my thoughts," Doran replied.

"Do tell," Oberyn said.

"What do you know so far about the White Mage?" Doran asked.

"I've heard quite a few tales about him, not sure if I completely believe them, though," Oberyn said.

Doran sighed deeply, "Believe me when I say that there is truth to the stories. I have been hearing more and more about him lately, and I believe that he could be a valuable asset to our cause."

"I see. Is that why you called me back?" Oberyn asked.

"Yes. I have been taking this particular matter lightly so far, but it's time to see if he can fit into our plans," Doran said.

"So you want me to go north to meet up with the healer and do what exactly?" Oberyn asked.

"Find out everything you can about him, what makes him tick. We need to make sure he will not affect our plans, and if possible, even help us in it," Doran replied.

Oberyn smiled, "Consider it done, brother. When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow morning. And Oberyn, make sure you don't cause any problems," Doran warned.

"No promises," he replied with a smirk, and then he turned and left the room.

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After finding out all I could from the mercenaries, including when and where they were supposed to meet the guy who hired them, I came up with a plan to best make use of that information. However, I had some time before I needed to act.

I looked around the clearing and saw that I would have to build some kind of house to stay in here because I couldn't keep working in the open for long. But that was an issue for another day.

I spent an hour conducting some last-minute tests on my new subjects. They were still alive, and I had some more uses for them.

But for now I had something important to do After testing it for weeks, It was finally time to unlock my magic.

I checked all the pathways that I had created and glanced back at Fenrir, who was sitting behind me. "If I pass out and don't wake up by dusk, go back to Winterfell and bring Freya here," I instructed him.

I wasn't sure what she would be able to do if something did go wrong but better safe than sorry.

Fenrir nodded his head in acknowledgement before going back to chewing on whatever animal he had found.

Taking a deep breath, I sat down cross-legged, closing my eyes, and began to concentrate.

I focused on the intricate details of the schematic in my mind. Every muscle and lining had to be perfect; every nuance accounted for. I had been working on this project for weeks, and now it was time to put my plan into action.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and visualized the cavity that would house my new heart, the one that would give me power beyond my wildest dreams. With a steady hand, I began to shape the heart, following the pathways that I had carefully constructed. It was like molding clay, but with the added weight of my entire life on the line.

As the heart took shape, I felt an energy building inside me, like a coiled serpent ready to strike. The magic was flowing through me, filling me with an indescribable sense of power. I could feel every nerve ending come alive with the rush of energy.

And then it happened. The heart gave its first beat, and the magic exploded outwards, engulfing me in a bright aura. My body felt like it was vibrating with electricity, and I let out a euphoric scream. I had done it. I now had access to something most would only dream off.

But then, just as quickly as the joy had come, it was replaced by a searing pain that shot through my brain like a bolt of lightning.

Before long darkness consumed me.

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I woke up in a completely unfamiliar place.

'Unfamiliar' was putting it mildly; I was floating in a sea of stars.

As I drifted in the empty space, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of confusion and fear. Had I died for the second time? Was this some sort of afterlife?

But before I could spiral further into panic, "You're not dead. In fact, you completed the process perfectly," a voice reassured me.

As I turned towards the source of the voice, my eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected sight before me. Standing there was a man who bore an uncanny resemblance to the eleventh Doctor.

My mind couldn't quite make sense of what was happening.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor," the man said with a playful grin.

"What the fuck?" I blurted out, still trying to wrap my head around the situation.

The man chuckled at my reaction. "The look on your face! I love doing that. And to answer your question, no, I'm not really the Doctor or Matt Smith. I am what you might call a …"

I finished his sentence for him, "Random omnipotent being?"

The man grinned and gave me a mock salute. "Ding, ding, ding! Ten points to Slytherin."

"Uh, aren't you a little late on the introduction? Shouldn't this conversation have happened when I first got here?" I asked.

He winced at my question. "Yes, but you see, I was kind of drunk and not in any position to have a coherent conversation at the time."

I give him a deadpan expression, "Right."

He just pouts at me.

"So…" I ask.

"You can call me Matt," he says with a wide smile.

"Okay, Matt, so what's the grand plan here? Why me? Why did you send me here?" I ask him the main question.

"Well, you see, I have been observing your life, and you were such a fun guy. I mean, I've heard of people causing forest fires by accidentally throwing away their cigarettes, but you, my friend, decided to defy logic and started a forest fire to light your cigarette. I have honestly never laughed so hard in a long time."

I blush at the memory and mutter, "It was an accident."

"You can't lie to me, El. I know that you are an arsonist at heart," he said in a sing-song voice.

"After all the honestly insane shit that you used to do, I was not ready for you to stop everything and become so fucking boring, man. So, I had to get you out of there and put you in a position where you could do anything. And yet, it still took you four years to start doing mad shit again," he continued.

I looked at him in incredulity and said, "Jesus Christ, are you the god of insanity or something?"

As soon as the words escaped my mouth, I knew I had messed up. The entity's goofy expression twisted into an eerie blankness, and the void around us began to fracture. I felt a primal instinct in my brain, warning me not to focus on whatever lay beyond those cracks.

The entity's warning snapped me back to reality. "Do not say that name again," it cautioned, "He and I have some unresolved issues."

The cracks disappeared as quickly as they came, and the entity's face returned to its former silly expression.

Relief washed over me, and I made a mental note to be more careful with my words in the future and put a pin on the implications of his statement.

"And yes, I am The God of Insanity," he said proudly.

I looked at him in disbelief, "That's just perfect," I said with a sigh.

"So all I'm supposed to do is some insane shit in this world?" I asked.

"While I would like that, I know you don't plan on doing much again until the plot starts, so I'll give you that. But in four years, I expect some insanity," he said without any room for compromise.

"Yeah, I can do that," I said reluctantly.

"Wonderful! Now, as you may have suspected, your powers are incomplete, and you are on the right track to unlocking them completely. Just analyze all the weird shit in this world, and you'll be all good."

"Okay," I replied. It made sense that my powers worked on data, so the more I explored, the more versatile I would become.

"And if you collect them all, you get a prize from me. Isn't that exciting?" he said with a grin.

"Sounds fun," I replied in a deadpan tone.

"Now, now, you don't need to take that tone with me, young man." he said, trying to sound stern.

"Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?" I asked, getting a bit used to the entity before me.

"Hmmm, not really." he shrugged

"One last question then?"

"Yes, go on," he replied.

"I'm curious, when you said you were drunk when I died, what exactly do you drink?" I asked, genuinely intrigued.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression before bursting out laughing once again. "You really crack me up, kid. To answer your question, beings like me drink stars."

"Stars? You mean those giant balls of flaming gas?" I asked, still trying to wrap my head around it.

"Yes, that's right," he confirmed, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

I took a moment to process this before asking the most obvious question. "What do stars taste like?"

He thought for a moment before answering. "Have you ever held a battery to your tongue? Oh, why am I even asking, of course, you have. That's exactly what they taste like."

I was intrigued. "Huh, sounds delicious, I wanna try that someday."

He chuckled, "Sure, eventually you might be able to. If you do reach that stage, the first one's on me. But that's all the time I have for now. Have fun! Bye!"

As he said that, I started falling, and before I knew it, I passed out again.

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I woke up back in my forest laying on the floor, thankfully it wasn't dark yet, and I saw Fenrir curled up next to me, probably because I was warm. The aura of fire was still around me, making me feel very strong, as if I had just gotten a step closer to divinity.

Lost in thought, I sat in silence, pondering over the revelations from my encounter with the strange entity. It was hard to tell how long I had spent lost in my thoughts when Fenrir nudged me gently. I turned to him and followed his gaze to the sky, where the setting sun was painting the sky in a riot of colors.

Realizing it was time to head back, I looked at Fenrir and grinned. "Race you back!" I exclaimed.

He gave me one of his wolfish smiles and set off immediately.

In the next moment, my wings sprouted from my back, and with a powerful beat, I took off into the sky, leaving a trail of crimson behind me as I soared towards the horizon.

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A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the long gap... again. The monsoon has started, and while I'm happy that it's no longer 50 degrees outside, it comes with a wave of flu that has made me write this chapter in a cough syrup-induced haze, which I'll leave for you guys to decide if it's a good thing or not.

Anyway, if you want to read eight more chapters, consider checking out "elfon" on Pa treon.