Chapter Text
Storm Kingdom
Storm's End
Night
20 BAC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argilac Durrandon was worried about the storm raging outside his keep. Usually, this wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary. He had seen many storms in his life, and even heard of a typhoon, capable of flying a wooden ship as if it was a toy in the hands of a child.
He had never seen purple lightning though, which made it even weirder because the storm appeared out of nowhere when his wife went into labour at noon.
Half the castle was convinced this was a good sign from the gods, promising a strong son for him to continue his legacy.
Other half was convinced this was a curse, signalling the end of the Durrandon dynasty.
His fury had silenced them quickly.
Argilac was about to turn back and head into the labour room, tradition be damned when the midwife burst out of the room.
"The Queen has given birth to a healthy girl, your grace" she said quietly, knowing he had already chosen names for a boy.
Argilac furrowed his brows but went in anyway, watching as his tired wife held their daughter, but there was no joy to be found in her face.
"Argilac, I swear I didn't" Joy Penrose began, but couldn't finish her sentence as she doubled over in pain, his daughter quickly taken by one of the midwives and they were promptly ushered out of the room.
"What in the name of seven hells is going on!" Argilac bellowed, scaring the midwives.
"Your Grace the bleeding won't stop, please let us work" Maester Larry said worriedly.
Argilac's eyes widened, he knew what this meant. When the bleeding didn't stop, it usually meant the woman wasn't going to survive.
"You listen to me well Maester, you save her or so help me" The Storm King grasped the poor Maester by his collar, growling the words out.
Maester Larry paled, knowing just how violent and out of control the Storm King could be, hurriedly nodding and going inside again.
The door was shut and he was left with his newborn daughter and the midwife holding her.
Argilac turned to the woman, who was looking worried for some reason.
"What is it, woman?!" Argilac snapped. He had enough of these looks.
The woman wordlessly handed him the babe. He couldn't help but feel confused as he peeled away the fabric wrapped around his daughter.
"What in the seven hells?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Day
Throne Room
His wife was dead.
The bloody maester trembling before him could not save her.
Argilac considered getting up to throttle him for his failure, but the weight he was feeling right now was stopping him from getting up from his throne.
His wife was dead.
And his daughter?
She was alive and well, only instead of the black hair and blue eyes the Durrandons possessed for thousands of years or the brown hair and dark eyes his wife had, his daughter had light purple eyes - the same colour as the lightning yesterday- and purple-blue hair, which has never been seen before.
Half the castle that said the storm was a good omen were now saying his wife had cuckolded him.
His dead wife, whose last words to him was to swear she didn't.
He didn't know what to do and wordlessly dismissed the Maester, whose relief was palpable.
Argilac took his crown off and leaned back, an empty look in his eyes.
He didn't know what to do.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nursery
Argilac eventually left his throne to go and visit his daughter.
If she even was his.
Her looks made him doubt, yet his belief in his wife kept him from saying or doing anything.
Entering the room, he watched as a maid was feeding the newborn, and put her down after patting her back in the crib.
The Storm King approached the baby after waiting for a bit, his large frame casting a shadow over her sleeping form.
Her hair, which she had a lot more than newborns were supposed to do, was still the same blue-purple colour it was yesterday, the only proof that his wife did not lay with another man, as none had hair like that.
He hoped … he didn't know what he hoped. He just didn't want her hair to be that color.
Argilac turned back and left. He would name her Argella, lest people start talking and he be forced to kill someone.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the next several weeks lords had come and went, offering muted congratulations for his daughter and offering their condolences for his loss.
Some had even gone as far as to offer their daughters to him, days after he had buried his wife.
Fuckers.
But that wasn't the worst part.
No, the worst part were the letters that came from Dorne, Reach and Riverlands still under the yoke of the fucking Ironborne.
All mocking him, even though their letters weren't worded as such.
He would show them all, the Storm King promised, as he ordered the messengers be sent back.
As for Argella, she was completely normal, besides her eyes and hair, sleeping when she wasn't being fed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The years following up to unto Argella was two proved to be challenging for Argilac.
His bannerman was clamoring to have their relatives marry him to put their blood on the throne, as well as trying to convince him to send Argella to a sept, which would mean all but declaring her a bastard.
Not to mention the Ironborn and Dornish were using this opportunity to harass his forces on the respective borders.
The biggest problem was his daughter though. Her ordinariness didn't last long. She did not crawl, nor utter any sound when the Maester said she should have and just laid down on her crib all day long.
Whispers of his only heir being a simpleton had already spread, bringing further ridicule to his house.
What had he done to deserve this, the Storm King wondered more than once.
Nursery
18 BAC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raiden Ei, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, the God of Thunder and the Electro Archon opened eyes, gasping as she did so.
She immediately scanned the surrounding area.
She was in a room, built from stone rather than wood like Tenshukaku, filled with golden banners of a prancing stag wearing a golden crown, laying in a crib and not fighting the Heavenly Principles with other Archons.
None of these mattered as much as the fact that she had the body of a child.
If she did not remember clashing with the Heavenly Principles, she would think this as an elaborate prank of Miko.
Ei laid down, focusing on herself. She was a god and an Archon to boot, she could alter her body as she wished.
Her focus was cut short as memories came crushing down on her.
A man, large and tall with blue eyes and black hair, Argilac, the Storm King, coming to her room every once in a while and watching her with a sad gaze before leaving.
Her father.
Her father?! She didn't- couldn't- have a father. She was a god, a being of elemental energy, not of flesh and blood like humans were.
She shouldn't have a father.
Yet she did.
The rest of the memories were more embarrassing.
A maid named Bessie coming to her room everyday, feeding her with milk from her breasts, and then patting her back.
Rumours.
Insults.
She felt herself getting more confused, so she took a deep breath to calm down.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She was reborn on a different world after dying, Ei realized, as she continued to analyze her current situation.
Like in those books published by the Yae Publishing House.
She was on a planet whose people did not name it yet, on a continent called Westeros, named in lieu of being in the west of the Narrow Sea, in a declining kingdom, called the Storm Kingdom, named after the storms it was famous for.
The people of this world lacked imagination for sure.
Worst part was the rumours.
Her not having the colouring of her parents had led people to believe "her mother" (she had no idea what else to call her under the current circumstances) had cheated on "her father"
Not to mention, as she wasn't fully aware of herself before this, she could not follow the necessary development paths a child would, and thus the same people also called her a simpleton, behind "her father's" back of course, as the man would kill them without hesitation.
Ei was not going to deal with this, so she began to draw in her power, ready to shred this mortal cocoon and return to her chosen appearance.
But she stopped, considering.
She was in a whole new world, one where the gods did not mingle with mortals.
Which meant she could explore the world as a mortal - albeit a royal one- could, a desire she could not follow on Teyvat.
So Ei chose to retain the form of a baby, albeit one with the powers of a god.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keeping her powers contained so she wouldn't destroy this castle meant shedding her mortal body took a couple of hours, but when she was done Ei was in control of her own body again, rather than having the awkward and clumsy movement capabilities a baby had.
She jumped out of the crib, opening the door and checking around the corridor. Seeing no one, Ei went off to explore this castle.
When the single guard returned from the privy and saw the door open his face paled as he rushed to check in, only to see his charge wasn't in the room.
He rushed out to inform the other guards and search for the missing princess before King Argilac found out and killed them all.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ei jumped up the stairs a couple at a time, rushing to the top of the tower to see the surroundings.
Had anyone seen her, they would think of it as a dream.
Having finally made it to the top, Ei saw what she guessed was the Narrow Sea.
The castle was built on a cliff, she noted, with a stony plain stretching out to a forest.
She watched the sea for a while, with the warm sun and the salty breeze keeping her company.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Argella! Argella, where are you!?" Argilac shouted, searching for his daughter. The stupid fucking guard he posted outside her door had lost her and the Storm King feared the worst, knowing his daughter could have been kidnapped.
Sun was about to go down when he stopped searching, organizing riders to go out and search the area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the sun was going down, Ei finally decided to return to her room. Jumping down the stairs, she was on the exit to the courtyard in less than a minute, watching as "her father" ( It still felt weird calling someone that) was spitting profanities at the gathered riders, promising them gruesome deaths should they not find her.
Deciding to spare the poor guards from his wrath, she went and pulled on the King's trouser's leg, drawing his attention.
Argilac turned to her with a "WHAT!" before seeing who he had shouted to, drawing the courtyard's attention on her.
"I would appreciate it if you did not shout at me again" Ei warned the man gently, her baby voice not doing her any favours.
She might be understanding and easy going when it came to humans, but did not mean one would get away with shouting at her like this.
People watched, silent with judging eyes.
After all, many still thought she was a bastard, or a curse, and definitely a simpleton. Seeing her walk and talk was unexpected for them.
Argilac dismissed the gathered guards, the courtyard slowly emptying, people watching her with distrustful eyes.
After all, what two years old could talk like that?
The Storm King just took his daughter and went inside.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nursery
"You can talk?" Argilac had a million questions to ask her, but this seemed to be the most pressing one.
"Naturally" Ei simply responded, understanding why the man had asked it.
"Then why didn't you before?" Argilac cursed the gods more than once for "his daughter's" situation, only for it to be for no reason it seemed.
"I did not see the need to talk to all those gossipers" Knowing she couldn't tell the truth, Ei told another truth.
The Storm King just sighed.
"Who?" It was a simple question, but Ei could see it in his eyes. He would definitely kill them.
"No one important" Ei shook her head. She would prefer a more creative punishment, aimed to teach them to see the error of their ways, rather than just sentencing them to death.
Argilac gave up, happy with the knowledge his daughter was normal.
Though, if he knew anything about child development, he would know Ei was more than just normal.
Alas, people were too afraid to tell him anything, especially after each time Maester Larry left King's Solar pale as a ghost, having reported the Princes' health.