In the dark of night, the door of the room slowly open, silence broke slightly when a person slowly entered. He didn't move immediately; he waited, observing whether his target was awake, suspicious of his presence. But upon seeing no movement, he slowly inched closer towards the bed where his target was sleeping peacefully.
Without making any noise, the man took out a dagger from his backside and unsheathed it, looking to end this in a single strike. But just as he was about to strike, he felt someone catch his hand.
The darkness in the room didn't allow him to see who this person was, but he immediately reacted, wanting to get free and, if possible, silence this person. However, no matter what he did, the grip was so strong that he couldn't even budge his hand, let alone free it.
Before he knew it, another strong arm grabbed him by his neck, choking him and lifting him up. Panic finally started to settle in upon seeing his life in danger. He started to thrash, but to no avail. The grip of the man was like iron bars holding him down.
"Oh, wait a minute..." Suddenly, the man holding him said to his confusion, and he felt the grip loosening.
"Hufff... hufff..." He started to take deep breaths. That few seconds of struggle for air had almost left him breathless.
"I have something better than just choking you," the man said to his horror. He tried to move again, but his neck and hand were held down too tightly by the man that even a single inch of movement felt like a Herculean task.
For a few seconds, nothing happened, confusing him, but he was glad nonetheless.
"It takes some time. I'm still new to this..." he heard the man say, confusing him even more, until he felt a sharp pulsing sensation in his entire body. At first, it was nothing more than a mere trembling, but then his body went beyond his control, shaking like a ball tumbling down the staircase. Pain so unimaginable ran inside him that he lost the little voice he had while his mind went numb. It was like lightning had struck him.
His eyes went bloodshot before he could see the face of the man who killed him—handsome and imposing, staring down at him with those blue glowing eyes like a deity.
"Me... mercy..." That was the only thing he could utter at this sight.
"Very well." He replied, and with a cracking noise, his misery was over as he died with a simple break of his neck.
And as the man died, I could only see his lifeless form in my hands. It was so easy to kill him—just inserting more pressure where I was holding him by his neck, and it broke. This was the first time I had killed someone, and I didn't know what to feel.
I thought I'd feel disgusted, repulsed—anything that would be normal for a teenager from Earth who had never killed before. But all I felt was indifference. 'Thor has killed more than the days I have lived, but it's supposed to be him, not me. So why this level of mental calmness and indifference?'
A conflicting feeling rose inside me, only to die down almost immediately once my eyes narrowed onto the assassin sent to kill me.
"I don't like killing, but if that's the only way to survive, then I won't shy away from it. I'll be the God of Thunder if this world forces me to be one." My voice steeled, and I finally let go of the man's body.
I was lucky the assassin decided to come when I was practicing my lightning manipulation. My Asgardian senses picked up the man's approach the moment he was outside the door.
Leaving the matter of what to do about the corpse for the time being, I bent down to pick up the dagger that the man had used.
"Valyrian steel," I muttered as the rippling patterns on the dagger's blade appeared under the moonlight.
"Quite an assassin he must have been to carry something like this, or perhaps he just had a generous patron..." I muttered, realizing there was only one known Valyrian steel dagger in the entire story.
"Seems like someone royal needs me gone... Haha, coward."
"I shall keep this. Sometimes a hammer alone is not sufficient, after all. As for how I should return this favor, well... all in due time..."
"At least I learned today that my lightning could kill, and that's without using Mjolnir."
—-
Littlefinger, the Spider, the Queen, and that idiot Joffrey—I don't see anyone else besides these four having any reason to assassinate me. Both Baelish and Varys don't have any real enmity with me as of now; however, ruling them out from the equation would be foolish.
My main suspicion still lay with Joffrey and Cersei, though considering both as one wouldn't be wrong either. Now comes the real question: what should I do about this?
By the old me or the new, this enmity can't be forgotten, but acting against them openly could lead to a fallout between the North and the South. If a war starts, then the North won't be getting any support during the Long Winter.
"Can King's Landing even help the North?" I pondered to myself. I knew that the capital's treasury was empty and that it had a huge debt to the Lannisters and the Iron Bank. Ned Stark made that clear the last time I asked him. In this situation, Robert wouldn't do anything besides adding more numbers to the Wall, which, without supplies that the North would lack even to feed its own people, would only turn out to be a liability.
In case war doesn't start like it did in the story, the North's problems would still remain unattended. Ned Stark, even as Hand of the King, has no power without substantial money in the capital.
Of course, the Lannisters could help, but would they? Hoping for aid from the likes of Cersei and her siblings was preposterous. Regarding the Lannisters' wealth, only Tywin Lannister, the Old Lion, could make a decision.
Would he listen to his children? Most likely not. Only him acting on his own accord could solve this situation, and even that is unlikely. He wouldn't believe in White Walkers until he saw them himself. Even if he decided to help—which is a big 'if'—he would definitely put forth conditions that would break the Seven Kingdoms' economy for years to come.
So, staying here in the lion's den is as worthless as I previously thought. And yet I had to come because if any of the Starks died here, a war would be inevitable. The North can't entangle in a war right now—not on my watch.
Now that I know there won't be any significant help from King Robert, my first objective should be to take all the Starks back to Winterfell, unheard and unscratched.
But how?
"Thor..." Just as I was thinking to myself and playing with the new toy I got from my friend last night, I heard Ned Stark call me.
"Yes, I'm listening."
"I want you to find anything you can about Jon Arryn's death. Just like you said, there are a lot of eyes on me—I can't do this myself." Ned Stark said with a serious tone.
"Why are you suddenly interested in him?" I asked. I didn't like where this was going.
"Because I feel there was foul play in his death. I can only get answers here."
"You have other men. Why must you send me? Send Jory—he's competent."
"Aye he is, but he don't know how to play the game unlike you. Part of the reason I brought you is because I knew you can handle it. I don't know how but you seems you have knowledge and experience on how to handle this matters. Can I truth this task to you ?" Ned Stark Asked with serious tone.
"Are you forgetting that there is far more concerning things than an old man's death. I know the man was dear to you but you can't overlook your other duties for this, the entire north right now depends on whether you can bring some help for the war to come." I didn't answer him but rather asked a question of myself.
"Sigh, I'm looking into it, Robert haven't given me much to work with here. The Treassure is empty, in this condition even the King can't provide much assistance to North." Ned Stark frowned, he too soon realized that he might not get any help from the south at this rate. Now he found himself caged, not sure where to go.
I so much wanted to yell at this fool to just go back but I restrained myself, there was no reason for violence. Knowing Ned Stark personality he won't listen me. I have to create a situation where he is force to go back.
Suddenly I saw the big book he had on his table like thunder and idea struck my mind.
Thousand of thoughts ran in my mind and I knew that this was the best answer to my troubles.
"Very Well. I'll find about his death, though Arya might not like me stopping her training this soon. You might an well find a good trainer for her. The girl has her heart in learning sword, you should nurtured it." I said and stood up making Ned Stark fall into comtemplation whether he should look for a teacher for her youngest daughter.
"That's a fancy dagger you got there" Just as I was about to leave he call from behind. Apparently he too saw the patterns in the blade, not to mention the dragon bone handle which even I just recently found out.
"Aye, a friend gave it to me, it was last night in fact, came in the shade of dark when I should have been asleep. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't."
Ned Stark immediately frowned. He understood the implications alright.
"Where is he ?"
"Sewers…"
Ned Stark frowned further.
"Don't worry, he has found his faith, now he only follows the light."
xxx
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