Chapter 27: This Place is Cold…
– Haru –
I stood at the stove, flipping Serana's favorite blood sausages in a sizzling pan. Beside me, a pot of alien stew simmered gently. It was an Asari dish I'd recently learned to make, specifically for Councilor Tevos. The recipe called for an alien version of chicken that, according to Tevos, all Asari loved. The rich aroma filled the kitchen, blending the earthy scent of the blood sausages.
Serana leaned against the counter, watching me work. "So, how long do you think it'll be before those rude men come back with more of their friends to try and kill all the 'magic demons'?" she asked while smirking at me.
I glanced at her and shrugged. "Hopefully never, because damn did they stink, but knowing our luck, it's probably just a matter of time before they storm back in here." I said while checking the sausages again, making sure they didn't overcook.
Councilor Tevos had moved from her booth and was now sitting at the counter. There was a slight frown on her face. "Should I call C-Sec and have them come over?" she asked, looking genuinely concerned.
I shook my head. "I'm sure it's fine. Those three looked like they came from a very low-tech dimension. Judging by their clothes and attitudes, they're probably from a place where magic is hated or feared."
Tevos huffed. "Why is it that every single dimension except my own seems to get actual magic?" She sounded almost jealous.
I grinned as I stirred the stew. "I mean… biotics is pretty much just magic in space."
Tevos narrowed her eyes at me, giving me a stink eye that would have made a lesser man sweat. Instead, I just sent her a playful wink that made her pretty blue cheeks turn a bit purple…
I chuckled and focused on finishing the dishes. The smell of the stew grew richer as I added the final touches, and Serana leaned closer, her eyes locked hungrily on the blood sausages cooking in the pan.
I placed the blood sausages on a plate and set it in front of Serana. She immediately started digging in, barely giving me a glance as she focused on her meal. I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. After a moment, I grabbed a bowl and scooped some of the alien stew into it, the rich aroma wafting through the air. I carefully placed it in front of Councilor Tevos.
The Asari picked up a spoon, scooped up some of the stew, and took a sip. She froze mid-motion, her eyes widening in shock. "How is this even possible?" she asked. "This is better than my own mother used to make!"
I chuckled at her reaction. "Honestly, I have no idea. It's my first time making it. Maybe it's the Earth spices I added. They seem to bring out the alien flavors more."
Tevos nodded eagerly as she took another spoonful. "Whatever it is, you've perfected it. If you ever visit Thessia, I'm dragging you to my family's house to show them how it's done."
I grinned but didn't reply. My attention drifted across the restaurant to where Harry sat with Sirius and Remus. Both men had woken up after being shocked unconscious and were now pouting like children. They sulked about losing their wands while Harry sat across from them, lecturing them. Harry's voice carried across the room as he recounted Dumbledore's schemes, explaining how the old man had manipulated him his entire life. Whenever Sirius or Remus tried to argue or defend the old wizard, Harry would glare at them, and sparks of electricity would dance across his fingers. The sight made both men gulp and fall silent, forcing them to continue listening.
Serana glanced up from her blood sausages, watching the scene with mild amusement. "My apprentice is learning to stand up for himself. I'm so proud," she said. She finished her plate and leaned back slightly. "Now, if only I could get my other apprentice to stop spending so much time on her schooling. Schooling she's probably never going to use in her lifetime..."
I snorted in agreement. "Yeah, Harry's dimension never really made sense to me. What's the point of having magic if most of the population ends up with desk jobs and paperwork for the rest of their lives?"
"Maybe she just needs a proper apprenticeship," Tevos said, slurping her soup slowly. "Most Asari children finish schooling by sixty years old and then spend the next forty to fifty years apprenticing in their career fields until they become proper adults and can start working on their own."
Tevos's statement made both me and Serana choke.
"Forty to fifty years?" I muttered in disbelief. As a former human in my last life, that amount of time was absurd. Even Serana, who had centuries of experience as a vampire, looked shocked.
Tevos raised a blue eyebrow. "What? That's completely normal for Asari. You need that much time to master a field properly…"
"I guess so…?" I said while shaking my head.
The door to the restaurant swung open, and I looked up from behind the counter, half expecting some angry men to storm in. Instead, it was Amy-chan. She was wearing a proper kimono, her hair neatly done, and even her makeup looked flawless. It was rare to see her look so put together. She gave me a small glare before walking over to the counter and sitting down next to Serana and Councilor Tevos.
"Hello, Goddess Amaterasu. It's lovely to see you again," Tevos said politely.
Amy-chan bowed her head in response and smiled. "It's nice to see you again as well, Councilor Tevos. How's space?"
Tevos hesitated. "Space is fine…?"
Amy-chan nodded before turning to me with a pout. "You know, before you started this restaurant, I could just laze in my room all day playing games and watching anime! Now people are actually expecting me to attend meetings and stuff because Japan has been getting so many foreign visitors who keep asking us questions about the rising Yokai faction! I had three separate meetings today alone with other annoying factions that actually thought they could get me to spill your secrets for free! Dumb assholes," she grumbled.
I scratched one of my fox ears. I hadn't realized how much Amy-chan had been helping out. "Sorry about that, Amy-chan. How about I make you whatever you want, on the house?"
Serana chuckled. "Isn't all your food on the house nowadays?"
I shrugged. "Yeah, I made a ton of gold selling all those dragon bones and scales. Enough to run this place for around a year, but it's the thought that counts."
Amy-chan leaned forward, her pout disappearing. "Alright then, I demand your finest bowl of ramen!" she declared proudly.
– Sansa Stark –
Sansa Stark thought she was done crying. After everything that had happened, all the death, all the destruction of her family, she felt like she had no tears left to shed. Yet, as she sat on the edge of her bed in Winterfell, tears slipped down her cheeks. Her entire family legacy was in near ruins. As far as she knew, she was the last living Stark besides her brother Jon, who was on the Wall. But she hadn't heard from Jon in years.
She had returned to Winterfell after escaping King's Landing, only to find that her brother Robb, the King in the North, had been butchered along with his bride and their unborn child. Her mother, Catelyn Stark, had been left alive but was shipped back to Winterfell as a captive by the treacherous Freys. They used her as a pawn to keep the remnants of the Tully family from rallying the Riverlands to attack the Twins. Winterfell was now ruled by the Boltons. Well, one Bolton. Lord Bolton had been killed by his insane bastard son, Ramsay, who now ruled the entirety of the North.
Sansa had tears in her eyes as her mother gently rubbed her back, trying to console her for what was going to happen later that night.
"It's going to be okay, Sansa," Catelyn told her gently.
Sansa knew it wasn't going to be okay. Later that night, she was to be wed to Ramsay Bolton. She was going to be married to a monster—possibly even worse than Joffrey. She didn't think that was even possible!
"I don't want to marry him, Mother! I'd rather die and join the rest of our family!" Sansa said, her voice shaking with anger and despair.
Catelyn gasped and grabbed Sansa's hands. "Don't think like that! You're the last of the Starks, my sweetling. If you die, all hope is truly lost for the North and for our people."
Sansa pulled her hands away, her tears falling freely now. "Then what am I supposed to do? Let Ramsay marry me and then torture and rape me every night for the rest of my life?!" she shouted. "I would have preferred staying in King's Landing and marrying Tyrion Lannister if I'd known what would happen once I got home!"
Catelyn hugged Sansa tightly. "You know, I used to be incredibly devout," she admitted. "I used to believe the gods had a plan for us all. But now… now I just believe we have to do everything we can to survive. I don't know what happened to Arya, Bran, or Rickon. You might be my last living child, and I will do everything I can to keep you alive. So please, don't talk about taking your own life. I watched those Frey bastards murder Robb and his unborn child in front of me. It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen. Please don't make me watch another of my children die."
Sansa wiped her tears and sighed. "Okay, Mother," she said quietly. She would try to be strong for her.
A knock on the door interrupted them. Before Sansa could respond, the door was rudely thrown open.
"Hello, my beautiful future bride and mother-in-law," Ramsay Snow said, stepping into the room with a smug grin. His retinue of soldiers were right behind him, giving Sansa and her mother disgusting looks. "I can't wait for our wedding later tonight. It's only a few hours away now!"
Sansa grimaced and looked away. "What do you want?" she asked coldly.
Ramsay's grin widened, his eyes gleaming with malice. "I've got a little pre-wedding present for you. It seems someone has decided to open a new pub just outside of Winterfell without my explicit permission. We can't have that!"
Sansa's stomach sank. She already knew where this was going…
"They even threatened some of my soldiers and had them howling about magic demons or some nonsense," Ramsay continued. "I thought I'd put on a little entertainment before the big ceremony and gut every single person in that pub! Of course, as the future Lady Bolton, you and your mother will be coming along to watch!" He sounded so incredibly happy about casually murdering some probably innocent small folk.
Sansa shuddered, but she had seen plenty of cruelty in the past couple of years. She and her mother followed Ramsay and his men out of the castle and towards "the pub." When she saw the building, she actually gasped in surprise. It was incredibly well put together with actual glass windows–that she couldn't see into for some reason–along with amazing carpentry.
"The Fox Hole…" Sansa murmured as she read the sign.
Ramsay pointed at a couple of his men and told them to go and drag the people inside out so he could punish them. Nearby smallfolk who lived in Wintertown were already starting to gather to see what the commotion was about.
Sansa watched from the edge of the crowd as a group of Ramsay's men stormed into the pub with cruel grins on their faces. She expected to hear shouting or the sounds of violence once they entered the building, but instead, there was only eerie silence after the wooden door closed behind them. The smallfolk around her began murmuring, their voices rising with confusion and unease.
"There wasn't a building here yesterday!"
"I pass by this route every day before I go scavenging in the woods! There's never been a pub here!"
"Is this witchcraft? Is this some kind of sign from the old gods?"
Sansa exchanged a glance with her mother as the rumors swirled and grew more ridiculous by the second. She tried to block out the chatter, but even she couldn't deny how strange this entire situation was.
A full minute passed with no sound from inside the pub, and Ramsay's cruel smirk twisted into an annoyed frown. He tapped his boot impatiently and then barked at his remaining men. "What's taking them so long!?" He turned to another group of soldiers. "Go in and check on them!"
Before they could move, the pub's door swung open, and multiple bodies came flying out. Ramsay's men landed in the mud with sickening thuds, their bodies motionless. Sansa gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as she saw the burns covering their skin. Smoke rose from their furs, and the air smelled faintly of charred flesh.
The door opened again, and a boy with messy hair stepped out, flanked by two disheveled men. The boy couldn't have been older than ten and four, though he carried himself with a confidence that seemed far beyond his years.
"Damn, you really did a number on these three, Harry. Is that the same spell you used on us?" one of the men asked.
Sansa's breath caught. 'Did he just say spell?'
The boy, who must have been Harry, glanced at the crowd gathered outside. He raised an eyebrow at the onlookers. "Can we help you all?"
Ramsay's men bristled at the casual question, their hands moving to their weapons.
"I don't think these guys are friendly, Harry," the more shabbily dressed man said.
Ramsay stepped forward, his sneer growing wider. "Are you smallfolk the owners of this pub?"
Harry tilted his head. "Me? I don't know what a smallfolk is, but no. I don't own this restaurant.
I'm just a regular customer of The Fox Hole. It's owned by Haru. Why?"
The word "restaurant" sounded strange and foreign to her but she assumed it was another word for pub.
Ramsay's sneer turned into a snarl. "This is an illegal business that was opened without my permission! Bring out this 'Haru' at once so that he can face his punishment. And did you three assault my men? You'll be punished as well!"
Sansa bit her lip, wanting to tell the boy and his companions to run, but she knew it would be pointless. She expected fear from the trio, but while the two men looked a little uneasy, Harry only scoffed and rolled his eyes.
Next to Sansa, Catelyn gasped at the boy's audacity as Harry turned his head toward Winterfell, nodding slightly. "That's a nice castle. Are you sure you even still own it?" he asked Ramsay casually.
"What?!" Ramsay's face turned red. "Of course I own Winterfell!"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know, man. It seems like everywhere Haru's restaurant pops up, he ends up owning a lot of the surrounding land. He's the prince of his entire race and lord of another massive chunk of land already."
Sansa's heart raced at the declaration. Another prince? And he had opened a restaurant, right outside Winterfell? She glanced at her mother, who looked equally confused.
Ramsay's face twisted with rage. "Bring him out at once so I can flay him alive for his audacity!"
Harry snorted. "Whatever, dude. Your funeral."
"What's a dude…?" Sansa whispered to her mother. She'd never heard that word before.
Catelyn shook her head nervously. "I don't know…"
Harry and the two men walked back into the pub. A few seconds later, the door opened again, and a man stepped out. No, not a man… something else. Sansa's heart fluttered as she laid eyes on him. He was the most handsome person she had ever seen, despite his unusual features. His hair was golden, and animal-like ears peeked out from the top of his head. Behind him, multiple golden tails swayed lazily.
"What is he?!" one of Ramsay's men shouted.
"Shit! Dalton wasn't drunk off his ass after all! It actually is a demon!" another soldier stammered.
"Wow." Sansa heard her mother mutter. Catelyn clenched her hand tightly. Sansa glanced up at her mother and was shocked to see she too was blushing as she stared at the strange handsome being…
– Haru –
The ground was covered in snow and mud. I shivered slightly, my tails bristling against the icy air. Damn, it was really cold out here...
There were a lot of humans gathered outside my restaurant in this new dimension. Most of them looked unwashed, just like the two groups of men who had rudely barged inside earlier. The first group ran off after Regina scared them, but the second group decided to draw steel. That was a mistake and Harry had handled them easily with his lightning magic.
The door swung open behind me, and Amy-chan stepped out, her presence immediately drawing more gasps from the gathered crowd. She wrinkled her nose in the air as she looked around. "Eww… what kind of shithole is this place?"
"Not every dimension has modern technology," I told her. "You can go back inside if the stench is too much for you."
Amy-chan scoffed. "You forget I've been around since humans first set foot in Japan. I've seen and smelled it all at this point. Besides, whatever's about to happen looks fun, and I could use some entertainment after all the boring meetings I've been stuck in for weeks."
"YOU!" one of the men shouted in our direction. He stood out from the rest, surrounded by fearful-looking soldiers. His voice carried over the murmuring crowd. "What are you, creature?! Leave Winterfell at once and begone, lest the old gods strike you down!"
The crowd behind him murmured nervously at his declaration.
"Old gods?" I repeated, spreading out my senses to check. I didn't feel even a hint of divinity nearby. I glanced at Amy-chan. She was probably doing the same thing.
"There are no gods here," Amy-chan announced, loud enough for everyone to hear.
The crowd gasped, and angry shouts erupted.
"How dare you claim the old gods don't exist?!"
"Who do you think you are?!"
Amy-chan clicked her tongue in irritation and stepped forward. Dozens, maybe hundreds of people, gasped when her body began to glow with golden light. Flames flickered around her, dancing harmlessly against her form. "Who am I?!" she repeated, her voice sharp. "I am Amaterasu! The goddess of the sun! And if I say there are no gods in this land, then that is because there aren't any!" As she spoke, the light around her intensified. The dull, gray skies brightened considerably, even though the sun was already sinking below the horizon. The crowd grew restless.
"The gods have descended!"
"There's two of them!"
"Have they come to punish the Boltons and free us from their evil?!"
"Who said that?! I'll kill you!" the man leading the soldiers snarled, spinning toward the crowd and drawing the sword at his hip. The unwashed masses all backed away fearfully. I frowned at the sight, this guy was obviously some kind of tyrant and I already knew we weren't going to be getting along.
I figured there was only one way this was going to go down. The man finished shouting at the crowd, then turned to us, pointing his sword directly at Amy-chan and me.
"You are no gods. You are simply mummers with some strange magical tricks at your disposal! I've heard those red priests from Essos can also play tricks with the light! I am Ramsay Bolton, the lord of Winterfell and the North! For daring to go against me, I sentence you to death! Open fire, men!"
He swung his sword, and about a dozen archers raised their bows. In the next second, stone-tipped wooden arrows were flying straight at us. I flicked my tails forward, swatting the arrows out of the air with ease. Not a single one came close to hitting either of us. Not that they would have hurt us in the first place.
Ramsay's face twisted with disbelief. "That's impossible!" he shouted. "Don't stop shooting!"
More arrows flew our way. I rolled my eyes as my tails moved again, knocking every single arrow aside. By the fourth volley, I'd had enough. I raised my right hand, summoning a plume of blue fox fire, causing gasps and screams from the gathered crowd. The fox fire didn't touch any of the bystanders, but it went straight for the archers. They yelped in pain as their bows turned to ash in their hands, leaving them weaponless.
"That was some pretty good control, Haru-kun," Amy-chan said.
"Thanks. I've been practicing," I said to her. "I'm hoping to get good enough that I can use my fox fire to cook one day without immediately ruining the ingredients."
Amy-chan snickered. "Of course you are. Most other people would say they're training to become more powerful, but not you, Haru-kun…"
The fact that Amy-chan and I were having a casual conversation while these humans were trying to kill us showed just how little of a threat they actually were.
"Charge!" Ramsay Bolton shouted loudly. His soldiers hesitated for a moment, fear evident on their faces, but they didn't dare disobey his orders.
"Kill them all!"
"That girl looks like a foreign princess! Let's rape her!"
"I want to taste her first!"
The men were absolutely disgusting, and threatening an actual goddess to her face with that kind of language?
Yeah, they were all dead.
I'd never actually seen Amy-chan this upset before. The golden flames flickering around her turned black, surging forward and engulfing dozens of the men rushing at us with spears and swords. They didn't even have time to scream properly before the flames devoured them completely. When it was over, there was nothing left but ash…
The only one left alive was Ramsay Bolton himself. I don't even think he realized all of his men were dead. He charged through the snow and mud, his sword raised as he aimed for my head. When he swung, I raised my left hand and caught the blade in my palm. It was just regular steel, not enchanted at all.
"Impossible!" Ramsay's eyes widened in disbelief. Before he could say anything else, I punched him hard in the stomach with my free hand, shattering the chainmail armor he wore under his furs. He dropped to his knees, coughing up bile and blood before collapsing. He was unconscious.
"Well, that happened…" I muttered as I glanced around. Most of the crowd was either staring at me in awe or genuine fear.
More than a few people had dropped to their knees and were muttering prayers to me and Amy-chan. She had calmed down a bit, but she still didn't look very happy.
"Hmph! That's what they get for thinking they can defile a goddess!" Amy-chan declared while crossing her arms.
"Yeah, they were really, really dumb," I pointed out. Not even the people of Konoha had been this bad. Or had they? Honestly, I wasn't sure anymore.
Two women, who stood out from the rest of the crowd due to being clean and dressed in elegant furs, slowly approached us. Both of them were redheads, clearly mother and daughter, and they were both stunning. I rolled my eyes, wondering if the goddess who kept connecting new dimensions to my restaurant was doing this to me on purpose.
The pair looked nervous, so I stepped around Ramsay's unconscious body and smiled at them. "Hello, my name is Haru. Sorry you ladies had to see all of that. You weren't… um… friends with this guy, were you?"
The answer came when the younger girl walked over and started kicking Ramsay's unconscious body, muttering some very creative swear words under her breath.
The older woman, meanwhile, spoke to me. "No… the Boltons used to be our sworn bannermen, but they betrayed our family and murdered my son Robb, the previous King in the North. I am Catelyn Stark, and that over there is my daughter Sansa… Are you both really gods?" She looked at me nervously. "I thought the gods had forsaken my family after everything that happened…"
"Erm, we probably have a lot to talk about."
XXX