Location: Volantis - The Ruined Temple of R'hllor
The dust from the Arbiter's deletion was settling. Ren sat on the altar steps, his body aching despite the regeneration factor. The Admin Key Fragment hummed in his hand—a jagged chip of glowing white code that felt alien against his skin.
"System," Ren said, his voice low and dangerous. "Talk to me."
[System Reboot Complete.]
[Admin Key Recognized. Temporary clearance granted.]
"Who was she?" Ren demanded. "And don't give me the 'Enemy Detected' crap. I want a name."
[Query: Identification of Entity 'The Arbiter'.]
[Answer: She was a Tier-4 Field Correction Unit. Dispatched by the Omniversal Concordance.]
Ren froze. "Tier... Four?"
[Affirmative. The Concordance maintains stability across timelines. Travelers like you are designated as 'Anomalies'.]
Ren looked at the smoking crater where he had just fought for his life.
He had used a Titan form, a Legendary Wyrm Heart, and a Valyrian Steel sword just to beat a Tier 4 grunt.
"If she was Tier 4," Ren whispered, a cold chill settling in his stomach, "what the hell is Tier 1?"
[Information Restricted. Warning: Your survival has raised your Threat Level. Higher-Tier units will not be dispatched immediately, but they are watching.]
Ren clenched his fist around the key. The victory suddenly felt small. He wasn't the apex predator he thought he was.
In the grand ocean of the multiverse, he was just a noisy shark attracting the attention of leviathans.
"Fine," Ren stood up, his eyes burning with renewed resolve.
"Let them watch. By the time they send a Tier 3, I'll be strong enough to eat them too."
He turned to his team. Saeko, Saya, and Hirano were battered, resting against the temple pillars.
"Get up," Ren ordered. "We have a problem closer to home."
"The dimension?" Saya asked, adjusting her glasses which were cracked.
"The Arbiter's attack didn't just delete the ship," Ren said grimly.
"It cracked the Pocket Dimension's containment field. The Stasis Protocols failed."
Saeko's eyes widened. "Annie."
"She's awake," Ren confirmed.
"And she's loose inside a collapsing reality."
Inside the Pocket Dimension
Ren held up the Admin Key.
"System. Override Lock. Stabilize Anchor."
[Command Accepted. Anchor Restored.]
Ren slashed the air with the key. A rift opened. Smoke billowed out.
"Stay close," Ren ordered his team.
"If the physics are glitching, don't touch anything blue."
They stepped through.
The paradise was broken. The artificial sky, usually a perfect dusk, was fractured with purple lightning—scars from the Arbiter's beam.
The Villa stood, but the windows were blown out. The gravity felt lighter, wrong.
Ren moved toward the Villa.
They entered the living room. It was a mess. Furniture overturned.
The refrigerator had been raided—jars of peanut butter and jam were smashed on the floor.
Ren signaled Saeko to check the upper floor. He headed to the basement.
The heavy blast door of the Stasis Room had been ripped off its hinges.
Not by an explosive, but by a Titan's hand.
Ren walked down the stairs into the dark.
"Annie?"
In the corner, sitting amidst the shattered glass of the stasis pods, was a small figure.
Annie Leonhart.
She wasn't in Titan form. She was curled up in a ball, wearing the same hoodie she had been captured in.
She was shaking.
She looked up as Ren's flashlight hit her. Her eyes—usually so dead and cold—were wide with existential terror.
"The sky..." Annie whispered, her voice cracking. "The sky broke."
Ren lowered his weapon. "It's fixed now."
"I was sleeping," Annie rambled, looking at her hands. "Then the glass shattered. I looked out the window. I saw... nothing. No land. No walls. Just... purple void."
She stood up, stumbling slightly.
"Where are we?" she demanded, a hint of her old aggression returning, though brittle. "This isn't a room. It's a box floating in hell."
"It's a lifeboat," Ren said calmly. "And we hit rough waters."
"You..." Annie pointed a trembling finger at him. "You put me in a box. For weeks? Months?"
"Would you have preferred a dungeon in Stohess?" Ren countered. "Or being dissected by Hange?"
Annie fell silent. She looked around at the glitching reality.
"That thing that hit us," Annie whispered. "I felt it. It wasn't a Titan. It felt like... God."
"Just a cop," Ren said. "And she's dead."
Annie stared at him. She saw the blood on his clothes.
She saw the strange, glowing chip in his hand.
She realized that the scope of this man's war was far beyond Marley or Eldia.
"Why?" Annie asked softly. "Why drag me into this? If you're fighting gods, what good is a Titan?"
"Because I need a monster," Ren said, walking closer.
"And you're the best one I know."
He extended his hand.
"You have a choice, Annie. The stasis is broken. I can't put you back to sleep."
He pointed to the stairs.
"You can stay down here. Hide in the basement while the sky glitches. Be safe. Be useless."
Ren's eyes glowed blue.
"Or you come upstairs. You join my squad. You fight wars that make the Rumbling look like a parade. And in exchange... I give you a life."
"A life?" Annie scoffed. "As a weapon?"
"As a partner," Ren corrected. "You want to see your father again? I can cross universes, Annie. Getting to Marley is a Tuesday for me. Stick with me, and you get everything."
Annie looked at his hand. She looked at the terrifying purple cracks in the reality outside.
Then she looked at the boredom and fear of the cage she had been in.
She took his hand.
"I'm sick of sleeping anyway," she muttered.
[Status Update: Annie Leonhart]
[Status: Active Party Member.]
[Role: Titan Shifter / CQC Specialist.]
[Current Mood: Existential Dread mixed with Curiosity.]
The Return to Volantis
Ren led them back out of the portal. The moment Annie stepped into the real world—the dusty, incense-filled air of the Temple of R'hllor—she took a deep breath.
"Real air," she murmured.
Kinvara, the High Priestess, watched them emerge. She looked at Annie with interest.
"Another child of power," Kinvara noted. "This one smells of earth and bone."
"She's with me," Ren said, cutting off any religious recruitment. "Priestess, I saved your temple. Now I need a ride."
"The Fiery Hand has prepared a ship," Kinvara bowed. "The Lord's Light. It is the fastest galley in Volantis. It will take you to Slaver's Bay."
Meereen - The Great Pyramid
Two Weeks Later.
The situation in Meereen was critical. Daenerys had conquered the city, but she was losing the peace.
The Sons of the Harpy were butchering her Unsullied in the streets.
Ren's ship sailed into the harbor just as the sun set.
He didn't wait for a formal reception. He marched straight to the Great Pyramid, his team flanking him.
Daenerys was in the throne room, arguing with her advisors.
She looked pale, tired, and dangerously close to breaking.
"Ren!" she gasped when the doors opened.
She ran down the steps. She stopped just short of him, remembering her queenship, but her eyes were wet.
"They said you were lost at sea. They said a storm took you."
"A storm tried," Ren said. "It failed."
He gestured behind him.
Annie Leonhart stepped forward. She was wearing new gear Ren had fabricated—black tactical leather that allowed for movement but offered protection.
She looked bored, but her eyes were scanning the room for threats.
"Who is this?" Daenerys asked.
"The solution to your insurgency," Ren said.
Ren walked to the balcony.
He looked down at the dark streets of Meereen.
"The Harpies hide in the alleys," Ren said. "They use knives. They think they own the shadows."
He turned to Annie.
"Annie. You know urban warfare. You know how to hunt in a city."
Annie cracked her knuckles. "Better than anyone."
"Go," Ren ordered. "Take the Valkyrie Squad. Clear the streets.
If they wear a mask, they die. If they hold a knife, they die."
"Can I transform?" Annie asked, eyeing the pyramid's height.
"Only if necessary," Ren said.
"Try not to step on the civilians. But make them fear the night."
Annie smirked—a sharp, dangerous expression. "Understood."
She vaulted over the balcony railing, disappearing into the dark city below. Saeko and the others followed.
Ren turned back to Daenerys.
"Now," Ren said, walking toward the throne.
"Let's talk about the Golden Company."
Daenerys blinked. "The Golden Company? They fight for gold."
"Not anymore," Ren said, pulling Blackfyre from his sheath and resting it against the throne. "I bought them.
They land tomorrow. 10,000 swords. Elephants."
He looked at Daenerys.
"You have an army, Daenerys. You have dragons. And now, you have a cleaner."
Ren's expression darkened as he thought of the Arbiter.
"We finish this quickly," Ren whispered. "Because there are bigger things out there than Lannisters. And they are coming."