Jacaerys II

297 A.C.

Taragaryen Manse, Pentos

Illyrio's threats of what the consequences of his failure would be reverberated throughout his head. He would have to earn Prince Viserys's trust lest he be thrown out onto the streets whence he came. The memories of the years of hardship he had endured resurfaced, and he was determined never again to be in such a low state ever again. In preparation for his introduction to the Prince, he was hastily given an education in combat training so that he could serve as a sparring partner for the Prince. However Jacaerys was no fool and understood that Magister Illyrio's was hoping that he would be able to build some sort of rapport with the Prince. This would make the Targaryen royals better under the Magister's control allowing him to use them for whatever nefarious plans he had in mind for them. It would be just like how he himself was a pawn in the games of the Cheesemonger and the Spider.

Building a friendship with the Prince wasn't particularly difficult as they both almost naturally warmed up to each other. Jacaerys noted that the Prince had an interest in scholarship and old Valyrian history. While he himself never had fondness for the tales of men who died so long ago, he went along with it, and feigned interest in front of the Prince to better earn his favor. Though he was however fascinated by the old Valyrian laws and texts, and he shared these interests with Prince Viserys. In their shared enthusiasm for this subject Jacaerys felt that they had built something akin to a friendship with each other.

"A friendship built on lies," Jacaerys bitterly thought to himself

.

His mind drifted to the subject of the Prince. He was nothing at all like he heard. The way Lord Varys, Magister Illyrio, and some of the other servants described the Prince made him seem like a mercurial and arrogant boy prone to fits of anger and rage. But that was not what Jacaerys saw when he first encountered the Prince. The Prince was studious, courteous, and dedicated to preparing himself for rulership since he technically was the King of that vast Andal realm beyond the Narrow Sea.

"Jacaerys are you alright?" asked Princess Daenerys interrupting from his thoughts.

"Y…Yes your grace," he said, startled by the sudden appearance of the Princess.

"What gave you that idea?" he asked gauging to see if his cover was blown.

"You look very angry and serious, is something bothering you" the Princess said with concern.

"No I was just deep in thought about something, it wasn't anything important," he said in an attempt to hide his unease from her.

The Princess smiled as if content with his answer, and pointed to his desk where his quill and paper were out in the open asking much to Jacaerys' dread, "what is it that you were working on there. Can I see it?"

Jacaerys felt as if his heart stopped. Inwardly he cursed himself for being so foolish in leaving such sensitive documents outside in the open for anyone to see. Those letters were his reports to the Magister, and his whole life he created for himself was about come crashing down.

"Princess Daenerys I….um…um…er can explain," he said scrambling for words for how to explain himself.

"Oh! You must be working on brother's Nameday celebration!" the Princess said excitedly.

"Yes!" that's exactly what I'm working on, but it's a surprise. You would not want to ruin the surprise would you?" Jacaerys said, hoping that this white lie would work.

Fortunately the Princess bought his explanation and simply nodded saying "it'll be our little secret. Big brother Viserys will be so delighted by this surprise."

Jacaerys was relieved but felt knots in his stomach for lying to the Princess who was so innocent and naïve.

"Um Jacaerys speaking of Viserys, do you know where he is? I've been looking all over for him in the palace," Daenerys said.

Jacaerys hastily put away his letters and said "why don't I help you find him?"

Daenerys then smiled saying "that would be a wonderful idea."

Viserys IV

297 A.C.

Targaryen Manse, Pentos

In these last few months that I have been training, I have vastly improved in terms of sword fighting. While I'm nowhere near the levels of some legendary or master swordsmen like Jaime Lannister, Arthur Dayne, or Drogo as he was depicted in the show, I was competent enough to hold my own against the average foot soldier. I was neither exceptional nor a particularly unremarkable at this. Simply put I was a middling swordsman, but that was still better than nothing for a man who came from the modern world where these things have long since been abandonded thanks to the advent of firearms. Speaking of firearms, I would need to at least jump start that process once I establish myself somewhere.

Looking into my mirror behind me, I could say that I looked far better physically than what I or at least Viserys started off as. While Viserys was a tall and gangly boy due to his harsh life and malnourishment in Essos, the many months of good nutrition and strenuous exercise I've had has really made a difference. And I must say that I look far better than I ever did in my past life, as these magic Valyrian genetics are something else. I still kept the trademark Targaryen good looks, the silvery hair, and purple eyes despite how inbred the Targaryens were. And man am I glad I look like this rather than Carlos II or the Habsburgs. Though unfortunately what we have lack in terms of physical birth defects and other ailments, we more than made up for in terms of low fertility and a particular proclivity towards insanity and psychosis. Its what doomed my no….er Viserys's father King Aerys II in the end, well that and his...our brother.

I don't know why I keep doing that. The more time I spend in this body, the more my mind becomes intertwined with whatever fragments from Viserys's broken mind that remained. Things like his memories and mannerisms were all open to me, so I was able to near effortlessly fake that I was Viserys Targaryen First of my...no his name rightful King of Andals, Rhoynar, First Men, and Lord and ….. I don't want to list every possible title he has right now. My memories and experiences from my previous life are sometimes becoming muted as I find it harder to recall certain things from my previous life. I'm honestly quite terrified of losing my memories, my personality, and well everything that makes me whole. Thanks to some weird ROB shenanigans I'm trapped here in this medieval hellhole that's barely a step above being classified as grim-dark.

When my mind drifts to thoughts of my family, I feel genuine sadness, as I know I'm never going to see them again. I often found myself unable to sleep wondering how my family took to the news that I was dead. After all I never really got to say goodbye to my siblings and parents, and my heart aches when I think about what sort of pain and grief they must be suffering with right now. This is the sad and bitter truth about being a self-insert. Many nights I would sit and read some fics in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe and I would always wonder what it would have been like had I been placed inside my favorite works of fiction. I often imagined this whole experience as a sort of power fantasy where I would magically centralize the Kingdoms, but now I'm here and I'm in utter despair. The sad and grim reality of being "self-inserted" into this world is that it sucks. I'm never going to see my family again, and I'm stuck here in this foreign and barbarian world where the whole deck is stacked against me.

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long to finally write and publish. Truth be told, I was suffering from writer's block and many real life issues and responsibilities that I had to sort out. But now I'm back and ready to write and advance this and Let Madness Reign forward full speed ahead! Thank you guys for reading, and please feel free to leave any comments below, any sort of feedback and/or constructive criticism is welcome.