Ice and Fire

Mediocrity

Arya was already on her way back to Winterfell to be with Bran. She was angry with Jon and Sansa for turning their back on him. All she could think about is how she's not going to let Daenerys kill her brother.

After many days of riding, she finally made it back home. The first thing she did was find Bran to tell him of his sentence. Before she could speak, Bran said, "I know."
Arya nodded her head sheepishly, forgetting he can see into the past.

"Don't worry, I won't let them take you. Our family has lost enough, you won't be next."
Bran looked at her with a straight face. "I'm not worried, I know you honor your duty to family, but my plan is already in action. And when everything is ready...they'll all see the mistake they made. Then they'll come running back begging for forgiveness." He said clenching his fists.

Arya noticed that and decided to ignore it but she wanted to know the answer to a question that's bugging her.
"You will forgive them, right?"
Bran looked at her coldly after that question and then he grinned. "Only time will tell."
Arya was disappointed at the answer he gave but she didn't want to push him, she already knew he was acting strange. So she just left him there by the fireplace.

                          ——————————

Sansa was looking for Arya for hours till she finally realized she's gone. She knows Arya, and she knows that she went back to Winterfell to be with Bran. She went to go find Jon and tell him that Arya has left but when she approached him, she noticed that something's on his mind that's bothering him.

"Jon, are you alright?"
Jon was startled by her, " I'm fine, it's nothing."
"Something is obviously bothering you. So what's wrong?"
"It's just Dany...she says she trusts me more than anything, but she can't even let me in on her plans. I want to know, especially when it has to do with Bran."
"Well that's just it Jon...it has to do with Bran. Bran is and always will be family, and she does trust you, I know it myself...just not with things that involve your family. You betrayed her trust with that when you told us your secret...and I'm sorry I betrayed my word and your trust by telling Tyrion which caused a huge mess, but I did what I thought was right at the time."
Jon sighed and looked at the ground. "Maybe I should apologize to her."
"Maybe you should" Sansa said calmly.

                        ——————————

Arya woke up from a nap when she heard a bunch of ruckus going on outside. She went to go see what was going on, there was an unexpected surprise. She was lost of words and completely flabbergasted. There's a whole army of mercenaries from Braavos marching in to the castle. She saw Bran sitting there with a satisfied look. She started to think maybe she was wrong about Bran, maybe he really has changed and gone mad, but she didn't want to believe anything till she confronts him herself.
She waited till everyone was settled and calm before she goes to talk to Bran. Once everyone went their own ways, she went to confront him in the Godswood.

"Bran...what on earth is going on here? Please don't tell me it's what I think it is."
Bran looked at her with a straight face. "It is...we are going to war sister and the seven kingdoms will be mine...you'll see."
That confession broke Arya's heart to see that her brother truly isn't there anymore.
"How did you even get them? They're mercenaries of Braavos, how did you even manage to hire them all?"

"It's called power, Arya. I compromised with two leaders of the Iron Bank and they granted me their army to take what is mine. They don't want Daenerys as a Queen, she plummeted their profits."

"So what exactly did you compromise about? I see you got the army...what do they get?"
"Daenerys' death obviously, which will give them the freedom for slavery in Mereen and Dragon's Bay again. On top of that I'll allow them slave trade throughout Westeros."
Arya looked at him disgusted. She wondered what happened to her brother she once knew.
"That is mediocrity!"

"It's called doing whatever it takes!" He raised his voice. He then continued, "I'll let the men slaughter all the people of Westeros just to get Daenerys Targaryen! She is a Mad Queen and not what Westeros needs! In the end, everything will turn out perfectly with me as the ruler. Just watch and see."

Arya slowly digested all his words. After a few minutes of processing what was just said, she couldn't bare to be near him anymore. She left right away without a word and never looked back. She was on her horse on her way back to the capital.