Jaqen H'ghar: The story behind the Faceless Man

Chapter 2: Mother and Daughter

From darkness, her vision became hazy until slowly everything became clear. She finds herself in a dark empty room with sunlight coming from a window. She tried to sat up but she still felt pain on the back of her head.

"Where am I?" she muttered.

Arya was standing at the door watching her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

She stared back at Arya but didn't utter a word then looked away. Arya walked inside the room and asked once more.

"Who are you? And why are you trying to kill me?" "The girl is one of them" she replied.

"The girl is one of the faceless men." she continued as she looked at Arya.

"All these years, a woman has been trying to get inside the House of Death--"

"Well now that you're here, what do you want?" Arya interrupted.

"Revenge" she answered with pure loathing. "Revenge.. before" she then paused and looked down saying "the woman thought she have lost him."

"Who?" Arya asked. "Jaqen" she said as she looked at her again.

"Jaqen?" she asked. "How did you know Jaqen?" "The man was-"

All of a sudden, Jaqen H'ghar opened the door.

"A girl still has a mission" he said as he threw a pouch of wolf's bane darts to Arya.
She catched the darts and put it in her pocket. Jaqen looked at the lady and she looked back at him hopefully as if she wanted him to recognize her but his stare was blank and cold and it made her realize that he was not Jaqen H'ghar.

"The man named Jaqen H'ghar is dead" he finally said.

The lady could not speak and was just in pure shock and disappointment. He then turned to Arya and said "Go on now. A girl still has work to be done".

In the marketplace, Arya wears a different face and was dressed as a beggar. She sat on one corner watching a merchant yelling at a woman whom he accused of not paying enough money. Everyone in the market were staring at them arguing and when the argument heated up, the merchant slapped her. Arya stood up and reached for the pouch in her pocket.

"Aye! What do you have there little girl?!" a drunken man said as he pulled Arya's shirt collar against him.

Arya struggled and told the him to let her go but he laughed and mocked her. Suddenly, an arrow flew down and struck the man's neck. A woman saw what happened and screamed causing the attention to draw on them. Arya ran away from the situation, she looked back and saw people huddling around the dead man. She looked up and saw the lady on the roof in her cloak with her bow and arrow. She then turned her sight on the merchant and took the opportunity of killing him with a wolf's bane dart while people were still in a state of panic. She threw the dart and struck the merchant's nape which instantly killed him, it started even more commotion in the marketplace. Arya looked up once more and saw the lady gone. She walked around, looking at every ally and found her walking away. She followed her.

"Where are you going? Why did you help me?" she asked

The lady didn't say anything and continued walking.

"Why won't you talk?!" Arya shouted out of frustration as she grabbed her shoulder and pulled it so she could face her. The lady looked at her calmly and said

"A girl wants to know who's the lady in cloak?"

Arya didn't say a word and stared at her.

"Come with me. A woman will show you something."

They climbed down the stone stairs which lead to an ally of small houses with broken roofs and windows. Arya turned her head left and right, up and down trying to figure out the place she's in. The people around them looked sick and pale, the children were thin as if they haven't eaten in days. It seems like a dark side of the rich, free city of Braavos.

The lady turned right and stopped in front of a house with a big, wooden door. She opened the door and inside was an old woman lying in bed ill. They went inside, the lady then removed her cloak and kissed the old woman on the cheek. Arya sat down on a wooden stool not removing her sight on the old woman. The old woman smiled lightly at her.

"A woman wants to know the girl's name?" she said with her husky voice.

"Arya.. My name's Arya" she replied.

"Very pleased to meet you Arya." she said.

Arya looked around and saw the lady sat across the room.

"The woman's name is Ysmay. And her mother's name is Luella" she said as she looked at her mother in bed.

"The girl is curious." she leaned back with her arms crossed as she continues.

"A woman will now tell you about Jaqen H'ghar" Ysmay continued.

Luella's smile faded and turned to melancholy when she heard the name.

"Jaqen" she muttered as a tear dropped from her left eye. Arya looked at them confused and lost. Ysmay added.

"The man named Jaqen H'ghar... is my father."

Arya's confusion turned to shock.

-End of Chapter 2-