Chapter 002: Children of Surprise

PMCW Chapter 002 20200323z3

Different communication and thought patterns:

"Speaking"

'Thinking or speaking mentally'

Prologue

Geralt had heard these sounds before. He knows what these sounds mean: A grand army is matching. Larger and stronger than any army he had seen in this Continent before. He can't even see the end of it from the top of the cliff. To him, there is only one explanation why the Nilfgaardian Army is marching near the Amell Pass:

'They're going to attack Cintra!'

Before a Fall

"Out of nowhere, you send word to meet you. All this time, I thought you were dead," Mousesack just enters the tunnel through a door to meet his old friend, Geralt of Rivia.

"I told you last time I was in Cintra that I wasn't coming back," the white-haired Witcher steps out from the corner and shows himself up.

"Yet here you are," the druid's words make Geralt grunts, "Why?"

"You've come for your Child of Surprise… Haven't you?" Mousesack continues.

"The opposite. I want you to tell me that he's safe and healthy so I can keep on riding," Geralt turns around and walks toward another direction.

"He… is a girl," Mousesack's answer causes Geralt to look back, "Yes, Princess Cirilla has been raised by Calanthe since her parents died."

"What?" Geralt can't believe.

"Pavetta and Duny's ship was lost at sea. Have you been hiding your head in the sand?" Mousesack says, "Why now? Why do you think she's not safe?"

"I saw an army making camp at the Amell Pass. A sea of black and gold," Geralt answers seriously.

"Nilfgaard is set on sweeping the Continent, but since that night at Pavetta's banquet, the Queen's done everything she can to keep her family safe from threats. Shut the walls. Fortified the gates…" Mousesack responds...

"Sent assassins!" Geralt hears running footsteps. There're people coming toward them!

"What?" Mousesack is surprised.

"Were you followed?" The Witcher asks right in front of the Druid's face.

"No!" Mousesack immediately answers in shock.

"Hmmm," Geralt can feel the coming assassins and walks away. However, it's too late. The Cintran Knights have already surrounded them.

"Ah…" Geralt walks back to Mouseack and places a knife on his throat.

"You want me, you kill him first!" Geralt says to the assassins.

In the underground tunnels, the Cintran Knights ignore Geralt's hostage and pull out their swords. They don't stop from their path…

"Geralt!" Mousesack is caught by the neck, "Do something!"

"This is on your Queen," Geralt answers.

"We will both die," Mousesack argues.

"Blame destiny," The Witcher uses the druid as his shield. The Knights are about to hit them…

Mousesack reaches out his hands. He teleports both Geralt and himself out…

"I warned you about coming back," Queen Calanthe says when her knights draw out their swords once they see Geralt and Mousesack walking toward them.

"I've been away 12 years and I'd planned on staying that way…" The Witcher answers unhappily, "till you sent eight men to kill me."

"Well, I'm asking you now," The Cintra Queen warns, "Do not do this."

"If you treated me more like a friend than a threat..." Geralt says, "Do you know the difference anymore?"

The Queen grits her teeth.

"I'm here to protect the girl," Geralt says straightly.

"Who I've raised as my own! Why would I give my only heir to someone who never cared enough to come back for her?" The Queen speaks angrily, "Move along, Witcher. I'll pay whatever you want."

"I can't be bought," Geralt responds, "You should remember."

"Money can't undo the Law of Surprise," Mousesack shakes his head, "Kings who've tried to outbid destiny end up on pikes."

"And if I win the war but lose Ciri, what victory is that?" Queen Calanthe says.

"Maybe that army won't come, and if they do, maybe you'll be ready. But if you have any doubt in your mind that she's safe here, give her to me. Call it destiny, security,

what larger forces at work, I don't care," Geralt swears, "I will take her, protect her, and bring her back unharmed, I promise you that."

"Ciri is all I have left of my daughter," The Queen says.

"If Ciri survives, then Pavetta lives on too," Geralt says.

"Law of Surprise has been called," The Queen announces. She quietly adds afterward, "I'll tell Cirilla myself."

"It's what has been promised. We must sacrifice... to fulfill destiny. Shh..."

Geralt walks pass through a pair of heavy doors and sees a girl sobs before Queen Calanthe.

"He may take you, but you will always be mine," The Queen says to the sniffling girl, "I need you to be brave now, because who are you?"

"The Lion Cub of Cintra," that girl answers with an unnaturally calm voice and stands up to face the Witcher.

"Pleased to meet you, Princess," Geralt speaks judgingly.

That girl looks at the Witcher with wild eyes, then she turns toward The Queen and asks nervously, "Can I say goodbye to my friends now?"

"Of course," The Queen answers quietly. Then, that girl leaves hurriedly. Mousesack shows an unhappy look.

"I'll summon you when she's ready," Queen Calanthe says unhappily, and Geralt leaves.

The Witcher knows something is wrong, so he follows his instinct… After going through a series of passages, Geralt gets out of the castle and finds that running girl…

"Go on, Korin, do it!"

"Oh! Gimme."

A group of boys is playing outside and that girl is running toward them while she is holding her dress…

"Korin, Anton, I have to go," That girl says to them in a rush…

"What? No!" One of the boys tries to protest…

"I know!" That girl hugs him tightly…

"Take care," The boy says.

"Your Highness." Next, that girl slightly bows her head toward another boy. In the process, she bends her knees outward while holding her skirt out from her body. Then, she runs away hurriedly again…

"First, you try to kill me, then you lie to me," Geralt speaks angrily toward The Queen after he enters the castle, "I'm just trying to keep Cirilla safe."

"Ciri is safe, with me, until the day she takes over my throne," The Queen tries to leave but the Witcher gets in her way.

"Listen to me…"

"I did listen once. Let a hedgehog into my court. It got me Pavetta dead," The Queen speaks venomously, "I won't lose Ciri too. So you and destiny can both fuck right off. Because if Nilfgaard comes, will destiny carry a banner into battle? No. We have an army, a navy... and me."

"A dynasty can't survive on arrogance alone."

"Says a Witcher. She needs family. You know nothing about that. Your own mother cared so little, she discarded you," The Queen walks away without looking back.

"You lecture me on a mother's love yet offer up someone else's daughter."

"Queen to all of Cintra, grandmother to one. I won't orphan that girl." Calanthe says imperiously.

"You're sentencing her to death."

"What did I miss?" King Eist just arrives at the castle.

"Nothing. Get him out of my sight," Queen Calanthe leaves The King and the Witcher behind…

"I remember when you honored the Law of Surprise. What changed?" Geralt asks King Eist when they walk outside the castle.

"I had a granddaughter," The King simply answers.

"So protect her."

"What if Calanthe's wrong? What if they come and Ciri is trapped?"

"I fight side by side with my Queen," The King answers without a second thought.

"You put too much faith in that woman."

"Well, you weren't there. After Pavetta died, Calanthe would wake up howling in the night. The Lioness, nearly broken," The King turns around to face the Witcher, "Someone who's able to pull themselves out of that, they'll have my confidence till my final day."

Geralt says nothing and leaves emotionlessly.

"I need your promise you won't come back," Words of The King make the Witcher stops right under the archway.

"If I hear Ciri's in danger, you know I can't do that," Geralt turns around to answer The King without noticing he is, in fact, stepping into a trap. Instantly, 2 metal gates fall and trap the Witcher shortly after he finishes his sentence.

"I know," The King leaves the trapped Witcher behind. Geralt didn't expect King Eist betraying him like this…

The End's Beginning

Geralt of Rivia is meditating. He has been unarmed and thrown into Cintra prison for 2 days now. Luckily, the Witcher has managed to stay cool through his meditation. Despite being kept in solitude, the Witcher hears everything which is happening outside his cell: Cintra is losing the war. Nilfgaard riders are massacring Cintra civilians. Remaining Cintra soldiers are being slaughtered everywhere…

Suddenly, the roof shakes and smoke appears everywhere. Geralt knows Nilfgaardians finally enter the inner keep, and he must escape now, so the Witcher leaves his meditation and prepares…

Once a Cintran knight passes by the Witcher's cell closely, Geralt grabs his neck, knocks him out with his inhuman strength, and steals the cell keys to free himself. Geralt quickly retrieves his weapons and rearm himself before leaving the prison.

In dark, the Witcher uses the chaos of the battlefield to kill Nilfgaardian soldiers who stand in his way. Geralt knows Princess Cirilla is still here because he can smell that little bastard still lingering in the inner keep. He is certain that the Incubator is being here for The Princess who has the Elder Blood. If he doesn't intervene soon, it will make a contract with The Princess in such a desperate situation. Then, things will turn very ugly…

The atmosphere of the Cintra capital suddenly changes. A blinding green light radiates from the inner keep. It later turns into a giant jade pillar of light that rises up from the center structure. Mysterious magical runes appear around it. Multiple lightning bolts strike from the sky. Then, the ground is shaking. Everything he sees is being pulled into… a portal? Geralt tries to run away but it happens too sudden and too fast! This magic storm pulls the Witcher up from the ground and swallows everyone nearby into its unbelievable large magic sphere…

Linked by Destiny

"I hate portals."

The Witcher slowly gets up from the ground. This has been the worst portal he has ever experienced in his life. It feels like being thrown up and down inside a tornado. Geralt looks around and realizes that he isn't alone. Nilfgaardian soldiers, dead Cintrans' bodies and the center structure of the inner keep are also brought to here. They are not in the burning city of Cintra anymore because this place seems to be a forest. Geralt can see so many trees around them. Why were they brought here?

The disoriented Nilfgaardian soldiers around the inner keep get up on their feet slowly. This is bad because they severely outnumber the Witcher and all Cintra soldiers seem to be killed in previous battles. Furthermore, it isn't at night here so Geralt doesn't have advantages like lower visibility to counter enemies' strength in number. It's just impossible for a lone Witcher to fight hundreds of Nilfgaardian soldiers at once during the daytime!

"Step back, Geralt. I'll take care of them."

In an instant, the tide turns! All Nilfgaardian soldiers drop dead unnaturally. Their blood spills everywhere. Something has just killed every one of them. Geralt can barely notice countless tiny projectiles put holes in Nilfgaardians' bodies. Comparing to arrows, these projectiles are just too fast and too small! What's going on? This doesn't like anything he has ever seen! What are these sounds and smells?

The Witcher turns around, and he sees a black-haired girl standing next to him. She is wearing a black inner top within a white dress top with an extra short pleated skirt. Her costume is so foreign and too exposed comparing to what he usually sees among Northern Kingdoms. Her skirt is just too short and reveals her legs clearly. Moreover, that girl is carrying a small metal round shield on her left and holding a mysterious metal object with both hands which barely likes a heavy crossbow.

How did she get so close without him knowing? Geralt is totally certain that he didn't see the girl's coming. Did she just teleport here? The Witcher can sense the strange magic flowing around that girl, so she possibly is a Magical Girl. Why is she being here now?

"Who are you?" The Witcher asks guardingly.

The girl points her mysterious metal object down and speaks with a cold voice that doesn't match her teenage look, "I am Akemi Homura, a Magical Girl."

"Why help me, of all things?" Geralt lowers his sword.

"To change the destiny, I need you and Princess Cirilla."

Author's Note

Disclaimer:

The Witcher belongs to Andrzej Sapkowski

Puella Magi Madoka Magica belongs to Magica Quartet.

I don't own any characters. I am not making any profits for writing this story. I am writing for entertainment purposes only. All events are purely fictitious, and my settings are leading to Out Of Character.

I like to hear any suggestions or opinions.

23 March 2020:

I really want to show more care to Geralt of Rivia because he is the central character of The Witcher. However, there's more fun in writing Ciri being a Magical Girl in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.