'' Wolves asleep amidst the trees
Bats all a swaying in the breeze
But one soul lies anxious wide awake
Fearing all manner of ghouls, hags and wraiths
For your dolly Polly sleep has flown
Don't dare let her tremble alone
For the witcher, heartless, cold
Paid in coin of gold
He comes, he'll go, leave naught behind
But heartache and woe
Deep, deep woe
Birds are silent for the night
Cows turned in as daylight dies
But one soul lies anxious wide awake
Fearing all manner of ghouls, hags and wraiths
My dear dolly Polly shut your eyes
Lie still, lie silent, utter no cries
As the witcher, brave and bold
Paid in coin of gold
He'll chop and slice you
Cut and dice you
Eat you up whole
Eat you whole."
(Witcher 3 - Lullaby of woe.)
Ask anyone born in the city of Atlas, about the wealthiest individuals they know and they will immediately point you to the large manor located at the edge of Mantle right in the middle of its largest natural reservation.
Calling the building a manor would do it a disservice as it was more akin to a small palace, its size being considerably larger than even Atlas's own house of parliament.
High quality marble, large and lavish rooms filled with pristine furniture, long hallways and an innumerable amount of highly expensive items served as a signature to the wealth of the esteemed Schnee family.
Or more specifically to the wealth and high position of one single individual, by the name of President Jacques Schnee and yes, the president title was part of his name, as the man always made sure to introduce himself as so when spoken to.
Tall statured, slicked-back white hair, dressed in an expensive designer suit and shoes, coupled with a white thick mustache, the president of the Schnee Dust Company posed quite an intimidating sight. His cold light blue eyes always calculating and always scheming to squeeze even the last drop of profit from everything in his general vicinity.
He was the type of individual that always needed to be in control and demanded absolute obedience and servitude from those around him, whom he otherwise regarded with apathy and indifference. Failure to comply with his demands would see one ruined by his impressive army of ruthless lawyers, bought journalists and officers of the law, as many competing business men found out the hard way.
He was the richest man in the world. He had it all…money, power, servants, a luxurious home and a beautiful wife and children.
It was a shame that his heart was as cold as ice, like the crystals in his pockets.
Years into his marriage he drove his wife into depression and alcoholism, by declaring to her one fair sunny day, that he simply married her for her family's fortune and couldn't give a damn about her or her feelings. Then he drove his eldest daughter away by trying to blackmail her into marrying the son of a political leader, who was part of the Atlas council.
With his eldest off to join the military, of all things, in order to regain some control over her life, he naturally turned his controlling nature down the line to his middle child.
Weiss Schnee, would be the figure image of his company, the heiress of his powerful empire. So, he hired a legion of tutors, acting and vocal coaches, hair and dress stylists, in order to mold his daughter into the perfect high-class doll. So that she might become an icon of high society and launch his company's popularity even further in the sky and more importantly so that she could be easily manipulated.
The nasty rumors about his company endorsing and funding faunus slavery, were completely baseless and untrue. Not that he and I quote "Give a damn about the flea-bitten animals anyway, their place is in my mines to work and die for the prosperity of the Schnee Dust company", end quote.
And finally, there was his youngest child, Whitley Schnee.
Whitley was conceived the night after he failed to secure a large contract, with the biggest shipping company on the Sanus continent, largely due to the interference of that enigmatic bastard Ozpin. So, he arrived home and bedded his pretty wife in an effort to regain confidence and assert his dominance again. It helped that his wife was a little bit tipsy and that his other children were away at his brother's house.
Two weeks later, his wife surprised him with the news and demanded an abortion – as this was after he revealed the true intentions of his marriage to her, however after careful consideration he agreed with her only if the child were to be a girl. If it were to be a male and she still insisted, he would ruin her life in such a way, that she would be locked in an alcohol addiction center for the rest of her life, or left begging on the streets.
A male heir sounded better the more he thought about it, his youngest would serve as a backup plan.
Frightened with the prospect of living in poverty, his wife agreed and lo and behold his sole male child was born eight months later. His wife insisted on naming him Whitley, the most boring and unoriginal name ever, probably to spite him one last time on the matter.
Seven years had passed since then and his youngest had just started school, so Jacques believed it was time for him to learn the source of his family's fortune by taking him to the nearest Schnee Dust Company controlled dust mine.
And so, this bard's tale begins with the young Whitley entering a mine and getting entangled into the strings of destiny.
Whitley of Kaer Morhen
The mine manager, who went by the name Boyd Smith, was feeling rather nervous as he waited for his guest's arrival.
Yesterday his superior called him and dumped the mother of all news on his head. The fucking president of the Schnee Dust Company, was due for a surprise visit and he randomly decided that their mine was the optimal choice. Apparently, he wished for his son to experience a day inside the mine, to get an understanding of the business so to speak, like some sodding father-son bonding nonsense.
It would have been rather touching if he hadn't spent the last twelve hours desperately whipping his men all over the place, making sure everything was in top working order and that not a single unrefined dust crystal was out of place – he had to order two of his men to restrain that bastard O'Neill and retrieve the crystal that stupid idiot was trying to smuggle out, from his fucking underpants! So, yes, he wasn't exactly feeling very enthusiastic about the whole ordeal.
A luxurious limousine pulled up in front of the administrative building and Smith sighed, it was time to get this shitshow on the road and dust up on his ass licking performance.
The door was roughly pushed over and two very large individuals, dressed in black suits, most likely the bodyguards, took point and kept the doors open.
A second later three individuals stepped inside the reception hall and Smith had to blink, after being momentarily blinded by all the whiteness, a side effect of working deep in the mines and certainly not for the fact that the individuals dressed in all white and with a touch of red and blue, like they were related to her majesty the Snow Queen herself.
Smith cleared his throat and before he could say any word, an arrogant voice interrupted and pushed him off his rails.
"Before you say any nonsense, let me inform you that my time is limited and we won't be here for long, simply give us a short tour and that is all."
Smith had to bite his tongue, not to insult the pompous prick's mother and instead forced his attention towards the other two individuals.
The young boy looked skinny as a twig and if it weren't for his family's well-known traits, he would have thought him to be afflicted by some uncurable disease. He was all pale like a ghost, with two light blue eyes and a head full of white hair mostly pushed to the left, a boyish school uniform completed the set, dyed with the family colors of course.
A young girl was also present though, a bit older than the boy and dressed in the same theme as the others only with a skirt instead of trousers. White hair, eyes and face similar to her brother's and an utterly displeased look on her face.
How about that, he expected the Schnee heiress to be some unemotional doll, according to the rumors. Yet the look on her face was similar to the one his daughter used to give him, when she'd been at that age, whenever she was annoyed or forced to do something she didn't like. Like a out of the blue family bonding day, in this case.
Weiss Schnee being part of the group was unexpected though and it must have shown on his face, as the Schnee patriarch immediately noticed.
"My daughter's presence here was a last-minute change in plans, I hope this does not pose a problem," said Jacques while narrowing his eyes.
Smith shook his head immediately "Of course not sir, I just wasn't informed about the young missus's arrival, she's more than welcome here." He immediately diverted his boss's ire and nodded at his daughter.
The young girl released a haughty scoff and turned her head away, an action that made Smith bite his tongue again.
'Mother always warned me that I might lose my head one day, because of that sharp tongue of mine and if I can't keep it together for an hour or two that's going to come true.' he thought with a gulp when he saw the president narrow his eyes again.
"S-so, is everyone ready for a tour of the facility?" stammered Smith.
The Schnee heiress sighed "Let's just get this over with, I have dance lessons after this."
Whitley nodded excitedly, with a huge smile suddenly appearing on his face "Let's go, I want to see if there's any treasure down there, or better yet a dragon!" It seemed that at least one of the Schnee family's members was having fun.
Judging by the incredulous look upon the father and daughter's faces, after hearing little Whitley's declaration, Smith had to wager that they weren't expecting that.
Jacques arranged his tie "Yes, well, let's begin then," while still reeling after his son's words, he would have a word with Willow about the boy's sudden interest in fairytales at a later time.
After a short presentation of the offices and the various paper pushers that populated the area, some of them waving at young Whitley and Weiss but failing miserably to capture the attention of their future overlords, mostly due to Weiss being more interested in her scroll and Whitley being lost in his daydreams about cave living fantasy reptiles and princesses, they finally arrived at the main staff elevator leading down into the mine.
"Right this way, sir!" said Smith as the elevator's automatic door opened.
Stepping into the relatively large compartment they were greeted by a cool artificial female voice.
'Hello and welcome to the Ia Torech mine owned by the Schnee Dust Company'
The robotic voice startled Whitley and Weiss somewhat, as they weren't expecting the disembodied voice coming from the ceiling. The Schnee president merely arranged his tie once more as the elevator began its descent into the main facility.
"I see that CRYSTAL has been uploaded into the main system, I am very pleased with that."
Weiss frowned and inquired in a curious tone "Who is Crystal, father?"
Smith intervened before her father could "Not whom miss Weiss, but what," he replied with a smile.
Jacques looked a bit annoyed at being cut off but sighed "Listen well Weiss for I will only say this once, CRYSTAL is the future and the reason why our company is considered to be the cutting edge of technology."
"It's an artificial intelligence that our company, in collaboration with the Atlas government and various other software developing companies, designed to better manage the day-to-day operations of our mines and factories."
Whitley's eyes widened "Oh, oh, that means it's like Cortana, right Father?
At this Jacques blinked and asked confusedly "Who on earth is Cortana?"
Weiss opened her mouth but Smith intervened again, it appeared that the man had a love for interrupting people, "It's an AI character from a popular video game, sir. My youngest boy loves it."
Jacques rose an eyebrow as he wasn't aware that his son was into such time-consuming trivialities "Uh, yes, well I suppose she is, but CRYSTAL is no fictional nonsense I can assure you Whitley, she is as real as it gets."
Smith hid a grimace at the tone of his boss 'Ugh, the way he speaks to his own kids, what a fucking freak!'
The elevator stopped for a moment, before lowering itself into a massive cavern. That caused Whitley and even his sister to look in wonder at the various dust crystals stuck in the wall and the artificially constructed massive bridges used by the workers to move the unrefined dust crystals with large mobile loading and dumping machines.
By the sheer size of the cavern, Weiss reckoned there must have been hundreds of people working on this shift alone. All dressed with regulatory safety equipment that sported her family's famous snowflake logo. She also absently noted that most of the workforce consisted of faunus.
The elevator stopped again and a massive robotic arm disconnected the cabin from the elevator shaft and connected it to a support fixed on two cables, that ran parallel to the ceiling, effectively turning the elevator cabin into an aerial tramway.
The children also witnessed other trams, moving about the cave to their respective elevator shafts, solving the riddle on how the dust was delivered topside.
Suddenly Weiss remembered something "CRYSTAL called this mine Ia Torech, what does it mean?" she asked their guide.
Smith shook his head "Nobody knows miss Weiss, the name of the mine has been passed through generations all the way from ancient times and the nomadic tribes that lived here."
"Although…" at this Smith paused and looked at his boss, who was more concerned with stroking his moustache and basking into the glory of his wealth, than paying attention to his surroundings "There is a local legend that says the nomadic tribes who arrived here found the mine in working condition and strange beings with pointy ears, that were neither human, nor faunus, greeted them" he whispered.
The children's eyes widened in wonder, Whitley's in particular.
"You see sister, I told you that magical creatures were real!" he grabbed Weiss's hand and shook it excitedly.
The young girl rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away "Don't be ridiculous you little brat, magic doesn't exist and you know Father doesn't like to hear about things like that," at this both children sneaked a quick look towards their father, but the man seemed more concerned with his scroll than their conversation.
"What do you think, mister Smith?" asked Weiss politely "Surely you don't believe they were aliens or such."
At this Smith had to laugh "Young miss, I don't know what to think. After all, I wasn't there and I never really liked to speculate," the older man placed a hand under his chin, "However, I always believed semblances were borderline magic anyway, so who knows."
Weiss sighed while her little brother nodded excitedly. Honestly, the man shouldn't put more gasoline on the fire, Whitley could get insufferable when one encouraged his fantasies.
A jolt interrupted their conversation as the cabin arrived at their destination.
"Right, if you would follow me, we will proceed with our tour," said Smith as the cabin's doors opened with a depressurizing hiss, its occupants stepping into a large hallway, that looked reinforced with steel panels.
Weiss estimated that they must have been at least four hundred meters below ground and couldn't help but wonder how the air was still breathable, her sight was drawn to several large ventilation shafts that lined the ceiling.
Her curiosity must have shown as Smith immediately caught on it.
"As you might have already guessed, young miss, the airducts do indeed provide fresh air from above," he opened his scroll and projected the blueprint of the entire facility on a nearby terminal.
"The entire mass of rock above our heads is riddled with complex ventilation systems that provide air circulation throughout the entire mine," he pointed at the schematics and zoomed in for a better look.
Weiss frowned at the monitor "These ventilation tunnels look strange."
Her father made an approving sound "Good observation daughter, that is because most of them were not dug by human hands."
At her questioning look Smith explained "Most of these ventilation pathways were created naturally over time, either by subterranean rivers or earthquakes, this mine was actually very well ventilated even in ancient times and we merely improved on that."
The tour went on with the manager showing them around the facility and explaining to them the complex process of dust crystals extraction and storage. Several faunus workers passed by and waved happily to the children, though Weiss and even Whitley could immediately tell that their gestures seemed forced and their smiles horribly fake. Still, they weren't raised to be impolite and so they waved back.
While Smith went on and on about the fascinating process of dust mining, little Whitley was beginning to grow a little bored with the tour. His seven year's old mind had conjured adventures full of treasure, sleeping dragons, goblins and maybe a ghost or two, but instead he saw the same sterile and safe environment that he had been raised in all his life.
The mine looked nothing like the dangerous caves in his RPG games and so far, all he saw were fake smiling people that scowled behind his back and reinforced white stone walls, so nothing out of the ordinary.
The dust crystals looked kind of cool, though.
Suddenly on the corner of his eyes he spotted something that immediately captured his attention, an old metal door with the words 'Mine Artefacts' above it. Looking back at the grownups he saw Smith explaining something to his father and sister while a group of workers chimed in from time to time.
Making sure he was as stealthy as a little kid could be, he slowly backed away towards the door, the others being completely oblivious to his actions.
While Smith was proudly presenting the facility's annual production statistics towards his boss, nobody noticed the little white-haired head that disappeared behind the nondescript door.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Once inside the chamber Whitley was forced to open his scroll and use the flashlight option on it as it was too dark to see.
He would be lying if he said it wasn't a little scarry, but he came to this mine looking for adventure and by the RPG gods he would have it.
Looking around the large chamber he tried to spot a light switch of any kind, but he couldn't find one and the smell of dust was beginning to irritate his little nose. Still brave little Whitley persevered and proceeded further inside. There were a lot of large tables around and most of the objects on them were covered with white tablecloths, but his eyes went immediately to a very large doorway like ornate structure, that was placed right in the middle of the chamber.
Walking around it and lighting it up from every angle with his flashlight, the youngest Schnee released an awed sound at his discovery "Wow, a magic portal, cool!"
While stepping back, he hit on something hard, "Ouch!" He said while rubbing the back of his head, right before he pointed his scroll for a better look and gasped in surprise.
A large cloth covered something massive, that resembled a large statue of sorts. His curiosity got the better of him and he moved to grab the fabric to throw it off.
"And what do you think you're doing, hmm?"
A voice from behind startled him so bad he screamed in fright and dropped his scroll on the floor. A second later another light source appeared and exposed his trembling form.
A sigh was heard from the shadows and the light suddenly revealed his sister's face.
"Weiss! What are you doing here?" Exclaimed Whitley in surprise.
"That should be my line, you little troublemaker." His sister said calmly while picking his scroll off the floor and throwing it back in his hands.
"You're very lucky father is more preoccupied with this mine's underlings, than to pay any attention to you!" She continued in a haughty tone.
Whitley scowled and crossed his arms "Don't you mean pay more attention to us, since you followed me in here."
"Ah, but I'm merely playing the role of the older concerned sister, that went looking for her missing rascal of a little brother," she said in a fake concerned tone "Who will naturally be grounded for the rest of his life, when father hears of his little adventures."
Her little brother scowled "Only if you snitch, dear sister."
Weiss laughed in a conceited manner "Oh, rest assured that I will inform him of course," she crossed her arms and smirked at his scowling face "As it is my role as his favorite child."
"You…" began Whitley but his sister was already ignoring him in favor of looking around the room.
The chamber must have served as some sort of storage. It was old, dusty and it looked like it hadn't been visited, nor cleaned, in a long time. There was also an old power box in the far eastward corner, that looked in desperate need of an electrician.
"Hmm, the installation looks damaged, a faulty fuse maybe?" Whispered Weiss to herself.
Suddenly her little brother screamed and her nonexistent sisterly instincts kicked in.
"Whitley, what happened!" She yelled while rushing towards her brother's aid, who fell down on the floor and was pointing a shaking finger at something behind her.
Turning around she let out a scream herself, despite her better intentions, at the view of a truly monstruous looking statue, that Whitley must have accidentally uncovered.
It resembled a kneeling man but that was where the similarities ended. To the young girl it looked like someone took a huge boulder and attempted to carve a human looking statue out of it using only a big hammer.
Its arms resembled a pair of wrecking balls, adorned with wicked rock spikes and its head looked like a smashed rock that was glued back together, complemented with a wicked scowling mouth.
The weirdest thing however were the wraps that were tied all over the statue's extremities, each of them engraved with strange symbols, that hurt her eyes just by looking at them, for some strange reason.
"W-what is that?!" Shouted Whitley in fear while grabbing her arm.
Weiss gathered her wits for a moment and when she saw that the ugly statue remained inert, she regained some confidence.
"Obviously, it's a very ugly statue," she pulled her arm away from her brother's frightened grip and started mocking him with a grin "Weren't you supposed to be the gallant hero of this story? Rather sad that you got scared by someone's failed art project."
Whitley's embarrassment overcame his fear "Hey! You take that back!" He shouted at his grinning older sister "I'm not s-scared!" Though his trembling tone betrayed him.
"Whatever you say, little brother," replied Weiss while taking a closer look at the symbols on the statue.
The writing on the wraps didn't resemble any modern symbols of Basic's alphabet, the common language that everyone on Remnant spoke, so either it was complete gibberish or it was far older than it looked, perhaps some archaic version from the nomadic times.
Her eyes widened. If the symbols were genuine, then this was an extremely ancient artefact and was probably worth millions of lien. She had to tell their father immediately! Oh, she could already see the proudness in his eyes.
Her little fantasy shattered when she remembered that her father's fortune numbered in the billions and would probably not even bother himself with the ugly statue. In her mind, she could already hear his admonishing tone.
'Weiss, that thing is the single, most repulsive statue I've ever seen! You're grounded daughter, for exposing my sight to that abomination and I'll be taking your allowance, too!
A shiver crossed her spine, being grounded was one thing but her allowance? That would be a nightmare.
"Should we tell father what we found?" Asked Whitley innocently.
"No!" came his sister's immediate reply, startling him and making him take a few steps back at her reaction.
"I-I mean…" she coughed to hide her embarrassment at her lack of control "Father is a rather busy man and has bigger concerns than this ugly thing, we probably shouldn't bother him with such trivial matters."
Her little brother raised an eyebrow at her but shrugged and continued to look around.
Weiss turned back to the statue and moved her scroll for a better look, but the second she placed the device closer to the symbols an electric zap fried it.
"Ah!" she released a frightened gasp as she got a little electrocuted "Stupid scroll!"
"What happened?" Thankfully Whitley shined some light in the area.
Weiss threw her scroll on the floor and scowled at its smoking form "The battery on my scroll must have short-circuited and it was a pretty expensive model too!"
Whitley would have replied if they both hadn't heard the low grumbling coming from behind his sister. Shining a trembling light towards the statue, both sibling's hearts stopped when they saw the symbols on the wraps around the statue, begin to glow with an ethereal green light.
"Weiss, w-what did you do?" whispered Whitley weakly, as they both saw the previously immobile statue begin to move.
His older sister grabbed his trembling arm and placed him behind her, as a louder inhuman groan began to resonate through the chamber.
Their similar light blue eyes widened, when the now animated statue, rose to a mind numbing five meters height and began to move its massive spiked hands.
"Intruders not recognized. This golem must destroy all intruders." The golem stated with a low inhuman voice,that caused poor Whitley to almost wet his trousers.
"Whitley, run!" Shouted Weiss as the golem roared, the inhuman sound sending a tremor through the entire mine.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Meanwhile Smith who was now attempting to placate his asshole of a boss, due to some low profits registered in the previous month, almost lost his footing when a tremendous roar resonated throughout the facility and caused a small localized earthquake.
Jacques wasn't so lucky as the moving ground caused him to fall on his face and smash his nose to the hard concrete floor.
A loud alarm sound appeared through the speakers.
'Warning! High seismic activity detected, please evacuate the mine in an orderly fashion!' CRYSTAL's unemotional voice announced throughout the facility.
Naturally the underpaid faunus workers started panicking and abandoned their posts to rush to the elevators, some of them comically stepping all over Jacques's body and even tripping over his pitiful form.
"Respect the protocol everybody!" Smith tried to calm the frightened mob, but was practically thrown aside to the wall.
The Schnee patriarch weakly got on his feet, his pristine suit ruined by a river a blood that flowed from his nose and the stampede of footprints that lined his back "Y-you ungrateful animals! I'll ruin every last one of you!" His nose was bent at a wrong angle and a deranged expression was on his face.
His anger quickly changed to fear and panic when a second, bigger earthquake shook the mine and caused parts of the ceiling to fall. His true cowardly nature revealed itself as he made a beeline towards the exit himself.
"But, sir! Your children, I can't see them anywhere!" His plea was ignored as Jacques tried to push the workers away and make his way through the piling hustle at the elevator "I'm the owner of this blasted mine and I demand that you animals step aside!"
This didn't bid well with most faunus in the crowd, as their fear quickly turned to anger and they began to punch and kick Jacques, mostly in his ruined face.
Smith palmed his face at the Schnee's pathetic begging sounds, as the angry mob practically beat the living crap of his superior, turning the previously proud president into a whimpering dog.
A wave of energy blasted through the facility and Smith could only look in horror, as the dust crystals began to glow and summoning portals appeared throughout the mine. Out of them stepping murderous large stone statues, all glowing with eldritch energies.
"Oh, fuck this shit! I'm out of here!" Smith said rushing at the elevator himself.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Sister!" Whitley shout was heard before the golem roared and smashed one of his massive arms to the floor, almost breaking the room in half and launching tables and stone tablets in the air.
The two siblings were separated by the impact and were launched across opposite sides of the chamber.
Weiss crashed into a pile of overturned tables while her little brother hit the stone portal with a sickening crack, blood from his head smearing over the symbols on the ancient artefact.
"W-Whitley!" Came his sister's desperate shout as she realized with horror, that his aura hadn't been activated. Unlike her who had her aura awakened by her combat tutor a year ago.
Her shout however attracted unwanted attention as the golem immediately rounded on her and began marching towards her location, its thunderous steps shaking the already unstable floor.
Desperate for a way to defend herself and cursing her father for forbidding her to carry her sword, she grabbed a pipe from the floor and used her aura to backflip to the left and avoid the golem's strike that practically pulverized the tables she was sitting on.
Using the pipe as a makeshift sword, she used her aura to land several blows to the golem's large body, only to realize with growing horror that she barely made any damage. Not that an eleven years old girl armed with a metal pipe, had that much chances to begin with.
The golem kept on smashing through the chamber, while Weiss somersaulted around its titanic strikes. Suddenly a white snowflake construct manifested beneath her legs and she instinctively used it to launch a frontal piercing attack, that actually pushed her magical assailant a meter back.
The magical golem however immediately covered itself with its large wrecking ball like hands, while Weiss launched multiple aura enhanced strikes desperately trying to find a weak spot.
The young girl lost her footing however, due to her lack of training and experience and the golem immediately capitalized on it, striking her with a blow that threw her across the room and into a wall.
Sliding down with a pained grimace, the left side of her face had a wicked bloody wound, that would most likely leave her with a permanent scar.
Weiss opened her uninjured eye, only to look in fear as the golem towered over her, ready to smash her into pieces. And would have done exactly that if a small rock hadn't impacted its artificial head.
Both Weiss and the massive rock guardian turned to look at the bloody form of her little brother, who looked like he could barely stand on his own feet.
"L-leave her alone, you big meanie!" Whitley released a pitiful shout as his older sister could only look in horror.
Angered that none of the intruders had been dispatched yet, the golem released a terrifying roar and started charging blindly towards the little boy while swinging its titanic arms.
"Whitley, no!" Weiss cried desperately for her little brother.
Several things happened at that moment, in this precise order. The blood from Whitley's wounds activated the runes on the ancient arc structure, causing a magical portal to manifest itself. The charging golem tripped and smashed into Whitley's already broken form, propelling them both throughout the portal and destroying it in the process, as the golem was far too big to properly fit through the ancient artefact. And lastly, a wave of magical energy blasted throughout the mine, causing most of the ancient magical defense system, to malfunction and deactivate the various other golems and gargoyles that were rampaging in the facility.
While most workers were thanking the gods for having survived the nightmarish ordeal and hugging themselves in happiness, as the magical constructs stopped and crumbled to the ground, a little broken girl was left crying in the darkness calling repeatedly for her little brother.
"Whitley… oh, gods…please…no…" were her whimpering cries.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(In another place, in a different time)
'It really is a nice day outside,' thought Geralt as he sat on a patch of grass in the mountain pass next to Kaer Morhen, the old keep looming over his head and casting an imposing shadow over him.
Spring had arrived a bit late that year and the plants and animals were just beginning to thaw themselves from their hibernation. Bees and other insects were buzzing through the clear mountain air, while flocks of birds were flying from one branch to another.
He heard a hare hopping carefully through the grass, while a pretty red orange fox was stalking him carefully from behind. A smile appeared on his scarred face as he knew the feeling all too well.
A small yelp was heard and then the fox emerged from the grass carrying its prey in its mouth, bushy tail waving happily through the air.
"Aww, I was hoping the little rabbit would get away," a girl's voice was heard next to him and he couldn't help but grin.
"Guess Miss Fox just knew the game better than Mr. Rabbit," he replied back, his tone laced with humor.
He turned his head and looked at the young girl laying on her back next to him, her face basked in the warm sun. His adopted daughter Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, or Ciri for short.
The two of them had taken a short break by lying in the grass, on their path to a nearby cave, where a particular species of mushrooms were growing. Mushrooms that were neded for Vesemir's potions.
The old witcher had been grumbling at him for days about those missing mushrooms, untill Geralt got tired with his complaining and decided to take Ciri out to gather some, from the nearby caves.
Naturally the little white haired girl, practically flew out of the keep, when he asked her if she would come. Anything to get out of Vesemir's mind numbing lectures about Ghouls and Alghouls, straight from the works of John of Brugge.
It didn't help matters that Geralt locked himself with Yennefer in the guest tower, for two days straight, when she arrived earlier that week and didn't provide Ciri with the attention she probably needed.
Still, today was the father-daughter bonding day and he was determined to make it a success.
"Come on, we ought to move on," he said while rising to his feet "You won't weasel your way out of today's lectures. I heard Vesemir prepared a special subject this evening just for you and it's about drowners." He finished with a smile while Ciri groaned.
"That's even more boring than ghouls! When are we getting to the cool monsters like vampires and werewolves?" She asked while rising on her elbows.
Geralt grinned down at her "The 'cool' monsters will come when you learn how to properly hold that practice sword of yours."
He gave her his hand and helped her off the ground while she grumbled.
"Come on now, we still have an awesome dark and scary cave to explore," he said and just as he expected Ciri's excitement was immediately rekindled.
"Oh, I can't wait! Do you think we'll find some treasure chests in there?!" She asked practically vibrating and Geralt had to stifle a laugh.
"Hmm, there are some elven ruins down there so who knows," he shrugged as Ciri almost teleported ahead, making him actually laugh with a low rumble.
"Slow down Ciri, cave's not going anywhere!" He called to her with a smile.
She turned back and gestured for him to hurry on "Come on slowpoke, there's treasure that needs lootin'!"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
They reached the cave an hour later, sometime after midday.
It was a viny, leaking little crevice, which was situated at the bottom of the mountain, right below a couple of water streams. It was dark, cold and with a lot of humidity, perfect place for mushrooms to grow.
"Not so fast," said Geralt while grabbing Ciri from jumping inside the cave "We're going to establish some ground rules first."
His adopted daughter rolled her eyes "Come on, it's just a little cave! It's not like there's a dragon inside it."
Geralt sighed "Probably not a dragon, but wild animals and the occasional nekker could definitely take shelter in caves like these," he explained patiently.
Ciri furrowed her eyebrows "Nekkers? You mean those little monsters that folk say they attack travelers and live under bridges? They're actually real?"
Her adoptive father nodded "As real as most folklore monsters are and they just love hanging about in little damp caves like this one, waiting for stubborn girls like you to jump right in," he said as Ciri's eyes widened in fear "And most importantly, they never travel alone and are always in packs of up to ten, that could give even an experienced witcher like myself or Vesemir a lot of trouble."
Seeing that he got his point across, judging by the look on her face, he continued "So here's what we'll do. I'll light a torch, take point and we'll first scout the cave for any hidden critters and when its safe, we'll gather some mushrooms for the old man. Alright?"
Ciri nodded and Geralt got to work.
A couple of minutes later the both of them were walking through the cave, with Ciri staring in awe at the large stalactites that were hanging from the ceiling and were present on the floor as well. She honestly hadn't expected the little crevice to open up to a massive underground complex of caves, full of leaking walls and underground mold and mushrooms.
Geralt had explained that the entire surrounding mountain area near Kaer Morhen, was stock full of underground cave systems just like this one and some of them were inhabited by a lot of dangerous creatures, so she made sure to stick extra close to him.
Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, she saw something that immediately captured her attention, a hidden wall full of mold and underground roots made out of bricks that definitely did not seem natural.
"Geralt, look." She grabbed his sleeve and the witcher turned and stared at what she was pointing at.
"Well, I'll be damned," he said to himself walking towards the artificial structure "Looks like an old elven ruin, judging by the runes on the wall. You've got good eyes, kid." He praised Ciri and she grinned proudly back.
The witcher placed his hand around the wall and decided that a low level Aard blast could do the trick, but just to be safe he told Ciri to take cover further back.
Pushing his hand forward with a quick gesture, a blast of force hit the old bricks and blew them to smithereens revealing a hidden tunnel behind. Geralt then used his torch to look for traps carefully around the new area, as one could never be too careful with old elven ruins and this he knew from experience.
Contrary to folk beliefs his mutated eyes could not provide full night vision in completely dark environments and although they were far superior to a cat's eyes, he still required torches or potions for pitch black places.
After a few minutes of searching, he signaled to Ciri to follow him.
A part of him knew that the more sensible thing was to take Ciri back to the keep and return with some proper armor and equipment, also maybe ask Eskel or Lambert to help out. However, he didn't always like to do things by the book and Ciri would probably never forgive him if he denied her from exploring the cave.
Besides, when he was at her age, he was already dealing with the likes of Old Speartip, the cyclops that was used by the Wolf School as the final witcher trial.
Shaking his head at the old unpleasant memories he focused back on the task at hand.
"Look Geralt, that looks like a bridge!" He heard Ciri's voice.
Stepping out of the dark tunnel, they came across a massive underground cave with a bridge connecting one side to the other. Massive stalactites hung from the ceiling and various ruined elven statues decorated the cave. Time had erased the artistic models on the tiles that covered the cave's floor and multiple species of mushrooms now served as the main ornaments.
"Yeah, but it looks like the middle collapsed and that makes it unstable," replied Geralt as he looked around the large chamber "We could cross the chamber, but we'll have to do it on the ground level."
Geralt turned towards Ciri "You ready to get your feet wet?" he teased her with a smile as the floor under the bridge was covered in water up to her knees.
The little girl frowned and crossed her arms "It's unpolite to make a lady cross through that murky water and as a gentleman you should carry me." She said matter-of-factly while Geralt raised an eyebrow.
Five minutes later Ciri was grumbling as she stepped carefully through the cold water, using a stick for balance, while Geralt smiled on the other side, having already crossed the small underground stream.
"Keep it up, you're doing wonderful your excellency," he mocked playfully.
"I hate you, so much" Ciri glared at him while he snorted in amusement, her 'threatening' expression was more akin to a growling puppy.
After Ciri finally crossed the stream they climbed the wall and reached the other side of the bridge, where they stared at a large ornate door no doubt leading to somewhere important and after some effort to push the ancient door, the two of them found themselves in an enormous circular chamber that seemed more akin to an underground throne room.
Massive shelves that were made out of marble were arranged in a circle alongside the walls, each of them storing what appeared to be ancient siege weapons like ballista, catapults, trebuchets and even a multitude of deactivated golems. The later bringing a frown on Geralt's face. The most imposing thing however was the massive elven portal structure in the middle of the room.
"Wow, what is this place? It looks huge!" Exclaimed Ciri as she looked around in awe.
Geralt however was wary "I can't be too sure, but this looks like a very old elven military base."
"This is so awesome!" came Ciri's expected reply "We're definitely finding some treasure chests in here."
The witcher rolled his eyes but couldn't help but secretly agree, old elven ruins like this one usually had a lot of ancient treasures buried in them and he had been searching for a good protection rune for his armor, preferably Quen.
Unfortunately, he also knew from a lot of experience that places like these were also incredibly well guarded and had a lot of nasty traps and magical wards.
Those menacing looking deactivated golems were definitely not for show.
Ciri wanted to take a closer look but Geralt's heavy hand on her shoulder stopped her "Not so fast princess, I need to take a closer look at those golems while you stay put."
Her whine was inevitable but his serious tone left no room for argument so she reluctantly stayed behind at a safe distance.
After a couple of minutes of Geralt carefully searching for traps and staring at the golems, he concluded that whatever magical energies had been present had long since ran out. Or maybe the elves didn't bother with security due to the cave's hidden location.
Just as he was about to call his young protégé, the unmistaken sound of a magical portal opening was heard throughout the massive chamber. Geralt quickly whipped around almost comically, just in time to see Ciri take her little hand off the elven stone gateway.
"Oh, Oops?" She chuckled weakly at his glare.
Just as he was about to admonish her, for the millionth time, the portal's color turned a dangerous looking red and a loud noise blasted through the chamber.
"Ciri, run!"
She barely heard Geralt's desperate warning when she was thrown off her little feet by the portal gateway practically exploding in her face.
If it weren't for the powerful magic, that was coursing through her veins, she definitely would have been reduced to cinders by the sheer flare of that explosion.
Geralt himself was actually catapulted back into a wall, his head violently hitting the stone and making him loose consciousness for a couple of seconds.
Groaning the witcher slowly got up while coughing from the smoke left by the blast. Shaking his head and grinding his teeth, he forced himself through the pain and quickly stumbled towards the place where Ciri had been thrown about like a ragdoll, ignoring the blood dripping down his forehead.
He found her sprawled on the ground, a magical forcefield preventing her from being crushed by the large rubble. Geralt quickly grabbed the large rocks and in a superhuman feat, impressive even for a witcher, slowly cleared them off his daughter.
Ciri must have unconsciously felt her father's presence as the protective field immediately dissipated when Geralt slightly trembling hands lifted her off the ground.
He later told Yennefer, in their private quarters, that he swore his heart must have stopped beating and resumed only after hearing Ciri's gasp of pain.
"Ugh, w-what happened?" asked Ciri miserably.
Geralt released a breath of relief when he couldn't spot any major injuries "You're definitely grounded for life."
Even she couldn't refute that knowing that she definitely messed up big this time.
"Careful now, your arm's broken," said Geralt while placing the little girl back on her feet.
Coughing from the dust, her eyes widened when she saw something appear through the heavy smoke.
"Geralt, look." She said in a surprised tone while he was still fussing over her.
The witcher seeing the look on her face turned back and his eyes also widened in disbelief.
The smoke moved away only to reveal a little injured boy walking in a daze, blood splattered all over his expensive and strange looking clothes while an unknown magical energy seemed to flicker around his form. His arm seemed bent at the wrong angle and Geralt quickly realized that his legs probably weren't far behind with the way he was wobbling, the boy also looked to be in shock and unaware of his surroundings.
Ciri called out to the little boy but Geralt immediately tensed and pulled out his sword when a massive shadow materialized behind the injured child.
It was only years of experience and the adrenaline cursing through his veins, that allowed Geralt to make a beeline towards the child and deflect the heavy strike that would have surely turned the little boy into a stain on the ground.
Ciri screamed when the large shadow revealed itself to be a golem stuck in rampage mode.
Geralt grabbed the dazed boy and threw him towards Ciri, just as the golem swinged back his massive spiked cannonball arm and once more was deflected by the witcher's Quen shield.
"Ciri, take care of him!" Came his cry as she struggled to catch the little broken boy with only one arm, his blood splattering all over her shirt as well.
While the witcher was fighting to take the golem down, its heavy strikes and trampling shaking the already unstable chamber, the former princess of Cintra was panicking while holding the now convulsing little boy in her arms.
Her eyes widened in horror when blood started coming out of his mouth.
Ciri had endured a lot in her young life and up until she met Geralt following the fall of Cintra she had been witness to many horrors, but seeing the little boy, who looked only a few years younger than her, dying in her arms awoke a new type of fear inside her heart.
Thus, the powerful magic that had accompanied the young princess since her birth attempted to fix the problem and latched to the foreign magic that was flickering in the young boy.
Meanwhile Geralt cursed as he blocked yet another powerful strike from the golem, causing his hands to go numb. He kept on cursing himself as he rolled to his left barely avoiding a double strike that cracked the floor and launched a cloud of rubble in the air. Most of the curses were aimed at his utter stupidity of entering an ancient elven cave without armor, proper equipment and with a twelve years old girl as his backup to top it all off.
Though the magical shockwave that came from Ciri's location, which staggered the golem back in surprise and allowed Geralt to plunge his sword into the golem's core, made him rethink his last thoughts about improper backup.
The golem released a wailing roar and crumbled to the ground, while the magic that animated the lifeless rocks dissipated into thin air.
Geralt released a breath of relief then groaned when he realized his silver sword had snapped at the handle. Like he said, improper equipment. He could just already hear Vesemir's admonishing words.
Shaking his head, he made his way towards the two children and was met with Ciri's panicked eyes.
"Geralt! He's not moving!" Came the young girl's desperate shout and Geralt immediately acted.
Gently grabbing the boy from the girl's desperate hold, he felt his neck and was satisfied to find a pulse, albeit very weakly.
Whatever Ciri's magic did to the boy, it seemed to have stabilized his wounds for the moment. Although the cold and cynical part of him knew that there was little chance the boy could survive a trip all the way back to the keep.
Looking back at Ciri's begging expression he vowed to at least try and save his life.
Just as he moved to lift the boy from the ground another magical portal appeared next to their location.
He and Ciri tensed but relaxed once they heard the all too familiar scolding voice.
"I swear I leave you two together for a day and already magical explosions are happening all over the mountain!"
Ciri was the first to happily exclaim "Yennefer!"
"Ugly one." Came the raven beauty's immediate reply "What's…"
The witch was interrupted by Geralt's hurried words "No time to explain, he needs urgent healing!"
Yennefer was annoyed at being interrupted but her eyes widened when she saw just what he was holding. Running towards him she kneeled and ran a glowing hand above the boy's broken body.
"This is bad Geralt, he has major internal bleeding." Yennefer said with worry, as he always knew the old witch had a soft spot for children.
Yennefer said a few words in elvish, the words resonating with power and another portal manifested next to them.
"Quickly take him through there, no time for your silly portal phobia." She said quickly while Geralt rolled his eyes and they all walked through the glowing vortex of energy.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Author's Note: Yes, I am well aware that Yennefer was not present at Kaer Morhen when Ciri was training there, but this is my fanfiction so I don't care. Hurray! For more mommy-Yennefer bonding time :D