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Jester and Caduceus came downstairs to the main tavern area of the Leaky Tap. They spied the rest of the Mighty Nein already seated at one of the tables and a waitress was in the middle of serving hot plates of food and some mugs in front of the group. Jester and Caduceus walked over and arrived at the table just as the waitress left, they noticed that there were two plates and mugs in front of two empty spaces.

They sat down with Jester sitting next to Beau and Caduceus sitting next to Nott. The evening meal consisted of a plate of roast chicken with some boiled vegetables and a small bread roll with an ale on the side. As they ate their meals they spoke on various topics and after they had finished eating and their plates had been taken away. Geralt's condition was brought up, Fjord, asked a question that should have been asked earlier.

"I feel we should organise this now, but whose room is Geralt in?" Fjord asked.

"Vhat do you mean?" Caleb asked.

"We only paid for three rooms," the half-orc reminded "two of us are going to have to share with him,"

"Not ours," Beau immediately spoke up "Jester and I can't share with a guy,"

"Beau, have you never shared a room with a man before?" Jester asked "what about where you grew up. Didn't you say you were in a dorm room when you were younger?"

"Sure, but in the Cobalt Soul we had gender-separate sleeping quarters," Beau claimed "Besides, us girls need our privacy,"

"That doesn't sound like a good reason not to share your room," Caduceus stated.

"Ture, I personally don't mind but…if he wants to be around when we do our makeup and our nightly hair braiding and girl gossip, he can be my guest," Beau said.

"Do you actually do that?" Nott asked.

Jester was about to inform the group that was not what the girls did at night before bed, but Beau shoved some bread in her mouth to keep her quiet.

"Yes," Beau answered seriously "that is exactly what we do in our room at night,"

Jester looked at her confused and tried to correct the monk but it came out muffled, so she munched on her bread.

"Well I think it would be better if one of us guys share with him then," Fjord said "so who's it going to be,"

"How about Caleb, he only uses one bed since Nott curls up by his feet every night," Beau suggested.

"No thank you, there is a reason I only efer share with Nott," Caleb claimed and took a swig of his drink.

"What about you Caduceus. Do you want to share with Geralt?" Fjord asked.

"I don't mind, but it means Caleb has to share with you Fjord," Caduceus pointed out.

"I'd rather only share with Nott," Caleb claimed.

"We could just pay for another room," Jester offered.

"Yeah but we need to replenish our supplies and I'd rather not pay for a fourth room until we've got that organised. Plus, we're likely going to be in town for a while this time around," Fjord claimed.

"Assuming we don't get conscripted into the war effort," Beau muttered.

"The king hasn't started forceful conscription yet," Fjord pointed out "the wars only been going on for about three weeks or so. They'll only start conscripting if things get desperate,"

"I don't want to be conscripted or sleep in the same room as Geralt, he's big and scary," Nott said "he might hurt my Caleb while we sleep,"

"How about you Fjord, why don't you bunk with Geralt," Jester suggested.

"Doesn't bother me," Fjord shrugged. He then looked over at Caleb and Nott "Caleb, who would you prefer to share with, Me or Cad?"

Caleb looked between the Half-Orc and the Firbolg. "I suppose if I had to choose it would be Caduceus," Caleb answered "what about you Nott,"

"I don't mind, as long as you feel comfortable and safe," the goblin responded.

"Well, I guess I'm sleeping with Geralt tonight," Fjord announced.

They sat in the tavern till close to 11pm before the group decided to call it a night. Before they headed back up to the rooms Fjord ordered a plate of food for Geralt and took it up with him. When the group arrived at Geralt's room they found the Witcher sitting up in bed, reading Tusk Love. Geralt looked up at the group as they entered and he set the book aside.

"Feeling any better?" Jester asked.

"Yes, much," Geralt agreed. The truth was he couldn't feel the pain anymore. What would have taken at least a week of healing, the combined effect of Caduceus and Jester magic, along with his own Witcher Mutations had caused his injures to heal at a faster rate than normal.

"We brought you some food, didn't know what you liked but they're serving chicken downstairs tonight," Fjord said as he handed the plate to Geralt.

"Thanks," Geralt grunted and he took the plate but made no move to eat it. Instead, he watched as the rest of the Mighty Nein wandered over to the pile of bags and they started to take one pack each and leave the room.

Jester took the pink bag.

"What are they doing?" Geralt asked with a hint of worry. He still hadn't got his Medallion back; he had been so engrossed in Tusk Love that he had forgotten to find it. He would never admit it though and he would certainly never tell Vesimer or his other Witcher brothers either. Fjord looked over to the rest of the group.

"Oh, we worked out who's sleeping where over dinner. We only paid for three rooms, so I'm bunking with you tonight," he explained "Hope that's alright,"

"Hmm,"

"Okay, I will take that as a yes," Fjord said.

Once the other members had taken their pack and Fjord knelt down by his own pack and started going through it. Geralt observed for him for a but did not see him take out any weapons nor did he see a place to put or hold anything larger than a dagger or a small knife that could be hidden in the bag. Come to think of it, apart from the Bo Staff and the handled axes, Geralt didn't see any other weapons on the group. He supposed both Caleb and Nott could be hiding them, after all, he didn't get a good look at the tiny creature as she had been hiding behind Caleb. How did the group defend themselves with so few weapons?

"Oh right, I forgot," Fjord said, pulling Geralt out of his thoughts. He suddenly stood up and turned to Geralt "Catch,"

Fjord threw something small across the room and Geralt reflexively snatched whatever it was out of the air with a tight fist.

"Nice reflexes you got there," Fjord said nodding with approval.

Geralt grunted in response and he pulled his arm in and opened his hand to see what Fjord had thrown at him. In his hand was his Wolf School medallion. He quickly put it on and looked at Fjord.

"Thanks," Geralt said gruffly. He may have come off ungrateful but in truth, Geralt was happy to have his medallion back.

"Your welcome," Fjord said and he started to take off his armor. Once he was shirtless, Geralt noticed that Fjords back had more than a few scars on it, though they were mostly gathered around the middle of the spine. As he got changed into his nightclothes, Fjord felt Geralt's eyes on him and he glanced over his shoulder at the Witcher.

"Shipwreck," Fjord started "encase you were wondering,"

"What?" Geralt asked.

"You were staring at my back," Fjord claimed "I used to be a sailor, our ship sank and well...I got a few souvenirs from the debris while I was in the water," Fjord then turned around and noticed that Geralt still had not touched his food "You not hungry or something?"

Geralt looked at his plate and shook his head. "Not really," Geralt answered "didn't mean to stare,"

"No Biggy,"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Fjord answered as he lay down in his bed.

"What are you?" Geralt asked.

Fjord was a little taken aback by the question "Excuse me?" he asked.

"What are you, I've never seen or encountered a species like you or you're…friends," Geralt had to force the word friends out as he was unsure if that was what they truly were.

"Well I'm a Half-Orc," Fjord claimed "the offspring of an Orc and something else,"

"What's the something else?"

"Don't know, I would assume it's human but…could be a number of things, to be honest,"

"Didn't know there were any left," Geralt commented.

"What?"

"Orcs I mean," Geralt clarified "they're pretty much extinct now. It's rare to see on even rarer to see a Half-Orc since they don't breed outside their own kind,"

Fjord started at Geralt in complete shock "Since when?" he asked.

"Since forever ago. I think they were wiped out before the Empire was founded," Geralt claimed "If I'm remembering my history correctly. I've never met an Orc myself but I read that they were brutal savage warriors who followed some kind of warrior code,"

Fjord stared at Geralt in shock. Orcs weren't extinct, they thrived in some of the harsher environments of the world and while Half-orcs were a bit uncommon, they were not rare. Though he was right about the warriors' code.

"What about the others?" Geralt continued, ignoring the strange look Fjord was giving him "What are they? The blue one, the pale one, and the smaller one,"

"Jester is a Tiefling, they come in a variety of colours with red being the most common. We had another traveling with us for a time and he was purple,"

"Where is he?"

"He…" Fjord stopped for a moment and looked down sadly "He died, very recently,"

"Sorry for your loss," Geralt said sympathetically "Do you mind if I ask, how he died?"

"It…it was my fault," Fjord said sadly "if I had been paying more attention or if I had been stronger then…then…"

"So, Jester is a Tiefling huh…never heard of them either. What about Caduceus and Nott?" Geralt asked. Changing the subject, clearly, it was a very tough and sore subject for Fjord.

"Oh. Cad is a Firbolg and Notts…" Fjord started but trailed off. He remembered what Geralt said about being a monster hunter and he would most likely see Nott as something to be hunted "Well you should ask her,"

"Your hiding something about Nott from me," Geralt said with narrowed eyes "I don't like it when people hide things from me, especially if it has to do with monsters,"

"First off, we are not monsters and I don't particularly care if you like it or not. But Nott's story is...complicated and it's not my place or my story to tell," Fjord shot back defensively.

"Fine. What about Caduceus and Jester. I've never heard of their kind either,"

"Tieflings are…interesting. Supposedly they were human once but something happened, no one's sure what it was anymore but the most popular theory is, supposedly during a summoning of a powerful demon or entity, something went wrong and it caused Tiefling's to look like devils and gave them some devil-like abilities," Fjord explained.

"So, they're just cursed humans then," Geralt summarised.

"I guess it started out that way, but they've been looking like that for generations so they're their own race now," Fjord claimed "I'm not big on the history of their race so you're better off asking Jester or a historian,"

Geralt made a mental note to do just that. "What about Firbolgs, what's their story,"

"Not sure, don't know much about them. Some say they were the first Druids, Mother Earths' chosen protectors and all that. Others say they're offspring of Giants who were deemed too small to be part of Giant society so they ran to avoid being stepped on,"

"I'm sorry, did you just say Giants?"

"Yeah, nasty buggers. Very hard to take down," Fjord claimed "don't recommend fighting one,"

Geralt gave Fjord an odd look, from the way he was talking it sounded like he was talking from experience. He and Fjord spent another hour talking about different races. Geralt was relieved to know that there were Dwarves and Elves as well. However, from what Fjord said they were nothing like the Elves he was familiar with. Where he was from elves had lost their magic and were treated as third-class citizens, here however they were respected and welcomed anywhere. Particularly in the army or adventuring parties as they were invaluable and loyal allies. Also, there were more than six different subspecies of elves, each with its own history, culture, beliefs, and unique abilities.

Fjord didn't know enough to go into all the different versions of elves and when Geralt asked about dwarves he learned that they too were different. They were crafters, warriors, priests, and all manner of things. Like the elves, there were different sub-species of dwarfs, each living in a different area and each with a different history, culture, and abilities.

It baffled Geralt and also scared him at the same time. While he was pleased that the Dwarves and elves were treated and seen in a much better light and treated near as equals. It scared him because Geralt was beginning to realise he may not be in his own world anymore. After a while, Fjord turned in for the night, but Geralt lay awake thinking about what Fjord had said. It baffled Geralt and given his situation he could only conclude that he was not in his own world anymore.

But that was impossible.

'I can't be in another world, portals don't work like that,' Geralt thought 'The only way I could be in another world is if the Conjunction of Spheres happened again. After what happened the first time, no mage would ever risk something like it again. Could I be in another era? The future maybe or a time before the Conjunction of Spheres?'

Geralt didn't like either of those prospects, if he was in the future then it might explain a few things, perhaps new races had been discovered or some older ones who had been hiding due to the monster population were only just now emerging and integrating into society.

'Possible…but does not explain the elves and their supposed return to magic,' Geralt thought 'Or how their social and living situation has supposedly gotten better,'

However, if he was in the past then it had to be after humans arrived but before Witchers. A time before elves had lost their magic and been forced out of their homes.

'Perhaps Witcher mutations were based on me' Geralt thought. now that was a train of thought Geralt refused to entertain. He did not want to be the source of Witcher Mutations or the reason the Trials existed.

Despite the fact being sent back in time somehow seemed the more plausible explanation, it did not exactly fit. It would explain why Elves were treated better and had magic, however, if he was in the past after humans and dwarves came into the world, then it would have to be after the Conjunction of Spheres as well. The history from that time that he had learned of as a boy stated that during the first hindered or so years, life was extremely difficult due to the monsters who also entered the world due to the Conjunction.

Poverty, sickness and all manner of other things made life extremely difficult as the monster population seemed endless and out of control. It was why Witchers were created after all. To kill the unkillable monsters. Yet, Geralt didn't see any sign of fatigue or anything that would indicate hard times. The people who had found him, while extremely different didn't appear too bothered or even look remotely like how he would expect someone to look and act if they lived in a time that was considered the most dangerous era of history.

Then there was the magic that Jester and Caduceus had used on him. It was too powerful, no healing spell he knew or even heard of matched what the two healers had done. If such magic had ever existed then surely it would have been passed down in some way. The brotherhood would have records of it and if not, then surely there would be legends about it. But Geralt had never heard of any magic like it or even close to it. He supposed the elves might have had something like it but if they did then it was most likely long forgotten or the knowledge of it destroyed long ago.

Geralt rolled over trying to get some sleep, it didn't matter whether he was in the past or the future, neither possibility was ideal. However, he would deal with it in the morning.

The next morning when Geralt woke up he no longer felt any pain, he sat up and started to unwrap his bandages; noting that the cat was no longer at the end of his bed. It had likely scampered off in the night, odd that Geralt hadn't heard it though. Geralt didn't care if Caduceus and Jester got mad at him for doing so, he just wanted to see the injuries he had. However, when the badges came off Geralt could not see any sign of them, there was no massive gash at his side, nor was there evidence that he had been shot. Geralt felt around the affected area but he didn't even feel a scar.

"Well, that's handy," he said. Next, he flexed his arm and leg muscles to test them, just to make sure nothing was wrong and found them to be a little stiff. In fact, his whole body felt a little stiff, but it was nothing that would bother or hinder the Witcher.

It was just as Caduceus had told him last night. He was completely healed and the only evidence that he was injured, to begin with, was a slight stiffness in his muscles. Geralt could not help but be highly impressed as no mage he was familiar with had this kind of skill. Over a weeks' worth of healing had been done in a single night.

Not even Yennefer.

This was further adding to his ever-growing admiration for this newly discovered healing magic. He would very much like to learn the secret behind it, even though he was not a mage himself and while it was true Witchers had limited magical abilities. They were only basic compared to what trained Sorcerers could do, Geralt could think of a few spell casters he knew that would love to get their hands of such knowledge.

Geralt looked over to the other bed and found that Fjord was still asleep. He let out a sigh, wondering what to do, he thought about going through Fjords pack to try and find his armor and clothes but dismissed the Idea as doing so would likely wake the Half-Orc up.

No, it was better to wait for Fjord to wake and then ask him for his clothes and gear back. After all, Fjord told him last night that they had kept his armor. Geralt didn't know how long Fjord would sleep for. So, he reached out and picked up Tusk Love from his bedside table; opening the book up on the page he had left off last night.

About ten minutes into his reading session, Geralt heard the rustling of sheets, taking his attention away from the book. He turned his head and saw Fjord was tossing and turning violently in his sleep.

"No…don't…leave the girls alone…" Fjord moaned painfully in his sleep "Take me…. don't touch them,"

Geralt wondered what the orc was dreaming about, as far as he knew Jester and Beau were somewhere in the Inn, likely still asleep. Whatever this dream was about it sounded bad. He looked over at the window as he could now see the morning sun through it.

"Hmm," he hummed "Bit late for a nightmare,"

"MOLLY NO!" Fjord screamed.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open and Fjord shot up out, a curved sword with a yellow eyeball on the hilt that had barnacles spread across the blade and dripping water appeared in the Half-Orcs hand. Geralt felt his medallion vibrate against his skin as Fjord looked around wildly with his Falchion held out ready to strike. Geralt never once took his eyes off the blade, he noticed the yellow eyeball appeared to dart around, as if it was looking for threats, after a second it stopped and stared at Geralt.

Geralt raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Now it made sense why he had not seen Fjord carry any Weapons, why would he need to if he could conjure them out of thin air. Geralt wondered if the rest of the group had similar powers. He made a mental note to ask about the magic sword later. For now, he watched Fjord look around confused for a moment as if trying to find an unknown and hidden enemy. After a minute of panting, his shoulders relaxed and he let out a long breath and lowered his weapon. The moment Fjords hand opened the curved blade vanished.

Once the blade was gone Geralt's medallion calmed down. Yet another unknown magical ability he wasn't familiar with and was fairly sure didn't exist.

"Good Morning to you too," Geralt said.

The half Orc looked over at Geralt before looking away "Yeah, morning," Fjord responded.

Geralt watched as Fjord took a few breathes and he waited for the orc to calm down. Geralt was a bit concerned about the very obvious magic blade that Fjord had summoned, but he didn't bring it up.

"Sorry about that," Fjord apologised "Hope I didn't wake you,"

"No, I was already awake. No harm done," Geralt replied, "don't suppose I could have my clothes back?"

"Huh?"

"My clothes, you said you kept them. I mean I could go round Naked; I know the women of this city would probably apricate it but I don't think the men would," Geralt said.

Fjord laughed at that.

"Your clothes and Armor are in the wardrobe," Fjord said and he gave a wave to the wardrobe "What's left of them anyway,"

He stood up and pulled on his own gear before heading out of the room to give Geralt some privacy. Once Fjord was gone Geralt got out of bed and walked to the wardrobe, he pulled the doors open and found his dirty torn bloodstained shirt hanging up.

Geralt pulled it out and examined it, the bottom of the left sleeve had been ripped off and there was a large tear in the shape of four claw marks from where Geralt's hip would be to his middle back; along with a small hole in the shoulder area. Geralt winced, while he didn't remember fighting the harpies or the arrow he was supposedly shot with, but his shirt clearly showed evidence that both events happened.

Geralt inspected the tear it was a clean rip; he also spied a large bloodstain around the tear. The shirt would more than likely need to be replaced. But it would do for now, since he didn't have any other clothes.

"Thank the gods that Jaskier isn't here, he'd drag me to some fancy tailor for a new shirt decorated in something light coloured and frilly," Geralt muttered to himself "In fact, he'd probably insist on several new outfits,"

Geralt threw the shirt on the bed and inspected his pants, they were dirty but in a much better condition than his shirt. The only damage done to them was a second small hole on the side of his right leg. Geralt this also confirmed what he was told last night about having been shot twice. Finally, Geralt got his boots out and they were not damaged in any way, a little muddy with some straw stuck to the bottom. But still completely functional.

Geralt let out a sigh, he spied his armor at the base of the wardrobe and he bent down and was about to lift it up to examine it when a banging on the door stopped him. Geralt looked over to the door.

"Hey, you dressed yet?" Fjords voice came through "The others have all headed down for breakfast, we should join them,"

"Fuck," Geralt cursed. He didn't think the half-orc would hang around or be waiting for him. Geralt assumed he would be left alone like he had been last night. He glanced down at his armor and decided it would probably be best to comply.

He quickly got dressed and opened the door. Fjord looked at him and the orcs eyes immediately went to the shirt's tear and the bloodstains.

"You bleeding?" Fjord and pointed to the stains.

"It's from yesterday. Didn't have anything else," Geralt explained.

Fjord nodded and he walked down the hall towards some stairs, Geralt followed him and at the base of the stairs was the tavern area of the Leaky Tavern. Geralt spied the rest of the group sitting at one of the larger tables. He stopped midway down the stairs to get a view of the interior and the exits. It surprised Geralt that not only were the rest of the non-human members of the Mighty Nein sitting out in the open, no one was screaming or paying them any mind. Even more so when Geralt walked through the tavern, no one stared at him or gave him hate-filled or cautious glares that he was used to whenever he walked into a room filled with people.

Geralt and Fjord sat down just as breakfast was being delivered, the Witcher spied a familiar orange cat hanging around Caleb's neck like a scarf. He had wondered where the cat had gone.

"Is that your cat?" Geralt asked and pointed to the cat.

"Ja," Caleb responded.

"Hmm,"

One of the serving girls put down a plate of eggs, bacon, and some freshly baked warm bread in front of each of them. If Geralt was surprised he got a plate too, he didn't show it. The serving girl left and then came back with a tray of mugs of ale, a glass of milk, and a pot of hot water. She put the milk in front of Jester and the pot of water in front of Caduceus, before handing out the ale to the rest of the table.

"You look like shit, Fjord," Beau stated as she munched on her eggs.

"Rough night, how'd you sleep," Fjord responded. He didn't sound offended so Geralt assumed this was just how Beau greeted people in the morning.

"Alright, I guess," Beau shrugged "though Jester here went out like a light, used too much magic yesterday or something,"

"I had to do a lot of healing," Jester defended "Yesterday was hard,"

"Vhat happened to make it a bad night?" Caleb asked as he picked his bacon off his plate and put it on the table. "Frumpkin," He called and tapped his finger on the table twice. The orange cat jumped off Caleb's shoulders and hopped up onto the table; it started to eat the dried meat.

Caleb then picked up the bread roll and passed his plate of eggs to Nott, before beginning to eat the bread.

"Did you cough up seawater again?" Nott added as he took the extra plate.

"No, I did not cough up seawater again," Fjord claimed irritably. Jester opened her mouth to say something but Fjord cut her off "Nor did I develop gills or turn into a puddle of water. I just had a bad dream,"

Jester shut her mouth and pouted.

"You cough up seawater when you're on land?" Geralt asked with concern.

"From time to time," Fjord shrugged.

"What about?" Jester asked "Was it about Dicks? Oh, did you have the dream where we were all infected with syphilis and your dick fell off when your trousers were down?"

"No jester I did not dream I had syphilis and my balls falling off when my pants were down,"

"Oh, good because that's one of my top 5 scariest dreams," Jester said in relief.

"Higher Five or Lower Five?" Nott asked curiously.

"Lower, I have much scarier dreams than that,"

"Damn girl, what the hell kind of dreams do you have?" Beau asked.

"I don't vant to knov," Caleb muttered, "and can vee not discuss syphilis over Breakfast?"

"What's the matter, Caleb? Got something to tell the group?" Beau teased.

"Ja, Frumpkin is stealing your bacon," Caleb stated.

Beau looked down and sure enough, the orange cat was there with Beau's bacon in her mouth.

"Hey!" Beau yelled. Frumpkin darted off the table and up the stairs taking part of Beaus Breakfast with her.

"You told him to do that," Beau accused, glaring at Caleb.

"I don't knov vat you mean," Caleb responded with a smug smirk. He picked up his mug and took a drink.

Geralt watched the exchange with mild amusement, a small smile formed on his face.

"So, how are you feeling this morning Geralt?" Caduceus asked as he poured some hot water into his teacup "any lingering pain?"

"No, I'm fine," Geralt responded.

"That is good to hear," Caduceus smiled and took a sip of his tea "would you like some more tea?"

"Dude it's the middle of breakfast, leave drinking the corpses till after we've had a few rounds," Beau scolded.

"I'm fine with ale for now," Geralt said and he took a swig of his drink.

It tasted like piss.

"So, does this mean you won't kill us now?" Nott asked "I mean we did save you and heal you,"

"Hmm," Geralt responded "Haven't decided yet,"

The rest of Breakfast was mindless talk and making plans for the day. Geralt did take Caduceus up on his offer for a cup of tea and drank it, he tried to ignore the disgusted looks that the rest of the group was giving him. It was a different blend from the one he was served last night but equally enjoyable nonetheless. After he had finished breakfast Geralt went back upstairs to look at his armor. The rest of the group followed him up as well.

Once he was back in the room, Geralt inspected his armor while ignoring the chatter of the others, the same four claw-like gashes were in the same spot on the armor as it had been on Geralt's shirt. The gash was clearly made by something with sharp along and like his shirt, the tear went from his midside hip all the way to the back. If he wore this armor, he would leave a portion of his back and side vulnerable.

The way the armor was torn it was clear it would likely cost a lot to repair and it would be cheaper to buy a new one. Armor wasn't cheap in general and armor that could withstand monster attacks was far more expensive. Geralt didn't even bother looking for the arrow hole, he knew it had pierced his armor.

As he was inspecting it several small coins fell out just under the breast area. They rolled over and stopped a few meters away from Geralt. Geralt looked down to see Nott approaching them.

"Huh? What's this," Nott asked confused as he picked up a crown "some kind of coin or currency?"

"Let me take a look," Caleb said and Nott handed him the coin. Caleb looked at the coin and stared at it, he flipped it a few times but did not recognise it at all.

"It certainly looks like a coin of some kind," Caleb agreed. He then picked up the other two and looked at each one of them "I don't recognise any of these, it's not coin used inside the empire,"

"Why do you have coins in your armor?" Jester asked "Are you worried about being robbed?"

"No, it's for extra protection," Geralt answered.

"How so?" Fjord asked.

"Old Witcher trick, sew a coin into your armor above where your heart and other arteries in your chest are located. Hurts like a bitch if you get shot or stabbed, but it'll prevent a killing blow," Geralt claimed.

"That's…a really good Idea," Fjord said "I might have to try that,"

"Vat kind of currency is this?" Caleb asked. Ignoring the reason that Geralt had coins in his armor.

"That large one your holding is a Crown, the larger gold one is an Oren and the sliver one is a Mark," Geralt explained.

"So, not just one currency but three," Caleb said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, just don't ask where I got the Mark from," Geralt grunted.

Caleb continued to examine the coins with a deep and thoughtful expression on his face.

"Something wrong?" Caduceus asked.

"I'fe nefer seen these kinds of coins before," Caleb claimed.

"Maybe they're from the Xhouassian side," Nott suggested "we should ask Yasha when we see her next,"

"I don't think so. I'm fairly sure Xhouass uses the same currency we do…maybe Beau's friends at the Cobalt Soul would be able to tell, where it's from,"

"Those guys are bigger arseholes," Beau snorted "You show them that they will take it, keep it and you will never get any information about those things or see them again,"

"Can I have those back," Geralt asked. The Witcher held out his hand expectantly "it's the only money I have,"

Caleb nodded and he walked over and handed the three coins back to Geralt.

"I bet it's the currency used in the sky," Jester perked up.

"You still on about that?" Nott asked.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but that might have some merit," Caleb said.

"You can't be seriously entertaining that theory," Fjord asked flatly.

"Vell how else do you explain it?" Caleb asked "Vee saw the efidence that he fell from very high up and now money we'fe nefer seen before," Caleb claimed "I'm not saying he came from a city in the clouds, but he must have come from somewhere else…perhaps another plane,"

"Another plane?" Geralt asked confused "What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain…hang on," Caleb said. He walked out of the room and returned with a piece of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle.

"Okay, so this is our vorld," Caleb started and he drew a circle and marked it with an X in the middle "But it's not the only one. This is the Fey Wild," Caleb drew the second circle and marked it with and FW "and this is the Abyss" He drew a third circle and marked with an A "and finally this is the realm of the gods," he drew one more circle and marked it with a G. "Now all these worlds, they all exist in the same space but are just slightly out of sync vith each other," Caleb explained "These are vat vee refer to as other planes,"

Geralt stared at the drawing and he looked at Caleb in mild surprise.

"Are you talking about the Multiverse?" Geralt asked.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd be familiar with that concept?" Caleb asked.

"I'm not, the mages where I'm from however are extremely well versed on it. I only know about it due to the Conjunction of the Spheres," Geralt claimed.

"The what?" Nott asked.

"It's an event that happened nearly two thousand years ago. The sky opened up and all manner of creatures came through," Geralt explained "Witchers were created about two to three hundred years afterward to fight them,"

"What kind of creatures?" Caduceus asked.

"Vampires, werewolves…mainly monsters. Though it is also said that Dwarves Gnomes and the first humans came through as well," Geralt listed. "Oh, and a force called Chaos, though it's more commonly referred to as magic" He then noticed that the rest of the room was staring at him with their jaws dropped "What?"

"That's it, Geralt you're from another plane," Caleb announced excitedly "Oh this is fantastic, the opportunity to speak to someone from another plane face to face and vou're friendly to boot. Oh, the things I could learn,"

"He did say he was going to kill us," Fjord reminded Caleb.

"Wait, wait, slow down. I'm only barely following this," Geralt said "you're saying, that I'm not in my own world and somehow came to this one?"

"Ja, it makes sense. Vou thought ve vere monsters, vou didn't recognise anything on the map vee showed you," Caleb listed.

"You told me last night you thought orcs were extinct and you'd never seen people like me, Jester and Caduceus before," Fjord added "and we in turn have never heard of things you mentioned,"

"Like that healing sleep thing," Jester stated "or Nilfgaard,"

"and now you have money that doesn't exist here," Nott finished.

Geralt stared at the Mighty Nein as he processed what they had said, he was of course curious as to why non-humans were treated better and the new and strange races. But Caleb and Fjord were making extremely good and convincing points.

"Uhh I don't use magic so I'm probably not the best person to ask this but is that even possible?" Beau asked "I mean aren't the other plans like…separate from our world and inaccessible or something?"

"They are," Caduceus answered "though there are spells one can learn to gain access them, dimension door and Banishment are prime examples,"

"Those spells wouldn't happen to work similar to portals, would they?" Geralt asked.

"They do actually," Caduceus answered.

"Fuck,"

"But those don't give direct access," Caleb pointed out "In order to travel to another plane you need to meet very strict requirements,"

"And those would be?" Fjord asked.

"Well, firstly the one making the journey would need to have been to where ever they were going before, or at least have something from that world," Caduceus answered.

"Ja, and if you want to remain there you vould need an anchor of some kind," Caleb added "something to ground you to that realm,"

"What could be used as an anchor?" Geralt asked. Perhaps he had something on him and if he found it, he could go home.

"Could be anything really, though the more unique it is to that plane the better. Either way, you need something otherwise you go back to where you came from after a period of time," Caleb claimed "I think the longest anyone gone to an outer plane without an anchor was…12 hours,"

"But I've been here over a day," Geralt claimed, "You said you found me the night before last,"

"Maybe you have an anchor," Jester offered.

"Doubt it, the only things I have with me is my armor, cloths, my medallion, and those three coins," Geralt claimed "and I was separated from them for almost a day,"

"Hmm…that's a good point," Caleb admitted "theoretically if you lose your anchor you go back to where you came from,"

"Oh," Beau said suddenly getting an Idea "What if he was summoned, you know like your cat Caleb or a demon,"

"That's a possibility, but unlikely," Caleb said waving her off.

"Why is it unlikely?" Geralt asked. He did not like the idea of someone summoning him to this world against his will.

"Because if he were summoned then Geralt would appear before the summoner and he landed right in front…of…Jester…" Caleb trailed off and immediately looked at the blue Tiefling.

"Wait," Jester cried out "you don't think I summoned him, do you?"

"You brought me here?" Geralt accused angrily.

"No, No No No, I didn't," Jester quickly said shaking her head.

"You were the one who found him," Fjord pointed out.

"and you were alone at the time," Caduceus agreed.

"Yeah, but I was peeing and I was almost out of magic at the time. Besides the only summoning spell, I know is the one to summon my lollypop," Jester claimed.

"Then why did he land near you and not the rest of us?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know, it was a coincidence. I swear I didn't summon him," Jester promised.

"I believe her," Geralt said.

The group turned to look at him. And jester breathed a sigh of relief.

"She's too sincere and her body language doesn't lie. She had nothing to do with me being here," Geralt claimed.

"Then how did he come to our world?" Nott asked.

"I told you, I don't remember how I got here. I don't even remember getting shot at," Geralt reminded them.

"There are legends of places where the planes overlap and on occasion allow travel between the planes. Perhaps Geralt found such a place and fell into it," Caduceus offered.

"What do you mean overlap?" Beau asked.

Caleb went back to his drawing and drew another circle. "Geralt, what did you call yourself last night?" Caleb asked and snapping his fingers "Witch…Watcher…"

"A Witcher," Geralt supplied.

"Right, thank you," Caleb said and marked the new circle with a W. He then drew arrowed lines linking all the circles to the one with the X and held the picture up for everyone to see.

"Okay so remember how I said that the planes exist on in the same space but are slightly out of sync with each other?"

"Yeah," Geralt answered.

"Well there are certain places where the planes overlap and it's at these places where our world and others are in sync, this creates a type of Nexus or rift that will allow travel between two worlds," Caleb explained "

"Maybe those Harpies nested near such a place," Fjord offered "he could have been knocked through some point during the fight,"

"But wouldn't I need an anchor to stay here then?" Geralt asked.

"If you did come to our vorld via rift then nein, you wouldn't. You only need an anchor if you use magic to get to another plane," Caleb explained and he lowered the drawing.

"So, I just need to find one of these places, go through the rift there and that's it? I'm home?" Geralt asked "It can't be that simple,"

"It is in theory. The problem with that is you'd need to find an open rift first, there not always open. Then there is no telling which plane you'll end up in until you get there," Caduceus pointed out "if you go through the wrong rift, you'd be no better off then you are now,"

Geralt let out a long sigh and sat on the bed. Out of all the explanations on where he was or how he got here. Falling from another world was not one of them, he would have preferred his time travel theory then being from another realm of existence.

But there was one thing no one had an answer for, why couldn't he remember anything after leaving Jaskier to find the Harpies.

"So…I'm stuck here?" Geralt asked.

"For now, at least," Caleb answered.

"What about those spells you mentioned?" Geralt asked, "could I use those to get back to my world?"

"Well…maybe," Caleb answered "Banishment would probably be your best bet but…."

"But?"

"But none of us know how to cast it," Caleb said awkwardly "sorry,"

Geralt groaned. That meant he needed to find someone who could cast the spell and hopefully do it for free. Of course, the likelihood of that happing was very slim.

"So, what are you going to do?" Beau asked. She was genuinely concerned for Geralt, after all, he knew nothing about this world.

"I don't know, I need to get back to my world," Geralt claimed. He needed to collect his bounty for the harpies and his horse Roach. He also had to make sure Jaskier hadn't gotten himself into too much trouble.

"and how are you going to do that?" Fjord asked.

"Don't know, I guess I'll try finding one of those rift places you mentioned," Geralt sighed "look for a mage who can cast Banishment along the way,"

"Won't you need supplies for the journey though," Caduceus asked, "Clothes that don't have Harpy claw marks in them and new weapons and armor?"

"I will, I'll just have to take on a few contracts first," Geralt claimed "Fight a few monsters,"

"and how will you afford weapons to fight those monsters?" Fjord asked.

Geralt didn't answer, his current armor was no longer viable and he didn't have any money for new gear let alone weapons. He doubted that anyone would just give him a weapon. Perhaps he could negotiate for an advance payment or provide him with a weapon to kill whatever monster contract he took.

He doubted the three coins he had on him would be worth anything in this world.

"I have an idea if you're a monster hunter that means you'd be handy with a sword. Right?" Fjord asked.

"Very,"

"Tell you what. We," Fjord said and gestured to the rest of the Mighty Nein with a finger in a circler motion "Will buy you new clothes, weapons, and armour. Along with any supplies you may need,"

"Ve vill?" Caleb asked.

"In exchange," Fjord continued "you work for us until you pay us back the cost of your new gear and supplies,"

Geralt narrowed his eyes, he thought he could trust these people but now that had a better understanding of his situation, they were trying to take advantage of him and make him an indentured servant.

"No," Geralt growled.

"Come on, we're not that bad," Beau tried "Besides you don't know anything about this world, right? Or how to get back to your own, it's a good deal,"

"If I agreed to that I would be setting myself up for exploitation," Geralt reasoned "how do I know you won't cheat me out of my freedom later?" He didn't want to be tricked and if he agreed he would be unable to defend himself.

"Because you will be keeping track of how much money you pay back and when," Fjord claimed.

"And what work would I be doing for you exactly?"

"Vee are trafelers, vee pick up odd jobs vhere efer vee can find it," Caleb claimed "So far most of our vork has been to kill a monster of some kind,"

"That and break into places," Nott added "though those don't ever go well,"

"Yeah, we should probably stop taking those kinds of jobs," Beau agreed.

"But they pay really well," Jester pointed out.

"Ture but vee suck at them," Caleb reminded them "vee always get caught,"

"Look we discuss all job offers as a group and everyone has a say in what we do, if you join us you will too. We also split the reward money evenly so you will get an equal share of the cut," Fjord continued, ignoring the other members of the group.

That honestly surprised Geralt, he had heard stories of Mercenaries and sword hands working back a debt and not one of them involved giving any form of payment to the one in debt or having any say in what kind of job they would be given. All coin was withheld and when the debt was paid the debtor was left with nothing.

It was the reason why most Witchers took some kind of down payment before starting a job or at least something to ensure they would be paid afterward.

"Why bother giving me money if I owe you coin?" Geralt asked.

"Because dumbass you will need some gold to yourself," Beau answered "You know to maintain those weapons or pay for your accommodation and booze on the road,"

"Pay for accommodation?"

"We don't tend to stay in one place for very long," Fjord shrugged "you will need to pitch in for your share of the inn and the odd round of drinks,"

"Plus, anything else you see that catches your eye, books and the like," Caleb added.

"Ohhh…we should take him to our favorite bookshop Caleb," Jester said eagerly "I wonder if the book I wrote in is still there,"

"No…no you are not going back that bookshop…ever," Fjord declared sternly.

"Why noootttt," Jester whined.

"Because last time you went there you came back with that god-awful love story," Fjord said with a bit of red on his face "You won't put it down,"

"To be fair…it's a really engaging book," Beau claimed.

"You've read it too?" Fjord asked in shock.

"Sure," Beau shrugged. She then looked at Fjord and an evil grin appeared on her face "Oscar,"

"GAHHHH! WHY!" Fjord cried out.

Geralt was very confused by this whole conversation and looking at the others it was clear all but Fjord was amused by where the conversation. He didn't understand why Fjord was upset or why Beau was calling him Oscar.

'Isn't Oscar the name of the half-orc in the Tusk…' Geralt thought and then his mind pieced together why Fjord was annoyed and red-faced 'oh…oh…'

Caleb just shook his head while Fjord was trying to block out the teasing, Geralt focused on the remaining members of the Mighty Nein.

"Even if you promise me, what's to stop you from selling me or waking up in some slaver prison," Geralt asked.

The whole rooms' atmosphere suddenly became cold and tense.

The group looked at each other and Jester lowered her head and looked to the floor. Several eyes glanced over at the blue Tiefling and Fjord with great concern; no one spoke for several minutes. Geralt wondered what had caused this type of reaction.

"That won't happen," Caduceus spoke up. Breaking the silence.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm fairly sure we murdered this regions slave ring last week," Nott answered "So no worries on the chance of that happing,"

"Are you sure you got all of them?"

"Yes. Vee did," Caleb answered in a deadly voice.

Geralt thought about it. On one hand, he would need supplies and new gear. He knew Witcher equipment was not cheap and he didn't have any money that would work in this world. On top of that, he had no idea how to survive as this world would no doubt be vastly different from his own.

On the other hand, if he did agree he would get the necessary supplies he'd need. But he would be setting himself up for easy exploitation. While that wasn't appealing at all what was appealing, (apart from the new gear) was he could learn about this new world while he traveled with the group and if they were true to their word and would allow him to manage his own debt then he could also start to save for his own journey home.

"Alright, I'll do it, but I warn you now. If you cheat me or go back on any part of this, I will not hesitate to kill you in your sleep with the weapons you bought me," Geralt warned in a very deadly tone.

"GAAAAHHHH! HE DOES WANT TO KILL US! CALEB RUNNNNNNNN!" Nott screamed and she ran out the door.

Geralt blinked, he and the rest of the group the goblin flee the room. Geralt was not expecting that kind of reaction.

"Um, don't use that phrase around Nott," Jester advised "she scares easily,"

"I'll go bring her back," Beau sighed and she walked out of the room.

"Vait for me," Caleb spoke up and he followed Beau.

"Glad to hear it," Fjord said "and don't worry, while you're with us we'll take care of you and help you find a way home,"

Geralt nodded he was in a strange new world and had no choice but to trust them. He turned his attention to Caduceus.

"Since I will be staying awhile, I would like to meet Patricia. The girl who grew the tea you gave me last night," Geralt requested.

"I am afraid that is impossible," Caduceus claimed "She died many years ago,"

Geralt suddenly froze as his mind raced at the implications of what Caduceus had just admitted. He didn't know how a dead person could grow herbs for tea. Did the girl become a Wraith or an evil spirit or perhaps a Dryad? Was Necromancy involved?

"But you told me a young girl grew this tea when she came to your garden a little over 14yrs ago,"

"I did,"

"So how could she have grown this tea if she's been dead for over 14yrs?"

"It came from the plants that grew on her grave," Caduceus clarified.

Geralt blinked as that particular information sank in. Now Jesters' previous comments on why he should not drink the tea and the disgusted looks he had received this morning from drinking it made sense. Now Geralt had drunk a lot of strange concoctions in his time, from Witcher Potions, strong ale, he'd tested a few dubious miracle cures and even been on the receiving end of Lamberts various... recreational creations.

But he had never once drunken a dead person, until now.

"Fuck," he swore.

"Welcome to the Mighty Nein," Fjord said and gave Geralt a light pat on the shoulder.