Eventually, a Nora Brave came to us and told that the matriarchs had requested our presence. The girl guided us to the meeting place, where we found that we were not the only ones to be summoned - Aloy was there, as expected, but so was Viv, Cassidy, our friends from the Guild, and Geralt.

When all of us had settled in, the meeting commenced. First to speak was Lansra, the most conservative of the matriarchs. She was, needless to say, unhappy with our interrupting of the Proving.

"You Outsiders come into our lands without our permission and make a mockery of our sacred Proving? Have you no honor? No decency?"

"My apologies, but I do believe that our actions prevented the Proving from turning into a massacre," replied Geralt, trying to avoid drawing the matriarchs' wrath without being submissive.

"And for that...you have my thanks."

Really? That was actually kind of nice.

"Do not calm yet, outsiders. There is still much left to discuss. You have yet to offer proof that you were the ones to organize the very attack you stopped."

"Um, we literally didn't know that they were going to attack until we showed up?" offered Cassidy, trying to earn Lansra's trust.

"Do you truly expect me to belive that?"

"Well, it wasn't in any of the books my mom keeps her thoughts in and hides in a safe with a special lock that-"

Cassidy was shut up when her mom slammed her foot on her daughter's, which barely inconvenienced the girl but gave her the hint to shut up. Lansra, however, seemed to realize Viv's reaction was an indication that Cassidy had been correct and decided to drop the matter.

"Perhaps you were innocent. of causing the attack However, that does not explain one thing."

"And that is?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"The beasts you slew today are not the first of their kind to come here - others have been spotted, fighting machines and other tribes. IF you have an explanation for this, offer it now, or we will find a way to force it from your throats."

"Sister-"

"I might have an explanation for that," was Geralt's reply, interrupting Teersa as he did so. "My apologies, your highness, for the interruption."

"Such formality is unnecessary, but appreciated. Now, please,..."

"Geralt."

"Geralt, please continue."

"These creatures aren't from around here - they're from my lands...From my world."

"Are you saying," questioned Jezza, "that these creatures are from another world?"

"Exactly. Wouldn't be the first time they arrived in another world - first showed up in mine about fifteen hundred years ago, during the Conjunction of the Spheres. Men, beasts, elves, all of them were moved, sometimes forcibly, to lands they'd never been in before.

"And how did this happen?"

"...Magic."

"Magic?" questioned Lansra, tone dripping with disbelief.

"Yes, and I can prove, if not that magic caused the Conjuction, then at least that magic exists. Just give me a good stick."

After a moment of deliberation, the matriarchs did just that. A moment after that, and the stick was ablaze...without any logical explanation other than Geralt holding out his hand.

I think he might have boke the Nora. Teersa, however, managed to recover her faculties and press on with the conversation. "...Well, you have provided us proof at east that your claims of magic are not without merit. Now, tell us why you believe these creatures are coming to our world."

"Just recently, another Conjunction happened. It was stopped before it got too dangerous, but it seems like not everything went back to normal. I've been sent through two worlds so far, and that's not including this one."

"What were the other two?" inquired Jezza.

"Ours was one," offered Zoe. "As for the other one, well.."

"That was a rather odd one," noted Geralt. "Saw strange warriors there, with strange weapons and magics. Even met a pair of machines, one of whom was trying hard to do a good human impression."

"And what was its name?" I asked, curious.

"2B."

...Ok, didn't see that coming. "Odd name. Now, may we return to the conversation at hand."

"Guess we can. Back on topic, if this Conjunction affected your world, then there might be a whole horde of beasts on it that have never been here before - wyverns, godlings, succubae, to name a few. I was just helping the people I arrived with deal with a particularly nasty beast called a Leshen - maybe something like it came through one of these portals. Or many things like it came through. Either way, they could pose a problem."

"True. However, that does not explain the strange machines that assisted the raiders in attacking the proving-"

"I can explain that," was my answer. "They're creations of a...particularly persistent foe of mine. Probably joined the raiders out of opportunism."

"What do you mean?" questioned Teersa.

"I'm not someone who likes seeing innocents suffer and these machines' masters know that. I think they were hoping to draw me out by assisting the raiders in the slaughter, since I definitely wouldn't ignore a battle if my foe's machines were there - too much at stake."

"I see. SO, what do you intend to do now?"

Zoe, ironically, was the one to offer the answer first. "All of us would like to go home. But if you have any ideas who launched this raid, please, tell us - we'd like to repay you for the hospitality we received."

For once, I a greed with the girl.

"...Very well," spoke Jezza. "Then I believe there is one last matter to be discussed."

That, as it turned out, was making Aloy into a Seeker, which went exactly the same as it did in the game. I guess some things don't change.

Some did, however - and seeing how Aloy had decided to ask us to travel with her, I was definitely going to stir up a few changes.

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!