Hello everyone, Wolf here.
This is a shorter chapter than the others I've posted, mainly to explore Ciri more and what happened to her before she was reunited with Geralt, Shani and Gretka.
As for Ciri, she won't be with Geralt, he is like her father, I've decided to create an OC for her that I'll introduce in the future of the fic.
I think that's all I had to say, so I wish you all a GOOD READ!
Ciri never thought there would be anything more difficult than facing the White Frost, which only she could do thanks to the ancestral blood in her veins, but she was wrong. Telling Geralt, the man who is like a father to her, that she intended to defeat the White Frost forever and stop it from destroying her world was even more difficult, since there was a good chance it wouldn't come back.
"...This is my story, not yours. You must let me finish telling it." Ciri declared, feeling her heart hammering in her chest as an uneasiness appeared in her chest.
She couldn't look at Geralt now. With that, she started walking towards the portal with her head down and a faraway look in her eyes, trying to swallow the discomfort she felt.
"Good luck, Ciri." Geralt's voice made her pause in disbelief before she crossed her arms and bit her lips before turning to the wizard.
"Maybe I should have told you... Now I see that you might have understood." Ciri comments, looking at Geralt who just smiles reassuringly at her.
"I know you better than you think." After that, Geralt's gaze became more serious as he stared at her. "Don't keep me waiting."
Ciri didn't say anything, just nodded at the wizard's words with a new determination in her eyes before turning towards the portal and moving on to face the white frost.
(Some time later.)
Geralt looked anxiously at the portal as the blizzard continued to fall outside the barrier. He moved anxiously while Avallach looked on with a calm expression on his face.
"Come on, Ciri..." Geralt murmured in a low tone, opening and closing his hands.
Suddenly they both heard a crash as the blizzard seemed to intensify while a sound echoed throughout the place before the barrier broke.
"Look out!" Avallach exclaimed as he prepared to cast another barrier and Geralt prepared to use the queen.
However, the wizard noticed that something seemed wrong with the portal, it simply went out, raising dust around it. Immediately Geralt ran to the portal with a worried expression before looking around looking nervous and worried.
"No, no, no... Ciri!" Called Geralt looking around trying to hear the girl he considered a daughter, but to no avail.
Behind him, Avallach just let out a disappointed sigh and shook his head.
"CIRI!"
"It seems she managed to defeat the white frost, but at the cost of her life." Avallach comments calmly, glancing at Geralt.
"No, Ciri wouldn't die from that, she wouldn't... She's strong." Geralt declares, angrily turning back to the portal, making Avallach glare at him before shaking his head and casting one last glance at the portal.
"Goodbye Geralt."
The wizard didn't reply, and sat down in front of the portal, closing his eyes to meditate and begin to wait.
Unknown to both of them, Ciri had indeed managed to defeat the White Frost, but she hadn't counted on the immense explosion it had created. To protect herself, the girl used her powers to teleport away, but that turned out to be a bad idea.
She was hurled through space and time thanks to the ancestral blood and her powers underneath. The girl was floating on the boundary between space and time, having been thrown through the portal in front of Geralt, but unable to be seen, felt or heard.
"Geralt..." Ciri called out with difficulty, she couldn't even breathe properly being trapped between the planes.
However, her pleas fell on deaf ears, and she was forced to watch Geralt, her father in everything but blood, wait hopelessly for her when she was on his side. Everything moved so slowly that Ciri had no idea how long she had been there, the only thing she knew was that Geralt remained in the same position, sometimes he moved to other positions, trained and meditated, but never left the portal.
Avallach... she hadn't seen him since she saw him leaving the tower. Something that didn't surprise her, but still left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Yennefer, the woman who raised her like a daughter, stayed with Geralt for a while, but avoided talking to the witcher, much to his dismay; their conversations and games always cheered her up. The sorceress stayed for some time, days, weeks, Ciri didn't know, but soon, just like Avallach, Yennefer left.
Geralt went on for longer until at some point he finally went away, much to the despair of Ciri who had always tried to talk to him, the only glimmer of hope she still had. After his departure, time continued to flow slowly to the girl's horror, for a while she didn't even know if it was real or not.
And then Geralt returned.
He looked horrible, his armor was worn, he looked like he hadn't bathed in weeks, she could see some bloodstains covering him as well as scratches on his armor. She tried again to talk to him, even though she knew it was possibly in vain.
However, he spoke to her, not answering her lines or pleas, but talking to her as if this were his tomb. Ciri felt a squeeze in her heart watching the witcher trying to update her on what was happening, on his life, telling her stories of his adventures; it was hard to understand what he was saying at times.
Still, he managed to cheer her up, despite her situation Geralt managed to prove that she was still alive, that she still existed.
It made her want to go back all the more.
He also kept coming back, sometimes Geralt would stay away for a long time, but he would always come back telling her more, sometimes bringing her flowers and leaving them in front of the portal. After a while Geralt didn't show up and Ciri continued to struggle to free herself, worried about what might have happened.
The silence and loneliness seemed to become more and more overwhelming as time passed when she heard a whistle and the sounds of footsteps in the tower.
"Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, the famous little lion of Cintra and several other titles, it's an honor to meet you." He greets a man as he enters her field of vision, walking around her frozen form. "I'm Gaunter O'Dimm, an acquaintance of Geralt's, I'm also the reason he's taken so long to come and visit you these last few months, I imagine you've been stuck here for almost a year now, it's amazing you haven't gone mad yet."
Ciri stared at Gaunter with an inexpressive look, not knowing how to react, but not trusting the creature in front of her, something he realized before laughing a little.
"Oh, don't be like that. After all, I've come to help you out of this little prison of yours." Gaunter commented, smiling mischievously at her. "Now, let's get you out of there, shall we?"
With that, Gaunter O'Dimm clapped his hands before everything went white and Ciri fell to the ground with a grunt.
She wriggled uncomfortably on the ground, feeling like her legs were like jelly before she finally managed to get up, looking around to see that she was in a forest that from the looks of it seemed to be Velen's. She then looked down at her hands. She then looked down at her hands with a surprised and incredulous look as she could still feel their power but could also move around as before.
"I..." Ciri murmured, almost crying when she heard her own voice. "I'm free?"
Still in disbelief, Ciri began to walk hesitantly before slowly starting to run through the forest while laughing uncontrollably before her body began to glow and she disappeared in a flash of light before reappearing several meters ahead. As soon as Ciri stopped, she leaned forward, taking a deep breath as she put her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
"I'm really free, but where am I?" Ciri murmured cheerfully before looking around, noticing a small village nearby.
Ciri really was in Velen, in the village of Lindervale to be precise. The girl was in the tavern, sitting at the counter drinking a mug of ale, having just spoken to the tavernkeeper to get her bearings.
"Do you know if there are any jobs available?" Ciri asks, placing her mug on the counter and making the tavern keeper stare at her.
"It depends on the type of work."
"Hunting monsters." Hearing her answer, the tavern keeper blinked in surprise as if he had only just noticed the sword on her back.
"...I thought only men were witchers." The tavern keeper commented in surprise as Ciri stared at him.
"Do you have a job or not?" Ciri continued, making the man shake his head.
"No, the ones we had were done by another white-haired witcher... Gendry, I think." Informed the tavern keeper, making Ciri's eyes widen as she felt a pang of hope in her chest.
"Geralt. Where is he?" Ciri demanded, causing the tavern keeper to nod.
"I don't know, it's almost three weeks since I saw him." Revealed the tavern keeper, shrugging, making Ciri sigh dejectedly. "This wizard must be quite famous, this is the second time people have asked about him."
"Second time? Who else has asked about him?"
The tavern keeper frowned before shaking his head "Sorry, I don't remember their names, only that they wore armor so bright that its shine gave me a headache. They've put a message on the bulletin board if you want to take a look."
As soon as she heard this, Ciri got up and left a few coins on the counter before leaving the tavern and heading for the bulletin board. Once there, she began to read each one in search of the message for Geralt that she realized bore Toussaint's seal.
She quickly picked up the notice and began to read it.
'Appeal to Sir Geralt of Rivia, the Bridge his Crest
Geralt of Rivia,
At the behest of our merciful sovereign, Her Illustrious Grace Anna Henrietta, we have journeyed to the Northern Realms to lay before you our mission. A terrible monster has appeared in the Duchy of Toussaint, a beast that has committed heinous crimes against her Grace's subjects. Only the Most Famous Among Witchers has the ability to destroy the Beast, thus we humbly beseech you to appear in the village of Holloway, where we shall await you in full hope that you will deign to hear of our woes and liberate our land from the clutches of fear.
Your humble servants:
Sirs Palmerin de Launfal and Milton de Peyrac-Peyran'
When she had finished reading the notice, Ciri quickly put it in her bag with a smile. She knew where she had to go, but she couldn't walk, even with her powers it would take too long, so she went back to the tavern keeper.
"Greetings again, where can I get a horse?"
She had to be reunited with Geralt, after so long going to visit her without even knowing she was alive, it was the least she could do.
And that's all folks, I hope you enjoyed it.
See yaa next week.