Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of the witcher. Those are property of Mr Sapkowski and I using Netflix series canon mixed with the books and my twisted version of the lore.

Warnings : A bit of angst and mourning. Scary stuff. Sexual glimpses and evocation. Nothing graphic. But gore and blood ^^'. Geralt whump.

Notes : I am not following the exact plot but put some chucks of dialogues I liked from the series here

Beauty and the beast - part 3

Beauty

###

The few minutes Geralt spent alone where painful. He had to face the hole he had in his heart and he didn't want to acknowledge it yet. But he needed the rest. He needed to stop. Still he couldn't handle what came with it. This short period of time, all by himself, reminded him how fragile he was at the moment. He needed to have someone to care for or something to do all the time right now. So he focused on the flames in the hearth and his own breathing to try to find inner peace. It was working to some extend only.

For a brief moment, he had the distinct impression he was observed again. He looked around. Nobody was there. I am going mad... He thought.

Nivellen finally came back and gave him a medical kit. This helped him to snap back to reality somehow and calm down his latent anxiety.

- "Thanks." Geralt said.

But then he noticed that the package wasn't full. What an immortal creature like his old friend would make of such a thing now ? He took a gauze pack and looked at the expire date on the boxe and made a quick calculation. It was quite recent and the kit was obviously already used.

- "Did you have some visit ?" He noted, showing the partial kit.

- "Yes and no. Just a wounded deer. She escaped some hunters in my domain. I took care of the animal. Is that a problem ?"

The answer came naturally and Nivellen didn't show any tension signs, just a little bit of annoyance. Geralt didn't feel like he was lying this time so he chose to let it loose.

- "No, no. Everything's fine. I was just surprised."

- "Well you are a witcher and you are on the run. I understand your suspicion over details. But remember, you are welcome here. Always."

Nivellen smiled - or tried to. Geralt sighed. Maybe he was right. He was very nervous and distraught inside, even if he tried to hide it.

###

He began to remove his old bandage and opened his trousers' leg wider. He took a look at the revealed wounded flesh underneath. As he anticipated the lower layers had correctly regenerated and the skin was almost closed. There was no residue of poison, but the area was still tender and reddish. He passed his hand on the sensitive zone and it hurt. He had to drain the fluids under. He took what he needed from the box and began to operate under Nivellen watch.

Ciri entered the room in the middle of the unpleasant operation. Both men turned their heads toward her and were surprised to see her all groomed and in a new outfit. She had done her hair beautifully and was wearing a sophisticated white dress. She looked like a proper princess.

- "I would like to thank you, sir Nivellen for the bath and this pretty outfit."

Nivellen seemed surprised for a moment.

- "Yes of course. I am glad you like it."

- "Can I join you ?"

Geralt nodded. She took a chair and sat next to them by the fire. It was an awkward painting in Geralt's mind. They were sitting in the most comfortable ones and the princess was just having the basic chair, but, if visually this was weird, she didn't seem to bother. She was more interested in what he was doing. And that in itsef was even more disturbing.

She was observing him taking care of his wound while Nivellen began to talk again, telling her a few little inoffensive stories involving them during the few years they saw each others. This was bringing back more memories and in the end it wasn't as bad as he initially thought. If even half of it was true then they shared more than a twisted relationship.

The feeling was weird. He had avoided so many things the last few weeks and this connection from the past was bringing everything that he loved, before all went wrong. He listened to the stories too, even when he was done with his leg.

- "It is quite late." He said, noticing then the first hints of Ciri fighting her own fatigue. "You should return to your room and try to sleep a bit."

She smiled but she was clearly afraid. Again, the traumas were showing. Nivellen seemed to notice too.

- "Maybe you would fancy another story for your nighttime. Not one about the two reckless heads we were but something more mind elevating."

- "Why not ?"

They both accompanied her back to her room. It was still warm, the fire was magically still going. The bathtub was also still there and her old filthy clothes were now sitting in a heap on the chair next to it. Except for a blue sort of scarf with golden lions which the top of the chair. This was the symbol of Cintra and he realised that the girl had kept it hidden till now, probably under her other clothes.

Geralt looked at her with a pinch in the heart, while she picked the scarf from the chair and went to the bed holding it like a teddy-bear. There was something painful to see her showing how vulnerable she was to a total stranger, while after several days with him she was at ease but only on the surface. And what followed didn't help to build Geralt's confidence on the subject, but he chose to learn from it.

Nivellen had almost a fatherlike instinct apparently. He observed him, helping her with the heavy sheets and making her comfortable.

- "Please don't go." She muttered as soon as they were about to leave the room. "You didn't tell me your story." She justified.

Geralt stood by the door and let things happen. He didn't want to interrupt the moment.

Nivellen returned near Ciri and conjured up an animated lantern. The witcher medallion was vibrating a bit more. There was a warm light in its core, projecting shadows of little characters on the wall, like in a shadow theatre.

- "So, do you know the piece called The Fall of the Elders ?" Ciri shook her head. Nivellen made an elegant movement with his hand and the shadows began to move. "Let me tell you the story of a warrior elf of the old time and the human mage she fell in love with. I learned this little piece when I was in Oxenfurt." Geralt flinched at the mention. "Both ordained by hate to kill, instead found love and ran away, against their people's will."

- "It's beautiful." Ciri whispered looking at the moving shadows on the wall.

Geralt smiled. That was indeed an enchanting display and he knew the story. Sometimes, Vesemir was telling some stories for them to go to sleep like that. The tale of Lara Dorren and her lover Cregennan was one of them. Because it was about fate and this was something the old man believed strongly. He listened to Nivellen speak in rhymes throughout the story and ignored the shadows on the wall. He was just absorbing Ciri's reaction to it. Especially the conclusion that he knew was a tragedy.

- "Into bliss, the two did wed. A baby on the way. A child born to parents dead, that fateful winter's day."

The girl didn't say a thing at first but the witcher saw her look change. This was reflecting her personal story too much. He understood that very well. But then she spoke quietly and it was bittersweet.

- "You remind me of an old friend. Mousesack. He used to tell me stories at night. Sometimes it doesn't seem real that he is gone." Geralt's heart twisted. "I wish I could go back in time and save him. Save everyone."

- "Can I come with you ? I have a few things I would like to change myself."

Memories flashed in Geralt's head. New carnal almost brutal union between him and Nivellen. These were uneasy to have in this context. They were cut by a question from Ciri that hit him hard.

- "What's it like ? Being alone because of what you are ?"

He suppressed a gasp. And replied mentally alongside Nivellen's own answers.

- "It's what eats you alive. Loneliness." You get used to it - lies.

- "Have you ever tried to cure yourself ?"

- "Oh I tried many things. I even tried to get a kiss from some women, just in case all those fairy tales we are told as kid were true." There is no cure for witchers - love was sweet.

- "Maybe you didn't find the right one. Mousesack told me a hedgehog man was cured by true love." I was there. This happened.

- "He was lucky. He was probably worthy." Nivellen marked a pause, looked at him then back to Ciri. "You have seen my domain. This is empty. Not because my servants were afraid of me - many would have chosen to stay because I was not like my father and they knew it - but this place is empty because I killed them a few days after I turned, and I had to bury them all. I didn't know what I was, nor my strength. I was afraid and angry. Now, my house is what I want it to be by the magic I was gifted in a way but this is also a graveyard, full of my past mistakes. I deserve my destiny. A cure doesn't exist for people like me."

Those words hit Geralt very hard and they seemed to affect Ciri the same way. Here, in this very moment, only truth was spoken and shown by all of them. This was not a bedtime story as it should have been but it was helping get things out and maybe bring the girl some peace. The process seemed to work and something unexpected happened.

- "Those people you killed. You didn't mean to."

She was giving Nivellen a pardon he would probably have never received otherwise. Geralt saw his frame loosen a little bit.

- "Sometimes I think I am still a man. But mostly I know what I really am."

- "I saw my entire home burn to the ground at the hands of another - my family trapped inside. So, you don't seem like a monster to me."

Geralt had tears in his eyes. This was the first time Ciri opened up about what happened in Cintra. He wanted to say something, but words didn't leave his throat. Nivellen on the other hand knew what to say.

- "I appreciate that, my dear princess. Monsters are more than just horrid looks and claws and teeth. Monsters are born of deeds done. Unforgivable ones."

She nodded.

- "Goodnight, princess."

- "Goodnight Nivellen. Goodnight Geralt."

The witcher gave her a shy smile and a gesture of the head as an answer. They left the room. They returned to the dining room.

- "Your princess is one of a kind."

- "Yes." He didn't want to say that she revealed herself to him also tonight.

- "You should rest also. Do you want a room or…"

- "No. I will be ok by the fire. I am just gonna check on Roach first."

For the first time here, he felt well. He understood for a part why Nivellen was concealing the truth. He had those insecurities too : being a monster himself. He couldn't ask of someone to do something for him he didn't do for others either.

He went out.

###

The snow was falling heavily but the stables were protected and warm, thanks to Nivellen's magic.

- "Hey beautiful." He whispered, petting the mare's neck. "Can you tell me us happening here ? Do you feel it too ? We should go."

He sat on the hay and closed his eyes.

He dreamed about Yennefer and the war. Then it morphed into their more intimate memories. But this was mixed up with other Nivellen's memories, in a weird way. He was moving under the sorceress, she grabbed him but she was suddenly the ginger man as he knew him. He kissed him passionately but then black hair were cascading down his face. Male arms around his chest. Female embrace. Nails digging his flesh. Teeth biting him.

You are a beast inside... Red hair... Growls... Bites... My beast... Black hair... Moans...

Yennefer arched in her pleasure fever...

He didn't feel it. He was distant in the sensations of everything that was happening. But the desire and the pain were real. He tried to reach to her, as her body was separating from his. It was almost fading away in a white fog progressively surrounding them while she was still moving over him. His hand touched her skin. It was cold and clammy. She tensed, then she leaned back forward. Her hair was pushed away by some kind of invisible wind and the face of a half transformed bruxa replaced Yennefer's. She screamed at his face revealing her monstrous jaws and tongue from a terrifying gapping mouth.

He woke up in sweat, his heart beating hard in his chest. The pale face, with white piercing eyes and huge mouth full of teeth was sticking to his mind. Roach neighed softly. He recollected pieces of memories and began to recreate the whole picture.

- "Fucking hell." He grunted as things were making more and more sens by the minute.

Something had played with his broken memories and fantasmes. There were not that many monsters capable of reading minds and they were all extremely dangerous. There were not that many monsters who could fool a witcher, and that in itself was terrifying.

His heart sunk when he realised that he left Ciri in the house with that kind of danger. He got on his feet and detached Roach. This was now the only option that left. They had to go now. He took his silver sword out and a cat elixir in his pocket. He didn't need the sight enhancement but the extra reflexes could be a life or death changer for whatever he had to fight.

He returned the house quickly but he tried to be as silent as possible. The lights were still on inside but everything was silent, except for the distant snoring of Nivellen. He wished he had something to give him the hour so he could know how long he slept in the stable, but it seemed long enough to let the boar bear man fall asleep.

He followed the sound and pushed the door from where it came. Nivellen was in a room that wasn't one. It looked like a pleasure den, with candles, flowers and pillows everywhere. He had opened his shirt wide and half of his trousers unbuckled. This was a weird thing to witness.

Geralt decided to let him like that. If he could wake Ciri in silence, their departure could be unnoticed. He went to the second floor and concentrated on the surrounding noise. He felt observed again. As he was slowly reaching the princess' room, he was moving his head from left to right, trying to pick any suspicious presence in the walls.

He entered Ciri's bedroom. He sheets were down to her waist in a weird angle and she seemed more unconscious than asleep. His heart was beating hard. He was scared anything had happened to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.

- "Geralt ? What ?" She asked, her eyes still full of sleepiness.

- "Shush. Lower you voice." He whispered. "Are you hurt in any ways."

- "No."

- "Has someone come in you room ?"

- "No..." She frowned. "Wait. I have a vague souvenir of someone."

- "Nivellen ?"

- "No. A woman. Dark hair. Strange eyes." Geralt grimace and looked for any trace of bite.

- "Did she touched you ?"

- "No. I don't remember clearly. We simply talked. She was nice. And then I was asleep again. Who is she ?"

- "What is she is more appropriate. There is a bruxa in the walls." He turned toward the door as he noticed the absence of the distant snoring of Nivellen suddenly. "Take what you can with you. We have to go now. Don't ask question." He drank the elixir.

- "But."

- "No buts."

- "Geralt ?"

Ciri had got out of the bed and he heard her approach him.

- "Move. Now." He growled as he felt the potion activated fully in his system.

He turned toward her and saw the terror. He knew his eyes were totally black now and his skin was pale as death with dark veins running underneath. Ciri obey though. She put her shoes on and took her blue scarf.

They quitted the room and went to the first floor. Nivellen's door was almost closed now.

- "Go to Roach and return to the city. Follow the main path." He whispered. "I am covering your escape."

She ran quietly. Geralt waited she was out of the house to open the door. The bruxa was leaning over Nivellen, her head in his neck. His blood gushing out of an unseen wound and tainting red his shirt and the pillows he was laying on.

Maybe it was some misplaced honour or the fear that the monster would follow them as she seemingly connected with Ciri already, but he tried to sneak in to kill her. The wood cracked inconveniently and she stopped feeding. The sight of Nivellen's throat half opened made him angry and that was his second mistake. He rushed toward her and the bruxa screamed. The sound was like a wall hitting him full force. He was pushed back to the wall in the corridor. The noise was painful in itself. Soon enough she had to breath and he was free again. But the attack had almost stunned him.

The bruxa jumped out of the room and, taking advantage of his confusion, she ran outside. Geralt was disoriented but he knew he had to react fast. He only eyed at Nivellen who he knew now, from their conversations, would return from the dead sooner or later, and he ran after the female vampire.

He found her in the court, facing Ciri who had followed only half the instructions he gave her. Now he had very little room to kill the beast and protect the princess. There was no way he could make a discreet approach but he wanted to make the grand tour so he could place himself between them. As he moved he heard the monster speak. There was something sad about it, because she seemed genuinely wishing Ciri by her side, as a friend. But bruxa were manipulative and extremely violent.

- "Please, don't run. If you run I won't be able to stop myself." She whined.

This was when he heard those words that Geralt connected the dots. That bruxa was sincere indeed but her instincts were stronger than here will. Ciri had maybe borrowed herself more time, not following his instructions - the killing part of the vampire would have win over everything else if she had run away. The hunter in the beast would have responded to blood lust.

He had to be quick. He didn't take a strong shot of cat elixir and he only had few minutes of enhanced perceptions and reflexes.

- "You are nice to us. Not many humans show empathy to monsters."

Ciri made a step backward. Geralt saw the instincts kicking in the bruxa immediately. His body reacted before his mind registered the danger. His silver sword cut through the flesh. The vampire woman screamed as the blade burned her.

Then it went too fast for him to clearly remember what was happening in the details. He never pushed himself to this extreme state so fast before. Screams against Quen. Swords and claws. Wings against man. The bruxa had to return into her bat form to take the advantage and she was strong. She lifted him off the ground twice. She threw him over yards. He felt his ribs crack when he hit sideways the stone pillar at the bottom of the stairs. But he couldn't register the pain or the fatigue yet. He was running on the elixir and pure adrenaline. The bat flew behind the house, where he couldn't see her, so he stood up, went in the center of the garden and waited.

He heard her presence thanks to a change of wind. He simply buckled the same second the bruxa would have ripped him appart on his feet. In his movement he pushed his sword upward and got her open from the shoulder to the belly. She screamed and fell on the ground in a heap, leaving in the snow a long dark line of blood. She was a woman again - naked as a new new born. She tried to get back on her feet, but she was trembling of exhaustion and pain. Geralt made a sign to Ciri not to move and he approached the vampire. He had to finish her now. He couldn't let her go. She whined and tried to move away from him, understanding what was coming. She crawled backwards and made it almost to the stairs, bleeding herself out in with her frantic movements. Geralt was sad to she her agonising.

- "Let me free you. This has to stop."

- "I was free, witcher, before you came."

- "You were not. I would have let you live if you proved yourself capable of resisting your own instincts. But you can't. You began to kill them, didn't you ?" By that, he meant the city and by the look she gave him, he knew he was right, before she answered.

- "They were mean to my love. Humans only see the monsters. Nivellen was one of us, but he changed inside. He learned. Yet he was never forgiven. He helped me. He loved me. I only mean to protect us from the rest of the world."

Geralt scoffed.

- "I am sure you didn't kill just the bad ones. Once you are in a rampage you cannot stop. Am I right ?"

- "They always run. I can't stop if they run..." She gurgled.

Her black blood was now pouring out of her mouth. She didn't have much longer. Geralt took position to give her the last blow. At the same time, the mansion's door opened on a dishevelled Nivellen with his bloody clothes on but no more wounds.

- "Vereena !" He cried. "Geralt, please no. Let her live. I bet of you."

- "I love you, my beast." She said.

Geralt heart almost stopped when he recognised the voice coming from bellow. He looked down and his black eyes locked in purple ones. His hand weakened.

- "Yennefer..." He could barely speak.

To be continued ^^

The chapter was too long. I wanted to put some more attention to the conclusion. So see you next week for that.