Harry waved his hands lazily and watched as the partially destroyed wall almost seemed to mend itself back together as broken stone seemed to reshape and solidify once more until it created a proper barrier between the inside of the castle and the outside elements.
"Been trying to work up the time to fix that damn wall for years and you just wave your hand like that… Well not that I'm not appreciative." Vesemir said, scrutinizing the wall for a moment before nodding in approval.
"Well… I did build an entire major city on my own." Harry pointed out easily trying to not let out any of the actual emotions he was actually feeling. Vesemir looked at him with understanding in his eyes, though, so clearly, he was not doing a good enough job.
"Have patience lad, you'll have your turn so enough." The man said in a comforting tone,
"Lad? I'm older than you." Harry pointed out halfheartedly, which was true, though it didn't mean anything. Harry's mental development stopped around twenty and while time and experience gave him wisdom there were certain things that he would never experience as he never reached old age. Respect for patience tended to be one of those things.
Vesemir was, of course, talking about Cirilla. After they had woken her at the Isles of the Mist, she had barely managed to stay awake for much longer. She needed to recover her strength before she would be able to move up and about. They had taken her to Kaer Morhen and Harry had immediately gotten to work on helping her with recovering missing nutrients as well as strengthening muscle fibers. Today was the first day she had woken up and been able to stay awake.
As much as Harry had wanted to speak and be near her as soon as she awoke, it was only fair that Geralt and Yennefer got to first. While technically speaking, it had been he who had not truly spoken to Ciri in the longest time considering he had not been able to directly interact with her while she had been growing up, he respected her parents too much to take this moment away from them.
"I was surprised you didn't try to go up with Geralt and Yennefer. If you don't mind me saying, you have seemed very eager to see her."
"I am indeed eager, but that is no excuse for rudeness. As much as I would like to see her, the first people she gets to see after finally returning home are her parents. I am sure that while she is most likely happy to see me, I am not as high on her list."
"Perhaps, but I'm sure she will be quite excited to see you and talk with one of her friends again. The little swallow never had many companions when she was growing up. It was nice knowing that changed when she left."
"Being friends with Ciri is easy. She expects nothing from you except companionship and does everything she can to try and help. In my world, almost everyone I knew wanted or expected something from me. Ciri didn't. She just wanted to relax and be in my company at a time when It felt like the whole world wanted me to work for it."
"Hmm. This was when you first met and you were still a child?"
"Yes."
"What could people want from a child?"
"That's… complicated. In my world, magical society is separated from mundane people. We have our own towns, schools, and shops hidden from normal people. In that society when a powerful magic user gains followers and establishes an anti-societal rhetoric, they can be labeled as a Dark Lord. You don't really have an equivalent here. Anyways, we had a Dark Lord that was really bad and was killing people all over the place. When I was like one, he killed my mother and father, and then tried to kill me. When he got to me, however, the magic backfired and killed him instead."
"I see… that sounds… fortunate."
"I wouldn't call the night my parents were killed in front of me 'fortunate' but I get your meaning," Harry said with a smirk to show he wasn't offended by Vesemirs words. Vesemir grimaced but nodded.
"Er, yes, you're right."
"Either way, it turned out the Dark Lord had made steps to keep himself alive even after death. So, he kept going around as a Wraith for fourteen years trying to attain a new body and I kept trying to tell everyone he was still alive. When he finally returned back to life, the government turned a blind eye and ran a smear campaign against me. They dragged my name in the mud for an entire year and made it seem like I was insane. Eventually, though, the Dark Lord made his big reveal, and along with it, a prophecy that basically said I was the only one who could defeat him."
"And suddenly everyone changed their tone." Vesemir guessed.
"That they did. By then, I had no wish to aid them, I basically told the government, they could go fuck themselves and left them to their fate. I then disappeared from the world stage and refused to let any find me. There was a nationwide search for me and everything."
"How long did you stay hidden?"
"Oh, months. While hidden, that's when I met Ciri. She was the first person in a long time who placed no expectations on me except friendship and allowed me to realize many things. I eventually decided to face my problems head-on after she left. I killed the dark lord and became one of the most powerful magic users on the planet. I also gained immortality." Harry explained. Vesemir seemed to take it all in.
"That's quite a story. I can see why in that sense she would have such an impact on you. Strange though that a child of prophecy also runs into another child of prophecy. And then you somehow made it here." Vesemir said as he crossed his arms.
"Well, I didn't know I would end up here when I jumped into a portal that led to another world. The reason was actually the Witcher medallion Ciri gave me as a going-away gift when she left. The portal seemed to lock onto the signal coming off the medallion and spit me out here. The fact that it spat me out in the past versus the future was pure luck though." Harry explained.
"I'm going, to be honest, I'm not sure I understood everything you just said," Vesemir said and Harry laughed.
"I suppose it would be hard to imagine without seeing and experiencing yourself. To wrap it up, it was a whole lot of luck and coincidence that I ended up here in time to meet Ciri once more." Harry told him.
"Luck and coincidence are something I CAN understand," Vesemir said with a smirk. Harry laughed again at the old Witcher. Harry was about to continue when Geralt and Yennefer entered out of the main room once more. Harry immediately stopped and looked at them as they approached.
"How did it go?" Harry asked eagerly, totally forgetting the conversation he was just having.
"Good. She's a little eager to get up and about, but we told her that you think she should rest in bed at least one more day before moving around too much." Yennefer replied.
"That's good. Did she seem fine health-wise then? Did you guys manage to catch up with her sufficiently?" He asked.
"Yes, she seemed fine, those potions you made sure do impressive work. As for catching up, well, we were up there for several hours it looks like so we managed to speak quite a bit. As you can imagine, she asked about you quite a bit." Yennefer said. Harry's breath felt like it was caught in his throat.
"And?" He asked, clearly asking what was said. Yennefer smirked at his apparent eagerness. Luckily, before he had to press, Geralt finally entered the conversation.
"We didn't tell her much. We thought it would be better if you could explain everything yourself. We, of course, confirmed some of the stuff you told us before were true." Geralt said as he looked at him.
"I assume you have found nothing out of the ordinary," Harry said easily. He had tried to be as honest as possible so he wasn't overly concerned.
"We wanted to be sure when it came to those that associated with Ciri which I am sure you understand." Yennefer said. Harry nodded.
"It's fine. I had already assumed that you never placed your full trust in me during our journey, at least until Ciri could confirm what I said. Though I am curious, did she mention how long ago it was for her since she last saw me?"
"Not an exact number though we do believe it was at least a couple of years." Yennefer said. Harry nodded slowly. That wasn't bad in Harry's mind. It could have been a lot worse at least.
"I see. Well, tomorrow I'll go give her another checkup." Harry said as he looked out a window. It looked like it was already late afternoon. As much as he wanted to see her as a friend, he knew as a healer that she should take all the rest she could get.
"Why will you not give her one tonight when you go up?" Yennefer asked. Harry frowned.
"It's getting late…"
"Perhaps, but she knows you're here and if you're not up there in another five minutes then she made it clear that she's coming down." Geralt said gruffly. Harry rose an eyebrow at that before a small smile crossed his face. That sure sounded like the Ciri he remembered.
"Alright, I guess I'll go up now before she becomes too impatient," Harry said.
"Out of the two of you, I don't think I would call her the one that's been impatient today," Vesemir said under his breath. Harry shot a glare at the old man who was conveniently looking in the opposite direction. Yennefer snorted and Geralt had a smirk on his face. Harry growled as he continued to move away from the group and headed up the stairs to the room, they had given to Ciri. It was one they had specifically asked Harry to help create for when Ciri arrived. The foundations were already there so it hadn't taken him more than half an hour to create. He left the decorating and furnishing to the others. He approached the door and knocked.
"Come in." He heard the muffled voice from the other side. He took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. It's insane how nervous he was after all the things he had faced and done in life. But in truth, he could care less what most thought, but he certainly cared about Ciri's opinion. What would she think when she saw him and they talked? She hadn't seen him for quite a while and for him it had been a lifetime since they had last talked. Funny how the time they had initially spent was so short compared to everything and yet it had caused such a ripple effect.
Her eyes locked on his the moment the door was open wide enough. Like his, hers almost seemed to glow unnaturally in the darkness of the room and orange glow of the various candles. He froze for a moment as they locked eyes and his brain seemed to reboot itself. Despite being bedridden for a few days at this point, she looked amazing. She was no longer wearing her usual outfit and was now wearing casual nightwear courtesy of Yennefer. Well, casual based on Yennefer's perspective. While it could be considered normal and possibly even conservative in his world, in this one, it was a little… tight.
"Are you just going to sit there staring at me or are you going to come in?" She asked with sarcasm dripping from her voice. Harry felt his mind jumpstart at her words.
"That depends… Are you wearing something besides that T-shirt?" Harry asked casually. To anyone else, the question would have been considered a flirt, but to them, it was a reference to an unfortunate accident that had happened while she had been living under his roof.
"Would you like to find out the same way you did last time?" She asked with a smirk. Harry couldn't help the smile that came on his face from her answer.
"No thanks. I'd rather be able to look you in the eye for the next couple of days." Harry said as he came up next to the bed and sat in a chair that he assumed Geralt or Yennefer had occupied when they had been here.
"Don't tell me you never got over that little blushing habit any time a girl showed you a bit of her skin."
"As a matter of fact, I did. Now only certain girls can. Don't you feel special?" He replied back playfully. She threw her head back and laughed at that.
"I see you can give as good as you get now… It's good to see you, Harry." She said softly as she looked at him. She gave him a look that he had not seen in a long time, one filled with happiness at his mere presences.
"Yeah, well… I told you I'd see you again, didn't I?" Harry asked rhetorically.
"Did you say that?" Ciri asked with skepticism.
"I don't know. I can't remember that far back. Either way, it was implied." Harry told her. Ciri rolled her eyes before looking at him seriously.
"I suppose that's as good as point as any, you want to explain how you got here?" Ciri asked.
"Actually, it was your fault."
"My fault?" Ciri repeated in confusion.
"Oh yes indeed. You remember this?" Harry asked as he pulled out the Witcher medallion she had given him so many years ago. Her eyes widened.
"You kept it!" She exclaimed.
"Why do you sound so surprised. It was a gift you gave me." Harry said, giving her a curious look.
"Hmm. I'm not sure. I figured you would lose it or pack it away at some point." She said back.
"I carry it on me most of the time. I rarely ever do without it. Anyway, back on topic, I found a portal that would send the user to a random world if you went through it. Fortunately for me, when I went through it, the portal locked on to the world the medallion was originally from and sent me to this world."
"Wow…" Ciri said, looking impressed at the medallion in wonder.
"Anyway, I remember you telling me what your life was like here so I have been spending all my time building up a power base so to speak to help aid you," Harry told her proudly. She looked at him in surprise.
"Powerbase? What do you mean by that?" She asked suspiciously.
"I am the current ruler of the Avalonian Empire, the biggest Northern Kingdom in history. All of the Northern territories except for Redania are currently under our control." Harry said, dropping the bomb. Ciri looked at him for a moment and blinked… and then blinked once more.
"… What?"
"Yep. Although I am willing to bet we will have Redania under our control soon since Radovid seems to be losing himself with every passing day and I doubt he'll be able to keep himself from slipping soon." Harry said to her. Ciri just looked at him before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"You created a new kingdom?"
"Er… Yes?"
"And then took over most of the other Northern Kingdoms?"
"Yes," Harry said as he watched her to try and gauge what she was thinking.
"Harry?"
"Yes?"
"How long have you been planning this?" She asked.
"Ummm… like a hundred and fifty years more or less." That was the last straw.
"WHAT?!" She screamed as she bolted upright and looked at him with incredulousness.
"Yeah. It's a trip, I know."
"Explain, now!"
"Well… It's complicated." Harry said before launching into the tale of what happened after she left his world and how he had seemingly gained immortality once he took on the title of Master of Death.
"You're immortal."
"As far as I can tell. My aging process seems to have stopped and I seem to heal no matter what damage is done. Though I have speculated that there are certain things I imagine I can't come back from. I imagine that if I got thrown into a star or black hole, Death would take me. I doubt she would be allowed to save me on this plane of existence. At most, she can simply deny accepting my death because that is within her domain.
"Death is a she?"
"I don't think she has an actual gender; I assume she just chooses a form I would be accepting of which is why I call her with such pronouns," Harry explained.
"I… see. So, wait…. How old are you?" She asked.
"It's hard to say as I truthfully haven't been keeping track. I must be close to two hundred at this point." Harry admitted.
"You're… almost two hundred years old? That's crazy. You're someone entirely different than I remember." She said looking at him like she had never seen him. Harry immediately hated the look.
"I wouldn't say that. Maturity wise, I'm actually only a few years more than when we last spoke. Actually, maturity-wise you might be considered older than me at this point." He told her. Immediately the look she had disappeared and was replaced with one of indignation.
"Did you just call me old?" She asked.
"No, I just said you could be in certain ways, considered older than me."
"You're apparently as old as dirt, so what the hell are you saying about me?" She growled. Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and badly hid a smirk from her. Immediately she grabbed a fork that was lying on a nightstand next to her bed and threw it at him. He smoothly ducked under the throw.
"Woah. Okay, let's not be hasty! It was a joke. I was just trying to prove a point is all. No need to stick me." Harry protested. She glared before seemingly calming down.
"Hmph. Just don't do it again. I suppose you're right. I guess you still seem like that little sarcastic mopey kid I left. What's that word that Fleur taught me to describe you?
"I don't think that…"
"Emo! That's the one. You stopped being an Emo!" She said, seemingly proud of remembering. Harry glared.
"I was NOT an Emo." He said, pouting slightly.
"Mhmm. From Fleur's description, it seemed to match you pretty well at the time, though it seems like you have moved passed it rather well."
"I was NOT an Emo! Besides, after you left, I took your advice and decided to tackle my problems head-on."
"So, you've said. I am proud of you. I guess that Dark Lord wasn't so tough."
"Actually, he was the hardest opponents I have ever faced, even to this day," Harry told her. She went quiet at that.
"Ah. Well, I am glad you got past it." She said after a moment.
"As am I. Well, what about you? Tell me what you have been up to since we last saw each other?" Harry asked.
"Oh no. We're not done with you yet. You said you have been here for what, a century and a half? What have you been doing this whole time, why don't I ever remember seeing you?" She asked. Harry went quiet at that.
"Well, much of the first century was familiarizing myself with this world and its various cultures. I met all sorts while I traveled and it allowed me to plan and make decisions for later. In the last fifty years, I have taken much more of an interest and the happenings of everything around this part of the world. As for why you never saw me, well, I have been purposefully keeping myself hidden. I wasn't sure how meeting you before we originally met would affect the timeline if at all. For the most part, I have aided where I could and moving certain pieces in preparation." Harry replied.
"So… You've been just watching me my whole life?" Ciri asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry glared.
"You don't have to make it sound like that." He said pointedly.
"I'm just saying what it looks like is all."
"I'll have you know that I barely ever actually saw you with my own eyes. For the most part, I simply interacted with things around you while keeping myself hidden." Harry told her.
"Like what?"
"Hmm… The first time I influenced something within your direct sphere of notice for you was actually before you were born. When your grandmother was young, she had a disease that no one could cure and your great grandmother found me and asked me to heal her. I wasn't sure how that would affect the timeline, but I decided to do something anyway." Harry explained softly. Ciri processed that for a moment as Harry sat patiently. He knew what would be coming next. As if hearing his thoughts, he saw Ciri's eyes darken and her face droop.
"My-… My mother?" She asked with a clear waver in her voice. Harry knew what she was asking. He leaned forward and put a hand over her own. He made sure to make eye contact directly with her so she would understand he was serious.
"I promise you Ciri, I tried. I may have wanted to maintain the timeline I was familiar with as much as possible, but there were some things I would not allow from happening if I could help it. I followed both your parents into that storm, but I even with all my strength, I could not maneuver successfully through the warring elementals that night." He explained. Ciri looked back at him and seemed to be searching for something. Whatever it was, she seemed to have found it as she relaxed under his gaze and nodded.
"I believe you."
"You do not have to take my word for it. If you would prefer, I could give you a magical oath to show…"
"I said I believe you and I meant it!" She exclaimed smacking him a little harder than he expected in his shoulder.
"Ow!" Harry said as he rubbed his arm in pain.
"Don't be a baby. We'll move away from that subject I suppose, but I may have more questions later!" She said sternly.
"Of course,… So, shall we move onto you now?" Harry asked. Ciri shrugged.
"Well, I mainly spent most of the time after I left your world traveling. I barely spent time in another world after yours. I managed to spend about a couple of months in one before I continued and moved on. Most of the time, I barely even interacted with the various civilizations I would run into. I did run into a couple of more Earth's. One was even in medieval times as you would call it, I think." She said. Harry frowned as he remembered years ago the dream where he seemed to encounter Ciri and the demon secretly leeching her power. From his guess, the creature found her by coincidence, but he should give her a once over to make sure she had not encountered any recently.
"I remember that," Harry said. Best to keep these things out in the open.
"I'm sorry?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A while ago, I fell asleep and had a sort of out of body experience. You were in a dining hall in a castle talking with Galahad of the Round Table." Harry said smoothly as he watched her reaction.
"Did you, uh… watch over me in your sleep often?" She asked suspiciously again. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Where's the trust?" He asked sarcastically.
"It's waiting on what you answer."
"Ugh. For your information, no, I did not. That was literally the only time I did so and I had absolutely no control over it. Though I suspect it had to do with the demon leeching off your life force at the time." Harry told her easily.
"A demon."
"As you would know it, yes."
"I think I would have noticed that." She said blandly.
"You would think. Though it seemed to be astral like I was. Sensing such things isn't about power, but… finesse. Something we both know that you lack." I said, giving her a look. She glared at him again and this time punched him solidly in the arm.
"OW! For the love of God woman, stop punching me!"
"Stop giving me reasons to punch you then. I'll have you know it is very hard to control my amount of magic. You can even ask Yennefer."
"I don't need to know. I am aware of the downsides with being born with exceptionally large magical reserves. I wasn't saying it was your fault you don't have as good of control as you would like. I can help with that by the way, I know several techniques powerful mages can utilize to practice control" Harry suggested.
"I'll think about it. Back to the demon for now." She pushed.
"Well, I severed the connection between the two of you and then I killed the demon of course," Harry told her.
"Was it powerful?" She asked.
"Mmm. For many, it might be considered decently powerful but I happen to know celestial magic which is the exact opposite of demonic magic and causes them massive amounts of damage." Harry explained.
"Celestial… As in angels and gods?" She asked.
"Well, angels and similar creatures yes. No gods. And I don't mean the holy creatures they're depicted as in many religions. They're simply a race that inhabits a certain dimension and also happens to be the polar opposites of demons which is why they stay as far away from each other as possible."
"Wait, why? If they can deal so much damage to demons?"
"Because the damage goes both ways. Demons can cause just as much extensive harm to them. It's a mutually assured destruction type of thing. They have this whole treaty and everything." Harry explained.
"Huh. Learn something new every day I guess." She murmured. He smiled.
"I suppose."
"Well, I guess I forgive you for spying on me. I suppose I was lucky you came."
"Yes… Lucky." Harry said with a distant look on his face. She gave him a peculiar look.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Strange isn't it. For some reason beyond my control, an astral projection of myself came to your aid when you happened to need it. Even stranger that it was me, the one person you knew that could actually help. Except you didn't even know that. Quite the coincidence isn't it." He said with clear disbelief.
"So… You think someone sent you specifically to aid me?"
"I am unsure. All I can say is that It's quite an occurrence, wouldn't you say?"
"Well, say someone did send you. How could they have possibly done so? Who could possibly even force you out of your body?" She asked skeptically. Harry paid certain attention to the word 'who' because he wasn't sure he would describe anything that could do what he was thinking as a 'who' but a 'what'. After a moment he simply shrugged.
"Perhaps I am simply overthinking it and it was just luck." Harry acquiesced.
"But you don't believe that, do you?" She said with a knowing look. Harry just stared at her.
"No, I don't. I have several theories, but I couldn't prove a single one. I will simply have to take a wait and see approach." Harry said back.
"If you say so. Well, either way, I guess that's pretty much it on my part. I assume you already know about Avallach and how we met." She said, but looked at him questioningly. Harry nodded. The elf had already explained in the last couple of days as he was recovering from his own ordeal.
"Indeed, he did. Which I suppose brings us to the most important topic, The Wild Hunt." Harry said. The room seemed to get colder with the mere mention of their name. Ciri shivered for a moment before nodding in confirmation.
"Yes, they're still after me." She said. Harry nodded in thought.
"Then they will need to be taken care of. I am confident that we have enough strength to take them on."
"Harry, are you hearing yourself? This is the Wild Hunt we're talking about." She argued.
"Oh, I know, but I think you are underestimating how much resources I have at my disposal and how much magic I now know," Harry explained. Ciri looked doubtful. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Trust me Ciri, I already have a perfect plan on how to deal with them. The Wild Hunt is no joke, but their true strength is being able to show up practically anywhere and strike hard. Their skill is amazing compared to the average soldier, sure, but most of their magical abilities are poor save for a rare few like the navigator and others like him. Even then, they are no match for me."
"You can't fight the entire Hunt."
"Who said I am going to. I'm a King you know. I can bring a force of thousands down to bear on any who attempt to attack us. Including the Wild Hunt. Of course, I also have other resources available to deal with nuisances now…" Harry said with a mischievous smirk/ Ciri looked at him cautiously. Then she smiled softly. Harry responded to it with a look of confusion.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing, it's just… You've changed so much." She said back. Harry frowned and opened his mouth to reassure her that he was the same friend she had left all those years ago. She put up her hand to stop him though.
"Stop, I don't mean you're a whole different person. I just mean that you've grown since I last saw you. You're much more confident than you use to be and I can practically feel the power radiating off of you which, considering my complete lack sensitivity, means you must be some sort of beast. I'm just happy to see you kept on going once I left."
"The alternative being?"
"You continue to stay in your big house and ignore the world forever as I was scared you might try to do once I was gone." She said back easily. Harry scoffed.
"I couldn't after you left me with such an impassioned order." He said back teasingly. She laughed and for the first time he had seen her, he actually paid attention to it. Not quite what you would call musical, but it was warm and the feeling seemed to creep into his own body making him feel… pleasant. Though he would deny it if pressed, he wished to continue to hear more of that sound for as long as he lived.
"I missed you Ciri. You have no idea how much I have missed you." Harry said in a rare moment of truly exposing himself. Even to his own ears, he could tell his own voice no longer had the confidence it did only moments ago. It sounded like it would crack with emotion at any moment. He was nervous, he realized. Nervous, she would reject this new him who must seem like a stranger.
"I missed you too Harry." The earnestness in the returned statement washed over him and banished the nervousness from his body. She barely said anything but in that short sentence, she had said so much. That she was happy to see him, yes, but also the acceptance as well. In her eyes, he was still the same friend she had left all those years ago and his new changes had not truly changed anything between them.
He smiled.