author's note: hello hello hello, guess who's back? I know it's being a while since I finished The Burning Witch and said I'd make a sequel, and here it is, the sequel! It's just that a lot has happened since I finished the first book, I mean, the pandemic hit really hard in my country, college is sucking the life out of me and I started working a lot more, also it's being a while since I finished the witcher (the game) and watched the show, however I started reading the book and am feeling the inspiration coming back, so I hope there are still some of you who would like to read more of Hestia and Geralt! and now, also Ciri. This story means a lot of me, it's about to hit 100k and I NEVER thought this would happen, since I'm just a brazilian girl with a lot of stories on her mind, anyway, I hope you enjoy and if you could please leave a vote and tell me what you are thinking I'd be very grateful!
This is more of a prologue just for you guys to remember what happened in the last book and how we got to where we are!
Also, I decided to kinda do a faceclaim on Hestia? I thought of elizabeth olsen since she's very powerful and of course the color red, so I'm going to be using her more on the whole gifs/aesthetic that I like to put on every chapter, but please feel free to imagine Hestia just the way you want it <3
Enjoy!
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"Many people believe in the existence of Destiny, a mysterious force which binds certain people together, determining their fates. According to believers, one can either follow the path of Destiny of one's free will or try to resist it, although the latter can bring grim consequences. On the other hand, some feel that Destiny is not everything. These people say that something more is needed in order to bind two lives together, even if the rules of fate decide otherwise."
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"How much longer are we going to have to walk, my feet are tired" Ciri grumbled, tripping over a thick root of one of the large trees in the forest.
"Watch your step" Geralt replied with a distinctly angry tone, his hand gripping his sword tightly as he watched his surroundings to see if they were safe, all the while cursing the gods and anyone else who came to mind for having to take on the parental role over Ciri when his head was in a constant state of distress, wondering if they would be found, where Hestia was, how they would keep running when there wasn't much to go on. Luckily for Geralt, few knew the details of his discoveries about Hestia and the cards she had up her sleeve for any...casualties. Hestia was always a prepared woman, she had hiding places, supplies, ideas for everything, even things that would never even cross Geralt's mind.
On that particular day they were in the forest, Geralt teaching the basics he had learned in Kaer Morhen, passing on the teachings of Vesemir to Ciri, believing that the best way for her to protect herself, to stop being a spoiled princess and become a strong, empowered woman, was to raise her as a witcher, teaching her to fight, hunt, use magic and all that came with being a witcher. It was the best for her and also for him, it would bring him a little peace to know that Ciri would be able to defend herself in complicated situations, since he or Yennefer would not always be around. And this is how they spent their days, fighting in the forest waiting for the day Geralt would leave to find Hestia. Until Serena showed up.
Another factor that was on Geralt's side was his allies, who were actually Hestia's allies, who, knowing how important he and Ciri were to the witch, decided to help. Serena had promised the burning witch many years ago that when she was needed, she would be there for her, or when she was not there, for the people Hestia loved the most, so when she heard what had happened in the battle she had no doubt of what she had to do and took off traveling to look for Geralt. It wasn't easy to find the man, it took her a long couple of months to be able to see past the fog that seemed to inhabit any information about him, until finally she had a vision, the vision of Hestia's home, Fiona's old home, where all of Hestia's anger at Nilfgaard was born. And said and done, there Geralt and the young Ciri were, hiding in the small house, now a little warmer than when they had arrived. Se did as promised, gave Geralt a large sum of gold and Roach back, plus an amulet to protect him and one for Ciri.
Geralt didn't really know what the amulet was for, but he was accepting anything that would at least help his complicated situation. Serena also took the moment to inform the wizard of something he had no idea about, Hestia's real family, Corelia and Dagorad, her parents, had land in Toussaint, a beautiful vineyard that was now owned by the queen and had not been auctioned or sold until then because many believed it to be...cursed, you can imagine why.
Serena tried to convince Geralt that taking shelter in Toussaint would be the best option, both for Geralt and Ciri, but it would be a rather difficult mission, since it was a long, laborious trip and it would be very difficult to hide. Again, lucky for Geralt, another ally had to add, Jaskier, his good friend and also a good friend of Hestia's, luckily, was a passing lover of the Queen of Toussaint, known as Anna Henrietta and promised Geralt, that if he would agree to go on another journey together, he would get the land and protection of Henrietta. It took them almost a year itself to get there without being found.
Geralt didn't have much choice, since it was either that or be found soon by Nilfgaard and have Ciri dead, his current worst nightmare, for he had promised his beloved that he would protect Ciri with claws and nails if necessary he would kill for the girl, he needed to find a safe place for Ciri, he needed to be sure that she would be protected, fed and warmed, while he went after Hestia. The girl was clearly not happy with the decision as she realized that the fight for Geralt's revenge would be a lonely journey and that she would be left behind with none other than Yennefer, Geralt's third great ally at that moment.
The powerful witch's maternal instincts had increased considerably after meeting Ciri and her whole story, especially when she learned of the poor girl's connection with her former lover. No matter how many years passed, Yennefer would never stop loving and caring for Hestia, even though she had no idea where she was, the most she could do at that moment was to protect the one Hestia wanted to care for the most, Ciri.
And it wasn't hard to love the girl, she was bright and powerful, determined and fierce, but deep inside, she was caring and extremely loving, and it was easy to create a strong bond with the girl, so when Geralt asked her to stay with the girl in Toussaint, she didn't think twice about accepting.
Which brings us to the present day, about five years since Hestia's disappearance, since Geralt fell into that portal and was faced with the image of Fiona's house, and Hestia disappearing into the flames, five years since he saw his love for the last time, five years that he couldn't stop fighting to get her back, five long years of hiding Ciri and searching for any clue that could lead to Hestia's location or any information even if she was alive or not.
It could be five, ten, twenty years, a century, he didn't care, he would never give up on finding Hestia, because she was his destiny and as much as he wanted to avoid it, there was no way to move on and ignore destiny, because people linked by destiny will always find each other.