A/N: Imma just leave this here.
An elf with flowing robes looked into what seemed to be a pool of water. The surface of the water rippled and Elizabeth's soft face came into focus, her hair was coming out of her halo braid and she had a sheen of sweat on her forehead. Her dilated pupils were staring down at something and he could see her only from her bare shoulders up. She was talking to someone and due to the context of the scene the elf could only assume it was the Witcher Geralt of Rivia.
When he had decided he was done just watching Elizabeth passively from his own plane and he prepared to bring her to his own this kind of complication had not come to mind. He would already have her if not for that Witcher taking her for himself and hiding her away in his mountain fortress. He watched with growing fury as Elizabeth fell for the Witcher, everything that should have happened to him! He had been watching her from his plane since she was born and he felt the first tremor of magic on the sphere of "Earth". She had just a spark of it then, but it allowed him to use his Elder blood in order to form a link between them. With that link the elf was able to watch her grow into the young woman she had become. Her magic had gone dormant not long after her birth but he knew she could be molded into a powerful sorceress. He was supposed to do that for her and she was supposed to be eternally grateful to him for it.
He had been in Redania, specifically in Novigrad when she passed onto his plane, but something had gone wrong and she appeared too far away from where she was supposed to. He was supposed to find her and offer her help in her time of need, gain her trust. Instead she almost immediately found that Witcher and ran off with him even further from where he was. The elf tried to find her using their connection but something was off with that too, her magic flared, pushing him out. She wasn't even aware of the conflict happening inside of her body's very cells. Her magic reawakened not too long after and this time it was stronger than it had ever been to him, she was like a beacon in the night sky. Though the light from that beacon was shining from somewhere he could not simply walk into alone. She had awakened in the Witcher keep Kaer Morhen in the beginning of Winter. By the time he reached the keep it would be after the first snowfall.
With the extra time the elf plotted his new plan of regaining possession of Elizabeth. He was a strong mage, he was one of the oldest elves left on the Continent and he had trained many, many centuries in his craft. But what he carried in magical ability the Witcher's outmatched in brute strength and speed. He was not immortal, only almost so. He had convinced a small army of others that Elizabeth was his and she had been kidnapped by the mutant Witchers. It was not hard to get 50 men to get on board with his raid especially when he stressed the horrible things they were doing to her and added a sprinkle of suggestion magic and coin as well. They were all strong and well trained sell-swords or mages and wannabe knights either enticed by his money or pushed by honor to save a damsel in distress.
"My Lord, the other mages and I believe they can adjust the weather and stop the snowfall and ease conditions for the raid. We would have 72 hours to make it to the keep, find Lady Elizabeth and retreat." A skinny man with at least some leadership skills spoke. His name was Izor and the elf had entrusted him as his right hand man.
"I told you to address me as Theodric." The elf insisted.
"Oh yes, Theodric. What do you think of the time frame, will that be enough?" Izor inquired.
"That should be just fine." Theodric smiled a crooked grin, they would use portals to get him and the others to the outskirt forests of Aedd Gynvael in Kaedwen from there they would endure the infamous Trail to Kaer Morhen. Non Witchers have not dared to near the keep for almost a century but that would change the next night.
With a short bow Izor left the small room and returned to the other mages. Theodric looked back into the water's reflection and peeked at the young woman again, she was sleeping curled up on the bare chest of the white haired Witcher, she looked peaceful and a smile was on her relaxed features.
"Aagh!" With an angered yell the elf pushed the ceramic basin off the stand and it shattered, flooding the floor of his chambers.
"I will have you my love, or no one will."
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It was the next day a raven with beady violet eyes made a visit to Kaer Morhen. Around the bird's ankle was a rolled up piece of parchment containing a sprawling feminine script. The bird had all but attacked Geralt as he was doing solo training in the courtyard, swooping low and attempting to gain his attention.
"What the fuck?" He exclaimed, almost slicing the raven in two with his sword before noticing the message and the striking eyes.
The paper also carried with it the unmistakable scent of lilac and gooseberries. It was a message from Yennefer and it must be important to send to him this way. He could tell the bird was some kind of magical manifestation by the way his medallion reacted to its presence.
The Witcher unrolled the paper and began to read the contents of the letter. She began by thanking him for his work with the Djinn, something he had very much wished to put behind himself. She then went on to tell him that she was indeed able to regain her choice and was now pregnant with some sorcerer Geralt had never met but seemed to be awfully important to her. This was all well and good but did not interest Geralt in the slightest and he was starting to wonder why the gods she had bothered to write him all the way in the mountains.
After another few paragraphs of her fawning over her lover and her excitement for their child she finally revealed the reason for her message, she had made a breakthrough on Beth's problem. Though he was starting to not want to see the fact that Beth was here in his world as a problem. She had been able to create a small portal, nothing that could transport anything yet but it was at the very least a window to Beth's world. She described the wondrous sights she had seen, how there were strange machines and something about horseless carriages that moved faster than a war stallion.
His slow heartbeat hitched almost to that of a resting human, it was going to happen, by the time the snow had thawed and the Winter was over Beth would be going back home. When he began to involve himself with the strange human he had imagined it would be just a bit of something different to entertain his usually monotonous existence. He expected her predicament would be impossible to solve or not real in the first place and she would just remain on the Continent. That she would have a warm body and soft lips to keep him company for a while and they would part ways soon after as he was used to. The only other companion that ever showed interest in his actual well-being or sticking around because they actually enjoyed being around him was Jaskier.
He hadn't expected to care for her as he did before their lips could even meet and certainly not as much as he did when her warm body became his. Because that was what she was to the Witcher now, Beth, whether she knew or not, was his. Geralt made a choice then and with a flash of Igni the parchment was spent to ashes blown away by the cold mountain wind.