Glimpse of The Past, and a Quarrel in the head

It was hell.

When the bomb dropped at New York, it triggered the chain of events that led to the apocalypse. A nuclear annihilation, the United States of America crumbled, The United Kingdom ceased to exist, Russia became a wasteland, and many more countries vanished in one day, all because of greed.

I was young then, just graduated with an engineering degree, yet when the war started, it didn't matter anymore… my family burned to ashes by the bomb, my country crumbled to the ground, and I was forced to save myself, like many others.

"Michael! Quit writing!" suddenly shouted someone from outside the house I was staying in. "Someone's here!"

I frowned at the news. I grabbed a rifle that was leaning against my table, closed my diary, and ran outside. I rested my rifle on my shoulder, and walked to my friend, Justin.

"What's going on?" I questioned.

Justin just pointed to a road in front. There were three cars, rushing to our establishment, all men armed.

It was not good. I turned to the people behind me, who are also living with me in this remote place.

"Get inside! Quick!" I said. People rushed inside, locking the door, while my brothers, all armed, got ready for a fight.

"Where's the rest?" I asked, as I noticed that some of my brothers were missing.

"They left a while ago, scavenging." stated Justin, which I nodded.

I cocked my rifle, and saw the men that were driving towards us abruptly stopped in front of me.

A man came out of the car, holding a revolver. He had a thick mustache and was bald.

"This is the base of the Aen Hanse?" sneered the man.

"Who the hell are you?" I questioned, also walking towards him.

The man stared at me. He had plain brown eyes, not threatening nor special at all. "What do you think?"

"I'm asking you a question mate, don't ask back."

The man frowned, and suddenly tried to punch me. Instead of taking the punch, I dodged it, and used the stock of my rifle to slam the guy's head, making him lose a few teeth. His gang pointed their guns at me, but I just pointed my gun back at their supposed boss.

"Make any moves, he's dead." I stated. My brothers, or as I like to call it, my Hansa like Geralt's Hansa, pointed their guns at the gangs as well.

The man in my mercy chuckled as he spat blood. "You dare hurt me?"

I scoffed. "What are you? Chinese young master?" I hit him with my rifle again, which made him spat more blood, his gang nervously pointing their guns still. "Answer my question motherfucker, who the hell are you? And why are you here?!"

The man laughed. "The boss sends his regards, Aen Hanse, for what you did to his home. Boys! Do it!"

"What?"

But suddenly, I saw a man behind the car pulling an RPG, and he pointed it at one of the houses.

"No!" I shouted. I shot the man beside me, and hurriedly tried to shoot the ones who had the RPG, but it was too late. The trigger had been pressed, and the rocket had been launched. I quickly changed my aim, and tried to shoot the rocket. I tried, I tried, and I tried, and finally, just when it was about to destroy the house full of children and women, it exploded just outside of it. It still damaged some of the walls, but it didn't destroy the house.

"Fuck!" I shouted as a firefight broke out. I ran towards a cover, a broken wall near a house, and started to shoot.

We were overwhelmed. They had brought two cars worth of men, while we just had around 5 people, as a lot of my brothers were scavenging. I tried as best as I could as I saw my brothers shot one by one, I saw Justin shot in the chest, bleeding on the ground, and I just grit my teeth, not being able to do anything.

I shot them one by one, I was always the best of them in terms of combat, be it close combat or ranged combat, I'm the best. I sneaked past a house, and it was then I heard screams started to come from the house.

I paled at the realization of what it might be. Fucking beasts, I swear, I'll kill every single one of them if I can.

I kicked the door in the back, and saw one of the gang members tried to r*pe a woman in front of the door. I shot him instantly, and his friends started to flood inside the house. I pulled the woman to cover, she was crying, her clothing was torn, and her red hair was messy. I continued to shoot them behind cover, but I felt like my bullets were starting to run out, so I stopped, waiting for them to come.

As one of them tried to rush to my cover, I got out of it, crushed the guy's head with the stock of my rifle, and used his body as a meat shield. I grabbed his pistol, and picked all of them one by one.

The guys inside the house were dead, but then, I saw something outside passed the door. It was a man, holding an RPG, pointing it towards me.

"Shit." I cursed, I tried to shoot him, but the pistol was empty, I had no time, the guy was already aiming at me. I don't know if there's any more people here, but the woman beside me kept crying and crying. So, I dragged her towards the door from the back, trying to escape the explosion. But it was too late, the rocket had already launched, so, I ran as fast as possible, dragging the woman with me, but as I realized, we're not going to make it.

I pushed her towards the door, using my body as momentum, and thankfully, she was thrown away from the house, and was able to run.

Me? The rocket hit the house, blowing up what's inside, including me.

I laid on the ground, my body all burned, I don't even know how I am still conscious, but I'm definitely going to die now…

Fuck… I'm tired of this… always fighting, killing, stealing… it's endless… I'm kind of relieved that I died… all of this has ended…

I believe in no god… but… if there's a reincarnation god… please… just let me live in peace. All my dreams… my parents wanted me to be an engineer for fuck's sake… not this… and shit… I died a virgin… if only I took those chances… if only…

—

Mikael jolted awake, he was on a bed, his body sweating like crazy. He looked around, his pupils dilated, and saw Triss sitting in front of a desk, writing something.

"W-What… no, no, no, no… just that?" he spoke to himself. Triss noticed him awake, and walked up to him.

"You should rest for a bit." she said. "How's your memory… I didn't know it would be that… painful…"

"No, I am fine, Triss." Mikael ignored her. He stood up, and walked towards the mirror. He looked at himself, his body was still the same, still missing one arm, still a redhead, and still pale.

"What the fuck is this!?" he said. "Just that?!"

"Hey, calm down." Triss said to him, but he still ignored her.

"Miquella! Come out you fucking liar!" he shouted at the room, which made Triss confused.

"Okay… you're hallucinating Mikael, sit down."

"Could you shut up for a minute!?" Mikael roared, which made Triss flinch. "Miquella! Come out!"

"You should do what she said, Mikael." Miquella suddenly appeared, sitting on a table.

Mikael turned sharply towards him, and walked up to him. He pointed his finger, and shouted in front of him. "What the fuck is this?! You gave me a movie! Not my full memory!"

He then stepped back, and touched his head in confusion. "What the fuck is a movie?!"

"You are confused Mikael." spoke Miquella. "Calm down."

"No! Don't 'Calm down' me! I'm sick of this Miquella! Tell. me. Everything."

"I said calm down." Miquella repeated, this time, his voice full of authority. "Sit down, you are confused from the memories."

Mikael took a deep breath, and slowly dropped down to the ground, massaging his head.

"Your memories will return Mikael." Miquella explained. "Gradually. It is the way. You cannot recover all of it at once, even the Witcher gradually obtained his memory, not in an instant."

"I died, Miquella." he said, calming down. "My body was charred, I felt the pain, the emotion that… me… have when I die…"

"I know. Do not panic Mikael, just process it slowly."

"Just… tell me Miquella… what am I?"

Miquella sighed. He stood up, and walked up to Mikael. He knelt in front of him, and for the second time, caressed his cheek.

"You… are my family." he said softly. "My blood. As well as hers."

Mikael didn't say anything, and just closed his eyes. Then, he passed out again, dropping down to the cold ground.

—

Mikael woke up on a bed again, but this time, it wasn't violent. He softly sat up, and she saw Triss, sitting beside him, reading a book.

"Calmed down now?" she asked, a bit bitter Mikael might say.

"Sorry…" Mikael murmured. "What… Did you hear?"

"You kept screaming someone's name." she said. "Miquella."

"I was… hallucinating…" Mikael said. "There's always a kid following me… his name is Miquella…"

"Are you… okay?" Triss worriedly asked. "That's not a good sign Mikael."

"I'm fine really." Mikael chuckled. "Better actually… sorry about before…"

"How's the memory?"

"It'll gradually return," he answered. "Some already."

"What did you remember?"

"I… was a soldier." he said half-truth. "I supposedly died, hence why I lost my arm."

"Well… I hope you remember all of it soon."

Mikael hummed. He then looked at Triss. "Thank you."

"No problem." she smiled.

Mikael looked at the window outside, looking at the slums. "Listen… I'll… help you."

"Help me?"

"Gathering money." Mikael continued. "To go to Kovir… or whatever it was… I'll come with you there, that place seems nice."

"For magical beings like us? Yes." she nodded.

"Perhaps I'll find what I need there." Mikael said. "But now, I think I need to leave."

"That's a good idea." she said. "You're wanted, if I remember, just didn't know your face yet… but… a matter of time…"

"I know." Mikael nodded as he looked at his missing arm. "I'll leave at once."