7 Mikael

The sky had turned dark, the moon was shining brightly at the sky, and the three men were now sitting in front of a bonfire, the redhead was now wearing clothes, and covered himself.

They stared at the crackling fire in front of them as they didn't speak at all. But then, Vesemir breaks the ice.

"So… you got a name?" questioned the old man.

The redhead stared at Vesemir for a while, before humming. "Mikael, that's my name."

"Redanian?" Geralt asked.

Mikael shook his head.

"Koviri?"

Mikael shook his head again.

"Then where are you from?"

"I don't know…" murmured Mikael, he was massaging his head as a throbbing sensation hit him, trying to remember anything. "I genuinely don't know…"

Vesemir and Geralt then looked at each other, and turned to Mikael once again. "Amnesia?"

Mikael looked at the two witchers, and raised his eyebrow. "What is that?"

Geralt nodded at Vesemir, which made the old man sigh. "Then what do you remember?"

"I– my name…" he said softly. "And… I was supposed to do something here… but… I can't remember what it is…"

The old man frowned deeply as he heard that he was supposed to have a task. Vesemir turned around to the plagued village, and turned to Mikael once again.

"Does your… 'task' tell you to go somewhere? Maybe… a sliver of memory remains?"

"No… but…" Mikael continued to massage his head to ease the headache he was having as he tried to remember. "I remember… cure…"

"Cure?"

"Cure… someone…" he murmured. "But… I… don't know who I need to cure…"

"Cure someone from what?" questioned Geralt.

Mikael turned to the village, and pointed. "That."

"Rotting?" Vesemir questioned. "You want to cure death?"

"No… not death… rot, scarlet rot..."

Vesemir raised his eyebrow. The old man turned to Geralt, who was having the same reaction. He stood up, and spoke up.

"We need to check the village, you stay here." he said.

Geralt also stood up, following his mentor's moves.

Meanwhile, Mikael just nodded, and the two witchers left him, leaving him alone in front of the crackling fire as the stars above shone dimly.

—

As the two witchers walked towards the village once again, checking for survivors, they talked about Mikael.

"Human experimentation?" questioned Geralt.

"Possible." hummed Vesemir. "But it doesn't seem like it."

"What do you mean?" questioned Geralt as he opened the door of a shack.

"You got amnesia too, right?" questioned Vesemir. "And you're not human experimentation."

"I'm a witcher." scoffed Geralt, opening a chest inside the shack, finding nothing.

"You know what I mean." said the old man.

Geralt hummed in amusement. He leaned against a wall, looking at Vesemir. "So, what are we going to do with him?"

"What do you think?" Vesemir questioned back. "We've no obligation to take care of him… but…"

"His power." Geralt nodded. "He's like… Ciri… in a way."

—

Meanwhile, Mikael was still sitting in front of the fire, trying to think, to remember. He looked at the stars above, and took a deep breath.

Suddenly, a voice came from in front of him.

"You took it well." the voice said. Mikael quickly turned his head towards the fire, and saw a young boy. Frail and thin, his bones visible from his rib, he has golden hair, long and tied together.

"Who… are you?" questioned Mikael, frowning.

"It does not matter." said the boy. "For now, stay with them."

"Them?"

"The witchers. Hunters." the boy said. "They… will lead you… to her."

"Her?" questioned Mikael, his face full of confusion. "Wha– can you at least tell me your name?"

"Follow them." the boy repeated. "So you could see her… So I could see her..."

"What? Who do I need to cure?"

"Follow the path." the boy said, "and cure her, fulfill my promise..."

The boy stood up, his hair fluttering from the wind. He slowly walked up to Mikael, and touched his forehead. Golden light glowed from the boy's hand, Mikael's mind was suddenly clear, memories of… battles, moves, the pain of rot entered Mikael's mind, his eyes dull.

And slowly but surely, the boy disappeared, turning to golden dust.

Mikael then passed out, dropping to the ground as the two Witchers came to the camp once more.

—

Mikael woke up with a stinging headache. He groaned as he stood from the ground, only to be greeted by two witchers with their yellow cat eyes.

"Finally awake," said the old man. "What happened?"

"Ugh…" Mikael massaged his head with his only hand. "I…I'm just tired."

Vesemir hummed. "Anyways, the sun is up," he said. "But the rot is still spreading."

Mikael turned to the village. He saw the scarlet swamp slowly expanding from the center of the village, swallowing the untouched ground.

"Can you… cure… it?" questioned Vesemir, doubting his words a bit.

"I can't–"

"You can." the voice spoke once again. He saw the boy, sitting beside Vesemir. "Cure it. Take the rot that plagued the village."

Mikael's eyes widened as he heard it. Vesemir was looking at him with confusion, and Mikael spoke.

"I'll try… never done it before." he said.

"Better than nothing." Geralt stated.

Mikael then stood up, along with the two witchers. They followed him near the scarlet swamp. Mikael looked at his left palm, and breathed deeply.

He knelt in front of the swamp, and touched the scarlet liquid on the ground. As he touched it, the liquid reacted. It rushed to his hand, as if they had found their home. In an alarming rate, the liquid and the rot disappeared, leaving the previously rotted dirt dull, not suitable for anything at all.

The witchers looked at each other with a look of surprise as Mikael stood up, the village devoid of rot.

Mikael turned around, only to see the Witchers looking at him, he also saw the boy, standing quietly beside the witchers, and it seems the Witcher couldn't see him.

"Can I… follow you?" questioned Mikael.

"We wanted to ask you that actually." said Vesemir. "Regarding your amnesia… I think we could help with that."

"You can… bring back my memories?" questioned Mikael.

"A mage might know a spell." stated Geralt. "I was once like you, forgot my memories. Brought back by a spell."

"Then… Can you bring me to them?" said Mikael, looking at the boy, no reaction.

"That's the plan." hummed Geralt, crossing his arm. "We're searching for a sorceress, she might know the spell."

"Then thank you." nodded Mikael as he smiled. "I owe you all."

"Not to be rude young man… but…," said Vesemir. "But you're not exactly a safe one to let loose…" he said, pointing at the village.

"I… don't have any defense on that…" murmured Mikael. "I don't know what's going on…"

"Then you might have some answers from your memories." the old man said. "I just hope that your previous self doesn't have any bad intentions…"