Midcopse

The two followed Karliah's crow as it guided them towards Midcopse that was nearby to reunited with the others.

They arrived and find Serana looking over the two children they met before as they were playing with the summoned wolf of Vincent when he says, "I should have brought Fenrir with us."

"You know very well why we didn't bring him nor the Chocobos with us. They would scream that we aren't from around here," says Karliah as they approached Serana.

"You are back earlier than expected. We got a place to sleep in with the little group we escorted here," says Serana as Vincent was surprised.

"Do they live here?" asks Vincent as Serana shakes her head.

"No, but the village elder gave us his stable to sleep with the chicken. He also told us that there is a healer a bit reclused from here. Kirvena went with one of the women there as the only man in their group has lost one hand back then," says Serana as Vincent nods.

"Good, I really don't want them to know much about us. What name have you given them?" asks Vincent as Serana smiled showing her fangs to the two.

"The Highwind Mercenaries, I told them that we are named after your family name. Many now think that you are a noble from some unknown kingdom wanting to experience adventure because you have one," says Serana almost laughing because the people are quite correct with their assumption.

"Where is Ellana?" asks Vincent as Serana pointed at the stable.

"She is inside with the other woman. They were lucky compared to what Karliah said before," says Serana seriously as Karliah nods.

"Extremely lucky. Vincent had to remove the memories of the victims. They must have suffered for weeks those treatments going by the oldest corpse Vincent buried," says Karliah still mad at the bandits but they were dead and gone now.

"Well while you two were dealing with the bandits I was gathering information in the village," says Serana as she took Vincent's and Karliah's attention.

"Temaria is losing to Nilfgaard. It seems Nilfgaard is already knocking on Temaria's capital, Vizima. It only a matter of time for Temaria to fall before they march into Redania and that makes everyone nervous around here," says Serana as Vincent knew that the civilians always shelter most part of a war since they get raided or worst killed for their provisions that they need to give to their lord so they can continue their war.

"I really hate how this is developing but we can't change much," says Vincent as the two looked at him.

"We could but we won't because it isn't our world. I think you alone could take over this world by rallying a little army from the people around here," says Serana as Vincent looked at her seriously.

"I'm just stating the truth. You don't have to look at me like that. I know that you don't have any ambition to take over this world," says Serana as she sees Ellana coming out of the stable.

"Welcome back," says Ellana seeing both back as she hugged them before asking, "Serana aren't Kirvena and the other two back yet?"

"No, why? Are you worried that something happened to them?" asks Serana as Ellana nods.

"I asked the Elder and he said that the shack of the Healer isn't that far away they should have been back by now," says Ellana as Vincent looked at the children and then at the woman.

"Can you look after the children until we return? The wolf will protect you and the children until we are back," says Vincent to the woman as she nods and the group leaves to find the Healer's shack.

They arrived but find no one standing outside when Vincent says, "Strange."

"Yeah, we should enter maybe we can find out more inside," says Karliah as she had a feeling that something was going on.

They enter the shack and find it empty but they could feel that magic was working right now and Serana says, "There must be something in this shack that is magical."

Ellana just walked toward a corner finding a skull before she touches it activating a mechanism that opened a portal. She walked towards it and was quite confident as she suddenly stretches her hand out and her hand disappears in mid-air before retracting it.

"I found a hidden portal here. Kirvena and the other two must have passed it," says Ellana as she took everyone's attention.

"Then let us follow them. Kirvena should have been back a long time ago with the other two so they are either in danger or they forgot the time," says Vincent hinting at the only two options because Kirvena was really hard to kill.

Vincent took a rope out and binds it to the bed while the other end was bind to him when Karliah says, "I hope this rope is long enough for us to reach Kirvena."

"It should, I used to use it with the children when I sent them to survive in the wilderness so I could find them again," says Vincent as he entered the portal first and arrived in what seemed an underground forest with white rabbits running around.

"Strange," says Vincent from seeing this as the other three passed through seeing the same thing Vincent was seeing.

"This is different. I thought we would have to fight some trolls or skeletons and not some cute white bunnies," says Ellana confused like the others.

"We should go further in maybe we find them," says Vincent as he walked forward keeping his eyes on the rabbits since he didn't trust them.

They hear some laugher that they recognize as Kirvena coming from over them when they hear, "It seems more uninvited guests arrived."

"Don't worry, they are with me," says Kirvena as the female voice seemed to give a noise from herself.

"Are they your sisters and husband?" asks the female voice as Kirvena walks towards the edge of the platform and looks down finding her family under her.

"Yes, they are my family. Let them up, they will want to talk to you as I did," says Kirvena as a staircase appears leading up.

"Be my guest then," says the female voice as Vincent just jumped and reached the platform.

The woman behind the voice was surprised as Vincent could do that while Vincent took a good look at her seeing that she had blonde hair and hazel eyes she was almost naked when he looked at Kirvena who was with the other two.

"I thought you would have fun with her since she is almost naked," says Vincent knowing that the women in his harem liked to have each other when he wasn't available.

He really didn't care since they had their life and he had his as long as they returned to him in the end and didn't bring a bastard back he was good with it.

"I would have but I had someone to care about since I only stopped the bleeding a bit. But he needs real medical care right now so I hold back my fun," says Kirvena with a smile.

"Wait your husband is okay with you whoring around?" asks the woman as Vincent and Kirvena shake their head.

"It is not whoring but having a little break with a toy. My sisters and husband are my real pleasure everything else are only half as good," says Kirvena as she walked forwards to the woman and continues, "And we mostly do it with women since another man can't please us like my husband. He is just too big and thick compared to other men."

"Anyway, why don't you present us to your little friend," says Serana as she and the other three reached the upper floor when she waved her hand putting the man and woman that came with Kirvena to sleep.

"The name is Keira Metz and as you could see I'm a Sorceress but my question is more like who are you all. I have never seen you in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers nor have I ever heard of you in the Lodge of Sorceress," says Keira as she was suspicious of them now.

"We can't tell you since we are on a secret mission following some Crones here in Velen," says Karliah who used the shadows to appear behind Keira.

"Now you are even a bigger mystery for me," says Keira as she seemed to want to escape because she felt cornered.

"We aren't here to harm you. We are just looking for the Crones after we find them you won't see us ever again," says Vincent as Keira was suspicious of them.

Keira thought Kirvena was a simple mercenary and assumed that her husband and sisters were the same. She wanted to use them as protection by putting a spell over them but now it seemed to have bitten too much of what she could stomach.

Vincent put his hand into his pouch and brought a book out and hands it over to Keira while saying, "Read it and you will know we are telling the truth."

Keira took the book and opens it finding nothing in it when she says angrily, "Are you trying to shit with me. There is nothing written in the book."

She throws the book into the ground angrily when she sees shock in Vincent's eyes. He picked the book up and opens it finding nothing in it, this made him worry all of a sudden when he threw it towards Serana and asks, "Serana, what can you read in it?"

Serana was confused with Vincent's behavior as he seemed lost for a second when she opened it and nothing was written in it making her turn paler than normal as she closed it.

"There is nothing in it," says Serana as now everyone else in the group was nervous.

Keira didn't know what was going on as she asks, "What is so important about the book that you are so shocked it contains nothing?"

"Because it should contain the future of its reader. If it doesn't show anything it means that the user will be dying in less than a year," says Vincent as he summoned some chairs out of nowhere surprising Keira as he sat down like the other.

"Be my guest for now. I will need to think. How about you all get to know each other while I think about what is going on," says Vincent calmly as Keira was nervous when the others begin to talk to her making her drop her guard while Vincent was holding the book.

'Something is wrong. Just yesterday it worked normally and now it doesn't. Something must have changed,' thinks Vincent as many thoughts passed his mind when he opened the book again and nothing happened again.

"You are staring at the book far too long. Do you remember what you told me once about the book," says Kirvena as Vincent suddenly got it.

"The book doesn't always shape the future. It gives us only a glimpse of what could happen. But what if what it shows us isn't our future but something else," says Vincent angrily as he used some of his divinity and infused it into the book while saying, "What if someone else was giving us just instructions coming from someone we don't know of yet."

Then the book suddenly wrote what Vincent was thinking as even Kirvena could read it saying, "All is manufactured."

"Who is stronger than the Nine?" asks Vincent angrily as it couldn't be them.

Kynareth believed in what the book wrote as well as Akatosh does to some extent when Kirvena says, "There is Sithis and your grandfather, Anui-El."

This revelation made Vincent feel shivers pass his back as it could be possible that one of the two was manipulating him right now. Both are the most powerful beings in Vincent's mind right now making him ignore other possibilities.

"Kirvena this needs to stay under us two. We are in a different World maybe Universe and that's why they can't influence the book. Think about what they will do to us if they find out," says Vincent a he was now even more worried about his family, and even more so Kirvena, she knew too much she could become a target to get to him.

"I need to erase this memory from you," says Vincent as Kirvena smiled at him sadly.

"I know. They would use me against you," says Kirvena knowing why Vincent said that as Vincent sighs not happy about what he must do now.

"I'm sorry," says Vincent as he kissed her and erased this conversation from her mind implanting another conversation instead into it.

She then walked towards the others without knowing what happened as she smiled not knowing what Vincent did to her while Vincent was sad that he had to use his magic against his loved ones to keep them safe.