Resting at Home (2 in 1)

The next morning they were having breakfast as if nothing ever happened yesterday when an old man in armor entered the Inn.

He looked around when he spotted the group and walked towards them while ordering some ale.

He tries to sit down but only found the seat beside Vincent opening giving him no choice but to sit beside Vincent who says, "It seems the current Lord of Crow's Perch didn't come himself but sent one of his pawns."

"I am Ardal, his right-hand man. He is having a hard time since his wife and daughter ran away from Crow's Perch," says Ardal as Vincent looked at him.

"In my land, we have something we call traditions. There is the tradition of overruling a Jarl by challenging him to a duel. The winner would become the next Jarl but many have forgotten this custom," says Vincent sounding almost threatening.

"But those are far away from here so I will hold myself back as long as your lord takes care of his people. If I find out he did something against his people, I will return and have everyone's head. Now about the horses are they prepared?" asks Vincent as Ardal nods.

Vincent puts a pouch on the table and says, "This should be enough for the six horses. Now leave before I change my mind."

Ardal takes the pouch and leaves them as the group finished their breakfast and left the Inn while Vincent put an ingot on the counter while saying, "Until our ways cross again."

"You are always welcome as long as you keep the trouble outside next time," says the Innkeeper as he had enough excitement for this lifetime.

The group saw the horses as one was black, two white, and three brown. Vincent and Serana picked the brown ones since Ellana and Kirvena picked the white ones while Karliah mounted the black one.

"We will have a stiff body after riding them too long," says Karliah as a horse would take more out of them than a fluffy Chocobo.

They guided the horses to the gate where Yoana was waiting with all her things. She saw the group and sees more women than men in it when she became suspicious again.

"It seems you made it," says Vincent as he handed her the reigns of the remaining horse while saying, "I hope you know how to ride. We will be leaving right away."

"And who are they?" asks Yoana looking at the group.

"We are right now two groups. Some are people we are helping to get near Novigrad," says Vincent when he then turned to his wives.

"And those are my fellow mercenaries and wives, Ellana, Karliah, Kirvena, and Serana. They all know how to fight and Ellana is a Sorceress. She isn't good with healing magic so don't get hurt while smithing," says Vincent gaining a glare from Ellana who could heal people back into shape if needed.

"Hi, I'm Yoana," says Yoana as Vincent took her things and put them away without her noticing.

"Nice to meet you, I hope we will have some fun with each other," says Kirvena as Karliah hit her on the flank.

"Don't listen to her. You will be the apprentice of my husband. Try to learn a tenth of his wisdom and you will have a bright future before you," says Karliah as she put Yoana at ease.

They leave Crow's Perch on foot before mounting on the horses as Vincent and the others shared their horses while Yoana was alone on her horse alone.

They were sharing stories as they traveled passing some terrain arriving at a river they needed to pass when they see monsters coming out of it.

"Hold the reigns," says Vincent telling the man sitting in front of him as he jumped down from the horse.

He took his ax from his back and rushed at the monsters as he made Magicka flow into it. The edge began to shine and Vincent cut them down without resistance as if they were air while the wolf just ripped the throat out of those monsters.

He retracts the Magicka and the glow disappeared. Vincent cleaned his ax with the muddy water before putting it back on his back while the wolf cleaned his mouth.

Vincent then mounted his horse again as Yoana took a closer look at Vincent's ax when she asks, "What was that glow from before?"

"It has an enchantment that makes it glow like it. Once you learn under me you will be able to make weapons like my ax," says Vincent as they found themselves on a battleground.

"A battle was forged here," says Karliah as her crow landed on her shoulder.

"Nilfgaard and Redania fought here not too long ago," says Yoana as she seemed confused that Vincent and the others didn't know about it since they are mercenaries.

Vincent could imagine what Yoana was thinking and says, "We are on a different mission. Once we leave the civilians near the bridge I will tell you about it."

They arrived at the said bridge that has become a checkpoint with guards as people fleeing the war were waiting for their turn to cross it.

They put the other group down as Vincent gives them a pouch with enough food to survive for two weeks, some pelts so they could camp, and some money for when they arrive at Novigrad.

"I will trust you that you will rely on each other. I hope to see you all again when we go to Novigrad," says Vincent as they mounted their horses again.

They went back on the way they came from just that the sun was going down and Karliah says, "There is a house nearby. It seems abandoned because of the war."

"Maybe we can use it to sleep in it tonight," says Vincent as they took the side street finding some hounds barking at the door.

"Something is wrong. The hounds wouldn't bark at the door," says Ellana as she was ready to intervene when Vincent stretched his hand out stopping Ellana.

He dismounted and walked towards the house as the hounds stopped to bark and began to vine out of fear because of Vincent's aura. They ran away making Vincent release his aura. He walked towards the house and knocks on it.

"Are the hounds gone?" asks a young voice that came from behind the closed door.

"They are but how about you open the door. I would feel more comfortable talking to a person than to a door," says Vincent as the door opened slowly revealing some children behind it.

"What are you children doing here alone?" asks Vincent seeing them.

He took a closer look and saw that they were quite thin as if they haven't eaten something healthy for days.

"We are orphans of war that don't have a home to stay, because of the war," says the little girl as Vincent petted her head when the others joined them.

"No, Vincent," says Karliah as she saw Vincent's face knowing what he wanted to do.

"We can't have them stay here. They will die out of starvation. We need to do something," says Vincent as they began their discussion while Yoana was confused by this discussion.

"What are they talking about?" asks Yoana as Serana sighs.

"They are talking about the children. Vincent has a big heart for children that he adopts children to raise them whenever he has an opportunity because he was an orphan as well," says Serana explaining why they were discussing right now.

"We can just send them to our home," says Vincent as Karliah just sighs in defeat because once Vincent decided on it, it was impossible to get it out of his head.

"And how are we going to send them to Solstheim. We don't know how to activate the mirror," says Karliah as Vincent looked at Ellana.

"Ellana, you learned the phrase that Avallac'h used right," says Vincent sure about it.

"I have just in case we needed to return home without his help," says Ellana as Vincent smiled before turning to the five children.

"Do you want to live with my family?" asks Vincent as the children seemed confused with Vincent.

"What do you mean, mister?" asks a young boy.

"I would adopt you all but you need to let go of something," says Vincent as the children looked at him a bit excited.

"What do we have to let it go?" asks another boy.

"You need to let go of racism. In my home we treat Men and Mer the same," says Vincent as the children as well as Yoana we're lost.

"Mer is a definition for Elves in our land," says Karliah as the children seemed too pure to understand racism while Yoana was confused by it.

"Your country must be quite tolerant towards Elves then," says Yoana as Serana nods.

"You could say so since Men and Mer aren't the only ones walking in our country. We have Beastfolk as well. But let's talk about them when you meet one for the first time," says Serana as she explained to Yoana some of the Merfolk.

The children seemed to have accepted it fast as Vincent brought the mirror out and Ellana repeated the words Avallac'h used to bring them to this world.

The mirror began to shine when Vincent entered first while holding the hands of two of the children. Then went Kirvena as she was holding the youngest of the five children and then Karliah with the other two. Afterward followed Serana with Yoana who was nervous and Ellana.

They arrived at the bedroom as Vincent saw his wives having fun with each other as he put his hands on the children's eyes while saying, "I'm back with company."

"You brought guests back," says Mina seeing the children as the women put some clothes on.

Vincent removes his hand and the children suddenly hugged his legs when they saw Mina and the others. They were scared because they weren't human like them.

"They are Elves," says one of them when the others arrived slowly through the mirror.

"They aren't only Mers. They will be your new family since they are all tied to me," says Vincent as Mina walked forward and picked one of them up.

"Now aren't you a cute little boy. It seems Vincent hasn't told you who he really is," says Mina as Yoana has heard Mina when she guides them out of the bedroom with Vincent.

They arrive in the living room where they find the pictures and Mina takes one painting down that was hanging on the second floor. It was a painting of Vincent sitting relaxed on the Imperial Throne with the Twin Dragons behind him.

"This is the most important person in Nirn. He is the person that everyone looks up to since they are children because of the feats he accomplished," says Mina as the children looked a little bit scared.

"The painting captivates only his authority but not the real person. He is quite a gold heart that picked orphans from the street and raised them with his own children giving them a future. The man is known as the First Emperor of the Highwind Dynasty and former Dragonking, Vincent Highwind," says Mina as Yoana was shocked while the children were confused.

Yoana looked at Vincent who smiled at her as he used an illusion to take his real appears not wanting to drink another transmogrify potion.

"I will be raising you as I raise all my other children. You will then have the choice to return to your world or stay becoming part of this Empire," says Vincent as the children now hide behind Mina because Vincent looked like a demon to them.

Kirvena and Karliah changed appearances as well by using illusions while Ellana just showed her ears making it clear that she was a Mer to the children. Serana was the only human in the room or at least that's what the children thought when she took the lenses out showing her real eyes.

"We all aren't humans but I had wives that were humans like you see," says Vincent as he took a picture from the wall that had Elisif on it with their children.

"Why are the children human in the picture?" asks Yoana seeing the picture.

"Good question. The children take the appearance of their mother so if a male Mer and female Men mate the child would be a Men. That's why all my children expect some of my youngest doesn't look like me," says Vincent as Mako took a picture from the wall showing them with two Xaela Au-Ra and another Raen Au-Ra.

The children were completely confused and scared about the situation when Vincent petted their heads and Anra took another picture from the wall.

"This picture represents who Vincent really is," says Anra as she showed the children a picture in which he was laying on the ground with four children.

The picture captured the warmth of Vincent as he was there with Runa, Sofie, Hroar, and Lucia. It was an old painting turned into a picture.

"Those four children were the first children Vincent had. He adopted them and every one of them became a famous individual that many aspire to become," says Anra as she pointed at Hroar first.

"Hroar Highwind, he was known as the Leader of the Crownguard. He died while protecting his younger brother Naosane who was the Prince of the Empire back then. There is a statue of him erected in the Imperial City for giving his life.

Runa Fair-Shield Highwind, she became a spell-thief. She could infiltrate the enemy and steal everything from them without them knowing that she was ever there.

Sofie Highwind, she was the one to replace Karliah for a time as the head of an organization called the Network. The Network is the spy organization of the Empire. They know anything, even that you arrived here by now.

And then we have the first child of Vincent. Lucia Highwind, she was the Gryphon Knight Commander leading the Vanguard against Akavir. She then turned into a Vampire so the only mother that can't have children had at least one she could call hers. Then she took over the post of her sister Sofie and is still performing said work.

Those are the first four children Vincent adopted and poured his love into. The other children he adopted became big names too.

For example Carver Hawke Highwind. He was a hopeless case until he became a Paladin. He was called the Rogue Paladin until he was named Carver the Fair because of his deeds," says Anra recounting stories to the children as it seemed that the children weren't scared of her.

"So we will be big and strong if we stay?" asks a boy as Anra nods.

"That's right, as long as you train under your siblings you will become big and strong and maybe even a Dragon might get interested in you and you will be able to ride him," says Anra as the children suddenly forgot their fear from the new environment and people around them.

"Really?" asks a girl as Anra smiles.

"Really, Vincent was known as Dragonking because he commanded Dragons until Godo took over for him," says Anra as the children seemed excited.

Yoana on the other hand seemed overwhelmed with all the information as Vincent signals her to follow him.

Vincent went down to the basement as Yoana asks, "Where are we going?"

"To my private place," says Vincent as they arrived at his smith.

"This is my baby. It isn't as great as the Skyforge my father used but it is good enough for me," says Vincent as some weapons and armor were laying around on a table.

Yoana was looking at his work when she felt something warm enter her body. She let go of everything and looked at Vincent angry thinking he did something to her.

"Ah, right. I forgot to inform you that Magic is entering your body right now. It is normal to happen so don't worry about it. You will learn how to control Magic over the time spending with the others," says Vincent as he takes her bag out placing it on the ground.

"Magic, but that isn't possible. I was born without it," says Yoana as Vincent smiled at her explaining to her that everyone on Nirn could use magic.

"Anyway, you will be learning from my son beginning tomorrow since I will be back in Velen. He is almost as good as I am. Just don't get scared when you meet him since he is a Dunmer like Karliah," says Vincent since his son had the typical red eyes and dark skin of a Dunmer.

"I will try to adapt to this situation as fast as possible," says Yoana as Vincent smiled at her

"Don't worry, no one will discriminate against you around here. This Empire was founded on the principle that everyone is equal to each other. This never changed over the years as the current Emperor is a Bosmer.

He is my grandson and I love him but he has big shoes to fill with me being the Warmonger Emperor and his father being the Pacifist Emperor. Let's just say he is struggling with finding his path between the big names that sat on the same throne as he does now," says Vincent as he showed Yoana around.

"We all live in peace on Nirn or at least for now," says Vincent as he opened the Book of Fate knowing that lies will be told to him.

'It seems to be unchanged. I hope Anui-El hasn't noticed that I played with it for a moment,' thinks Vincent as he went back up with Yoana.

"It seems you have shown your new apprentice where the smith is," says Mako as Yoana wanted to bow to her when Mako stopped her.

"No bowing here. We might be people from the Imperial Family but do you see some luxury around the house?" asks Mako as Yoana looked around seeing nothing eye-catching.

"That's because we care about our titles around here. This is Highwind City, every person living here or buried here was a person of high-ranking. You will meet Kings and Queens and even the former Emperor and his Empress and I'm not speaking of Vincent and us but his son," says Mako as Yoana nods.

"I will adapt to it," says Yoana making Mako smile.

"You seem like a good child maybe we can find you a husband between the unwed men in the city," says Mina already trying to tie Yoana to the family via marriage.

"But I have one-," says Yoana when she gets interrupted.

"It was my idea to have him marry this many women. So don't judge him," says Mina knowing what Yoana wanted to ask.

"Anyway, we should eat some dinner before going to sleep," says Mina when Anra came from the kitchen carrying a stew.

"Now dig in tomorrow you will meet with the others living in the city," says Mina to Yoana and the children as she looked that the children wouldn't eat too much that could hurt them more than doing good.

After they finished eating they brought the children upstairs into the room that used to be the room of the first four. Mina summoned another bed into the room with a chest telling them that they could put anything in their chests.

The children seemed happy to have a family again as they hugged Mina before Anra began to tell them a bedtime story so they could sleep.

Yoana got into the guestroom that wasn't occupied finding out that an Elven Family lived with them because they escaped a war by entering Nirn.

Vincent was making himself comfortable on the couch since Anra was still showing him the cold shoulder and Vincent felt now even more guilty about what happened to Lorkhan.

The next morning, Vincent and the others said their goodbye as Vincent was back in his human-form hugging the children before saying, "When I return I will take you to ride a Dragon. You will find it quite exciting flying high in the air."

The children were excited to hear that when he turns to Yoana and says, "Learn everything you can from my son. When I return I will show you how to create a weapon like mine."

"Yes," says Yoana as the five passed through the mirror returning to Velen.

Vincent pockets the mirror as they leave the house finding that their horses were missing making Karliah say, "One should have stayed behind to guard the horses."

"They can't be far," says Vincent seeing the tracks leading westward.

"Maybe," says Karliah as her crow landed on her shoulder and pressed its head against Karliah's forehead sharing with her what happened with the horses.

"It has been an hour since they stole the horses. They were Mers," says Karliah as Vincent sighs.

"I really hoped we would meet them on better terms," says Vincent as they begin to follow the tracks to the west.

In the meantime in their universe, two entities were sitting across each other with a chessboard in front of them. It was an ongoing game as one of the entities moves a black pawn forward.

"It seems your pawn isn't following your rules any longer," says the entity that moved the black pawn forward.

"That can be but it can also mean that he still is," says the other entity as he beat the black pawn with his white pawn that was slowly turning black.

"I already took one of your pawns from the board and soon it will be your Queen before he takes your King," says the entity behind the white pieces.

"Yes, but this pawn that you are playing with is a double-edged sword. I would be more worried about your Queen and King since he will kill them before taking my King," says the entity behind the black pieces smiling as the pawn turned half-black having now both colors represent him.

"He will find his path," says the Entity behind the white pieces as he smiled before moving another pawn forward.