Chapter #54

AN: I don't know what to feel about this turn of events. It is something I dislike in the books I am reading as well but it helps the characters grow... At least that's the plan!

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While the newborn wolves were celebrating becoming official witchers, mages were discussing amongst each other about experimental elixirs and which one will be given to whom.

They decided on five children with Geralt and Zeno being on that list. So the next day those five woke up in dungeons strapped to the Sad Alberts once again.

Zeno knew he was being carried by the sorcerers in the keep due to the drugged dinner he was given but guessing what would happen he pretended to sleep.

By morning System had returned to him bringing the whole witcher library except the knowledge which only the mages knew and didn't record.

Currently they were conversing as the mages pumped more elixirs in his body.

[We can just get what they know from their genes.] System assured him with confidence.

'Well, that option is only available if their genes are not protected by magic bullshit.' Zeno made a sound argument.

[Fuck! That is totally possible.] System cursed.

{Then take their genetic material and inspect it later when we actually learn magic?} Ouryuu suggested earning nods of approval.

Their conversation came to a halt as the familiar screams reached Zeno's ears.

It was then he realized that his bloodline helped him shrug off the elixirs given to his body while still absorbing the benefits.

Still this means he will be stuck here without any hallucinations to pass the time...

[Want to watch Nightmare of the Wolf to prepare for the sacking of Kaer Morhen?] System asked.

'Why not. It's not like I got something better to do.' Zeno agreed.

Soon his eyes turned glassy like the rest, making the sorcerers sigh in relief since they thought the elixirs finally took effect.

_______

It was on the next day that someone came to pick him up. Still hearing a single scream Zeno knew the experiments hadn't finished just yet.

Still, since the numbers of survivors had dwindled to two Zeno could recognize the other voice.

It was Geralt, he was the only other candidate that survived the experiments. Zeno knew they would be likely to be subjected to another trial considering they were still pumping elixirs in their systems.

Zeno wasn't afraid, trusting his bloodline he was ready for anything until he actually started to lose his consciousness, the last thing he heard was Ouryuu's indignant scream.

{This is unfair Merlin!}

_______

The next time Zeno woke up he immediately got to his feet, his shoulders were held by Deglan who brought him and Geralt to wherever they were.

Zeno noticed the blindfold over his eyes but didn't mind it since he didn't need his eyes to see. His body was made of biomass, any part of his body could be a sensory organ.

"Good, two of you are awake. Listen lads, you will be given one last dose. As for why you're blindfolded..." Deglan paused to think his words.

"This elixir is poisonous even to us, you need the antidote by morning, hence the trial, you need to find your way back home by dawn. Good luck lads." Deglan explained as the two felt the elixir entering their system.

Geralt immediately started yelling something about his mother as he took off in the distance.

Meanwhile Zeno's head was spinning, he quickly lost his senses until he was in total darkness yet his eyes couldn't pierce the darkness.

He tried to communicate with his partners in crime but they were silent... No more like indisposed. Soon a white line appeared in his vision and he decided to follow it.

As he walked, his life started to play in the background, it wasn't everything, just the moral decisions he had made over the years.

Like the times he helped someone, or did something bad. His first life wasn't bad due to him being a law abiding citizen.

Things turned macabre once his reincarnation came into play. Zeno remembered his indifference to the world around him and it's inhabitants.

The omniverse was infinite and he didn't see the point of acting good to people that, in the end, didn't matter to him.

But watching it from an outside point of view, Zeno was either grimacing or cringing.

"You can't outrun what you done... What you truly are..." He heard a familiar line but the implications made him sweat as he reached the end of the line.

In the end, there he was. Waiting for him. He looked just like him minus the pure red eyes he possessed.

Zeno knew him, it was everything he suppressed, thrown back at his mind, mainly being his instincts as a dragon.

One even could say it was his "evil" self...

"You're finally here." The dragon said.

"Did Merlin set this up? I heard Ouryuu yelling about him..." Zeno said wanting to delay their talk, as he really didn't want to do this.

"Don't beat around the bushes. You might not die from this trial but I guarantee you will regret it if you don't finish it in time." The dragon sneered.

"Okay, what do you expect me to do? Give in to you? Well excuse me for I didn't want to be a prideful prick that only knew how to plow virgins?!" Zeno snapped "I refuse to be controlled by simple instincts!"

"That's fine, I am not here for that but still you really should get to start mating. We're an endangered species after all." Dragon muttered before he suddenly stopped.

"Damn you got me monologuing, sly bastard!" Dragon laughed as Zeno chuckled proudly.

"Enough of this! I am not here for that. It is fine if you want to take control of me, fight me, instead you run away like a little bitch hiding behind her pimp.

Your indecisive actions are grating on my nerves! Just when I thought he'll come around once he finished going through Ouryuu's memories you stopped going through them as well!

What do you have to say for yourself?!" Dragon roared and transformed into his true form.

Zeno had to admit, it was bigger than his own transformation for some reason but his mind was too muddled to think about it.

"You know I stopped just before he met Kaya... I don't want to go through with it. I am okay with any other pain but I don't want to go through with that." Zeno admitted.

From the manga, he knew Ouryuu truly loved Kaya and was devastated with her death.

It wasn't that he respected the memory but he feared that living through that would change him irrecoverably.

Zeno didn't want that...

"Hmph! There are easier ways if you don't want to grow up. Like suicide." Dragon growled.

"Why must I do this now? Why can't it wait for a couple of thousand years?" Zeno asked.

"Look at me, bastard! I didn't have a personality until recently. Your mind is fracturing at a rapid pace and you still want to dilly dally?!" Dragon roared, Zeno felt his frustration clearly.

While Zeno was thinking about the information he received, to earn more time, he suddenly stumbled and felt lightheaded.

"It's nearly morning Zeno. You don't have much time left neither does he..." Dragon said, this time his voice was calm due to spewing all his hate in the beginning.

Meanwhile neither of them felt the arrival of a third person into this mental fight.

"Huh?" Zeno was surprised but before he could speak he felt himself being thrown on someone's back.

"Ouryuu! Why do you keep protecting him?! You know the stakes!" Dragon roared as Ouryuu took off with Zeno on his shoulder.

Zeno was barely awake at this point but he could swear that the voice of the dragon resembled Gabriel's at the end.

Ouryuu stopped running for a moment and turned to the dragon who was being accompanied by Gabriel and Merlin and gave them a sad smile.

"I understand your concerns, but I really do think that he'll be better off without being forced to go through that pain... I wouldn't wish it upon my enemies, I certainly don't want him to feel those terrible emotions." Ouryuu spoke with conviction and continued to run.

[I never expected Merlin to pull something like that! Wasn't he a chill dude in his book?] System muttered.

{I don't know about that but I can tell you they have the best intentions for him. Unfortunately we disagree on what's best for Zeno.} Ouryuu admitted as they left the hallucination.

Zeno was still indisposed so Ouryuu was controlling his body. He reached the keep where he saw Geralt with his full head of white hair drinking the antidote.

The others quickly approached him and gave him the antidote. Ouryuu drank it all before falling unconscious himself.

_______

"Sigh both of those kids are idiots..." Gabriel sighed her tone somber.

"Well, they seem to forget I control everything in here." Merlin's tone was somber as well but he was distracted.

He was too busy arranging several illusionary gears, making sure it wouldn't break after his intervention.

"Ha! You might call Destiny a bitch but one must not forget that she is my bitch!" Merlin yelled and clapped.

The illusionary gears exploded as the destiny of this world was rewritten to force Zeno confront his past life's memories.

"Well, I guess this is our last action before passing on... Have you made the preparations for your heir?" Gabriel sighed before asking.

"Yeah, I got Adam's reincarnated soul from grandpa... He got reincarnated as a version of me can you believe? Me before I got reincarnated as Merlin... Anyway I dropped him to some world with a golden finger." Merlin explained.

"I see. It would have been nice to see him again. Well, I guess it wasn't meant to be." Gabriel shook her head.

Merlin hugged her while wiping the tears on her face before they left their Omniverse to see THE GOD.

The one who is above everything the only being that is truly omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. He was waiting for them with open arms and a gentle smile on his elderly face...

________

When Zeno woke up the next day, he was surprised that he woke up in the keep. Also shocked that he didn't get a power boost from the trial.

'What happened?!' He asked anxiously.

[You failed, that's what happened. Ouryuu hauled your ass back to the keep.] System explained.

'Where is he?' Zeno asked, he couldn't feel his presence which made him afraid.

[He expended too much energy. He is resting in my cave.] System answered before continuing. [I need to look over him, hope you can manage on your own for a while.]

'Yeah, thank him for me...' Zeno didn't know what to say.

[Just focus on recovering my guy. We have a lot to do...] System said with a sigh.

Zeno got up and made some clothes with his biomass, his previous clothes were taken off by the Witchers. Zeno was glad to have made his clothes with the ability to separate from himself.

Getting out he was greeted by Eskel and Lambert who were about to enter another room.

"Morning guys! Can someone give me an explanation?" Zeno greeted them.

"Zeno, you woke up!" Eskel quickly came and gave him a hug.

Zeno awkwardly hugged Eskel back while making faces at Lambert who was laughing at him.

"Sorry, it was just that we weren't informed of your extra trials. When you and Geralt came back you looked like fucking ghosts." Eskel explained before cursing " I thought I was going to lose it when Geralt's hair turned white."

"I hope it was worth it." Lambert said with barely hidden anger in his voice.

He already lost enough friends during the trials now this came up...

"Well, I can use signs now..." Zeno chuckled awkwardly, while making an Aard to turn the doorknob to Geralt's room.

He didn't get anything in truth but he felt like he should say something to console Lambert.

"Such precision!" They both exclaimed.

Entering the room, Zeno finally got a good look at Geralt who was now supporting completely white hair.

Also Zeno felt like his appearance had become worse compared to pre-trial.

'Maybe his looks were also the result of this trial.' Zeno wondered but no one answered him in his mind.

This time instead of feeling relieved Zeno only felt loneliness...

Zeno, Eskel and Lambert checked on Geralt who was still sleeping. From what he learned from the two Geralt passed out after he saw him come back and has yet to wake up.

"I wonder what he got from the trial?" Lambert thought out loud.

Zeno and Eskel knew he was trying to find a reason for this trial, to find something to make himself stop thinking his friends had suffered for nothing.

"His body feels stronger. I'd say he can finally defeat Eskel during spars." Zeno said.

"Since when can you judge people's strengths?" Eskel asked.

"Since this morning." Zeno reasoned.

"Damn, Eskel is going to lose his place as the second most powerful amongst the newbies." Lambert chuckled at Eskel who was now pouting.

"He looks okay, let's go to the hall. I am starving." Zeno pulled the duo with him to get breakfast.

During breakfast Zeno had to give a detailed report about his sign usage to the Sorcerers, meanwhile he noticed Deglan leaving the keep.

He strained his ears just enough to hear him complain about Vesemir and Luka being too late.

This made Zeno realize that Vesemir left during the first trial; he was probably exploring the elven ruins with Tetra by now...

It reminded him that he didn't have much time and his partners would most likely be indisposed during the sacking.

He decided to get ready for the upcoming massacre by mapping out an escape route and making some elixirs that can be used by humans.

'Hopefully I can save Vesemir's first love, the children could use a mother figure...' Zeno thought as he got to work.