{Everything I was told my whole life was a lie

[anewtruth]

Who: Princess Cirilla of Centra anewtruth [Netflix canon-4th Wall Visitor] & OTA
What: Crisis On Infinite Dreamwidths catch-all
When: Aug 12-18, 2022
Where: MetaHumans universe, Sunset Falls
Content Warnings: Updated as needed
Other Notes: HMU on Ciri's HMD / @ loyalwolf[#3540] on plurk[/discord] for something specific!

help me find a new truth.

Comments

{Finding family in the chaos » Arrival » Locked to @rollstoseduce & @choicely

[anewtruth]

There is something utterly disorienting in all of this. Between blinks, somehow, impossibly, Ciri finds herself in an unknown place. The streets of the city are... more or less calm, which is the direct opposite of the teeming paic Ciri feels herself in the moment.

She's on edge. Cautious and careful, doing her damndest to stay unnoticed. Perhaps... not the easiest thing, given the very, very strange look of the place, and decidedly out-of-place look of her within it. An effort that seems almost pointless as she moves away from the crowded streets and slides into back alleys and hardly anyone bats an eye at her presence at all.

She keeps away from strangers and weaves through crowds to find someplace that might give her the space to breathe, to think, to regroup and figure out what the hell is going on. She finds that solace in what seems by all rights, near as she can tell, an abandoned house. Not unsafe or rundown, just old, creaky, and in need of some work, and unlived in for an untold length of time. It's not like any house she's seen before, but she is certain that's what it is, and when she finds the door helpfully unlocked, she slips inside. She doesn't call out because she doesn't think she needs to, it's pretty clearly empty.

Ciri takes a moment just to breathe and calm down so she can clear her head. That's the first step in this whole process. The rest will come after.

[rollstoseduce]

There is chaos (ha) everywhere, and while Jaskier helps wherever he can, he still wants to keep up with his own life. Not only wants, but needs, too, because the end of the month is coming and he'll be kicked out of the hotel soon.

He isn't surprised that Yennefer has turned down his offer, really, it's more surprising that he could ask at all. Their relationship definitely has become... something. Back in the Continent, but even more here, and that's why her refusal stings a little.

It has nothing to do with him dreading to be alone in a house or apartment, thank you very much.

That moment they had the other day had been special, but Jaskier can't deny he had been worried things would become awkward between them. Thankfully he had been wrong, and now the witch is here willing to check house options with him in case they're cursed. Or something. Who can even tell when it comes to Sunset Falls.

Old and creaky matches many places he's visited with Geralt trying to find creepy things to kill, and just like it used to happen back in the Continent, Jaskier stands out like a sore thumb because of his choice of colorful clothing.

"Now this-" he exclaims as he enters the house with Yennefer by his side. "-is what I call a ghost trap. Are you sure you can't do your sparkly thing out--"

He barely takes a few steps inside before he's bumping against someone and falling to the floor with a heartful fuck. Brushing off his clothes, he looks up to give this person a piece of mind, but he freezes when he sees who it is.

No fucking way.

"...princess?"

[choicely]

Finding a place to live that suits has hardly been on Yennefer's list of priorities — or at the very least, not assuming a high place on it. From what she's been told, she won't be forced out of the hotel room any time soon, and determining the type of home she can establish for herself is a consideration she'll get to whenever it becomes more of a necessity, and no sooner.

She had been slightly taken aback by Jaskier's offer for them to share the same home, surprised enough to more instinctively decline instead of taking more time to consider it — but she's relented enough to accompany him in the process of deciding on his own, getting a better sense of the lands that might be available when the time comes for her to procure her own space.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's just an old house." If she'd noted any strong energies coming off of it, she would've kept him from walking in blindly, on the off-chance that there was some presence lurking within waiting for the first unsuspecting person to strike at.

As it happens, there is a presence, just one that neither of them is expecting, and Yennefer's head whips up to find that shock of light hair, those wide eyes, stepping forward past Jaskier's crumpled form and stooping down slightly to peer into the familiar face of a girl she'd only barely left.

"Ciri? Are you alright?" The unspoken question of whether or not she's alone dangles on Yen's tongue, unwilling to drop.

[anewtruth]

She gasps when the door opens, but the movement of the people into the house is too quick, the man runs into her before she can even get her wits about herself to flee. Stupid girl, she chides herself, but all the irritation washes away when she spins to find—

“Jaskier?” Her eyes dart from one to the other, “Yennefer, I—” but she doesn’t know what to say, a little dumbfounded at being stumbled upon by people at all, and doubly so that it happened to be ones she knew.

But then, in the space of a heartbeat, she snaps to a realization. “Geralt. Is he here?” There’s a tinny sound hope in her voice, only heightened by the way it shines twice as bright in her eyes.

[rollstoseduce]

It seems they're all thinking the same thing, and Jaskier's heart flutters with the same hope that covers Cirilla's voice - the same voice that instantly shatters that hope. Destiny, you ruthless bitch.

Still, seeing her in such a confused state makes Jaskier keep his face neutral, not wanting the poor girl to feel is her fault that the fucking rules of this place are playing with them.

"I'm afraid it's only been Yennefer and I from our realm so far," he explains as he finally stands up and finishes fixing his clothes before coming closer. "And now you, my little lady. I must second Yennefer's question - did you just get here? Are you well?"

[choicely]

Yennefer stiffens, distinctly, at the mention of a certain name, her fingers tightening an imperceptible amount on Ciri before she wills herself to relax her touch and straighten from trying to examine the girl up close. She doesn’t look any worse for the wear, and there’s no telling how long she’s been here — but Ciri has always been capable, having survived on her own long before she found Geralt and the rest of them in turn. The power she carries inside her would be more than sufficient enough to handle anyone who even thought twice about bringing her harm.

Still, she can’t entirely resist the instinct to gently smooth fingertips over the side of Ciri’s face, tucking a strand of light hair back behind her ear and then glancing over to Jaskier as he gets himself up off the ground.

“I’ve only just arrived weeks ago, but Jaskier came nearly a month before — though apparently none of us realized it. It was as if he’d never left from Kaer Morhen.” Speaking of… “What do you last remember?”

[anewtruth]

"I...I'm- fine." The word tastes sour on her tongue, a lie she wants herself to be fooled by, if just for a moment. Physically, she supposes, she is, fine. Unharmed from ending up here so dramatically.

Suspicion confirmed, they were in a new realm. Her words drop down to a whisper and when she speaks, her voice shakes slightly. "Did I do this...?" Everything is her fault these days, why not this, too?

"We- we were...regrouping. After Voleth Meir..." Her eyes stay on Yennefer, leaning a little into the touch against her cheek. Her voice is still on a waver. "You saved me..."

[rollstoseduce]

Her words are hesitant, and Jaskier isn't sure if believing her - perhaps Geralt has already passed on her his annoying I'm fine habit, he wouldn't be surprised. But then she makes that question, and his heart clenches.

"...fuck. Nononononono!" He shakes his hands over and over, and once he's close enough, he rests one on Cirilla's shoulder to give it a squeeze. "You did not do this, I promise. This realm is going through its own Conjunction of the Spheres, dragging people without giving much respect to banal concepts such as bloody time."

His huff is more playing up the dramatics than any real frustration - as crazy this whole deal is, he's glad that they aren't being missed at home. Now if the last member of their little adventure party was here too, then Jaskier could stop caring about silly things such as the possibility of returning and enjoy making a new life here with less of the terrors of the Continent and more of the comforts of the modern era.

"We should take her back to the hotel," he tells Yennefer before turning to Cirilla again. "How does a bath and meal sound, princess?"

[choicely]

"This wasn't your doing," Yennefer agrees, a quiet echo of Jaskier's louder and more insistent response. If it were, she has a strong suspicion that they would have all been drawn here, the three of them and everyone back in that chamber in Kaer Morhen, even perhaps some of Geralt's witcher brethren. She would have felt the same power that brought them to a place to witness the Wild Hunt, and there's no mistaking a power like Ciri's, one that could eclipse any other's on the Continent with little difficulty.

Something in her chest clenches, though, at Ciri's words, and she offers the girl a reassuring glance, hand shifting to smooth back over the crown of her head and over the length of her braid, a trailing touch that reasserts more than anything the proof of her presence, the reality of her being here and not just a desired vision.

"That might be for the best. Contrary to what you might think," she adds, mostly to Ciri, "neither of us actually lives here." Never mind that the very reason they'd even been here in the first place was in order to peruse the available houses for Jaskier's purposes, but that can be a conversation held at a later time when their latest arrival is less overwhelmed by the situation.

[anewtruth]

Jaskier is animated as ever in his insistence she had no part in any of this, a hand squeezing her shoulder which gives her more comfort than she can explain.

Yennefer is the calmer of the two, only backing the bard's earlier statement, a hand smoothed gently over her hair.

What would she have done if they were not here? The thought is uncomfortable, and she tamps it down, and tries to ignore it for its irrelevance. Instead, she nods at the idea of going somewhere for a bath and some food. "I think that would be good," she says, mainly to Jaskier's question, though she's looking at Yennefer. "Well, you must be staying somewhere."