Shift My World (Witcher x Reader fanfic)

Chapter 12

He was through that door right there. The rough dark wood framed with brass hinges looked like something out of a dungeon theme. But behind that door was where her shred of hope lies. After nearly dying for her cause and searching for this for...shit she didn't even know how long anymore. But far too long. What if he could read the script in this journal and it held the answers to why she couldn't go back to her realm. But that opened up a whole new door because if she found the truth...that means she might have a way home and it meant leaving behind the people she grew to care for here. Was she ready to give all this up and leave? What if it was the opposite and he couldn't read it or if he could and it was just... mumbo-jumbo and Olivia would have hit a dead-end; what was she supposed to do if that was the case? Her nerves were already all over the place; she didn't know if she wanted to go or to stay if she ever had the chance but she felt right now as if she was holding her breath just waiting on the verdict to be made on what path she needed to go down. The dark-haired woman clutched her cloak around her slight frame staring at the door feeling her heart race harder against her ribcage the more she allowed herself to listen to the voice inside of her head asking more questions than she had answers to. A voice somewhere to the side; it was real and not in her head and it caught her attention making her look down at the stocky dwarf looking up at her with concern in his grey eyes. 

"Are ya okay lass?" Gilgamesh questioned, his voice holding a form of fatherly concern as if he could sense the tension in the woman beside him; the poor girl had been standing there staring at the door for a good few minutes without a word just staring into space; her breath coming a little heavier as if a panic attack was sorting itself out. "He won't hurt ya if that's what yer worried bout." 

"No, that's not it." Olivia finally shook her head slightly before taking a deep breath to collect herself and leaning against the cold stone wall beside the door and looking up at the dark ceiling; willing those voices and questions to be silent for a minute to allow herself a chance to breathe and think properly.

"Gilgamesh if this man can help me translate this book...It could mean everything will be forced to change." she looked back down at the red-haired scruffy man. "I don't know if I'm ready to make that choice." 

A look of confusion crossed his face and he stroked his long wild beard as he examined her. "Are ya talking about the shift?" he questioned raising a bushy brow in her direction. 

He could see her body flinch back a little and the way her jaw slacked a little bit at his words. He chuckled slightly and hooked his thumbs through his belt as his voice boomed in the empty corridor. 

"I knew it! I knew ya were needing help with that. I wasn't sure at first when I saw ya in the tavern but now I know my assumption was right. You shifted realities didn't ya?" he stated knowingly and Olivia had to clamp her hand over the man's mouth shushing him and looking back and forth in the corridor as if someone would just magically appear despite knowing that the halls would be empty at this time of night. 

"How did you know?" she whispered harshly. 

"You weren't the first to shift to this world lass," Gilgamesh replied pulling his mouth from her hand and giving her a knowing look. "But yer secret is safe with me." he patted her arm understandingly. "Now though, let's see if Istredd knows how to decipher those pages," he said before his large hand thumped a rhythm on the heavy wooden door. 

Olivia didn't look away from the dwarf as if he had grown two heads all of a sudden. All of this time, this man had known she wasn't from around here and said nothing?! He could have helped so much sooner! But, he had saved her life so she owed him that. She just wanted to know how he knew and why he hadn't said it sooner. Was it because he wanted to wait for the right moment? Or perhaps it was because he knew that Geralt and Cirilla didn't know anything about where Olivia came from? Geralt...Ciri...they were already in the next town over and told her to follow Gilgamesh to see this mage that could help her. They were waiting for her return. But what if she didn't return? The very thought scared the shit out of her.