THE WITCHER X READERS

[GERALT OF RIVIA DRABBLE]

Prompt: C17. "I failed you. I failed everyone." and C67. "You did a bad thing for a good reason." "But is it worth it if they died because of me?"

Warnings: alcohol consumption, angst, mentions about killing people

Word count: 470

Maybe it was a bad decision, maybe you should have sought for a better answer - but you had held a party for all the infected people, claiming you had found the cure. But in real life the food was poisoned, and soon the tavern was full of dead people - and you had burned the tavern down. You had tried to forget the scent of burning flesh haunting in your mind, tried to push away the though that screamed that there was another way. There wasn't. Lycanthropy was incurable, everyone knew that. And you had to protect everyone who wasn't infected.

Your old friend the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, had heard what you had done, and decided to make his way to find you. He knew how the first kill felt, even if there was no other way. And you had killed dozens of people at once. It was quite a burden to carry.

"I failed you." you choked out as Geralt sat down with you at a tavern in a nearby town. "I failed everyone. I should have found the cure. I'm a doctor, I have swore the oath to help, not to kill."

Geralt was silent, looking down at his pint of beer.

"You did a bad thing for a good reason." he told you and you took in a shaky breath.

"But is it worth it if they died because of me? I killed them. I killed all those men, women... children. The youngest was just five years old, but he had already turned thrice and killed the family dog and also infected his parents later. I killed him for things he didn't do. I killed a child. I'm a monster."

Geralt shook his head. "They were already dying. You had no choice. As I said, you did a bad thing for a good reason. There was no other way. I would have done the same."

You stared at your own pint and took a big gulp from it. "How can I make it stop? What if... I see nightmares about it for the rest of my life?"

Geralt looked at you sadly and sighed. "You just have to learn to live with it. I'm sorry, Y/N, for not being able to help you more."

You nodded, a wobbly, ghost of a smile making its way on your face for a second or two. "It's okay. I'm thankful for that you even bother to listen."