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They left the inn soon after that, mounting horses and moving on to the kingdom that was being tormented by a monster. The low mist of the morning settled in as they ride down the road. It was the early mornings like this that Luna had grown to love, the moments before the mist settles, before everyone gets up and is out and about. She's a sucker for peace, something that she's found she and the witcher have in common.
Luna pats the neck of her mare when he huffs, having been walking all day. She'd been kind enough to allow Jaskier to ride with her at one point, leaving him overly grateful to the woman. "A whole village huh?" Geralt hums, eyeing up the raven-haired woman. They ride through the woods, allowing her to not wear the bandana around her eyes.
She nods, holding the reins of her horse with one hand. "He said something about a ghoul of some sort." She repeats what she's told them. "They don't care what happens, they just want it gone." She continues on, looking at the white-haired Witcher. He hums, turning his attention back to the trail ahead of them.
"So Miss Phantom," Jaskier speaks up from behind her, breaking the small and what cherishable silence between them. Luna doesn't spare him a glance, just letting out a hum of acknowledgment. "Since I'm the one between me and Mr. Grumpy over there--doing all the question asking. May I ask you some questions about your stories?"
She huffs a laugh, "stories?" She muses, shaking her head. "You mean people's talk?" She changed the question and Jaskier thought back to when they met her just a night ago. She sighs, nodding. "Shoot Jaskier." Luna offers, not looking to see the smile that fell upon Jaskier's face. It was as though it was his birthday.
He racks through his mind, trying to find just the right first question. "Is it true that you're able to shoot ice from your hands?" While neither she nor Geralt could see him he does a little shimmy of his hands in a demonstration.
Luna snorts a laugh, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Ice? I don't do magic bard." She answers, amused at the mere idea. Geralt doesn't say anything about the magic pull that aided in leading them to her in the first place.
"Really? Damn." He snaps his fingers. "Okay well is it true that you can talk to the dead?" This time Geralt huffs something almost laugh-like. "What? It's a question Geralt." Jaskier calls to his white-haired companion.
"I think I'd be much cooler if I could." She muses.
This went on for the rest of the ride to the kingdom. Jaskier got most of his dreams of what the Phantom was crushed, but a few of them were shockingly real. Upon reaching the village they were met with the people carrying on with their lives like there was no problem at all. Jaskier and Luna switch places, with her covering her eyes once more, finding a certain comfort in covering them. "Nice place." The bard notes as they slowly pass the houses and buildings they could make out the castle standing tall in the kingdom.
The town was filled with voices and music. "Sounds like a party," Luna states, her hand gripping Jaskier's top to steady herself when she nearly falls. Jaskier was quick to confirm her statement, talking about how there were children running up and down the roads and people were playing instruments outside the local tavern while some people danced to the music. "Let's get to the king yeah?"
The people of the town paid them no mind as the three travelers moved through town towards the castle. A few times they had to stop suddenly to avoid running over a child or accidentally bumping into some poor drunken soul. As soon as they got close enough to the castle the guards paid full attention to them, weapons aimed that is. Luna's hand twitches at the feeling of eyes on her. "State your business here." One of them says, eyeing up the Witcher.
Jaskier glances over at Geralt as he stares back at the guard. "Heard you had a monster problem." He huffs out, head tilting ever so slightly to the side. With the rise of his hand, the rest of the guards lowered their weapons and went back to patrol. "Thought so." Geralt hums as they part for the rag-tag trio. One of the guards breaks from formation, leading them to the castle. Another guard took the role of leading the horses away, prompting Luna to loop arms with Jaskier.
They're led into the castle, finding that it was much quieter than that of the village it towers over. "Nicer place." Jaskier muses, taking in the interior of the castle. "Could use some music to liven it up but-"
"Jaskier." Geralt hisses at the bard, trying to look professional as they're brought into the throne room. The king sits there, talking with a well-dressed man, no doubt his advisor.
"Welcome." He greets the trio with a smile. "I'm so glad that he found you when he did." He goes on, dismissing any unnecessary people. "There's been a monster in the walls of the castle. It's been terrorizing my servants and guards. Last month it killed one of them. And last week it put a guard out of commission." He explains, clearly distraught over the whole ordeal.
"We'll make sure to get to the bottom of it, sir!" Jaskier beams, huffing when Geralt elbows him.
"We'll need everyone out of the castle, including you. If it's killed once it will likely do it again sooner than later, especially when it realizes what we're here to do." Geralt explains, glancing between his two companions and the king.
The king nods, willing to do whatever the Witcher said to rid his home of the beast. "Just have it gone will you?" The ragtag group nods, staying in the throne room when he gives the order to clear out the castle.
"That went well," Luna notes, waiting for it to just be the three of them before removing the cloth from her face. "Nice place." She notes, stepping away from them and further into the throne room. Everything about it reminds her of her home, the engravings on the curtains, the family paintings on the far walls.
"That's what I said." Jaskier points at her.
"We're not here to take in the sights." Geralt reminds them, though he too takes a look around the room. "We're here-"
Jaskier cuts him off. "For the monster, yeah, yeah, yeah." The bard walks in strides to the other side of the room.
Luna finds herself staring at the throne. "How are we going to get something that lives in the walls?" She asks, looking back at Geralt. For a moment he'd forgotten how strange her eyes were when they pierce right through him. "I mean Jaskier's small but not small enough for live bait."
Across the room, Jaskier looks at her with a hurt look on his face. "Well, I'm pretty glad for that fact." He boasts before turning his attention back to the paintings.
"We'll just have to kill it when it comes out."
Luna nods, running her hand over the carvings of the throne. "So we wait then?"
Geralt hums, watching her for a moment, puzzled by her movements. It was like the night before, seeing her stuck in what he'd guess to be reliving a memory. Though from the expression on her face it was not a fond one. "There's a lot of castle to cover." Geralt reminds them, getting Luna to pull away from the royal chair.
Luna walks away from the throne. "Then let's get started, shall we?" She passes Geralt, reaching up and patting his shoulder. Geralt's eyes follow her as she goes on. "This'll be fun."
