They had no idea for how long they've been falling. But they felt as if the fall lasted forever. It ended with a loud splash - they fell into a water reservoir. They barely managed to get to the surface, because they were surrounded by complete darkness.
"Damnit" Anna murmured. "Yennefer! Yennefer, are you here?!" she began to call.
"I am!" Yennefer shouted back. "Gvella, glan!" she casted a spell, it got much brighter all around.
They swam up to the nearest shore and stepped out onto it. While squeezing the water out of her hair, the blue-eyed woman asked:
"Are you alright?".
A bit surprised by her question, the raven-haired woman responded:
"Yes. And..." she cleared her throat. "And you?".
"I do not feel any broken bones, so yes, I'm fine" the princess replied, then raised her eyes up. "Dear Freyja...".
Yennefer casted the same spell for the second time and sent a globe of light into the direction in which her companion was looking. To their eyes appeared stalactites protruding from the stone ceiling. There was no sign of the hole through which they fell. "Portal" they thought.
"That servant who passed us... do you think he's behind this?" Anna asked.
"Cannot be otherwise. There was no one there except for us" Yennefer answered. "I'll get us out of here, then we'll find out why he's done this".
The blue-eyed woman nodded in agreement, while the sorceress smelling of lilac and gooseberries began to conjure up a portal. As it opened, both of them entered it - just to appear in the same place again. The violet-eyed woman make another attempt at opening the magical passage. And another one. And another one. And another one. Every time they were ending up back in the cave.
"Damn it!" disgruntled Yennefer exclaimed. "Something disrupts the portal, this place must be enchanted".
"Wonderful..." Anna stated sarcastically. "There must be... a normal exit, we just need to find it" she drew her sword from the scabbard and head towards the nearest corridor. "Are you coming?".
"I am" her companion answered. "Besides, you won't get far without a firefly".
The princess laughed lightly at sorceress's words, and then set off together to find a way out.
The women's absence from breakfast caused an unease among the rest of the company. Jaskier began panicking to such extent that Geralt had to use Axii on him, so he'd calm down. The royal family immediately ordered to find the lost ones, the hetman quickly got to work. Of course, the guests were participating in searching the palace as well, very keen to find the poet's muse and the sorceress close to the witcher's heart. At some point, to their huge surprise, they encountered a cat. A strange cat it was - its grey fur stripped with the darker shade of aforementioned color looked scratchy, although in fact it was smooth and pleasant to touch. Ears ended with black brushes reminded of the ones belonging to a lynx. It had big, bulging eyes so dark, they blended with the rest of the body. The snowman approached it with a smile and petted it.
"Hello, sweetie" he said. "Have you seen Anna & Yennefer?".
"Meow" was the creature's answer. Next, it went up to the monster slayer and cozied to his legs. Geralt furrowed his eyebrows. Cats didn't like witchers, whenever he'd pass them, they'd hiss at him agressively. Why then did this individual not do so? The answer to this question came quickly. The grey-haired man felt the vibrations of his medalion and informed:
"This cat is magical".
"Magical?" Olaf was surprised. "Ah yes, cats don't like witchers!" he remembered. "But magical ones do? I don't understand...".
"I'd like to understand too, it's my first time meeting a magical cat" Geralt replied, not hiding his puzzlement.
"Meow" they heard once again. The creature walked away from the heroes, turned into the direction in which they had intended to go earlier. It meowed again and looked at them. "Meow?".
"I think... I think it wants to show us something" Jaskier suggested.
"Meow!". The cat went ahead, the trio followed behind.
The cat led them to a place that was being searched by Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra. The hetman was holding a potestaquisitor - a device allowing to locate a source of energy. When the creature sat next to the long-haired woman, the device began to hum horribly loud.
"The potestaquisitor's gone crazy" Cassandra stated. "Where did you get that cat?" she turned to the arrivals.
"We've come across it in one of the hallways. Then... then it led us here" Geralt explained shortly. "It's magical".
"Meow" the company heard. The creature's big eyes met the penetrating gaze of the short-haired woman. They held the eye contact long enough for Olaf to began thinking that they were in a staring contest. Fitzherbert scratched his head.
"A magical cat?" he questioned surprised.
"Indeed" the bard confirmed. "It didn't hiss at Geralt, even cozied up to his legs. And, what's important, it for sure had a reason to lead us here!".
"Do you think it could have something to do with Anna and Yennefer's disappearance?" Rapunzel asked.
"Let's not rule out this option" said the hetman, then stopped shaking the device, so it stopped humming.
"Mister cat, is this the last place where our friends were?" the snowman turned to the creature.
The cat replied with a murmur which the group took as a confirmation. All of them began to precisely search the hallway, in which they were, they didn't want to miss anything that could be a clue in their investigation. The creature was carefully observing them, it seemed like it felt as if it was a construction manager, conducting his workers. Of course, it did not deny itself the opportunity to lick one of its front paws every now and then, scratch behind its ear or yawn in drag. Eventually, thanks to his witcher senses, the White Wolf found a trail. It was the scent of sorceress's perfumes - lilac and gooseberries. He smelled another fragrance, to be exact the essence of buttercups mixed with the essence of crocuses. He informed his companions about his findings, the troubadour's heart skipped a beat.
"Gods, those are the perfumes of my dearest!" he stated concerned.
"And Yennefer!" his snowy friend added.
The cat stood up from its' place, then lied down next to Geralt's legs. It wasn't just any position - the cat lied in the exact spot where the lost ones had been standing before. Cassandra furrowed her eyebrows, approached the creature and crouched beside it.
"Cat, had Anna and Yennefer stood here before disappearing?" she questioned suspiciously.
The creature only looked at her, blinked three times, then turned away its' head. Once she repeated the question, more nervously, the cat stretched. Eugene couldn't help himself from commenting:
"Looks like it doesn't like you, ice queen".
"What a clever analysis, Fitzherbert. I must say, you truly are Corona's ace spy" the hetman wasn't indebted.
"Guys, it's not the time for arguments!" the princess interjected, Pascal on her shoulder agreed. She crouched beside the cat as well. "Please, we need help, and you seem to be the only... one able to provide it. Tell me, my furry friend... had Annie and Yen disappeared from here?".
The cat stood up and began to scratch the carpet. Just a few moments later, the scratches turned into footprints. Everyone widened their eyes out of shock, Jaskier fell down to his knees, thanking the gods and the cat. Not caring whether it was dirty or not, he hugged the creature, however it quickly escaped his grasp. Geralt and Cassandra exchanged communicative glances.
"Portal" they stated at the same time.
"A portal? Why would Yennefer take Anna somewhere?" the former thief asked.
"Or someone else created it and transferred them!" the snowman suggested.
"How are we going to trace this portal? We won't be able to do that without Varian, and we don't have time to look for a sorcerer in town" Rapunzel said.
Cassandra clutched her chin and furrowed her forehead. An idea occurred to her.
"There's another way. Come with me".
     Meanwhile, the princess of Arendelle and the sorceress were walking through the stone corridors, looking for a way out. Many times they've come across dead ends, circled around certain areas. Not counting suggesting the directions in which they should go or making remarks about the route, they didn't talk to each other. Eventually the silence was disrupted by the blue-eyed woman, who said:
"You know... I've actually never thanked you for saving Jaskier. So I'll do it now. Thank you for helping him back then".
Yennefer looked at her companion.
"You're welcome" she replied shortly.
"I... I can't put into words how grateful I am. If he died..." she shuddered "I don't know, what I'd do. Thanks to you the love of my life lives and I'll never forget you for that... in fact, you saved two people. One from death... and the second from despair lasting until the judgement day".
"Nice to hear that" the violet-eyed woman smiled. "While we're at it, it's really pleasant to observe you two. How much you love each other. Although, I can't deny, at times you sweeten the deal like a couple from the first better romance for two corons".
They bursted out laughing, Anna even shed some tears. After she wiped them off, she replied:
"Maybe a little".
"A little?" Yennefer laughed again.
"More than a little" while saying that, Anna put her sword back in the scabbard. "Better tell me what is it between you and Geralt. Just so you know how much you'd turned his head around... he regularly has dreams about you".
"He dreams about me?".
"And then tells us. I've known him for a while and I swear, I've never seen him being in love so much. Don't tell him I told you that".
"Of course" the raven-haired woman mused for a moment. "Well... to be honest, he intrigued me in the moment we met. I wouldn't call it "love at first sight", something more like... "fascination". When you and Olaf were watching over the bard, we've talked a bit".
"And that's when it sparked between you?".
"I could say that".
"And when you'd enchanted him in Rinde? So he would kill those people?".
"Like I've mentioned before, it was a solution of my problems back then. But I didn't want him to be hurt. Later, when I tried to harness the djinn, I ordered the bard to wish for people in town to forget that Geralt was behind those murders".
"Oh my. That's... lovely of you. Hm... well then, I hope for you two to be happy".
"Oh... thank you" the sorceress responded, not hiding her surprise at the blue-eyed woman's words.
A silence fell between them again, nevertheless it did not last long. Once again, it was disrupted by the princess.
"Forgive me, but I'm still troubled by this question" she began. "Why did you come to Corona? You said that you have a more ambitious goal than gaining great power... are you looking for something? And was the djinn in Rinde going to help you achieve your goal?".
Yennefer, deep in thought, bit her right cheek. She sighed, then said:
"Yes, it was".
"Would you like to let me in on a secret? Or is it a sensitive subject for you and should I drop a new one?" Anna questioned caringly.
"No... no, you don't have to" Yennefer lowered her eyes for a moment. "Considering the fact your sister is one of us, you surely know that sorceresses are infertile. I've had this dream for a long time. Become a mother and raise a child. Give them everything my parents didn't give me. I thought the djinn will resolve this, however after I'd failed to catch it, I'd set off to look for another solution. When I'd heard about Varian's trip, I'd decided to come to Corona. Firstly of course I met with him and offered to deputy for him at the court. Luckily he agreed and sent me off with a letter, which I gave to the king upon my arrival".
"A letter?" Anna was surprised. "Punzie didn't mention it...".
"She wasn't there, perhaps her father didn't tell her about it later" the violet-eyed woman assumed. "Anyway... I hoped that I could ask the princess to lend me some of her hair to a mixture I planned to do. Or ask her for a personal... "healing"".
"Punzie's hair lose its' abilities after cutting, so the option with elixir should be excluded..." the blue-eyed woman said and breathed deeply. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to deceive you. Many people go to Rapunzel, she helps them. A few years ago a woman came, she was infertile as well. She thought that... my cousin's hair's magical abilities will change that. They didn't".
"Oh..." the raven-haired woman saddened.
They stopped. Seeing her gloomy expression, Anna hugged her companion. Yen returned it, tentatively. After a minute of silence, they set off on their way. Eventually, they noticed sunshine breaking through and went into its' direction. To their eyes appeared an exit collapsed by rocks, however Yennefer handled it by casting a spell and moving the rocks aside. They went outside and took a breath of fresh air. The happy princess exclaimed "We did it! We did it!", to which the sorceress laughed and shook her head. All of a sudden, they heard a familiar voice in the distance.
"Why have you never tell us that your owl is able to trace portals?!" Eugene couldn't believe.
"Because there has never been a need to use this ability" Cassandra replied.
The companions exchanged glances, then went out to meet their friends. As they saw them, they ran up to them. Jaskier and Olaf hugged Anna for all time, next the snowman hugged Yennefer too. Barely a moment later the troubadour began to throw accusations at the raven-haired woman, nevertheless fell silent when his partner stood up for her and told what really happened. In a bit better moods than before, the group headed back to the palace in order to interrogate the man behind the whole affair.
The mysterious servant was nowhere to be found. Although Cassandra wanted to put out an arrest warrant, it was impossible, as neither Anna or Yennefer saw his face. The odd cat disappeared as well. The next days our heroes spent a lot of time together, for example sitting in the castle's gardens and posing for Rapunzel's paintings. The highly anticipated duel between Geralt and Eugene took place, which Fitzherbert lost miserably. The hetman also made an attempt at beating the White Wolf, and she accepted the failure much better than the husband of Corona's princess. New friendships were made, the adventure in the cave brought Anna and Yennefer closer, Jaskier took a liking to the violet-eyed woman too. A month later Varian returned, soon the company was getting ready to leave, with them the sorceress whom Olaf officially appointed a member of their team. Some time after leaving Corona the raven-haired woman parted from the group and took off to find something that could help her realize her plans. Although the time of separation came, the heroes hoped they'd meet again soon.

~⚔️~

And with this beautiful accent we finish this chapter. The magic of friendship won like in My Little Pony.
If you've noticed any mistakes, feel free to let me know.
Now I'll say goodbye to you, be well! Sending my greetings to all of you, see you soon!