Chapter 1: Her Daughter

A/N. Hey y'allll! Thank youz for readingz ma bookz :D The updates are goina be kinda slow hehe- But i'll try to update on either Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. So if an update comes, it'll be on either of those three days hehe :3 Also, if you haven't read the chapter before this, the one where Asher is helping me with the intro to this world called Althea, then you might be a bit lost- :[ So go check that out if you haven't :P Okeh, y'all can read da chapter nowww, enjoyyyzzz!

~Present day, on Corentin~

Adrielle knocked on Lady Rain's office door. "Mother?" She called. There was no answer, as usual. Adrielle was really tired of waking up to an empty house except for the housemaids. Even if she would never admit it, she hated it when her mother left Corentin. She missed her. A lot.

She knocked again. "Mother? Are you there?" Of course,  there was no answer either. Adrielle sighed, and thought, 'This isn't the first time, Adrielle.  There's no use hoping. Even if she returned from Aldora this early,  she wouldn't want to see you.' Turning away, she looked down disappointedly and walked along the corridor back to her bedroom. On the way, she almost bumped into Aunt Kiera, the housekeeper who's been working for her mother even before she was born. She was a sweet and kind old lady, and one of the few people Adrielle had respect for. If there was anyone who saved Adrielle's childhood, it would be Aunt Kiera. She was always doing the work of her mother, and that made Adrielle even more irritated at Rain.

"Aunt Kiera! I'm so sorry!" Adrielle cried.

"It's okay, deary."  She smiled, stabilizing herself with the help of the old wooden drawer next to her.

Adrielle smiled back. "Aunt Kiera, when is my mother returning from Aldora?"

"At noon tomorrow, I think." She replied, dusting the drawer.

Adrielle nodded, but was shocked to see that she was still doing chores around the house, concerned for her old bones. "Aunt Kiera, you shouldn't be doing any of this stuff anymore!" She snatched the cleaning duster out of her hand. "I'll take care of it, you take care of yourself, okay? You can rest for the remainder of the day." Adrielle directed her toward the stairs to her room. "Go on, I'll do whatever chores you have."

"But-" The old lady tried to protest, but Adrielle shook her head, not wanting to hear a word of it.

"Aunt Kiera, you have been taking care of this house for years. And now that I'm here, I should help out, not like some spoilt brat." She insisted. "I can't believe mother lets you do these kinds of things nowadays. What if your health deteriorates?"

Aunt Kiera sighed. "I will be fine, Adrielle dear. I've been doing this a long while. But very well. Thank you." She turned to leave, but said, "You're a good child, deary.  Give your mother a chance. She's not as bad as you think. Just blinded. Everyone she knew was taken away from her by her boyfriend, your father."

Adrielle looked down, wanting to say so many things, but nothing came out of her mouth. "So don't be so hard on her, okay? Do it for yourself." Then she retreated down the stairs to her bedroom, leaving Adrielle to ponder on what she had just heard.

+.+.+.+.+

Adrielle slumped onto her desk chair, exhausted. Her house was amazingly large, and she had decided to take on Aunt Kiera's job as the housekeeper for that day. What a great decision.

Nonetheless, she was happy that the old lady didn't need to do any of the cleaning and she could get some rest. That was what made her happy and a little less exhausted.

Her bedroom was quite spacious, with a big brown door and a small table next to it. There was a large furry carpet in the middle of the room in front of a king size canopy bed with a bedroom bench at the foot of it. A nightstand sat comfortably at the right side of the bed and a dressing table with a long mirror on the left. Her white desk and a matching spinny chair were in between the two long windows that had the view of the sea and the harbour. At the right side of the room sat three bookshelves filled with fantasy books, romance novels and reference books for school.

Adrielle reclined on the chair's back and spun to the left and right, thinking about what Aunt Kiera had said to her just before she left. "Give your mother a chance. She's not as bad as you think. Just blinded. Everyone she knew was taken away from her by her boyfriend, your father."

Growing up, Adrielle and her mother never had the best relationship. She was so obsessed with her job and other things and never had time for her. Adrielle had always tried to salvage whatever they had and make it better, to connect the two bridges, but all of her efforts were in vain. There was never a time when her mother cleared her schedule for her, never a time where they could have a meal together, never a time where she read bedtime stories to her or anything like that.  In Adrielle's childhood, there was only a time where she was chasing for her mother's love and only getting excuse after excuse in return. There was always some story to write, some days to spend elsewhere, and some thinking to do for the next story.  She travelled to Aldora every week,  and because there was so much distance between the islands, she was usually there most of the time and only coming back for two or at most, three days of the week.

Because of that, Adrielle had given up years ago to try and fix the bridge. She didn't like her mother. She had given her too many chances and no matter how much she really wanted to give her another one, she was afraid. Afraid of getting trampled over. Afraid of what her mother would do if she tried again, because she knew for a fact that her mother found her a little annoying. She was never particularly fond of her. Or anyone, really. But as her daughter, she always thought she would be seen differently in her eyes. Yet, her mother didn't treat her with any respect, and Adrielle had had enough of that since she was 9.

The only time Lady Rain ever struck up a conversation with Adrielle was because she wanted to talk to Amaya, her best friend and the former Successor of the Guardian of Weather. In Althea, people can summon and converse with the dead as long as the spirit has a host to dwell in for a while. For Guardians and Successors, it was the same, except if the spirit of the Guardian or Successor was strong enough they could kill the host with their powers and take their place.

Adrielle's mother used her to speak to Amaya at least twice every four months. During that time, she would visit Aldora with her mother, but that was never entertaining. She never any had friends to bring from Corentin because Elisabelle, her only friend, wasn't allowed to leave home for more than a few hours, or any friends on Aldora itself. She only liked the beaches there. It was calm, beautiful, and away from any civilizations on Aldora. She was alone, and she liked it that way over there.

Adrielle closed her eyes and folded her arms across her desk. She didn't like feeling like this, exposing herself to her old feelings and emotions. She didn't like being vulnerable, not even to herself. 

However, before she had any time to think of anything else, the door to her room burst open and her best friend Elisabelle ran in, breathing hard.

"Elisabelle? What are you doing here?" Adrielle asked, spinning around and standing up.

Elisabelle slammed the door and put her back to it, making Adrielle jump. "Gods, security is so tight here."

Adrielle shrugged. "Lady Rain does live here after all. And besides, I told you already, you shouldn't be here!"

She smiled sheepishly, walking toward her bed. "Sorry, Adrie. I can't help myself when I think about how lonely you must be feeling at home, without your mother to keep you company, because, you know, she's on Aldora and all that."

"How nice of you." Adrielle said, rolling her eyes. "I've told you a thousand times already. I don't need you to check up on me! You're not my mother, Elisabelle. And stop calling me 'Adrie'!"

"I prefer the name 'Elisa' since you and I have known each other for years." Her friend said. "And I know I'm not your mother, but I'm your friend! And friends check up on friends, whether you like it or not, Adrie."

"I just told you not to call me that." She narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Oh, right."  Elisabelle said, sitting down on the bedroom bench. "Sorry."

"And like  I said, I'm perfectly fine on my own." Adrielle sat down next to her. "You didn't need to make the trip here and get in trouble with the guards. Who saved you, anyway?"

"It was Aunt Kiera!" She smiled brightly. "She is so sweet and you are so lucky. I love her! I wish I lived here with you so that those guards wouldn't threaten to stab me again just to get rid of me."

Adrielle chuckled. "And which guard did that?"

Elisabelle's eyes lit up. "That Sir Jones guy. I don't like him."

"Well, you know I can't be biased here, so you're going to have to deal with him yourself." Adrielle smiled.

Her friend pouted and she made a face at her. "Oh come on!"

"Ain't gonna do anything! You wanted to come, you bear the consequences." She smiled, shaking her head. She felt herself letting herself smile more often with Elisabelle and be more open with her. It was.. An interesting feeling. A good kind of interesting. She liked it.

Elisabelle held out her hands and said, "Do you want to be tickled?"

Her eyes widened and she went, "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." Elisabelle's eyes twinkled. She raised her eyebrows in a 'do you really want to try me' way.

Adrielle pushed her away and hopped onto the corner of her bed on her knees. "Stay back!"

Elisabelle came after her, hands ready. She caught Adrielle and poked her sides.

"Ah, Elisa, stop it!" Adrielle started laughing and trying to push her hands away. "Okay, okay! I'll deal with Sir Jones, just stop ittt!" She cried.

Elisabelle smiled, and stopped. "That's not what I want, though."

"It doesn't matter!" Adrielle narrowed her eyes. "Wait, then what do you want?"

"Before I tell you," She paused, then poked her again, making her fall onto the bed with an "Aoh!". "Promise me you'll do it."

"Promise, promise." Adrielle got back on her knees, glancing at Elisabelle's hands, ready if she launched another attack.

"Okay, then. Be nicer to me." Elisabelle said, sitting down on the bed.

Adrielle paused, getting caught of guard. She looked into her eyes. "What?"

"Be nice!" She repeated. "You're always pushing me away,  saying that you're fine when you're not really fine and always telling me that I don't need to worry. It doesn't work that way! I'm your friend, and I want to keep this relationship because I really love you, Adrie. Like, as a friend. You're so different from the rest."

Adrielle looked down. "Elisa, I'm sorry. I... I just... I don't know, okay? I want to bring you into my life and show you what I can do and all these things, but..."

"But...?"

"But I don't know how!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "I don't know how to tell you that I really appreciate you and that I'm really, really grateful that you never go away when I tell you to. You always know how to cheer me up,  and you're always on time, too. I don't want you here because I don't know how to give back to you!" She could feel tears coming. "I don't want you here because I don't know how to comfort you if you ever have problems or anything when you're always so good at that! I don't want you here because.. Because I don't know how to do whatever you do to me! I'm not a good friend,  I'm not a good person, and I don't even know how to say that I'm grateful to you for always staying by me." Her voice went soft. "I don't want you here because I don't deserve you." She turned away as she started to tear up. She didn't want her to see her like this.

Elisabelle just sat there speechless. Then she sighed, and wrapped her arms around Adrielle. "Adrie, I'm... really glad you told me those things, really. Look at me." She turned her around to face her, but Adrielle avoided her eyes.

"Hey, Adrie, look  at me." She brought her hands to her chin, forcing her to look up at her.  "You're amazing. I'm the happiest when I'm with you. You're the greatest friend I could ever ask  for. Yes, you may have pushed me away more times than I can count, but I've never blamed you for it. I love it when I see your little smiles, and your cute little giggles. When you're happy, I'm happy. You don't need to worry about whether or not you know how to be there for me because when the time comes, you would know how to. You really worry too much,  Adrie. Loosen up a little! Smile more! You'll know exactly what to do at the exact right time, trust me. You're good at that."

Adrielle's eyes were teary as she stared into Elisabelle's big brown ones. "You really think so, Elisa?" She whispered.

"I know so." She smiled in response.

Then she pulled Adrielle into a hug. "Thank you, Elisa. Thank you."

"Anytime, Adrie." She grinned, pulling away.  "Hey, stop crying. You look a teeny bit less pretty when you do."

Adrielle smacked her arm and made a face.

"I kid, I kid." Elisabelle said quickly,  smiling. "Honestly, you're so gorgeous it's impossible for you to ever look ugly. For real. I mean, with the dark purple hair and the multi colored eyes? You're a freaking goddess, literally."

She chuckled and wiped her eyes. "Are you jealous?" She asked, sounding a little nasal.

"Heck yes!"

"Well you're never going to be as pretty, so get used to it." Adrielle playfully flipped her hair back and swung her legs off the bed.

"Adrie-"

"I'm kidding!" Adrielle turned around and grinned. "I'm kidding, I promise.  You're cute, too! With the dirty blonde hair and the, uh, big brown eyes."

Elisabelle narrowed her eyes. "Are you being sarcastic right now?"

She let out a little chuckle. "Pfft, no. No, of course not. Why would I be?"

Her friend rolled her eyes. "Right."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Aunt Kiera called, "Adrielle dear, are you in there? Your mother is back early! She wants to see you."

"Your mom is back?" Elisabelle smiled excitedly.  "I've never met Lady Rain before!"

But Adrielle was sucked into her own thoughts and didn't hear her. "Mother wants to see me?" She muttered under her breath, furrowing her eyebrows.

"You never talk about your mom!" Her friend cried. "I want to meet her, but I think I'll be interrupting something. If your mom wants to see you, I think I should leave." She turned to Adrielle.  "Right, Adrie? Um, Adrie, I'll be going now, okay?"

She looked up at her, startled. "Oh, oh yeah, okay. Bye!" 

Elisa came over and hugged her tight. "I'll come over tomorrow or something. Write to me, okay? Bye! Have a nice chat with your mom!"

"Right, okay." Adrielle said, pulling away.

She walked toward the door and opened it. "Hey Aunt Kiera!" Adrielle heard her cheery tone, but their conversation felt as if they was miles away. She was so caught up in her thoughts and wondering why her mother had called on her. Then she heard Aunt Kiera say she would be seeing Elisabelle out, and that her mother's office door was open for her to enter.

This was so unexpected. Usually the first thing her mother did when she returned home was crash in the kitchen. She ate a lot of food, which Adrielle thought was kind of cute. But of course, her mother was still really thin and fit. Then she'd lock herself in her bedroom or her office. She would never call Adrielle, not unless she wanted to speak to...

'Oh.' Adrielle thought disappointedly. 'Well of course. What did I expect? And here I thought she actually wanted to check  up on me. She wants to speak to Amaya, not me.'

With that thought, she stormed out of her room and toward her mother's office in anger.