Gadriel

~*~

In a mansion that was embedded in a huge tree, or rather in a mansion that looked like a huge tree, a young white-haired teenager was sleeping on his bed. He was sweating profusely and seemed to be very agitated. The latter suddenly woke up, his gaze filled with fear. He then hurriedly looked around, as if to make sure that nothing else was around him, only to realize that he was alone in a familiar place.

The child, who had a rather puny physique, put his hand on his face and wondered when this would finally end, when he would stop having the same bad dream. At the same time, a voice suddenly echoed throughout the room.

“Gadriel, is everything okay? I detect a sharp increase in your heart rate.”

“Yes, Eve. Everything is fine. Don't worry about me. I just had a nightmare,” he replied.

“Is it still the same nightmare?”

The young boy shook his head up and down in response, causing the person addressing him to manifest in front of him in blue holographic form. Eve, who looked like a young woman of about twenty cycles with long hair tied in a ponytail, told Gadriel that he had been having the same bad dream for three days in a row.

“Wouldn't it be better if I called a dream specialist to help you?” she continued.

“No, Eve. It's not worth it.”

“Are you sure about your decision? Gadriel, I'm very worried about you. You've barely slept a wink in the last three days. If you continue on this path, your health risks being affected by heart problems, significant weight loss, depression, high blood pressure...”

“Eve! Everything is fine. It's just a simple nightmare. Even if I've been having the same dream for three days, it will go away sooner or later. No need to contact anyone for that. Besides, I don't have any health problems at the moment, so everything is fine,” he said, interrupting her.

At this point, the young woman couldn't help but observe and analyze Gadriel. However, she didn't detect any abnormality in him, which meant that he was fine and indeed corroborated his words.

“OK, but promise to keep me informed as soon as something goes wrong,” the young woman retorted, presenting her little finger to Gadriel.

The latter also presented his and promised to keep her informed if his health suddenly deteriorated.

“Okay. Now you’d better go take a shower. You're soaking wet,” she suddenly said. “In the meantime, I'll take care of the rest and make you a nice breakfast. Do you want me to make you something in particular?”

“No thanks. I'm not really hungry right now.”

“No, Gadriel. There's no way this is going to continue,” Eve said, getting angry suddenly. “It's been two days since you've eaten anything and I'm not about to let that number go up to three. So, either you tell me what you want to eat in the next ten seconds, or I'll contact a health specialist to come and personally take care of you.”

Stunned by Eve's words, Gadriel replied that she had no right to threaten the person she was supposed to take care of.

“This is not a threat, Gadriel. I’m only doing my duty which is to take care of you, therefore to feed you. That said, you have four seconds left to decide.”

The young boy knew perfectly well that Eve was able to carry out her threat. That was why he finally gave in and told her what she could cook for him. Satisfied with the answer she had just been given, she smiled with satisfaction before disappearing in the same way she had appeared. And while she took care of her various tasks, Gadriel went to the bathroom to take a well-deserved shower.

About twenty minutes later, Gadriel came out of the bathroom freshly. Dressed this time in a less damp outfit than the previous one, he grabbed the bracelet with a screen that was on the desk next to his bed and finally left his room. The young boy went down the wooden stairs before finding himself in the living room where a huge bark pillar several meters in diameter was displayed. The latter seemed to support the entire upper part of the house, thus preventing it from collapsing on itself.

“Gadriel, your breakfast is ready,” Eve suddenly retorted after detecting the young boy.

“I'm coming!”

As he was about to go to the dining room, Gadriel's gaze was drawn to a sort of photo frame hanging on one of the walls and in which was a picture of his younger self alongside a red-haired woman. At that moment, the cheerful face he had just moments before completely disappeared, giving way to an expression of sadness.

“Gadriel...”

“I know. You don't have to tell me again.”

The young boy slowly walked towards the dining room where he sat down at the table, but instead of eating right away, he just observed what Eve had cooked for him.

“You need to eat, Gadriel.”

“Do you think she abandoned us?”

The young woman was taken aback by Gadriel's sudden question. However, she answered that this was absolutely not the case, that his mother would never do such a thing.

“She must surely be somewhere looking for artifacts or antiques. This kind of work takes a lot of time.”

Eve may have told him this to cheer him up, but Gadriel was visibly affected by his mother's absence.

“Listen, Gadriel, I'm sure Arya will be back when she's done with her work. In the meantime, you need to take care of yourself, and that starts with feeding yourself. You wouldn't want her to find you in poor health, would you?”

Faced with his guardian's words, the young boy had no choice but to eat what was in front of him, especially as the dish Eve had cooked for him looked very appetizing. However, contrary to the young woman's expectations, Gadriel didn't even finish half his plate.

“All right, I'm done.”

“Gabriel, this is unacceptable. You need to get your strength back. You risk getting sick if you continue on this path.”

“But I'm not hungry anymore.”

What he had just swallowed was far too little in Eve's eyes, who decided to launch another scan and analyze the young boy. The latter then asked her why she was doing this, but she simply told him to stay still. A few moments later, the young woman finished her analysis, but was very intrigued by the results obtained. Indeed, Gadriel was in perfect health, despite the two days he had spent without eating anything. How was this possible? He wasn't even a Celestial.

“Is everything okay, Eve?” he asked, seeing the expression on her face.

“Yes. Everything is fine.”

“So, I can go outside, right?”

“You've been going out a lot lately. Are you going to meet Jessabiel?”

“N…no! Of course not. I'm just going to the temple,” he replied.

Eve couldn't help but smile at Gadriel's answer. It was clear to her that the young boy had an appointment with her.

“So, can I go outside now?”

“Yes, Gadriel. You can go…”

The young boy suddenly got up from his seat and rushed towards the exit.

“But don't come back too late! Tonight is the transfer conjunction!”

“OK!” Gadriel exclaimed before leaving the house.

*

As Gadriel stepped through his door, he was greeted by a landscape that was as familiar as it was fascinating. Indeed, apart from the tree houses that were displayed on either side of his house, the sky of Exoduus, the planet which he lived on, was filled with Celestials – humanoid beings with a pair of wings on their backs – and gamals – creatures that looked a lot like manta rays and moved gracefully in groups with the wind. The young boy observed them for a few moments – imagining himself flying alongside them – before coming to his senses and heading towards Fjore. Gadriel had lied to Eve or rather he had deliberately omitted to tell her that he was going to go to this city before heading to the temple. He had something important to do there and he was sure that she would have had something to say if he had informed her of his true plan.

During his journey to the nearest civilian crossing point, the young boy encountered a good number of people of several different species in the streets, more than usual. Among them were Celestials recognizable by their beautiful white wings, Loxians, another humanoid species with the particularity of having antennae on their foreheads, Rumirunas, a species whose appearance was similar to stone men, and many others. This abundance of people was due to the transfer conjunction, a major and magnificent event that took place every two cycles. It was therefore very likely that everyone had come to witness this.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Unfortunately, the approach of this joyous event reminded Gadriel that his mother was no longer present. His feeling of sadness was further accentuated when the teenager passed by a mother and her young child who were both eager to witness the transfer conjunction. He could not help but remember a time when he was in that kid's place, all excited at the idea of seeing it.

“Mother, where are you?”

At that moment, Gadriel remembered Eve's words telling him that his mother was somewhere working. This then lifted his spirits, the teenager thinking that she must surely be in some place where she was unable to reach them and that she would do so soon. All he had to do was just speed up the process.

“Yes. Let's do that,” he said to himself before pointing to the horizon. “On the way to Fjore!”

After several minutes of walking, Gadriel finally arrived in front of one of the transport points in his residential area. It consisted of numerous circular portals measuring several meters in diameter and allowed the inhabitants of Exoduus who did not have the ability to fly in the sky like the Celestials or who did not have a vehicle to go to any city on the planets Exoduus, Geoshia, and Prominence. To do this, each of the transporters had control consoles on which the person selected their destination.

The young teenager found himself in front of one of those consoles which he placed his hand on. An artificial intelligence similar to Eve then asked him his destination and he chose the city of Fjore as the exit point. A strange liquid resembling water then came out of the holes in the portal and concentrated in its center until it formed a perfect sphere. Gadriel approached it and was immediately sucked inside. The bubble then burst before all the liquid was absorbed by the portal again.

*

Although it was hardly the first time he had taken a transporter, Gadriel was still not used to the feeling it gave him. He felt like he was completely soaked, even though no liquid was present on his body when he got out. Nevertheless, the teenager had arrived at his destination and he was still amazed by the grandeur of the buildings in this city. It was a huge change from those in his small town which paled in comparison to those in front of his eyes. Looking around him, he felt very small. Moreover, Gadriel was so distracted by his surroundings that he didn't notice that a person had just appeared behind him.

“Move out! Can't you see that you're blocking the way,” she angrily exclaimed.

The young boy turned around abruptly and saw that it was an old Loxian woman who seemed to be in a rather hurry.

“Excuse me,” he replied, giving way.

The old lady passed by Gadriel and took the opportunity to glare at him before gradually disappearing into the crowd. This small incident reminded the teenager of the reason why he had come to this city and he set off again towards the tallest building in Fjore, the one housing the law enforcement force.

After passing the protective statues at the entrance and taking one of the elevation platforms, Gadriel made his way to the 56th floor of the building, the one dedicated to the search for missing persons. The young boy walked up to the reception desk where a Rumirunas woman was sitting next to a Loxian woman who looked pale in comparison to the imposing stature of her stone colleague.

“Good morning. How may we help you?” the Loxian woman retorted as Gadriel was approaching their desk.

“Good morning, I'd like to...”

The young boy didn't have time to formulate his request before the voice of another individual sounded close to him.

“You again, kid?”

Gadriel turned towards the origin of the voice only to realize that it was a familiar individual. The person suddenly addressing him was an agent from this department, a Celestial with whom he'd already had to converse. The latter then approached the reception desk and told his two colleagues that he would personally take care of the young boy. The man led Gadriel into his office where he sat him down in a chair.

“Gadriel. That is your name, isn't it?” the agent questioned as he took his seat.

“Yes, sir.”

“Listen, Gadriel. You should stop coming here every day. My colleagues and I are doing everything we can to find your mother...”

“That's what you said yesterday and the day before.”

“And as I explained last time, our teams are working hard to find your mother. We've put out APBs in all the cities of Exoduus, Geoshia, and Prominence, and getting concrete results takes time. Therefore, coming here every day isn't going to help us make progress.”

The room suddenly went quiet. Gadriel came to this department every day, but he did so because he felt that the people in charge of finding his mother were not doing their job. Not once had they received any information whatsoever since the APBs had been issued.

“Exoduus, Geoshia, and Prominence are home to tens of billions of people. Why hasn't anyone come forward yet? If you really did put out an APB, people should have contacted you, right? Why haven't they yet?”

At this point, the Celestial was a little hesitant. He was wondering whether or not it was appropriate to tell Gadriel the sad truth, but more importantly, whether or not he would be able to accept it.

“Listen, Gadriel. You're a very clever boy, and this may seem impossible to believe, but some parents decide one good day to go on a trip with no intention of coming back.”

“She didn't abandon me.”

“I know it's very hard to hear and maybe even harder to conceive, but it's still a possibility that we…that you have to consider. This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened and it would be much better for you...”

“She didn't abandon me!” Gadriel exclaimed, abruptly getting up from his seat and drawing the attention of all the staff on the floor to their location. “Mother would never do such a thing! I know she'll come back! Mother didn't abandon me!”

“Kid. Hey, kid!”

Without any warning, the young boy left the Celestial's office and rushed towards the exit of this department, passing in front of another agent who was surprised to see a child in tears coming out of his colleague's office. Thus, he asked him what was going on with the kid.

“He's having a hard time coping with the idea of his mother abandoning him,” he replied.

“Poor kid. In his place, I probably would have reacted like that.”

“I think everyone would’ve acted the same way.”

*

Outside the building, Gadriel was running without looking where he was going. He was far too preoccupied by what he had just been told, by the lie he had just heard. His mother had not abandoned him, she would never do such a thing. He remembered all the times she had told him she loved him, and a person who loved another one did not leave him behind by going somewhere else. Besides, Eve had also told him she would come back. So, Eve was right and that agent from the department was wrong. At least, that was what the teenager told himself. No, that was what he believed.

A few moments later, and while he kept running without looking ahead, Gadriel hit something, something so hard that he immediately curled up on the ground. The pain was so intense that he thought he had either hit a wall or a Rumiruna. However, when he looked up, he discovered with amazement that what was standing in front of him was none other than a young woman. The latter, who was very tall, had eyes the same color as his, had blond hair, and was dressed in a black jacket with rolled-up sleeves, a white tank top, and pants and big boots the same color as her jacket.

However, it wasn't her attire or the fact that her body was as hard as stone that shook Gadriel, but rather her gaze. Indeed, the woman's gaze was so cold that the teenager instinctively wanted to flee. He had the impression of being in front of a monster capable of destroying him at the slightest opportunity. He didn't know why this was the case, but his entire body was on red alert and was telling him to get as far away from this person as possible.

Fortunately for Gadriel, the young woman did nothing at all. She didn't even say a word, neither to apologize nor to tell him to be careful and to look where he was going next time. No, she just looked back at the horizon and continued on her way. Intimidated and still on the ground, the teenager watched her mysteriously disappear through the crowd. Shortly after, he finally got up, wondering how someone could have such a hard body.

“Fortunately, nothing serious happened.”

Gadriel touched his forehead, the part of his body that had collided with this woman, and noticed that it was still painful. He then told himself that it had necessarily left a mark, the shock had been too great not to do it.

“I can already see all of Eve's questions coming,” he retorted before letting out a deep sigh.

It did not matter, he was going to tell her the truth. But first, he had to go to the temple. So, Gadriel headed towards the transporters.

*

Back in his small town, the teenager walked with his mind elsewhere. Indeed, he thought about the words that Celeste had told him. Of course, he didn't believe his words, but that didn't mean they didn't disturb him. Gadriel was certain that his mother hadn't abandoned him – Eve having also added that she would never do such a thing – but that didn't stop him from feeling a certain fear about it. Wanted notices had been put out, but they still hadn't received any news. For him, that could only mean two things: either the department's agents hadn't done their job, or his mother didn't want to be found.

But why would she do such a thing? There was no reason for her to act like that. Nothing about him or Eve could justify this. At least that was what Gadriel thought. At that moment, the teenager was passing by a park. It was a place he knew well, having frequented it when he was younger. He then remembered certain moments he had spent in this place with his mother, and the smile she had displayed at each moment was not that of a person who could abandon her child behind her.

“Eve is right. Mother would never abandon us like that. She probably has to work somewhere and she didn't see the time go by. I'll be there again tomorrow.”

While he had just made up his mind to return to the department in charge of searching for missing persons, something suddenly hit Gadriel in the face and he found himself once again on the ground, wondering what had just happened.

“What just…? A ball,” he retorted, seeing the object in front of him.

“I am sincerely sorry! My son hit the ball too hard and it…! Are you okay?! Your face. You have a bruise on your face. Did my son do that? A medical unit, quick. I have to call them immediately.”

The Loxian lady who was next to him was in such a state of panic that Gadriel was forced to calm her down by telling her that she didn’t need to contact them and that everything was fine.

“Your child is not responsible for what is on my face. Someone else did this to me,” he said, straightening up.

“Are you sure you're okay? You know, a medical unit can come and examine you and make sure you're okay. I just have to call them.”

“No need to do it, ma'am. I have a strong head,” he said, showing a broad smile.

Gadriel finally managed to convince the lady who decided not to call a medical unit. However, she ordered her child who was much younger than him to come and apologize. He complied with tears in his eyes, his mother having been very authoritarian at the time.

“Don't worry about it. It’s just a small incident, nothing too bad. Just promise me to be careful next time. Do I have your word?”

Gadriel presented his little finger to the child who, of course, promised to be very careful next time he played with a ball. Now that this matter was settled, the teenager could resume his path towards the temple. Nevertheless, on the way, he couldn't help but think that this day had been very unpleasant. Indeed, not only was there still no news from his mother, but he had also hurt himself many times.

“At least I won't run into that woman anymore,” he said after her appearance came back in his mind. “She's too scary.”

About twenty minutes later, Gadriel finally arrived in front of the temple of his small town. It was a pyramid-shaped building that housed all the knowledge and stories that the Celestials had accumulated since their existence, a place of knowledge that anyone could visit whenever they wanted. The teenager went inside the building and came face to face with Iria, one of the administrators of the place and a Loxian with a pair of wings on her back.

“Good evening, Gadriel. What happened to your face?”

“Good evening, Iria. It's a very long story.”

Gadriel briefly told her about his little mishap, which did not fail to surprise the young woman.

“You should’ve apologized to that woman.”

“I would’ve liked to, but I could neither move nor speak. I was much too afraid of her.”

“Maybe you were just afraid to apologize.”

“No, I don't think so. There was something really scary about that woman. I'm sure of it.”

“If you say so. You should be more careful with yourself, though. Who knows what might happen next time.”

“I promise. But in the meantime, I'm going to go get my mind off things,” he said, happily walking away from her.

“See you later, Gadriel.”

“See you later.”

The young boy ventured into the corridors of the building where many stories awaited him.

To be continued.