In the stories her great-grandma told, Adelheid never understood why characters seemed so afraid of the dark. Maybe that was why they were fictional. Maybe that was a way to tell the real apart from stories. She’d have to test it by hiding the lights in a room sometime. Though it wouldn’t be easy to grab them all at the same time…

Whatever, Adelheid was pretty smart, according to her great-grandma. Other people were mean, though. She never understood why people didn’t like her. Was it because she didn’t read a lot?

She wished she could just read books to get smart like her sister did, but she wasn’t good at it. Her tutors tried to teach her on the few times she didn’t get away from them, and she’d tried on her own. It just didn’t work too well for her.

No, if she needed to learn something, she would just ask her great-grandma. That was how she had learned to hide even better than she did when she was tiny, after all. Now that Adelheid was a growing girl, she had an easier time talking to her great-grandma, too.

The story had ended, and Adelheid frowned. She didn’t like the ending. “That’s stupid.”

Great-grandma didn’t move. She never did. It was probably because she only had one leg, and that made her too sad to do anything. Adelheid had tried to just give her one of those disks that made stuff appear, but her great-grandma hadn’t used it. It was still sitting there, in the water under her.

She didn’t have to worry about anyone else taking it from her great-grandma, though. No one ever came down here. Was it because there were no lights? Maybe Adelheid had been wrong earlier. Maybe real people were scared of the dark too, after all?

The ending was still stupid, though. Because Adelheid didn’t like it.

Great-grandma also didn’t speak. But Adelheid had that thing the system called an Affinity, and she was very good at knowing the things people would have said even when they didn’t. She was also very good at identifying when something was missing and, sometimes, what that missing thing was.

“I know things don’t always have a happy ending,” Adelheid huffed. “But I still think the prince dying is bad. You should have given them a happy ending.”

Great-grandma didn’t think so, from the reaction she didn’t give, so Adelheid just huffed again. The water on the floor started moving again, so Adelheid glared at it, making the shadowy stuff under them tap it. The water returned to its puddles as if it had just been spooked. That was the game they played sometimes, her great-grandma and her.

Adelheid had gotten better at moving the shadows. And at moving in the shadows. And at moving through the shadows. It made hiding so much easier, and her great-grandma was proud.

“My sister wants to know where her mom is. No, I don’t know why her mom isn’t my mom. Yes, my mom,” Adelheid kept talking as the things her great-grandma never said came and went. “Yes, that’s why you can’t have my name, because mom took it from you to give it to me. Sorry not sorry.”

Great-grandma would have looked at her in disappointment if she could have. She was very sensible about the name thing, but she didn’t let it ruin their friendship, and Adelheid thought her great-grandma was her friend. Just a very quiet friend.

“Really?” Adelheid was sad now. Great-grandma didn’t know anything about her sister’s mom, and Adelheid had given her sister hope. Now Adelheid would have to be rude. “You don’t know anything, anything?”

Great-grandma really didn’t know. Apparently one of her other friends was chasing a guy who was also looking for her sister’s mom.

“Why? No, I don’t mean why was he searching for her, I mean why was your friend chasing him?”

Adelheid was starting to think her great-grandma’s friend was pretty rude, even after listening to the excuse her great-grandma never gave. Giving gifts was nice and all, but sometimes people didn’t want the gifts. Even one of her great-grandma’s tales had been about learning to accept that, so Adelheid was pretty confused. Why didn’t her great-grandma’s friend already know that was mean, if the story should have taught her that?

“No. Sorry, great-grandma,” Adelheid shook her head. It was sad, since her great-grandma was probably lonely without visitors. But she was sure. “I don’t think she would like seeing you.”

Someday, she’d have liked to introduce people to her great-grandma, but she didn’t know how to bring anyone else here. And her great-grandma rarely would have asked about anyone. So to know she would have liked to meet her sister but wouldn’t was sad.

“Do you think I could find her mom myself?” Adelheid asked quietly. She didn’t even know why.

Great-grandma would not have said anything, the air in the room simply growing colder. With no windows or doors down here, it was already pretty cold in the first place.

“No?”

It wasn’t that hard to get her great-grandma to answer things, even when she wouldn’t have. She never said anything, after all. The words simply got to Adelheid. Great-grandma thought she could find her sister’s mom, maybe. But only if she got to the greener green of the stages. That might still not be enough, she would have said.

Apparently, if Adelheid grew up doing things right, she could multiply that Presence thing by a million. That Presence thing came up again. Maybe that was why her sister had been curious. It could be a big number.

Adelheid turned, looking at the nearest shadow. She didn’t need it, but it made things easier. She turned to see where her mom stood, folding some blankets, just as she’d been the last time Adelheid checked on her. Things went so slow when she was with her great-grandma that everywhere else barely moved in the meantime.

“Mom, what's a million?”

Her mom did a little jump, turning to her. It bothered Adelheid. Why did mom always act like Adelheid showing up was bad?

“Do you remember what a hundred was?”

“Yes, ten tens.”

“Well, a thousand is ten times a hundred. And a thousand times a thousand is a million.”

“Okay.”

Adelheid turned back, frowning at her great-grandma. Mom probably had better things to do, after all. Like folding blankets. “That’s a lot, great-grandma.”

Great-grandma agreed. She thought Adelheid would be better off getting Skills and levels to increase things that weren’t Presence. Her Affinity would take care of that, apparently.

Adelheid looked at the things, still frowning. She didn’t like the other things!

[Integrity]

1497 / 1506

[Toll]

13 / 72

Strength

16

Speed

20

Endurance

11

Dexterity

16

Stamina

15

Resilience

14

Perception

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

25

Charisma

7

Adaptability

21

Luck

12

Circulation

33

Presence

21000

If she really wanted to, she could get Presence to that high number easier than most would. But her great-grandma would have kept saying that Adelheid should put the next points on the others forever and ever. It was dumb!

Now that she knew what a million was, she wanted one. She would hide so well if she had that in Presence!

“How do I get that multiply thing to a million, great-grandma?”

Great-grandma would have said something about Timeless Affinities? Adelheid was confused. Wasn’t what she had already close to the best? She tried saying that, and her great-grandma would have just told her that she still had ways to go. Maybe one more step could be enough, her great-grandma would have said, but apparently it would probably take more.

Adelheid huffed again. Her sister huffed a lot and now she understood why. It was good to let others know when you were feeling grumpy at something.

Thinking about her sister just made Adelheid want to check on her, so she did. She got back to that chair she’d last used when she ate next to her sister, and found her taking a nap at the table again.

Silly girl. Why didn’t she just ask mom to take her to their room for a nap? Adelheid asked for naps all the time before. Now, she could just go back to bed herself for a nap whenever she wanted. She didn’t need any help. But maybe her sister did?

Mom was still away folding blankets, probably. So Adelheid tried to walk from her chair to her sister’s, but that wouldn’t work. She got on the table, and reached for her sister that way, hugging her. She’d never tried before, but why not?

Adelheid pushed, now next to her sister’s bed, and placed her there as best as she could. They were almost as big as each other, so Adelheid had a hard time putting her in place. But she did it!

She took a quick break to tell her great-grandma about it and cheered. Great-grandma thought hiding with other people would have been something she couldn’t do yet, but Adelheid had made her feel dumb! Adelheid was good at this!

It never made sense to her that she could only hide alone, anyway. Though now that she was getting bigger, Adelheid wondered if hiding was all she could do. It was cool but maybe she could do other stuff.

She still had those Skills the system had given her after she made those disks melt, but her great-grandma thought she shouldn’t level them right now. People would like Adelheid even less than they already did if she started leveling up.

Name: Adelheid Rīsanin

Kind: Human

Inherent Aptitude: ??? | Inherent Flaw: ???

Age: 39 months

Final Stage of the Early Esse | Level 10 (10+0+0*)

Lifetime Skill levels: 0 (F)

That made her sad all over again. How was that fair? They threw Matilda a party for her levels, even. So why not Adelheid?

Since her sister was still asleep, Adelheid decided to go check what everyone else was doing. She already knew her mom was folding blankets, and she usually did that for a while, so she would check on the others. Her dad was polishing some hooks. What were they for, for holding even bigger curtains than the ones they had?

That was the only use Adelheid could think of for such big hooks. Sister Thekla was in the gardens with that weird new guy. They were hugging real close so Adelheid left quickly. She wasn’t going to interrupt them. Brother Anselm was writing. Adelheid peeked over his shoulder while still hiding, but she didn’t understand the letters.

Maybe she should try reading more even if she wasn’t good at it. Brother Anselm turned, and Adelheid hid harder. That was weird. He shouldn’t have felt anything.

It was weird enough that Adelheid went back to her great-grandma and told her about it. Great-grandma would have just laughed, though she stayed still as always. She found the entire thing funny, but she wouldn’t tell Adelheid why even if she pushed.

Grumpy again, Adelheid checked on Brother Alaric next. He was playing with Brother Paul on a table, moving pieces. Maybe he was teaching Brother Paul. Adelheid didn’t know that game. Should she ask?

“What game is that?”

Brother Alaric jumped in place but much higher than her mom had. He answered anyway. “Chess.”

“Is it any fun?”

“Yes? I’m teaching Paul. I could teach you later.”

“Okay.”

Adelheid left. She’d be back later, then.

Brother Kristoffer was outside, speaking with a stranger, and Sister Matilda was with their mom, also folding blankets. Maybe she was learning how to fold them too?

If she’d known her new brother, she would have checked on him, but she couldn’t find what she didn’t know. Great-grandma said that problem might go away once the numbers had gone up more. That was why Adelheid thought she might be able to find her sister’s mom, too. But she couldn’t do it now.

It was so sad.

Instead of going back to her great-grandma now, Adelheid went back to where Brother Kristoffer was. This place reminded her of where great-grandma was. It smelled salty and weird, but it wasn’t as dark. There were also weird trees everywhere.

She couldn’t find her great-grandma’s friend to tell her she was being mean, but she guessed this might be around where she might be. Maybe?

Adelheid went to ask her great-grandma, but she wouldn’t tell her. That was pretty rude, because she’d told Adelheid about how mean her friend was. What was Adelheid supposed to do then? She couldn’t go talk to great-grandma’s friend then. She’d been hoping that maybe her great-grandma’s friend liked to play with water too.

She wasn’t very happy when she got back to her great-grandma. She thought of staying in their room to see when her sister woke up, but she could just check sometimes, until she caught her sister awake to tell her the bad news.

Giving bad news was no fun. Adelheid was sad for the millionth time on this day. She could say that now that she knew of those bigger numbers. It was probably right.

A very small wave moved in her direction, so she raised her hand and pushed it away. Great-grandma wasn’t being very fun right now, either. Sometimes there were shapes.

That was another thing that confused Adelheid. People didn’t like the dark, they didn’t like the waves. Adelheid had never seen a real big wave, so maybe those were scary, but down here, they were all so tiny. “Do any of your friends know?”

Maybe that was where Adelheid had gone wrong. Why would her great-grandma know where her sister’s mom was, after all? Great-grandma knew many things, but she was always here, always in the same place. Maybe her friends knew, yes!

Adelheid sat up a bit straighter to listen more closely to what her great-grandma would have said. It was long, even. Lots of words. But Adelheid had a good memory, even her great-grandma had said it was good before. She just had to want to remember something later and it would work.

So she remembered the words. “But great-grandma, what do those words mean?”

It was so weird. Great-grandma said asking something called a ‘sybil’ might help. They would be nice if she told them her great-grandma sent her. But how could she talk to one?

Oh, her great-grandma said her friend who was hanging around the house was one of those things. Still, she did not tell Adelheid what the word meant. Not that, and not the one about the ‘oracle’. That second one was supposed to be above them somehow.

Adelheid didn’t believe that. Sometimes her great-grandma got things wrong, after all. The house was above them, and Adelheid had never seen whatever an ‘oracle’ was up there.

Now, if her great-grandma could have spoken, she would have been saying all sorts of weird things. Things about the sea and something called ‘stars’. She would have also said something weird about her sister. That had been the right question to ask if Adelheid wanted to listen to many things, but it wasn’t helping her.

“Could you ask them for me?”

Trying to find them herself would just be the same old problem for Adelheid, and it wouldn’t work. She was pretty sure her great-grandma could talk to them on her own, even if she never moved.

But her great-grandma wouldn’t agree to it. Apparently, she could know what they were up to, but it only went that way. They didn’t know anything about her or what she needed.

No wonder her great-grandma was so lonely! Maybe Adelheid should search for her friends after all?

She went back outside, past where Kristoffer and the other guy were, and started looking around. There was way more water here than down there. It would be so much harder to push it down if it tried anything. But it didn’t move. Maybe that was because her great-grandma wasn’t here. Water inside the house didn’t dance, after all.

Adelheid moved from tree to tree. The roots were wide enough for her to stand on them, but she was too small to move normally in this place. She had to make her Affinity move her, and it wasn’t meant for places like this. This search was harder than she thought it would be and while she looked for her great-grandma’s friend, the system kept buzzing at her.

She never felt anything when she hid or unhid herself, or when she moved around, but one of the numbers would go up. It was stupid, because if she let it become the same number that was after the slash, she couldn’t move around anymore. And that would be bad.

She would still be able to hide by making the larger number above it drop, but that wouldn’t help her get back. So Adelheid had to stop searching while she still could.

“This is so dumb,” she told her great-grandma. “You say I shouldn’t use the Skills, but hiding would be easier with them?”

Great-grandma, as always, didn’t speak, but she would have told Adelheid to just wait. She could use those Skills later. But Adelheid didn’t want to listen to her anymore. Two times today, she had done badly at something. First, she had asked her great-grandma for her sister’s mom and her great-grandma hadn’t known. Then, she’d tried to find that friend of her great-grandma and didn’t find her.

All she wanted was to make her sister happy. It must have been so hard to not have a mom. But Adelheid hadn’t found anything.

So she left, going back to the room. She’d hide while she waited for her sister to wake up. While she waited, she thought about what her great-grandmother had said. She still had no idea what that stuff with the ‘sybil’ or ‘oracle’ meant, but the thing about her sister…

Adelheid wondered whether she should share it with her. It had something to do with trees, and Adelheid had just been searching for her great-grandma’s friend in that place so full of trees, so maybe it was important for her sister?

It was very easy for Adelheid to remember the words as if her great-grandma had actually spoken.

“She should get to know the whole of us sometime. Only then would she genuinely be the keeper of all branches that fall.”

It was weird. So weird.

Adelheid sighed, sitting in her own bed. Her sister was still asleep. But it was okay.

Adelheid didn’t mind waiting. Not one bit.