Tales of Yibixus: Ada

Gunter throws open the door to his daughter’s room. He’s told her a thousand times not to use that blasted thing, but she just doesn’t listen. So absent-minded to the world around her.

“Ada,” Gunter shouts over the sound of her fur dyer roaring away. “We’re not made Geld, Y’know. Selee is not cheap—turn that thing off!”

Ada, sitting at the end of her bed, looks up as she blasts herself with the warm air. She can’t hear him and just frowns in reaction to her father's uninvited appearance in her room.

“What?” she mouths, looking him dead in the eye as she continues to dry her fur after having just taken a bath.

Gunter glares at his daughter. “Ada!” he growls, baring his front teeth. “Turn it off RIGHT NOW!”

Holding the fur dryer to her face, Ada’s whiskers bend in the same direction as the powerful gusts of warm air. She gives her father a sour look before slowly turning it off.

The room falls into silence, and the two just stare at each other, neither of them wanting to break ground.

Gunter sighs. “Ada, please. You’ve got to understand that since your mother's accident, she can’t work, and we aren’t bringing in enough Geld to power such conveniences. Selee is at an all-time high, thanks to the war.”

Ada tuts and looks away. If only they’d let her help and use the powers she’d been gifted with from birth.

“Ada…?” Gunter rubs his face, “Don’t act so childish. You know it’s not easy for me. I’m doing my best, but without your mother's salary from the royal guard—I’m struggling to make ends meet.”

Still looking away, Ada replies, “Why don’t you let me help? You know I can heal Mom’s leg.”

Gunter doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t want to even acknowledge what his daughter is saying. The walls have ears in these troubling times.

“No,” Gunter says softly, rubbing his face with a single paw. “Just come down and eat. Me and your mother are worried about you.”

Ada turns to look at her father, and she can see the worry on his face. However, that only fuels her frustration. As a Formador, she can help, but her parents are dead set against her being discovered for her special abilities.

“I’m not hungry,” Ada scoffs with a long breath.

“Please join us.”

“And do what!?” Ada snaps, getting up from her bed to stand at the window with her back to her father. “Do you know how difficult it is for me to sit there and watch my once proud warrior mom struggle with her disability? Have you seen how depressed she is, Dad!? I’ve got these powers for a reason, and you’re refusing the chance to make our lives better!”

“Shhhhh……” Gunter shuts his daughter's bedroom door. “Please keep it down, Ada. We’re trying to protect you. If they find out you’re a—”

Gunter pauses and pulls Ada away from the window. Holding one paw on her shoulder he looks her in the eyes.

“If they find out that you’re a Formador,” he whispers. “They’ll take you away and do heaven’s no what. Do you know how desperate the state has become since this new war started?”

Ada looks away from her father's caring gaze and stares at her feet in disappointment. “But I can help people….”

“At what cost?” Gunter asks, gently touching his daughter's face, “Once those nine miracles are given—you’ll die, Ada. Neither I nor your mother wants that life for you.”

Ada folds her arms. “Just let me help Mom,” she says in desperation. “I don’t mind losing a life to help her.” Ada looks up at her father with a determined look. “She’d be back in the Royal Guard in no time. She’ll be happy again, Dad. You’d be happy again!”

Gunter is filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand, he’s so pleased with how caring his daughter is becoming. But, on the other hand, he’s frustrated with how careless she is with her life.

“Maybe so….,” Gunter looks away, allowing himself but a single moment to remember the times before. “However, no. You heal your mother's leg, and everyone will know. I’ve seen it so many times, my young precious Ada. As soon as people know—they’ll be on you like leeches. Desperate for you to make their every wish a reality. It’s not the life we want for you!”

Turning his gaze back to his daughter, his eyes flood with tears. “Or worse. They really will take you away from us. You know how desperate they are after stumbling across that one planet. I hear the inhabitants are terrifying creatures with no physical form.”

“Dad…,” Ada huffs in disbelief. “You’ve been reading those articles again, haven’t you? It’s all fake news. Our people have conquered so many worlds, and you’re worried about one insignificant war.”

Gunter wipes the tears from his eyes. “Just promise me,” he replies, holding his daughter's shoulder once again in an attempt to connect with her.

“Fine…,” Ada whines, rolling her eyes.

Gunter smiles wide and nods his head. He’s happy she’s listened, but in the back of his mind, he knows his daughter too well. He’ll be having this conversation again with her very soon.

“Those articles…,” he laughs, turning to leave her room but looking back over his shoulder. “Are interesting, y’know.” He stops and grins. “I read one yesterday that was very interesting. Did you know that a creature from one of our seeding planets came through its portal!? If it’s true—that’s massive news.”

Ada rolls her eyes once again as her father witters on about conspiracies. She wonders if she should form a tin foil hat to wear or if he’s losing it thanks to all that exposure to those elements he mines.

“I wonder what it looked like?” Gunter ponders to himself as he opens the bedroom door. “The article says it’s all been covered up by the Royal Family.”

“Sure, Dad…,” Ada chuckles to herself—pleased that his crazy articles are at least distracting him from the harsh reality of their poverty.

“It’s true!” he says with a smile, standing in the doorway as he’s about to leave her in peace.

“Everyone knows that only Grimalkins can use our portals, Dad,” Ada scoffs, waving him off as he slowly closes the door behind him.

Holding the door slightly ajar, Gunter peers through the crack. “That’s what we’ve been told…,” he says with a playful but spooky voice. “What if it’s not actually true….hmmm?”

“Go away!” Ada laughs. “Go and annoy someone else!”

“Okay, sweetheart. Love you.”

“Love you too, Dad.”

A few days later…

Weary from another two-day mining stint, Gunter steps off the tram and scurries onto the sidewalk. He looks down the street at his small but cozy dwelling and smiles. Just knowing his loving wife and daughter wait for him at the end of a long day is enough to get him through.

His legs feel like iron weights, but he’d never complain. Forcing himself to smile as he slowly approaches his home, the street lights flicker. It’s almost like the entire city is struggling for power.

“It’s getting worse…,” Gunter comments to himself, shifting his heavy mining equipment onto his other shoulder.

Knowing his family might be worried if the power goes out, Gunter starts rushing. However, as he approaches his home, things don’t seem quite right. His heart begins to sink into a deep despair as he realizes the front door has been left wide open. Something they’d never do.

He steps up to the house, and there’s a clear indication of a struggle. Boot prints can be seen in the dirt all around his home. Hundreds of them.

Gunter drops his mining equipment to the floor and pulls his respirator from his head. His heart starts beating like crazy when he see’s the lock of the door has been forced.

In a blind panic, he bursts into his home and calls out. “Adele! Ada!”

No answer. On the reply of the silence and the unease of the darkness.

Unable to see clearly, he reaches for a light switch. The lights only flicker once before failing to come on. Another power outage.

“Dammit!” he grunts, slamming his paw against the light switch. Now extremely worried, he calls out a second time. “Adele!? Ada!?”

Just as Gunter considers calling out for help, a familiar yet scared voice speaks to him from the dark.

“G-Gunter…?” it says weakly.

Gunter turns to look in the direction it’s coming from, and he’s left utterly stunned. Approaching him from the corner of the room is his wife, Adele, walking on both legs. He’s not seen her walking for well over two years at this point. He feels like he’s having nightmares.

“Adele!?” Gunter freaks, pointing at the leg that she’d lost magically returned.

“They’ve taken her,” Adele groans, filled with pure anger.

“Who has!?”

“Them!”

Unsure what to say or do, Gunter watches a faint glow coming from Adele’s side, light up the room. It’s her sword, glowing with the fighting spirit that his wife was so famous for. Although a comforting sight, It’s not what Gunter wants to see.

“What’s going on!?” Gunter asks, fearing the worst.

“I’m going to find the bastards!” Adele instantly growls, bringing her weapon up to her face.

Ignoring the blood lust in his wife's eyes, Gunter looks back down at her leg. He can only assume one thing has happened while he’s been away—off-planet.

“Did Ada….?” He points at Adele’s restored leg. “She did that, didn’t she?”

Adele’s fierce expression softens into sadness. Lowering her sword, she almost drops it to the floor and breaks down into tears.

“Gunter,” she cries out. “She healed me while I was sleeping! I tried to hide it, but somehow they knew! They just KNEW!”

Adele falls to her knees, and Gunter rushes to catch her. Gathering his wife into his arms, she bursts into tears. It's not the sort of thing you’d expect from an Ex warrior of the Royal Guard, but Gunter does his best to comfort her. The sound of her sword hitting the floor echoes around the room.

“H-how…?” he asks, trying to get his head around it all.

“I don’t know!” Adele whines out, sobbing into her husband's shoulder. “They just turned up and took her. I couldn’t do anything about it—it all happened too quickly.”

Adele cries out in pain. “I was so angry with her for healing me. I said some horrible things, and now she’s gone!”

His eyes darting around at the darkness, Gunter is too tired to think straight. Why did she not listen to him! He told her they’d come. His daughter’s desire to help has left his family shattered.

“What do we do?” Adele asks, desperate for an answer. “Our baby girl’s been stolen, Gunter. I’ve seen what they make Formadors do. We have to find her!”

Tears streaming down her face, Adele reaches for her sword, feeling it’s draw to be used once again. “I’ll cut the bastards down!”

Gunter hangs his head in shame. If only he’d been at home—maybe things would have been different.