(AU 18-year old Alisaie Leveilleur, and her family are returning to her grandfather's home for his funeral. There is a lot to take care of, but the moment that Alisaie steps back into the Hinterlands she finds herself being drawn to the forests where it was rumored that spirits and pixies exist. One day, during a family outing… she's separated from her parents and brother before becoming lost in an unknown world of the Fae. Her only choice to survive is to follow a woman in silver armor who quickly earns not only Alisaie's trust… but also her heart.)
Alisaie Leveilleur laid sprawled out on the backseat of the car, letting out a long suffering sigh as she eyed the expansive water surrounding the bridge as she and her family left the coast behind them. Her father was at the wheel as her mother was checking the map on her phone, telling him to get off at the next turn, while her twin brother—Alphinaud—was reading a textbook next to her. The open windows filtered in the spring breeze that ruffled her hair from where she rested her head against the side of the car, feeling more bored than ever before from the long hours spent driving.
"Alisaie?" her mother asked from the front seat in amusement, "Just be patient, we'll be there in less than an hour now. There is no need to be so grim."
She knew that her mother was just saying this to cheer her up, but Alisaie just couldn't bring up the effort to appreciate the effort as she remembered the reason why they were heading all the way out to the Dravanian Hinterlands in the first place.
"It's hard not to be," Alisaie muttered sadly. "It just doesn't feel right coming over without Grandfather being there."
"We all feel the same way, Alisaie, but it's only for the summer," her father stated, glancing back at her from the rearview mirror as he did make the turn as his wife instructed. "There is much to sort out at your grandfather's estate after the funeral. A lot of decisions need to be made and I think that a change of scenery would be good for all of us."
"It truly looks to be in the middle of nowhere," Alphinaud said as he looked up from his book and out the window from beside her. "I can see now why it was so difficult for him to come and visit us in Sharlayan."
"I did suggest that he could come and live with us several times, but he could never bring himself to leave these lands for long," father sighed at the thought.
"It's not so bad though, dear," mother reminded him fondly, "We both grew up around here, remember? It's so lovely to be back, if only for the summer. The last time that we visited was about… thirteen? Fourteen years ago? I fare lost count. Tell me, do you two remember any of this?"
Alisaie knew that she and Alphinaud had been born here in the Hinterlands and lived in her grandfather's house until she and Alphinaud were around five summers old. After that, her father had gotten a new job over in Old Sharlayan, which required them to move to the city. After they settled in, they never bothered to come back out here, though Grandfather did come to visit them as often as he could. Alisaie always wished to be able to come here and have Grandfather show her around, and even asked her parents if they could come to visit him over the holidays more than once. But there were always excuses to be made, a reason why they couldn't come out this far…? Looking back on it, she wished she made more of a fuss on in but then she would remember how Grandfather would insist that it was fine and that living in the city would be good for them because of the amazing schools.
"Not… not really, Mother," Alphinaud said as he glanced out the window with eyes as wide as hers.
"I mean… if I really focus, I think I might remember seeing all these trees…? But… no… I don't think so," Alisaie agreed as she really tried to remember. But no matter how hard she tried, her earliest memories were of towering white buildings of Sharlayan.
As much as Alisaie did grow to love Sharlayan, she was starting to think that she lived the city life for too long as she looked out the window again. She could see the rolling hills and the mountains in the distance that overlooked a vast forest…? And felt completely out of place. She felt that they were stepping into one of Grandfather's classic adventure books in fact and a part of her was eager to see how different things were out here…?
She only wished it didn't have to be over such a sad reason like her Grandfather's death.
She felt her heart ache as she continued to stare at the lush forests of pine as they drove down the road, remembering how she had sobbed in her room all night alone when she first learned when Grandfather had died. She had been told that it was very quick and through natural causes, but that just didn't sit right to her… a man like him deserved a much grander exit from this world. Like mayhaps standing against a towering monster as he fought to save the world…? She mentioned this to her brother, who only grinned back.
"While that would, indeed, be a fitting end for him, I fear that such a thing only exists inside the realm of fantasy," he stated fondly.
She shrugged at the thought and asked, "So we will be staying at Grandfather's home?"
"Yes," father confirmed bluntly. "His home is small but large enough for all of us. We will have to make sure everything is in order before deciding what to do about the house itself. We can choose to keep it or sell it, but I'm sure that we will have everything settled before we return home."
"Is there anything to do around here though?" Alisaie asked curiously, "There's supposed to be a town, right?"
"Yes, Idyllshire," mother answered. "Your grandfather lived just outside the town, right next to the forest. But it's only about a fifteen minute walk. I do think that we will be able to find some fun things to do around here."
Suddenly, the car gave a sudden jump and that startled them before her father said, "Sorry, these roads tend to be a bit more worn down than those in Sharlayan. I forgot how bumpy they can be."
"Careful dear," mother chided, "We don't want to blow out a tire or something and be stuck out here with no help. It can be difficult to get a signal out this far."
"It's fine, we're almost there," he insisted, "They know that we're coming and they should be expecting us."
As they talked, Alisaie looked back out the window to see that ahead of them the road did look a bit broken up and overgrown—leading her to wonder just how often people do travel this road. But less than ten minutes later, when they were on the very edge of the forestline, she could make out something through the trees and squinted her eyes to try and make out what it was. It looked to be a building, similar to the kind in Sharlayan, but much older and crumbling with large gaps as if a giant had come by and taken bites out of it. Alisaie stared at it in amazement until they passed by and she asked them, "What's with that old building?"
"Idyllshire was built up from an old settlement a few decades ago," Alphinaud stated, holding up the book he had been reading and showed her the chapter labeled: Brief History of the Hinterlands, before explaining, "There are supposed to be scatterings of such ruins and abandoned buildings in this area. That house there must be one of them."
That got Alisaie's attention as she was eager to explore such a thing, but as if her father guessed what she was thinking, interrupted firmly, "Alisaie… you are forbidden to go exploring on your own while we're here."
"Ahhh, father, why?" she whined, leaning against her seat with a huff and her arms folded over her chest in frustration.
"Because those remains might be dangerous," he countered with a firm frown she could see in the mirror.
"Father, you are so over-protective," Alisaie glowered. "I'm eighteen… not eight. I can take care of myself."
"Even so, no one has lived in those homes for decades and those buildings are crumbling away… I would be willing to bet that they are unsafe," he said with no uncertain terms. "Don't think I'm not above taking you home ahead of time if you insist on in."
"Fine," Alisaie grumbled, now turning her head away from him and looking intensely outside so that she didn't have to look at him. Gods, she didn't know why he was always like this. Sure her father was protective over her brother as well… but in some cases it just seemed a bit extreme. She could remember how she and her brother would wait upon the bridge back in Sharlayan when they were younger—the farthest that they were allowed to stray from the house—and how she would lean over the edge to look at the little bubbling creek below her. Once she ended up tumbling in just as her father came into sights and he all but lost it at her as he pulled her out and took her straight home with a firm telling off.
Gods, you would think that she pulled off a robbery instead of falling into a creek?
After that incident, she stopped greeting her father at the bridge to give him one less reason to tell her off. But still, that over-protectiveness persisted even as she grew up. He would always make sure that he knew where she was at all times, ask her where she was going and with who, and insisted that she be back before sunset if she wished to avoid punishments. Because of such strict supervision, her relationship with her father had grown strained over the years and she found it ever harder to wonder how he could be the son of her adventurous grandfather.
She smiled slightly as she thought of her grandfather, Louisoix, and how he would come to visit her with stories of his own travels and bring her and Alphinaud all manner of presents from seemingly every corner of the globe. She had an entire shelf at home dedicated to his gifts and she always wished to be able to travel and see the world just like he had. Ever since she was a child, she would climb up onto his knee and he would read books of brave adventurers fighting against gods, dragons, or some other seemingly undefeatable foe.
"You see, Alisaie?" grandfather's voice echoed in her mind, "This just shows us the indomitable spirit of mankind. You can do anything you set your mind to."
Of course, as grandfather grew older, his visits home also became scarcer as he spent more time here in the Hinterlands. But he always made sure to send letters for her to look forward to and whenever she was having a bad day, she would call him and they would talk for hours on end. Now that he was gone, she couldn't help but feel truly alone for the first time in a long time. She wished that she could call him right now and tell him how she felt at this moment.
As her mind drifted to some of the more amazing stories that the two of them shared, perhaps it was to do to the sun hitting her face and making her sleepy, but she thought she saw something buzzing next to the window as well as a high-pitched giggle.
The sound jolted her from her daydream and she blinked, looking up to see where the laugh came from but when she glanced out—all but hanging her head out the window—she saw nothing for miles but trees.
"Alisaie," her father sighed from the driver's seat, "Please sit back. We're almost there and I don't want to risk an accident before we arrive."
"But… did you just see…?" she began slowly, confusion settling in, "I thought that I heard someone laugh…?"
"Hmm? No one laughed dear," her mother informed her.
"Then… did you see something out the window? Like a bird? I think it was a bird…?" she muttered giving her head a shake.
"No, I didn't see anything, anyway," Alphinaud said, having pulled out his phone and was checking to see how strong the signal was. "Maybe it was my notifications you heard? I just got a text from Krile asking if we arrived yet."
"No… well, maybe?" Alisaie said, giving her head a little shake. She was sure that it had been a child-like giggle she heard instead of the ding from a phone but now she wasn't sure.
"I think that we're all just a bit tired from a long trip," her mother decided soothingly. "Don't worry. We'll be sure to get some food and some rest soon. Just hold on a bit longer."
Alisaie was still frowning slightly but she let it go, deciding that it had just been her tired mind and yawned.
"Alisaie, if you're that tired, you can take a quick nap, I'll wake you when we get there," her mother reassured her. Alisaie nodded as she could feel herself becoming tired and as she closed her eyes, she felt comfortably warm from the sun as she began to drift off. Though, had she stayed awake, she may have spotted the quick flashes of light that glinted from beyond the trees… or realized that the tiny laughed belonged to a tiny figure with glittering dragonfly-like wings as they watched the car drive away with bright curiosity.