Chapter 43

Aline's POV

"Do the elements know about this?" I couldn't help but ask. Did they know they would cripple or kill me? Were they greedy or just ignorant. I wanted to believe the later, but the thought of the former scared me.

"I...I'm sure they don't" Lady Emmi said in a comforting yet slightly hesitant tone. After another pause she said "Aline, why don't you continue cultivating properly while I talk to your dad about your mom's health in the main room."

"I will cultivate properly then" I said and pulled all the elements surrounding me towards me. I felt a small rush and realized that the way I had cultivated previously had not felt quite right, but I had no idea what was wrong until Lady Emmi stopped me. Now feeling the difference, I realized the difference. While cultivating with all the elements, the feeling was extremely serene and got lost in the comfortable feeling.

"Aline!" a voice yelled in my ear, startling me out of my cultivation. As soon as I was once again aware of my surroundings, I realized that my stomach was audibly growling and felt like I was being gnawed at from my insides.

"How long have I been cultivating?" I asked the person who had brought me back to reality, Jasper.

"A full day. It's already evening of the next day. Dad didn't want us to bother you, but I couldn't let you continue when I could hear your poor stomach. Here...I brought you food." Jasper said and placed a bowl against my hands so I could grab it.

I shoveled food in my mouth as fast as I could until I had to pause from almost choking. I slowed down a little and before I knew it, the bowl was completely empty and I realized I had no idea what I had just eaten.

"Would you like some more stew?" Jasper asked in his sweet and caring manner. "Yes, please" I answered, this time following him to the kitchen table where the rest of the family was eating. "Mom! You're awake and up!" I called out as I heard my mother's voice in the kitchen as well as my dad's and Sapphire's voices. I immediately rushed over and carefully gave my mom a hug as I didn't want to hurt her in my show of affection and relief.

"Are you feeling better, mom?" I asked as I clung to her leg as she was sitting in the chair. Normally she would pick me up and put me on her lap, but I soon realized that she was just too weak to do that. It also made me realized that she wasn't all better and that it would most likely be some time before she was back to her usual self that I had known.

All of a sudden I was picked up and placed in a chair, which really startled me. "Here let's get you into your chair, shall we". My dad said.

"Dad, everyone, please warn me before you do something. Although I do have my aura and can use that to "see", I'm still actually blind and when you do things or hand me things without telling me beforehand, it frightens me much of the time." I finally vocalized my long thought out request that had long bothered me, but I hadn't been able to vocalize before.

There was a long pause before a round of 'oh' and 'I'm sorry' was echoed around the table. I think I gave them a shock and maybe a lot to think about. They didn't bring it up again, but from that day on, I could tell that they were all making an effort to tell me beforehand what they were going to do when it involved me. I really appreciated that consideration and tried to make sure I praised them when they did. There were a few incidents where I was not given forewarning, but they were all emergency situations that I completely understood the need for urgent action.

With mom still recovering from her illness and poison relapse, we all had to chip in and help out even more. I was tasked to make sure mom was resting and didn't try to overtax herself. I reported to my dad and siblings at the end of the day on how mom did.

Jasper was eventually put in charge of laundry thanks to Sapphires occasional bouts of temper which equated to burned holes in the clothes. Sapphire was in charge of cleaning and dishes instead. As it was at the right height for me, I offered to wash the floors and Sapphire accepted. Both Jasper and Sapphire would go into the forest with our dad to gather wood for the fireplace and to gather food in the form of both animals and plants.

Dad did the cooking for the first few weeks as mom didn't have the strength and stamina to do the cooking. The only jobs she was allowed to participate in was letting me know when I missed cleaning a spot on the floor and helping dad season the meals.

For those first few weeks, dad, Jasper and Sapphire would go out every day and he would teach them how to find food. As soon as mom had recovered enough to take over the cooking, Dad would be gone for a whole day and it was up to Jasper and Sapphire to bring back food.

"What is dad doing?" I finally asked out of curiosity.