;; Author notes here! My name's Ren, this is my first story on this site, so I don't really know how everything works. Be a bit gentle with me lol. This is a fanfic I decided to do for fun, based on Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, based around Hikari x the Harvest King. I know the game's super old, but I recently picked it up again and boy is it fun and addicting! This is mostly all based on my headcanons, mostly romance/drama here. I hope you guys enjoy it! ;;
"Humans are so delicate."
Perhaps the comment is a tad random as it seems to hold little context, breathed by the Harvest King that evening within a small farmhouse; breathed into the ear of a young, short female that he holds dear and close - literally in the "close" sense. He brushes his hand across her cheek, guiding a hair out of her face to take a better look at her imperfect, yet precious features that he adores so much. His fingers on his other hand curl gently around her own knuckles, holding it with a surprisingly gentle feel despite his strong hands.
"Is something wrong, Harvest King?" The girl speaks softly, as she has heard his mutter, and is curious to the meaning - a tint of concern in her voice. She gives his hand a squeeze, her skin tanned and roughed with the harshness of farmwork, and she brings herself closer to him. They rest now upon her bed, yet without quilts - his red bodily aura is what's warming them against the cold.
"No." He replies firmly and quickly to her inquiry, yet almost too quickly, his eyes narrow and his brows tensed by default in an almost permanent serious expression. To most, it was frightening. To her, it was familiar. "Nothing is wrong. Do not worry yourself, human..."
"...My name is Hikari, you know," She smiles lightly, though her expression is otherwise almost sad. She is worried, he can tell. But he cannot express his concern to her. He simply cannot...Though her words insist. "You can tell me if anything is bothering you, sir...I care for you, after all...You can vent to me anytime you want."
"Gods do not need to...vent."
"But even Gods have emotions...And anyone...Anything with emotions...Can't bottle them up forever..."
"..." Waiting in his silence, Hikari buries herself with his warmth, snuggling her face against his collarbone, bending her knees to bring them closer to her - to him. Were she a cat, the king expects she would be purring...But she is a human. Something he used to long despise. Something he still...
"I guess," Hikari mumbles, breaking the silence, "You should be getting back to the mountain...The Harvest Goddess might be worried...Or you might be needed...Or something..."
It's true he's spent enough time away from his post as it is. But he cannot bring himself quite yet to up and go, as important as his duty is. The only human he cares for - One of the only things he really cares for, seems to not want him to leave...Should he really abandon her now?
Silence falls between the lovers now, as he does not reply and she does not pry further for him to go. Nothing is heard except the gentle noises of the creaking farmhouse. Nothing is heard except the occasional cricket. Nothing is heard that resembles talking. But finally, something is heard - and felt, as Hikari pulls herself away from him, and sits up in the bed. He remains lying down for several more moments, and then he too straightens on the mattress. "Hikari," He begins suddenly - quietly, though he's not quite sure what to actually say.
"Harvest King?"
He blinks his eyes slowly, gazing at her rather blankly. He cannot see her face now - she is faced away. His hands, large and perfect as a God's should be, find themselves reaching out and touching her head, petting her hair. "...Yes?" He questions carefully, shifting across the bed to be closer to her still.
"Nevermind." She almost replies too fast, just as he had before. She's frowning - isn't she? He cannot see her face, and when he tries to see it she looks away. "It's not important."
Perhaps it's not, he agrees at first...But he shakes his head and realizes he needs to not push aside the human's feelings so easily. "What troubles you?"
"..." She considers it, apparently, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. She leans back against him, tilting her head upward to see his face. He confirms now she looks unhappy. "You said you'd tell me your real name when we got married, right? You did say that?"
"...I did." He presses his lips against her forehead, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind her. He enjoys being close with her, it seems. "Why do you bring it up?"
"...I was just sort of wondering..." She sighs, "...Whether that still held true."
The king pauses, a bit surprised she believes he may have gone back on his word. He cannot help but feel a bit angry - or perhaps just frustration and disappointment, not true anger - that she would even consider that he would lie or change his mind about a confession. He tenses, and Hikari notices.
"Sorry," She mumbles quickly, not wanting to invoke the wrath of a God with such a simple complaint of impatience -
"Human," He replies, interuppting any further attempts she might have at apology. But his voice is harsher; bolder than he intends, and she flinches a bit. He immediately lowers his voice, quickly apologizing for startling her. "I'm sorry. However...It still holds true." He lifts her chin, bending himself slightly and gazing into her large, kind brown irises, "You know I'm an honest man..."
"I know," Hikari averts her eyes to avoid meeting his any longer, her face gently red in the darker room. "I'm sorry, I just...Forget I said anything, okay?"
"Human..."
"Hikari," she corrects him.
"Hikari...I do not like seeing you frown." The king brushes his cheek against hers. She does not pull away, hugging the strong arms he'd placed around her waist. "As you will listen to me...I shall permit you to 'vent' to me, in return...Please do not hide things from me."
"...I won't. I promise." She gives him a small, but warm and genuine smile now. "Do you need to go back to the Mountain now?" She asks again.
"...I do...But will you be fine?" He's showing genuine concern for her...He is impressed with himself, frankly. Either way - no matter what she feels - he must leave, but...
She gently smooches his cheek, causing his skin to redden. "I'll be okay," She assures him sweetly. "You better get going, God." Noting his slightly skeptical expression, she adds again, "I won't hide anything from you. Okay? Don't worry about me. You have an entire land to worry about," She's joking, the king assumes, but...he takes it a bit too seriously, and clings to her again.
"Perhaps I have the whole land...But I only require you." He mumbles. He almost doesn't want to leave, frankly. He'd rather give up his godly duties for the night and spend it with this ordinary common farmer girl...Thoughts he's surprised would ever run through his mind...But...That cannot be. And he knows it...
Sweetly parting her hair one last time, the king promises to be back soon, and slowly fades. As his touch- the feeling of his body against hers - fades, the warmth of his aura fades as well, and she finds herself grasping desperately to where he'd been moments before. Sighing, she lies back down, and rests.
Humans are so delicate. The Harvest King learns this to its full extent soon enough.
As he materializes back at his throne, so does another figure appear beside him. He blinks at the blue, mist-like aura, opposite of his own 'flame', puzzled that she would appear before him at this hour, and so coincidentally. "Harvest Goddess," He addresses her, his royal speech back in place, "I have not summoned you."
There's a brief period of nothing but the wind, before she actually begins to speak to him.
"I...come on my own terms, Harvest King," She replies, her voice as mystical as her appearance. "I have come to discuss an important matter with you." Important...Is it as important as Hikari's feelings, the king finds himself asking, though he shoves such thoughts aside quickly.
"Speak then."
"I'm afraid I must ask you something before we begin. Forgive that it may be a personal matter."
"Go on."
"Has Hikari proposed to you yet?"
Pause.
"W..what?" The King's reply is a hesitant, dumbfounded question, breaking his serious and cold exterior to that of a confused simpleton. His face seems to heat. "What...What has that to do with...?" Was the Goddess watching him and the human this entire time?
"Again, I ask your forgiveness," She continued with a sigh, "I suppose that your answer signifies a 'no.'" She seems to carry a bit of a sad tone. "The small Harvest Sprite Finn has alerted me that she retrieved the blue feather, so I only assumed...Ah...No matter."
"Harvest Goddess," The King's eyes narrow, his frown pronounced. He tries to push aside his awkward feelings and regain himself, to get to the point. He does not comment on Hikari's apparent finding of the blue feather, either."What relevance does this have? Did you come purely to discuss my personal relations? You said this was important -"
"And so it is." The Goddess nods, crossing her arms slowly as she gazes upon him in his throne. "Harvest King, I'm sure you're aware of the term 'Demigod?' When a human is chosen by a God to produce an offspring, they, together, will produce..."
"Yes, yes, I'm aware." The King waves his hand, trying to get her to continue. Yes, he's very well aware of what would happen if he and Hikari performed such...human acts. As a God, however... "Goddess, you should already be aware I have no interest in..."
"But Hikari does." Interjects the Goddess. The King blinks. "Hikari...has expressed to me she would like to have children with you, once you two are married. And you have expressed no interest in this idea, as you say..." She frowns noticeably. "Reproduction...Why do you have no interest?"
"I...As a god," The King averts his eyes, not wanting to look at the Goddess straight anymore, "I cannot let myself be persuaded into humanly things such as...that." He grimaces, his face flushed slightly to match his fire-orange hair. "It would be...shameful."
"Shameful..."
"Indeed," He continues, his voice slowly regaining its intensity, "I cannot dirty myself anymore than I have, Goddess. By falling in love with the Human as I have - I have shamed myself enough, have I not?" He clenches his teeth a bit. He's not speaking truthfully. He does not actually regret falling for Hikari...does he? He shakes his head.
"You are contradicting yourself," stated the Goddess, interrupting him again before he can continue, "As you speak to Hikari, you express your love for her...Are you to say you lie to her? Are you to say your feelings are not genuine, if they bring you nothing but shame?" She seems a bit...disappointed, or perhaps even slightly frustrated. "Harvest King, you tell Hikari you're an honest man. Are you?"
"Yes, I -"
"Then accept yourself, and her feelings...And your feelings, also."
"...What has this to do with the original topic, anyway?" His voice is low now, and not as confident - but almost irritable. "What has this to do with marriage, or children? What, do tell me, is the relevance?"
"The relevance, Harvest King...Is Hikari's feelings." The king goes quiet at these words, so the Goddess keeps going. "Has she not expressed concern with how slow things are moving between you two?"
"Slow? Things are going quite fast..."
"Perhaps for a God. But for a human, her days, her years - they go by far quicker - In her eyes, it has been...three years, and you have not progressed to marriage. She does not even know your name, to this day...Despite your promise to tell her. And yet even though she has the choice upon finding the Blue Feather, she has not proposed. Why do you suppose that is?"
"..."
"She is unsure. Hesitant...Afraid. As for the relevance to children...It is a sacrifice you may have to make to ensure your marriage is happy, and lasts as long as Hikari's life goes on...Do you understand, Harvest King?"
"...You're being very insistent, Harvest Goddess. Why? Why does a mere mortal's feelings matter to you?"
"The same reason they matter to you." She answers simply. The Harvest King is silent. She is silent. They share a moment of nothing...And then...
"Answer me one more thing, Goddess."
"What is it?"
"Why did you mention the fact that the human and I would produce Demigods?"
"...I thought perhaps you'd might be interested in knowing. Though I assumed you already did know..."
"Goddess, could it be perhaps that you're hiding something from me? Be truthful -what is going on? You have never been so..." Assertive?
"There is nothing to be hidden," She frowns, "Hikari is the hero of this land, and a dear friend to all of us...including me. We simply want to see her happy." But as she turns; as she begins to fade in the aura of blue, she murmurs one last thing to the king.
"...As do you, no?"
The statement sticks with him even as she goes. He reaches out his palm suddenly, jumping up from his throne to grab the goddess. But she's gone before he can descend a single step of his icy pedestal. "..." He slowly looks at his hand, blinking. Why he had acted just then, as if to stop the Goddess...He's not sure. But now he sighs heavily, and runs his fingers through the top of his long, long hair.
"Hikari...wants marriage..." He murmurs, wondering if the Goddess's words held true. It certainly seems it. 'You promised you'd tell me your name when we got married...Does that still hold true?' That had been Hikari's question...And the king wonders so, too.
"Humans...are delicate." He finds himself thinking this again. But now he wonders, too, if he as a God were a bit too delicate...He settles back into his throne. He's...too tired to think on this right now. He closes his eyes, hoping to keep them shut...Yet it feels like only seconds before the sun rises and glares at him, signaling a new day with more work to be done as God.
Tiresome. How tiresome...
...
"Hikari! Hikari!" chirps a squeaky voice to the farm girl around the same point, "Wake up! Wake up!"
"Huh...?" The girl tightens her grip on her quilts, her short fluffy brown hair practically all over the place. She opens her eyes, but the light of her bedside lamp blinds her momentarily. "Aaugh..."
"C'mon, Hikari! It's an emergency!"
"Emergen...?!" Hikari sits up, slapping her hands on either side of her face, squishing herself in an attempt to wake up, and she squints at her Harvest Sprite friend who's tugging on the bedsheets. "F-Finn, what's going on?" Her words are slightly slurred, but she's trying to sound clear.
"We gotta go see the Harvest Goddess right now!"
"H...huh?" Hikari blinks several times as the words process, and then she shouts suddenly, leaping out of bed. "Haaa?! Harvest Goddess?! What happened?! Is everything okay?!" as she's talking, she's pulling on her work clothes.
"No! Everything is terrible!" Finn cries, tugging on his hat in desperation, "I had...I had...I had a horrible dream! A nightmare! A vision that told me the Goddess tree was going to be cut down and used for firewood by the townsfolk! We have to go check on her right away! She could be in danger!"
Hikari freezes, her foot halfway shoved into the wrong leg of her pants. She stares at Finn, her expression one of disbelief, and then annoyance. Groaning, she takes her pants off again in one swift movement and flops back onto her bed. "Good grief..."
"H-Hikari! What are you doing?!" Finn shrieks, gripping his face in horror. "We...We gotta go..."
"It was a dream, Finn..." grumbles Hikari, curling back up in the quilts. "It's not even six yet...I'm going back to sleep."
"But...But..." Finn looks heartbroken at her words, and as there's a knock on the door he screams. "S-SEE! SEE! THAT'S THE TOWNSFOLK COME TO ASK IF YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN IN THE BONFIRE!"
"Finn..." groans the farmer girl, pulling her pillow over her head. However, the knocking continues, and she sighs, supposing she might as well get up. She grabs her pants for real, and heads to the door. The knocking becomes more urgent. "I'm coming, I'm coming..."
But who could possibly want her at this ungodly hour? (Besides Finn.)...Speaking of Ungodly - she blinks as she opens the door, and standing there is...
"Eh? Harvest Goddess?" Normally she might address her more formally, or at least with a more welcoming tone of voice, but she's reasonably surprised.
"HAAARVEEEEEEEEEEST GOOOOOOOOOODDDEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!"
Before another word can be said, Finn is in the Goddess's arms, clinging tightly to her and wailing. She blinks, but accepts his sudden embrace, gently patting his back and looking to Hikari with a questionable look, asking for an explanation.
"He had a bad dream about you," Hikari sighs, before straightening to address the beautiful woman in front of her. "In any case - to what can I owe this pleasure?"
"Ah...I spoke with the Harvest King about some matters," She replies, still consoling Finn, "I wished to...bestow upon you certain knowledge about the state of affairs."
"Huh? What...What do you mean?"
"May I come in?"
"Oh! Oh of course, Goddess, please, come right in...Please, have a seat. Would you like tea or -?"
"No, no thank you...I won't be long. I simply do not wish to be standing in the dark," She adds, explaining why she has asked to come in. "It is awfully early...I apologize for waking you."
"Oh, I was already awake," Hikari says, only partially lying as she sits down at the table. The Goddess carefully does so as well, though she seems to sit on it more as a throne of sorts than a simple wooden chair. "Now, uh..." Hikari smiles nervously, "What's this about?"
"Hikari," Her voice is gentle, but proud; fitting of a Goddess - "You recently obtained the blue feather, yes? Traditionally, one may propose with it..." She closes her eyes, "And after marriage, humans typically have children."
Hikari tilts her head. Her face is a little flushed. But she doesn't interrupt.
"Some humans don't find comfort in such things, but...You wish to do both these things, don't you? To live the full, happy life that you've always dreamed of...You will require these aspects?"
"...Um..." Hikari gives an awkward grin. "I...I guess s-so, yeah...I've always wanted a family of my own," She taps her fingers together awkwardly, "B-but what does this have to do with...?"
"The Harvest King, if he is to be the one you marry, will need to agree to this life of your dreams."
Hikari pauses, surprised of the mention of her lover, the King. "Er...Yeah, I guess so..."
"Have you discussed it with him?"
"With all due r-respect, Goddess..." Hikari frowns now, "I...I'm not sure why you're so interested in this..."
"...Hikari, are you aware of the result if you have children with the King?"
"Uh..."
"Hikari, to put it simply...Your children will be demigods. They will contain half of his power."
Hikari blinks multiple times, very quickly, staring at the Goddess across the table. It seems to take a few moments for her to process, and then she laughs a little; albeit awkwardly. "R...Really?" She supposes it is logical in a sense, that if their father is a God, they would be part...well...God...But...While this idea has crossed her mind - Is it being confirmed to her? And what is its exact importance...?
"Yes..." The Goddess's expression is not a cheerful one. "And the Harvest King too, is aware of this. However...It is not a simple matter. Even he does not know the full extent of the situation. But it is something that...needs to happen, you see."
Hikari hesitates, becoming a bit tense. "What do you mean?"
"As the hero of this land, Hikari...Your job has not ended with the bells." The Goddess shakes her head. "Your new duty...You must marry the Harvest King and create a family with him - bearing demigod children... It will help you achieve your familial dream, but also be a positive impact on the rest of the land..."
After a few moments of gazing upon Hikari's puzzled expression, the Goddess sighs deeply. "Yes...I suppose I'm speaking a bit too...vaguely. I cannot explain very much right now, and I apologize. All you must know right now, is that your children will be the necessary key to this land's full glory...The Harvest King is hesitant about doing human things such as marriage...But he will not listen to me. He will only listen to you. So you must... perform this new task I have given you." She smiles softly; sadly at the farmer. "Please. Melt his cold heart further."
Hikari hesitantly nods. "I...can try. I will try. I don't...fully understand, but...You'll tell me in time, right?"
"And you'll find out on your own account, too." piped up Finn, who has finally gotten a hold on himself.
"Yeah..." Hikari bites her lip. "Thank you, uh, Harvest Goddess...For taking the time to come to me...It was a pleasure..."
"No, the pleasure is mine...Thank you, Hikari."
Humans are delicate - the Harvest Goddess knows this, and the Harvest King recognizes it, but neither him nor the rest understand quite how delicate everything in the universe really is.