RWT :Yes, it is going to have that, and bonus's. This first chapter will mostly be involving setting the plot though. We'll get to the funny chaos later.
Storm The Panther: More explenation? Well that will be coming up in this chapter (or more things to ponder over, you decide). And your going to be sick of Mineral Town in this chapter, it's mostly about them. Oh and "My own Thougths" in the story...I wasn't talking. That was from the main antagonists point of view, I just didn't reveal that because I thought it'd be more dramatic if I just revealed that at the end with "I will rule like I did long ago"
Dragon Luver:Thank you, and this chapter is definitely longer.
Intense Gamer:Your going to find out more in this chapter, but you may find more questions to be answered as well. With every answer that comes, along with it comes another question and a side order of fries.
Well now it's time to get to the chapter. And thanks for the reviews. I think I have more reviews on this one story then I got on all of the other reviews I got on my other stories. Would you believe I came up with this story in the sixth grade (now in tenth)? Yeah, going to need a lot of tuning out on this story.
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Chapter One: The Beginning and The Omen
Jack was upset. He lost what he strived so hard to get, and he didn't even know how he lost it. It defied comprehension. The Mayor of Mineral Town, Thomas, told him he had to leave. He said it was out of his power, and that the MILITARY was going to personally drive him off his land if he refused. There was even a letter that came with Thomas's message. Then he got another letter, this one from his dad's friend, telling him to come to Forget-Me-Not village if he could. Jack had to go, it was a start for a new home and future. He lost all his possessions and all his money. He some how ended up in so much dept it was insane. It upset him so much that he abandoned his scarf and cap, which were his most distinctive physical features next to his eyes.
So here he was, walking with Takakura. The area was very nice. Takakura showed him around the town and introduced him to everyone. He was as friendly as he could be, despite how his emotions were telling him to rave and scream. He was normally nice, kind of a goof actually, generally nice mostly. Nicer then the people you usually would run into. Something about him always made him friends with the people he met. But not this day, he lost the land of his childhood. His farm...gone... It was as if it was an act of god that took it away from him...with legal papers and threats from the government...what government? Harvest Moon didn't have some big wig taking care of everything. The mayors of the towns get together for important stuff like mass famine but that's just about it. How could there be an army to kick him off his land? Jack didn't want to find out. So here he was. So far he met three girls about his age that he thought he would like. There names were Nami, Muffy, and Celia. Jack got smacked when he thought that the blonde girl's name was Muffler though...but he managed to get out of the situation with a wink from Muffy when he left, and without even trying. Celia also was already affected by his mysterious charm. But only them and the keepers of the Inner Inn warmed up to him during the first introduction. When all this was done, Takakura finally got down to the nitty gritty of the situation.
"Jack," began Takakura. "I know you must have things to do but...your father." Jack thought about that. His father? Was he going to say something about his always missing father?
"Did you know your father wanted a simple life from his trading business?" Suuuurpriiiise! Impossible. Jack's dad was always striving to become a great merchant. Money was always on hand from dad's stocks. Strangely enough, he never got mugged when he made deals in ghetto's to get development projects underway (Never mugged, he was too popular with the junkies. It was the big show sharks that were after him).
"What kind of simple life?" asked Jack.
"Your father wanted to be a farmer like your grandfather," said Takakura. Jack was very surprised. His dad a farmer? Your kidding! Impossible...
"So we bought this farm together. But he...had things to take care of, in a foreign trade. We know that he died on the trip. At first cops thought he was poisoned because of how he was. But in truth he wasn't able to become immune to the new bacteria quick enough."
Little did they know that the truth was the opposite. It was diagnosed as bacteria when it was in fact a poisonous vaccine to make it look like a disease...
"So now, the farm is yours Jack. I will help you with the farm, but I can't handle the place on my own. So let me show you around your new farm, I don't think I'll need to explain anything. Personally I think you got in debt from some kind of cover up thing that happened in your fathers company."
"That doesn't explain how the military got involved," said Jack glumly, looking down at the ground.
"What? Harvest Moon has an army?"
"I didn't know either. Thank you Takakura! A new farm! I don't think I could get back to the city! This is very nice! A new farm..."
Shut up Jack. He knew that he wasn't that excited. The farm was great and all, but what he wanted was his grandpa's farm. Not some thing his never home Dad just upped an bought for whatever reasons he wanted. "Those are cruel thoughts," thought Jack. "I should be happy for a new home, a new chance, new possibility." But what about all the friends he left in Mineral Town? Cliff, Rick, Karen, Mary, Ann, Popuri, Elli, Pastor Carter, Gray, Kai (though it wasn't summer and so Kai wouldn't find out for awhile), and the Doctor...strangely enough he didn't like to tell his name so everyone just called him Doc. Those were his main friends. He liked everyone else as well, but those were his main friends.
"Look Takakura," Jack continued. "I really do like this new farm, but... I'm sorry I can't show how grateful I am but... I lost the place where my fondest childhood memories were held. This valley is beautiful, but it doesn't match up to all that I went through on my grandpa's farm. And the memories I had when it was mine."
Jack recalled the time that he had thrown a party for all his friends. He spent a lot of money to get it ready. It started at 10:00 AM and ended at...he couldn't remember. It ended when the last guy fell down. That was most likely either Pastor Carter or Doc. Jack did a lot of work to make sure that there were a variety of foods, snacks, and drinks. Juice, punch, wine, cocoa, milk... he didn't want to leave anything out that would be a possibility. Jack himself liked apple juice before the sun was completely down. All the other villagers came for Jack's self appointed 'festival' but they didn't stick around long. Only his best friends stayed very long. The wine wasn't touched till late in the evening. Karen made sure everyone had some. Cliff didn't want to embarrass himself and wanted to stick to cold milk. But once she got him started... working at the vineyard must have really had an effect on him. Pastor Carter also had some to drink, but not enough to where his wit would be deluded. He fell asleep with a straw hat over his head and slept next to a cow Jack kept fenced in at the far side of the farm (Jack was out long before then though). There was plenty of room for the festivities. But all in all it was a fond memory he had with all his friends. Karen sang a song that Mary wrote during the party. Kai tried to do some stand up that day and did very well. He got Cliff all excited and went up to tell jokes on Jack's small porch he had constructed next to the modest green house. He was funny as well, but in a different way. He were laughing at him, not with him. But we applauded him all the same. Gray made fireworks, which turned out to be quite good, though nothing like the rockets that Saibara would make for summer. Fun...and it was on his farm. Everything great about his life was on that farm! And now...now it's gone...
Jack, in spite of himself, wanted to cry about the whole damn thing. Everything was so peaceful yet exciting. It was fantastic. And in one letter, one threat letter, it was all taken from him. The animals he grew so attached to, he raised them, fed them, breed them... He worked so hard, and enjoyed every moment of it. And then it all left. He was told in the letter to sell his possessions. He was told to hand the farm over to a bank he'd never heard of. He was told to sell his animals. And then he would collect the money and send it to that 'bank.' Jack saw the seal on the letter, how the letter was made. It didn't seem forged at all, but he knew he'd been robbed. And there was that military symbol on the letter, saying that the military would take action if he didn't do what he was told. And that just doesn't happen. Tanks rolling in from the hills, over his farm fences and over his crops, planes flying in and soldiers parachuting from the sky, all to take out a farmer who didn't want to sell his land... It's crazy! And yet, there was that seal. What would the military want with his land? He could fight for his land, in courtly terms, but how do you counterattack a bank/military compost heap of a system if you don't even know where to send the letter trying to clear it up?
Jack was very happy for a new home, and thankful for Takakura. But all Jack wanted him to do was to shut up, shove off to his house, so that Jack could just go to his new hut of a house and bawl on the bed and try and soak all of this in. It just wasn't fair.
"You look really tired," said Takakura. "I'll leave, but before I do that there is just one more thing you need to do. Name the cow I bought for you." Jacks eyes looked into Takakura's semi-closed eyes.
"Thank you very much," said Jack. "But...ah forget it. I'll tell you the name tomorrow. I'll just go into the barn now, look at her." Jack did just that, turning to face the barn and walking in not even looking to see if Takakura had left. Jack opened the doors of the barn and looked it. The cow was very nice. Seemed very healthy, and friendly. "What can I call you other then my new beginning," Jack said to himself. "That is the only name for you. Beginning." Jack unloaded his basic needs from Hyperion and guided Hyperion into the barn. Jack carried his stuff into the new house, taking Joey with him inside, and flopped down on the bed. Did he fall asleep and cry or cry himself to sleep? There was no way to tell.
-
Karen and Rick stood by the town mailbox right outside the supermarket. They were chatting heartily about the events that were to come up in that Spring. It was the fourth of the season. The Goddess Festival was coming up, but Karen had no fear. No fear at all. She was looking forward to it.
It was the fourth year that Jack had been in the village now. He was allowed to stay. Karen thought he practically took over the town! She thought of what a pain he was at first. He was nice, friendly, nothing to hate about him. But he was clumsy sometimes... And their first encounter could have went better. They passed greetings and when Jack went off to leave, he slipped on... Karen tried to remember what happened that day. It seemed like a blur. She remembered being angry, but the only thing she remembered was his smiling face when they both cheered up after they rolled down that. Yes that was it. Jack slipped on the early morning dew and they both rolled down the path of Mother's Hill down to the edge of the forest. They landed in an...awkward position. Somehow she had grown fond of Jack, but she wasn't about to admit it.
During that year he asked her out to the Goddess Festival. He didn't look like he was pleading or anything. He looked like he was simply being friendly. She turned him down. She had already said yes to Rick, but he took it well. He said "Oh okay then. Hey there's Ann, I'll go ask her. Later..." She simply smiled lightly, holding back a laugh. Any other guy and she would have been irritated. But something about his face. Mind control is what her mother said. He had the mind control. He didn't have it bad like manipulative people did, but he had it. It was more like the 'awwww' that you cannot hold back from a sleeping baby. They MAKE you do it.
Rick was looking forward to the Goddess Festival as well. It was the only time that Popuri would dance and it wouldn't be with Kai. Mamma called the doctor and the doctor said "Popuri hike, dance, or any form of exercise to keep herself in shape." They were worried that Lillia's problem might be brewing inside Popuri. The problem was that she refused to go on long hikes. She only liked going as far as the spring and walk around there for awhile. Dancing, she only did that two times. During this festival, and with...that Kai.
Rick thought of Jack as a good friend. Not as such as Jack and Cliff were though. When Cliff isn't working at the Vineyard, or out eating with Duke and Manna, or at church...okay so they don't hang out much. But they are always in good cheer around each other. Rick didn't know exactly how Cliff and Jack were better friends then Jack was with Rick, but Rick knew why. It's because Jack was friends with Kai. Rick didn't exactly dislike Jack over this, but after he found out he wasn't able to tell Jack about the problems Kai gave him. Big problems. No one knew what Kai did to him... or was that a dream? Rick, deep down, knew that the hassle Kai gives him was nothing more then the kind of pranks a big brother performs on his little brother. Rick also had to look out for his sister. But she didn't seem to understand that, just like Rick couldn't understand her urge to be independent.
Rick also liked Karen's dancing. He was also planning on asking her out to the Goddess Festival. They went the last three years, but she denied him the last two years. And why? Over Jack. That was another problem. But Rick wasn't so annoyed because... well Karen would return and ask if Rick was still open. And why? Because she find's out that every girl asked him again. Two times that happened. Popuri likes Jack, but seems to still like Kai. Who to dislike more? Kai obviously. Rick's sister and Karen may like Jack, but he had do admit that he was an easy to like guy. In fact, Rick always found it hard to stay mad at that guy more then a minute for taking Karen. Well he wouldn't get mad this year. Rick had a plan to get her to accept this year on her own free will. He had spent his hidden stash of cash to get her a special bracelet that would match well with her dancing style and the Goddess costume. He had saved up for this moment for the last four years. Just hiding away what little extra cash was he was allowed. Most of it went to buying Orichalcum from a catalogue. Rick didn't know where it was. Jack new though. Rick asked for some once, and what did Jack give him? Some quartz thing... And then the Orichalcum arrived in the mail and Rick discovered he spent all that money for nothing. Jack had the real deal all along. And the bracelet was made. He was going to give it to her the day before the festival, which was going to be very soon. But what if that didn't work?
Thomas came up to the store doors and greeted Rick and Karen. "Hi Thomas," said Rick, while Karen nodded.
"Have you seen Jack?" asked Karen. Her face blushed slightly, but she covered it up with the usual smile she had on her face. The smile didn't hint at all about her feelings for Jack, but the small blush just hinted at it. Just.
"Jack..." said Thomas while looking down at the ground as if in thought.
"Yeah...did you forget his face or something?" Karen replied with a laugh.
"No. He's...gone," said Thomas.
"What!" shouted Karen with fear. "It was that foodI gave him during the new years festival whenwe decided he could stay. It had to be.I cooked something and it was burnt and it was something and it poisoned him and now he's deadI was just moving too quickly and thenI bumped the table or counter or cupboard or something and then something fell out like ore or rat poison or something and it was bad and it poisoned him and now he's dead...and..."
"I...asked him to leave," continued Thomas.
"You...what?" inquired Karen, shocked and angry at the same time.
"But why?" asked Rick. He was equally surprised. They voted for him to stay. The only one who didn't was some guy named Aqua that no one ever heard of. The only clue to be found to the culprit was "He stained my best outfit!"
"It..s..complicated," said Thomas. "I got a letter with instructions to tell Jack to get out. The specifics were in a confidential letter that was going to be sent to him. He got it the same day that I told him he had to leave. I don't know why he had to, but... That letter was very eerie. It had some official looking emblem on it, but it looked almost...Macomb. I don't know what to make of it . I never saw any emblem like that in all of Harvest Moon. I can't even describe it!"
"And you didn't look into it more!" protested Karen. There was no excuse for not denying the letter or trying to find out what it was.
"Well, this is confidential but..." Thomas began to reply sheepishly. "An army division bought his land." All Rick and Karen did was stare at Thomas with gaping mouths. "And a threat should I decline my 'duty' to inform Jack to leave. A threat to the entire town. That was confidential. Now...I need to buy some things for home." Thomas walked in. That was the end of that discussion.
-
"Can't this thing go any faster?" shouted Kai at the captain of the ferry. He needed to get back there soon. Mineral Town had serious trouble going on. Fear for Popuri's safety was all that was on his mind. Safety for everyone there, even that uptight Rick. Something bad was going to happen, Kai just didn't know what. All he had was that prophet's word, but it gave him enough chills to check up on it anyway.
Kai had been traveling in the south. He loved adventuring. Something about the open sea, and the land near the sea. He loved the sea. He sometimes thought of himself as some kind of pirate perusing his title in the world. He even raided a village or two. A little charity party. Signs would read 'Party at Kai's place!' and they'd come. He'd prepare well for the rush, and have plenty of food, games, and things that needed to be bought. And when it was over, he would have made a good profit. And then it was off to the next village. He even had a girl he planned to highjack. Popuri wouldn't mind being taken out into the sea with him. They'd travel the world pillaging and adventuring. Kai and his summer time party shacks here or there, or the temporary stands that he'd rent. Everything was just fine and dandy. Never a dull day, and living life to it's fullest. If only he could tie up that Rick and show him around this find sea and show him just that. Throw yourself into the first thing you see and live life to it's fullest. Never a dull day.
So there he was in some small village. He didn't think the place would suit his adventuring, but it turned out it would set him on a potentially good and dangerous one that even HE didn't like the sound of. A wandering prophet walked up to him and said he had work to do in a valley where the seasons are shorter then they are everywhere else. He said that something was coming, for the worst. He said that when the happy one leaves the village, disaster will fall. Mineral Town was the place he spoke of. Kai knew the prophet was speaking of Mineral Town when he said that he'd better hurry if he cared for 'the young maiden who's hair is that of the spring cherry blossom, she who yearns freedom.' But who was the happy one? Jack of course. He smiled when he was young and it got stuck that way. Kai heard that he was going to be banished if he did a bad job on the farm. Kai made his ballot in advance, in Jack's favor. But what if he didn't succeed in staying, and the decision would be made on the first day of the new year. Kai had been on the sea for five days rushing back to Mineral Town, four days late. Pictures of the village burnt and Popuri's head on a pike on top of his shack ran through his mind.
"Come on go faster!" shouted Kai. He was becoming very impatient. He swore there was smoke off in the horizon, and he could make out land but he couldn't see the town, not even considering the fact that it might all just be in his head. He was scared of what could possibly have happened while he was gone. He wasn't much of a man for destiny. He didn't believe it. Crackpot gypsy people running around telling you what to do in the name of the gods, crazy. No such thing as Fate. But here he was believing it like a hypocrite. He wouldn't have paid that prophet any mind if it weren't for how he phrased the prophecy. He didn't say if Jack leaves, it was WHEN Jack leaves. So all Kai could do here was yell at the captain of this ferry to go faster. He was paying him good money to get this paddle board excuse of a boat to Mineral Town fast. And what happens? FIVE DAYS of waiting on the cool blue of the ocean, which he wasn't enjoying now. Not at all.
It wouldn't have taken this long if it weren't for the fact that a storm hit when he was trying to get out of that dinky village's harbor. The only man who would take him out into the great sea storm was a old seaman with a boat that looked like the Hulk of all boats. That thing couldn't survive a wave like that. It came out of nowhere, and it slammed the boat in the weirdest way. Instead of capsizing it, the wave seamed to weave it's way INTO the boat and it just became too heavy and sank. And good ole Captain He's Who I'm Trying to Become sank with his mighty ship, and he didn't even get to enjoy it. He was knocked out in the storm. The wave hit, squirming it's way through the doors of the boat despite how they were bolted down. It washed Capt' down into some locker, and it slammed shut and locked. Kai couldn't rescue him and had to abandon ship. No way was the sea going to take him when Popuri's life might be at risk. And that is what pressed him on. Popuri. At first he was worried, but he was panicking every second when that storm and that wave came. That is when he truly believed that prophecy. It was that wave, that was practically an act of Poseidon himself! He barely escaped the wrath of the sea god. He was washed up back on the shore of that dinky village two days after the storm. He was lucky that the days were already growing warmer despite the fact it was still winter, and the fact that he was in a tropical area during that storm. It was now the last day of winter. He quickly got his act together after waking up at a hospital much like the one in Mineral Town. He left against their will, and purchased a ride on a ferry boat. The only thing in the harbor that wasn't destroyed in the storm! And now he was making a very slow trip back to Mineral Town. Back to nature's fondest plaything. Good old Mineral Town. Mother Nature always had a good place for that village. And now the town may be in ashes!
Kai had tried to take control of the boat days ago. The wimpy middle aged man, the captain of the S.S. SOS, just so happened to have two Goliath body guards to fondle him on his 'daring sea expedition' and making Kai mad. Hurry up hurry up hurry up! These seemed like the only words Kai knew at this point.
"Go faster!" shouted Kai. "We're almost there so please go faster!"
"Doooooooo IIII have to call in the booooyyys again SIIIIIIIR," said that jackass cowardly ferry captain. "Tell you what, I'll go faster if you give me another tup..."
"Another 2000 G tip?" snarled Kai. "For the eighth time?" The ferry captain reached for the intercom.
"BUUUUOOOYYYYEEEES!" said the ferry captain. "Come to the steering room and give Kai the...Fishing, and the...class A sandwich. Give him a Dunkin Hurtz Doughnut too!"
The Neanderthals burst into the room. Kai turned around but wasn't quick enough as they got him in their clutches. They began fishing. They fished out everything he had. Then his knuckle sandwich to teach him to be quiet. They took him out of the steering room and gave him his Dunkin Hurtz Doughnut. They threw him overboard with such force he belly flopped. The ferry captain came out and waved to Kai.
"Ride the S.S. SSSSSSSSoooorrry anytime you want!" shouted the prick of a ferry man. He and his body guards went back into the steering room and began to drive the ferry out to sea again, and this time it went FAST. Kai cursed to himself and looked to the shoreline of Mineral Beach. It didn't look far but he knew it was going to be a good five miles of swimming. He couldn't believe it! But Popuri was on the line. And he guessed that since the waves were pushing him in that direction with a lot of force, good ole Poseidon was on his side for the day. Kai began to swim back to nature.
-
Cliff, you mess. That is what he thought. They knew him pretty well by now, but not his past. Cliff... His village. It's true he left on his own accord, but the Mineral Town villagers didn't really know what the village was or where he was from or what he was. It was some kind of military town. It was under the employment of a gang. He was young when he snuck away from the village or base. He hadn't proven himself worthy of knowing the name of the gang or the name of the army division. But he was a part of it, and fought with it in several missions. He kept that hidden for a while. But he came here, and he couldn't lie to Pastor Carter. That was his only salvation from his murders, though it was few compared to what an actual war veteran would be able to boast about. So if he could tell Pastor Carter, why couldn't he tell sweet Ann? She'll hate him that's why. He took life. Damn the sword. They gave him a gun but he was a horrible shot. He was not very strong either. But he had a good sword arm and they sent him on missions where he was going to travel light, and needed to be quiet. He felt like some kind of ninja reject. And why couldn't he tell Jack, his best friend? Who knows. Jack was a good person, and had the right to know that he was with a murderer, and pursue other friends that were better. But Cliff didn't want to tell him either, simple as that. Duke and Manna, how could he break their hearts? They now have someone they can pretend is their son. What would they say if they found out? And yet Cliff kept the sword he swore would be his bane, as a reminder of who he was, and that he must repent for it someday. But if they should find it...
Cliff did his best to always seem clean and tidy when inside. Making sure that Ann had no reason to clean his room. No reason to look around and just one day find that sword. That horrible blade. It was black. It looked like a jagged tooth. The back of the blade was curved, then would bend down slightly again, and back up to a point. The front of the blade curved to the point, with little sharp ridges in it leading all the way to the top. It was designed to leave gruesome scars to those who survive it. And in the other side of the scabbard was a small plain dagger for quicker kills. And it was his to bear with shame.
KNOCK KNOCK sounded the door followed by Ann's voice. Cliff put the scabbard holding those devil weapons under a loose floor plank under his bed. It was a clearly noticeable thing if one simply looks under the bed to clean. Gotta keep this place clean, don't need anyone looking under there for dust bunnies.
Cliff finally opened the door to his room and looked out to see Ann's bright and beaming face. "Great Goddess of the harvest, why does she have to be so lovely and grace a murderer like me with her presence?" thought Cliff.
"Hi Cliff!" greeted Ann. "You look sad again today. Jack got to stay here and you've been sad again for too much of the time. Why?"
"Because of the dreams. The old Cliff, is out there looking for you. He wants out. He's in that sword and he wants out for some blood. And I have to keep it with me," thought Cliff. He opened his mouth to speak to Ann, and quickly tried to make it a yawn.
"Hmm? Sleepy?" asked Ann.
"Nightmares," said Cliff. "Bad ones. I feel like something is going to happen. I'm skipping work today and going to church. I'm going to see if Pastor Carter can't help me clear this up. I think I'm having black visions."
Ann laughed softly to this. It was just amusing that Cliff was so serious about church. Look at him, the way he's dressed. He seems like the type that would skip work, but not to go to church!
"If you say so Cliff," replied Ann. "Just get your breakfast first. It's downstairs okay?" She graced Cliff with a smile and walked a small distance away and looked back. She smiled at Cliff again and began to giggle. "I'm so happy Jack is staying!" Having said thus she went around the corner, and the sounds of her feet against wood followed as she proceeded down the flight of stairs.
"Jack," Cliff began to say to himself. "You deserve to be with her. I wish I was, but I am not worthy, and I fear I will kill her. You and her...yes. Not me, so stop insisting I break the ice." Having said his peace, Cliff followed after her. He didn't even notice that the door to Ann and Gray's room was open slightly. Gray's head peered out. His gaze was cold, but if one looked right, you would notice that he is worried for the troubled Cliff. He knows something is deep inside him that eats at him. Gray knew... Somehow, he got mixed up in the same group and fled. Best reason to stay here in the country and learn how to make stuff out of metal. You may find a way to stop those 'black weapons' that those crazy cult gang guys are making.
-
"Lillia how are you doing today?" asked Doc. "Well today is the day. A new kind of medicine has come in today. It hasn't been named yet, and it hasn't been tested on humans yet. We don't know what the side effects are but it may just help you out more then anything else we can possibly do for you without the Desert Flower."
"Thank you very much Doc," said Lillia. "I think I'll risk it anyway. I really need to get my energy back. I'm not sure how much longer I can take those winters. I do so little work, and it tires me out so much, and then there's my children doing the work for me."
"Elli will give you the medicine," said Doc. "There's just one problem. It requires a shot. Once a day for one week. Come see me then. If you feel anything that seems very out of the ordinary, come see me."
"I already feel something out of the ordinary. I feel it in my heart."
"Well..."
"Yes, I'll go see her now."
Lillia walked over to the registration desk. Elli handed her a high impact resistant case, safely holding the medicine inside. She took it carefully and walked out of the building with a fragile grace. Elli stood up from the desk and left to see Doc behind the curtains.
"Sir I," began Elli.
"Yes Elli?" asked Doc. "Is something the matter?"
"I think something is going to happen soon. I feel it too."
"It is just a aftershock of the celebration on the first. Jack gets to stay here, and I know that you like him." Yes he knew, though he didn't want to know. Doc liked Elli, but didn't appeal to the idea of being seen as the doctor in that book, The Medicine of A New Healing. It was written not too long ago. It stars a nurse who behaves much like Elli, and a doctor who behaves like Doc. But the ending is tragic as you find out that the doctor you liked up till the end was really a sick man who raped and murdered nurses in the hospital he worked in. Doc did not like the idea about a book character acting like him. He knew better then to believe that the villagers would read the same book and get ideas about him, but still. So he didn't lay a finger on Elli. If she wants to be with him, he'll accept. Until then, let her be happy. She read The Medicine too. He was afraid she may freak out if he tried to get closer to her, even just a hug. So let her be happy.
"Well that may be sir but..." continued Elli. "I really do think something is about to happen. I can't place my finger on it...but..." Doc closed his eyes.
"...I know...I feel it too..." said Doc. As he grows closer to the cures for people, he gets the feeling more often. Gray came to him once and gave him a mysterious ore. Doc was curious about it at first, it had a sort of aura to it. Gray told him find a cure to it. He studied the ore, and it seemed that it would effect creatures the way that Lillia's disease effects her. This new medicine he's made is from experimenting on the ore. Gray said that some people were making 'black weapons' with it. Doc didn't like the idea. And he read newspapers that are foreign to this country of Harvest Moon. Things were indeed happening, and cases like Lillia were springing up everywhere, most of them were people who were attacked. Something was happening...but what? Doc hoped his cure would work. It could save a lot of people in this new epidemic. But there was always one thing that rang in his mind about the matter. 'Black Weapons.'
-
The day was late now. Karen and Rick had finished spreading the word. From Gotz to Zack, from Mary to Ann, and everywhere in between except Pastor Carter They couldn't find him. Everyone was shocked, but not as shocked as it would have been if Karen and Rick told anyone the confidential information. But some didn't need to know. They knew on their own. Cliff went back to his room on hearing, stood over his black weapon, and cursed the weapon. Gray went to Mary's library. It was going to be closed this fine Monday, but... she'd let him inside. This was important. So he knocked on the door of the library. She opened it up and let him it.
The library wasn't lit very well. Only the sky light revealed light, and it was mostly shut over itself. How Mary did that, Gray didn't know. She had a ladder to do it, but...
"Hey," said Gray.
"...Hi," said Mary.
They both had little words to describe what the meaning of this was. Gray looked around and at the books that were never on display, the strange artifacts, the scented candles. It was for a ritual. They both knew about black weapons. Gray told her, and she had a book on the ore the cursed weapons were made from. They both had this emotion... Gray had two though. One for her, one for what was going to happen...whatever it was. Mary was worried about the future too, and was afraid for Jack.
"See the future yet?" asked Gray.
"No," answered Mary. "I don't think I can do that. I can't do anything with the ore you brought. Maybe if you had more, or if you worked on the ore while I tried the ritual.
"I don't think I should do that. It would make the old man appreciate me maybe, but I don't dare try more with that stuff then this. I gave most of it to Doc, see if he can find a cure for it. Not sure if he did yet, if it's even possible. And you couldn't find out if it has a spirit. The best thing would be to melt and mold it, but I dare not make anything with...THAT...stu..ff..."
Gray glared down at the black ore on one of the tables. He had trouble hiding it from Ann, and more so from Saibara. Saibara could practically SMELL that powerful ore on Gray. The small amounts of it's dust on his cloths. Saibara was hungry for that ore. Gray, did you find a new ore? No sir. Are you sure? I don't. I had a feeling you had something new, something that would make great things. I SAID I DON'T! Gah! That stuff shouldn't be tampered with, Gray risked too much giving it to Mary and Doc! That stuff could poison them, or call out to them, or make Cliff's black weapon call out to him. That would be a catastrophe.
-
Pastor Carter could only stare in wonder at the man wandering out of the ocean. Things were getting weirder and weirder. The Goddess came to him in a vision the night before Jack's Judgment. Some dark thing came out of a hole in the ground. It was by a river, in a town Pastor Carter knew housed another man named Carter. That Carter was digging and will dig too deeply. Jack is in that town too, a small town. This was Forget-Me-Not Valley. Something was going to happen there, and it would involve that dig site. And then Jack was allowed to stay, and then Cliff came and told him how the...black weapon...called to him. Ancient ore, ancient weapons, and something ancient in Forget-Me-Not Valley. And now here comes that young Kai from the ocean. He looks very tired.
Pastor Carter jogged down to the beach line and grabbed hold of Kai as he collapsed.
"By The Goddess what happened?" asked Pastor Carter.
"A lot of things," said Kai. The seaman looked up to Carter and grinned. "But nothing I couldn't handle."
"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you swam here from across the sea?"
"I was coming here on a boat and got ship wrecked. Then I got on a very slow ferry to come here. Five days we traveled on that paddle board, and they mugged me and dropped me in the sea five miles out there. I swam here...what time is it? Uhh...I need a drink."
"Sure, I'll take you to the Inn. But first we should get you to Doc."
"No. Get Doc to come to me at the Inn, but before that, I got a little ghost story for ya that a prophet told me, and what happened to me on the greatest ship I ever saw, and before that...Is Jack still here?"
"Yes, he got voted to stay."
"Great! Now let me tell you the Epic of Kai."
-
Kai was feeling much better. Everyone in the whole village came to see him there at the Inn, with the doctor checking him out in front of everyone while he was stuffing his face and drinking wine. Kai was so cold after coming out of the water that the stethoscope Doc had was nothing. And now he was with a hot meal, and some wine from their own Aja.
"Please Kai stop eating long enough for me to get this exam done accurately," pleaded Doc. Kai took a big bite of a steak with his bare hands, ripped off a chunk, swallowed it whole, and finished off with a long gulp of wine.
"No can do. This is all I need right here!" shouted Kai, swaying a little while shaking the mug in his hands a bit. Rick glared at him.
"What happened to you Kai!" asked Popuri.
"I'll be more then happy to tell. I got some oracle thing saying something bad happened here, and I came to check it out for laughs. But I especially became suspicious when I got caught in a storm. I was on the finest vessel that could have ever grazed the surface of the sea. We came into a storm. I took the wheel and tried to save me and my crew, but lol ohl erelll ol lol...whatever old stories say... but lo! Yeah that's it. Huge wave, size of Mother Hill comes out of the depths at us. Out of nowhere. It was weird. Normally the waves build up and up and up and crash. This one just leaped out of the ocean. It didn't capsize the boat either. It smothered the ship and I swear to the Harvest Goddess that wave was possessed. It CRAWLED INTO THE SHIP, and flooded me out, taking the boat and the men with it!"
"Yeah I bet," grumbled Rick.
"Hmph, didn't expect different from you Rick," commented Kai. "So I washed back up on the shore I started from. I got on a paddle board of a ferry and off I was to Mineral Beach. Took way to long. The trip cost everything I had. That's right folks, I'm poor now. Five miles off the shore they mugged me, and threw me into the sea. I swam that five miles here. And you know how I did it?"
Rick gave him a look that said 'you didn't swim five miles, you just got more then you could chew and washed ashore.' Everyone shook their heads at Kai's question, eagerly expecting the answer. Kai staggered to his feet a bit, either from stiffness in his worn muscles or from the wine, or both. He wobbled over to Popuri, took her hand and said "I couldn't have done it without this fine lass." Popuri blushed. Kai took a good look around the Inn. "Say where's Jack?" asked Kai. "Where ya hiding?"
"...He...left..." said Cliff. Kai instantly woke up.
"What the hell did you say?" said Kai, fear in his eyes.
"He got kicked out of town by some 'army' thing that threatened the town," confessed Thomas. "I was forced to ask him to leave, and he left after selling all his cattle, sheep, hens, fish, everything. He sold it all, sent the money to a bank I haven't heard of, and left."
"Oh Goddess," said Pastor, his normally almost closed eyes wide open. Kai fainted.
-
Dear Diary,
It's me, Jack. I just woke up this morning. Now I'm ready to begin my first day on my new farm. I feel well rested, despite how many bad dreams I had. I feel scared, not about my new life, but of the future. My dreams were very vivid, and they weren't pleasant at all. I had a dream about everyone I've met here and in Mineral Town were in a strange new world...many of them. And we were all running from something, and from each other. There was a gang, and they had shiny weapons made out of some kind of black metal, or was it a rock? I couldn't tell. Cliff and Gray were doing something with one of the weapons, a mean looking sword. And some other things happened. It all seemed so real but I'm forgetting it all very fast. I'll just close my entry here for now and continue on with it later tonight before I go to bed. I'll tell you about how my day went. Until then don't burn up or fill out too early!
