Chapter II: Servant and Shadow

The sun had just passed over the horizon from the edge of the western mountains of Forget-Me-Not Valley. The only sounds were the chirping of the birds and the waves crashing against the soft, golden sand.

Besides the aforementioned, there was a quite a bit of silence. A very cold silence. This silence was accompanied with a rather gloomy feeling drifting about the air. Perhaps that explains why everyone was inside.

Wally and Hugh lay in bed, snoring loudly, although the muffled sound barely escaped the thick walls.

Galen and Nina sat on the floor, cross-legged and sipping two mugs of green tea.

"Nina, did you hear what happened to Jack?" whispered Galen quietly, setting his cup softly on the table.

"Yes, it really is a shame. I'd love to go see him, but I'm afraid I just don't have the energy to make my way over to Mineral Town…" She sighed.

Galen nodded, "I know exactly what you mean. I can feel something, something's not right…"

Nina took a long look out the window, observing two birds circling the skies. However, she noticed a rather awkward flight pattern. As opposed to a normal circle, they continuously flew west a few feet, looped back and hovered in place while crying loudly for a moment before repeating the entire process.

Nina looked one more time before she turned back to her tea. As she opened the front door to allow some air inside, the birds let out a shrill, ear-piercing cry before flying west, opposite the rising sun.


"Can you help him, Doctor?" Nami sat by Jack's bed, anxiously waiting for any sign of movement from his cold hands.

The doctor sighed, "I really have no idea what could have caused it. There's no external damage. It must have been something internal, but I don't have the right tools for something like that. I could get the supplies from the mainland, but that would take quite a few days." He looked down at Nami.

Tears began to swell in her eyes, but surprisingly, she smiled, "You oaf. I hit you and you're both strong enough to take it and brave enough to accept it…" She picked up Jack's hand and held it to her chest.

Elli slowly walked up to her and placed her hand on Nami's shoulder with a genuine smile, "You really love him, don't you?"

Nami said nothing, but stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" asked the doctor with a puzzled look.

Nami didn't turn around, but Elli noticed a bit of happiness in her voice, "I'm the farmer's wife, aren't I?" She turned her head and smiled, "So somebody's got to do the farmer's work." And with that, she pushed herself clear a path out.

The Doctor shook his head and reached for the phone.

"Oh Steven, you really are clueless, aren't you?" Elli laughed. Doc simply reached for a notepad and began scribbling down notes.


Nami returned to the valley just around 5:00. With everyone still locked up inside, she headed down the path, but turned to stand at the empty patch of land and look out towards the ocean.

As she watched the waves turn the reflection of the sunlight into a vast array of shimmering sparkles, she felt a very cold rush run through her veins. Overcome with the urge to drop, she fell on her knees, shivering uncontrollably. She coughed up a visible breath and grasped her arms, desperately attempting to overcome the feeling.

It passed soon enough. Nami got to her feet and thought: strange…it's not very cold out here, but I could have sworn it felt like…no…no…mustn't think about things like that you silly girl. She looked out once more towards the ocean before quickly heading home, her feet crunching against the dirt the only sound in the valley. Or at least the only one she could hear.

Nami reached for her new front door when she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. It was a very good thing that Nami had enough control to contain herself, or Takakura might have lost his head.

"…Um…how's Jack doing?" he asked.

Nami lowered her hands and sighed, "No idea; he's completely silent." She stood without speaking for several moments before passing around Takakura and heading for the tool shed.

"What are you doing?"

"Somebody's got to do the work around here."

Takakura took the watering can from her hands and set it on the floor, "That's my job. Yours is taking care of somebody who needs you."

Nami sat quietly for a few minutes before turning around and running back towards the path. Takakura smiled to himself and placed his hands in his pockets, but his smile faded as his palm revealed a rather awkward looking seed.

Hm? What's this?


As Nami ran past Vesta's farm again, she caught a very slight chill, but continued to run, ignoring the sensation.

As soon as she was out of sight, two cloaked figures emerged from the shadows. Describing their features would be near impossible, as the two were almost completely covered from head to toe.

Sans their hair. One stood with dark brown, short, very curly hair in somewhat of a strange fashion, distinguishable enough.

The other's hair was black, somewhat longer with a bit of a curve, sticking straight up. This one was considerably taller than the other.

The two of them, however, wore similar clothing. Both wore rather long black pants, flexible dark blue shirts and black cloaks. Over their face, they wore masks that came up to just above the nose, but the taller one wore a pair of fairly dark glasses. The other wore a prescription pair.

The most notable items on the two, however, had to be the weapons they carried. The shorter stood with a small holster around his upper leg to hold a rather short scythe in place. The taller wore a long, thin sheath around his belt in the shape of a katana. The two stood atop the hill, looking down upon the quaint valley known as Forget-Me-Not.

They glanced at each other, communicating with an original, single-hand sign language.

(I guess it didn't work on her.)

(I told you it was a waste of time. Knew her for months and she still never lost her mind. She's the only one, with you as an exception, of course. I guess you were just as messed up in the head as I was.)

The shorter gave the taller the middle finger.

(Relax, you fool. You know you might as well take that as a compliment. And what did I say about using that skill in the first place? I might as well kill you now, but you still have your uses.)

(But really, we should have just tried again. I bet you it would have worked at full strength.)

(Do you ever listen to what I say? Full power means double suicide. You're still an important piece of the puzzle about to unfold.)

The shorter nodded.

(Oh, and one more thing…)

The taller figure unleashed his katana at a blinding speed without so much as a sound and held it at the shorter figure's neck.

(Disobey my word again and we're going to have some serious problems. Do you understand?)

The threatened stood stiff as a board, but nodded solemnly.

(It's good to see that we've come to an understanding.)

He sheathed his sword and the two sank back into the shadows as quickly and quietly as they had appeared.


Doc looked up to see Nami walk back in through the double-door entrance at just after 10:00. He smiled and turned back to his work, but was surprised to see the door open a second time.

"D-doctor Hardy?"

Doctor Hardy smiled and responded, "I hear that you've got a patient that requires direct attention."

"Can I get you some coffee, or…"

Dr. Hardy help up his hand and shook his head, "That won't be necessary, Ruby's tea was strong enough to keep me up three hours past midnight. Dear Goddess, does she put her secret spice in everything?"

"What did you find out?" asked Doctor Steven.

"I'm fairly certain that the cure's going to seem ridiculous to you, but I need you to describe the patient's symptoms. We have quite a bit of work to do."

"Very well. I would have preferred not to start working on this so late, but hey, it's our job."

Elli came out of the supply closet carrying a few towels and a bucket.

"Elli, as soon as you put those supplies in Jack's room, you can go home. Just make sure that you're here early, we might need your help."

Elli nodded and smiled as she headed for the front door. As she headed down the path, a cold gust of salt air blew inside, seemingly closing the door for her.


Nami awoke on the sofa next to Jack's cot as the sunlight poured in through the window at just around eight in the morning. She stood up, stretched and went to the window in time to see the sun rise just over the edge of the water. She sighed and stared for a while before turning around and jumping up at the sight of Dr. Hardy.

"My apologies Nami for my absence at the wedding, but I had important business to attend to," he said quietly.

Nami shook her head, "Just tell me why you're here."

Dr. Hardy smiled, held up a bucket of water and dumped it over Jack's head. He stirred in his bed.

"Jack? Jack! Wake up!" Nami shook him violently.

Jack stirred, turned over in his cot and mumbled in his sleep, "No Grandpa! I don't want to go to swimming practice today!"

Nami smiled, "You idiot, it's me."

"Wha? Oh…why am I in the hospital…in…um…where am I?"

"You idiot, you're in Mineral Town. Where else would we be?"

"Give me a break, will you? The Harvest Sprites always told me that I couldn't go any farther for some reason."

"What stopped you? Flak's overwhelming size blocked the road?"

"Hey, you've gotta trust the Harvest Sprites…for reasons unknown, yeah…" Jack scratched his head and looked out the window.

"Heh, some things never change." An unknown voice came from outside. The three inside looked through the doorway to see a man who bore a striking resemblance to Jack.

"Jack!" said Jack.

"Jack!" said the other Jack, "What are you doing here?"

"Got to see how my cousin's doing. What happened to you?" asked town Jack

Valley Jack looked back towards the window and thought quietly to himself before responding, "You know, I have absolutely no idea."

"Hm…"

"…Oh, how rude of me," valley Jack popped out his bed and brought over Nami by the arm.

"Cousin Jack, this is my new wife, Nami."

The Jack from town gave a low whistle, but Nami only responded by giving him a cold glare.

"Hey, I was just kidding. Apologies for my rudeness, Nami."

Nami answered, "How did you manage to get your hair into that ridiculous fashion?"

The two Jacks looked at each other in hesitation for a moment and looked at their feet. Nami cocked an eyebrow.

"Well…"

"You see…"

"It's that, well…" before valley Jack could explain, Dr. Hardy cleared his throat and spoke, "Jack, I need you to describe your symptoms. Do you have any headaches, body aches or soreness?"

Jack thought for a moment, but shook his head.

"Had trouble sleeping lately or miss any meals?"

Again, Jack answered no.

"How do you feel now?"

"You know, other than tired, I feel completely fine." Jack yawned and stretched his arms to the side, his right hand lightly hitting the wall. A chunk of plaster, wood and paint the size of Jack's fist flew out of the wall, through the air and into the ocean.

The four of them stared through the hole in the wall for several seconds before all of their gazes averted to Jack's right hand.

"Okay, that's not supposed to happen…"


Celia lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling and twirling a strand of her hair around her index finger. She sighed lazily and thought to herself, Nami's such a lucky girl. Now whom am I going to marry? Am I going to have to get married to…gulp…Won? That was Vesta's first choice? She may be a nice woman but still, she only thinks about how hard they work, not how I feel…oh well. I guess it wouldn't be so bad…

"Hey, Celia."

"Hm?" Celia snapped out of her trance long enough to notice Marlin standing on the near top step.

"Dinner's ready."

"Sure…"

Marlin came all the way up, closed the door and pulled up a chair, "What's up?"

"Well…nothing…"

Marlin held his trademark stern look, "Don't try and fool me, something's bugging you."

"Well…it's about…Won…"

"Let me guess," Marlin said, "You don't like him, do you?"

"No, it's not that I don't like him. He's a nice, hard-working man, but I'm afraid it's just not going to work."

"That tends to be the case with arranged marriages."

"Marlin, you know a lot more than you let other people know. If you spoke out more often, they might like you a little more." Marlin's eyes shifted towards the floor in response.

"…I'm sorry, it was just a suggestion…"

"No, you're right. But back to the discussion at hand, if you don't feel about someone the way they do about you, or the way you're supposed to, just tell the world. The sooner the pain starts, the sooner it ends."

Celia sat and contemplated for a moment, "See, that' s what I'm talking about. That was the best advice I've ever heard from you."

Marlin shrugged, "I try."

Celia gave him a small hug and went downstairs to grab something to eat.

Marlin stood up and looked out the window towards the setting sun and quietly spoke to himself, "Am I good enough for you, now?"


Tim sat in his favorite armchair, a special gift from an old friend when he had visited Hong Kong on one of his many travels, reading the Mineral Town newspaper and sipping a cup of tea. As he glanced over the headlines, he seemed to feel relieved. Perhaps it had something to do with what he'd seen before. Tim's traveled the entire world, you see. And some of the things he's seen would make a marine jump out of his boots.

As he lifted the cup to his mouth and took a sip, his left hand suddenly shook so hard that his cup fell to the floor and shattered in an instant. Without so much as a second thought, he reached for his closet and pulled out a long, thin, curved wooden artifact and blew the dust off. With a loud sound of metal off metal, he pulled out a very long sword. He held it in one hand, spun it in place, threw it into the air and caught it pointing downwards.

Ruby was busy sitting at her desk, going through the mail when the doors burst open and two black blurs flew in at different angles. One hit the stairs. The other headed for the bedroom door.

Before Ruby could do anything, Tim kicked open the door and yelled, "Ruby, get down!" before two swords collided with a very loud clang. The two held their blades, breathing heavily and waiting patiently for any sudden movements.

The one in black lowered his guard for a split second before letting his blade slip under Tim's, knock Tim's sword towards the kitchen and gain priority. Rock came out of the kitchen at that moment, and would have lost the top of his head had the other figure not caught the flying metal object.

Tim stood, sweating furiously and breathing heavily. The figure lowered his mask just below his chin and smiled.

Tim and Ruby gasped and whispered, "Kage…"(pronounced Ka-gä)

For the first time in days, months, years even, a cold, arrogant, intelligent voice spoke out to the world, "It's been quite a while. You haven't lost a bit of your touch, old man."