My lappy is finally back from the service center! Though I'll be focusing more on my thesis, I'll try to make sure to keep the story updated as much as I can! Sorry for the slight delay, but please enjoy!
Rune Factory – Wishes, Dreams, and Memories
Chapter 6 – The Guardians' Feelings
The late summer breeze blew throughout the empty streets of Selphia at night. The hazel-haired Earthmate had been standing in front of the castle for some time, looking up at the castle's roof. With the next season coming, the temperature had started cooling down and the leaves falling from the trees, blown away by the wind all around town.
Lest caught one of the blown leaves and looked at it for a moment before it was blown away from his fingers. Lest looked around the empty town square before turning towards the east side of the town, "This isn't the end," Lest reached for his chest where some green feathers from a charm given by his first friend was, "There must be another way to save Venti. We just have to believe it and try again. I need to check on the Guardians for now."
Lest headed towards the Carnation where Amber had been staying since she woke up from her long slumber as a Guardian. Judging by the light coming from the side windows of the flower shop, the Earthmate could tell that at least one of the residents hadn't fallen asleep yet. Lest raised a hand and knocked on the door a few times before the door opened to reveal the self-proclaimed detective of the town.
"Good evening, Illuminata. I'm sorry for bothering you at this hour, but I was wondering if-" Before Lest could finish his sentence, the older elf had cut him off.
"Is there an emergency mystery that needs me to investigate?" Illuminata reached for her monocle.
"N-No, is Amber-" Once again, Lest's sentence was cut off in the middle.
"Is there something you need from my assistant?" Illuminata asked with a serious look on her face, but softens when she saw Lest sighing and shaking his head, "Hm? That's not it either?"
"I'm here to check on Amber if she's okay," Lest let out a sad smile, "I don't know if there's anything I can do to help, sadly."
"I see," Illuminata looked at Lest confidently, "Worry not, the Great Detective shall uncover the truth behind Amber's condition! Have a good night!"
With Illuminata's last words for the knight, she closed the door on Lest's face, "Uh… thanks?"
In the building, Illuminata had walked up the stairs to the second floor and approached her friend's door. Soft sniffles could still be heard until she knocked on the door, "Amber, are you okay?" There was no answer coming from inside, but the sniffles had stopped, "Let me know if you need me, okay?"
The younger female was lying on her bed in her room with her eyes wide awake. Hearing her elven friend outside her door worrying about her had stopped her from crying even more, just to prevent her from being more worried. The silence she gave her had left Illuminata with nothing else to do other than leave her for the night. The sound of footsteps was heard and was stopped by Amber's response, "Thanks Ellie…" Illuminata smiled after hearing Amber's response before continuing her walk towards her own room, finally turning in for the night.
Meanwhile in the restaurant, the male Guardians were sitting together on the table near the counter. It was already past closing hours, making it the best place for the two males to have a chat. A pitcher filled with milk was sitting on the table along with two drinking glasses on each of the Guardians' sides. The glass on Leon's side was left untouched, compared to Dylas' glass which had already been empty.
"Once you stop crying, you fill yourself with milk. Interesting," Leon let a small laugh while he watched Dylas pouring another glass of milk.
"There's no way I'm crying, Sir Red-Eye!" Dylas glared at the older Guardian before finishing his glass of milk.
Leon's smile turned into a smirk, "You're one to talk, Mister Sniffle-Nose!" Leon let out a sigh before turning serious, "So, what now?"
"We can't quit, that's for sure," Dylas poured another glass for himself and stared at the glass for a moment, "We all want her back while having our own reasons for her return."
"True," Leon nodded in agreement, "That and because she's our friend."
"Yeah…" Dylas finished another glass and poured more on his glass, "I don't know how many centuries it has been for her, but I feel like it was just yesterday that Venti and I went fishing together," Dylas looked at Leon with determination on his face, "We'll do whatever it takes to take Venti back, even if we have to rip that dumb gate open!"
Leon nodded before fanning himself with his feather fan, "I agree."
The restaurant door creaked open, getting the attention of the two Guardians in the room before Lest popped his head into the room, "Hey, both of you are here."
"What are you doing here?" Leon asked as he saw Lest walking towards the table they were sitting on.
The Earthmate took a seat next to Dylas, "I'm checking on you guys. Are you two okay?"
"Hey, that's what we're supposed to ask you," Dylas replied worriedly, "Is your body all right? Feeling better?"
"I'm okay, Mister Sniffle-Nose," Lest replied with a laugh.
"Y-You heard that?" Dylas asked in embarrassment, getting a laugh from Lest and Leon.
"Since Sir Red-Eye said so," Leon turned to Lest with an eyebrow raised.
"So you heard that too," Leon commented before turning to the two, "Well, what should we do for now? You two know that we shouldn't be giving up on Venti just like that."
"We'll wait for what Arthur finds," Dylas replied, "I asked him to look into this too, so let's hope that he finds something."
"Right," Leon nodded before turning to Lest with a sly smile, "Now you know what to do next, right? We're doing fine here, but I think there's someplace you'd better be right now."
"Yeah, I know," Lest rose from his seat and smiled, "I need to check on Dolce and Pico as well."
"I wish I can eavesdrop on you lovebirds, but I think I'll let you off this time," Leon laughed mockingly before Lest sighed in annoyance.
"It's better if you don't eavesdrop at all," Lest replied, feeling both annoyed and embarrassed.
"You better go now, don't keep a woman waiting for too long," Lest completely ignored Leon's comments before turning to Dylas.
"I'll get going now. Good night guys," Lest left the building, leaving the two males on the empty restaurant once more.
"Those two seems happy together, don't you think?" Leon turned to Dylas, who had finished half of his glass already.
"I thought those things aren't your interest," Dylas replied flatly, before his expression turned into worry, "Hey, Leon?"
"What is it?" Leon looked at the other Guardian questioningly.
"Do you feel anything strange lately? Like there's someone or something calling you?" Dylas asked, but the expression on Leon's face hadn't changed at all.
"No, I don't think so. Have you checked yourself at the clinic?" Leon replied with another question.
"Physically I'm okay, but I hear some voices echoing in my head sometimes ever since I come back from the ruins to get some materials to upgrade my fishing rod," Dylas' response started the silence in the room before Leon finally spoke up.
"That's strange…" Leon put the feather fan he was holding on the table and folded his arms before leaning against the chair, "I heard Amber had been in that similar situation lately after returning from Yokmir Forest…"
"We'll have to look into this, once we've got Venti home," Dylas responded in a serious tone.
Meanwhile, Lest had made his way from the restaurant towards the clinic to check on the last Guardian, only to find out that Dolce and Pico had already left once more. Getting the vague directions Dolce and Pico had headed from Nancy, Lest excused himself and headed towards the lake where the two was supposed to be heading.
The first thing Lest noticed when he made it to the area was a figure in purple standing by the bridge leading towards the mansion's back door. As the Earthmate approached, the figure noticed him coming and turned to him, "Lest! You're here!"
"Pico?" Lest looked around the area, but he found no sign of Pico's human friend anywhere until he noticed the worried look on the ghost's face, "What's wrong? Where's Dolce?"
Pico turned to face the Obsidian Mansion's back door, "Dolly is in there, but she wouldn't let me in…"
Lest turned to the back door, "I should check on her then," Lest turned his gaze back to Pico, "Come with me. I don't think she'll be mad if you come in with me."
"Uh…" Pico hesitated for a moment, before noticing the smile on Lest's face that made her feel better, "Okay, let's go!"
Lest and Pico went across the bridge before Lest pushed the old wooden doors open to reveal the biggest room of the mansion. Two lanterns had candles within them to help with the room's lighting, although the old chandelier hanging from the ceiling provided most of the room's lighting. The old tables and chairs were still in their places throughout the room, surrounding the place which seemed to have been a big stage many years in the past.
Colorful runeys were flying around the room, giving the warm atmosphere despite the old, run-down look of the room. The ghost and the Earthmate approached the big stage, where a single familiar figure stood in the middle of it with her back turned to them. Even once the two of them was near the stage, the figure stood still as she didn't notice the uninvited guests coming for her.
"Dolce," Lest called out softly and worriedly, "Are you okay?"
Dolce turned around and saw her ghost best friend along with her boyfriend standing just below the stage, "Pico? And Lest?"
"What are you doing here at this hour?" Lest climbed on to the stage to join Dolce, while Pico simply floated to Dolce's side.
"I…" Dolce opened her mouth to speak, but turned her head to avoid eye contact, "I just want to be alone here, that's all…"
"Milady felt sad that we still can't bring Ven back even after everyone worked so hard to find a way," Pico explained.
Lest turned his attention from Pico and back to Dolce, who had a slight sadness on her face, "I knew it…"
The female Guardian slowly moved from her spot and walked a few steps towards the back of the stage to reveal the floating rune sphere Lest had previously placed, "Have I told you before?" Dolce's voice turned into a whisper, "That day, when I decided to become a Guardian to save Venti… I only thought of saving her, nothing else…"
"Of course, I was against the idea," Lest's attention turned to Pico, "I understand how Ven means to Dolly, but I can't imagine living so many years without her…"
"Initially, my parents were against it as well," Dolce continued while looking at the floating sphere, "However, this has always been my choice. By becoming a Guardian I can save Venti, whom I always consider as a precious friend other than Pico. This is the place where I had been sending rune energy to Venti for hundreds of years."
"Although that choice seems to be a hard one for Pico and your parents…" Lest added before his expression turned into sadness, "Even for Venti…"
"So this is how it feels…" Dolce's voice turned into a whisper, "To be left alone, knowing that precious friend might never come back…"
"But she will," Dolce and Pico turned to Lest, whose sadness had turned into seriousness, "We will bring her back, no matter what."
"Wait, you're not thinking of doing that again, are you?" Pico asked in a serious tone.
"I can feel that it'll work next time, I just need to train harder and-"
"No," Dolce's short but stern response had cut Lest's sentence and the two turned to the female Guardian, "We can try other ways, but I cannot allow you to risk yourself like that again," Dolce's eyes once again avoid contact with Lest's, "What if… if things turned out to be worse the next time? I… I don't want to lose you too, you know…"
Lest noticed a shade of pink across her face before he nodded and smiled at her, "Okay," Lest walked closer to Dolce and gently grabbed her shoulders while trying to look at her in the eyes, "Rest assured, I'll always be by your side."
Dolce looked at Lest in surprise, before she let out a smile, "Yes…"
Pico let out a fake cough, "I'm still right here, you know!"
The two of them turned to the frowning ghost girl, back at each other, and noticed the distance between them before Lest let go of her shoulders in embarrassment, "S-Sorry."
There was a short pause before Dolce turned her head slightly to look at the embarrassed Earthmate, "You should be, you idiot," The Guardian's response had confused Lest while Pico was grinning slyly.
"Huh?" His embarrassment slowly turned into confusion as he saw Dolce's expressionlessness.
Pico let out mocking chuckle, "Milady is just jealous when Amber happened to hug Lest back in the room."
"Is this another way of you asking to die again?" Dolce questioned the ghost with a smile, but the smile was terrifying enough for Pico to slowly back away.
"Uh… gotta go now!" Pico quickly flew away before Dolce could grab her and went straight through the mansion's doors.
"That pervert…" Dolce's smile had faded, feeling disappointed that she couldn't catch the ghost before she got away.
"I think I can see that you're doing okay now," Lest stated with a chuckle, getting Dolce's attention, "Shall we head back?"
Dolce nodded and smiled, "Yes."
Lest easily went down from the stage before offering a hand to the female Guardian, "Now, give me thy hand, milady."
The pink color returned to her cheeks, "Knock it off, idiot," Dolce hesitated a bit before she took Lest's hand and went down the stage. Still having her hand in Lest's, both of them walked towards the doors to leave the mansion.
"… come… give me…"
The strange voice had surprised the female Guardian, who let out a gasp before stopping her tracks and turned to look at the rune sphere. The loud gasp had gained the attention of the Earthmate, who watched as the female Guardian looked at the rune sphere while clutching her chest. Lest approached Dolce and tapped her shoulder in worry, slightly startling the Guardian.
In response, Dolce turned to look at the worried face of her Earthmate boyfriend, "There's…" Dolce turned back to the rune sphere, which was still floating normally with colorful runeys flying around in the room, "Nothing. Let's head back."
"Okay…" Lest replied while still feeling that something was wrong, but decided that it was best for them to head back.
We will bring Venti back, definitely! Though it might take a while because the current next chapter might need a lot of rewriting, but no need to worry! I'll get on with it while it's weekend and I'll be focusing more on my fic. The tumblr ones might get an update soon by using the power of... VPN! Still unblocked, yes, but I'll get back there with the help of VPN.
Anyways, see ya!