This might probably be the only update for this week, I need to spend a lot of time preparing for my final presentation next week! But here's the chapter that'll slowly uncover Lest's unexpected past!
Rune Factory – Wishes, Dreams, and Memories
Chapter 13 – Our Past
Some rustling sounds were heard coming from the guest bathroom before the hazel-haired Earthmate came out. Dolce, who had started unpacking the extra clothes for their stay had noticed that her husband had emerged from the bathroom and put away the clothes she was holding before turning to the direction where Lest had come from.
Lest was wearing a black tailcoat suit with white patterns on the chest. The suit's long sleeves were folded at end to reveal the red and white stripes underneath, along with two white lines on each sleeve. Small parts of the white Lest was wearing were hidden by the suit's long sleeves. A thin red cloth held an empty sword sheath across his back and was secured by the black belt around his waist. A pair of black boots reaching up to his knees covered the white pants he was wearing.
"This set is surprisingly my size," Lest took a few steps forward and tried moving his arms around, "But the boots aren't flexible enough for me to run in and the suit is a little too thick for me to move my arms freely."
"Of course they aren't. It's not like it's made for running and exercising, genius," Dolce commented flatly.
Pico let out a laugh, "But Dolly thinks it looks good on you."
A slight blush appeared on both of their faces before Lest gave his wife a smile, "Thanks Dolly."
"You're… welcome…" Dolce replied nervously, "Aren't you going to change back now? I need to try mine too."
"Oh, right," Lest took off his gloves and put them in the empty box on the bed, "I'll be right back-"
A knock on the door was heard before a familiar feminine voice was heard from the other side, "Hey, can I come in?"
"Sure, come on in Frey," The door opened to reveal the green-haired young woman.
Frey looked at his brother and gave him a smile, "Hey, that looks great on you! You look like a nobleman already!"
Lest let out a laugh before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "Come on, we're not actually nobles, are we?"
The smile on Frey's face faded for a moment, but Lest noticed the slight changes on the green-haired woman, "What's wrong?"
"No, it's okay," The frown slowly lifted into a smile, "So, shall we start the tour of this castle?"
"Let me change back to my regular clothes first," Lest let out a laugh, "I'm not used to wearing this kind of stuff."
"Okay, I'll be waiting for you two outside," Frey gave Lest a slight bow, "Your majesty."
Lest let out an annoyed sigh as he saw Frey running and laughing towards the door, "Geez…"
"It's hard to believe that Frey is actually Lest's older twin," Pico commented, getting Lest's attention back.
"True," Dolce nodded in agreement and smiled before turning to Lest, "Sweetie, you should go with her. Pico and I will stay here."
"Wait, you're not coming?" Lest questioned his wife's sudden decision.
"You and Frey have a lot of catching up, don't you?" Dolce asked with a smile, "Maybe this will help you recover part of your memory."
"I see," Lest gave a slight nod and smiled, "Okay, I'll get changed and go with her."
Dolce saw as Lest left to the bathroom once more, but was aware of the grinning ghost hovering beside her, "What?"
"You can say it, Dolly," Pico turned to Dolce with a sly grin, "You just can't stand watching him being friendly to other girls, correct? Even if that someone is his own sister, you know that you wanted to come along just to make sure there's nothing between them, correct?"
A shocked look accompanied with a slight blush came to her face before she took out one of her talisman, "That's enough."
A few rooms away from the pained ghost and her friend, the young blond prince was still in the audience room with the king and his butler. The king was reading the scroll he was holding before he rolled it back and handed it over to the butler standing next to him. Arthur looked at his father as his butler took the scroll and left the audience room.
"The royal research team will do what they can to decipher that text," The king spoke up, breaking the silence in the room, "Has there been any reports of oddities in Selphia?"
"No, Father," Arthur replied firmly, "I shall send a report if there is something unusual once I return to Selphia tomorrow."
"Very well," The king rose from his throne and walked down the set of stairs, stopping in front of Arthur to give him a pat on his shoulder, "I shall be relying on you, my son."
There was silence in the room for a moment as the king walked away before Arthur nodded slightly and whispered, "Yes, Father…"
At the halls outside the room, the twins were taking a walk while Lest learned more about the past he had forgotten. Little did he notice, his sister was telling him more about her life with him rather than the life he had forgotten or their other family members. On the other hand, Lest also told Frey what had happened since he lost his memories, meeting Ventuswill, and eventually got married and invited to the party.
"I see…" Frey nodded in understanding, "It's been rough without me, hasn't it?"
"At first, yes…" Lest replied with a nod, "But the people in Selphia all helped me without even knowing who I am or where I'm from."
"Selphia seems like a nice place," Frey commented with a smile, "I've heard about it from Arthur on his rare visits, but I've never been there."
"You can come and visit any time," Lest responded with a smile before the smile slowly turned into a frown, "Say… you did mention that our mother had passed on when we were kids, right?" Lest turned to Frey with a sad look on his face, "What happened to her? And what about our father? Where is he now?"
Frey stopped in her tracks with a frown on her face, which made Lest stop walking as well. Frey took a deep breath and turned to Lest with a frown on her face, "I really wish that you wouldn't ask about him, but I know that you deserve to know," Frey put her hands on Lest's shoulder, slightly gripping them, while looking at him with a serious look, "Especially because you have actually met him in person."
"I've met him…?" Lest looked at Frey questioningly, "But who is he?"
Frey closed her eyes as her hands slipped away from Lest's shoulder before turning away from her brother. The female Earthmate reopened her eyes as she distracted herself by looking at the garden plants, but the anger on her eyes was something that Lest couldn't simply ignore. She felt a pat on her shoulder and took a deep breath to calm herself down, "That man… the man who bore a great grudge against us Earthmates… he was the cause of her death…"
Lest didn't need to hear the name of his father, especially if what Frey had said just then was true, "Stop… I… I don't want to hear it…"
"Sadly it's true, Lest…" Frey took Lest's hand off from her shoulder and held it with both of her hands as she turned towards his brother with teary eyes, "I can't forget it… I can never forget that nightmare!"
-Flashback-
Clanging sounds of metal armor was heard throughout the halls made of pure gold and silver, heading towards the huge red metal doors at the end of the halls. A light blue-haired man slammed his fists to his throne's arm rests, surprising the guards standing at each side of the throne. Through the strands of his long hair, the soldiers could see the glaring eyes looking at them.
"Kill them all! All servants, mistresses, soldiers alike must be clean from those accursed Earthmates!" Another slam on the arm rests had surprised the soldiers in the throne room, "Find that brown-haired Earthmate alive and kill the rest! This is our vengeance against those who foil my plans!"
"Yes sir!" The soldiers marched out of the room with their weapons swinging in the air.
A few meters away, a woman with long green hair was running while holding the hands of two five-year old children whose hair color was similar to the woman. The three would occasionally stop at the forks with the older woman looking around before taking one of the paths which would be safe for them to pass. Another fork came into view and the three stopped behind one of the walls, looking around for any signs of danger.
"Mom, I'm scared…" One of the children, a boy, pulled on the woman's clothes while sniffling.
"It's okay, Lest," The woman knelt down and gave the boy a comforting hug while rubbing his back, "Everything is going to be okay…"
"Mommy!" The other child, a girl pulled the woman's clothes in panic, "Metal people are coming!"
The woman noticed the clanging sounds which had got louder and louder, "We have to hurry," The woman got back to her feet and picked the boy up before offering a hand to the girl, "Hold my hand, Frey."
The girl did as told as the three of them ran into one of the pathways, only to be stopped by a group of soldiers with their spears pointed forward. The woman turned to the side, protecting the boy from the possible assault from the soldiers as the girl hugged her mother's leg in fear. One of the soldiers stepped closer with his spear, making the woman step back.
"Lady Sara! Your and your children's escape ends here!" The soldier extended his hand and let his spear point at the woman's neck.
"I shall not surrender my children!" The woman, Sara, put the boy down and stood in front of the two children with her arms spread, "They are our future and I shall never hand their lives to the likes of you or Ethelberd!"
The soldier in front saw the unwavering resolve of a mother protecting her children and put his spear back to his side, "Soldiers, ready your weapons!"
The woman, Sara, quickly took the hands of her children and ran to the opposite side of the soldiers, with the soldiers chasing them while carrying swords and spears. The three of them ran through the maze of hallways with the sounds of clanging metal tailing behind them, pushing through the servants who had blocked their way of escape.
"Lady Sara, this way!" A female servant waved her hands while standing in front of a big black door, getting the attention of the running triplet.
Panting, the three came into a stop in front of the servant before Sara let out a tired smile, "Thank you…"
"I will never forget your kindness towards my family, milady," The servant smiled back before she pushed the door open, "I have broken the window for you and the children to escape. My sister will be waiting for you outside."
"Yes, please be-AH!" An arrow landed on her left shoulder before she turned around and saw that the marching soldiers had almost reached them.
"Mommy! Mommy, are you okay?" The boy cried out, seeing the red liquid had stained his mother's pure white clothes.
"Please be okay, Mommy!" The girl was looking at the pained mother in worry.
"Lady Sara, please hold on!" The servant looked at the end of the arrow and gasped in surprise as she saw black liquid dripping from the end, "P-Poison?!"
"Please… take the children…" Sara whispered weakly, "This… is deadly poison… I… cannot survive… for long…"
"Y-Yes… milady…" The servant saw as the woman slowly dropped to her knees weakly and saw the approaching soldiers before she pushed the children into the room.
The two children fell onto the carpet-covered floor and saw their mother's weak smile as she was lying on the floor while the door was being forced shut from the outside. The boy was about to reach for the door in tears, only to be pulled by the girl.
"No Lest! The metal people will take us too!" The girl pulled her brother's arm as he struggled before forcing him into a hug.
"But Frey… Mommy is out there! Mommy is hurt!" The boy kept on whining as he struggled to break free from his sister's hug, although the boy knew himself that his hope of seeing his mother was a waste.
-End of Flashback-
The two Earthmates stood in silence before tears started falling from Frey's face. Lest looked at Frey sadly before giving her a comforting hug. The male Earthmate patted his crying sister, although the sadness he felt wasn't the same as his sister felt. He never remembered how sad it was to remember how their mother had died as he was only told the feeling instead of feeling it himself.
Frey slowly pulled away from the hug and wiped her tears, "Hey, Lest?"
"What is it?" Lest asked calmly.
"There's one more thing that I want to return to you," Frey spoke up in a whisper before taking out a small black fish-like figure from her pocket, "Here's our family heirloom from our mother's side."
Lest took the figure, which had a thin string hanging on it, "What is this?"
"Mom said it's a charm to protect relations of the bearers," Frey took out a similar charm, but it was white in color, "This is a koi fish, a type of fish that's native to our grandmother's homeland at the East."
"A koi fish…" Lest put the charm on his palm and ran a finger on it.
Frey slowly nodded, "It's supposed to connect families, siblings… and even couples…"
"I… see…" Lest took his charm and put it in his pocket before looking at the charm Frey was wearing, "So the charm is to protect us as siblings?"
"Yeah," Frey nodded and smiled sadly, "Although you don't have the charm with you, I think they're uniting us back together."
"I guess they did," Lest returned the smile, "Should we resume the tour?"
"Okay, let me show you the audience room and the dining hall next!" Frey replied with a nod before they continued with their walk.
Back in Dolce's and Lest's guestroom, Dolce had just finished changing and came out of the bathroom. Her slow walking had brought a laugh to her ghost friend, who was hovering above the bed.
"This… this too revealing…"
If you happen to be a Tales fan, you might notice a few things in this chapter. First, Lest's clothes is actually Luke's Viscount costume (from Tales of the Abyss). Second, Lest's and Frey's past is a little similar to Tales of Berseria's prologue but with different motive for the murder. Third, their mother's name was given on the fly and inspired by one of Tales of Link characters, which is Sara. I gave her the name because at time of writing this chapter the game was a few days from closing...
And with the (possible) depression aside, the next chapter might come a little bit later next week as it's still halfway done and I need time to focus on my presentation until next week. Well then, see ya guys later!