A.N.: I own nothing here! Despite my dreams of wealth, I am poor. T.T Oh, and just in case anyone here is worried about game cheats, I do include one; it regards finding one of the Harvest Sprites, so if you don't want to know, please contact me and I'll figure something out for you. Thanks for reading!
I swore as I tripped over yet another weed. Usually I knew better than to just dash through my fields as if they were cleared of debris; why was I so unaware of the obstacles today? And if I crashed headlong into one more gigantic stump, I was sure to scream. I'd hit one with my axe several times already without making a dent.
Wait a minute, gather your strength, and it'll only take one hit.
I frowned, walking away from my farm decisively. No matter what this new internal voice seemed to think, my axe was not capable of such feats as destroying trunks in one blow. The voice was beginning to get on my nerves; all morning, I'd been having strange thoughts that didn't seem to belong to me. Things like, Where are the cows? and I need to remember to water my mushrooms. Whatever dream I'd been having that morning had really stuck with me into consciousness; it must have been a sad dream, since I still felt like I should be crying. Or maybe it was some part of the task I had been attached to.
Frowning as I left my farm and started walking into the town, I wondered about the strange thoughts and where they were coming from. I couldn't remember the dream I'd been having before the strange Witch Princess had so rudely woken me up, but ever since this morning, the little comments had persisted. And the task I'd been given… How was I supposed to find Harvest Sprites? Was it meant to be a "hide-'n'-seek" sort of thing? I sighed to myself as I approached the town inn, which was run by Ruby. I didn't know her or her son, Rock, very well; ever since I'd come to my mother's farm a few weeks ago, I'd holed up in my house and slept a lot, reading silly books and generally doing nothing. Maybe the Witch Princess had been right, and I was lazy.
The oven in the backyard is where I found Tep. I scowled, glancing at the stove the voice had just mentioned. What kind of a word was Tep? And I'd never even been inside the Inner Inn before, much less poked around in its outdoor oven. And yet…
With a quick glance around the empty road, I hopped the fence surrounding Ruby's backyard and darted over to the oven. No harm in just looking, I told myself. I bent down carefully, peering around and up the stone chimney. Nothing but soot and ashes, I told the inner voice smugly. To further prove my point, I leaned in just a little further, my head slowly entering the oven itself as I craned my neck to try and see up the chimney.
"Hey, Jill!"
I screeched and reared back, smacking my head against the stone oven's wall as a small, bright flash exploded in the oven in front of me. A quick flare of heat as if a fire had burst into being scalded my skin for the length of a gasp and then faded as quickly as it had come. I fell back on my butt, my hand against the back of my head where I could already feel a small bump rising from the skin. From the oven before me, a small creature emerged. It wore sunglasses and I could see tiny, pointed ears on either side of its green-haired head. I'm hallucinating, I thought wildly, and the tiny man before me walked out into the sun, bowing politely.
"Thanks for saving me, Jill! My name's Tep, and I'll be able to help you sometime, just count on it!" He smiled at me widely; a cloud of white erupted around the sprite, and Tep disappeared.
Sitting on the ground, sooty and head throbbing, I stared at the oven in shock. What had just happened? The voice that had been bugging me since this morning had been…right? That was impossible!
Before I could think about what had just happened for very long, I heard my name called behind me. "Jill! Hey, are you okay?"
Wincing, I turned my head carefully to see Rock, the son of the owner of the Inn, approaching at a lazy jog. I rolled my eyes instinctively; the one time I'd met Rock, he'd flirted obscenely, then outright flattered himself. I didn't have a high opinion of his modesty or of his intelligence.
With a leap over the fence, Rock trotted over to my side, looking down at me with a self-aware grin. "Need help?" he asked, offering a hand down to me. His blond hair was terribly immaculate for so early in the morning, and despite the confident look in his brown eyes, the peace sign necklace on his chest heaved slightly. He was out of breath from a little leap over a fence? Even I wasn't that out of shape. Still, I could see he was trying to be nice, so I held my tongue and took his proffered hand.
"Thanks," I said, standing up slowly as he pulled me to my feet. The world spun for a moment, and I couldn't help from stumbling; Rock put his hand under my elbow for the second it took for my vision to clear.
"Are you okay?" Rock repeated. My hand on the back of my head, I quickly catalogued my body; other than the lump and hallucinations, I was fine, and I said so. Rock nodded as if he hadn't really been listening. "Do you need to be carried to the doctor's?" he asked seriously; though his eyebrows were slightly pinched, his eyes and his slightly curling mouth hinted at the less-than-innocent intentions. I rolled my eyes, reaching the end of what little patience I had.
"Rock, let go of my elbow. I'm fine." Reluctantly, Rock released the hold on my elbow; I almost wobbled, but kept myself upright through sheer force of will.
"Okay, if you say so," Rock went on, putting his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels casually. "Hey, aren't girls supposed to kiss their heroes?" I rolled my eyes and ignored him, turning back to the fence. I had too much on my mind to deal with Rock's idiocy. I pulled myself over with no trouble, heading left toward the bar.
"Hey, I didn't mean to make you mad!" cried Rock behind me; I glanced back to see him scrambling over the fence after me, his feet tangling in between two of the slats. With a yelp, he fell forward over the fence, face first in the dirt.
I couldn't help myself, a laugh erupting from my mouth. Rock stood up slowly, his white vest and pants smeared with brown dust, and his sullen face as he beat at his clothes made me fold in half, laughing too hard to breathe.
"What's…" Rock began, but he was already giggling himself, and he began to chuckle along with me. For ten seconds, I forgot myself and laughed harder than I had since I'd gotten the news that my mother, the farmer who would never come visit me in the city, had fallen ill and was likely to die. It might have been stress or maybe a concussion, but it felt so good to laugh that I just let the feeling carry me along for a moment.
Finally my lungs could take no more and I straightened, catching my breath. "Well, thanks for that, anyway," I said to Rock, who was recovering himself faster than I had.
"No problem, baby," he replied with a cliché pointed finger and snap. "An-y-time."
"Right." I turned around, rolling my eyes again. "Well, see you later, I guess."
"Wait," he called, trotting up beside me. "Where you headed?"
That was a good question. I hadn't really had any idea where I wanted to go when I'd left my farm ten minutes ago; all I knew was that I couldn't stay on that farm where every little sight prompted either a comment from what I was thinking of as my dream leftover voice or a stab of out-of-place sorrow that doubled me over with the urge to sob. I shrugged. "Dunno. Just wanted to do something. Maybe go see Romana." Romana, the oldest woman (and the richest) in the Valley, might be able to give me some idea of what to do about the Harvest Sprite task; if anyone could help me at all, she, or her vast library, could.
"I'll walk with you," Rock said beside me, his hands back in his pockets. "I've got nothing better to do." I rolled my eyes again; even I, who knew so little about the people of the valley, knew of Rock's legendary laziness.
"If you must," I sighed, but the sarcasm flew over Rock's perfectly arranged hair. Fortunately, he didn't seem to want to chat as we walked down the cobbled road, striding at my side and humming a quiet pop melody under his breath.
I ignored him, looking around the Valley interestedly. Though I had met most of the people who lived here from my mother's funeral, I didn't know much of the rest of the Valley other than what Takakura, my mother's farmhand and close friend, had shown me when I'd first arrived. The Valley's main road was the street with the Blue Bar and the Inner Inn, the Valley's two main businesses; it also held a very successful vegetable farm on the other side of the river. The road trailed from the mountain pass that connected the Valley to the city, across the river, and up a hill at the top of which sat a mansion. That mansion belonged to Romana. When I was a child, this road had been how I could find myself, the one landmark that could always bring me back home. Even so many years later, it managed to give me some small degree of comfort.
Outside the Blue Bar, the owner, a man named Griffin, was sweeping the steps. I gave him a brief wave when he glanced up at us, and he returned the gesture before turning back to his work. He was probably in his late thirties, maybe early forties, with worn lines around his crinkled eyes; I didn't know if his wrinkles were from laughter or worry. I'd never spoken to him; Takakura had only pointed out who he was at my mother's funeral. From inside the bar emerged a blonde woman I didn't recognize off the top of my head; she said a few words to Griffin, her purse under one arm, and then came out onto the road. When she saw Rock and I, she walked a little faster to draw pace with me.
"Hi, Jill!" she said in a chirpy voice, smiling. "How're you doing, honey?"
"I'm sorry, do I —" I began, but Rock interrupted me.
"Hey, Muffy, don't I get a hello?"
"Hi, Rock." She frowned at him by barely pinching her eyebrows. "I see you all the time, right?"
I groaned inwardly and kept walking; we were now at the foot of Romana's hill. Why was I picking up people following me like a parade?
"I don't think we've met before, honey," said Muffy, keeping pace on my left side, Rock on my right as we began to climb the hill. "I'm Muffy. I work at Griffin's bar. The Blue Bar? It's that little building —"
"I know where the Blue Bar is," I snapped, glaring down at my feet. I wasn't a social person and didn't appreciate being spoken to like I was six.
"Fine, honey. So we haven't seen much of you out in the Valley since…" She trailed off meaningfully, but I knew what she meant. …Since your mother died. I scowled reflexively. I had finished my grief, ended my black funeral clothes. My mother would not see grandchildren or even a son-in-law, but I was burying that away under layers of sarcastic emotional deadness, and it annoyed me whenever someone said something to scratch at my careful work.
"That's no one's business," I snapped. Muffy's lips pursed in exaggerated hurt, though her slightly folded forehead showed that the sentiment was not all false. For a moment I regretted my words; then the frown smoothed and she pressed on, smile back in place.
"All right, all right," she said, bobbing her head and holding her palms up. "Sorry for being nosy, honey." If she called me honey one more time, I thought that I might slap her and get in a nice fight right here on the steps to the mansion. The entire Valley had come to my mother's funeral, and now I remembered this woman weeping with the large drops and clear eyes that indicated untrue tears; maybe I was just jealous that she could cry when I could not, or maybe she was just one of those lucky women who can cry and look beautiful at the same time, but still, my inclination was to dislike her.
"Yeah, Muffy," said Rock affably, still grinning that slightly dim smile. "Stop being so nosy." He grinned at me as if hoping for approval, and I tried to keep from outright rolling my eyes. Fortunately for me, we reached the top of the hill, where the tall butler who worked here was weeding flowerbeds with a content smile on his face. Sebastian, claimed the persistent voice, and I growled to myself. Muffy and Rock gave me twin odd looks. The butler looked up from his work, gave us a brief nod, and went back to attacking some particularly unfortunate dandelions. Muffy stopped in front of the mansion's fountain and sighed to herself as if she hadn't gotten what she wanted out of the ten minute walk. "Well, honey, I guess this is where I leave you," she said, tilting her head to one side thoughtfully. "I'll talk to you later." Turning to walk away, high heels clicking and blonde hair swishing, Muffy began to descend the stairs again; Rock waved goodbye to the back of her head.
"Well, baby, I don't have anything else to do. Want me to walk you in?" Rock asked, turning back just in time to catch me rolling my eyes again, though he didn't seem to care. I sighed.
"Hey, Rock! You idiot, is that you?" The shrill voice came from above. Tilting my head back, I saw a window swung open and a young girl, maybe nineteen at the oldest, leaning up to her waist out on the windowsill.
Rock, also looking up at the girl, grinned and gave a cheeky peace sign. "Who else is this gorgeous, babe?"
"Ugh!" The girl shrieked and disappeared, the windows slamming shut to make the butler wince in his gardening. Rock laughed and looked at me.
"Better get inside before she locks the doors on me again." I raised my eyebrows and reached for the door handle just in time for the door to swing open. The girl who'd leaned out of the window stood in the doorway, a full head shorter than me but back straight with annoyance. "I hate you, Rock. I never want to see your ugly, egotistical, self-obsessed, thoughtless face again!" Her face was red and her eyes on fire; Rock had the sense to look at least a little afraid. She turned to me and her eyebrows went up. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said to me, stepping a little out of the way. "You may come in, if you'd like. He is not welcome." She narrowed her brown eyes at Rock, who chuckled and ruffled his hair sheepishly.
"Oh, c'mon, baby, you aren't still mad about one little mistake, are you?" In response, the girl slammed the door in his face as soon as I sidestepped inside. She growled at the door for a moment, then turned to me.
"Sorry about that," she said pleasantly, smiling brightly as if she hadn't just seemed absolutely furious. "I'm Lumina. It's a pleasure to meet you. You're the new farmer, aren't you? Jillian, was it?"
"Jill," I said with a slightly uneasy smile. She nodded and turned around, apparently heading upstairs again. I shrugged; if she and Rock had an issue, she was probably in the right and I didn't want to get involved.
"She gets so angry at the poor boy, hmm?" The comment came from an old woman standing near the piano as if listening to music played years ago; this was Romana. She eyed me shrewdly as I approached, though she seemed friendly. "Good to see you off that farm," she said.
I nodded without comment. "Hi, Romana." Suddenly I didn't know how to phrase my question; hey, do you know anything about crazy voices that predict the future, tasks to rescue Harvest Goddesses via finding Harvest Sprites, or a good loony bin I could check myself into? A creaking signaled the opening of the front door behind me, giving me a moment to think of how to phrase my request for information. "Hello, Gray," said Romana to the new entrant into the mansion. "Here with my order?"
"Yup," said the person behind me. I turned to see who it was.
He was tall and carrying a large box. Though he was dressed in a khaki work uniform, it didn't look bad on him; somehow, with an old cap perched on his red hair, he managed to look casually disinterested. With a long-legged stride into the room, he dropped the box carefully off of the thick carpet and by the door.
"That was quick," said Romana primly, chin tilted back in grudging compliment. "Thank you, Gray."
The boy shrugged, glancing toward Romana as the box hit the ground with a heavy thud. Walking across the room, his eyes met mine, a pale blue that narrowed at the edges in trying to place my face. "That's five thousand G, ma'am," he said to Romana, pulling his eyes from mine to approach the old woman, palm up and out.
"Too expensive," she grumbled good-naturedly, digging out the appropriate coins from her sequined bag at her side. "But you do good work over there." As if she'd just remembered me, she turned to look at me and smiled. "Jill, have you met Gray? He's the blacksmith in the town on the other side of the mountain."
"Apprentice blacksmith," he corrected, reaching out to shake my hand all the same. His grip was firm and his hands had calluses along the edges of his palm and fingers. "Good to meet you, Jill. Are you that new farmer here in the Valley?"
"Yeah," I said with a smile.
"Cool. Are you enjoying it here?"
"More now, yeah," I answered. He was cute when he smiled like he was doing now.
"Well, I'll see you later, Romana," I said, looking at her over his shoulder. "I'd better get back to work, I think."
"Goodbye, Jill," said Romana with a dismissive flick of her wrist. "Gray, goodbye to you, too."
"All right, see you later. Just call if you need anymore work done." Gray thumbed at the rim of his cap with casual expertise. He looked back at me as we both walked towards the door. "So I take it you're living on that farm over across from the Inn?" He steps to one side and allows me to leave first, pulling the door shut behind us.
"Yeah. It was my mom's." He falls into step beside me and we walk around the fountain, down the path toward the village.
"Oh. Yeah, we knew her pretty well. She was our best customer." As if realizing why he was using the past tense, Gray blushed and scratched at the back of his head. "I'm sorry for your loss. She was a good woman."
"Thanks," I mutter, not looking at him. My grief is private and though I know he's just trying to be sympathetic and kind, I can't help but resent the pity. When I cry, I cry alone, and damn anyone who mentioned the tear streaks.
Gray nods and clears his throat uncomfortably. "So, how's farming life treating you?"
"Eh. I'm not my mother. She was crazy about this sort of stuff. But she left a ton of books and stuff back home, so I think it wouldn't be too hard to learn her trade."
"You don't really strike me as the farming type." We reached the end of the stairs down from Romana's mansion and turned left, heading down the main path through the village.
"I'm really not," I laughed. "That was Mom's thing. But her farm was so important to her. Even if it went a little to seed in the past couple years," when she began to get sick, "I can't just sell it."
"So you decided to try to be a farmer?" He sounded skeptical, and with good reason. It wasn't exactly a career you just picked up for fun one day. I shrugged.
"I guess. Sad to say, I don't really have anything better to do." Plus, there was the odd task of saving the Harvest Goddess through the rescue of Harvest Sprites. But that wasn't something I was about to mention to a total stranger. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. His hands were shoved into his pockets, his shoulders slightly slouched in the manner of boys who grew tall suddenly over a summer. His eye met mine, as if he was examining me, too, and he blushed and looked away. A shy boy, then. He cleared his throat again.
"I see." But it was just something to say, and I wondered if he was uncomfortable. I wasn't really pretty enough to intimidate most men, especially not these days. In the city, my hair was always down and brushed and shiny with health, my makeup flawless, my clothes fashionable. But out here, it was like I couldn't be bothered to care anymore; I did my hair up in a ponytail and wore jeans and tee shirts and a naked face. I certainly wasn't the girl I'd been a few months ago, the girl who ate up shy boys for breakfast, and I was trying to be friendly. I wasn't even flirting.
Though glancing at him, I thought that I might change that soon.
He's wrong. This is wrong.
I shook my head at myself, and Gray glanced at me curiously. There was that strange bump in my mind again, a second voice that sounded like my own, yet wasn't. It came from myself, but it wasn't quite me, like transposed sheets of paper with the same image on them, then shifting one so the outlines don't quite match.
I chuckled nervously at his look as we approached my mother's farm. "I think this is my stop," I joked, gesturing up the path. I could hear my dog barking at something and stepped away from Gray. I had a lot of weeding to do, and maybe I could run down to Vesta's farm later and pick up some seed packets with what little money I had. That was how my mother had gotten her start, after all; her favorite story had stressed how even a small package of cucumber seeds can change someone's life forever.
"All right," Gray said, breaking my reverie. "I'll see you later?" He sounded strangely hopeful, but when I looked back, he wasn't looking at me and his cheeks were red.
"Sure thing," I replied, smiling. "Where can I find you?"
He blinked and made eye contact in surprise. "Oh. Um. Well, my days off are Thursdays. I usually head to the mine. Maybe I'll see you around there."
"Okay, then. See you then." With a final wave, I turned and jogged up the path to my farm, and my new life that felt so familiar.
I sighed and tried to forget about everything but the work ahead of me.