**DISCLAIMER** I do not own, nor have I ever owned, any of the characters, places, items, etc. etc. relating to the Harvest Moon or Rune Factory series.

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Chapter 5: Iris

Rosetta crossed her slender arms before resting them on the well-polished wooden counter between Alpha and herself. She shook a head of sandy blonde hair and frowned apologetically. "No," she said, "I can't say that I have."

Alpha's spirits sank even lower. They shouldn't have. By now he was plenty used to hearing this. No news may not have been good news for him, but it certainly was the norm. Even so, he never ceased to be disheartened by every new failure to learn something—anything—that might help him in his search. "Ah, I see," he replied, trying just as hard to convince himself of his unconcern as he was Rosetta. "Well, sorry to have bothered you. I'll just be going, then.

But Rosetta seemed not to have heard him. Excitement flashed in her eyes, and she immediately straightened up from behind the counter. "Since you're here," she said, her voice business-like and persuasive, "why not buy something?" She turned around and began pulling merchandise off of the shelves, holding them out for Alpha to see and subsequently placing them in front of him on the counter. "We have necklaces," she was saying as Alpha tried in vain to open his mouth to speak, "bracelets—perfect for protection against monsters in case you run into any on your travels—, earrings, neck towels—they're our special seasonal item—and of course we have plenty of flower seeds. In fact, we're having a special sale on Moon Drop seeds this week. They're really quite the bargain at only 400 G per bag."

"No really," Alpha finally managed to say, "I'm alright. Don't get me wrong, it's all wonderful merchandise, but—"

"If you're not buying anything," came a bitter voice from across the shop, "then get the hell out, already." Alpha looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw a blond young man—just slightly older than himself—that he hadn't noticed upon entering the store earlier. The man stood with hands shoved deep into the pockets of his white worker's apron and was staring at Alpha with obvious distaste.

"Danny!" Rosetta shouted, "That's no way to talk to a customer!"

"Oh, but I'm not a custo—" Alpha began

Danny snorted. "Oh shut up, Rosetta. You and your precious customers. Why should I give a damn about some lousy kid, anyway? He's obviously not buying."

Alpha tried again. "Actually, he's right. I'm not. Now I really should—"

Rosetta raised her voice and shouted back angrily at Danny. "Well of course he's not going to buy anything now, with you acting like that."

Just as Alpha had begun pondering whether or not to try to slip out quietly and leave the two to their shouting match, Rosetta turned back to him. "I'm sorry," she said. "You'll have to excuse my employee for being so rude." She shot Danny a dirty look, but he had already turned away and angrily set to work rearranging a shelf of store merchandise. Rosetta leaned in closer to Alpha and lowered her voice, "He's just upset that he wasn't able to get a date to go flower viewing at the lake."

Danny bristled. "I heard that!" he announced, spinning around to face Rosetta. "And I told you, I just didn't ask anyone, because I wouldn't want to waste my time staring at some stupid flowers all day."

"Oh please," she scoffed. "Don't think I didn't see that pathetic display this morning."

Danny's face turned tomato-red. "I was… That was just—"

"Just you getting rejected."

By this point, Alpha was feeling very uncomfortable with the whole situation he had found himself in. In the end, he decided to act on his earlier impulse. With Rosetta and Danny continuing to hurl accusations and insults at one another, he crept silently from the counter and out the open door of the shop.

Alpha walked away from Materia feeling tired and defeated. Still nothing to go on. Nothing… Absolutely, freaking nothing, just like I told you. Ready to admit I was right and give up yet? Because, I mean, this whole search thing is just going sooo well.

Oh, give it a rest already. He kept on ahead, trudging down the set of stone steps in front of him. Upon reaching the bottom, Alpha happened to look up and notice a faded wooden sign standing next to another, much larger stone staircase. With muted curiosity, he walked nearer to examine it. It read:

Public Square

*Come to rest and rejuvenate*

There's even a stone monument that makes strange noises.

A monument that made strange noises? That was a new one… Regardless, he may as well try looking around the square. Maybe there'd be someone there who he could ask...though by now, he rather doubted that. Well, it was better than standing around here, arguing with himself, at any rate. And so, just as the sun was reaching its peak in the sky above him, Alpha walked past the sign and began his slow trek up the steps leading him to Trampoli's public square.

Raguna's arms burned. He had never climbed anything so quickly in all his life. Ignoring the pain, he stepped onto the solid earthen ground that made up Whale Island's cavernous mouth. He paused, panting to catch his breath after the exhausting ascent. All around him, a warm breeze caused the wild grass and flowers spurting forth from cracks in the stone and soil to sway gently, almost hypnotically, back and forth, back…and forth. But for the sound of his breathing, time ticked away in silence.

At that moment, a lone goblin wandered out from behind a crumbling stone column that lay just off to one side. Upon spotting Raguna, its pointed ears twitched, beady eyes widening with excitement. It could see flesh and smell blood, human blood. It let out a shrill battle cry, and the moonlight reflected brilliantly off of its raised steel cleaver.

Recovering himself, Raguna looked up to face the goblin. Slowly, deliberately, he reached his hand back into his bag and drew out his Shine Blade. Fiery sparks leapt up from the forged metal while his brow creased with contempt. He hadn't yet forgotten his frustration at Anette's sudden disappearance. His fingers clenched around the hilt of his blade as he glared furiously at the knife-wielding little gremlin. Today was a very bad day to be a monster.

Iris's brush danced across the canvas. One stroke. Two. Rainbow blotches of paint splattered in all directions, speckling her white clothing and short, blonde hair. She was thoroughly enjoying herself. Painting was what she lived to do, and each and every picture was her own personal masterpiece. She began to sing. It was a nameless tune, one she could not ever remember hearing, yet that seemed to stand out in her mind, all the same: Laa laa la la la laaa la la la la

Finally, the flurry of color ceased, and she stepped back to admire her work. She grinned, pleased. She twirled from the canvas board, white cloak billowing out behind her, and turned her gaze across the room to the clock hanging above her bed. The silver moonlight pouring in from the open window shone upon the lustrous golden hands, showing the time to be 12:30. Her day was just getting started. Looks like it's time for me to start watering the flowers, she thought pleasantly. The sound of her open-toed boots clopping along the hard stone floor echoed throughout the tower as Iris crossed the chamber to her bedside table. Her watering can sat on the bed stand just where she had left it, but upon picking it up, she couldn't help thinking that it somehow felt lighter than it should have. She shook the can experimentally, expecting to hear the familiar sound of sloshing liquid from inside it, but instead found it to be quite empty.

She frowned. Oh, I didn't realize it was out of water… Well, she thought, a contented smile quickly returning to her face, I'll just go for a walk outside and fill it from the pond. It is very warm out today. So, turning her back on the vibrant floral collection standing patiently along the far wall, she strode over to the spiral staircase which led downstairs.

But just as Iris had reached the top of the stairs, a sudden gust of warm wind, blown in through the window, caught the corner of her cloak, wrapping it about her ankle. As she tried to take her next step, her foot became entangled in the cloth, and before she knew it she was tumbling headfirst down the staircase. Then suddenly, a flash of brown. A muffled cry. A final solid THUD. Silence…

It took Iris a minute or two to regain her senses. When she eventually did gather herself, she managed, with an effort, to raise her head from the floor before opening her eyes to look about her. The dusty crates and blankets piled up in the corners of the room in which she found herself told her that she had ended up on the first floor of the tower after all. She turned her head to look behind her and saw that she was at the bottom of the stone staircase she had been intending to climb down only moments before.

Iris sighed heavily. All in all, she thought, despite feeling a bit sore after her fall, she seemed to be alright. Hitting the ground at the bottom of the stairs hadn't been nearly as painful as she thought it would be. Instead of the solid ground which she knew was there, it had felt more like landing on a kind of cushion. In fact…

There came a sudden grunt by Iris's ear. Startled, she spun her head to face forward and looked down at the floor for the first time since her tumble. There she saw poor Raguna, her "cushion," pinned helplessly to the ground below her. "R-Raguna!" she stammered as she leapt hurriedly off of the immobile farmer, "I'm really sorry! I didn't see you, and then I tripped, and… Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Raguna insisted feebly as Iris helped him to his feet. In reality, he looked far from it. He was badly bruised all over and seemed positively exhausted. She looked on concernedly as he pulled a blue bottle from his bag. With shaking hands, he uncorked the top and swigged down the azure liquid, before placing the now-empty bottle back into his rucksack. He looked up and met Iris's worried gaze. "It's an Energy Drink X," he explained, "I should be alright now." It was true. Already, she could see the purplish bruises on his arms and legs beginning to fade. Some of his vitality seemed to be returning, as well, though it was still obvious that he was quite tired, both physically and mentally. Raguna sighed. "So," he said, "why don't we head upstairs, then?"

"Sure… Oh! That reminds me!" she said, suddenly excited, "I have a new painting that I'd like for you to see!" She turned and hurried back up the steps, leaving Raguna to half-hobble after her. Back on the second floor once again, Iris glided over to the still-wet canvas and spun it around to face the staircase. She stood by her masterpiece, hands clasped in front of her, waiting patiently for Raguna to appear at the top of the stairs. When he finally did come into the room and begin to look over her painting, his expression was unreadable. "Well," she asked, trying as hard as she could to sound modest, but unable to contain a tiny grin of pride, "what do you think?"

Raguna seemed to flinch at her question. "Uh…it's…well… I-it's a great picture of a wooly! You're a very talented artist, Iris."

Iris felt her eyes beginning to well with tears. "It's…supposed to be a flower…a Moon Drop flower."

"Oh! Uh, right. Of course it is! And it's a very lovely flower, too! …Erm, speaking of which, have you finished watering your flowers yet, Iris?"

"Oh, you're right!" she exclaimed, her painting suddenly forgotten, "I was just on my way outside to fill my watering can, when I…tripped. I suppose I must have dropped it. I had better go look for it, so I can… Wait! I have an idea. Raguna, you always carry your watering can around with you, right? Would you mind watering my flowers for me?"

"Wh-what?" Raguna started "You mean all of those flowers?" He motioned with his arm to the veritable floral jungle which more or less covered the far stone wall of the chamber.

Iris blushed in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. You're right; that is asking too much of you, especially after landing on you like that earlier."

Raguna appeared to compose himself. "No, no. Really, it's alright. I'll…I'll water them for you."

"Oh, would you? That's wonderful! I really appreciate it!"

And so, one hour later, Raguna had finally finished watering every last flower in the Tower of Rest. "There," he panted, "done."

"Oh you," Iris replied enthusiastically. "I knew I could count on you to help me out like that. Thank you very much, Raguna!"

"You're welcome," he replied hastily, having stolen a quick glance at the wall clock. "It's been great seeing you, but I really have to be going now. It's very late, and I still have…things to sort out back in the village." Though she lived in one of Whale Island's many towers, Iris knew all about the village of Trampoli after hearing Raguna describe it over his countless visits.

"Oh, alright. I understand. Just come back and see me again soon!"

"I will," he called behind him as he disappeared down the spiral corridor of the stairs.

I hope so… Iris thought after he had gone. I really hope so. And soon she was blushing again, but this time, it wasn't merely because she was embarrassed.

2:00 Iris's clock had read… Raguna sighed. He was obviously never going to be awake at his usual time tomorrow. Strictly speaking, he probably shouldn't have spent so much time at Iris's, but he had already come off as a jerk to one good friend today, and he hadn't been about to let that happen again.

If only Anette hadn't vanished like that… None of this would've happened. Not that it's her fault or anything, but… Well, complaining about it wouldn't help him now. Instead he had to try and do something about it. He was already going to be sleeping in tomorrow; there was no way around that. So while he was up, he may as well look for Anette in the one place that he still hadn't. The second his feet touched solid ground, Raguna released his grip on the beanstalk and rushed off to the Business District.

Alpha was on his knees. He couldn't speak, couldn't move, could hardly breathe. The sky above him had long since turned dark. The balmy wind whipped his hair into his face, stinging his eyes. His knees screamed out in protest from hours spent kneeling on the hard ground. He didn't care.

Footsteps behind him. Alpha didn't turn around, didn't even blink. A voice. A voice calling out to him. He ignored it. There was only sound he could hear. Only one sound mattered now.

And then hands were on him, gripping him, pulling him away. Alpha cried out. He twisted and broke free. He ran back to embrace the object of his desire. The hands came again. He tried hard to fight, but he hadn't eaten, hadn't slept. He was too weak to resist.

But even as he was being pulled farther and farther away from the blessed stone, he could still hear it, could hear the voice just as clearly in his head as if it were still sounding right next to him. It was beauty, wonder, the voice of the angels. It was the voice he had spent the past two years of his life thinking he might never hear again. And he was being pulled away from it, inch by agonizing inch. His throat clenched, his eyes burning with helpless tears. It was too much. He blacked out.

And still the voice rang out from the stone monument, loud and crystal clear, unaware of everything that had just transpired:

Laa laa la la la laaa la la la la

Laa laa la la la laaa la la la la

Laa laa la la la laaa la la…

AN: Yeah, so another relatively long chapter (for me anyway). Coolio! n_n I know it took me a little longer than usual to update. I apologize. I can't really blame it all on school and homework, though. Procrastination played a large part...okay, a VERY large part. Bleh... =.= (Yes, I have adopted a new smiley. Scared? You should be. ;-) ) Anyway, actually relevant stuff! First of all, Danny vs. Rosetta fight. Had to do it. XD They were just born to quarrel. Also, I finally got to bring Iris into the story! And she even got a chapter named after her! Aren't I so kind? (Granted, I did make her fall down a set of stone steps... At least good ol' Raguna was there to break her fall! =D ) She was tons o' fun to write about. ...Actually I seem to really enjoy writing about ALL of the female characters. That's not too strange, is it? xP Well regardless, the last scene with Alpha was easily my favorite part to write in this chapter. Fun fact: thinking of that scene between Alpha and stone monument was what actually first inspired the idea for this story. I was just standing in the square on my second play-through of the game, listening to the singing, and thought "That monument was never given enough significance in the story b/c it stops singing as soon as you find out who the singer is. What if you recognized the voice and suddenly became desperate to find out where the person w...I should TOTALLY write a story about that!" God, this is getting to be a monstrous author's note... (._.') I'm going to stop myself now. Toodles!

To my far-too-patient betareaders, LovelyxxMelody & Shadows-of-Realm, you guys remain as fantastic as ever. If I ever get captured by a group of disgruntled Canadians, I am, like, totally calling you two to come and save me. ...Yes, I am quite strange, thanks for asking! n_n (I have nothing against Canada, by the way. Canadians are the epitome of awesome, and everyone knows it.)

Coming Soon: Chapter 6, in which grinning may prove hazardous to one's health... ;-)