A/N: I made so many drafts of this chapter. The first few just didn't seem… natural enough. But then finally, it just clicked. This is for all the meanies that piss me off on a daily basis, who helped me realize what true anger was. I tried to make the description real accurate… so the next time you feel angry as hell, maybe you can relate. (Yeah, yeah, this is one of those stories I write when I'm in a rather… derisive mood XD)

Clearly the author is too dumb to pick, so I'm gonna ask you guys: What should I put for the second genre? I'm keeping supernatural, for sure. But what should be 2…?

Thank you Ultra Drama Queen, MyShadowsThorn, HarvestMoonGlows, Radioactive X-Naut, RainbowMelody, kisa-chan-2006, and Lupia for reviewing. I can't exaggerate how awesome you all are.

Disclaimer/Warning: I don't own Harvest Moon. Some paranoia, anger issues, freakish premonitions, and basically mystery and horror for chapter 3. Still no language, but ff's html is being a spaz.

A Threnody of Sorrow

Dia looked up at the orange-yellow sun glimmering against the clouds at its disposal. So large, and in the way of everything beyond it… was it blocking something? Protecting something, perhaps? Everything about it screamed mystery; it reigned above her like a guardian, like a monument…

But who was the real guardian?

"Harvest Goddess," she prayed quietly, staring down into her reflection before the true guardian's spring. "What is it that you have in store for me?"

She paused, as if waiting for the supreme being to stir. But the pond was still as a mirror.

Dia continued, watching little ripples form against the water's glassy surface from the gentle wind's arrows. "What is it that you want me to do from here on?"

Again, a silence. Even the mewling calls from the bugs in the debris and grinding sands below her seemed to freeze in time. She sighed, resuming with less hope. "What was that… visualization I got yesterday? When I was with that girl… Popuri? Was it something that happened in the past you wanted me to remember?"

She didn't even bother waiting for a response this time.

"I'm so confused. Ever since the night before I had to leave, I've been so… confused." She gulped in dry, sore tears. "I haven't even been feeling like myself lately. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Blinking, her thoughts poured from her mouth like a fountain. "Gina… why did she tell me just now? Was it that she didn't know either? I mean, I had an idea before but I didn't know it was— real."

She crouched down, staring into the spring's heavenly aquatic essence. It reminded her of the other Goddess Spring in her old hometown. This one was smaller, though…

She gasped as a small, iridescent flash appeared in the shallow pond surface. The sparkling substance rose and seemed to rotate, as if looking at Dia from angle to angle.

Abruptly, it glittered against the sunlight before diving back into the centre of the spring, unheard— but not unseen.

xoxo

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Water dripped from the other room. Dia could hear it. Was the sink leaking? Maybe she should go and check.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

For some reason, the taps were riveting to her ears. They made her feel… peaceful. Sound.

Tap. Tap… squeak.

Someone turned it off. But… who?

Footsteps. Someone was coming. But…!

She tried to drape her blanket over herself in an attempt to fall into a position that would convince whoever was coming into the room she was asleep, but she was too slow. Gina walked in, faltering when she saw her best friend in a tangled mess half-under the covers.

"Dia? Is this a bad time?" She sounded… drained.

"Oh, it's just you." Dia sat up, relieved. "What is it?"

The nurse approached her wordlessly. Then she stared at the ground, as if contemplating her actions.

Dia watched with confusion as Gina sat distractedly down at the foot of her bed. "Is something wrong?"

Gina looked at her for the first time, nervously. Her braids swished on her back as she took a pounding gulp.

"What would you do if…"

Silence.

"If…?"

"If I told you… that…"

Quiet.

"That…?"

Gina's last sentence was muffled, due to the pale hands that flew to her face.

"Th-that you had amnesia?"

A heavy, unsuspecting pang slammed against her chest, causing her to lose her breath for a moment.

"What?"

xoxo

"I suppose it's about time I should get going now," Dia proclaimed to herself. The sun, first orange and faint, yet bulging in the light scenery, seemed to darken now. Thick, draping clouds began to roll in, foretelling a gloomy night.

But for now, the day was at peace.

She collected the ends of her dress and decided to start her long trek back to her mountain villa; the mansion in the wilderness. She wondered why her mother had even bought it— it was in the most poorly located place she could think of. Plus it got awfully chilly in the late evening.

A bridge came into view and she was careful as she walked by it. Scanning the water listlessly in case a little fish came swimming by, something a bit more… shocking, came into view.

A body.

She stopped.

…A body?!?

She suddenly started panting hard, her chest plunging back and forth just to sustain her breaths. Her surroundings started to swirl into fog and she saw faces through the cloudy mirages, fear stimulating rapidly. The body wasn't really in the river— it wasn't even in front of her.

It's happening again!!

She began to spin, her stomach lurching as she was tossed to the surface. Her knees hit the ground, hard, and the haunting image of Rick's wrist stemmed into her brain. She sucked in, waiting for the brilliant luster of one memorable knife— but nothing of the sort came.

She opened her eye, confused when she found herself in a room. Cozy; not too big and not too small. Not too much furniture. Just enough. A little fireplace, counter, an occupied forge…

Her mind whirred. An occupied forge? She couldn't see clearly who was occupying it. Their face was covered by a hat. She squinted to make out the blocky, almost comical letters— U…NA? U…M… A. UMA.

"Uma."

Suddenly the hat-clad figure's head snapped up and she felt his eyes pierce hers. All she could see were the endless pools of blue.

He was looking straight at her…!! But how…?!

A stabbing sensation filled her body and she felt like tiny knives were digging into her skin. Her head gushed with pain and she wanted to drop into the air, only to be pulled and plummeted to the retreating ground…

Instead, she aroused at the doorstep of her cottage. The same wood, the same; all of it was the same. It was… real. Not like what she'd just seen… or was it?

Sawing and grunting was audible from the other room; probably from that carpenter. She slinked up the stairs to her room, unable to think. Barely able to breathe.

Did he look at me? Was it just coincidence?

She hit her mattress, feeling the gunshot puncture of his azure eyes tearing through her.

No… he looked right at me.

Another question dawned, more direct this time.

Who was he? Who was that boy? What was his name?

All she'd seen was that hat… those eyes. Something told her she knew that boy. And… that place? There was a forge, for sure… and the counter seemed to signify they were in some sort of shop.

Of course… a blacksmith's house. That boy, whoever he was, was a blacksmith. For some reason, she felt connected to the boy whose name she didn't even know. She felt close to him… as if their veins reeled into the same possessor…

Wait, do I know him? She tried to think back, her head nearly hurting.

Then something in her chest clicked as she found her answer. She did know that boy. She knew his name, in the very least…

She found herself repeating his name as she dozed off in the next instant.

"Gray…"

xoxo

Dia pivoted to step into her villa. Despite its quantities, she was less than eager to see it. No matter what, she missed her real home… the sanatorium. She missed the faces she saw there everyday. She didn't want to live alone; in a mountain no less. She hadn't asked for any of this…

A distinct crunch from behind her signified the boy who had brought her there hadn't left. She turned, waiting for a good reason.

"Um." He was quick to start it, yet slow to finish. "I…never got your name."

Why did he care? What did it matter, if he knew her name? It was nothing but a title. She could change it now, for all she cared… no one would realize anyway…

Her escapade was this: "Who said I had to tell you?"

But the boy wasn't angry; barely fazed even. He smiled, which irked her greatly.

"Okay," he said, almost confidently. He seemed to be considering approaching her, but his limbs twitched, as if he had decided against it at the last instant. "But it's Gray."

She'd barely heard his last sentence.

"What is?"

And again, she received that smile. That happy, innocent little smile that made her want to scream.

"My name."

Unable to take it, she shook her head and left through the door.

xoxo

Beating… pounding… breathing, as if it has a life of its own…

Awake… moving… trembling… clawing at its shell to release it…

Am I… its shell?

Growing… harder… faster… greater…

Dissolving… calming… shrinking…

Dia held her head, unbeknownst that she was pressed up against the wall, shaking. She felt explosive inside, her mind too haywire to allow it to function to its fullest. It was only until she slammed her knuckles into her skinny thigh that pain awoke her and she let out a stalled breath.

For a moment, she didn't even move. She allowed her skin, which was corrosively hot, some time to cool down. Then she laid her head against the wall, allowing herself to think.

That… boy. That hat. Everything about him, it had to mean something. She just… knew it. She felt it, far inside her. She was connected to that boy somehow. She had to go see him…

A drilling feeling clinched her, and like a blazing fence of flames, it trapped her from getting to her feet. This pain clearly would not allow their second introduction.

But it wasn't physical pain that led her to this sudden torment. It wasn't an abrupt blast of lightning that struck her through the window, or her bones snapping in two for no reason. She wasn't completely sure if her assumption was correct, but there was a familiar feeling that trickled its way into her heartbeat…

Anger.

Wasn't it 'betrayed', the other day? Why did she feel angry now? What was there to feel betrayed or angry for? It has to be for Kurt, she thought, stress disallowing her to think legitimately. He gave me something I couldn't take away. I hate him… Or was it that boy? He means something. Do I hate him too?

Yet, Dia couldn't bring herself to feel what she wanted to believe. An illusion began to summon another face before the distraught girl. It bubbled and simmered in front of her, sinking into her only eye.

She nearly gouged at the distilled envision.

Mother?

Suddenly, she lurched forward, feeling malice and rage collide and cause a terrible impact. A satanic scream ripped out of her throat and invisible ropes began to shoot out in every direction, attaching to her cells. She wanted to go around every arrow of the compass, break everything in sight… this emotion wanted to make her lash out into the wall.

And that was exactly what she did.

Carrying out a full-body slam, she gasped in surprise when she realized how much it hurt. Springing back, she now lay on her back, panting asthmatically.

Cause and effect ensued. Pounding footsteps echoed in the distance and began to grow louder in a splintering second. Dia began to sweat, the beady drops blanketing her bloodless cheeks and giving her smooth complexion taint.

"Hey, miss!!!"

She looked up weakly, knowing how terrible she must have looked. Gotz, the burly carpenter was directly in front of her. His hands were filled with blisters and he was sweating, though much more naturally. He looked genuinely concerned; grim, even— and scared.

A hard rack caused her to bend over, but it wasn't through anger this time. It was physical pain that taunted, teased, and brought strife to her rivalling, hopeful heart. A pretty red liquid formed a pool below her and something cold sank into her chest. Her vision quivered, like a rippling river, and she found herself staring into a ring of dark, murky blood.

Her throat caved. Her neck craned. Her breath stilled.

And through it all, she found that the ring grew wider and wider amidst the black that poured into her, quick as sand swirling through the coil of an hourglass.

Gray…

Who… are you?