Medicinal Love
Author's Note: Certain events that happened in Year 1 of HM:MF game will occur in Year 2 for the purpose of this story. I'll be going on with the dollar system for currency exchange rate. $1 = 100 g
Chapter 02
Date: Year 2 : Fall 01 (Mineral Town)
"Attention, passengers. We'll be landing on Mineral Beach in one hour. Please get all your belongings ready by that time. Thank you." The captain's voice fizzled out.
Claire leaned over the rail. Suddenly she shivered as the ocean breeze brushed by her. Claire pulled her hooded sweater tighter, hoping it would keep in her body heat. 'I can't believe that I am doing this.' Mixture of emotions run through her: anxiety, doubts, thrill and excitement.
During her summer, Claire got herself a part-time job to have some funding for what she was about to do. Right now, she only had 2,000 g left. 'Who knew that getting here by plane and ship would cost me this much?' Detaching herself from the rails, she bounced to her room. "I need to find some work around here and fast." She thought about her financial situation and to be frank, it did not looked pretty if she could not find a way to make money. Judging by the amount she had right now, she'd be lucky if she could get through two seasons. Which, Claire noticed, that Mineral Town goes by a whole different calendar and currency; it was something that perplexed her for quite a bit but gave in anyway. 'Still….' Claire cleared all her possessions and carried them with her, one hand on the luggage while the other rested on her backpack. "Will this trip be all for naught?"
"We have now arrived in Mineral Town. Passengers, please get your belongings and head to the dock."
'This is it, Claire. There is no turning back right now. Especially when you don't have enough for a plane ticket. And you're pretty far from home.' Claire asserted herself but doubt lingered around her. "I can do this. Otherwise I'm in deep shit." Before she knew it, her feet had already taken her to the dock. The first thing she saw amazed her. Pristine white sand covered the shores as the ocean waves continued to try to grab the cleanliness that was there. She let out a low whistle.
"Amazed by my hotness?" Someone interrupted Claire's train of thought.
"What?!" Her sharp voice shot through the air as Claire stepped back and glared at the figure before her. A young man, who looked to be someone in his early to mid-twenties, eyed her. Claire noted the dark-skin and the purple bandana wrapped around his head. Before Claire could give this guy a piece of her mind, someone else interrupted her.
"Don't forget me, Kai! See you next summer!" a loud, high-pitched feminine voice screeched out.
Claire discretely, but not really, shoved Kai—whom she assumed to be the guy that was in her way—and searched out the area to see whom that shriek belonged to. Once she saw the person, Claire's eyes popped out. 'Is that real or fake?' A young woman, though Claire had trouble deciding whether it was a girl or a woman, wore an old-fashion dress; but what was eye-popping was the color of her hair, which was shockingly pink. 'And suddenly I'm thrust into a world of anime.' Next to the young woman stood a man, with sandy hair and thin-rimmed frames, who seemed to be only a couple of years older than her. Claire was not sure what the relationship between the two was, but judging the way he glared daggers at Kai, the guy must be either a jealous friend or an older brother with a sister complex. 'If those two are siblings, thank god the guy didn't inherit the pink hair—if it's real, that is.'
"Excuse me, miss?" A hand appeared in front of Claire's face, but she swatted it off before checking other whether the other woman's hair looked dyed or not. "Are you boarding off?"
The forgotten guy placed a hand on the steward. "Allow me to do the honors," Kai grinned.
Claire was so immersed in her questioning that she could barely recognize that something had landed on her rear. The next thing Kai knew was the sound of his cheek against skin as Claire turned around angrily and slapped him on the face. The sound of the slap echoed through the area as the two people on the pier stopped what they were doing; both were flabbergasted.
"Groper!" Claire snarled at Kai, who backed off at the tell-tale sign of female vengeance.
"Are you leaving or staying, miss?" the steward cautiously asked the fuming blonde-headed female.
"Leaving!" Claire spat at the word. Before she turned around and left, she glared one more time at Kai, who weakly grinned, hoisted her luggage and backpack to march down the rail.
'That pervert. Jeesh, no matter where you go, they're always there just waiting for their opportunity.' A frown formed on Claire's face; even here, she'd already encountered a man who couldn't respect a girl's personal space.
The two people she'd seen on the pier earlier approached her. One looked pleased while the other was downright furious. 'Figures that the chick would be pissed.' For a brief moment, Claire wished that she had just stayed home like any normal student and buried herself under tons of research books with a healthy dose of caffeine by her side: the ideal life for any college student near mid-terms and finals.
"Welcome to Mineral Town! I like the way how you handled that guy!" Upon closer inspection, the male had the nicest blue eyes that Claire had ever encountered. The guy offered her his hand. "I'm Rick." Claire shook his hand, vaguely nodding at his introduction. Then he pointed to the woman next to him. "And this is my younger sister, Popuri."
Hiding her shock at the revelation, Claire nodded to Popuri—who only glared at her and stormed off. 'Pfft, doesn't have any sense of courtesy.' Claire was half-tempted to call her out as a bitch, but decided not to since it could have only been a misunderstanding; though, she did not notice she was still shaking Rick's hand.
"Do you need help…?" Rick trailed off, not knowing her name.
She swerved back to reality as she realized what was happening and broke the handshake between them. "Sorry." Claire sheepishly smiled. "I'm Claire. Do you know if there's an inn or a hostel around here?"
"Yup, we have one. There's Doug's Place. It serves as both an inn and a bar. If you want, I can show you the way. It's not that far from here." Rick brushed a fallen strand away from his face and smiled.
Touched by his kindness, a genuine smile formed on Claire's face. "If you insist, then I have to take your offer. Show the way, my good man." Feeling that the moment called for it, Claire patted Rick's back. For a brief moment, Claire felt a bit of tension there, but he later relaxed into the patting. 'Maybe I shouldn't have done that? Eh, it's too late.'
"Here, let me carry that for you."
Claire stepped back as Rick took her luggage from her and started walking. Walking at the same pace as Rick, Claire spoke out. "So…do you live here?"
Rick looked at her. "Yeah, pretty much all of my life."
Claire took note of her surroundings as they walked up the steps to a brick-tiled plaza. "I guess it isn't so bad living here." Realizing what she had spoken aloud, Claire rushed to fix any damages. "Not that I'm being critical or anything, but…" Claire stopped in her rant as she heard some chuckling.
"It's nothing like the city, right?" Rick looked at her with certainty. His voice held no surprise or astonishment. It was like he had already expected her reaction.
Remembering the fresh breeze from the ocean, Claire nodded. "Yeah…" Her voice faded as she took note of anything. 'It seems more of a village than a town.'
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They spent a couple of hours touring around Mineral Town, Hill and the Goddess Spring. Near the end of the tour, Claire felt ready to go to sleep and never wake up. 'I knew I should have taken Patricia's offer to go train at a gym.' She huffed as she attempted to catch her breath. Closing her eyes, Claire tried to will away the migraine. Head spinning and everything too bright, Claire could barely comprehend what Rick was saying. She felt her cheeks flushing, but at the same time the feeling was chilling. It was like she was burning and someone had put a sheet of ice on her.
Rick watched as Claire swayed a little; her skin becoming pale. "Hey, Claire, are you alright?" Concern laced with worry as Claire failed to reply. His eyes widened as he saw Claire falling. Quickly, he managed to catch her, but he stumbled a bit as his body adjusted to the new weight. Once he got Claire in his arms—bridal style—Rick ran to the local clinic.
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There were voices; different voices. There was also a smell of something herbal lingering in the air. Claire groaned as she found herself surrounded in darkness. She tried moving her arm, but found herself unable to; it was as if someone was holding her arm down. The voices got louder.
"Hey! She's waking up!"
Eyes slowly opened, Claire moved her head to the source; it was Rick. "Rick?" Her throat parched at the sudden dryness as Rick and a dark-haired man in a doctor's outfit stood by her side.
Before Claire could comprehend, a small cup was in front of her view. "Here, drink this." the doctor told her as she gratefully took the cup from him.
"Thank you."
Chilling water purged her throat as she savored the taste. 'That is some good water right here.' Claire handed the cup back to the doctor. "So what's the diagnosis?"
"It appears that you were exhausted and dehydrated." The doctor gave her the look that all doctors give when they are disappointed in their patients. "When was the last time you had this much exercise?"
Claire was stumped. "Uh…never?"
The doctor rubbed his eyes. "Well, Miss…."
"Claire."
"Claire." The doctor continued. "It seems that you have high level of fatigue as well as your stamina being empty." Claire saw him grabbed two small bottles; one green and one red.
"Drink these two and you should recover half of what you lost. After that have plenty of rest and a good meal." The doctor handed her the bottles. "By tomorrow, you should feel fine, except your muscles might be sore."
Claire's eyebrows went up. "Might be? You mean most likely." Opening one of the bottles, she took a sniff. 'Ok, it doesn't smell bad so how does it taste?' Taking a deep breath, Claire quickly shoved the liquid from the red bottle. "Not ba…." She started to say but after the taste had gone down her throat she gasped. Hands clenched on the mat as Claire strongly attempted to not think of the after taste. She eyed the green bottle warily, debating whether or not she should drink it or chunk it out. But before she could make a decision, the doctor quickly took the green bottle, told Rick to hold her down causing her to protest—which was what the doctor needed, her mouth opened—and shoved the contents down her throat leaving her to gag the taste of the medicine.
With Rick patting her back, Claire glared at the doctor. "What was in those medicines? Weeds?"
The doctor just gave her a look. "If you put it that way yes. Though the proper term are herbs."
"Oh and what kind of herbs? Red grass?" Claire sarcastically listed off one of the herbs she recalled from Basil's book. She was still peeved at how she had to endure that. It was like drinking a cherry-grape flavored medicine and washing that down with soda.
"Listen here. I personally made all those medicines and not once did I ever use red grass. What you just took has orange grass as one of the ingredients." The doctor could feel himself loosing control. For some reason, this woman just set him off. 'Maybe it's her attitude.'
Claire was about to make a comeback when she realized that this guy here made his own medicine. A smile appeared on her face, which threw the doctor and Rick offguard. 'Maybe this is the opportunity that I've been looking for. If I were to do this, then chances are I'll stand out more in the applications. Especially if I can say that I have experience in working at the lab making medicine, then chances are I could get into a really good pharmaceutical school. Though there is a good chance he won't agree it this, but it is a risk that I have to make. Plus, there might be money involve.' "Doctor…."
"Trent," Doctor Trent replied briskly.
"Dr. Trent. I have a proposition for you." Trent raised an eyebrow when he heard this. Claire continued on. "How about I help you in the lab? I could be your lab assistant." She looked at him to gauge his reaction. Nothing. 'Jeesh, a rock has more expression than that. Quirk an eyebrow at least.'
"Miss Claire. I'm afraid that there aren't any positions available for you to help out considering that the clinic is never too busy." Trent motioned the room around them. "As you can see, we rarely get visitors. So there are plenty of medicines in the storage. But," he cut off Claire as she started to speak, "If I do need an assistant for something that Elli would not be able to handle, then I'll make sure to call you."
Plastering on a smile, Claire warmly said to him. "Of course. I understand. If you ever need me, I'll be staying at the Inn." Holding out her hand, Claire continued, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Doctor." Once Trent shook her hand, Claire turned to Rick and dragged him out of the clinic.
Making sure they were a good feet away from the place, Claire released her groans and frustrations. "Man. I was hoping for some lab work so I can accumulate my experiences and get some form of cash." Claire kicked a stone. 'There goes my opportunity to spice up my resume. Farewell UCSF. And there goes my way to make some cash to survive here. Farewell money.'
Rick looked at her. "I wish there was something I can do to help, but I don't know a lot of people that will hire someone. There's a guy that's staying in the Inn, same money situation as you; he hasn't got a job and it's almost a year since he arrived to Mineral Town."
Mixture of emotions raged inside of Claire. Fear. Worry. A bit of exhaustion. Uncertainty. Claire took a deep breath. She gathered the wild emotions and tried to put them in once place. 'This is just another step to the real world.' Claire looked at Rick. "Is there any way to make money in here? Foraging? Will that work?"
Rick tapped his finger to his chin. There was an air of uncertainty surrounding him but Claire could feel the hope that lingered around it. "I guess so, Claire. Maybe you should ask Zack. He's the one that ships products to other towns."
Another sigh left Claire. A couple steps later, they were in front of the room where Claire was staying. 'When did we enter the Inn?' Claire thought, perplexed, but she brushed it off, deciding she must have been too distracted to notice.
Giving Rick her biggest grin, Claire hugged him. "Thanks a lot, Rick! Without your help, I might as well have been lost for a couple of days."
Slightly embarrassed at the gesture, Rick said to her, "It's no problem really." He paused. Claire noted Rick looked torn between wanting to do something or not. What Rick wanted to do, she could not find the answer; until Rick answered that question for her. "You're going to be alright?"
Claire stepped back a bit. Eyes wide and shock plastered to her expression, Claire offered no quick reply.
"I…I'm sorry if I was being nosy."
"No. No. It's alright. You don't have to worry about me, Rick. I'll be fine. I'll survive somehow." Claire gave a weak grin at that.
Rick turned away. "Alright, then. See you some other time." A final wave was thrown at Claire before he headed downstairs.
Claire shut the door behind her. She closed her eyes in weariness. Walking toward her bed, she flopped herself on it. One arm over her eyes and the other propped near her side, there was a final whisper: "I can't give up…not now." Without realizing what was happening, Claire's weariness caught up to her. It was not long before sleep overcame her, the last thought on her mind that herbal scent.