We're All Mad Here: Let's Play Rune Factory 3!

[fizzmaister]

Tell your friends.

Only if you give me some of that tea that Ramza had.

[Deme]

Hope all the Americans in the thread have a nice Thanksgiving, and a generally pleasant time to the rest of you.

Chapter 43: Art Appreciation

Spoiler

Show

Huh, really?
"Well, not that I'm planning on getting him any sweets."

...Well, I think I have a cake or something for him. I go and get that from my fridge and start heading towards the Diner.

On my way, I run into Sakuya.

"I think so; why wouldn't you?"

She grins.
"Thanks. I feel like you're right!"

I also run into...

A gigantic fish just chilling in the inn's pond.
Is it poaching if I try to catch it?
Well, it probably takes a lot of food from the ornamental fish, right?

...Right. It's a good thing.

Besides, who keeps salmon in a pond?


"Well, here, let me help with that!"
I give him the cake.


The rest of the day is really mostly quiet.

Other than trying to manage Daria.
"Don't."
"I-I won't! I am an adult, I wouldn't do something like that!"
"..." Somehow, I don't believe her tone.

"No, this is me doubting you."


The next day saw a bumper crop of spinach sprouted in the rain.

After I harvested them and visited the settlement, I stepped out onto the rainy town...

And was immediately greeted by a sweet, floral scent that reminded me of those first spring days...

It was Shara, smelling of flowers that seemed to belong in this world of cool, wet soil.
"Oh, I was just thinking that you smelled very nice."

"What kind of perfume is it?"

"Is that right? It smells very nice..."

"Yes?"
"Y-you're a little close..."
"Ack!" I back off immediately; I guess I was getting up in her space a bit.
"Sorry..."
My face is red.
"That's okay..."
"I, uh, gotta go get...the mail!" Yeah, that's right.

Letters!


I think Marian...hopefully isn't planning on drugging me.


"Yes. What did you want to talk about?"
Please, please, please...
"Hmmm, well, why don't we take a walk and talk about it."
"Okay..."
"Let's go then."


In the rain?
"Let loose? Is something troubling you?"
"Hmmmmmmm, well. I don't get enough patients during the week, I need to test my new medicine, and --"
"There's still more?"

"???"


We settle down by the lake. The rain never bothers me much, but I can see Marian trying to draw her cape around her for extra protection. Eventually, from its depths, she pulls out a little breakfast.

"Yes."
I notice that it's garnished with a few cherry tomatoes, with something red mixed int with the filling.

"There aren't any in there. Grandma takes them out. The red is something else."
"Oh, I see. Hmm, looks good."

I swallow it, but it doesn't go down well; the acidic taste of raw tomato makes me so surprised that it goes down wrong.

"Ramza, what's wrong?!"


While I'm coughing, she draws up close to me and produces a bottle.
"Here's some tea."
"Th-thank you..."

I gag on it, recognizing a familiar bitterness.

She laughs.
"Don't worry, there's no weird stuff in there."
"I see. Whew..." I consider that statement again carefully and chuckle a little. "Wait, so you admit that it's weird."
"I guess." She shrugged. "If Grandma didn't stop me, then it's OK, right?"
"You really trust Marjorie, huh?"


"Someday, I'm going to be as great a witch as she is!"
"I see..." That's actually a pretty admirable goal.

"But..." Her face fell; the rain falling down on her gave it a much grander sense of grief.

"What?"
"No, it's nothing." She tried to recover a cheerful expression, but she only seemed to manage it halfway. "Let's keep going."
"Oh, okay..."


"Memories...? It's nice to have places like that."
"..."
When I said that, she just stared at me, like it was a strange thing to say.
"Hm? What's the matter?"
"Yeah..."
It's because I don't really have anyplace like that, that I can say it so easily.

The rain against the plaza paving had a pittering sound.

"In the middle of town?"
She grinned.
"Yes, sometimes I'd break things and Wells would yell at me. Other times, I'd hit Collette, and Blaise would present me with a full course tomato meal."

What an odd punishment...
"Good memories," she said with a fond smile. "Grandma used to scole me, saying 'think of others.'"
"Well, yeah..." Still maybe not a strength, Marian.

"But I think that she knew that I wasn't very good."
"What?"
"My magic skills." She looked at the ground forlornly. She kicked at a puddle, sending a spray of water into the air. "That's why she doesn't want me using magic too often."
"Oh, well, I don't..."
She shrugs and looks back at my panicking self with a smile.
"That's OK. Facts are facts."


She turned to face me -- the raindrops falling off her had, her hair damp on her shoulders.. Mixed in with the rain on her face was a warm blush. I felt my blood rushing in my ears.

"Is that...?"

The cold fall air seems somehow hot. No, not the air -- my skin.
"What's going on...My body feels hot."
My face is flush. My heart is pounding. Seeing her there, in the rain... I somehow can't think straight.
Is it... somehow...
Love?


"Huh...?"
The wind blows a cold chill.
"But I thought that tea didn't have anything in it?"
"I said it didn't have 'weird stuff' in it, not medicine. It's my tea after all."
"Why are you proud of this?" My vision flashed white for a second, my view of the world wobbly, like up and down didn't mean the same things they didn't a second go. "Huh?"
I staggered in place, feeling hotter and hotter... Until I fell.


A voice somewhere on the edge of my conciousness says.
"Sorry, Ramza. I think this was a bad batch."
"Why would you... keep that...around..."
Is all I could manage before it went black.

And then, a familiar ceiling. Like anytime I'm unconcious without thought beforehand, I check to make sure I remember how I got here.

Well, Marian was there when I passed out. Things still feel a little hazy.

"Finally, you're awake!"
"Marian? Oh, yeah. That tea..."
I am never drinking Marian's tea. Ever. Again.
Not even if she asks really nicely!


"What?"
"It's supposed to reset your body to recharge and refresh you. So a healthy person should be unaffected."
Well, at least she was trying to give me something nice.
But wait... That heat was a little familiar.

As if to answer me, the world pulses white. With it, the flash of heat and a muscle-spasm pain. Yeah, I've definitely felt this before, with Raven.

"Oh, about the letter."
"Y-Yes. (W-What should I do...?)" It's not going away. Like everything in me's tense.
"I want you to listen."

"Okay, what is it? (Just stay calm.)" I try to keep my voice from sounding strained.
"So um..."
"Yes. (Deep breaths...)" I really can't afford to listen at all. My whole world constricts to trying to hold back the rush of energy that's washing over me.


Something relaxes inside me.



Ok, now she was saying that she...
"..."
That she --
...

I nearly shouted.


She looked like she was about to cry. The world swam.

"I see... I knew it would be..."
"No, um, that's not really it."
I stumble over my words, trying to gain equilibrium.


"Hey, Marian!"

As she runs off, I try to get up --
And the world goes white. Whatever control of what was happening to me is gone.

I sigh.
"What am I doing?"

What should I be doing? I could have avoided that if I'd just come clean. But instead, I tried to hang on too tightly... And I ended up pushing her away.
After all of that, I feel dizzy, and with the rain pounding against the ceiling, forming a gentle hum...


It's easy for me to fall asleep.














The apothecary ceiling again. My own human form. I stumble out of the bed, feeling... Actually, pretty energized.
"Hmm...I was asleep again."
Actually, I don't think I've slept that good for a while now. Maybe ever -- well, for my version of 'ever.'
And anyway, I shifted back in my sleep, so it shouldn't be an issue, right?



Well, nothing better to do than go through town.

I considered warning Raven about Marian's medicine, but... Looking at her expression, there's no way she'll get tricked.

"She told me never smile, so I'm just practicing that..."
"...You're doing it knowing it's opposite, aren't you?"

"..."
She's just not a smiler. But...
"But you're so much cuter when you smile."



"Spooky?"




Don't your recipe breads teach that?
Speaking of which...



Not bad.

I spend the rest of the morning prepping my field for some more spinach plants...

And cooking up some of that spinach.



Looking at my recipes, it seems I can make a better sword, if I just had the right items... But I do think I know where to get some.
I spend a while fighting in the valley until I have what I need...


And then it's a matter of forging and refining it to a powerful weapon. New Sword!

The next day was rainy again...

And Daria had a new task for me. Actually, this one sounds kind of exciting.

Let's see how it goes!

"Ok. I'm sorry to keep you waiting."
She shrugs, already forgetting what sternness she'd been concerned with.
"Well, I haven't really been waiting too long."
"No, I didn't think so..." But she can be a little unpredictable... "And who are you introducing me to?
This set her into wicked giggling.
"Heh heh heh... I name it..."

"What? What is that...?"

"Ramza, you need more art education. That's why I will show you around my art pieces in Privera Forest!

"Accomplice? What? Anyway, don't be so modest! Now come, my assistant!"
Well, ok... But don't complain to me about the weather.


We start with the ones closest to her house.

"What? What? Face?" That...has a face? Well, I guess it has a head, maybe...
"It's an expression of ennui. Heh heh heh."
Somehow, I can't imagine Daria having much experience there.
"I don't see anything..."


Oh, isn't this one?

"What? Who cares! Let's go to the forest!"
"Did she forget or something?" I mutter to myself.


They have favorite foods now?

"You're leaving something out..."

We keep going; Daria's steps are light and lively, even as it sends her skidding through puddles. The dried paint on her cape and hat grow a little slick, and before long, her path is tracable by little drops of color.
Also, sometimes she just whispers 'Rainbow' to herself, brought about by seemingly no particular source.

"You're asking me?"

We keep going. I'm trying to think of where I've seen bright things here.

"You think?!"

I'd wondered if those things with faces and garlands have anything to do with her...

"It was just a normal pole, which was boring. So I chiseled faces and flowers into it!"
"Now it's so cute," I say, getting into the groove here. It really doesn't look out of place.


She made a lot of Nakos, didn't she?
"I think that might be important."
"Not really. The important thing is pulling your creation from the world!"


"Th-thank you..."



"I see."

At that point, we've made a full loop.
"We still need... Oh, that's all of them."
"It's over?" Thank goodness...
"Learn anything?"
She turns to me, her eyes boring into my soul.
"Oh, yes... V-very much..."

"I-I see..."
I feel a little bowled over by all of that...


"Bye then."


Still, I feel somehow like when the people of the future come to these ruins, they're going to have an interesting time.

[fizzmaister]

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving as well.

[Dragoon]

Looks... realizes that I haven't posted for a while, I should fix that.

Well, I have been watching, reading, and enjoying this, have to laugh at Ramza's actions, especially interacting with his friends and love interests.

Well, I have been getting farther along in this game and now I now how to do Daria's request as I forgot to check for the initial sculpture at her house and was frantic trying to find the right one to start it.

Also looking over the order on how you did certain events, it is a bit impressive how you set up the story.

[Toric]

Funny how, while Marian's relationship with Ramza seems to be "slip things into his food without his knowledge", her grandmother seems to have been slipping tomatoes into her food as well. Maybe she's somehow subconsciously taken that as a way to show affection? And I now have an image in my head of Colette tackling Evelyn head-first to snack on a particularly tasty-looking hat.

[Deme]

Funny how, while Marian's relationship with Ramza seems to be "slip things into his food without his knowledge", her grandmother seems to have been slipping tomatoes into her food as well. Maybe she's somehow subconsciously taken that as a way to show affection? And I now have an image in my head of Colette tackling Evelyn head-first to snack on a particularly tasty-looking hat.

I like all of this. If their outfits weren't so detailed, I'd consider drawing some of this. Frankly, I wonder if Evelyn's outfits don't sell for this exact reason. Well, that, or I feel like Gaius would try to make something useful out of the metal bits if you stopped by, you know, just sort of out of habit.
There's a hammer, there's a piece of metal next to him, he's forging it, right? 's what he does. The world slips into a zen oblivion, punctuated only by mysterious screaming.

Looks... realizes that I haven't posted for a while, I should fix that.
[snipped]
Also looking over the order on how you did certain events, it is a bit impressive how you set up the story.

Thanks for dropping in!
It's actually more impressive given that, besides the thread-appointed directive of "try and finish the ones closest to finishing first," exactly what requests are available for me to do is actually somewhat random. Still, I'm glad you find it's working out well.

Also, uh, sorry about the update delay here: between other projects, Christmas (hope y'all had good ones), and my usual time away from my "runs a DS emulator well" device, time slipped by. Here's a little something.


Chapter 43: Is This Really Sanitary?

Spoiler

Show

I head back into town.


"The festival! Did you forget?! Tomorrow's the eating contest!"
Do I want to point out to Hazel that I am a literal amnesiac?
Also, new here?


"You don't seem that excited."
"I mean...I'll get fat if I eat too much..."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Shara. It's just one day."

The rest of town was abuzz with it, but I mean...
I saw things like these:


"I shouldn't be eating now to get ready for tomorrow."
"Yes... wait?"
That doesn't seem like it'd make you better at eating tomorrow.


"I-I don't know why you're staring at me."



Compared to Collette and Sherman, was there even a point in showing up?


Oh, well.



"I-I think so..."
That's the spirit.


In the evening, I start work on a new accessory, to defend against ice. Water is basically ice, right?

And once I've cleaned out my inventory of metals, I do some mining to replace it.

The day of the contest itself started pleasantly sunny after days of rain.
I think everyone was enjoying it.


"But that might just be your downfall."
"What?"



"Shara..."
Wasn't she worried yesterday...?


"I usually eat three times more than normal people. Ha ha ha!"


There are some unexpected enthusiasts in the contenders today, folks!

On the way through town, I run into Marian. My face fell. My heart stopped.
"Marian. I'm ...Sorry." I fumble, though I'm not sure I understand what it is I want to say. For passing out? For running away?
"About before..." I mean, I sort of collapsed while she was telling me she... Uh.
Felt... something?
She flushes, and we both fail to look at one another honestly.

"More importantly..." She leaned forward and looked at me up and down.
"What?"
"..." She looked deep into my eyes; I felt something crawling up my back. "No, nevermind!
"?"



Well, Pia can always cheer me up.

"Huh? Does someone usually stop you?"
"Uh..."
Well, have fun, girls.



"Sure, why not!"

"Everyone starts at the same time. Be careful someone doesn't take the food you were eyeing. Cooked food gets more points than fruit, and it's better to avoid Failed Dish."


Alrighty, let's go!

Everyone's running into each other -- I think I get an elbow in my eye at one point, and so spend a while dashing away from the pack.

I get a lot of cooked food, but in the end, I think I spend too long looking. Besides which, I chew.
Actually, is this even sanitary?


...I'm pretty sure I lost.




You know what?

I'll take it.
"Congratulations, everyone! All of the winners, don't forget your prizes! Until next time!"


I clearly need to work on my food game.


"To celebrate, I won't be having a feast!"
"Y-you're going to eat even more...?"
How terrifying.


"An iron gut...I'd like to examine her."
...She's kidding, right? She's kidding.


Pia is cheering happily on the beach.
"Baths!"

"What?! It's my fault?!"


And when I thought that the festival was over and the day would become another quiet evening, I saw in my mailbox...

A letter from Marian.
My heart pounded. This had to be about earlier.

Maybe it wasn't. She'd have said something if she saw something, right?


She played with the ends of her braids. Eventually she put her hands on her syringe and stared straight at me.
"Ramza. Are you hiding something from us?"


...She saw. Something. Everything.

Maybe I should come out with it.

I mean, it's not like she's going to want to do mad medicine to a biologically unique specimin...
Urk.

"..."
S-she wouldn't. She wouldn't. She means so well and she tries so hard.

...Her trying hard means doing exactly those things, doesn't it?

"I-I can't think of anything..."
I try not to look at her expectent, resolved face, which pinches down seriously as she stares at me.


Eventually, and with a sigh, she smiles.
"Of course you wouldn't be..."
"O-Of course!"

After all this time, I think I understand who this "Ramza" guy I happen to be is: He's trash.

The tension drains out of the room, and she adds,
"Well now, could you take me to Oddward: Bamboo Cliffs?"
"What?! W-why are you asking all of a --"

"Then it's better that we didn't --" I don't want to be on the bad end of dubious healing magic.
"Let's give it a shot!!"
Metaphorically, I hope.
"Of course she's not listening..."

But, obligingly, we head up that way.

The sea is beautiful from that distance.

She looks at me expectantly, so much so that I wonder what's coming.
"What's the matter?"
She sighed.

"What?"
"Oh, well. We can continue later --"
She spots that I'm not standing with my weight on both legs; I got hit with a bee sting on the way up.
And by "bee," I mean, of course, the creatures half the size of my body who shoot giant barbs.

"Oh, you're right. But this isn't really --" That bad. I just need, I dunno, to sit down with a snack.
"Wait, I'll use a healing spell--"
"What?!"

Without further ado, she begins to launch an overwhelming wave of magic at me.


She realizes this only as it leaves her hand.

When it's fire and about as much Rune Energy as I've ever felt, pounding concussively up against me.

Yeah, I'm out.



As my vision flashed white, each pulese of my heart pulling me closer to transformation, I tried to figure out exactly how to hide.

It's a perfect excuse!


She calls out behind me as I run out of strength to resist the feeling, and head behind an arch.

"I don't think Marian saw me --"


A shriek fills the air.

"-- Marian?!"


Why didn't she want to talk somewhere safe?!


I go charging back towards where Marian was -- where she is --
Where she's being menaced by an orc.



Squishy witch is squishy!



I ram into him, sending him tumbling down the cliff.
He'll...probably be fine.




And that's when I realize I'm still a woolie.

I dash away as fast as I can, before she can make any meaningful connections one hopes.



I transform quickly -- fluidly, compared to when I'm forced into it -- and run back.


Ahahaha... Was she fooled?
"I see...That's how it is."
"Marian?"

"Yeah, I got it! I understand everything." She beams. I guess she's not shaken up.
"Huh?"

"Anyway, thanks, Ramza!"
"What?! No, umm..." I didn't really do anything. I mean, especially from her perspective, but if I hadn't have left her...


That's just not OK.
I thought... I dunno. I was better.

"I'm satisfied now. Well, let's go back to town!"
"Okay..."

I teleport us out and lope on back to her shop.

The whole way, I was quiet, trying to understand exactly what it was I should say. I should have been better. I've come so far!


Before I can say anything, though, she just skips back into the apothecary.

"..."
I sigh.

What should I do?













Well, maybe it'll just never come up again, right?
...Right.

[Dragoon]

Huh, you think they would know he doesn't know all of the festivals yet. Unless, Hazel assumes one of the bachelorettes have already said something to Ramza first.

That is a big gap between first and second place in points... That will be difficult to reach.

Poor Ramza, probably getting asked to perform in front of everyone next request by Marian. Also, learned that shape-shift is a high level ability. Huh/

[Toric]

Does your Eating skill (yes folks, that's a thing in RE4 at least) factor into your eating speed in this game? If so, Ramza's gonna have to make a habit of bringing a few more snacks in his outings.

I love that misunderstanding. "Nope, I'm not hiding anything!" = "Nope, I don't mind if you tell anyone about this weird thing I'm not sure you know." That sounds about right considering Marian's usual logic regarding consent.

[fizzmaister]

A slightly delayed reaction to the update, but the update was a good one.

[Deme]

Huh, you think they would know he doesn't know all of the festivals yet. Unless, Hazel assumes one of the bachelorettes have already said something to Ramza first.

One of the central problems with Rune Factory games using the amnesia plot device over and over and over is that they really never actually use it. I mean, they set it up, and might bring it back up at the end, but they don't actually acknowledge it 90% of the time.
I'll assume the latter, for narrative reasons, or that people in town just sort of keep forgetting. He blends in so well.

Does your Eating skill (yes folks, that's a thing in RE4 at least) factor into your eating speed in this game? If so, Ramza's gonna have to make a habit of bringing a few more snacks in his outings.

I love that misunderstanding. "Nope, I'm not hiding anything!" = "Nope, I don't mind if you tell anyone about this weird thing I'm not sure you know." That sounds about right considering Marian's usual logic regarding consent.

On the eating skill topic, there is one, I probably should train it more, and I have no idea. I bring snacks, but mostly don't use them much.

And yeah, that's I think my favorite thing in the event chain. She takes it all totally at face value and ignores all other possibilities to arrive at the entirely wrong conclusion. Good work, experimental doctor lady.

Anyway, that aside, update's being delayed (I know, I've been off my game lately) by a flurry of carnival preparations. Things should have settled down after the weekend.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Well, to be fair, you have a calendar in your treehouse.

Birthdays are still stupid. And the plotlines really underutilize the potential, they are pretty much the weakest part of the series. The worst is the original Rune Factory, since they ALMOST got it with Ivan. Then they didn't, and Ivan wound up being just a wandering merchant with some interesting hints. And then they further hint at it in RF4 with Ventuswill thinking you're a part of the royal family because you're an Earthmate, so they definitely didn't try to retcon it out. Sigh.

[Deme]

This is basically everything I think about that, yeah. Oh, well.

By the way, anyone interested in watching me stream can check out This thread, where I'll talk more about my schedule and junk.

Chapter 44: When I Think About You

Spoiler

Show

Alright, looks like Sofia needs a hand.

On my way over, I spot Carmen pacing.

Starting? He's been this way since I've met him.
"I wonder if there's a girl he likes. I'm really curious."
"Really? Carlos?"
"He poses in front of the mirror every night. It makes me want to gag, but I try to hold it in," she says with a laugh.



...What sort of sales pitch involves your metabolism?

I head over to the mansion, and the moment I walk through the door...

A cold wind blows out at me, with a violent shout.

...I see I came at a bad time. A shouty time.

Evelyn looks like she needs some help mediating.


"I'm not right!" Sofia stamps her foot and shouts as I dash towards the stairs.
"And I keep telling you that you're not wrong!"
You know, it's weird when they opposite the same idea differently.



"I'll do exactly that!"

She goes dashing down the stairs towards me, stopping only a step or two up from me, frozen with shock. Her hands rush to her mouth, tears spring in her eyes, and she says in a little voice,


"..." Her expression resolves into a quiet sadness. As her head dipped, tears fell onto her cheeks...
And then she ran past me, eyes shut.


"She's such a drama queen."
I head up the stairs to Evelyn.

I shake it off; it's fine, really.
"But what was --"
Before I could ask, Evelyn turned to her father.
"Is this what you wanted, Father?"
He bit his lower lip.
"Of course not! Just leave her be!"

"I swear! The way you two communicate, it's amazing anything ever gets done!"
Evelyn turns to me with an apologetic smile.
"Ramza, can you find Sofia for me?"
"What? ME?"
What good am I going to be? I don't, uh, think I have any experience with family fights.
I probably do, I mean, but if I don't remember them, are they experiences?
"You handle Sofia. I'll take care of Father."
Well, I do have I guess some experience with Sofia.
"Got it."


"That's how she handles situations like these."
Well, her nearest friend is probably Raven, so I'll go hit up the Blacksmith's!


"She left with Gaius."
"Do you know where they were going?"
She shrugs.
"Can't say. She told me not to tell."
"Oh. That doesn't help me much, then."
After a second, she turns away and mumbles something.

"At least that gives me something to go on."
"..."
"Uh...thanks!"
I give her a cheerful smile as I walk off.

Where would I go to mine...I check a few spots quickly -- not in the desert, which I've thought of as his go-to. Maybe the Oddward Valley?
...The best mining spot there takes a while to get to, but I arrive there eventually.

phew, finally.
"I found you, Sofia."
"..." She dusts herself off uneasily, busying her hands and trying not to say anything until I hear --

"You guys should come home with me."

We end up on the upper floor of the Blacksmith's. After a few minutes of completely awkward conversation, I take a breath.


"Ok, follow me!" I glance at her furious face. Wrong read. "Uh...wait. So you mean you're NOT coming home, then?"
"No. Not until Father apologizes to me."
"That doesn't seem too likely..." He looked furious. They both did.


Raven heads downstairs, unwilling to get this close to such an emotionally messy conversation that she has no stake in.
I envy her cool head.
"So what started the fight, anyway?"
"I'll tell you... "NOT!"
She turns and tosses her head.
"Really? THAT'S your comeback?!"
"What of it? Anyway! I'm not going home!"
"Evelyn's worried about you, you know. And Sherman..." I hesitate. "Well, okay, I can't figure out Sherman. But Evelyn's worried."
"I know she is." Sofia wrings her hands, sighing.



"Then let's go confront him about it," I say soothingly. "If he fights with you, that can only mean he loves you very much."
"You really...think so?"
She looks surprised. I mean, I don't want to say things about fighting in general -- like I said, I don't really know...
"Well...if you say so."
But Sherman really cares about his girls. I know that.
"I don't say so. I know so."

She turns to look at me, a shy expression on her face.
"So...are you coming?"
"If you want me to."

"Okay, fine. I won't." She flinches when I say that.
"You know what I mean!"
I smile as gently as I can.
"I do." With a little laugh, I add, "So, shall we go?"


She takes me by the arm as we head back to her place, and I find myself thinking about that day we toured the town under her umbrella. She holds on to my arm tightly, and I think that maybe she remembers it fondly, too.
Eh, probably not. She has a whole life of memories -- it probably doesn't mean anything to anyone but me.

Of course, the serenity there is brief; it's not a long walk.

"Father..."
Nothing's untensed in their tones, which cut like a winter wind.

She pauses, her shoulders stiff as rocks. She takes a deep breath, staring her father down.
"I'm sorry."
Sherman relaxes, a big smile spreading onto his round face.

"You...were?"
"Sofia, I have something to say as well."

His eyes are full of big tears. Sofia seems a little taken-aback, and as he sniffles, she can't help but look embaressed. It takes her a second to work up the ability to say,

"Of course not!" She announces cheerfully, wiping a tear of her own from the corner of her eye.


A voice to the side of me says, jumping me out of watching this family drama.
"That was a lot harder to figure out than most family quarrels, too," I admit with a laugh.
"And it's all thanks to you."
"Oh, I didn't do anything. You convinced Sherman."

She shrugs and tosses her hair.
"Think what you want. Now go to Sofia."
"What? But they're..." Kind of in the middle of something.

"I-If you say so!"

I hurry up the stairs under the power of Evelyn's insistance.


"Thank you, Ramza. It's your fault we made up!"
"Heh. Well, it wasn't all me." I mean, I just fetched you. "It takes two to argue...and forgive."
I feel an appraising stare all over me.

"Uh...Father? You have a weird look in your eyes."


He delivered with a theatricality and energy he normally reserved for food.
"About what?"
He nodded, rocking a little on his heels. With one of his ginormous grins, he proclaimed,
"Sofia! You aren't in love with Ramza! I see it! All has been revealed!"


I-it's not like that! Probably! She's just happy to have someone who 'gets' her!
Right?
"Father?!"
Sofia looks as embaressed as I do.
"I'm so unglad that the marriage talks fell through!"


"Marriage? So Sofia left because..." I'm just going to mentally block out whatever else he was saying. La-la-la.
"Yes. Father's been trying to rush Sofia into marriage."
Sherman laughs that off uneasily.
"Evelyn certainly knows all about tact!"
"But Sofia said that she had someone else in mind."

"Take good care of her, Ramza!"

WHY DOES EVERYONE DO THIS TO ME?!


"I can't think about marriage yet, so I didn't make that part up!"
Oh, thank goodness. Thank you, Sofia.

"Sure you did," Evelyn said, placing a long emphasis on the 'sure.'

"Shut up, Evelyn!"
Wow, she looks really upset.
"Sofia?!"
She starts running down the stairs again.
"Don't run out on us again, Sofia!" I call after her.
At the bottom of the steps she stops, turning her head to give me one forlorn little glance.

"...Okay. I won't."
She says in a small voice, and she comes to a halt.

"That...wasn't opposite-speak."

Sofia nodded.
"After all..." She turns to look at us, a bashful smile on her face.


"Now THAT was opposite-speak!"


Cue laugh track.

"Well, that's a relief," Evelyn confides as we all settle down. "Our family issues can be pretty difficult to sort out...and even understand!"


"No, that's...!" She said she made that up!

I'm getting out of here before it gets more complicated!


So you've said.
"She just needs to learn to hold back a little..."
"Um...A little...?"

Everyone here gets along pretty well with their families, all-told. Even Karina and her mother, though they fight... I know my family got along pretty well at some point, but...
What's it like now?

Pia's voice interrupts my thoughts.
"What brought that on, Pia?"
She shrugs.
"It's what I thought when I was looking at your face...It's an important thing, to be with family." She pats me on the head, with either tenderness or sympathy, and walks on.
...Somehow, what I was thinking about doesn't feel very heavy anymore.






A good set of recipe breads today. Blaine was on fire, and they all came out baked with...umm...
Extra recipes? Is that how this works?


"Ah, ha ha... Thank you, I'll do that."
I mean, I can't imagine I'd have a problem solved by making it rainbow...

...
But I'm glad she's looking after me, in her own special way.

I busy myself with idle work for most of the day, before deciding...

I need some silk to make a hat.


I hunt it for hours, and once I have it, spend even longer trying to make the hat.

But eventually -- at about midnight -- it is done.

By the time the next morning rolls around, I feel only half-awake; I'd spent so much time and energy the night before, I'd hardly gotten my head down at all.

Still, there was stuff to do -- A big harvest, for one. All the bell peppers and a few other things are in.


And a worrying lack of grass. I might have to step up production.


And then... A letter from Marian. My stomach turns.

When I arrive, she just smiles like I've never done anything wrong, and am not lying, and not lying about not lying, and not nearly so cowardly that I nearly let her get hurt rather than admit something that I've admitted to other people.

...Basically, she makes me feel like a real heel.
"Yes." I take a breath and try and act like everything's normal between us.
"So, what did you want to ask?"
She sort of bounces in place.
"Yes. Actually --"
Imagine how thrilled she'd be. To have such a unique test subject.

...I don't want to think about her like that. I want to trust her. I want to be honest.
"Hm? Ramza, you actually look serious."
"What?!" I'm snapped from my thoughts. "Well, that's..."
"Did you have something you wanted to say first? Go on, I can wait." She folds her arms behind her back.
"Umm, well..."
I shuffle in place, trying to think of how to broach the subject safely. Well, why not a few test balloons?
"How do you feel about monsters? I don't think that they're all bad myself..."

"Monsters?" She tilts her head and examines me thoughtfully. "Oh, I see."
"?"

"It's a little frustrating that we can't communicate with them."
Ok, good. I sieze on it.

She stops me before I have to figure out how to turn that into a good segue not a terrible one.
"But they can be convenient. They don't need weapons."
"Huh? Wait, convenient...?"
"But you know what's strange? Why can you use magic?"

"Oh, ummm..." What, my techniques I buy? Lots of people can, right? Or staves? ...Either way, let's call that unsolved mystery of my life #84? "I'm not sure I can answer that. What about you, Marian?"
"I can't."
"What?" So what was the other day, then?! "Wait, but you do. Whenever we're in dungeons, you're --"

"What?!"
I feel lost.

"What? What??"
Eventually, she calms down.
"Well, but, ummm..."

She flushes and pulls the brim of her hat down, slowly hiding her reddening face with it. Eventually, she lets go.


If I hated her, I wouldn't want to trust her.
"I see. Okay then."
And she smiles like that's enough for her.


"Hey, Marian..."
"What?"
It's not enough for me.
"I have something important to talk --"

The door slams open, revealing a distressed Rusk.

He charges into the room.
"Is it true that Collete is unconcious?!"

"Oh, you didn't hear...?" He shakes his head, brushing off that concern for a minute. "Well sorry, I'm in a hurry!"
He goes dashing out as fast as he arrived.


"I'm sorry, Ramza! We can talk later!"
I start heading off myself, but Marian rushes past me faster than I can blink.



I follow after, until I run into Marjorie on the way out.

"Oh, yes. But I heard that Collette passed out, so--"
"Oh, it's nothing serious. Just a little food poisoning."
"Oh, so you saw her?" I breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness..."
An uneasy chuckle escapes me.
"But I never thought that there would be something Collette couldn't eat."
"Ho ho. It appears that way. Well, go see her if you're worried. I'm sure she'd like the company."

I head over to the diner about as fast as I can, where Collette's brother and best friend are gathered 'round her bedside.


Suuuurrre...

"How's she doing?"
I ask her friend/doctor.

"Iron?!" My jaw drops, and my own stomach aches in sympathy.
"Yes. She slept in and didn't have time to eat breakfast. So she grabbed..."
He shrugged.
"But why in the world did she eat Iron...?"

He glances over at his sleeping sister, glaring fiercely.
"And look how happy she looks... Watching her is making my head hurt."
"Ha ha..."
He smiles and offers a fond little head-shake.
"I really feel stupid for worrying. Well, Marian, please take care of her."


He leaves the two of us there.

"Hmmm...."
"What is it, Marian?"
"It looks like Grandma's medicine is working, but..." She strikes her palm with her fist. "I don't think that medicine will be able to completely flush it out of her system."
"What?"

Well, I do have plenty, but...
"Oh, yeah, I can..."
"Thanks, could you?"
"Yeah, okay."




"I'm sure it's going to happen again."
...What is wrong with the people here? Is there something in the water?


I was going to re-sow my fields with this, but oh, well.
"Well, you mind waiting a second?"

She gets out a mortar and pestel, a few powders, and a beaker, and spends a minute in intense concentration.
"Okay, that should do it!"
She administers it quietly, without taking out her frightful syringe gun. Or cackling.

"It should be completely out of her system soon."
"I'm a little surprised."
"What? At what?"
"You really do care a lot about Collette, don't you?"
"Of course. We're friends."

"But you still make her take part in all of your dangerous experiments."[/color]
Sometimes it feels like you're more test subject and mad scientist than friends...
Actually, that's true about us, too...

"They're nothing life-threatening."


Marian turns to look at her friend, dreaming happily of iron rice balls on her bed...


"What?"
"I really like that about her. She's straight and honest." She laughs -- not her usual sort of 'I'm about to do something dangerous' laugh.
"Basically, it's her stupid qualities that I'm jealous of."
"That's putting it bluntly..."
"But."
"What?"

...Yeah, she really is good at working hard. And she's more understanding than you'd think.
"Things might not work out, but it's still worth a shot."


"..."
Well, she's gotten a good start on other, less dangerous things. I didn't even know I had that memory.
"I see."
I laugh a little.

"Oh, by the way, Ramza. Wasn't there something you wanted to talk about?"

I flounder under the re-emergence of that pressure.
"Oh, is it something you can't talk about here?"
She nods firmly, before I can answer.
"We can talk about it outside after Collette's woken up, then."
"Yes..." I'll have to face the music.
"?"

A little while later, we head out to the plaza, where she might have -- well, where we had that talk. Before I passed out.


Like, no chance of exploding or anything?
I bite that one back, though.

"She was wolfing down Blaise's rice porridge by the time we were leaving, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, that's right."
She seems happy, and for a moment, we don't say anything. That was kind of a scare.
"..."


She catches the look on my face and stares at me -- I guess I'd gotten a little gloomy for a second.
"..."

She turns towards the tree, her expression thoughtful. To my surprise, though, she doesn't talk about me.
"By the way, do you remember when I told you how I angered Blaise?"
"The full course tomato meal, right?"
"Yeah. Grandma actually got really angry at me," she says it with such a bright smile, though...
"To think of others?"
"That's right. But I didn't really understand her."
She paused, her brow furrowing as she thought about that statement again very carefully.
"No, I thought I understood. That's why I was doing all of those experiments."
"..." I just sort of wait; I don't think anything I could say would help.



"It's not just to 'think' of others, but to 'care.'"
"To care?"
She walks a little closer to the plaza's tree, the shade of its branches dappling her face with little drops of sun and little puddles of darkness.

"That's when I realized."
"..." Aww, Marian.
"And I feel the same way now."
"What?"

She turns back to me, her eyes level.

"For me?"

"But I want to help you." The wind blows, sending a shiver of golden-brown leaves over the two of us. Her voice is soft as that breeze, and however many times she's tricked me -- thinking of me, in her own way, or at least she thought she was -- this time, I believe her. She looks a little embaressed and adds, brightly,
"Because I'm thinking of you."


I'm a little taken a-back. It, uh, feels clearer and brighter than the words might imply. And I think, if I don't say it now, I...I might never. I might never really believe in what she deserves to know. She might never really think about the "real" me.
"..."
I stare down at my hands, which eventually close into nervous fists. Just... think of it like going to the doctor.
"Thanks." I can at least start off with a smile. "I should apologize. I've been hiding something."
"Hiding?"
"Yes. You see..."

I take a few steps back, steadying myself with big breaths, up through my chest. Then...I trust her. Light showers down with the shaking leaves as I change shape.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you!"
Her eyes widen in alarm.


"What?! You knew?!"
I mean, I knew it was a possibility, but...
"Huh?! You didn't know that?!"
"Huh?!?!"
We both stand there, staring at each other in alarm and confusion.
Oh, gosh, I have screwed this up!

"Wait a minute! Let's get this straight."
"Good idea."
We both smiled uneasily.
"So you knew I could transform, right?"
"Yes."

I cough.
"So you know that I'm half monster?"
Did...did someone tell her? I mean, I guess she might have pieced things together after the last few times, but...

"What?! So then, how did you know that I could transform?"
"When I was looking after you the other day...I came back to check on you, and you were a wooly."
"Oh, that's when." I guess I was being naive.

"But it wasn't a magic spell, huh?"
"No..." Just me. "Like I said before, I'm half-monster, so that's where the transforming comes from."
I'm sort of expecting her to rip into me for saying I wasn't hiding anything.

"Hmmm." Is what she said instead.
"..." I brace myself for the follow-up. She just stands there, leaning from side to side to get a better look at me from a few angles.
"What? That's it?"

She winks.
"I mean, the result is the same, so it's similar."
"No it's not! I'm half-monster!" That's really not alike at all!
"Yeah."
"Aren't you scared?"
"Nope." She shrugs.
"Nope...?" I was worried over a casual 'nope'?
...Actually, to be fair, I was worried she might go nuts on me for medical science.


"Yeah...maybe." Everyone's been much nicer than I expected...But then, I think the people here are weird.
I know it wasn't always like this.


For a minute, we stand quietly and look up at the shaking leaves. The air's a little chilly today...But all the same, I feel a little warm.

"What?"
"Thank you."
"What?" It's a different what; I wasn't expecting her to say anything like that.

"Yeah..." I smile fondly. "And I'm glad you accepted me for who I am."


"Yes..."
We smile at each other without anything more to say.



I think I understand it better...How to think about Marian.

[Toric]

Okay. I love that whole exchange. That's one of my favorite scenes of this game so far.

"Marian, I have to tell you a secret."
"Lay it on me."
"Sometimes I'm a wooly."
"Yeah, we've been talking about it for the past hour. Now what's this juicy secret of yours?"
"Wait, what?"
"What?"

[Hiro Protagonest]

(Psst, most of the text is in Raven's color)

[Deme]

Goshdarnit. I had a feeling something like this would happen. Edited, thanks for letting me know.

[Deme]

Sorry for the double-post, but a small update: I have most of an update done, and Mardi Gras is now over, so work should be resuming... Soon? Today I'm mostly trying to shake that fact off, but I have every reason to believe there'll be an update before the week is out.

[Toric]

Looking forward to it. Here's hoping Sofia is a long way off from learning Ramza's secret.

[Deme]

It'll be her next request.

Anyway, Happy Valentines' Day, everyone!

Chapter 45: Portrait of the Artist

Spoiler

Show

I head over to the restaurant after that, to see how Collette's feeling.

"Pretty good, actually! Even Raven came by and saw me."
"...Really?"

"I like Marian and all, but she could learn a thing or two from Raven!"
I'm not sure Stoic is the word I'd used to describe her...Or that it's really that good a thing. But I feel like she's gotten stronger as I've known her.


"After all, it's Sofia's birthday! I simply cannot rightly ask the task of anyone else!"
Oh, oh, I better get something fast.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Sherman!"

It doesn't take me too long to find something to give Sofia.

"What?"
"Today is my birthday."
Ohhh, opposite-speak.
"So I heard. Here, for you."
...It's some junk.


It smells vaguely of rotted flesh.
"I really hate these! I'd like to have some more sometime."





Sofia's friends are thinking about her, too... With about the same train of thought.
"Are you going to put it for sale?"
"...It's for Sofia's birthday."
"Oh, I see..."


"Why are you looking at me...?"
Seriously. I am not prepared to run a store.


"Y-yes..." Nod and smile.
"If you can draw with a hammer, then you know you've become a real artist."
"I am not an artist, nor are hammers brushes."


I head out to do a little mining, heading deeper and deeper into the Vale River area in search of some nice metals.

It's while I'm there that I end up hearing a sort of shuffling noise behind me.
Sliding on the ice is a big silver wolf, a cautious, if friendly, look on his face.
"...Hey there, big fella. Want some food?"
On a lark, I pass him something from my backpack. He scarfs it down, and as I go to move on...
He follows after me.

"That's what I have with me, big fella."
This does not dissuade him. No matter where I go, he follows me.

I sigh and accept defeat.
"...Well, I guess you need a name. How about Cid?"
He woofs, appreciatively.

Guess I have a wolf to ride.

...Wait.
This is the opposite of good for our monster food situation.

"<Really? This is how things are?>"
He sighs.
"<Well, you'll work something out. Probably. If you're not distracted by girls, anyway.>"
"...I'm not distracted!"
My romantic life just got stunningly convoluted while I wasn't looking, is all.

"<Really? What happened to hunting down those monsters and your memories and, you know, all that jazz?>"
"...I didn't mention the hunting down those specific monsters part, did I?" I'm pretending not to be too worried
"<You talk to yourself. Sometimes when you're not awake.>" I will file this under 'Delita, stop watching me sleep.'
...But he does have a point.
I have been putting that off because, well...

What if I do get my memories back by defeating that big monster?
...What if I don't like what I recall? Or...
What if I like it more than here?

I watch Cid sniff around the barn for a while, not entirely sure what I expect to find. I mean, expect him to find.

As if seeing my downcast mood, Delita gets a sly look.
"<...Well, I guess in the meanwhile, you'll have to provide with... an alternative food supply.>"
"A-alternative how?"
"<Apples. Maybe some juice, too. And pie! Can you make pie?>"
"M-maybe..."
"<...Pie.>
...
"I'll figure something out."
Please grow back soon, grass.



The next day does see some grass -- I don't have to go ahead and bake pies. But there's also some golden potatoes, which is a nice little surprise. Not to mention, a whole bunch of carrots.

In my mailbox today is... Uh...

Well, I'm sure it'll be interesting.

On my way down there, I found Karina hanging outside the shop. When I waved...

She mumbled something I couldn't make out.
"What?"
"Never mind... (Just kidding.)"
Well, OK...
I've got places to be, I guess.



Might as well start off honest.
"There you are, my dear assistant. Just listen to what I have to say today."
I blink. As requests go -- as Daria goes -- this is... shockingly simple.
"That's it? Okay."

She fiddles with her hat for a moment, her brow creased and her expression thoughtful.
"Do you have any dreams?"
"Dreams...?" I don't really know if I have a dream. I mean, at some point, I'll probably know where to return to.
At some point, I'll have all my memories, and whatever plans I might have made won't be worth anything.
...It's better to think of it that way, otherwise, I'll have to choose.
I sigh.
"Do you, Daria?"

She nods, slowly.
"Yes...I do."
"What kind of dream?"


"A castle?"
"That's right." She nods eagerly, a warm smile spreading on her face. She gestures at some imaginary great size. "A giant castle bigger than the Sharance Tree."
That's quite the build.
"And what will you do once you build it?"

As I'm asking the question, she's anticipating it -- she's bouncing on her heels.
"Good question! I, I!" She looks at me, standing without any clear enthusiasm, and her face flushes. When she speaks next, it's in a softer voice.

"The....world...?"

"When I was little, my dad took me to a large tower in the city. And the view... was amazing."

"...Ok...?"
"Everything looks so...Bright. And so simple. All the things you worry about, all the barriers between people just fall away, and you see it as a jewel laid out, the colors fading into the horizon, the people just specks of light.
The world is beautiful."

When I don't respond with, well, anything like understanding, she glares at me.
"Anyway, it was amazing! That's why I want to capture the world with my art."
"You seem...like you're out for world domination." I can just imagine her, clutching the world in her pale hands...and finger-painting it rainbows.
Not finger.
Hammer.
Hammer-painting it rainbows.


"Let me know if there's anything I can help you with. I would like to help." After all, I am her assistant, sort of.

No, I'm her friend, I think.
Even if I didn't understand it... I think that was something personal.
"No take backs..."
Her stare is an icy wind brushing over me.
"What?!"
"Let's stock up! 10,000 pieces of lumber!"
"Whaaaaaaaaaat?!"


"O-oh."
"But maybe I'll take 20 or so."
"So you are asking me for some..."
Lucky for me, I did a little work in the field last night.
"Now go, my assistant!"



"Thanks! I'll use them when it's time to build!"
"This was nothing compared to 10,000."[/color]
"The castle's name will be Ramza Rainbow Tower."
"Ha ha.. oh, stop."
"Thanks, Ramza...I'm really happy that you helped me come closer to my dream." She mumbles into her hand, her sea-blue eyes trailing the room.

"What?! What?! Another face of Daria?!"
"How rude! I only have the one!" She says with a scowl.

Her words trail off, and instead become a fluid movement.

And her arms are around me. Her smell is slightly chemical from the paint, earthy with the smell of wet clay, a strange tornado jumble which contained, almost inexplicably, something soft and welcoming and just outside of words. She's so close it's impossible not to notice -- or to notice how warm it feels, being embraced by her.
"D--?! Daria?!"
"Oh shush. Let me speak," The order is somewhere between 'playful' and an authentic comand... But what she actually says then wipes away whatever else I might have said about it.

...I'll try to find something, then... I'm not sure it's what I really should be sharing, though.

But there's people to see, things to do.


"What's the matter, Raven? What's wrong with your cheeks?"
She looks like her mouth hurts.

"...It's nothing."
"???"



"Hmmmm, well... I usually give them a gift. Something they'd like."
"Like a longsword or a pile of iron?"
I wonder if my sense of normal got skewed when I got amnesia.
"Why would you come up with that...?"
"Probably because I'm clueless," he says with a shrug.
"But why iron?"

...I guess it's good for a wide variety of things.
Like clothes.
And eating.



..."Didn't we have a talk about this?"
"Oh, of course. Yeah, I should make her try medicine, too." She glares like she's feeling ganged-up on.
"Why are you testing on ME?! I'm the healthiest person in this stupid village!"
She does have the best metabolism.


...Wait, what.
"Wait, uh... why are you two looking at me?"
I know a cue to make myself scarce when I hear one.
I sort of putter away my evening, foraging and...
Making swords from carrots. I'm not sure what else to do with them.

The next day started raining the moment after I finished watering the crops.
Oops.

...Really? Carlos?
...Well, I'll suport Collette, no matter what!
"I've gotta scarf 10 times the fish he does, though! Why am I so much shorter?!"
...Oh. You meant like that.
Nevermind.

Anyway, I have to check the mail to...day...

...What sort of request is that.
I mean, how does she know about that.

Is she playing the random word game? Maybe she is playing the random word game.

...I need to go see her about this.
When I get to her house, as fast as Cid can carry me, she's standing near the door. Like she was waiting for me.

"There you are! Listen! I saw it!" She's particularly energetic today.
"W-what did you see?!"

"A golden wooly!"
...
I come and go from these woods a lot, don't I?
It's not in town, so...
I don't really think anything of it...

My heart begins to pound.

I don't have to say anything I don't want to. It's not like I have no one to support me.
It's not like she knows.



...I don't have to tell her anything.
I don't have to let her any nearer to me than she already is, I don't...
"Just talk to me when you're ready!"


...She told me her dream -- and I don't have anything like that for her, except this. Except the one thing closest to me.

I clear my throat.
"Lovely weather today."
"It's raining pretty awfully, but hey -- you know what that means! Oh, seeing the golden wooly under a glimmering rainbow~!" A bright shine fills her eyes.
"Let's go catch it!"

"No, uh, wait, I --"
She sounds so excited...Is that what she wants to do? Paint me like one of her Sechs Empire girls?

"Have you done something new with your hair?"
"I washed some old paint out of it...Actually, I wonder what woolies do to clean up; that gold one looks pretty nicely groomed. We'll find out if we catch it!"

"Uh, actually..."
Go on, Ramza.


"Look over there! A flying pig!"
Ok, now she's actually slightly annoyed with me.
...I didn't know she could do that.
"Come on, Ramza! That's just my experimental rainbow pig. It'll work better with a cat."
...Yeah, it probably would.

"I gotta..."

"I gotta..."
She looks at me, bright and expectant, her eyes glittering with dreamy ambition.

What do I want?
...I want to be part of a world where I can be accepted. Where the differences between me and other people fade away.

"Daria... Okay. I want to show you something."
"What? What? What?"


For a moment, she freezes, blinking from the light.

Her hair swings as she tilts her head this way and that, like a confused puppy.
"Daria, actually I'm --"


...Was that an imitation or a response to me talking?

"Mr. Wooly..." Her voice quivers with a strange almost-awe. "What are you...?"


"..." I just look away for a second, while she stares at me like I'm nothing she's ever seen. I don't know what else to say, really...
It might have been a silly dream.


And then she casts a spell, sending a shining rainbow cutting through the air.


"What?"

Her eyes shine, and all trepidation melts away from her like, well, like anything like human concern. I feel a second away from being swept up into a multicolored hurricane of energy and blonde hair.
"Uh, umm..."

She dabs the end of her hammer on her palette, selecting a golden color. She grabs me by one hand -- paw -- hand --
"No!"
She's not even listening! She hasn't acknowledged a thing I said! All she saw was something to paint and --

I end up shouting it so loudly she stops and freezes, her hammer slipping downward, leaving a little yellow trail dripping onto the floor. She stares at me, a strange serenity spreading across her.

"Why?"

She nods, her expression growing thoughtful again.



Like she didn't even hear me...
I mean, I guess it's better than being afraid...?

As she stops and examines her available colors again, she looks up; there's something sharp and cool in her expression.
"Ramza."
"Yes?!"
"It seems like you're worried about not being human, but who cares?"
Well, a lot of people, I think. To this anxiety, she shrugs.
"I mean, I'm an elf."

I blink.
"Huh...? An elf...?"
I mean, the ears, sure, but... I don't know.

"I-Is that right...?"
Maybe I just don't have a good frame of reference for 'humans.' I can't recall if I've ever met an elf besides Daria.

She smiles at me very gently, and when she speaks again, it's alarmingly soft and warm -- she moves in and out of this little island of tranquility, but we hang there for a moment.

"I never thought of you as the same species as me anyway... That's not what makes someone 'my people.'"
And then the little island of tranquility is gone, and she's back to looking over her paint with a bright smile.
"Anyway, let's get that full-scale print."
"Please don't." My shoulders sag, and I find my next breath is a sigh.
"But... I'm so relieved."

She looks at me a moment longer, a serious expression on her face.

"Daria..."
"You're my precious assistant." She puts a hand on my shoulder. "Come by anytime."
"Thank you..."


What a lovely little dream it might be.

[Toric]

I can see why you thought Daria's reveal paled in comparison to others we've seen. She's kinda an odd duck, given we've got two other non-human girls and one "I CAN'T BE SCARED MY HEART IS MELTING FROM YOUR CUTENESS!" response. I don't get the level-headed response, that doesn't fit what we've seen of her super-passionate character so far.

And yes, Iron can indeed be used for everything. I laughed out loud at that line.

[Deme]

You say that, but I noticed, just in the general making of the LPs, that Daria tends to have these sudden moments of stillness throughout her events: little seconds where, just for a minute, she's calm and quiet and thoughtful. I occasionally liken her to a tornado, but I think a hurricane, with its eye that passes you over and for a moment the world stops, might be a better comparison I'll never get to use now unless I go and edit.

Buuut it's not like they really do anything with that. And it's a shame, because "Seems like a maniac, but is alarmingly chill and insightful when you get her off her topic" could be fun -- though Pia does that a bit. That's the problem with Daria: They spend way too many of her events not really telling a story with her, or doing much with her and her art. It's not like there's no good events in her chain -- the tour is fantastic, for example... But maybe they could have done that earlier, and just in general pick a storyline for her or something. She's an obsessive meglomaniacal artist who likes to shout about rainbows. That should be a super fun character, but it really goes nowhere and -- augh!

(As you can see, I spent a lot of time thinking about how disappointed I am with Daria, who by concept alone was my favorite when I first started playing the game, and ends up one of my least favorite bachelorettes, because she let me down. By constrast, I have a special soft spot for Pia, who is about the exact opposite: did not expect to care, cared enough that I wrote a significant expansion to her reveal because I was just so full of ideas about her.)


Iron is a valuable resource, for all your essential needs.

[Deme]

Sorry about the delay on this one...

Fire Embem Happened.

Chapter 46: Reversals

Spoiler

Show

"Oh?" I'd found Gaius sort of surveying the town through the windows of the shop. I guess running the counter must be a little dull for him.
"Everyone's so free and having a good time, but we're all still looking out for each other."
"That sounds like you, too." Gaius was really sort of one of the first people I got to know anything about in this town. I sort of felt like he was looking out for me.

Not maybe, absolutely!
"Anyway, Ramza, are you looking for something today?"
I browse through the special deals of the day -- because that's really where he'd have anything interesting -- and I do find one pretty neat thing.

I could use more stuff. (I could not, I am running out of storage, but I will want it anyway.)



I pick up a few recipes and head on to the bath.


"Really?" She-she must mean... Like family? Uhh... I... I can't figure out how to not look at these things anymore, but I really don't want to know!
SUBJECT CHANGE!
"More than Sakuya?" I tease.
"What...?!"


"Pia?!"
Oh, I didn't mean it like that... Oops.


I stare at the...thing... presented to me proudly.
"Umm...What is this spiky, sinister object?"
"A pillow."
"That's a pillow?!" It looks like it should be banned from warfare for excess brutality!
"Well, good night."
"What?!"
She's not going to try lying on that, is she?!

Escaping from terrible nightmare pillows, I feel like trying out a new portion of the maze that's mysteriously connected to my home.


The Labrynth has what...what looks like the ocean in it? Outside of these pockets of sandbars, it seems to go on forever.
I've never felt the sand like this before -- not that I can remember, anyway, which still isn't much. The roar of the water on the shore is very different from our little lake.


I run along, collecting treasure where I can: and there's a lot of it, too.

The enemies are mostly not too bad...


Except this fella, who likes to stab me. And throw ink and bombs at me. And is super unpleasant.


Super unpleasant.


Ow, that was...a spike.


I just head straight to bed -- it takes me a little while to get fully in-gear the next morning, too.


Eventually, though, I see a pleasant invation from Sofia in my mailbox.

On my way to see her, I run into Carmen up the road.

"What?! What's with the sudden comment?"
She looks jolted out of her own thoughts.
"Huh?! Oh, I was just thinking of something..." She laughs. "You were just in front of me, so I guess I just started talking out loud. How embarassing!"
"Ha ha, that's okay."


Everyone seems lost in thought today; the weather does make it a little moody.
"You going to take over?"
"I don't know...It'd be a pain... (But I wouldn't hate to.)"




"Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the heads-up!"

But first, I need to head to the mansion, where Sofia's waiting for me.

"Yep!"
"Great! So...I've got a little request. I really hate Vale: Icy Rosebush!"
"Uh...what's the request?" I try to gauge her face, but her expression is very calm -- the only hint of feeling is a red blush.

"So I thought maybe we could go together..."
"Sounds good! Let's head out, then!"
"You'll take me?"
For a moment, she looks surprised in earnest.
"I wouldn't like that in the least!"

As we turn to leave, someone clears her throat.

"Um, before you two head out, could I borrow Sofia?"
"What for?"
"It's between girls."
"What's the problem?"
"It's BETWEEN GIRLS." She enuciated the words loudly and slowly.
"Uh, I'll just be stepping out, then!" Give some sisters time to talk, ha ha.





"I want you to promise me something."



I wonder what they're talking about?
After last time, it might be...difficult. I doubt they don't want her seeing me. I-I mean, we're not seeing each other like that, but they don't think so.
...But if they did want her to stay away, could I blame them?
I mean, I'm not rich. I don't come from any family that I know of... I mean, I don't think I lived a life of crime as a guard, but I could have, on the side!
And then there's...That other thing. But they don't know about that?
...Should she? I guess I should add 'not very honest' to my lists of faults.
Yeah, there's a lot of reasons for me not to be the favorite of a rich family.

I guess I'm glad that Sofia likes trash.

Still, it's not like that.
It's just a moody sort of autumn day.

My dark chain of thought is interrupted by the door opening behind me and Sofia stepping out.

"Uh..." She hesitates, a troubled look on her face.
"Sofia?"
She takes a breath and calms herself.
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
A thought seems to occur to her, and she freezes in place.

"Sofia?"
"Let's go."

Whatever Evelyn says must have been worrying her a lot -- she looks troubled the whole way to the rosebush, and when we reach it, it's all I can do to break the uneasy silence.

"Yes..." That response... Could not have been more lukewarm.
"But a little cold."
"True."
Her words are like the roses. Completely frozen over.
Maybe Evelyn did say something about me.

I need to think of something...
"Hey, Sofia. I have a question for you. Why do you think it's so pretty here?" I mean, I know how the plant works, but not why that's pretty.

Finally, her face changes.
"Hmmm... Let me think." She looks worried again.


She walks around the bush, towards the bluff that seperates it from the rest of the river valley.
And when she looks back, I feel like something bad's about to happen.

"Sofia? What's wrong?"
"Uh, nothing."


She falls silent.
"...
...Nothing."

She goes to leave, unable to face me for a minute, until eventually --

"Already?!"

"Hold on! Did I offend you in some way?!"

She looks shocked, like I've run something through her.
"NO!" It's with that furrowed brow, her eyes soft with concern, that she says, "...Of course not."


She says it with a shout -- and, looking at her face, I can't help but feel my stomach drop.
"Oh no!"

I grip my sleeves, the wind chilling at me. I don't look at her; I can't bring myself to. I just want to curl up somewhere.

I wonder -- if I knew more about me -- if she knew more about me -- would this be different?
Or would it not make a difference? What I have to show her probably isn't anything she'd want to see about me.


"I meant..."

Her voice catches in her throat, cracking like ice underfoot.
"I should?" My head jolts up in surprise, greeted now by her back. Her figure gets smaller and smaller as it runs across the ice, towards town, away.


I don't really know, but I know who does. The town passes in front of me like a blur -- before I've even made up my mind, I'm heading up the steps of the palace.


Evelyn doesn't turn to see me, but she knows the minute I've come in.
"Is Sofia home?"
"Yes, but she went right up to her room. She won't come out."
Eventually, Evelyn looks back at me.
"Did you two have a fight while you were out or something?"
She...doesn't know?
"I wouldn't exactly describe it that way." My hands rub my forehead, trying to ease out -- or just disguise -- the feeling in the back of my soul, tightening up in my chest.
"Sofia said she adored me."

"And your feelings aren't mutual?"
"No, I wouldn't say that."
I don't know what my feelings are, but...
"But... she really meant she hates me."
I don't want her to feel that way! Sofia's someone who's special to me.
"Ah. Now it's clear." Evelyn sighs and shakes her head, but the expression on her face... She's smiling.
"What is?"

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have told her what I did."
"What did you tell her?"
"I made her promise to me that she wouldn't lie anymore."

"So I wanted to help her break her habit."
"I see."
So what she really meant was...

...That she adores me.

"But I guess that wasn't necessary." Somewhere, somehow far away, Evelyn is talking.

I follow her gaze up to Sofia's room, my heart pounding in my chest.
"Don't break Sofia's heart, you hear?"
I can't promise that -- not just yet. I... my love life's a little... I don't have room for that, right now. I don't know where my home is, what my life is like -- and I think a lot of people would want to know.

"I won't."
But I'm not going to lie to her about that.
Or anything.

I think she'd understand. I hope she'd understand.
"She's a bit difficult to read... But she's worth it."


I stop, just before the door to her room -- taking in little gasps of breath, something uneasy folding up inside me.
"..." A long pause. "No."
"..." I walk up to the imposing door, a smile spreading onto my face.

"Oh, yeah. Right." After a second, the light move from that joke leaves her. I hear her sigh through the door, into a silence. "..."



I hear a door shut.



"Huh?"
"The stubborn me or the honest me. Which one don't you like?"
"Hmmmmm..." I don't think it works like that.
"I can't really choose..."
"Why not? I want an answer!" There's a trembling in her voice.

"..."
Are they really? No matter how she talks, she's still Sofia.
It's always been a part of her.
"Actually, that reminds me, Sofia." Now that I'm here, something cool and calm is blossoming in my chest. "I haven't told you everything you need to know about me."
"What do you mean by that?"

"I can't tell you."

Because this is something you'd need to see to believe.
Staring level with the knob, I see it hasn't turned even a little.

"It's important. I want to see your face."
...When I do, I feel like I can be certain of how you feel. And when you see me...Well, you'll be certain, too.

"..."
The doorknob slowly turns, and Sofia steps into the hallway. I gulp.

"Is that...you, Ramza?!" Sofia doesn't look horrified -- that's a plus. I think she doesn't, anyway: she looks too shocked for any other feeling, even fear.
"Yes." Before she can respond, I press onward. "I'm half-monster, so I can change into both forms."

"Am I a monster, or am I a human?" There might not be a 'true' answer.

She watches me quietly, everything in her expression somehow detached and unresolved. I wonder if I've made the wrong choice -- I can't choose between her, but there's such a big difference, in every way... She might be able to make that choice.
But I can't let myself think that way; I lean in to try and snap her into focusing on the subject.
"Hey, Sofia. Remember how I told everybody?"
She blinks, and I realize that bit of sarcasm maybe wasn't the best. And, even then...I told more people than I ever thought I could.
"So that's why I can't say which I like more."

There's a long moment in which she says nothing; in which she feels miles, miles away.
I reach out a little paw, and I wonder if I didn't completely ruin our friendship. She won't even look at me, for a minute. The errant paw drops slowly to my side.





She walks very close, her expressions changing with every step; moving from sharp to soft, anger and sadness playing out in her in turn, until she's very close to me. And then she looks down at me and says, like a command from on high.

My head droops. At the end of that long wait, that's the conclusion she could come to...
I was really getting stupid, wasn't I?
"I knew it..."
I've always known it.


That soft, almost laughing tone breaks me out of a daze. And Sofia's words are barbed, and she's smiling at me.
And I understand exactly what she means.
I shift back reflexively, like a muscle relaxing. I think, somewhere in it, I might laugh just a bit.

"It's the least I could say..." she says, wiping a tear from her eyes.



...I really didn't have anything to fear -- not from the people closest to me. Because they all liked me -- and this, too, is me.

I think I'm ready to finish what I came here to do.



"Have a good one, Blaise."

Though maybe not before I stop by and give Blaise a little present.



I think I'm ready. ...Water's like ice, right? Except warmer? I mean, magically.

I rushed through the parts of the river I'd been through already, past the save point...

To where a laughing face, almost part of the wall, awaited.

From the depths of my mind, something stirred.
"The Death Wall. It likes cold areas, so the moment it can, it'll try to scramble for a chill. You got that, kid?"
I got that.
"I finally found you! I'll send you back to the Forest of Beginnings!"
...And then, this job will be over.
And then I'll remember the rest of my life.

And then...
And then we'll deal with 'and then.'

"Here I come!"


At first I start swinging with Grantale; the wall doesn't move first...

Not that it can't send something after me. Yipe, yipe, yipe!
Either way, I feel like I'm barely scratching him with the weapon I have! Running across the Proving Ground, dodging spikes, I sort through my bag until I find something I had stored for just such an occaison.

Muuuch better.


The ground begins to shake as great tremors roll up the Death Wall and into the ceiling. The cracks are so blue I feel like they might go through to the sky.

...Oh, oh, I do not have time to contemplate the beauty of nature right now!

I duck and dodge around the falling chunks of ice as the wall and ceiling collapse around me.

All to free the cold skull from the wall.

"...I think I might have just made it mad."

Right now, its main attack is these little jabs, and for a second, I think I'll have plenty of time to attack.

Wrong.

Very wrong.
"Seriously? Shapeshifting?! When is that fair?!" asks the shapeshifter, fleeing for his life.

I fall back and dart forward to get some hits in. I don't take a lot of damage even on a nick, which comes as a relief...

Until I think I'm really wearing him down! This is ease--

Until it manages to drill me into the wall.
Have I mentioned I'm wrong?


I retreat and cram bits of salad down my throat. I catch my breath and try to get a little warmth in my hands: I'm close to the end. I just have to keep going for one last charge!

I run, swinging a hot and heavy sword. When it makes contact, I hear a sharp cracking noise, like an icecube plunged into warm water.

...It's done. I'm done.
It returns in a glimmer of light, leaving me breathless.


"Now I've sent back all the monsters to the Forest of Beginnings."
I finish catching my breath.

"I bet there's going to be another orb."


I'd like...I dunno, something with specifics. Names and places.




The flowers...
All that greets me is a voice. No context; there's not a person, or a place, or a smell.

It feels important; something in me goes quiet and sad as I reflect.
It was like that, then, too -- something like a prayer, with longing.

".....
.....
.....

..."
The silence in my heart goes on forever. It somehow feels...
Like I'm being mocked.


Is that all there is? Sometimes, I've remembered things unexpectedly later -- or, rather, remember what I remembered, like a theme-- but...


I've definitely never been here before, right?


...I shouldn't feel down.
I shouldn't feel sad.
I still have one lead left, so...I have to pursue it, right?

I walk back towards the Sharance Tree in the growing darkness; I forget when night fell, only that the breeze is cool, and autumn leaves tumble down from as far away as the crossroads between the desert and the river.


He's staring up at the tree with a tired look on his face.

Wells only turns to look at me for a moment.
"Were you looking at the tree?"
"..." He doesn't say anything at first. He doesn't look mad that I've disturbed him, just... Wistful, maybe?

"Um... Do you know something about the Sharance flowers?"
This gets his attention.
"About the flowers? What?"
"How can we get the Sharance flowers to bloom?"
It's out of season, but this is the one idea I have.


"Hmph. All I can say is that it hasn't happened for 50 years."

It's my only lead...

"You know, I think the flowers won't bloom because of those univir."

"You know that the univir used to live here?"
"Yes, I've heard..." I can't blame Kuruna for being mad about being forced out.


"And then finally, it stopped blooming.
I know they must have done something to the tree because they were kicked out."
...Would they have? I know Kuruna dislikes humans, but I don't think she'd do something like that out of spite... And I know Ondorus doesn't care, but...
That's not enough to speak for people who aren't around anymore.

And neither is that.
"But you don't have any evidence of that!"


He stormed off, muttering about the future.


I'll do it first thing tomorrow. It's the last memory I can really chase; it's all I have.

[Qwertystop]

Let me guess: the univir were doing something necessary to make it bloom. Perhaps unintentionally, or passively.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Let me guess: the univir were doing something necessary to make it bloom. Perhaps unintentionally, or passively.

I haven't finished the plot, but based on Raven's events (that we've seen in this LP) and the effect that Ramza has on it despite not being an Earthmate (RF3 is the only game to not have one), I have a theory.

Spoiler

Show

Raven and Ramza are runically unstable. The monsters were driven out for some reason, and I doubt that it was because all the humans spontaneously developed fantastic racism. It is very likely that Sharance had energy fluctuations often due to being a hub area for creatures technically native to the Forest of Beginnings (though that doesn't explain the Univir... they should be native to this world). The Sharance Tree grew back when that runic instability was the norm, and it thrives on it.

[Deme]

I haven't finished the plot, but based on Raven's events (that we've seen in this LP) and the effect that Ramza has on it despite not being an Earthmate (RF3 is the only game to not have one), I have a theory.

Spoiler

Show

Raven and Ramza are runically unstable. The monsters were driven out for some reason, and I doubt that it was because all the humans spontaneously developed fantastic racism. It is very likely that Sharance had energy fluctuations often due to being a hub area for creatures technically native to the Forest of Beginnings (though that doesn't explain the Univir... they should be native to this world). The Sharance Tree grew back when that runic instability was the norm, and it thrives on it.

This is a fantastic theory.

By the way, next update -- it's a biggun, or maybe I'm just saying that because I haven't pared down the screenshots yet, it might just be a few key scenes -- is in the works, but my area has been experiencing some flooding, and in order to avoid getting trapped in our neighborhood, we'll be heading away from my LP machine and reliable, picture-uploading internet connection for the next few days.

[Toric]

Strangely enough I missed this last update because I just bought Fire Emblem Awakening. ...I was not cut out to be a tactician.

I liked Sofia's reveal scene. It isn't my favorite, but I do appreciate the benevolent dysfunction of Evelyn picking the exact wrong time to change Sofia's speech patterns.

That is such an awesome boss and I so wish it was in RF4 so I could have a shapeshifting ice-face as my pet.

[TaRix]

Strangely enough I missed this last update because I just bought Fire Emblem Awakening. ...I was not cut out to be a tactician.

I liked Sofia's reveal scene. It isn't my favorite, but I do appreciate the benevolent dysfunction of Evelyn picking the exact wrong time to change Sofia's speech patterns.

That is such an awesome boss and I so wish it was in RF4 so I could have a shapeshifting ice-face as my pet.

Actually, Death Wall's in RF4. Somewhere. Either very late-game or bonus material. Bring lots of ice cream.

[Toric]

Actually, Death Wall's in RF4. Somewhere. Either very late-game or bonus material. Bring lots of ice cream.

Cool, I have a new goal for my completed game then. Right after "survive more than five minutes in the Sharance Maze."

[Deme]

Conveniently, one leads into another. The Sharance Maze is where all the old bosses hang out, I believe.

Anyway, I am back in my house, everything is fine, all technical issues have been solved or are irrelevant to the LP, and by the time I have time to sit down to work, I should have de-stressed to the point where I can say... Update this weekend, maybe?

[Deme]

OK, here we go!

Update will not be happening next week (most likely, anyway), since I'll be out of town for Easter. Sorry about that.

Chapter 47: The Truth

Spoiler

Show

Alright. It's a new day, time to hit up Ondorus about those flowers... I hope he'll know something. It'd be pretty bad news if I came all this way and stumbled now, right?

I guess I must have been dwelling on it, even as I headed to the settlement.

"Yeah..." She peers at my face curiously.
"Are you feeling well? Is there something troubling you?"
"I'm not sure. I think I'll be OK, though." I do think this can work.

"Because you are... Because you are my comrade, I will extend this protection towards you. Please inform me of any troubles."
"Ha ha, thanks... It's nothing that serious, though, so don't worry."
I wave off her concern, for now, with a smile. It feels good to think she has my back, though.



He reads my expression before he says anything, his eyes flicking towards the rest of the crowd.
"Yes..."
"Okay. Please come to my tent."

We walk over and, pouring me some juice from a convenient jug, Ondorus has a seat and waits for me to continue.

"The Sharance flowers? Why do you ask?"
"I want them to blossom."
I don't know why, but it's what I have to do.


He gasps, but when he lets out the breath, it becomes a defeated sigh.

"That might be difficult."

"Those flowers are special. They won't blossom normally. Especially in these circumstances..."
"What does that mean...?"


"Basically, we must get along with the humans in order for its flowers to blossom."
"..."
...Are you telling me that this tree is powered by interspecies harmony?

"But the humans hate us, and we..." Ondorus pauses, thinking about his words very carefully. "Kuruna the way she is..."
He waves his hand, not quite willing to put words to it all. He looks disappointed.
"I want the flowers to blossom, too, but...
It's too difficult to make amends between humans and monsters."

Oh, oh, if that's how it is...

"You will?" Ondorus shakes his head. "Unfortunately, you're a monster. You won't be able to do it..."
"No..." If I were a monster, maybe. "Only I can do it."
"Why?"

"..." I did not think this talk through.

"Ramza?"



I close my eyes and let my powers do their work.


...He doesn't really sound very shocked to me.

"But I'm sure that they would listen to me because I am half monster and half human."
"You may be right..."
I am impressed at how quickly he's rolling with this. Just to be safe, though, I shift back.
"They may listen to you. But what do you intend on doing if they do listen?"

I consider this. I have no idea. What brings people together? What fosters peace?

"A festival?"
"Yes, a festival."

"That's the kind of festival I want to have."
"A festival bringing together monsters and humans." He considered this -- and at first, I thought that he was trying to think of anything more stupid, but then he smiles a little.

"That sounds like fun."
"Ondorus.." You're a good guy.
"Ramza, I'll do what I can to help."
"Thank you very much!"
"I will speak with Kuruna. Your job will be to convince the humans."
"Okay!"


"I'll go talk to Wells!"
Somehow.
...I have no idea how I'll convince Wells. But while I think about that, I have mail to get.


Including an invitation from Pia. I guess I'll go see her; why not?


"Sometimes I hear explosions."
"Please stop them if you see that."



When Raven sees me heading towards the inn, she sort of...Stops and stares.
"What's the matter? Is something on my face?"
She turns away shyly.
"...Nothing."



Huh?
"If you weren't here, I feel like there's a lot I wouldn't have found."
"Well, I'm grateful to you, too."[/color] ...Except for the shearing bit.

"What?"

Oh, well...If she says so.



"Oh, you got my letter!" Pia's...pretty much instantly excited to see me. It makes me wonder if I don't have a good shot of --

"Hug?!"
"Turn into a wooly! Now!"

...I wasn't aware Wooly Scales were a thing.
"Yeah, scales don't really go well with fur..." Though I think there are some scaly mammals, right?
"That's too bad. Scales are CUTE!"
"Sorry I can't help you out there," I say with a little smile. It is sort of cute when her tail's out...
"Oh, well! Let's get to HUGGIN'!"


And that's the story of how I ended up morphed and held in Pia's arms for a little while, listening to her talking happily about fish as a storm raged on outside. I felt wrapped in the bright, colorful protection of a coral reef, like some little tropical fish.


She announces after I've disentangled myself and changed back.

Sakuya's voice rings out from outside.

"Oops! I forgot to heat the bath!"
"What's going on?!" She loves that bath more than life itself...

She dashes out towards Sakuya, and I follow in her wake.


"You're usually not so careless with the bathwater!"
"I got distracted talking with Ramza!"
"Is that so?" Sakuya assesses her, then me, then her again, very carefully.

"Oh, and we're out of bathwater additives." Pia admits, almost shyly.

"Uh, sure."
"Get me a charm blue! I'll be waiting!"
Luckily, they're in season, so I don't have to go too far in the storm: just to storage and back.
"Okay. I'll be right back."










I run back with the Charm Blue.


...Uh...
What.
"Why are you being so polite?"

And her face is awfully red -- I can even see little beads of sweat on it.
"Are you...feeling okay?"

She blurts out.

...
"What...was that? That made no sense."

Without even making an attempt to explain, she went charging off into the storm as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Hey, Sakuya. What did you do to Pia?"
"Nothing. Actually it's more your fault."
"What?"
"Seems like it'll be me and Pia squaring off."
"What are you talking about?"

She bites back.


...And that, I figure, is my cue to leave.


After a thin day in the recipe bread department, I head to the flower shop to see Wells.

But get distracted by Monica staring at me among the flowers.
"What's the matter?"
"..." More staring.
"Hm?"

She covers it up before she's really said anything, or before I can respond.
"What is it?"
"Oh, never mind, dear."

I laugh at it, just a little. Kids are funny like that.


...Alright, here I go. Just remember, it'll be fine.

"Alone?"
Wells' eyes flick over to his younger Granddaughter, watching us intently from behind a row of flowers.
"Yes." The old man smiles kindly.
"Then let's go to your house. I'm sure you'll feel more at ease."
"Yes..." I doubt I'll see many of that sort of gentle, fatherly look after this... Well, that's not important, I guess. "Thank you."

We return, as quickly as we can to avoid the howling wind, to my home inside the tree.
"What is it?"

"I want to hold a 'Unity Festival.'"
Wells' face becomes difficult to read. Only his voice betrays that negative feeling.
"What are you talking about? There's no way we can do that!"
"But you said you used to live together!"


"Why are you even bringing it up?"
"I found out how to get the 'Sharance flowers' to bloom."



He lunges towards me, his attention entirely seized by this news.
"Yes..."
"How?!"
"A univir told me how..."
"WHAT?! You went to see them?!"
"Yes..."

"The tree uses the 'bond between races' as nourishment for its flowers." It's a magic tree, OK?
"How absurd!"
"I know it sounds that way, but... When the tree grew before, it was when I made contact with the settlement."

This gives him a long pause, but I can see it's almost not enough.
"That can't be. I don't know how you managed to meet them. It's nourished by the 'bond between the races'?"

That until he understands what my even being here does, he's not going to believe me.
"You have no evidence that he was telling the truth."


...But if I can show him that evidence...
Man, Wells is going to be furious about me, but...

"What do you mean?"
I won't give up without giving my best.
"I'm actually half human and half monster," I lay my cards out on the table, with a sound in my heart like a sharp cardstock slap.

"The tree grew because I linked the town's people and those in the settlement."
"What are you talking about...?" The uncertainty in his voice. There's just enough room that if I'm willing, I'll do it.



I transform with a feeling like I'm jumping off a cliff. Well, it's not like this is the first time. It's what I can do, just to press forward.

"I was able to link the town as a monster, and the settlement as a human..." Because even if I've been in one form, the other doesn't go away -- it's still a part of me.

"..." Wells doesn't say anything at first. He just stares, his brows furrowing and relaxing as thoughts run through his head, one after another. Rather than stay that way, staring up at him, I change back. His shoulders relax visibly.

Is what he finally says. I can't tell if his tone is reproachful or regretful.
"I'm sorry I hid it from you..."

And then, after a very long pause, a calm smile crosses his face, reassurance blooming over the tense situation. He clears his throat.

"I don't think holding the Unity Festival as you hide your secret is wise. I'd like to hold the Unity Festival after you've revealed your secret to everyone."
I stand there, slightly stunned. He might have been the hardest sell in town, but...

But he's going to allow it. I almost want to cry.

"Wells! Thank you very much!" I say, bowing. I know it probably wasn't easy for him to even allow that much, but... In the end, aren't there things that matter more than things like species?


In the end, we assemble a crowd. Most of the people my age -- and they're all here-- know, though they don't know why they're here. I look at Shara, and Pia, and Raven, and everyone with a little nervous smile, drawing strength from their expressions.
I'll be OK.

"I wanted to discuss something with all of you." I expected to be more afraid. It's not that I'm not afraid. For a second, the crowd feels like a wall, and I am pinned by the needles of their stares.


But I'm not so scared I'll back down now. I clear my throat.
"I want to hold a Unity Festival to repair ties between the town and the desert settlement."

Everyone who doesn't gasp looks like they want to.


The crowd rumbles, voices rising out of conversations and whispers. I take a deep breath and keep going, over the noise.
"I want the Sharance Tree to blossom with flowers."

I open my hands to them -- to my friends.
"If we live so close to each other, why not be friends?"

"I'll handle that."

Pia waves her hand to be spotted, despite being pretty much the front row.
"It's something only I can do."

"Well," I say, an uneasy chuckle at my throat, "not quite..."


I know -- I know I know, without remembering -- how bad things can be, if you tell the wrong people. The feeling of it swims somewhere in my gut.
But I know how nice the truth can be, too. The warm embrace of people who accept who you are -- truth for truth, kindness for kindness.

And I think I'm willing to take a chance on that.


Some people -- even some people who already knew -- are surprised. Surprised that I've gone this far. Pia might just be doing a bad job of pretending to be surprised, which is fair enough.



I give Raven a sort of helpless shrug, like 'What else was I supposed to do?' Anyway, if I can be a guinea pig for her own concerns, then that'll be OK.

Oh, right...She was probably there for that...
"No, it wasn't."



At this point, transforming to show someone -- one of these people, anyway -- feels a bit like shedding a heavy coat.




"I guess that's the end of those sales, though."
Aha-ha-ha thanks for the reminder, Sakuya.

Still, this is even... Too mild a reaction. Even if the wooly thing doesn't matter to anyone...
"You're not mad that I kept this secret?"

There is a sort of collective shrug.


Am I too cute to be taken seriously?



"Ha ha..."

Shino claps her hands as if to signal the end of a discussion of my rampaging cuteness.

"They don't like humans, but they welcome monsters. They may listen to me, since I'm a bit of both." With any luck, Ondorus has done the hard part for me.


"I'll keep trying no matter how long it takes!" I've come this far!





They're nutty, but...
I love this town. As the crowd begins to disperse, and I change back in a shimmer of light, that thought just keeps pressing in my ears like a heartbeat.

I'm happy to be here.

"Yes, thank you very much." I wipe a loose tear from my eyes.
"Don't thank me. This is everyone's choice."

Ahahaha, this is funny... I can't seem to stop crying.

Wells walks off, leaving me standing beneath the little tree...

With just one other person.

"Yes..." I nod, slowly, still trying to catch some breath.
"I'm a little sad that we won't have our secret now."
"Shara..." I guess it meant a little something... I don't think she knows how difficult things were.

"Ha ha..." I shrug off my concern, whatever it was. "But you know, it's really nice, not having a secret anymore."
She nods.
"I'm cheering you on."


That... I feel like I've just run a marathon.
I wander slowly into the streets, trying to catch my bearings.


Yeah, yeah...I'm glad, too. I don't think there's anywhere else I'd rather be.

...Though, uh, I guess if there was, I wouldn't remember.
"...And GREAT FOOD!"
I mean.
I guess.


"For what?"


"Oh, nothing really. (I'm too embaressed to say it.)"
You make one heartfelt confession in front of an entire town, and people start getting weird at you.





I think I broke Pia.


Another big storm kicks in while I'm doing some light exploring (I do not take on that big monster again...)
It lasts straight until morning, blowing debris across the land.

I'm going to need a whole new set of crops after this...


My poor fields. They're all ruined.

I'll deal with Kuruna first, and worry about depressing things later.


When I arrive, Kuruna's already shouting up a storm.
"What's wrong?"
"He dared to suggest that we reconcile with the vile Hornless!
He claimed that it would cause the Sharance flowers to bloom!"
...So...
I take it it went badly, huh?
Oooh, boy.

"But..." What am I supposed to say here? "What if he's right? Don't you want the Sharance flowers to bloom?" This land is your home, too. I've seen you, looking at the high treetop in the distance... "It would --"

...Time to regroup.


"Please, don't apologize!" I furrow my brow in resolve. "It's not like it's over yet! I was able to convince everyone in town. So we only have to convince Kuruna! I'll go talk to her!"
No matter how much she hates humans... She and I have always gotten along.

Ondorus looks more worried than I think I've ever seen him.
"Will you be okay?"
"Yes! We have to at least try!"
Honestly, I've always thought she was special: regal, proud, wise.
I want to see that Kuruna brought here, too.
"I see... Good luck."



"A festival to bring the humans and the settlement together."
Her eyes widen, and I feel the warm heat of the desert run cold.

"Why would you foist such poison on the settlement?!"
"Just because I'm your comerade doesn't mean I agree with you on everything. Why do you hate the humans so much?"
"They expelled us. That's all I need to know."


"Because..." For a second, I hesitate. After everything, this should be easy... But I've seen how hateful she can be. And I've seen how kind she can be. ...I want to believe in the Kuruna who couldn't imagine being anything else. Who sneaks cake with a guilty face. Who sips hot chocolate under a blanket of stars.
"I'm half-human."
I can see her shoulders stiffen under her cape, Will bobbing up and down faster as her shock -- her concern -- grows. The light flickers across the sides of the tent, the piles of supplies.
"I refuse to believe it! Prove it!"
Our shadows flicker and warp under Will's flame-like light.

And mine warps a little more than some.

For a moment, neither of us can say anything. Does she remember? The number of times I've come to see her, looking like this?


"If they can reconcile, why can't you?"
I reach out a hand towards her -- and for a moment, I think she'll go along with it. Her cloak stirs, her face stunned and dazed, her mind going a mile a minute behind her eyes.

But then she looks at my hand and pulls back, the flick of cape turned into a barrier.

"But, Kuruna--"

Looking not at her hand, or her cloak, or Will, but at her face -- I see something very clearly.

When she shuts her eyes, tears escape them. She won't even look at me.

"...I'll leave."
I always knew there was only so far my luck could go. Everyone -- the town -- Ondorus -- those were all just flukes. Just a little lucky streak.
...But I don't want to think she's really any different.


Maybe I'm a little crazy. But, hey. We're all mad here.

[Dragoon]

OK, here we go!

Update will not be happening next week (most likely, anyway), since I'll be out of town for Easter. Sorry about that.

Yeah, another update. Huh, I wonder how that scene changes if Shara does not know before the reveal. Still enjoying the little add-ons to the scene you do. Also, surprised how well Wells took the news, I would have expected him to be the problem for the Festival.

Also, poor naive Ramza about the ladies around him.