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The Harvest Moon Files - Ch. 3

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     That day led to a strong friendship between the Wizard and I. In the mornings I would drop by his house quickly to say hello and give him some coffee. Then I'd go home to tend to my crops and livestock, all of which I'd gotten from the nearby ranch and farm. In the afternoons and late evenings I would come over to watch the stars with him or quietly read a book from his study. Although the Wizard didn't talk much, he was still good company.
     I came by one morning not to give him coffee, but a Fugue Mushroom, which I learned that he loved. I had avoided Chase for a few days now, making sure to never go too close to the Brass Bar or his house. The Wizard accepted my gift with a pleased expression. As we sat together in his living room and drank tea, Wizard decided to start a conversation for once.
     "Rika, Chase is really a good person at heart," Wizard said as he set his cup of tea down. I stiffened at the mention of Chase's name. "I know you haven't gone to see him for awhile now," he continued. "But you should. Chase can just be a little critical when it comes down to other peoples' cooking. He didn't mean to hurt your feelings like that." Wizard looked at me with that gentle gaze of his as he said this.
     "...All right, I will," I sighed before getting up. "Thanks for having me over, Wizard." I smiled at him before leaving.

Wizard's POV

     I don't know when it started, but I came to develop feelings for Rika. Perhaps it was that bright smile of hers, or the way she would talk to me... Ever since the townspeople had started accusing me for the deaths, I had become more lonely than ever. And then Rika brought happiness into my life again. I enjoyed her company a lot.
     But whenever I glanced into my crystal ball, her heart would tell me that she liked Chase more than I. I couldn't stand to see her so unhappy, dwelling upon that one day. So I cast my own feelings aside and told her to talk to Chase again. My heart aches for Rika's love...

Rika's POV

     In the time I had avoided Chase, I realized I had come to like the Wizard. But as much as I liked him, I liked Chase more. I missed that smile of his. So when Wizard advised that I go see him, I agreed. I knew that the time had come for me to start talking to him again.
     My plan was to go see if he was at his house first since it was so early in the morning. But I had only taken two steps out of Harmonica Town when I heard footsteps behind me.
     "Rika," the familiar voice of Chase reached my ears. I stood there for a moment before turning around with a pounding heart. It was Chase all right, wearing his Brass Bar apron. He looked at me with sorrowful eyes.
     "Rika, I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry that day," Chase apologized in a low voice. "I really am s--" But he never got to say anything else as I ran over and hugged him tightly.
     "I forgive you, Chase," I whispered before burying my face in his apron. Chase blushed and smiled, hugging me back. Neither noticed the figure watching them behind a wall turn tail and disappear.

* * * * *

     I spent the rest of the day at the Brass Bar after watering my crops and feeding the livestock. Being the only girl left meant that you had a lot of guys on your tail. Calvin, who was a lot different when he wasn't drunk, kept trying to get me to drink a cocktail with him or go mining together. Luke would wink at me whenever he got the chance to and offer me a spot at his table in the bar every few minutes. Chase had to throw a few things and yell at them before they finally stopped. He sighed as he took a seat beside me at the counter. Business was a bit slow.
     "They're all so annoying," he grumbled. I laughed and poked him in the arm. It felt so good to be talking like this to each other again.
     "Thanks for saving me, Prince Charming," I grinned at him. Chase rolled his eyes while blushing. I was about to say something else when the mayor's son came in. Gill, I think his name was. Everyone looked at him in surprise. I guess Gill didn't come to the Brass Bar often.
     "My father, Mayor Hamilton, would like me to inform you that there will be a town meeting at seven PM tonight by the church grounds. Attendance is mandatory. That is all," Gill announced. There was silence in the bar before people started talking again. I looked over at Chase, confused.
     "I wonder why there's going to be a meeting..." I frowned. Chase looked puzzled too.
     "We hardly ever have meetings here. Maybe he wants to tell us more about the recent deaths," Chase suggested before groaning. "Now Gill's coming over here..." I turned around to see Gill walking towards us with a smile on his face.
     "It's nice to see you again, Miss Rika," Gill greeted with a bow. "I wasn't able to talk to you much when we first met, but I'm free right now." With that, he took a seat on the other side of me.

     "Um, hi again," I forced myself to smile. I had really wanted to be alone with Chase...
     "Yeah, hi Gill," Chase chimed in. "So what's the meeting about, huh?" I was a little surprised to hear the hostility in his voice. Did he and Gill not get along well? Gill glanced at him.
     "The meeting? All I know is that it concerns Miss Rika here," Gill nodded. I blinked.
     "Excuse me?" I stared at him. "Why does it concern me?" Chase was staring at Gill too. The mayor's son shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
     "I'm not quite sure exactly," Gill admitted. "My father wouldn't tell me." By now I could feel that things were getting a little too tense.
     "Well, why don't we all go outside and do something fun?" I hurriedly advised. "Like a picnic." Gill and Chase looked at me. "I mean, we still have three hours until the meeting."
     "It's a great idea," Chase smiled.
     "Yes. But who should we invite?" Gill inquired. I racked my mind for names.
     "Besides the three of us, we could invite Luke, Calvin, Toby, Owen, Julius, Dr. Jin..." I stopped listing people to lower my voice. "...and Wizard."

     "Rika, you're going to invite Wizard?" Chase exclaimed with wide eyes. Nodding, I realized that I had forgotten to tell Chase about him.
     "He's not a bad person," I defended my friend.
     "Well... okay then, if you say so," Chase consented. "I believe you." I smiled warmly at him before turning to Gill.
     "Could you go around and tell everyone about the picnic? Chase and I will bring the food. We can have the picnic over by Fugue Forest, right by the entrance," I told Gill. He nodded.
     "Got it. I'll see you two later then. Farewell!" Gill smiled and waved goodbye before heading off to do his job.
     "Shall we go to my house for food then?" Chase smiled as he took my hand in his. I nodded while blushing a little and then we were off. It took awhile to get there, but once we did, the two of us got to work quickly, finding several large baskets to fill with food. Chase's house was strangely familiar for some odd reason even though I had never been in it before... I felt a bit conscious of myself being in it with Chase. He seemed to feel the same because his face was red the entire time we packed food.
     Finally we were done. I carried the huge picnic cloth and basket of drinks while Chase carried the baskets of food.
     "Come on, let's go!" I smiled at Chase, trying to ease the atmosphere. It worked, as he smiled back and then we left. I could already see everyone waiting for us in the distance. When we got nearer, Luke rushed forward to help.
     "A princess shouldn't carry these," he said with a wink before taking my load from me.
     "W-wait!" I tried to stop him but he was already gone. He got Owen to help him spread out the blanket. "Thanks, Luke!" I called after him and smiled in his direction. Luke was a pretty nice person. I turned around to help Chase but he was already unpacking the food onto the blanket, though not concentrating on what he was doing. Instead, he was staring after Luke with a frown on his face. I realized something after staring at his expression more.

     "Chase, are you jealous of Luke just because I smiled at him?" I laughed. He looked up at me with a red face.
     "N-no, why would you think that?" he asked with his face going even redder.
     "Because you were looking at him weirdly," I grinned. Chase said nothing but looked down. I sighed and knelt down before lifting his chin up. Bright lavender eyes stared at me.
     "Chase, I don't like Luke, okay?" I told him before lowering my voice. "I like... you." I was blushing madly as Chase stared at me in surprise. I don't why I just said that, but it came out of me all of a sudden. Blushing, Chase mumbled almost too quietly for me to hear, "...I like you too." I thought I would have have fainted right there if a loud voice hadn't interrupted.
     "We're waiting for you two to join us," Dr. Jin said as he looked down with an amused expression. With burning faces, Chase and I looked up to see that everyone was staring at us with grins on their faces. Everyone except for a man with multicolored eyes.

     Wizard.
Sorry for the wait everyone! But here it is, Chapter Three of the Harvest Moon Files. Wizard's in the story a bit more now and Gill comes in as well. I wasn't able to go on about the strange dream Rika had last time but I'll try to write more about that in the next part of the series.

Who was the figure watching them? And will Wizard's love stay one sided forever? Find out next time in Chapter Four of the Harvest Moon Files!
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Noulin123's avatar
I could just see everyone with this face at the end -->:iconstudmuffinplz:
besides Wizard, Chase, and Rika