It's finally here! I know I'm a bit late to the fandom but I can't help it when this story came into my head. Anyways, the story might have a slow start with spoilers for the third arc because of the events and the on-script dialogues unless I can revive my creativity to change them. Now, enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: If I own Rune Factory, you'll be able to marry all of the 12 candidates regardless of your gender.

Rune Factory – Wishes, Dreams, and Memories

Chapter 1 – Dreaming of Venti

-First Person POV-

I feel cold. I feel the wind. I can see the clouds in front of me. I feel like I'm falling through the clouds. I can hear faint voices coming from above me, coming from the shadow far above me. The shadow is getting smaller and smaller, and I can't hear those voices anymore. The shadow disappears, getting covered by the clouds. I'm still falling.

Is this the end? Am I going to die, just like this? I don't remember why I'm here, where I'm from, or who those people are. Is this how my life is supposed to end? Falling into the unknown, knowing nothing around me. It's a scary death and I don't know where I'll wind up dying or who'll find my dead body.

But… I don't want to die… I'm scared, but I don't know who I should turn to. I don't remember anyone. But if this is how my fate is supposed to be, I'll just close my eyes. I'm too afraid to find out how I die. As dark as it is, I think this is the best choice for me.

I feel my back hitting on something hard. Something hard, but scaly. It hurts, but not as much as I expect. I feel my body sliding off something that's scaly before landing on something hard. I can still move my arms. I can still move my legs, my head, and my entire body. I reopen my eyes, and I see something green.

"Hey, there… are you alive?" I hear the green thing talking, but I can't still see who or what is talking to me.

"H-Hello?" The thing asks again, but I can't still see too clearly. I suddenly see something moving and feel something sharp poking my left arm, "You're not dead, are you?"

Good question. I don't know myself. I know that this green thing is too big to be an angel. Does that mean I'm still alive? But I've never seen anything so big like that… and that thing can speak human language. Huh, this must be a dream then. A really crazy dream.

Everything suddenly goes bright and I suddenly feel like I'm standing in a big room. Oh, right. That isn't any green thing. It's Venti, and I'm standing in her room along with her and four other people. Well, three people and one ghost in the room. It's the three other Guardians that I've saved before and they are looking with surprised looks at Venti.

"I'm sorry for everything you've all gone through in my account," Venti finally speaks up, breaking the silence in the room.

The woman with pink hair, Dolce, pushes her ghost friend off her before looking sadly at Venti, "Ven…" Her frown turns into a smile, "… you've grown."

The man with light blue hair, Dylas, looks at Dolce in confusion and then at Venti, pausing for a moment before folding his arms, "You think? She looks the same to me."

The shorter woman with green hair, Amber, smiles cheerfully and looks at Venti, "I think she has. She seems more dignified."

Hearing their responses, Venti let out a laugh. Even so, sadness still remains in her eyes, "None of you changed at all."

Amber's smile is replaced by a confused look, "But why was it that I'd forgotten about you? You were such a dear friend to me…"

Venti goes silent, turning her head away in guilt, "That's… my fault…" Venti turns back to the three, "I had taken away all of your memories of your time with me. I'm sorry…"

"Why would you do that?" Dolce asks, looking up at Venti.

"I was just concerned that you all might try to become Guardians again…" Venti lets out a sad sigh, "Leaving me all alone again…"

Everything around me goes dark.

'Leaving me all alone again', she said. Venti doesn't want to be alone, not anymore. She doesn't want to be alone again, because her friends are all here with her. I can imagine all of us in Venti's room, laughing and bickering like old friends who haven't seen each other in a very long time…

The image blurs away, fading into the darkness.

-Third Person POV-

A young man with short hazel hair stirred in his sleep, slowly waking up. Lest opened his eyes and sat up, looking around to see that he was sleeping his room in the castle. His hands reached for his eyes, which were wet as he cried in his sleep.

'A dream, huh…' He looked at the hand which he used to wipe the tears from his eyes, 'It's been over a year since Venti disappeared…'

It was dark in the room with the only light in the room was the moonlight coming from his windows, which was on the wall across him. The warm wind of summer blew from the slightly opened window, letting the curtains blew along the winds. Being the end of summer, the temperature had started cooling down, but not cool enough for the Earthmate not to fan himself with his hands.

With a loud sigh, Lest left his bed and headed towards his closet, positioned on the right wall of his room. Lest took his spare of usual clothes and put the pajamas he was wearing on his bed. He went out of his room and turned to his right where he had put his storage box and went through the items within the box. A bright green sword, which had the blade shaped like an object blown by the wind, came into view before Lest took it in his hand. With the green sword placed inside the sheath on his left hip, Lest walked out of the main room of the building to be greeted by the late summer wind.

The usually lively and busy town was quiet at night as only the sound of the blown leaves was heard in the town square. All the noises of people talking and walking around town had made the town very lively despite the fact that not all of the residents of Selphia was there at that time. That dragon god who had been protecting the town all this time was gone within a day, but the people had slowly moved on with their lives. The whole town had been moving in time, just the way she had wished for.

Lest closed his eyes and raised his head, letting the wind blew on his face as he tried recollecting how things had gone since his best friend had left. How he and the Guardians had witnessed Ventuswill's disappearance and how it affected their lives. How the townsfolk had prepared a special memorial of Ventuswill, treating as if she had already died. Lest was among the few who refused to believe she had really gone for good.

The hazel-haired young man opened his eyes and stretched his arms, "Maybe I should go for a walk…" Lest turned to his left until a blur of green caught his eyes, "Huh?" Lest to the gate where he thought he had seen the green color and saw a small shadow coming through the gate. Lest had his hand ready at the sword's hilt, until he saw the familiar of the shadow as they went through the gate, "Isn't that Amber?"

The shadow, which turned out to be Amber, let out a yawn while walking to the east side of the town. Lest watched her walking until she was out of his sight and let go of his hold on the sword hilt. He let out a relieved sigh as he dropped his tensed shoulders. Looking at the direction where the Guardian had left, Lest wondered the reason why she would be out of town until after midnight.

Lest shrugged before turning to his right, "Maybe I should ask her tomorrow…" Lest started his walk towards the west side of the town, "Maybe a short walk will clear my mind."

The whole story isn't finished yet, but the whole plot is pretty much done. I'll try to update as much as I can, alongside my ongoing Megaman fic, during the supposed-to-be-little free time because of my thesis! Any comments and suggestions? Please put them in the review!

EDIT (1/3/2018): Added more details.