#ventuswill rf

[gaydragontournament]

ROUND 1: PART 4

Propaganda under cut

Rong Minh Thanh Thuan (aka Thuan)

● Thuan is a dragon (of the sort native to Vietnam) from a dragon kingdom under the Seine River in Paris. As a member of the kingdom's royal family and a shapeshifter (who can fake being human as long as no one is particularly spiritually sensitive), he is sent as a spy to House Hawthorn, one of a number of houses ruled by fallen angels in a post-apocalyptic Paris. Hawthorn has been making overtures to the kingdom, you see, and Thuan's cousin was offered in a political marriage to Asmodeus, head of House Hawthorn. Also, someone is smuggling additive drugs into the kingdom, destabilizing things further, and it's one of the Houses or someone connected to them.

Thuan actually did a decent job of keeping his cover, doing his duty to House Hawthorn as a servant trying to learn full dependent status, and making sure his family knew what was up and what information he could find. Only shit hit the fan, and suddenly Thaun is the best remaining choice of the correct gender for the marriage, and the various crises for both the kingdom and House Hawthorn causes everyone to re-evaluate their plans. Especially Asmodeus, who had planned to use the marriage to screw over his consort to save House Hawthorn, but Thuan actually having been doing good-faith work (within what his prior allegiances allowed) made Asmodeus reconsider this as an actual alliance.

Which, surprisingly worked. It turned out that Thuan being bookish, compassionate and having strong convictions worked with Asmodeus, who was loyal to his people, had good people skills and the capability to be utterly terrifying, forming a functional partnership. They spun out into their own set of novellas (Dragons and Blades) dealing with the politics of the alliance, and cross-cultural factors. The two also seem to develop actual affection (and, even before that, sexual chemistry).

Ventuswill

● Ventuswill is a dragon who tries to hide her less serious side from the townspeople who revere her. As the protagonist is the only one who has seen her more casual demeanor, she becomes rather close to them — and while her dialogue is slightly different depending on selected player gender, either comes off as having a bit of romantic tension.

Also, the art book lists her gender as "???".

[runefactorynonsense]

Melotober - Day 29 + 30 - MYTHICAL vs MELLOW

The Gods are fickle

[coderedblood]

Rune Factory English Voice Actors/Actresses:

I’m a huge fan of Rune Factory. It seems sort of niche bc when I ask other gamers (I’m a casual gamer, don’t ask me to be on any teams 😂) about it they don’t really know what it is. One of the things I love about is is how they get these huge voice actors for the games, which seem so small (but I know it isn’t, it’s sold hundreds of thousands of copies)

WARNING: ONLY ENGLISH VOICES ARE COUNTED HERE. I’M DOING THIS FOR MYSELF AND WHAT I KNOW. I MAY DO A JAPANESE VERSION.

Raguna (Rune Factory and Rune Factory: Frontier) is Vash the Stampede, Ichigo from Bleach, Sabo from One Piece, and Nero from Devil May Cry

Mist (Rune Factory and Rune Factory: Frontier) is Haru from Persona 5

Bianca (Rune Factory and Rune Factory: Frontier) is Saya from Blood+ (I didn’t see that one coming)

Tabatha (Rune Factory and Rune Factory: Frontier) is Mima from Perfect Blue and Rem from Trigun

Iris (both of them, RFF) is Rukia from Bleach and Yuki from Haruhi Suzumiya

Anette (RFF) is Starfire (and Blackfire!) from Teen Titans and Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time

Raven (RF3) is Amy Rose from Sonic Boom

Electra (Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny) is Annie from Attack on Titan (didn’t see this one coming either)

Bacchus (RFTOD) is Vampire Hunter D (and D’s left hand!) (loved this one)

Vishnal (Rune Factory 4) is Leonardo from the 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon and Kappa Mikey

Clorica (RF4) is Shiki from The World Ends With You

Xiao Pai (RF4) is Jenny from My Life As A Teenage Robot

Doug (RF4) is Sasuke from Naruto

Margaret (RF4) is Hinata from Naruto, Kyrie from Devil May Cry and Orihime from Bleach

Forte (RF4) is Abbey Bominable from the first Monster High cartoon

Amber (RF4) is Morgana from Persona 5

Dolce (RF4) is Lust from Fullmetal Alchemist (this one actually makes sense), Maka Albarn from Soul Eater and the female protagonist of Persona 3

Frey (RF4) is Gaz from Invader ZIM

Ares (Rune Factory 5) is SwaySway from The Breadwinners

Scarlett (RF5) is Retsuko from Aggretsuko, Akko from Little Witch Academia and Ryuko from Kill La Kill

Lucy (RF5) is Loona from Helluva Boss and Emira Blight from The Owl House

Martin (RF5) is Louis from Beastars

Cecil (RF5) is Hunter from The Owl House and Remy from Big City Greens

Ryker (RF5) is Trebol from One Piece (also, also did not see this coming)

Livia (RF5) is Rebecca from One Piece

Misasagi (RF5) is Tatsuki from Bleach

Rudolph (RF5) is Mugman from The Cuphead Show!

Yuki (RF5) is Beauty from Bobobo-Bo Bo-bobo

Darroch (RF5) is Jelly Jiggler from Bobobo-Bo Bo-bobo (which brings back memories and makes actually a lot of sense)

Radea (RF5) is Reiju from One Piece (also makes sense)

Gideon (RF5) is Griffon from Devil May Cry and Scratchmen Apoo from One Piece

SHARED VOICE ACTORS/ACTRESSES

Lara (RF1 and Rune Factory: Frontier), Eunice (RFF) and Maerwen (from Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny) have the same voice actress (and are Kitana and Mileena from Mortal Kombats 9 and X)

Melody (RF and RFF) and Sonja (Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny) have the same voice actress

Carmen and Shara (both Rune Factory 3) have the same voice actress and is Triela from Gunslinger Girl

Rosetta (RF and RFF) and Beatrice (Rune Factory 5) have the same voice actress

Nancy (from RF4) and Hina (from RF5) have the same voice actress who’s also Kikimora from The Owl House

Ventuswill and Lin Fa (both RF4) and Selphy (RFF) have the same voice actress who’s also Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop

Micah (Rune Factory 3) and Bismarck (RFTOD) have the same voice actor who is also Ling Yao from Fullmetal Alchemist and Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail

Violet (RFTOD) and Priscilla (RF5) have the same voice actress

Lily and Sierra (both RFTOD) have the same voice actress

Pandora and Quinn (both RFTOD) have the same voice actress

James (RFTOD) and Leon (RF4) have the same voice actor who’s also Law from One Piece and Levi from Attack on Titan

Dylas and Bado (both RF4) have the same voice actor

Arthur and Jones (both RF4) have the same voice actor who is also Donatello from the 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon

Father Gerard (RFF) and Heinz (RF5) have the same voice actor who’s also adult Gohan from Dragon Ball Z and Kiba from Naruto

Cinnamon (RFF) and Fuuka (RF5) have the same voice actress who is also Marinette from Miraculous Ladybug and Verosika Mayday from Helluva Boss

Simone and Julian (both RF5) have the same voice actress who’s also Ash from Pokémon and April from the 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon

[runeyseason]

hey hey, a friend that reconnected with me pointed me your way and im definitely interested, really trying hard to pick which of my many muses to start off with but cant decide between two. i was wondering how canon do their backstories have to be or how much do we have to adhere to their lore?

Hiiiii! Thank you for your interest (and thank you to your friend for pointing you our way!)

As for canonicity / adherence requirements... That's a good question. Hmmm. Rune Factory as a series is quite vague, so we do very much welcome and encourage filling in the gaps & headcanoning as you'd like! That said, for the sake of keeping things consistent & keeping characters & backstories recognisable as those characters for everyone, we'd definitely prefer at least some adherence to the canon if they do have a backstory that's mentioned in detail! But you're welcome to make changes to things or dig into it - just know you'll probably need to explain what tweaks you've made in your character profile so everyone else is caught up to speed.

(Also: If it's not specified in detail - especially with how vague RF is at establishing lore - what a character's backstory is too much, you're very welcome to get creative with it. We love headcanoning things & messing around with what the series does / doesn't establish! For example: our Frey's backstory, which I've enclosed under a readmore as an example of what kind of extrapolation one is free to do.*)

"Born to a long line of Earthmates privy to the secrets of Norad that dedicated themselves, generation after generation, to studying methods for artificially regulating the Elder Dragon Ventuswill's runes for the sake of prolonging her life and rescuing the long-missing guardians. Her determination to be the one to find the answers to this generations-long mystery led her to the Royal Magic Academy in the capital, where she was enrolled as a student specialising in Rune magic, & later graduated to a research assistant. Working with now-famous Rune specialist Candy & fellow research assistant and Earthmate Lest, the three of them worked together to perfect the Rune Spheres with Candy's knowledge of Runes and Frey + Lest's abilities to connect with the earth. She also trained with the royal knights in the capital during this time, learning her way around various weapons just in case of emergencies. Eventually, their efforts bore fruit and their project was deemed a success; after seeking an audience with the King and requesting permission to deliver the Rune Spheres to Selphia, she left her research team behind to close the lid on their efforts and bring the Rune Spheres to Ventuswill in hopes they would aid her failing health."

* Disclaimer: This backstory is not meant to be set for both protagonists of 4 and a Lest is very welcome to have a backstory lore! This is just Frey's for how her situation is & is just an example for what you can do with canonicity and backstory writing - Lest can have his own unique backstory if he is ever picked up & this can be handwaved as an alternate universe situation.

[thecherrygod]

very niche thought here but currently thinking of a disco elysium x rune factory crossover. specifically in the rune factory universe

your character wakes up without memories and (at some point you realize they had) a mission to fulfill

theres mentions of a past of war and destruction of towns and discrimination

characters that have something wrong with them usually

i think shivers would guide harry into what is wrong and has to be fixed (and into saving the rf world)

also levelling skills like endurance would upgrade his rp and hp, maybe upgrading hand eye cordination would make him good at fishing or something and some maybe could help you with magic and forging and stuff

hed be a farmer who has a special kind of connection with the earth, both going well with him considering taking gardening as a hobby and just.. how he is with his skills and stuff

id also want to take kim on adventures and dates tbh. not just kim honestly thatd be cool to make all the single characters people with who you could go on dates aside from lilienne. also rf(5) lets you be bisexual so...

also having a system for gift giving which people may like or dislike you based on the gifts could be funny bc i feel harry could fuck up with the gifts, and i think the skills other people have and what they like could be... an interesting thing to develop..

also in a way youre constantly changing your clothes, at least your armor, but technically if you have a wardrove and the clothings he could just go out in his pajamas or whatever hed use for swimming and just have your armor and weapons on top of that

anyways im gonna be thinking about it. if im willing to give them game appropiate clothes i may actually consider this more but rf fashion is a nightmare but yeah

[ultipoter]

Rune Factory 4 has a tight grip on me Once More. Apparently those hundreds of hours spent with the 3ds version weren’t enough and I’m going to have to marry my horse man all over again

Frey with my current equipment because Aesthetic Is Important, Even If It Kills Me On The Hell Mode (Which It Does A Lot) 

and a redesign of Ventuswill’s human form because her canonical human form just doesn’t make sense to me

[brinaanana]

Yeah these two will get along well

[fandomfanficsgalore]

I am HYPED for Rune Factory 5, so in celebration, can I request a Frey and Ventuswill friendship fic? Their friendship was always the heart of that game for me, and I'm ready to see it all over again on the Switch

I’m so hype!!! I need to replay it because I remember so little about this game, esp venti 

“You would be a bird.”

Frey blinked and glanced over. She sat in the main foyer of the palace next to Venti. The dragon hardly looked over, gazing at something beyond the walls. She did that often and Frey had grown used to it, but now she tilted her head.

“Me? A bird?”

Venti’s eyes flickered to her and Frey could see the tilt of her mouth pulling back from her teeth. A smile. A mischievous one, at that.

“If you had been a guardian with another form,” Ventuswill said. “I would never wish it on you, of course, but if you were I think you would be a bird.”

There was a pause and Frey let the words sink in. It… made sense, she supposed. Leon was a fox, Dylas was a horse… Frey could be a bird. She was quick and light–

Ventuswill’s chuckle interrupted Frey’s warm thoughts.

“Not a very good one, though, since you fell out of the sky. Maybe a broken-winged bird. Or a fly.”

“Venti!” Frey protested, lightly smacking her wing. The floor shook with Ventuswill’s laughter and Frey rolled her eyes, shaking her head and turning away.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“But you love me anyway,” Venti teased through her laughter.

Frey huffed.

“Don’t ask me why,” she said fondly, “but yes, I do.” 

[moonkisseddreamer]

Last but not lest (and probably most anticipated): VENTI!! Only one pic because all her outfits are the same!!!  After pointy ears, finding the best way to interpret Venti will likely be next mod mission though it might just end up being a dragon/dinosaur onesie ;^;.

Additionally, here are some pics of them living in Selphia Castle!  When I took the screenshots you could see the game info, but they’re cut out now so just to let you guys know how their sims lives are set up:

Frey Selphia: Lest’s twin, pursuing business career, aspiration is Friend of the World making her Gregarious, and her traits are Good, Active, and Outgoing

Lest Selphia: Frey’s twin, astronaut, Big Happy Family - Domestic, Good - Active - Ambitious

Vishnal ButlerMan: culinary, Renaissance Sim - Quick Learner, Clumsy - Neat - Erratic (I wanted to reflect how Vishnal is very emotional (real and jokingly) but he mostly just ends up randomly mad -__-)

Clorica ButlerLady: no job (but handles most of the housework), Master Chef - Essence of Flavor, Lazy - Cheerful - Foodie

Volkanon ButlerSupreme: secret agent, Bodybuilder - High Metabolism, Confident - Neat - Perfectionist

Ventuswill Divine-Dragon: no job, Successful Lineage - Domestic, Goofball - Glutton - Family-Oriented

[mintyflair]

►Rune Factory Demi Pride

[nerosoraru]

I GOT YOUR PICTURE I’M COMING WITH YOU

DEAR MARIA COUNT ME IN 

[yinichigo]

Ancestors Will, Rune factory 4.

[runefactorynonsense]

Spooktober - Day 7 - Zombie/Undead

That's right, Earthmate! I JUST WANT TO SEE YOU SUFFER

[nervouslywaitingforlife]

Rune factory 6 speculation

With RF6 & RFPD being announced I thought I would do some speculation and analysis for the two games.

This one will be just for RF6 with another for PD coming out later, as there is more material to dissect and I have a lot more speculation and theories for that game

Most of this one is rambling and speculation so not much of this will come true... Probably.

The floating city.

This floating city I'm talking about and I think it will be our home in some way shape or form. As in the logos from the previous games, the protagonist house has been symbolised in it.

In rf3, the 3 in the logo is decorated with flowers. This can either be in relation to the town rf3 is based around, Sharance, a flower dominated town. Or the fact that by the end of the game, the Sharance tree is in bloom with flowers.

In rf4, it has a green dragon in the logo, and ventuswill, a green elder dragon, can be found outside of Lest/Frey's room.

In rf5 the SEED logo can be seen on the logo, And Ares/Alice bedroom is above the seed HQ.

So with this in mind, I want to weigher that the sky city / island is where the rf6 protag will be staying. Or that it's the main local of the game. Which is probably more likely.

(side note, this has nothing to do with all of this speculation, but personally the floating city is reminding me of the final fantasy logos, especially ff13's.)

The architecture

On the main building with the halo on it, it has these odd patterns on it.

For me, these remind me of fairy wings. Which is a bit odd for rf standards. As fairies aren't a common race and but are a type of enemy (the common fairy monsters and Ambrosia to name a few) . Perhaps this is supposed to maybe be more for the eleven race?

Though this new rf game will be based in a new continent called Ardonia, so maybe fairies are seen as a race such as dwarfs there? What new races will be introduced in this new continent?

In the video, it's stated that this is the architecture for Ardonia. Which seems to say that Ardonia has biomimicry in most of its architecture. But also it's oddly... Modern, reminding myself of ff again.

What's your thoughts on this?

Also what IS that halo?

Halo / Ring

When I see it I personally think "rune energy", perhaps this game will be more nature themed than the two previous games which had some more "high tech" elements of them. With the wing shaped elements of the building and the "rune energy" (or magic) halo, this is the turn that I think this game will be giving.

Maybe more details will go into what EXACTLY earthmaes are? Perhaps earthmaes are more common in Ardonia?

Though perhaps, it may go in the other direction and Ardonia is more high tech than Norad. Tanks, floating cities, airblimps are well known to the rune factory series so perhaps it's going in a much more modern direction. (More Innocent Life than Rune Factory ig)

Though who knows, again let me know your thoughts and theories! Either as a ask, reblog, comment, DM etc.

6

The six looks like water rippling obviously so maybe it's set in a port town? Or we are living right in the middle of the ocean maybe? It's giving me some RFO vibes personally.

The pattern on the right hand side of the 6 reminds me personally of scales, which reminds me of one thing. Aquaticus, the elder dragon of water and transformation. Though this is a new region we are based in so it's unknown how the elder dragons are perceived there. If Aquaticus is important to this game, perhaps the protag will be able to transform, probably not as majorly as Micah but more of a quick and small anime magic girl esc. transformation.

I can't figure out the pattern on the right hand side of the 6 though it reminds me personally of a horn.

And that's all I have for now, let me know your thoughts! I'll do this again for project dragon soon.

(most of my speculations are probably wrong though lol, as we currently only have a logo to go off of. It's like putting the subtitle of a dragon quest game or the logo for a final fantasy gave and just saying good luck guessing.)

[beck-a-leck]

So I got prompted for an AU in a discord server for an event. And me, being Extremely predictable, bypassed all the other AUs for a (not SW) fandom and went straight to Star Wars.

I promptly sidled up to the car. Slapped the hood, and proudly told myself "I can fit so many AUs in this sandbox."

And it was just supposed to be a joke. But then I thought about it and started putting serious thought into it and now I am going to share because I want to.

For both WIP Wednesday, and Star Wars Wednesday, I present to you: The AU that entertains exactly one (1) person, me.

Rune Factory 4, but throw it in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

Takes place during the Imperial era, for obvious Sechs Empire = Galactic Empire. They even both come with an evil Emperor. It basically writes itself

Earthmates = Jedi. Rare to the point of being mythological/urban legends. Super special and power (Space) wizards. Very few remain after the explicit (sw) or implied (rf) genocide of their kind enacted by the Empire

World building: each town is now a System, and the whole kingdom is now a Sector. Therefore, Town of Selphia in Kingdom of Norad becomes Selphia System in the Norad Sector.

Now for characters!

With so many more alien races to choose from I can go absolutely ham with everyone, and I really only have the vaguest ideas of who is what now in this AU.

I think the Guardians are all going to be Force Users of different kinds. They don't all have to be Jedi, but I want them all to be strong with the Force.

Ventuswill: similarly to canon, she is an ancient, god-like being who has watched over Selphia since time immemorial. Extremely strong with the Force, kind of on the scale of the Bendu. May or may not remain a dragon. Because space dragons!

Frey/Lest: former Jedi. Depending on when in the Imperial era the story happens they could either be a Jedi or padawan who survived Order 66, or an initiate who escaped the temple. Because they are an rf protagonist, they still get amnesia that wipes their memory completely blank, so even they forget who/what they were. But Venti does help them reconnect with the Force and realize they were a Jedi. And very suddenly they become Selphia's biggest secret. Which doesn't stay secret for long because Jadi cannot help what they are, and they must do good.

Oh my gosh I've just realized Frey can be a twi'lek, and her skin can be the same green color as her hair in game! She even gets to keep her signature look with the pigtails!

Arthur: hate to say it, but he's an Imperial. Being Norad royalty sent to take over Selphia in rf transfers easily to being an Imperial Governor. His father, Moff Lawrence, rules over the entire Norad Sector, and he sends Arthur to be governor of the Selphia System, because while it may be small and relatively unimportant, it is a good source of materials for various, nefarious Imerial means. However. Arthur, still being Arthur, shows up on his first day of governing and says "fuck this job" and deliberately tried to Not Do It. A sort of malicious compliance, because getting nothing done will draw scrutiny, but doing the absolute worst of the bare minimum means everybody just kind of ignores Selphia and him. Leaving Arthur free to practice his dark and dirty secret, which is spying for the Rebellion and skimming off what funds and resources he can to help fight the good fight.

Most of the town cast is still doing their in game roles with just environmental changes for the AU, so they could be aliens or have a different back story, and I won't hash them all out here (because I'm also not 100% settled on some details)

Doug: still a spy, sent by the Empire to keep an eye on Ventuswill, because even if she has spent the last 1000 years being Exceedingly neutral and minding the business of her planet and nothing else, the Empire is not just going to let an extremely powerful force being go unmonitered.

Leon: a Jedi from a long time ago. I still think there's going to be a need for the guardians to have sacrificed themselves to help Venti sustain herself over the centuries, so that whole plot line is still viable. Meaning Leon is a Jedi, but he is Extremely out of date compared to what the Jedi Order was before the genocide. And considering the Empire's pretty successful 'delete the jedi from cultural memory' campaign, and Leon being Leon, and Lest/Frey's amnesia, all sorts of chaos and fun times and trading can ensue while Leon helps Lest/Frey with their Jedi training.

I haven't figured out yet what I want the other guardians to be, force-user wise. But I do think Dylas is gonna be a dark-sider, he has the anger and passion and I think that vibes more with him than traditional Jedi teachings. Amber I think is too sweet and pure to be anything but light-side. Dolce I could go either way on, she needs more thought.

Someone needs to be a wookie, and I am torn between it being Volkanon, the most emotional and huggiest wookiee, who has dedicated his very long life to being Ventuswill's companion. Or Porcoline, who just keeps finding lost souls and adopting them. Much like one rescue stray kittens.

Maybe both. Both could be funny.

I'm still working on the rest of the townsfolk!

It would not be star wars without droids! And I think Lest/Frey get a companion droid, as a treat. Maybe an astromech, or someone small and travel-sized like a BD unit.

PLOT TIME!

Okay, it really doesn't differ much from the rune factory plot. Your protagonist is on the way to Selphia to make an important and secret delivery, Imperial sabotage, they crash land and get amnesia.

I'm thinking instead of rune crystals, they are bringing special kyber crystals to replace the guardians that Ventuswill was previously relying on to stay alive/in power (because there aren't enough forse sensitives left in the galaxy. And also, living sacrifices are not sustainable.)

The different dungeons each of the guardians are in are the ruins of former temples of their own Force Practices.

There's still a showdown against the Empire, but I don't think it's on the same scale as it was in the rf game. Probably just messing up some Grand Moff's shiny new battle station so he can't enforce his cruel will upon the sector.

But that's what I've got so far! I had a boring day at work and lots of time to think about things while I was avoiding tumblr to not see any Mando spoilers 😂

EDIT: I had more thoughts! Mostly about Leon being a Jedi.

Just thinking about Leon waking up after his long sleep and instinctually reaching out into the Force to feel the presence of other Jedi in the galaxy, only to find the post-order 66 aching void left there. He probably lived through or in the aftermath of one of the Sith wars, he knew Jedi could be few and far in-between, but he's never felt emptiness like this. He's never felt the dark side so strong.

On a brighter note. Leon training Frey/Lest. Leon, 1-2 thousand years out of date for Jedi teachings, and Frey/Lest with so much head trauma they can't remember anything. Y'all know that scene from TLJ, where Luke is teaching Rey on the rocks? That's Leon teaching them 😂

Leon: close your eyes. Reach out.

L/F: *puts their hand out*

Leon: 🙄🙄🙄 ... fine. *picks up some long grass* reach out with the Force. Feel the energy around you, binding everything together *tickles their hand with the grass*

L/F: gasp! I feel it!

Leon: you do? *wiggles grass faster* Wow you must be really strong with the Force! *whacks them with the grass*

L/F: wow really? Ouch! ☹️ *betrayed*

Leon: do it again, properly.

[sketch-witch]

Hi @sorbouboul! I’m your RF Secret Santa! I’ve written for you a story featuring Dolce. Enjoy~! 

Even with Pico following her around all the time, Dolce seemed a lot more like one would picture a house cat, in her attitude and behavior. She tended to shy away from most people, but you could gain her trust easily with treats or by giving her the space to come to you, instead. Dolce often came to the castle to visit Lady Ventuswill’s empty chamber, staring at the space she used to occupy. Clorica pulled a freshly-baked Apple Pie from the oven; lately, she’d been sharing them with Pico when she came by with Dolce, but Clorica wasn’t the type to leave anyone out when sharing baked goods.

Pico floated into the kitchen to meet Clorica as she was plating slices of pie, which was just as well, since Clorica was yawning softly as she set out the plates for afternoon tea. Pico’s habit was to take plates for herself and Dolce and Clorica would join them later, but today, Clorica had a cart set up for tea service, so she assisted with setting the plates on it. Clorica yawned again, but pushed the cart to Lady Ventuswill’s not-so-empty chamber, where Dolce was sitting, staring at the center and lost in thought. 

Clorica announced her presence by yawning--as per usual--and stopped when she reached the typically shy young lady, silently offering her tea and the slice of Apple Pie she’d prepared. Pico was more than happy to dig in; even death didn’t diminish her appetite, and she was still able to enjoy the food that Nancy, Jones, Porcoline, or Clorica made. Dolce accepted the offer of afternoon tea with a small smile and murmured thanks, setting her plate and cup down beside her and resuming her introspection. She looked up back again, though, when Clorica sat next to her.

“You know,” she began, “you can feel free to share what’s on your mind.” She stifled another yawn before leaning on Dolce’s shoulder. “Everyone misses her,” she added. “Selphia hasn’t been the same without her.”

Pico snuggled herself between them, but didn’t remove Clorica’s head from Dolce’s shoulder. 

“That’s right, Dolly! You ought to tell everyone how you feel,” Pico cheered. Dolce responded by covering the ghost’s mouth and glaring.

“Quiet, you,” she admonished. Then, she sighed. “You’re right, though…”

Pico looked up hopefully, clinging to Dolce’s gloved hand, while she continued to speak.

“Things definitely aren’t the same,” she admitted. She lifted the teacup and took a sip, and her eyes widened in surprise. Everyone knew Volkanon typically made the best tea of all the butlers, though Clorica was learning quickly and the tea she made was, almost surprisingly, quite good. 

She felt more than saw Clorica’s face shift into a soft smile.

“Do you like it?” she asked, sleep slightly slurring her words.

“It’s… pretty good,” Dolce answered, hiding her face behind the teacup.

“I’m glad~...” Clorica responded. She seemed to drift off into a light sleep at that point, snoring softly with deep, even breaths. Even Dolce had to smile; Clorica could keep her calm in any situation. “Oh!” she jumped, shifting only slightly before settling back down. “You need to try the Apple Pie, too; it will have cooled enough by now. The apples were really crisp and fresh from Lest’s farm. It should have come out really good.”

Dolce took another sip of her tea before setting it down and trading it for the pie that Dolce mentioned. The apple filling was spreading across the plate, but it smelled fantastic with a balance of sweetness, tartness, and just a hint of spice. She cut off a piece with her fork and lifted it to her mouth.

It tasted like heaven. The crust was light and flaky, the syrup wasn’t too thick, and the apples had just the right amount of bite left to them that they were soft, but didn’t melt in her mouth right away. Without any idea as to why, Dolce’s eyes began to water. She was used to having spicy food, and the pie wasn’t particularly spicy, but… her heart ached for Clorica, who carefully made the dish to her satisfaction; for Lest, who had grown the produce that went into the dishes Clorica made; for the other people of this town, who all worked hard and with vigor, even without the dragon god who once watched over them. Her heart ached for the dragon, too, because Venti’s death was the first she witnessed as a human instead of as a monster.

Clorica passed her a handkerchief, which Dolce gladly took and used to wipe her eyes.

“It’s okay to be sad,” Clorica said simply. “She was your friend.”

She sat up so she could take a sip of her tea and a bite of her slice of pie, as well.

“Oh, this turned out great!” she cheered, scarfing down another two or three bites before turning back to Dolce, who was still fighting back as many tears as she could.

“Let it out for now, but know that Lady Ventuswill is still here,” Clorica soothed her. “Maybe not in person, or as a ghost, but… she gave her Runes back to the earth. Maybe one day, we’ll find a way to bring her back--and I hope we do--but even if we don’t… we have to keep living, because that’s what she’d want for us. Right?”

Dolce, still teary-eyed and red-faced, nodded. Somehow, she managed to compose herself slightly while Clorica was talking, and she took another calming sip of her tea.

“Dollyyyyyyyyyyy! Come here, I’ll comfort youuuuuuu-- AAUGH!” Pico interrupted, but Dolce held up a sealing talisman, and Pico shrank back down into the space between her and Clorica.

As she grumbled, Clorica reached out and rubbed her back.

“Let’s finish our tea,” she suggested, “and maybe we can all have a girls’ night tonight? Vishnal told me the boys do the same thing.” She giggled. “We’ll all go out to eat, have a bit of fun, and probably end up back at Meg’s house. What do you say?”

Dolce smiled, but it was still hidden behind her teacup.

“Sounds good,” she answered.