Chapter 1: Laguna and Mist

Once upon a time, nestling in the border of the Kingdom of Norad and the Sechs Empire, rests a small village. The small village Known as Kardia is a home for many citizens who wish to escape the harsh life inside the castle of either city. However, even though Kardia has citizens of both empires living there, the village belongs to the Kingdom of Norad.

South of the village is a farm owned by a well known and respected warrior. Living with him is his only daughter named Mist. Mist is a very bright and optimistic little girl. Her mother died tragically when she was only a baby. Without many memories of her mother, she becomes very attached to her father.

Mist's father cares for his only daughter deeply. When he is not farming, he plays with his little girl all day, and tells her stories about his past adventures at night. On holidays, Mist's father would teach her some basic swordsmanship just to defend herself. But even though Mist is a poor fighter, her bright smile and cheerful attitude is enough to make her father very happy.

Mist grew up to resemble just like her deceased mother. Her straight white hair with a small tint of yellow, and her blue eyes would sometimes make her father sigh with nostalgia. However, he feels blessed having such a beautiful and well mannered child in his life. But he still wishes very much that that his wife had survived to see her daughter grow up as well.

However, happiness never lasts forever. Soon after Mist turned fourteen years old, her father had to go into one of the many cavern in Kardia to investigate some unusual happenings. Mist begged her father not to go, but even though he is a farmer, he is also the protector of Kardia.

So he entered the cave. Mist waits in her home for days, weeks, and months. Before she knew it, years had passed, and her father has never returned. Even now, she continues to wait for her father in the house just under the farm. Many of the other villagers of Kardia try to tell her that her father has to be dead, and that there is no reason to wait for him anymore. But Mist wants to continue to hold on to hope, and continue to wait.

Mist is now 20 years old, six whole years after her father had vanished. Her hair is now long, and she has grown even more beautiful as time passes. She still waits for her father, but she can no longer live off her father's savings. She will need to hire a man to run her father's farm in his place.

Mist wants to run her father's farm on her own. However in this day of age, farming is only run by men. Even though it pains her heart to allow another strange man to run the farm, she hangs up wanted ads for a farmer in Norad Kingdom, and mails flyers to the citizens of Sechs Empire.

Every once in a while, someone new would come and visit the farm. But everyone who sees it just gets discouraged and leaves. After so many years of neglect, the farm is hardly the glory it once was. The farm is covered in overgrown weeds, rock brought by hurricanes, and tree stumps that grew over the years. Starting the farm is just too much work for the average person to handle.

Mist is now inside her house one early Spring morning. She wears her sandals, and her white and blue mini dress to go out and check the mail. She finds a few letters inside, all of them from the visitors who had recently inspected the farm to see if they are willing to accept Mist's job offer.

One by one, Mist opens the letters. But as she reads the mail, all that comes out are depressing sighs. Each of the potential farmers have declined Mist's job offer for the same reason. The work is too hard for them to handle.

Mist throws herself on the table, and lets out a deep sigh. As her waist long white hair blankets her, she wishes that her father would come home already. She then sits up, and ties a small red ribbon close to the bottom of her hair. She sighs deeply and says, “I just don't get it. Not a single person will take my job offer. I know that the job may be rough at first, but I do offer a good pay rate.”

She then stands up, and walks around the house randomly. She needs a farmer to work her father's farm, and she needs one soon. The money her father saved up is almost used up. She does not know how to cook, so she knows that if she does not get a farmer soon, she'll go hungry.

“Isn't there one man on earth who will be willing to take this job?” Mist asked the ceiling. “Please God, give me a sign! Any sign will do.”

Suddenly, she hears a thud just outside her house. It was the sound of a person collapsing on the ground. Curious to know what happened, she rushes outside, and checks it out. As soon as she opens the door, she finds a young man laid out on the ground. She quickly notices that this man is not a villager of Kardia.

“Are you okay?” Mist asks rushing to the stranger's aid. She then pokes at the stranger's body a few times, she thought he was dead at first, but he is still breathing. “Wow, I've never seen anyone actually on the verge of collapsing before!”

The young stranger tries to get up, but he is too weak to do much. Mist then stands back to give him a little room. The strange man looks at Mist with tired and starving eyes and says, “Please. . . I've been walking for days. . . With no food. . . No water. . .”

“Oh, that's not healthy!” said Mist. She then picks up the young stranger, and carries him by the shoulder helping him into her home. She rests him on the chair in the dining room, and gives him some bread and water. The stranger wastes no time in devouring the food as if it were going away soon.

Mist sits on the other side of the table, and watches the stranger make a pig out of himself. After several minutes, the stranger looks at Mist and says, “Thank you very much! For a second there, I thought I was going to die of starvation.”

“It's fine, I couldn't just leave you there to die.” said Mist. The stranger then continues to eat his fill. As he feasts on Mist's food, she takes a good look at him. She notices that he is very young, about her same age. She finds him quite attractive, with deep ocean blue eyes, straight brown, tall slender physique. However, she finds his choice in clothing to be rather odd. The clothes is actually light leather armor, used by scouts.

As Mist continues to look at him, the strange stops eating and asks, “Is anything wrong miss?”

Mist snaps out of her trance, and answers, “Nothing at all.” She then takes a deep breath and says, “My name is Mist. I am the owner of this property. So tell me, who are you, where did you come from, and where are you going?”

“Actually, I really don't know.” said the stranger with a mouth full of bread.

“I beg your pardon?” asked Mist.

The stranger swallows the bread, and answers, “I don't remember who I am, where I came from, or where I'm going.”

“You have amnesia?” asked Mist. The stranger nods, and continues to eat. “For how long?”

As soon as the stranger clears his mouth, he says, “I am not sure how long. I never really counted the number of Springs that have passed already.”

“You've had amnesia for years?” The stranger nods. “So, what is the first thing you remember?”

The stranger thinks hard for a moment, and says, “I was in the middle of a forest far, far away. When I woke up, I realized that I had no idea who I was. All I did notice was that I was naked, so I guess I was just robbed, and someone hit me on the head real hard.”

“Where did you get that armor?” asked Mist.

“Oh this?” asked the stranger taking a second look at his garments. “Some time ago, I found a man who was killed. I'm pretty sure an arrow killed him. I was wearing nothing but rags at the time, and Winter was coming around soon. So I decided to take his clothes to keep warm.”

Mist sighs and takes another look at the stranger. As she observes him, she says to herself, “Well, he is a bit strange, but I can tell in his eyes that he is not lying. Poor guy, he lost his memory, and now he doesn't even have a place to live. I wish I could help him somehow.”

Mist quickly gets an idea, and whispers to herself, “Wait a second. . . This could be my big chance I was looking for. He doesn't have a home, or a job. He doesn't look like a bad guy either. He's quite cute too. . . A bit dirty, but nothing a shower can't fix. I can take advantage of the situation, and make him into my farmer.”

The stranger hears Mist, but he cannot make out anything she is whispering. Curious to know what she has on her mind, he asks, “Um, Mist? Is everything okay?”

Mist stands up and says, “Hey, wait here a second okay?” She then rushes to the back of the house to find some tools. The stranger stands up, and tries to look at what she is doing. Before he had a chance to see, Mist runs out with a couple of tools. She then places a hoe in his right hand, and a watering can in his left.

The stranger looks at the tools in his hands for a second. He then asks, “Um, what are these for?”

Mist scans the stranger holding the tools for a while. She then raises her thumb and says whole heartedly, “I got it! I think I know what you were before you lost your memory! I say that you were a farmer!”

“A farmer?” asked the stranger. He then takes another look at the tools and says, “I don't feel like a farmer.”

“Oh, don't be silly. I can tell, I have an eye for these things!” She then runs behind the stranger, and shoves him out saying, “Come on, lets go outside! I want to show you something!”

The stranger does not object, so he goes outside with Mist. After she locks the door, Mist drags the stranger north to where her father's farm can be found. The stranger gasps in awe as he takes a look at the enormous farm that Mist has forced him to go to. To the west, he finds a small house that doesn't look like it has been used in a while. To the east, he finds a huge field littered with weeds, stones, and other random plants and objects.

He then looks at Mist and asks, “Why are we here?”

Mist nods proudly, and says, “Listen. I want to help you out. So I am giving you not only a home, but a job as well. I want you to become my farmer!”

“Um, are you sure that this is a good idea? I don't have even the slightest clue about farming.”

Mist laughs and says, “It's fine, I can teach you everything you know about farming. And I really mean what I said about you, I think you were a farmer before you lost your memory. So I'm sure the farming knowledge will come back quickly. And besides, if you take this job, your memory may come back!”

“You really think so?” asked the stranger. Mist knows that she's just feeding him whatever just to get him to stay as the farmer, but she feels that he'll like being a farmer.

“Yup! I really think you can benefit a lot from farming.” She then scans the stranger some more, and says, “By the way, since you cannot remember your name, I'll have to make one up for you. From here on, your name shall be. . . Laguna!”

“Laguna?” he asked. He thinks about it for a minute, then smiles. “Laguna, I like it!”

Mist smiles back, and asks, “So, will you take the job then?”

Laguna takes another good look at the tools he has in his hands. He is not sure why, but he feels that there is hope in Mist's offer. What if he really was a farmer? Will his memory come back after working in the farm? After thinking about it for a while, he nods at Mist, and says, “Okay, I'll give it a shot.”

Mist jumps for joy, and shakes Laguna's hand. “Welcome to the Mist Farm Laguna!”

“Mist Farm? So the farm was named after you?” asked Laguna.

“Actually, no. It was the other way around. My father named the farm after a beautiful mist that covers the land in the early morning. I was named after the farm.”

“I see.” said Laguna.

Mist then hands several bags of seeds to Laguna and says, “Okay, this will be your first job! I want you to plant these seeds, and make radishes grow. It should be an easy start.”

“Okay, I'll try my best.” answered Laguna.

Mist then leaves Laguna the farm, and returns home. Laguna remains standing still for a while, taking a good look at the farm. He then looks at his new home, and checks it out. The house is very old, but still livable. It has enough for a single person to live in like a small kitchen, bed, restroom, and a small place to store tools in.

Laguna sighs and says, “Looks like this will be my new life from now on. I just hope that this farm can restore my memory like Mist promised. I wonder what kind of life did I lead before I lost my memory? What sort of person was I? Do I have a family waiting for me in my hometown?”

Laguna then puts his seeds and tools away in the storage closet. He is quite tired from the long walk, and excitement of finding a place to live. As he looks up at the ceiling, he quickly drifts to sleep. He dreams about what the farm can become. Large field of flourishing crops, animals to care for, and even a family he could raise. But for now, he sleeps peacefully.