Aria

* Artwork
* Portrait

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> Until now, I've been frantically trying to find answers to things that science couldn't explain.
> —Aria to the Protagonist.
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**Aria** (Japanese: アリア, *Aria***?**) is a party character and the Main Deuteragonist of *Harvestella*. She is a mysterious girl who claims to have come from the future and is researching the mysteries of Quietus, the season of death.

## Biography

**Aria** is a scientist who has seemly traveled to the past due to some kind of accident. Losing some of her memories, she ends up in Lethe Village, an isolated town. The local doctor, Cres, asked the Protagonist, a traveler living just outside of the the village at Bird's Eye Brae, to keep an eye on her. She is later encountered by Asyl and then decides to work together with the protagonist to investigate the Seaslights, believing that doing so will lead her to a way back home. Aria ends up living at the Protagonist's home while she searches for a way to return to her own time and delves into the mysteries of Quietus, the season of death.

## Appearance

**Aria** is a young woman with long, red hair adorned with black hair accessories, and red eyes. She sports a short cropped white jacket with a black and red tank worn underneath.

## Personality

Aria has a quick temper and the tendency to leap to conclusions. She is extremely intelligent and savvy with technology and is shown repairing several items, including an old-school radio. Although initially brusque, she bonds with the Protagonist throughout the story and shows that she is actually kind and caring; unwilling to turn her head from others' suffering. She is also a bit insecure, which plays a role in her later deciding to become the Harbinger (while also becoming corrupted), even though she was against the idea of killing one of the human species at first. Once she overcomes her insecurities, she decides to continue aiding the Protagonist with stopping Quietus, knowing that it was the only way to save both human species. She also considers the Protagonist to be quite strange due to their selfless determination, such as when convincing her to not wipe out the Abels and choosing go back and rescue her when she decides to sacrifice herself to disable the Proto-Seaslight's controls.

## Main Story

At the start of the story, Aria arrives on ReGaia in a mysterious, giant pod that resembles an meteorite following an unusual activity with the four Seaslights. The inhabitants at first mistaken her for an Omen due to her armor resembling them until it suddenly disappears to reveal what she really is. Although having lost some of her memories, she eventually befriends the Protagonist and lives with them.

As the story progresses, Aria reveals that she is a scientist from the modern era who is considered to be a child prodigy. She is the child of two scientists and admits to having a lonely childhood due to the expectations set upon her as a prodigy. Her fondest memory is going to an amusement park with her parents when she was very young and begging them to let her ride a coaster again and again before they had to leave. She keeps a diary of her events and travels, believing it to be a guide to keep her focused on who she is and what her purpose is. She later admits she has no idea how she wound up in Lethe Village and her time does not possess time-travel capabilities.

Geist eventually kidnaps her to complete his goal of destroying ReGaia, but she is rescued by the Protagonist and some of the Omen who are against his plot.

It is later revealed that Aria is from Lost Gaia and is, despite her initial beliefs, from the past, roughly about 2,000 years ago. She was an original researcher looking into the Red Queen, their version of Quietus, and searching for a cure for her planet before she fell victim to a mysterious illness and was rendered unconscious until she woke up in the Protagonist's time on ReGaia.

Sometime later in the story, she moves out of the Protagonist's house and decides to stay in the pod that she previously arrived in.

Later on, a reformed Geist reveals the truth of the situation to her, that her version of humanity (referred to as Cains by the Omen) was sent into hibernation until the Omens could create a new planet for them to live on, as Lost Gaia was no longer suitable for life due to Quietus. ReGaia was the result of this project, but while the new planet developed, a new species of human (referred to as Abels by the Omen) evolved, nearly completely genetically identical to the Cains. This resulted in there not being enough space on the planet for both versions of humanity to live, and Geist tells Aria that she needed to decide which version of humanity was to survive, as the Cains do not have much time left before their hibernation expires and that they will awaken from their slumber (when this will happen exactly is unknown).

Thinking about how much effort her parents and the rest of her kind put into their survival, she decides to take on the role of the Harbinger (who serves as the final piece needed to complete Geist's Paradise Project), and decides to destroy the Abels by dropping the Proto-Seaslight onto the planet; this decision also corrupts her. The Protagonist stops her and enters her consciousness following her unsuccessful attempt to destroy them. Inside, they meet a child version of Aria, who reveals more about her past and also suggests that they should give up trying to help Aria because her insecurities prevent anyone's words from reaching her, but the Protagonist ignores these discouragements and chooses to go on anyway. Using her diary, which the Protagonist obtained earlier, to break through her insecurities (proving that she isn't beyond help after all despite Young Aria's claims), they convince her not to go through with her plan and not to run from her true self; Aria attempts to persuade them otherwise, to no avail. They then free her heart from her self-doubts, turning her back to normal. She then abandons her plan after admitting that she was against the death of either human species, but let her insecurities get the better of her and now understands that murdering innocent people is not the right call to saving her kind, and decides to find a different solution that will save both human species instead of sacrificing one of them. Knowing this would happen and because the project cannot wait due to Quietus approaching, Geist has the Protagonist decide, but they refuse to murder either species and instead wants to end Quietus to save them both, which is thought to be impossible. The Proto-Seaslight (revealed to be sentient and having plans of its own) then takes full control of Aria's plan, aiming for the destruction of the planet so that the Cains cannot survive there either; it is actually doing this under orders from an unseen intruder (strongly implied to be Gaia, who is responsible for Quietus). Realizing the disastrous outcome of her now-backfired plot and that they can no longer control it, she and the Protagonist then work together to redirect it into landing in the northern sea, preventing it from destroying ReGaia. She at first intended to sacrifice herself in order to dismantle the Proto-Seaslight's controls, as she still feels guilty for her misdeeds, but the Protagonist and their friends return to save her. Although surprised by this, but also seeing that they refused to leave her behind and that they may get killed by the Proto-Seaslight's debris if they remain (as the Proto is about to make impact), she is left no choice but to jump to their airship, allowing the Protagonist to rescue her.

After Geist's Paradise Project is abandoned, Aria continues to help the Protagonist in their mission to stop Quietus, as it was now their only solution to save both species. During the fight against Gaia, she and her allies help free the Protagonist from their depressed state after being discouraged by Gaia claiming that their strong determination makes them different and not understandable to others, in which Aria herself was the only one who can get through to them.

In the end, after Quietus is dealt with, Aria becomes the Omen's leader and has made plans for a new Paradise Project to make ReGaia into a safe heaven without harming anyone and also intends to restore Lost Gaia, which is heavily implied to be becoming habitable again following the end of Quietus (meaning that the Cains will be able to return there to thrive once they awaken). She later has her friends help her with a discovery on Lost Gaia.

## Character Story

"**Aria's Story**" is the Character Story for **Aria** in **Harvestella**.

The first half of Aria's story occurs in the main story until after Chapter 9. Following these events, she begins to figure out how she managed to survive for 2000 years while unconscious as she was supposed to be dead by that time. She eventually believes that when she came in contact with the Red Queen, her soul got sucked into the Monolite and was returned to her body by Geist's actions. In the end, she fails to find the answer she seeks and decides to let it go.

## Dialogue

### Main story

###### First interaction

* *"Ugh…uhhh…"*
* *"Red…een… on this…"*

###### Aria's Armour

* *"ERROR. ERROR. Abnormality detected in the life support system. May cause irreversible effects on the body. "*
* *"Operator consciousness levels…low. Cognizant judgment…impossible. Checking atmosphere composition… Small amount of Gaia Dust detected. Body affected by Gaia Dust density. Rectifying… Discarding protective equipment."*
* *"Wh-what the--!? Where the hell am I? I was… …investigating the…Red…een… Then… Ah! What happened to my gear!? Argh, this sucks! Seriously, what is this place?"*
* *"Is that…? No, it can't be. A new Red Queen…?"*

###### Red Queen?

* *...*
* *"You… Weren't you asleep in the other bed? What's with the getup…?"*
* *"Her outfit… And didn't she say mayor? I have a bad feeling about this… Achoo! Urgh, it's chilly out here. Or maybe my clothes are too thin…? Whatever. I'm going back inside before I catch a cold out here."*
* *"Can you tell me what year it is, first? Like, what calendar do you use? Lunar…? Gregorian…?"*
* *"Horean? I've never heard of it… Though I don't get the impression any of you are making light of the situation… We speak the same language, so at least I've got that going for me."*
* *"Omens? I have honestly no idea what you're talking about."*
* *"Thank you."*
* *"I haven't figured that out, myself. I'm looking at the clothes you're wearing and the structure of this house… …and I can't say I've ever seen any of it in the history books I've read. Although…I guess they do resemble artifacts of what we would call the "Middle Ages" where I'm from. Which leads me to draw only one reasonable conclusion. I think I came here from the future…"*
* *"Trust me, I want to believe this is all a bad dream. But I might have to accept that this is reality. It's safer to laugh with the lunatics after all."*

###### Where are you going?

*"I can't just sit around doing nothing."*

###### You'll catch a cold out there.

* *"I appreciate the concern."*
* *"If my theory is correct and I am in fact, from another time… …then I have to find a way back. I need to come up with a plan. Not only that, but I need to figure out why that stone has appeared in this time as well. There's a lot that needs to be done…"*
* *"...and we're all ready out of time."*
* *"I'm coming in."*
* *"Sleeping outside is out of the question so I'll be staying here for now. Just…go about your business as though I'm not even here."*

###### I don't remember saying yes to that…

*"And I don't remember anyone saying this house belongs to you, either."*

###### Well, I'd hate for you to catch a cold...

* *"Are you showing concern?"*
* *"Look, I don't plan to stick around. I already have an idea on what to do next…more or less."*
* *…*
* *"Anyway, good night."*
* *"Did I wake you? Sorry about that."*

###### Is that a book?

* *"It's more a diary than a book."*
* "*My mom always told me to keep a handwritten record of daily events. I always thought it was silly… But here I am, getting some use out of it after all.*

###### How is it useful?

"*Is it really okay to tell you, I wonder? Eh, guess I'll find out…"*

###### Do you like to re-read stuff?

* *"Not really. This is the first time I've read over this, actually..."*
* "*I'm confirming who I am and how I lived my life. My diary is probably the only way I can do that now. I must have been pulled here by a rip in the fabric of space-time… …or something along those lines… If the course of history has changed, then there's a good chance that the future I know no longer exists… But if I have memories of what's written in here, then I'm reaffirming that what I still remember is real. It's a small comfort knowing I haven't completely altered my memories, or completely vanished due to some time paradox. But all that aside…this diary is all the proof I have that I am who I am."*

* *"All you need to know is that this diary is something like a compass that'll help me get back to my own time. You DO have compasses in this time, right? I want to go home, but if I have no recollection of where home is, then how would I know which way to go? Anyway, that's enough lecturing for one day."*
* *"I'm tired. Good night."*
* *"The what? Wait, how come you get to decide? Who are you anyway!?"*
* *"What's an Omen? I've heard people talking about those."*
* *...*
* *"Why would they call you…Stumblebum? ...Actually, now that you're here, this is a good chance for me to sneak off unnoticed."*
* *"I just remembered, I have something to do. But don't mind me. Your friend here has candy!"*
* *"It's already been three days… ...and I haven't found a single thing. What clues do I have besides that Red Queen over there?"*
* *"What will I do if everyone's already dead…? I hope everyone on the research team is doing okay. ...How could this happen? We still have so much left to learn about the Red Queen."*
* *…*
* *"Mom…Dad… Will I ever see home again? If I stay here…"*
* *…*
* *"Get it together, Aria. You can't let this place break you. You've managed this far, haven't you? You're the only one who can do what needs to be done. And there's still so much left to do…"*
* *"Who's there?"*
* *"It's you… Were you listening just now?"*

###### Why, whatever do you mean?

* *"Do not try to treat me like an idiot."*
* "*...Would you talk with me a while?"*
* "*So you haven't had it easy, either. Being all alone like this."*
* *"Tch. Or maybe you just don't care."*
* …
* *"It's Aria, by the way."*
* *"It's my name. You guys have those, right? I figured it couldn't hurt to let you know that much about me, at least."*
* *…*
* *"I'm going to sleep. Good night."*

###### You going on a trip?

* *"Yeah, something like that"*
* "*This may be the last time you and I ever see each other… It's been brief…but thank you."*

###### Are you going somewhere far?

* *"Hm, you could say that."*
* *"You know that crystal you all call the Seaslight…? The secret behind what dragged me to this time has to be hiding there. So that's where I'm going. Because I need to find a way home.*
* *…*
* *"Goodbye."*

### Optional

* *"Uhh...hrmm... This stone...is the ruined..."*
* *"This pod has the ability to travel through time?*
* *"Oh, it's you. What do you want?"*
* *"You're saying you were inside this pod?*
* *...*
* *"Hmm... I guess there's no point in asking. Look, it'd be wise for you to keep your nose out of this pod and my business. Now if you don't mind, I'm busy."*

## Trivia

* She despises bugs and initially mistakes the Great Faeries for insects.
* As the Harbinger, the red energy she uses is the same one that Gaia uses.
	+ It is later discovered that Aria was actually under Gaia's influence when she became the Harbinger.

* It is not known what exactly happened to Aria's parents.
	+ Aria believes that they are in hibernation along with the rest of her kind, but as the Harbinger, she states that they had died.

* It is implied that she is a possible descendent of the Animus researchers.
* Out of all the main characters, Aria is the Protagonist's closest friend and ally, as hinted when the Protagonist was able to successfully free her from her doubts despite the apparent impossibility, and since Aria was the only one who was able to get the Protagonist's attention when they fall into depression.
* Aria became the Omen's leader twice in the story: the first time as the Harbinger until she is freed by the Protagonist, and the second time on good terms to help the Omen maintain ReGaia without harming innocent people.
* Aria is thought to be the only Cain on ReGaia, but unbeknownst to her and everyone else (except for ReGaia), the Protagonist is also a Cain, whose consciousness was linked to a dead Abel's body.

## Gallery

### Artwork

Official **Aria** ArtworkAsyl Sharing a Break Time with **Aria** and Istina in Nemea.
### Screenshots

**Aria** suggesting there may be a secret passage to the Winter Seaslight.**Aria** planning to investigate the source of Quietus.**Aria** is confused as being an Omen, arriving in Bird's Eye Brae fully clad in red armor, unconcious.**Aria's** Special Attack Arithma Accellerator.**Aria** commenting on the beauty of Shatolla.**Aria** discussing her motives in Shatolla.Break Time with **Aria****Aria** bound by chains in a cutscene
## References

1. ↑ HARVESTELLA for Nintendo Switch at Nintendo.com. *Nintendo*. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
2. ↑ Heaney, Duncan (June 28, 2022). "What is HARVESTELLA? We take a closer look at the game". *Square Enix*. Retrieved June 29, 2022.