When the Necromancer Came to Town
Series: Harvest Moon: Animal Parade
Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon. Does everyone know what a necromancer is?
Well, it will have to do. Angela summed up the old abandoned farm, took in the peeling paint and the holes in the roof. Weeds sprouted here, there, everywhere. But she wasn't on Castanet Island to actually farm. When she spotted the flyer advertising a farm for sale lying in the street on an island across the ocean, and when she determined that this was the place where the Harvest King's spirit lay hidden, Angela knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime.
"Well," beamed Hamilton. "What do you think?"
"It's adequate. I'll take it."
"Oh, that's great," Hamilton couldn't help but feel a little put off by this young woman's presence. "Then it's yours. When you're ready, drop off a payment of 5,000G at the Town Hall."
"Will do." She was skimming through a leather-bound volume with fervor.
"Um, you will be farming here, right? It would really do wonders for the island's economy, though the soil isn't what it used to be..."
"Don't worry. I'll work hard." With a thud she closed the thick book, staring off at the mountains of the Garmon Mines district. "Plant some tomatoes, and some..." Damn, what else grows out of the ground? Angela had anything but a green thumb. "And some...lemons?" She loved lemons. Just didn't know where they came from.
"Right," Hamilton turned to leave. "If you need anything, come find me at my home or office, or you could try asking the other residents." Please ask the other residences. The girl was a strange one, to say the least. As a farmer, it made no sense why she needed so many books and powders in unmarked glass bottles. And what on earth was a Necronomicon?
"Thanks again," Angela thought it best to execute a proper human farewell, and waved as the jolly mayor made his way carefully down the hill towards town. Grendel purred and rubbed against her ankles, her black fur glistening in the sunlight. "Looks like we're home Grendel. Let's skip out on meeting the neighbors for now, what do you say?"
"Sounds great," she pranced for the door, scratching at the termite ravaged piece of wood. "Hurry up, this sun is hell when you're covered in black."
"All right, all right," she pushed open the door and both entered, Angela with her heavy bags in tow.
Forgetting to hand over the small paperback book designed for beginners at farming, Hamilton watched the exchange between girl and cat from behind a bush. Why was she talking to her cat? To him, he only heard the muffled voice of Angela and the droning sound of a cat's annoyed meow. He decided to give her the little welcome present some other time.
"You were staring at the mountains to the north. What did you feel?" Grendel paced around the small one-bedroom house, poking her nose into crevices and creeping behind dusty furniture. At the end of the day, Grendel was still as much a feline as any other house cat.
"I don't know what I felt." Angela began placing jars and vials of salts in the kitchen cupboards. "But it was something."
Grendel batted a dust bunny around as she sat in the sunlight leaking through the room's only window. "Something is better than nothing."
"Yeah but this is a big something. Resurrecting the Harvest King is a big, big job. I'm just one necromancer."
"But your will is strong. That may in fact be enough to summon a holy deity."
"Isn't this blasphemous? A necromancer summoning a God?"
"Whether or not necromancy is evil or good depends on the necromancer's intention."
"Somehow I doubt that's in the Goddess' scriptures." This would be her biggest task yet. For years she practiced on small jobs, such as summoning a dead squirrel, with success. She felt she had it down for the most part, but she hadn't the courage to try to bring a human, let alone a God, back from the dead. Do I even have enough salts to put him down if he starts to change?
"You have plenty of salts," Grendel chimed in, jumping onto the counter. "Would you feel better if we did some research on this Harvest King before you finally do it?"
Grateful, Angela nodded. "I would. I think it's time to meet the neighbors Grendel."
"Just try not to talk to me while we're doing this, hm?"