Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harvest Moon series.
AN: This story is set after Frantic Farming, so there is spoilers for Frantic Farming. Particularly Elliot, Julia and Sabrina's storylines. This is for the Village Square's Contest, which is Magic this time around.
It was a nice, clear autumn day with the birds chirping, and the many different animals playing. But according to Taro, this wouldn't last. He predicted that it would rain tomorrow because of his knee acting up.
Elliot sighed softly to himself. This is just what they needed, some more rain. It wasn't as if Mark didn't have anything else to worry about.
The young man with the pink hair didn't want to say anything to too many people, but Mark wasn't doing as well as he had for the past couple of years. Instead of shipping crops, he sold eggs, milk, wool, and many other things that were found in nature. But he had not shipped a single crop like eggplants or carrots. Heck, he didn't bring any crops to the Harvest Festival the day before and ended up bringing a mushroom instead.
As a friend of the rancher, Elliot couldn't help feeling concerned. He had grown many crops before now, what would make this time any different? One thing he did know for sure was that if things kept up, they would have a terrible fall harvest.
"What's up, Bro?" asked a familiar voice behind the young man.
Elliot jumped, cried out in surprise and turned to face his pink haired younger sister. "N… N… Natalie! Don't do that! You scared me!"
Natalie had a shocked expression on her face as well. "Hey, I should say the same! You surprised me by crying out like that!" The girl took a deep breath and looked back to her brother. "So anyway, is something wrong? You look deep in thought over here."
"Um… nothing," Elliot fibbed quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Nothing is bothering me."
"Yeah, right," Natalie said sarcastically. "I told you before; I can tell when you are lying to me, Bro. And I can tell you are lying right now!"
The young man groaned softly and lowered his head. "O… oh well… you see…"
"Natalie! Will you come here for a minute, please?" Felicia asked from the other side of the room.
Natalie turned so she could say something to her mother. Elliot took this moment to slip away while his sister's back was turned. He headed toward the door, opened it and then walked outside. He looked to make sure no one saw him leave, and then he closed the door slowly.
"That was close," Elliot said quietly, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "It's not that I don't trust Natalie. She did keep the whole thing with the Witch Princess a secret before. But still…"
As soon as he mentioned the Witch Princess, a small smile spread across his face. He remembered when Sunny Island was about to become overrun with vegetables. The first time he had seen them was in the forest with Julia, and they found a house there too. When the blonde haired witch found them, she asked them to help her harvest the vegetables so she could get back into her home.
But it wasn't the vegetables that Elliot was thinking about now. He remembered the potion that he made, with help from not just the Witch Princess, but also Julia and Sabrina. The ingredients to make this potion were shining vegetables that they had found. Though it did take a while for the potion to take effect, eventually all of those strange vegetables vanished.
"That's it!" he exclaimed happily. "Maybe she could help! I should also get Julia and Sabrina to come along too."
The girls gasped in surprise as they walked through the forest on the way to the Witch Princess' house. While they were on their way there, Elliot told them why they were heading over there, since this wouldn't be a standard visit. "I see," Sabrina said slowly. "So that's why you looked so worried yesterday."
"That has to be it," Julia agreed.
Elliot nodded slowly as they continued to walk on the path. "Yeah, yesterday, during the Harvest Festival, I noticed that Mark only brought a mushroom to put in the pot. And he hasn't shipped a single crop so far this season."
Julia ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Yeah, that worries me a bit too," she agreed.
"And me as well," Sabrina remarked.
The three friends went silent after that as they continued on their way. The only sounds coming from them were their footsteps, as they could hear the colored leaves crunching underneath their feet. After walking for a few more minutes, they found a small clearing, and a familiar house came into view. The home was the second of Sunny Island's magical beings; the Witch Princess.
Elliot balled his hand into a fist and knocked on the door. There was a slight pause before they heard a voice on the other side that said, "Come in." The young man opened the door, allowing the girls go in front of him. He was the last one in as he closed the door behind them.
Inside the house, teddy bears could be seen on the floor along with the biggest teddy bear that they had ever seen. On the far wall were shelves, with one half holding books, and the other side had some bottles with some kind of liquid, maybe potions. Standing in front of the big bear was the Witch Princess with her back turned on the group.
The blonde haired girl turned her head to see who had come in. "Oh, it's you three."
Elliot stepped forward. "Witch Princess, we've come to ask you for a favor."
"Yeah," Sabrina said softly. "It seems like Mark is having trouble growing crops on his ranch."
"We came here hoping you could help," Julia added.
A small smile filled the crimson eyed witch's face when she heard about the crops and Mark's ranch. Now this was a different turn of events, as usually someone would go and pray to the Harvest Goddess or something like that. To have someone actually come to her for something like this… she could gloat in that Goddess' face!
"Of course I can help!" she replied happily. "You guys are so smart for coming to me for this kind of thing!"
A look of relief filled Elliot's face. The young man did not want to admit it, but he was worried that it would take a little more to convince her to help them. It went easier than he thought it would! "That's great!"
The Witch Princess closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Let's see… so if Mark is having trouble growing crops on his farm… then that means…"
"Yes?" Elliot asked eagerly.
The blonde haired witch opened up her left eye, looking in the young man's direction. "What have I told you about interrupting me, Elliot?" she demanded. "Do you want to know what I do to boys who interrupt me?"
A look of fear briefly filled Elliot's eyes and he looked down. "N… no," he said quickly, causing Julia and Sabrina to laugh a little.
"I didn't think so," the Witch Princess remarked. "Now as I was saying, if Mark is having trouble growing crops… then that means we must make a potion to help him."
Sabrina pointed a hand to the many bottles that had different colored liquid in them behind the witch. "Aren't those potions behind you?" she asked.
"You have a good eye," the crimson eyed witch said to the girl. "Yes they are. But none of them is the potion that we need."
"So that means we need to look for ingredients again, right?" Julia asked with a small smile.
"Yep, that's right!" the Witch Princess exclaimed.
"Again?" Elliot murmured, remembering what happened last time.
"Did you say something, Elliot?" the witch demanded.
Elliot gasped and quickly shook his head. "Nope!"
"Good boy," the Witch Princess said with a nod of her head. "Now for this potion, we'll need to forage things that can be found in this season. Mushrooms, grasses, things like that."
"I see. That doesn't sound too hard," Sabrina replied, turning to Elliot and Julia. "I think we should split up again, like we did before. We could find some much more that way."
"That's a great idea!" Julia agreed.
Not knowing how long it had been, Sabrina found herself in the jungle. The black haired girl couldn't help a small smile as she remembered what happened when all of those vegetables were around. She had no idea where she was going, and how she ended up right there had been a mystery to her since she didn't get out much.
This was also the place where Pierre first helped her that day. Not just in helping her get the shining vegetable that was there, but also helping her get rid of the strange vegetables that surrounded her house. At least she didn't have to worry about vegetables this time. She just needed to find ingredients for this new potion!
"I still feel bad about lying to him before," she said softly to herself. "Maybe making this potion to help him…"
"Who you?" asked an unfamiliar voice behind the girl.
Sabrina cried out in alarm, jumped a little and turned to face the young man behind her. Now that she got a good look at him, she had seen him at festivals before, so that relieved her. His skin was tanner in color and he had yellow markings on his face. His eyes were brown, and so was his hair. His clothing, which was around his arms, legs and waist, were yellow with black stripes.
"You okay?" the young man asked concerned. "Didn't mean to scare you."
"Y… yes," Sabrina said shyly. "I'm okay."
"That good," the boy remarked. Then a small smile crossed his face. "You friend of Mark and Chelsea right?"
Feeling calmer, Sabrina nodded and returned the young man's smile. "That's right. My name is Sabrina."
"Shea thought so," the boy replied with a sparkle in his brown eyes. "That mean Sabrina is Shea's friend too!"
"Nice to meet you, Shea," the black haired girl said politely.
Shea tilted his head as he looked at the girl. "What Sabrina do here?"
Sabrina messed with her glasses a little, trying not to look nervous. "I'm looking for things like mushrooms and grasses and stuff."
"Why need?" the jungle boy asked curiously.
"It's for Mark," the black haired girl explained softly, placing her hands together over her dress. "He hasn't shipped a single vegetable since this new season started and my friends and I thought we could make a potion to help him."
A look of shock filled Shea's eyes. "That bad! Mark work hard and no vegetables grow? Then Shea help!"
"A… are you sure?" Sabrina asked looking surprised.
"Sabrina is friend of Mark, like Shea," the young man replied. "Want to help Mark too. So Sabrina take lots!"
A look of happiness filled the girl's face. "Thank you very much, Shea."
The two started looking around the jungle looking for the ingredients that would work best in the potion. Sabrina was grateful that Shea knew this jungle well, so that way they wouldn't get lost. There were plenty of mushrooms around, but they did manage to pick up at least one red grass.
It was then that Sabrina noticed a white mushroom on the ground. She hadn't seen anything like it, and it was different than the other mushrooms they had picked up so far. She was about to bend down to pick it up when Shea grabbed her wrist.
"No take that one," Shea advised. "That poison mushroom."
Elliot sighed softly to himself as he headed back to his home. Maybe he was just unlucky, but he hadn't seen any of the colored grasses around or a mushroom since he left Julia back at the forest. It was as if someone had come and picked the area clean of any grasses and other things to forage.
But then he remembered why he had this thought in the first place. Mark was probably shipping all of the grasses, mushrooms and other things he could find. He had to make what little money he could, since his own crops didn't seem to be faring well at all.
A smile slowly lit up the pink haired boy's face as he remembered that his family owned a shipping company. Maybe they haven't shipped off the latest shipments yet. It was worth looking into, and Mark was already paid for getting them. He would just have to explain that he had a use for them.
Elliot opened the door to his house and stepped inside. It didn't look like anyone was around at the moment, causing a sigh to escape his lips.
"This does make things a little easier," he murmured. "Now, I'll just take some things and explain why I needed them later."
"How about you tell me now?" questioned a familiar voice behind him.
Elliot turned around quickly realizing that, for the second time today, his little sister startled him. "Natalie!"
"What are you doing now, Bro?" the girl demanded, crossing her arms. "And no sneaking out this time, out with it!"
Elliot gulped and lowered his head. "Okay, okay. I need to gather some colored grasses and mushrooms. The Witch Princess said we would be able to make a potion to help Mark on his farm if we were to get them."
A small grin crossed Natalie's face. "I see. So that is what this is all about."
Elliot quickly gazed up to look at his sister again. "Please, Natalie. Could you not tell anyone about this? I'll make another fruit salad for you!"
Natalie looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well… okay. But it better be a good fruit salad though!"
Natalie's older brother smiled happily. "Thanks, Natalie!" he exclaimed as he rushed to the spot where they kept Mark's shipments.
Julia smiled to herself as she picked up some yellow grass to go with the other colored grasses she had found so far. She knew that staying in the forest was a good idea, since she found so much stuff they could use.
Things had been uneventful though. Which in this case wasn't a bad thing. She didn't know if she could lie to Mark like she did before. Sure she gave him a discount the one time he went to the store, and he only paid half of what he usually did. She even offered him some of her cooking, which even though he seemed unsure, he said he liked it and that made her happy. Yet somehow, it didn't seem enough for her.
The only reason she didn't tell the truth was because the Witch Princess told her to keep it a secret. And she assumed she would only get that potion that would help her cooking ability if she kept the secret from anyone. And that included Mark, who seemed to know her.
The blonde haired girl was about to reach for another colored grass, a purple one, when she heard two voices call out behind her. "Julia!"
Managing to keep her hold on the grasses she picked, the girl turned around to see Elliot and Sabrina walking up to her. "Hello, Elliot, Sabrina, how did it go?"
"It went well in the jungle," Sabrina remarked, showing off the many mushrooms she had. "Shea helped me pick these, when I explained what was wrong with Mark's farm."
"And I got these from home, since we are a shipping company," Elliot went on. "Though I did end up promising Natalie another fruit salad."
"I… I still think we shouldn't worry about one of the items you took, Elliot," Sabrina said slowly. "Shea told me it was poisonous…"
"Don't worry, you two," Julia said quickly. "I think we just might have enough for the potion now. Let's go back to the Witch Princess' house."
The other two nodded in agreement. They had so many ingredients that this potion would be sure to work! After passing through the trees they came across a familiar clearing with the house. And as it turned out, the Witch Princess was ready for them. She was already using that big pot that they remembered seeing in the backyard, though this time she brought it out front.
"You're back, I see," the witch said as she was stirring the contents with a big wooden spoon. "I take it you got lots of ingredients? Then stick them all in the pot."
"Well, there is one that I'm not really all that sure of…" Sabrina started to say.
"Don't worry about it," the witch said quickly. "I'm sure it will be fine. Stick all of them in there, the more the better."
Nodding, the three friends walked over to the cauldron and one by one threw their contents into the pot. Remembering the special liquid that was in there last time, the trio was careful as they did this. Finally everything they had gathered was placed in the pot.
"Good! Now this kind of potion is different," the Witch Princess went on. "I want you three to stir the contents until the liquid becomes red. When that happens, leave the rest to me."
"You got it!" Elliot said quickly and nodded at the other girls. Together they reached for the spoon to stir the liquid like they did before.
At first it looked like they were having a difficult time and Sabrina's face became a little red from pulling so hard. With a sigh, Elliot pointed out that the girls were trying to stir in opposite directions again, like they did before. Realizing their mistake, they agreed to stir clockwise.
Finally, after stirring the contents around and around, the liquid became red, just at the blonde haired witch said it would. "There! We did it!" Julia exclaimed.
"Great work, your three," the Witch Princess said. "Now it's my turn. Stand back."
The three friends nodded and stepped away from the cauldron. The Witch Princess walked up and held her hands over the bubbling liquid and began to chant some weird sounding words. The three friends watched in surprise as a ball of green light formed between the witch's hands as she chanted. The ball became a little bigger, and then went into the cauldron causing a light green flash. When the light finally faded, the Witch Princess reached into the satchel she wore around her waist and took out a vial.
Without even thinking about it, she placed the vial into the cauldron and when she removed it, a light red liquid could be seen inside of it. "This should do the trick. Take this to Mark's farm and spread it on the field. This should help his plants grow!"
"Thank you, Witch Princess!" Elliot said happily as he walked over to her to accept the potion. "You really can be nice!"
"H… hey, don't say things like that!" the witch cried, causing the other girls to giggle. "I didn't do this for you, you know!"
Elliot couldn't help a slight chuckle at the Witch Princess getting all defensive. She could be pretty scary sometimes, at least he thought that way. Yet at the same time, she wasn't as bad as some would say.
Elliot, Sabrina and Julia made their way to Mark's ranch. They were hoping to give the potion to him personally. But it looked like he was out for the moment. Elliot sighed softly and was about to suggest they go back when they looked toward the field.
It certainly looked like Mark had been trying his hardest to grow crops this season. They could see the sprouts for eggplants, carrots and other autumn vegetables. However, if things go the way they had been, these little sprouts may not last.
"Let's use the potion we made," Elliot suggested. "I'm sure Mark won't mind."
The girls nodded their heads in agreement as Elliot reached his hand into his pocket and removed the potion. He uncorked the vial then poured the contents directly on the field. At first, nothing happened, which was disappointing, considering all of the ingredients that they found. Maybe it wasn't enough?
Suddenly there was a flash of red light, causing shocked expressions on their faces. They had to close their eyes to shield them from the bright light. Eventually the light faded.
Sabrina was the first to open her eyes and she gasped. "Elliot! Julia! Look!"
Elliot and Julia opened their eyes, surprised by the sight before them. Mark's field was completely covered in fully ripened crops!
"We did it!" Elliot cried.
"Um, I think we have a problem," Julia pointed out. "It looks like the vegetables are trying to overrun the ranch!"
"I wonder if it has to do with that poisoned mushroom Elliot brought with him," Sabrina murmured nervously. "What are we going to do now?"
At first, none of the friends had an answer and then Julia piped up. "Let's harvest them and try to bring these vegetables under control."
"Okay!" Elliot and Sabrina agreed.
As the friends began to work on harvesting the many crops that had sprung up all over the field, Mark returned from his walk. To say that he wasn't surprised at the sight would be an understatement. His whole field covered in crops and three of his friends harvesting them.
"What in the world?" Mark murmured as he watched them.
He didn't know what was going on or why, but maybe he could get his friends to explain what was going on. But first, he had to help them. It looked like that no matter what they did, the vegetables kept growing back like before. At the rate they were going, they were bound to be tired.
"I better get over there," the rancher said.
The Witch Princess flew overhead on her broom, heading toward the ranch to see what her potion did. As she came over the ranch, she noticed Mark along with the other three working hard on his field. At least it was only his field, and the whole island wasn't being covered. And after about half an hour, the effect of the potion would wear off.
The crimson eyed witch laughed happily. "My potion worked! Take that, Harvest Goddess!"