Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Harvest Moon.

AN: I never expected to do a story like this. This idea was suggested by Awesome Rapidash, so I decided to do it. This story is dedicated to Char2happy for her birthday.

The clouds rolled lazily over the sky of Forget Me Not Valley, and rays of the sun could be seen trying to peek through one of them. A gentle spring breeze was blowing on this beautiful morning, swaying the blades of grass on the ground, and the leaves on the trees. Mary walked on the path from her town, to this one, in order to visit her friend Lumina.

She liked to visit her friend on days the library was closed. It was always nice to get out every once and a while, instead of being in the library all day surrounded by books. Not that she hated that, since she loved to read books, and she had even been writing some of her own. Not very many people visited her library though, so sometimes it did get a little lonely.

The bi-speckled girl took in a deep breath, looking at the sights around her. As she did, she tried to figure out words that could describe the beauty of nature. Every writer knew that you had to help paint a picture in the heads of others to make a story good.

Still, Mary couldn't help sighing softly. It had been a while since she had written anything, and aside from the scenery, she didn't really have any form of inspiration. There had to be something, anything at all, that she could write. And yet she was drawing a blank.

"Maybe I could talk to Lumina about it when I get to the mansion," the girl decided, putting her hand through the long strands of black hair on her head. "I'm sure she could help me."

"Maybe I can help," suggested an unfamiliar voice nearby. Mary jumped a little as she came out of her thoughts, and looked for the owner of the voice. The one who spoke was standing on the bridge that the black haired girl would cross to get the mansion, since it was a straight shot, until you reached a long flight of stairs.

Mary had never seen this woman before, but the way she was dressed reminded her of witches from fairy tales. Well, besides the fact that she didn't have a pointed hat or green skin, something she didn't mind, as she didn't like seeing the old stereotypes all the time. She had long, sandy blonde hair and eyes that were the color of crimson. In her hand, she was holding onto something that looked like a book.

When Mary didn't respond right away, the woman stepped closer to her. "Did you hear me?" she demanded. "I said that maybe I could help you."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I heard you," Mary said quickly, raising her hands so she could straighten her glasses.

"Good, I'm glad," the woman said with a smile as she took a couple more steps forward. "You can call me Witch Princess and as you can see, I'm a witch."

"Witch Princess?" the black haired girl echoed. She had heard it before, but from what she understood, a lot of people didn't get all that close to her. She only knew of even one person who seemed to care about the witch. Still, maybe she could help! She had thought of trying a novel where the main character was a witch of sorts. Maybe she could base her off of the Witch Princess! It was worth a try anyway.

"It's nice to meet you, Witch Princess," Mary said politely. "My name is Mary. And I'm looking for some inspiration for my novel. Maybe you could…"

Before the girl could finish, the blonde haired woman interrupted. "Ah, so you are an inspiring author then. I have just the thing that could help you."

Mary did not get a chance to say a word before the book that the witch was carrying was forced into her hands. Now that she had a good look at it, it wasn't the kind of book she had ever seen before, at least, not in real life anyway. The book's cover appeared to be made out of leather, and there were swirling golden designs on it. The girl checked the binding of the book for the title, but there wasn't a single word on the side.

"What is this book?" the girl questioned, tilting her head a little to the side.

"Oh, it's the perfect thing to help someone, such as you, find the inspiration you need," the Witch Princess explained. "I've given that book to many others before, and not long after they read it, they find the perfect story to write."

While this wasn't the way the girl originally intended to get her inspiration, she was getting really curious. It was hard for her to turn down a good story! And it had been a while since she had gotten a new shipment of books for the library, so it had been a while since she had anything new to read.

"So, what is the story about?" Mary asked eagerly. "Is it a mystery? A fantasy? Or maybe it's…"

The Witch Princess held up her hands to try and quiet the other girl down. "Calm down, Mary. First of all, I can't tell you because it will ruin the surprise. However, I can safely guarantee that the story will be to your liking."

At first, the bi-speckled librarian was disappointed that the Witch Princess wouldn't say anything more about the story that was in the book. However, at the same time, she knew it wasn't a bad thing. She didn't know, but maybe if the witch had talked about the story, she would give away some of the plot, or even some of the twists the story would contain. She didn't like hearing about spoilers if she could help it.

"Well, thank you very much, Witch Princess!" Mary exclaimed happily. "I'll be sure to give your book back to you when I'm done with it. Bye!" She waved her hands and walked passed the woman.

However, she did not notice the mischievous smile that appeared on the woman's face. "That worked well. This is going to be great!"

As Mary walked up the steps that led to Romana's mansion, a burning curiosity began to wash over the librarian. She looked at the book the Witch Princess had given her. She was going to show the book to Lumina when she got there, but could she wait that long? It wouldn't hurt if she took a little peek, would it?

Deciding it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look; Mary turned around and sat down on the step. She placed the book on the step she was sitting on, and smoothed out her blue dress. Mary reached out for the book and was going to open it up, when she heard footsteps coming her way. She smiled when she noticed the familiar brown haired farmer girl from the Starry Farm.

"Hello, Jill," she called.

"Hey, Mary," Jill greeted, her violet eyes sparkling. "What are you doing just sitting here? You're usually at the mansion by now, right?"

The girl with the long black hair nodded in agreement. "Yes, but I just wanted to take a look into this book that I got."

Jill had a curious expression on her face as she went up and sat down right next to Mary. The farmer gazed at the leather book with interest. "I've never seen a book like that before. Where did you get it?"

"The Witch Princess gave it to me," Mary explained. "She found out that I'm having trouble coming up with a new story, so she gave me this book to help me get inspired."

At the mention of the Witch Princess, Jill's look of curiosity switched to that of concern. "The Witch Princess gave that to you? Well, that was nice of her…"

"Something wrong, Jill?" Mary asked as she carefully pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"I'm not sure," Jill admitted quietly. "But I'm not so sure about this, all of sudden."

Mary glanced at the book in her hands. She wondered why Jill felt the way she did. She was the friend of the Witch Princess, from what she had heard before. So wouldn't she trust her own friend? And the curiosity inside of the black haired girl burned like a flame in her heart. She was sure a quick peek wouldn't hurt.

Carefully, she opened the book to the first page. All she had time to do was read the first few words of the beginning. It said "Gather around and I will tell you a story."

Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding white light. Mary cried out in alarm as she heard Jill cry, "I knew it!" She could feel the farmer girl trying to pull the book away from her but by then it was too late. When the light finally cleared, the two girls were nowhere to be seen, and the book was once again on the steps.

The book was still open on the first page, though the cover looked like it was going to close. If Mary had gotten a better look, she would have seen that most of the page was blank. But now, words could be seen appearing on the page.

"Gather around and I will tell you a story. The tale of a Princess, who will grow up to be a great heroine. What is the name of this Princess, you ask? Her name is Mary."