The Witch Princess was bored. Her booted foot nudged a stack of books from where she sat precariously on the lip of her cauldron. With no experiment to distract herself, Forget-Me-Not Valley was dangerously close to becoming the plaything of their resident witch. There just wasn't anything to do! What she needed was a new project, an opportunity to solve the unsolvable, or at least a new prank to pull on unsuspecting victims. Laughing potions, bottling love, raising the dead, extending life: the Witch Princess had done it all and more.
Yet right now, none of it interested her. Perhaps it was best to just get out and stretch her legs rather than sitting around her books and empty cauldron. They were depressing as she had no inspiration for either.
None took notice of the witch as she made her way through town, though they'd have better luck doing so if she wasn't cloaking herself with magic. The Witch Princess preferred to walk without the stares and curious glances directed her way. Anonymity was better suited to her pranks, anyway. It was too bad, then, that so few mortals were out. Sure, it was snowing, and at first the witch thought maybe that was why so few people were out. Then she saw a girl hurrying along with a box of cake mix.
It was that holiday. The one where mortals offered sweets to those they liked. The witch knew that the goddess worked hard on this day. Maybe if she magicked that girl's cake mix into a box of bats then—
"Don't even think about it."
The Witch Princess turned to find the Harvest Goddess herself standing a few feet away under a lonesome tree. Despite the winter chill, the goddess remained unaffected by the elements even in her midriff top and thin, flowing skirt. Braided strands of emerald draped over one pale shoulder. She did not look amused.
"Don't be such a mood killer," the Witch Princess hummed. "This town needs a little fun. I almost feel sorry for these mortals for having such a boring goddess. In fact," the witch paused, her features turning as sharp as a cat's and twice as mischievous, "I think they would be better off with someone fun like me as their goddess rather than a fuddy duddy like yourself."
It was a bold statement to make to the Harvest Goddess' face, but the Witch Princess hardly cared about protocol or pleasantries.
To her credit, the Harvest Goddess didn't bristle at her suggestion. After years of rivalry with the Witch Princess, the Goddess had grown accustomed to such remarks. "If you came out of your little shed more, then maybe you would be a better judge of character."
The Witch Princess was in much less control of her emotions than the Goddess. "I'm a perfect judge of character of lame nobodies like these mortals. Plus, my love tonic would do the work like that!" She snapped her fingers with a flip of her hair.
The Harvest Goddess laughed derisively, the sound like a bell, and the Witch Princess began to seethe. How dare the goddess mock her! She would show her. Whirling around, the witch laid eyes on a blonde mortal coming down the path in a peacoat. Her eyes narrowed in excitement.
"I bet I can get her to fall in love before you can." Witch Princess pointed at the woman and the goddess' eyes followed her gesture. Then, to make it more interesting, she pointed at a young man who also caught her eye: the farmer who moved in not too long ago. "With him."
So caught up in her declaration, the Witch Princess missed the twinkle of mirth in the Harvest Goddess' eyes.
"Oh, is that so? And if you can't?"
The Witch Princess snorted. "I will. However, if my love tonic goes wrong somehow, which it won't, or someone interferes, then I suppose I'll grant you one wish."
She would do whatever the Harvest Goddess asked, basically. The goddess smiled. "And I assume that, if I lose, then I'll give you my job?"
The Witch Princess flicked her hair back with a grin. "Yup! But don't get too down. You can have it back when I'm bored playing around." Which, given the Witch Princess' attention span, might not take long. Mostly she just wanted to one up the Harvest Goddess.
The Harvest Goddess seemed to be thinking it over carefully, a finger pressed to her chin. Then she smiled and pointed a woman about to enter the bar. "Then, I shall pair her up with that woman." Her hand extended to the Witch Princess. "Do we have a deal?"
Truthfully, the Witch Princess hadn't expected the Harvest Goddess to agree. For a brief moment, the surprise was written on her face. "Well, look at that. The Harvest Goddess does know how to have some fun." She took the goddess' hand, sealing their deal in a firm shake.
Well, there was no time like the present, was there? When their hands released, the Witch Princess disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. When it cleared, the Harvest Goddess was left with a smile.
"Oh, this should be interesting," she said to herself before disappearing in a flash of light.
"Brrrr! It's so cold out there!" Muffy pulled the door to the Blue Bar shut behind her, one last gust of cold wind ruffling her dress and coat before she shut it out. She dusted herself off before walking behind the bar.
"The news says there's gonna be a snow storm this weekend." Jack leaned one arm against the counter. "You and Griffin staying warm?"
Muffy started to shrug off her coat, shaking snow out of her curls. "As warm as can be! Griffin always has that heater going. What about you? You got to have a lot of work to keep your animals warm as well as yourself." Jack had moved here not too long ago, taking up residence at his family's old farm. The dilapidated buildings and overgrown grass were now home to a few cows, a cheerful dog, and a strawberry roan horse. Jack's presence seemed to be revitalizing the valley in the way only a newcomer could.
Jack grinned good naturedly. Somehow he always took everything in stride and possessed a surprisingly humble side. "There is but I manage. Even though it's snowing, I'm glad the bar is still open."
Muffy giggled. "Rain or shine or snow, we'll be open."
"It's too bad the Valley doesn't have any good slopes."
From the back, seated between the bar and the wall, Nami spoke. She often came in here on the days Muffy worked, which was most days, but never got anything too strong or stayed for too long. Sometimes they talked and other times Nami just sat quietly. Muffy found her incredibly reserved, but easy to get along with once you knew her.
"Oh, that's right! You know how to ski, don't you, Nami?" Muffy hovered closer to the redhead, eyes alight with interest. "I'd totally wreck, but it would be a lot of fun to watch."
"I think you'd be fine," Nami replied.
Muffy smiled genuinely for a moment before gasping. "Oh! You two are here to drink! How silly of me!" Hanging up her coat, she turned to the two. "Now, what can I get you?"
A moment later, Muffy was busying herself behind the bar and mixing their requested drinks. Unknown to the barmaid, a sneaky Witch Princess had infiltrated the bar. Her magic kept her, and the bottle gripped tightly in her hand, cloaked to the eyes of the mortals around her. With a deft hand, she slipped the love tonic into Jack's cup as Muffy's head was turned. This was too easy. The Witch Princess would be done within a few minutes and the Harvest Goddess would have to wipe that smug smile off her face.
"Here you go," Muffy said, turning towards the two with the drinks in hand. She slid the glasses towards the two.
"Thanks!" Jack picked up his glass then turned to Nami. He held up his glass. Nami paused, but then returned the gesture.
Oh no. The witch's face dropped. Under any other circumstance, she would find this just as amusing, but there was a bet on the line here. Not just any bet, but one to the Harvest Goddess! She raised her hand, ready to knock the glass out of Jack's hand and try again, but Jack finished his toast and took a drink. There went the love tonic.
When Jack opened his eyes, they immediately landed on Nami and the Witch Princess could see the lovelorn look settle over his face.
"Nami." Her name came out as a revered whisper. "Oh, Nami, my love! My sweet summer rose!"
"Uh, what?" Nami's brow furrowed at the sudden change in their friend. His reserved, calm nature had vanished and he now moved towards her with ardor. Jack's arms spread, seconds from enveloping her in a hug, and Nami pushed him back. "What the hell!?"
Jack, who had somehow not expected this outcome, looked up at her from his new seat on the floor. "My benevolent moondrop, what's wrong?" Jack pushed himself up, heedless of the dirt across his pants. "What did I do?"
"What's your problem? Is this some joke?" Nami stood from her stool.
"What do you mean? I love you!" Jack came forward once more, arms outstretched and looking ready to kiss her.
Instead of Nami pushing him, he was yanked backwards with a firm grip. Muffy had come around the counter and hauled him backwards, away from Nami.
"Jack, what's gotten into you!?" Muffy scolded him harshly, one hand firmly gripping one of his suspender straps and the other wagging at him.
"Me?" Jack hadn't even looked at Muffy. His eyes, full of love and adoration, were focused solely on Nami. Even now he tried to push past Muffy to get to his beloved. "I'm in love! Can't you see? We're meant to be! Nami is the spark that ignites the flame in my heart! She's the torch in the cold, lonely night that keeps me going!"
The more he talked, the more creeped out Nami became, backing away until she was practically against the wall. Muffy had started to haul him out of the bar, surprisingly strong for a woman her size. Even as he was still talking — we're meant to be! She's my schnookums, the sun in my heart — Muffy opened the door and threw him out into the cold.
"How about you cool off for a bit, Jack!" The door slammed shut.
The Witch Princess had moved outside during the commotion and watched as Jack was thrown out into the snow and cold. It took a flick of her wrist for the tonic's effects to dissipate. Jack blinked, remembering everything that had transpired and grew as ripe as a tomato. He quickly hurried home.
A slow clap rang from behind the Witch Princess. "Impressive. Well, I can certainly see how well your method worked."
The Witch Princess whirled around. "I will have you know that that was a calculated action."
A single divine, disbelieving eyebrow rose. It was greeted with an overconfident smirk.
"Of course, you wouldn't understand." The witch started towards the goddess, circling around her like a hawk. "Every relationship needs a little tension, don't you agree?"
Forest green eyes followed the witch, the color reflective of the woodland she resided in, of spring leaves blossoming after winter storms. If you looked deeply into the eyes of the goddess, you would not see your reflection but rather faint impressions of the woods and the creatures within it. However, right now they only mirrored the crimson flames of the witch's ruby eyes.
"Oh, it's essential," the goddess replied. Her hands came up to rest on the curve of her hips. "I look forward to seeing where you'll go with this."
Witch Princess leaned closer. "Watch and learn, goddess." Then disappeared.
"I don't know what's gotten into him," Muffy said as she walked back over to Nami. After locking the door, Muffy made the woman a new drink out of sympathy and took a seat next to her. "He isn't usually like that."
Nami shrugged. "Maybe it was a weird joke."
Muffy thought about it and then shrugged. Who could say? "Well, you can stay here as long as you like. Girls gotta stick together, right?" She gave Nami a reassuring smile and squeezed her shoulder briefly. It was only out of familiarity that she did so. Nami was often at the bar and they had both grown accustomed to each other's presence. Muffy liked to think it was the deep kind of connection you could only have with another woman and it was one she wished she had with a man. Too bad all the men she dated turned out to be some variation of scumbag.
A rare smile graced Nami's features. "Right. I'm kinda surprised how good you are at this."
"Huh?" Muffy tilted her head, thick, blonde curls falling around her shoulder. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, taking care of guys like that, running the bar, handling people." Nami was a woman of few words but cut to the point when she talked. She took a sip of her drink. While she could've taken care of Jack's weird advances herself, it was nice to have someone to rely on.
Nami's words made Muffy smile bashfully and giggle. "Oh, that's nothing! Anyone can do things like that."
Nami shook her head. "Not really."
Another shake of Muffy's curls. "I'm not like you, Nami. You've traveled the world on your own. I couldn't do something like that. I just," she shrugged, "mix drinks and talk to people." Anyone could do those things.
"Give yourself some credit," Nami replied. "Talking to people, it's not easy for everyone." She knew that more than most. "And I've seen you balance the bar's finances. You're really good at it."
The more Nami spoke, the redder Muffy became, turning a shade that made her dress jealous. "W-well, you're always really straight forward with what you think. I wish I could be like that. And I'd love if I could," Muffy seemed to deflate as she looked longingly upwards, "if I could travel and see the world. The places you talk about sound amazing, but I could never leave on my own." And she'd certainly never find someone to go with her.
I'll go with you, Nami wanted to say, but found that the words couldn't get past her throat. Well, maybe another time. She sat her empty drink down and slid off the bar. "I should get back before Ruby wonders where I am."
"Oh! Of course. Want me to walk you back?"
Was it Muffy's imagination or was Nami blushing? Maybe it was the lighting.
"No," Nami replied simply. "I'm fine. I'm sure Jack is back at his ranch by now."
Muffy nodded and walked to the door, grabbing Nami's coat and offering it to her. When the two women opened the door, there was another blast of cold air. Feeling that it was simply good manners to see her friend off, Muffy stepped outside for a brief moment to watch her head out.
Both women were surprised when Jack came down the path with his strawberry roan horse and dismounted in front of them. To his credit, his hands were up as a gesture of peace.
"Nami," he started, already seeing both of their guards go up. Could he blame them? "I'm really sorry about earlier," he continued, "I don't know what came over me. It was like, some weird cloud came over my brain? I know that's no excuse. Please forgive me!"
As Jack continued to apologize, the Witch Princess rounded the corner of the bar and stared at the trio. This time she would get it right. She would wait until that pesky redhead left and then Jack would only have the blonde girl to stare at. Then she'd just have to hit her with a similar spell and voila! Bet won!
Ok, there went the redhead. She would cast the spell… now!
The Witch Princess flicked her wand and the spell shot out in a swirl of pink and red, headed straight for the farmer.
"I hope you can forgive me too, Muffy," Jack continued, unaware of the spell headed his way. He clasped his hands together and bowed to her, eyes closed. If his senses were aware of the Witch Princess, he would've heard a very loud curse at this moment.
The spell designed for Jack sailed right over his head, barely flicking across the short hairs on his neck, and hit his horse squarely in the chest. The horse snorted, shook his head, and then looked over at his owner.
"As long as you don't— ah — do it again." Muffy's eyebrows rose as Jack's horse started to nuzzle his neck, snorting into his hair and sending long trails of saliva running down the side of his face. She started to giggle.
Caught unaware, Jack stumbled to the side as his horse continued to love on him. His horse could certainly be affectionate, but that was when the farmer had a carrot or a sugar cube in his hand. "Ace, c'mon buddy! I love you, too, but—!" Jack could hardly finish his sentence amid his overly affectionate horse and Muffy's continued giggling.
"Another calculated step?" The Harvest Goddess reappeared next to the Witch Princess with a thoughtful look, though there was the hint of a smile on her lips. "Laughter is also good for a relationship."
The Witch Princess humphed. "It is. Which is exactly why I did it." The goddess was humoring her, but it wouldn't be long before the witch would shove her results in her face. "And what have you been doing, then?" She hadn't seen the goddess work one bit of magic.
"Oh, things, here and there. You know, with Winter Thanksgiving tomorrow there's quite a few couples to nudge in the right direction. It's a lot of work."
Had the goddess been going around and working on other couples while the she had been working on these two!? The thought made the witch's hair bristle like the end of a broom. She was toying with her! "Well, these two will be together in no time, so I'd get to work on your girl if I were you." From what the witch had seen of the redhead, she wasn't particularly close with the blonde. That just left more room for Jack to squeeze in there.
She should maybe learn the names of the girls at some point, but couldn't be bothered right now. Jack, at least, had been by her place once or twice.
"Oh, I have my plans, don't worry." The goddess smiled at her. "Have you ever eaten mortal cookies? They're very popular for girls to make on Winter Thanksgiving and they're quite delicious."
The Witch Princess tilted her head. "Of course I've had them." It was a pretty boring custom, in her opinion.
"Here, try one!" A cookie appeared in the goddess' hand and she offered it to the witch. The witch hesitated, but accepted it after a moment. "You should really get to know the mortals a bit more. I think it'll help." She smiled once more. "Well, I better get busy. Ta-ta~" She waved before disappearing.
The Witch Princess looked down at the cookie.
"I think my fingers are going to freeze off!" Muffy stepped back inside the bar, hands running up and down her arms in an attempt to warm them. As the door shut, she cupped both to her mouth and exhaled hot air into them.
"Well, why'd you go out without your coat?" Griffin had come out from the back of the bar and stared at Muffy with a raised eyebrows.
"I was just seeing off Nami. I didn't expect Jack to come up."
"Oh, you were talkin' to Jack? Is that why you've looked so happy lately?"
Muffy stepped back behind the bar and headed towards the dishes that had piled up from earlier. "What do you mean?"
"Just seems like ya might have some romantic feelings, is all."
The washrag stilled inside the collins glass and Muffy looked over at Griffin. "Romantic feelings? For Jack?" She giggled. "No, silly. I've just been talking with Nami a lot lately."
Griffin leaned against the counter. "Well, have ya got romantic feelings for her, then?"
A moment later, there was a shatter of glass against the floor as the cup slipped from her grasp.
The next day was Winter Thanksgiving, the day girls baked sweets for those they liked. The Witch Princess spent all night baking her own batch of cookies, but she wasn't giving them to anyone in specific. Especially since she had laced them with her love tonic and cast a spell to make them irresistible. Admittedly, she had gotten part of the idea from the goddess, but she didn't need to know that. What mattered was that, even though several people might eat these cookies, if she placed them just right then she could get her targets to eat them and fall in love. Others might fall victim to the cookies as well, but it was acceptable collateral damage.
That bet was as good as won.
At the Blue Bar, Jack had stopped in for a quick drink and was conversing with Griffin. While they were distracted, the Witch Princess placed her cookies on the bar, casting a spell so they wouldn't think twice of the cookies being there so suddenly. No need for them to be suspicious. Then she took her hiding spot in the corner of the bar and waited to see her hard work come to fruition.
Muffy came out of the back with a bow-tied tin in her hands. Griffin glanced at her briefly before continuing to clean the glass in his hand. Jack, who had gotten up to leave, stepped back before he bumped into her.
"Sorry about that!" Jack scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Oh, it's alright!" Her tin was fine so Muffy didn't really mind. Her eyes landed on the plate of cookies and she tilted her head. "Griffin, did you put these out for the customers?"
Griffin looked over again, then down at the cookies, and shrugged. "I don't know where those came from." They looked really good though.
Muffy didn't know either. She supposed it didn't really matter. Maybe she should try one? They looked really good. Her hand moved, snagging part of the ribbon her tin, and then re-positioned to grip it tighter. Muffy had something more important to do than eat cookies!
"You two enjoy them," she told Jack and Griffin before heading out.
Jack picked up one and handed it to Griffin before grabbing his own.
"I don't get it!" The Witch Princess watched in frustration as the blonde took her cookies down to the next building. "Those cookies should've worked!"
"Well, they would have," came the Harvest Goddess' melodious voice, "if Muffy hadn't already realized her feelings for Nami."
Were those there names? Oh, who cared! "You didn't even do anything!"
The Harvest Goddess laughed. "I suppose you're right. You did all the work for me. See, you do know a thing or two about love! Since you got those two together, I suppose this means neither of us won the bet." The goddess shrugged and placed her hands on her hips as if it was of no consequence to her.
"So what you're saying," the Witch Princess started slowly, voice regaining its usual mischievous tone, "is that I know more about romance than you. You couldn't get those two girls together, after all, and had to come to me." She pressed her hand against her chest, an insufferable smirk growing on her features.
The goddess laughed. "If you want to put it that way."
"Well then, I guess I'll have to show the goddess a thing or two about romance, won't I?" She moved towards the emerald haired goddess. "After all, you desperately wanted my help to get those two girls together. I could maybe make time for you."
The Harvest Goddess bit down a giggle, but couldn't contain her smile. "How generous of you."
"I can't believe we both made cookies," Nami murmured. They had moved outside, away from Ruby's prying eyes, but the red across Nami's cheeks had nothing to do with the cold.
Muffy giggled softly. "I'm really glad we did. Um," she looked around them briefly, "it's cleared up a lot from yesterday. Would you like to go on a walk?"
Nami smiled. "Yeah. I'd like that."