Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Harvest Moon series.
AN: This is for the Village Square's Contest, which this time is Sacrifices. This story does contain some spoilers to the Witch Princess' heart events.
The sky was blanketed in dark gray clouds and a steady cold rain was falling, tapping loudly on the roofs and windows of the homes on the many islands. This was the kind of weather that the Witch Princess enjoyed the most, there was just something that could be said about a rainy day over a sunny day.
However, there was something else on in her mind today. It was a good thing that her brat of a niece Witchkin was outside playing with her precious frogs. It gave the blonde haired witch some much needed peace and quiet and more importantly, a chance to think without being interrupted.
Lately, her thoughts had been filled with a certain blonde haired young man who lived over on Ranch Island. He went by Mark and was a kind young man who didn't think badly of her just because she was a witch. He often visited her and her annoying niece.
She had even played a few of her jokes on him, and yet despite all that, he still returned. He seemed interested in her magical books and even the potions she had made. This was especially when she'd made a potion that turned a person mulberry all over! It certainly was a fun potion to make! He'd believed her when she told him the story of what had happened between her and the wolf. He had even agreed that the wolf had what was coming to him!
It was on a rainy day similar to this that the Witch Princess had visited Silver Star Ranch to ask Mark to take her somewhere. At first she was disappointed when he only took her to Mushroom Island. That was until she saw those big mushrooms! She'd lived for such a long time and had never seen a mushroom so big in her entire life! While she was a little disappointed that she couldn't take one back home, she was grateful that she'd had a chance to see it.
There was no doubt what this really meant. Mark may be a mere mortal, but he'd been able to cast a spell upon the Witch Princess… a spell of love.
Being in love was one thing, but marriage was another thing entirely. There was an ancient code that all wizards and witches were made to follow. First and foremost was that you never reveal your true name to a human unless you were bound in wedlock. It was believed that if a human were to know you by name, then they could control you. It was considered a superstition by many, but people still followed it. After all, it was tradition.
There was one other rule that had to be followed if one wished to join a mortal in marriage. Should a wizard or witch agree to marry a human, then he or she would forfeit his or her magical power forever and live the rest of their lives as a mortal human.
The Witch Princess sighed a little and crossed her arms, trying to think clearly. Would she really be willing to give all that up? Without her magic, she couldn't play her tricks or mess around with the weather. Was that one mortal worth that?
There was a knock on the door, and for a moment, the witch thought that it might have been Mark. That was until she heard the voice on the other side.
"Witch Princess!" a feminine voice called. "Are you home?"
She recognized the voice as Chelsea, a girl who was hoping to be a great rancher just like Mark. "It's open!" she replied.
The wooden door creaked opened and Chelsea walked inside. She was holding onto a red umbrella that matched the color of her bandana. She closed her umbrella and placed it by the door. The brown haired girl tilted her head as she eyed the witch.
"Did I come at a bad time?"
The Witch Princess slowly shook her head. "No. I was just thinking about things."
"About what may I ask?" Chelsea asked curiously.
At first the witch didn't feel like answering the other girl. It was not like she was a witch, there would be no way that she could understand what she was going through at that moment. Yet, she had a feeling that if she didn't tell her, that Chelsea would get mopey, and she hated it when that happened. It was better to just try and explain things than to avoid it all together.
"If you must know, I've been thinking about Mark," she finally answered.
A smile crossed the brunette's face. "I see! I happen to know that Mark has been thinking about you a lot as well. I've noticed that he talks about you every day! And with the way he talks about you, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave you a Blue Feather soon!"
At the mention of this the Witch Princess lowered her head. This greatly confused the blue eyed girl. "What's wrong?"
"I would like to accept his proposal," the Witch Princess said slowly. "But I cannot…"
"You can't? I don't understand. You love him and he loves you, what's the problem?" questioned the confused girl.
"Do you really need to know?" the crimson eyed witch demanded, looking up to gaze into Chelsea's blue eyes.
The farmer shook her head slowly. "Well no, I guess not. And it sounds like you don't want to tell me anyway," she admitted. "But keeping things bottled up inside isn't good for you. I think it would help to talk about you problems and get them off your chest."
"What would you know about my problems?" the Witch Princess questioned, turning away from the other girl. "Do you know what the consequences are if a human and a witch fall in love? Or the price I'll be asked to pay to get married?"
The brown haired girl put a finger to her cheek, not sure what the Witch Princess was talking about. "Well, of course I don't. I'm not a witch so I wouldn't know. But does that even matter?"
"What are you saying?" the blonde inquired, turning to face the other girl.
"Well, I don't know what your problem is," Chelsea replied. "But whatever it is, would it matter in the long run? If you're in love you should be willing to take whatever risk there may be in order to be with him."
The Witch Princess shook her head. "Even if that means I'll lose my magic and become a mortal? A human girl?"
Chelsea nodded her head and gave her a small smile. "Yes. Even then, it may be a difficult decision but if in the end you choose to follow your heart and decide to spend your life with him that should be all that matters to you. You would be happy if you were with him, I'm sure of that."
The crimson eyed witch had to admit that Chelsea made a good point. She would be very happy if she was with Mark. However, what had been holding her back was losing her powers. Could she live without that?
"If losing your magic is the issue, then you should see Natalie," the brunette suddenly added. "She likes to play tricks on her grandfather Taro constantly, and she doesn't have any magical powers."
Now that was something that the witch hadn't even considered before. She thought she had to have her magic in order to play her tricks. But it seemed that wasn't true. Sure they may not be the same tricks she was used to playing, but she could still continue to do what she enjoyed doing, pulling pranks on the residents of the islands.
Seeing that the Witch Princess remained silent, Chelsea picked up her umbrella. "I think I'll be going then. Just think about it, okay? I'm sure Mark will be by later.
A couple hours had passed and the rain had stopped falling. The sky had begun to clear and the Witch Princess had thought on and off about the way she felt for Mark. Honestly, she didn't need to be told how Mark felt about her. It was written clearly on his face during his daily visits.
She had been thinking about it for a long time, and at that point a decision was reached. Now all she had to do was wait until Mark came to visit her that day.
Not long later there was another knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer the door was opened and Mark poked his head inside. "Hello, Witch Princess!" he said cheerfully.
The blonde haired witch could feel her cheeks beginning to burn the moment she saw him. "Hello Mark," she greeted back.
The blonde haired rancher walked into the house with both of his hands behind his back. Very carefully, he moved his left foot to close the door while keeping his hands behinds him. His cheeks were red as well and from what Chelsea said earlier, the Witch Princess had a good idea of what was behind the man's back.
"I have something that I want to ask you," Mark told the girl. He walked over to the witch and went down on one knee. "Y… you see, you mean the world to me. I would be very happy to live my life by your side. So…"
Mark placed his hands in front of him to show the witch the Blue Feather. "Would you marry me? Will you be my wife?"
A smile crept onto the Witch Princess' face. "Back then I wouldn't have expected to get a blue feather from you Mark," the witch said honestly. "This is the happiest I have been in thousands of years! If I'm really the one you want… then I accept! Yes, let's get married!" With that, the Witch Princess accepted the beautiful feather.
"That's wonderful!" Mark said happily as he rose to his feet. Tears brimmed in the corners of his eyes which he did his best to wipe away.
The Witch Princess also had to wipe away a stray tear. This was by far the happiest moment in her life. However, she knew that now that she'd accepted his proposal, it was only a matter of time before she would be stripped of her immortality and her magic. "Mark… there is something I have to tell you. Now that I've accepted your proposal, I will no longer be a witch. Once I marry you, and I will be stripped of my immortality and of my magical powers."
The smile that was on Mark's face quickly fell, replaced by one of deep concern. "Wow, I didn't know that. Are you sure you want to do this then? Magic is a big part of your life isn't it?"
"It was, but not anymore," the Witch Princess explained. "You don't even have magic and yet something happened I didn't expect. You cast a spell and captured my heart. That was something that no other mortal could ever do. I would be willing to throw that away in order to be with you. Once we are married, I can finally tell you my name, something I've wanted to tell you for a long time now."
Tears began to fill Mark's eyes and no matter how many times he wiped them away they continued to flow down his face. "D… do you really mean that?"
"Of course I do," the witch answered with a roll of her crimson eyes. "You don't have to be all mopey about it."
"I'm not mopey," Mark corrected as the smile returned to his face. "I'm touched that you would do something like that just to be with me. Because even without your magic you'll always be the girl I love. I never fell in love with you because of your magic. I fell in love with your personality and just spending time with you." He managed to wipe the tears away and continued to grin at the witch.
It was easy to see that Mark had spoken the truth, and that the smile on his face was genuine. The same could be said for the Witch Princess as well.
The older witch was going to rub it in Witchkin's face, but she had this nagging feeling that Witchkin would just rub it in right back about losing her magical powers. They would most likely bicker and argue, but that won't matter. All that mattered was that she would finally be able to spend the rest of her life with Mark, even if that meant being a human.
A week from now, she would allow herself to be bathed in the light of the moon. That was always the starting step to lose one's magical powers after marrying a mortal. Upon confessing to her marriage, the magic within her will leave her body. It wasn't a painless process, but it still had to happen and it wouldn't kill her.
Finally, once the last bit of power had been taken from her, she would be able to tell the rancher what her name was. And soon, this name would be known all over Sunshine Islands. She would be no longer known as the Witch Princess, she would be known as Aiko, the human wife of Mark.