Chapter Two

Within a day, the temperature seemed to drop by a good thirty degrees: the perfect environment for snow. But the sky remained cloudless, to the disappointment of many.

However, I found myself thankful for it. I decided that I would try to grow at least one more batch of flowers and without there being snow on the ground, it made things much easier. Despite that fact, I still wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep up on the work. My anemia was getting worse and the fatigue it caused was so bad that I was having trouble standing for more than ten minutes. However, I gathered my strength and before I made my way to Marimba farm to purchase some seeds, I took a quick look inside my barn.

The eerie feel of abandonment put shivers down my spine as I zipped up my jacket. I had to sell all my animals before I left for the city, including my prize cow Dandy. I soon found out that she had died a few months after I had left, but she was so old that I shouldn't have been surprised. I had Cain come over and help me bury her behind my house, the only place in town where dandelions grow wild. It seemed to be grimly fitting for the old cow, considering her name. I breathed in one last whiff of the sweet smell of hay then closed the large doors.

"Angela!"

I jumped as a small voice called my name. I looked around and my eyes widened when I recognized the owner of the voice. How could I have been so forgetful since I arrived?

"Finn? Where are you?"

"I'm over here! Look down!"

That's when I saw the sprite, but joy was not my first reaction. "What's happened to you?"

He was fluttering around my feet as though he couldn't get any higher. The magical light that always seemed to sparkle around Finn was so dull that it was almost gone.

He looked up at me with hollow eyes. "Oh, Angela; I haven't been doing well since you left. I think I may fade for good."

"I'm sorry, my dear."

I looked up at the divine face with disbelief. "What do you mean I'll... I'll lose him?"

The goddess had so much sadness in her eyes that I couldn't bear to look into them. It was like she was showing me my past—my horrible, horrible past—and my future: nothing good could come of my illness.

Since I had come back to Castanet, I had had so much on my mind that I completely forgot to visit the Harvest Goddess or even think about where my guardian sprite had gone off to. It wasn't until Finn had told me that it was majorly important that we went to the goddess pond that I had even realized how long it had been since I needed to see her. Now that I was here, after so long without even thinking about her, I felt like I was out of place; as though I didn't belong or deserve to be in the divine grove.

"You do not realize how strong the bond between you and your sprite has become. When you left, the connection was ripped apart and Finn was sent into a deep sleep; it was not until today that the connection reformed completely and he was able to wake." She gracefully bent down and picked up Finn. "What you do not know is that when a sprite forms such a strong connection with a human, their very life force is connected to them."

"Just like the sprites that are connected to the bells," I ventured.

The goddess smiled, but it was one without cheer. "Yes, much like that. But I am grieved that while bells cannot die, humans can. Your sickness—"

I understood all too fast. "You're not saying that... that he's dying at the same rate I am?"

She closed her eyes. "I am afraid that it is much worse than that. He will fade twice as fast as you are: the weaker you become, the faster he will be gone forever."

"I'm sorry," the words slipped out as nothing more than a whisper.

Finn jumped from her hands and held onto my hair as he tried to hug my face. "Oh, please don't be sad! I can't have you being sad after I just woke up! Waah, Angela!"

As the sprite wailed and told me how he was sorry, nothingness seemed to wash over my entire body. Numbness reached into my limbs, but gentle yet firm hands caught me before I could hit the ground.

"I can't be responsible for this," I murmured. "Please don't let me. Please."

She loosened her grip on my arms as she slowly sat me on the ground. "I never said you had to be."

That's when the thought hit me. I knew, I just knew, she would refuse like last time, but I had to try again. I grabbed at her receding arms and the goddess looked at me with a flash of surprise. "What is it child?"

"Heal me," I pleaded. "Oh please, all I ask is that you heal me."

Her face became expressionless. "You know that I cannot."

"I'll do anything—" I tried to beg, but she cut me off.

"Angela, stop. You are only making your agony worse."

The sharpness in her voice took me by surprise. I had never heard that tone in her melodic speech. The Harvest Goddess stood up, leaving me sprawled and helpless at her feet. Look at me, I thought as I stared hard into the ground, I'm pathetic.

"Do not venture there," her voice had returned to soft understanding. "You are anything but pathetic."

"I thought I told you I hate it when you read my mind," I said bitterly, refusing to meet her gaze.

She ignored the comment and continued. "You are special, Angela. You were the only one who could save me and my land from dying, and I will eternally remember you for that. You are brave and selfless, but I'm afraid your hardest task is yet to come. When the time comes, you cannot let dark thoughts consume you or it will be your undoing."

Finn had gone quiet on my shoulder. I finally dared to meet her gaze: it was sad, but it was also full of strength. She was trying to increase my morale, but not without a warning.

"What... what do I need to do?"

Her eyes flickered to Finn. "What do you need to do? That is a broad question, Angela. If you mean what do you need to do to help Finn; well, that is an easily answered question. You have to prove just how selfless you are willing to be... You must cut your connection to him."

"I... what?"

Then what seemed like every moment with my precious little friend flashed through my mind. All the times he encouraged me to go on, made me laugh, or the many occasions he acted as my conscience. How did I last in the city without him?

"He is a guardian sprite for humans: once the connection is gone, you will not be able to make it again without causing his death."

"Will I still be able to see him?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

A sudden shock of anger hit me. "But I can see Daren! A-And Collin, and—"

"You have special sight: you can see those which others cannot."

"Then why will I not be able to see Finn?!"

Her patient expression didn't falter. "He is different,"

"But why?"

"It is beyond human understanding."

"Th-there has to be something I can do!"

Her steady gaze faltered. "I suppose there is... no, there is no way."

That slight pause, the unsure hint to her voice—I leapt on it and took my chance. "There has to be, I don't care how dangerous or impossible it may seem. I may not be able to read minds, but I saw a sliver of a chance in your face just now. Please,"

The goddess was silent for a long time. Her eyes were steadily trained onto the top of Garmon Mine, where the Harvest King sat coldly on his throne. "He..."

The way her voice sounded distant and her eyes held a soft sadness to them was enough to tell me who she was talking about.

"He may be willing to help you, but not without a price."

"I'll pay it, if he can keep Finn alive or even..."

She looked at me quickly, already knowing what I was going to suggest. No, never mind. If she couldn't heal me, then he would also refuse. Unless... no. Even if he could, the Harvest King would not heal a mortal. I knew the kind of divine being he was.

"You do not have the strength to make it to him yet," her voice cut through my thoughts.

"But I don't have to climb anymore, there's a teleport—"

"Even that will sap your strength."

"Then how...?"

"Here," the goddess held out her hand to help me stand then placed a single seed in my palm. It was the size of an avocado pit but was white and shimmered lightly with magic. "I should not be giving this to you, but consider it a... final gift."

A lump formed in my throat with the last two words. She was giving me something magical, something that humans should not have, but... a final gift? Why did I have to go so soon, and why did she seem to know for a fact that I had to? I could live for a while longer, the doctors had told me! But should I take their word over a goddess's? It wasn't fair that I had to make these decisions, me of all people, it just wasn't—no. Stop it, Angela. I thought I had just told myself the other day not to let my mind wander there. I wasn't better than any other person in this town, I didn't have the right to expect better things than others.

I looked up at her face, her expression expectant, waiting for a response. "Wh-what... what does this do?"

"It is a seed from my tree," she gestured slightly to the magical plant growing behind her. "The fruit it bears will sustain you for a day longer and will give you strength as if your sickness was almost gone. Mortals are not to eat this fruit, but I am afraid that I am more compassionate than the, ah, others. Perhaps that is why I am the patron of farmers, the ones that need the land's mercy. You see, Angela, I was once mortal, like you; the same is true for my counterpart." She gestured to the mountaintop. "However, as the centuries have gone by, he has lost his warmth for what he used to be. We have both gained great wisdom, but we have lost so much more; his bitterness overtook him, but I have tried not to let it change me. That is why I will have mercy on you for now, but you may not be so lucky when you visit the king."

Before I had left her pond, the Harvest goddess told me that I must plant the seed in a special place to my heart or else it would not grow. After Finn had learned of Dandy's death, he suggested that I plant the seed on the old cow's grave. As I exited my tool shed with a shovel I took a distasteful look at the sky.

"And here I was hoping that it wasn't going to snow."

Finn made a sneezing sound from my shoulder. That seemed to be his new spot now that he couldn't fly close enough to my head. He sat there contently without being bounced around too much now that I was forced to walk slowly because of the weakness setting in.

"But I thought you loved snow," the sprite put in. "You always said you love the way it makes everything so clean and white."

"Yeah, I guess I did. But snow is harder to work in,"

"You don't plan on doing farm work in... in your condition! It's unhealthy!"

I looked down to give the sprite a bewildered look. "I can take care of myself; after all, I just want to grow some winter flowers, nothing labor intensive."

"I just don't hurt yourself, that's all." Finn whispered.

I stopped walking and put my shovel down; I had barely reached the backside of my house before the fatigue really got to me. Maybe he was right. Just walking took a lot out of me—pathetic, I know—and I didn't know how well I could even plant something as easy as flowers. However, a thought came to my mind as I took the large magic seed out of my pocket.

"What if I only work on planting the day I eat the fruit from this plant?"

"Huh?" Finn looked up at me. "B-but I thought you were only supposed to use it to visit the Harvest King?"

"But she never said I couldn't,"

Finn went quiet for a moment. "W-well... I just don't want you to get in trouble!"

"I know, I know," I smiled down at my eccentric little friend. I just wasn't sure how I could do without him there trying to keep me safe and always worrying about my wellbeing. "By the way, do you know how many magical fruits come off this plant?"

"O-one?" the sprite smiled sheepishly up at me and laughed nervously.

"How many, really?"

He was obviously reluctant to answer. "...Fine! It's three, only three pieces grow, and then the plant remains dormant."

So I had three days of strength; it was better than nothing. I looked at the grey sky, trying to figure out how far that could keep me going and when the best times to use them would be. Before long, a cold piece of white fluff landed on my face. I looked around to see that a light snowfall had started, still soft enough to disappear when each flake touched the ground.

"I guess I should get started," I picked up my shovel and started digging next to the smooth grey river rock that served as a headstone. Once I went through the old familiar routine of planting and watering, I had to sit down and take a break. The short walk to the watering hole at the front of the house and having to carry the full can back had wiped me out; my shoulders ached terribly and my legs were shaky.

This was ridiculous. I had barely done anything.

"Angela, please don't overwork yourself," Finn said.

"I know," I panted as I took a painful seat on the ground. "I still want to go to Marimba Farm to pick up some flower seeds, though. I just don't know if I'll be able to make it."

"Oh!" The sprite jumped on my shoulder. "It's already winter; do you think they'll be selling Christmas trees yet?"

"Hm? Oh, probably. But... I'm probably not going to get one this year." I took a long drink of water and closed my eyes. "I don't know if I'm really in the mood to have Christmas on my farm this year."

"B-but what about caroling? And decorating? And all the traditions that you love so much—I always love helping you roast chestnuts and build snowmen and, and—"

"Finn!" I stopped him. "I didn't say I wasn't celebrating the holidays in general, I'm just saying that I don't feel like decorating my house or my barns. I... I don't really have that much to celebrate this year; all my cows are gone and my coop and fields are empty. I'm pretty much on my own this Christmas and I'm not sure I want to, you know, deck the halls without them."

"But..." Finn sounded like he was tearing up and he hopped down into my lap. "You still have me, don't you? You're not all alone. I'm still here."

I couldn't think of what to say. I couldn't just flat out tell him that he might not be here for long and that the odds were definitely not in his favor. If those words were to come out of my mouth, it would only discourage the both of us. So instead I mustered up a smile and scooped him up to affectionately poke him on the cheek.

"You're right, Finn; I'm sorry that I said I was completely alone. C'mon, let's go price Christmas trees."

After a long, slow walk down to Flute Fields, snow had already started to gather on the ground in melting blobs, trying its best to form a soft blanket but failing. Before I was able to enter the seed shop I felt something hit the back of my neck with an icy spludge.

"Got you!" Taylor cried happily as he ran behind a shed.

"Hey! I thought you said I could get the next person," another young voice complained from its hiding place. Behind a bush an orange ponytail popped up along with Chloe's face and she angrily looked around for her friend. "You get back here, Taylor, so I can get you instead!"

I was wiping the damp ice from my neck when the little girl turned to me.

"Miss Angela! Come over and help me attack him with snowballs!"

Before I could decline, she ran to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me along.

"Here," She handed me an icy, misshapen snowball. "I tried to make a bunch so I could just take them around with me, but it's not cold enough."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I can tell."

"Now, I think I saw Taylor go over—"

"Taylor, Chloe, what are you doing?" Ruth came out from the house, her expression perplexed. "I thought I told you already to leave customers out of your games. You're only bothering the people who come by."

From her tone of voice, I could tell that they had been doing this for a while. While Marimba Farm usually didn't get customers all day, during Christmas tree season they were quite a bit busier, the same way it was in fall when they set up their pick-it-yourself pumpkin patches.

As the frustrated woman came down to meet me, I waved off her remarks. "It's okay, they weren't bothering me at all. In fact, I remember getting overly excited during the snow season when I was a kid, so I can't blame them."

"If you say so, Angela. Now, what can I interest you in—let me guess, a tree? We have some lovely firs in this year."

I nodded. "I would also like to grow some flowers. Are your anemone seeds still in stock?"

Ruth looked me up and down before raising an eyebrow. "You plan on working this winter?"

"Well, I am a farmer. I kinda do that every season."

"Well, I suppose it's not any of my business," her voice came down to a hush. "But don't you think it's a bit, you know, dangerous for you to be working in your, um, condition?"

I sighed, but tried to keep a smile on my face. While Ruth was difficult to get to know, she had her little group of gossip buddies—the other moms, like Hanna, Barbara, and Colleen—and they would usually meet at the inn cafe to chat about all the things they had heard around town that week. I didn't want to become a topic of gossip so I answered with a simple "I'll be fine," and made my way into the shop.

"Oh, Angela," a voice behind me said my name as I was paying for the seeds. I turned around to see Anissa standing there with her son Van, who she had bundled up for the cold weather. My face split into a grin as she came over to hug me. "How have you been?"

"I'm... surviving." I said with a laugh and from the corner of my eye I could tell that Ruth was trying to look busy as not to seem like she was paying attention to our conversation. I then turned my attention to Van. "Wow, you've gotten so big! How old are you now?"

"Six," he stared at me from behind a thick pair of glasses. This kid was pretty solemn for his age, but considering who his father was, I couldn't be all that surprised.

Jin and Anissa had been married for almost as long as I had been in Castanet, so it was obvious that their child was older than the other children with parents around the same age as his. In fact, Chloe, Taylor, and Paolo were his age when I had moved here, making them almost teens now.

Jeez, I suddenly felt old.

Of course, the achy joints and tiredness certainly helped with that, but still. I was only in my early thirties, for the love of... Oh, never mind. I put my grumbling thoughts behind me and turned my attention back to Anissa.

"Wouldn't you like to go play outside with the other kids?" She was saying to Van. "They're making snowballs, doesn't that seem like fun?"

When he refused to join the other kids, Anissa sighed then turned to me, smiling as she beckoned for me to follow her to the dining room table.

"You know," she started as she poured both of us tea, "I've recently been studying homeopathic medicines. I think it'd be good for you to look into, with all the herbs and things. Some people seem so closed to the idea, but you seem more... open minded. I mean, about natural healing and stuff."

"Because I'm a farmer?" I looked at her from behind my tea cup.

She looked away bashfully. "Well, yes, but... there have been results! Good ones, so I think it works."

"Ah, I don't know..."

I had gotten along with Anissa since I had met her, mostly because we shared the same interest. While we were never super close—like with Kathy—she always seemed to know what she was talking about. She wasn't always confident, but the farmer had a good heart and always went out of her way to help me. Normally I would've taken an interest in these things, but lately... I don't know. I just wasn't up for more healing. After all, the doctors didn't seem to think I had more than a year.

"Angela? Are you okay?" Anissa reached across the table to put her hand on mine. "You seem conflicted."

"I..." I pursed my lips. "I just don't know what I'm looking for these days. Should I look for a better treatment or should I just give up? I can still be strong, but everybody seems to think I need help. The doctors tell me I have no hope. People look at me like I can't take care of myself. Just, ugh! Everyone has a different answer but the conclusion is that I will always need help! I don't want that—I've done perfectly fine on my own up until this point and I can't see why I'm suddenly not allowed to do that."

She stared at me in shocked silence then opened her mouth slightly. "It's because... humans always fall apart," she said quietly. "Some just fall apart faster than others."

I sat back in my chair and swallowed the lump in my throat. "Yeah, I guess I'm falling apart. Blood cancer... sorta ironic, I guess. Life is kept in the blood, but mine is mercilessly trying to kill me. It's just humans always find a way to fix things, even a temporary fix that's, like, taped together. I can't see why I shouldn't have the privilege of being fixed for just a little while."

"But... you do." Finn said from my shoulder. Then I remembered the tree. Maybe this was the Harvest Goddess taking pity on me because life wouldn't give me a break from this illness. Compassion, that's what the gift was. Three fruits for three days of healing.

Then the idea hit me.

Fruit.

"Anissa," I suddenly lurched forward, making her flinch a bit. "Can you make jelly out of any kind of fruit?"

It took her a second to take the confused expression from her face. "W-well yes, I believe so. Why?"

The wheels were spinning so fast in my head that I had to think to get the words out sensibly. "If I were to bring you some fruit—and I mean a kind that you've probably never seen before—would you be able to make me some jelly out of it? I'll pay you whatever you like for it."

"A kind I've never seen before?" She looked at me, bewildered.

"And you have won awards for your canning, right?"

"Yes, I guess so, but—"

"I'll explain it to you later," I got up from my chair and started to put my coat back on.

"Wouldn't you like to stay for soup? I make it every Friday night,"

"I would love to, but I have to go. Maybe some other time?" Before she could protest I waved goodbye and made my way outside.

The kids were still trying to make snowballs out of the slush. However, the temperature was starting to drop rapidly and their efforts were barely starting to pay off. As I made my way back to my house, I felt a lot like those snowballs: while I trying hard to stay together, I just kept falling apart. But now I had a new factor to add in that could help my struggle. The kids had cold temperatures on their side and I... well, I had magical gifts from a goddess on mine.

A/N: So anyone who has gotten to know me on this site knows that I absolutely adore the Harvest Goddess, especially when it comes to expanding the mythology of this series. And that's exactly what I'm doing :) And remember the power berries from the old games? Yeah, I'm using those too. Fun times.

And thank you to my reviewer and readers! I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it~

Until tomorrow! Bye :D