Stardew Valley Fanfiction:

'The Farmer Witch'

Chapter 21:

She spent the rest of the evening talking with Damon like old times.

He could tell that she was a little off and eventually Alice admitted that there was a boy in town that she liked.

"The 'friend' you were showing off your second floor to?" He questioned suspiciously.

"Yeah, he left a bit ago. He lives close enough to walk home."

She heard quiet grumbling on the other end of the phone. "I didn't send you out there to go bring boys back to your farmhouse…" Ever the concerned master.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not like that! We were just hanging out and talking!" She chuckled at her master's concerns.

"Alright…. Well, maybe I will come out and visit you then. I should meet this boy if this is something serious…"

"You would just try to scare him off. You're officially uninvited~" She retorted.

He snorted into the phone. "We'll see about that. I've always kept you out of trouble and that isn't about to change now, young lady!"

Alice smiled. She knew he was partly teasing, but she also knew he was mostly being serious. Damon was very protective of her, being like a second-father to the girl. She would have to warn Sebastian about that before the two met.

"If you wanted to keep me out of trouble, you shouldn't have taught me magic."

"Touché." He surrendered. "But please do be careful Alice. I would hate for you to get hurt…" His tone was softer now, giving real advice based on past experiences.

"I'll be careful. I promise." She trailed off quietly. She wanted to ask about Damon's past but knew it was none of her business. She bid the man goodnight shortly afterwards, heading to bed and trying not to think of Sebastian too much.

The next morning, she got up early – as usual – and went upstairs just to enjoy looking at her second floor once again. It made her happy and gave her a sense of accomplishment. Another goal met!

She only felt slightly guilty, because she wasn't sure what else she could ask Robin to build for her. A barn, a coup, the farmhouse, several sheds. She had already used her services for all she could think of. She didn't want to stop though. She knew Robin and Demetrius could use the money. Maybe then they wouldn't keep asking Sebastian for help so much.

For now, she would put that on the backburner though. She had a lot of work to do as usual~

The day passed by pretty normally. She finished her farm work, smelted some ore from the mines in her furnaces, then had lunch behind JojaMart where she could fish in peace. Of course that peace was interrupted when a fish tugged on the line and she ended up reeling in a rather scary looking fish… She had to pack up her food early to get the fish home and into some water for safe keeping. She cast a spell of air breathing on the fish so it could survive the journey home.

Dumping the scary Angler into a barrel, Alice decided to save it for Willy to come look at some time. It reminded her of a tale her grandfather would tell her about the great Legendary Fish. He had told her as a young child that there were several fish, considered to be rare and magical that only lived in the Valley of the Stars. She couldn't remember the rest of the tale though. She'd have to ask Willy some time; surely, he would know about that sort of thing.

She was finishing dropping off all the forgeables she had picked up along her travels today, when she realized just how many fish she'd actually caught. She had some rice left over from shopping at Pierre's and she had fresh seaweed from the ocean saved up too. Everything in the valley was super fresh, so maybe she could try her hand at making sushi? Maybe some maki rolls or just plain sashimi? Now that she had the kitchen space, she could start cooking for real again.

She knew Sebastian was partial to sashimi too…. So, with another excuse to go visit the man, she headed off to the Carpenter's shop. Perhaps she could convince him out of his cave once more so he could help her clean the fish before filleting them.

But, unknown to the witch, soon all thoughts of dinner and fun would be swept away. Around the corner, at the Carpenter's house, there was an explosion of chaos quickly erupting as yet another argument broke out between family members. Bringing up his intention to save up a bit of coin and move out had not gone over so well with Sebastian's stepfather.

Alice didn't realize anything was wrong until she was already rounding the fence outside their home and making her way to their front door.

Poor Sebby isn't having a good night... I always felt bad playing the game and hearing about how miserable the guy was at home. But it sure makes for good plot devices in a story! Which characters do you guys empathize with the most? Who do you tend to marry in-game, or are you more of a Krobus-roommate kind of person - Mystical Jelly