Stardew Valley Fanfiction:
'The Farmer Witch'
Chapter 46:
They set up their pizza, plates, and napkins down on the southern end of the farm. The boys were no where close to being finished for the night, but they had definitely started to make progress on the tower already after the first few days of work. Like all decent magical towers, they needed to dig out a basement for it. Krobus apparently had been very helpful with this as well. The Shadow People were natural tunnelers, and the fiend had helped the men clear out a hole that was almost as large as Alice's farmhouse. They had finally finished lining the walls of the 'basement' with stone and shelving.
"We should put a basement in too, don't you think?" Sebastian had questioned Alice.
"In the farmhouse?" She had never really considered that before.
"Yeah, you could fit more kegs down their or use it for storage or something."
Krobus bounced around happily. "I could help with that Miss Alice!" He seemed excited to have tasks to perform rather than just wobbling around the sewers all night.
"I guess that couldn't hurt. But it won't hurt the foundation of the house?"
Damon shook his head. "We can support it with magic while we dig it out." He explained. "Sebastian is already getting used to levitation spells."
The younger warlock looked far too pleased with himself at these words.
"Isn't that a bit advanced?" Alice questioned her master, ignoring her boyfriend's smirking.
Damon shrugged. "He's got potential. And he actually enjoys learning the theoretical foundations for these types of magic~"
Alice rolled her eyes. Damon had taught her how to control her powers, but she had never been all nerdy and obsessed with it like her master was. It figures that Sebastian would jump into magic like some sort of science. Those two guys really deserved each other.
"I came out here to get more in tune with magic, Damon. Not to become a nerdy shut-in who spends every waking moment memorizing spells." She huffed playfully.
"What's the difference?" Damon asked with a slight hint of confusion.
She pushed a plate of food into his hands. "Never mind. Just eat."
Hopeless.
The days passed, taking the first week of winter with it. The town was quieter, most people staying indoors and keeping to themselves in the cold weather. The trio decided to skip the Festival of Ice on the 8th, claiming that the tower needed more work if they were to finish before the Feast of the Winter Star. But Alice knew the real reason for skipping out on the event. She knew neither of her boys were keen on running into the carpenter during the ice sculpting show.
The witch knew that Sebastian had received more than one letter from his mother in the past few days. She'd leave them on his desk while sorting the mail. But she was pretty sure he never opened them. She had found a few of them in the fireplace, burning in their unopened envelopes one evening. She wasn't going to bring the subject up with either man though. She didn't have much to say in the carpenter's defense honestly.
Instead, the three farm residents decided to focus their attention on Sebastian's upcoming birthday. They had already invited Sam and Abigail over to the farm in advance for a small party. Sebastian refused to let them do anything fancy, so instead they were just going to take the day off and let the birthday boy watch his favorite nine-hour long, fantasy, movie saga. They would make food and Damon planned to bake him a cake. Krobus even said he would stop by and gift Sebastian the traditional birthday present of his people – whatever that meant.
They still had a few days before the party though, so on the day of the Festival of Ice, the trio walked into town. It was empty. Everyone was in the forest celebrating the event. It was the perfect time for them to take a walk up to the Community Center. They had a whole bag full of goodies for their friends inside.
Alice opened the old wooden doors, letting the men step inside after her. It was silent, the Junimo probably too afraid to come out since Alice wasn't alone.
Alice headed over to the far left side of the room. She knelt down beside the tiny Junimo Hut, "It's okay~ They're my friends!" She assured the creatures in their language.
The night before, Damon had tried his hand at replicating Rasmodius' potion, the one that had allowed her to communicate with the tiny sprites. The warlock had taken something similar when he was younger and in training, so he had a general idea of how to make it. Alice and the warlock had had to work at convincing Sebastian it wasn't poison before he eventually agreed to drink the green, goopy mess.
Damon now nudged his son, urging him to say hello. A shy looking Sebastian stepped forward after Alice, greeting the invisible Junimo in their own language.
Immediately a few tiny creatures 'popped' into view, making themselves visible to mortal eyes. One crept over to Sebastian wearily, touching his shoe with tiny stick hands. Another was rolling across the floor to check on the third individual.
It seemed to take a moment before recognizing him. "Master Damon!" It squeaked, but the words came out as small tinkling noises. Damon smiled down at the sprite, kneeling to pick it up as it bounced with arms raised. The next thing Alice knew, the entire floor was being flooded with Junimo, all bouncing past her and Sebastian and running to the familiar warlock.
Sebastian looked surprised by the number of them and the two watched as the forest creatures ran to their old friend, climbing up his pants legs and dropping down from the ceiling to land on him. Damon was laughing, glad to see his old magical buddies again too.
The ten minutes that followed was pure chaos. All the Junimo want to climb onto the warlock and the room was full of squeaks and chirps and bell-like chimes as the sprites celebrated and cheered. Their child-like joy was contagious, and the trio sat for a long period just playing with the critters.
Damon told his friends that Sebastian was his son. Then he had to go into an explanation of what a son was. Apparently the Junimo didn't procreate the same way humans did. Once they understood that it meant Sebastian had been made by their dear friend though, they were very welcoming of him, crawling up his arms to hide in his hoodie, pushing themselves into his pockets and rummaging through his hair energetically.
Sebastian quickly got over the awkwardness of it all and just let them explore. It was hard to say no to the Junimo. They really were just that cute.
"I have some surprises for you guys~" Alice told the magical beings, pulling open her bag and starting to dig around inside.
A short chapter. I hope to get another one out later today or early tomorrow. Just a quick update on our heroes' lives~ - Mystical Jelly
