Stardew Valley Fanfiction:
'The Farmer Witch'
Chapter 50:
By the time the Nightmarket came into town, Sebastian and Damon had already started work on the Slime Hutch. Damon's tower was finished, complete with a basement for potion making and a tower for astrology studies. Damon and Alice had moved the Obsidian Shield structure to Damon's tower so he could monitor it. The warlock did some work on it so it would exclude Krobus from it's barrier spell. That way they didn't have to keep turning it on and off every time the Shadow Fiend visited.
Sebastian was super excited to get working on his new hobby. He had already set up the Slime Incubator in Alice's new wine cellar as well. They knew it would take some time before the egg hatched and hoped to be finished with the reinforced, iridium Hutch before that point. But just to be safe, they kept the door to the cellar locked just in case the egg decided to hatch in the middle of the night downstairs.
With things on the farm progressing even in the slow months of Winter, Alice hadn't spent much time yet on her plans for Spring. She had made sure her orders of seeds were set to be delivered to Pierre's by the first of the season and had double checked all the sprinklers in her fields. Satisfied, the witch had spent the rest of her free time prior to the Nightmarket brushing up on her magical skills. Just watching how fast Sebastian was taking to magic was making her feel like a half-wit. It had taken her years to master shield spells and mild teleportation. But Sebastian was already experimenting with scepters and staffs. He was reading through several tomes a day, memorizing spells and researching magical theory. It was like he had been waiting his whole life for this. Magic came so naturally to him. Despite how irritating it was that he was quickly surpassing her, Alice was happy for him. It gave him and his father something to bond over and also provided Sebastian with something that made him happy and excited each day.
Sebastian was still ignoring the multiple phone calls a day from his other family though. When Alice had finally asked him about it, he had told her that he wasn't really mad anymore. But he felt like if he had to face his mother and talk about it, that he would probably get mad really fast. Wanting to avoid the inevitable confrontation a little longer, Sebastian did vow to the farmer that he would make sure he spoke with his mother before the new year started. Happy with this solution, Alice had let it go after that.
The night of Winter 15, the farm residents made their way through Pelican town, towards the beach. Pockets full of spending money, they were excited to get a chance to browse the Nightmarket for potential Winter Star gifts. Over the last few days the letters had all gone out to the townsfolk, informing them of who their gift giving buddies were. Damon and Sebastian had refused to tell Alice who their matches were, stating that it went against the festival tradition. So all Alice knew was who her designated giftee was.
Maru.
She wasn't exactly displeased with this pick, but it was a tiny bit awkward honestly. She felt like she knew Maru well enough to find something nice for the girl. She just wasn't sure how easy it would be to go about giving it to her on the day of the festival. It's not like they talked much regularly, so going up to her at random during the Winter Star's feast felt…. well, random.
Alice was pretty sure she would just wrap up a few golden bars for the girl. Maru liked to experiment and build things just like her father, and Alice new that a rare material like gold would be a good gift for her work. Maru wasn't the type to go down deep into the mines, even after Alice had fixed the mine shafts.
So with her Winter Star gift already planned, the witch was mainly looking about the market for herself. She ordered a nice iridium fireplace from the Mysterious Woman who ran the traveling cart that often passed through the forest. She also found some nice potted plants to place around the farm. Damon found a few statues to put outside his tower and also a suite of armor in relatively good condition. Sebastian bought some art for the house from a snooty salesman and then had to spend time fending off Sam, who was still trying to convince the dark haired male to come watch the Mermaid's show with him.
"Come on man! It's harmless entertainment!" Sam pleaded with his best friend.
"Why do you need me to come with you?" Sebastian protested, acutely aware of Alice glaring at the back of his head a few feet away.
"Because it's no fun to go to a show alone!" Sam grabbed the man's arm, dragging him off towards the boat where the show takes place.
Sebastian looked over his shoulder at his girlfriend, shrugging helplessly and giving her an 'I'm sorry' look before following after Sam.
Alice rolled her eyes and turned to the warlock beside her. "Can you believe this?" She questioned him, shaking her head at the young men's antics.
Damon shifted back and forth on his feet before clearing his throat. "Ehm- Yes, quite unnecessary… Perhaps I best go with them. Make sure they don't get themselves into too much trouble…" He refused to look at the disapproving witch beside him. "I'm a father now, after all… It's my job to look after him…"
Alice snorted indignantly. "You men are all the same."
She left the blushing warlock behind and went to go check out the submarine fishing booth instead.
Sorry for taking so long to update! I was working really hard on my original story for a while and then my family and I ended up moving states which took up basically all of my time. Finances are tough right now, so work is my priority until I win the lottery, but I will still try to update a few times a week until the story is finished! – Mystical Jelly
