Year I, Spring 6

Dear Diary,

I'm not sure if I am getting insane or if Magic actually still exits in this small valley…

Well, at first the morning started perfectly normal. When I woke up I was happy not to be alone: Mila was there and apparently, she loves cuddling as much as I do, so we will be perfect for each other.

Like yesterday I had a guest in the early morning. Clint, the blacksmith, visited me to give me the blueprints of a furnace (for ore to make metal bars) I can build and probably will need soon. I found it very nice that he personally came (he could've just sent a letter) and seemingly he's not so severe as I thought. He also told me that I could come to his shop to upgrade my tools, anytime. That should come in handy.

When he left I checked my letter box. I had two letters this morning, one from Robin advertising a well I can build, and the other from a person named 'M. Rasmodius, Wizard'. A wizard? I thought. That can't be real, probably only a nickname… The 'wizard' wrote in his strange letter that he wants to talk to me about the Community Center… (How does he know I've been there only yesterday?) He lives west of the forest lake in a stone tower.

Curious as I am I made my way to the tower soon after watering my plants and erecting my first scarecrow. With my sword in hand, I approached the grey building with flowers growing around it and knocked on the door. A man with blue wild hair and a huge hat opened the door.

"Ah, it's you!" he exclaimed with a smile and welcomed me in.

I slowly entered putting my sword back in my rucksack.

The wizard's house was as strange as the man himself: Bookshelves on each wall, a big black cauldron in the middle of the 'living-room' bubbling greenly, and a glowing pattern on the floor. Everything smelled like a deep forest.

"I have foreseen your arrival," Rasmodius then said and explained why I was there. He showed me one of the weird green… thingies I had seen at the Community Center yesterday.

"What is that?" I asked. "Is it some kind of animal?"

He laughed merrily. "No. They are called Junimos." He further explained that they were mysterious spirits who had moved into the empty Center.

I told him what I had seen yesterday and about the scroll I had found.

"One moment," he simply said – before he vanished! Just into thin air! I'm still not sure if that really happened but after merely a few seconds he appeared again – through his front door and with the scroll in his hand! Is he truly a wizard? Does magic really exist?

"This is an interesting scroll," he just said and showed it to me. Apparently, he could decipher the note. The Junimos want gifts from the Valley and in return they will aid us people living here.

While I was still overwhelmed with all of this (or shocked!), Rasmodius went to his cauldron and took one mug out of it, which he then gave me. "Drink it," he softly ordered me.

I, probably because I wasn't feeling myself, took the mug without questioning and drank it… The green liquid tasted awfully but I had only a moment to linger on the taste – I suddenly felt dizzy and had to hold on to the next chair. My eyes clouded with something green and after a while I could see a beautiful forest with many high trees. Was that a drug?

When I returned to the real world Rasmodius smiled broadly at me. "Well done," he said. "You have now gained the Power of the Forest. You should be able to decipher the scrolls from now on on your own."

I simply nodded, still feeling slightly dizzy and sick. Did I even want this strange power?

"Go to the Community Center," he told me, so I left and went there without recognising much around me.

The Center was as desolate and dark as yesterday but when I saw a Junimo I didn't panic like yesterday. I soon found a list of their first demands for helping our valley. The list was neither long nor special. They merely wanted a few things from around (flowers, vegetables, stones, etc.). That should be easy to do.

I nodded to myself as I went home. This would still be a big job but I want to try. I can only imagine what these little things are capable of doing for us if they're willing to. On my way, I already found the first flower.

I'm sorry if I'm writing terribly. I'm still not feeling very well and will soon go to bed although the sun hasn't set, yet.

I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Yours,

Helena

PS: By the way, I've built my first scarecrow today. Hopefully, my crops will be safe now.