The note didn't sound urgent, but it definitely seemed that Vivi was excited about something.
"Angela-
Come by my house in the depths of Fugue Forest-have I got a surprise for you! This might solve all of our Harvest King problems.
XOXO,
Vivi"
"I wonder what this is all about..." thought Angela aloud. "Want to come with me Grendel?"
"I don't think so, Vivi seems like the kind of person to over exaggerate. " She stretched out in a sliver of sunlight under the windowsill and curled into a black ball.
Angela shrugged and made her way out the door. The morning sun feel reinvigorating against her skin, and she drank in the sweet elixir like a flower. A part of Vivi's letter stung Angela's ego: finding out a solution to summon the Harvest King when that was Angela's whole purpose in being on Castanet. But Grendel had a point-Vivi had a love for the dramatic.
I wonder where I'll go next if this surprise of Vivi's works? She hadn't been on Castanet long, so she hadn't made any personal connections to the land or the people (other than the Witch). The Harvest Goddess bestowed a great amount of faith in Angela's abilities, was that some kind of foreshadowing?
Before she knew it she made it to the heart of the Forest. The path to Vivi's certainly had some interesting mushrooms, and Angela picked them up as she went (A small paycheck. After all, Grendel and I have to eat while we're here.)
The Witch's house was a modest little shack, almost as run down as Angela's. This surprised her, as Vivi seemed the kind of person to flair extravagances, not allow her home to become festered with moss and dirt. I guess she's pretty average, just like the rest of us. Vivi must have seen Angela from a window and flung the door open, all smiles.
"There you are! Man, you're slower than molasses." She literally pulled Angela in, where they were greeted by a strange circular diagram drawn on the wooden floor, littered with odd, foreign symbols. Angela was a little put off by these things.
"What's up Vivi?" She couldn't take her eyes off the floor.
"I was up most of the night pouring over my old spell books," she waved her hand towards a few piles knee high of tattered books in the corner, "when I discovered a spell which leads me to believe that we can summon the Harvest King. Want to help?"
Angela was uneasy. "I don't think I can. I don't really know anything about magic outside of necromancy."
Vivi's faced flustered. "Oh come on! Don't be a wuss!"
She knelt down by the circle. Her nostrils were infiltrated by a bitter, metallic smell. Blood. She examined the symbols and archaic language. It was true that Angela was no expert when it came this type of magic, but she had skimmed over volumes covering the practice. Something about the way the symbols were placed gave Angela the heebiest of jeebies, but she couldn't place her finger on exactly why. Not to mention that it was drawn in blood; nothing that requires blood in magic ended well. "I'm not being a wuss, I'm being smart. I think you shouldn't do this Vivi." She stood to face the bewildered witch. Apparently hearing the word "no" was something that can set Vivi off. "The Harvest King would never want anyone to use something as barbaric as blood, even if it were to serve him. Let's clean this up and try to figure something else out."
A loud thunk as Vivi slammed her foot down caused Angela to jump. "I see what's going on! You're just upset that you didn't get to summon the Harvest King, that someone else beat you to it."
"Vivi, the only one upset here is you."
"Oh please, spare me! And you want to preach to me about barbarian tactics when you're a necromancer!"
She held her hands up. "I didn't mean to preach Vivi, please calm down." Angela was use to those who criticized her craft, but she didn't want Vivi to do something outrageous. "I just don't want you to hurt yourself."
"Now you're going to preach about using magic? Look little girl, I know I'm older than you-I was around when they invented ice cream-so I have more experience with magic. I don't need any lessons from a newbie such as yourself." She stomped over to her front door and held it open. "I'd like you to leave. Obviously it was a mistake inviting you here."
Stunned, Angela made her way out the door. When she turned to try to convince Vivi to reconsider, the door slammed shut in her face. So much for that. Though she was attacked by someone she thought of as a friend, she was still worried about the repercussions of such a move as this. Then again, Angela's specialty was in a darker realm of magic, not white magic. She may very well have been way off about her assumption. I'll stop back in a few hours to check on her. Turning away she soldiered her way back through Fugue Forest to home.
"I don't know," Grendel sat atop the shipping box, watching Angela as she tilled her plot of land. "It sounds a little off to me as well. Anyway, I've always told you to go with your gut, so I think you made the right choice."
"I hope so." Once she plowed enough spots, Angela began spreading turnip seeds. Shipping the mushrooms would give them a little pocket change, but they needed more to really live long on their own. She watered, and saw that a gathering of clouds towards the east of her farm. "That's weird. It was sunny moments ago."
"Mother nature's fickle. Let's get in before the rain starts."
"Good idea." Packing away her farming utensils, the two misfits of magic headed in for some milk and lemonade.
The raccoon and weasel that lived outside of Vivi's home began to move about frantically. The turtle refused to emerge from its shell. The wind picked up pace, and leaves and grass blew by rapidly. From inside the witch's house a soft sound of someone chanting could be heard, and a brilliant flash of light pulsated through the dingy windows. A cry suddenly rang out through the walls of the forest as a crash of thunder and lightning rang out.
A ray of early sunlight pried Angela's sleepy eyes open. She moaned, pulling up the blankets over her eyes. Usually a stickler for the old rule of early to bed early to rise, Grendel refused to move either. The terrible storm last night had kept them up; both girls hated thunderstorms. Around two in the morning the rain had finally ceased.
"Ohhh jeez..." The blood pounded in Angela's sleep-fogged head. "What a racket last night..."
"Mmmm," purred Grendel, still tightly packed into a black ball of fur at the foot of the bed.
Angela had planned to check up on Vivi, but despite herself she refused to leave the safe refuge of her quilt, and Grendel, who also took shelter under that same quilt, didn't press the issue. Though the roof didn't leak in the least bit, irrationality got the better of them.
Finally she dragged herself out of bed and dressed and washed up before heading out to Fugue Forest. This time Grendel begrudgingly joined her. Still tired, she rode on Angela's shoulders.
"Why do I have to come?"
"Because you're an expert at these kinds of things, and I may need your help." But when they arrived at Vivi's home, a lump developed in Angela's throat. Most of the once lush green grass surrounding her home had turned a dirty shade of yellow, and most of the shingles on Vivi's roof had blown away. The glass in all her windows were shattered, and an eerie silence overcame the entire forest.
"Oh my Goddess..." whispered Grendel in Angela's ear, taking in her surroundings. "Tell me it wasn't this bad when you described her home as 'sloppy'."
"No, not at all," her stomach cramped, and she was ashamed of herself at her cowardice for not coming last night to check on Vivi. She lunged for the door and threw it open to find her house in a worse state of disarray. Papers and books scattered the room, the vanity mirror was broken and all the cosmetics spilled out, and the bed was overturned. Her sickness worsened. "Vivi?" She called out. A disturbance came from behind a broken table. Debris covered the space between the table's legs, and Angela couldn't tell who-or what-might be lurking behind it. She swallowed and approached closer. "Vivi? Is that you? Are you all right?" Thank Goddess the doctor recently returned from his trip aboard, this could be ugly. Another sound, and then something leaped to the floor in front of Angela with the agility of a panther. She cried out and covered herself and Grendel against what could have been impending doom. However, after staying huddled together for a few minutes, they gathered the courage to look at what had jumped out before them. To their utter surprise, it was a large frog with pink skin and, somehow, rosy cheeks. On its head it wore a little black hat.
"What the..." Grendel craned her neck to get a good look at the amphibian.
"Seriously. What in the world is going on? And where is Vivi?"
"Angela," Grendel stepped closer to the animal, taking in its scent and appearance. "I...I think this might be Vivi."
Angela couldn't believe it. "Are you kidding me Grendel? Are you trying to say that Vivi turned herself into a frog?"
Grendel gave her an annoyed look. "Don't you think I know a thing or two about spells that turn people into animals? You said I was more of an expert than you, and you wanted my opinion did you not?"
"I...then what do we do to cure her?"
She examined what was left of the strange circle from the night before, but couldn't make heads or tails of it. "I used dark magic to change my form, but she used light. I'm very certain this is Vivi-and it has nothing to do with the black pointy hat-but I think the same methods used for reversing certain dark magic won't be helpful in this case."
"Again, what do we do?"
"Well, there is that Wizard in town..."
"I know she really despises that man, but I guess we have no other choice but to consult him." An alternative idea came to Angela. "Actually, I may have an even better idea.
"What? Are you going to try to fix her?"
"Not me, the Harvest Goddess. Let's take her there first."
"I don't think that's a great idea Angela. She a goddess, not a magician."
"I know, I know, but she's a deity. She could probably snap her fingers and change anyone into anything. Besides, I know Vivi's a hothead, but maybe this Wizard is kind of a jerk. After all, hardly anyone in town knows anything about this guy, and most seem to avoid him unless they want their fortunes read, and even after that they gave me the impression that the guy made them uneasy. The Goddess may be able to help us without all that awkwardness."
"You just want to go to her because she flattered you," Grendel turned, and saw that froggy Vivi seemed more enthusiastic about seeing the Goddess in the Wizard's stead than Angela. The frog leapt happily into Angela's arms. With a sigh, Grendel again gave into Angela's whims for the second time that day and agreed to consult the Goddess first.
A/N: I bet you're all wondering when the Wizard will come into play. VERY, very soon, hang in there! After all, a story with no build up isn't much of a story so much as a statement. Unless you're writing a short one-shot, but still. He's coming.