Sterling ran towards his mother's fallen form, leaving a trail of tears. He reached her, and she turned to him.
"Sterling… Maple… I don't know what's going to happen… but wh- whatever happens *koff* keep the farm alive… keep our legacy alive. Our bloodline h-has the gift of the earth. Keep it cl- close. Take these.*hack*" She weakly took three things from her body. She offered Sterling her iridium band, her glow ring, and her Mermaid's Pendant. Sterling took them. "G- goodbye… I love you both so much…"
And then she took her final breath and died. Sterling looked up at Abigail and shook his head sadly. The sun began to rise, and most of the horde of monsters retreated back to their shadowy places. Krobus was still holding Maple, who was still unconscious. They looked around frantically for somewhere to put her down. They ultimately just gave up and put her on the ground.
"Starla will be missed dearly. May Yoba watch over her soul." The void spirit spoke up. All the other villagers nodded. Then someone shouted.
"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEE! HEEEEELLLLLPPP!" Jas screeched as a Tiger Slime approached her. An army of slimes were still attacking everyone, and so were an army of flying serpents. Sterling was swept off his feet by a fast moving Royal Serpent, which swooped in for the kill. The cat sword was in arm's reach, and he was prepared to grab it to fight the beast, but there was no need. Abigail did something unimaginable.
"STOP KILLING PEOPLE!" Abigail suddenly unleashed a magic shockwave that killed the rest of the enemies. She realized what she had just accomplished, and looked stunned for a moment. "Whoa…" she said, looking at her hands, which were glowing purple. The sun rose on a new day, and, Sterling thought, a new life. For he knew that things would be different now, without a father or mother to take care of them. Maple woke up, and Sterling could barely look at her face. It had a large clawed scratch across her eye, and was bleeding badly. Sterling hugged her and explained what had happened. She cried, understandably, but her eye with the slash shed blood instead of tears.
"I don't know what will happen now. But no matter what, we'll have each other." They held hands and faced the sunrise together, preparing themselves for whatever the future would bring.
That day was another day that was both blurry and clear. Another addition to the list was the funeral. Despite the older residents' arguments to bury her next to her husband, as was tradition, Abigail and some others convinced them to make her grave on her farm, next to her grandpa's shrine, as that was what she would have wanted. All the people of the land gathered around her closed coffin in the rain. Sterling noticed Krobus standing a ways away from the reception, wearing a trench coat and sunglasses, and holding a black umbrella. This seemed to serve both to keep the rain and sun off them, and look very cool. A dwarf came down from the mountains to pay respects, although their respects sounded like gibberish to everybody except Maple, who had found Starla's wallet and was reading out of a Dwarvish Translation Manual (Pocket Edition) she had found in it. Lewis gave a speech about her life and said a prayer. Sterling tried to keep it together as the coffin was lowered, but gave up and started sobbing.
That was their final day on the farm. They would be sent to Zuzu City in the morning to live with their grandparents. As Sterling went to his room to pack his things, he cried. Everything reminded him of his parents. His ship in a bottle was made with help from his father. His mother had won that futon bear at the crane game. Maple had her memories too. Her mom had given her junimo plushies to her for her birthday. She remembered spending an afternoon papering the walls with hearts. And she had so many photos hanging on her walls, and so many of them depicting her family. Sterling wanted to destroy everything that reminded him of his parents, and seemed to make his heart bleed just by looking at it. But he decided he might need these things later. Maple still hurt inside looking at the photos, but she also felt happy because she had those parents who loved her, once upon a time. They both finished packing and went to bed in the valley for the last time.