APPARENTLY PERSONAL SPACE wasn't a problem here in Pelican Town.
No, not when I woke up one morning and found a mass of purple hair by the edge of my bed, whittling a stick to what looked to be a sharp weapon.
"Abigail, what the fuck?"
My hands latched instinctively on to the nearest thing I could find: a rusty hoe that looked to be on the verge of breaking. The sharp tip was pointed at the girl who now got up and smiled sheepishly.
"You really need to lock your doors after hours, June! Oh, I could've been a straggler just waiting to pounce on you."
Shaking my head, I lowered the tool. "What are you doing here? In my home. Watching me sleep."
Abigail got up and walked around the tiny space of my ranch. There wasn't much to look at, save for the little pieces of artwork I hung up on the wall. If she was snooping around while I was sleeping, there wasn't much to see. "I figured you and I should spend more time together since the boys always steal your company. A girls night out, am I right?"
That was true. I haven't hung out with Abigail alone. It was always with Sam or Sebastian. Still, did she really have to sneak into my ranch into the early mornings just to get my attention? Frankly, I was annoyed.
"I'd appreciate if you could've just called me. Or write me a letter or something." I forgot this town was a remote location and rarely ever used telephones for communication. Yes, instead they liked to write letters.
"Letters take too much work! And besides, I wanted it to be a surprise," Abigail said with a smirk. Oh yes, it definitely was a surprise. "Come on, let's go."
Before I knew it, I was ushered out of my house and onto my farmland. The sun was just rising and cast orange light upon us. It annoyed me that I couldn't tend to my crops and animals as I should be doing, but Abigail insisted we needed as much daylight as possible. Where we were going, I didn't know, but soon we were outside Pierre's General Store.
Abigail turned to me. "I just need to grab a few things from my room. Just stay here and at least pretend to look excited about this, got it?" My frown told her my answer and she rushed inside the store.
I didn't know why I couldn't have just gone into her room with her, but whatever. She saw my personal space but apparently I couldn't see hers.
Looking to my left, I saw the shadow of an object being tossed into the air and back down. My legs followed the sight until I was in front of someone whose smile instantly turned into a scowl.
"Oh, it's you."
Alex's green eyes shot daggers at me. He still seemed to carry resentment over our previous encounter, where I yelled at him to piss off. I couldn't blame him. I was such an ass.
But I held my ground and forced myself to face him. No, I didn't want to argue today.
"Look. I was a bitch to you the other day and I shouldn't have acted like that."
Alex laughed scornfully and continued throwing the gridball into the air. "Okay, and?"
"I wanted to–to... apologize." Yoba, apologizing was such a hard thing to do. I was rarely an apologetic or forgiving person back in the city.
"That's a crappy apology, but you know what? I'll think about it. Just for you, little Juno."
What a jerk. Here I was, attempting to be sincere, and he had to ruin that. The silly nickname didn't help either.
I shook my head and glared at Alex, who only smiled smugly back. I marched back to the store where Abigail now stood. She peered in curiosity.
"What was that? Is pretty boy giving you trouble?" A determined look filled her face and suddenly she looked like she was entering combat mode.
"No. Let's go," I told her, practically dragging her away. I knew that she, Sam, and Sebastian hated Alex for reasons I didn't know, and I didn't want to cause him any more trouble.
Abigail led me deeper to the west, where tall trees of the Cindersap forest led greeted us. They loomed over our bodies and despite it being daylight, gave an ominous feeling creeping up my spine.
"What exactly are we doing?" I asked her as she sliced some shrubs with a sword. Apparently that was what she retrieved from her room.
With the sword, she pointed at a distance where a tall tower was pushed back deeper into the woods. It almost seemed to be covered by vines and moss, but it was there all right.
"Apparently there's a wizard who lives there. Isn't that so cool? I have to see it with my eyes to believe it!"
A wizard? I guess Stardew Valley had some secrets up crawling through its grounds.
After a while, we decided to take a break in a clearing surrounded by bushes and shrubs. I sat on a rock watching as Abigail practiced her swordsmanship. That consisted of flailing the weapon in the air, while seemingly looking good at it.
"So..." I started, trying to bring up something that was bothering me for a while now. "What's up between you and Sebastian?"
Abigail continued to practice. "Nothing. Why do you ask that?"
"It doesn't seem like nothing to me. Don't you guys like each other or something?"
Honestly, I sounded like a teenage girl right now, gossiping about little crushes. But I was so curious that I couldn't help but ask. It was obvious there was something between Abigail and Sebastian.
The purple haired girl stopped mid way and took a moment to breathe. She looked at me with her hands on her hips. "You're really nosey, June. Did you know that?"
I shrugged.
"Well. If you really want to know—it's complicated," she explained and sat next to me. "You can tell Seb isn't the type of person to express his feelings well. It's hard to tell sometimes."
I nodded and didn't comment further.
"Anyways, enough talk about mushy stuff—"
Abigail suddenly stopped mid-sentence as something caught her attention. I noticed that she was staring at my hand, or more importantly, the green ring on my finger.
"Where did you get that?" Her face was held in amazement.
"In the mines." I narrowed my eyes, wondering why she would be so amazed with a simple ring.
The action snapped Abigail back to reality. She straightened up and gathered her sword as if nothing had happened. "All right, ready for an adventure?"
Strange girl, I thought as I followed.
Abigail was right when she said we needed to cover a lot of daylight. The bright sun started to seep back down to the horizon and the warm breeze now felt cool.
We were so close when Abigail halted to a stop. "Wha—" I started.
"Shh!" she shushed and clamped a hand over my mouth. She pulled me back. Her eyes darted around everywhere. "Do you hear that?"
No, I couldn't. All I could hear the was shuffling of leaves and the wind brushing against our bodies. I willed myself to listen intently and there it was—some sort of movement. It was like something was trying to remain discreet. To not let us know it was there.
I shot a weary look at Abigail, who removed her hand and placed it on the hilt of her sword. She looked as if she were a predator, ready to prance on her prey.
Darkness danced around us and offered little to no light. There were shadows everywhere.
The sounds that we heard before became crystal clear as seconds passed. Something was definitely here. Following us, no doubt.
They neared closer and soon, stopped just on the other side of the tree. I stilled as silent as a doe. Meanwhile, Abigail took this opportunity and let out a battle scream, raising her sword and ready to swing at whatever it was.
It was a person. Before I knew it, Abigail had tackled them to the ground. There was an apparent struggle but stopped once her foot landed squarely on their chest, pinning them to the ground. She pointed the tip of the sword at whoever it was.
"Gah, it's just me, Abby!"
Light properly shone on the person to reveal Sam. He laid on the floor, pinned under Abigail's boot.
"Sam?!" Abigail said in annoyance. She dropped her sword. And boot. "Sebastian, I swear if you're here too–"
As if on cue, Sebastian appeared out of the shadows. It was his dark clothing that made him blend in perfectly with the night. He gave a slight wave and didn't bother helping Sam off the ground.
"Of course." Abigail rolled her eyes. "Care to explain your sloppy work of following us?"
Sam got up and raked his hand through his hair, trying to fix its ruffled mess back to its normal state. "Hey–you really don't think you can go on an adventure with June and expect us not to tag along?"
"Um, yes?! This is exactly why I didn't tell you guys in the first place!"
"June," said Sam and stared at me pleadingly. "You don't mind us, do you? We're such fun people to have around!"
I shrugged, not knowing what to say. Maybe Sam was, but having Sebastian around was like talking to a rock. "The more the merrier."
"See? June doesn't mind!" Sam said to Abigail, who only let out a noise of frustration. Then they started to get into argument that seemed like a normal occurrence for them.
I sat on a nearby rock and ignored the bickering. Someone plopped down next to me. No surprise, it was Sebastian. He didn't say anything, but I didn't expect much from him. His scent of fresh pine trees mingled with smoke was what greeted me instead.
I shot him a sideward glance. "I didn't take you to be the adventurous type."
"No. Sam had to practically drag me out of my room to get me here," he said. His wrinkled dark clothing and tousled hair made it seem like he just rolled out of bed.
I looked up and gazed at the lonely moon, hung up high as darkness took over. It was creepy to be out at this night, but at least I had company. Even if he was silent.
After a while, I got up and gestured for Sebastian to do the same. "I'm tired of listening to them bite each other's necks off. Let's go see this fabled wizard."
We walked in silence as we approached the tower. It sat on a cliff with its stairs protruding down to the base. The leaves and vines were overgrown, making it seem like it was an abandoned building. But it was the ill feeling of being watched that proved otherwise.
Sebastian and I looked to each other for direction, but neither of us made a move. We weren't the daring ones here. Sam and Abigail were.
After a moment of silence, I decided to just go for it. Knock on the door and see what happened. There was no point in making the journey here and not doing anything.
"You sure?" Sebastian asked. I nodded and padded my way up the steps. He made no move to stop me.
At the top, I faced the wooden door and tried to listen to the other side. There was some sort of noise that I couldn't make out.
"Oh shit. She's actually doing it!" I looked back down to where Sebastian was and saw Abigail and Sam joined him. "Hi Farm Girl! We'll just watch you from here." The purple haired girl punched him in the arm.
Shaking my head in amusement, I turned back to the door and firmly knocked. And waited for a few seconds. Nothing happened.
I looked down at the trio and shrugged. "Nothing."
It all happened so fast, but suddenly the air changed around me. It was like being whisked from the scorching heat to a conditioned room. One moment I was outside in the forest and the next, I was in an unfamiliar place.
It was not hard to tell where I was. My eyes immediately caught onto stone walls adorned with shelves stacked with jars of mysterious substances; cauldron bubbling a green mist; and a concrete square covered in ruins and sacred languages, of books and unknown words.
I was in the tower, that was for sure. But the question was, how?
"Greetings, June."
I spun around and was greeted by a man. Or was he? He didn't seem normal. With purple hair the colour of amethysts, he bore the same shade of eyes full of wisdom and knowledge. He'd look like any regular person, if not for the dark cloak and pointed hat. I had to bet this was the rumoured wizard.
"I am Rasmodius, seeker of th–"
I cut in before I could get stuck in what seemed like a lengthy monologue. "Why am I here?"
He stared into me, almost as if he could see into my soul. "You were meant to be here, June. In Stardew Valley."
"And..?" I dared to ask, not knowing where this was going. Something told me aggravating a magical being would not end well.
The wizard looked at me intently. "You don't know, do you?"
"Know what?"
He sighed and walked over to the bubbling cauldron, looking into it as if he could see the future. "You'll understand soon enough. In the mean time, you should go before your meddling friends try to break in here."
Before I had the chance to respond, the wizard snapped his fingers and I was outside once again. As if nothing had happened. This time, someone was in front of me. Dark eyes with almost purple-like irises stared back at me.
"June. What's going on?" Sebastian seemed more confused than concerned.
I was so distraught to notice the shaky hand he placed on my shoulder, so much that I didn't swat the contact away. "Where was I?" I demanded.
"You were here the whole time. You just... blanked out."
So somehow I had gotten inside the wizard's tower, but all my friends saw me here. Was this some sort of magic that the wizard used?
"We should really go," I said and Sebastian dropped his hand. As if in response, a howl sounded and something shuffled in the trees nearby.
"I'm not staying to see what that is!" shouted Sam at the bottom. He dashed out and disappeared into the forest. Abigail cast us a glance and followed suit.
I looked to Sebastian and instantaneously, we both started running, wanting to get as far away as possible from this place.
Somehow, it ended up as a race to see who could get back to town square first. Soon enough, we all lay sprawled on the concrete floor, panting and out of breath. Whoever won, we didn't know, as we watched the stars in the night sky. It was late and I felt on the verge of passing out, but for once I didn't care.
Who ever thought that this city girl would be running through forests and tangling herself in a group of people like this? I remained quiet as I thought about this. Thoughts about the encounter with the wizard slipped from my mind as I indulged myself with the present.
"Let's never do that again," Abigail said with a laugh as she dangled the sword in her grip.
"I second that," said Sam who was wiping sweat off his brow. "This is why I don't work out."
My head moved to the side and I looked at Sebastian as he observed the sky. He didn't say anything, but he seemed to be in deep thought.
Maybe it was the exhaustion of the day or the darkness around us, but I couldn't tell if that was a ghost of a smile on his lips.
And with this, I thought, maybe staying here wasn't so bad after all.
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Hi there! I really hope you liked this chapter, and feel free to vote or comment. I enjoy reading your comments, suggestions, and feedback so please don't hesitate! Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next chapter!