Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

At the edge of a small town called Stardew Valley, nestled in the trees to the left of the mooing cows and clucking chickens of Marine's ranch, there was an old gray tower. It wasn't very impressive as far as towers go but it did look quite pretty in the spring, when pink flowers bloomed on the dark green vines that covered half of the stone wall. It was almost as if these plants were holding up the tower itself but that would be silly. 

The only person taking care of the tower was a wizard known as simply "the wizard" or by his last name, Rasmodius. He preferred the latter. Now Rasmodius didn't like to leave his tower, he wasn't always the easiest person to get along with and that had caused problems over the years, so he stayed in a somewhat self imposed isolation. 

His only friends, not that he needed any more, were a strange fortune teller called Welwick and an anxious outcast named Linus. He saw Linus more then he did Welwick but he still considered her a friend none the less. There was a town beyond the woods but Rasmodius wasn't all that interested in it. 

He would go to festivals, spirits eve being his favorite, but other than wondering about what his daughter could be doing he didn't think about the small town often. Maybe that was why he and Linus got along so well, they both had left society behind in the pursuit of something more meaningful. For his older friend it was a connection to nature and for him? It was magic. 

Magic had always been Rasmodius' calling, and had been one of the reasons that he had married his now ex-wife. Not that he constantly thought about her or anything. He didn't think that anything would change and that he would be left to his quiet solitude for the remainder of his life. That was not what the universe had in store for him. 

The first clue that something was going to change was when he went to Welwicks for one of their rare get-togethers and she had offered to tell him his fortune. He'd accepted mostly to humour her but as the room dimmed and her crystal ball started to make his vision swirl he knew something was coming. 

"There's going to be a new comer...." It was hard to see under her blue hood but she smirked. "They will get quite close to you.. Rasmodius."

He had never been more interested in anything the mystic had to say. "What can you tell me about them?" 

The crystal ball dimmed and Welwick shrugged "Nothing, I'm sorry. They're still too far away for me to see. You'll just have to wait." 

So he did, he waited for the entirety of winter to see who would supposedly "get close to him." His answer came when he opened his window on the first day of spring to see the bus in the distance, barely a gray blip on the horizon. There were pink petals dancing in the air and the smell of flowers carried over the shifting leaves. The bus faded away from his view and he wondered who could possibly be on it, he hadn't seen it run lately. 

Later that very same day, Linus stopped by to chat. The topic got onto the town for some reason and the next thing he knew he was being told about some new farmer. 

"A new farmer you say? Where are they staying?" He asked. 

Linus pointed to the old farm just beyond the forest. "Ruby Farm, apparently his grandfather died and he's inheriting it. It was a little bit of an over share for just saying hello.." 

"The old farmer died?" 

"He died last year, you didn't know?" 

He shook his head. It wasn't as if he knew the old man well. "No I didn't." 

"Oh." They continued on with their conversation but the wizard still had the farmer in the back of his mind. Was this the new person that Welwick was talking about? If they were then he had to be prepared, no new arrival was going to interfere with his work. They just couldn't.

He didn't meet the new farmer until a few days after he arrived, he had sensed that something was going on in the old community center. Something related to the little spirits called "Junimos" he had read about them and even tried to talk to them but they didn't like him. He found that fact rather annoying but he still pulled out his best paper and wrote a letter to the farmer, asking them to meet him in the tower. 

He was surprised to find that the farmer wasn't as young as he had initially thought. He seemed more like the local doctors age, 30 or perhaps 35. He had a mop of dark blue hair that covered sparkling green eyes and he wore a sort of fancy black jacket over a white shirt. An unusual outfit for a farmer.  

He told him everything he needed to know and watched with slight amusement as the other man seemed surprised by his sudden teleportation. He was sure that it would be the only time he saw him and quickly went back to his studies. That was until the new farmer showed up the next day with a daffodil in his hand. 

"Mr. Rasmodius?" 

"Hrm?" He hadn't noticed him come in.

"Well I'm.. Christopher, you can call me Chris if you want, not that you uh asked and I have this here for you." He lifted the cheerful yellow flower and Rasmodius looked at him doubtfully while taking it from his hand. 

"This?... I suppose I'll cast it into the flames and see what happens." He told him while pursing his lips. He would dispose of it the minute he was gone. 

"That's interesting, I'll see you later!" Chris said before going back outside. 

He sincerely hoped that he didn't come by tomorrow. So far he was proving to be a nuisance. 

Chapter Text

The next time he saw the farmer it was on a dreary spring day. Dark clouds gathered in the sky as cold rain fell from above, making Rasmodius's roof leak and his tower cold. Still, he opened up his window and sighed into the air. He could see the water rolling off of the leaves of the trees nearest to his home and a strong wind blew against the wet grass, making it shine. 

The day might have been wet and miserable but it was perfect conjuring weather. He turned to his cauldron, ready to do his work, when a strong breeze rushed in through the open window. His whole body shuddered and he decided to close it before it scattered his papers across the floor. As he was pulling his shutters closed he noticed a solitary figure break out from the tree line. 

It was that farmer, Christopher. He was running towards the tower with something held high above his head. Rasmodius didn't give it a second thought and promptly slammed his shutters closed. He figured that the young man was just passing by so he crossed over to the books he'd left laying on the table. 

He had barely picked up one of them when his door slammed open, revealing a dripping wet farmer with a piece of quartz in his hand. He made wet footprints as he walked across the floor to Rasmodius, his usually spiky blue hair stuck to his forehead in a rather unflattering way. He slammed the quartz down in-between them with a grin. "I heard that you liked these from Linus." 

The wizard glanced down at the offered gift. It was a fist sized piece of clear quartz. It was uncut and shone in the candle light of the tower.  "Many thanks. This item has some very interesting properties." He said a bit curtly, there were a lot of spells that included quartz.

His tone seemed to have no affect on Christopher who broke into another grin. "You're welcome." He waved and started to head back out the door but the wizard found himself stopping him. "You aren't going back into the storm?" 

The farmer paused. "Yeah, why?" 

"You could stay here for awhile, although you would need to keep quiet. My work is very important." He said gruffly before turning back to his books. 

The only indicator that Christopher had accepted this deal was the slow shut of his door and the sound of wet boots against hardwood. He sat at the opposite end of the table and leaned forward with his chin in his hands, seemingly watching Rasmodius work. He didn't mind as long as he was silent which lasted for about five minutes.

"So what are you working on?" He asked abruptly before squirming in his chair, the wood creaking with every move. The taller man winced at the noise. "An Arcane remedy."

"Like medicine?"

"I suppose." He frowned when he saw that the recipe called for a morel mushroom and he went to go retrieve one. 

"Why don't you work with the doctor in town if you can make magical medicine?" He heard the other man ask from the next room. He stopped what he was doing, hand lingering on the box of mushrooms tucked away in a sort of cupboard. When he did answer the question his tone was flat. "I suspect that the people in town are afraid of me." 

"Why" 

"Because it is human nature to be afraid of things you don't understand." He explained as he came back in with the morel. He tossed in the cauldron without a second thought. 

"I'm not afraid of you." Christopher said while leaning forward, his elbows on his knees.

"You've also just moved here. They've had most of their lives to make up their mind about me." He stirred the bubbling liquid, fixated on the task at hand.

"I'm sure being a recluse doesn't help." The blue haired man commented after a few minutes, he  had apparently been too busy kicking the rungs of his chair to reply right away, "No one knows much about you except Linus."

"That's because Linus and I have an understanding of each other." He glanced at the antsy man from under the brim of his hat "He can be good company." 

"So he's your friend." The farmer deduced, crossing one leg over another. 

"Yes." Was his simple reply. He needed to focus more on what he was doing, was it supposed to be changing color like that? He started to flip through the pages of his book, mumbling about trying to find the recipe. 

"So if he's your friend could you tell me why he seems to know so much about-" He cut himself off when he saw the wizards stern glare. A glare that he only saw for a few minutes before it covered by dark purple smoke exploding out of the cauldron.

He coughed, waving his hand in front of his face as he tried to move forward and open the window he'd seen earlier, only to fail miserably by knocking his head into the wall. The wizard himself did manage to get the window open and he was covered in a purple powdery substance.

Once Christopher got off the floor he carefully approached Rasmodius. "I'm sorry.." 

"Maybe it would be best if you left now." He turned away from him, his long dark cape swishing with the movement. 

"Sure! I uh I'll see you later." He all but ran to the door and back out into the storm, the rain had gotten worse and was now battering against his eyes so he had to lift an arm up to see. 

The wizard just stared after him, more annoyed then ever.

Chapter Text

The sound of a rooster startled him awake that fine Thursday morning, his head jerking up as he stared at the light streaming in across his small bed. He wondered how his grandfather had ever slept in the thing, it was small and lumpy and it creaked everytime he tried to get comfortable. He really should take Robin up on her offer of fixing up the old house. 

Chris yawned, stretching out so his back could pop. His pajamas were rumpled and as he staggered to his suitcase to find his favorite shirt, he nearly tripped over his own feet. Once he was dressed and at least somewhat presentable he headed out into the warm spring day. His parsnips were growing nicely, even if he didn't get much money for them. His farm was overgrown but he ignored it as he went down the dirt path into town. 

It was too early for Pierre's to be open so he rocked back and forth on his heels while occasionally checking his watch. It had been a present from his mom before he moved here. He was humming a song from his favorite TV show when he noticed a man in a tattered blue Joja jacket come into view. He'd met him on his first official day in town, his name was Shane and he was grumpy as all hell. 

He waved at him as he passed by but he didn't even look at him. That was rude. He waited for a few more minutes, now boredly looking at the town calendar, before he saw the lights turn on in the store. Pierre's was open! He entered the store with a spring in his step, looking to buy 5 more packs of seeds. Pierre was glad to see him as always and after he got his seeds he slipped back outside only to be partially blinded by the sun. 

At least there WAS sun here. In his old job at Joja there were almost no windows so you never knew how long you were there, like a Casino. One time he left his shift at 6 AM and was met with a rising sun. That was not a fun time to try and sleep. 

He headed back home, thinking about the wizard in the forest. Rasmodius was interesting, more interesting then anyone else he'd met so far. Besides Linus, who was interesting to talk to. He almost giggled when he thought about the purple powder that covered the man yesterday. Unfortunately it wasn't funny at the time but now that a day had passed he felt like he could laugh at it. 

He would visit Rasmodius tomorrow with another quartz. He needed to apologize for distracting him while making the potion too.