The Elf of Castanet

Thelie Meets The Wizard

Once five o'clock hit Hikari shot up in alarm. She grabbed my arm and said she needed to hurry to Horn ranch because she needed something from there. I nodded and hurriedly followed after her. She stopped just on the other side of the bridge. She dug in her pocket, pulled out some money, and placed it in my hands.

"I need you to go to Horn Ranch and buy me Perfect Butter from Hanna. I gotta go do something at the waterwheel ok? Meet me back here in like 10 minutes."

"Ok."

I walked over to Horn Ranch and entered quietly. At first, I didn't see anyone at the counter. Then I saw Hanna come out and smiled. I walked over to her.

"Hello Thelie, what brings you back here?"

"Hikari said to ask you for some Perfect Butter?"

"Ah. OK, of course right away."

Hanna disappeared beyond the counter to go get my Butter. I quietly waited until someone came in the store.

"Hanna? Are you in here? Dad said he needed you."

"Hanna went to grab me some butter..."

"Oh! You must be Thelie. I'm Renee. Hanna and Cain's daughter. It's so nice to meet you."

I smiled at her and shook her hand. Hanna came back out with the butter.

"Well it's good to see that you girls are getting along."

I smiled and nodded. I gave her the payment for the butter. I bowed to Renee and Hanna then I left. I walked back to the bridge and saw that Hikari wasn't there yet. I heard a yell. I turned I saw a woman chasing after a cart full of vegetables. I ran up and caught the cart to keep it from rolling any more.

"I got it!"

"Oh...thank you. You saved my crops."

"Not a problem. Need help getting this back up the hill?"

"No need. I'll get my husband. I'm Ruth by the way."

"My name is Thelie."

"Craig!"

I saw a man come running down the hill. He had a rather grumpy look on his face. He sort of grunted at me and took the cart up the hill. Ruth thanked me again. I bowed to her and went on my way. I saw Hikari at the bridge and jogged towards her.

"Sorry, I was helping Ruth with a runaway cart."

"I see. Seems you have met everyone but two or three people now. But I will fix two off those momentarily."

"Really? Why?"

"We're going to get the Wizard to go help the Witch."

"Oh...fun."

We made our way back into town. We walked up to an odd purple door. I hadn't noticed it tell now. Hikari simply walked inside. Thelie waited for a few moments before walking inside.

"Wizard? Are you here?"

"Hikari...what are you doing here?"

"I came with the three ingredients for the potion to fix the Witch."

"I see..."

He came down the stairs. I found myself staring. His eyes were different colors. His left was a pale yellow color and his right was a brighter green color. This almost took my breath away. I could feel my heart beating in my chest suddenly as if calling out to me. I couldn't hear it however.

"And...who are you?"

"My...my name is Thelie...nice to meet you."

"Call me Wizard..."

"Thelie. Give him the butter."

"Oh...yeah. Right."

I dug in my purse, took it out, and handed it to him. Hikari gave him some cornmeal and a Hibiscus. I watched him for a minute. I took a breath in and sighed. I loved the smell of Sandalwood and that's what his house smelled like. I also smelled coffee. I walked over the bookshelf that was behind a small table. I spotted an astronomy book and took it off the shelf. I leafed through it a bit before setting it back down. The table caught my eye suddenly. I kneeled next to it. I ran my fingers over the small indentation in the middle of the table. I silently wondered what could have been there.

"I'm done with your potion."

"Good let's go."

"Thelie...?"

I looked up at the Wizard who was standing in the doorway.

"Oh sorry, I got distracted. I'm coming."

We started to walk slowly towards the Fugue Forest. I silently wondered about the indentation on the Wizard's table and if it was a good idea to go into the forest at night.

"Hey...uh...Wizard?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind me asking about the indentation on your table?"

"That's where my....crystal ball use to sit."

"Used to?"

"I lost it...last week. I haven't...been able to locate it."

"Maybe I could try?"

"Why...would you do that...for someone you just met?"

"Because I want to."

"I see...I'm not stopping you."

"Good...when we're done here I'll go look..."

"I heard Colleen...saying that Jake was acting strange. You can...start there."

"OK!"

I smiled at him and he looked away. I frowned. He seemed to start walking faster for some reason. I guess he wasn't the social gathering type. We walked up to the Witch's hut and go inside. After a few magical words, the small green frog turns back into the witch. She turns on the Wizard and begins to yell at him. We all turn and leave.

"Wait, I gotta go back in. I need something from the Witch. But uh...Thelie you go on ahead. I'll see you tomorrow."

"OK."

I turned around and the Wizard was officially gone. I sighed. I was hoping to talk to him again but that wasn't going to happen. On my way out of the Forest, I found an odd shaped glowing mushroom. I picked it and took it with me. I glanced at my watch and saw it was about 8:30pm. If I recalled correctly the Inn closed at 10. I should have plenty of time to investigate what was going on. I walked back to Harmonica town yet again. I entered the Inn and watched. I could see Jake acting funny but I decided to go talk to Colleen first.