Things had been going fine. Sure, the house still had a dark grief hanging throughout it, and sure, she didn’t see other Players often, but she was fine. She was doing great! She had the allays for company, and Fred, and Edward, when he felt like socializing. There was the odd missing hour here and there, but she’d always had a tendency to lose track of time. It was nothing inexplicable. She’d even taken on a terraforming project in her front lawn, to make it easier to get in via elytra. So yes, things had been going better than fine, actually. They’d been going great.
But then… Well. She hadn’t realized at first. She so rarely looked out of the ground floor windows. And it wasn’t as if she had a calendar… But oh, she was getting ahead of herself.
Let’s go back.
-=-=-=- 🌊🫧🐚🦭🐚🫧🌊 -=-=-=-
It was a beautiful morning. The allays were singing, flowers were blooming, and Faith was quite tempted to savor it by sleeping in until noon. She knew she couldn’t, though. There was work to be done in the house, as there always was. She really hadn’t known what she’d be getting herself into with a house this large, but she was still glad she’d moved in.
It was nice to have a roof over her head, even if that roof was staggeringly high up. She’d honestly considered squeezing in another few floors more than once, but she held back out of admiration for the original architecture. Plus, if she made the floors too short, Fred and Edward would have a hard time getting around when they came over, and that just wouldn’t do.
Thoughts of her most frequent visitors aside, Faith shrugged off her blanket and pulled on her pretty patterned holiday sweater. She didn’t remember where she’d gotten it, but the detailed embroidery on it always made her smile, so she kept wearing it. What did she have to do today… Well, she should probably check that the forge she’d installed hadn’t burned down overnight, and perhaps have some breakfast while she was at it. And if she had time before the end of the day, she’d go visit the Lighthouse and make sure it was in good working order.
…She probably wouldn’t get around to that last one, but that was alright. The Lighthouse didn’t really need to be running. Nobody travelled those waters by ship anymore. The largest she’d seen were mere rowboats built for two. Perhaps she could build a proper ship, though- not to travel with, but to accompany the old lighthouse in its wistful remembrance of times gone by.
It was with these thoughts in mind that she descended the main stairway, quickly scanning for Fred before looking up to take in the view through the front windows, only to be greeted with… Well. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Her blank, painfully flat front lawn of grass had been utterly replaced with a blank, painfully flat front lawn of mycelium. She blinked at it, nonplussed.
Perhaps someone was pranking her..? She scanned the floor for tripwires or pressure plates, and, finding none, padded out to the porch, spinning in a slow circle to check for anyone watching from afar with a spyglass.
Nobody.
Her flowers had been moved, now all clustered on one side of the building, annoyingly enough. She would have to redistribute them later. But- what could cause something like this? Mycelium couldn’t just spread to grass. It needed dirt. And her lawn was much too large to just… dig up and replace. Right? She frowned, contemplating, as she watched a pair of zombies burn to death when they tried to make their way over to where she was standing.
Well, no matter. Fred had probably seen the culprit. She’d just have to ask him.
-=-=-=- 🌊🫧🐚🦭🐚🫧🌊 -=-=-=-
When she finally found Fred, he was mulling over where to place a block of gravel inside one of the spacious empty rooms on the ground floor. She waited for him to decide before stepping in, eyes focused off to a point behind him, as she’d learned was polite.
“Good morning, Fred!”
Good morning. Are you well on this day?
“Yes, thank you. How are you?”
A pause. I am doing quite well, he declared. I have found a block of gravel for the House.
“That’s wonderful! You chose a lovely spot for it, too,” she noted. It really was a magnificent block of gravel. He had excellent taste.
He nodded. Then, he said, is there a reason you wish to speak with me? You do not usually seek me out.
That was true. She fidgeted a bit, feeling rude. She really ought to make more of an effort to talk to him outside of things like this. “Well, I wanted to ask if you knew who replaced the front lawn…” She mumbled, now looking more towards the floor than the back wall.
Is this some bizarre overworlder tradition?
“What? No, I’m asking genuinely.” That was an unusual reaction. Normally, he wouldn’t call any perceived “overworld tradition” bizarre. He found it rude to regularly point out his extradimensional origins.
Dragon of the House, you replaced it. Do you not remember doing so? It took you three days and three nights, and you slept through two more afterward. Edward was beginning to worry for your health.
That was… Concerning. Either Fred was lying to her, or Faith had forgotten three days of terraforming work she’d done and not even noticed. Evidently her alarm was showing on her face as Fred immediately backtracked,
It is nothing, I am sure! You are always telling me that it is your tendency to do this. Surely there is no cause for concern? He fretted, making tiny, aborted motions to come closer and hover over her to check for signs of illness.
“Fred, there’s a difference between a couple of hours here and there and three straight days,” Faith stressed, trying not to panic as Fred began to look agitated.
Dragon, how much have you forgotten? Has anything else seemingly changed overnight before? He asked, stepping away from his gravel to do a quick, concerned circle around her.
Okay, that was a good way to start getting an idea of how concerned she should be. And honestly… “I mean, not counting the times you changed around my storage system when I was working on the library and forge, there’s nothing that I can think of…”
Dragon, I have never touched your strange item holders. The myriad of items you keep in them is too much for me to gaze upon at one time.
“Oh. Well. That’s bad.”
That is bad indeed.
-=-=-=- 🌊🫧🐚🦭🐚🫧🌊 -=-=-=-
And even after that revelation, Faith still couldn’t bring herself to take down the mycelium lawn and plant new grass. Something about it was enticing. No dew formed on it in chilly mornings, and sometimes, when she stood on it, she swore she could hear the sound of distant singing. Fred, seeing her shrug it off, was quick to follow suit, assuming it was simply something that happened to overworlders sometimes as Faith failed to muster any concern over it. Edward, reportedly, was still worried, but not about to make any trips to find psychologists about it.
The allays, for their part, flocked to her now. Even those who held no items for her would drift closer as she passed, their quiet crystal notes joining with the chattering noise of those who did as they drifted behind her in a chilly cloud of blue. Often, she would find them pressing bundles of wheat into her hands, looking torn. She handed one a bucket of water once, only for it to return with milk. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, really, but wheat was wheat, and she wouldn’t say no to free food.
(She’d seen them look frustrated and sad as she crafted yet another loaf of bread with the materials she’d been given, and sometimes couldn’t help but wonder what else it was they wanted her to do with it. They were allays, after all- their knowledge was limited, but they tried to prevent any ailments to the best of their abilities. Their willingness to help gather blocks was just one of the ways their philosophy manifested itself.)
She hadn’t had any new visitors in a while, but that was okay. She was doing fine out here, really. Better than fine. She was doing great.
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