Magi Rasmodius wasn’t fond of humans. They see him as monster, outcast, and stranger. They keep their distance and he keeps a distance away from them. Boundaries were established long ago since the first settlers of Stardew valley had arrived. He stood alone working at his forest, and occasionally acting as supervisor whenever their human rituals called ‘festivals’ came. Other than that, he would rather focused on what is shaping up to be the greatest opus of his entire life. Dimensional magic, or crudely called ‘portal’ magic, a complex study that required input from a variety of species. He had scoured spirits, monsters, and races across all lands in order to further his study on magical properties involved in conjuring a single portal effectively. His study finally came to a groundbreaking peak when he discovered the new aliens from outer space that were carried by vanishing comets. The next hundred years following after that was a blinding blur. He studied them relentlessly like a man possessed.

And yet he didn’t like the man in the mirror that stared back at him. Shadows ring under his eyes, his violet hair a ruffled mess of knots and electric abandon. He was a man consumed by mental thoughts, facts, and calculations. His body a mere vessel to his glorious mind. It pained him to see how his body could not reflect how magnificent he felt whenever he experiences his inspired breakthroughs. He felt alive, a man bigger with ancient wings of old, a powerful being so magnificent that complex equations to magic were a mere passing thought. Though, his body did not reflect that. The man looking back in the mirror was an aging, haggard fool who forgot to eat that day. Maybe weeks.

Suffice to say, his wife didn’t take kindly to his demanding work. It was a strange marriage they had but no more stranger than humans partaking in lifelong promises to commitment for a solidified sense of security. He needed his wife, needed her just like any other man would. And he always lets her know how much he needed her. Every morning is a ritual dedicated to her by completing a tray full of glorious offerings: drip coffee, a vegetarian bellpepper omelet housing her favorite quionoa inside it, and lastly, an exquisite emerald stone he mined from his morning walk. Only the best raw stone the earth can give for his witchy enchantress whose known across five dimensions as the most gorgeous supreme being who ever lived. Esmeralda’s mother being the previous holder of that family. Her family’s genetics run strong, potent with incredible magics that defy global laws of science. The matriarchal family he married into took to their bloodline legacy with a kind of dedication stronger than he did for his pursuit of absolute magic. But their kind of dedication didn’t imprint without any lasting scars. Indeed, his wife was the most beautiful prize among all five dimensions, not only in beauty but in her potent promise to secure a powerful legacy coming from her own supreme bloodline. It’s in her DNA. The wild abandon of extreme universal possibilities was secured in his home, his tower, as his wife. Though she didn’t want any of it.

She wanted to break her most sought-after and very prized bloodline. She thought of it a curse, rather than a gift. And like a fool, he made promises he regretted.

“Are those for me?” Esmeralda turned in her silk bed, her face catching sunlight as she rested a cheek against the back of her hand. She was exquisite. Thick black tresses of her hair curled like a luxurious fabric against their sheets, her skin wondrously glowing even as she had just woken up. Half-lidded and sleepy, she teased. “Or are we breaking our tiny rituals?”

His heart skipped a beat as he recounted in his head what he was about to say, “Actually..” he said, setting down the breakfast tray in front her as she sat up. “I met a human today. A kind human.”

Her brows lowered, “Don’t let them fool you. A nice human is a human asking for favors. They will at once crucify you when they finally get what they asked for.”

He shifted the plate towards her, and her fixed utensils in place. “Would you say the same about me?”

Quickly without hesitation, “No you’re different.”

“This human, she’s different too. There’s something about her..”

“My, my.” she drummed her fingers against her full bottom lips, a smile teasing at the corners. “Could it be? Magi Rasmodius is finally taking notice of someone.”

“Not true. The last person I took notice of is you.”

Rolling her eyes, a dimple appearing. “Yeah, but let’s face it. I’m a special case.”

“The only special case. For my heart.” he said, giving her a kiss.

“Stop.” she chuckled. “So what’s so special about this human girl?”

“Open-hearted. Adventurous. Smart. So smart.”

“Oh no.”

“What?”

“You’re not thinking of involving her to your experiments? You know what happened last time.”

He heaved a drawn-out breath., grumbling. “The last time was with shadow people. This is going to be different.” Taking her hands, “She offered to carry our baby.”

She gasped, affronted. “No. You promised.”

“It’s been 507 years. Your mother is gone. She won’t bother us anymore. We can accomplish our dream now. We can do it.”

“Your dream. One of your dream.”

“Fine. One of my dream, you know me. Come on, Esme. Don’t we deserve to be happy?”

She grew thoughtful. “You have been working real hard. For a really long long time. You deserve some happiness of course. If anyone deserves it, it’s you.”

“Yes!”

“But not with kids. Surely there has to be another way to make you happy. How about an adventuring party to the Crimson Badlands? I know you like playing around void serpent remains.”

His grumble went even deeper. “I do like brewing void serpent remains.”

“Well, there you have it. Let’s go do it. Why don’t I get the rest of our adventuring party and you prepare, yeah?”

Quietly, he plucked at the pieces of omelet he set aside in bite-sizes.

She held his face between her palms, “Hey. We don’t need to be striving for an ultimate dream, an ultimate goal that we can work for most of our lives. We can chase happiness little by little everyday, no matter how small.”

“That’s what I promised.”

“Has something changed?”

His resolve to the promise he made her had been weakened over these years. Battered down by his failure to achieve dimensional magic the way he theorized it to be when he was a young wizard. “No. I’m just feeling weak, that’s all.”

Esmeralda moved off her bed and stood with a brightening smile, “Let’s see if we can change that, shall we?”