A couple minutes later, Lucia and I received our green tea from a somewhat cheery looking individual.
“So, what’s so special about this tea?”
I asked Lucia, after the individual who gave us our tea left our table.
“Oh, you’ll see.”
Lucia remarked with a bit of a smile on her face, before taking a sip of her cup.
In response, I just shrugged before following suit and taking a sip as well.
That first sip ended up being the best sip of tea that I’ve ever had up until this point.
Then again, since it still was the first sip of tea I’ve ever had, that’s not really saying much.
“Oh wow, that’s actually really good.”
I said, before taking another sip.
“What’d I tell you?”
Lucia said with an expectant expression on her face.
“Like it’s minty but not too minty… it’s just right.”
I remarked while looking at the half empty cup of tea I was holding in my hand.
“Yup. It’s the Fern of drinks.”
“Fern? Who’s that?”
I asked with a smidge of confusion in my voice.
“Ah right, you don’t really know most of the fairytales from around here, do you?”
Lucia asked.
In turn, I just shook my head.
“Right, so Fern is basically just a girl who got lost in a forest and ended up eating three separate deer carcasses and-”
“Let me guess, one was too tough, one was too tender, but one ended up being just right?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
Lucia asked, with a smidge of confusion in her voice.
“Lucky guess. Anyway, keep going.”
“Right, so after she ate, she fell asleep in a clearing, at which point she was mauled to death by wolves.”
“…And the moral of that story is?”
“Don’t go into the forest alone.”
“Are all your fairytales that morbid?”
“Well, some of the other ones have more fantastical elements, but they usually end the same way, yeah.”
“With someone dead?”
“With someone experiencing some sort of terrible fate, which can be worse than death at times.”
“I feel like if you told me that story when I was younger, I would’ve been scarred for the rest of my life.”
I remarked before taking another sip of my tea.
“This is nothing, wait until I tell you about the scarecrow that apparently replaced people’s insides with straw.”
“Okay, what possible moral could you even glean from that story?”
“Don’t fuck around with farming equipment?”
“I feel like there was a less roundabout method of making sure that children don’t touch sharp tools.”
I said, slightly incredulous.
“Probably, but that’s the way they decided to teach us that particular lesson.”
Lucia replied before finishing her tea.
“Anyhow, is there anything else that you’d like to do here, or should we move onto the next part of this trip?”
“As much as I would love to continue delaying that part of today, since it’s inevitable anyway, we might as well get it out of the way now.”
I remarked before quickly gulping down the rest of my cup of tea.
“Okay then!”
Lucia said with a bit of excitement present in her voice before leading me towards the front door.
In turn, I just followed behind.
Outside the teahouse stood the driver who drove us here, feeding one of his horses an apple.
And after the two of us went over, Lucia gestured to him.
He just nodded and then opened the door for the both of us to get in.
In response, Lucia and I just got on the carriage.
“Hey Lucia, do you mind if I lean on your shoulder to doze off a little?”
I asked, after closing the door to the carriage and yawning a little.
“You’re still sleepy?”
“I can’t help it if I’m not as diligent as you when it comes to having a healthy schedule.”
“Uh you definitely can, but whatever. Sure, you can sleep on my shoulder but only if I get to play with your hair in the meantime.”
“Yeah, I don’t mind. Go ahead.”
“Cool.”
Lucia said simply before closing the curtains inside the carriage and gently putting my head on top of her shoulder.
I, on the other hand, just yielded to her force and started drifting to sleep.
Something which was pretty easy for me to do, considering how comfortable the cushions were and the company I currently had with me.
Well, that is until we got to the mountain pass, at which point I was roused awake by the noise of the wheels of the carriage colliding with a bunch of loose rocks and dirt along the unpaved road.
“Ugh, is the trip to your house usually this bumpy?”
I asked groggily, while rubbing my eyes a little.
“Unfortunately, yeah. We haven’t been able to get the government on board with paving the road leading up to our house because of how little traffic it gets.”
“How did your parents end up living on a mountain anyway?”
“I honestly have no clue, all I know is that they inherited the land from their parents who inherited from their parents and so on.”
“Gotcha.”
I remarked before sitting up and opening the curtains to see the scenery outside of the carriage.
And while it was mostly just what one would expect, a bunch of rigid stones and snow, there was also a surprising variety of wildlife present.
The kind that you’d probably only see in a fantasy game.
“I’m starting to see why they stuck around.”
I said, while looking at what looked to be a brown rabbit with a woodpecker’s beak.
“Yeah, the wildlife around here tends to be pretty odd, in a good way.”
“I probably should’ve expected that when you mentioned the whole thing about the abominable snowman.”
I remarked before leaning back into my chair.
“Anyway, how much longer until we make it to your parents’ house?”
“Another hour at least.”
“You got anything you wanna do to pass the time?”
I said while stretching my arms a bit.
“I’m kinda okay with what we’re doing right now.”
“Talking about the first thing that pops into our heads?”
“Mhmm. Though, I do have one thing that I’d like to change.”
“And that is?”
“Put your head back on my shoulder.”
“Uh, sure I can do that, but won’t your shoulder get sore eventually, though?”
“Eh, it’s worth it for me.”
“Alright, then.”
I said casually, before leaning my head back on Lucia’s shoulder.
And not even a second after I did that, a blissful expression formed across Lucia’s face.
A couple minutes later, Lucia and I received our green tea from a somewhat cheery looking individual.
“So, what’s so special about this tea?”
I asked Lucia, after the individual who gave us our tea left our table.
“Oh, you’ll see.”
Lucia remarked with a bit of a smile on her face, before taking a sip of her cup.
In response, I just shrugged before following suit and taking a sip as well.
That first sip ended up being the best sip of tea that I’ve ever had up until this point.
Then again, since it still was the first sip of tea I’ve ever had, that’s not really saying much.
“Oh wow, that’s actually really good.”
I said, before taking another sip.
“What’d I tell you?”
Lucia said with an expectant expression on her face.
“Like it’s minty but not too minty… it’s just right.”
I remarked while looking at the half empty cup of tea I was holding in my hand.
“Yup. It’s the Fern of drinks.”
“Fern? Who’s that?”
I asked with a smidge of confusion in my voice.
“Ah right, you don’t really know most of the fairytales from around here, do you?”
Lucia asked.
In turn, I just shook my head.
“Right, so Fern is basically just a girl who got lost in a forest and ended up eating three separate deer carcasses and-”
“Let me guess, one was too tough, one was too tender, but one ended up being just right?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
Lucia asked, with a smidge of confusion in her voice.
“Lucky guess. Anyway, keep going.”
“Right, so after she ate, she fell asleep in a clearing, at which point she was mauled to death by wolves.”
“…And the moral of that story is?”
“Don’t go into the forest alone.”
“Are all your fairytales that morbid?”
“Well, some of the other ones have more fantastical elements, but they usually end the same way, yeah.”
“With someone dead?”
“With someone experiencing some sort of terrible fate, which can be worse than death at times.”
“I feel like if you told me that story when I was younger, I would’ve been scarred for the rest of my life.”
I remarked before taking another sip of my tea.
“This is nothing, wait until I tell you about the scarecrow that apparently replaced people’s insides with straw.”
“Okay, what possible moral could you even glean from that story?”
“Don’t fuck around with farming equipment?”
“I feel like there was a less roundabout method of making sure that children don’t touch sharp tools.”
I said, slightly incredulous.
“Probably, but that’s the way they decided to teach us that particular lesson.”
Lucia replied before finishing her tea.
“Anyhow, is there anything else that you’d like to do here, or should we move onto the next part of this trip?”
“As much as I would love to continue delaying that part of today, since it’s inevitable anyway, we might as well get it out of the way now.”
I remarked before quickly gulping down the rest of my cup of tea.
“Okay then!”
Lucia said with a bit of excitement present in her voice before leading me towards the front door.
In turn, I just followed behind.
Outside the teahouse stood the driver who drove us here, feeding one of his horses an apple.
And after the two of us went over, Lucia gestured to him.
He just nodded and then opened the door for the both of us to get in.
In response, Lucia and I just got on the carriage.
“Hey Lucia, do you mind if I lean on your shoulder to doze off a little?”
I asked, after closing the door to the carriage and yawning a little.
“You’re still sleepy?”
“I can’t help it if I’m not as diligent as you when it comes to having a healthy schedule.”
“Uh you definitely can, but whatever. Sure, you can sleep on my shoulder but only if I get to play with your hair in the meantime.”
“Yeah, I don’t mind. Go ahead.”
“Cool.”
Lucia said simply before closing the curtains inside the carriage and gently putting my head on top of her shoulder.
I, on the other hand, just yielded to her force and started drifting to sleep.
Something which was pretty easy for me to do, considering how comfortable the cushions were and the company I currently had with me.
Well, that is until we got to the mountain pass, at which point I was roused awake by the noise of the wheels of the carriage colliding with a bunch of loose rocks and dirt along the unpaved road.
“Ugh, is the trip to your house usually this bumpy?”
I asked groggily, while rubbing my eyes a little.
“Unfortunately, yeah. We haven’t been able to get the government on board with paving the road leading up to our house because of how little traffic it gets.”
“How did your parents end up living on a mountain anyway?”
“I honestly have no clue, all I know is that they inherited the land from their parents who inherited from their parents and so on.”
“Gotcha.”
I remarked before sitting up and opening the curtains to see the scenery outside of the carriage.
And while it was mostly just what one would expect, a bunch of rigid stones and snow, there was also a surprising variety of wildlife present.
The kind that you’d probably only see in a fantasy game.
“I’m starting to see why they stuck around.”
I said, while looking at what looked to be a brown rabbit with a woodpecker’s beak.
“Yeah, the wildlife around here tends to be pretty odd, in a good way.”
“I probably should’ve expected that when you mentioned the whole thing about the abominable snowman.”
I remarked before leaning back into my chair.
“Anyway, how much longer until we make it to your parents’ house?”
“Another hour at least.”
“You got anything you wanna do to pass the time?”
I said while stretching my arms a bit.
“I’m kinda okay with what we’re doing right now.”
“Talking about the first thing that pops into our heads?”
“Mhmm. Though, I do have one thing that I’d like to change.”
“And that is?”
“Put your head back on my shoulder.”
“Uh, sure I can do that, but won’t your shoulder get sore eventually, though?”
“Eh, it’s worth it for me.”
“Alright, then.”
I said casually, before leaning my head back on Lucia’s shoulder.
And not even a second after I did that, a blissful expression formed across Lucia’s face.
