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hufflautia · 4 years

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The Queen and the Dragon

Hi everyone! Finally, the glorious fic that some of you have been waiting for is finally here. I am so excited for you all to read this, and I hope you enjoy <3

Summary: All was peaceful in Endiac until tragedy had befallen the king. Now it’s up to his daughter, Princess Hufflepuff, to reign the kingdom. One might think that this would be easy for her. After all, the noble family of Endiac was beloved by all, so there should be no reason for anyone to go against her rule… right? WRONG BRUV! THIS IS A FANFIC WRITTEN BY ME, SO YOU KNOW THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET SPICY!! Neighboring kingdoms who have sexist beliefs declare war upon Endiac, and the fairies come up with an idea that will prove Hufflepuff to be capable of leading her people—and it involves killing a dragon. However, when Hufflepuff encounters the supposedly fearsome beast, it is so much farther from what she expected.

Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess named Hufflepuff who lived with her family in a glorious castle on the top of the hill that overlooked the entire kingdom. Her father, King Aeneas, ruled over the subjects of Endiac, a lush land that stretched for miles and was full of magical creatures. Everyone loved the royal family and lived in harmony with the neighboring kingdoms. Even the creatures that resided outside of Endiac respected the king—even the trolls, who usually sought to wreak havoc. The subjects especially loved Princess Hufflepuff, who was as kind as a fairy and as beautiful as a unicorn. Everyone lived happily under the reign of King Aeneas and his family.

All was peaceful in Endiac until King Aeneas fell terribly ill. Everyone grew anxious for his recovery, especially Princess Hufflepuff. Kneeling next to her father on his bedside, Hufflepuff called to the fairies and cried, “Please help my father get better. The kingdom will surely collapse without him!” However, the fairies did not know of any cure for the king’s strange illness. All the magical herbs they had given to him did nothing to help his condition.

But Hufflepuff refused to give up. Knowing that fairies were prophets, she took the fastest horse from the stables and rode to a faraway fortress, where the wisest fairy supposedly inhabited.

It was said that Helia, the fairy of Coltherstone, was so well-known for her accurate predictions that many people flocked to the stronghold, begging her to prophesize their future. Being the generous fairy that she was, she helped and helped and helped. In return, they did… nothing. But that was ok with her. She didn’t expect them to shower her with gifts or jewels in return for her prophecies. After all, she was one of the most powerful fairies to exist, so she didn’t need anything from them. If they were happy, that was good enough for her.

One day, when Helia was traveling to another realm, she got caught in a raging snowstorm. The relentless hail that poured down damaged her wings, leaving her helpless and unable to fly, the usual transportation that fairies used. The numbing cold prevented her from using magic, so she decided to look for help. She came across a village, one that she knew well, for the villagers constantly visited her in hopes of getting a glimpse of their future. Of course, she always abided. Surely, that meant they would come to her aid, right? It was only fair that they lent a helping hand in her time of need.

Helia stumbled to the first house that she could reach and knocked. There was no answer. Were they not home? She decided to try another house. Perhaps they were available. Yet again, there was no response. Where did the villagers go? Perhaps they got caught in the snowstorm as well and were trying to make it home.

I’ll search for them later, she thought to herself as she walked to the next house. Though I’m sure not everyone is missing. She knocked on the door of house after house, the rapping of her knuckles against the wood ringing out like echoes in the emptiness of the village. Her attempts were to no avail—the doors remained closed, shutting her out.

She frowned, confusion etched in her face as she looked around. Was everyone truly missing? She decided to start her search and find any survivors who were lost in the howling storm. Right before she left through the entrance of the village, something caught her eye. In the top window of the first house she encountered was a silhouette of a man, the glow of the light behind him contrasting with his figure. A villager, at last! Her spirit rising, she held up a hand and waved, hoping to catch his attention. She was sure he could see her; the man seemed to be looking right at her. However, she watched as he reached up to close the blinds, leaving her alone once again.

Helia’s heart sank. Why wouldn’t he help her? Shaking her head in confusion, she walked to the house. “Hello,” she called out. “Anyone there?”

When there was no response, she knocked harder this time. “I know someone’s in there, I saw you in the window!” She stared at the door, feeling dejected. “Didn’t you see me?”

She decided to leave after waiting for a while and trudged down the steps. Suddenly, she noticed something in the window of the neighbor’s house. Walking closer, she squinted through the falling snow, and her eyes could make out the dim glow of a lantern within the house. What was going on?

Helia turned her attention to another house and hoped that her arising suspicion was wrong. Straining to hear past the howling wind, she could make out the sound of faint chatter. She ran to the door and tapped on the wood, her knocks becoming more insistent. “Please open the door,” she shouted over the storm. “My wings are broken and it’s too cold for me to use magic.” The villagers ignored her.

“It’s me, Helia!” Tears brimmed along the edge of her eyes and blurred her vision. “Remember me? I granted prophecies for all of you!”

They continued to laugh with one another.

“Please, I need help, I need…” She trailed off, choking on the sobs that heaved from her chest. Overcome with emotion, she leaned her forehead against the door with her hands pressed to the side. Realization dawned on her as she listened to the vague chatter within the walls of the house. People were home. They just didn’t want to help her. The pain that bloomed in her chest grew more intense as she walked to the entrance.

Before she left the village, bitterness overtook her and a curse erupted from her broken heart, spreading to all the realms. It was the last thing anyone heard from Helia before she disappeared, never to be seen again. “I will prophesize for you no longer,” the curse roared. “My door will remain closed to everyone but those who mean well. Those with hearts that are pure and true will find me in their time of need.” Everyone who did not meet those expectations would see that phrase embedded into the door of her fortress. It was a reminder of what happened, of how no one helped her that day. Even when they knocked and knocked and knocked—just as she did on that fateful night—the door would remain locked.

Hufflepuff’s mother read this story to her so that she always remembered to be kind to others. Helia was thought to be a myth, seeing as how the last time that anyone ever heard from Helia was thousands of years ago. Many people believed that the story of Helia was a tale to read to children at bedtime so that they learned the lesson of lending help to others in their time of need. However, there were whispers that she was real, that she was re-emerging into society again, granting wishes to those who deserved it. On the other hand, none of this was confirmed.

Regardless of whether or not the rumors were true, Hufflepuff’s father was dying—and that was most definitely real. She couldn’t give up on finding something that would save him. With her fingers crossed, Hufflepuff hoped that Helia would grant a prophecy that predicted the state of her father’s wellbeing. When she arrived at Coltherstone, she dismounted the horse and grabbed the bag strapped to the side before making her way to the fortress.

“Hello Helia,” she called out gingerly, standing near the entrance. “My name is Hufflepuff, the princess of Endiac. You probably haven’t heard of me, but I’ve heard of you.” She took a pause and swallowed with difficulty before continuing. “And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for what happened to you. That wasn’t right of the villagers to ignore you like that, especially because you always helped them.”

“And I know I can’t change the horrors that you faced that night, nor will I ever truly understand the depths of your sorrow.” Hufflepuff drew closer until she stood in front of the famed door that supposedly had Helia’s last words known to humankind etched into the wood. “But I brought this,” she said before taking something out of a bag. It was a coat fit for a fairy to wear. Not just any coat—it was the fluffiest coat that she could find, one that would generate enough warmth to stave off the freezing cold. “It’s what I would’ve given you if you knocked on my door that night.”

A puff of air blew softly from her nose as she brushed her fingers against the wool. It was a bit ridiculous giving a coat to a fairy that probably had no use for it. Hell, she was offering a coat to a fairy who may not even be real! She shook the negative thoughts from her head; she had a purpose in coming here... although she wasn’t really sure what that exact purpose was. Granted, she knew it was to get a glimpse of her father’s fate. However, another part of her had always wanted to do this. Whenever she heard the tale of Helia, her thoughts never centered around the fairy’s powerful ability to predict the future accurately. Instead, they drifted to how Helia must’ve felt that night, cold and alone, abandoned by the people who she cared about the most. It was always at the top of her bucket list to bring this coat to her, not as an offering in exchange for a prophecy, but as a token of empathy and compassion.

Pulling herself out of the thoughts swirling around in her head, Hufflepuff delicately placed the coat at the front of the doorstep and gave a small nod of appreciation. “Thank you for your time,” she said, feeling a tinge of embarrassment. It felt a bit silly to talk as if she was speaking to the fairy herself. Nevertheless, Hufflepuff couldn’t help but feel a twinge of excitement now that she was actually here, at the famed fortress in which Helia supposedly resided. A childish grin stretched across her face, she stepped closer to the door and examined it. She thought back to the myth and reached out to touch the wood. Funny. People who visited Coltherstone usually said that Helia’s infamous words were engraved into the timber. However, she didn’t see anything. It just looked like any other door.

She shrugged. A feeling of disappointment settled on her chest as she began walking back to her horse, thinking about the story. Maybe it really was a myth.

“On the contrary, dear,” a voice called out. “How can it be a myth when I’m right here?”

Hufflepuff spun towards the sound of the voice, her eyes widening once they landed on the figure. Helia, the very person who she had been hoping to see, stood before her in all her glory—well, she wouldn’t really call it standing. It was more like hovering in the air. Her wings, which seemed to be filamentous and transparent, fluttered like confetti. As they danced in an airborne way, the breeze took on a floral fragrance, one to send the mind into a heady stupor, the kind enjoyed on late summer afternoons. Her hair was wild and as brown as the earthy soil under them, with small horns that adorned either side of her head. She was already wearing the coat that was gifted to her, a twinkle in her eye as she gazed warmly at the girl in front of her.

“Helia,” Hufflepuff gaped. “You’re here and you—you’re real and you’re wearing the coat—”

The fairy giggled, the vibrant sound bringing a sense of peace to her troubles. The gentle sound could make the lamplight more golden and the fires burn warmer. “Yes, my sweet child. Thank you very much for the gift.”

She barely managed to nod in response, still gawking at her.

Helia hummed a small laugh before walking around the side of the fortress, gesturing for her to follow. The gate that usually prevented visitors from trespassing disappeared, so she was able to pass through. She couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the fairy that floated alongside her. After all, she was one of the most powerful beings to ever exist; almost every child heard of her at some point. She moved as if she were only made of water, flowing more than she walked. Hufflepuff was startled when she turned her attention to her once again.

“You’re the first human to give me something,” she admitted. “For your goodwill, I shall grant you a prophecy.” She took a pause to smile widely at her. “You would’ve gotten a prophecy either way, Princess Hufflepuff. Your heart is pure and true, and for that, I will help you.”

Hufflepuff let out a breath of relief. Perhaps she could save her father after all! “Thank you kindly, Helia.”

They encountered a makeshift wall of hanging leaves, and the fairy parted the flowers aside so that she could walk through. A beautiful garden came into view. The bonsai trees lined the perfect lawn in their wooden boxes. In the center was a pond as large as a small lake with flowering lily pads and a wooden bridge that crossed the middle so one could look down at the koi carp. The flower beds were a riot of lively colors, splashes of red and gold thrown in the field of blossoms. She was awe-struck once more.

“Come,” Helia said, making her way towards an area to sit and chat. “We have much to discuss.”

Hufflepuff followed her to a bench that resided in the middle of the garden. The rosy cedar browns were married to the iron that curved into the great arms and grew into ever-blooming flowers to rest on. She didn’t take the time to appreciate its beauty; there was a pressing matter to attend to—her father’s fate.

“Ah, yes. It seems that your father, King Aeneas, is quite ill at this time.”

Her head snapped up to stare at the fairy in surprise. She was about to ask how she knew her father’s name but decided not to after seeing the knowing look on her face. Fairies had a way of looking right into one’s soul as if it were an open book for the reading.

“So what of it,” she asked frantically, swallowing with difficulty. “What’s gonna happen?”

“You will rule over Endiac much sooner than you think.”

It was as if time stopped for Hufflepuff. “What are you saying,” she whispered, dread creeping into her chest.

Helia placed a hand on her shoulder, but the soothing touch did nothing to calm the storms that raged in her heart. “There is nothing you can do to save your father.”

“No,” she gasped, standing up abruptly. “I won’t give up, I mustn't!”

“Fate will take its course regardless of what you do.” A somber expression splayed onto her face. “By the time the sun sets, your father will be gone.”

Hufflepuff suddenly collapsed onto the bench, a grimace contorted on her face as she tried to will the tears away. Despite her efforts, they began falling freely from her eyes. Helia rubbed her back sympathetically and plucked a tissue from thin air, offering it to her.

“I can sense the love you have for your father, so I understand why his death troubles you greatly,” she said. “But I also sense another worry.”

Hufflepuff didn’t respond for a while. All that could be heard was the occasional sniffles along with the rustling of leaves. Finally, she spoke. “I can’t be the queen of Endiac,” she whispered. “I can’t rule the kingdom, not without my father’s help.”

“On the contrary, you needn’t the help of a man to be a powerful ruler,” she said pointedly. “You will be one of the most well-known queens of your time.”

A sliver of hope arose in Hufflepuff. Would she really?

“However, you will face numerous hardships and go on a quest before you can begin your ascend as one of the greatest queens to exist. Your journey will be a very difficult one, and what you find in the end is not what you expect.”

She thought about the fairy’s words, curiosity as well as concern swirling in her head. She still felt uncertain, for she was afraid to rule. Did she really have what it takes to be a queen?

Helia squeezed her hand reassuringly. “It’s all going to be ok in the end.”

Hufflepuff drew in a shaky breath. She really hoped so. “Thank you for your help, Helia, I won’t forget what you said.” She got up. “But I must take my leave now. My father doesn’t have much time left, and I’d like to spend as much time with him as possible.”

The fairy nodded and walked her to the entrance. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.” She curtseyed. “I wish you the best of luck.”

Hufflepuff gave her a small smile before making her way to the horse.

With a heavy heart, she prepared for the long journey ahead. By nightfall, the subjects were devastated to hear that King Aeneas had passed away.

Hufflepuff knelt on the carpet, her cheek lying against the pillow that rested on her father’s empty bed. She clutched the cloth and could feel the fluff of goose feathers, but the soft material did nothing to calm the waves of grief that clashed within.

It smelled as if he were sitting right beside her, for his scent still lingered on the sheets. Inhaling deeply, she tried to imprint the earthy smell of cool rain into her memory. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that he was sitting right beside her, that he was fine and all was well. This was comforting to some extent, but she knew the peace would not last. Her father was gone.

A tear peeked from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek until it finally came to a rest at the end of her jaw. More tears began streaming down her face as she thought of his last words to her.

Someone called out her name. Startled, she stood up abruptly and turned towards the voice, relaxing when she realized that it was only her mother, who held her arms out for a hug. With a sad smile, she walked into her embrace. “I miss him,” she whispered, her breath catching in her throat.

“Me too.” She stroked her hair and held her daughter tightly. A heavy silence drifted upon them as they reminisced on all the great memories they had together.

After a while, her mother pulled away and clasped their hands together. “Come, child,” she said before leading them towards the balcony.

She pushed open the double-leaved doors and stepped into the sunlight, taking in the light breeze. “Heavy hearts and heavy minds are not what Endiac needs right now.” Hufflepuff rested her hands on the railing as she looked over the kingdom. Her kingdom. Her mom finally turned to her with a reassuring smile.

“They need a queen.”

When Hufflepuff was crowned Queen, chaos reigned in the once-beloved kingdom. Immediately after neighboring kingdoms received word that King Aeneas died, they declared war on Endiac and vowed to overthrow the Queen because “a woman couldn’t possibly lead a kingdom”. Shocked, she couldn’t believe that the kingdoms would turn on her like this—even Bellesea, a kingdom that always aided Endiac during their time of need, joined in on the aggression.

The nervous council members urged Hufflepuff to marry the king of Staerdale, the only kingdom that remained at peace with Endiac. This alliance would put a stop to their troubles because the armies of Staerdale were powerful and could protect them from anyone who sought to harm the nobles. However, Hufflepuff refused to make the offer.

“My father always told me to marry for love,” she muttered, staring out the window and gazing upon her subjects. “And I know for a fact that I would not love the prince.”

A councilman walked to her side and fiddled with his fingers nervously. “But Your Majesty, you didn’t even meet him yet. For all we know, he may be a very handsome and courageous man!”

Hufflepuff sighed, looking into the distance. “My disinterest in him has nothing to do with his personality.”

The councilman looked at her, confused. Before he could ask her to elaborate, the fairies stepped in and asked her to follow them, for they had just thought of an idea that would save them all.

When they were finally alone, the purple fairy poofed a scroll into Hufflepuff’s hand. “You need to show them that you’re strong enough to lead the kingdom,” the fairy said as Hufflepuff unraveled the paper. On it was a drawing of a fearful dragon that lived not too far from Endiac. “There’s a dragon that rests on the top of a tower 20 yards away from the Farleigh mountains. It is supposedly so fearsome that no one dares to go near it.”

Hufflepuff scrunched her nose at the fairy and looked back at the sketch, looking at the intricate details of the dragon’s scales. For some reason, she wasn’t as scared as she thought she would be. Instead, she was intrigued. “So why are you telling me this?”

“You must kill the dragon to show everyone that you’re strong enough to lead your people!”

Hufflepuff started to object—even though dragons were supposedly the most frightening creatures of them all, she would never intentionally harm one, no matter how fearsome it appeared to be—but the pink fairy sprinkled special dust around her, transforming Hufflepuff into an ambitious knight.

Brainwashed, she suddenly straightened her back and smiled brightly at the fairy, who handed her a bag stuffed with items that would be useful in one’s journey.

“You’re absolutely right,” Hufflepuff exclaimed. “I must defeat this dragon and prove that I can lead the kingdom!” With that, she marched out of the room and towards her destination.

The yellow fairy, who had been silently watching, finally spoke up. “Princess Hufflepuff wouldn’t dare hurting a fly, much less a dragon.”

The other fairies looked at each other knowingly. “We know,” one of them said. “Hufflepuff will meet her fate soon enough.”

When the dust finally wore off, Hufflepuff blinked blearily and looked around in confusion. “Where am I,” she muttered to herself, taking notice of the tower in front of her. She walked closer and examined the moss growing on the aged cobblestone. Suddenly feeling a puff of hot air that came from above, she looked up, only to meet the eyes of a dragon who perched at the top of the tower.

Dark green eyes sat within the creature's skull, several tiny horns lining the top of its head. The dragon had silver-like skin, four mighty limbs to carry its body and allow the creature to stand arrogantly and imposing. Each limb had 3 digits, each of which ended in claws that seemed to be made of diamond. Gigantic wings were bladed in structure, and its long tail ended in a seemingly fluffy tip and was covered in the same massive scales as its body. Its neck craned to observe Hufflepuff from afar, a sliver of interest behind its stone-cold stare.

Curiously enough, Hufflepuff didn’t seem to be running away in terror as one might have expected. Instead, she cocked her head to the side and said something that shocked the dragon. “Do you need help getting down,” she asked carefully.

The dragon stared into her brown eyes, trying to see if this was a trick. It realized that she was being genuine, and suddenly bowed its head in despair.

“Please.”

Surprised that the dragon was able to talk, a smile graced Hufflepuff’s features. “You can speak,” she remarked as she pulled at the drawstrings of her bag to open it.

The dragon let out sparks of fire from its snout as it sighed. “Only when there are people nearby, which is quite rare. Even then, the people who do approach me usually want to kill me, so there’s not much time for talking.”

Hufflepuff nodded sympathetically as she searched through the items. The curious creature tilted its head to the side. “So why haven’t you tried to kill me?”

She paused to look back up at the dragon. “I would never harm another being,” she declared. “Other than that, you seemed to be somewhat stuck up there so I wanted to help you down.” She continued rummaging through the bag. “Plus, you hadn’t eaten me yet, so I took it as a sign that you’re not necessarily looking to cause chaos.”

The creature laughed, its chuckle ringing like bells. “I used to always cause chaos when I was…” It trailed off as if it were thinking back to another time. Though intrigued, she decided not to press on the matter after feeling a slight sense of sadness surrounding the subject.

Finally, Hufflepuff found what she was looking for—a wand. When the dragon saw what she was holding, it hissed, its wings flailing around as it moved back in a panic.

“Get that thing away from me,” the dragon growled, its claws clutching at the pinnacles that sprouted from the tower. A dark shade of red glowed in its blazing eyes and sparks of fire flew from its snout.

Taken aback by the sudden display of anger, Hufflepuff held out her hands in an attempt to calm the dragon. “I’m not gonna hurt you,” she assured, her tone soothing and kind. “I’m just gonna cast a spell to bring you down.”

The dragon settled down but eyed Hufflepuff wearily as she raised the wand again. She advised the creature to stay still before casting the spell, gradually lifting it away from the tower and onto the ground.

A blinding glow suddenly appeared around the dragon at the exact moment it touched the floor. Magic swirled all around the creature until it was engulfed by a shimmer of some unknown force. Hufflepuff winced and shielded her eyes from the brightness before taking another peek once the light dissipated. A human girl laid where the dragon had once stood. She was sprawled on the floor in shiny armor, her eyes closed as if she was taking a nap.

Hufflepuff stared at the girl, who seemed to be the same age as her, and cautiously inched forward. The girl suddenly stirred awake and made an incoherent noise, a sound of a yawn mixed in with a groan. She opened an eye, her eyebrows furrowed as her vision adjusted to her surroundings—more specifically, her sight focused on the human limbs that seemed to be attached to her own body.

Suddenly, the girl sat up in an instant and brought her hands up to her face in disbelief, laughing with glee when she registered something. “I don’t believe it,” she murmured, examining stands of her own hair as if they were strings of gold. “I’m back to normal!”

“Pardon me—”

Before Hufflepuff could finish her sentence, the girl yelped in surprise and scrambled to stand up, her arms raised in a defensive stance. She let out a sigh of relief and lowered her hands once she saw Hufflepuff, noticing the royal seal on her cloak.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty. I forgot that I was not alone,” the girl said sheepishly, flashing a bright smile before bowing. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Slytherin Wildhorn, at your service.”

“So let me get this straight,” Hufflepuff murmured as they walked along the edge of a forest. “You were cursed by a witch who turned you into a dragon?”

Slytherin nodded, gazing into the distance as she thought back to a memory buried deep within the wide expanse of the past. “Yes, my lady—”

“You can call me Hufflepuff.”

Slytherin glanced over at Hufflepuff, whose heartbeat quickened under her gaze. I’ll never get used to looking at her eyes, she thought to herself, staring into Slytherin’s strikingly green orbs before turning her attention elsewhere—or at least trying to.

“Yes, Hufflepuff,” she said with a smile before continuing on. “A witch cursed me because I was a vain knight whose big ego would never allow me to accept help from others. One day, I was supposed to bring other knights with me to stop an invasion of a village. I decided not to because I thought I would be able to handle it on my own.”

Slytherin was overcome with sorrow as she thought back to what happened as a result of her decision. “Only a few of the villagers survived,” she said quietly, a tear sliding down her cheek. “To this day, it is one of my biggest regrets in life.”

Hufflepuff reached into her bag and brought out a handkerchief, silently offering it to her. She nodded in appreciation and took it, wiping the tears from her eyes before they could spill over.

“Miraculously, I survived,” Slytherin continued. “One of the remaining villagers was a witch, and she was not happy about this, especially because her entire family was...” She trailed off, getting sucked back into her self-deprecating thoughts until she snapped back to reality when she felt something. Looking down, she realized that Hufflepuff was holding her hand, her gentle grasp quelling her anguish.

“You don’t have to finish,” she said, her thumb rubbing over her skin in a comforting gesture. “I know this must be causing you a lot of pain.”

Hufflepuff released her hand, and Slytherin found herself missing the warmth of her touch. Bringing her attention back to the conversation, she shook her head. “I feel a sense of duty to finish the story.” Her gaze was far away and distant as if her mind was elsewhere. “In doing so, I’d be honoring the lives of the people who died on account of what I decided. It would do me no good if I were to try burying that memory away.”

Hufflepuff nodded understandably. “You’re very courageous for doing such a thing.”

“You’re too kind,” she replied with a sad smile. “The witch certainly wouldn’t think so. In the aftermath of the massacre, she was resentful about my decision to refuse the help of the other knights, so she used her wand to turn me into a dragon, placing me on a high tower with no way of escaping.”

“But you had wings,” Hufflepuff remarked. “Why couldn’t you just fly away?”

Slytherin looked at her sheepishly. “I’ve had a fear of heights ever since my older brothers thought it would be a good idea to put 6-year old me into a catapult so that I could say hi to the birds in the sky,” she recounted. “I’ll never forget the expression of this one goose that I had passed. It looked quite surprised to see a little girl flying through the air and screaming her head off.”

Hufflepuff hummed a laugh, a puff of breath escaping from her nose as her lips curved up into a grin.

A smile of her own appeared on Slytherin’s face as she silently hoped that this would be the first of many moments in which she could make Hufflepuff laugh.

“In truth, I still would’ve been stuck on the top of that tower if it weren’t for you,” Slytherin said. “The witch said I would need the assistance of a human to get down. Given that she transformed me into a fearsome beast that many humans wouldn’t dare to go near, she knew that I was doomed to remain stuck on that tower forever.”

“But I wasn’t. I guess the curse was finally lifted when I accepted someone’s help.” Slytherin paused for a moment, gazing warmly at Hufflepuff. “And it’s all thanks to you and your benevolence. I would’ve stayed as a dragon if you hadn’t come to my aid.” She bowed and pressed a kiss against her hand. “For that, I am forever in your debt.”

With reddened cheeks, Hufflepuff beamed at her before curtsying. Her smile faltered as she thought about what would happen in the future—more specifically, whether Slytherin would be in her future. After all, she was human again. Who knows where she would want to go or do with her newfound freedom?

Slytherin frowned. “Something wrong?”

Realizing that she had been watching her, Hufflepuff tried to cover up the sadness that melded into her heart. “Where will you go after this,” she asked and swallowed with difficulty before asking the next question. “Do you plan on going back to your kingdom?”

Slytherin kept quiet as she thought about the question. “My family is dead so there is no point in returning,” she finally said, a hollow sadness in her eyes. “It was a part of the witch’s curse. While she mourned the loss of her family, I was stuck on that tower for hundreds of years, forced to watch from afar as my family slowly died from old age.” She let out a humorless laugh, a pained grimace on her face. “It would’ve been better if the witch had just killed me, but of course, she wasn’t that merciful. She wanted me to suffer what she was going through.” Her eyes became stone-cold as she recomposed herself, brushing the tears away with the palm of her hand. “I guess I deserved it.”

Hufflepuff stopped walking and reached out for Slytherin to still her movements, her hand resting on her arm. “What’s done is done. The best thing for you to do is move on from the past because it would do you no good to beat yourself up about that decision. The fact that you’re owning up to your mistakes is very valiant of you.” She stepped closer, concern etched into her eyes. “If you need forgiveness, I’ll give that to you. You’re forgiven, okay?”

Slytherin thought about it, relaxing when she realized that Hufflepuff was completely right. Her chest expanded as the guilt lifted off, and for the first time in a long time, she felt free.

Finding comfort in the eyes that resembled the rich soils of the earth, Slytherin couldn’t look away from her. “Thank you, Hufflepuff.” The corners of her mouth lifted into a grateful smile before she continued their journey. “I’m not sure where I’ll go after this,” she said wistfully. Her mind went all over the place. The forest? That would be too dangerous, seeing as how there were plenty of dangerous people who roamed throughout the woods, looking for an easy target. The mountains? It would be freezing, and she would probably get frostbite on her fingers if she were to spend a few hours in the frigid summits. Maybe a cave would be a safe place to camp. However, she was sure that she would wake up with a sore back after spending a night on the hard ground.

“Come to Endiac,” Hufflepuff suddenly proffered, saying it much quicker than she would’ve liked, but she hardly cared, gazing at her companion hopefully.

Slytherin raised an eyebrow as she thought about it. “Would the nobles of that kingdom allow me to stay?”

The corner of her eyes crinkled as she smiled. “You’re talking to the queen right now,” Hufflepuff beamed. “And I’m pretty sure she’s already approved of you.”

Slytherin’s jaw practically dropped before she remembered her manners, taking a low bow. “Thank you again,” she said with a wide smile. “I am truly grateful to have been graced with your presence—and it has nothing to do with your royal status. I just…” She paused, staring at her with an unreadable expression. “I just see you.”

A smile of her own stretched onto her face. Before Hufflepuff could respond, there was a rustle nearby. They both turned their attention to the woods and became more alert when they heard a twig snap.

Three men suddenly emerged from the depths of the forest, malicious smiles plastered on their faces. Hufflepuff took notice of the symbols that were embedded on their armor; they were the royal seals of the Goulrich kingdom, who was the first to declare war on Endiac. “Queen Hufflepuff,” one of them sneered. “It appears that we have found you at last.” They advanced closer, clutching their swords. “Our king would like us to give you his regards.” He frowned and turned to one of the other men. “Francis, what was it that he said?”

The other man snickered before answering. “I believe he ordered us to kill you,” Francis leered. “Did I get that right, Millborne?”

“I believe you did,” the first man replied. His mouth curled up into a mocking frown as if he was expressing sympathy. “No hard feelings, Your Majesty. Surely you understand why we can not disobey his orders.”

The third man sighed, checking out his reflection on the metal of his blade. “Boys, let’s not toy with her any longer.” He shifted his attention to Hufflepuff, his eyes cold and menacing. “Just get this over with.”

“You don’t have to do this,” she said, backing away. “Can’t we just live in peace like we used to?”

The men exploded in laughter. “We lived in peace when the king was in charge,” Millborne snarled. “You are merely a girl who is unfit to rule a kingdom.”

Anger rose in Hufflepuff’s chest as they went on, spouting nonsense about how she simply didn’t have the same strength and courage as a man. She wanted nothing more than to prove them wrong, but she knew with one glance at their looming figures that she would not be able to overpower all of them.

Slytherin, who had been quiet during the entire time, was silently analyzing the men. Judging from their fighting stance and the way they gripped the handle of their weapons, she could tell that they were amateurs. “This’ll be fun,” she declared, amused when the men finally turned their attention to her. Confusion clouded their expression before morphing into something more hostile. She brandished her sword and stepped in front of Hufflepuff. “Run,” she demanded, staring down the men.

Hufflepuff tried to object, but she insisted. “Just go, I’ll catch up!”

Taking one last fleeting look at Slytherin, she started running in the opposite direction.

Slytherin looked behind her shoulder for a brief moment, relief filling her chest as she watched Hufflepuff escape. Her attention was brought back to the situation when she heard the men chuckle. “Something funny,” she asked, narrowing her eyes when they began circling her.

“This situation is quite funny to us,” Francis remarked.

Slytherin raised an eyebrow and laughed humorlessly as she kept two of them in her line of vision. “Please enlighten me as to why.”

“A little girl in a knight’s armor is amusing, no?” The man behind her suddenly swung his sword in an arc, intending to cut her back.

However, Slytherin had anticipated this and stopped the attack easily, their sword colliding with her own. His blade shivered under the brutality of her compelling strength, and she pushed against him, slashing her weapon upwards so that they were no longer entangled with one another. Wasting no time, she thrust her sword forward, aiming for his face. The sharp tip slipped past the man’s guard and he jerked his head back, a gash marking his cheek. He reached to touch the wound and drew his hand back, his eyes widening at the sight of blood smeared all over his fingers.

Slytherin smirked at his surprised expression, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.

“No,” she proclaimed. “Woman.”

Hufflepuff was resting in a grassy field, taking a well-deserved break. She had been running for a while and only decided to stop once she was sure that she was safe. However, she couldn’t say the same for Slytherin. Her heart ached as she thought about the girl who she had just met but felt drawn to, an invisible string of fate bringing them together.

I can’t just sit here and think about Slytherin, she thought. That’d do nothing but make me worry. She started rummaging through her bag for the wand; maybe the fairies would see the flare that she would send into the air and come to her aid. Her hand brushed against something cold and narrow, and she brought it out in hopes that it was what she was looking for. Instead of a wand, it was a paring knife. She frowned. Why would the fairies put this in her bag? Knives like this were usually used for cutting fruits and vegetables. Perhaps they did it by mistake.

Though it was probable that the paring knife would be of no use to her, she didn’t toss it back into the bag. Her mind drifted to the moment before she left Slytherin, who had hidden a dagger up her sleeve. There was no question about it—she knew how to fight. Hufflepuff could tell just by hearing the confidence that she carried in her voice when she said, “This’ll be easy.” Hufflepuff could sense her powerful aura just by glancing at the stance that she had maintained, her eyes steely and concentrated on the men before her. Just thinking about it all sent unexpected warmth rushing to her cheeks, and she quickly brushed her thoughts aside before sneaking the paring knife into her sleeve. It fit perfectly within her garment—it wasn’t big enough to the point where someone would immediately notice it, nor was it small enough to slip out. She shrugged to herself as she continued searching through her bag. It wouldn’t hurt to have a secret weapon close to her in case anything happened.

Finally, she found what she was looking for. The wand, at last! She pointed it at the sky, ready to cast the spell.

“You thought you could escape from us?”

Hufflepuff dropped the wand and turned around abruptly, her lungs filled with dread when her eyes landed on the men from before. Though a feeling of pride swelled in her chest when she noticed the multiple cuts and bruises that littered their faces, it quickly deflated when she noticed the slack figure that was slumped over Millborne’s shoulder. He sneered at Hufflepuff before tossing the body onto the ground. Her heart tightened in horror when she realized that it was Slytherin, who appeared to be slightly dazed with a cut on her lip. “Hufflepuff,” she croaked weakly.

One of the men walked forward and rested his boot against Slytherin’s back. “I have to admit, your little knight is quite good at fighting. Too bad she got carried away and let her ego get the best of her.” He knelt down and pressed his knee against her, smirking as she resisted. “But this wasn’t the first time that happened... was it, Slytherin Wildhorn?”

He chuckled lowly when she froze. “I knew I recognized you from somewhere. The disgraced knight who disappeared from her kingdom, never to be seen again. Though I’m not sure how you’re still alive after all these years, the king will be intrigued when I present your head to him.” He paused and turned his attention back to Hufflepuff, who was staring at Slytherin with worry. “Along with the unfortunate news that the queen of Endiac is dead.”

Though Slytherin was too tired to fight back, there was unmistakable anger that blazed in her eyes. Her expression softened when she looked at Hufflepuff. “Run,” she mouthed.

A part of Hufflepuff wanted nothing more than to start running through the fields as fast as her legs could move. However, she stood her ground. No, she thought as she met Slytherin’s gaze. I’m not leaving you again. She reached for the dagger strapped to the side of her bag as Francis approached her, his lips curled in amusement when he noticed the weapon that she clutched with a shaky hand.

“Do you even know how to use that,” he leered. “I’m sure the only thing they taught you to do in that castle of yours was to sit still and look pretty.”

Her face remained neutral as she sized him up, taking note of the sword in his hand. “We’ll see about that.”

Francis chuckled. “We will indeed.” He suddenly lunged at her, brandishing his weapon and swinging it in an arc. She easily dodged and kicked him back with the heel of her foot. The powerful impact made him stumble a little, but it also made him angry. He advanced forwards, extending his front leg while propelling with the heel of his other foot, his sword aimed for her stomach. She collided his blade with the edge of her dagger and maneuvered both of their weapons in a circular motion so that the tip of his sword pointed away from her. Without delay, she surged forward and grabbed the wrist that was holding the handle of the sword, bringing it over her shoulder with her body positioned so that she was facing away from him, her back against his side. With his arm bent against her shoulder, he was trapped against her will. As a result, he could do nothing but watch as she drew a gash in his hand with her dagger.

Hufflepuff finally released him and he stumbled back, hissing in pain as he clutched his sword arm. Her eyes cold and hard, she watched him with her weapon raised, blood dripping down the steel. “It seems I know how to use this well enough,” she said pointedly.

His ego damaged, Francis growled in frustration and started slashing his sword relentlessly. He took the offense position as Hufflepuff was forced to go into defense, stopping the severe blow of his blade with her own. When her limbs began tiring, she didn’t have the strength to block his attack and chose to sidestep instead. The edge of his sword grazed her face and left a cut on her chin. Shocked, she didn’t have enough time to react when he struck her with his hand, a resounding slap emanating into the air as she collapsed onto her knees. Gingerly touching the red mark that bloomed on her cheek, she knew that it would be a matter of time before she didn’t have enough strength to fight back. She would have to end this soon—once and for all.

Still slumped on the ground, Hufflepuff saw an opportunity to get behind him; his legs were positioned far apart from each other, which left a wide-enough gap for her to crawl. She quickly did so and kicked his back before he could turn around. When he did, his eyes were alight with anger, his grip tightening around the handle of his sword.

Francis made a move to strike her but she managed to trap his wrist between her left arm and elbow. Seeing this as another chance to cut his side, she reached out to attack his exposed chest with her dagger. However, he had expected this and stopped the attack with his free hand by pressing the flat blade against her wrist, pinning it against her initial target. Wrapping his fingers around the handle of her dagger, he twisted it to a certain angle so that she was forced to let go. The strength of his pressure caused her weapon to fly out of her grasp, landing a few feet away from them.

He swung at her but she dodged the attack by moving in a counterclockwise direction as she swiftly ducked underneath the arm that she had originally trapped. When his arm was released from her grasp, he lashed out again in a similar manner, his blade cutting through the air. She jerked backward and suddenly slung the paring knife that was hidden in her sleeve. It cut the side of his shoulder and drew blood, beads of crimson red glistening on his skin.

“I found it helpful to have a few tricks up my sleeve,” Hufflepuff japed. Francis looked from his shoulder back to her, rage mixed with shock pooling in his sullen eyes. “I learn from the best.”

She glanced over at Slytherin, who was awe-struck by it all. Joy was clearly prominent in her expression and she smiled widely, taking pride in the fact that Hufflepuff used the same trick that she had done beforehand.

Her heart skipping a beat, Hufflepuff couldn’t help but be distracted, which allowed Francis to seize the moment. He kicked his foot behind her feet, causing her to buckle down and fall onto her back.

“The best should’ve taught you not to be distracted during a fight,” he sneered. “But unfortunately, we are out of time.” As he stalked closer, taking his time so that he could relinquish in the fear of her soon-to-be demise, she took her surroundings into account and noticed a bunch of rocks scattered on the dirt. Pretending to scoot away in terror, she moved closer to the pile.

Hufflepuff managed to grab two rocks and conceal them behind her back before he closed in on her. Raising his sword to deliver a full force overhead attack, he looked at her smugly. “Long live the king,” he declared. Before he could carry out the final motion, she flung the rocks at him as hard as she could and successfully hit him straight in the eye.

When he stumbled back in agony, she quickly scrambled back up and began racing through the field as fast as possible, running towards the direction in which she saw her dagger fly off. However, something suddenly collided with her legs and she fell face-first onto the ground. She looked down at the rope that bound her feet together and frantically tugged against the tight cord, but it wouldn’t budge.

Francis stalked towards her with a cold grin. “I think I’m going to keep this,” he said, toying with the wand that she had dropped. “It has proven to be quite useful.”

He pulled Hufflepuff up and began dragging her. She resisted and tried twisting away from his tight grasp, digging her nails into his hands. He merely struck her with the back of his hand, leaving a red welt on her cheek. Her ears ringing, she didn’t realize where he was bringing her until they neared a cliff that overlooked the ocean.

Even if she knew how to swim, there was no way that she would survive the journey down; the cliff was miles above the water— it would essentially feel like hitting the pavement if she were to fall from this height. Bile suddenly rose in her throat and she tried grounding her feet into the dirt but it barely stopped Francis from yanking her forward. Standing at the very edge of the cliff, he spun her around so that she was facing the other men, who had brought Slytherin along for the show. She was kneeling on the ground, the sharp edge of a sword pressed against her throat as she watched, her eyes blurry with tears as they concentrated on Hufflepuff.

“Any last words, Your Majesty?”

Hufflepuff spat at his feet and looked at him briefly with disgust. “None for you,” she muttered disdainfully, softening her gaze when she switched her attention back to Slytherin.

There was so much she wanted to say. I really like your eyes. I wanna hear more stories about your adventures with your crazy brothers. Your hands are really soft and warm. I admire your courage. You’re unlike any other. You were a bit intimidating as a dragon and you’re still intimidating as a human—but I love it. I’m really glad I met you. I just wish we had more time. Before she could express a single one of these thoughts that buzzed through her head, Francis pushed her off the cliff.

It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. Slytherin watched in horror as Hufflepuff tilted backward, her feet scraping off the edge of the cliff. “No!” she screamed, for she was losing the girl whom she had only known for a couple of hours but felt as though she knew her for a lifetime. Meeting her was fate, but becoming her friend was a choice, one that she would pick over and over again if she had the chance. In a world of injustice, where cruelty was the cause and friendship the antidote, a person that she had never met before lent a helping hand when no one else would. In the few hours in which she had known this girl, she felt like she was finally living. Now she wouldn’t get to experience a beautiful friendship that might’ve melded into something greater. She’d never know what could’ve been.

And it’s all because of them, Slytherin thought bitterly, turning her attention to the men surrounding her.

“You’re not worth the trouble of dragging all the way back to the kingdom,” one of them said, drawing out his sword. “I’m sure our king will be just as pleased if we brought him your head.”

A torrent of rage rose within and her chest heaved with anguish. “You'll pay for this,” she hissed as she glared at him. Her fury drowned out everything—she couldn’t hear their continuous taunts, she couldn’t hear the waves crashing against the side of the cliff, she couldn’t hear anything except her ideas for revenge. Though her anger was great, an inner voice that seemed to come out of nowhere pierced through the thick canvas of venomous hatred, its voice calm and soothing. It reminded her of what really mattered, and the torrent of wrath turned into something calmer. She made sure not to let her anger consume her because she had more important things to attend to.

Slytherin wouldn’t let her friend fall to her death, not if she could help it—and if she couldn’t save Hufflepuff in time… well, let’s just say that it wouldn’t end well for Francis and his companions. A tinge of red clouded her vision, and for some reason, the men before her started getting smaller and smaller. She hardly paid any attention to them, for she had only one person in mind.

In the far distance, Hufflepuff heard a sudden commotion but didn’t even have the chance to worry about what had happened, because her entire world was shifting before her: flashes of the wide expanse of the blue sky mixed in with quick glimpses of the side of the cliff became all that she could see. She tumbled through the air with her arms flailing around uselessly, her fingers trying to grasp at anything stable as she screamed, falling, falling, falling.

Having no concept of time whatsoever, she braced herself for the impact, her heartbeat racing quicker than it had ever raced before. Squeezing her eyes shut, she prepared for her final demise. She flinched when her back hit the soft but firm surface and—wait... what? She was supposed to splatter against the water like it was pavement; this was definitely not what she expected it to feel like. She peeked out of one eye, trying to gain a sense of her surroundings, and saw a palace of clouds. An ethereal world made of fluff painted across an expansive sky.

Hufflepuff wasn’t falling. She was flying.

She sat up and almost cried out in happiness when she realized that she was on the back of Slytherin, who had transformed back into a dragon. “Slytherin,” she exclaimed in surprise. “You’re okay!”

“I couldn’t die,” Slytherin joked as she flew back to the land. “Not when the Queen was in trouble.”

Even though she had almost died, it was a euphoric feeling to soar through the sky and see the ocean in all its glory. The waves came in as a deep aquamarine, turning golden as the sun shone brightly, its warm rays painting Hufflepuff’s cheek with a tinge of red. The sea breathed, the surface rising and falling with rhythmic ease, and she felt at peace, something she had not felt for a while, not until she laid her eyes on a certain someone who changed her life in a heartbeat.

When Slytherin finally landed safely onto the ground, Hufflepuff slid down and was about to thank her when the men who seemed shell shocked from watching the woman before them turn into a fearsome dragon recovered from their surprise.

“Dragon or not, we will never stop,” Millborne shouted. “Not until Endiac is ours-”

Slytherin let out a big huff of annoyance, the sudden gust of air flinging all of the men over the cliff, their screams disappearing when they finally met their fate. “Could you repeat that,” she called out to them. “I think you got cut off!”

Hufflepuff ran and peered over the edge. There was nothing to see except the choppy waves, their foam crests becoming chaotic lace over the blue. She heard a sudden thud behind her and turned around. Seeing that Slytherin had transformed back into a human again, she quickly rushed to her side. “Slytherin,” she gasped, cradling her cheek. “Are you alright?”

Slytherin smiled weakly and rested her hand over Hufflepuff’s. “I’m fine,” she assured. “I’m just glad you’re ok.”

“And I, you.” She frowned as she thought back to what had happened a few moments ago. “I didn’t know you could turn back into a dragon.”

Confusion etched into Slytherin’s face as she looked down at her own body. “I didn’t know either. I just remember seeing you fall and something overcame me. Next thing I knew, I jumped over the cliff to go after you.”

Hufflepuff furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “But how were you able to fly if you didn’t know how to use your wings?”

“It felt like a natural instinct. All I could think about was saving you, and I didn’t stop to wonder about how I would get to you.” Slytherin’s eyes flickered down to her lips and she unconsciously shifted closer. “I just knew that I had to.”

Hufflepuff’s heartbeat quickened as she gazed into her strikingly green orbs. She had never been this close to her before, but now that she was, she could see every intricate detail. Her eyes were the hue of the new spring growth, bright and soft all at once. It was the kind of earthy green that revives the grass after a cruel, unforgiving winter. Within those irises were interwoven shades of the forest canopy that hid the chaotic nature behind. Never before have eyes held such danger and beauty all at once. She had a wildfire within her: reckless, untamed, yet undeniably captivating.

“Have I ever told you that I really like your eyes,” Hufflepuff blurted out. Slytherin let out a laugh, which sounded like music to her ears.

Before she could reply, she caught sight of a bag in the distance. It seemed like the satchel that Francis had been carrying around.

Noticing that her attention was elsewhere, Hufflepuff turned around to see what she was looking at and frowned. “What is that?”

Slytherin walked towards the sack and examined the belongings. When her hand brushed against parchment, she pulled out the paper and unfolded it. Her brows slanted as she read the contents.

“What does it say,” Hufflepuff asked, walking towards her. “Is something wrong?”

She wordlessly handed over the letter to Hufflepuff, who quickly scanned the paper. Her voice was tight as she read out loud the last paragraph. “After the job is done, meet me before the sun rises. Don’t disappoint me, Francis. I didn’t threaten all the kingdoms with war just for my plan to fail.” She let her arm fall to the side, the parchment slightly crushed in her tight grip. “Signed, King Renaud.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “So it was that bastard’s fault,” she said quietly.

“He’ll pay for this,” Slytherin said firmly. “And we’ll make sure of it.”

Hufflepuff stuffed the letter back into the bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Let’s pay a visit to the Goulrich king.” She turned to look at her companion hopefully. “Do you think you can turn into a dragon again?”

Slytherin smiled, a glint of red flashing in her eyes as she felt a torrent of power rising in her chest. The curse of the witch remained within her, but she was no longer trapped. She was finally free, and the ability to turn into a dragon when she wanted to was an added bonus.

“For you, Hufflepuff, I’d do anything.”

King Renaud paced around his solar chamber, impatiently waiting for any news from his personal guards. He rested his hands against the base of the window and gazed upon Goulrich Kingdom. Though the world was still cast in sleepy shadows, it was starting to wake up with a musical silence, the soul hearing the melody that the ears could not. A new day had come, new possibilities, a fresh page yet to be written.

It was most definitely a glorious day for Renaud. Soon, it will be announced to the world that Queen Hufflepuff was tragically assassinated by unknown brutes, he thought with glee. But where are those blasted guards? They should be here by now!

As if on cue, someone knocked on the door and gingerly entered. He turned his attention to a servant, who was fiddling with his fingers nervously.

“Your majesty, some people are here to speak with you—”

“Yes, I know,” Renaud interrupted. “Bring my guards in.”

The servant looked at him, confused. “My king, they are—”

“I will not repeat myself, boy!”

He shrunk back in fear and nodded frantically before scurrying away. Renaud let out an exasperated sigh as he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. I’ll hire better staff once I get access to Endiac’s resources.

He heard a creak of wood and snapped his attention back to the door, ready to scold the guards for being late. However, the words died in his throat when he saw who was at the door.

“Queen Hufflepuff,” he exclaimed with a sardonic smile, taking notice of the woman who stood alongside her. “What a delightful surprise.”

She didn’t respond and merely walked into the room, her eyes trained on him.

“How did you get past my security?”

“I told them that we would be discussing the possibility of a treaty. They won’t be interrupting us anytime soon.” She stared at him with a stone-cold expression. “As for the guards that you sent to assassinate me…” She paused, relishing his expectant expression. “They’re dead.”

Slightly baffled but impressed, Renaud raked his eyes over her dirty appearance. With dirt smeared across her garments, she wore a scowl with a burning animosity that was developing in her fiery orbs—and he could tell that he was likely the root cause of the problem. He switched his attention to the other woman. The way her eyes squinted as she glared at him reminded him of a pit viper's slit-like pupils.

He cleared his throat and turned to Hufflepuff. “You look nice.”

Her nostrils flared with indignation. “Don’t try to flatter me,” she snapped. “I know what you did.”

He raised his eyebrows in mock confusion. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Hufflepuff scoffed. “Y’know,” she began as she walked closer, “I always wondered why the other kingdoms turned against me so quickly after my father died. Everyone declared war on Endiac all at once with the same exact reason—that I am unfit to rule because I am a woman.” She shook her head slowly. “It just didn’t make sense, especially because they’ve always known that I would be Queen someday and they never, not once, expressed anger or discomfort over that fact.”

“Perhaps they have finally come to their senses,” Renaud suggested with a smirk.

“Perhaps not.” She drew out a letter from the bag and held it up for him to see. “Proof,” she declared. “That forced the other kingdoms to turn against me by threatening them with war so that you could take Endiac for yourself.”

Renaud let out a chuckle and licked his lips. “So now you know,” he said.

“Of course I know,” she glowered. “And I hardly think treason is a laughing matter. When the other kingdoms hear that you were behind the attempted assassination of the rightful queen of Endiac, they will have your head for this.”

“Not when they’re following my orders—”

“Your threats will be of no use to you now! Who do you think they will side with? The man who threatened to kill them if they didn’t comply, or the queen of the kingdom that has remained at peace with their nations for years?”

Renaud’s face blanched.

A humorless smile spread onto her face. “So now you understand.” She stored the paper in the bag. “Your control over the nine kingdoms has crumbled to dust, King Renaud, and your reign will end soon enough.”

“But if the others didn’t know what I did, if they didn’t have the dear queen of Endiac to inform them of my...plans,” he said slowly, his eyes focused on the bag. “Then all will remain as it is.”

He suddenly brandished a weapon from his belt.

“I guess I have to do it myself when I want a job done.” He smiled cruelly when she wielded a sword of her own and chuckled in amusement at Slytherin, who gripped the handle of her blade but held back from intervening just yet—she knew her friend would be able to manage this. “It was a pleasure to meet both of your acquaintances, but I’m afraid our time is up.”

In an instant, Hufflepuff and Renaud were against each other, their weapons clashing. She positioned her right hand at the top end of the grip and the other hand at the bottom, which allowed for a wider range of arm movements with the sword. Thinking back to the quick lesson that Slytherin had given her before they arrived, she kept her elbows bent and close to her body as she counter-attacked.

However, she was at a disadvantage, for he was more skilled in sword fighting than her. Known for extensively training his powerful army for war, Renaud attacked as if it were as easy as breathing, and Hufflepuff wasn’t prepared for the immediate retaliation after he parried her attack. The handle of his sword collided with her jaw, and she stumbled back with a hiss through gritted teeth.

Renaud used her moment of distraction to snatch the bag away. He suddenly drew in a sharp breath and let go of the satchel, which slid across the room. Gripping the side of his arm, he looked at the blood that seeped through his sleeve. His head snapped up at Slytherin, who stared at him with enough malice to cause fear to seize his lungs. She was holding a sword, the edge of the blade lined with crimson red.

She glanced at Hufflepuff, who had recovered from the blow. They gave a quick nod to one another, a mutual understanding blooming between them.

He whipped out a second sword from his belt and eyed both of them. “This’ll be interesting,” he sneered before resuming the fight. He kept track of the simultaneous attacks, parrying the thrust of one sword while lunging at the other opponent.

Slytherin performed a brief feint at his face by lifting her arms and sword above her head to invite him to attack. Interpreting this as a perfect opportunity to jab at her stomach, he fell right into her trap. She quickly blocked the move with her weapon and successfully forced him to drop the sword by twisting his wrist whilst lifting her foot towards his groin. She pushed her heel against his body to push him off balance and slashed her sword at him to complete the attack. However, he caught the full force of the blow with his other weapon and pushed against her with his body weight.

Losing balance, she crashed into the unlit fireplace behind her. A statue wobbled from the mantle and hit her head. She slumped onto the ground with her eyes closed, motionless.

Hufflepuff gasped and turned her attention to Slytherin. Distracted, she didn’t counter Renaud’s blow of his fist. Her head snapped back from the impact and she stumbled away with blood trickling from her busted lip.

“You will die just like your father,” he said smugly, advancing toward her.

She glared at him. “I thought you liked him.”

“Liked? More like tolerated. Then again, his reign was boring me. He was too kind and moral,” he sighed in exasperation. “Too virtuous to heed my request for resources to expand my armories. It was time for things to change.”

Realization dawned on her, and she pointed the tip of her sword at him with a shaky inhale. “Did you have something to do with his death?”

He didn’t respond and merely smiled slyly. Angry, she slashed her sword at him and he parried. With their weapons pressed against each other, she glared at him with burning eyes.

“Answer me,” she demanded.

Renaud pushed against the collision of swords but she stood her ground as she looked at him expectantly.

“Yes,” he finally said.

The air from her lungs seemed to escape.

“And it merely took a slip of a homemade potion into his drink to do it.”

Her breathing was labored and ragged as tears began to brim at the corners of her eyes. Renaud sneered. “You see? Women are too emotional to lead.”

“You will regret what you did to him,” she whispered hoarsely.

The battle commenced once again. Hufflepuff fought with more aggression this time; she wanted to avenge her father and make sure that she made it out alive so that she could keep the kingdom from falling into the wrong hands. Besides that, she had people worth fighting for. Her citizens, of course, but also Slytherin. She prayed to any deity out there who was possibly listening that her friend was still alive and well.

She could only hope for the best as she fought her opponent for her nation, for her people, for Slytherin.

Renaud directed a cut towards her right leg, but she parried the attack by dropping her sword downwards and bracing with enough space to absorb the impact of the blow. She suddenly swung her weapon upwards in a flash, her blade striking his cheek. A gash drew from his jawline to the small area underneath his left eye. Blood dribbled onto the floor but he didn’t pay it any attention as he advanced towards her angrily. Knowing that he would retaliate aggressively, she tricked him by making it seem as if she was going to lunge for his arm but moved in a semi-circle arc to attack a different area.

However, he blocked the blow by turning his wrist so that it faced outward and swept the attack aside. She ducked when he swung his sword at her head, but he had anticipated this and kneed her straight in the face. She felt the oxygen knock out of her lungs when she hit the floor, blood gushing from her nose. Blinded with flashing colorful spots, she squeezed her eyes shut as a crushing pain pounded on the side of her head. She tried to will the sting to go away, but the world seemed to fall away, and all she could concentrate on was the ache rooted deep in her head. Her eyesight blurring, everything became fuzzy; then she saw nothing at all.

Renaud walked closer and raised his sword above her sprawled figure. He aimed for her stomach and brought his weapon down, but the blade clashed with another. He looked at the culprit and huffed a humorless laugh when his eyes landed on Slytherin, who had gotten up just in time to stop the attack.

“I thought you dead,” he mused, withdrawing his sword.

“You were sorely mistaken.”

Slytherin opened her body at a 45-degree angle, her left foot ahead of her right. With the position allowing her a firm base of support to attack from, she began slashing her sword at him relentlessly, the blade cutting through the air with an unrivaled speed from all the adrenaline that coursed through her body. When he thrust his weapon at the exposed opening of her inner arm, she wisely parried the attack with the forte of her sword. She whipped out the hidden knife within her sleeve and pressed the sharp edge against his fingers so that he released his weapon. Kicking his stomach with enough force to topple him over, she left him defenseless with his back against the floor, no weapon in hand.

“I promised Hufflepuff that you would pay for all the pain you’ve caused,” she said lowly. “And I intend to keep that promise.”

Scooting away from her as she walked closer, Renaud suddenly felt something behind him. The bag.

He grabbed it and was about to snatch the paper out to tear it apart when he caught sight of something that had fallen out. Before Slytherin could take another step, he pointed the wand at her.

“Drop the sword.”

Hufflepuff squirmed against the floor and pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead as she tried to make sense of what was happening. Her consciousness floated through an empty space filled with a thick static. Throughout the inky space, her heartbeat pounded loudly and echoed in her ears, alongside fading voices.

Slytherin, she thought groggily. Is that Slytherin?

She opened her eyes, blinking several times to clear her blurry vision. With difficulty, she propped herself up and caught sight of Slytherin, who seemed to be bound by thick cords.

“I knew I remembered you from somewhere. You’re the famed dame who disappeared after her tragic loss in Mortham Village. I have to say, you are an exceptional fighter.” Renaud placed the letter onto his desk before walking closer to her.

“But no one ever said anything about your beauty,” he drawled, reaching out to brush the underside of her chin with the tips of his crooked fingers. She defiantly turned her head out of his grasp and pulled against the restraints, but they didn’t budge. She gave him a withering look when he chuckled at her struggles. “It would be a shame to kill you. Won’t you consider joining me? You can be my queen, and we can rule Goulrich together.”

She spat at his face. “You can go to hell,” she seethed through gritted teeth.

The corners of his mouth rose almost imperceptibly as he wiped at his cheek. “You have a fiery temper, I’ll give you that.”

Before he could say anything else, he abruptly crumbled to the floor. Slytherin instinctively jerked away but let out a sigh of relief when she saw Hufflepuff standing in front of his body with a crowbar. “Where’d you get that,” she exclaimed.

Hufflepuff ran to her and began cutting through the rope. “Doesn’t matter,” she exhaled. “I’m just glad he didn’t turn around.”

Slytherin beamed at her but suddenly focused on something behind her. “Hufflepuff, look out!” However, she didn’t have enough time to heed the warning.

Renaud, who had recovered, grabbed Hufflepuff by the arm and flung her onto the ground. “You never quit, do you?” He pulled her up by the collar and whipped her around, his chest against her back.

His arm closed in a vise-like grip around her neck. “When will you learn that you’re just a pathetic little princess,” he snarled. She thrashed against him and dug her nails into his skin, but his grip was unyielding. Her lungs began to burn from lack of air, and dark spots danced across her vision as she became more and more frantic. She reached back to claw at his face but he merely tightened his hold, and her breathing momentarily stopped. The ache in her chest grew worse by the moment as she writhed under his grasp, small ragged breaths escaping her throat. Slowly the world started to spin, to fade, as each sound grew dull.

Maybe Renaud was right. Maybe she was never destined to be the queen that Endiac needed. She had failed her nation. She had failed Slytherin, who was probably going to suffer a similar fate.

Oh, if only she had more time. With her eyes closed in defeat, a tear slid down her cheek.

Someone knocked on the door.

Hufflepuff’s eyes flew open and she took a sharp gasp of air, clutching her throat. She looked around frantically; where were Renaud and Slytherin? Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion when she realized that her entire surroundings had changed. She was...home? Before she could figure out how this was possible, someone interrupted her thoughts.

“Father?”

She turned towards the sound of the voice and saw a girl poking her head through the crevice of the door; the strange part was that she looked exactly like her.

How could this be, she thought as she shook her head in disbelief. What’s going on?

“Come in, my dear child.”

Her heart dropped when she heard that voice. She knew that voice. She slowly turned around, and what she saw made her jaw drop, though a part of her already knew.

Her father laid on his bed, the corners of his eyes crinkled into the familiar smile wrinkles etched in his face.

Hufflepuff drew in a shaky breath and could barely do anything but stare in shock at him. Now, this was getting a little too much for her. First, she saw an exact replica of herself who was standing a few feet away from her; now she was looking at her dad, who was supposed to be dead but was currently laying before her, rested and well. Well, she wouldn’t actually describe him like that. He looked tired and quite pale.

Wait a minute…

Before she could connect the dots, she heard the door creak open. She turned around and saw the other Hufflepuff running towards her. She stumbled back and braced for impact when the girl seemed as if she was going to collide with her. The last thing that she expected was for the clone to run right through her.

Hufflepuff gasped and clutched her body. What in the world was going on?

Am I a ghost, she wondered, dread starting to creep up her neck. Is this the afterlife?

She turned back to the other Hufflepuff, who was now kneeling by the bedside.

“I’m sorry I was gone so long,” the girl said quietly, clutching her father’s hand. “I went to visit a fairy for…”

She paused but he spoke before she could say anything. “Was it to wish for a pet unicorn?”

The tense environment evaporated as a goofy smile spread across his face, which, in turn, made her smile as well. She exhaled a laugh and shook her head with a grin.

“Wait,” the original Hufflepuff whispered. “I remember this…” An ache settled uncomfortably in her chest. This was the last time she spoke with her father.

Maybe I really am dead, she thought glumly, waving a hand through the girl. Her fingers went straight through, leaving small wisps of cloudiness in its wake. With a sigh, she sat on the other side of the bed and gazed upon her father. I might as well enjoy this memory.

The smile on past-Hufflepuff’s face disappeared and was replaced with a vacant expression, her eyes fixated on the distance as if her mind were elsewhere.

As if he could sense her grief, he squeezed her hand and brought her attention back to him. “Thank you for trying to find a cure,” he said. “But I fear that this can not be solved.”

Past-Hufflepuff clenched her jaw as she willed the tears away. Though she wanted nothing more than to start bawling in tears, she wanted to stay strong for him.

He sighed wistfully. “If only I could be there to see your reaction at the lantern light festival.” It was a tradition in Endiac for the citizens to hold festivals and celebrate to express their gratitude for the king or queen. “It’s a marvelous sight, and I know you will enjoy it.”

He suddenly coughed, his entire body jolting as the sickness racked through his chest. After a while, it calmed down and he laid against the pillow, exhausted.

She shook her head in sorrow. “I…” Her words caught in her throat and she let her head drop. “Please don’t leave me,” she said in a broken whisper, tears welling up in her eyes. “I need you, Endiac needs you.”

He pulled her into a hug as she wept. She rested her cheek against his shoulder, trying to remember his warmth, his light, his presence.

“On the contrary, dear, they have you,” he consoled. “I wish I wasn’t leaving like this, especially when I still have much to teach you. But you shall learn them on your own in due time. I know that you will be a wonderful queen—and don’t think otherwise.” He pulled her back so that she looked at him. “I have faith in you, Hufflepuff. You will be a kind and benevolent ruler, but you will also be stoic and stern. Keep your chin up, my child.” He smiled reassuringly and leaned forward to press a kiss against her forehead.

“You were always destined to be Queen.”

Hufflepuff was abruptly pulled away from the flashback. She opened her eyes and felt the familiar pressure against her collarbone. She was back to where she was before—stuck in a chokehold.

She thought about what Renaud had said to her: “When will you learn that you’re just a pathetic little princess?”

With a fresh boost of empowerment from the memory, she tore off the padding that covered his arm and dug her nails into his skin with newfound energy. The pain was enough for him to loosen his grip, and she took a grateful gasp of air.

“You’re wrong,” she wheezed before elbowing him in the gut. He made an oomph! sound and doubled over, clutching his stomach. “I’m a queen.”

She picked up Slytherin’s dagger from the floor and ambled closer, kicking away the weapon that laid beside him before he could reach for it. He frantically stood up and snatched the knife that was strapped to the side of his tunic.

When he raised his hand to strike, she sidestepped and blocked her arm with his, their limbs forming an ‘X’. She pushed her arm over and under his in a full circular motion. In doing so, she trapped his arm against his collarbone, the edge of her weapon pressed against his neck. Her unrelenting stare was fixated on his every struggle, the pressure of the blade on his skin threatening to cut into his flesh at any moment.

It wasn’t the dagger that made Renaud freeze.

It flowed deeper than blood and higher than breath, engraved in her bones and carved on her lungs. The power that Hufflepuff was radiating made it seem as if the entire world was holding its breath, waiting to see what she did next. This was a queen, wholly and truly—and a queen who has had enough.

“Now be done with all this deceitful nonsense,” she ordered sharply. “You will sign a treaty and swear on an oath that no harm will ever come to Endiac from your kingdom ever again. It is time to unite our nations once and for all.”

“And if I refuse to sign?”

“Then you shall see my less merciful side.”

“You wouldn’t hurt a fly.” he sneered. “Let alone kill a man.”

“Perhaps not.” She spun them around so that they faced Slytherin, who had released herself from the bounds by using the knife that she had left behind. “But she probably would.”

Hufflepuff knocked the knife out of his hand and shoved him forwards. He fell to the floor. “Shall we find out?”

When Slytherin walked towards him with sharp eyes that seared straight into his skull, he scrambled back and raised his hands in defeat. “Alright,” he relented. “You have my word.”

“Call for a conference with the other kingdoms,” Slytherin instructed. “We will all gather in Endiac tomorrow to discuss what has come of this day.”

His brows knitted in a frown. The other rulers would likely force him off the throne if they found out what he had done. Perhaps he could form a plan to stall the meeting before it was too late. However, one look at Slytherin, who was staring at him darkly, and he put those thoughts to rest immediately.

“I’ll get right to it, Your Majesties.”

Renaud rushed to his desk to craft a new accord that would bring the promise of peaceful beginnings between Endiac and Goulrich.

Hufflepuff glanced at her companion with a warm smile and touched her arm, leading her towards the table. “Come,” she said. “Let’s consider what we shall write in the treaty with him.”

Slytherin faltered. “I’m not sure if I’m qualified to discuss such important matters…”

“You have every right to be involved in this discussion as I have,” she assured. “And I know that you will have some wonderful ideas that will help our kingdom.”

The subtle upward quirk of her mouth replaced the hesitant expression. Our. A blush spread across her cheeks, and she cleared her throat before nodding. She stepped to the side and bent forward with a dramatic gesture. “After you.”

Hufflepuff hummed softly, a sparkle in her eyes. “Thank you,” she curtsied.

A few hours later, they walked through the front doors and stepped outside, the newly-made treaty resting safely in Hufflepuff’s bag. The world had finally awoken, the rays of light shining down like intricately woven threads of gold. It was exceptionally beautiful today. Glorious shades of orange and red seeped over the horizon as if they were poured from molten lava.

The sun’s rays came as nature's easel, giving brilliant color to what was hidden under the passing starlit night. The bright beauty cast flying hippogriffs into dark shadows against the sky. Their wings beat, hugging the air as they drifted on unseen thermals. They captured Slytherin’s eye for a few moments, keeping her spun into some sort of daydream. She felt someone looking at her and glanced to the side, her broad smile widening when she met Hufflepuff’s gaze. It was peaceful to just exist for once and not have to worry about the next enemy to fight. They stood side by side, just living and breathing with no goal other than to just be.

They could get used to this: being happy, being together, being happy and together. And they would—because they had all the time in the world.

“Right then,” Slytherin said with glowing eyes. “Where shall we go now?”

Hufflepuff smiled and looked into the distance.

“Home.”

The council members were going over ideas on how to reunite the kingdoms. They wondered where the Queen was, for she left the castle yesterday and had not been seen since. Suddenly, the light streaming from the window disappeared, leaving the room in complete darkness for a brief moment.

They looked at each other in confusion before their attention turned to the sudden cheering that could be heard from outside.

“What in the heavens is that,” one of them asked, walking to the window. Her face suddenly paled and one of the other council members questioned her before going to see what the commotion was about. He stared, slack-jawed.

A dragon was perched on the main courtyard of the kingdom with a surrounding crowd. “Alert the guards,” the councilman shouted frantically. “There’s a dragon out there and it must be killed!” He pressed his face against the window, his eyes widening in fear once again as he stared at the fearsome creature. “It’s gonna eat all the citizens!”

“There’s no need to get hysterical,” the fairies called out, entering the room with smiles on their faces. The purple fairy gestured to the councilman to take another look. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before squinting at the dragon once again. Perched on the back of the dragon was Queen Hufflepuff, who didn’t look the least bit terrified of the creature. His jaw dropped again.

The purple fairy stifled a laugh before clasping her hands together. “Come along now, we must greet our Queen. It’s time to rejoice at her return, yes?”

The councilman looked at her in bewilderment. “But the threat of war is still upon us, we can not celebrate until—”

A messenger suddenly burst into the room. “Forgive my intrusion,” the girl said firmly. “But I have urgent news from King Renaud.”

His face paled and he wrung his hands in worry. “Oh, he has probably sent word that his troops are coming or—or his army is going to invade the castle any moment now!”

“Actually, the king has requested a conference with all the kingdoms, including Endiac, to discuss matters of peace.”

The councilman’s jaw dropped for the third time that day.

Soon after, the dragon became the protector of Endiac, occasionally appearing when there was trouble. Despite the fact that the creature was on their side, it was difficult for everyone to warm up to the beast at first.

One day, a villager trudged to a nearby creek with a wash bin. When she arrived, she nearly screamed and covered her mouth in shock. The basket dropped, clothes spilling out onto the dirt. A child stood before the dragon that she had heard about but never seen before. Their sizes were drastically different, for the massive creature loomed over the small boy. His hand was raised, his soft flesh inches away from its snout.

The woman was about to run back to the village and call for help, but what happened next stopped her in her tracks. Instead of chomping down on the boy’s hand as she had expected, the dragon slowly leaned into his touch.

A toothy grin spreading across his face, the pleasantly surprised boy smoothed his fingers across the small bumps that were scattered across its face. His tiny hands looked sweet and comical against the vast surface of smooth scales.

“Draugin,” the boy exclaimed in delight. “Draugin!!”

She noticed something and edged closer. Was the ‘draugin’…smiling? “What in the heavens,” she whispered in wonder.

The creature suddenly swerved its head and looked right at her. It immediately backed away from the boy and took flight, its wings creating a torrent of wind as it flew towards the castle. She stared at the fading dot of the dragon for a moment before checking in on the boy, who was unscathed.

The woman spread the word of what she saw that day. At first, no one believed her. However, a man from another village encountered something similar when he was exploring the forest and saw the dragon shooting sparks of fire into the air next to a girl who clapped and cooed at the pretty display—and another villager did too, and so did another one, and another one, and so on. Soon, everyone realized that the supposedly fearsome beast wasn’t so bad after all. The citizens of Endiac had come to treat the dragon as its own.

Besides that, there weren’t any disputes of opposition to Queen Hufflepuff’s place on the throne. For one, no one wanted to be met with a fiery death by the hand, or should I say claw, of the dragon, who seemed awfully protective of her. Second, nobody desired to overthrow the queen, for she was considered one of the greatest rulers of her time.

Hufflepuff commanded rooms and people alike with simple words. She carried her gentleness as an asset and not a burden, but didn’t shy from firmness. It was as if she were always destined to be Queen.

A woman by the name of Slytherin was appointed as Hufflepuff’s second-in-command. Everyone loved her, for she was quite charming and knew how to engage someone in a fun conversation. She visited the villagers and explored their markets when she had the chance. The footpaths were often crowded with stalls selling sacks of nuts and dried fruit, or meat roasting on roasting skewers. Rich and unfamiliar scents cut through the air, so heavy she could taste them in her mouth. She always drifted to the sweets section, her eyes gleaming at the array of desserts that ranged from treacle tarts to cauldron cakes. Not only that, but she examined their inventions and creations, expressing her fascination whenever she saw something new or interesting.

“So,” Slytherin pondered, engrossed in a painting. “These are two pretty best friends?”

“No, Your Grace, there can never be two pretty best friends,” a citizen explained, pointing at a figure in the portrait. “One of them has got to be ugly.”

Hufflepuff and Slytherin were leaning against the railing of the balcony that overlooked the kingdom. Night had fallen, but their surroundings were lit with festivities to celebrate the rule of their benevolent queen.

Hufflepuff gazed upon floating orbs of gold that danced and twirled in the air. Lanterns were illuminated like stars across the inky black sky. Those on the water merged with the reflections of those in the heavens, creating an unearthly experience. Her father was right. This was a marvelous sight indeed.

Slytherin watched as some of the villagers play around with magic. She smiled pleasantly when green sparks flew from the tips of their wands. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, she turned to the side, capturing Hufflepuff’s warm gaze with her own. “Is something wrong, my sweet,” she asked softly, clasping their hands together.

Hufflepuff merely shook her head and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Nothing at all, love. It’s just…”

She let out a hum of amusement before pressing their foreheads together. “A queen and a dragon. Who would’ve thought,” she said softly, smiling like the sun, and Slytherin felt as if she fell just as hard as she had years earlier.

Her gaze softened as she thought about the day she met Hufflepuff, the moment when green met brown, the instant when their worlds collided. Her heart swelled with affection as she thanked her lucky stars that she met her wife on that fateful day.

She leaned in for a kiss and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. She finally pulled away and brushed her nose against Hufflepuff’s.

Slytherin rested her hand below her ear, their breaths mingling as her thumb caressed her cheek.

“Even fate picks its favorites sometimes.”

MASTERLIST (ง ͠° ͟ل͜ ͡°)ง << (sometimes links don’t work for some reason; if you can’t see it, just go to my profile. there, you shall find my masterlist, which is the pinned post.)

Let me know how you felt about the fic! I welcome your glorious keysmashes, incoherent thoughts, screeches of happiness, or a simple “oh my gucci gumdrops.” comment--basically anything! I ALSO APPRECIATE THOSE LUSCIOUS REBLOGS!

PARTIALLY BASED ON THIS LITTLE SNIPPET <<

here is link in case the clickable link is not working:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/8kvv8t/wp_nobody_dared_go_near_the_tower_as_a_fearsome/

AUTHOR’S NOTE: ***Includes deleted scenes, memes, analysis of scenes, updates on blog/life, and all kinds of fun stuff***

(this story was originally supposed to be posted on Thanksgiving but then I didn’t finish, so I will just leave what I had originally written for the author’s note on Thanksgiving. basically the text outside the parenthesis is what i wrote for thanksgiving, which was a month ago. however, I will still write more.)

HI!! Hoped you love that because I love all of you dearly. OK HERE WE GO W THE LONG AUTHORS NOTE;it is a little disorganized and you will get whiplash from how fast i change topics:

First of all, today is thanksgiving (bruh not anymore -current jessica) but fuck that tbh. At first i was excited about this holiday because my family celebrates and its a chance for me to give thanks to special people. this day is supposed to give “warm” and “happy” feelings; in truth, colonists are bitches, Christopher Columbus is a very terrible person who commited mass genoicides, so this is a shitty holiday because colonists created it to mask all the destruction that they caused. Despite this god forsaken day, i would like to give my thanks to you all for being spectacular and amazing, because i hit 600 followers a while ago; does anyone remember that? Its kinda embarrassing how i was like “yall know what that means” and then i proceeded to not post a fanfic until weeks later (hi everyone, this is the current jessica and i am here to laugh at myself because the past me did NOT know that i would be posting this a MONTH LATER). Nevertheless im here now so hi! :D did anyone think i wasnt gonna post a fanfic for november? Granted, it was definitely much later than i would have normally posted; usually i post the monthly fanfic at the beginning of the year, but i was busy with school and college stuff.

it is likely that i will not be posting a fanfic for december because thats the most important month in terms of college stuff. If i get it done early, i will write bc i am essentially free from all the college stuff, and by then, i will explode with happiness and have time to write!

lmaoaoao this is me whenever someone is like, when are you gonna finish part 2 of cheater or update the slytherpuff series?

(hello this is the current jessica again and i have another meme that represents my sporadic writing style:

me on thanksgiving: hi everyone haha im posting the fanfic in 10 min!!!

me on new year’s eve: hey.....how y’all doin.... (if you get that reference, i love you)

ok bye continue reading what the past me said. actually u know what, lets talk some smack about her, i secretly despise her, lmk how u feel about the past jessica like omg girl just shut up--LMAO IM KIDDING)

This fanfic used to be a fairytale that I wrote for english class last year. I changed the names and the ending. It is quite different now! the old ending is funny and weird because we were supposed to hint at a larger lesson in life, and i chose “dont judge a book by its cover”. i guess that does apply to the changed story now because huff didn't think that sly was as scary as her appearance made her out to be.

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ok hi AGAIN this is current jessica. the past me said that if anyone wants to see the original fairytale, comment and lmk and i shall post it as a reblog to this post. however i decided to just include it right here, right now:

“Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess named Liesel who lived with her family in a glorious castle on the top of the hill that overlooked the entire kingdom. Her father, King Aeneas, ruled over the subjects of Endiac, a lush land that stretched for miles and was full of magical creatures. Everyone loved the royal family and lived in harmony with the neighboring kingdoms. The subjects especially loved Princess Liesel, who was as generous as a fairy and as beautiful as a unicorn. Everyone lived happily under the reign of King Aeneas and his family.

All was peaceful in Endiac until King Aeneas fell terribly ill. Everyone grew anxious for his recovery, especially Princess Liesel. Kneeling next to her father on his bedside, Liesel called to the fairies and cried, “Please help my father get better. The kingdom will surely collapse without him!” However, the fairies did not know of any cure for the king’s strange illness. All the magical herbs they had given to him did nothing to help his condition. By nightfall, the subjects were devastated to hear that King Aeneas had passed away.

When Liesel was crowned Queen, chaos reigned the once beloved kingdom. Immediately after neighboring kingdoms received word that King Aeneas died, they declared war on Endiac and vowed to overthrow the Queen because a girl couldn’t possibly lead a kingdom. Liesel quickly called the fairies and asked them what she should do.

The purple fairy exclaimed, “You need to show them that you’re strong enough to lead the kingdom!” and poofed a scroll into Liesel’s hand. “There’s a dragon that lives near Endiac. It is supposedly so fearsome that no one dares to go near it!”

Liesel looked at the fairy in fear and shook her head. “And what am I supposed to do with that delightful piece of information?”

“You must defeat the dragon to show the kingdom that you’re strong enough to lead the people!”

Liesel was about to object but the pink fairy sprinkled courage dust around her, transforming Liesel into a brave knight.

“You’re absolutely right! I must defeat this dragon and prove that I can lead my kingdom!” Liesel exclaimed, marching out of the room and towards her destiny. When Liesel finally got to the dragon’s nest, the courage dust wore off and she looked around in confusion.

“Where am I?” she asked. Liesel slowly looked up, only to find two enormous green eyes staring back. She thought that she was gonna become the dragon’s meal for sure, but something surprising happened.

The dragon suddenly smiled and said, “Hello, how do you do? You’re the first visitor I’ve ever had! I get quite lonely sometimes.”

Liesel stopped cowering in fear. “You’re not gonna eat me,” she asked.

The dragon said in bewilderment, “Of course not, I’m a vegan!”

Liesel shook her head in disbelief and exclaimed, “But you’re the fearsome dragon that everyone talks about!”

The dragon exploded with booming laughter. “Yes, some dragons tell me I can be quite intimidating. But you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover! It’s quite rude.”

Liesel apologized and had a long talk with the dragon about everything that’s been going on. The dragon happened to have a very good solution that would help both of them.

A little girl was playing with her toys when a big shadow flew over the kingdom. She looked up in surprise to see Queen Liesel riding the fearsome dragon that she’s always heard about.

Soon after, the dragon became the protector of Endiac and was lonely no longer. In fact, the dragon had a lot of fun giving the subjects a ride around the kingdom. As for Queen Liesel, no one dared to question her ability to rule the kingdom of Endiac. After all, anyone who was able to befriend a “fearsome” dragon was able to lead a kingdom.”

OK YEA THATS IT! i feel like maybe i was always destined to be a writer of some sort because when i was writing the original story that u just read (above), i wrote above the max pages that i was supposed to write for english class and i was desperate to write even more, so i emailed the teacher and was like CAN I DO SINGLE SPACE so that it frees up more space and i could write more and she said, “i think you know the answer to that” and i was like :( bc it meant i had to do doublespace. i am glad i went back to the story and changed it to what it is now. its kinda funny how it went from 3 pages double-spaced to about sixty pages on the google docs (which included the author’s note so the story that u are reading now is probably around 40 to 50 pages, which is still a lot).

anyways back to the original author’s note:

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“Aeneas” sounds like anus and i laughed about it yesterday bc im weird

There were plenty of small things that didnt make much sense when you read the story for the first time. However, after you reread it, you pick up on stuff- like how slytherin reacted when she saw hufflepuff’s wand. you will realize later on that it was because of the witch who welded a similar-looking wand, which is explained later on. I remember reading this post that said that the best written works are the ones in which there are small hints and things to decipher. After you reread it, you pick up on the small clues, which makes it so much better because youre like oh damn why didnt i catch that before? I tried doing that- i started to continue writing it a few days ago; yesterday i stayed up until 1 am writing it but i bullshitted the ending bc i was very tired; i spent most of today changing the ending, then going back to the middle, changing and adding stuff, then rereading everything and editing anything that felt odd or needed something more of. i made sure to maneuver most of their conversation into answering questions that the reader had: why didnt sly use her wings to get off the bridge, how is sly a dragon, etc.

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HELLO IT IS THE CURRENT JESSICA ONCE AGAIN! basically, i would like to add on to past jessica’s point above on how i went back and added more stuff. the reason why it took so long for me to write this and post it is because i added a lot more scenes, such as the part in which you meet Helia and read her backstory. that did not exist at all. there was no helia. however, i added it to emphasize on the idea of “fate” and how her father died and hufflepuff was destined to be queen now and meet slytherin.

i also included the part with king renaud. he did not exist at all when i was ready to post for thanksgiving. however i decided to add that because the readers are left confused--theres a plot hole that must be filled! after all, the goulrich king sent his guards after hufflepuff to kill her. when i was looking over the fanfic weeks ago, i was like UH HELLO WTF DOES SHE DO ABOUT IT??? so i added that and i hated it. well i didnt hate it, but it was quite tedious to write. i have never known so much about swordfighting than i do now lamdihsdmsfi like oh my gosh i rlly did the most. i read articles and watched videos on people fighting with swords, daggers, etc.

anyways, i knew that i would have to write a lot for the fight scene between hufflepuff and renaud. it had to be more compared to that with the guards, bc this is the KING. the fight will be more intense. huff will struggle more, etc. i got stuck on that part and was agitated because its just hard trying to learn all the different moves and write about it and try to engage the reader while doing all of that bc i didnt wanna drone on and on about them fighting, like “she smacked him. he blocked and stabbed her arm.” i wanted to be like OO SHE DID THIS BUT HE DID THAT AND THEN SHE SAID SOMETHING COOL AND HE RETORTED WITH SOMETHING ELSE, ETC.

other scenes that i added were the flashback with the dad and when hufflepuff asks slytherin to stay in endiac. in the fic that was going to be posted on thanskgiving, there was none of that. instead, as you saw near the end, it indicated that slytherin was staying at endiac, but there was NO DISCUSSION OF IT. DO U SEE THE PLOTHOLE?! i sure did. there were many scattered throughout the story. not only that, but sometimes more is better. for instance, i also added the scene in which the citizens start liking the dragon. i wanted to show how glorious and fun slytherin is.

i also added the part where hufflepuff chooses to stay and fight francis after slytherin told her to run when they caught her at the grassyfield place. in the original, hufflepuff just runs. AND I DID NOT LIKE THAT! i was like bruh why did i do that, i should change it so that hufflepuff stays bc before she was feeling guilty and now sly is telling her to run AGAIN and she just... does??!?!? so i decided to write even more and make her fight someone, who led to more research and more time used in writing, hence the delay. its kinda funny tho like

sly: run hufflepuff!

huff: ok

sly: WAIT COME BACK I DIDNT MEAN IT--

hahaahdhahah ok anyways it was funny in the scene where it said, “slytherin was hufflepuff’s second-in-command”. u know those stories in the faraway past in which there were two women who lived together and never married and shared a bed and people were like, “awww they were best friends!”; yea that reminds me of “she was her second-in-command” like hahahdsj yea sure ok

also if u reread the story, u will notice some connections, like how huff’s dad said “u were destined to be queen” and now that huff is ruling over the kingdom, it said that she was a wonderful queen and it was as if she were always destined to be queen. also there is a connection between the scenes in which renaud was choking hufflepuff and the story said “oh if only she had more time” as in “shes gonna die soon, she will never know what it was like to spend time w sly or just live life” but after the battle was over and everything was good again, the story implied “and they would--because they had all the time in the world”. ISNT THAT SO SWEET!!! i also loveeee the ending, because throughout the fic, it emphasized the idea of fate and the line “even fate picks its favorites” is very heartwarming.

finally lets discuss slytherin at the end of the story. i guess some people might be wondering, arent the people of endiac confused when they saw slytherin? shes famous and is technically supposed to be dead bc she was from a while ago (i didnt add a specific time thing, like i didnt say “oh she lived hundreds of years ago” because i dont care, its up to the reader or whatever, i just felt like it was unnecessary to include). anyways yea ppl might be confused, because renaud and his guards did recognize slytherin, so whats gonna happen with that? well there was no implication that hufflepuff recognized slytherin immediately or knew of her past, so lets just say that slytherin lived in a faraway kingdom to the point where people in endiac never really heard of her famous knighthood shenanigans, as in its not very widespread like people in endiac arent making a huge deal out of it. besides that, lets think of Endiac as the “Hufflepuff of Kingdoms” if that makes sense. king aeneas was known to be amazing and generous and kind, and so is hufflepuff, and overall everyone loves them, which connects to how people feel about hufflepuffs. thus, when people realize that it is slytherin wildhorn who is with them, they wont judge her or be like WHAT IN THE WORLD WTF, theyll be chill and be like cool! or ok nice to meet u gorl!

anyways thats all for now. toodles from current jessica and back to past j

_______

Also YESSS MY FIRST LGBT+ FANFIC!!!! I fucking loved writing this, it was so glorious and lovely. The reason why im suddenly mentioning this is because i gave a hint on hufflepuff’s sexuality when the councilman was like hey marry the prince and she was like NAH

Hufflepuff when she saw slytherin:

It was just a tad bit difficult to use “she/her” pronouns for both of them because i had to decipher who was saying what. an example of how it was difficult is “she put her hand over hers” and stuff like that. Hopefully you werent too confused in some moments, i rlly tried my best to make it flow well. however i dont wanna sound like im complaining, there is absolutely nothing wrong w that and this will certainly not be the only LGBT+ story i write. Gosh i kept writing straight couple fanfics and i felt iffy about it bc representation and diversity in writing is important to me.

also FUCK YES LETS ALL STAN THE FAIRIES!!! i tried to hint that they knew all along what was gonna happen. i showed my sister the fanfic before posting it and when she read the ominous moment when the fairy was like “hufflepuff will meet her fate soon enough”, she was like are the fairies gonna be evil?... and i didnt answer and looked at her like

and she was like ok yea the fairies are probably gonna be evil

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hi its me again. im gonna start the section for bonus scenes bc i am sure that many of you are excited for that. also the past me did not intend on having a section for that, but since i deleted some scenes, i will do that now:

“Many subjects gathered around a mural for Hufflepuff and bestowed gifts before her statue, thankful to be under her benevolent reign. As more people came to give thanks to their queen, someone questioned her marital status. “I dont think she ever married,” a man spoke up.

“That’s a shame,” another subject sighed, looking up at the statue. “She’s quite beautiful. I don’t understand why a king hasn’t asked for her hand in marriage.”

Little did they know that the queen had indeed found true love, her heart in the hands of a courageous being with strikingly green eyes that glowed with warmth and affection for a special someone.”

I decided to delete this at the end because lets not make the citizens ignorant and heteronormative.................. it just wasnt necessary and didnt feel right so i deleted.

Slytherin scrunched her nose as she recalled the event. “I thought I had successfully defeated all of them, but I turned my back too soon.” She bitterly shook her head at the mistake. “I should’ve just killed them where they stood.”

Hufflepuff squeezed her hand gently and assured her that she was proud of her regardless of that. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead right now.” She frowned as she thought back to what had happened a few moments ago. “I didn’t know you could turn back into a dragon.”

I deleted this, which was originally supposed to be the part when sly saves huff from falling. after the rescue, she originally said this but i deleted it bc it doesnt flow well. basically when they land safely on the ground, huff asks “what happened before, how did they capture you after i left?” and that is slytherins reply. at first i had written that to indicate what happened bc readers are like, “wait what i thought sly was a badass, how did they defeat her?” but then i deleted it. imagine if you just fell from a cliff and ur friend rescued you and immediately youre like “sooooo about that thing from before..” instead of asking “DUDE HOW DID U TURN INTO A DRAGON?!?!” thus, i changed it so that huff was like wait bruv how are u a dragon?

She also loved spinning tales when they all gathered around the campfire, and told them about adventures concerning dragons and creatures alike. Some of the neighboring kingdoms thought her to be unusual, but they didn’t dare to mock her. No one wanted to mess with her after watching her train some soldiers in the courtyard.

i deleted this scene in which it discusses what slytherin’s life is like now (i.e. the part in which she talks to the villagers and visits them and tries new stuff. ALSO WAIT HOLD UP CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE TWO PRETTY BEST FRIENDS THING BC I HAVE NEVER LAUGHED SO HARD IN THE ENTIRE LIFE WHEN I THOUGHT OF THAT. HEY G UR PROBABLY READING THIS RN AND U KNOW IM REFERRING TO U BC SOMETIMES I CALL U G, THIS IS THE PART THAT I TOLD U ABOUT, I TOLD U THAT U WOULD UNDERSTAND IMMEDIATELY THAT IT WAS THE JOKE I TOLD U VIA INSTA LMAOAO!! the idea sprung to me in the morning and every time i thought about it, i just started cackling, like full on.) ok anways yea i just deleted the scene bc it was unnecessary and i felt like ending it off with the joke was fine and funny

ok thats all the deleted scenes.

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NOW ITS TIME FOR ANALYSIS:

“Slytherin had a pleasant smile as she watched some of her subjects play around with magic, green swirls sparkling from the tips of their wands.” This is an indication that she is ok with her past now.

“If you need forgiveness, I’ll give that to you. You’re forgiven, okay?” Does anyone watch The 100? If so, this is a bellarke reference!

“The forest? That would be too dangerous, seeing as how there were plenty of dangerous people who roamed throughout the woods, looking for an easy target.” This was hint of what was about to happen in regards to the bad men who wanted to kill huff, being that they emerged from the forest.

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hi its me again, i am including more analysis for the new scenes that i implemented after the past authors note:

“With a heavy heart, she prepared for the long journey ahead.” This is not just a reference to the horse ride back to the castle, but for the actual journey concerning hufflepuff’s growth as a person and queen and confidence

“Is something wrong, my sweet,” she asked softly, clasping their hands together.” it is lovely to see how slytherin addresses hufflepuff compared to then and now, from Your Majesty to My Sweet. AINT THAT CUTEEE:))

__________

This is an image that represents how i imagined the cliff looked like:

Fyi, while i was editing stuff, i went back to the middle and added some dialogue for hufflepuff so that she sounds like a really good friend and a great person who kept comforting sly when she was sad about her past. It shows that theyre compatible for each other! Its also a classic slytherpuff dynamic in which sly is a badass who will fight anyone to the death if they harm hufflepuff. Also can we just appreciate slytherin whos a total badass??? The “woman” part was fucking POWERFUL!! I loved writing her, shes one of my favorite characters bc shes a fucking badass like YES SHE DID THAT!!!!

Me while i was writing slytherin fighting the bad guys:

Hufflepuff when Slytherin said “This’ll be fun” before she fought the men:

slytherin watching hufflepuff fight renaud and say “im a queen”:

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me again with new meme:

Renaud staring at slytherin and hufflepuff flirt with each other in that scene when she bowed and was like AFTER U while hes trying to write the treaty:

lowkey i just wanted to write,

“no you go ahead” “no u go, ur a queen” “no u should go, ur a wonderful soldier” “no i insist” “no *i* insist” “ok bitch can u shut the fuck up and just go-”

______

i asked my sister what she thought about this sentence: ““But this wasn’t the first time that happened, was it, Slytherin Wildhorn?” (original version before changed) and I felt iffy about it because there seemed to be too many commas, and I asked if it were grammatically correct. She changed it to ““But this wasn’t the first time that happened... was it, Slytherin Wildhorn?” and i legit started screaming and i said OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and she said OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and our voices synced up and it was just so chaotic and funny

This is for all of you for 600!! Thank you very much, i definitely have more than 600 now because its been a while since i hit that mark but i still wanna say thanks very very much!! Love you muchooooo<3

Ok, onto stuff that ISNT related to this fanfic: For the original slytherpuff series, I took out most of the smut and moved it to another big series. its weird to have the smut in the original series, because it would take place during their 7th year- huff and sly would be 18, which is still eh. Its unrealistic and very typical in american movies and the media. It sets up very unrealistic expectations, and some people feel bad when they havent had their first kiss yet when theyre in college, and i do NOT wanna promote that image in my fanfiction. I always felt iffy about it because they would technically be like seniors in high school, and not everyone has sex during that time, and that is often forced onto people through the media in movies, like OO IM HAVING SEX!! IM 17 AND IM HAVING SEX, WBU BITCH?? Bruh um no thank you. I felt SO much better when i moved it to the other series, bc in that series, theyre gonna be 18+

As implied in the previous paragraph, I made a new series that I had for a while but never really expanded the plot very much. i added a ton of details (from 4 to 18 pages in a span of 2 days- my creative juices reserved for writing were overspilling because i usually use those brain cells to write in the beginning of a month, but since i didnt, i just suddenly started writing a lot). in this series, huff and sly will be older like 19 or 20. I am so excited to write it, i probably wont write it for a long time bc i want to finish the first series first and idk when that will be bc its quite long

It will actually have a plot like a series of events. meanwhile the current series- after a certain point- will be fluff and not necessarily contribute to the plot bc theres theoretically no plot. thats how it resonates w the title “Slytherin x hufflepuff relationship” because its just about their relationship. there is no genuine plot except for their journey to relationship. After they actually get together, it will just be lots of fluff and rare indication of smut at all- it reminds me of headcannons or oneshots but i will not do that bc it is nice to know tht the fluff happened to this huff and sly couple specifically! The fluff is in terms of meeting parents, baking, rainy day, stuff like that

For the new series, u will be on your tippy toes, every chapter has a reason. meanwhile, current will be fun and sweet.

I think i have said this before but im saying it again: IM NOT CHANGING NAMES FOR CURRENT SERIES, I DONT LIKE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS AT ALL!! People know who huff and sly are, readers can replace the names with other characters or put themselves into the situation

To conclude, I love you all very very much. Be sure to comment how you felt about this and reblog are very very appreciated. Thank you and see you laterrrrrrrr<3!!!!

_____

OK HI FINALLY THAT IS ALL I WROTE FOR THE THANKSGIVING AUTHORS NOTE. whenever i did “_______” that meant that i was adding something new, as you could probably tell bc i reminded you every 5 seconds. whenever i had something new that related to the previous author’s note, like the meme section or analysis section, i did the line thing so that i could add to it. ok anywayssss i have MORE stuff to add.

i am donezo with college stuff, literally done with ALL of it. i thought this day would never come but i am here now and it is january and i am absolutely free and ecstatic!! that means i will start preparing to write chapter 4 of the ICONIC slytherpuff series :D and get started on other works as well.

however, i would like to address something important. i am going to copy and paste something that i put in that long google docs where i had written this fic and had the author’s note and everything. i pasted this a while ago (i wrote it a day after thanksgiving i think) from a chat with a friend bc i wanted to let yall see it (its like a life update mixed with a writing update thing):

“yesterday i stayed up until 4 am to do the tag list and it took me 4 hrs to do because i was trying to erase the people who wasn’t active or weren’t liking my fanfics because i usually put every follower on the tag list and it’s like 650 ppl but less than 250 liking the fanfics and it takes a lot of time to press each individual tag to choose who it is so i tried to do that but it was very annoying like i was using this website and it was not gucci for instance i put in all the names of the followers along w the names of ppl who liked every fanfic and it also included their name itself like mine is Jessica with that loki symbol urs is about george weasley i think so it was just messy and i had finally got it all to work when i combined two websites and used both of them but it was so frijcin annoying like at around 2 i thought i got an accurate list of ppl who were active but then i realized that some ppl weren’t on there like u or this other girl who likes many of the fanfics so i knew it was wrong but basically yea i stayed up late to do that stuff and then i was working on it this morning and i thought i would be posting it but then i thought of two new scenes and my mom wanted us to walk around the park but i said wait bc i wanted to finish and we ended up not going bc i took a nap at around 4 or soemthing bc i guess i was tired i felt very bad for delaying my family’s trip for the sake of the fanfic and i find myself always doing that like not going to eat dinner or hanging w my sister bc i need to write Anyways, when i woke up after staying up until 4 am, i talked to my sister and said that there was an imbalance of reblogs and likes and i’ve seen lots of posts talking about the importance of reblogs and when i was doing all of that yesterday like making the tag list, i noticed a constant number of reblogs among the fanfics it was usually around 20 while the likes were in the 200s and i was telling my sis about that and i was upset bc reblogs are important and it’s the least that ppl could do bc i’m writing all of that stuff and reblogs help push up the algorithm. however she said that at the end of the day, the reblogs will remain constant because i can’t force anyone to reblog. they’ll only reblog if they rlly like it and they don’t care enough to reblog and that hurt but she was right; she said she understands because she’s in a publishing company rn and so she understands why ppl wouldn’t reblog bc in publishing, they choose which books will become available to the public which is kinda like how ppl choose to reblog what they want to anways she told me “it sounds like ur always doing stuff for them. it’s always them then them, never you. YOU stayed up until 4 am to do the tag list, they didn’t ask for that, but u did. you’re the one doing all this stuff and it’s always for them, not for u. this is UR writing, so u should just do it for urself bc if u only write for them, then it’s just no good because you need to love writing to be able to keep doing it” and she was absolutely right. if i keep thinking about what other people think and what other ppl need instead of thinking of myself, it would not be good. i should be allowing myself to rest and actually enjoy writing instead of forcing myself to so i was thinking about all of that before i took the nap and by that time i was just exhausted because i spent most of the day working on the fanfic and i was like wow jessica ur spending ANOTHER day on this?? and i had been working on this fight scene with swords and i was doing the most, like watching videos of ppl fighting, reading articles about techniques, etc. i just got sad bc i was like there u go again, not caring about urself and just putting all ur energy into making other people happy while ignoring ur own needs and so i closed the computer and laid down and i cried a little because i was like no one even cares about you so why are u putting so much effort into making them happy?? and then i thought about getting back up and letting you and giselle know that i’m probably gonna post the fanfic tomorrow but then i felt rlly anxious because i wanted to say “sorry!! posting it tomorrow” and i got angry at myself because i was doing it again, it was as if i owe it to everyone that i must post the fanfic. i realized i don’t need to be apologetic or explain myself because i’m still gonna be posting the fanfic, but i’m gonna do it on my own time so that i’m not forcing myself to get things done and so i talked to my sister again after i woke up and i said that i read this post once about how writing fan fiction shouldn’t only be about the likes and reblogs bc if i’m doing everything for everyone else, then i’m probably not enjoying it because i’m just doing it for them, not myself. i realized that i should write because i love writing itself so i decided that i’m gonna write whenever i went and go at a good pace for myself instead of making monthly fanfics, though i’m sure i will still post monthly because every month i get a burst of energy to write and also fuxk that dumbass tag list i’m not gonna do it again only tagging the people who actually asked so this i will learn to love writing more so that i can continue writing in the future”

i have changed greatly and i am different from how i was in november. i know this because i remembered that on thanksgiving, i was primarily focused on writing the fic instead of spending time with family. on christmas (a few days ago), i had wanted to finish writing by that time to post for the holiday but i realized i would not be able to post it in time. instead of working on the fic on christmas to get it done, i decided to put it aside and be with my family and friends--and i am very glad and proud of myself for doing that! as a person who is very empathic and is always very wrapped up with giving and receiving love from others, i find myself putting others before myself, which is not healthy. i am learning to take a step back and see the bigger picture: this is my blog, and for a while it felt like it was controlling me but in reality i was just forcing myself to do stuff that i didnt wanna do but i did it for the sake of other people. this is demonstrated in my desire to write during holidays so that readers will be happy instead of just relaxing and doing stuff that i actually wanna be doing like being w my fam. dont get me wrong, i do like writing! however, these tendencies to just write and write and write get extreme sometimes. but on christmas, i had a very wonderful time and have learned a lot about myself and loving myself and putting my own wellbeing first and just being chill with tumblr and this blog.

i am done with college stuff, which means that i have less stress and worries. originally, i planned to use this time to write and produce works and go on a binge in which i just keep writing. however, i have decided that i am just gonna connect with my inner soul and being, and write when i want to. i usually post fanfics monthlybecause thats just how i work, so perhaps that will stay the same bc thats just how it is, OR maybe ill write even quicker and post more frequently. maybe ill just come and go. the moral of the story is that im doing me and im focusing on myself and thinking about what i want instead of trying to appease people all the time. in other words, i write when i want to!

also, as some of you know, i am no longer doing incorrect quotes, which made up majority of my blog. basically i realized a couple of days ago that most of my followers probably come from the incorrect quotes. i got followers every day from those because they are easy and quick to produce, which helps me gain a big following. i decided to stop doing those posts all together bc i just want my blog to be one thing only, not fanfics AND incorrect quotes. the fact that the majority of people came to my blog for the incorrect quotes means that my fanfic attention has an indirect relationship to the incorrect quotes, so theres more attention going to those posts instead of the stories. if i just post fanfics from now on, i get less follower notifications everyday but thats ok bc when i just start posting fanfics, i will get a steady stream of followers from that and more people will be here for the fanfics instead of the incorrect quotes. i remember when i tagged 500 ppl for one of my stories and less than 200 interacted. i shouldnt have done that bc most of them were probably there for the incorrect quotes and some are bots or inactive, ofc. the tag list that i have now was generated from websites so theyre compiled of people who have interacted with ym stories at least twice so that i know theyre constant readers.

OH WAIT ACTUALLY YES LETS TALK ABOUT YOU GUYS!

happy new years, first of all! its 12:53 am rn but im not that tired. that terrible night (mentioned in those texts that i sent to my friend that u read from above), when i was trying to make a better taglist instead of just tagging all my followers, i noticed a repetition of some people’s usernames, which means that they interact a lot with my fanfics and i would like to give shout-outs and stuff.

wait, before i do, i also wanna add a THANK YOU<3 to all those people who tagged me in those “happy new year, tag people who made 2020 gucci for u.” even tho i dont respond to those sometimes, i want you all to know that i see them!!! I DO! and i wanna say thank you so very much, it means a lot to me and i appreciate you sosososos much! theres a person who tagged me recently, i forgot their username but it started with “winter” and i think their pfp was a orange fox? so if ur reading this rn and think this is u, it probably is and i wanna say thank u and i love u and ur lovely!!!! OH WAIT HI OK I SAW THE USERNAME, ITS @writtenfoxscreams , THANK U!!!

ok, back to the thanks, here we go:

@luciferswife16 i love our mutual love for loki and i love ur asks, ur a very kind and amazing person and i like ur energy and ur so very wonderful and amazing

@walkinganomaly i like u, ur nice and sweet and lvoely and i wanna hug u

@mossy-axolotl AAAAAAA DUDE i searched up ur username but forgot it so i legit scrolled through all my posts to find an ask u sent to see ur username and i finally found it and i did all that bc i will never forget ur first ask in which u were sosososoo nice and i rlly didnt expect it bc no one was sending asks for a while and you were a sudden burst of fresh energy and I LOVE YOU DUDE.

@eatacrackerandstop goodness gracious giselle i could type up a whole ass paragraph about you. you are one of my closest, if not one of the two top tippity top closest online friends ever and i legit can NOT express enough appreciation for you. thank you for being u, u are such an amazing person and u would probably drown in all my love and hearts. i am thankful for the smallest things, like how when you tag me in those ask challenge post thingies, you write my username first and thats legit so small and maybe im a little crazy for noticing that. its a small detail, yet i am so grateful and crying over that???? im not actually crying, but i would give u a big big BIG hug if i could <3 LOVE U LOTS! (inside joke hafudnsajdc do u get it gorl) oh wait also imma just mention, i would’ve put ur username first in my list of “THANK YOU”s but i was looking at my tag list and going through all the names from top to bottom so thats why i did not talk about u first and its kinda mean how i was liek THANK U FOR PUTTING ME FIRST but i ddint do the same for u. when i was writing stuff for mossy, i was like hmm why am i feeling a swell of appreciation, how about i direct the full force of it on GISELLE and it fired up and i was like hohoohohoho oh my gosh lemme write a BOOK about her and my happiness for our lovely friendship ok ok this is getting long ok bye

@nevilletheplantboi girl u already know i love u dude we became close SO fast and i am not surprised because we are queens and we know this. since it is ur birthday coming up, i will not write as much of a paragraph as i want to rn bc i am saving all that love and energy into another time (aka writing a page for ur birthday lmaoaoa) ok just know i adore u gorl

@autumnleaves hi, i wanted to say thank u for congratulating me on my college post thing, i didnt forget it but didnt reply bc i was doing stuff and i forgot to reply but i remembered now and THABNK TOU I LOVE U THAT WAS SO NICE!!

@trashpannda @x-whatsupdoc-x @another-witch @justanxiousme THANK U FOR UR SUPPORT, I NOTICED U FREQUENTLY DURING MY CREATION OF THE NEW TAG LIST AND I FUCKING LOVE U GUYS OH MY FRICKIN GOD

@pond-waterr yess omg ur a big one! when i failed at creating a tag list and knew that it was a faulty one bc there were some people who i KNEW interacted a lot with my fanfics but their usernames didnt appear on the list, U WERE ONE OF THEM!! I LOVE YOU!!! THANK YOU :D

@qixnsriess ur amazing, thank u very very much, ur special and i hope u have a great day

ok there are definitely more people who have interacted me, and i apologize if i did not mention u. just know that on that day when i was making the tag list, i repeatedly saw ur username and thought in my cloud of sleepy despair bc i worked on it until 4 am and was practically breaking down bc i was frustrated and didnt understand how to make a good taglist, “gosh i love them, i am very appreciative”. LOVE U!

this is goodbye for now!! let me know what you thought of the story, i soak in the feedback like its juice. that doesnt even make sense. its 1:15 am. i have stuff to do like update my masterlist. TOODELEOODOE

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