You were always so annoyed when other trolls would go around calling you the Emperor-in-Training. They would glub, glub, glub about you being "the first Emperor in sweeps!" and "how could the Empress herself ever fight you?" In return, you'd puff out your chest (your meager blubber-sacs), shake out your hair, and demand your subjects to stop that nonsense! because you were going to be the Empress , just like Her Imperial Condescension before you.

Nobody understood. Not even Eridan, your moirail.

And even though you were decidedly going to be the Empress , the other sea-dwellers your age laughed at you. Just because you had what they said was a bone bulge didn't mean you couldn't be the B-EST -EMPR-ESS -EV-ER! You were Feferi Peixes, you were the Empress -in-training, and you'd be damned if you let their stupid glubbing get to you.

Gl'bgloylb tried to understand, but she had been just as excited to have an Emperor that she couldn't. But her tentacles were warm, and she called you her "little Empress," and it was all okay.

Even when Eridan sometimes called you names.

So you found others who understood you, who knew exactly how you felt without the pressure of all Alternia on their backs.

First you met Gamzee, who was just one level below Eridan, and Gamzee was different. Gamzee never cared about what other trolls said. Gamzee would wear a dress and loose bulge-supporters or pants and makeup. "wHo MoThErFuCkIn' CaReS, eMpReSs?" And Gamzee, in turn, introduced you to someone called Terezi.

"TH3 L4W DO3SNT H4V3 4 BON3 BULG3 OR NOOK," Terezi would tell you, "4ND 1 4M TH3 L4W! :]" Terezi was loud and irreverent, and you found comfort in the teal-colored troll's self-assured nature.

The other high-bloods would chide you for talking with a teal-blood, even a legislacerator like Terezi. "Gamzee," they would say, "is the lowest you can go, and he's a bit off." You ignored them, of course, because they tried to put Gamzee in a place that simply did not fit Gamzee.

"dOn'T lEt ThE hAtErS gEt YoU dOwN, sIsTeR!" But Gamzee didn't mind, and you didn't want to mind in Gamzee's place.

So you ignored the hAtErS, and you continued to be the Empress, and you made friends through Terezi. You met Karkat, who was sometimes "A FUCKING BOY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH" and sometimes "A FUCKING GIRL, GET OFF MY BONE BULGE" and sometimes "WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT MATTER TO YOU." He was so angry, but you could see where it came from: because he was just as shunned, shoved aside as you were. Karkat was an anonymous grey, and it spoke very well for him.

Karkat introduced you to Sollux, who was fond of the letter i and mediated between two odds at all times. Sie was a battle between cool calculations and self-directed hate. You found yourself liking hir very, very much; even though sie was only a yellowblood, there was a certain air about hir that kept you reeled in.

But Sollux had a matesprit already, called Aradia. Aradia was peculiar and sweet at the same time. Ey was a good fit for Sollux, you could see that already.

Gamzee was the one who introduced you to the idea of supplements to support your too-small blubber sacs. Gamzee spent nights making you multi-colored pouches that were soft and full and made your chest stick out like your gills. Karkat told you all about ways to make your bone bulge disappear seamlessly; Sollux suggested that you use rags to make your pelvic fins look larger.

They're your friends. They truly understand you; more than Gl'bgolyb, more than Eridan, more than the Condesce herself.

Now (because of them) you can let your hair loose in the water. You can let the soft petals of your skirt float around you without feeling too conscious of your bone bulge.

You are Feferi Peixes, and you are the Empress. She is you.