I don't own Hilda.

Hilda had to have been unconscious for a few hours, for when she awoke, the room was dark. She was on a soft, squishy surface. A bed? Had it been a dream after all?

There was a soft ticking sound from above her and a thin sliver of light in the shape of a crescent on the wall. It felt somewhat unnatural and yet vaguely familiar all at once.

She got up to look for a light in the room- but once she got onto her feet, she felt nearly weightless, and the feeling forced her to sit down again.

The crescent on the wall suddenly opens, slowly, a burst of light revealing a little bit of the room. It wasn't her house, for sure, but she couldn't help but feel that she'd been here before. She shields her eyes from the brightness, but finds that her old way of doing so did not help very much.

A soft little gasp from behind her catches her attention.

"You're awake! Thank goodness!"

Hilda jolts up. She was not used to Alfur's tiny voice being so loud.

When the light is finally turned on, Hilda finds that Alfur is... not very small now. In fact, he's taller than her. About as tall as her Mum would be to her, in comparison.

She can't really react much, other than silent shock- perhaps thinking she was still dreaming.

Alfur takes note of this, trying to empathize.

"...I would advise you to try not to take it all in at once," he says gently.

It takes a moment for it to sink in. Hilda looks down at her hands, only to find thin, black, stick-like appendages in lieu of them. Alfur sits down next to her, open for a hug. She clings to him, whimpering and shaking, trying not to black out again in panic. A thousand questions swarmed her mind but nothing could escape her lips.

Alfur had obviously expected this reaction, cradling her slightly in an attempt to calm her down. He realizes something, however, which makes him smile. He looks down at Hilda.

"This is our first hug, isn't it?"

The girl stops shivering to observe the moment, a small smile spreading across her pale face.

"I...I guess it is," she whispers. She rests her head against his chest, relishing the warmth. She looks up at him. She could see his face more clearly now than she used to- in one look, she found that elves have fur- his face looked fluffy, but she could still see rosy cheeks through it. Being cute for Alfur was a constant variable, she supposed.

"So... I'm an elf now?"

"Yep," Alfur responds flatly.

"Are you mad at me for messing with magic again?"

"Absolutely livid."

Hilda freezes. Alfur's soft smile hardened into an annoyed glare. She shrinks back a bit, having seen that face before, but now that she was so little, it had become strikingly intimidating. Funny how that works...

"In my defense, it was an enchanted book that could talk and it tricked me into casting this spell on myself," Hilda starts, but it wasn't until it was already said for her to realize how ridiculous that sounded.

Alfur blinks.

"...Normally, I would never believe that, but then again, you're Hilda. Stranger things have probably happened."

Hilda had prepared a whole other speech in her defense.

"I- oh. Touchè."

"Listen, I have to tell your mum that you're up, so," Alfur hops to the clock door and opens it, "be right back. You're pretty high up off the ground from here, so I don't want you to follow me, okay? You might fall. But feel free to look around."

Hilda glances at the massive, neatly piled stacks of now normal-sized papers on a desk, recognizing it as dollhouse furniture, by the bed, which she had realized was made from a sponge.

"Just don't mess up the paperwork," Alfur tells her before he leaves again.

Hilda stands up again, wishing the room had a mirror at least. It was a simple little thing; still mostly dollhouse furniture, and a little shelf with tiny picture frames. She wasn't tall enough to see them clearly, but there were faded photos in them.

The "ceiling" was full of turning clock gears, which was a given. It was almost soothing to watch and listen to.

The house shakes slightly with the sound of her mum's footsteps getting closer and closer. Opening the door slightly, she is shaken by how big her room looked. The plush Woffs and blankets that she could once hold would be more likely to smother her now. The biggest difference, though, had to be her mother. Considering she appeared to be the size of a forest giant to Hilda, the girl didn't want to imagine how real ones (or even Jorgen, especially) looked to Alfur.

"...Mum?"

Johanna holds her hands out for Hilda, watching as she gingerly steps from the clock door onto them. She noticed Alfur sitting on Johanna's shoulder, eating a clementine slice.

"You used the spellbooks again, huh?"

Hilda can feel her ears heating up in embarrassment.

"Yeah."

"When Twig brought you home, we were so scared for you," Johanna muses softly, "I'm happy that we already have an elf here, or I wouldn't have known what to do. I'm just glad you're okay, and hopefully... hopefully there's a way to fix this. It must be so strange, isn't it? You must've been terrified."

"It is," Hilda replies, trying not to look down, "and I was. Everything looks different now."

"While you're stuck in this form, you should stay with Alfur, okay?" Johanna puts both of them down on the nightstand. Twig and Tontu both peer into the room out of curiosity.

"Maybe I'll head to the library and see if there's a way that you can reverse it," Johanna offers, picking Twig up and petting him. Despite how calm she seemed to be, she was still understandably stressed by what had happened.

"Thank you, Mum," Hilda answers, smiling and nodding as her mother exits, putting Twig back down.

"Should I even ask?" Tontu mutters. Twig shakes his head, ears drooping.

"Magic," Alfur states nonchalantly, "and evil talking books, I guess."

Hilda chuckles nervously.

"It's kind of a funny story. I don't think you'd believe what happened anyway."

Something suddenly rams its head against the window. Tontu opens it to investigate- only to be jumpscared by none other than the Raven. The nisse rolls off the bed and back into the Nowhere Space, huffing in mild disapproval.

Raven perches on the windowsill.

"Funny story, I saw Twig running here without Hilda, and I thought "that's not normal", so-"

"I'm here," Hilda calls, jumping on the nightstand.

"Hey Hilda. Anyway- wait, HILDA!?" The silly bird probably would've done a spit take if he had been drinking anything. He flies inside and lands on the bed to get a closer look.

"How'd you get so... Alfur-y, but even smaller, what the heck? Adorable, but VERY CONCERNING! You were too little for me to see!"

"She messed with enchantments. Again." Alfur still doesn't seem too pleased about that. Hilda can feel his eyes on her. Normally, he's so cute when he's angry... and tiny.

"I'm an elf now," Hilda tells Raven, bouncing onto her now-giant trampoline of a bed and nuzzling against his beak.

"I see," Raven states, "this is not how I expected to spend a Saturday, but a welcome surprise, I guess. Hey, Alfur, how does it feel to not be the smallest anymore?"

Alfur cheers up immediately at the question.

"Slightly awkward!"

hilda gets character development and empathy by seeing things from an elf's point of view: jackpot

Also Supernatural Dad Club

i will give you some slight sketchbook next chapter yeyeye bye