AN: WU is making a comeback baby! (fanmade page, but still) We're currently working on finishing the infamous Ambrosia Arc! So whenever we're taking a hiatus, I'll be working on this. (Probably won't be too long, this is just for fun). We're posting new pages on the Warrior-U-Preservation blog on tumblr
Once upon a time, in a castle deep in the enchanted forest, was the fairest maiden in all the land. She lived in the tallest room of the tallest tower, guarded by Cailburry's wicked witch. Well, technically the witch was her mother and wicked was a strong term, but she was certainly protective of her family.
For years Finn had been tormented by a monster that lurked in the forest. However, now that Rhodri had assumed his rightful place on the throne, the monster had mysteriously disappeared. In fact, a lot of Finn's problems seemed to have neatly resolved themselves. The mean knights that bullied her in the palace now treated her like a proper lady. She was able to play the harp for the court as much as she wanted without worrying about that stupid school that she had gone to for some reason.
Some reason...
She didn't quite remember the reason, it all seemed so silly now, that her and Emet had desperately wanted to go there. After all, she was going to be queen and queens could do whatever they wanted. Her mother was overjoyed, or at least, she would be if she was around. Everyone was just so stinking happy all the time, but Finn couldn't shake this weird feeling that would come and go.
Like this morning, she had been doing her daily chores, singing to animals and such as she always did. However, when it came time to bring the laundry in from the clothesline she wasn't sure how to bring the clean clothes in. She struggled with the clothes pins and rope and her clothes billowed in the breeze out the tower window, still out of reach. It was almost like she had never done laundry before. Which was ridiculous, because she had to have been the one to do the chores, otherwise who else would? So why was she so bad at this?
Yesterday too, she had opened a pantry full of rich ingredients to cook with, but the only thing she knew how to use was the kettle. She couldn't mend clothes or churn butter or any of the things she supposedly knew, or felt like she should know. If it weren't for the birds and squirrels that listened to her weeping, nothing would have been done.
Perhaps she was just a cluzy person?
After all, she did often find herself in peril, needing someone to save her constantly. Yes, that must be it. Damsels always needed saving in stories and such, it's just the way things were. Just as she reached this conclusion, her arm outstreched to grab hold of a stocking, she felt her balance shift out the window of her tower.
The wind rushed past and she let out a terrified shriek. Too scared to watch the ground come up to meet her, she clenched her eyes shut hoping for a painless death. The rushing sensations stopped, but her screams continued, until she realized she hadn't hit the ground. A fall from that that height should have killed her regardless. And yet, by some miracle, Harv had caught her.
For the first time in days, a sense of familiarity washed over her. Him, being there, right when she needed him to be; this actually felt normal.
"Are you okay?" Harv asked. She was still staring at him, partially in shock and partially because there was a suspicious number of birds flying around with flowers. Roses to be specific. She felt her face flush and tried to shoo her animal friends away. Harv and her were just friends! This was not the time to go making a romantic scene and singing love songs; even if he was still holding her. She squirmed and tried to get her feet on the ground as quickly as possible. "Carefully, don't hurt yourself." She put good distance between them, and tried to slow the beating of her heart.
"What are you doing here?" She was too embarrassed to look him in the face.
"It's Monday," Harv frowned, "normally we go to class together." Yes, that did sound correct, she used to always follow him to school for some reason.
Some... reason...
These gaps in her memory were really starting to make her anxious. She was pretty and rich, she had no need for education, but she used to go there anyway. She clearly remembered Harv would take her to school with him and they'd spend the whole day together doing things... But what things? Surely it had to be important for her to insist on going with him every day. It wasn't like she went just to cling to Harv like always; he hated her clinging to him anyway.
"I can't go, I promised Rhodri I'd watch him do king things today." Which sounded absolutely boring, but she had definitely promised to go. She had heard the words come out of her mouth with her own ears. Harv looked irritated at first, like he was about to say something, then shook his head.
"Are you really okay going to the palace by yourself?" That was an odd question to ask, of course she'd go by herself, everyone in town loved her? A warm feeling, almost like a sedative washed over her. Everyone loved her, she was safe, it was everything she ever wanted. Silly Harvey was worrying himself over nothing.
"Of course I'll be okay," she giggled, "it's not like you have to hang out with me all the time." He looked at her alarmed and disappointed, and something twisted in her stomach. That same, weird intense desire to cling to him like a security blanket and never let go. It was scary, and yet, for the first time in weeks something she wanted to do made sense. Harv volunteering to ditch school just to escort her was something she longed to take him up on.
But Rhodri wouldn't like that.
She was supposed to be his queen, and queens had royal guards to protect them, not warriors in training. No good would come of making Rhodri jealous on purpose like she usually did. Was that why she went to school all the time? Yet, when she looked at Harv, she knew deep in her heart that wasn't the reason she hung out with Harv even though the thought kept trying to take root in her head.
"I-" She wanted him to come with her, or better yet, go to class like she was supposed to. She almost told him she changed her mind about going to the palace, but when she looked away all she could think of was how upset that would make Rhodri. "You know I shouldn't be talking to you, you could get in trouble." That also felt true, unfortunately. She couldn't linger behind anymore. She was going to be late. "Thank you for saving my life, again, but I have to go." She hurried off, briefly stopping to pick up the abandoned stocking. And as she ran, another thought occurred to her.
No one in her home wore stockings.
Visiting the palace now was always a surreal ordeal. The former crown princess now worked as a maid in the palace and was always there to greet her. Finn would then be dragged into a dressing room full of expensive gowns that filled her with this sense of dread. Not because the gowns used to belong to someone else, or because they were too expensive, but just because they were so... feminine. Princesses and queens did not run around in pants though, so she couldn't either. Which just made the whole thing all the more arduous.
So she'd sit, and get her hair pulled into tight curls and decorated in gaudy jewelry and overall just put up with the discomfort of looking the part of the king's girlfriend because she had to. People expected a pretty girl to sit next to him in the throne room; even though she never had to put on makeup or dumb dresses to hang out with Harv. She berated herself for letting her mind wander at a time like this. At least the former princess was silent, that was a blessing, she could vent her frustration all she wanted to a bemused face and no one would be the wiser.
"Oh Princess, I just don't know what to do." She coughed as a cloud of white powder came off the perfumed powder puff. "I mean, Rhodri's the perfect husband for me; we're both rich and famous, everyone's excited we're in charge. Once I'm Queen, I won't need anyone to protect me, I can just have all my enemies executed." She sighed. "So why do I keep feeling like I'm in the wrong place?" The Princess kept picking out pink things that made Finn scowl. "I'm just afraid if Rhodri asks me to stay in the palace, I won't be able to say no. I'll just be going from one cage to another. Do you see my dilemma?" Princess pulled out the last curler and fluffed Finn's hair with a placid smile. Of course she didn't care. She probably thought this whole thing was quite amusing.
Finn sighed and gathered the strength to walk into court feeling like an absolute fool. That was the one good thing about being next to Rhodri, she didn't feel as self conscious when he was around. His choice of dress was a childishly opulent selection of gold fabrics and jewels. It was like staring directly at the sun; painful and awe inspiring all at once. It made everything she was forced to wear plain by comparison. On one hand, she preferred fading into the background while in the palace, the less people who saw her like this the better. One the other hand, she did not like being upstaged for some reason.
UGH 'some reason'.
How she loathed 'some reason'. How could she be so empty headed that the only conclusion she kept coming back to was 'some reason'? It was like looking into a pool hoping to find the ocean floor, only to find yourself in ankle deep water.
The throne room was vastly empty and generically well decorated. Albeit more simple than she remember it being. Rhodri was sitting in his throne upside down, his legs lazily draped over the back of the chair. Now, ordinarily this was undignified behavior for court, but it was Rhodri so it was okay. He perked up the moment he saw her, flipping himself upright with a grin. She took her seat next to him, briefly marveling at how vacant the court was.
"Finn! I'm so glad you came. This job can be real boring, who knew right? But it's cool now that your here." He was happy and all was right with the world for a moment. Her mind felt like a sieve, unable to hold a coherent thought other than to sit a look pretty like always. She couldn't think of a single thing people did in court other than sit there. It was the strangest thing. Rhodri made pleasant small talk with her, she nodded and laughed where appropriate, floating on a cloud.
The moment she let her eyes wander out the castle windows, she saw Harv herding goats. Which, no, that can't be right. He said today was a school day, school didn't let out for another few hours. Not that she minded all that much. Watching him fumble while herding and fight the urge to nod off on the job was far more entertaining than sitting there and smiling. She should have brought her harp, then she could have played musical accompaniment to him chasing the kids around. That would have been really funny.
"Hey, uh-" She turned back to Rhodri, "I got you something." He held a small box out to her. Finn grabbed it in the blink of an eye, eager to judge whatever accessory was inside. "It'll still be a few years until I can officially make you queen, but I wanted to make it official." She opened the box to find a pearl engagement ring. It fit, of course, everything Rhodri gave her fit perfectly. "You can wait until then, right?" She put on the ring and held it up to the light. It was simply perfect.
Once she got home, the ring felt less heartfelt and more comical. Her, married to a king, it just didn't sit well in her stomach. Each day it just seemed to get worse, this feeling that something wasn't quite right. Mother wasn't usually gone this long. The palace wasn't usually empty during midday. And things were just, missing from the house, not that she could put her finger on what they were. She certain she owned more than one pair of pants, not that she could find them. Her favorite harp was gone too and she was certain if it had gone missing or god-forbid broke, she would have found something to replace it.
She slipped off the ring and put it on her vanity.
Something was wrong. Maybe it was just her, or maybe it was the things missing from her mother's study that made her nervous. It was terribly frustrating to stand in front of the display cabinet full of staffs, recognize them, and not remember what a single one of them does. The day to day goings on in the town was becoming emptier too or at the very least, it was harder to ignore the missing pieces.
She stared at herself in the mirror. Golden tresses framed a soft face decorated with long fluttery lashes; all of it she hated it so much. Her own reflection made her want to throw something at the mirror and shatter it into a million pieces. Which made no sense because she was the prettiest maiden- She tightened her grip on a jewel encrusted music box, stupid painted nails digging in between the gems. She didn't want any of this and it was really starting to make her...
Mad?
For a brief second, the person looking back at her in the mirror, it didn't look like 'her' but it was her. Maybe the real her, but it was gone too soon to be sure.
Night fall was fast approaching, and the exhaustion from trying to play her part was starting to weigh on her. She didn't have time to throw a fit or cry, there was chores to do. Which was so unfair since, well, they were hard. After a long hard day, she should do something relaxing, let her little animal friends handle the grueling task of washing dishes. After serenading her companions, she stared long and hard at the golden can phone.
She knew better, she really did, but after a day like this; there was only one person she really wanted to talk to.
She lay on her feather-down bed, twisting and untwisting the golden thread that connected her can to Harv's house. It was odd, feeling so fidgety over a phone call, it wasn't like this was the first time she'd try to reach him. Even if he was in the middle of chores, he'd pick up, now shouldn't be any different. Even if he was still upset from this morning.
"Hello?" She breathed a sigh of relief, just from hearing his voice she felt more at ease. "...Hello?"
"Oh!" Finn nearly dropped the can. "Sorry, I- I forgot what I was going to say."
"Finn?" She could hear something splash into a metal basin over the line. "I thought you didn't want to talk to me."
"I never said that." Finn bit her lip. "I said I shouldn't, it's not the same. I- I've missed talking to you. It's weird not seeing you every day." A few concerned bunnies hopped on her lap, looking up at her with big doe-eyes.
"Don't you mean talking at me?" Oh she wish she was there so she could give him a good shove. That was not nearly as funny a thing to say as he thought it was. Instead, she buried her hand into the rabbits fur, angora fur always did make her feel better. "Come on, if you don't laugh it just sounds mean."
"That's because it was mean." She huffed. "You're always like this; well if all you're going to do is complain about me I should just-"
"Wait, don't hang up!" Finn brought the can back to her ear.
"I'm listening." Big and Puck were fighting in the background as Harv adjust the can in the crook of his shoulder. It was almost comforting in a way.
"Why did you call? If, y'know, you wanted to talk to me."
"I... Does there have to be a reason?" Usually there wasn't one in particular, she'd spend hours complaining about the palace, or how boring it was when they had a day off from school. "School!" She sat up startling the bunnies. "You said we had school today, but I thought I saw you with the goats near the palace. Did you skip class?"
"No! I never skip class." She heard his hands still in the water. "There wasn't really any class, it was weird, I went into the room and it looked... wrong... I know that sounds ridiculous-"
"No, no please; keep going." She sank into the pillows as he spoke.
"Well, like, my desk was all clean. Not, like it's usually dirty, but it just looked kinda plainish and like every other desk. Which, I mean, it should we all have the same desks, but I don't know... And like, Cliff and Trevor were there and Bruiser, but I couldn't get a good look at their faces; and I didn't recognize some of the other students. Today's lecture was the same too." He was getting more frantic as he put things away. "Like, almost exactly the same, which it shouldn't be right? There was, ugh, I'm blanking on what it's called; but they'd like do different things on different days." He sighed. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"You usually don't let me talk this long." Finn tilted her head, raking through her memories, but came up empty handed. She hadn't done anything too out of the ordinary, hanging on his every word like always.
"I was listening." Finn shrugged. "Was I not supposed to?"
"That's not- Don't you have an opinion of some kind?" Harv insisted, and dimmly a spark lit in her heart; because of course she did. She had an opinion on everything! Like, how dare he keep cleaning his home when he should be talking to her!? And his brothers were being too loud, she knew exactly which lump of dirt they were fighting over. And who cares what those barbarians faces look like, she could never see them either. They all looked the same. It was a stupid thing to worry over and- oh. Right, that was something they fought about quite a bit, wasn't it.
"You always roll your eyes when I talk about my 'opinions', and grumble, and say you're too busy for them." She wanted Harv to like her so badly, but he always kept putting distance between them for some reason.
"I don't always..." But he faltered as well and let out a heavy sigh. "You never said anything about it before, I didn't think- I'm sorry. I just- I feel like my mind's just been running in circles lately, and I really need to know if it's just me; am I over thinking things?"
"Well yes, but... that doesn't mean you're wrong." She did her best to hold back the tidal wave of thoughts that threatened to spill out now that she had Harv's permission to dump obvious truths into his lap. "Except for the desk thing. It's filthy, you're little drawings get all smudgy after a few days and get ink all over everything."
"Drawings! That's what was missing."
"Which, it's odd that they weren't there... Maybe somebody cleaned up everything for the coronation."
"That, that's weird too. Like, Rhodri's king now, right? But he's the middle child, and dad's still alive. So, shouldn't dad be king instead?" Finn bit her lip, so that's what he meant by overthinking.
"No, he was just a soldier, he wasn't even a knight; why would he be king?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right."
No.
That was wrong.
Harv would never just admit Finn was right, Finn would have to fight for it. Especially if Finn was in the right and Harv was dead wrong. They still argued about whether or not Hevvin was dangerous up until he... Finn punched her pillow. She had almost had something, but somewhere in the lull of the conversation she had lost it. Whatever thought she had been chasing.
"This wasn't... I thought we'd have at least 3 years before we had to worry about the future." Finn tried to ignore the gleaming ring on her vanity as Harv spoke. "I just, I guess I assumed that..." Finn gripped something soft very tight, hoping he'd just spit out what she'd been waiting to hear from him since she'd met him. Probably too tight, the bunny yelped like a grown woman and tried to bite back. "What was that?" Finn shooed the bunny away with an apologetic smile.
"Oh, you know, just one of my many forest friends." She laughed, trying to ignore how warm her face felt. "You were saying?" The other end of the line was eerily silent.
"...I thought you hated animals?" She felt the blood drain from her face. There was vermin in her house, shedding all over the place, licking the things she had to eat off of. "Except... birds, kinda. Did you get a bird?" The only living things in the house should have been her and her mother! No wonder she felt uncomfortable here, she was never actually alone!
"Harvey, something is definitely wrong." Finn scrambled up against the wall, watching helplessly as the two bunnies hoped around her room. She couldn't even remember how she got them to listen to her in the first place. Was it a special song or some kind of spell of some sort. "Right now," she took a slow breath, "I think there are more animals in my house than yours." She could hear hooves and claws coming up the stairs. Of course, because she's really upset right now, and these things love to try and comfort her. "Don't just stand there, do something?"
"Finn, I'm at home. What am I supposed to do about it?" There was a deer in her room now. It was sniffing around her diary, but she didn't want to get slobbered on, trying to rescue it. "Especially when you're not making any sense."
"Harv, just get over here!" She would shake him if she could. All her nice things were in danger of getting pooped on!
"Alright, just, give me a minute; okay?" He hung up the phone and she sank back onto her knees. Her relief was short lived as glanced down at her night clothes. They were so plain and no way for a damsel to be dressed for when her hero arrived. There was so little time to get ready, and her makeup was all smudged and tear stained. She clapped her hands gathering the attention of all the critters in the room.
"There has to be something in this house Harvey hasn't seen me in; quickly now, we haven't got all day!" The bluebirds riffled through her drawers, as the mice gathered together to cut apart one of her mother's old gowns. When was the last time she'd worn black and purple? It felt like forever. As she groomed herself in the mirror, she couldn't quite recall why Harv said he was coming over. Well, better to be over dressed, than under dressed. She wouldn't want to give him the wrong idea.
As soon as Harv hung up the phone the phone he felt that familiar haze that tried to creep into his head. It was a sensation he had experienced a few times back when Leenan tried to convince him he was a princess. If the witch had been up to something, surely Finn would have had some insight; and Finn had sounded genuinely panicked over the phone. Perhaps he wasn't overthinking after all. It wouldn't hurt to check the witches house for any clues now that he had a legitimate excuse to go inside. These moments of clarity were just so fleeting, it was easy to loose track of his train of thought and fall back into a dream-like state. It didn't help that no one else in his family could pick up on it.
He quickly threw on his armor and grabbed his satchel as he tried to avoid his younger siblings that were underfoot. Just as he reached the door his mother called out to him.
"Where are you going? Dinner's almost ready." He looked up at the ceiling, willing himself to draw from his wealth of patience not to plunge further out into the night without permission.
"I just have to check something real quick, I promise I'll be back right away." He just needed to get there before he forgot what Finn asked him to do. Which, darn it all, he already couldn't remember; something to do with animals. "It's kinda life or death, so I'll just be going." His father came in through the front door with water from the well.
"Not so fast young man." His dad took his satchel and put it back on the rack. "We have a special guest coming any minute now, you can't go without at least saying hello."
"It's just Rhodri." He kept repeating to himself that Finn needed him now, whatever it took to hold onto the idea of getting out of the house.
"That's no way to talk about your king." Rhodri was welcomed into the house with hugs and fresh bread, bragging about his productive day at the castle like he didn't see them every day. Instead of going to Finn's house, Harv found himself hanging up his armor again and joining his family at the dinner table. "Oh, and I forgot the best part; Finn accepted the ring! Mom, how old do people have to be to get married again?" Harv choked on a piece of brisket, pounding his chest to dislodge it.
"Oh sweetie, you're king now, you get to decide that for yourself." His mother kissed Rhodri on the forehead.
"Oh right." Rhodri grinned. "I guess sooner rather than later then."
"You can't!" Harv gasped for air after swallowing. Everyone at the table was staring at him with concern. "You can't marry Finn." Rhodri tightened his grip on the scepter he carried with him. In the lamp light it almost seemed to glow.
"She already said yes." Rhodri narrowed his eyes. "Just because she used to like you doesn't change the fact that she likes me better now." Harv felt woozy though, this wasn't right. His dad shouldn't be congratulating Rhodri on this, he hated anything to do with magic, it was why Finn couldn't come over. The last time she tried, the poor girl had salt thrown at her. It wasn't fair that Rhodri was getting praised for something he was too afraid to do. No matter how you sliced it, it didn't make sense. "You're just jealous."
"Harv dear, you look pale, are you feeling alright."
It was so familiar, the light headedness, especially now that it was uncomfortable to breath.
"I didn't mean to ruin dinner." The words tumbled out loose and flat. "I'm going to go lay down and... think about what I said." Why had he said something so cruel to a king. He shouldn't be getting in the way of anyone's happiness, least of all his brother's. He laid down in the shared bedroom and tried to block out the excited chatter about wedding plans. What was the point in fighting against the inevitable?
