Archive of Our Own

Listen to me, o' sister of mine,

For I haven't seen you in such a long time;

It's hard to put in the words for what I'm about to say,

But my memories with you are as clear as day.

We used to compete for our mother's love,

And she would stop us when push comes to shove;

She said to us that there's no reason to fight,

For our bond is solid, dense, and tight.

I find that hard to believe for it's the opposite you see,

There was always friction between you and me;

I was the oldest and you were the youngest,

Therefore that made me the strongest.

Our mother is an artisan with such skill and wit,

She was pretty impressive I must admit;

She created pottery with endless supply,

They were always correlated with the butterfly.

I can't help but think back to my mother,

For she was the best parent like no other;

She always treated me with love and respect,

But you found the whole thing rather suspect.

Between you and her, you were the troublemaker,

I once predicted that you would become a lawbreaker;

Yet still our mother would play the peacemaker,

For having such thoughts would be a heartbreaker.

Our mother fell ill when we were teens,

That was when you accused me of being treated like a queen;

I find the statement false and fully objecting,

But then again, I can tell when someone is projecting.

Our fights became erratic with increasing tension,

That was when our mother stopped paying attention;

She fully concentrated on her craft as her illness thicken up,

It was almost like she had given up.

The thoughts of our mother started creeping,

Then you ran away from home when the both of us were sleeping;

I took care of mother till her last breath,

But you weren't even there to witness her death.

I tried selling off her art, that was what I promote,

But that wasn't enough to keep our house afloat;

Looking back, it wasn't the best decision I made,

For mom said they were something to cherish and save.

But hey, we live in a place of prosperity and euphoria,

A city full of newts that we call Newtopia;

If I could make it here, then I could make it anywhere,

Or so I said to myself, full of hot air.

And just like that, I went on my own,

But I wasn't prepared for what I could've known;

Employers rejected me for my amphibian skills were zero,

That and the fact that I threw them out the window.

I used to live in a bedroom apartment,

It was compact and close-packed like a compartment;

I was once married to a newt named Tom,

But then he left and so I had a future as a single mom.

Then one day I saw you as the lady's escort,

For you became the general in Andrias's court;

I watched and watched as they put you on the pedal',

You were rewarded with gifts, gold pieces, and a medal.

I looked on and was filled with such envy,

I was never going to let it down gently;

So I will prove myself, that's what I'll do,

That will conclude that I'm still better than you.

I found myself in a competition that sounded very smart,

It was a derby that required a shopping cart;

I stayed a while longer with no hesitation nor stall,

For I then became the long reigning champion of the hopping mall.

Every contestant would lose as they were thrown into the slaughter,

The rewards were enough for me to live in comfort with my daughter;

My daughter inherited her art traits from her grand mommy,

Her stuff was not bad for someone who's a toddy'.

I then continued my reign without fail,

But that started to come at the expense of my tail;

My daughter was beginning to worry about my health,

It was something I couldn't hide with stealth.

It reminded me of our mother at the end of her life,

For she clung on with such bitterness and strife;

Her mental state was never the same,

For she said that the both of us were to blame.

It was probably a good thing that you weren't there,

For she would've just stared at you with a glare;

I contemplated the possibility to retire,

But then I saw the recent reward that reignited that fire.

It was a teapot, as it was stated,

The last ever art piece mother created;

Not wanting to live with the guilt,

I decided to compete, so I can win the reward and cherish the legacy she built.

I pressed on, having to work through my bruise,

That wouldn't be enough as I would soon lose;

But then there was this girl whose skin is tan,

A 13 year-old who goes by the name of Anne.

She gave me the teapot, with me reacting with shock and curiosity,

And then my daughter gave away her butterfly in response to this generosity;

I didn't know what occurred to me when thinking of this warrant,

But then I figured out I was losing sight of what's important.

Our mother always supported our dreams, no matter how dangerous it could get,

It was just as long as results were met;

She would've likely approved of you becoming a lawbreaker,

Same thing with me giving those employers a haymaker.

Maybe I have my mother all wrong,

But that's what happens when you live for so long;

One thing's for certain and this she was right,

She never wanted the both of us to fight.

You have your responsibilities and I have mine,

It was time to move on, and that's fine;

If we ever meet, then let it be in due time,

It's all up to you, o' sister of mine.

So now I hung up my armor and now retired,

But I wouldn't expect the events that soon conspired;

First a toad coup and then a king that was sly,

The castle goes up and away you fly.

Frobots come down and invade the street,

I never pictured such a defeat;

I don't whether or not you survived the attack,

But all I want now is my dear sister back.