Haddi Quest (Haddi Fanfic) Now with Part 2

[PalletTown]

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK ... KNOCK

Hadred Grune groaned. That distinctive knock could mean only one thing: his wastrel son, Hirrud, was back to get him to bail him out of his own mess again. What would it be this time? A drunken brawl, a blatant theft, some chicanery with the fairer sex? Hadred knew that sooner or later, his son would do something so monumentally stupid that there would be nothing to save him from the axe. That debacle over that "cat harem" of his had nearly seen the end of him. Enslaving a random vagabond or two may be very loosely and technically legal, but such gossip would do Hadred no favors in the Senate. Unfortunately, it wasn't just a thief and a mother that he enslaved, but a Lumian priestess.

Hadred felt more shock, disgust, and horror when that reached his ears than all of his campaigns. Forget the slander and gossip—they would be lucky if the Grune Family escaped with their own lives. It was very fortunate that the Champion of Frost punched Hirrud's nose and rescued his "harem." And it was even luckier that Captain Fenraus only punched him as well. You would think so many hits to the head would knock some sense into his idiot son's head, but these miracles had only emboldened and enraged Hirrud into further stupidity.

Hadred wondered when he and Chrysa went wrong. Maybe it was Chrysa constantly babying and indulging him, or maybe it was the first time Hadred bailed his son out of jail. Hadred knew it was wrong at the time, but he couldn't bear to see his flesh and blood rot for ten years.

Fortunately, it seemed that his beautiful wife was opening the door for him. Sevens bless that wonderful woman.

"Mommy!" Hadred swiveled his head and saw an unfamiliar, yet familiar-looking young woman practically leap into hugging his wife. The young lady practically nuzzled her fuzzy mane of hair into his wife's breast. "Mommy, it's so good to see you again."

Chrysa looked up at him, pleading. "Yes, yes, ummm..., dearie. It's good to see you too."

The mysterious yet uncanny young woman gently released his wife. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I know that it's only been a week since I last saw you, but I'm just so happy to see you now."

Chrysa looked like she was just about to quit. "Honey, I think I would have known if I popped out a young woman as pretty as this."

The young lady beamed at the compliment portion of his wife's facetious comment, apparently not giving any attention to the rest, and began to resume hugging his wife with reckless abandon.

"Aww, thanks Mommy, you're the best."

It was then that something clicked inside Hadred's brain—the smooth, rich, dark skin the same color as his wife's, the curly brown hair that he had so missed in his youth, and something about that smile.

"Hirrud?" Hadred gasped out.

"Daddy!" his daughter? beamed at him—which, if this was Hirrud, would be a first.

His wife, while trying not to visibly show her appreciation at the unrestrained affection, rolled her eyes. "There is no way that this pretty young woman is my strapping—"

"Silly Mommy, of course it's me. See?" The young woman made a motion to moon them.

Hadred coughed. "Perhaps you could show us Hirrud's other birthmark, the one next to his eye?"

Hirrud complied, which was a first in now her life, and lifted her fuzzy bangs off of her eyes.

Sure as Velun, there it was.

"Hirrud," his wife gasped, "what happened to you?"

"Haddi," the bubbly daughter forcibly insisted, and went on resuming hugging her mother, sparing only the thought of whether to continue to hug her mother or to switch and hug him instead.

 

[PalletTown]

Hadred looked upon his new daughter from his cups at the family gathering. He smiled, and it wasn't from the wine. His bubbly new daughter was the life of the party. In fact, everywhere she went, she was joyously received instead of begrudgingly let in like Hirrud was.

It didn't take long for Hadred to figure out what had happened. Bimbo Brew—a vile concoction that Imps carried around. His son was easily tricked by a laughable ruse laid out by the Champion of Frost. He knew a few legionnaires who had been drugged with it. It was never pretty. They raged against the twisting of their minds and bodies. The doctors and alchemists were able to mitigate some of its effects, but to the afflicted legionnaires, it was still a battle every day.

But with his daughter Haddi, there was no conflict. She didn't fight her body or her bubbly personality, but instead slotted neatly right in. Hadred chuckled with a bittersweet irony, finding out that, out of all his son's former vices, he was not a hypocrite. Haddi was still Hirrud underneath, but there was no more fighting, no more raging against the world. Now she was in a form that allowed her to mantle all her biases and preconceived notions about femininity.

It was funny to find out that the Bimbo Brew didn't actually diminish Hirrud's intelligence, despite his bias toward women, something that was of comfort to the afflicted legionnaires. In fact, it may have even sharpened it, due to Haddi's relentless pursuit of all "womanly" techniques. She obsessively studied her mother and anyone willing to teach her, learning all things about household budgeting, cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing. Hirrud's competitiveness shone through her relentless drive to embody her ideal of the "perfect" woman. He had to admit, though, that Haddi saved the household a couple of hawks and somehow made dozens of dishes out of plump helmets that actually tasted good.

Haddi was busy hugging her brother again. She was still just as arrogant as Hirrud was, but her arrogance shone through her aggressively being a big sister to everyone, rather than being a bully like Hirrud. It took a while for his children to adjust, but they admitted that, despite Haddi's tendency to busybody and fret, they actually liked spending time with her now. It was like that everywhere. Where the name Hirrud was whispered as the shame of the Grune family, Haddi was popular and beloved everywhere, always willing to be there for others.

Chrysa and he had to beat back the flood of marriage offers for Haddi's hand. That was a bit of a moot point due to Haddi's rounded stomach, something the Champion of Frost themselves had a hand in making. For all intents and purposes, she was now the Champion's wife, and Haddi was busy readying herself for her new wifely duties.

Hadred smiled as Haddi cajoled in the reverie, finally happy with herself.