Originally posted at the Kinkmeme.

ONCE UPON A TIME there were three brothers who lived in a little cottage in the woods. Their father had died, leaving them poor, so the eldest brother set out to seek his fortune.

He had been walking all day when he came upon an old woman, struggling to carry a large sack.

"Please, young man," the old woman said, "If you will help me carry my sack, I can reward you greatly!"

"Pfft. Like you'd have anything the awesome me wants," said the eldest brother, and pushed the old woman aside. He went on, hoping ugliness wasn't contagious, when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"If you had but helped an old woman, you could have been rewarded with eternal life and power. For your insolence you will spend eternity in my sack," she said, scooping him up and stuffing him into the sack with unnatural strength.

-x-

Their eldest brother had not returned for some time, so the next brother set out to seek his fortune. He had been walking all day when he came upon an old woman, struggling to carry a large sack.

"Please, young man," the old woman said, "If you will help me carry my sack, I can reward you greatly!"

The middle brother hesitated, sniffing involuntarily at the smell of the old woman. "It looks very dirty and heavy," he said, brushing a stray hair off of his jacket.

"I am but an old woman," she beseeched. "Won't you help an old woman?"

He pressed a finger to his lips, contemplating. The woman was very old and smelled peculiar, and her sack looked like it had been dragged through the mud and who knows what else. "I am sorry, but no," he said with a curt nod, and walked on.

Only a moment later, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"If you had but helped an old woman, you could have been rewarded with eternal life and power. For your weakness you will spend eternity in my sack," she said, scooping him up and stuffing him into the sack.

-x-

When neither of his brothers had returned for many weeks, the youngest brother set out to seek his fortune. He had been walking all day when he came upon an old woman, struggling to carry a very large sack.

"Please, young man," the old woman said, "If you will help me carry my sack, I can reward you greatly!"

The youngest brother nodded, examining the sack. "Here, I will help you build a cart to carry it," and he cobbled together a small and efficient cart from sticks and logs laying along the path. He lifted the heavy sack into the cart. "Where are you going, old woman? I will draw the cart there for you."

Before his very eyes, the old woman transformed into a beautiful young fairy. "Because you were kind to an old woman, I will reward you. You and all those of your blood will live for many years, and you will have the power of many men. I will also grant you one wish."

"Thank you, my lady," the youngest brother said. He considered asking for wealth, or a beautiful princess to marry, but he thought of his little cabin in the woods, empty. "I would like to see my brothers again," he wished.

"Very well," the fairy maiden said with a serene nod. A moment later her sack burst open and his elder brothers scrambled out. "They are your brothers?" she asked, looking aghast.

"Fuck yeah," the eldest brother said.

"I'm afraid so," the middle brother said, anxiously brushing dust and shreds of torn burlap off of his clothing.

The youngest brother wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Very well," the fairy huffed. "And here, I've already given eternal life and power to your family."

"Lady, I'm plenty awesome on my own," the eldest brother said.

"But I can still curse you, too," she added, turning to the eldest brother. "You are so sure of your power? Very well; be as powerful as you wish, but know that it will mean your destruction some day."

"Hardly surprising," the middle brother remarked.

"Now you - you claim to be too weak to help an old woman carry a sack. You will always be weak, then. I have already granted you long life and the power of many men, so I cannot take it back, but this power will never be your own. I condemn you to be subject to the wills of your brothers and any woman who might deign to take care of a man so weak as you."

At last, she turned to the youngest brother. "You were kind and resourceful, and deserving of your rewards. But because of your association with your troublesome brothers, that reward is not without a price."

The youngest brother waited apprehensively.

"You will indeed have a long and successful life. But whenever you grow strong, you will lose everything, forcing you to begin again. Your brothers will stand by your side, but in doing so, they will only contribute to your future downfall."

With a final scowl at the elder brothers, the beautiful fairy maiden disappeared.

"Long life and power, huh?" the eldest brother remarked. "Not bad. I mean, I was already pretty cool, but - "

"Please, be quiet," the middle brother whined. "We may have long life or the power of many, whatever that means, but none of us have found our fortunes!"

"Relax," the eldest brother said, throwing an arm around each brother's shoulder. "Right before the babe-hag got me, I heard this talking bird say something about a king who needed a favor..."