Once upon a time, there was a tiny badass betta named Beatrix.

B came to be because of a blue and red crowntail named Jacques, a red Cambodian named Christine, and a dumbass human who put them in the same tank.

By the time the dumbass human had found a betta forum, asked for advice, and been told to SEPARATE THEM RIGHT NOW, Christine had several bites out of her tail and Jacques was defending his bubble nest full of eggs from the three White Cloud Mountain Minnows who also shared the tank.

The dumbass's mom bought her a 20-gallon tank around this point.  Christine had a great time zooming around it until the dumbass introduced three rainbow somethings that had columnaris, infected Christine, and all four of them died within a week.

Meanwhile, Jacques took great care of his kids right up until he decided to eat them.  By the time the dumbass realized what was going on, only a few fry that had managed to hide in the rotting plant pot and between the way-too-large rocks at the bottom were left.

Dumbass put Jacques in a Tupperware container because she had no more tanks and the big one was still being treated for columnaris.  He got all depressed, so she put him back with his kids.  He ate another one.  She put him back in the Tupperware and took all the rocks and other stuff out of the tank, looking for fry.

There were two.

She put them in a jar, gave the tank a good cleaning, put Jacques back in, and put the fry back in too, jar and all.

For a week or so, all was peaceful.  The dumbass fed the two fry vinegar eels in their jar.  They grew from barely visible to little sperm things to tiny fish.  Then, one day, one of the fry had a chunk missing from its tail.  The next day, it was white, fuzzy, and very dead.

And then there was one.

Beatrix got her name from the dumbass calling her 'kid' and 'kiddo,' then thinking of Kill Bill.  She lived in the jar in her father's tank for another month.  They had frequent flaring contests, which, by the time Beatrix moved out, she usually won.

Then she was introduced to a 20-gallon tank with six other female bettas.  Beatrix was the second-smallest.

For six months or so, a large female named Althea was the alpha, but no one else fucked with Beatrix.  Then Althea died suddenly and all the others scrambled for position.

That was when Beatrix came into her own.

She was the smallest and almost certainly the oldest by this time, but she took no shit from anyone.  She flared furiously at all challengers and bit like a motherfucker if they didn't back down.  Peace was restored within a few days.

Queen B reigned for about 1.5 years, which is a long time for a warlike species that's lucky to make it to 3.

Beatrix was finally deposed by Camilla, the larger, younger girl who had been nipping at her figurative heels the whole time.  She spent her retirement back in the tank in which she'd been spawned, alone and supplied with live plants, four kinds of food, and a new decoration every week.

Camilla's reign was brief.  Long story short, illness wiped out the sorority tank within a month.  Beatrix outlived them all.

Three months after her third hatchday, Beatrix fell ill.  The next day, she had dropsy.  Bettas don't get better from dropsy, so her human gave her a quick, painless end.

R.I.P. Beatrix.  You were the best mistake I ever made.

Love,

Dumbass