Disclaimer for the story: Sadly, I do not own Strange Magic, although I do have the DVD that I play once a week. I also, apparently, have no ownership on my brain.
I wrote this?! Ummmmm...something my sick brain came up with that it thought was hilarious. No, literally! I'm sick (been since late Thursday) and this kinda crept into my brain when I coughed myself awake at 5 am yesterday and couldn't get back to sleep. So, I wrote it yesterday but sleep was kind of more important than posting this...barely. If I must deal with having this image stuck in my head then you must suffer as well! *evil cackling that turns into a hacking cough* Anyway, I'm actually beginning to feel better, so no worries. ;) Constructive advice is appreciated but please refrain from criticism. Enjoy!
Just in case there's any misunderstanding, Orchid is my chosen name for the fly/goblin Roland falls in love with at the end of the movie. She is not oblivious or simpleminded...she just decided to ignore the 'love potion' aspect of things that would burst her happy bubble.
(Slight edit as of October 15, 2020)
Orchid had always known, even from a young age, that she wouldn't be suited to anything but a simple home-bound life. She didn't mind being just a mere breeding female whose highest responsibility was caring for the offspring and the home of the male that chose her. In fact, she rather liked the idea.
She just didn't expect it to take so long for a male to choose her.
Sure, she knew she wasn't as glamorous as her elder sisters. Her wings are small, almost too small for her to fly more than a scant inch off the ground and her legs are long and slender but her bulky body surely made up for her less desirable attributes. She had to wait for her turn as her father found suitors for each of her sisters first. Patiently, she endured as each was paired off and they celebrated their unions in their clan's usual boisterous way.
Then just before her father announced her availability, tragedy stuck and the king decreed his ban on love.
It was a horrendous time! Males seemed to use it as an excuse to ignore the need to settle down and it was speculated around her clan that maybe that was why the new king did so, to avoid his mother's attempt to pair him with a female now that the pressures of an heir were required of him. Not that such talk ever made it past their clan's small territory and no one begrudged him if it was such a case.
However, it left a big problem for her. Her father was a proud sprite, very natural with him being the leader of the largest sprite clan in the Dark Forest, and he wouldn't accept anything but the best for his daughters. Which left her with no options now that the high-ranking males that he had hoped would choose her were no longer being pressured to take a female and he wouldn't consider the offers of low-ranking or common males, especially with how all her sisters were paired with high-ranking males.
It was painful to watch as her sisters' carapaces grew tight to accommodate their coming offspring while she waited year after year. Just when she was near to begging her father to accept a lower male's offer, a letter arrived from the castle instructing her father that the queen mother had heard that Orchid was eligible and wanted to present her to the king.
Oh, her father was so proud that day! He bragged to everyone that his youngest daughter was being considered by the Bog King himself and she had left the clan's territory after significant pampering by all the females to ensure that she could entice their king's desire.
If it wasn't for meeting her beautiful lover soon after, she would have wished that her father had never received that letter because of the humiliation she had to endure. Not only did she arrive a lot later than the letter had commanded her to be there and received a nearly-hostile welcome from the royal guards but she was so tired from the journey that when the queen mother presented her, she had started crying when the king dismissed her.
She had blown her chance! She should have kept calm and accepted his obviously-tired response with decorum and proven herself worthy of holding the title of queen! After all, he hadn't really said that he wasn't interested in her, he just implied that he was too busy at the moment. If only she hadn't started crying, causing the queen mother to declare her not being suited for her son, then maybe she would have been offered another chance to be presented to him.
But it's just as well. Not only did she realize soon after that she wasn't suited for such an excitable lifestyle but she wouldn't have met Him.
Oh, she can still remember the moment she first laid eyes on him!
She had been offered a room at the castle for the night but the horrible noise coming from the dungeon had made her decline and she decided to sleep in a comfortable streamside niche not far from the castle. It was near dawn when she had been woken up, by what she had later come to realize as the castle's destruction but she hadn't known that then, and she had waited for her fate in trembling fear. When she had surmised the danger was over, she timidly left the niche and looked around, spotting his prone figure lying a short distance off.
Even from a distance, she could see how beautiful he was and she made her way over as quickly as her wings could take her. She almost would have thought him dead if it wasn't for the pained groans emanating from him. It wasn't until he opened those glittering eyes and looked at her that she realized the danger she had put herself in because of her enchantment with his beauty.
He was no goblin of any kind but a fairy!
Fearing for her life, she tried to escape and put as much distance between them as she could before he pursued her. None in her clan had ever come in contact with fairies before but they all heard the danger they possessed.
Then he spoke and the deep rumble made her smaller body thrum with pleasure. She couldn't believe her reaction and she tried her best to ignore her almost painful desire to return to him. But then with one flap of his large wings, he covered the distance she had made with two dozen flaps of her own and took her in his strong arms. Instead of killing her as she had feared, he declared his love for her, saying how only a beauteous one like her was suited for him.
She hadn't cared how informal it was when he pressed his tongue against hers before he had even declared his intentions to her father. She hadn't cared how wrong it would look for them to ignore getting her father's approval before pursuing their passion. She definitely hadn't cared how his friends expressed their shock and disgust over how indecent they were acting when he nobly thought to reassure them of his wellbeing before he strongly flew her to a safe and hidden spot to embrace as lovers do.
In truth, Orchid had felt a small frisson of sorrow for possibly bringing dishonor to her father but it hadn't stopped her encouragement to her beautiful lover. She knew that her lover might not be up to the standard of her father's least ideal match for her, what with him being a fairy and all, but what he lacked in rank, Roland surely made up with his beauty and deep voice that sang such harmonious melodies. Surely, her father would understand.
Her joy was overwhelming as his seed filled her womb multiple times over the course of their blessed two days together and she just knew that she would birth the most beautiful offspring in all of the Dark Forest. There was no doubt in her mind that one would even become part of the royal family with how beautiful they are going to be.
She always shed a few tears whenever she thought about that period of extreme bliss. Happy tears for what it was and sorrowful tears for what happened next.
It was as she laid in their hidden love-nest waiting for his return, for he had gone to forage for food for both of them to keep up their strength, that she heard the dreadful sound of his cry of pain. She quickly went to search for him and discovered several of the royal guards dragging him away. Her frantic and begging pleas for them to release him had fallen on deaf ears, though they had given Roland a momentary last embrace when he expressed his great love for her.
She had soon discovered the terrible events against the Dark Forest that her beautiful lover was involved with but she could not find it in her heart to turn against him and she begged the Bog King to spare his life. Her pleas must have touched him a little because after having the Sugar Plum Fairy make sure that she was well, he promised not to harm Roland and ordered for her to be escorted home to wait there.
And the wait was terrible!
The only consolation was that her father did understand her unchaste behavior and hadn't scolded her or disowned her. He had buzzed with pride that she had captured the eye of such a beautiful male when she described his features.
With their clan's territory being so far away from the kingdom's capital, they didn't get any news for quite some time and it was when she discovered the symptoms of her upcoming motherhood that the brave front she tried to put up had collapsed and she wallowed in tears at her loss. She had begun to believe that either her king had broken his promise to her about sparing Roland's life or Roland's own king had dealt the fatal blow.
Her father had sent notice to the relocated castle of her delicate condition and demanded that answers be given. The answers came swiftly after that, declaring that her beautiful lover was alive but imprisoned for his misdeeds. Her tears of great sorrow turned to tears of joy when the Bog King and King Dagda approved of her kind father's appeal of her beautiful lover's punishment and she nearly buzzed her wings off with excitement as the awaited day of his return to her embrace drew near.
Her father had done all that he was able to by offering substitutionary imprisonment that allowed his breeding daughter the comfort of her male at such a delicate time and she was grateful. She had made sure everything was ready in their new home, careful that everything would fit the larger fairy. She had known then that some of their clan cast pitying glances at her but she ignored them. It didn't matter to her that she would have to fend for him and their soon-to-be family alone. She was sure that every female would fall in love with him as well once he arrived and that she'd be the envy of the whole clan, no matter how hard it might get.
Finally, the day came and she buzzed with joy as the gleaming fairy guards deposited the large sack containing Roland into the home she prepared for him. Orchid had barely been able to be patient enough for the Sugar Plum Fairy to erect the barrier that would keep Roland inside but she did remember her manners enough to thank the kings for their leniency before quickly making her way inside.
It was the bindings that they had placed on him that had distracted her from really noticing. Truly, it seemed silly that they would not only keep him in a sack with arms and legs bound but that they covered his eyes and mouth as well. She uncovered his glittering eyes first and the love in his those glittery green depths mended all the pain her heart had been through. The deep rumble of his voice thrummed through her once she uncovered his mouth and she hastily undid the bindings on his arms.
Then she noticed the horrific wound he received as punishment for his misdeeds.
She was too shocked to do anything but it hadn't fazed him as he quickly finished removing his bindings before giving her the same loving treatment he had done when they first met months before. She had soon succumbed to his fervent desire and put the matter away. It was obvious that it didn't hurt him anymore and would no doubt heal soon.
Oh, how she wished that were true!
Months passed and her carapace grew tighter because of the growing in her womb but Roland's ugly scar did not heal. She tried her best not to let him know how much it bothered her. In truth, she told no one and she was glad that only she was permitted to be around him.
She knew the ugly scar bothered him. She even had to remove all the mirrors in their home after he once looked into one and expressed such disgust that he couldn't even stand to be around her. The posted guard had quickly fetched the Sugar Plum Fairy when she flew weeping from the home at Roland's venomous self-deprecating words. He apologized after he was calmed down and never spoke such things again, though she always made sure to never draw attention to his ugly scar after that.
Then she had a traitorous thought that maybe the reason the Bog King punished her beautiful lover in such a way was actually an act of jealousy. She was ashamed of herself soon after but it hadn't stopped that thought from evolving into thinking that maybe his helpfulness by keeping the Sugar Plum Fairy's calming potion nearby at all times was what was keeping Roland from healing. Surely, Roland should have healed a little by now!
It was after a polite visit from her king's own fairy lover that Orchid finally resigned herself to the truth that fairies just healed differently than goblins and her beautiful lover would always carry such an ugly scar for the rest of his life.
Orchid sighs heavily, caressing her straining purple carapace before looking over to the slumbering occupant of the large moss bed. She'll have to wake him soon if these pains become any shorter spaced but it's times like this that she enjoys most. She can gaze fondly on him and remember how beautiful he truly is without that ugly scar tainting his beauty. At least he still has those large powerful wings and his voice rumbles just as strong but...
By the spirits, she desperately hopes that one of their offspring inherits his beautiful green and gold carapace!