Greetings fellow readers and writers! Here's my fifth fic! Okay, here's the deal; this story came to me while on the way home from work, the idea hit me like a tone of bricks. I don't own Winx Club, what I do own are my original characters. I hope you like it, so on with the show!
PREE STORY ARGUMENT: H.P. Lovecraft once said 'the oldest and strongest emotion of Mankind is fear. And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.' While most would say this to be true, others would say that the strongest of all emotions is love, and with it, our desire to be loved. It is love, our need for companionship that makes us who we are. Yet there are creatures that would take advantage of this need for their own personal gain. Such a creature is the Incubus, a demon that preys on the loneliness of women. This is the story of a young woman whose loneliness attracted the attention of such a demon, and the efforts of her friends to save her. So, without further a due, please enjoy…
DREAM WALTZ
A Tale of Romance and Horror by
AndrewK9000
Chapter 1: Loneliness
"I'm worried about Layla," said Bloom to her friends as they walked down the streets of downtown Magix, "Se seems depressed." "She has been down in the dumps lately," said Musa, "I wonder what's up?" "I've seen nothing wrong with Layla," said Stella in her usual perkiness, "She's probably suffering from fashion withdrawal."
"Fashion withdrawal?" asked Tecna, "I sincerely doubt such a condition exists." "Well it does on Solaria!" protested Stella. "What's wrong with Layla," said Flora, "Is nothing more than loneliness. I mean think about it; Layla is the only one of the Winx Club without a boyfriend."
"You're right!" exclaimed Stella, "I can't believe I haven't seen it before!" "I can believe it," whispered Musa. "Musa," said Bloom, "This is serious, I'm worried about Layla. On Earth loneliness can be a serious problem." "Then by the power of Greyskull©!" exclaimed Stella, "I'm gonna make it my mission to help Layla find her soul mate!"
"And how are you going to do that?" asked Tecna. "I don't know," said Stella, "So I'm open to suggestions. Anyone?" "Well," said Flora, "My mom has this recipe for a love potion that when brewed correctly, will enable whoever drinks it find their soul mate. It's how mom met dad." "Well," said Bloom, "Since there's no class today, and it's a three day weekend, let's try it." Everyone nodded in agreement. Little did Bloom know that her choice that day would lead to dire consequences.
Writers note: The following ingredients are used in actual real-life love potions; for the sake of safety I've altered the recipe and changed the amount for each ingredient. I cannot express this any stronger; love potions in the real world can be very real and very dangerous if used incorrectly. So please, be very careful when messing around with love, it can turn around and bite you in the ass. Thank you; we now return you to your regularly scheduled fan fiction.
That afternoon found Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa and Tecna in the Alfeia potions lab, preparing the love potion specified by the recipe from Flora's mother. "Okay then," said Flora as the girls stood around a lit cauldron, "We've boiled 2 quarts of water, added 2 tsp Ambergris, 'to awaken love and emotion.'" "I've added 1 tbsp of Basil," said Musa, "'for harmony in love.'"
"A pinch of cinnamon," said Stella, "'to speed up the results.' We don't want Layla to wait thirty years for her soul mate." "Four rose blossoms," said Flora, "'A red one for desire and love; a pink one for romance; a yellow one for friendship; and a white one for purity.'" "A pink Carnation," said Bloom, "'for boldness in love." "A sprig of Ivy," said Tecna, "'For Loyalty.'"
"Now these two are the most important," said Flora as she checked the recipe, "A small Ruby 'to inspire confidence.'" "How big?" asked Musa as she checked the lab's supply of stones. "No bigger than 0.2 karats," answered Flora, "Followed by a 2 karat diamond 'to promote lasting love', after all, a diamond is forever." "Such a waste of one of a girl's best friends," complained Stella as Musa added the stones to the potions, which was by now shifting colors between red and pink.
"It's for a good cause," said Bloom, "Layla will thank us later. Now what Flora?" "Now," said Flora, "We can add up to 12 other ingredients of our choice, as long as they are associated with love." "I'm way ahead of you," said Musa as she held up a tray filled with potions supplies and random food items. "On Earth," said Bloom, "Strawberries, mangos and apples are strongly associated with love and romance." "That's three," said Flora as Bloom added the fruit she selected, "Let's make it an even 8."
"I've researched that almonds are associated with the many love goddesses," said Tecna as she added several almond nuts. "How about a sample of Mistletoe?" asked Musa as she added her ingredient. "Good choice," said Bloom, "It's an Earth tradition to kiss under the Mistletoe during the winter holidays." "We still need three more," said Flora, "A Daisy can bring about joy."
"A magnet," said Tecna, "So that Layla's soul mate will be attracted to her." "I've saved the best for last," said Stella, "Nothing says love better than chocolate!" She held in her hands a large box of assorted chocolates, "'Solarian Supreme Assortment,' best in all the realms." Stella took three pieces and added them to the cauldron.
"What else is in there?" asked Bloom. "Does it have the ones with the lime cream in the middle?" asked Flora anxiously, "I just adore those." "We have lime cream;" said Stella, "Raspberry cream; 'Cherry fondue'; Hazel nut covered; almond covered; raisin covered; even 'Crunchy Frog'." "I'll take one of those," said Tecna. "It isn't a real frog," asked Bloom sounding slightly nervous, "Is it?"
"It's a real frog," said Tecna as she popped hers into her mouth, "But just a little one." "What kind of frog?" asked Bloom. "A dead one of course," said Stella. "Do you at least take the bones out?" asked Bloom who was now sounding really disgusted. "If we took the bones out sweetie," said Stella, "It wouldn't be crunchy, now would it?" "I'll pass," said Bloom as she tried to steady her stomach.
My thanks to MONTY PYTHON for the 'CRUNCHY FROG' skit.
One hour later the potion was done, or at least Flora said it was done. "All Layla has to do is drink this," said Flora as she filled a small vial with the potion, "It should stark working almost immediately." "How would we know if it's working?" asked Musa. "Once Layla takes the potion," said Flora, "She should start having this 'warm and fuzzy' feeling radiating from her heart down to her fingers and toes. From there on, its only a matter of time before she finds her soul mate."
As the girls left the potions lab, Stella hung back and put a cover on the cauldron, "Wouldn't want it to dry out," she said out loud as she hurried up to the others.
They found Layla standing on the shore of the lake throwing stones out onto the water. "Hey Layla!" exclaimed Bloom as she and the others met up with Layla, "We've got something that'll make you feel better." "What do you mean?" asked Layla, "I feel fine." "One of the signs of loneliness," whispered Tecna to Musa, "Is denial." "Look Layla," said Bloom, "We're worried about you. You've been down in the dumps for a wile, and we figured that you just plain lonely."
"How can I be lonely when I've go the five best friends any girl can ever have?" asked Layla. "That's not the kind of loneliness we're talking about," said Stella as she held out the potion, "This little number is gonna help you find Mr. Right!" Layla took the potion in her hand and looked at it, "You made a love potion for me?" "That's right!" said Bloom as she and the others nodded.
"Oh you guys," said Layla, "I don't know. Love can be a dangerous thing to mess around with." "We're not messing with love," said Musa, "We're just helping you find it." "I still don't know," said Layla as she looked at the potion. "Look," said Flora, "If it doesn't work out, and the guy you end up with is a total slob, I'll have the antidote ready in a heartbeat."
"Well," said Layla, "Since you've went through all the trouble to brew it up for me," she uncorked the vial, "What the heck, bottom's up!" she exclaimed and drank the potion. Several seconds went by without any reaction from Layla. "Anything?" asked Flora after a full minute passed. "No," said Layla, "Nothing." "No 'warm and fuzzy' feeling radiating from your heart and extending down to your fingers and toes?" asked Bloom. "No," said Layla, who was sounding even more depressed, "I guess it didn't work on me. But I do appreciate the effort, really, I do."
"I don't get it," said Flora as she, Bloom, Stella, Musa and Tecna walked back to the potions lab, "We followed the recipe to the letter. Why didn't it work?" "We must have done something wrong," said Tecna, "It's the only logical answer." "You don't suppose," said Bloom, "No, it's ludicrous; it just can't be like that."
"Like what?" asked Musa. "It occurred to me," said Bloom, "That the reason why the potion didn't work is that maybe Layla just doesn't like boys, that she prefers girls instead." "You're not saying," said Stella, "That Layla, our Layla, that she 'swings the other way?'" "It's a distinct possibility," said Tecna, "But it really is none of our business if she is." "I still feel that we did something wrong with the potion," said Flora, "Bloom, did you make sure that the Carnation had an even number of petals on it?" "Yes," said Bloom.
"Tecna," said Flora, "How long was the sprig of Ivy?" "Exactly 10 cm as you asked," answered Tecna. "And Musa, are you sure it was a Ruby you used?" "Yes," said Musa, "A 2 karat Ruby and a 0.2 karat Diamond." "Wait," said Flora, "I said a 0.2 karat Ruby and a 2 karat Diamond." "Oh snap!" exclaimed Musa, "I must have heard you wrong. I guess I messed up the potion." "It's not that big of a problem," said Bloom, "We'll just dump the potion we used and start all over again."
"Oh no!" exclaimed Tecna, "I forgot to turn the heat off under the cauldron! I can't believe I made such an amateur mistake!" "It's still not a big deal," said Bloom as they hurried back to the lab, "If a mess was made while we were out, we'll just clean it up and start from scratch."
"Um, guys?" said Stella as they reached the door to the lab, "I think we have just one more problem." "What's that?" asked Tecna. "When we left to give Layla the potion, I put a cover on the cauldron. I didn't want the potion to dry out in case we needed some of it later." "You're joking," said Bloom as she opened the lab door, "Please tell me you're joking."
However, as the girls entered the lab, Bloom saw that Stella wasn't joking as the cauldron was producing heavy amounts of steam and rocking back and forth. "Stella you dipstick!" exclaimed Musa just before the cauldron exploded.
The end of chapter 1. Next chapter Bloom and the others face the consequences of their actions. See you next time!