Author's Note: A version of my Beauty and the Beast. If you're familiar with my Desperate for Love fanfic, you'll know Dr. Viper will be altered. His gene pool will consist of characters like Arbutus from Aladdin episode: Garden of Evil; Nos-4-A2 from my Nos x OC fanfic and the Phantom from the Opera 2004 film. And yes, this will also be free from scary things and will have Malcho in this as well like in Desperate for Love and my other story Life Goes On.
This will have sorts of characters later on and have a few crossovers.
And one last thing: to anyone who would like to leave a review but is an artist, please do not make offers to me on a review. In fact, PLEASE, TO ANY ARTISTS WHO READ MY STORIES, I AM NOT ACCEPTIN' OFFERS. I'M SORRY.
Hope you'll enjoy, and God Jehovah bless.
Betrothed to a Snake
In a mansion, a lonely red-haired white-furred 21-year-old she-kat named Rosella Pearl was packing her prized possessions, some of which belonged to her late beloved mother who had passed away when she was twelve.
Her mother was the only friend she had in the world. In fact, after her mother married her father due to an unfair betrothal arranged by their families, her only friend and reason for living was Rosella.
The man of the house, if one could call him a man, was a cowardly, ignorant, useless tom rich only because an inheritance from passed down from his family. Her mother did not love him and on his part, he was simply attracted to her and married her to happily gain a prize.
Rosella's heart went out to her mother when she had learned, growing up and being raised by her, she did not have any positive opinions of him and avoided him whenever she could and made sure he had no influence on her only child.
After she had passed on, Rosella helped her spirit rest in peace by holding onto her beliefs. She had hoped she would be luckier in life than her mother was because the only relief about her leaving this world was being free of that silly excuse of a husband and father.
Her heart shattered when one day, her foolish only relative returned home after a trip to inform her he had met someone and promised her hand in marriage to him.
Rosella said nothing, but she was outraged and distraught that he would go and arrange a marriage for her to a stranger and for a reason he didn't even tell her of.
She had spent the first several nights crying in her room, holding her mother's small portrait as she mourned history repeating itself, being forced to marry someone she didn't know by a selfish family member.
Finally, she stopped the tears and resigned herself to her fate. Frankly, she hoped maybe her future groom would be a better tom than her idiot father and set her free from this lonely house she loathed with her mother gone.
Over the years, she braced herself for what was in store with this arranged wedding. After she was fully ready, she lied down, not bidding good night or good-bye to her father whom she never wanted to see which so far was the silver lining to this, for now, dark cloud.
As she waited for slumber to come to her, she wondered why she was never told any detail of this mystery man who would be her husband.
She sneered when she thought her only living parent probably agreed to literally give her away for some kind of riches or to just have the joy of having an extra room he could use for something.
Her room and house didn't matter anymore. The dullard could have it. He could have it all and be alone forever for all she cared. Good riddance.
Still, she wanted to know why she didn't even know the new tom's name yet. She would soon enough.
She finally fell asleep, even more so when a scent seeped under her balcony door, making her unconscious before the mist cleared and the balcony door opened for slithering vines to enter and wrap themselves around anything in the room that wasn't bolted down.
Another presence slithered himself in and looked over the sleeping young woman who looked very beautiful with her red locks spread on her pillow, a small strand of it on her forehead to his notice before he very carefully pulled it back and made sure her quilt was covering her shoulders so the night air couldn't touch her.
"SSSleep well, my dear. You'll never see this lonely houssse or that fool ever again," he promised, his voice hissing but his tone tender as he gently rubbed the back of his right index finger on her left cheek. "Your destiny has come to set you free at lassst."
Rosella had been sound asleep for several hours, unable to feel herself being moved throughout the night and placed into a new room. When the sleeping effects wore off, her green eyes fluttered open as she lifted her head up, her left hand on her head that felt light for a reason.
She felt stiff from shock she found herself and her belongings in a different room whose walls were made of… thick vines.
She reached behind her bed to feel, and it felt alive, warm and smooth.
"I don't understand. Am I dreaming?" she murmured, mystified.
"No, dear Rosssella," hissed a voice in the shadows, scaring her as she gasped softly, looking around for the owner of that voice.
In the darkness, two yellows eyes gleamed before slowly stepping into the light.
"Everything you see and hear isss real."
Rosella stared in shock at the kat whose flesh was two different shades of green up and down his body which looked reptilian from his black iguana-like fronds and long serpent tail. The only clothing he had on was a scientist's lab coat.
He knew she was on the verge of panicking, so he immediately took action and had a vine slither behind her to give her a shot whose effects made her feel slightly numb and still as he calmly walked up to her, his right finger tilting her chin to look at him, her eyes half opened as she kept herself silent to hear what he had to say.
"Calm yourssself," he soothed, "If wanted to harm you, you'd be dead already." He then carefully had her sitting comfortably on her bed.
Rosella was still rather scared, but she remembered her mother's teachings of reading a person's nature through body language. So far, as cold as his green furless skin was, his touch didn't feel heinous or intend any violence.
It gave her a small sense of security, but she didn't understand. Who or what was he? Wait, he even knew her name. How?
Her body still felt out of it, but she had enough energy and courage to softly ask a question, "Who are you?"
"I was onccce an ordinary tom cat, but..." he started to explain, pausing for a moment before clearing his throat and motioning his right hand to himself, "Well, due to bizarre circumstancesss, I am what you see before you."
Bizarre circumstances? Like what? Was he cursed? Magic did exist, but judging from his coat, it was something a bit more scientifical. An experiment gone wrong?
She kept that to herself.
"Please, what is your name?" she asked.
Pleased at least she had good manners, he bowed, his right hand on his chest as he gladly introduced himself, "Dr. Elrod Viper. And fear not, for I assure you, Missss Rosella, you're perfectly sssafe."
She was right, he was a scientist. "Pardon, how do you know me?"
"Why, I am your betrothed," Dr. Viper answered, his hands on his chest.
Her eyes widened before he quickly but calmly explained how he had met her father and why he had promised her to the green feline.
The imbecilic tom went away some time after his wife's passing, thinking it a shame to lose a fine woman from his house, but at least he had a daughter to make the most of, not that it ever came to his empty mind she didn't even miss him, let alone loved him any more than her mother did.
The undesirable acted like just because he was wealthy, he owned everything he walked on. That arrogant way of thinking got him in a world of trouble when he absent-mindedly strolled through a field of multiple flowers. When he caught sight of an extraordinary rose which reminded him of his daughter's name and hair, he assumed it would win her over by taking this home as a present.
Little did he know, he was being watched by two pairs of eyes in the darkness, displeased to see a careless trespasser.
That displeasure instantly evolved into devastation and fury when he plucked the beautiful living blossom from the ground, the life draining away from the precious specimen and the entire land felt the agony of losing a member of its garden.
The keeper of the garden, Dr. Viper voiced the pain as he roared, "Who trespasses in my garden?!"
The foolish tom turned and gasped in horror at the sight of the monstrous looking kat as he stepped out of the shadows and looked at the spot where the rose once resided peacefully and happily on.
"My prized specimen!" he cried in angered woe as if he had lost a child.
The man responsible for the death of the rose frightfully pulled his sword out, pointing it at the creature, but the doctor scowled at the teeny blade that he swung out of his shaking grip with his tail.
"You are a fool. Your sword may sssevere every limb, but my power will alwaysss grow," he said icily, showing his power of the plants all around as a purple anaconda with a mane, wings and scaly feathers emerged from behind his master, striking more fear in the quivering invader.
"P-Please, don't hurt me!" he cried, kneeling, dropping the dying flower Dr. Viper delicately picked up with his tail, giving it to Malcho as the scientist stared down in disgust and detestation at this cowering cretin.
"No one shall defile the precious work of Dr. Viper and be unpunished!" he spat, indifferent to his fear, his pet hissing from behind, his wings spread.
"Let me go free and you shall be rewarded. I am very rich. I will grant you any wish you make."
The green kat spoke more quietly but still indifferent. "Your reward meansss nothing to me."
"Surely there is one thing you've always wanted," he implored, terrified for his life.
Dr. Viper blinked before he put his left hand on his anaconda's lavender chest, thinking there was something this stupid kat could give if he had it.
"Yesss… perhaps you may possess something that could enhance my home," he spoke thoughtfully, his right hand on his smooth, scaly chin,
"An addition to my garden's beauty..." With a hopeful grin, he queried, "Tell me, have you a daughter?
And is she old enough to marry and unssspoken for?"
He hastily told him all about his lovely, quiet daughter. She was underage, but he promised to keep her single until she was of age to enter matrimony.
The intellect knew he would have nearly a decade to wait, but he had all the time in the world. In fact, he planned to make the most of the years.
He pointed his left bony finger at him as he spoke in a clear voice, "Hear me, in ten years, I shall come for your daughter." He grinned much more tranquilly as closed his eyes, his left hand on his chest as he added sincerely, "Fear not, she will be very well taken care of and treated as well as I."
He expected to hear appreciation since he was giving up his only daughter, but all he did was keep saying Rosella would be ready for him to come for her at the appointed time and immediately ran away.
Dr. Viper watched in repulsion by his cowardice, almost enough to vomit. "That fool cares more about his life than for the happinessss and welfare of his own child..." he muttered, disliking him completely for his selfishness rather than for his idiocy.
He grinned, an expression he wanted to feel heroic as he put his left hand on his chest and pronounced to his faithful feathered guard, "Then I will be the one to liberate her from that abuse. You'll see, Malcho, I may look horrendousss, but true ugliness and beauty are to be judged from within."
"That, I'm afraid, is how our fated meeting had to transsspire," the doctor finished, "… I did want a bride and feline companion, but this wasn't how I wanted it… Do you have questions? I know you must. You don't have to be frightened, Miss Rosssella, you are safe in my care."
Many, many things did swirl in her mind… She was still a bit frightened, but his touch and body language told her he meant no ill-will. She did think of something which made her sad to his notice.
It surprised him when she said, "He killed your flower?"
That was honestly the last thing he had expected her to say, but it started to bring an ease in his heart when she sounded concerned.
"Yesss… right from the roots. Re-planting it couldn't save it, though I did save the seeds to at least make sure its legacy would live on."
"I'm glad… and I'm sorry. I didn't know he was planning to bribe for my approval with a flower. I wouldn't have agreed if I did because that ignoramus was careless like that," she apologized, amazing him by her respects to his deceased rose and her equal detestation to the man who was her father.
"I believe you. In fact, I knew you were worthy every time I observed you."
"Observed? Wait, you mean, you've been…"
"Spying on you all these years? Yes, I have. I had to. I wanted to know what I was getting."
"I can't blame you for that."
"And now you know why you knew nothing of me until now. I had demanded he said not one word about my appearance and abilities."
"…So, when is the wedding?"
"Not right away. In fact, I think it would be fair if we wait for a while."
"A while? Why?"
"Because it wouldn't be right for you not to get to know me some more as well, and enough things have been forced upon you already."
Rosella kept her guard up, taking in the possibility of him trying to win her favor. Frankly, if he wanted to be fair, he would set her free of his terms of marriage, but she knew he had to be a powerful scientist and capable of things she couldn't imagine.
"One prison to another…"
She was terrified if he would do to her what had been inadvertently done to his body, even though he could have done that if he wanted. She was intrigued by this unusual reptilian feline, though.
"If all he wants is someone to talk to and if he cares for plants, how bad can it be? I still feel like a piece of furniture kept in reserve because of a bad parent's foolishness and cowardice who… scarified me."
She was even angrier and more heartbroken at her father than ever who gave up her freedom and knowingly risked her well-being despite the doctor's vow to give her protection in his home.
"That despicable louse!" she mentally screamed in sorrow.
"Miss Rosssella?" he asked, worried at what was going on in her mind.
"Oh, I apologize, doctor." Her heart ached at such a betrayal and injustice, but there was no point in shedding more tears over someone she would never see again.
Getting a feel of her body again, she slid her legs to sit on the edge of the bed, her hands on her knees as she focused more on the present.
"I appreciate the liberty for more time to know my intended, but pray, am I allowed to know everything?"
"Well, there are things in my life I decline sharing, like my distant existence, but I hope you'll judge me as I am in the present."
"The here and now do matter more than the 'there and then'. I presume you'll want me within the boundaries of your land of all times?" she guessed.
"Correct," he answered reluctantly, "but my dominion is yours to explore and have accessss to anytime you wish."
"Every single inch?"
"Well, there are a couple of places I'd rather you'd not enter without my permission, my laboratory and my chambersss."
"Of course."
"And I assure you, my land isss vast and have many things to do, and when we're ready for our wedding, all of it will be yours."
"Hmm… you're sparking my interest more by the minute," she grinned, her chin in her left palm, "but it's you I hope to get along with the most."
Smirking, he bowed again. "The feeling isss mutual, but for now, I'd like to show you around." He wanted to hold her, kiss her hand, slip her engagement ring on her, but he wanted to do this as steadily, patiently as possible.
Rosella wasn't sure how to make him happy or vice versa, but she would play it safe and keep her head down to stay alive. Maybe he would have the heart to set her free or maybe find a way to turn himself to normal and marry her should they love each other.
Reptiles didn't disgust or terrify her, just the opposite, but she couldn't imagine sharing her life with and giving her affections to a snake-like being no matter how gentlemanly.
"Whatever happens, I hope he can make me happy. At least he's not having his way already like that pig did with my poor, poor mother."
Taking the doctor's right hand, she put her arms around his arm, eager to see the home of this unique individual.