The Land of Stories: Gleeful Days Are Here Again

Just Stay Strong

14. Just Stay Strong

In which it's not too late to apologize...

After their near-miss with Lord Tubbington, Chris, Darren, Kurt, Blaine, and Froggy were glad to put the giant's castle far behind them. As they finished making their way down the beanstalk and finally touched solid ground, all five let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Let's go see Unique," Blaine suggested, "and find out how she feels about being part of the Wand of Wonderment."

They walked across the lawn to Blaine's former residence, where the magic harp had been living alone for the past year. As they stepped through the front door, they could hear Unique's voice:

On my own

Pretending he's beside me

All alone

I walk with him 'til morning

Without him, I feel -

The song ended abruptly when Unique caught sight of her visitors. "Oh, Blaine! I see you've brought company. How fabulous! Were you successful in your quest?"

"Not exactly," Blaine said a little sheepishly. "You see, we were hoping to find the giant's most prized possession..."

"You were? Why didn't you say something sooner? I could have saved you a climb. You must have realized by now that the giant never possessed anything else even remotely as valuable as I am."

"No false modesty here, I see," Kurt said with amusement.

"Hey - when you've got it, flaunt it. And I, for one, have definitely got it! After all, I am Unique."

"Oh, believe me, I know that you're priceless. But I have no idea how this is supposed to work," Blaine admitted. "We're collecting items to create the Wand of Wonderment, so that we can defeat the Enchantress. And so far, everything else we've gathered has been a small, material object. I'm not sure how you fit in."

"Well, I am magic," Unique pointed out.

"That you are," Blaine agreed with a smile. "So, will you join us on our travels, and help create the wand when the time comes?"

Batting her golden eyelashes, the magic harp replied coquettishly, "I thought you'd never ask."

Kurt and Blaine hoisted Unique between them, and they all made their way back to the flying ship. As they came aboard, they noticed that there was no sign of Rachel anywhere.

"Queen Red must still be in her castle, huh?" Darren observed.

Froggy looked uncomfortable. "I'm not sure whether Red will be joining us on the rest of this mission."

Kurt's face lit up at the sound of that, but he quickly schooled his features into a concerned expression when he saw how upset Froggy was. "What happened?"

"Come on - there's no point in anyone pretending not to have noticed that being on this quest together has brought back the, um... feelings... that Red used to have for Blaine. And the fact that she and I haven't been able to kiss because of this stupid curse, not to mention the fact that I've been transformed back into a frog, certainly hasn't helped matters any. I'd been trying to ignore the situation, but when I finally couldn't take it anymore and called her out on it, she got all huffy, and she hasn't spoken to me since."

"I'm sorry, man," Darren said.

Chris gave Froggy a sympathetic look. "I know things are tough right now, but don't give up hope. I think she'll come around. After all, the Mirror of True Love said that the two of you are meant to be together, and the mirror never lies."