Male Belle

You look out the frosted windows of your room. A new layer of snow finally had fell covering up the old one and even more of the area around the castle. You had been stuck in your room all day with nothing to do like usual till a door slams downstairs. Your ears perk up and you turn around towards the noise. Your nails clap against the floor as you walk towards the door, slowly and quietly opening it up just big enough so that you could get through. 

"Mother??" You hear a voice yell into the distance. You tip toe over to a pillar and peer around it to get a view over the balcony of whom it was. 

It was a man. You furrow your eyebrows. Why would he be here, nobody's been here in years, why now? He scavenges around the castle until he hears a cough come from the distance. The woman? Maybe it was the same woman from earlier. You had found her passed out in the courtyard covered in little snowflakes. All your rooms were dusty so you had to make do with the cells in the east wing. The man looks over at Lumiere, your butler- candelabra, and swipes him up lighting the wicks and storming into the east wing following the coughs. You follow him around the balcony as he moves faster. 

 You gather round the east wing till he made his way inside getting closer and closer tot he woman. He had mid length chestnut hair and a dark navy cloak hiding his face. Once inside and escalating up the stairway, you follow him in. He goes to the right when the path splits so you go the opposite way. Reaching the cells you look in and see the woman huddled in a corner coughing her lungs out. 

The man see's this and quickly runs over to the cell gripping the bars in his hands. You loom over the two on a separate stairway. "Mom!" "Belle, oh how I've missed your face." She sighs out. "What kind of terrible person would do this to someone??" He asks quite angrily. 

"I-I don't know but I was on my way to the fair and-and got attacked by these wolves-" She spews. "T-then Phillip had run over to some gates and I had gotten off and I guess the fear made me paralyzed afterwards so I fainted." So that's what happened. 'Belle' nodded and grasped his mothers hands with his. "Your hands are ice mom, You need to get out of here somehow." He breathes out. He peers out into the darkness, your hiding spot, and stands up. "Who's there?! Come out you coward!" He yells holding out Lumiere into the dark. You move back to ovoid the light. "Stop hiding and come out like a man!" He shouts. You could see Lumiere trying not to laugh at the mans ignorance. 

Finally he begins to softly laugh. "Who are you??" He asks again. "Monsieur, the man you are looking for isn't exactly here." He says. "Where is he then?" "She is waiting for you to calm down."

'Belle' Pauses. "S-she?" He questions. Lumiere chuckles. "Oui. She. Madam? I believe you can come out now." He calls out for you. You shake your head. "N-no. He'll just run away, or accuse me of something I didn't do." You mumble. "Madam..." You sigh and jump down from your ledge to the spot they were at, though you did still stay near the shadows.

"Come into the light." Belle says softly. You bite your lip thinking about it. "I-I can't." "Please." He asks once more. 

You sigh and step into Lumiere's glare. He gasps a bit staring at you. You Hadn't grew fur but you did have beast like feet and twisted horns adorning your head. Your clothes were measly a white shirt and a navy under skirt that had been tattered only by much. Your h/c hair had grown down into long bouncy curls that reached your waist instead of (hair style), that you had since you were little. You didn't make the effort to clean yourself up, it wasn't like you were expecting guests. 

Belle continues to look at you as well as his mother. "Don't you know it's rude to stare at a lady." You mutter. Belle shakes his head. "I-I'm sorry it's just-" "You've never seen a monster before..." He bites his lip as you finish off his sentence. "I wouldn't say monster. Your just unique." You roll your eyes. "That's what everyone here says. Anyways, this is your mother?" He nods. "Well, I found her laying out in the middle of the courtyard, out of her own mind. I decided that I would take her into one of the rooms here but sadly I couldn't because a dusty room is never hospitable," "I taught her that!" Lumiere jumps from Belles hand. He jumps a bit then looks down at him. 

"Oh, my word." "As I was saying, I couldn't find a room and the only thing really not that bad was here." You explain. Belle looks over at his mother then you and sighs. "Is that all that happened?" You nod. "I wouldn't hurt anyone," "Not even a fly." You glare down at Lumiere then back at Belle. "I'm sorry if this came off the wrong way." He smiles. "It is okay, just as long as she isn't hurt." "If you would like, I'm guessing where you come from is quite a ways away, you could stay here, just as my apology for scarring you both." They both smile. "We would love that." Belle smiles.

You look over at the cell and gasp. You quickly head over to the lever that opened the door and cranked it downwards. The door flung open and the woman sprung up hugging her son. You smile at the scene and look towards Lumiere. 

He smiles at you. You glance back at the family. "Shall we head downstairs?" You ask. They both nod following you down the descending stairway. 

You lift up your skirt avoiding tripping on it, and climb down. "How long have you been here?" Belle asks. "All my life. This place is my childhood, crumpled and forgotten." You reminisce sadly. "How exactly did you get like this." The mother asks. "I guess I kind of do owe you an explanation don't I?" You chuckle. "I was young and arrogant. An elder woman had knocked on my doors exactly two years ago, I was foolish to not let her in for it was pouring rain outside. I grimaced at her face and waved her away not knowing what would happen afterwards. Not long after I soon realized that she had been a sorceress. She unvealed herself and placed this curse on me."

"Well there must be a way to undo the spell correct?" The mother asks. You nod. "Yes but nothing that I will force onto you at this time." "Why not?" Belle asks. "It will put you in an awkward position." You explain. They both don't say anything. You all reached the familiar marble flooring and fanned out. Lumiere hopped down the stairs and landed next to you. 

"They will show you to your rooms," Two bodies of armor came marching down. "But please be warned, they aren't as clean as I would like them to be." You press. Belle chuckles. "Don't worry." 

The two walk off following the soldiers down the hallway. You go the opposite direction towards your room. 

You open the doors and peer out at the rose. A petal began to fall onto the plate leaving only 7 more. You gasp and carefully run towards the flower. It lands on the silver plate and immediately ages. You frown hearing one more section of the castle crumble. 

You hear a knock on your door. You walk over and open your door. "Yes?" Belle stands there. "Do you have a library by any chance?" He asks. You nod. "Yes, actually I do. Need some help finding it?" You giggle. He nods. "I'll show you." You walk out of your room and shut your doors behind you and walk out next to him. You both walk down the hall and down the cascading stairway in an eerie silence. "So do you live in the town down the way?" You ask. He nods. "Yes but it's rather boring there unfortunately." "How so?"

"People haven't changed, nothing there is ever new, this...girl keeps following me around begging me to propose to her," "What is her name?" You ask. "Grayson." You hum and nod. "Why does she want to marry you?" "She thinks we would bare more of her family tree and expect me to carry to her every will and plea." You frown. "That wouldn't be a healthy relationship would it?" He scoffs. "Absolutely not! I despise that women with my heart and soul." You nod. "I would understand that if I had someone like that." He shivers. "Just don't even think about it." You chuckle. "I'll try not to, ah!" You stop in front of two large doors decorated beautifully. "Here it is." You boast, you open the doors with one swoop and they swing open revealing the large interior.

Belles jaw drops open. 

"Oh my," He breathes. "This-this is." He tries to finish his sentence but can't. "It's okay I guess." You walk in. 

He looks at you like you were insane. "Okay?! This is gorgeous!" He beams. You smile. "Have you read all of these??" He asks. "Not all of them, some of them are in Greek. "

He's smile just got bigger and bigger. You smile at him. "If you like it so much you can have it." "What?" He spins around. "I-I mean if you...want to come back?..." You say. He looks at you. "Your joking." You frown thinking you said something wrong. "I would love to." Your smile grew slowly. 

"Really? No one ever wants to come back." "Well nobody cares to give you a chance, I will though." You grin. "Thank you." "What for?" He questions. "For giving me a chance." He rolls his eyes with a smile. "Oh stop. Anyways why don't you show me around?" You nod fanning out into the place. You checked out the fantasy section, the realistic literature even fiction. Belle was full of energy the whole time and wouldn't stop moving around. 

"Do you like it?" You ask turning around to him looking at about 5 books at a time. "Like it? I love it! It 's the most wonderful thing! The library at the town doesn't even compare to the one of this proportion." 

"Well I'm glad you like it." 

_Continued_