It's been a long time since I've come out with something new, and an even longer time since my last new story. I promised someone last year I'd write a story for them- and here it is. This story is inspired by the beautiful works of ~Zell-K on deviantart. Go check her out, I think you'll see the works I'm talking about. And now, may I present to you my fellow faberry lovers...
Unpretty: a Faberry Beauty and the Beast AU
Disclaimer - I do not own Glee, nor do I own the characters or concept. I own my words though, and that's enough for me.
"No, no, p-p-please! I'm sorry!"
The young girl threw herself at the feet of the woman in front of her. The woman said nothing, her eyes closed, her face a picture of impassiveness.
"Please, you can't!" The girl whimpered.
"I, I-" She swallowed harshly, her pride a lump in her throat. "I beg you, have mercy."
Suddenly, the woman's eyes snapped open. "You beg of me?" She whispered, her voice an ethereal whisper that sent chills racing up the girl's spine. "You beg of me, after you so denied my plea?"
"Well, that was different!" The girl protested, her voice weak. "Had you shown me… had I known, I wouldn't have-"
"Should my appearance make a difference to you?" The woman whispered again, her whisper more effective than the world's loudest shout. "Kindness and love make no demands. There is no limit to what the human heart may give."
Slowly, the woman's gaze met that of the young girl, trembling and prostrated before her. Whereas her facial expression remained neutral, her eyes showed what her face did not- pure disgust.
"And it is clear to me that there is no love in your heart."
"Please, please, spare me!" The girl pleaded. "I'm sorry!"
The woman only shook her head, her gaze never losing it's colour of disgust. As the woman rose a hand, the girl gasped; tendrils of soft white light snaked their way out from the woman's fingertips, quickly spreading throughout the room. Before the girl knew it, the white light had encompassed the whole room- and judging from the rate it was spreading, soon the whole building would be engulfed in the white glow.
And the woman, the only point in the room that was not radiating with the white light, began to speak. All the girl could do was listen, paralyzed with fear and wonder, as the tendrils of light pouring from the woman's fingertips suddenly wrapped themselves around the girls arms, thick as cable and strong as steel.
As the white light grew blindingly bright, the girl closed her eyes. Overwhelmed by the words, the implications, and the cables suddenly expanding and enfolding her whole body, she blacked out- her world of dazzling white fading into complete and utter darkness.
When the girl next awoke, she was on the floor, and everything was dark. Slowly shrugging off the seductive caress of sleep, the girl sat up slowly. Blinking away the sleep in her vision, she froze, as everything rushed back to her- the events of the evening, her mixed emotions, but most of all, the woman's words.
Within a moment, the girl was on her feet. Stumbling blindly through the darkness of the room, she felt her way to the door. Nearly tearing the door off its hinges in her haste, she ran through, loping down the hallway until she reached the door to the washroom.
Bursting through, the girl stopped, frozen in her tracks as she came face to face with two items that made her blood turn to ice in her veins.
A mirror, and a single, glowing rose.
The piercing howl heard that night was unlike anything ever heard in the castle before, echoing and lingering even when the sound of her shrieks faded. There was no better music that suited the castle than the inhuman, tortured wails of the young mistress; no better sound that suited her dark abode than her hopeless cries.
And indeed, the girl knew that her situation, her life, was lost. Despite the woman's words, despite the woman's offer of 'redemption', the girl knew that there was no hope left for her.
For who could ever learn to love... a beast?