I Promise I Will Learn from My Mistakes
Prologue: The Mob Marches On
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon characters; they belong to Disney and the original creator of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I only own my OCs. The title of this fic is inspired by the song 'Fix You' by Coldplay, and I have the plan to listen to it every time I write a new chapter. As always, this fic is dedicated to Rival Argentica, my Soul Sister from the other side of the world, since she has been supporting me on this idea for months now, and I am just now getting around to writing it! Enjoy the prologue, everyone! Read the author's note at the end for any further notes of importance!
Cast: The canon characters are played by their respective actors in the 2017 live action movie. My main OC, Felicity, is played by Katie McGrath, the amazing actress behind Morgana in the TV show Merlin!
The tranquility and majestic nature of the night is quickly broken by what appears to be a mob. A singing mob tromps through the woods as the procession shouts and raves about an evil beast posing a threat. Though the woods are usually considered abandoned and uninhabited by the people of Villeneuve, a young maiden by the name of Felicity has recently moved into a small cottage on the outskirts of the woods. While her cottage is not entirely far away from the town, as the mob passes the cottage after walking for a mere six minutes, Felicity enjoys the relative peace and privacy the small house offers. In fact, the man at the beginning of the mob- a Captain known among the villagers as Gaston LeGume the war hero- reaches the expanse of the cottage in less than two minutes atop his jet-black stallion. The maiden watches the scene unfold from her window, her green eyes widening significantly as she catches sight of the various weapons the men of the town wield, including guns, knives, swords, shovels, and a manner of other vile accessories. Felicity heard this little provincial town would be safe now that the Portuguese were ousted nearly thirteen years ago. That is why she packed her few meager belongings in a simple cart and left the disaster that is her father's estate.
Felicity and Belle are the dearest of friends, so the absence of Belle has given Felicity quite a fright. Nearly one month ago, Belle went missing, Maurice citing a beast as his daughter's captor. Though Felicity only moved to the outskirts of Villeneuve six months ago, she and the inventor's daughter had become fast friends in the span of less than two months. Both young women love to read, and the two of them poured over Romeo and Juliet nearly a week, reading the play thrice before Belle returned it to Père Robert. Neither Felicity nor Belle thought a woman reading should be considered odd, yet both women hold a high regard for and embody the knowledge of an intelligent woman. While Belle's favorite book details the story of a simple farm girl meeting and marrying Prince Charming, Felicity's personal favorite is Rostand's famous French play Cyrano de Bergerac, a romance in which the famous swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac lives by his wit and sword, holding a deep love for a maiden named Roxanne, though she loves a new soldier by the name of Christian. Cyrano writes love letters to Roxanne, though he signs them all with Christian's name, as the soldier knows such a fair maiden could never love a man with a nose as prominent as his. Felicity absolutely adores the play, and Belle now holds a high regard for Cyrano de Bergerac as well. While Belle is just beginning her ride into adulthood, Felicity is six years older and at the ripe age of twenty-six. Growing up in a household in which she was treated like an outcast and a disappointment- due to circumstances completely beyond her control- Felicity is quite happy to receive a chance to start over.
Throughout her six months of residence in Villeneuve, Felicity is pleased to say that she has not faced any problems with the villagers. Belle and Maurice are the dark-haired maiden's closest confidants; Felicity is equally grateful for Belle's friendship and Maurice's fatherly advice. Père Robert allows Felicity to borrow books in the same manner as Belle, as he greatly enjoys discussing novels and plays with the two young women. All of the other villagers seem kind enough, but that is because none of them know of Felicity's love of books and knowledge, not to mention her position as a physician. As for Gaston LeGume, the brown-haired physician counts her lucky stars she has been able to avoid making his acquaintance in her six month residence in this small, provincial town. Belle can hardly stomach the man, so why should Felicity, especially when the arrogant, cocky, and boorish soldier tries to propose to Belle nearly every chance he gets?
"What on Earth?" Felicity inquires, moving to the window as she hears screaming in addition to a rather unidentifiable sound.
"Put your backs into it, men! We'll need a battering ram to knock the castle doors in!" a loud, deep, masculine, and commanding voice shouts, and as the figure moves past her house, Felicity identifies the man as none other than Gaston himself.
As soon as Felicity plans to exit her cottage and demand an explanation, one of the trees crashes unceremoniously to the ground, nearly flattening LeFou in the process.
"Sally forth! Tally ho! Grab your sword; grab your bow!" the mob sings, departing just as quickly as they appeared in the first place.
Watching the mob march by, Felicity notices the absence of a prominent figure. Throwing her door open, Felicity sprints as fast as she can to find Maurice and get to the root of the current problem.
When she reaches the main square of Villeneuve, Felicity nearly collides with her best friend.
"Maurice!" Felicity shouts, almost crashing to the ground upon running straight into Belle.
"Felicity?" Belle gasps, righting her friend where the older woman won't fall at the impact.
"Belle?!" Felicity questions in a shocked and relieved tone of voice. "Belle, what happened? How did you return? Your father and I-"
"Oh, none of that matters right now!" Belle dismisses, a sense of urgency on her face. "I need your help, Felicity! Adam's in trouble!" the inventor's daughter cries out.
"Who's Adam?"
"No time to explain! I'll tell you on the way!"
Belle offers a hand to Felicity, pulling the green-eyed physician up and onto Philippe's back.
"Be safe, girls!" Maurice calls after them before closing his eyes and beginning to pray.
Heaven knows they need a miracle to keep Gaston the revered hunter and war captain from killing his quarry.
As Belle pulls Philippe to a jerking stop, both women hear the distinct sound of a gunshot. Belle's eyes widen in fright and pure, unbridled terror.
"Go to him, Belle," Felicity urges, giving her friend a shove towards the staircase. "You know this castle better than anyone in the village! Your brain is twice as big as Gaston's; you can outsmart him!" she encourages, wondering why Belle still hasn't gone yet.
"What about you?" Belle asks, afraid her best friend will meet a cruel fate.
"I'll be fine, Belle. Honestly! I'm a big girl; I can handle myself," she assures, and with that, Belle scurries up the stairs two at a time.
Felicity looks to the stars above, trying to formulate a plan and proper course of action.
"I'm coming for you, BEAST!" comes what can only be described as a roar from Gaston's mouth.
Felicity knows that she and Belle must hurry. Scouring the lower levels of the castle for something useful, Felicity nearly jumps out of her skin upon hearing a yowling grunt of pain and anguish, followed by a second cry combined with the crumbling of the castle around the pinnacle. Yelping as rubble hurtles to the ground and strikes against her arm, Felicity lands harshly on her stomach in enough time to hear a terrified, male scream as a portion of the castle falls from the sky. After the dust settles and the sharp pain in her arm subsides, Felicity feels compelled to follow the trail of glowing yellow light trailing behind the exterior staircase.
Author's Note: And there it is! The prologue to my new Beauty and the Beast story! I hope you all enjoyed this small snippet; don't worry, the prologue was just to tease what is to come, and I didn't want Felicity to officially meet Gaston in the prologue. She currently just knows Gaston by reputation and Belle's thoughts on him, so any mention of Captain Gaston LeGume gives Felicity a negative connotation out of reflex. Thank you so much for your support, dear readers! I hope you have an amazing day, afternoon, or evening; reviews are always appreciated if you would like to leave one telling me what you think about the story so far. I will try and update this story as soon as I can- I've had the idea of this story for months, so I know where it is headed- but I am in the second semester of my first year in college, and it is already incredibly harder than the first semester was! Until next time, my dear readers!
P.S. I just started watching Merlin before the new semester began, and I am in love with it! I just started Season Two, and I knew Katie McGrath would be an amazing fantasy cast for Felicity!
P.P.S. The cover image for this story was created by me. I hope you all like it!