It was a dark and stormy night when Marinette's beloved father went missing. Of course, since he was expected to not come home because of the invention fair, he wasn't worried about until the horse returned.
So, when her father's horse returned without his owner, she went after him.
"Where are we?" Marinette asked the horse, earning a soft grunt in reply. Snow fell and the temperature dropped, causing Mari to clutch her cloak tighter.
The girl gasped when a dark, haunting castle loomed in front of her. Brisk winds caused her hair and cloak to flutter, and the the horse pawed the icy ground anxiously.
Slowly, they approached the vast structure, noticing that no lights shone through the windows. "Let's go." Marinette quietly commanded the horse, and soon they arrived at the gates.
She slid off of the horse, and cautiously opened the large gates. Creaking, they allowed her to enter. A large courtyard lay ahead, and Marinette let the horse to get a drink at a fountain that was miraculously not frozen.
Her bright blue eyes searched until she found the supposed front door. Leaving the horse, Marinette walked up the steps and formed a fist with her hand to knock, but when she knocked, the door swung open. With one last look behind her, she entered the castle.
Judging from the exterior, Marinette thought the inside would be similar, but it was practically the opposite. Instead of cold and drafty, a large fireplace warmed the entry way, and she couldn't help but wonder why the light didn't shine through the windows.
"Hello?" She called out after hearing someone softly talking. After her echo faded, silence lay heavily in the air. Brushing it off as her imagination, she began exploring after picking up a lighted candelabra.
Marinette soon found herself walking up a round staircase. Sounds emerged and she quickened her pace, sensing that this may be where her father was.
"Hello?" She repeated, and the noises grew louder as she approached the doorway at the top of the staircase.
"Marinette?" A man softly called out, and her suspicions were confirmed as she ran up the stairs.
"Papa?"
"Marinette!" She came face to face with her father in some kind of cell.
"How did you get here?" He asked, and reached out to her. "Why are you here?" She replied, not bothering to answer his question.
"Oh, Mari. There's a beast- a terrible beast! You need to go now!" He exclaimed, and Marinette shook her head.
"I'm not leaving without you, papa." She replied, and when she backed away to look for the key, a shadow covered her face as her father whimpered.
"Who are you?" A deep voice demanded and Marinette backed away. Was this the beast her father was talking about?
The large shadowed figure moved from in front of her to in front of the holding cell.
"Who are you?" Marinette replied, angered that this is who was holding her father.
"Someone who could make this situation a lot worse."
'Or something,' Marinette thought before talking. "Step into the light."
She heard a grunting noise from the beast before he obeyed her statement.
Marinette gasped. A tall, wolf-like animal on two feet with brown eyes stood in front of her. She now understood why her father had deemed him 'The Beast'.
"Marinette!" Her father cried, but she ignored his plead.
"Let my father go." She said, maintaining eye contact, and the Beast chuckled.
"For what?"
Silence.
"Me." She replied, and the Beast raised a furry eyebrow as her father yelled. "No! Marinette, no!"
"An interesting offer. But, no. This man broke into my castle."
"This isn't your castle. Castles are for princes." Marinette spat, and the Beast flinched. As she spoke, a plan formed in her mind.
"Fine. But at least let me say goodbye." She continued, and the Beast thought before unlocking the door. "You have a minute."
"Marinette!" Her father exclaimed as he wrapped her in a hug. "Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine!"
"Papa," She whispered. "I'm sorry."
"Sor-" Marinette pushed him out of the cell and closed the door as quickly as she could.
"NO!" Her father screamed as the Beast waited quietly in the corner.
"Leave." The Beast commanded him, but he shook his head.
"This is my daughter! I'm not just letting her stay here with you!" He yelled, and the Beast stepped forward. "GO!" He roared, and her father began to shake with fear.
"Stop tormenting him! Papa, I will be fine. Leave. "
"But-"
"Now."
"You can't just-"
"NOW!" Marinette and the Beast yelled simultaneously. He ran down the stairs, and she sighed. When she looked back up, the Beast was gone. Instead, she found the candelabra she put down earlier and a little clock.
"Welcome!" The candelabra said, and Marinette screamed, thinking that surely she was hallucinating.
"Please don't scream, it's disturbing." The clock sighed, and she nods with her mouth still slack-jawed.
"Am I dreaming?" She asked, and laughed to herself because she's talking to candles and a clock.
"No, dear. We're just here to lead you to your room." The clock says politely, and Marinette stands. "My room? I thought I was a prisoner."
"Well, you should be in comfort during your stay."
"You're making this sound like I'm going to a hotel." She mumbles to herself again, as the cell door is unlocked tv the candelabra.
"I suppose we could be a hotel, if it wasn't for the unfortunate situation the host is in." The candelabra sighs, and the clock slaps him lightly.
"Unfortunate sit-"
"Nothing, nothing." The clock says. "Here, just follow us, please."
Marinette obeys his wishes as the two appliances jump down the stairs. She observes her surroundings as they slowly descend upon the staircase.
Gray stones line and make up the stairs, with little chambers on the sides that seemed to previously hold something, such as statues. The steep steps take them down back to the main hall. There, they go back up another set of stairs that leads them to a long hallway with equal doors on both sides. All of the doors look the same, but the two lead her to the last door on the right.
"Here you are, ma'am."
"Oh, call me Marinette." She replies.
Marinette turns the door handle and looks into the room after addressing the clock.
"Wow.."
"We know it's dusty-"
"It's very fancy," She gasps, and turns around before continuing. "But dark," Mari adds once she realizes that she can only see half of the room due to lack of candles.
"Oh, that's me." The candelabra says, and suddenly, the room is lit with burning candles lacing the sides of the room.
"So.. How long am I going to be here? All I did was look for my father," Marinette asks as she sits on the queen-sized bed covered in a slightly dusty white comforter. The clock and candles exchange a look before replying. "We don't know,"
"And here I was thinking that since I have a fancy room, I could leave whenever I want." She says sarcastically, and the clock shakes his head. "Sorry, miss. We'll leave you to it."
They walk out and down the hallway, leaving the girl sitting alone in the large room. As she thinks about what's happening, it sounds more and more insane. Of course, she feels guilty for making the clock and candles think that she would befriend them, but what's the point when you're going to leave soon? So, she finds fabrics and blankets and begins to tie them together. Marinette faces the window, attempting to calculate how much more fabrics she would need to get to the bottom from her room at the top of the tall tower, when a voice disrupts her thoughts. "Oh, dear."
She turns to face a cart with a tea-pot and a teacup sitting on it.
"Hello!" Marinette yelps, and kicks the blanket-rope behind her.
"It's fine, dearie. Can't say I can blame you."
Marinette laughs nervously, and the teapot begins to pour tea into the teacup. "Go, Chip."
The cup suddenly turns and jumps into Marinette's hand. "Hi, miss!"
"Hi..?"
"Look, look!" Chip laughs before becoming silent and holding his breath. A second later, bubbles pop in and out of the cup.
Marinette chuckles, and Chip encourages her to drink the tea, so she obliges.
"Very tasty!" She responds, and Chip laughs gleefully before returning to the cart. "It's nice to meet you..?"
"Mrs. Potts, dear."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Potts."
"And to you, Marinette." Marinette blinks before replying.
"How-?"
"The whole castle is talking about you, dear."
"Oh."
Mrs. Potts smiles before the cart begins to push itself out of the door. "Bye, dear. Hope to see you soon!"
Marinette stands in the middle of the room, confused. The whole castle? Does that mean that everything is enchanted and somehow alive?
She picks up a brush, and stares at it after closing her door. "Hello?"
"That's just a brush." Marinette heard, and yelps in surprise before looking around the room.
"Over here." It says again, and she turns to the armoire. "There you go." It continues, and suddenly opens.
"Hello! You need to get dressed."
"Dressed? I am-"
"Not in those clothes, dear." Marinette finds herself covered in some kind of cloth, and looks down.
"Sorry, but-" She slides out, but a knock at the door cuts her off.
"Come to dinner." Marinette recognizes that demanding voice- The Beast. A muffled voice enters the conversation outside the door before he continues. "With me."
"No." Marinette yells back, and hides the rope under her bed in case he decided to come in.
"You will eat with me, or not eat at all!" The Beast roars, sending the chandelier above her to shake.
"I'd rather starve than eat with you!" She replies, and the Beast growls deafeningly. "So be it!"
Marinette sits on her bed, staring at her hands. The Beast stands at the door, staring at the door knob.
"Don't let her leave this room," He says to Cogsworth, and the clock nods.
The Beast walks down the hall, anger pulsating through his veins.
'Of course she denied me.' He thinks. 'She hates me, and I understand why.'
"Sir?" He hears, and growls in reply as he turns to Lumiere.
"What?!" The Beast snarls, and the candle backs away.
"I was just thinking.. She could be the girl! Marinette could be the one to break the spell!"
'Marinette..' The Beast says in his head. 'What a beautiful name.' His eyes widen and he shakes his head to rid his thoughts.
"Sir?"
"She's just a stupid girl who came here at her own will." Lumiere looks down and nods. "Yes, sir."
'That's all it is. Besides, who could ever learn to love a beast.' He thinks to himself as he settles on just being angry at the girl.
The stupid, stupid girl.