Disclaimer: Characters of Beauty and the Beast are property of Disney, but I own my original characters
Author's Note: OK, so, it seems that these retellings are getting a little old. I don't necessarily know if mine falls under the category of retelling, but, for the sake of arguments, I will say that I have come across an entirely unique approach if you – the reader – classifies this as a retelling. However, I would argue that this is NOT a retelling for the following two reasons: 1) the Beast I speak of is not said Beast from the movie, but rather the inner struggles of a hotheaded, young fighter jock that will meet our heroine in some later chapter, and 2) just because I said so, dadgummit!
Kidding, I still love you all. Anyway, lemme know what you think in your reviews. Trudi, I hope you're reading this because I really appreciate your stories and you inspired me to write something "original" in my own way. I would love to hear from you.
Now, on with the story.
The Great World War had started far before she was even born. No one knew exactly who started it, or what particular issue it started over, but the spark that ignited the fire had been a tactical nuclear attack on a major city, causing the death of over 250,000 souls and destruction totaling over $32 billion. The entire world stood in shock as the news hit the mass media machine; nuclear war was about to begin. The widespread panic was ameliorated when each world power had personally guaranteed on the floor of the U.N. that no other weapon of such mass destruction would be loosed until the culprit had been found. The problem was, no one owned up to it. The entire Security Council had denied use of the weapons; none of the other world powers had claimed responsibility either. A secret ballot was held to determine if someone was lying or not; the ballot had still shown a one-sided denial. So if no one was going to claim responsibility, then who would get the blame?
Jumping to one conclusion after another, the powers accused each other, pointing blame and fingering allies, paranoia running rampant as the confusion surrounding the event became more and more obscure. The populace began to get restless, calling for action out of fear that sooner or later, another nation would take advantage of the confusion and start a world conquest. Political leaders stepped up to the occasion promising immediate military action. Soon, allied commitments were called on and honored, NATO countries coming into one big coalition force under a banner of world peace protection. The opposition consisted of a majority of the Communist countries, including North Korea and Cuba. Russia abstained, not wanting to get involved in the fighting, but rather the supplying of either side, increasing their exports of arms and weapons. Suspicions arose at the onset of the Russian's abstinence; it seemed that Russia had a motive to go with the crime. Allegations that Russia had initiated the attack to spark a world conflict they could sit back and profit from were presented, angering the Russian government. Despite the tense Cold War relations of the past, Russia offered the U.N. the chance to account for all of its nuclear weapons. Much to the world's chagrin, the U.N. Security Inspectors found each and every nuclear weapon in Russia's arsenal present and accounted for. If not the Ruskies, then who?
Each country's military mobilization grew to unprecedented heights, gearing towards the largest conflict in the history of humankind. Economic prosperity exploded as the arms factories began to produce as many weapons as it could. Human resources were at an all-time high, citizens of each respective country contributing what they could toward escalating the military prowess of their proud nations. Inventors became gods of technology, their imagination and creativity highly sought after to develop a new war technology that could give their nation the edge in what was sure to become the biggest threat to human survivability on the planet. Innovative ideas and creations were applied as soon as they were approved, and what innovations they were.
Most of it became geared toward lighter and more powerful small arms. Assault rifles capable of taking out an entire platoon of enemy troops; tanks that became nearly indestructible thanks to elastic armor that would absorb blasts; faster, higher, and more agile fighter aircraft; surgically-precise bombs; battlefield awareness systems attached to each troop. But the crowning achievement came in the form of AI. Computer technology that could learn a fighter pilot's flying style and upload it to a UAV armed with a deadly arsenal of missiles, rockets, and bombs enabled one pilot to be their own fighter/attack squadron commander. In this way, some of the world's naval and air forces grew to unprecedented numbers, human casualties dropping off sharply as the less costly units were sacrificed more often than their human-controlled counterparts. This saved the nations training losses and money more than fully human squadrons did.
It wasn't long after most of this new technology was put to the actual test. The first battle of the Great World War broke out over the skies of the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard on 25 January 2035. Around 2213 EST, a large aggressor wing of fighters flew in at near the speed of sound, a mere hundred feet over the calm waters. Radar operators didn't even notice them until the smoke from their missiles broke the radar coverage floor. By then, it was too late; several military installations were struck by surprise, including the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Many promising future officers died in their sleep as the back two wings of Bancroft Hall were destroyed in a fiery blaze. Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C. was hit worst of all; the entire contingent of aircraft was lost, as were the countless personnel standing alert status on the base. Langley Air Force Base was able to respond to the aggressors effectively, as were the test pilots and the new prototype platforms at Patuxent River Naval Air Base in Virginia. Several pilots made ace status in a matter of minutes, scoring five enemy kills or more by the time the battle was over.
LCDR Daniel Stone, USN, was the newest test pilot on the base when the fighting broke out. He single-handedly led the defensive air effort, getting his brand-new prototype FX-18Z Stinger Hornet into the air and holding off enemy attacks on the taxiing aircraft for at least ten minutes. It had been fortunate that the planes were being tested that evening for carrier landing stress testing, carrying a full weapons payload of air-to-air missiles and a full external fuel tank. LCDR Stone shot down a total of 15 enemy aircraft in the half-hour encounter, receiving accolades such as the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving countless lives of sailors and marines, and for his heroic and seemingly impossible survival, which brought about the destruction of the enemy. Stone was a reluctant hero, but a hero nonetheless.
It wasn't until the 18th Eve of the War – 24 January 2053 – that an ingenious American scientist developed an electronic jamming pod capable of disrupting the frequency of inert nuclear material to such a point that it would render any and all nuclear weapons within its target range useless. Unfortunately, the spy games had been reinstated as a result of the Greatest World War, and each country capable of copying the technology had done so. Now that everyone had the ability to neutralize each others' nuclear arsenal, there were no other alternative means to ending the conflict than by conventional means; guns, tanks, jet aircraft, troops, and entire navies that even had battleships being brought out of a mothballed state.
As a result of the growing military demands for equipment maintainence, the world governments had spent every last penny they had toward building up their defense forces and mobilizing equipment, manpower, and finding every scrap of metal they could to build new weapons of war to either replace those that had been destroyed, rolling out something totally new and revolutionary thanks to the innovations of the inventors.
After 19 solid years of conflict, the ground troop count started to suffer, despite the volunteers that continued to reinforce the losses. However, the time it took for training the new recruits had an adverse affect on the bolstering of the numbers of ground troops available. Thusly, conscripts were called up by every nation, meaning any able bodied person they could get their hands on was eventually pressed into service. The people had gotten the hint, fleeing the urban areas and settling in the more out of the way rural communities. Thusly, recruiting became more and more problematic as the recruiters had to go well out of their way to find people, often traveling for days before finding people willing enough, and often times shooting those who fled. These acts and more quite naturally caused civil unrest, but with people spread out over a large area, there was no way an effective uprising against the tyrannical military methods could be organized. In their efforts to avoid being brought into service, the people had backed themselves into a corner they couldn't easily escape from.
As the war raged on for over a hundred years, more and more people found their way toward the wide open spaces of the non-coastal regions. A combination of events took place that caused the peoples of each nation to slowly wean themselves from the conveniences they'd grown accustomed to and start reverting back to the way things used to be in the 18th century. First, the insatiable needs of the military took precedence over the common population, meaning that the modern-day conveniences such as electricity, refrigeration, vehicular transport, and mass media were for the most part cut off from the general populace. There was nothing that could define the middle 22nd century as a modern time. All the amenities that went with modern life were afforded only to the military.
Secondly, the more the war raged on, the more conservative politicians became, spouting hellfire and brimstone from the 'Bully Pulpit' of their respective countries. Hence, the faster these modern-day amenities disappeared from daily life and control over what the citizens could or could not do became more and more strict with each passing administration, until a neo-feudal society became the prevailing structure of society. By the time she was born, she knew nothing about what electricity could do, but she knew of it, and she also knew what the dress code entailed. The low-cut, alluring fashions at the beginning of the new millennium were a thing of the past, mere historical reference now. The fashion of the present day reflected that of the middle 1700s, but without the restricting vise of a corset for the ladies. Simple, hand-made cotton garments replaced those made of polyester and easy-care fabric. It truly had brought the world back a couple of centuries. Not that she noticed, however.
As far as she was concerned, the conditions she had been living in suited her just fine; her small cottage near the outskirts of a quaint French village, living with her father, an inventor of marvelous machines. One could have told her that it was 1762 or 2162, and she would never have known the difference. What was time to one such as her? A beautiful girl with luscious brown hair that fell past her shoulders, glowing green-brown eyes that spoke of a longing for fantastic adventures, and a mind as sharp as a whip, she was as beautiful as any girl could hope to be. Funny thing about her is that she didn't think she was all that attractive. This was due to the attitude of the villagers, who considered her odd. This wasn't her fault, necessarily, but more of a coincidence really.
She and her father had moved to the village from Paris only three years earlier. She was only 17 at the time, and despite the many times her father had explained to her why they had moved from her friends and home, she still didn't understand what he meant when he said, "We're moving away from the development, Belle." Development? Development of what, the city? she often though. It depressed her that she had to leave the people that understood her best. Now, the people here didn't appreciate the fact that she had an affinity for magic. She loved to perform tricks for the entertainment of others, and even played the Irish pipes that her mother had bequeathed her. It was sad, sad that this particular village hadn't discovered the joy of magic tricks.
When they first arrived, the children of the village were curious to see the new people that came to the village. They were so eager to see if they had a new playmate, but their spirits were slightly crushed when they saw the older girl and her father. She smiled at them and beckoned them over.
"You want to see some magic?"
"Magic?" asked one with a sandy blonde mop on his head.
"What's that?" asked a little girl with curls.
"I'll show you," Belle said with a twinkle in her eye, producing a set of cards out of thin air. She spread them out in beautiful fan-like arrangement.
"Pick one," she urged with a hint of glee. "And once you know what it is, put back and I'll shuffle the deck. Then, I'll pick your card out."
The blonde boy picked out a card, showing all his friends as they craned their necks over his shoulders, standing on their tip-toes. He placed the card facedown back into the fan. Belle shuffled the deck with speed, randomizing the cards in front of the childrens' very eyes. What she failed to notice in her happily focused state of mind was the slight look of fear in the eyes of the little ones. They watched her smiling, a little too much. They had been told about crazy ladies with powers to do unspeakable evil; was this young woman one of those bad ladies? She had finished shuffling now and told them to watch carefully at the card she was about to hold up. Their minds reeled in a dangerous mix of curiosity and apprehension. Leaning in closely, they prayed silently that she wouldn't pick the right card. If she did, that meant she was a bad lady.
She held up the seven of hearts, "Is this your card?"
They looked at her, at the card, then her, and then the card. Their little faces contorted into masks of horror and fright, as if in slow motion. The process running through her brain at the moment consisted of trying to calm the children down or run like Hell. Before she could do either, the kids screamed bloody murder and bolted for their homes as if their bottoms were on fire. Belle reached out a hand as if to somehow draw them back and apologize.
Great, I'm here two minutes and already I scare the kids.
She found out later that this particular village had been plagued by "unholy and unnatural acts" a few years back pertaining to what basically amounted to witchcraft. Any display of magic/sorcery/incantations etc. were frowned upon and often feared. So because she tried to be the nice person that she was and show a neat parlor trick to her new neighbors, she became ostracized and rejected. Everywhere she went in town, people looked at her with disdain and mistrust. While walking to the grocer's to pick up food, she would often be urged to hurry by the store owner the moment she walked in. At first, she didn't listen. Then the store owner started walking ten feet behind her in the store. His stance and attitude became more claustrophobic than ever after the first five minutes. She didn't understand why she had to move any quicker than she should be allowed. He loudly announced his presence as she picked up and inspected an apple.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Get your food and get out, now!"
"Why are you being so rude?"
"Because I'm losing money while you shop, witch!" Indeed, the majority of the village's female population was outside, hesitant to enter the shop with her in it. She scowled at the store owner and made her selections quickly. She slammed the money down on the counter and furiously strode out of the store past the ogling and cringing women-folk.
She would do everything in her power to appear and act as non-threatening as possible, but her Parisian fashions were just slightly more revealing than the conservative village standard. Hence, not only did she have the whole witch thing to deal with, but she was also ushered out of whatever shop she was in so that the married store owners wouldn't get caught by their wives looking at the shapely young girl.
It struck her as crazy, but she figured there was no changing them. The only one who didn't pay her any attention was a rather dashing, yet troublesome young man by the name of Gaston. She often saw him around, flashing his smile and flexing his muscles to all the village girls. Whenever she would approach to see what the big deal was with this guy, Gaston would notice her at once, push his way past the villagers admiring him and move away as fast as he dared. The crowd followed, leaving Belle alone. That hurt her more than anything...being left by an entire crowd because of one person. Dejected, she would often turn around and head home, the one place where she had some semblance of sanity about her.
She would soon forget the entire village as she sat by the tree on the cliff overlooking the river by her cottage. Then she would practice her illusions by the fading daylight, trying some new ones on for size, and maybe play a few pieces of Irish music on her pipes. If she couldn't figure out the piece, she would often make her own up and play until it was too dark to see. She watched the sunset morosely one day, thinking...
If only something interesting would happen to add some excitement to my life...