Avonlea, Maine; home of the… well, nothing. Avonlea was about as boring as you could get, and Belle hated it. Belle French and her Father had lived in Maine for as long as she could remember, for as long as her mother had been dead. She was 19 now, out of high school nearly a year and still all she'd done was get a job at the local library. Despite all her studies and late nights reading, Belle still didn't have nearly enough for even her first year of college, especially not with her father's business so far in debt. She was almost sure that the Bank's sign flipped to 'closed' when even just the thought of student loans crossed her mind.
She was stuck, that seemed to be the only word for it. Stuck in a small, crumbling library with nothing to do but read all day. It was such a small town that it was almost unheard of for even just two visitors to be in the library at the same time. Everything she had learned and stuffed into her brain since she was old enough to pick up a book was going to waste and there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it. Except… There was one person in town who could help her. The local pawnbroker slash landlord for half the town slash attorney: Mr. Gold. He was a snake, but he also loved making deals. What would he ask in return for paying her tuition? She'd rather not wonder, but whatever it was she would pay it. She wouldn't just sit back and let her life pass before her eyes. She threw her book onto the desk and all but leaped out of her seat. No one was going to come into the library anyway so what harm would it do to go visit right now. If it worked out she wouldn't need this job anyway. With this in mind she stormed out of the building like hell was on her heels, was only a block away, right across the street. Outside she could see that was indeed at his shop, but he seemed to be locking up a bit early today.
"Mr. Gold!" She called out jumping out into the street with a rush of adrenaline she hadn't felt in a long time. Brown eyes connect with blue, and a yellow bug connected with a petite young woman.
Belle awoke slowly, her whole body hurt and everything smelled sterile.
"Miss Belle! You've awoken!" The unfamiliar voice roused her fully and she felt her eyelids finally lighten enough for her eyes to open. It was bright. Bright and… definitely not the library. In fact this wasn't anywhere she had ever seen before. She was lying on a soft cot and there was some type of medical equipment lining the counters.
"Miss Belle?" The voice called out again and this time her focus was pulled to a mousy looking woman in the doorway. She was blonde with stringy hair, and she was wearing an odd blue dress. It was plain but still to formal to be worn anywhere normal.
"Who are you?" Belle finally croaked out. She felt as if she hadn't used her voice in days. The woman immediately moved forward, her face the picturesque of worry.
"Cinderella, ma'am, I've been your lady in waiting for nearly three years. It looks like your head injury might be worse than what we first expected." The last part was said more to herself but Belle caught it loud and clear.
"Head injury?" she inquired.
"You were horseback riding and phillipe kicked you off. Now you see why your father doesn't allow you to practice riding." Her words were meant to be stern, but sound much more concerned to be at all threatening. But Horseback riding? Belle hadn't even see a horse in real life, let alone ridden one. Where in the hell was she?
"My father doesn't allow me to ride..?" She hoped that she could get more information out of this Cinderella.
"Oh yes, King Maurice says it's very unladylike to ride the stallions when you have fine carriages at your disposal. He thinks the same of your love of books." She gave a conspirital look before adding,
"Although with a governess like Mrs. De Vil who could blame you for learning elsewhere?" She giggled a bit and Belle decided that she liked this Cinderella. Although this was all too similar to a Disney movie for her.
Belle stood up and after regaining her balance she found that she was dressed nearly as oddly as Ella. She wore a pair of what looked like hand-stitched trousers and a fancy looking men's blouse? Though she supposed it wasn't practical to ride horses in 20 pound dresses.
"Now Miss Belle, how about we head back to your room and get you ready to meet Gaston? He arrived earlier this afternoon while you were resting." The silly smile on Ella's face told her that she should be excited as she was ushered through the hallways.
"I just can't believe that you're to be married in less than a fortnight! Especially to a man of such standing if you don't mind me saying Princess." With how friendly she had been from the start Belle expected that her and Ella had been close these past thr- hold on. Married?
"Did you say that I'm getting married in less than two weeks?" Ella just grinned back at her and pulled her into a lavish looking bedroom.
"Now, you'll be wanting to impress the king of Hansel I know just the dress to do it."
Cinderella did indeed know the dress to 'do it', and Belle had never felt that her name fit until she looked at herself in the mirror after Ella had worked her magic. For all the nearly medieval beauty supplies, Belle was amazed how well they worked. Dolled up in a poofy yellow dress Belle felt more suited to her environment. Though now she was pretty sure she was having some really lucid dream, she felt that she might as well go along with it until it ended, it was better than waking up back in the library. Head held high like the very princess she was supposed to be, she pushed open the door to her "father's" study and was unprepared for the sight that met her. Her high school boyfriend Gaston sat across from her father who was dressed in fancy garments himself. The room was scarcely decorated, and despite a few paintings only a suit of armor stood shining behind her father's desk. Speaking of her father, she had never seen his worry lines look more pronounced as he moved his quill with a pace like a hare.
"Belle!" He called as he caught sight of her, pushing the nearly mountain like stack of papers to the side of his desk.
"I'm so glad you've recovered well from your stunt earlier. I was beginning to think we'd have to call a sorcerer in." As her father had risen from his seat, so had Gaston and she watched his eyes widen in astonishment. She felt like glaring. If this Gaston was anything like the pig from her actual life there was no way she was marrying him- dream or not.
"Belle, I'd like you to meet his majesty, the king of Hansel." Gaston moved forward and grasped her hand with his, kneeling to kiss the tops of her knuckles.
"It is more than a pleasure to make your acquaintance your Royal highness." Belle frowned, he was laying it on thick that was for sure. She could nearly see the hearts in her father's eyes and she felt like she was in high school all over again. Her father had loved Gaston and had been all for him being with Belle. Only Belle hadn't even been a quarter for him being with her.
"Your majesty would you mind if I had a few moments alone with my wife-to-be? It seems only fair for us to be somewhat familiar if we are to be wed in nearly 8 days." His sweet words and the dashing smile to boot won her father over in an instant.
"Why of course, Gaston. I'm sure Belle would love to get to know you."
"But Father, leaving us without a chaperone isn't proper!" Belle protested as her Father swept from the room.
"Oh nonsense Belle, I trust Gaston with you." Belle felt despair clutch at her. He had trusted Gaston last time too. With her lucid dream seeming to turn into a nightmare, Belle steeled herself and stood up straighter. This was just a dream and if she didn't have control in the waking world she damn well hoped she could have control here. The hand on her shoulder told her otherwise.
"Belle… You're much more handsome than I thought you'd be, but I still have to lay down some ground rules." Lay down some ground rules? She was about to smack his ass into the ground. If she was a princess here, and her father a king then what in the world was this man thinking speaking to her like this? From her reading she knew that medieval times were more than misogynistic, but surely it couldn't be well to disrespect another royal this openly.
"While I'm sure I'll enjoy you as a wife, when your father dies I will also reign over this kingdom as well. With so much power it would be a shame to spend my time with just one woman and even men of lesser status have affairs…" Belle reared back. So this is what he wanted to discuss? Affairs? She knew he'd had enough of those while they were together in high school to satisfy a king, and apparently as a king he decided to make her aware of them before they even happened! As his hand moved lower to the fold of her dress she realized that she had had enough. She might have taken this in real life but no way was she going to subject herself to this here.
Slapping his hand away she gave him the strongest glare she could muster up and hissed out:
"No man has the authority to put their hands on me; let alone a brute like you!" He seemed taken aback. His beady eyes widening in surprise, but soon enough his mouth set into a tough line.
"It appears as if I have need of a conversation with your father. It seems that for all you learnings, you weren't taught the most important lesson of all: Your place." With this he stormed past her to the study doors, opening them with enough force to shake their very foundation. He would be back, along with her father and though she loved her father she knew just how weak willed he could be. A stack of papers caught her eyes and despite the odd situation she found herself to be in she felt drawn to it.
At the top of the stack was a lordship paper that had yet to be signed out. Her father's signature was on it yet the recipient's name hadn't been printed onto it. Her father must have been working on it when she arrived in the study. With a sense of adventure she hadn't felt in a very long time, Belle snatched her Father's quill and signed the name 'Bale Venice' and hoped that in this odd fairytale dream of hers no one had read the merchant of Venice. She was going to become a knight and defend her own damn honor!
Eyeing the suit of armor behind the desk with a nearly desperate look, she made her way to it. It was shiny enough to pass as the suit of a noble. She rapped on it with her own set of dainty knuckles- she was surprised that they were callous free in this dream. As lucid as this dream was it wasn't very realistic. The metal was sturdy enough to last and with that she pushed the lordship paper behind the suit and moved towards the door. She wouldn't be able to get the suit out of here before her Father would be back, but tonight nothing would hold her back. If Cinderella felt so comfortable in speaking informally to her then she would be a key figure in escaping this castle and finding a job somewhere else. For a brief moment she wondered why she hadn't woken up yet, but the as the study's doors slammed open she realized that that was the least of her worries.
Meanwhile back in Modern Avonlea, an ambulance arrived at the scene of a nearly fatal car crash right on main street.
AN- Sorry this isn't beta'd, I just wanted to get this out there real quick before I lost the idea but I'll update it with an edited copy in a few days! (Although the transfer to fanfiction seemed to take out a bunch of word for no reason?) In the meanwhile, what do you think?