"It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas . . . thinking . . ."
Belle still remembered that moment; it was the day before her life changed.
One moment she was feeding her farm animals and dreaming of daring sword-fights and princes in disguise . . . and the next she was bargaining her freedom away in exchange for her father's.
Cringing as the cell door slammed shut behind her, four stone walls staring back at her, she felt her dreams slipping through her fingers.
Her dreams were gone . . . she would never see her father again; she wouldn't get to see the world, and have the adventures she longed for. She would never be like the heroes in her books . . . she was the forgotten, written off after Chapter Two.
But, what if you could still be the hero . . .
Belle shook her head, closing her eyes as she leaned back, the cold stones pressing into her back. "As if I'll be allowed to walk free . . ." She had little else to offer in exchange for her freedom.
Locked in a tower, waiting for your Prince to rescue you . . .
Belle sighed, sliding down the stone wall, hugging her knees. Perhaps her father would convince Gaston to come, but she shuddered at the thought, no doubt he would want her hand in marriage as payment.
"I'm just another damsel-in-distress," Belle mumbled, aggravated. She used to shake her head at the Princesses in her book, waiting patiently for weeks – or months – for the hero to arrive. "Why is . . ." she trailed off, catching sight of something out of the corner of her eye.
Frowning, Belle raised an eyebrow, pushing herself up off the cold ground. Glancing around the small cell, she shook her head, was her imagination playing tricks on her? She thought she saw something – a creature? – out of the corner of her eye, scuttling across the opposite wall.
"I could have sworn –"
She never got to finish her sentence as the stone floor beneath her gave way, darkness pooling out from between the stones. Belle shook her head, unable to scream as she tried to keep a level head, as her feet sunk into the stone, the darkness pulling her down.
Moments before she disappeared, the darkness trying to pull her torso in against her futile struggle, did she finally scream out "BEAST!" Similar to her books though, the wooden door was thrust open too late – she held his gaze for a moment before the darkness swallowed her up.
. . .
. . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . .
. . .
The details were all a blur.
She wasn't sure how she arrived at the run-down Castle or why she was singled out as one of the Chosen. All she knew was that following the young red-haired girl and her companions was the quickest escape plan.
"Wait here till help arrives," the magician of the group – a duck, no less – exclaimed, before following after his companions.
Belle shook her head, smiling slightly. Having already seen talking clocks and teapots, talking animal's was almost normal. Glancing at the other girls in their long gowns, she idly wondered what they thought of all this.
"I wonder where they're going though," she mumbled, glancing at the Chapel door the trio had run though. A smile flitted across her features, perhaps the daring sword fights she dreamed about was standing on the other side of the door.
"Oh my, where are you going?" Belle jumped, her hand outstretched for the handle. Glancing over her shoulder, she realized she'd gained some attention – was it Snow White? – watching her curiously. "We were told help was arriving."
"It'll be alright," Belle said confidently, grabbing the door handle. "I've never been the girl to wait to be rescued." she added, pulling the door open, a short corridor separating her from the outside world.
"But, we were –"
Not sticking around to hear the rest of Snow White's statement, Belle couldn't help but grin as she stepped into the corridor, the ornate door closing shut behind her. Taking a deep breath, Belle started forward, watching the shadows out of the corner of her eye.
The red-haired girl had mentioned something about Princesses of Heart, the darkness afraid of the light radiating from within. Perhaps, that was why they were keeping a slight distance between themselves and her?
Three lifts and two wrong turns later, Belle found herself in her own paradise: The Library. She couldn't help but grin, running her hand across the books' spines, titles jumping out at her.
Maybe . . . just maybe, her knowledge could come in handy. In all her novels, there was always the smart character behind the scenes with all the answers.
The darkness seemed to bypass the library, the darkest corners devoid of the shadowy characters, leaving Belle to the books. In no time, she had books scattered across every table, open to certain passages regarding the harmonious states of the World's. On their second pass through, Jiminy Cricket had loaned her their set of Ansem Reports, hoping that she could piece the information together.
"If only this Ansem guy was around," Belle mumbled, running a hand through her hair as she read the Reports again. "He seems to know –"
"Hey! It looks like the Library's untouched!" A loud voice said, echoing through the vast library, making Belle jump. "I guess the Heartless don't like studying either . . ."
Belle raised an eyebrow, glancing up from the scattered Reports. Belle quickly glanced around her surroundings – finding nothing more than books – as she balled her hands into fists and approached the balcony overlooking the library.
"Who's there?"
"Wait . . . someone's here?"
"That doesn't sound like Sora . . ."
"I'm a friend of his," Belle said, hearing the brunette's name.
"Wait – how did Kairi beat us here?" A black-haired girl said, coming around the corner. "I thought we left her with Merlin in Traverse – who're you?" The black-haired girl said, coming to a stop as she noticed Belle on the balcony overhead.
Belle shook her head, inwardly smiling at the girls' brash nature as two other people came around the corner as well. It didn't escape Belle's notice that the man immediately reached for his holstered weapon, his eyes narrowed. "My name's Belle," she said conversationally. "I'm a bit busy at the moment, nice to meet you though." Belle continued, waving at the three before turning back to the scattered Reports. She was so close to an answer.
"How did she get here?" The black-haired teen mumbled to her companions, confusion in her voice. "No one survived the Invasion of the Heartless back then . . ."
"I'm a Princess of Heart," Belle called down, closing her eyes momentarily. "However, please keep it down; I'm fairly close to understanding the meaning of these Reports and the disruption of the harmonious state of the Worlds."
"She's a Princess of Heart? Never thought one would be this far . . . wait, Donald said the Princess's were in the Chapel! How'd she get all the way down here?"
Belle couldn't help but grin as she heard the black-haired teen's loud exclamation. "I walked here – I'm not one to sit around and wait to be rescued."
"I like her!" The black-haired teen exclaimed, stomping her foot. "Why can't more Princesses be like that, Leon? Hey lady – er, Belle – my name's Yuffie!"
# # #
A/N: Based on a suggestion in the reviews, I decided to try out some of the other Princesses of Heart type of stories. Belle is one of my favourite characters, so it was only natural that she was next. There will probably be a secondary piece to hers eventually, as I loved her development in KH2 ... and how she went after Xaldin and the Rose herself.
