A/N: This chapter was written by me, Karin Skywalker, SamoaPheonix9 and Wrestlemaniac829. The character of Gutknecht was inspired by the character of the same name from Corpse Bride and Alfred from Batman. Both played by the late Michael Gough.
The next morning, Frederick stepped out of his room to have a bit of a stroll. Even though he had a rather busy night, his natural curiosity urged him to explore the castle some more. He noticed that during the day, the castle wasn't as foreboding as it was at night. When he looks at it this way, the castle was almost pleasant.
Just then, Frederick came upon a large red door with dusty golden handles. Frederick had never seen this portion of the castle before and he was ever so curious as to what may be inside. He reached out and grabs the handle, opening the door slowly. Frederick peered inside, but the room was so dark that he could barely see anything in front of him. Slowly, he arched his way through the room and felt a rope. He pulled on it, causing the curtains to fly open, allowing the sunlight to spread in. Dust flew up everywhere and Frederick began to cough. To his surprise, Frederick found himself in a large library with hundreds upon hundreds of books. More books than he'd ever see in his life, a single tear fell from his eye.
Just then, he heard someone else coughing in the room and all at once Frederick realized he wasn't alone. He slowly turned just in time to see a tall man with silvery hair, small glasses with circular rims, and garbed in a black tuxedo with white gloves. In addition, he held a wooden tray in one hand. Frederick walked toward him.
"Oh," Frederick spoke. "Hello, sir."
"Why, hello there," The man answered. "How may I help you, sir?"
"It's such a relief to see another human in this castle."
"Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid you're mistaken."
The man knocked on his chest, which made a sound as if someone was knocking on a door.
"I'm merely a wooden statue that holds champagne bottles."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Frederick spoke, frowning at his mistake.
"It's quite all right, sir," The statue smiles, adjusting his collar. "My name is Gutknecht, I'm the butler of this castle."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gutknecht. I'm Frederick La'Belle, the new resident."
Gutknecht bowed, suddenly noticing the cobwebs around his body. He swipes off the cobwebs with his hand.
"My, these cobwebs certainly are a problem."
Just then, they hear the door swing open and Frederick turned to see Maria entering the room, the latter surprised to see Frederick here at all.
"M-Maria!" Frederick stuttered. "I-I-I'm sorry if I'm not allowed in here. I'll leave if you want."
Clearly, Maria was startled to see Frederick in the library, completely unexpected she was. But all the same, she held her temper back. Considering the events that had transpired the other night, she was all the more determined to behave herself. So she took a deep breath and simply responded with a small smile.
"It's okay, Frederick, you're allowed here," Maria assured. "It's just I did not expect you to even find this place. I hardly ever come in here, myself. I only heard noises and I saw this light and… How did you find the library?"
"I only saw the door and walked in. It was dark, so I opened the curtains. That's how I discovered Gutknecht here."
"Maria?" Gutknecht asked, turning to her and smiling. "Oh, Maria! It's been years!"
Gutknecht walked over to Maria and hugged her, the Beast hugging him back, clearly recognizing the old man.
"Oh, Maria, my how you've grown."
"Hello, Gutknecht," Maria said with a giggle.
The moment Gutknecht pulled out of the hug, stepping away, Maria returned her gaze to Frederick. She laughed a bit when she saw the look of surprise on Frederick's face, clearly not sure of what was going on.
"Gutknecht here is our butler," Maria informed him. "He's… Also… My nanny." That last response made Maria blush.
"Oh!" Frederick spoke, suddenly understanding. "That explains a lot, then."
"You have no idea what it's like being cooped up in this dreary room," Gutkneckt replied, wiping away some dust from his brow and turns to Frederick. "I've spent years in this room with hardly a soul to talk to. I owe you my thanks for finding me, young man."
"You're quite welcome, sir," Frederick replied with a bow.
"Well, this was quite a lovely chat. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be off. No doubt so many years being stuck in a room and the castle must be in desperate need of attendance. Well, cheerio!"
Gutknecht soon left the library, with Frederick and Maria now alone in the same room. At first, there was a big awkward silence between the two, who at first was not sure of what to say. Finally, Frederick cleared his throat.
"So… How may I help you?"
Maria looked around the library for a moment, then got an idea.
"How about you help me organize the books by genre and author's last name?" She suggested.
"Why do you suggest that?" Frederick asked, puzzled.
"This library's been rather neglected for several years, I figured it simply could use some tidying up."
He thinks for a moment, then Frederick smiles at Maria.
"I'd love to. Where shall we start?"
"Fiction of nonfiction?"
"Hmm… Fiction, please."
Maria smiled, Frederick did his best not to gulp. For her smile exposed far too many sharp teeth for his comfort, even though he knew now that she meant him no harm. But it didn't matter if Frederick could hide it. The moment Maria saw the expression on his face, her smile faded. Still, she decided not to comment and only replied,
"Fiction is on the right. Follow me."
All through the morning, Maria and Frederick spent a fairly agreeable period of time trying to make sense of the vast confusion and clutter that was the fiction section of the library. Indeed the library has been in such neglect, there was practically dust all over the books and many of which weren't even in a particular order. But with a little work into it, they managed to have one section completed at a time. They didn't talk much, yet the silence was for the most part companionable rather than awkward. One of the few times Frederick spoke, he asked about the servants.
"You seem to have a great many capable… Ah… People here," Frederick began, though the word "people" did not quite describe them. Maria didn't mind at all.
"They are very capable," Maria agreed. "They've taken good care of me for as long as I could remember," she added after a moment.
"And I'm sure they really care about you, I can tell. But it surprises me that there are so many of them. How do they not trip over each other trying to do the same jobs?"
"To be honest, I'm not really sure," Maria admitted, the thought never occurred to her till now. "I suppose they have this system that works out fairly well, or else things would never get done around here. Even if they do have a problem, they would never complain to me about it. They love their jobs too much to care."
At this point, Frederick dared not to ask his next question. A question which was whether the servants didn't come to Maria with problems because they preferred not to bother her or because of fear. He figured it would insult Maria and that such a topic would be too insensitive to bring up. Instead, his eye comes across one of the books on the next shelf, a book he'd been planning to work on. He reached out to stroke its cover reverently.
"I haven't seen this book for years. I've always wanted to read it again."
Maria plucked the book from the shelf delicately, so as to avoid tearing it with her claws.
"Le Morte d'Arthur," She read aloud from the cover. "What's this?"
"Only a wonderful collection of stories about King Arthur and his knights," Frederick explained, sensing her confusion. "I take it that you've never read this book."
"No, I don't think so," She answered.
She offers the book to Frederick, who instead pushes it back.
"You can read it first, I don't mind. If you like, maybe we can read it together."
Maria looked at the book for a moment, pondering a bit before she allowed a small smile to form.
"I'd like that."
And at that moment, her eyes lit up as inspiration struck.
"In fact, I'd like to give you this whole room, to do with whatever you want."
Hearing those words, Frederick stares at her, as if some strong feeling pushed him into a wonderful dream.
"Really? You'd do that?"
"It's the least I can do. You saved my life, Frederick, and I did say that I "owed" you. I owe you so much more than a room full of books."
"You don't have to give me anything," Frederick replied, tilted his eyebrow.
"But I want to. Anyone can see that a man like you enjoys books and learning, I want you to have something to call your own while you're here in the castle."
As soon as she saw Frederick's eyes light up, she knew deep down that she felt rewarded.
"Thank you so much!" He said, taking her paw in one hand and squeezing it. "Sorting the library can wait; we've got all the time in the world to do that. Do want to read this book with me for awhile?"
"Yes, oh yes, very much," Maria answered.
And so, Maria and Frederick took their seats by some twin armchairs over by the window. Sitting together, they laid out the book by their laps and each took turns reading aloud enjoying their time together with each passing minute.
Little did they realize, Cogsworth, Manx, Lumiere, Miss Doe, Katrina, and Gutknecht had been peering through the doorway keeping watch on the two. They couldn't control themselves, as they were unable to keep the smiles from their faces. Seeing the two together without arguing sent a warm feeling to them from deep within. Noting that everything seemed under control, they slowly closed the door so they could have some privacy.
"Ah, my friends," Lumiere announced. "The day we have long awaited for may soon be at hand."
"Let us hope you're right, Lumiere," Gutknecht answered. "The Mistress truly deserves someone, a someone who can see past her flaws and to love her for who she is."
"By the way, Gutknecht," Miss Doe said, as they started down the hall. "It is wonderful to see you again. We've all missed you."
"And it's good to see all of you again, after all these years. Some may find being locked in a library a dream come true, as I suspect young Frederick might, but I admit the years of looking at the same walls becomes quite…tedious."
Thinking it over, Gutknect shook his head at the thought.
"Never mind! I see the castle is in serious need of tending. We've got a great deal of work to do if we're to help our Mistress break the spell at last."
And so the servants set forth to perform their various tasks for the day, the group splitting up in different directions. As they carried on with their choices, each carried a small spark of hope with them. The hope that one day soon, they may finally feel what it's like to be human again. For in the end, even when they lose a part of themselves, that one vital element was all any of the servants have had left to hold onto… Hope.
