Videl Warrior Princess: Hi everyone! How's it going? I bet you all thought I and/or this fic was dead…didn't you?
The-Author 2: Yeah, and I'm her friend A--… Hey, wait::looks around: Where's that Chibodee fellow?
Videl Warrior Princess: Oh him… :looks down: Well….we kinda broke up…
The-Author 2: O.O
Audience: Awww…We're sorry!
Videl Warrior Princess::nods sadly, then looks up: But enough of that. News for all of the readers out there; if you want to know how I'm going to update/work on my fics now, go here: http/ Well, why don't you guys help joining me welcoming our special guests Simon, Randy, and Paula, the judges from American Idol!
Simon, Randy, and Paula::walk onstage, while the audience applause wildly, and they sit in three seats behind a wide desk, looking over at V:WP and The-Author 2:
Randy: Yo, Dawg! I respect what you're tryin' to do, Dawg! It was a little rough in some spots, but you're pulling through!
Paula: I think this is the best Final Fantasy 7 fic ever! You've truly shown off your writing skills!
Simon: This is absolutely the worst thing I have ever read.
Audience::laughs: Lol. Haha!
Videl Warrior Princess::sighs: Can someone just do the disclaimer already?…
Ryan Seacrest::bounces onto the scene with microphone in hand: I can! Today's chapter of The Beauty that Tamed the Beast was brought to you by V:WP, but the characters and plot are owned by SquareEnix and Disney…and the special guests and myself belong on the show American Idol…whoever that is owned by.
Videl Warrior Princess and The-Author 2: O.o
Chapter Ten: A Dinner DateCloud slowly led Aeris down the dark hallway, and Aeris kept close to him, despite all her wishes of wanting to turn and run away as far as she could. She had made a promise, and since he kept his word, she was going to keep hers. Her green eyes fearfully gazed upon the various ghoulish and ghastly carvings on the walls and the hideous statutes that lined the hall. It was dimly lit, and Aeris had a hard time adjusting to the dark for awhile. "I suppose I'll never see the sun or the flowers again," she thought sadly and looked down to the ground.
"Hey! Tell her something!" Reno hissed quietly to Cloud, and Cloud glanced back at her silently. Conversation was not his strong point.
"…Enjoy your stay here," he finally said, and Reno rolled his eyes and waved him on, seeing that Aeris didn't respond. "You can go anywhere here in the castle, it's your new home… Just stay out of the East Wing. You can't go there."
"Why not?" Aeris asked. Cloud turned back and glared at her.
"You just can't go there," he coldly answered, and he turned back and began walking again, not saying another word to her. Seeing no other choice, Aeris followed him, keeping silent with him. Finally, they reached her room, and he opened the door for her.
"Psst! Hey! Invite her to dinner! Make a dinner date with her!" Reno hissed, lightly whacking Cloud upside the head. The prince growled as he made a mental note to melt a certain candlestick in the furnace that night, and then looked to Aeris as she began to walk into her room.
"…I'll see you for dinner in two hours," Cloud stated, leaving no room for argument as he shut her door and left. Aeris froze in shock and turned around to protest, only to find the door in her face. She sighed heavily, walked over to her bed, sat down, and held her head in her hands.
Vincent's scowl and cold stare did not ease up as he shoved opened the doors to the tavern and stormed in, the icy wind howling through, the night sky as black as his hair as the snow began to fall. Everyone turned to look at him as he walked in; he didn't stop until he stood in the middle of the tavern and sure that he had everyone's attention.
"…I need your help!" Vincent announced loudly, and the news piqued people's interests. Vincent, the dire and somber man that always stood alone, needed their help? What could he possibly want their help with? "Aeris' been taken captive," he answered their silent questions. They stared at him in disbelief. "I speak the truth," he continued, "She is being held hostage in a castle."
This caught Rufus' attention. He scoffed as he leaned back in his big, comfy, red leather recliner. "Who, Vincent? Who's got Aeris locked up in a castle?" he asked, truly curious about the whereabouts of his "to-be-bride"; he had went over a couple of hours ago to demand her hand in marriage once more, only to find that she was not at home.
"A ruthless monster," he answered simply. Loud roars of laughter erupted throughout the tavern, but Vincent stood there with the same cold, stoic expression chiseled on his face.
"Was he covered in fur?" one villager taunted him.
"Yes," he responded in his deep voice, still showing no signs of emotion.
"Did he have sharp fangs and claws?" another mocked.
"…Yes." Again, no facial movements except from his lips to speak the words happened.
"How about piercing, evil eyes?" a third one joined in. Beginning to get annoyed, Vincent almost sighed.
"Yes…" he growled.
"Of course, I understand!" Rufus exclaimed, expecting to see some kind of reaction from Vincent, only to find none as the dark-haired man kept staring at him intently. However, Rufus wasn't about to let him be outmatched by some lower-classed dog (V: WP: Please understand that I love Vincent and think he's one of the best, and that this is just Rufus' thought on him.). "I'll even help you…" he said with a smirk and snapped his fingers. The three men that had jeered at him earlier began to walk towards him, but Vincent whipped out his revolver and glared at all of them.
"Stay back," Vincent ordered in a voice cold enough to cut the strongest sheet of steel, "or I will kill all of you…" Instantly, they backed off, and Vincent returned his glare to Rufus. "Fine. I will save my sister by myself." With that said, he turned quickly and walked out of the tavern, his red cloak blowing in the breeze behind him, and left the door open. One of the waitresses went over and closed and locked the door in order to keep out the cold and Vincent.
"That crazy old bat boy…" one person grumbled. "He needs to be put away."
An idea struck Rufus. "Crazy old bat boy, huh?…" he thought. He turned to Hiegdarr with a smirk. "Hiegdarr!"
"Yes sir!" the short fat man declared with fake zeal.
"I want you to make a call tomorrow…"
"Of course, sir."
"Good." Rufus sighed with boredom. He needed to find something to amuse himself with for awhile… His head turned to the side, and he found it. "Scarlet!" he barked, and the blond, that had been swooning over him earlier, eagerly looked at him and came to his side quickly. Her new red silk dress was so low-cut that her perky bosom was almost falling out of it, was almost completely back-less, and had slits on the sides that nearly came up to her hips.
"Yes, Rufus? What is it, darling?" she asked, kneeling down beside him. Rufus smirked down at her.
"Mind reminding me how great I am in my room?" he asked, his smirk growing.
"Of course not!" she answered and followed him quickly into one of the back rooms.
Aeris sat down on the bed, trying to come up with a solution, and finding none, she laid back on the bed, letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm trapped here," she thought.
"Hey! Open up!" a voice snapped, rapping on the door loudly, making Aeris snap out of her thoughts and jump in shock.
"Who is it?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. As brave as she had been earlier when she surrendered her freedom for her brother's life, she was shaken still from the situation.
"It's the damn room service!" the harsh voice snapped again. "Now, open up!"
Deciding it was better to obey than make the voice angry, she went to the door and opened it. She looked down and nearly jumped back when she saw a teapot, a small mug of cream, two cups, and a thing of sugar. "What is—" she began, but was cut-off.
"About damn time!" the teapot declared and hopped inside along with the other objects.
Aeris stared in shock and slowly shut the door. "What is all of this for?" she asked, turning to look at them.
"Well, I'd figured you'd probably like a cup of tea before dinner," the teapot replied. She smiled at him nervously, ready to decline when he spoke up again. "Don't worry. I promise unlike that time with your brother, this is really tea," he continued, going ahead and pouring a cup after his statement. Seeing no point in wasting tea, she sat down on the ground next to them and slowly took the teacup.
"Thank you," she replied with a small smile. "I'm sorry for being a little…"
"Nervous?" a feminine voice from behind asked.
Aeris jumped in shock, gasping and quickly turned around to see a large wardrobe looking at her with large, gentle eyes. The wardrobe laughed gently. "Sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"I-It's okay," Aeris reassured her.
"My name is Tifa," the wardrobe introduced herself.
"Name's Cid," the teapot replied, nodding slightly.
"I am Shera," the creamer next to the teapot kindly said.
"Yo, I'm Barret!" the teacup on the floor declared, which made Aeris almost blink in shock, not expecting something that small to have such a deep, gruff voice.
"And I'm Marlene!" a young, high voice chimed, coming from the teacup she held in her hand.
Aeris smiled gently at all of them. "My name is Aeris. I'm pleased to meet you all, but umm…does EVERYTHING in this castle talk?" she asked, almost looking at them nervously. She didn't want to find herself getting eaten by the bed in the middle of the night!
Tifa laughed gently. "No, don't worry," she answered. "It's just our master and us that can."
The green-eyed woman nodded and let out a small, sheepish laugh. "Good. I mean, it's just…well, different. I've never been in a castle before…much less a ENCHANTED castle," she explained, smiling.
"Eh, you'll get used to it," Cid said casually, indirectly forcing Aeris' smile to grow slightly.
"Do you like it here, Aeris?" Marlene asked innocently, and Aeris almost felt too guilty to answer the truth, but she knew she couldn't lie to her.
"Well…not too much, Marlene," she began, frowning slightly as she watched the teacup's face almost look sad. "I just said good-bye to my home…my brother…my dreams."
"Hey, yo! Chin up! Dis here isn't the worst! Things are gonna go up!" Barret reassured her, and Aeris opened her mouth to respond to him, when Cid cleared his throat loudly.
"Come on! We got to get the hell out of here to get dinner started!" he harshly reminded the others.
"You're right, you foo'," Barret agreed, and Marlene hopped down from Aeris' hand, and the tea equipment left the room. As soon as they left, Tifa went over and shut the door and hobbled back over to Aeris, smiling.
"Now, let's fine you something to wear for dinner!" she chimed. "Not that you don't look beautiful already."
"But—" Aeris tried to begin, but Tifa kept on.
"Let's see what I got in here!" she continued and the doors opened, and she went shifting through the dressed. "You dress more conservatively, so let's find something along those lines…Aha!" She pulled out a ruby-red sleeveless silk dress that had ball gown skirt that came down to the floor. "You'll look great in this! Red would definitely look good on you."
Aeris smiled at her sadly. "But…I'm not going to dinner…" she argued gently.
Tifa blinked her rose-colored eyes in shock. "What? Why?" However, before Aeris could answer, a knock came at the door. The two looked at each other in shock, shrugging slightly.
"I wonder who could that be?" Aeris thought as she went over and opened the door and looked down to see Elena.
"His Highness awaits you to come down to dinner," Elena replied, relaying her orders.
Cloud sat at the table, drumming his claws upon the table in impatience. "Why is she late?…" he wondered aloud.
"Ah, you know these chicks…" Cid began. "They take forever and a day to get ready for ANYTHING!" The same sliver creamer from before sighed softly, standing next to him. "Eh, what was that, Shera!" he demanded, looking to her.
"Nothing, Cid, it's nothing," she softly answered.
"Cid's right!" Reno joined in with a slight yawn. "Any minute now, Elena's gonna walk in and introduce her." At that said moment, the door to the dining room opened, and Elena walked in.
"Good evening, sirs…" she replied with a small, nervous smile.
Cloud looked at her confused. "Well…where is she?…"
"Who?" Elena squeaked unintentionally.
"The girl, you damned clock!" Cid snapped before anyone else could reply.
"Cid, please…" Shera murmured, referring to his foul mouth. However, no one, including Elena, seemed to take notice of Cid's use of vulgar language.
"Oh! HER! Well…" she began before gulping. She looked at them worriedly. "She's not coming," she finished in a small voice.
Cloud's sapphire-blue eyes widen in shock before narrowing in anger. His pride was hurt as well as his feelings, and he just felt pissed. He hated to be made a fool…especially in his own home. The cursed prince got up and began marching over to her room before anyone could even utter a syllable. He stood outside her door, not banging, not grabbing at it, just glaring at it. "I thought you were coming to dinner!" he yelled.
"I never said I wanted to, nor that I was!" Aeris yelled back, through the door.
Cloud growled in frustration. "Aeris, come out here RIGHT now!" he bellowed.
"No!" she snapped just as loudly.
"Sir, perhaps if you said please," Elena suggested, and Cloud heaved a heavy sigh. It was worth a shot.
"…Will you please come join me for dinner?" he tried politely.
"No, thank you!" Aeris answered.
"Fine!" he shouted. "You can stay in there!" And with that said, he stomped off to his room.