"To the boats!" ordered the Captain.

William and I were reading the book he got me together under the stairs. It was still pouring rain. We got up and I stuck the book into my belt and we rushed over to the boats and got in them.

"Princess, hold the elephant," said the Captain.

I nodded and took the elephant from him. Then I hopped into the boat and waited for us to be lowered down. A few more pirates hopped into the boat with me, including William and the Captain. We were lowered down and we were rowing towards the shore. Three other boats followed us and we made it to the shore. We all hopped out and I breathed in the fresh tropical air.

"How do you suppose we go looking?" asked the Captain.

I looked into the green jungle and paced in front of it for a little. Then I looked down at the elephant.

Across the top of the back there was a black pattern. It had breaks in the pattern. I figured that they could be steps. But were we in the right position?

"I think the black pattern along the back of the elephant are meant to be paces. But, I don't know if we are on the right part of the beach," I explained.

"We are," said William.

We all looked over and saw a stone head of an elephant across the beach. We walked over to it and I ran my hand along the cold stone and knocked on it. It was just a stone head.

"Okay, well according to this. We should walk into the forest for…" I started. Then I measured the line with my fingers. It was about three inches so I figured, "About…three miles. I'm not sure what these breaks are."

"Walking three miles is a start," said the Captain. "Lead the way…Mysterious Beauty."

I raised an eyebrow and gave William a look. He shrugged and guiltily smiled.

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, let's move."

We walked into the forest. I was careful to go completely straight and not accidentally veer off course. I pushed aside large leaves and climbed over fallen tree logs. The trees protected us from the rain, but not the bugs. They were everywhere. I swatted them away with my hand and a few of the impatient pirates would curse and yell out because of the bugs.

We walked for about three miles. Suddenly William yelled out. I spun around and saw him strung up by his feet. Five more pirates yelled out as well and were also strung up by their feet.

"What is this?" asked the Captain.

I looked down at the elephant. The breaks…they were booby traps.

"Can you get us down?" demanded William.

I drew my sword and followed the rope from William's feet down to behind a bush. I watched where I stepped so that I wouldn't get caught as well.

I cut William's rope and he landed on his back with a thud. I helped him up and cut the rope around his feet. The other pirates cut their fellow crew members down and we all stood.

"Captain, the breaks in this are booby traps. There are two more breaks which means two more traps. And I suspect that they get worse each time," I said.

The Captain nodded and we continued on our way for about three more miles. It finally stopped raining and some sun was peeking through the trees.

I slowed down once I figured we had almost reached the three mile point. I looked down where I was stepping and was cautious. We walked cautiously for about ten minutes before I figured that I may have been wrong about the booby traps.

I took a step forward and was caught up in a chain net. I dropped the golden elephant and it fell to the gound.

"Belle!" exclaimed William.

"I'm fine," I called down to the pirates. "Just get me down please." Suddenly the net started to move. It was as if someone was pulling it towards them.

I looked over and saw a strange creature. It was tall and thin. It had razor sharp teeth and had curly hair covering its arms and legs. It had the bone structure of a wolf creature. It reminded me of a werewolf.

I gasped and the pirates started to scramble to search for some way to get me down.

Then about ten more of the werewolf creatures jumped out of the bushes growling and snarling. Then they attacked the pirates. The pirates defended themselves. They swung their swords and the werewolves thrashed their claws and teeth.

The werewolf that was pulling me toward him was licking his lips. I realized then that I could probably climb through the chains. I quickly put both of my legs into one section of the chain and I slid through. The werewolf growled and pulled me faster. I held onto the bottom of the chain net and looked down. It wasn't a far drop and I noticed that there was a pond of some sort directly below me.

I felt hot breath on the back of my neck and I turned my head and saw that I was right next to the werewolf. He growled and snarled. Then he thrashed out and I tried to swing out of the way. But he scratched my back and I yelled out in pain. Then I dropped from the net and I fell into the small pond. The water hit me fast and I resurfaced and gulped in air. The pain in my back was starting to numb, probably due to adrenaline. I climbed out of the water and the werewolf howled.

I joined the other pirates. I took out my sword and sunk it into the back of one of the werewolves that was attacking William.

"How did you get out?" he asked breathlessly.

"Perks of being small," I said.

The Captain killed another werewolf and now there were only two left. William and I watched as the pirates chopped the two werewolves to pieces. Then the Captain took out a pistol and shot the werewolf that scratched me. He fell into the pond and that was it.

I sheathed my sword and the others followed suit. I took a few deep breaths and tried to ignore the stinging pain in my back.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked.

"We are all accounted fer," said the Captain.

"Okay," I said and I walked over and picked up the golden elephant.

I heard gasps and William rushed up to me. "Belle, what did he do to you?"

"He only scratched me. It's not that big of a deal," I said. I reached my hand back and felt the hot sticky liquid of blood. I looked at my hand and looked at the blood on it.

"Let me see," said William. He parted the torn back of my shirt and took out a handkerchief. He started to softly dab at the scratches and I winced. "Sorry, this will hurt only a little." He continued to dab at my wound until it was all clean.

"Ye alright Princess?" asked the Captain.

"Yes, I'll be fine," I said and looked down at the last break. "We need to be more cautious," I said. "This next trap will not be easy."

We continued on our way. When we made it to the final break I proposed a search. We searched the trees and the ground, but we couldn't find anything.

"Capn' we've found nothin'," said the crew members.

The Captain turned to me. "What do ye think Mysterious Beauty?"

I sighed and looked around. I really didn't want to think that there was nothing here. That was what we thought the other time.

"It's your call Captain. But I suggest we stay on guard," I said.

"Ye heard her men," said the Captain.

We continued cautiously and suddenly we entered a clearing. There were four elephants in the clearing.

"What is this?" I asked.

"We must be at the end," said William.

Everyone looked around. I walked up to one of the elephants. It had rubies for eyes. The other elephants had sapphire eyes, emerald eyes, and diamond eyes. The same gems that were in the golden elephant.

"What now?" asked the Captain.

I walked over to the diamond eyed elephant. I looked up and saw some of the sun peeking through the trees. "I have an idea." I walked over to the small beam of sunshine coming through the trees. I held up the golden elephant and the sun beamed through it and it lit up the stone elephants.

Their eyes gleamed as they matched with the small gems. Suddenly the ground started to shake and the elephants moved their heads. They came to life. I gasped and looked at them. They all raised their stone trunks and neither I nor any of the pirates moved a muscle.

"What's happening?" whispered William.

I looked at the elephants. Then I turned to the diamond eyed one. It was the only one with its trunk curled in a certain way. I slowly walked over to it and put the golden elephant onto its trunk. The elephant held onto the golden elephant and then stepped aside. There was a trap door below it.

"We've found it," I said and opened the trap door.

There was a ladder that led down into the hole. I could see a small glow inside which meant that there were lit torches.

"Shall we?" I asked.

The captain nodded. "All right ye dogs, get down there." The pirates climbed down into the hole and William, the Captain, and I all followed.

We climbed down the ladder for a good five minutes before we reached the ground. I hopped off the ladder once we were close enough to the ground. I looked up and suddenly the trap door slammed shut and I heard the stone elephant resume his place on top of it.

"I think that was our final booby trap," I said.

"How will we get out?" demanded the pirates.

"We ain't done here," said the Captain. "Let's go." He grabbed a torch and we all followed him through the cave.

I looked around the cave walls. There were hieroglyphics on the walls and handprints. There was one that caught my eye. I stopped and stared at the wall. It was a drawing of a beast with a rose. The outline looked just like Adam when he was a beast.

William turned and saw me staring at the drawing. "Are you okay Belle?"

I turned and nodded. Then I continued walking with the rest of the pirates. We walked for quite some time before we found a clearing.

We walked into it and my eyes grew wide and my mouth dropped open. We walked into what seemed like a whole other world. There were flying pixies everywhere and I saw mermaids splashing in a lake not far from where we were. There were centaurs and unicorns and so many other mythical creatures.

"By the gods," gasped the Captain.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew and a beautiful woman appeared before us. Her hair was wavy and was brighter than the sun. Her skin was pale and porcelain-like. Her eyes were all white but they seemed to glow. She wore a beautiful flowing blue gown.

The Captain and his crew knelt down before the woman. "My dear lady, allow us to introduce ourselves," the Captain started.

"I know who you are and why you have come," she said in a voice that sounded like bells. "The treasure you seek is in this paradise. You may have it, but should you harm any creature that lives here, you shall suffer the dire consequences."

"Of course my lady," said the captain.

"Only one can venture beyond this point. Someone with a true heart, one capable of loving what is on the inside," said the woman. She turned to me. "It is good to see you again Belle."

"Have we met?" I asked.

The woman shook her head. "I have watched you for quite some time. You broke my curse."

"You're the enchantress…the one who placed the spell in Adam," I said.

The enchantress nodded. "Adam has grown from being ugly on the inside to being beautiful. All thanks to you. You were able to love him even though he was a hideous beast. You will be the one to venture on."

"Me? But, I don't even know what I'm looking for," I said.

"You will know," said the enchantress. "Come now." She held out her hand. I slowly reached out and took her hand. A gust of wind blew into my face. I looked down and noticed that my pirate attire was gone. I now wore a glittering white dress. It was long but lighter than air and it had long sleeves. The top half hung off my shoulders like my yellow dress. The back swooped down and there was a light blue belt at my waist. My hair was braided with flowers woven into it.

"I see the werewolves have gotten to you," said the enchantress. I looked at my back. My scars were very visible and they were actually worse than I thought. "Unfortunately I cannot cure them. But there may be someone in the wood who may. Go Belle, and best of luck to you." The enchantress left with a gust of wind and I turned to the pirates.

William smiled and nodded. "Go on Belle. We can't go anywhere until you get back, so we'll be here."

I nodded. "Remember, don't touch any of the creatures," I reminded the pirates.

The Captain nodded.

I turned to the enchanted wood and walked down toward it. Soon the pirates were only a dot in the distance. I looked around for the treasure but couldn't find it. Suddenly I heard giggling.

I spun around and a few pixies were following me. They flew over and sprinkled pixie dust into my hair. I smiled and the pixies touched my hair and face. A few of them kissed my cheeks.

"Do you know where I can find the treasure?" I asked them.

One of the pixies looked thoughtful then smiled and beckoned for me to follow her. I picked up my dress and ran after her. She brought me to a beautiful white unicorn. I stared in awe at the beauty of the beast. Its horn was shimmering and looked sharper than any sword. I slowly walked up to the unicorn. It walked up her me and I stopped and held my hand out. The unicorn snorted and pressed his soft muzzle to my hand.

I smiled and stroked her face. The unicorn walked forward and looked down at my scars.

"The werewolves got to me," I said.

The unicorn whinnied and bent his head down. He gently laid his horn onto my back and I felt warmth shoot through my body. I saw my life flash before my eyes.

"Belle," said a soft voice. It was my mother. "Oh Maurice, isn't she beautiful?"

My eyes shot to a different scene. My father and I moved into our house in the small village. People would stare at me as I walked along the street with my nose in a book. They whispered saying the same things.

"My, she's beautiful."

"Yes, but it's a shame really."

"What an odd child."

"It's not right for a young woman like that to read."

The scene changed again and Gaston was asking me to marry him.

Then the scene changed again to meeting Adam for the first time. Then again to when he scared me into running away. He saved me from the wolves then we started to become friends.

The last scene I saw was our wedding when we kissed. Then I was back in the forest. I gasped and fell to the ground. I held my head and felt tears brim my eyes. The unicorn nudged me with his head and lay down next to me.

I turned to my back. The swelling from my cuts had disappeared. The scars were still there but the pain was gone and they looked much better than they were before.

I turned to the unicorn and smiled. "Thank you," I said and stroked his head. He turned his head and gestured to his back. I stood and walked over to his back. I swung my leg over and held onto his mane. The unicorn stood and walked deeper into the woods.