Chapter 18 - A War of Words

The rose was in a sorry state. Not only had it nearly been reduced of all its petals, but the stalk was starting to sag and flop over.

It reminded him of himself in a way. How had his life gotten to the point where he found a flower relatable?

But it wasn't just wilting. It was dying.

Beast had been watching it for a while after it had lost another petal. He was sitting on the edge of the balcony, in the collapsed portion of the wall, staring blankly at the glass case that contained the flower.

There were eight left. He counted. He was trying to figure out how much time that left him with. A week? A few days? It was impossible to predict.

He leaned to the right and rested his head against the cold, stone wall. If he could even bring himself to try again with Belle, would he have enough time to turn it around? With such a rocky start, and the fact that he had no motivation to give it another attempt, it would seem that this was the end of the line.

The door to his room creaked open and he took his eyes off the rose to look in that direction, only to see Lumiere peak his head round the door. "Have you calmed down, master?" He asked cautiously.

Beast lifted his head off the wall "What do you think?" He responded gruffly.

"... I'll take that as a yes, since you didn't yell at me and tell me to go away." Lumiere replied, walking into the room, with Cogsworth hobbling in behind him.

Beast crossed his arms and stared at the two of them "What do you want now? Have you come to get me to do another one of your stupid ideas?" He questioned.

"Well, yes... But I wouldn't call it a stupid idea." Lumiere stated. "We were thinking-" He began.

"I'm not interested." Beast interrupted. "It's hopeless... The only thing she'll ever see me as is a monster." He murmured sadly, lowering his head.

"You don't exactly do yourself any favours." Cogsworth muttered.

"What was that?" Beast snarled, raising his head quickly and flashing him an angry glare. There was a burning fury lurking behind his eyes.

"Nothing, nothing!" Cogsworth replied fearfully, ducking behind Lumiere.

He heard him the first time, he just wanted Cogsworth to say it again to his face. But he was evidently too afraid to do that. He wasn't very brave when confronted. He decided not to rip into him, though. He didn't feel like he would be able to explode with anger again.

"Will you at least let me make a suggestion?" Lumiere requested, ignoring his quivering companion.

"Does it really matter wherever I agree or not? You'll just talk at me anyway." He grumbled. That was his backwards way of giving him permission to go ahead with whatever he wanted to say.

Lumiere opened his mouth but didn't say anything for a few seconds. It would seem that the cogs were whirling in his head as he was trying to figure out what exactly Beast meant. And here he thought that cogs turning was exclusive to Cogsworth.

After hesitating, with his mouth gaping open, Lumiere began to speak "We were thinking that you could maybe try apologising to her." He suggested.

"Apologise? But she was the one that was being so difficult! She should be the one to apologise!" Beast argued. The only reason he got angry was because she talked back to him and refused all of his advancements.

That was probably Lumiere's other reason for hesitating, because he knew that Beast wouldn't like his idea.

"With all due respect, master, she is being kept her against her will." The candle stick replied. "But perhaps if you take the lead and apologise for your actions first, it might encourage her to apologise too, and then you two could find some common ground to fall back on."

"It also shows her that you regret it." Cogsworth added.

Admittedly she was being held prisoner, he couldn't exactly expect her to go along with everything he said. He just thought that she'd listen to him a little more than she had, and not talk back so much.

Maybe it was worth another shot. If saying sorry put him a step closer to breaking the curse... Then he would do it. "Alright, fine, I'll... Apologise... But I'm not going to mean it."

"You don't have to mean it, just at least try to sound genuine." Lumiere advised.

"And at the very least pretend to be a gentleman." Cogsworth chimed in.

Beast stood up and walked passed the two servants. He heard them following him as he left the room and headed over to Belle's living quarters. They most likely wanted to keep a watchful eye on him, and make sure that he did everything right the second time round. They were probably going to whisper tips in his ear that they thought might be helpful.

Beast stood outside of Belle's room and knocked on the door.

"Remember, you need to sound like you mean it." Lumiere whispered.

"I know that." Beast hissed under his breath. "I've got this alright, stop distracting me."

He then turned to the door. "Hello... It's me... Again." He greeted. He rested his paw on the door frame and leaned in closer, so that his voice would sound less muffled on the other side "Listen, I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier." He began "We both said some things that we didn't mean and... Well, I came to apologise." He continued.

Silence. Was she not acknowledging him, but listening anyway, or was she ignoring him completely?

"I was just angry... Obviously I don't want you to starve... You don't have to eat with me if you don't want to, you're not obliged to do that..." He paused for a moment and glanced at Lumiere and Cogsworth, who just urged him with a slight gesture to carry on. "I'm sorry." He said.

Out of everything he had been saying during his apology, which had mostly sounded like a spoilt child being forced to say sorry to someone when they believed they were in the right, the last thing he said to her... He was genuine, both in tone, and his actual feelings. He was truly sorry.

"If there is anything you want me to do for you, anything at all... Just name it. I want to do something together." He told her.

No response.

Beast furrowed his brow. "Well at least say something! If you want me to go away, then just tell me to! It's not like I wanted to come all the way down here."

Not all of that was true. He just wanted to act tough, and avoid revealing his sensitive side. He didn't want her to know that he was vulnerable.

"Master, don't say that! You were doing so well." Lumiere told him.

"She's being rude! I'm trying my best to make this work and she won't even speak to me." Beast retorted.

He paused, and pressed his ear against the door. He couldn't hear any movement going on inside. The only thing he could hear was... The wind.

Wait, what?

"Something isn't quite right." Beast murmured, grabbing hold of the door handle.

"Master, you can't go in there, it's an invasion of privacy." Lumiere interrupted him.

"It's my castle, I can go anywhere I want!" He exclaimed. He twisted the handle, and the door creaked open. She didn't lock it?! So he could have just gone in there earlier and forced her to come down for dinner?

He let go of the handle and pushed the door, allowing it to swing open. As it opened fully, revealing the room to him, he quickly realised the girl was no longer there. There wasn't a single trace of her left behind... Except for the rope fashioned out of pieces of fabric tied to the bed frame and hanging out of the window.

Beast rushed over to the window and looked down. He caught sight of the girl almost immediately, as she wasn't easy to miss. She was halfway down the rope, making her descent towards one of the castle walkways. If she made it, then she'd be able to make a quick getaway, as there was an easy route to the stables down there.

He clenched his fists and growled, spinning around and storming over to Lumiere and Cogsworth "Who's idea was it to give her a room with a window that she could open and climb out of?!" He shouted.

"We thought she would appreciate the view." Lumiere replied, his voice hitching as he nervously spoke.

Appreciate the view...? Was he the only one with a brain around here?! "This is why she should have stayed in the dungeon!"

The wardrobe, or rather, Madame Garderobe, who was snoring loudly, caught his attention. He stomped over to her. "WAKE UP!" He shouted.

She woke up with a start "Ah! Oh... Master... How nice of you to visit. What brings you here?" She asked innocently. She didn't have a clue what was going on.

"Why didn't you tell anyone that she was trying to escape?!" He yelled.

"Who? ...Oh, the girl. When did she escape?" She questioned drowsily. She was on the verge of nodding off, despite the fact that he was screaming in her face.

"This is pointless! I'm just wasting time!" He exclaimed. "We're not done here." He warned the wardrobe, as well as the trembling candle stick and mantle clock. "I'm going after her!" He then declared, running out of the room.

"Master, wait!" Lumiere called after him, even though there was no way of stopping him. "Don't do anything rash!"

It didn't take long to find her. He knew the castle like the back of his hand- paw- but the girl was new to it all. Plus, she had only just made it to the bottom of the rope when he arrived, as he was a much faster runner than she was at climbing. Just as she was running towards a nearby tower, he came down the stairs and stood in the doorway, stretching out his arms to touch both sides on the wall and blocking her path.

Her eyes widened in alarm when she saw him, and she stopped dead in her tracks. She then glanced behind her and then looked down and off to the side of the walkway. Was she looking for an alternative route to escape, considering jumping off?

She wouldn't survive the fall if she did jump.

"Going somewhere?" Beast asked, cocking his head and narrowing his eyes at her. "I was under the impression that you wanted to stay in your room."

"The servants said I could go anywhere I want. I came out for a late night stroll to get some fresh air." She replied calmly.

"I might have been inclined to believe that... But normally, people leave through a door, instead of climbing out of a window using a rope." He responded.

Belle groaned, a look of anguish on her face.

"That was smart thinking, you really showed intuitive and resourcefulness by using what you had to your advantage." He commented, although his voice was monotone.

"...Are you complimenting me?" She questioned.

"If you want to think of it as one." He replied. "You should have made the rope longer though, if you wanted a real chance at escaping."

"I ran out of dress fabric." She muttered.

He leaned closer to her, and she backed off slightly, as he was uncomfortably close. He was just doing it to intimidate her. "Now, I'll give you two choices. I can drag you back to the dungeon where you belong kicking and screaming, or I can escort you back to your room willingly. Which will it be?" He asked. "And you better decide quickly this time because I'm not in a mood to wait." He growled.

She sighed "I'll go back to my room." She said, defeated.

"Good choice." He replied. "Let's go. You have to go in front me."

She nodded silently and walked in front of him. He directed her back to her room, as she didn't know which route to take.

Once they arrived back, Beast entered the room along with her and slammed the door shut. Belle positioned herself by the wall, as far away from him as possible as he walked over to the rope, and then approached her. "You are really trying my patience. I am very close to hauling you back to the dungeon."

"Then why don't you just do it?!" She cried. "It doesn't matter where I am, in a cold, dank cell, or in this room with fancy decorations and fancy dresses, I'm still a prisoner! ...I'm still trapped here." She murmured.

For a moment, he gave her a look of sympathy, but quickly hid it. "Yes, you are a prisoner. But I don't think you've fully accepted that yet. You took your father's place, you have to take his punishment, you have to live out his sentence! But instead you're trying to escape!"

"Can you blame me? I would accept the punishment if it were something worse, but it was just a rose! He didn't mean any harm by it! He was getting it for me!" She argued back. "Why did you want to punish him just for that?"

"Because I suffered the same fate, all because of a rose!" He shouted.

"Are you sure it's just because of a rose?" She questioned.

"What?" He growled.

"No one would be so cruel to punish you just because of a rose. You're just blaming it on the flower so that you feel better about yourself, about whatever you did. You were keeping my father prison because you didn't want to suffer alone, even though what he did is nothing compared to what you've done. You're just too wrapped up in your own head to see that it's your fault, you don't want to keep blaming yourself, you-"

"ENOUGH!" He roared angrily.

Belle fell silent, a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Who do you think you are? You have no right to say any of that. You know nothing about me." He said lowly.

Beast looked away for a moment. Her words seemed to ring true, but he tried to push them away and ignore them as best he could as they flew around inside his head. "I'll give you a second chance. You can stay in this room. But I don't want you leaving it, do you understand me?"

She didn't respond.

"I said, do you understand me?" He repeated himself.

"Yes." She replied.

He walked over to the rope and cut it with one swipe of his claws. The torn fabric was weighed down by gravity and slipped out of the window. "If you try to escape again, you won't get very far. I'll find you, and next time there will be no more chances. You'll go straight back to the dungeon." He warned. He then closed the window and set down the latch.

He walked over to the bed and stripped off the sheets. "You can't have any bed sheets, as you could make more rope out of it. So I hope you enjoy sleeping in this cold weather without them. Hopefully your dress will be enough to keep you warm." He murmured, his voice dry and lacking any emotion.

"Speaking of dresses." He muttered, approaching Madame Garderobe "They'll be no more playing dress up either!" He said loudly, startling her awake once more. "Keep an eye on her." He ordered.

"Yes, of course, master." The wardrobe responded sleepily.

Beast walked over to the door and paused, glancing back at the girl. "I kept up my end of the bargain. I let your father go. Now you have to do the same." He told her. "Don't betray my trust again."

He took hold of the door handle and opened the bedroom door, before heading out into the hallway and closing it behind him.

Lumiere and Cogsworth were there waiting for him. "You weren't too hard on her, were you master?" Lumiere asked concernedly.

Beast glanced back at the door "I... Was gentle as I could be." He replied.

"We could still give it another go, you know." Lumiere said quietly.

"Would you just give it a rest already? This isn't going to work. She'll do anything to get away from me, do you honestly think there's any coming back from this?"

The two servants were silent.

"Make sure that wardrobe keeps an eye on her and doesn't fall asleep again. And I want one of you out here at all times. I don't care who, you can take it in shifts if you like. Just make sure that it's done." He instructed. "I'm going back to my room. I don't want to be bothered again tonight."

He walked passed them, but paused when he heard sobbing. The girl... She must have realised that there was no way out, that she was stuck here. That she would never see her father again.

Beast's expression saddened as he listened to her cry, her wails echoing through the wall.

He knew how she felt. He was in the comfort of his home, surrounded by his servants... But he didn't feel any less trapped. He could go back and attempt to comfort her... But he was the last person she wanted to see.

He kept walking, her cries becoming distant to his ears, but lingering in his mind.

A/N - I'll be posting every two days now, as I've edited every chapter and they're all just sitting around, waiting to be posted. So the days will alternate, from today to Sunday, then Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, then Monday, Wednesday and so on and so forth.

I thought it was odd that in the remake, Belle made this rope out of dress fabric, but she never actually used it, and Beast never discovered that she made it. So I decided to go more in depth with it. Plus, I felt that she needed to have a low point as well, where she feels helpless, like she does in the original. And I also thought that she needed to see that, in a way, with Beast making their argument and the rose so personal, that he's crying out for help, even if he doesn't realise it himself.

Also thank you, for the support and kind words in the reviews throughout this whole story. I greatly appreciate it.