Author's Note: Hello all my faithful Fanrats! As promised, I shall respond to every single one of you! Unexpectedly there was an influx of reviews and I was pretty surprised to say the least because I was sure that nobody would be interested in the story. It was definitely a happy surprise, and I am overjoyed to have pleased every single one of you.
Commence ze Responses!
Oo Spider Clemti oO: Thank you and I'm very glad you like it so far! (Truth be told I've kind of been making it up as I went along, haha!) But then again I did the exact same thing for one of my other stories
"Mishap by Mug", and it turned out to be very popular indeed. Anyway, I do hope you leave a constructive review for this chapter and I hope you like it! Sit back and enjoy, dude. Be my guest!
Guest: Thank you! Capturing Gaston's personality was very challenging actually because his persona is very tough to...well...capture, you know? He's made out to be a bit of a meathead, but can be clever at times (like when he came up with a plan to make out Belle's father as a lunatic in order to win her hand in marriage). It was a fiendishly clever plan, and he was already intimidating as he was, being such a great hunter and all.
Singertobe: Hun, you sound exactly like me. I am always checking my junk mail to look for reviews and/or updated stories, so it's very flattering that you will do the same for me. ^^ I hope you enjoy this chapter, because I did put a lot of effort into it. And as for the enchantress I'm sure she will make an appearance in the story. ;) Later on, though. There needs to be a climax somewhere.
Belle: Is that really your real name? Sweet! That's a very beautiful name! And aw, you were crying at the first chapter? Good, lol.
Narmeybrnery: Gaston has an interesting plan for all of them, and it DOES involve selling, but not as much as you might think. ;) Just wait patiently.
Lumiere8645: I don't know if Lumiere is necessarily the type to literally kill someone out of rage, but we'll just have to wait and see. Anything can happen in a world where teapots and candlesticks sing!
Gaston: Nobody ruins a good story like you, buddy.
FluentFletcher2: I'm so happy that I managed to keep everyone in character for you seeing as how you are pretty picky with that kind of stuff, Mr. Fletcher. Keeping everyone in character while exploring new ways to exploit their feelings is very fun! I hope you review in the future!
Alectooknightoff: Yeah, Gaston isn't exactly a Golden Retriever, isn't he? More like a pitbull, but that's pretty insulting to pitbulls!
JennaAiton: Oh you! Stop it! XD It really warms my heart to hear that from you, from anyone really! I'll tell you right now that I'm actually kind of at a loss as to where the story should go since I am making it up as I go along. Message me and maybe we can talk it over and get some ideas going!
Caroline Barlow: Well, if I manage to entertain anyone, I've done my job, but I'm especially glad that I entertained you! If you have any ideas as to where this story should go, message me or write a review! I'd love to hear what you have in mind!
Bailey Noelle: you've been with me since the very beginning, bro! Thank you so very kindly for writing the reviews, because I love them so very much. It warms my heart, encourages me, inspires me to write better and faster! ;) Love ya, man!
And last but not least:
XxDarkDarlingxX: Oh stop! You're making me blush, you! =(óuò)= The reader is always an inspiration for the writer so I hope you drop by again and leave a review! 3
...
Cogsworth was simply petrified. Why him? Why him?! WHY HIM OF ALL SOULS?! Why had he been involved with the invasion of their home, or more importantly, why had the enchantress see fit to curse them all!? He wouldn't have minded as much, if he hadn't been a part of it...he supposed. After all, he didn't deserve any of this, and he certainly didn't ask for any of this either.
That's what was going through his mind as LeFou drove the dagger through the groove of the bars and straight into the intricately carved wood that was his torso, before then plunging straight into and cracking the glass door that led to his gears.
Pain. Oh, that was definitely pain... There was no blood, but there was definitely the splintering of wood and the shattering of glass as his body was vandalized. The children surrounding him all shouted and cried, their loud noises becoming low-pitched drones in his "ears" as the knife drove in deeper. His little metallic hands clutched the sheath, trying to yank it from his being, but alas, his strength was no match for the man's.
It seemed as though it would last forever-the pain, that is. And it WAS a while until LeFou yanked the knife out of him, before giving him a couple of more jabs to the wood, and finally satisfied, he pulled back, taking the weapon with him. "There, that should teach you," he smiled sadistically, putting it in a sheath and patting it gently as Cogsworth moaned in pain. "I'll be back, little guy, with that friend of yours." His face went dark. "And I'll make sure to melt him-right before your very eyes."
Cogsworth gasped through the pain, as did Mrs. Potts. "No!" The poor teapot cried.
"L-Lumiere?" Cogsworth forced out, hoarse. That's right! Somehow, and hopefully, the candelabra had managed to evade Gaston's cronies and make it to where Belle was being held.
As LeFou strolled away, Cogsworth thought: Had the enchantress counted on this happening? Had she known all along that this mutiny would unfold? Would she provide an exception to the ones she cursed and excuse them from this folie? It appeared not.
But now there was no time to think about it. Right now he had to focus on getting this dagger un-wedged from his gears and calm down the crying children.
...
Lumiere poked his head out from under the bed and scowled at the muscles hoodlum. Whatever Gaston was proposing couldn't be virtuous. A sale of some sort, but what kind?
"Auction? What auction?" The young woman asked with growing fear and suspicion.
"Why, the auction in which was my strapping boys and I sell to those in need some enchanted servants!" Gaston revealed, pleased with himself for thinking such a thing. Lumiere's jaw dropped. Of all the lowbrow, dirty plans, this just had to be the most sinister of them all! Gaston went on dreamily, "Just think of it-we'd have to weed out the dangerous ones first, and then we'd make a fortune off of the lowly submissive ones-"
"You'll do no such thing!" Belle snapped, just as shocked as Lumiere at this plan of out-and-out lunacy. "Gaston, they aren't lifeless objects; they have feelings, souls even! Besides, servants aren't bought and sold; slaves are. You can't just buy and sell my friends-"
"They aren't human," Gaston interjected. "You know that, Belle."
"But-"
"Tell me, do the feelings of pigs matter when they're up for the slaughter?"
Belle paused. "Well, animals don't-"
"And do the feelings of horses matter when they plow our fields?"
"I don't suppose-" But that was all Gaston needed to hear.
"Exactly! So why should the feelings of these things make any difference to us?"
"Because they think, Gaston!" Belle exclaimed. "Just like us; they think and feel! Almost as if-!" She stopped, and then trailed off, looking away.
"Almost as if...?" Gaston pressed, but she had no answer.
"Almost as if we were human before..." Lumiere thought sadly. She knew that this place was enchanted but knew not of the curse. How was she to know that they were once people?
"Never mind that then. It'll happen whether you like it or not," Gaston shrugged.
"But-"
"I have to ask you, Belle," he interrupted as they exited the room. Lumiere quickly hopped after them, making sure to stay out of sight by extinguishing his bright flames. "You were very reluctant to marry me before, yet you agreed later simply because I held a candlestick over a cliff." For once and strangely enough, he was staring dead ahead, refusing to make eye contact with her. Eerily, that was enough to make her uncomfortable.
"What-? What are you saying?" She asked, shocked. "Of course I agreed! I wasn't about to let someone die-"
"Just "someone", Belle?" Gaston asked, stopping dead in his tracks and gripping her shoulders. "Or was that someone important to you?" He was now looking her dead in the eye.
Belle stared at him for a moment. "Are you saying that I'm...infatuated with-with Lumiere?" She asked with disbelief.
Lumiere tensed. Infatuated. With him? That...That certainly hadn't really crossed his mind before. It wasn't his job to fall for the girl; that was his master's duty! Besides, he had Fifi! Well, he had had Fifi and Belle had had the master…before they were killed… They simply hadn't crossed paths alone, was all... but it wasn't as if she was a great person, she was! She was very kind, sweet, could hold an especially intelligent conversation, and was...well, her. Perfect.
"It has a name?" Gaston exclaimed, tightening the grip on her shoulders, which caused her to tense in discomfort. "Lumiere..." he repeated, causing Belle's heart to sink. She believed she shouldn't have given that away. "Light. Hm. LeFou did have some unfinished business with it, didn't he?" His grip tightened. "Tell me, Belle, if I have competition I need to upstage-"
"No!" Belle cried, knowing what he was implying. "He's a good friend of mine, that's all! Just like the Beast was!" And it was true! Lumiere had been one of the few to show her kindness when she was doomed to remain here for the rest of her days, and she had fallen for his kind, upbeat, if not a bit flirtatious personality. Not overly coquettish like Gaston, but light, fun teasing here and there and respectfully kissing her hand when they first met and such.
"And this friend of yours you were sobbing over after I took care of him," Gaston scoffed. "What on earth do you see in those creatures?"
"Nothing you could ever understand, Gaston," she snarled suddenly. "Nothing."
Gaston gritted his teeth, his grip on her shoulders tightening to the point where it began to seriously pain her.
Lumiere scowled as Belle struggled to get the man's hands off of her. This had gone on far enough. He wasn't about to allow him to harm her anymore. Quickly hopping over to where the two were arguing, he held his breath, fully prepared to blow Gaston away with his flames.
But before he could do a thing, a grubby, gloved hand wrapped around his golden base, lifting him up into the air. He let out a yelp without thinking, "Sacré bleu!" And immediately covered his mouth, but it was too late. Belle and Gaston both turned.
The man smiled callously, while the young woman gasped out in surprise as well as anxiety. "Lumiere!" She cried.
The aforementioned candelabra twisted and turned, but he had been captured alright, and by-...LeFou. Oh, what joy. "Hey again!" The little man cackled. "I'd almost forgotten that we had some unfinished business."
Gaston smiled. "See?" He told Belle, who glared.
Lumiere responded not, but rekindled his flames in a panicked haze and attempted to burn LeFou. It was only after the first try that he realized that the man had himself completely covered in wraps-and was wearing special oven mitts from the castle's kitchen to protect the fragile skin beneath as well. When he saw that he could not escape, he tried to talk the man out of hurting him.
"L-Listen here," he stammered, his usually smooth tone of voice cracking from nervousness. But LeFou simply crammed a gloved thumb into what passed as Lumiere's mouth, silencing him immediately.
"What's that?" He teased, holding a free hand behind his large ear. "Couldn't hear ya. Try and burn me again. I dare you."
Belle was repulsed. She tore away from Gaston and approached LeFou with her hand outstretched. "Give him here."
"What?" He screeched, yanking Lumiere away. "No! Why would I do that?"
"Because he might burn you!"
"Yeah, I know. And gosh, it disturbs me. That's why I have all this gear!" He clunked himself on the head (a dish was upon it) for good measure. "Not bad, eh? Now, where were we?" He asked the candelabra, who shivered.
"Er...you were in ze middle of letting me go?" Lumiere muttered hopefully.
LeFou gave him a dumb look. "Nice try. Hey, Gaston? Can I keep this one?" He asked, "I'm just thinking of all the ways I could melt him! Ooh, there are so many ways to destroy it; bonfire, torch, flame-arrow. You think he'll die if I do that?"
"No!" Belle cried. "Leave him alone!"
Gaston thought for a moment. It was clear that she had feelings for the candelabra, as crazy as that sounded, seeing as it was nothing but an object, but perhaps he could use that against her. "Alright, alright, Belle. I'll compromise," he complied with amusement.
"You will?" She was surprised, but grateful all the same. "Oh, thank you-"
"After I do this." Gaston strutted over to LeFou, took hold of one of Lumiere's skinny arms and pinched the wick in the center of the wax "hand". Before the candelabra could protest, Gaston tore the wick from its holder, causing Lumiere to scream out in agony. Belle rushed forward to help, but she was too late. Gaston flicked the wick, and everyone watched with shock (LeFou and Gaston with glee) as it fluttered to the floor before Gaston proceeded the same action to Lumiere's other arm.
Before he knew it, both the wicks on Lumiere's arms were missing, and he was sweating wax from the pain alone. "Last one..." Gaston announced, and quickly yanked the largest wick: the one atop Lumiere's head, before flinging it on the ground to join the rest. Lumiere clenched his teeth.
"Aw, does that hurt?" LeFou sniggered. "Almost as much as being stabbed, hm?"
Lumiere would never admit it, but it hurt more than any injury he had ever gotten as a human, and that was saying something. It felt as if someone had taken ahold of his main artery and pulled it out of place. Instead, he gritted his teeth, bore it, and shook his head.
"Not a bit. After all, I'm no human," he firmly replied, effectively disguising the wavering affliction.
Anyone could see that Gaston was slightly disappointed, but it couldn't be helped. Anyway, he had bigger things to worry about.
"Put it with the others," he ordered LeFou, who sagged, wanting to have his own fun with the candelabra.
"The others?" Belle paused. "What do you mean?"
Gaston stopped in his tracks, debating with himself. On one hand, he didn't want Belle anywhere near his project, but on the other, what could he honestly hide from her? It's not like he could keep her forever in the dark. Chuckling maliciously and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he replied, "Come with me and I'll show you. LeFou," he gestured with a free arm. "Follow us, quickly now."
Off they went, transient through long dark corridors and large flights of stairs. Gaston, who'd never really paid attention to the castle's decor, now observed with the upmost scrutiny, and marveled at its beauties. "What a fine place to live," he commented, passing by a marble statue of an unfamiliar face upon a marble stand. He ran his gloved fingers over it. "If only those pesky-GAH!"
He wretched his fingers away as everyone but Lumiere and Belle jumped, for the once immobile statue had come to life, snapping at his fingers with its marble teeth. It said nothing, but its intimidating demeanor was enough for Gaston. Thinking quickly, he grasped the marble statue by its base and chuckled it over a nearby railing, listening to its long fall and finally a fatal crash at the bottom as it met the floor.
Both Lumiere and Belle gasped as the statue shattered to pieces, and though they had not looked over the railing to see the crash, they knew it wasn't pretty. "Pierre..." Lumiere moaned, reaching uselessly towards the railing.
Shocked, Belle could only cover her mouth with both hands. "Lumiere," she rasped. "W-Was that-?"
"A friend," he revealed in despair. And it was true. Pierre had avoided most of the fight to hide as disguising himself as a simple inanimate object, but he was a good, loyal being. At least, he was while he lasted. "He was a good, good friend," he choked.
"Come along now," Gaston urged them all, shuddering lightly and straightening his belt. "We haven't much time."
They came to the front foyer without any more interruptions, to the relief of the captive ones, and Gaston placed a hand on the large doors that led to the outside courtyard. LeFou traveled close behind with a dizzy-with-physical-and-mental-pain Lumiere in hand.
"Ready?" Asked Gaston simply, and Belle gave a hesitant, confused nod.
"For-For what?" She was really afraid to ask.
"For this," Gaston answered ominously, and he opened the door, giving way to a Hell outside.
Smoke, ashes, and fire.
When Belle saw what they had been doing, she could have screamed. Instead, she covered her mouth. Lumiere did scream, though, for he was giving witness to the murders of most of his staff. In the courtyard of the palace, there was a multitude of carts, an array of bonfires, and a LOT of enchanted objects being thrown into said bonfires by the villagers that Belle knew.
"No!" She screamed at one man, who was just about to toss a shaking knife into the flames. She tried to tear away from Gaston, but he held her fast. "Let me go, Gaston! You can't do this to them!"
"Can't I?" He inquired curiously. "Let's find out." He gestured to the man still holding the terrified piece of delicate cutlery over the heat. The man nodded, and dropped the poor creature into the fire, which burned ferociously at the delicate material of the knife. Lumiere's jaw dropped in horror as he clutched at his face. He knew that knife-that was one of his dear friends: Alfonso, the foreign waiter who had come to the castle years ago and had unluckily gotten entrapped within the curse.
"Monsieur Alfonso!" He cried out hoarsely, and the knife within the flames perked through the agony at the sound of the maître d''s voice.
"Lumiere!" He screamed. "Mi jefe! Save me!" But Lumiere could only watch when the screams began to quiet themselves as the flames overtook the last remaining threads of his life. And then he was gone, just like that. All that was left was a simple inanimate knife in the middle of the flames. It happened so quickly, that even Belle could not get to the flames fast enough to rescue the poor creature.
Staring horrified into the bonfire, Belle turned on her heels and tore for Gaston, who was watching smugly. "Y-You loathsome creature!" She shouted. "How dare you!"
Gaston raised an eyebrow at her, slowly and quietly gritting his teeth, trying to control his temper. This wasn't at all what he envisioned his fiancé to act like, being the slight buffoon that he was. Well...he didn't expect her to be thrilled, now that he knew she was friends with these enchanted beings, but at the same time, he expected a little more decorum from his future wife. "Alright, LeFou," he snarled, turning to his henchman. "It's melting time." It was time to teach Belle where she stood.
Lumiere turned a ghostly white, while the man who was carrying him smiled an open-mouthed smile in his excitement. "Finally!" He exclaimed. "I never thought I'd live to see the day this little guy met his maker! And I'll make sure to take it slow."
"What?" The candelabra whispered, feeling the man's gloved fingers wrap around his base. He tensed, almost losing his smooth rich voice in the turmoil. "N-No!"
Belle could have fainted as her fiend was carried to the bonfire. "STOP!" She screamed. "NO MORE!" She clutched her hair, nearly tearing it out in her unabridged hysteria.
"No more? Stop?" Gaston took a knee where she was genuflected, "tsking" mellifluously. "Belle, you should know by now that it's not smart to insult me like that. It's not a woman's place to critique her future husband. I mean, you know that, don't you?"
Belle took one look at poor Lumiere, who was being held inches away from the fire and was breathing heavily with fear, and she broke. "Y-Yes, Gaston. I understand," she whispered, clutching the skirt of her blue dress.
"Wonderful!" He exclaimed happily, taking her hand in his. "Then shall we go?"
"Go?" She questioned, relieved when LeFou carefully drew the candelabra away from the fire (albeit begrudgingly). "Where?"
"Why, home of course!" And he gestured towards the woods, where his village was waiting on the other side. Belle followed his finger and sighed, her broken heart falling to the heels of her feet. The village? Her home?
"That isn't my home anymore," she thought despairingly, as Gaston led her up to his raven-shaded horse. He quickly mounted the animal as his whinnied softly.
"Whoah, boy," he scolded it, before holding a hand out to Belle. "My Dear," he offered politely, but Belle knew that it was all an act. Nonetheless, she knew in her heart that her friends would be harmed if she refused. So with great sadness and despair, she took the gloved hand into her own, and mounted the horse to sit behind Gaston.
...
To be continued very shortly!