Innocence of a Child Chapter 7
"Well this was not one of my best ideas," murmured Belle, bitterly.
That was putting things mildly.
When Belle had gone into the castle she had done so with a plan. Find her father and sister and get the hell out of there back home. What she didn't expect was to come face to face with a monster that sought to imprison her father for eternity just for picking a rose from the palaces garden. In an act of selflessness Belle had made the choice to switch places with her father so that he could go free. Maurice was not doing well needing to receive care he could only get back at the village. So she had tricked him and the Beast into thinking she was saying farewell when all along she wanted him out of there.
Now Belle was stuck here lost and alone possibly for the rest of her life.
Belle had found her father, but Cosette was still missing and if the Beast had caught her then she didn't want to think about what had happened to her. It was far too horrible to imagine. Cosette must be so scared by now. And her big sister isn't there to help her. It's practically killing Belle inside.
There's no way out. It's completely hopeless. Belle began to fall into despair.
Luckily for her someone had other ideas.
Suddenly the door to the cell creaked open without any sort of warning.
Belle stood up thinking the Beast had come back to do her some sort of harm once he'd sent Maurice away.
"Forgive my intrusion, Mademoiselle…but I have come to escort you to your room," said Lumière.
Belle frantically looked for anything to use as a weapon for defense only finding a stool in the far corner.
"My room," said Belle, confused, grabbing a low stool in the cell and holding it up high to use as a weapon. "But I thought-."
"Oh, what? That 'Once this door closes it will not open again'?" The person speaking imitated the Beasts roar. "I know. He gets so dramatic."
Belle apprehensively stepped out of the cell which allowed her to see the identity of the person releasing her. But instead of seeing a human being there she saw the candlestick she had used to get to the tower in the first place. Not only that this candle is mobile and talking!
Lumière was hanging from the latch that opened the door of the cell.
Waving at her, Lumiere said "Hello."
Belle immediately gasped in shock and fright.
Lumiere let go of the latch dropping to the floor. Before he could get the Belle abruptly flattened a word in the moment he landed Lumiere to the floor. She'd slammed the stool directly onto him. The pieces of the stool scattered by the sheer force behind it. The impact doused Lumiere's flames causing it to go dark. This made Belle jump startled releasing an enormous and shrill shriek.
Because he was now a figurine instead of human Lumiere wasn't really hurt by the impact. He quickly recovered undeterred. He was merely taking all this in stride. Just like Lumiere to act this way.
Relighting the flames on his candles, rising from beneath the pieces of wood from the stool, Lumiere said "Oh, you are very strong. This is a great quality."
"What are you," demanded Belle.
Smiling in a dashing manner, flourishing his arms, Lumiere said "I am Lumiere."
"And…you can talk," stammered Belle.
Another character of impossibility then entered the picture.
A mantle clock then appeared on the top of the stairs from behind Belle huffing and panting from the long climb.
Quite irritable and exasperated, waddling in a comical way over to Lumiere after he managed to get over the final step, Cogsworth said "Well, of course he can talk. It's all he ever does. Now, Lumiere, as head of the household I demand that you put her back in her cell at once."
Cogworth's order did nothing to put Belle at ease. In fact it just made her even more anxious and nervous putting Belle into an even more of a panicked state of mind. Belle ran back into the cell grabbing the first thing she saw. She no longer could use the broken stool so Belle had to use something else now as her weapon of choice. The only thing left was a pitcher that could hold water lying idly on the floor. Belle claimed it exiting the cell before that clock could even think of shutting the door on her again. It wasn't very practical. Unfortunately, given the circumstance it was going to have to do temporarily for now at present. The candle probably wouldn't have let him or simply let her out once more, but she wasn't going to take that chance. This is all too strange to take in all at once even for Belle.
Blunt, leaning forward closer to Cogsworth, lowering his voice so it would be harder for Belle to hear, Lumiere whispered "What do you want to be for the rest of your life, Cogsworth? A man or a mantle clock?"
The very second Lumiere and Cosgworth saw Belle out in the open he changed his demeanor, returning it to the welcoming persona he had on previously to reassure her that neither of them meant her any harm.
"Ready, Miss," asked Lumiere, turning to head down the stairs on the opposite side Cogsworth came up.
Cogsworth groaned in dread. They were going to get into huge amount of trouble for this.
"Trust me," said Lumiere, speaking to Cogsworth.
So Belle's only options were to follow them and if not stay in the cell.
Honestly, in Belle's point of view, what choice did she actually have or if she even originally had one to start with?
Authors Note:
Don't worry there will be some really good stuff next time around and so will Cosette.