beauty & the beast
by Ornery-chan
Author's Note: Yay! Trick Sparrow reviewed! I'm so flattered she liked this! I luuuuurv Blank/Mikoto (Miki). Read Trick Sparrow's fic okay! I've read it twice already! (and wait for the darned sequel!)
Chapter 2
Whistling, I washed my hair with the flowing water from the faucet. When I first came to Gaia, this phenomenon struck me. Water NEVER flowed in Terra. But as the months passed, I began to get used to it.
I caught myself whistling then. Curious. Blank (who taught me to whistle, among other things) said people often whistled when they felt happy.
Was I happy?
The clock showed me that I had to get to the library in twelve minutes. I checked myself and the room. Before I left, I grabbed the piece of paper on top of my dresser.
The ticket.
As I walked to the Air Cab Station, I stared at the ticket. This was the first time I would be seeing Tantalus (whom I have grown fond of) perform a play. Sure, they have told me all about it. Especially Blank, and my older brother Zidane.
Speaking of Zidane, I wrote him a letter last night after Blank left.
Dear Zidane,
Blank gave me a ticket and invited me to one of their plays. I remember you saying that your former group's performances are worth seeing. I am looking forward to it.
Please give my regards to Queen Garnet.
Your little sister
Miki
The moogle handed me the reply when I left the building:
Dearest Miki,
That's great! Too bad I can't go. Too bad I'm not even performing in it!
I see you and Blank are hitting it off, huh? Well of course, who wouldn't notice someone as cute as you? Heh heh. Watch out for him, okay? He almost always gets an evil person part.
Your big bro
Zidane
I was not sure what he meant by "hitting it off". Certainly Blank and I have not been physically hurting each other.
I slipped the ticket in my pocket and entered the cab.
***
There was a new shipment of books and I was forced to keep busy, cataloguing each and putting it in its proper place. A lot of these copies were from Daguerreo, a place I had visited once, and they were a bit musty from the water.
I wondered what Blank was doing right now. He must be practicing or getting ready for the play.
From the corner of my eye, I saw one soaked book. When I picked it up, the cover was so wet that I could barely read the title.
It said, "Beauty and the Beast".
I felt a surge of excitement run through me. This must be the story they will base the play on, I thought.
I was in one of the "hidden rooms", areas of the library where some of the classified books were stored. I had to place a book about the Forgotten Continent there when I saw this book.
Sitting down against the wall, I began to read.
***
Interesting. The story was filled with "magic", one that I, as a Genome, had witnessed many times during my stay in the village of the Black Mages. I knew about black magic, white magic, but this was magic of an unfamiliar kind - the magic of love.
Blank had explained the concept to me once, but I never fully understood it. I still did not comprehend in the story.
A handsome but arrogant prince scorned an old woman asking for shelter one winter (what is winter?) night, in exchange for a single perfect rose (I have seen this flower, and it is quite beautiful). The old woman turned out to be a mage, who cursed the prince into a form of an ugly beast. He was then doomed inside his castle. The curse would be uplifted only if the beast prince learned to love, and was loved in return, before the last rose petal had fallen.
I was in the part where the girl exchanged herself to save her father from being trapped in the castle. Then I realized that time had passed for quite a while.
The clock said a quarter to four. My eyes widened in horror. The play was at 4 o'clock! I rushed to tidy the books and reached for the door.
Strange. The knob wouldn't turn. I tried it again. I pulled on the door.
It wouldn't open.
I had locked myself in!
Always timestamp your works!
12/28/2001 - 9:30 PM
