Beauty and the Beast
By Kennie Gajos
A/NI'd just like to take a few seconds to say a humongous great big 'THANK YOU!!' to everyone who reviewed the story. It's not my usual style of writing so the reviews mean twice as much to me.
That said, thank you once more for reviewing, enjoy the fic… and it's not Buffy!
Once more the sound of a motorbike was heard within the confines of the village. This time the bike stopped outside the inn, whilst the tow truck continued on to the garage. All eyes were on the newcomer as she went into the inn and then returned to the street, this time without her helmet. A muted gasp went up among the crowd as they registered her beauty and several young girls eyes narrowed in jealousy.
Blissfully ignorant of the stares, the biker moved gracefully along the street towards the garage. There she picked up the luggage from the car and then returned to the room she had booked in the inn.
The room was small but comfortable with twin beds, one for her and one for Giles. It had a view of the Main Square and it was this that drew the biker. She settled there, watchful for a familiar presence among the unfamiliar scene.
Giles thought back on the circumstances that had lead him to his incarceration. After a few moments on his own at the side of the road he had spied what appeared to be the turret of a tower in the middle of a forest. Believing it to be closer than the village, he had set out on foot to ask for help. It wasn't until he got much closer to the tower that he realised that it was part of a mostly derelict castle. He had almost given up then, but believed that he might as well continue now that he had come so far. How he now wished that he had decided otherwise.
After wrestling the gates open, he had continued into the castle, which had obviously been exquisite in its day. Once inside, he had called out repeatedly but no-one had answered. Thinking that the castle was abandoned he had decided to have a quick look around before heading back to the car. It was then that it had happened. A demon had attacked him and whilst they had been fighting, knocked him unconscious. He had awoken alone and locked in the cell he currently occupied.
It was late when the biker awoke with a start. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but she was still jetlagged from the flight. She stretched and stood up intending to change out of her leathers. She grinned as she remembered the first time she had ever gotten on a bike. It was last time she and Giles had visited England. They had gone to his house and whilst exploring the ground she had come across an old motorbike stored in a barn. For some reason it appealed to her and she had pestered Giles into teaching her how to drive it.
Giles! Had he arrived yet?
Throwing on some clothes, she hurried downstairs and into the crowded bar. All conversation ceased at her abrupt entry.
"Est-ce que n'importe qui a vu un homme anglais? " She asked, taking advantage of the silence.
The people in the bar responded with a varied mix of headshakes and "Non"'s. *
She frowned and went out into the street, where she took an avid interest in the passers-by. One face in particular invoked a memory and she pounced on its possessor.
"Hey, Claudine isn't it?" She asked.
The young girl giggled and shook her head. "Claudette." She said.
The biker winced. "Sorry. Listen, I don't suppose that you've seen an Englishman anywhere have you?"
Claudette shook her head. "You are the only new person to come to our village."
The biker frowned. "Where is he?" She asked herself before having a crazy thought. "Listen, when I went to pick him up I thought I saw a tower in the middle of the forest. Do you think he might have gone there?"
"I do not know." Said Claudette with a shrug. "We do not go there. The castle is dangerous. Except the children sometimes, but they never go in."
"Why not?"
"We tell them that that is where the monster lives. They dare each other to go see it."
"I see." The biker said thoughtfully.
"What do you see?" Claudette asked.
"Knowing Giles, he probably saw it and went to ask for help. And knowing Giles, he's probably in danger."
The biker ran back to her motorbike and climbed onboard, not bothering to fetch her helmet. She revved the engine and pulled away from the kerb, heading for the forest.
Once she had reached the outskirts of the forest she came to a halt and turned the engine off. She closed her eyes and concentrated, muttering under her breath. She opened her eyes to find a small green light hovering in front of her. Grinning, Willow started the engine again and followed the light into the forest.
Giles shivered as the cold seeped into the marrow of his bones. While daylight had still prevailed the stone of his cell had seemed to retain some warmth, but with the setting of the sun the warmth had fled and the temperature in the tiny room had dropped further and further.
A noise from the other side attracted his attention. Had the demon returned to kill him? Suddenly a small green light entered the room via the keyhole in the door and circled around him before dissipating.
"Willow?" Giles called out.
A muffled voice responded from the other side of the door. "Giles? You in there?"
"Willow, what are you doing here?" Giles asked.
"Rescue mission." Willow replied. "Stand back."
Giles complied, moving as far away from the door as possible. Suddenly, the door began to vibrate and then just as suddenly it stopped.
"What are you doing here?" Giles heard the deep voice of the demon from the other side of the door.
"Leave her alone!" He shouted.
Willow stood proudly in the darkness, the torch she had held in her hand in pieces at the far side of the dungeon.
"I came to rescue my friend." She said defiantly.
"He is my prisoner." The voice came again, from a different side of the room.
Gradually, Willow's eyes began to adjust to the darkness, a thin sliver of moonlight that came from a barred window allowing her to distinguish rough shapes.
"He has rights like any other human being." She informed the owner of the voice.
The voice laughed humourlessly. "Rights!" He said contemptuously. "She speaks to me of rights. Don't I have rights too?"
"I'm sure you do." Willow said coldly. "Will you let him go?"
"No."
"Why?"
"He is a trespasser. You think I don't see the children? 'Touch the monster's gates!' He came to poke and pry and stare and then he attacked me."
"You hit me first!" Giles called out from inside his cell.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Enough!" Willow shouted, exasperated at the show of childishness. "There must be some way I can convince you to set him free." She said, appealing to the voice.
"You want to take his place?" The voice said an offhand manner.
Willow paused, evaluating the enormity of what she might be agreeing to. "If I did… would you let him go?" She asked.
"Willow, no!" Giles shouted.
"You, you would do that?" The puzzlement in the voice was complete. "You would willingly agree to stay here with me for the rest of your life in order to set this man free?"
"Yes."
"Who is he to inspire such feeling in you?"
"He's a very good friend." Willow explained.
"Willow, I forbid you to do this." Giles roared.
Willow turned to the door. "Giles, I have to. You're needed more than I am. Besides, I can still help from here… I'll just be doing it from a distance." She turned back to the voice and stepped into the moonlight. "What do you say?"
There was silence for a moment and then, "You must promise to stay here forever." He said.
Willow opened her mouth to agree and then realised with a shock that she hadn't even seen her captor's face. "Come into the light." She said instead.
Footsteps sounded and then she was joined in the ray of moonlight by a demon.
He was about nine feet tall and covered in fur. He walked on his hind legs, which were shaped like a wolf's, his face was an odd mixture of lion, horse, goat and wolf and…. and he had a tail!
Willow stared at him, horrified at the thought of what she was about to agree to. How could she spend the rest of her life locked in a remote castle, with only a hideous demon for company? Shuddering she took a deep breath and prepared to give him her answer.
"I agree." She said in a voice that only shook a little.
"Done!" The demon roared, moving past her and throwing open the door to Giles' cell.
Giles rushed out and straight to where Willow stood frozen and bathed in moonlight.
"Willow, you can't do this." He said urgently. "Leave while you can. Fetch Buffy and the others."
"Too late." The demon said, seizing Giles by the neck and dragging him out of the dungeons.
Willow heard Giles shouting all the way up the stairs and then the door slammed shut behind him and the demon and she heard him no longer. Deliberately clearing her mind of all thought so she wouldn't be able to think about what she had done, she moved like an automaton into Giles' cell and sank onto the floor.
She wasn't sure of how long it was before the demon returned. She looked up and there he stood in the doorway to her cell, blocking out the meagre light coming from the main room of the dungeon.
"I've come to show you to your room." The demon said. Was it her imagination or did he sound a little sheepish? It must be her imagination.
Willow frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Do you want to stay here for the rest of your life?" The demon asked roughly.
Willow shrugged. "I've been worse places."
"Follow me." The demon demanded.
Willow sighed in resignation and did just that.
Willow hadn't really had a chance to view the castle when she had arrived, as she had been so intent on finding Giles that nothing had registered. Now she devoted all of her attention to her surroundings in an effort to block out the thought of her future. With a start, she realised that the demon was talking to her.
"…Anywhere except my private chambers. They are strictly forbidden, is that understood?"
"Yes." Willow replied automatically.
The demon sighed to himself. "I hope that you will be happy here."
"I doubt it." Willow said, not really listening.
The demon growled and flung open a door. "Your room." He snarled.
"Thank you." Willow said, moving to walk past him and into her new room.
The demon grabbed her arm and halted her progress. "Dinner will be served in the dining room at nine. Your attendance is mandatory!"
Willow wrenched her arm out of his grasp and stalked into her room, slamming the door in his face.
Willow barely glanced at her surroundings, choosing to kick over a small table instead.
"The nerve!" She fumed. "Commanding me to turn up and beg for scraps at his table? Just who does he think he is?" Suddenly the anger drained from her system and she slumped onto the bed. "My captor, that's who he is." The events of the past half hour caught up with her all at once and she buried her face in her hands and began to sob.
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It's translation time again folks!
* "Has anyone seen an English man? " She asked, taking advantage of the silence.
The people in the bar responded with a varied mix of headshakes and no's.