Hi! This is my attempt at a humorous parody of "Beauty and the Beast" starring the YGO cast. By the way, it's a great movie, but so short! Gaston says screw once in the film!
Note: All the name spellings I got are from Lomelindi's "Come What May", which she got from an online translation of the manga. So no, they are not the spellings of Viz Media's English translation (Akunadin is totaly unpronouncable the way thay spelled it!)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I just cast them in this story line that I don't own either. And I'm dirt poor. So don't sue me. You'll only be wasting your time.
Is This Your Mansion?
Chapter Four
---
Akunadin served in the mansion all his life, dutifully, loyally and without complaint. Now he was an old, invisible man witnessing the house he loved fall into disgrace under the watchful yet sorrowful eyes of the boy he thought of as son. It broke the old man's heart every day.
The mansion was split into three sections or "wings"; on the first floor, the left wing held the dining room and kitchens, while the right wing was a large dusty ballroom. In the center wing, which extended back from the front entrance to the back of the gardens, housed the servants' quarters. All three wings met at the grand hall entrance and the magnificent stairway lined with velvet red carpet that led to the second floor.
On this floor, the left section, called the "east wing," was lined with guestrooms furnished but never used. At the end of this hall resided the mistress's bedroom where Ryou slept peacefully, almost blissfully, in his dreams. The center section was the "south wing" and was, in truth, a long hallway leading to an extensive library. In the morning hours, the hall was gorgeous with sunlight shining through far-reaching windows stretching all along the corridor.
No servant other than Akunadin ever went farther than the third room in the "west wing" of the second floor. The Master's chamber lay at the end of the wing, ominous and absolutely forbidden. The windows on this wing had long been drawn shut and the master never allowed candlelight here. The carpet, once a proud blue velvet hue, was torn and worn down to the wood foundations. Paintings lining the walls were violently ripped across the middle, canvas hanging down in distorted faces. Furniture from the branching rooms had been dragged into the corridor and smashed into pieces. And the Master's room itself…Akunadin never mentioned.
Now, as he walked down the hall, the grandfather clock on the first floor proclaiming it was half past eight, Akunadin sighed with desolation. The bed from a guest room, previously whole and happy to stay that way, was now strewn across the hall in many different red oak parts. The old man sorely wished his young master could learn different anger management techniques. They were running out of chairs.
The Master's bedroom door was shut and it took Akunadin ten minutes to push the heavy wood back enough for him to enter. Immediately a gruff voice barked at him. "Who is that?"
"Master, it is Akunadin."
"Oh, Akunadin, come in."
"Yes sir." With a feeble grace, Akunadin felt his way farther into the room towards the window leading out to a lonely balcony. A form, hidden in the darkness, stood near there by a small round table. On the table, there was a glass jar and beneath the glass jar, a wilting, withering rose. Every time he saw that rose, Akunadin felt a little more like it. He too, felt himself dying over the past ten years. "Master, why did you not eat?"
"He wouldn't eat with me."
"The boy?" Akunadin asked gently. The figure nodded. "You must be patient and try to be kind. You cannot lose your temper like you did."
"But, I don't know how. The curse…"
Akunadin placed an invisible hand on the beast's forearm. "Then you must learn to fight the curse, my son."
The form sighed. "Do I look like a beast to you, Akunadin?"
"…No. Never, Seto."
The beast lifted the glass covering and caressed the rose's remaining petals. "When the rose is dead and the curse is still upon me, I'm going to toss myself off that balcony and die as well."
"Don't say that, please!" Akunadin pleaded, clutching to the arm.
"I've resolved myself to this fate. I will always look like a beast."
"Mas-"
"No one could ever love me, Akunadin." The beast raised his head and smiled sadly. "We both know that."
Akunadin bowed his head as the form left the darkness and stepped out onto the balcony. Tears formed in his invisible eyes and fell onto the enchanted flower. "I love you, Seto my son," he whispered, then swept out of the desolate refuge.
In another part of the mansion…
"Jou, I think we're alone now."
"But we're not alone. You're with me," Jou said, confused. Yuugi simply laughed.
"I mean no one else is around. We're…alone, Jounouchi my love, my beauty, my prey."
A shadow backed up nervously, stopping only when its counterpart hit the bed with his legs. "You're creepy when you talk like that Yuugi…"
"Creepy-scary or creepy-sexy?"
Jou laughed nervously as a hand he couldn't see started to remove clothes he could not see. "A strange combination of both," he admitted as his shirt flew across the room, now visible in its green glory, and landed three feet in midair, turning invisible again.
"Who's there?" Yuugi snapped, immediately on his guard.
A cough, then the shirt fell to the floor. "Pardon my presence, youngsters, but I was about to go to bed. Obviously you two had a similar idea in mind?"
"Shimon!" Yuugi exclaimed. "You scared me!"
"As much as you were 'scaring' Mr. Jounouchi just a moment ago?" Shimon asked.
"Uh…definitely not that much." Yuugi lifted a candle from the night-table and lit it, illuminating the three shadows against the walls. Jou's shadow scrambled across the room and picked up his shirt near Shimon, an old man who stood at about four feet and was a servant of the mansion for nearly as long as Akunadin. The younger servants often saw the old men as foster fathers, uncles, and grandfathers, wise in their ways but also the people most likely to frown upon their nighttime activities as well.
Once Jou slipped his shirt back on, the three stood still, calculating the next move. Finally, Shimon coughed. "Well, I'm off to bed," he said cheerfully enough and crossed the room to the bed. Lifting the sheets, the mattress sank down and the covers wrapped around an invisible old body. Neither Jou nor Yuugi had moved. "It would do you both good to remember which room is your own, or has our collective invisibility addled your young minds?"
Jou laughed and practically ran to the door, pulling his little lover along with him. "Indeed! Thank you, Shimon, for the advice. Must be all the excitement about our guest and all. Well, have a good sleep! See you in the morning!"
Shimon laughed back, and then sighed wearily. "Love doesn't happen that soon, young man. But yes, 'see' you both in the morning."
Some hours later, in a separate part of the mansion…
Ryou sat up quietly in his bed, the light Mokuba had brought up with him long extinguished. It was hours after dinner was cleared and the young man was sadly beginning to regret refusing the beast's offer of food. Glancing around the room, Ryou tried to make out Mokuba and faintly heard deep steady breathing from across the room. Determining that Mokuba was indeed asleep, Beauty crept out of bed and out the room.
Two doors down from the prison of Ryou's bedroom, a light was on and voices alerted him to be quiet as he walked down the hall. However, upon hearing a loud shriek of mirth, Beauty decided whoever was supposed to keep watch on him was otherwise occupied.
"Oh, Rishid, right there!" the shriek turned into a happy moan.
"But Malik, we're supposed to watch the prisoner and make sure he does not leave his room," a second voice reluctantly protested.
"Oh don't be silly," the first voice said. "The only ones who are awake at this ungodly hour are you and me, and possibly Isis, Ra knows what a neat-freak she is. I say, since we're up, we might as well make the most of our time together."
There was a sigh, then, "Oh, alright, though how I let you get away with such crappy excuses only Hathor knows."
A giggle and, "Hathor would know, wouldn't she?"
"Oh shut up and get over here. If we're going to waste our time-mmf!" And then the talking ceased altogether, replaced with blush-inducing moans.
Ryou easily crept down the rest of the hallway and made his way down the stairs and into the dining room. There, a solitary candle was lit and by it Beauty saw a shadow against the window, which instantly sat up as the person saw Ryou. "What are you doing down here?" a voice snapped.
"Um, excuse me?" Ryou said, shrinking back into the shadows. "Um, I was kind of hungry."
Another voice, from a door leading to the kitchen, snickered. "Do you hear that Mahado? He's hungry."
"Yes, Karimu, I heard him," the first voice said wearily. A chair was pushed back and the voice called Mahado stood up. "You must be the guest everyone is talking about. I am Mahado and that invisible mass is Karimu. Please excuse his sarcasm; that's just how he is." The door where Karimu's voice came from opened, spilling light into the dining room. "Isis, are you in here?"
A female voice replied. "Yes, Mahado?"
"Our guest is hungry. You don't suppose you could make him something to eat?"
"But the Master said-" Karimu began to protest.
"We're not going to let him go starving Karimu!" the female voice said. "Of course I can make him something Mahado. It won't be much, but it should stave his hunger until morning."
Ryou, who had slowly inched his way into the room during the conversation, was now standing beside the table. The door he walked through opened behind him and strong hands propelled him to an empty seat, where he was pushed down with a small "eep!"
"Mahado, I'm surprised you did not offer our guest a seat," the voice that belonged to the strong hands said over Ryou's head.
"Shadi! Are you awake too?" Karimu exclaimed. "My, this is becoming quite the little party!"
"Good evening, Shadi," Mahado greeted more kindly.
The kitchen door opened again and a plate floated over to Beauty's seat. "It's not much, but it's food," the Isis voice said as she placed the dish on the table. There was a ham sandwich on the plate and Ryou immediately took a bite. "And good evening Shadi; I hope we did not wake you," she added to the man behind Beauty.
"I actually came here to tell you about your brothers, Isis," Shadi spoke up, moving from behind Ryou's seat to sit down in the chair beside him. Another chair was pulled out and Isis sat down as well.
"Oh? What about Malik and Rishid?" she asked.
Karimu began to laugh before Shadi could speak. "Of course! The two little lovebirds were supposed to keep watch over our dear guest! They must have neglected their post for…alternate activities."
Mahado cleared his throat as a warning to Karimu as Beauty felt his face flush with embarrassment. "Shadi, what was it you had to say?" he asked.
"Malik and Rishid, uh, woke me up when one of them fell on the floor. They must have been right above me, because I heard the noise from my ceiling. I thought to tell you before they woke the whole house with their noises," Shadi said neutrally.
"Oh!" The chair Isis was sitting on fell to the ground. "Those two idiots! It's Malik's fault really; it always is. I guess I'll have to talk to them about this."
"I'll go with you, Isis. It won't do if the Master hears them." Mahado added.
"My my, it is getting around that time, isn't it?" Karimu remarked.
Isis gasped. "It's almost two! Shadi-"
However, before she could complete her sentence, Shadi stood from his chair and shoved Ryou's plate away. The boy had barely finished his sandwich before he was pulled up out of his seat. "Come, it's time for bed," Shadi said and dragged Ryou out of the dining room by his arm. Ryou, eyes wide, did not protest as he was led forcefully up by the stairs.
Voices echoed down the hall, one ringing clearly to Beauty and his invisible escort on the velvet steps. "RISHID!" came down the stairs and through the house, shrill to the pair's ears. Ryou cringed as Shadi cursed under his breath.
"Those imbeciles!" Shadi surprisingly let Ryou's arm down. "I have to shut those two up; I expect you to get to your room immediately!" Ryou felt the air beside him move quickly up the stairs and then he was alone.
Beauty cautiously climbed up the rest of the stairs, pausing at the top. He could hear Shadi down the left wing, with small interjections from whom he assumed were Malik and Rishid. Glancing down the hall that led to his bedroom and prison, Ryou sighed. Did he really want to return to captivity that soon?
Beauty then turned his head to the right wing. Dark, mysterious and forbidden- the Master's wing, the West wing. An involuntary shiver crawled up his spine, but curiosity got the better of Ryou's chills and, silently, he crept down the hallway.
There was broken furniture everywhere and shadows bouncing eerily over the walls and carpet. Paintings ripped and mirrors shattered, with drawn windows and no candles cemented Beauty's impression of a bestial monster waiting at the end of the corridor. Ryou's heart began to beat faster as he approached the dark door at the end, open just enough for a man to slip through. Ryou crept past the door.
Moonlight spilled into the decaying room from a large window leading to a balcony. In front of the window, glowing from the light, stood a rose that called to Ryou. Unable to control himself, Beauty gracefully wound his way towards the table. His pale, delicate hand reached out to lift the glass covering just as a clock chimed somewhere in the distance. As his hand fell to the glass jar, a figure moved out of the shadows and grabbed his fingers. Beauty yelped in pain as his fingers were crushed by the powerful hand.
"Why are you here?" an icy voice asked. Ryou shivered.
"I-I was m-merely curious," he stammered.
There was a silence and Ryou stared resolutely at his crushed digits. "Look at me," the cold voice commanded.
Hesitantly, Ryou looked up. He gasped.
There was a man with a pale face framed by immaculate brown hair. A strong jaw and soft pink lips. The man stood proud in the moonlight. He wore a dark cerulean coat and a black vest over a white ruffled shirt. The only word to describe the man was beautiful. Yet, it wasn't the man's beauty that made Ryou gasp, but his eyes – cold, uncaring, hateful blue eyes.
It was him. It had to be. The Beast!
TBC…
Hathor- I do believe she is the Egyptian goddess of love and…drunkenness? Yes, I'm pretty sure that's right…mheh, and why it's there? Felt like it. That's all.
So, the Beast is named and Ryou meets him face to face! All the servants have made their appearances too (so who shall be Gaston?) The plot thickens in the next chapter and more of Seto's curse shall be revealed! Until then, tell me how surprised you were by this chapter!
P.S. About seme!Yuugi earlier...it's samurai-ashes' fault! ("Giddy as a School-girl"- great seme!Yuugi uke!Jou...)