Chapter 18

Disclaimer: Story: Disney. Words and so on: me!

One Hour Later

Belle sat leaning against the wooden wall of the jail, eyes closed, trying her best to think of nothing. Every time she did, the tears would threaten to fall again.

Oh, Mon Dieu, what have I set into motion? How could I be so stupid? her mind repeated over and over. If only I could get out of here, I would go straight back to the oshiro and warn the Beast. If Getsuru kills him, I will never forgive myself!

As if echoing her thoughts, Koru sat up sharply from his position in one corner and said, "Allow Getsuru-sama to commit murder of innocent, even innocent Beast, will be Dishonor on all. Must escape and find way to stop him!"

"What purpose would that serve?" the bookseller, who had awoken some time before, put in sharply, "The cost would be our reputations, and more than likely our lives if we were caught!"

Koru sniffed audibly. "In Nippon, life small price compare to loss of Honor."

"Well, I suppose when you put it that way," the bookseller said with the tiny smile of someone who has been put in his place and doesn't like it, "then it's true we have no choice. I'm all for an escape plan. Maurice, Mistress Bella, what do you say?"

"Belle…" Her father glanced at her sideways.

"Anything that might help the Beast," Belle said, clenching her hand into a fist. "Does anyone have any ideas?"

At that moment, the door into the non-barred section of the room creaked open. All of them winced, and did their best to look casual and not as if they had just been discussing escape. But at first no one seemed to be entering the room. The four prisoners exchanged wary glances, slowly climbing to their feet as they did. Belle privately wished for the security of the Beast's dagger in her palm.

The door pushed open a bit further, and a shadow appeared. Belle's heart constricted when she saw its shape. "Beru-san? You here?" whispered a familiar voice in accented Dutch.

"Dai?" Belle half-whispered, half-shrieked. The door opened even farther, revealing the one-armed, blue-skinned onii…carrying a jangling bunch of keys. "Oh, Dai, thank God, how did you know to…how did you get here?" Belle cried in a jumble, rushing to the bars. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Koru shrink back against the far wall and the bookseller make a hasty sign of the cross at the onii's grotesque appearance.

"Dai is a friend of mine, one of the servants from the oshiro," Belle explained to the men. They relaxed, very slightly, so Belle turned back to Dai, who was unlocking their cell door. "Dai, how did you know we were in trouble? And how did you get those keys?" she asked.

"I followed Beru-san," Dai explained cheerfully in Dutch, "Have been waiting for chance to get inside for some time. Man who guards," he puffed out his cheeks to indicate the heavyset jailer, "turned back, I drop board on head, steal keys. Beru-san," he added sternly, blocking her way as she started to exit the barred room, "why leave oshiro? It was your home. We were family."

"Dai, I can't begin to apologize to you…and everyone else. I am very sorry I left, and have caused a great harm by doing so. Your Master is in grave danger." Quickly, she explained about Getsuru and his plans.

Dai gasped. "Must leave at once! Quickly!"

"Dai, it's no use," Belle said dejectedly, "Your Master told me there is an enchantment on the oshiro so that those who are looking for it will never find it."

Dai gave her an odd look. "How think onii found way back, when Master injured saving Beru-san?" he demanded.

Then Belle remembered. She and the Beast had both been long out of sight of the oshiro when he had rescued her from the gaijin-haters in the clearing, yet the onii servants had gone back and forth several times to bring their Master and his captive home. "You mean…?"

"Onii exempt—is right word? exempt?—from oshiro spell. I can lead you back, easy." Dai bowed low.

Belle nearly collapsed from relief. "Well, thank God for that." She turned to the others. "I have to go back to the oshiro and warn the Beast of Getsuru's plans. You are all welcome to come as well. I understand if you want to stay." She said this for both her father and Koru especially, who had neither of them had pleasant experiences with the Beast and his castle.

"Ma chèrie, I won't lose you again, no matter what," Maurice said, coming to take her arm.

She gave him a brief hug. "Thank you, Papa."

Koru also came to stand by them, his round face stoic. "Rather not wait here for execution," was all he said.

They all looked at the bookseller. "Oh, very well," he grumbled, "Master Koru's right, I suppose, the alternative of going to a haunted castle would be much worse. Especially since I would have to concoct some plausible-sounding yet entirely untruthful explanation for your disappearance. Let's go."

"Come then." Dai led them quietly out of the room, past the unconscious jailer, and into the late twilight of the Dutch quarter.

The small onii took the group to yet another secret exit from the Dutch quarter, this one much more cleverly concealed: a rock tunnel that ran from the docks, under the quarter itself, and into an abandoned building in the Nagasaki pleasure district.

"Dai," Belle whispered once they were all out of the tunnel and taking a few seconds' rest, "How did you know that that the tunnel was there?"

"Shi-shi!" Dai hushed her. He was already peering out into the street to make certain that there was no one about. "Must be careful that no one sees," he said, beckoning. He did not answer Belle's question, and she had no opportunity afterwards to pose it again.

The rest of the journey through Nagasaki was harrowing, for they would have no explanation for three foreigners, some of whom were already charged with illegally leaving the Dutch quarter, sneaking about the streets at night. Too many times to count they were nearly caught, but almost miraculously they managed to slide by various members of the unsuspecting populace of Nagasaki. At last they reached the safety of the forest and were able to rest a few moments more, but Belle's urgency drove them on towards their goal. The sun was just peeking over the horizon when the trees parted and the familiar stone bulk of the Beast's domain towered over them.

Belle sighed with relief. There was no sign of Getsuru, or any other unusual intrusion. The oshiro looked just as it always did. Heart leaping at seeing the Beast again, she began to run towards the gates.

"Belle…wait! Stop!" she heard her father cry out, but she barely noticed. She reached the gate and it creaked open to admit her. Belle ducked under it in her eagerness, and then turned back to wait for the others. What she saw at the edge of the trees made her blood run cold.

Her father, Koru, Dai, and the bookseller were surrounded by a large party of at least fifty weapon-toting Nipponese. At their head, casually aiming his enormous, six-foot bow at her heart, was a figure magnificently arrayed in samurai armor.

"Stay where you are," the samurai ordered, and Belle recognized the voice with a tremor of sick horror. The figure stalked slowly towards her, keeping the bow taught and ready to fire, followed by the rest of the men. Maurice, the bookseller, Koru, and Dai were dragged along as well. When every last one of the group had all passed under the wide-open gate, the man in the samurai costume waved. Belle's small party of supporters were pushed towards her, and then all five were surrounded by bristling weapons.

"Getsuru," Belle spat at their leader, who brandished a shining katana sword. "How on earth did you find this place?"

"You females really are the most brainless creatures," Getsuru replied with an air of amused calm, "Although the maternal protective instinct is quite something to applaud. We followed you here, of course. I knew you and the monster had to have some sort of connection; did you think I would have let you slip away so easily if not to allow you to lead my little hunting party to our quarry?"

Belle's vision went dark at this, though with shock, terror, rage, or self-loathing she could not have said. She fought to keep erect, but her knees wobbled dangerously. She locked them in place, still straining for control. At last, she whispered through clenched teeth, "I will not forget this, Getsuru."

"Of course you will, girl. That's the beauty of it. Once I have retrieved the stolen sword, the spell the creature has laid upon you will be broken and you will understand at last that I have done the right thing all along. Now, I have business to attend to." He motioned again, and ten of the men of his own party separated to drag Belle and the others of her rescue band towards the gatehouse. Belle strained mightily to think of some parting remark that might put a dent in Getsuru's smug self-confidence, but she was so choked by her own emotions that she had to settle for a fiery glare that could have melted marble. Then she and her companions were flung inside the stone gatehouse.

Getsuru appeared in the doorway, his outline that of an inhuman creature in his decorated samurai armor and mask against the flame-colored rising sun. "Here, Beru-san. A gift. It has served its purpose for now. Keep it safe for me until I return triumphant, won't you?" He slid something silver-blue across the floor. Belle picked it up dully and saw that it was the daito knife the Beast had given her, the one that was Nightingale's pair. In a prison of metal and stone, as the gatehouse was, it was completely useless for escape. Its deadly image blurred before her as her eyes welled with tears of despair.

The gatehouse door slammed, locking them all in complete darkness. They were prisoners once again.

Author's note: Anyone want to kill Getsuru with that knife right about now? Yeah, me too. The most irritating thing about him at this point is he actually believes he's doing the right ("honorable", in his mind) thing, though of course he's enjoying it waaaay too much for his own good. Language note pointed out to me by an astute reader: "sama", when applied at the end of a proper name, means "lord" or "lady".