CHAPTER 7:

It was not always easy to be an all-powerful, immortal Enchantress. Certainly not when one was naturally so hideous in appearance. If her unbearable looks had been only the result of age, she could have prevented them, but like a toad or centipede she was never created to have a phase of cute, sweet looks — she was made damaged, deformed and ugly. And she suffered greatly from having the power to transform anything but herself.

An exception came once a year, at the time when her guardian planet fell into some peculiar alignment for just a few precious hours. Then, through no effort of her own, she became beautiful — more beautiful than any creature under heaven. Perhaps it was some greater power's attempt to amend for the unspeakable error that had been laid in her natural looks, by allowing this brief reprieve. Perhaps it was some fiend seeking to torture her by allowing her to know only this little taste of beauty in a life otherwise dictated by ugliness. Whatever it was, she loved to feel beautiful. Even in her ugliness, she adopted the manners of a vain and beautiful person. And attractive women usually had wealthy, attractive husbands.

As fairies often got on poorly with other fairies, it was very typical for them to take humans for their spouses. They could bestow these mortal mates with all the favors they could provide, and elevate them to a state of perfect contentment. Unless, as was the Enchantress's case, one were heinously ugly. Men usually wished to acquire wealth and fame as a means to attract beautiful spouses — to take the Enchantress for a wife, one had to accept a revolting spouse in return for her ability to provide luxury and long life. It was a rare find; and once she seized upon her mate, she was very jealous, for she knew that there was constant competition all around her.

She had developed a system that worked tolerably for her: she appeared to selected young men on the lone day when she was beautiful, and either married them immediately or secured their unbreakable oath to marry. The difficulty, she found, was in keeping their interest once she returned to her natural form. It left her resorting to ceaseless love spells, or threats of cruelty, or actual cruelty. Whatever worked best for her subjected mate, she did. This would go on for a hundred years or so; however long her health and wellness spells could prolong their life before the reaper took them. Yet this effort tired her; and from her side, it felt as if she was the one doing all the work, while her spouse provided nothing to the relationship.

The young Prince had proffered an opportunity for her to experiment. She had only come to his castle intending to repeat her usual system — that was, to secure the dumb young boy's unbreakable oath to marry her once he was of age, by arriving on the day when she was beautiful. However, in her eagerness, she had arrived too soon at the castle, and was obliged to wait before the planets aligned for her transformation. The Prince and his servants saw her loitering about, and demanded to know what her purpose was. It was not the moment to reveal her true business — thus she improvised a story about wishing to have shelter from the bitter cold. The rose, which she had intended to give as a token of the engagement he would agree to, became an impromptu currency.

The boy refused her offer and insulted her for her revolting looks.

Yet when her transformation took place — right in front of the the young Prince — she saw how his tune changed almost instantly, and he began to apologize for how cruelly he had spoken before. It made her think… and she realized that the boy's personality might be malleable at such a tender age.

So she designed a "lesson" meant to bring him to a point where he could happily accept an unattractive spouse. She transformed him into a hideous Beast, and isolated him with his mutated servants in his lonely castle. She told him that his only hope of breaking the curse was to learn to love, and learn not to judge by appearances. She convinced him there was something wrong with his feelings, and that he had to twist them to meet her specifications. Thus, the boy put himself through a grueling ten-year mission to fulfill these terms — and indeed, per the rules of magic, she was obliged to keep her word and let him break the spell if he really could achieve his goals. But she had known he would never succeed.

Her expectation had been to return to find a desperate, humiliated, humbled and love-sick young man of twenty-one who would sell his soul much less anything other body part for a chance to be her husband. He would be needy and desperate for a relationship of any stripe. (And maybe, just maybe, he would be able to know a bit of her unhappiness at a life of ugliness.) Even if this did not come to pass, it at least guaranteed to her that no other women would snatch him up while waiting that he came of marriageable age.

But somehow there had been a woman, named Belle.

While the girl apparently did not love the Beast enough to end his curse, he certainly had fallen in love with her. Even when she wasn't around, the Prince's mind was always upon her. His knowledge that he might be able to do better, knowledge that there might be hope — that had dashed the Enchantress's dreams.

Still, she was no worse off than she usually found herself. She simply had to deal, yet again, with a reluctant husband. She wiped his memory and prepared to start from scratch with him, so that she would reveal herself for the first time as a gorgeous beauty, whom he would surely be glad to wed.

Yet it appeared Belle's rejection hadn't come from pure apathy. The Prince had gone to her for help. She had come, and with a bodyguard in tow.

An insanely handsome bodyguard.

The Enchantress first glimpsed him when he tried to attack her in the hallway. With his chiseled features, long eyelashes, perfect teeth, and amazing muscles, he looked even more stunning than the Prince (who, as it happened, was not destined to reach his apex for a couple more years.) Her heart stung, enchanted by a new love. Ah, but what about the Prince? She still had her plans for him; and in a few short years he would be more handsome than Gaston, which certainly made it worth the wait… right?

When the moment came, the Enchantress was busily decking out the wedding bed for the impending honeymoon. The castle's West Wing was filled with roses and white silk draperies. Her invisible djinn smoothed the bedclothes and laid out toiletries. The wedding would be held on the balcony, overlooking the splendid view of the moat and forest; but she was very very anxious to return here when all was complete.

As she worked, a sudden faintness struck. She had known the feeling approximately once a year every year for millennia. Her transformation was starting.

She felt it. Her bones began to crack and rearrange themselves into taller, stronger, symmetrical forms. She felt new teeth grow — her thin hair became full and vibrant — her skin tightened and healed itself.

And there she was. She had become the beautiful Enchantress. Just to look upon her locks of golden hair, that cascaded round her narrow waist, melted one's heart. Her skin was a flawless porcelain. Her eyes — two eyes — gazed forth with whites as clear as fresh-fallen snow. Her figure was as slim as could be, yet no bones or veins protruded from the tight flesh. Her face looked kissable, whether she seemed joyous or furious. The features simply beckoned.

It was time. No man would resist her now. She hastened excitedly to the tower, where the Prince was being safely kept.

Now he would surely love her.

When she arrived at the cell, she was surprised to find Belle's bodyguard waiting in front of it. He wore a ripped up, red shirt from which his muscles peeked enticingly. His pomaded hair laid just a little mussed. He sat on the floor, laughing and chatting with the Prince who was locked out of view.

When Gaston saw this unexpected creature enter the tower, his heart skipped a beat. "Wow. You are something to behold!" he blurted unabashedly.

The curious Prince contorted against the barred grating in the door to get a look.

The Enchantress stood more beautiful than Venus in the drab stone chamber. She virtually glowed at Gaston's compliment, which was of a character so rare to her ears.

"If you want to behold me, you'd better get to the back of the line," she smiled flirtatiously, her impeccable teeth flashing, her rosebud mouth beckoning. "I'll behold-ing this one," she said with her usual humor. With a wave of her hand, she unlocked the cell door of the Prince.

Gaston's competitive nature was rearing its head. His alpha status was threatened. This attractive woman before him was arguably — no, certainly — more attractive than Belle. And she was giving her preference to someone else in the room.

Automatically, Gaston slammed the cell door shut in the face of the Prince. The smiling huntsman stepped towards the Enchantress, self-assuredly.

In a rare occurrence, even she took about a half-step back, surprised and perhaps intimidated by him.

"I understand that that one is taken," said Gaston, his sky-blue eyes zooming to and fro across the gorgeous figure before him. "Now, as for me, I have some interested parties — but no commitments, yet. You know, there's not a girl in my village who hasn't come after me?"

The Enchantress's heart fluttered with joy. It had been ages since anyone she'd deemed even halfway worthy seemed to be truly interested in her. And he had just left her such an irresistible double-entendre to work from.

"Still, I like the sensitive type. They tire fast, but I can get one of those up and running in a hurry," she purred. Gaston was stronger and earthier than the high-born aristocrats she usually went for, but she'd had past husbands who were as good looking as him. The Prince was destined to be a little more handsome in a couple years… but this was someone right here, right now, who had some other advantages she'd never seen before.

"You're a strong one," she said, unable to resist touching his bicep. She figured there was little use in resisting temptation — there was always plenty of it to go round. Such bulk! Such muscles! She wondered what it was like to be held in those arms.

Gaston's blood was racing now. "I work out," he said, a tinge of erotic anxiety in his tone.

"You've got a lot to show for it," said the Enchantress.

"Don't I!" answered Gaston. In a single gesture he ripped open what was left of his shirt, revealing his bare chest. He had thick, black hair all over his chest and abdomen. It was mesmerizing.

The Enchantress flushed. "Ohh…" she whimpered. Her own icy little heart was starting to pound with a happy heat. "You're making a pretty appealing offer here; but I have some obligations to this other fellow. I can't leave a job half-finished." She pointed to the Prince's cell.

The Prince, who was more confused than bothered by the happenings around him, overheard the exchange. He knelt and called forth in reply to the Enchantress:

"You go ahead! I really preferred that other one who was here. I mean, I know her hair's not as good as yours, but I thought she was nicer. She seemed… like someone to get to know. You know?"

Gaston let out a laugh of triumph. The Enchantress was miffed.

"Aw, how do you like that!" she snapped irately. "No wonder I always had to use spells on you, you're the type that goes for brains because you don't know what to look for in a body!" She reached through the grating and grabbed at his collar, shocking the young man with painful green energy once again.

"Yeah," smiled Gaston, pleased by his rival's agonized wails. "I could tell there was something off about him, when I learned he was a friend of Belle's. You know that woman almost got me to marry her, but insisted we had to wait six months for the wedding?"

"If you're not looking to wait," said the Enchantress with gleaming eyes, "I've got a proposition for you right now. Picture it: you can be married to the greatest, most powerful being under the firmament. Able to give you every object your heart desires. Able to elevate you. Raise you up. And you'll get a boost in status, as well. You'll also get to keep your youth and health for all your life, while you're at it."

Gaston felt a rush of joy he rarely felt outside of beating an animal to death. "You mean — I would never get old? What about… I assume that we're talking about you?"

"You know it, honey. And I promise I won't look any older than I normally do." Technically true.

Gaston couldn't even remember who Belle was anymore — and it had nothing to do with any spell. "If you're suggesting we get married, why… I don't know why you didn't suggest it sooner!" He threw his arms around the Enchantress and kissed her.

She now knew exactly what it felt like to be held in those massive arms — and she liked it.

"The guests will be arriving soon," she said to Gaston. "They're the sort of beings that don't take well to daylight. I suppose I won't be living in this place here, afterall — but it's a bit late to change the wedding venue."

Gaston was so incredibly happy in this moment that he was actually dumbstruck. He was about to get married to a woman who was beyond his wildest dreams. The Most Beautiful Woman In The World. The Best.

And thus Gaston and the Enchantress went away together, and thus Belle returned to the cell to find her bodyguard gone but the Prince waiting in his cell, from which she freed him.

Once the young strawberry blond was given the ring of invisibility and sent off to safety and a new life, the young female ventured forth in pursuit of Gaston, whose situation she did not know. She presumed the worst had happened to him — that he was in trouble, or that he was being lured into a trap by some wicked agent of the Enchantress. She was unaware that the woman could alter her own appearance once a year, and didn't need any agent.

"Gaston?" she called through the empty halls. "Gaston, are you here?" Belle wandered, troubled by a feeling like she wasn't alone. She hoped it indicated that Gaston was nearby. She called his name again and got nothing.

She remembered that she had the magic mirror with her. She could use it to see where Gaston was at. She pulled up her satchel, still slung over her shoulder, and retrieved the ornate silver slab from within. Gazing into it, she cried:

"Magic mirror, show me Gaston."

The mirror zapped to a verdant life. On its glass was shown Gaston. He was dressed in a new outfit — a suit, similar to the one he'd worn weeks back at her house when he had proposed to her. Yet this was made from much nicer material. Almost supernaturally fine. He looked, undeniably, stunning. The room he stood in was decorated like one might expect for a wedding, with white cloth and garlands of flowers.

Belle looked carefully at the furnishings and layout. Everything in the castle's decoration had been altered since the time she had resided in the place, but perhaps she could identify the location by its arrangement. She fixed her eyes, and then gasped in realization.

It was the West Wing!

Belle raced at once for it. Gaston probably found his way there while looking for another mirror to check his teeth in. She didn't know what his new outfit was about. She hoped it was just his messing around with the Prince's clothes.

She burst into the bedecked bedchamber. It was definitely decorated for a wedding. She was glad it would not be the poor Prince's — he was safe now.

Slowly, she crept in. "Gaston?" she called in a whisper.

She made her way towards the balcony. Through the leaded glass, she saw him — arm in arm with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Soft-featured, sparkling. Lightness and grace in every movement she made. The woman could pick her nose and it would seem stunning.

Who on earth…?

As Belle got nearer, she could see that others were with them. These were far less appealing beings: demons, monsters, trolls. It was horrifying in the midst of so much beauty. There were only a few — you could count them on one hand — but the sight made Belle start. She tried to conceive what was possibly taking place.

Then the color drained from her face as she looked at how they were arranged. She realized: this was a wedding.

The Enchantress must have put a love spell on Gaston and taken him in lieu of the Prince!