Alya was the first to notice the silver ring on Adrien's finger. She did not remember the details of the story behind the ring, but for some reason she felt uneasy when she saw it. It was familiar, and strange.
Adrien noticed her gaze. They were eating breakfast, and the beast had not come as was her practice to eat the first meal of the day in her chambers. And so Alya decided to openly ask here in the privacy of the dining hall -
"Adrien, where did you get that?"
"What?" asked Adrien nonchalantly. He knew this was Felix's ring. It was the ring with the dark powers that Felix had possessed. The anchor to his miraculous.
But did Alya know that?
"That ring," said Alya. "It's familiar."
"I found it," he said. "In my room. I thought maybe it was a gift to be worn," he added, not entirely lying. He had wondered if it was fate that he should wear the ring of the traitor as he allied himself to the fate of Marionette.
"I…I don't like it," said Alya. "Please take it off."
"It's just a ring," piped up Nino, who had taken a special shine to Adrien.
Alya looked at Nino, then at Adrien, and seemed to bite her tongue. "Fine," she said, her painted mouth in a tight line. "Wear it. But if she doesn't like it and finally shows her true colors, then don't blame me."
"True colors?" asked Adrien.
"You don't honestly think she is always this kind, do you?" demanded Alya. "She's a monster, Adrien. She has done horrible things."
"What things?" asked Adrien, eyes narrowing. His heart seemed to swell with passion, and he had the sudden observation that he was ready to defend the beast without knowing why her servants feared her so.
"Adrien," said Nino. "There were many more servants. Many more. But now there are only three. The others have slowly disappeared. Every time they were at death's door, she took them. And we have not seen them since."
"They were innocent people," said Alya. "They only served her, and were helpless like us."
"And now they are gone," said Nino. "We searched for them. We called for them. Now it's just us three."
Silence reigned in the hall, and Adrien said softly, "I know that you are hurt. I know that you have questions."
They stared at him. This was not a response they had waited for.
"But you have to understand," said Adrien. "If I save her, then I save you too. Maybe even all of your friends. If to you she is not worth saving, then are your own lives not worth it? Let me help. Show me to her chambers next time she is away, and we will search for your friends and for the truth."
Nino's mouth fell open. "You mean, snoop through her things?!"
"She is hiding something from me," said Adrien, green eyes determined. "And I need all the information I can find in order to help."
Alya was silent. Nino stared and finally said, "I…I don't know…"
"Don't you want to be free of the curse?" demanded Adrien.
"Yes," said Alya softly, eyes piercing Adrien. "But at what cost?"
"Let's see what it will cost," said Adrien. "We know nothing about this curse - let's find out more!"
Alya looked at Nino, who still was unsure. She looked back at Adrien.
"We will help you," she said. "But you will explain it when she finds you knee deep in her secrets."
"Thank you," said Adrien. "You won't regret it, I promise."
"Don't promise me anything until I have my freedom," she said sharply. "You haven't even started climbing the stairs yet."
—
They lay in wait, hoping the beast would leave soon. A few hours after breakfast, the door to the large chamber swung open, and the beast silently walked down the hallway and out of sight. Alya rung a bell from the kitchen when the shadowy figure had disappeared from sight of the castle doors, and Adrien and Nino walked up to the giant, oaken doors of the beasts' private chambers.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Nino, peering at Adrien in the dim light. "You could always go back."
"No," said Adrien. "I am past the point of no return."
This is for you, Princess, he thought, as he heaved and pushed the doors open.
The sight that met them was strange. The doors opened to a dimly lit room. The windows were darkened, not with curtains but rather with whole shelves and wardrobes pushed in front of them, as if she had wanted to block out the light completely. The floor was dusty with large paw prints marking the steps of the beast. Her main paths seemed to go from the large, unmade bed in the corner, to a huge, locked chest over to the right, and then to a pedestal in the center of the room.
The pedestal called their attention first. On it sat a rose, suspended in the air and protected by a glass shield. Adrien stared at it's beauty, and noticed the dead petals below it.
"I wonder what this is," he said softly. He pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing on it.
"A flower," stated Nino.
"No," scoffed Adrien sarcastically, "It's a spoon. I know it's a flower! I meant I wonder why it's floating in the air, and why it's so important."
"It's obviously magic of some kind," said Nino. "But why would she have it so protected like that?"
"What do you mean?" asked Adrien.
"She has it as far away from the bed as possible," said Nino. "And from this chest."
Adrien jotted down something more on the paper.
"What are you doing?" asked Nino.
"I am writing down what we find," said Adrien. "We might not get another chance to come up here, and so we need to be able to remember clearly what we found. Writing it down is like drawing a picture of the room."
"Well, let's see what else we have," said Nino, already bored of the explanation that Adrien had given. He went over to the chest and began toying with the lock.
"Hey," he said as it clicked. "It wasn't locked all the way. I can open it quite easily."
Adrien turned just as Nino opened the chest. The lid rose with a spring mechanism, making it easy to open, and Nino froze with a gasp.
Adrien ran over. "What is it?" he demanded.
Sitting inside the chest, guarded with utmost care, were vases, candelabras, plates, spoons, brushes, a mirror, and even a footstool.
"What is this stuff?" asked Adrien, then suddenly gasped, realizing it.
"It's them," whispered Nino. "There's Julika. And there's Rose. And Nathanael. It's all of them." He looked up at Adrien, eyes wide and heartbroken. "She did take them."
"But why?" asked Adrien thoughtfully. "There must be a reason."
He walked over to her bed. It was unmade, but not unclean.
"Does Alya do the washing?" he asked.
"Sometimes," said Nino, voice soft and empty. He was still staring at his friends' lifeless remains.
He's no help anymore, thought Adrien and began rummaging through a drawer next to the bed.
There was little else to find. Adrien searched through everything, hope slowly falling and dwindling down. He knew that their time was limited, and that at midday after patrolling the beast knew to return to her castle.
"What else could she be hiding?!" he muttered under his breath, and looked under the bed.
There lay a little box, no bigger than his hand, with red roses and a heart shaped lock.
"There you are!" He gasped, and seized it in his palm. Nino said nothing from where he sat, gazing at his friends, but Adrien paid no heed to him as he took the box firmly in his hands and pressing the small metal heart, opened the box.
After reviewing the contents, he said, "I found it. We can go."
"I…I can't…" came Nino's voice with a soft sob. "I can't. Not yet."
Adrien turned to his friend. Nino was staring at faces he hadn't seen in years, of friends that wouldn't speak again. But they needed to leave now.
"I'm sorry," whispered Adrien. He knew loss in his own life. And he also didn't want the beast to find them here, and shut them out of her life altogether.
"Nino, we have to leave," said Adrien, gently touching the "arm" of his friend.
"Adrien, is this my destiny?" asked Nino, tears falling to the floor.
"No," said Adrien quickly. "I found what I was looking for, and now I only need to finish the journal to see what I need to do to stop the curse."
"What if it doesn't work?" asked Nino. "What will happen to us?"
"Then I will die with you here in this castle," said Adrien. "But we'll be able to say we tried."
Nino stared at Adrien, suddenly aware of Adrien's selflessness and inner strength. The silent understanding between them needed no words, but Nino, knowing his days were numbered, decided to break it. "Thank you," he said, face hopeful for a change. "Thank you, Adrien."
"WHAT IS THIS?!"
Adrien's hand shoved the box into his pocket before he even whirled to face the beast. The suddenness of her return shocked him, and his heart dropped to his toes as he faced her furious face. He might have broken her trust.
Her fangs gleamed in the low light as she roared again, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!"
"I needed more answers," said Adrien bravely and honestly. "I'm sorry – I should have asked, but I am running out of time-"
"GET OUT!" she screamed. "GET AWAY FROM THEM!"
"What?" asked Adrien, but it was too late. With terrible strength she seized him and threw him and Nino across the room, not even grunting at the effort. Adrien's fall was broken by the wardrobe in front of the window, and Nino rolled harmlessly past him, screaming in terror.
The beast anxiously looked over every object in the chest, muttering to herself. Adrien's back ached from the handles on the wardrobe doors, and he sat up slowly, hissing at the pain. She heard him and whirled, eyes furious.
"YOU COULD HAVE SCRATCHED THEM!" she yelled. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
"I was tying to discover the truth about you!" he yelled back, pain making him angry.
"I have nothing to explain!" she snapped. "I've already told you everything!"
"Then explain the rose!" He shouted. "What is it? Why is it here? And why are you afraid of it?!"
That was a mistake. Instantly she straightened and hissed "The rose!"
She ran to it, kicking Nino out of her way. Adrien's green eyes grew wide as she circled it frantically. "No," she whispered, brokenly. "There's only four left…there was eight this morning…"
Adrien stared, unsure of why she was so alarmed.
"YOU'VE KILLED US ALL!" She screamed, facing him. Her eyes were literally glowing iridescent blue as she screamed, "GET OUT! GET OOOUUUUT!"
And with that Adrien scrambled to his feet and tore out of the room.
Adrien barely stopped at his room to grab the journal and his jacket. Alya followed him on the silver tea-time cart, tearfully apologizing for not being able to warn them.
"Please don't go," she pleaded. "She came back through the dungeon – I didn't see her – "
"I can't stay," said Adrien. "She's going to kill me with her rage. I need to go and I'll come back when I have all the pieces to this puzzle." He turned, tears falling from his warm green eyes. "Goodbye!"
"Adrien," Alya softly cried after him as he slammed the castle door.
The beast sat, weeping in the dark room.
She hated herself.
Adrien hadn't meant anything. He was pure, gentle, innocent, and kind. He would never harm her.
But he's careless, said an inner voice. Everything that I love could have been jeopardized in one instant. And now my time grows even nearer.
A sudden light near her startled her. She turned to see Nino, sitting in the shadows. He had lit the candle parts of his body, and the gentle light was somehow comforting.
He can see and hear my tears, she thought, suddenly, and turned away again.
"Please," said Nino, pleading. "Please don't let him leave."
"What do you care?" asked the beast harshly. "You only want him back because he is your friend."
Nino hesitated. "True," he said slowly, voice trembling with fear. "And he's my friend because he really cares. You should have seen him," he added, taking a step nearer, his love for Adrien making him stronger. "He said it right before you came. He said that even if we don't find a cure for the curse, he told me that he would then die here with us. He isn't looking to help you to find Marionette – he wants to help you because you are Marionette."
She stared at him. How did he see right through me?
Nino sighed. "We didn't know what you were doing with the others. Now I see that you were protecting them." He looked away. "That's why we treated you differently. We thought you…well…we didn't know."
She looked away too. So that was it.
A distant howl caught her ear. She looked up, ears perked in the darkness.
"What is it?" asked Nino, unable to hear the distant sound.
The howl sounded again, and was joined by others.
"Adrien," said the beast, and with a swirl of her cloak she turned and loped away.
"Stay back!" screamed Adrien, running through the snowy drifts. His cheeks were red from the bitter cold, but he didn't even feel the frostbite in his fingers as he ran for his life through the dark underbrush. The wolves were ruthless, and they wanted him.
Adrien had already lost his way before they'd even begun the hunt. But the wiser wolves ducked past the trees and bushes to cut him off from any path, and soon they were forming a circle around him.
His hand clutched the journal in his breast pocket. It can't end like this! He thought. Not when I am so close to saving her!
Suddenly a dark shape blocked his way. He gasped and slid to a stop. He recognized her even in the moonlight, but her gentle "Get behind me" was a tone he'd never heard from her.
"You…you're here," he panted, terror and the cold making his voice weak.
The beast held his gaze, for a moment, her eyes gentle and meek, and completely different from in the chamber. "Yes," was all she said.
She stepped in front of him, and growled at the leader of the pack. The silver timber wolf eyed her and kept his distance, but then barked to the other wolves. They all pounced at once, and their numbers challenged her size.
"Marionette!" cried Adrien as she was swarmed by the wolves. She slammed her body forward, crushing one wolf into the snow and swiped with her giant paws, mauling two more. With a roar that shook the trees, she spun and flung the other wolves biting at her legs. Another wolf came from behind and wounded her back through her cloak. She roared, and spun around to maul him with her giant paws.
Adrien stared in quiet fear and admiration as she took them on alone. Suddenly the leader sprung and tore at her neck and shoulder. She gave a great cry of pain, then tore the leader away from her shoulder and threw him against a tree. The leader did not rise again from that spot, and unnerved and now leaderless, the remaining wolves ran into the forest to regroup.
All of this happened in a matter of minutes. Adrien stood there, frozen, green eyes wide, face pale from the fright, and staring at all the blood in the snow.
"Adrien…" moaned the beast, slowly drawing herself up. "We must hurry back…I am injured, and you cannot carry me…" she slumped against a tree, breathing in great gasps.
"Let me see your wounds," said Adrien, and in the blustering storm he quickly took her cloak and applied pressure to the great wound on her back and on her neck. She cringed when he touched it, but she allowed him to bind them and then walk her home. As they plodded through the snow, he stroked her fury neck and said "Thank you, M'lady."
She looked up at him, eyes gazing first at the journal in his jacket, and then at his face. "No," she said, voice weak and sad. "Thank you."
