A/N: Hello, readers! School is keeping me busy but it has not stopped my sinful hand and so I have the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews, they encourage me like always!
When her eyes fluttered open, everything was blurry. She could make out a mop of brown hair and some bright lights. She blinked again, and everything started coming into focus - the hair belonged to a woman who gaped wide-eyed at her. The eight-year-old girl tried to roll her head over to get a better idea of where she was, but twisting her neck hurt. Something felt tight around her forehead, too. She reached a tiny arm up to feel whatever it was. It made her wince, but she felt some kind of gauze. Her fingers also brushed against some of her hair, which no longer surpassed her shoulders.
"You're awake," the woman sighed, relieved. "Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness."
"What..."
Flames burst in her vision and it all came back to her then. The smell of smoke. The fire racing across her home. The screaming.
A loud cry erupted from her as fat tears rolled down her cheeks and she gave into sobbing. She cried and cried and didn't stop wailing even when her throat started feeling sore and her tears had only left a dry, sticky smear on her face. All the while, the woman pulled the child into her arms and rubbed her back sympathetically.
She later learned the woman's name was Cass and nodded when asked if she would like a fresh batch of sweet rolls.
...
GoGo shuddered heavily as she curled up in the corner, hood draped over her head. She didn't care if those... things could see her or not. She would not cry, and she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Those monsters hadn't even let her say good-bye to Aunt Cass. Now she never would.
From the shadows once again she heard a voice, but this one was more high pitched and cheerful. "Ooh, the prince is coming!"
"Honey, would you just let me - " She recognized this as the first voice.
She heard squeaking coming from the dungeon entrance. Desolate as she was, she couldn't help but peek from under her hood in curiosity. So this castle had a prince. Was he a real prince, or was that just some nickname? Were these... things his servants? Perhaps he was a sorcerer of some sorts. That would explain the walking knives. But surely he couldn't be a pleasant prince with such horrid servants.
As the squeaking grew louder, she braced herself for the worst. The figure emerged from the door, then stopped. It kept squeaking. She heard groans. Confused, GoGo pulled her hood off entirely and poked her head out as far as she could between the bars. Squeezed in the doorway was some large white entity with two black circles on the head and a line connecting them. The squeaking continued with few lapses in between to the point where they were nearly headache-inducing.
Was that thing stuck? GoGo realized. And what was it, anyway?
The creature stopped squeaking at last, but suddenly she heard air deflating and stared dumbfounded as its skin started to shrink and sag. When at last it could fit through the doorway, the air blew up and inflated it again. It waddled closer to the cell, where it waved.
"Hello. I am Baymax."
"Bro!" an adolescent voice cried.
A little clinking sound soon followed. GoGo looked in every direction in the room until her eyes landed on the floor, where a tiny chipped cup rested. A cup wearing a face. She stifled a gasp.
"Brother, for the last time, that nickname is never going to catch on."
What seemed to be eyelids lowered on the thing's face so it seemed to have a single line on its face. It looked as if it were squinting - or was it glaring? It soon turned back to GoGo, whose jaw had gone slack.
"Well... I'm Prince Tadashi. And this is my brother Hiro."
She was dreaming. She was most definitely dreaming.
The fat white creature cocked its head to the side. "And you are...?"
"The lady earlier called her GoGo," the cup explained. "But she hasn't really said anything since the lady left."
The cup had called that creature his brother. Did that make the cup a prince, too? Prince of what? Queen Abigail ruled the kingdom! Last she'd ever heard, the Queen had no children. There was something wrong with this place. Horribly, horribly wrong. She kept watching as the creature took a rusty set of keys from a walking broom (a walking broom!) and unlocked the cell with a click! Immediately GoGo thought about bolting, but remembered her promise. Aunt Cass could still be in that wardrobe for all she knew, and what would happen to her if she ran away?
"Well," he announced, awkwardly poking his chubby index fingers together. They made squeaking noises as they did so, and it drove GoGo up the wall. "I suppose you'd like to be taken to your room now?" He offered his hand to her.
GoGo wanted to slap it away, tell him she would rather die in this dank, filthy cell than accept anything from monsters like him. She probably would have if not for Aunt Cass trapped in the wardrobe. As it was, she clutched her cloak and rose to her feet, striding past him with her nose in the air. She would go to her room but not accept an ounce of help from that creature. She had that much of her dignity left.
She couldn't quite tell what the creature was thinking, blank face and all, but he did not speak another word as he led her out of the dungeon and up the massive, swirling stairs. Only squeaks from his skin filled the silence. Despite her situation, GoGo thought how inconvenient it must be to ascend them every day and wondered if there was a way to make stairs move, or even just carry people between stories. If she were home, she could make a note of this and write out the possibilities in detail. She would share her ideas with Aunt Cass, who would gladly go out and buy materials and leave her be to labor on this project, coming in occasionally to drop off drinks or bread.
No. She wouldn't - couldn't - think of that now.
At last, the creature stopped at a grand white door with intricate gold designs dancing across the border. Upon pulling it open, GoGo's jaw drop. She couldn't help it - the room had to outsize her own cottage! A spotless crimson carpet that would have overjoyed Aunt Cass. A full size bed with silky golden sheets and gauze curtains hanging overhead. Dressers and wardrobes massive enough to fit a family. Beyond that, a glass window towering above them with full view of the castle garden. (The garden, of course, was barren.)
"It's one of the smaller rooms, really. But the whole castle can be yours to explore. Everything except the west wing - I'd, er, really appreciate it if you didn't go there."
In her dirt-caked cloak, GoGo felt out of place facing such luxury. There was something about its tidiness as well, despite being unoccupied. No clutter of notebooks or crumpled papers in the corners. No bolts and hammers and blueprints strewn across the floor. No tossed sheets and pillows that her aunt had nagged her to clean a thousand times. Her heart ached for her humble cottage and the enticing smell of baking bread more than ever.
"Er... You can join us for dinner later if you'd like," the creature said. "Please enjoy your stay here."
GoGo's face flamed. Enjoy her stay? Enjoy her stay? Her teeth clamped down her her lip and her fists clenched. This monster had taken her aunt and imprisoned her forever, and he wanted to tell her to enjoy her stay. When she didn't dignify him with a response, he merely shut the door and left, squeaking all the way.
Alone at last, GoGo shoved the end table out of her way, knocking it into the carpet with a clatter. She then kicked off her shoes and threw herself onto the bed, grabbing pillows and hurling them at the wall in a rage. She shrieked and screamed as she tore down the curtains before clutching her head and letting the sobs erupt from her chest. Her entire vision blurred, and her anguished cries drowned out any clinking sounds she may have heard.
Clink. Clink. Clink. "Oh, dear, don't cry!" This voice was feminine.
Oh, God, what else was alive in this room? Regardless, she did not lift her head. They didn't deserve it.
"You were so brave. I'm sure your aunt would be proud!"
That wasn't the point, now was it?
"I admit Wasabi may have been a bit... aggressive. But I assure you he's quite gentle most of the time! In fact, most of those words weren't even his!"
"So you're just going to sell me out like that, are you?" This was the voice who had coerced her into trading places with her aunt. Much as she dreaded it, her curiosity piqued. What was he?
"Aww, your dramatic re-enaction was so wicked!" Another voice, this one raspy.
"It's re-enactment, Fred."
"Re-enaction is German for acting!"
"it's really... not," said the feminine voice.
"Don't test me and my hot flames of fire, friend!"
Out of the corner of her eye, GoGo saw a light flicker. The room warmed just the tiniest bit, too. Just slightly, she raised her head and found three objects before her - a teapot, a clock, and a candleholder.
Gleefully, the teapot hopped over. "Pleased to meet you, dear! My name is Honey Lemon. The clock over there is Wasabi, and the candles - "
"Fred at your service, m'lady," the candleholder said, bowing deeply. Disgust rippled throughout GoGo and she had an unsettling feeling she disliked him already. She scrambled back, keeping an eye on the flames.
The teapot's eyes softened. "Oh, please don't be frightened, we promise not to hurt you."
The clock, too, shifted uncomfortably. "The prince isn't really bad, you know."
When she didn't respond, the three objects exchanged nervous glances.
"Well, I suppose we ought to help get dinner ready," the teapot sighed. "Come on, Fred."
The candleholder hopped out the door behind the teapot, leaving only the clock, who wrung the blocks GoGo assumed were his hands. "Well... you ought to get dressed for dinner. You can't wear that filthy robe all day, and black I'd say is quite a depressing color."
Her body went immobile. What were her options? Refuse to speak? Starve? The wardrobe chose that moment to swing its doors open, and GoGo saw that she had a face as well.
"Well! I do think you'd look quite nice in gold, really brings out those lovely auburn eyes of yours," the wardrobe declared. "But purple is really daring and matches you more, I feel."
...
Prince Tadashi paced back and forth in front of the fireplace anxiously. He'd never been so conscious of his squeaking; living with just his brother and the other servants made it easy to forget, but it'd been so long since he'd entertained a guest he hadn't considered it. Then again, who else knew about the curse besides the Queen?
"You could at least wear a suit or something!" his brother said, hopping impatiently on the dinner table.
"I don't know, Hiro. Are you sure this is right?"
"Oh, but your highness!" Honey Lemon gasped. "Haven't you considered she might be the very girl to break the spell?"
"I have!" the Prince protested. "But after all that's happened, how is she supposed to... you know? I mean, we threw her in a prison cell and sent her aunt away - "
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Hiro huffed. "Her aunt deliberately intruded into the west wing and tried to steal the rose!"
"It's not like the girl did it, though." Tadashi stopped pacing. "She's innocent. And how could the aunt really know what the rose was, anyway?"
"T-that doesn't make stealing any less wrong," the cup argued, eyeing Honey Lemon, who pursed her lips into a tight frown.
"Just give it a chance, will you, your highness?"
Tadashi scratched the back of his head - an odd habit since he had no nails and hadn't felt an itch in about a decade. "But even so... how could she ever love me? She's..." For a rare instance, he thanked the enchantress that he couldn't blush in this form. "She's beautiful, and I'm..."
"A stud," Fred finished, jabbing at the Prince's arm from the shelf above the fireplace. "I mean, wow, look at you! The ladies love that... uh... bald thing these days."
"You do have a very gentle soul," Honey Lemon encouraged.
"Yeah, women just go nuts over that prissy mushy boy thing," Hiro added, inspired. "So stand up straighter!"
Tadashi obeyed. A flood of commands came in.
"Stop fidgeting!"
"Don't squeak!"
"Take small bites!"
"Smile!"
Tadashi squinted his eyes at Fred, who flashed a floppy grin. They soon heard the door creak, and his heart leapt as he turned his attention to his guest. Instead of a human girl, however, Wasabi hopped out hesitantly. The center of his face now bore a prominent dent.
"So... uh, funny story," he stammered. "S-she's... not coming."
"What?!" screeched everyone in the dining hall, save the Prince.
The objects that gathered at their guests' door may as well have been a mob despite Wasabi's desperate warnings.
"That girl is vicious!" he insisted to his fellow servants. "Please, let's just switch her with someone else - "
"This is the first time in a decade anyone has wandered into this castle!" Hiro snapped. "We are not risking this just being some idiot is being difficult!"
The Prince trailed somewhat reluctantly along. When he politely knocked on the door, no one responded.
"Hello?" he asked. "I-I was wondering if you were hungry..."
BANG! Everyone jumped back.
"See, I told you!" Wasabi hissed.
"Darling, everything's been prepared already - " one of the frying pans said.
"Just come down to eat!" yelled a broomstick.
Soon everyone was yammering at once, Hiro especially.
"Stop!" Tadashi ordered. When the servants quieted, he took a deep breath and spoke to the young lady again. "Um... Listen, I understand if you don't want to come out. I'm sorry for everything's that happened today. I really am." Still, the room was silent, she had to still be there. Light leaked out from the crack under the door. "We'll have the food put away if you're still hungry later."
The servants' jaws dropped in disbelief as their Prince sulked and dragged his feet away.
"What about you?" Hiro called after his brother.
"I'm not so hungry either."
...
GoGo had not budged from the bed since she first threw herself into it. Perhaps, she thought, this was all a horrible dream and if she fell back asleep, she'd wake up from it soon. As it was, her stomach rumbled and she could practically hear it echo. She clutched it, as if that would somehow make it stop.
She rolled over. How long had it been since she'd refused their invitation? The creature said he'd leave the food out. And surely nobody was still up at this hour. It wouldn't hurt to sneak out and grab a bite, she supposed. She could even sneak the rest of the food back.
Slipping into her shoes, she pushed the door open and tried to recall what the dining room looked like. They'd definitely passed it on the way to her room. She glided down the stairs and kept her eye out on every opening until at last, at last, she spotted a candlelit hall! Eagerly she dashed over and gasped as she laid her eyes on the feast. Juicy steaks, fluffy mashed potatoes, fresh buns, platters of fish, tall bottles of wine, and countless others. Her mouth watered, and as she reached for one of the sliced apples, the teapot jumped.
"Oh, you're here!"
No! No, no, no, no! Outraged, GoGo swiveled on her heels and made a break for the exit before several other items (dishes, pans, and a clock) barred her from leaving.
"Don't leave just yet!" one of the plates begged.
"We have to speak with you!" cried a voice from the table. She turned back and spotted a chipped cup by the teapot. The Prince's brother, if she recalled correctly. "Please just hear us out."
GoGo swallowed. Of course. She was in the dining hall again, and the knives might come back.
"I'm sorry for how we treated you earlier," the cup continued. "Not just when you were in your room, but in the cell."
"I apologize, too," the teapot added. "I know you miss your aunt dearly."
GoGo's chest ached more than ever, but she felt just a bit of her fury ebbing away.
"I was far too harsh on you," the clock mumbled, eyes ashamedly glued to the floor.
Like a ripple, the other objects began murmuring their apologies as well, and some asked if there was anything they could do for her. GoGo brought her palm to her forehead, which felt drained and light.
"I'm a little hungry," she croaked.
"She talks!" the candleholder cheered.
"Quick, call for the Prince - " the teapot cried.
"No!" she burst. "I... I would rather eat by myself. If I can."
Murmurs and confused glances. When her stomach rumbled once again and the girl felt as if she would give out right then and there, the candleholder hopped onto the table and thrust his arms at the steaks.
"Well, by all means," he announced, "be our guest."