"No Blair. Absolutely not I have a test I have to study for." Maka Albarn stomped her foot.
"Pleeeease Maka?" Blair pleaded with kitten eyes. "She's my niece."
Maka frowned. "You have a niece?"
"Actually she's my friend's cousin's best friend's honorary little sister," grinned the cat girl.
"And you have to take care of her overnight?"
"Well her parents and honorary big sister are attending a wedding and so her best friend was gonna take care of her but then got busy and pushed her off to my friend who pushed her to me but now Risa and Arisa want me to fill in a shift tonight so you're the only hope!" Blair cried.
"Sorry, Blair," the Meister shrugged. "Soul's out of town for a weekend and I plan to enjoy the quiet."
The doorbell rang. Maka opened it on a young girl. She had red hair in two braids and wore a brown dress. She looked to be around seven or eight years of age.
"I'm Zoe," she smiled. "Are you Maka?"
Blair laughed awkwardly. "I sort of forgot to tell you. I already said you'd do it."
Well now Maka couldn't say no to the young girl who sat right there. Instead she let Blair go out to work and took care of Zoe. She made her a grilled cheese sandwich and let her watch TV before having her sleep on the couch. She tucked her in and read her the story of Beauty and the Beast which Maka always liked as a child, Disney version or otherwise. As Zoe drifted off to sleep so did Maka. She closed her eyes as slept in the chair next to Zoe, the book laying on her stomach.
...
Maka awoke when the book was roughly pulled off her. Liz Thompson held it up angrily. What was she doing here?
"Seriously? You fell asleep reading again Belle?" Liz rolled her eyes.
"Belle?" Maka frowned. Crap. This had to be one of those vivid dreams she has when she falls asleep out of her bed sometimes.
Patty burst into the room. "Belle! Come on already! Papa is going on a trip and wants to know what you want!"
Great so now Patty and Liz were her sisters? It seemed however, when she got downstairs, that her Papa was still her Papa.
"My beautiful daughters!" Spirit cried as he hugged all three of them at once. "I wish to know what you want from my trip dear Belle."
"I asked for all the expensive jewellery that he could find," sighed Liz dreamily.
"I wanted dresses!" Patty grinned. "Dresses! Dresses! Dresses! Pretty dresses!"
She continued to sing about dresses as Maka and Spirit spoke. Maka had always found it sort of weird that Belle chooses a rose. So instead, she asked for something practical.
"Can you just get me a book or something?" Maka shrugged.
Spirit nodded and gave her a hug before hopping on a horse and going off. Liz and Patty teased Maka for wanting a book. They said she was such a strange girl and brushed her off the rest of the day. A day later, Spirit did not return when he said he would. Liz and Patty sent Maka off to look for their father much to her protest. She arrived at a castle where her father's horse was. Walking inside she heard the blubbering sobs that could only be those of her father. With a roll of her eyes she walked down to the dungeon where Spirit sat behind barred doors.
"Belle! You're here to save your Papa?" He sniffed.
"Yeah, yeah. I guess," frowned Maka.
"Hey," a voice called out behind her. "What the hell are you doing in my castle?"
Maka turned around. "Soul?"
The white haired boy spoke it a calm but clearly agitated voice. "Ugh. I was hoping a hot girl had come down here, not a fat-ankled, flat-chested nerd."
How rude! Maka turned red. "Hey!"
"Look, if you're here to free that old geezer then you can't have him. He tried to steal a lost book off my lawn. He owes me," said Soul.
"It was a freaking book," groaned Maka. Of course, if she hadn't asked for that freaking book then her dad wouldn't be trapped. With a sigh she looked at her father and back at Soul. "If I take his place would that be fine?"
Soul looked a bit shocked but soon nodded and regained his calm expression. "That'd be cool."
After letting Spirit go, Soul led Maka through a series of long, ornate hallways to a nice bedroom.
"This is your room," he sighed. "It's got a bed, washroom and even some dumb books if you read that crap."
"I happen to love books," growled Maka.
Soul rolled his eyes and slammed the door. Wow, what a jerk. For a boy dressed so nice and living so well he sure was ill mannered. Then again Soul could be sorta like that sometimes. Maybe this Beast wasn't so far off from the truth?
...
The next day, though it felt as though she were teleported through time in her dream world, Maka strolled through the halls of her new home. It was super quiet until suddenly, whispers echoed through the hall.
"Any one there?" Maka called. No reply.
The whispers began again.
Maka stopped walking. "Hello?"
When no one responded again she got annoyed but kept walking. The whispers started one more time. Maka stamped her foot.
"Show yourself right now you're pissing me off!"
How princess-like of her. Either way, Black*Star peered out around the corner. Black*Star didn't exactly look like Black*Star. Instead, he was a candlestick with spiky wax like his hair and a star carved into his stand. Behind him was Kid, a clock that had two minute hands that were stopped to be directly across from each other, making it impossible to tell time with him. Three white stripes were painted onto his dark wood frame. Lastly, Tsubaki the teapot arrived. She was coloured beige like her school uniform with a long black handle, similar to the real Tsubaki's hair.
"Hey," smiled Black*Star "I guess you're the guest huh?"
"Yeah," Maka tilted her head "I hope your not going to sing a song about it."
Black*Star looked at her with a very confused expression.
"We hope that you feel very welcome here," said Kid graciously.
"I think we owe you a little explanation to all this." Tsubaki grinned as she looked down at her porcelain self.
Though Maka protested and told them she already knew the story, the three continued to tell her about how their Young Master was cursed along with them. They were all furniture, he was a super jerk (even more than before) and she was the only hope of breaking the spell. By falling in love.
Maka made a gagging sound.
"True love breaks the curse!" Tsubaki said cheerfully.
"Why can't I wake up?" Maka threw her head into her hands.
"I have an awesome idea!" Black*star then exclaimed. "We take her and the Young Master and we host a little dinner date."
"What? No!"
"Yes!" Kid agreed. "Then they could get to know each other!"
With a grin, Tsubaki nodded. "We'll finally be free!"
They all ran off before Maka could say anything in rejection.
...
"Do I really have to wear this?" asked Maka.
Blair the Cat nodded. It seemed she was a cat forever in dream world. Maka looked down at herself again. She wore a yellow dress that was exactly like that from the movie. Her hair was half up and held together by a bun behind her head.
"You look amazing, Belle!" Blair mewed. "I'm surprised you paper thin hair even made it into such a pretty style."
Maka squinted her eyes angrily.
"Oops," giggled Blair. "I guess I've been picking up stuff from the Young Master."
There was a knock on the door. Black*Star swung it open before getting a response.
"Come on already! The Young Master is already waiting!" He cried.
Blair gasped and pushed Maka to Black*Star who practically carried her down to the ballroom before placing her front of the door. When Maka stopped yelling and hitting he opened the door.
Soul turned away from the window and looked towards Maka. She couldn't help but flush as she saw his intense red eyes highlighted from the velvety blue suit. His white hair was swept off his face but a piece fell over his eyes.
Maka gulped. He looked good. Like, really good.
"Hey," he said when he saw her.
She brought her shoulders to her neck awkwardly. "Hey." Wait. Was she blushing? No, of course not. He was a total jerk.
"You look nice." He said to her.
"Oh," Maka raised her eyebrows. "You clean up pretty well too."
"Play the music! Play the music!" Black*Star could be heard yelling from the corner of the room.
It didn't take long before a slow tune began to play. Maka frowned, this song sounded familiar. It was kinda dark and creepy but somehow beautiful.
"I love this song," said Soul casually.
That's when she got it. This was the song Soul played her on the piano that one time. She listened to it for a few moments.
"Um. Wanna dance?" Soul extended his hand.
Maka blushed again. Wow, just like out of a story. No, but this was Soul not a prince. In fact, until just now, he had been acting like a real jerk. The real Soul had his moments too Maka supposed. With a quick sigh she nodded and took his hand.
The two began to dance. At first it was slow and awkward but soon they began to move as if they'd practiced for years. Maka couldn't feel the floor anymore, she was so entranced in the music and the movement. Maybe they danced for a few minutes, maybe they danced for hours. She didn't know.
...
Maka sat in her room reading a book. She wondered how much time was passing back home because this dream felt really long. They always do like this though. It had been two weeks since Maka and Soul had danced. Since then, they were on much better terms. His insults decreased and the two of them actually had a bit of fun with a snowball fight outside. The sun was setting and it would be time to for dinner soon. Maka heard a knock on her door.
"Um. Hey." It was Soul.
"Oh. Hi." Maka looked up from her book and held her page with a finger.
"He need to talk."
"About what?"
"You."
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"Oh."
Soul scratched behind his head. "Look," he began "I've been thinking...you've been here for a long time and I'm sure you miss your family. Maybe you should go."
"You want me to leave?" She couldn't help but feel kind of hurt.
He looked away from her. She noticed he was nervous. It's true she wanted to go but...she was expecting something different.
"You were a prisoner," he sighed "I'm setting you free."
"Why?"
Soul sighed again. "I'm sure my servants have told you by now that only true love will break my curse. I don't want you to feel pressured to be that. You don't have to save me, I won't let you be trapped here to save me. I'm a monster and I always will be."
Maka hit him with her book. Soul feel to the floor.
"Hey! What was that for?"
She rolled her eyes. "You're being stupid! If I wanted to go I'd have gone by now. I like it here. To be honest...you're not so bad."
Soul looked at her. "I'm not?"
She shook her head and held her hand out for him. He took it and she lifted him up. The two of stared at each other for a while. The kept holding hands.
"Ooh aren't they just the cutest?" Tsubaki squeaked from behind the door.
"With another shove in the right direction, these two'll hit it off in no time!" Black*Star agreed.
"Then we'll finally be human again! I can't wait another second." sighed Kid.
"I'll finally have my beautiful hair," said Tsubaki.
Black*Star flexed his candles. "I'll have back my rippling muscles."
Kid became starry eyed. "And I'll have arms and legs and I can finally straighten out all those damn paintings."
He gestured to the walls,
"They look fine to me," said Black*Star.
"You fool! Can't you tell that one is exactly three millimetres too high? And another is four too low?" Kid pointed out the paintings.
Black*Star examined them carefully. "No."
"Look. I know I can be a jerk a lot of the time. That doesn't mean I'm a bad guy though. I used to think that was the case but...since you came along it's been different." Soul said.
"Different?" Maka asked.
"I feel like we're in this together, a team. Even if I'm still a little rude I-I still like you."
"W-what?" Maka found herself blushing.
Soul leaned in closer. "I love you."
Maka Albarn awoke screaming. She was in her bed and Zoe was gone. Soul came in through the door
"Hey! What's wrong?"
Maka screamed again and threw a pillow at him.
"She probably just had a nightmare." Blair entered in her cat form.
Maka slowed her breathing and finally relaxed. "Yeah. Just a nightmare."
"Sheesh you didn't have to be so loud." Soul closed the door to let her rest.
Blair, still in the room, hopped up on Maka's bed. "Was that one of those vivid dreams you told me about before?"
She got no response.
"Was it about Beauty and the Beast? It was on the couch."
Make slumped into her bed and buried herself in the covers.
"I'm guessing you were the main character?"
Maka rolled her eyes though Blair couldn't see. Honestly, Maka just wanted to forget that surreal dream. Especially the end.
"So, if you were the beauty...who was the beast?"