CHAPTER 2: ALL GOOD THINGS

For the second time in less than two months, Beast's Castle was a zoo. In every room his servants were rushing about, making clothes, exchanging orders, producing meals and generally working to make the castle presentable. The reason was simple. The Master of the Castle was going to be married to his beautiful, young peasant girl, Belle Devereux. Belle was the girl who had freed the castle from its dark and terrible curse, which had condemned the young prince to a life as an ugly and selfish beast and his servants to lives as simple castle objects. Alas, the Darkness had made it so the Curse would always return every night. But Belle and Prince Adam de Barbarac were happy and so Prince Adam's servants were happy and they would try to be content with what they'd been given. After all, everyone needed some happiness in their lives. Especially since the Light and Darkness War had recently become so cruel and bloody. People were afraid for their lives in almost every Republic outpost in the galaxy and the fact was that Beast's Castle was absolutely no exception. In fact, the denizens there had more reason to afraid than most. After all, Belle and the Beast had joined the Lyoko Warriors on their fantastic journey from Boston to the South Pole, following the Lights. As a result, they knew things most people who worked for the Senate were not classified to know. They also were a refugee house for people the Lyoko Warriors had helped over the past. People who needed protection from the Separatists. So a holiday was needed now more than ever.

"Move that." Cogsworth the head of the Beast's servants was shouting, "Don't touch that! That doesn't go there! What the bloody hell is wrong with you people?"

"Cogsworth, lighten up." Lumiere the Maitre' De, who was as a consequence of the curse, a candle put his arm around Cogsworth who was a clock, "This is a happy event. The happiest event we have had in this castle in twelve years. How could anything ruin this wedding."

"You're forgetting that you made a similar speech regarding the Peace Festival, Lumiere." Cogsworth pointed out.

"I forget nothing." The incident on the Festival of Peace, the Jedi's most prized holiday was very hard to forget. Every endowed Lyoko Warrior under the age of eighteen and in fact not only every Child of the Light, but every Endowed child in the house had been kidnapped by the infamous Earthling shadow company Weapon X and sent away to be processed as weapons. The best warriors in the Castle had been sent after them. Among the warriors had been Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver, the son and successor to Magneto. After Pietro had left his wife, Emma Frost had been left in charge of his group, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Frost had plotted to destroy the Jedi Order and everything it stood for in order to take revenge on every ordinary human who had ever oppressed her and nearly destroyed the Castle killing most of the Brotherhood in the process. And that was not the only horrible thing that happened during that fateful week. Two of the Gargoyles, Angela the daughter of the Clan Leader and Broadway, her mate had followed one of the Brotherhood, Toad into the village where Belle had once lived where they were attacked by Gaston the town muscle man. As a result, the ignorant and trigger-happy villagers were now aware that something not quite welcome in their comfort zone was occurring in the castle on the hill.

"Nothing of the sort will happen this night, Cogsworth." Said Lumiere, "Not if I can help it."

"So the Guards are ready then." Asked Cogsworth.

"Ready as they'll ever be." Answered Lumiere.

"Good." Said Cogsworth "Because everything has to be perfect."

The dress could have been made of gold. It was white, of course, but the trimming was not only gold, and it shined like the sun. As she turned before the other twelve Princesses of Heart, Belle Devereux looked like an angel.

"It's not too bright?" she asked.

"Are you kidding?" asked Olivia Vertigo as though Belle had just asked if she was sure that the world was round, "You look perfect, Bella."

"Perfect?" Belle had always been modest about her appearance, "Are you sure?"

"I definitely think so." Answered Will Vandom who wasn't as fashion conscience as Olivia, in fact she had a reputation as being completely uninterested in appearances. This naturally got a look of surprise from the others.

"I'm proud of you, Will." Said Queen Cinderella, a tall, proud woman who was heavy with her first child, "It seems you're growing up."

"I just notice stupid things some times." Answered Will.

"Well I think she looks like a princess." Said twelve-year-old Alice with her usual pout, "It's definitely better than this horrid dress." She was a blue and white gown that from a distance appeared to be made of a combination of pearls and sapphires. But as a child, she was inclined to complain about dressing nice at all.

"That's not true." Said Princess Aurora who was also pregnant with twins in her case, she was oldest of the Princesses of Heart, "You look beautiful."

"I still always get the ugliest things. I'm the youngest."

"I have almost the same dress." Katara Quong said crossly, "And it's not ugly."

"Why does it matter if we're beautiful or not?" asked Sultana Jasmine, "It's not our wedding. It's Belle's."

"I think Alice looks perfectly grown up in her dress." Said Edien Kellerman who was wearing red.

"I think you all look beautiful." Said Snow White, grinning broadly in green.

"That's enough everyone." Belle said flexing her hands in a cautionary motion.

"Are you okay?" asked Kairi James timidly.

"I'm fine." Answered Belle, "I just want everything to be perfect for my wedding."

"It will be." Larana Safire-eye said putting her hand on Belle's shoulder, "Right Lita?"

Aelita Hopper nodded, "Right we're Lyoko Warriors. We don't abandon our friends."

"I'm glad to hear it." Said a voice. They all looked, it was Aelita's cousin, Azula Chiron, she was close with Aelita and Larana but most assuredly not close enough for her to be allowed to sit in the Princesses of Heart's private meetings.

"I've got something for you, squirt." Azula said. Squirt was her nickname for Aelita. She reached into the box she was carrying and took out a small silver flame-shaped tiara. Azula threaded the tiara in Aelita's hair.

"I don't know." She said softly.

"You are a princess." Azula said, "You should own it. Besides it looks great on you except for your nappy Padawan braid."

Aelita looked in the mirror, the tiara meant for the oldest daughter of the Fire Lord's queen's family was threaded into her long pink hair that had grown over the past few months so that it was almost to her feet, her eyes were green and her skin was now a deep brown. She did look like a Princess. But then she felt something inside her, something deep and dangerous, there was a flash pain. Aelita understood this feeling well enough; it was a disturbance in the Force.

Prince Adam de Barbarac, aka the Beast had three great passions. One of them was Belle Devereaux. Another was swordplay. The third had long since become his roses. Frightened out of his mind when he and Belle had chosen to leave his castle to join the Lyoko Warriors during the Event, that someone from Belle's village might come to the Castle or perhaps someone worse, he had planted the very enchanted rose on which he had been originally cursed in the soil of his courtyard. The rose had quickly grown into an entire garden of Enchanted roses that filled his garden glowing in stunning pink. They also formed a protective barrier around the Castle. Since then, nobody had come onto the Castle grounds that Belle and Adam did not want to be present and the two of them spent days on days tending the roses perfectly so they could protect not only their servants, but the refugees inside the Castle as well. That night, Adam was working particularly hard to make sure that no one would disturb his wedding. The barrier had failed only twice. The first time was the arrival of Judge Claude Frollo during December. Frollo had been unintentionally revived by Aelita Hopper and Larana Safire-eye in the Underworld. After his revival, Frollo had gone after Aelita and tracked her to the Castle. The Rose's rules did not include the dead. The next time had been the Festival of Peace. Which was a much bigger failure for Adam. He had allowed both the Brotherhood of Evil and the Weapon X kidnappers onto the Castle Grounds. But the Barrier would not fail tonight. Not if Prince Adam de Barbarac had a word to say regarding it. And thus he spent his last hours before his wedding obsessively tending his beloved protective barrier. He was finally finishing up when he heard a voice,

"Hello, Beast."

Adam looked, the speaker was the swaggering, murderous Gaston Le Gume. Le Gume had wanted to marry Belle, but even before Belle had loved Adam, she had always been bound and determined to never marry anyone so arrogant, self-centered and boorish as Gaston Le Gume. Not that Gaston noticed. Or cared. In his mind, he was everything that any woman would ever want because he was handsome, tall, brawny and the son of the local Baron, a relative of the new French dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte. The last part was part of the reason that Adam had revealed himself to the murderous hunter last Easter, that and because he could not think of a better way to get revenge for his shooting Broadway, his wronging of Angela, and his beating of Quasimodo. What better revenge would there be to show the usurping "Emperor's" distant cousin's son, that the only girl in his home village that didn't swoon for him was going to marry a deposed Prince? It hadn't been Adam's best idea.

"Leave here." Adam said coolly, "These Roses may not shield my Castle from the Dead, but they were specifically to defend my castle and my family, from the likes of you."

"The 'likes of me'?" Le Gume who believed that no one not even a man who hated him more than any ordinary human ever created would dare not want him on his property was livid, "What's that supposed to mean."

"Murderers. Thieves." Adam shrugged, "Liars. People who fear what they don't understand. Enemies of the Castle. People who pose a threat. Take your pick."

"You're marrying my girl tonight."

"She chose me." Adam answered, "Belle has never been 'your' girl nor will ever she ever and she is not my girl now. She belongs to herself and we have a relationship and are very happy. There's a difference."

"The point is," said Le Gume, "I can't believe that Belle is marrying you. I could have given her anything."

"Except a daughter. And happiness."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Say." Gaston said in a eerily conversational tone, "This is a nice place."

"What?"

"It would be a shame to see something happen to it."

That did it, Adam was hit by a wave of blind fury and almost knocked Gaston to the ground, only for Belle to appear almost from thin air.

"Don't, Adam." She said, "It's not worth."

"My head knows that." Answered Adam, "My heart is not quite sure."

"Don't bother with him." Pleaded Belle, "Not on the happiest night of our lives."

Everything about the Wedding was perfect. The food, the music, the decorations, even the clothes. All of the Princesses of Heart and their princes were there as groom's men and bride's maids. All of the other Lyoko Warriors were there too and waiting patiently in the wings. The audience was crowded with them and with most of the Jedi Order, especially the Lyoko Warriors' mentors. Jedi Master Yoda would officiate the ceremony aided by Flora, Fauna and Merryweather the three fairies who always enjoyed working with him and the Lyoko Warriors. Because of the death of Belle's father, Maurice at the hands of Darth Adolfus, there was a small argument as to whether the Bride would be given away by Cogsworth, Lumiere, Aelita's father, Franz Hopper, Aurora's father, King Stefan, Katara's father, Hakoda Quong, Edien's guardian, Orwin Shadowslayer, or Master Yen Sid would give the Bride away. In the end, Franz became the man to do the job. The wedding was catered by Long John Silver, Mrs. Potts (who had been Adam's nanny when he was a boy), and Kenth Hamner, a Jedi Master who had made himself indispensable during the Battle with the Brotherhood just two months ago. Each and every denizen and refugee of the Castle was present as well, of course, and most of the Lyoko Warriors were too. The love song, "Night of Love and Beauty" was played as Alice Pleasance Kingsley walked down the aisle with Charles Cyril Potts, Mrs. Potts' eldest son who was besotted with her. Young Charles liked to call himself "Chip" and was as close to Adam as a younger brother. Alice ignored him as they walked together, moving several feet ahead of him several times. They were both dressed in blue and white and Chip was trying to walk with all the grace and dignity of a twelve-year-old but was failing horribly because of Alice's frequent attempts to walk in the front of him. They were followed by Olivia and Charlie Bone. Olivia's hair was purple, but both she and Charlie were dressed in crimson and gold. Olivia grinned amiably and tossed her hair several times, while Charlie walked stone-faced and serious which was a stark contrast not only to Olivia, but his wild black curls. Kairi and Sora Coleman were next. They were both wearing red and black. Sora kept his arm closely around Kairi as they walked together to the altar and Kairi was blushing furiously. Edien and Tony Jones were next. They wore dark green and sea blue. Tony's black hair was newly caught and he and Edien were both as serious as could be despite the brief looks between them. They were followed by Jared Grace and Will. They were dressed in black and white and were both clearly uncomfortable about it. Jared's brown hair was newly cut and he and Will were both trying hard not to look at each other in order to keep from laughing. They were followed Avatar Aang Wang and Katara followed them. They were dressed in a combination of sky blue and bright yellow. Katara was looking nervous and tripping over her white high heels, while Aang grinned broadly and dutifully. Larana, meanwhile, had abandoned her shoes all together, walking barefoot in her gold and emerald gown and leaning on Obi-wan Skywalker's arm while Obi-wan looked ahead stonily in his deep green suit with the yellow tie. Aelita gripped Jeremy Belquois's arm and felt fear going down her spine as she walked with him down the aisle. Aelita's gown, was snow white, as was Jeremy's suit.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Aelita answered as they stepped up together on the pedestal. They were followed by Snow White and Prince Ferdinand in purple and red and Cinderella and King Thomas in gold and silver, Aurora and Prince Philip in purple blue midnight colors and, finally Jasmine and Aladdin, the maid of honor and best man walking side by side in their white and gold matching outfits. The main event came then, Belle was walking down the aisle when the door to the Castle opened. It was a small ugly man with dirty brown hair and small, watery blue eyes.

"Le Fou." Belle said with a mixture of disgust and surprise, Le Fou had been Gaston's sidekick.

"Hello, Belle." Le Fou said calmly, "I came to apologize and give you a wedding present." He set down a large barrel.

"It was wrong what Gaston did," He explained calmly, "I brought this from the Tavern. Can I please come to the wedding."

"Okay." Belle said, "you can."

"I have some friends too…." Le Fou began.

"Open the doors and let them in." Adam said without thinking. It was a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.