Chapter 3

Marcy spent most of the night wondering what to do with the girl, until she finally settled with one more attempt to befriend her and get her comfortable in the castle. As the sunlight started to seep into the dark room, the servants could be heard in the halls doing their many chores. It was around this time T.T arrived, bringing food and water for her master, placing it on the bed side table with the help of another servant. To their surprise their Mistress wasn't asleep and gave them quite the startle when she spoke.

"I'm taking back the orders I gave last night. Bring her food and water." Marceline said after rolling over with her back now turned at her servants.

"Of course, master" T.T said as she and the other servant left the room.

Marceline waited until she heard to soft click of the door closing before she got up. She took a sip of the water by her bedside and she finally settled on what to do. She decided to show Bonnibel around the castle, showing her all the great reasons to stay, and things that she thought would make her, or anyone, happy. And if the tour didn't work or if she couldn't even get her out of bed, she decided it wasn't worth keeping her here and tormenting her just to get back at her uncle. She would let her go.

About an hour after eating her meal, Marceline finally worked up the nerve to go to Bonnibel's room. As she approached the door, she felt both guilt and anxiety fill her. With a deep breath and a long exhale, she knocked on the door.

"It's Marceline, may I come in?" she asked. No reply or sound could be heard from the other said of the door. She waited a moment before trying again. "Hello?" Still no reply. "I'm coming in," Marceline said as she opened the door. To her surprise there was no one in the room at all. Just as she felt the anger overcoming her, Phebe, who had been hopping down the hall, spoke.

"Oh, Master! If you're looking for the girl, T.T and Lady took her around to tour the castle not too long ago," she said as she stopped hopping and looked to her master who was still in the door way.

"Oh…" Marceline felt a small pain for both assuming the girl had broken her promise and that she wouldn't be the one to show her around the castle. She looked at the small candle stick. "Do you know where they are?" she asked.

"I last saw them heading towards the Great Hall."

"Thank you," Marceline said as she walked down the hall on her way to the Great hall, leaving Phebe behind. After losing sight of her master, she turned and continued to hop down the hall in order to continue her tasks at hand.

After Bonnie was shown the Great Hall, T.T and Lady gave Bonnie a tour of the many sights in the castle, such as the Chapel and art gallery. On their way to the court yard, they passed by a hall filled with suits of armor. To Bonnie's surprise, they were alive as well. Their heads followed her every move while staying stationary. This made her incredibly uncomfortable, but luckily T.T gave a quick command and they snapped to position once again. As she was shown some of the many great sights of the castle, she was left speechless. She constantly thought to herself about how if she was in any other situation she would have loved to stay here forever, admiring and exploring the many decorated and pristine rooms this castle had.

Marceline finally caught up to them as they reached the court yard. But just as she was about to make her presence known, she saw Bonnie dash into the stables where her horse was being held.

Fearing the worst, she quickly slinked behind a wall and watched as Lady and T.T frantically hobbled after her in a panic.

Fearing and also slightly wishing, she assumed Bonnibel was trying to escape. So Marceline just slinked off back into the castle with a heavy heart.

"Timmy!" Bonnibel ran up to her horse placing a kiss on his muzzle. "I'm so happy to see you," she kissed him again.

"My lady! Don't run off like that on us," Lady said frantically as she and T.T quickly followed.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," T.T said with a huff.

"I-I'm sorry. I guess I was just excited to see a familiar face…"she patted Timmy's muzzle. "The last I saw of him was when the beast brought him in here…. I wasn't sure if he was alright or not…" she said, as she nuzzled her head against his before kissing him one last time. She looked down at the 2 little objects and started fiddling with her fingers. "I-if you d-don't mind me asking… Why a-are all of yo-"

"Bonnibel?! Is that you, I can't believe it?!" Jake said as he hobbled into the stables.

"W-who…?" Bonnie said puzzled as she looked down at the little Viola who was jumping up and down excitedly.

"It's Jake! You know, Finn's older brother!"

"Jake!? Is that really you?" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Gosh Bonnibel, I'm kind of offended you don't recognize my appealing voice. But I can't really blame you, I look nothing like I used to," Jake said with a chuckle.

Bonnibel quickly picked Jake up, giving him a huge awkward hug as she did a quick twirl. "I-I can't believe this! Everyone thought the worst. I can't believe you're alive!" Bonnie sang as tears threatened to rain down from her eyes. She tightened her embrace.

"Gah! Bonnibel! Too tight! You're going to break my body!" Jake gasped.

"Sorry, sorry!" she said as she quickly loosened her embrace before placing him on a nearby table where the other objects watched in amusement.

"I didn't realize you were the girl in the castle. Else I would have visited sooner! How are you holding up?" Jake asked with concern.

"Well… I'm here. So…"

"Yeah..."

There was a long, awkward pause.

"Enough about me, what about you!" Bonnibel broke the silence.

"Well… I'm a viola, so there's that…" Jake said. "I don't know what to say…"

"I… I see." Another awkward pause.

"What about Finn and Ma?" Jake asked.

"Your mother is doing just fine, and Finn's becoming quite the aspiring hero. They both miss you deeply… Finn talks about you constantly. You disappearing was really hard on him…" Bonnie trailed off. "What happened to you? To this place?" Bonnie asked.

Jake looked at T.T, "can we tell her?"

"I don't see why not. She's a resident of the castle now. Just like us." T.T said.

A bit over 5 years ago, the mistress had her most precious object stolen by her love and betrothed. Without her knowledge, he had sold it to a witch for a wand, thinking he would be able to use its powers. To his disappointment, he was unable to use the wand because he was a simple mortal. After the Mistress discovered this betrayal, she quickly ended her betrothal and banished him from ever returning to the castle and the surrounding land. In her rage, she tracked down the witch and waited. When the witch had left her cabin, the mistress entered and stole back the thing she held most dear, then returned to the castle.

A couple days later, the witch came to the castle demanding the object to be returned to her. The mistress refused, stating that it was hers and it had been stolen. The witch then stated that she obtained it from a fair trade and she now legally owned it, and if the mistress did not comply, the mistress would be sorry. Again the mistress refused, and ordered the guards to show the witch the way out. This greatly angered the witch. She gave the mistress one more chance, and told her if she did not return the object, then the mistress and everyone else in the castle would suffer. And to that, the mistress laughed.

Suddenly the room filled with darkness and nothing but her laughter echoed the castle. The calm night turned into a horrid storm in a matter of seconds and the room was filled with blue static. The witch began to chant in an ancient language, the castle creaked and moaned as the furnishings and décor rumbled, everything began to change into a gothic style. The guards surrounded her and charged but as they got close they were struck by the blue static. As they flew back into the walls and ground, their armor came undone, littering the floor revealing now empty suits.

As the witch finished her chant, she looked at the now terrified mistress. She chuckled and told her "I have placed a curse upon your house and all within it, until you and you alone return your most precious object to me, or something of greater value is traded in exchange." And with those words, she waved her hand and everyone in the castle was cursed. One by one everyone turned into objects of all shapes and sizes until finally the mistress was transformed into a horrifying beast. The room regained its light and showed the spectacle that had occurred to both the castle and its residence, and quickly panic ensued. "So what now? Will you return it?" the witch asked the beast.

"What did you do?!" the beast growled.

"Will you return it?" she repeated.

"How dare you!" the beast said as it attempted to run in her new body. She managed to jump and swipe at the witch. The witch easily glided out of the way.

With a chuckle she said, "Well when you change your mind, you know where to find me." And with that she vanished into an electric charge that quickly faded, leaving the now cursed castle and its residences.

"And she never returned the object?" Bonnie asked.

"Nope. Not even after everyone had turned on her," T.T said.

"Yet you still serve her?"

"After those who turned discovered that no matter what they did she still wouldn't return it, they returned to their tasks to keep them busy. Of course we still hope that one day she will change her mind," Lady said.

"That's horrible…"

"It's also why she doesn't treat thieves with mercy… she blames this all on the thief that stole from her," Jake said.

"How could she be so selfish…" Bonnie mumbled as she hugged Timmy. "She took everything from all of you…"

"It also didn't help that she was a lot larger and stronger than the rest of us…" Jake pouted.

"Jake!" Lady and T.T said as they lightly bumped him.

"What, it's true…" Jake grumbled.

As the sun began to set and the temperature became frigid, the group decided to return to the castle. Bonnie still being curious, continued to ask about what had happened and what object could be so important to protect over the lives of the people of the castle. But her curiosity was met with few answers. They themselves did not know what the object was, but only that it had been given to their mistress by someone most dear to her.

Bonnie had mixed feelings about the beast's decision and didn't know how she should act with this information. As she pondered about it and followed the others, she heard music playing in the distance. Not thinking, she strained her ears to find what direction and hall it came from. Without the others noticing she ventured off down the hall she thought the music was coming from. Within a minute she found the room.

The door was wide open, allowing her to look into the large room. It was filled with many, many instruments of all shapes and sizes, and right in the middle was a grand piano. The beast sat on the stool, playing an intricately beautiful song.

As the notes left the keys, the piano's music filled the silence of the castle. She listened as the beast played its sad song, filled with pain. It made her realize just how much pain everyone in the castle must have gone through because of the curse.

Bonnie managed to enter the room and sit at a nearby seat without being seen or heard. She continued to listen as the beast continued to play. Each second and each note made her sympathize with the beast. As the song ended and the beast let out a sigh Bonnie stood up and clapped without thinking. She startled the beast who shot up with its ears skyward and eyes wide.

"I-I hope I'm not intruding?" Bonnie asked with guilt.

"No... What are you doing here?" the beast asked.

"Well, I heard such beautiful music and-"

"No… I meant why you are still in the castle?"

"Pardon?" Bonnie asked confused.

"I saw you run to the stables… I thought you had taken your horse and left…" the beast said as it looked back at the piano, no longer able to maintain eye contact.

"No, of course not. I wouldn't break a promise," she said as she took a step towards the beast. "B-but if you thought that… why didn't you try to stop me?"

The beast said nothing as it continued to look at the piano. Its body was now stiff and its ears were lowering slowly.

Bonnie took a dew hesitant steps forward until she stood behind the beast. "Well?" she said as she began to fiddle with her fingers in attempt to calm herself. Knowing very well she was crossing a line she really shouldn't be.

"I... you… it was… Umm," the beast was struggling for words.

Bonnibel stepped behind the piano so she and the beast now facing each other. It didn't help much, because it still refused to look her in the eyes. "…well?" This got the beast's attention. Its ears went flat as it looked at her in the eyes for a brief moment before looking back at the keys it rested its fingers on.

"It… it was a test…"The beast lied and Bonnie could tell. She wanted to push the subject, but decided she already pushed the beast enough for the moment.

"Alright," she said. The beast looked up surprised. It was sure she would question that answer. "Well its getting late. I should be off to my room. I was heading there with the others… when I heard you play…." Bonnie scratched the bottom of her chin and blushed looking quite embarrassed.

"Y-yes of course," the beast said as it escorted Bonnie to the door. "Why… why don't I escort you? It's a large castle after all…" the beast said as it scratched the back of its neck and looked away momentarily, flattening its ears. "I-I'm sorry about last night. It was wrong of me to yell, let alone be mad…"

Bonnie looked at the beast who now looked at her in the eyes. With a soft smile she said "I-it's … alright, and thank you, Marceline. That would be wonderful," causing the beast's ears to shoot skyward once again. This caused her to giggle. "Wow, just like a puppy," she thought to herself. Bonnie thought it was cute how embarrassed it looked.

"Where did she go?!" Jake said as he hopped around looking into rooms as he searched for Bonnibel.

"We have to find her before the mistress does!" Lady said as she frantically hopped around, looking down the hallways as she went.

"Oh dear," T.T said as she help with the search.

Bonnibel completely forgot about them as she was escorted through the castle by Marceline.