Once Upon a Gundam
A Tale as Old as Time

Chapter IV: The Prisoner of The Beast

Endymion slowly walked down the spooky path once more. Mir could tell he was scared so she continued to stroke his mane not paying attention to where he was taking her. She just focused on keeping her horse calm. Before long they came to a clearing in front of a gate. She could tell the horse was starting to think about running off. "Shhh… steady boy. It's alright" She dismounted took hold of his reins and brought him through the gates. She looked to towards the castle doors and saw it. Her brother's hat. Letting go of Endymion she ran over and picked it up. "Mwu?"

Inside the castle Athrun and Yzak were still arguing about the events that had transpired with their young male visitor from earlier. "You just couldn't keep quiet. No instead you had to invite him to stay. Let Lacus pour him some tea, sit in our Masters chair…"

"I was trying to be helpful"

"Why? It's not like that guy could ever help us" He snapped. "It's going to take a lot more than that to break.." they kept arguing.

Outside Miriallia looked up at the large doors. Maybe Mwu went inside? After all it looked like it had rained. Maybe he needed some shelter. She stood up and walked towards the doors. Seeing they were open a crack she walked in. "Hello?" Her voice echoed through the halls. "Is anyone home?" She asked confused whether or not the place was abandoned. "Brother? Are you here?" She said. She looked up and saw a large staircase. Gathering all her courage she began to walk up it.

In the kitchen the teapot Lacus stood by a large sink of hot water as all the dishes washed themselves. She seemed to be supervising them to ensure they were at the peak of cleanliness. "Lacus!" The teacup yelled as he hopped up beside her.

"Kira" She said excited. "Just in time for your bath! Jump it while it's still hot"

"Lacus there is no time for that" He said urgently. The sweet smile on her face faded away as she looked at the small cup.

"What do you mean"

"There… there's a girl in the castle" He said.

"A-a girl?" She repeat half in disbelief. "That's impossible!" She said.

"No it's true" Another voice said. They looked over and saw the featherdust Cagalli. "I saw her with my own eyes! She must have come looking for that guy" She concluded. They all looked at each other unsure if they should be excited or not. The Master didn't take to kindly to the last visitor, then again he was a man. A girl on the other hand was different. With a girl they all stood a chance. A chance to finally after almost 21 long years to have the spell broke.

Upstairs in the castle the two friends were still bickering. Both thinking they were right. "Whether what you did was the 'right thing to do' or not you should have known the Master would act like that!" Yzak said trying to convince his friend of his stupidity.

"I gue-"

"Brother?" They heard someone yell. They looked out the doorway. They couldn't believe their eyes. Was that really a girl they just saw? Making their way to look around the corner their suspicions were confirmed.

"It's... It's a girl" Athrun said in surprise.

"I know it's a girl, I'm not blind." His friend spat.

"Don't you get it Yzak!" He replied trying to contain his excitement. "She has to be the one! The girl we've all been waiting for! She's come to break the spell!" He said before running after the girl.

"Wait!" Yzak yelled chasing after him.

Miriallia continued to walk down the narrow hallways completely unaware of the candlestick and clock following behind her. She walked past the door leading to the tower that her brother was being held. She would have kept walking to had it not been for her hearing the door creak open. She spun around quickly but saw no one. Taking a chance she decided to open the door. There she saw a large twisted staircase.

"Brother?" She asked. Yzak watched he from behind the doorway while Athrun sat in a recess in the wall to watch her from above. Looking over she saw a torch burning. It seemed to be the only thing lighting the way other than the candlestick that was randomly there. Picking it up she inhaled deeply and began to ascend the stairs. "That's strange" She said to herself "I could have sworn?"

"Hey is someone there" She heard Mwu's voice echoing through the area. Mir felt her heart sink. There were cells everywhere and it seemed her brother's voice was coming from one of them. Grabbing the side of her dress she ran towards the direction of his voice. "Mir!"

"Mwu!" She yelled as she knelt down in front of him.

"How did you find me?" He asked panicked.

"You're not the only one who can make the impossible possible. Guess it runs in the family" She said relieved to see he was in one piece. She reached in and grabbed his hands. She wanted to comfort him so that he knew he was safe. She frowned feeling them. She looked him in the eyes worried. "Your hands are freezing. We have to get you out of here." She said standing up trying to figure out how to open the door.

"Mir stop!" He yelled standing up. "Look at me! You need to leave this place now!"

"Who did this to you" She demanded.

"That's not important. You need to go. Leave bef-"

"I won't leave you here! I promise Murrue I would bring you home! I won't leave your baby fatherless!" Before she could attempt to try and release him something grabbed her shoulder and hurled her around causing her to drop her torch into a puddle. The room was now bathed in darkness all except a single beam of light. She leaned against Mwu's cell and looked across the hallway. She could see that there was a large figure in the shadows but she couldn't make up any distinct characteristics. She was scared but she knew she had to be brave, for Mwu and Murrue.

"What are you doing here?" The husky voice demanded.

"Run Miriallia! Now!"

"Who's there? Who are you?" She asked trying to eliminate any fear from her voice.

"I'm the master of this castle… and who the hell are you?"

"I've just come to find my brother. Please let him out, can't you see that he's sick" She pleaded.

"Then he shouldn't have trespassed" He growled angry.

"He could die!" She yelled. "Please Sir! I'll do anything!"

"There's nothing that you could possible do. He's my prisoner now."

"Please there must be something!" She looked around the room. It was dark and scary. It was lonely, she couldn't leave her brother to die there. Not when his wife would be left alone to take care of their baby. Then it hit her. Maybe there was a deal she could make. "What if you take me instead?" She said calmly.

"You? You would take his place?" The voice said calmly almost confused at the suggestion.

"Miriallia! Don't be crazy you don't know what you're saying" Her brother said horrified.

"Would you let him go if I did?"

"Only if you promised to stay here forever" He replied.

Miriallia began to think about it. Mwu had so much left for him back in the village, but all she had was her books and dreams of adventure. She felt like a prisoner in that town already, what was the harm in becoming a real one? She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked forward. She still hadn't seen her brother's captor and curiosity was getting the better of her. "Come into the light" She demanded.

The captor seemed hesitant at first before dragging his legs into the light followed but the rest of his body. Mir's eyes went wide seeing the beast for the first time. Shocked she turned to Mwu for comfort. She could tell he was scared. Never in her life had she seen her brave brother so scared. "Mir you can't do this, I won't let you"

Regaining her composure she turned towards the beast and stepped into the light as well. She was only a feet from him. She looked up at him. Her face filled with innocence "It's a deal"

"Fine" He replied grabbing his keys to unlock the cell. Miriallia fell to the ground. She was paralyzed with fear. She breathed deeply trying to get a hold of herself. She heard the door of the cell being unlocked but she didn't look up. She felt her brother's arms wrap around her one last time.

"Mir listen to me. You have your whole life ahead of you. Don't throw it away for me! Murrue with for-" He was interrupted when the beast grabbed hold of him and started to pull him down the stairs.

"Wait!" Mir yelled looking up.

"Mir!" He yelled looking back at his sister's feeble form on the ground. He tried to breakaway but the beast was too strong.

"No! Mwu" She yelled her voice echoing through the castle.

Outside the castle the beast dragged the young man kicking and screaming. "Stop this. She doesn't understand what she's doing. Please you have to spare my sister.

"She not your concern anymore!" He growled taking him towards a palanquin. It was covered in ivy vines, breaking free it stood up by itself. "Take him back to town" He ordered throwing the man inside.

"Don't you understand! She'll do anything for the people she loves. Don't let her sacrifice herself like this! Please have a heart!" He begged.

"There is one problem with that" The beast said smirking. "I'm a beast… beasts don't have hearts" With that he slammed the door shut and the palanquin began moving on it's way to the town.

"Please let me out!" Mwu screamed. But it was no use. It was too late.

From the window in the tower Miriallia watched the palanquin cross the bridge over the mote. Snowflakes began falling from the sky. A sign winter was coming. A chill blew through the cell as she fell to the ground crying.

The beast began walking up the stairs passing by Athrun who was still standing in the same spot. "Master?" He asked nervously.

"What!" He snapped angrily.

"Since she's going to be with us for a while… maybe a cell isn't the best place for her" The beast growled sounding displeased with the request. "but… it's your decision Master."

The Master walled into the cell. The girl was crying soft sobbs. Hearing him enter she spoke, her voice filled with emotion. "I'll never see him again. Never! And you didn't give me a chance to say goodbye" She cried.

He couldn't help but feel bad. Despite what he said to Mwu he did have a heart. "Get up" He ordered from the doorway. Mir looked over at him, her eyes were red and puffy. "I'll take you to your room"

"My-my room?" She asked surprised she looked around the cell. "But aren't I-"

"If you want to stay in this tower be my guest" He said turning around. She stood up quickly running after him.

"No"

"Then come on, follow me"

They walked down the staircase. As he passed Athrun he grabbed hold of him to light the rest of the way. As they walked down the halls Miriallia started to lag behind. She was lost looking at the hideous sculptures. The light cause frightening shadows to be cast on the walls. She gasped scared and ran to catch up to the beast. As scary as he was there was something almost comforting about him, maybe it was the gentle humane look to his eyes. She looked down to the floor as she continued to follow.

Athrun leaned over to the Beast "You should say something… can't you see she's scared?" he whispered so the girl wouldn't hear.

"Hmm? oh" he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. He knew what was at stake here. This girl… she was his only hope. "This is your home now" He said as kindly as his beast like form would allow him. "You can explore wherever you chose… just stay out of the West Wing" He informed her.

"What's in the West Wing?" She questioned curiously.

He stopped and spun around angry "It's forbidden!" He yelled. She looked up at him scared and he started to walk down the hall once again. Hesitating at first she followed reluctantly. Soon they were outside of the door that was to be her room. He opened the door allowing Athrun's light to spill in. It was such a large beautiful room, she walked in to get a better look. She had never seen anything so wonderful.

"If you need anything… my servants will attend to you" he said tenderly.

"You should invite her to dinner" Athrun whispered playfully into the Beast's ear.

He growled angrily at Athrun being so bold. "Join me for dinner… That's not a request" He said leaving slamming the door behind him. Terrified Mir ran over to the bed and broke down crying into the pillows."

Outside the room the beast could hear her crying. He didn't know what to do. It had been almost 21 years since his last visitor had come, and that visitor had done this to him and all who lived there. In all those years he had lost hope and pushed everyone away. But now their only hope was for him to learn to love and earn someone else's in return. The task seemed impossible.