(These are my favorite friends in the whole story. Like Belle, I was almost hit with a falling pencil pouch and Trix Yogurt. Chapter fun facts are at the bottom.)

Chapter Eight: Tale as Old as Time

A tall figure dressed in blue and gold ascended the stairwell and walked down the hall toward the only room in the palace to emit a soft glow. He had been through a lot to get there, and it showed. The sleeves of his overcoat were torn; he had multiple scars and wounds, and the ribbon that held his hair back had been ripped during the fight he encountered previously. His light auburn hair hung in tangles around his face and brushed the open wound on his shoulder. It stung, but the pain was nothing compared to that which he felt over losing his true love. The prince opened the door and saw a young woman lying in bed. Her skin was pale and as he brushed a strand of hair from her face, he noted that her skin felt cold and hard. The young woman's hands were folded neatly across her abdomen. She looked dead. The prince collapsed to the side of her bed and put his head in his hands and let out a muffled sob. After all that he had been through, his love was dead. He checked her pulsed, which was nonexistent, and noticed that her stomach bobbed up and down. There was no pulse and no color in her cheeks, and yet she was breathing. He lightly shook her, but there was no response. Believing that he had arrived too late, the prince bent down and kissed his love. As he pulled away, her eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurry, but the young woman believed that her savior and love was familiar. As everything became clearer, the prince morphed. His blue and gold overcoat turned into a black button-down shirt and a red V-neck sweater. His once long, light auburn hair became short and brown. And the prince's large, blue, and hopefully shocked eyes became green and inquisitive. This wasn't her prince, the one who saved her from a deep slumber. Instead it was someone else. It was…

"What are you doing in my house?" Belle screamed fully away.

Aurora opened the door to Belle's bedroom and stepped in, carrying a takeout bag and a fast food cup holder. She was perfectly calm and a bit amused by Belle's outburst. Her amusement escalated as she saw the scene before her. She had told Philip to stay here while she went to get some breakfast, but she didn't think that he would be sitting on Belle's bed staring at her while she slept.

Trying to stifle her laugh and ignoring Belle, Aurora said, "Philip, don't loom over girls while they're sleeping. It's creepy."

"What's creepy is that she was puckering her lips as if waiting for a kiss." Philip got off the bed, walked over to Aurora, and peered in the bag. "Bagels, muffins, and rose tea. Nice."

"Take the drinks before I drop them. I had to open the door with my foot."

He took the drinks and grabbed a bagel. "Thank God you brought food. It's bad enough you woke me up at four thirty."

"Hello!" Belle said, annoyed her friends forgot she was there. "Why are you in my house?"

"Relax, Sleeping Beauty," Aurora said, tossing her a muffin. "I told you we were going shopping for the homecoming dance tonight."

The muffin hit the headboard and fell to the floor. After picking up the muffin and setting it on the nightstand, she noticed the time. The clock read six thirty.

"It's six thirty in the morning. The mall doesn't open until at least seven or eight. Besides, do I really need a new dress? Do I even need to go to this dance, anyway?"

"Belle." Aurora was now raiding her closet. "People are expecting you and you're beautiful. Just because you don't pay attention to it doesn't mean everyone else does."

Philip, with a face full of bagel, agreed. "She's right. Girls would kill to look like you when they wake up. When I drove to Aurora' house this morning, you should have seen her. Curlers, acne cream, glasses—she uses prescription colored contacts by the way—and don't get me started on her—"

"That's enough, Philip!" Aurora pulled out a green dress and a pink one. "How about these?"

"If I remember correctly," Belle said, ignoring her question, "people weren't exactly jealous of me before. In fact, they never paid attention to me unless it was to call me odd and peculiar behind my back. We went to the same school all through elementary and middle, yet you never even knew who I was."

Background time! Okay. So, it was true. These three adorable friends weren't always the BFFs they are now. Belle was considered to be really strange because she was always reading instead of playing with the other children. She would walk through the school reading and dodging the hallway mishaps, like pencil pouches and Trix Yogurt falling from the floor above because people can't multitask very well. Pretty much all she wanted to talk about was books. Jack and the Beanstalk, books about princes in disguise, and anything else she had just read dominated the conversation. She had read every book in the library by the time she finished elementary school, and she had already started on the middle school's library. The fact that her dad was a "wacky" inventor didn't help people's views of her.

Her father, Maurice, was an inventor, as stated in a previous chapter. His inventions didn't fail, most of the time; it was just that people never really thought that they were that useful. In fact, inventing was a hobby that became his profession. Maurice used to be in business, and he was very successful. But the company failed. The boat carrying their stock was destroyed, the company had to make some cutbacks to make up for lost funds. In the end, they lost everything and Maurice was out of a job. He took to inventing to create an invention that would help the world and get him and his daughter out of their poor, provincial neighborhood. Maurice thought out of the box to create his inventions and people thought that his inventions were too out of the box. Just yesterday he created an invention that worked and was useful, so he was heading out in his car, called Philippe, to pitch it. I guess in such a rush he left the door unlocked and the alarm off.

Anyhow, Belle would come home after school asking her father if he thought she was weird and telling him about how no one would talk to her and how she felt that she had no one to talk to. She stopped asking these questions the summer after freshman year, when she met Aurora and Philip. While reading at the outlet mall (because her father believed she needed to get out of the library), she noticed a strange, blonde girl dancing and singing with a mannequin. Then, as if this wasn't a stranger sight, some random boy, who was watching the blonde from behind the bushes, came up and started dancing with her. Now, the blonde also thought it was strange. She tried to get away because she wasn't allowed to talk to strangers, but then the boy said that they had met. When the girl asked where, the boy said that they had indeed met once upon a dream just like the girl said to the mannequin. The two began dancing and singing and laughing. They had so much fun they didn't notice they had bumped into Belle as she tried to escape their weirdness and Gaston, who was coming out of a hunting store with LeFou. The two apologized and asked Belle if she wanted to join their little episode. Belle declined and went on her way. When she told her father about what happened, he said, "See, Belle. Being different is a good thing. It makes you unique. You're unique in the sense that you love to read and learn about the world. Now, those two, I'm not sure." When she saw them again a week later at the same mall, the blonde practically dragged her over and made her sit with them. They introduced themselves as Aurora and Philip, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Aurora continued to raid her closet, not very happy with what she saw. Between the sea of blue, black, and white, there were only two dresses: the pink and the green one she pulled out earlier. The pink one was too Christmassy and the green one spelled dinner party, but they could still work. Maybe if Aurora shortened the hem and ripped off those awful puffed sleeves on the green dress, it would look presentable. But at the same time, it was only homecoming. You could wear pretty much anything. Girls decided to dress up, though. I guess to impress people or to get an excuse to go shopping. Aurora really wanted Belle to dress up because she had won homecoming queen and wanted her best friend to make a statement. Especially since plan "Get Belle a Boyfriend" was going to commence soon. Why else do you think Philip had to meet Aurora in the library? They had to plan!

After grabbing a white, medium sleeved sweater dress, black leggings, and some undergarments, Belle headed out to the bathroom. When she came back, Philip was grabbing another bagel and Aurora was looking at her two dresses disapprovingly. Aurora considered herself really fashion forward for someone whose aunts would only allow her to wear grey, black, and white except for special occasions. Her current outfit was plainer than Belle's, with a long-sleeved black t-shirt, black mid-calf length skirt, and black ballet flats.

Belle started putting her hair in a low ponytail. "Why are we going shopping? I thought your aunts liked to make your dresses."

"Do you remember my prom dress from last year?" Aurora asked, shocked. She tossed both dresses back in the closet and fell on the bed dramatically. "'Pink!' 'Blue!' 'Pink!' 'Blue!' Why can't I just wear purple and be done with this mess?"

"I liked your prom dress," Philip said.

Aurora hit him with the pillow. "You like anything I wear! I could change the color and you wouldn't even notice!"

Belle could only smile as Aurora hit Philip with her pillow and Philip attempted to protect himself while trying to not spill his bagel and tea. The words her father said when she first met them rang in her head:

"Now, those two, I'm not sure."

D*H

The homecoming dance was held in the quad. Heaters were put up and lanterns were hung up in yellows, oranges, and pale pinks. A DJ was near the front of the quad and he was playing the top 40's. In the middle, a buffet table was set up with celery sticks, chicken tenders, brownies, and chips. Coolers with soda, water, and juice sat next to the buffet tables. Students were dancing and teachers were surveying the scene. Ms. Octa, who was flirting with Mr. Abdiel, who in turn wasn't paying any attention to her, had to leave the hospital to be a chaperone for the dance. On the dance floor were Principal Mouse and girlfriend, the secretary, Ms. Minerva Mowse. In the back of the quad, Max was trying to hide from the embarrassment. His dad was out on the dance floor doing moves from the 1970's, moves that probably weren't that hip even back then.

Belle didn't find a dress when she went shopping, and neither did Aurora. Belle ended up wearing the green dinner party dress and Aurora wore black. She didn't want to wear black, but she couldn't decide between blue and pink. She didn't like purple, and green was a definite no. Part of her really wanted to wear pink because she knew Ella Perrault would be wearing blue and didn't want to cause confusion. Also, Aunt Merryweather would be upset and she couldn't have that. Despite the dress situation, Aurora had even talked Belle into wearing her hair out and loose. Belle looked like a real beauty.

They danced until their feet hurt, took off their heels, and then danced some more. The dancing subsided when Principal Mouse stood in the middle of the dance floor, microphone in hand and made an announcement.

"I hope you all are having a great time!" he excitedly said.

The students responded with a "YEAH!"

"Great! I would like to congratulate the football team, especially our quarterback, for the win against Universal yesterday. I know winning against our rivals on homecoming is always a great experience. I would also like to give another congratulations to our homecoming king and queen, Eric Anderson, who I know we are all happy to have back at Disney High, and Aurora-Rose Briar. Now, let's continue having a magical time!"

The night continued smoothly. Aurora had to leave early because of her aunts and got a ride with Ella, who was also under curfew. Philip stayed to give Belle a ride home. It wasn't until the dance was at full swing that Belle got a call on her cellphone. She headed into the cafeteria to take the call and was shocked when she heard her father, sounding tired and sick. His car broke down and he had to find refuge. He stumbled upon an old, large palace up on a hill and went in as the door was unlocked and the house looked abandoned. He had called out to the owner of the home, but the only response given was the harsh wind, cruel rain, and the quiet whispers of the palace staff, drowned out by the thunder and their bodies concealed by shadows as they were hiding from their master. Maurice remembered the gift his daughter had asked him for, a rose. In the backyard there was a rose garden. As Maurice picked a rose, the most beautiful in the garden and most deserving of his daughter, a large, foreboding shadow cast upon him.

The shadow belonged to the young master, who—even though he was only child—had the presence and booming voice of a man. The anger in the young master's eyes was wild and animalistic. Maurice was not afraid of him. He was only a boy. However, being tired and sick from the journey made Maurice unable to argue and think clearly. He had come to an agreement with the young master instead of being charged with breaking and entering and theft. Written on a piece of paper and signed by both, Maurice would travel to young master's home and work until the master said that he had paid off his debt. This was not a legal binding document, so there was no reason for Maurice to go to his house, but Maurice was a man of his word and principles. He would never break a promise or agreement. But he would never make a promise or agreement he couldn't keep or fulfill. Cast out of the palace with no working car and little knowledge of the area, he had called Belle.

Belle, after hearing the story, went directly to Philip and asked him to take her to the address her father had told her. Seeing the desperate look in her eyes, Philip agreed with no questions asked.

Fun Facts:

-According to the Disney Wiki (what I'm taking as the ultimate source of truth for this entire story when I can't rely on my memory or the source material), Belle is seventeen and Aurora is sixteen. If no one skipped a grade or got held back, Belle should be either a junior or a senior, and Aurora should be either a sophomore or a junior.

-His name should be spelled "Phillip" not "Philip". I just never bothered to check.

-The man he's named after, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, spells it my way. So, Disney, you got it wrong.

-In the original story, Belle's dad was a wealthy merchant who lost his fortune when his ships were lost at sea.