Princess Fantasy D X-2
A/N: I have never been inspired enough to write stories about any fanart before, until I saw the work of deviantart artist Skirtzzz, specifically her Final Fantasy Disney Dressphere series. With her blessing, this will be another part of a series of final scene rewrites, using the powers of the dresspheres to possibly change the script, or failing that, make the scene worthy of a Final Fantasy series. Replicating the feel for such an incredible franchise will be a challenge, but I swear I'll do my best!
If you haven't seen any of the movies or their endings, this could be a little spoilerific, but if you have or don't mind, hang on for the ride!
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
The Radiant Rose
The massive oak door to the castle shuddered, groaned, and then finally gave way. The battering ram of a tree crashed through, then dropped to the ground as the men hefting it put it aside and streamed into the entrance hall, armed to the teeth with torches, pitchforks, and other paraphernalia. At the head of the mob, the handsome yet boorish and arrogant Gaston LeGume stalked in like he owned the place, gazing around.
Neither he, nor anyone else in the mob, recognized the castle or who could possibly own it, given the only link to it was a childhood folk tale passed down from 10 years past.
The first thing that caught Gaston's eye was the peculiar arrangement of furniture, tools and ornaments on either side of the hall, from chests of drawers and bookcases, to tables, chairs, mops, and even a feather duster. A smarter person might have found the arrangement odd, but Gaston didn't even think twice about it, due to his fixation on his target up in the castle and due to his own shallowness.
Slowly, shivering from the rain outside, the men warily entered the hall, looking around for anything that might be a giant beast lurking around a corner. Squinting in the dim light, Gaston's squat right-hand-man LeFou reached for a small brass candelabra and picked it up to see better.
He almost dropped it in shock when the candelabra threw its arms down and yelled, "NOW!"
All at once, every piece of furniture, which up till now had remained stationary, suddenly came to life and mobbed the mob. In a second, the entire hall had devolved into bedlam.
Fueled by the desire to keep their home and master safe, the enchanted castle servants attacked with vigor. Chapeau, the doorman-turned-hatstand, found a new use for his wooden arms as he pummeled a goon in the face. The twin servants-turned-chests of drawers Commode and Bureau walloped foes with their wooden drawers, and Goldmine, the gluttonous treasurer-turned-trunk, swallowed a mobster into his innards and locked him up tight.
Servants in the forms of smaller objects like mops, buckets, frying pans and rolling pins jumped or flew through the air to bludgeon their attackers like mad hornets. Even though they were bigger, stronger, and holding actual weapons, hardly any of the men could bring any of their advantages to bear, for the simple fact that none of them expected to be fighting sentient furniture.
Gaston would have just ignored the chaos and gone straight for his prey, but the castle's inhabitants wouldn't let him. As he ascended the main stairs, one of the castle guards, trapped in the form of a full suit of armor, clattered down at him, sending him down head over heels with a mighty shove.
A vein pulsed in Gaston's brawny head as he picked himself up, grabbing a discarded axe as the suit drew his sword. "Get outta my way!"
Even Chip didn't quite know how he got old man Maurice's axe-swinging contraption working so quickly. It was probably a combination of creativity, persistence, and a lot of luck that a tiny teacup managed to get the coals in the furnace burning, the gears shifted correctly, and the machine aimed right for the cellar door.
A few more puffs into the furnace finally got the whole machine churning, ready to go at a moment's notice. "Yes!" he cried triumphantly, before hopping to the driver's seat, releasing the brake with a shove, and using his handle nose to hook and pull the whistle.
"Here we go!" he cheered, as the machine whistled piercingly and lurched forward. The axe blade in front jerked up and down as the machine clattered down the hill, aimed straight for the locked cellar door that held Belle and her father prisoner.
Even with the racket the machine was making, Chip briefly heard Maurice yell something right before the machine hit. The convulsing hatchet literally made kindling out of the wooden door, right before the entire contrivance crashed down the stairs into the cellar.
When Chip finally regained his bearings, he was dangling from a spring stuck in the ceiling, the remains of the invention were scattered around the wrecked cellar, and Belle and Maurice were timidly looking over an upturned table at him. "You guys gotta try this thing," he said dazedly.
Belle didn't waste any time getting up, grabbing Chip and scrambling for the exit. "Hurry, Papa! We have to get back to the castle! The Beast needs help!"
As Maurice staggered up the stairs, fatigued by his ordeal in the cold, Belle was already saddling up their horse Phillipe. With Chip in her saddlebag, the two of them threw their cloaks on to protect them from the rain, leapt on Phillipe, and took off into the woods.
The battle between the mob and the enchanted servants had by now reached a boiling point. The men had managed to get over their shock by now and were putting up a fight, but the fervor of the castle's defenders refused to break under the pressure.
One beefy mobster was about to send a cluster of living tankards flying when the teaset comprising of the teapot Mrs. Potts and other members of the castle's serving staff doused him in scalding liquid from above. A number of musical instruments, led by the piccolo Fife, stampeded around the hall and deafened every intruder they came across.
The lady-in-waiting Madame Armoire dropped down from an upper level with an operatic trill, crushing a man beneath her bulk. In her entrapped form of a sentient wardrobe, her sheer mass, swinging doors and lashing drawers made short work of the hooligans, and one was literally devoured by her closet doors and spat back out, looking much less manly than when he went in.
Having armed himself with a pair of scissors and a pistol, the castle major-domo Cogsworth rushed out, prepared for battle, before spotting LeFou advancing on the head butler Lumière. The cornered candelabra was trembling as LeFou's torch threatened to melt his fearful expression right off his wax face.
Incensed at the sight of seeing his best friend in peril, Cogsworth went sliding down the banisters with a furious battle cry, his scissors pointed out blade-first. Luckily for him, LeFou's crouching posture had his buttocks facing directly at the banisters, which provided a perfect target for the attacking mantelclock. LeFou's sadistic grin turned into a shriek of agony as Cogsworth's scissors jabbed into his posterior, causing him to leap ten feet into the air.
Lumière wasted no time in hopping away to regain his composure. When he managed to solidify his face again, the first thing he saw was his girlfriend Fifi harassing another hooligan, beating him over the head over and over with the wooden handle of her featherduster body. However, enraged by one hit too many, the man managed to seize her, turn her upside down, and start tearing her feathers out by the handful, eliciting yelps of pain from the transformed maid.
The butler did not waste a second. Sliding behind the offending goon, Lumière took a deep breath and blew down, the candle flame on his head erupting into a bonfire and searing the man's backside. The goon took off with a yell, and with practiced ease, Lumière caught Fifi on her way down, the featherduster smiling thankfully at him.
When LeFou recovered from his injury, the first thing he saw was Sultan, the dog-turned-footstool, pulling his shoe off. Grabbing a nearby pitchfork, the diminuitive henchman chased after the transformed mutt, hollering for help. A few of the remaining mobsters joined in the chase, pursuing Sultan through another pair of double doors.
However, a mere second later, LeFou and his backup burst back out through the doors, screaming in panic. Chasing after them was a swarm of sentient knives, forks and cleavers, followed by the terrifying living stove that was Head Chef Bouche, cackling loudly with flames billowing from his vents like hellfire.
If that wasn't enough, another pair of side doors burst open and the remaining five members of the castle guard charged into the hall, armed to the teeth with swords, maces and axes collected from the armory. On top of everything they had seen that night, the sight of a sentient suit of armor swinging a massive poleaxe was the last straw for the mob. They broke ranks and fled, sprinting, crawling and limping out the front doors, across the bridge and into the night, wailing and squawking all the way.
The tired servants erupted into a triumphant cheer, jumping up and down in victory. The captain of the guard, Capitaine l'Ollonais, sighed and rested his polearm on his shoulder. "And just when I thought this might get interesting…"
A sudden clanging caught his attention, and he and the other servants whirled around. The guard that was fighting Gaston landed with a massive crash at the foot of the stairs, his armor parts flying in all directions. At the top of the stairs, the hem of a navy cloak was briefly seen before it vanished around a corner, but l'Ollonais's main focus was his fallen man.
"Marque!" he exclaimed, clanking over and picking up the armor's disembodied helmet. "Are you alright? What just happened."
The helmet's visor moved up and down as a dry cough came from inside it. "Sorry, mon capitaine, but the man I was fighting managed to get by me. He's gone upstairs and I think he's after the Master!"
"What?" cried l'Ollonais. But before he could do anything, a horse's whinny was heard outside the breached castle doors. Everyone turned around again to see a familiar brown stallion gallop into the castle, and on its back was a familiar old man and an even more familiar young woman.
"Belle!" exclaimed Lumière in delight. "You are back!"
"Lumière!" shouted Belle, too concerned to be relieved at seeing them again. "Where's the Beast?"
"He's up in the West Wing, miss!" spoke Marque from his captain's hands, "but someone's gone after him! Big guy with black hair, a red tunic and a big ego!"
Belle blanched. "Gaston!" Dismounting her horse, she hurriedly ran past the crowd of servants and guards straight up the stairs.
"Mademoiselle, wait!" called l'Ollonais, but she vanished around the corner without responding. Grunting in frustration, he handed Marque's head to another of his men. "DeClie, Fontaine, help put Marque back together! Bastion, Lautrec, guard the perimeter in case those hooligans come back! I'll go upstairs and take care of that muscle-head!"
As his men saluted and carried on with their duties, the suit of armor gripped his poleaxe and clanked up the stairs. Lumière, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts watched him go uneasily.
Gaston kicked open another door and pointed his bow inside, only to find another empty room. He was breathing heavily; his earlier fight with the guard had taken more out of him than he liked, but he was too fixated on his prey to take notice of it.
He turned another corner to find another door, but just he was about to kick this one in as well, his hunter instincts told him that this was the one he was looking for, and he pushed it open slowly, looking in arrow-first.
His eyes widened when he saw the hunched form sitting on a divan at the far end of the room, staring out at the storm through glass balcony doors. The dim lighting from the storm and a strange glass jar beside him revealed his bestial features that combined those of many different animals, from lion and bear to buffalo and wolf.
Gaston could almost feel the acclaim he'd receive by bringing back that creature's head. He aimed his bow.
Hearing the sound of his bowstring tensing, the Beast's silhouette shifted and turned towards him, and Gaston tensed himself, preparing for an attack. But there was no fury or emotion in the Beast's blue eyes, only lethargy and sorrow. Even the sight of his potential killer wasn't enough to stir him to defend himself.
Fixated on his goal as he was, Gaston didn't notice or care about the almost human look in his eyes. His arm muscles flexed as he prepared to release the arrow.
Unluckily for him, his fixation also left him blind to what was coming up behind him.
A female's shout of "STOP!" caught him off-guard, right before someone tackled him and sent him tumbling into the room. His arrow missed Beast's head by an inch and instead struck the balcony glass, spider-webbing the pane with cracks.
Unable to believe his ears, Gaston looked behind him to see Belle trying to pick herself off the floor, having been the one who attacked him. She was breathing rapidly with both stress and emotion, but there was a stony set to her face that he had never seen before.
The Beast had also spun around when he heard Belle's shout, and was currently staring at the two of them with a look of disbelief. "Belle?" he uttered, though his bass voice and his stunned expression made it sound like a croak instead. "You… you came back…"
Pulling herself to her feet, Belle spared him a weak but warm smile, before turning her full attention on the now-standing Gaston.
The hunter managed to cover his disbelief with his signature veneer of cockiness. "Well, Belle, I don't know how you got here, but I'm glad anyway!" He raised his bow and puffed out his chest at Belle. "You're just in time to see proof that I'm a more of a man than this filthy animal!"
He turned back towards the Beast, "Because when I'm done with him, his head will have a new place on my wall, and you'll be my one and onl-aaargh!"
In the moments Gaston had taken his eyes off the Beast, he had jumped off the divan, closed the distance, and seized the hunter by the neck, propelling him back five yards into the wall. Gaston's bow fell from his hands as he scrabbled at the Beast's wrist, looking into the chimera's furious face that was now boiling with rage.
"Say that again!" snarled the Beast. "I dare you to say-"
"Just a moment, Beast," Belle's firm words made the Beast pause, though he didn't loosen his grip. Taking a deep breath, Belle walked up to look right at a disbelieving Gaston, her expression sour enough to curdle milk.
"I am only going to say this once, Gaston, so for once in your life, listen." The young woman's words held so much contempt that they almost made the brawny man wince. "You turned the whole town against my father, tried to get him sent to Maison Des Lunes, attacked my friends and a place I called home, and now you try to murder my dear friend! If you honestly think that even after all of that, I'll suddenly just fall head-over-heels for you, then YOU'RE the one who should be sent to bedlam!"
Belle was practically red-faced with her tirade, but still had enough presence of mind to reach for a protruding handle in Gaston's tunic pocket. "So get this through that thick, arrogant, self-centered, swollen head of yours: I DON'T like you, and I never will!" She pulled the magic mirror that Gaston had taken from her out of his pocket and stepped back, breathing hard.
Slowly, she turned to the Beast, her expression softening, though her tone, directed at Gaston, still carried that bite. "And I stand by what I said earlier. Beast is more of a man than a monster like you will ever be."
The Beast's expression softened as well as he returned her look. Unnoticed by either, a faint glow started to light up one corner of the room.
Through his blurring vision, Gaston saw the exchange between Belle and the Beast, and he saw both green and red. With the blood vessels in his temple fit to burst, he scrabbled for his quiver which still hung on his back, drew an arrow, and stabbed the point right into the Beast's forearm. The Beast gave a roar of agony as his grip involuntarily loosened, and Gaston took advantage, breaking free.
"A monster? A monster?!" he gritted, landing a kick to the stomach that doubled the Beast over. "Who…" a locked-hand axe-handle blow to the Beast's fanged face sent him staggering backwards, "… are you calling…" a meaty hand locked around Belle's hand right before she brained him with the magic mirror, "…a monster?!"
His words were belied by a flash of lightning outside, illuminating his chiseled features that were now grotesquely contorted with fury. Callously, he tore the magic mirror away from Belle and backhanded her across the face, knocking her flat on her back.
Upon seeing this, the Beast forgot all about the pain in his arm, and with a roar of raw anger, lunged at the hunter with claws bared. Gaston just barely evaded the swipe that would've disemboweled him, the attack instead gashing the front of his red tunic and snapping the belt that held his quiver on.
Rolling to his feet next to the ruined four-poster bed, Gaston tore out one of the still-intact bedposts to use as a weapon, and managed to block the Beast's next attack. The already totaled room was torn even more to shambles as the the man and the chimera battled back and forth across it.
Her cheek still stinging, Belle looked up with a groan to view Gaston and the Beast struggling for control over the creaking bedpost, arms and paws locked along its length. But this deadlock was broken when the Beast bared his fangs and bit down on the post, splitting it completely in two. Without missing a beat, he pulled Gaston's arms apart and slammed his horned forehead directly into Gaston's face with a crack.
Gaston lost his grip and went staggering back, almost falling over the divan next to the balcony. As he shook the stars out of his eyes, he felt his face, and winced with both disbelief and pain when he touched his bloody, broken nose.
"My… my face…"
The Beast tossed aside the fragments of the post and advanced, growling ferociously. Realizing he was almost defenseless, Gaston looked around for something, anything to use as a weapon.
Turning to his left, he caught sight of a softly glowing rose, that seemed to be floating in mid-air beneath a glass bell-jar. Its drooping head only had a handful of petals remaining on it, the rest of them lying below it…
… on top of a sturdy, round, marble-topped table.
The Beast stopped in his tracks with horror when Gaston bent down and grabbed the carved central shaft of the table like he was about to use it as a bludgeon. "No! Stop!" he bellowed, charging at Gaston.
Belle gasped as, with an almighty grunt, Gaston heaved the table off the floor, flinging the bell jar, rose and petals into the air. She was dimly aware of the hunter bringing the table down on the Beast's back even as he crashed into him and sent them both flying through the window onto the balcony, but that was inconsequential compared to her heart pounding and her body twisting as she leapt up and ran with arms outstretched, not taking her eyes off the Beast's lifeline to humanity for a second…
Belle made one desperate leap and managed to grab the bell jar barely a foot from the ground. The rose rolled limply in the bottom of the jar amongst its remaining petals, and Belle watched in dismay as a couple more fell off the wilting bloom.
Another loud roar from the Beast made her look up again out the shattered window, to see Gaston and the Beast still battling furiously beneath the curtain of pouring rain. Through missed blows cracking the balcony railing and Beast's devastating blows on the weapon itself, Gaston's table bludgeon had been reduced to a chunk of marble mounted on one-and-a-half carved angels, but that had the unforeseen advantage of making it easier for Gaston to swing around.
As Belle watched, her heart feeling it would beat itself out of her chest, Beast caught Gaston's bludgeon after another desperate swing, but instead of trying to pull it away, he merely pushed it out of the way and repaid Gaston for backhanding Belle, by backhanding him with his massive paw. Gaston fell back against the railing, clutching his face with his free hand.
"Augh!" he groaned, "God, not the face!"
Seeing his opening, the Beast leapt at him, but Gaston managed to stagger/roll out of the way at the last moment. The Beast's full weight fell upon the weakened railing, which started to shift and crack even more. But before the Beast could recover and move out of the way, Gaston dealt a savage blow against his back.
The added pressure was too much for the railing to take, and it crumbled. The Beast's frame fell through the opening into empty space, and only by him grabbing the still-intact railings did he prevent himself from falling clear off.
His attention split between Gaston's gloating and the rain starting to foul his grip, the Beast noticed that the roof below him was just a simple drop away. Glancing up to see Gaston raising his weapon for a killing blow, he shot the hunter a menacing glare and let go, dropping down to the roof below and sliding down to a ledge.
"Running away won't save you, Beast!" hollered down Gaston, even as the Beast began to climb back up the roof towards the balcony. He prepared to jump down after him. "You'll never escape from me! Belle will be mine, no matter what-"
"Gaston!" Belle's shout made him turn around, before his face exploded in glass and pain.
Gaston staggered to the side and collapsed, howling in pain and dropping his club to clap both hands over his face. Belle dropped the remnants of the bell jar that she had managed to smash into his head and ran to the balcony, the wilting rose clutched in her hand.
"Beast, are you okay?" she called down in fear, but she visibly relaxed when she saw him clambering back up to her.
The Beast gave the first relieved smile he had given all that night, but that expression suddenly changed to shock. "Belle! BEHIND YOU!" he yelled.
Belle didn't even have a moment to react before a meaty hand wrapped around her neck and hauled her bodily into the air. The young woman felt ice in her veins when she stared down at her captor.
On Gaston's once-unblemished face, one side of it was now covered with cuts and gashes, all of which looked like they would scar, and his skin was already starting to purple with a terrible bruise. His injured-side eye was screwed shut with blood leaking from the edge, but his other eye was open and glaring at her with unrestrained hatred. The addition of his jet-black hair that was now windswept, damp and hanging loose from the storm just made him all that more nightmarish.
His grip tightened on the railing that he was using to keep his balance as he snarled at her.
"What. Did I say. About the FACE?!"
Below them, the Beast gave a snarl of his own and sped up his scaling, but Gaston paid it no heed. He stared at Belle with a look of utmost loathing, like she was nothing more than pond scum.
Belle struggled in Gaston's grip like Gaston did in the Beast's grip before her, fear and anger warring to overwhelm her. Finally, they settled on cold anger and defiance.
"I care about your face even less than I do about you, Gaston," Belle spat out his name as if it were poison. "At least now you're just as ugly outside as in."
If it was even possible, Gaston's twisted face twisted even further. His supporting hand went to his belt and withdrew the magic mirror. He glanced down at his ruined reflection.
"You're more trouble than you're worth as a trophy, you little tramp," he said lowly, "but if I won't have you…"
The magic mirror was flipped around to reflect Belle's widening eyes.
"…THEN NO-ONE SHALL!"
The glass of the magic mirror shattered as it was smashed into Belle's face at the same time Gaston released her, sending her tumbling through the gap in the railing into empty space. She screamed from the pain in her lacerated cheeks and in sheer terror as her body began to tumble the long distance to the ground below. With her own scream and the sound of breaking glass echoing in her ears, the distant clanking of armor and Beast's roar of rage and anguish seemed so far away. Her fingers tightened on the stem of the rose, its thorns drawing blood.
Unbidden, the faces of her loved ones flashed through her thoughts. 'Mama, I'll be with you soon. Oh, Papa, Chip, Mrs. Potts, Lumière, Cogsworth…
…Beast, my love…
…I'm so sorry…'
The whole world turned white.
Many miles away, a beautiful lavender-eyed individual paused and blinked.
From far off in the distance, she had felt it; the destruction of one of her enchanted creations, quickly followed by a surge of magic, the spell from which it came instantly recognizable. But if she was to be honest with herself, she had not been expecting that particular surge to happen…
… not since she had observed the person who was cursed by it.
A small smile bloomed on her face. "Well, well, I suppose that I have been proved wrong after all. It would seem that you have found your rose, someone who can love and be loved by the man behind the Beast…"
"… isn't that right, Prince Adam?"
Beast's claws dug into the shingles as he leapt to another roof to desperately try and catch the falling Belle, but he had only made one jump when, before his eyes, Belle's entire body exploded with dazzling, pale-pink light. Beast's blue eyes widened to the size of saucers as he watched the glowing form stop falling and hover in mid-air, as the light began to wrap around her until she was encased in a giant rosebud construct made of solid pink.
A moment later, the bud bloomed, sending out a wave of coruscating energy that lit up the night sky and banished every raincloud overhead for a mile. A silver handle emerged from the bottom of the unfurling petals, slowly revealing itself to be the magic mirror, enlarged to the point a person could stand comfortably on its face. And above it, floating in the middle of the blossom…
Beast's breath caught as he beheld Belle, birthed from the rose like a goddess from legend. She was garbed in an elegant dress the same shade of gold as the ball gown she had worn for the dance they had shared, but different in many ways: a darker-gold brocade bodice patterned in gilt paisley, numerous sheer scarves covering her bare shoulders and hanging in loops from her waist, pearl-like beads of light winding around her arms, elbow-length gloves, a long flowing skirt that revealed her legs up to her knees in front and tapered off into two long tails in back, a white petticoat that resembled dove feathers, and sparkling gold shoes. The now-fully bloomed flower floated behind her like the sun's corona disk.
"My God…" the Beast uttered.
Belle gave him a beatific smile, her raven hair cascading down her back and her face devoid of any cuts or blood. She reached out her hand down towards him, and a petal separated itself from the huge rose and fluttered down to where he was.
The Beast reached out for the rose petal that was as large as his head, taking it into his paw. As he did so, Belle closed her eyes and murmured, "Gravity Bloom," and the petal briefly flickered with a dark-purple glow before rising back into the air, pulling the Beast into the air with it like he weighed less than a feather.
"My lord! You are okay!" said Capitaine l'Ollonais, who had arrived amidst all the commotion and was now holding the hunter at weapon-point.
Belle watched as the Beast was placed back on the balcony, still blinking bemusedly at his flight and only giving a small nod of acknowledgement to the capitaine. Then, she turned her gaze on Gaston, looking down on him with a neutral expression.
The hunter was on his knees, drenched from the rain, staring up at the woman floating in mid-air in front of him. His undamaged eye was practically bulging out of his head, his mouth was opening and closing like a fish, and the only sounds he was making were unintelligible gibbers as he pointed at her with one shaking finger. He was so out of it that even the living suit of armor aiming a halberd at his head barely crossed his notice.
"H…h-h…ha… ho… www…wh-whh…b…b-bu…"
"Well, it would seem that no-one gibbers like Gaston either," commented Belle dryly, remembering the raucous song that was sung many a night at the tavern. "Perhaps you could give me a good reason why I shouldn't throw you off the castle, just like you did to me?" A twitch of her fingers sent another rose petal drifting lazily through the air towards the wounded man.
Gaston stared at the rose petal like it was the Grim Reaper. His already-pale face grew even paler, and his gibbering sped up.
Belle held that neutral gaze for a moment longer, before sighing and shaking her head. "No, I already have a good reason: I'm not the sort to kick a man when he's down. You're already beaten, Gaston, and you know it." The rose petal disappeared into a sparkle of pink light, and Gaston almost sagged in panicked relief.
The Beast stopped staring at the petal he held and looked up at Belle in confusion. "Belle… what is this? How did you…?"
"I don't really know myself, Beast," answered Belle, turning to look at the flower behind her and the mirror at her feet, "but… somehow… I know what I can and what I'm supposed to do…"
With a gesture, the mirror moved from her feet to hover beside her. Belle reached out and touched it, causing its face to shimmer. "… I'm supposed to be the conduit to break the curse."
The Beast's mouth fell open, praying that this was no dream. "But… does that mean…"
"It does, Beast," Belle said with a soft smile. "You have changed, enough for you to love someone, and for someone to love you in return. After all, I love you, and I can see the you that you really are. Can't you?"
She tilted the mirror to fully face the Beast, who gasped when he saw what was reflected. Staring back at him, with the same blue eyes, was his handsome, human self.
Belle closed her eyes, and placed her hands together. "Reflection of Truth," she intoned.
The Beast's human reflection smiled and reached out his hand, before dissolving into a flurry of multicoloured motes. The motes flew out of the mirror like comets, arced through the air, and vanished into the Beast's chest, blowing his fur back like a gust of wind. The chimera gasped again as the magic actually lifted him off his feet, surrounding him in a haze of golden light.
"My lord!" breathed l'Ollonais in surprise.
Through the ruined bedchambers doors, Lumière, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Maurice looked in and moved to the ruined window, gaping at the sight before them.
Waves of light played over the Beast, his body twitching and shuddering as it transformed. His fur melted back into pink flesh and his paws shrunk back into human hands and feet. His hulking stature realigned itself into that of a young man, and his tail vanished entirely.
Finally, in a terrific flash of light, the transformation was completed with the Beast's shaggy head, horns and all, melting away into the handsome visage of the prince he once was and now was again. Slowly, the magic placed him back on the ground, still clad in his tattered tunic, cape and trousers.
For a long moment, everyone stared at the once-Beast, as he himself stared at his human hands, slowly opening and closing them in disbelief.
It was l'Ollonais that finally broke the silence. "Prince Adam, my lord! You… you are human again!"
As reality finally sunk in, Prince Adam started to tremble with barely contained excitement. "Human… I'm human!" He turned to Belle, his bright blue eyes glistening with unshed tears, and moved towards her, grasping her by the waist. "Belle… thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"
Even with all the magic and wisdom flowing through her, the sight of those familiar, tearful blue eyes made Belle's heart melt and tears come to her own eyes. "You're very welcome… Adam," she whispered, one hand reaching up to brush aside his long brown hair. "Anything… for the man I love."
Their gazes held for a moment longer, before they finally, slowly, drew each other in for the kiss they'd been holding back for all this time.
Lumière, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts all smiled in joy at the sight, and Maurice beamed at his daughter's happiness. l'Ollonais gave a sort of creaking chuckle, and Gaston just gawked aimlessly.
As the two savored their embrace, the sky began to brighten as the dawning sun rose over the horizon. As if on cue, Belle's giant mirror and rose gave one last shimmer, and dissolved into a flurry of golden sparks and pink rose petals, which swirled around the couple and up into the sky.
A moment later, the flurry burst into all directions and came raining back down, and wherever they touched, the castle changed. The forbidding black battlements melted away into gleaming white towers, and the intimidating gargoyles lining them metamorphosed into smiling angels. Even the pine forest around the castle took on a more welcoming appearance.
Belle and Adam broke their kiss to watch the changes happening all around them, but none caught their attention more than the changes of the servants. With blue, gold, pink and silver sparkles emanating from them, Lumière, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and l'Ollonais reverted from their state as inanimate objects back into their original human forms: a tall, thin head butler, a portly major-domo, a jolly, plump head chef, and a muscular, swarthy guard capitaine.
"Lumière! Cogsworth! Mrs. Potts! Capitaine!" Prince Adam cried, gathering them all into a big hug. "Look at us!"
"Good to have you back, sire," said l'Ollonais, patting him on the back. "Now as for you, Monsieur," he pulled up an unresisting Gaston by the collar, "there'll be a long stay below ground for you; attempted regicide is never looked upon well."
"Mama! Mama!" came Chip's voice, as Sultan ran out onto the balcony with the little tea-cup on his back. In another flash of sparks, what was once a footstool was now a large, furry dog, with a little blond boy sitting on his back.
Tears in her eyes, Mrs. Potts picked up her son and hugged him. "Oh, my goodness!" Maurice moved over and patted her on the shoulder.
"It is a miracle!" cheered Lumière.
"Yes," Belle said. Adam turned to look, and blinked when he saw a few sparkles fading from around her, with her no longer in her elegant gold gown, but back in her simple blue and white dress, with an odd card held in her hands.
Her smile, though, was just as beautiful as before. "Yes, it truly is a miracle."
Adam just beamed and picked her up again. Belle laughed as he swung her around, the bad memories of the past night melting away.
It was definitely a new beginning, for everyone.
Well, I'm back in 2015! Here's another chapter ready for everyone! Hope you enjoy it!
I'm so, so sorry it took so long; the last three months at University literally strangled the muse right out of me. Once again, I hope it passes muster.
And I wish I could say that this marks more updates in the future, but the fact is that this month is uni exam month for me, so there'll be another long wait, I'm afraid. But I hope this will be enough to tide you over till then!
If any of you are wondering where those living suits of armor came from, they're seen during the song "Human Again", polishing their helmets in single file. I posited they were castle guards, and I have no idea why they weren't integrated into the final battle.
Skirtzzz, thank you so, so much for waiting again! I know it's been a long time, but I really hope you enjoy this installment!
Find Belle's Floral Fallal costume, created by the talented DeviantArtist Skirtzzz here (scrap all the spaces)!:
skirtzzz . deviantart dotcom / art / Floral – Fallal – Belle – 313390864
Review and Critique please; I'd really like to know someone's reading this! But please, no flaming!
Next Chapter: The Positronic Pumpkin