The fifty strong mob of boys, young men and the ones who were still able to hunt and fight, followed Amandine as she led them to the castle, using Leon's mirror as a guide to find the best and quickest way to the castle to do their terrible deed of killing the beast that stood to threaten them, the village and their families and to prove that they were the strongest, bravest and toughest hunters.

They had also hoped to impress Amandine and in doing so, she would forget all about Leon and choose one of them to be her husband.

Marching proudly on her horse and her hair whipping in the wind like a banner of war in its ponytail, Amandine smiled to herself at feeling the thrill and excitement of leading a mob and killing a terrible and hideous creature that took what was hers, the man she loved and wanted more than anything.

And turning her hide into a lovely fur coat and placing her head on the tavern wall as a trophy, as well as having riches beyond her wildest dreams would be the icing on the cake, as proof of the victory that had evaded the LeGume family for so long and would be achieved through her, their sole descendant.

'We're nearly there, boys,' she said, to the cheers of the mob, as they waved their weapons about in the air and the Etienne triplets waved their musical instruments, not realising that they were hardly weapons of destruction except on poor, innocent ears when their tuneless music emerged from them.

But then again they were just talentless musicians who had never hunted in their entire lives but they too had gotten caught up in the mob and wanted to join in as well, purely for the thrill of it.

'Our moment of triumph is soon approaching! The beast will be no more and I shall be victorious!' she said, laughing evilly.

'Ahem,' the mob said, not pleased that they weren't being recognised by their goddess.

'Oh, sorry, WE will all be victorious!' she said, as they cheered again.

'Imbeciles,' Amandine muttered under her breath, as the mob kept marching and chanting, to pass the time and make the journey shorter,

'We don't like what we don't understand, in fact it scares us and this monster is mysterious at least!'

'Bring your guns, bring your knives!'

'We'll save our wives, children, the village and our lives!'

'We'll kill the beast!'

However, in their excitement and having been too caught up in the hype of the whole thing, the mob had failed to see what lay ahead of them, as Amandine guided them towards the dark forest, where they had never dared to enter but it was the only way to the castle, as was shown in the mirror.

And some of them were starting to have second thoughts, as they looked uneasily at the path and forest it led into, blanketed in thick fog and devoid of any light.

Pierre, who had never been the best and bravest of hunters, heard an owl hoot in the distance and did what he usually did whenever he and the boys went hunting and heard a slight animal sound, he started to run away screaming, only to be stopped by Henri who grabbed him by his jerkin.

'Where are you going, Pierre, you pathetic sissy?' he hissed at the weak and snivelling boy, 'This is no time to chicken out now!'

'But, Henri, I'm not going in there! The forest is too creepy and scary and there are wild animals in there!' Pierre whimpered, as did the other boys, for their fear was starting to get the better of them, as not all of them were brave and great hunters with the exception of Jean-Luc and they had thrown him in Leon's basement for his betrayal.

This irked Amandine, as she turned around and frowned at seeing half the mob reduced to snivelling wimps, refusing to move a single muscle into the forest. They were truly pathetic and far from the brave, strong and tough hunters that they claimed to be and she was wondering why she thought that they could do this.

'What the.. why have you stopped?' she said, using her sickly sweet tone and giving them her famous smile, which would normally make any boy melt and become putty in her hands, 'There's nothing to be afraid of, so why aren't you going into the forest?'

The mob said nothing, still shaking from the cold air and their fear, Amandine's smile and words doing nothing to settle their nerves, which added to her growing fury at their incompetence and cowardice.

'YOU IDIOTS!' she screeched, which made the mob flinch, 'YOU PATHETIC, SNIVELLING, WEAK AND COWARDLY IDIOTS! Why did I think you could do this?

This is the quickest path to the castle, where that hideous beast is plotting our doom and you won't even set foot in it, by letting a little, harmless owl get the better of you and chickening out like the lily-livered cowards you really are, especially after you claimed to be the bravest and toughest hunters in the region and in France?

Do you still want the chance to prove yourselves worthy to wear the jerkin of my uncle Gaston, instead of mocking his memory and being inept at the things that he was famous and well-loved for?

Do you still want to have riches for your families? Do you want to protect the village from this monster?'

The mob nodded reluctantly.

'So screw your courage to the sticking place and get your sorry, pathetic behinds into that forest! And cut down a tree, the biggest one you can find so we can use it as a battering ram to break down the door when we get there!' Amandine commanded.

The mob had to hold back their fears, nervousness and cowardice, as they followed her into the forest, trying not to complain about the cold, the poor visibility from the fog and being whacked in the face by the bare branches of the trees, as they brushed past them.

Beauden, Henri and Stephane found a huge tree for the battering ram and proceeded to cut it down, only for the long-standing rivals to turn it into a full-blown argument about who should cut it and how one was doing it wrong, making very little progress, as the saw was being thrusted back and forth between the two squabbling boys rather than cutting down the tree.

'Hey, this is no time to be fighting!' Henri said, trying in vain to break up the fight, 'Save it for when we get to the castle! You don't want to tire yourselves out before the actual battle!'

Eventually, Beauden and Stephane ceased their argument and begrudgingly agreed to work together and were able to cut down the tree and the mob carried it, with LeFou riding on top, excited about participating in a raid against the castle again, despite his fear of Amandine, like he had done with Gaston and Anton only to fail twice and hoped that he and this mob would be successful.

'Yes, everything is going according to plan,' Amandine said to herself, smiling evilly as she held her horse's reins in one hand and the mirror in the other.

'No one can stop me now!' as the castle was soon in her sight and the mob prepared itself to attack it.

Back in the cottage's basement, Madeleine, Jean-Luc and Martine winced as they watched Leon use all his nineteen years' worth of strength to slam himself against the doors in a vain attempt to open them, having given up on trying to attract any attention when it was obvious that no help was coming.

The anguish and pain on his face told them that he was distraught about losing the love of his life, as he yet again slammed his shoulder against the doors, grimacing as the pain shot through his body, but he didn't care about that. He had to get to Rose before it was too late and the thought of losing her was too much to bear.

'Leon, just stop,' Jean-Luc said, 'all you're doing is seriously hurting yourself and what use is that when you're trying to rescue this beast? Surely there must be another way to get out of here without injuring your shoulder!'

'There isn't, we're locked in here well,' said Martine, resigned and feeling foolish about associating with Amandine and now that she was no longer loyal to her, she could badmouth her, without worrying about being insulted or hit on the head for it.

'How could I have been so stupid to get caught up in Amandine's evil games? How could I be so blind to her true and vicious nature, since I was too busy catering to her every whim and putting up with her abuse and insults?

She's nothing more than an evil, conniving, selfish, abusive and manipulative witch and I'm sorry that I ever associated with her!' she said.

'And it took you this long to figure it out?' said Jean-Luc, 'even after what I told you the night we spent together when you were nearly freezing to death outside the cottage?'

'Don't start, Jean-Luc, I had already figured it out long before that, but I had to keep up appearances, just like you did, so that Amandine and everyone wouldn't get suspicious, especially since I sang with her about it!' Martine hissed.

'Likewise,' said Jean-Luc, leaning close to her and then winced again at seeing Leon trying desperately hard to open the doors, knowing that the situation was hopeless for all of them.

'Leon, give up already,' he said, 'We're not going to get out anytime soon and no one is coming to help us, since they're on their way to raid a castle, steal its possessions and kill a beast!'

'That's a defeatist attitude, Jean-Luc,' said Martine, 'Remember, all the boys and men, except for you, are terrible hunters and will probably get no further than the forest and chicken out like the pathetic cowards that they are or if they do get to the castle, they will be defeated easily and flee embarrassed and with wounded pride.'

'Not if they're provoked by Amandine,' said Jean-Luc, 'She'll probably bring out their hunting skills and we all know that they would do ANYTHING for her! They may actually succeed in killing the beast..'

'Jean-Luc, please STOP!' Leon shouted, which startled the boy into silence, 'I don't want to hear anymore and we have to get out of here so that I can warn Rose about the danger she's in!

Oh, this is all my fault, I didn't mean to place this fate on her! I just wanted to prove that Mama was telling the truth! What are we going to do? I can't lose Rose, I just can't! She's everything to me!' as tears started to stream down his face, while his companions looked at him sympathetically.

Did Leon really care for this beast called Rose, who Amandine had tricked the villagers into believing that she was a vicious, bloodthirsty monster? And what had happened between them during their time in the castle?

It certainly seemed so and it was surprising to hear him describe the very thing that had imprisoned him, as the true love he had dreamed about and had wanted so long and that he would never love Amandine, no matter how hard she had tried to claim him as hers.

'Leon,' Martine said, 'you really care for this beast, don't you?'

'Of course, I do, Martine!' Leon snapped, which made the small girl flinch, 'She's my best friend and I'm about to lose her to Amandine and her mob and it's all because of me!'

'No, she's more than that, isn't she?' Martine said, 'You love her. She's your true love, something that Amandine will never be.'

'Actually, you're right, Martine, I do,' Leon said, finally realising his deep love for Rose that he hadn't in the time he had been in the castle. He had fallen in love with her from the moment she had saved him from the wolves and allowed her temper to fade, which had led to their odd, yet loving relationship.

'I love her with all my heart only I never got the chance to tell her and now it's too late,' he said as he slumped on the ground in defeat and sadness, 'she doesn't deserve this and I should have never shown her to the villagers!'

The familiar feelings of hopelessness and his inability to save Rose from her fate came back to him and he buried his face in his hands to hide the tears as his mother comforted him in a loving and warm embrace, as Leon's tears soaked into her nightgown.

'Now, now, don't worry, darling, everything is going to be alright,' Madeleine said, gently, as she held him and stroked his hair as he wept,

'I'm sure that we can think of something and don't feel guilty about what you have done. You did what you had to do and if you didn't, I would've have been locked in the asylum by now.

And if, by some miracle, we do get out of the basement, I'm coming with you to the castle, so that you can rescue your love.'

'Mama, no, you can't!' Leon said, 'not in your condition! I don't want you to get any sicker and you've been out in the cold too many times already!' but Madeleine stubbornly refused to listen to him.

'I want to, Leon,' she said, 'I lost you once and I'm not prepared to lose you again!'

'And we'll come with you too, Leon,' said Martine, eager to make things right, after doing so many wrongs while under the influence of Amandine.

'We want to help you and I want to make it up to you for participating in the teasing and bullying of you, the things I said about your mother,' while looking guiltily at Madeleine, remembering the unfavourable comments she had said about her, 'and for helping Amandine with her evil plan.'

'If we ever get out of here, that is,' Jean-Luc said, 'The only thing that can save us now is a miracle!'

And that miracle was in the form of a brave little paint bottle, who had seen the commotion that had been going on outside the cottage, as she had gotten out of out of Leon's bag and peeked outside the window.

Then, she had seen the mob throw Leon and Madeleine, along with two strange people into the basement and realised that not only were they in danger, everyone in the castle was too and it was up to her to be the hero and free her dear friend, so he could come back and save Rose, her parents and the servants from a terrible fate.

Hopping down the steps, Sophie looked around the garden and the cottage, hoping to find something that could break open the basement doors but couldn't find anything other than Leon's wood chopping axe, which was far too large and heavy for her to hold which she couldn't do anyway, having no hands and all.

But Sophie was not one to give up and soon she heard a familiar whinny, as she saw Sabine standing near her stall, chewing grass and was still miserable about being away from her love, Phillippe and she got an idea.

If she tried hard enough and with her incredible strength and determination, Sabine could use her hind legs to kick the doors open and she, having had experience with riding horses as a human and paint bottle, could help her do it!

'Sabine,' she called to the horse, hoping that she would come to her. To her surprise, the horse perked up at hearing her name and seeing the little paint bottle who had ridden in her travel bag, trotted over to her without hesitation, allowing Sophie to jump onto her and it was lucky that the horse was still wearing her saddle and halter.

It took a few tries for Sophie to mount Sabine since she was taller than her but the determined little paint bottle was not to be deterred and the horse had sensed she needed help and pressed her front legs out to the side and lowered her head so that Sophie was able to hop onto her more easily which she did as she jumped on her saddle.

'I need you to break down the basement doors, so we can free Leon, his mother and those strange people and they can come back to save us from that mean lady and the mob who want to hurt Rose and you can be reunited with Philippe,' Sophie then said to her, grabbing the reins with her mouth.

At the mention of Leon, Madeleine and Phillippe, Sabine whinnied, wanting nothing more than to help her masters and be reunited with her love and trotted carefully to the basement so that Sophie wouldn't fall off and the paint bottle coaxed the horse to position herself so that her hind legs were facing the doors.

'Go for it, Sabine,' Sophie said to her as the horse obeyed her and started to use her strength to break the doors down.

In the castle, the servants were lamenting their ruined chances of being human again and that they were more or less resigned to their fate as Mrs Potts sighed sadly to herself, as what she had hoped would never happened had come true and that such a wonderful night had to end like this, just like it had the last time.

They had been so close and yet were so far in bringing the mistress and the boy together and just when they believed that their efforts had worked, being at their wits end and having enjoyed the most wonderful ball for years, it had all been for nothing again.

'I knew it, I knew it was foolish to get our hopes up,' said Cogsworth, feeling dismayed and discouraged that what had happened with Belle and Adam, had indeed repeated itself with Rose, as she had fallen into a state of depression and heartbreak at losing her love, as a roar of anguish could be heard from the West Wing.

'And to think we believed that he would be the one to break the spell,' said George, equally distraught.

'It turned out to be nothing more than a false hope,' Katrine chimed in, 'and it's now gone out the door and I'm not speaking metaphorically. I've never seen the mistress so heartbroken, not since the day the curse was placed and her parents were turned into stone.'

'Maybe it would've have been better if he never came at all!' said Lumiere, as the servants gasped at hearing him say that.

'Lumiere, don't you dare say that!' Amelie said, aghast, 'After the big deal you made about him being here, acting like your birthdays and Christmases had come at once when he arrived, the wonderful dinner and cabaret you put on for him and going behind the mistress's back to do so, you are wishing he never came here?

That's a very defeatist and negative attitude, unusual for the likes of you!'

'Well, it's true!' Lumiere said.

'Then, I ought to give you a good slap for being so negative!' Amelie said, waving her brush around.

'She will, Lumiere, believe me and it's not pretty,' said Raymond, speaking from previous experience, having been on the receiving end of Amelie's slaps, albeit to calm him down whenever he got too hysterical or panicky.

'Leon was the best thing that has happened to this castle since, well, forever!' Amelie then said, 'He truly cared for all of us and befriended Sophie, who thought the world of him! Every time he read to her, played with her and drew her pictures, she looked like she was in heaven and never stopped talking about him!

Not to mention that he was falling in love with the mistress, as was she and they were so happy together!'

'If he really cared for us, then why did he leave?' Lumiere said which left the palette at loss for words. Then, at the mention of her daughter, Amelie instantly looked around for her, having noticed that the paint bottle had not been seen for a while and was becoming increasingly worried.

'Raymond,' she said to her husband, 'do you know where Sophie is?'

'Well, she was here a moment ago,' Raymond replied, then realised that many hours had passed since she was last seen, 'or not, but don't worry, dear, I'm sure that she's sleeping in the art box in the studio.'

'I don't think so, Raymond, my mothering instincts tell me that something is seriously wrong!' Amelie said as she was getting hysterical and was hopping around the room, shouting, 'Sophie! Sophie! Where are you, little lady?' desperately looking for her.

'Sophie?' Raymond said, realising the seriousness of the situation and getting panicky, like his wife was, 'Have any of you seen her? She seems to have gone missing!' He then said to the servants who simply shook their heads, no wiser than they were.

'No, we haven't seen her,' they said, 'she must have slipped away when we weren't looking.'

'I thought that she was here in the room with us..' said Lumiere, then realised the truth, when the paint bottle was nowhere to be seen, 'Oh, mon Dieu, little Sophie has gone! How could this have happened? She was here not too long ago!'

That sent all the servants into a panic. Not only were they doomed to be enchanted objects forever and were feeling the pain of Leon's departure, Sophie was now missing and they were extremely worried for her safety and well-being and they tried not to think the worst, as they helped her distraught and anxious parents look for her.

'No one has seen her, since..' Chip began,

'Yes?' the servants said, looking at him expectantly, like he knew where Sophie was. He didn't but he had a very good idea of where she might have gone, as he did the same thing when Belle left, having hidden away in her bag and it was certainly possible that Sophie had gone with Leon, without him knowing.

'Since Leon left us and I think that she may have gone with him,' he said.

'But that's impossible!' Amelie said, 'Surely, he had the sense not to allow her to go with him! She is a little glass paint bottle and extremely fragile and anything could happen to her! She could get lost or broken or kidnapped or put in an art shop!'

'Amelie, calm down, darling, you're getting too hysterical,' Raymond said, soothingly as he leaned against her, 'we will find her and Sophie is so brave, she can take care of herself. Besides, the young lad, Chip seems to know what may have happened to her, don't you, son?' as he looked eagerly at the teacup.

'Yes, Raymond, I think that it is possible that Sophie could have stowed away in Leon's bag. I know this because I did the same thing when I was little,' Chip said, as Mrs Potts shuddered at the memory.

'I was sad about Belle leaving, so I hid myself in her bag and followed her home and I think Sophie has done the same thing, since she was upset about Leon and wanted to go with him to find out why he had left.'

'That could be possible, Chippendale, I wouldn't have put it past her.' Remy said, smirking at him.

'And may I remind you that you have a terrible track record with taking care of kids? You did a bad job babysitting the mistress and Soph on the day of the curse by letting her wander off into the woods while you were playing hide and seek, so you were at fault too, since you had to go look for her and Soph tagged along with you, meaning that you two wandered off as well!

And Soph seems to have taken a leaf out of your book, by following the kid home! What a great example you have set for her!'

That earned him a frown from Chip, who did not like to be reminded of that day and being blamed for not watching Rose and to a lesser extent, Sophie, as she wandered into the woods and picked the rose, although he had argued that she was the one who suggested they played hide and seek.

'Remy, don't be so rude to Chip!' Mrs Potts said sternly while frowning at the washboard, 'It's not his fault that he was distracted when the mistress wandered off while playing hide and seek, so he couldn't see her!

And may I remind you that you didn't help the cause by trying to fight the Red Enchantress with your washboard, which only provoked her further and you got blasted by her magic for your foolishness!'

'Oh, you HAD to bring THAT up, Mrs P,' said Remy, shuddering at the memory he had tried to forget, 'and I was trying to protect everyone from that evil witch!'

'That's right, he was,' Rebecca said as she held on him, 'He was the only one who was brave enough to stand up to her, even though he got hurt for it, but really, Remy, you shouldn't have been rude to Chip. Apologise to him,' and Remy did so and the subject was soon dropped.

However, the whereabouts of Sophie and her safety and well-being soon proved to be the least of their worries, when Sultan started barking at the window, for something had attracted his attention, judging by the noise that was going on outside the castle gates.

'What is it, Sultan?' Cogsworth said, curious at his behaviour.

'Is Lila on the windowsill? Do you want to chase her? Go on boy! Go and chase Lila! You know you want to.' Remy said, enticing the footstool, like he usually did, to chase the cushion, who he believed to be the reason that Sultan was barking but the footstool ignored him.

'Remy! This is no time for games!' Rebecca said to him, 'Besides, Lila is over here,' as she pointed to the cushion, who was snoozing on the staircase, oblivious to what was going on.

'Then what has gotten Sultan all excited?' said Lumiere.

'I think that he wants us to look outside the window,' said Katrine, 'there's something going on out there, judging by all the noise and chanting.'

The servants perked up at hearing Katrine's last sentence, their hopes, as premature as they were, were coming back, as they headed towards the window, hoping to see Leon there with Sophie, safe and sound.

'Could it be?' Lumiere said.

'Is it he?' Mrs Potts said.

'No, it's an angry mob!' Katrine said, horrified, as she looked out the window and being the tallest enchanted object in the room, she was able to see a large mob of angry young men that were carrying weapons and a huge log with a little man on top of it and were fast approaching the doors.

A young woman dressed in a red and gold jerkin underneath a purple cape, black trousers and brown boots and had a light purple quiver and bow slung on her back, was leading the mob and carrying the mirror in her hand.

The servants gasped at seeing what was about to approach them, their frail and premature hopes of Leon coming back being smashed to pieces again and their doom literally arriving on their doorstep.

Stay tuned for the battle scene and a special shout out to my new followers and reviewers, especially Mistress Malicia, MegaPop, PurpleNicole531, Mr Gatsby, dehnl7517, Izi Wilson and many others!