So, after fifty chapters, it's now the showdown between Rose and Amandine! Who will win? Read on and find out?
A heavy downpour began outside, accompanied by the sound of thunder and flashes of green and red lightning illuminated the room and the window as the rain trickled down.
Rose still sat in her miserable state, moaning sadly for the love she had lost, not having moved since the mob arrived, although she had heard the battle downstairs and was glad that the servants were able to fight back and defeat the mob.
But she felt guilty that they had to risk their lives for her, when she had done nothing herself to stop the mob coming, even though they were victorious but not without a high cost, as she had heard that Remy had gotten injured.
And that further added to her guilt about what she had put her dear and loyal servants through, the ones that had helped take care of her since infancy.
It was all because of her, stupid her, that they were in the mess that they were in, that Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Chip and Babette had been cursed twice and the others shared their fate, having never experienced it before and that her parents and grandfather were stone statues, not having seen or be able with them for ten years.
If only she hadn't ignored Cogsworth's warnings, if only she hadn't suggested playing hide and seek, if only she hadn't wandered off into the forest and found that rose and picked it.
The very one that served as her hourglass, her countdown to her eighteenth birthday when her time would run out, to remind her of her plight and the pain she had gone through.
Then she wouldn't have been cursed and suffered the same fate as her father for the same number of years he did, becoming everything that he was and what her parents didn't want to be.
But the one good thing that had come out of it was that it had led her to meeting Leon, although it had been under less than favourable circumstances and their first impressions of each other were anything but good.
He had seen her at her absolute worst and she imprisoned and treated him badly, not to mention that she had made him run away when she had caught him in the West Wing, even though he had meant no harm and couldn't control her temper.
Yet he had been very patient with her, taught her everything she forgot and brought out the best in her once she allowed her temper to fade and they had bonded over their love of reading, playing in the snow, painting pictures and using bad British accents when reading.
It lead to them developing a very loving, deep and unbreakable relationship, which had gotten stronger over the months and they had a wonderful ball and their first dance together.
Only now it had been broken when he had left her forever with no hope of his return and she had ruined her and the servants' last chance to break the spell, be human again and be reunited with her parents.
Rose let out another sad moan, as she watched another petal fall, leaving the last one clinging stubbornly to the stem, resigning to fate and not noticing or hearing the footsteps of Amandine creeping up behind her with a bow and arrow, intending to kill her but Rose no longer cared.
Amandine was getting closer to her prey, as she saw the terrible creature sitting there, as the lightning crackled outside, not doing anything which made it all too easy, as she arrogantly thought to herself.
The beast was defenceless and unwilling to fight and as she looked up at the strange yet beautiful woman, she had the most pitiful and heartbroken look in her face, hardly the bloodthirsty and vicious monster that Amandine and the villagers had seen in the mirror.
But Amandine didn't care about that at all, the only person she truly cared about was herself and she gave an evil chuckle at seeing the creature who was soon to be her fur coat and trophy and would be punished for taking Leon away from her.
'Ah, Beasty,' she said, which got Rose's attention, as she looked at her, 'we meet at last!
It's such a pity that you won't live long to get fully acquainted with me, for I am Amandine LeGume, the sole descendant of the great hunter and town hero, Gaston LeGume and future wife of Leon Dupont!
The very boy you had imprisoned in your castle against his will and played mind tricks on him to make him fall in love with you when it should've been ME who he wanted, not a hideous, bloodthirsty monster like you!'
Rose's ears perked up at hearing Leon's name and then realised that this was the cruel woman that was called Amandine, that Leon had told her about and who had tormented him and gave him unwanted attention, the one who was Gaston's niece and the illegitimate daughter of his brother.
And from what Leon had told her, he had no love for this woman but Amandine had been too stupid to realise it, as she drew her bow and arrow towards Rose, who still sat slumped near the window and while she knew that she was going to kill her, she gave no resistance, or made any attempt to defend herself.
Just get it over with, she thought miserably, please put me out of my misery.
'And you thought that he would love you in return, didn't you Beasty?' Amandine taunted, 'Well, let me tell you something, he OBVIOUSLY escaped from the castle to get away from you!
He never cared about you at all; he was only pretending to be friends with you just so he could have the castle and all the riches to himself!'
Just like she did in the village when she told those gullible fools lies about Rose, she was telling her lies about her beloved Leon, hoping that would do the trick.
Rose curled her lip, knowing that they were just malicious lies, yet it felt like Amandine had stabbed her heart with a knife and was digging it deeper with each lie she heard.
'That's not true, he really did care for me,' Rose said, breaking her silence, which made Amandine laugh as she was clearly enjoying tormenting the depressed creature.
'Cared for you? Ha! Don't make me laugh, Beasty! If he REALLY cared for you, then why did he give me this magic mirror?' as she waved it in front of Rose, who tried to reach out for it but Amandine kept it firmly up in the air, before dropping it on the ground,
'Ooops, clumsy me,' she said insincerely, but the mirror did not break.
'He gave it to me, having gotten it from you I presume, so that he could expose you, revealing your existence to the village and threating them by baying for their blood like the HIDEOUS and BLOODTHIRSTY MONSTER that you really are!
Leon practically betrayed you and he's never coming back and now you are going to pay for stealing him from me!
Say goodbye, Beasty, for I shall be rid of you ONCE AND FOR ALL!' Amandine said, as she let out an evil laugh and shot an arrow, which landed in Rose's shoulder and it made her roar in pain.
It was rather unfortunate for her that Amandine had inherited her uncle's archery skills and deadly accurate aim, as she shot another arrow, again hitting her already wounded shoulder and she roared as she clutched it.
With Rose weakened from the arrows, Amandine cruelly kicked her out the window, smashing it as the beast rolled out onto the balcony, giving little resistance as the woman kept kicking her, with a sadistic smile on her face and laughing evilly. This was way too easy!
It would be over in a matter of minutes, as she felt the rush of taking on and killing a dangerous creature that was bigger than her, yet weak and unwilling to fight, too depressed to do so.
No way was Amandine a weak and pathetic woman, like Henri had believed her to be, for she was actually fighting a beast and was winning, not having even gotten a scratch yet, unlike that idiot who couldn't catch a cold, never mind a beast or any wild animal.
'Come on, get up!' she taunted, as she kicked Rose again,
'Get up!' sending her sliding down the roof, as the rain kept falling, heavier that before and Rose ended up on the edge of the balcony with her shoulder hurting badly as she slumped over the railings.
'Oh, poor Beasty, what's the matter?' Amandine cooed, as the red lightning flashed behind her, 'Why aren't you fighting me? Have you lost your will to live? Are you too kind and gentle to fight back?
Well, don't worry, I'll soon put you out of your misery!'
Rose just moaned again, as Amandine put her foot on her and pulled out the dagger she had on her belt, raising her arm for the fatal shot which would end the beast's life and with her out of the way, Leon would be hers and the wedding bells would soon be ringing in the village.
'And now to do what Uncle Gaston never could…KILL THE BEAST!' she shouted, as she aimed the dagger towards Rose.
Leon and Madeleine, for all their efforts and Sabine galloping faster than she had done before, had finally reached the castle, with Jean-Luc and Martine not too far behind, as they dismounted Artemis, leaving her outside the gates.
They were about to enter when they saw the mob looking very much worse for wear and running frantically towards the forest, terrified by their ordeal in the castle.
'What on earth happened?' Leon said.
'What's going on?' Jean-Luc said, 'Pierre, why are you covered with paint and why is everyone else sporting injuries?'
'They're alive, they're alive!' Pierre said, horrified, 'the furniture and objects are alive and attacked us! I just got assaulted by some paint bottles and brushes which were led by a crazy palette and easel!'
'I got attacked by a rogue washboard and washtub!' Henri said.
'That same washboard attacked me just because I tried to burn that ragdoll!' the villager who had hurt Remy said.
'We got head butted by a dummy!' the Etiennes said.
'And a crazy wardrobe assaulted me and dressed me up in these hideous clothes!' Beauden wailed.
Leon chuckled at seeing the clothes that Madame Armoire had tried to get him to wear on the boy, glad that they were going to good use by humiliating the Gaston Games winner.
He also smiled to himself, as he realised that the servants had managed to fight back and chase off the mob and hoped that they weren't hurt from their ordeal but what was important now was Rose and he only hoped that he wasn't too late and that Amandine hadn't gotten to her already.
'Come on, we have to get to Rose before Amandine does!' Leon said as Madeleine dismounted Sabine and the quartet ran across the bridge, only to see Amandine already there on the balcony of the West Wing, with Rose hanging limply over the railings, dagger in hand, which confirmed Leon's worst fears.
'No,' Leon whispered, 'we're too late!'
'No, we're not; you still have a chance to stop her!' Martine said, trying to sound positive, yet was scared at the same time at seeing her former friend about to do the unthinkable and seeing what she really was under that façade of a lovely and fragile beauty- a cold-blooded killer.
'And now to do what Uncle Gaston never could…KILL THE BEAST!' Amandine shouted, as she aimed the dagger towards Rose, but as she was about to do so..
'NO!' came the familiar voice of Leon, which made Amandine freeze in the midst of pointing her dagger and Rose looked down, not quite believing what she had seen and heard, thinking it was just a hallucination to torture her in her last moments.
'Leon?' she whispered, scarcely believing that he had come back to her.
But Leon really was there, his sweet and gentle voice clear as a bell as he stood on the bridge, near the main doors while still mounted on Sabine, who whinnied and the happy whinnies of Philippe could be heard from the stables, as he realised that his love had come back to him.
Rose perked up and raised her head as she saw her love with his mother, Sophie, who was peeking out of his bag and two people she didn't know, but seemed to be on Leon's side, for they did not carry any weapons and didn't look menacing.
He came back to me! She thought happily, He really does love me after all!
'No, Amandine, don't you dare touch her!' Leon said. The lightining, pouring rain and wind were loud enough to make communication difficult, but both Leon and Amandine managed by shouting as loud as they could.
'What the heck?' Amandine said, surprised and disgusted that Leon, Madeleine and the two traitors had managed to escape from the basement, which she had locked firmly and found their way to the castle to stop her from killing the beast.
All her best laid plans were going out the window, first with the mob being defeated and now Leon coming back to stop her and be reunited with the terrible creature. This was not what she had planned at all and in her arrogance, she thought that no one would be able to.
'HOW DID YOU MANGAGE TO ESCAPE AND GET BACK TO THE CASTLE?!' she screeched, 'I thought I locked you up there well, so that you couldn't get out, so how did you?'
'Well, Amandine, in your extreme arrogance, you hadn't counted on the incredible strength of a horse and the determination and bravery of a little paint bottle to come together and kick down the wooden doors, freeing us and Sabine's ability to gallop at lightning speed when someone is in danger and needs help!
And that's how we were able to get to the castle!' Leon said.
Sophie then peeked out of her bag and Amandine scowled at both of them.
'That's right, you bad lady, he's going to rescue Rose from you!' she said.
'Well, it doesn't matter anyway, I'm still going to kill this beast and you will marry me, whether you like it or not!' Amandine said.
'You lay one finger on her and I'll swear I will hurt you!' Leon said, only to see Rose sneak up behind the woman, having regained her will and strength to fight, since Leon had returned to her.
She was her father's daughter and when he was facing Gaston, he too put his life on the line for her mother, when she came back to him, regaining his will and she was going to do the same.
Not just for her, but for Leon, her parents, grandfather, the servants and the castle.
She let out a roar and knocked the dagger out of Amandine's hand, which sent it flying onto the concrete of the balcony and lunged towards the woman as the green and red lightning flashed and the rain poured down.
Seeing Rose's newfound will to fight made Amandine tremble and realised that she had underestimated the beast at her own peril, especially since Leon had motivated her and that she had bitten off more that she could chew.
'Let's go, Sabine!' Leon said, flicking her as the horse whinnied and galloped towards the door, while Madeleine, Jean-Luc and Martine stayed behind.
'Leon, are you sure about this?' Madeleine said.
'Yes, Mama,' Leon said, as Sabine kicked the door open and he quickly dismounted her as the servants gathered around him, surprised yet delighted at his return.
'Monsieur, you're back!' Lumiere exclaimed.
But Leon didn't have time to say hello as he rushed towards the stairs, relieved to see that his friends were unscathed from the battle with the mob, that is, until he saw Remy lying on the windowsill, heavily bandaged with Rebecca tending to him.
'Remy, what happened to you?' Leon said, quickly going over to him.
'Don't worry about me, kid, I'll be fine,' Remy said, 'after all, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Now go and save the mistress from that woman!'
Not wanting to waste another second and his heart beating crazily in his chest, Leon ran up the staircase that led to the West Wing, hoping and praying that he wasn't too late and that he could still save Rose and tell her the three little words that he had been wanting to say for so long.
As the battle continued on the rooftops, Rose had managed to disarm Amandine by knocking the dagger out of her hand, as she kept leaping towards her not limited by her dress and cape and her sore shoulder, with the latter dodging each move, as her hair came out of her ponytail and was flying in her face, wet from the rain.
But for once, Amandine didn't care that her hair was getting wet and was loose, as she grabbed her quiver of arrows and attempted to lodge one into Rose's arm, but she managed to knock all but one over the balcony.
The last arrow that Amandine had, she plunged into Rose's right arm, which made her roar, but more determined to fight, as she pulled it out and then hid in the shadows, as the green lightning crackled behind her.
Now disarmed and with her weapons out of reach, Amandine incredibly managed to break off a cudgel from one of the rooftops and swung it around, while looking for Rose, smashing what she believed was the beast, but instead turned out to be a crude-looking statue.
It was probably a gargoyle or a beast, one of many that were lined up in a row, which she passed, not knowing that Rose was hiding behind them.
'Come on out and fight me, you coward!' Amandine shouted, hoping to lure her out.
'Were you REALLY in love with him, Beasty?' she said, 'Did you honestly believe that he would want you when he had someone like me?
Because I know he would rather have a beautiful HUMAN WOMAN than a HIDEOUS BEAST!'
That was definitely not true, for Rose knew that Leon did not love this woman and for all her beauty and charm that worked on most boys, this battle was bringing out the real Amandine.
And that Leon loved Rose for who she was, not what she looked like and while she was fighting with this woman for him, she at least hadn't hurt, scratched her or thrown her off the balcony, yet, which was making her more human that Amandine was.
She came out from her hiding place and lunged towards Amandine, who was holding the cudgel towards her, ready to swing but her powerful jaws, used for biting and tearing at fresh prey she had caught while hunting, grabbed it which prevented the blow.
But Amandine soon released it from her grip, as she kicked the beast in the chest and raised her weapon in the air.
'It's over, Beasty,' she said, about to swing, 'With you out of the way, Leon WILL BE MINE!' the red lightning flashing behind her.
Rose quickly got up, eyes narrowing and leapt towards Amandine, knocking the cudgel out of her hand and both woman and beast kept lunging, dodging the other's attacks until they soon found themselves on the edge which leaned towards the ravine, the same place where Gaston met his demise.
And that meant if one of them slipped, they would most likely fall to their death.
And Amandine was the one who was dangerously close to the edge, as Rose held her paws on her chest, as the woman dangled between life and death as she edged closer. All of her pride and arrogance soon disappeared as it gave way to fear as she pathetically pleaded for Rose to spare her life.
'No, let me go please, don't let me die!' she said,
'I'll do anything, anything you want, just let me live! I don't want to go the same way my uncle did!'
Jean-Luc, watching from the bridge, smirked and snickered at seeing Amandine reduced to being a snivelling, cowardly mess, like her henchmen and pathetically pleading the beast for her life and didn't bother to hide it.
Not that he needed to, for Martine also snickered and Madeleine did the same as well.
'I told you there was no hope for that silly girl,' she said, 'she's bitten off more that she could chew and that beast will finish her off for sure.'
Rose was feeling very conflicted, as the green lightning flashed behind her, zapping the red one, as it exploded into a thousand sparkles and melted in the rain, while she watched the pathetic and snivelling woman, who had once been so prideful and arrogant in fighting her and winning Leon, desperately begging her to spare her life.
Part of her wanted to let her fall into the ravine, as her animal instincts were telling her to finish off the enemy and another part, her humanity, which she had regained due to Leon, was telling her not to.
And if she did, then the woman would never harm her or anyone again and the LeGume family would be wiped out, her being the last of them but then again she would be no better than Amandine and Leon wouldn't want her to do it, especially since she was now more human than beast.
It wasn't in her nature to kill a human being, not even when she had given into her beastly instincts and went hunting. She didn't want to be the reason that someone died a horrible death.
Ignoring the burning pain due to the arrows lodged in her shoulder, she pulled Amandine, who couldn't quite believe what had happened and had expected to be falling to her death in the ravine, up on her feet and stared at her, her teeth bearing and her blue eyes narrowing at the woman, who whimpered in fear.
'Get out,' she growled menacingly, 'leave my castle and never come back. Leon will never be yours.'
Amandine whimpered, as she was placed back down on the ground, but the rage was still burning inside her. This battle was not over yet, for she was not one to admit defeat and she quietly snuck away, dagger in hand.
No sooner had Amandine presumably left the castle; Leon had made his way through the West Wing, into Rose's bedroom and ran out onto the balcony. His heart gave a leap of glee when he stepped out into the rain and saw Rose on a rooftop near the ravine.
'Rose!' he called out, which made her turn around and see the familiar sight of Leon up on the balcony, calling out her name, which was music to her ears.
Not wanting to waste any more precious time, considering that the rose was down to its last petal, Rose climbed up the rooftops, to where Leon was, not being hindered by her skirt, which had got slightly ripped during the battle, as he held his hand out to her.
'Leon,' she said, getting closer to him.
As she did, she saw that his hair was loose and that he had a smudge of dirt on his cheek, but it didn't matter, as to her he was the boy who she loved with all her heart, who had come back to her, when she thought that he wouldn't and had fought bravely for him.
'Leon,' she said again, as the two smiled at each other, her paw firmly embedded in his hand, as he pulled her up onto the balcony and the two embraced, happy that they were together again and that nothing could break them apart.
'You came back,' Rose said.
'Of course I did,' Leon said, 'I kept my promise, didn't I?' and the two nuzzled their noses, enjoying the happy moment until Leon had noticed two arrow heads lodged in Rose's shoulder, grimacing and it was obvious who and what put them there, intending to hurt her.
'Oh, my sweet beast, what did Amandine do to you?' he said, as he tried to pull them out, which made Rose wince but she did not roar, 'here, let me get them out, but this may sting a little.'
Rose chuckled slightly, remembering Leon doing the same thing when he tended to her wound from the wolves, which helped her take her mind off the pain, for a little while at least.
'Owww,' she said, as the arrows came out.
'Oh, Rose,' Leon said, holding her tightly and looked into those beautiful blue doe-shaped eyes, so full of warmth and love unlike the icy, callous ones of Amandine,
'Now that we're together again, there's something that I want to say to you, something that I never got the chance to but I just want to say..'
'Yes?' Rose said, looking anxiously at the rose, which still had the last petal clinging stubbornly to the stem, as she had a feeling that it was what she thought it was, as Leon said,
'I just want to say that I l..'
'Well, isn't this just lovely?' the familiar and unwelcome voice of Amandine rang out, as she climbed up the balcony rails, sneering at seeing Rose and Leon holding each other close, him looking at her in a way she wished he did for her and it made her sick to her stomach that he was so in love with this hideous creature.
'Pack it in, Amandine, you stupid woman!' Leon shouted.
'Now, now, we don't want any more bloodshed, do we?' Amandine said.
'I thought I told you to leave my castle?' Rose said.
'Oh, I had no intention of doing that,' Amandine said, 'you see, I never go back on my word and I refuse to admit defeat, for I am not done with you yet.'
'Yes, you are, Amandine,' Leon said, 'and I won't let you harm Rose! What did she ever do you?'
'She stole you from me!' Amandine said, 'She took what was rightfully mine and you gave her all your affection and attention that you never gave me!
And all I did was offer you my love, affection and a chance to improve your reputation in the village by being married to the most beautiful woman in the village, that many boys would love to be!
I tried to be nice to you, I tried to see past your oddness and I even tried reasoning with you!
But, oh no, you never reciprocated my love and affections and not only did you reject my proposal and humiliate me by sending me flying into the mud, you go and cosy up with that horrible beast and don't tell me that..'
'Rose is ten times the woman that you'll ever be, Amandine,' Leon said.
'Oh, please, Leon, that thing is not a woman! She's nothing more than a monstrous combination of a lion, wolf, buffalo and goodness what else!' Amandine sneered.
'It doesn't matter to me, my heart belongs to Rose, not you, as I don't love you, never have and never will.
I'm disgusted by you, Amandine, you break into a lady's house, attempt to steal her possessions and attempt to kill her, not to mention that you're an imbecile to think that you can lead a bunch of incompetent hunters to the castle.' Leon said,
'You're nothing more than a monstrous, cold-blooded killer and I'll never love you ever and I will not be your possession that you want all to yourself!'
Amandine didn't say anything for a while, but curled her lip in anger, deciding enough was enough, as she walked towards the couple and grabbed Rose roughly, dragging her towards the edge of the balcony, as she struggled against her,
'Leon!' Rose shouted, desperately reaching out to him.
'Rose!' Leon cried out, as he ran towards her.
'So I'm a cold-blooded killer, am I?' Amandine sneered, whipping out her dagger and holding it near Rose, 'well, I'll prove it then, Leon Dupont, because if I can't have you, NO ONE CAN!'
Amandine then plunged the dagger into Rose and stabbed her, which made her roar tremendously, as the woman laughed evilly.
Leon gasped in horror at seeing his love, his Rose being viciously stabbed, as did Jean-Luc and Martine, as they saw what had happened from the bridge, even though they barely knew Rose, yet were horrified at what Amandine had done.
However, with Rose flailing around, as she kept roaring while trying not to fall in spite of her wound and Leon grabbed her by her cape to pull her up from the edge, Amandine soon lost her grip, as she slipped on the wet concrete, teetering dangerously close to falling down into the ravine.
And when Leon managed to pull Rose up, Amandine let out a terrible scream as she fell off the railings, tumbling down into the ravine to her death, the same way as her uncle, Gaston and the last surviving member of the LeGume family, the most beautiful and admired woman in the village, was wiped out, ending the family's terrible dynasty.
Oh no, poor Rose! Stabbed like her father was! And how ironic that Amandine died the same way as her uncle did!
Will Leon confess his love in time and break the spell? Stay tuned!
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