Chapter 40

Belle's Longing

Everyone spent the next few hours cleaning up the mess. Belle had gone out to tell the servants what had happened, with Kairi accompanying her to make sure nothing attacked her on the way. Mickey pulled a pair of shrunken brooms out of his pocket. He placed them on the ground and tapped them with his Keyblade. They expanded to normal size and grew arms. The Magic Brooms set to work sweeping the shards and fragments of the chandelier into a pile. Cogsworth and the Wardrobe came in with miscellaneous appliances to help with the clean-up, ordering them to assist the party any way they could before leaving to search the castle for the intruders, not believing that they would have simply fled the grounds after the battle.

Eventually, the debris was gathered up and the dust was swept out. The pillars, wall and floor were still cracked and split, the windows still had holes in them, and the ceiling still had a massive scorch mark in the center, but the remains of the chandelier and the crumbs of the damaged architecture were gathered into a container and the area was otherwise clean. Whatever damage had been sustained and whatever fatigue they felt was washed away with a Curaga spell.

While they worked, they discussed the events that had occurred during that day. The clown—Kefka, he had been called—and the witch doctor were working with Maleficent, they had admitted to that. Belle told them that the witch doctor had mentioned that they were looking for a clock, but what could that mean? The only clock they were aware of in the castle was Cogsworth. Mickey had inquired about the Assassin Nobodies that the witch doctor had released to fight them, and Sora and Kairi had told the others about the Dusks that attacked them in Belle's room. This led them to question why Maleficent and the Heartless are working with the Nobodies and how they got them to side with them. However, there were no answers to any of these questions.

While everyone was relaxing after the clean-up and trying to process everything that was going on, Belle led Beast out to the balcony, and they sat down to look out at the night sky. Sora and Kairi smiled warmly at this, and Sora wrapped his arm over Kairi's shoulder.

Just then, Cogsworth and Lumière came in. "Master! Sora! We have news!" Cogsworth shouted. Sora, Kairi, Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy turned to them. Sora crouched so that he was not looking so far down at them. Cogsworth looked around and noticed that one of his addressees was nowhere to be seen. "Ahem. Where is the master?"

"He's out there with Belle," Sora answered, pointing with his thumb out to the balcony. "I'd say it's best not to disturb them." He gave the majordomo a knowing smirk. Cogsworth and Lumière smiled widely at this. "So, what were you going to say?"

"Well, see, we have some bad news, and we also have good news," Cogsworth began. Sora raised one eyebrow. "The bad news is that, no, the intruders have not fled the grounds following the earlier confrontation. But the good news is that we know where you can find them. They are in the one place that from our understanding they have not yet explored: the library!"

"Thanks. We'll go make sure they use their inside voices," Sora replied. He stood up and, accompanied by his friends, ran out the door and up the western stairs.

Doctor Facilier skimmed through multiple books and, when each one proved to be unhelpful, placed them back on the shelf and took out the next one. Kefka, in contrast, looked at the cover of each book he found and threw the book aside when he was dissatisfied.

"You know, some light reading would be good for you," Facilier told his compatriot. "It might show you that there's more to life than senseless destruction."

"Bah! That's what everyone says, Doc, but one way or another that's what it all comes down to," Kefka countered.

The heroes watched from behind the door. Sora wondered if they could just rush in and fight them. Odds were that they would retaliate with destructive force, with Kefka being more likely to do so, and they might also complicate things by summoning more Heartless and Nobodies. There were also two outcomes that he considered equally probable: either they defeat and capture the fiends, at which point they may begin to interrogate them and use Beast as a bad cop in the scenario, or the villains escape moments before that happens. In the latter case, that would mean that Sora and company are no closer to figuring out what they are after, but it will set Kefka and the witch doctor back and buy the party time to figure out what they were trying to find and protect it accordingly.

Riku considered the consequences of opening a sudden fight in the middle of the library, and so gauged other options. A sneak attack would be unlikely to work due to Kefka's erratic personality and the fact that the witch doctor had a living shadow that would most likely see them however they tried to approach. Perhaps they could lure them out and trap them from there. But how would they even do that? Would it even be possible to simply lead them away, would they even fall for a trap, and would any sort of trap even hold them? There were too many uncertainties, and there was only one way to actually get into and out of the library. Unless he used a Corridor of Darkness… No, the witch doctor might detect it, and either of them would easily hear the other end of the portal open.

The six heroes huddled up to discuss their options, but they could all tell from each other's expressions that there was only one that was sure to get anywhere. Sora looked down when he felt something with two sharp points nudged up against his ankle, and the others looked down at it. It was Chip, trying to get their attention. Mrs. Potts stood behind him.

"I see Cogsworth and Lumière told you. They have been here for some time," Mrs. Potts told them.

"Do you think you can beat them?" Chip asked.

Mickey sighed. "Probably," he answered. "But we're afraid the library might get wrecked."

"Hmm…" Mrs. Potts contemplated their concerns. "I know! Do any of you know about barrier magic?"

"Well, we know Reflect. And I have seen a lot of people create walls that closed off an area. Man, those are annoying, especially when Donald and Goofy are on the other side," Sora answered. Donald and Goofy shook their heads at the mention of those traps, agreeing with Sora's assessment.

"I can create planar shields, but only for a few moments at a time," Riku added.

Mrs. Potts considered that for a moment. "Perhaps I can seal your shields onto the bookshelves if one of you would mix your light magic with my water."

"Like when we extinguished the black flames in the passageway?" Sora asked, comparing the incidents.

Mrs. Potts nodded. "We do carry the enchantress' magic in us; it just takes a little light magic to reach it out to other parts of the castle."

"Okay," Mickey said. "I'll go with Riku and Mrs. Potts, and we'll put shields on all of the bookshelves, then we can all rush in and take the clown and witch doctor out."

"Right!" Sora affirmed. He and Kairi stood on one side of the door while Donald and Goofy stood on the other side.

Riku, Mickey and Mrs. Potts slipped into the library. Making sure that neither foe was watching, they snuck over to the left row of shelves. Riku placed his hand in front of one shelf and conjured a transparent wall between hand and shelf. Mickey pointed his Keyblade at the wall and let the Keyblade glow white. Mrs. Potts sprinkled some water on the wall. The Dark Shield expanded and wrapped around every surface of the shelf. They repeated this process with every other shelf, silently thankful that their enemies were still at the back wall. A few times, Riku and Mickey took a sip of Ether to replenish their magic so that they could continue.

Mickey gave the others a thumbs-up when they had shielded the last of the bookshelves, signaling them to enter and hide behind the nearest shelves. Next, Riku, Mickey and Mrs. Potts worked their magic on the bookshelves that wrapped around the walls, hoping to seal them off in one fell swoop.

Doctor Facilier finished skimming through his current book and replaced it on the shelf. He reached over to pull the next one out, but his fingers bounced off of an invisible flat surface that was only millimeters in front of the book. A pink circle radiated out from where he touched, to his curiosity. He tapped the barrier several times, confirming that the shelf had been closed off somehow.

A voice boomed in from near the entrance. "Now, that's not right. Looks like we should take away your library cards!" Facilier and Kefka turned around and were shocked to see Sora standing at the other side of the library, taunting them with his Keyblade. Kefka heard a whooshing sound and turned to see the books that he had haplessly discarded become wrapped up in a dark shell, much like a Corridor of Darkness used on a nonmoving person. The books appeared outside of the library, neatly stacked.

"Move!" Kefka shouted. He leapt away, throwing a fireball at Sora as he went, but Sora deflected it with ease and ran straight for him. He tried to flee down the aisle between the row of bookshelves and the wall, but Kairi appeared from between two of the shelves and swung her Keyblade into the jester's gut. Kefka flipped over but still landed on his feet and kept running. Kairi shot a few Blizzard spells at him, but only one of them hit.

Doctor Facilier shuffled cards and swung some voodoo dolls around to counter Donald's spell attacks, but he was knocked off of his feet when Riku materialized behind him and kicked him in the back. He slammed his hand onto the ground and conjured pillars of fire to shoot up around him, forcing Riku and Donald to fall back. Standing back up, Facilier threw a voodoo doll painted red with fire designs at Donald, but it was knocked out of the air by Goofy's shield. The witch doctor spun around on his heel and fell through a portal opened by his shadow, coming back out in another corner of the room.

Kefka ran for the door, throwing Thunder spells behind him, but before he could reach the exit, he felt something pulling him backward. He was lifted off of his feet and fell toward a Magnet spell cast by Sora. Rather than becoming stuck in a vortex, Kefka threw a Zero Gravity spell at the vortex. Both spells canceled each other out, and Kefka soared over Sora's head. Sora turned to run after him, joined by Kairi, but they stopped when they heard someone shout "Watch it!" from below.

They looked down and saw Chip next to his foot. "Chip? What are you doing? You could get hurt!"

"I didn't want to be left by myself," the teacup said apologetically.

Sora sighed and shook his head. "You need to be more careful. It's dangerous in here for someone as small and fragile as you," Kairi warned him.

"Yeah. I know. I'll be careful from now on."

Kefka landed near Doctor Facilier, who regarded him with worry. "I'd say it's time we leave," Facilier suggested. "We can always come back another time."

The clown shrugged. "Fine, but that doesn't mean I'll go quietly!" He stepped away and started lobbing different spells around, stirring their enemies into a panic. Donald barely avoided a Blizzaga rock. Riku had to conjure a Dark Shield to block a massive Firaga sphere. Mickey deflected a series of rainbow-colored orbs of light. Goofy was hit with a silver-colored cloud that instantly caused him to fall asleep.

Sora and Kairi dodged a few lightning bolts, but within seconds, Kairi was hit in the armpit with a purple bolt of magic. Sora caught her, but his arm made contact with the same area where the spell had not fully dissipated. Both felt an extreme disorientation and a sort of cold sensation. They saw the entire room growing at an alarming rate. They felt themselves being lifted off of the ground. When the cold sensation faded, they started to fall.

"Uh oh!" Chip cried. He alternated between looking up at them and setting himself upright and hopping around to try to be in the right place. He felt something hit in his inner bowl and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Got you!"

The shrunken Sora and Kairi groaned in pain and disorientation and fainted in their daze.

Kefka belted out his distinguishing laugh before he and Doctor Facilier backed into a Corridor of Darkness.

"Rats!" Riku shouted in frustration. Mickey raised an eyebrow at this remark. Riku sighed. "Oh, well. At least they won't be causing trouble around here for a while." He looked around the room, counting heads. "Where are Sora and Kairi?"

Mickey, Donald and Goofy looked around frantically, concerned that their friends were nowhere to be found. Chip hopped over to Riku and tilted his head down so that Riku could see into the teacup.

"Is that…?" He picked Chip up and peered closer at the contents. "How did they get so small?"

Mickey approached Riku and held out his hand. Riku placed Chip in Mickey's hand and the mouse peeked inside to investigate. "Gosh, looks like a Mini spell," Mickey identified. "The ones I was shown only last for a minute, but this one seems to be more potent. Which I guess makes sense, if it hit both of them."

"So, what do we do?" Goofy asked.

"I guess we should just leave them with Chip until we figure out how to return them to normal size," Mickey replied. He set Chip down.

Donald walked over and stared at Chip with a serious expression. "You keep them safe, alright?" he ordered.

Chip nodded. "Yes, sir! You can count on me!" Chip said enthusiastically.

When Beast and Belle had gone out to the balcony, they sat down on the bench and looked out at the night sky. Snow was falling from the dense clouds, making a beautiful scene. Soon, they wound up holding hands.

Beast worked up some courage. "Belle, are you happy here with me?" he asked.

Belle smiled. "Yes," she answered. However, her mind wandered and her smile faded.

Beast smiled at the response, but quickly noticed her turn to look out longingly. "What is it?" he asked, empathetic.

"If only I could see my father again, just for a moment. I miss him so much."

It was true. Belle had not seen her father since the day she had first come to the castle, which was the day that she had traded her freedom for his. The more he thought about it, the more Beast wondered how he was feeling about the circumstances that Belle had been left in when he had been returned to the village. He had not even offered them a moment to say good-bye.

His eyes widened as he remembered something. "There is a way," he told her. "Come with me." With that, he led her back inside and up the west-facing staircase. They had noticed that Sora and the others were no longer in the ballroom, but they paid it little mind.

Beast led Belle up into his room, and he searched around for something. He finally found the object he was searching for, and drew out a silver handheld mirror. "This mirror will show you anything," he explained, holding it up so that Belle could see her own reflection, "anything you wish to see." She took the mirror in her hands.

"I'd like to see my father, please," she told the mirror, not entirely sure how it operated. The mirror lit up with a green glow that shone in her face. She briefly averted her gaze from the blinding light, and turned back to the reflective surface when the glow faded.

Instead of her reflection, the mirror showed a snow-covered wood. A chubby older man with white hair, a moustache, and a bald scalp struggled as he braved the snowstorm. He wore a pale green shirt, a brown vest, green pants, brown boots, and a heavy green cloak, though it was not quite enough in the face of strong winds. He was sick, and, suffering from his cold and the cold, he collapsed to the ground, coughing.

"Papa! Oh, no!" Belle looked at the image in horror. Beast looked on in concern. "He's sick. He may be dying, and he's all alone!"

Beast turned to look at the enchanted rose. The wilting flower only had a few petals left. If he did what he was thinking of doing, he might never see her again, and the curse might never break. But…

"Then… y-you must go to him," he said, his expression turning sad.

"What did you say?" Belle asked, shocked.

"I release you. You are free to go. Go to your father."

Belle stood in silence, processing what she had been told. Then she sighed. "Oh, thank you. Hold on, Papa. I'm on my way." She turned to leave, but then remembered that she was still holding the mirror. She turned back to return it.

"Take it with you," Beast told her, "so you'll always have a way to look back and remember me."

Belle smiled. "Thank you, Adam. Thank you for understanding how much he needs me." She put her hand comfortingly to Beast's face and gave him a reassuring smile before leaving.

Cogsworth watched her leave the room, a smile on his face. "Well, your Highness, I must say everything is going just swimmingly. The danger has passed, from what I can tell, and you and Belle seem to be coming along quite nicely. I knew you had it in you," he commended.

"I let her go," Beast said, resignedly.

Cogsworth chuckled. "Yes, yes. Splen…" He trailed off when he realized what Beast had said. A look of horror crossed his face. "You… what?! How could you do that?"

"I had to."

"Yes, but-but… why?"

"Because I love her."

Riku and Mickey began searching through the library for anything that could undo the Mini spell on Sora and Kairi, as well as anything that would refer to the item that the intruders sought. However, the library was huge, and there were far too many books to read in one sitting.

Lumière called for everyone's attention when Cogsworth walked in, a despondent expression on the clock's face. Everyone went over to meet him.

"My friend, what is wrong?" Lumière asked.

"Th-the Master… He let Belle go," Cogsworth explained.

"He did what?!" Lumière, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Wardrobe gasped in shock.

"Yes. I'm afraid it's true," the clock answered sadly.

"She's going away?" Chip asked, saddened at the idea that his friend was leaving.

"But we were so close," Lumière lamented.

"After all this time, he's finally learned to love," Mrs. Potts said.

"That's it then!" Lumière exclaimed in a hopeful tone. "That should break the spell!"

"But that's not enough. She has to love him in return," Mrs. Potts reminded him.

"Hold on," Riku interrupted. "Can someone explain how this whole 'spell' works?"

"Did you see the rose?" Lumière asked him. Riku nodded. "If the master learns to love and is loved in return before the last petal falls, the spell will be broken."

"You know, I'm confused," Goofy said. "The way you're saying it, the spell should break when both of them love each other. But isn't that what they've been doing the whole time we've known them?"

"Who knows? It may be too late now," Cogsworth said resignedly.

Unbeknownst to them, Chip had left the room and hopped out to follow Belle. It took a little more effort since he now had some extra weight to carry, but he soon found Belle at the stable, untying her horse, Philippe. Belle wore a green cloak and had a brown leather satchel slung over her shoulder. Worried about her, Chip hopped up onto a stool and jumped again so that he landed inside the pouch of Belle's satchel.

Moments later, Belle, not noticing the extra weight, mounted Philippe and rode off, soon crossing the bridge and leaving the castle grounds. She could hear Beast roar in anguish from the castle.