Sunshine and Yellow Lilies

by An Undercover Changeling

Beauty and the Beast/Fairytale AU. A crumbling castle, a cursed prince...and a cheerful young comedienne, approaching a strange kingdom with her family in their traveling performing show, who will play a much more pivotal role than she thinks. A heavy Luan/Benny focus with shameless fluff and shameless puns, but also some darker parts with slight angst. Rated T for some violence.

15. Chapter XV: Long Nights, Longer Days

Chapter XV: Long Nights, Longer Days

Luan's heart knocked painfully against her chest, the hollow sound throbbing in her ears, as her mother and father's stern eyes bored holes right through her own. The night air chilled her already-numb skin straight to the bone. Everything she feared most–letting her parents down, putting herself in even more danger than before, having to abandon the only person besides her family who had ever felt like home to her forever and leave him to his doom–was about to come true.

I'm so stupid; I stayed for far too long. I should have been back ages ago.

Though her shoulders slumped in shame and dread, she forced her gaze to remain firm and straight. Benny needed her, and if she had to fight tooth and nail for her right to see him again, then so be it.

Is it even possible for me to win this battle, though? she thought forlornly.

But before she could even open her mouth to try in vain to defend herself, to her surprise, Lori spoke up first.

"It was my fault," Lori said, stepping across the grass to stand protectively in front of Luan. "I'm the one who let her do it."

"Leave yourself out of this, Lori," Lynn Sr said in a low voice. "Don't try to fool me, any of you. I know exactly who's to blame."

Leni put a warm hand on her shoulder, and even the normally-tough Lynn Jr sidled a step or two closer to her, but Luan hardly noticed their presence at all. Her mind could only think of one thing. One person.

"I don't care what you think! You're not taking him from me, not ever!" she snapped.

She'd never tried to stand up to her parents like this before today, and it showed. Her voice came out much weaker, far more uncertain, than she'd intended.

Keep going, she urged herself. You have to stay strong. For him.

She crossed her arms and stood her ground, even as her father's face deepened a shade or two in color.

"Luan, honey," her mother said, resting her own gentle hand on her husband's arm. Her face was easier on the eyes than Lynn Sr's, but if anything, her stoic disappointment was even worse a reaction than Lynn's unmasked anger. "Neither of us want to do this to you, but do you know how dangerous this is? Sneaking out in the middle of the night? Putting your life–and the lives of your siblings–at the mercy of whatever might be lurking out there? For a boy who's lost his head?"

"He hasn't lost his head," Luan argued back, trying to match her mother's calm, determined energy. "He waited all night for me. All night."

"And he spoke to her, too," Luna added, leaping to her sister's defense. "They talked. His noggin's still in gear, dudes."

"He told her he's really sorry," Leni chimed in.

"'Sorry' doesn't erase claw marks," Rita replied. "It doesn't change the fact that he, or any of the creatures in the woods, might have hurt you. Even if he's acting like himself now, well, you said it yourself this morning. That spell is making him sick. How soon would it be before he strikes again?"

"I…I don't know," Luan said quietly. She felt as though her heart had dropped all the way down to her toes.

"So, any time you're with that boy, there's a chance he could snap and try to kill you?"

"He wouldn't! He would never!" Luan cried out. "Even when he's not himself, he never means to harm me! He's just scared, or confused, or…"

"But could he kill you, Luan Loud?" her father demanded.

"I…well…" She sighed. There was no point in trying to lie about this. Her parents had seen his teeth and claws–they knew the truth just as well as she did. "Yes."

"Can you repeat that?"

"Yes, he could kill me. But I know him, and he would never ever–"

"Judging by what happened today, I think there's a lot you don't know about him," her father interrupted. "Someone could have gotten seriously hurt, or worse. And then what would you have done?"

Luan's mind whirled like a pinwheel, trying to think of a response that wouldn't make her sound like a complete idiot. Because I'm not. I'm not.

Rita cleared her throat. "What your father is trying to say is that even though we know how much you care about him, and how badly he cares for you, if there's any chance of someone getting harmed, we have to keep you away from him. It's for your own good."

That's exactly what Benny said to me. But I still don't care, and I'm tired of other people trying to decide what's best for me. My heart knows what's right, and it says I can't leave him.

"I'll be good, I promise!" she begged. "I'll never set foot in that castle again! I don't even have to touch him! I'll keep that stone wall between us. And…and I'll clean the whole room, floor-to-ceiling, and give up all my pranks, except for weekends and holidays. I'll even wash Lynn's socks! Anything you ask of me, I'll do it. As long as you let me go to him."

"I'm sorry," Rita said with a shake of her head. "But our job is to keep you safe, and the only way we can guarantee your safety is if we keep you away from him. I know it hurts, but…"

Luan scowled, feeling those all-too-familiar smolders of rage simmer in her chest. "How can you do this?! How can you do this to him when the only thing he's ever done to you is show you love and kindness?"

"We've done everything we can for him, honey. But sometimes, you just can't save everyone, no matter what you try to do."

"I'm not trying to save everyone! I'm trying to save him!"

"Luan, just listen to me–"

"I don't want to hear it." Luan held up a hand to stop any more of her mother's painful words from tumbling out. "For the first time in my entire life, I've met someone who never makes me feel like I'm weird, or strange, or too much to handle. Someone who likes me just the way I am, no strings attached. And you're just giving up on him!"

She looked straight into her mother's green eyes and held her gaze, despite the complicated, hurt expression she found lying within it. "He's counting on me. And I promised him I'd be there for him."

"The answer is no," her mother said firmly. Luan was appalled by the lack of remorse in her voice. "I'm your mother, this is your family, and we're saying no."

Luan's hands clenched into fists. Her heart burned with rage and pain and a hundred other feelings she couldn't even begin to name. "Then maybe I don't want to be a part of this family!" she shouted back through hot, angry tears.

Deep down, she knew how serious an insult these words truly were. I don't want to be a part of this family was perhaps the most biting remark a Loud child could ever deliver to a set of parents who usually tried and cared so much. But that was the last thing on Luan's mind right now.

They wanted to keep her away from a boy who was alone without her. Who was doomed without her. It was an unforgivable crime.

"That's enough!" Lynn Sr barked. He pointed a sharp finger at the inn's open doorway. "Up to your room, right now. That goes for the rest of you, too. You're all grounded until I or your mother say otherwise! And I don't want to hear a word out of any of you for the rest of the night!"

How dare they do this to me! Do they know what might happen to him if he turns again and I'm not there to remind him of who he is?

And what's going to happen to him when that spell becomes permanent?

What's going to happen to me?

"I hate you!" she yelled at her father, a sharp blaze of fury setting her heart alight. Looking at her mother, she added, "And I hate you, too! I don't ever want to speak to either of you ever again!"

"Upstairs. Now," her father repeated coldly.

With the most scalding, withering glare she could muster, Luan stalked through the doorway and thundered up the stairs, not caring how many people she woke up. Her siblings followed–though whether they were bristling with quiet rage or shame, she couldn't even begin to guess.

When she threw open the door to their room, slamming it loudly against the wall, all five of her youngest sisters were wide awake, staring at her with absolutely shocked expressions. Lily started to wail.

"Don't talk to your sister," Lynn Sr ordered them, herding the older siblings through the doorway. "She's in very big trouble."

With those words, Luan lost every last inch of her cool, her insides melting into puddles of helplessness and despair. With a choked sob, she turned and dove for her sleeping bag, burying herself deep in the folds.

There's no way they'll let me out of their sight now. I might never see him again…or if I do, I'll be way too late to save him.

So this is it. It's all over. And I failed him. How could I let myself be so stupid?

All I wanted was for him to be happy. For him to have the happily-ever-after he deserves.

But now, he'll never even have that chance.

She stayed awake, sobbing as Lily shrieked and her parents argued and some of her siblings started to shout at them. But their words and noise all quickly blurred together into one loud, chaotic mass as she slid against her will into a cold and desolate dream.

In front of her was nothing but black and white. That was her first clue that something was off, that something was wrong. Her dreams were never just black and white; they were full of color and light and sound. But she couldn't hear a single thing beyond the murmurs of blood rushing in her ears. She couldn't see anything other than row after row of straight black lines against a curtain of pure white.

It took her a moment to realize that standing before her was a book, so large it towered well above the top of her head. She didn't think she could ever remember a book appearing in her dream before; faintly, she remembered hearing from someplace that it was nigh impossible to read in a dream…which somehow, she knew without knowing that this was just a dream.

This proved to be true–no matter how hard she squinted at the pages, she couldn't read a single word. The letters all bled together into an incomprehensible, muddled blur, and even the few squiggles she could make out somewhat clearly were complete gibberish, the lines forming no recognizable letters. But then…why show me a book if I can't read any of it? Seems pretty pointless to me.

But then, a single word occurred to her. It wasn't that she could suddenly read it–the page was still utter nonsense–it was more like she stared at a small section of gray and suddenly understood what it was supposed to say, like a soft hush in her head.

Hopeless, it read. Hopeless, it whispered.

Luan cocked her head. What does that mean? She stared at the gray lines and swirls some more, letting her eyes roam and wander, but nothing else jumped out. Nothing else made any sense. What kind of a book is this?

So, she took hold of the edge of the page. It was just a dream, it was all just a dream, but she swore she could feel the thin, weathered material between her fingertips, so delicate even her slightest touch made the paper start to flake and wither away.

When she turned the page, the next one was just as chaotic and confusing as the one before it. But the more she stared at it, the more words she could make out. The more whispers filled her head–phrases she could hear, but never see.

Hopeless. Worthless. The whispers swirled around her ears and weaved through her hair–which she'd just realized had come loose, light brown waves tangled in an invisible wind. Can't save him now. You can't save him.

Wincing as the cacophony grew louder–it was like a crowd of people talking in her skull–she closed her eyes, but the voices didn't stop. He is hopeless. You can't save him.

Who? she thought back. Who was this written for? Who is this book about?

But once again, she found that she knew the answer without quite knowing how.

Benny. It's about Benny.

The realization was a pit in her chest and a cold slap to the face. Oh, please, no…

Daring to open her eyes once again, she stared once again at the wrinkled white pages. They continued to whisper at her–hopeless thoughts, thoughts that bore a shocking resemblance to the ones that had often raced through her head in the waking world. Maybe they were just her thoughts, nothing more, but if that was so, then why couldn't she let them go?

The prince is hopeless. You can't save him. Nothing you do matters. None of it. His fate is sealed in stone as cold and hard as the tiles lining his castle floor.

You have been warned. This story does not have a happy ending.

"No, no, it's not true," she told the voices, horrified by how soft and shaky her voice came out. "None of that's true!"

Perhaps, the book replied, that should be a chapter of its own: Luan Loud is a Very Foolish Girl.

"I'm not foolish!" Her cheeks flaring with heat, she whipped away from the book, turning to face the opposite direction. She couldn't even bear to look at it anymore. "I'm not."

As she did this, she locked eyes with someone achingly familiar.

Standing a few feet away, with beautiful eyes and a nervous expression and a fluffy tail tucked shyly between his legs, was her Benny. Behind him was an equally familiar stone wall.

Eyes streaming tears, Luan tore away from the book, raced across the gray tiles, and dove right into his arms. Benny stumbled, tripping on his tail in a way that would have been cute and comical in just about any other circumstance, but caught her and held her close.

"Please," she whispered into his neck. She knew it was just her imagination, her stupid, stupid brain playing clever tricks, but she could picture his scent almost as vividly as if he were really right there beside her. Warm fur that smelled of rain and ink and old parchment, with undertones of pine and something strange and wild that she couldn't quite place–likely a mark of his horrible curse. "Benny, tell them I'm not foolish. You believe in me, don't you? Don't you?"

The voices continued to mock and tease her, but though he ran a comforting hand through her tangled hair, Benny said nothing in her defense.

His silence crushed her soul.

It was then that the ground began to quake, the tiles breaking apart into smaller and smaller bits of stone. With a gasp, Luan hugged him tighter, burying her face into his chest. She desperately tried to keep her footing, so she–they–wouldn't tumble to the ground.

When the tremors stopped and she finally dared to break away from him, fear seized her heart with sharp claws. Though the ground was still, that giant book was still shaking, teetering. It looked like it was going to…

But if it falls, it'll crush us both!

"Benny, come on!" She took hold of his hand and tugged roughly, a lightning sting of urgency bristling in the back of her mind. "We have to go, now!"

But all he did was look at her and sadly shake his head. No matter how she tugged, pushed and prodded him, begged and pleaded with him, he stayed put. He wouldn't even give her so much as an inch.

What is wrong with you?! Why won't you move?

You're just going to let yourself get crushed to death?

You foolish, stupid, crazy, hopeless…

The last word struck a painful chord in her chest. No. Not hopeless, not hopeless…

The evil book began to fall, its pages a white-and-black cascade over her head, and all of her spirits fell along with it. She didn't even try to fight it anymore, didn't try to move him or run away with him, because it was useless. He was larger than her, and stronger, and would only move if he wanted to. And he didn't want to.

It was the only thing she could do to stand protectively in front of him, arms raised, trying to shield him from his own story. But as much as she hated to admit it to herself, hopeless really was the right word for this situation. Why was she even trying? There was no way she was going to have enough strength to prop that book back up. It was going to fall against the stone floor with a thud, and crush their bones and his horns to bits, and then they would be no more, all of this would be no more…

Heart pounding, blood rushing, the whole world as silent as the stone walls surrounding her, she stared up at the sprawling lines of black and white, wishing the last things she'd ever see would be something just a bit more colorful.

Then, perhaps hearing her last wish and granting it, the book slammed itself shut, bearing its cover for her to see, now only inches away from her face. Bright, metallic gold words against a dark blue backdrop, resting just below the hauntingly lifelike gold silhouette of a creature with curved horns, a bushy tail, and a painfully shy way of standing. Of being.

And the title read, The Tragic Tale of Prince Benjamin.

Luan awoke with a gasp. She would have screamed, but her airways were so clogged that nothing more than the softest choke of sound was able to escape. Her cheeks felt wet.

The world was still dark, without the slightest trace of sunlight. Not a hint of kindness. She could fall back asleep if she wanted…and the thought was tempting. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and forget about everything.

But she didn't know if she would ever be able to fall asleep again.

So, she stayed awake, looking up at the window above her head, on which rested a little blue vase full of yellow lilies–Benny's first and probably final gift to her.

Maybe I could break that window. Shatter the glass and run right back to him again, my shy and perfect and utterly doomed prince.

The idea dissipated just as quickly as it had arrived. I doubt I'd even manage to get one leg out of the window before they caught me. They might as well just lock me up in prison for all I'm worth to him now.

The night was still and silent, the window spilling glowing moonbeams onto the calm, sleeping faces of her siblings. How many of them are just pretending to be asleep? she wondered. How many of them are feeling just like me? All alone–which shouldn't even be possible in such a big family, but it is–and wondering how you're ever going to be able to keep going.

No. I have to keep going, she thought. Maybe my subconscious is willing to give up, but smart, rational, fully-awake Luan never will. Not ever. I have hope for him.

Another tear slipped from her eye–which she didn't even notice until suddenly, all at once, she felt its weight slide down her cheek and into the grooves of her jawline.

But…how much longer can I really keep all of my hope alive?

…

I want us to try to make our own fate.

Because you're mine and I'm yours. Forever.

Luan's gentle words to him cycled through Benny's brain long after she was gone. For at least a full hour, he sat with his tail curled tight around his legs and gazed out the window at the cold, starless night, wanting to be as close to her–or at least, to the shadow of her that still seemed to linger at his doorstep and cling to his window panes–as he could. As the breeze combed through the fur on his face and the moonlight bathed his cursed body in light and shadow, all of his thoughts were of her.

If it was even possible for him to fall any harder for her than he already had, she'd just made him do it, without even trying.

A part of him wondered faintly if this had all been a dream, if he'd just hallucinated their late-night meeting, or even if Luan herself was nothing more than a delusional figment of his imagination. But he quickly abandoned the thought, because he highly doubted a mind like his could ever have conjured up a creature half as wonderful.

Though, he mused, if she was just a dream of his after all, he didn't ever want to wake up.

I guess I won't have to. I'll probably dream of her every night for the rest of my life. Even after I lose my mind, even if I forget her name and the sound of her voice. She'll still be there, lingering in the back of my head like a ghost. My angel in a yellow cloak.

No, never mine, he reminded himself sadly. Even if she thinks of herself as such, and me as hers, this can never be. I'm too broken, and she's in far too much danger, just by being near me.

But if I can't let her have forever with me, then why did I promise her forever? Did I mean it?

Did she?

Eventually, he managed to rip himself away from the window…away from her…and trundled across the floor and up the flight of stairs. He passed right on by the door to his bedroom without a glance, heading instead to his little room near the end of the hall filled with trinkets and joke objects. The last place he'd been with her before disaster had struck and everything had changed.

Those stolen moments with her had been the only time he'd ever felt like he'd been allowed to breathe, without spells and curses and a hundred other things to worry about. It was funny, the way she'd kept making him forget about all of that even though she was such a loud and brilliant reminder of them…since she was the only one who might've ever been able to save him from them, if only she'd loved him as deeply as he loved her.

If only, if only, if only. He sounded like some poor fool from some sappy ancient tragedy. Had Oedipus, the disgraced Greek king, murmured an if only to himself as he'd learned the truth about his origin and fallen victim to the same terrible fate he'd tried so hard to escape? Had Romeo whispered if only as he'd stood over Juliet's motionless body and kissed her still lips, dying to the poison running in rivers through his bloodstream?

Was that going to be his destiny as well? Just a constant flood of wantings and wishings, right up until his bitter, untimely end? Was he only a tragic character in some tragic play? Chasing after something–someone–he was never meant to encounter in the first place?

Ah, fair comedienne. I wish we had never met, although I'm so very, very glad we did.

With a sigh, Benny dropped onto the thin carpet. He flipped onto his back, placed his paws behind his head, crossed one leg over the other, and stared blankly up at the ceiling.

If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost pretend he wasn't alone.

I hope she's safe. She's probably safe, back in her room at the inn, with her siblings to look after her…or maybe she's looking after them, like she always did for me. I wish I could be with her right now.

Or at the very least, I wish I could know for certain that she's alright, so that this silly, fluff-brained head of mine could stop worrying about her all the time.

I wonder if she's asleep right now, and if her face looks as calm and peaceful as it did the night she fell asleep right by my side. Has she ever dreamed of me the way I dream of her?

Or maybe she's awake and staring at the ceiling, wishing things could have happened differently. Just like me.

And I wonder whether she'll come back tomorrow night. I'm scared she will, and that I'll have to say goodnight and let her go again, never knowing when it'll be for the last time. But I think I'm even more afraid that she won't show up at all, and I'll be here all night alone, just wondering when, or if…

"She's broken your brain again, hasn't she, Benjamin?"

Benny sat up, startled to see a marionette's hollow eyes boring straight into his soul. His black claws gripped her wooden cross brace, holding her strings at a nimble angle.

Had he reached for the puppet without even thinking, the way he'd used to when he was just a small child? Was he still nothing more than the timid, anxious boy he'd been back in the years before the curse? Would he always be?

Was it even him who had done the controlling and talking at all? Perhaps his old marionette had a mind of her own. And if that was the case, then who was really controlling whom? Was he going mad?
Whatever the reason, Benny reminded himself, asking questions about it would probably only drive him even madder. That was always how it worked in plays. More or less.

"I suppose I can't help it," Benny told the old puppet truthfully. "I love her."

"Well, she's not yours to keep," she reminded him. "You've only borrowed her for a short spell…sorry, a short moment, and now you're going to have to learn to move on without her. Unless you'd rather live a life of loneliness and sorrow?"

"I know. But she's worth it," he murmured. "And I can't believe she came back. Just to see me."

"And you trust that she'll come back again?"

"She gave me her word."

"So?" the puppet demanded. "Promises don't mean anything."

"Luan's promises do."

"That doesn't mean she loves you back," she replied, taking Benny's deepest desire right out of his chest and laying it bare on the floor like a map for him to see plain and clear. "How could she, knowing what you are?"

"Yeah, you're right. But she's different from anyone I've ever met before. I was just kind of hoping, I guess…" He shrugged. "It's stupid, I know. You can care about a horrifying monster–and she does, a lot–but you can't love him. That's just basic common sense."

Blushing, he ran his free paw through his hair. "She did call me hers, though. That's what she told me. She said, word-for-word, I quote, 'You're mine and I'm yours. Forever.' I remember because it made my tail wag."

A familiar thumping noise caught his attention, and he glared daggers at the obvious fluffy culprit. "Okay, stop that, you. I'm trying to figure something out."

His tail quieted down, though perhaps a bit begrudgingly.

"I wish I knew what she was trying to say," he kept rambling. "Maybe when she–if she–returns, I'll just be bold and confront her about it. Or maybe I should tell her about what I've been feeling. What I've always felt for her."
The marionette gave him a blank stare…or at least, as blank a stare as one could possibly hold on a face made of wood. "What's the point in that?"

"I think she has a right to know. I mean, if I were somehow running rings around someone's head like she is around mine, I'd definitely want to be told. And it'd be nice to finally get it off my chest. One less regret for these twisted paws of mine to carry for the rest of my life. Maybe it's all for nothing, because that spell might never break even if we both spent our whole lives trying. But because of her, I got the chance to truly just fall for someone. It feels wrong if I don't at least thank her for that."

"Well, sure, I guess that makes sense. Even if you are just setting yourself up for a tragic failure, boy."

"You know what?" he said, a little bolder than before. "Maybe I don't want to be so tragic anymore."

He felt his ears perk–an involuntary reaction that he'd always tried to hide around Luan, but now felt little need to. It felt oddly appropriate (and a bit satisfying) to just let them do whatever they wanted, now that he was alone and there was no one left to watch him.

"Maybe I want something else. Just for now, for the time I have left." As his heartbeat suddenly picked up speed, he leapt off the floor and onto his feet. "Maybe…maybe I just want to live. Just to be."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, I can and I will!" he vowed.

Tail wagging in newfound glee–and the world be danged, he let it wag–Benny raced right out of the room and promptly slid down the stairway banister all the way to the bottom. When he landed squarely on his feet like a cat, he laughed.

Excellent, a strange, half-familiar voice in his head seemed to whisper. But do more. Do more.

And so he did. When he thought of what happiness was, what true joy felt like, the first thing that came to his mind was, of course, dancing with Luan. The nervous tremors he'd felt in his heart at the sound of her laughter, the warm feeling of her closeness, and the little streak of protectiveness he'd felt when he'd noticed how cold she was.

He didn't have Luan with him, but he still had her memory. And he still knew how to dance, though he didn't know how much longer that knowledge would last. But he had it today, and that would be enough.

Thinking of a melody in his head, Benny twirled across the floor a few times, trying to focus his mind on every little sensation–trying to remember it all while he still had a mind and a reason to remember.

He liked the little way his tail swished behind him like a cape, or like Luan's yellow cloak. That was something they had in common, he supposed. A part of them swept behind for an extra little second before they left the room. Their presence lingered a bit longer in a space than most. Hers in particular lingered a lot longer, at least according to him.

He also liked the sensation of the cold tiles on his pawpads. It was kind of hard to feel anything on the bottoms of his feet, or even on his palms and fingertips, but he could feel this. And the feeling of the wind on his face and on his neck. It felt almost exactly like the breath of wind he'd felt as he'd spun Luan around, though, of course, there wasn't any laughter to accompany it this time. Only quiet.

If he lifted his head towards the ceiling and closed his eyes, he could almost pretend he was outside, underneath the stars with her. Or under the sun. What would it be like to dance underneath the sun with her, without caring who saw or what people would think of him in the daylight?

Maybe I can ask her about it if she comes back. Not to dance, because if she dances with me again, I don't think I'll ever be able to get myself to stop. I just want to ask her what that's like. I wonder what she'd say to me.

Benny thought about this until it got boring (and eventually, everything did), then looked around for other things with which to entertain himself. He looked through all of Lori's drafted letters to Bobby, including some that were marked, literally off-limits–do not touch! He played Luna's lute, though pretty badly, because strings and claws were not a very happy combination. Using Lynn's ball, he played a game of soccer by himself, trying to figure out how to play as both the offensive players and the goalie at the same time. He toyed with Lisa's strange equipment, idly pouring one vial into another until he produced an explosion big and loud enough to shake the entire castle.

He loved these little trinkets, these little reminders that everything hadn't been just a dream, that he'd been visited by noisy angels who'd laughed with him and played with him, but all the same, he knew the right and honorable thing to do was to return them. So, he searched the kitchen for the crate Rita had used to carry groceries into the castle, and looked around the house for every object the children had left behind–every trace of them that still haunted this place like ghosts. And he collected them, one by one…save for the ping-pong ball Lynn had wedged into the chandelier, which he was still far too small to reach even with a stepladder.

If Luan ever comes back, I'll give them to her. And that will be closure for me. A goodbye.

At the end of his search, he came across a pile of Lily's old drawings underneath one of the chairs in the lobby. Little more than brown-and-blue scribbles upon unused scrolls and scraps of paper from Lucy's journal (though priceless to the beast who now beheld them), they served as tiny remnants of the moments he'd somehow won over the littlest of the Louds even with his fearsome claws and scary face.

As he studied these little notes by the bright moonlight, he thought about Lily. He missed the way she used to hum while she drew portraits of him with her little crayons, giving him a stern look whenever he'd dared to move an inch.

Sure, maybe he hadn't liked being looked at so carefully like that, and if given the choice, he would have preferred to have been drawn as the boy he'd once been instead of as the monster he was now, but then again, Lily was just a small child. She saw the world at face value. While he and Luan and everyone else saw the world in various shades of gray, Lily only thought of things as black-and-white. So, while everyone else had called him a boy, at least to his face, Lily had only seen the curious, canine-feline creature he was on the outside.

It's weird. I know she doesn't understand what's happened to me, or that I'm something different underneath than I appear on the surface, so she doesn't fully understand me. But in some ways, I sort of think she gets me like no one else does. Not even Luan.

Maybe it's because she doesn't expect me to be anything other than what I am. She doesn't expect to see a human–she's not aware that I used to be one at all. So she doesn't see all the things I'm supposed to be, all the things people tell me I am. All she sees when she looks at me is Benny, the strange and furry playmate who hangs out a lot with her big sister. Nothing else.

An odd thought occurred to him then. Now that there's really no chance of me ever becoming anything else, perhaps I should try to see myself that way, too. Stop dwelling on what I should be instead and just see Benny. Exactly the way I am.

I don't know if I can do that, but I suppose it's worth a shot.

Taking up the challenge, if for no other reason than just for the sake of trying it, Benny set the crate of things against the front door, walked upstairs to his bedroom, took a candle out of the cabinet, and lit it on fire with a match. Then, he stepped carefully down the stairs, nearly tripping on his tail, since it had quietly tucked itself between his legs. This reaction wasn't so much because of the candle, or about the risk of dropping it. Benny wasn't afraid of fire, even with his very fluffy and thus very flammable paws. It was what he was about to do with the candle that truly scared him.

Once he was on the bottommost floor again, he carefully nudged the bathroom door open and took a hesitant step inside. Now that it was dark out, the windowless room was all but pitch-black. Even so, Benny stood in front of the sink and dared a shy glance up at the mirror.

In all the years he'd been cursed, he'd hardly ever done this…and the few times he had, he'd immediately looked away again frightened of the monster he'd become. He didn't really like to stick around in this room; he'd gotten into the habit of brushing his fangs or washing his paws quickly, and then leaving as fast as he could. Half the time, he hadn't even bothered to rinse his brush or dry the wet fur on his palms.

Benny wasn't afraid of fire…but he was afraid of mirrors. Or, at least, he was afraid of looking at the thing inside of them and letting it look back.

But he'd been able to do it in his dream tonight, the one where Luan had kissed him. And before that, Luan had been able to look at him every day without a shred of fear or hesitation. There had even been times when she'd smiled at him and made it very clear that she'd liked looking at him, watching him, for reasons he couldn't begin to fathom. Even little Lily had been able to do it.

So, then, why couldn't he? Why, even after Luan had shown him that she wasn't scared of it herself, had he still refused to look his reflection in the eyes?
Well, Benny Stein, he thought to himself. Fate has much scarier things in store for you now. So if you're still afraid of your own image, you're never going to make it in the world.

Feeling his ears press tight against his head, he slowly raised the candle up to the mirror…and met his own eyes.

Instantly, his breath caught painfully in his throat with a sharp hiss, and he felt a strong urge to look away, but he forced his gaze to remain steady and constant.

Under the flame's warm, orange light, he could barely make out what color his eyes were, but he knew they were deep brown. They always had been.

The rest of his features, although he'd had them for years, were still so new to him. Forcing all of the disgusted, ashamed thoughts out of his head and trying to make it as clear as possible, Benny let his eyes wander, trying to study his face as though it were nothing but a portrait. Because portraits didn't have any should-bes or supposed-tos attached to them. What lay on a canvas was what had always been there. Painted eyes and painted smiles had never been anything other than what they were in the moment they'd been captured by color.

He studied his ears, his nose, each individual strand of fur…all the things he wished he'd been able to change but couldn't ever. I wonder who I would have been if I'd been able to reverse this spell…or maybe even go back in time and prevent it entirely. What face would I have been looking at, all these years? In any time or universe, could I have ever been even remotely handsome enough to win the heart of someone as incredible as Luan?

Wait…no. All of those are supposed-to thoughts. You're not supposed to be doing that.

Dang it! I just used the word again! Alright, no more supposed-tos ever again, starting right now. Clearing my mind. Clearing my heart.

A determined expression on his face–it's so weird that I can read my face this clearly when it looks so different, so inhuman–he looked deep into his own dark, piercing gaze.

Luan said my eyes are beautiful.

I don't entirely know if I believe her. I've never fully believed a single word she's said about me. But it always made me feel nice when she pointed out something about the way I looked that she liked. Oh, like the time we spent the night by the fireplace, and she was cleaning my wounds. She was shaken from the wolf attack–I could see that in her eyes–but even so, when I was feeling insecure about myself, she placed a gentle finger on my nose and told me it was cute. Then, when her words caused my tail to wag, she ran her fingers through it and told me that was cute, too. It practically made my head explode into flames.

She's the one who found out about the itchy spot behind my ears. In all my years in this shape, even I hadn't known about that. Funny how she always did that to me–made me discover new things about the body I'd always hated, and made me hate it a little less. I also liked it whenever she used to play with my hair. Her family used to do it too, and it made me feel close to them.

I remember that night at the dance, when she offered her hands to me, so pale and cold and perfect, and I gently placed mine over hers. Our hands had looked so different, but they'd felt so right, and I'd hardly even cared that girls like her don't fall in love with monsters like me. My heart raced when she'd buried her nose into my fur, trying to warm herself, because she was so close to me, and I wanted her to stay that way forever and always.

In those brief moments, I didn't even think about who I was supposed to be, or who I wanted Luan to see me as. I just was. And I can let myself just be now.

Slowly, he let himself come to terms with it all. This face and this body, from horns to tail and all the way throughout, would truly be his for the rest of his life, for eternity.

And he accepted that. What he felt towards himself wasn't love, not even close. Or joy, or even hope. Just plain, clear acceptance. If that was all he could ever manage, that would be okay. Enough. It was enough just to be.

That being said, did he still long for a certain fair comedienne? To have a pair of human hands to hold her with…or, at least, for her gentle touch to distract him from the fact that he'd always have nothing but paws? Did he want to find her, take her hand in his, and get down on one knee, begging her to never leave him alone again? Absolutely.

But he could accept that those dreams of his would always only be dreams.

Benny blew out the candle, sneezed on the faint tendrils of smoke, and left the room feeling quite a bit better than he had when he'd entered it.

Stepping back into the lobby, Benny could see the first orange tendrils of dawn begin to light up the blue-black sky. Sunrise. A warm and welcome reminder that even when he was all alone and Luan was gone, the world kept spinning, each day bringing with it more and more beautiful things that made him think of her. For as long as he had human thoughts and human words, and maybe even after that, she would always be in the back of his mind.

I think…maybe I should leave some of them here. Put them into something permanent. Maybe no one will ever read them, not even Luan herself, but it'd be nice to have something of my own to show for it all. Just to prove that I was here. That I lived, and felt joy and pain…and love.

So, by the blinding light of dawn's first rays, Benny sat at the table in the lobby with a long, blank scroll, writing sonnets for Luan. Most of them weren't any good–and, being well-versed in Shakespearean poetry, Benny knew good when he heard it. They were written in the crooked, wobbly words of a beast and not the stately, refined penmanship of a prince, but he poured every shred of love and hopelessness he felt in his heart into them. And, when he got so tired that he had to physically rub the sleep out of his eyes, he found that he'd ended up with a few things that sounded at least halfway decent.

I'll keep workshopping them for you, fair sun, he thought through a yawn. After all, I've got at least a couple more long, lonely nights left in me. I hope.

I can feel the petals dwindling by the day. It's like a constant, dull, throbbing ache somewhere in my body. I don't really know the words for where exactly I can sense it–the closest description that comes to mind is that it's yanking on my heartstrings–but it's there, always there. I feel like the fourth petal has already fallen, but I don't know for certain, and I really don't want to go up there and check.

I think I'll just stay right down here and wait for you. Just like you told me to.

Benny glanced out the window. The sun was peering over the horizon, ready to greet the waking-up world.

He wondered if Luan was getting up with it, and what she was going to do today. Was she reading her old spellbooks at the breakfast table, wearing the same beautifully determined face she'd worn around him just yesterday? Was she still clinging onto her tiny shreds of fierce, desperate hope that there was something within their yellowed pages that could salvage him?

What he wouldn't have given for a body that could safely walk down the hills, across the street, and right up to her room. To knock on her door for once! He would have climbed a ladder all the way up to the Heavens and stolen the sun itself (with his bare paws!) just for one day of bonding with her over a breakfast of fruit and honey, blushing when their hands touched as she passed him a pen to do the daily crossword.

Wait. Stop. Those are supposed-to thoughts again, Benny. That is not the fate you're going to get, and it's fine. Accept things as they are. You'd probably be bad at crossword puzzles anyway, since you can't even find the proper words to tell her how you feel.

Sliding out of his chair, Benny crept on all fours to the patch of sunlight that was starting to form and stretch beneath the lobby's windows. He circled one, twice, three times, then settled down into a ball and closed his eyes. The sun's rays felt nice on his hair–fur–and on the backs of his ears. Quite possibly the warmest spot for a catnap he'd found in days…and maybe the warmest spot he'd find ever again. So I'd better appreciate it while I still can.

I wonder if this is going to be what the rest of my life is like. Long, restless nights followed by long, lazy mornings. Sleeping during the day, underneath her sun like a nocturnal creature, because the night feels far too dark. Not really what I wanted out of my life, but I guess there's something almost poetic about it.

He burrowed his nose in his fluffy tail, drifting into a restless sleep. Just as always, his very last thoughts before slumber were devoted to the girl who'd stolen his heart like a clever thief and who walked in all of his dreams and nightmares.

Please come back soon, Luan. As quick as you can. Just like you promised. There's still so much I want to tell you…and I don't even know if I'll be able to last this entire day without you.

…

A sulking comedienne was, of course, absolutely no laughing matter.

And Lola was just about the least prepared person in the entire world to deal with it.

She'd never seen Luan look anything like this before. She'd seen her upset, of course, after getting hurt, or making a huge mistake that cost the family a day of profit, or just because emotions were something that teenage girls felt an awful lot of. But now, it was nearing midday and Luan was still just as distraught as she'd been when she'd woken up. After a spine-chillingly silent breakfast, she'd climbed right into their parents' bed, burrowed herself between their thick blankets, and adamantly refused to show her face to anyone. She hadn't even spoken so much as a word since last night.

Lola wasn't entirely sure what had happened…other than that she'd missed out on hours of beauty sleep, but she was trying her best to piece it together little by little. She knew Luan and a few of their older siblings had snuck out last night, and though no one had mentioned in words where they'd gone, everyone knew without it being said that they'd gone to the castle on the hill–the place their parents had strictly forbidden just that morning after Benny had gotten sick and attacked them.

She couldn't blame Luan for acting this way. Luan, she knew, had always found fulfillment in solving others' problems, in bringing a smile to the faces of people who'd forgotten how to. So, now that it looked like Benny, whom she'd grown to care so deeply about, was beyond all hope, of course she was going to fall into a state of despair herself.

Normally, when she feels awful like this, a twisted part of me kind of feels great, because it means she won't be in the mood to prank us or tell terrible jokes, Lola thought. But this time, I just feel really awful, too.

Luan wasn't the only one fretting over Benny–the whole family was, even if they didn't say it out loud. In only a short while, the shy little beast had wormed his way into all of their hearts not by looks or grand gestures, but just by being pure and kind and true.

It was easy to see why and how Luan had fallen in love with him. Which she had. Even though she refused to say that out loud as well.

But now all that joy, hope, and love was completely gone from her, and she was nothing more than a pitiful little cocoon in their parents' bed with all her siblings flocked around her, trying desperately to console her and snap her out of it…and failing horrifically. Lana in particular had just said a sentence so terribly insensitive that it had made the bundle of blankets tremble and whimper, as though Luan was just about to cry.

"Nice going Lana!" Lori snapped. "Now look at what you did! You made her hysterical!"

"Come on, guys! What did I say?" Lana complained. "All I did was ask her if she wanted to wear my bracelet. I thought it might make her feel better!" She held up a bundle of slightly curly brown fluff, crudely twisted into the shape of something that somewhat resembled a bracelet.

Lori threw her hands in the air. "Well, clearly that made her feel worse!"

"We are really bad at this," Lucy grumbled.

Lola racked her brain, trying to think of something that would actually comfort Luan, which was sorely needed after Lana's mishap. But Lucy was right. It was normally Luan who had known what to do in these types of situations, and now that it was her who needed them to do the same for her, the rest of them were completely clueless.

"Okay, let's all just relax. We can do this," Lincoln said in a calm, confident voice, brushing a lock of white hair away from his eye. "Let's try to think of a good way to calm her back down, and avoid doing or saying anything that might even remotely remind her of Benn–"

Luna lifted a hand to stop him. "No, dude, don't–"

"Don't say his name!" Lori squawked as Luan burst into tears.

All of the siblings, Lola included, watched helplessly as their sister sobbed, feeling just as ashamed as they did the day when they'd roughhoused a bit too hard in a history museum and had accidentally broken a priceless piece of Roman pottery.

After a while, Luan finally collected herself and sat up. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes looked completely hollow, ringed with dark circles from several nights without adequate sleep. It was like she'd completely lost her soul.

"Let me talk to her," Luna insisted.

So, Luna edged closer and put a hand on Luan's shoulder. Luan rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand, refusing to meet her sister's gaze.

"Hey, soul sister," Luna said softly. "Mom went out to buy you ice cream. Mint chocolate chip, your favorite." Cracking a wry smile, she added, "Remember how you always used to tell that joke about having a chip on your shoulder?"

Luan didn't say anything. She shrugged off Luna's hand.

But Luna, determined to get through to her, continued: "And Dad's in the kitchen, making beef stroganoff for lunch. Because he knows you can never get anoff of it. Get it?" Luna tried to laugh, but as soon as Luan locked eyes with her, the heartbroken expression on her face as clear as day, the sound choked and died right in the middle of her throat. It was an ugly noise.

"Dang," said Lynn Jr. "Two puns in a row and she's still not out of it?"

Lori crossed her arms. "It's going to take a lot more than puns for her to get over a wounded heart, Lynn. Especially one this bad. But we're here for you, Luan," she told their sister. "All of us together. The way it should be."

"We love you," Leni added. "And we want you to be happy."

"Yeah, we're on your team," Lynn added.

A brief expression of gratitude flashed through the tiniest dimples in Luan's cheeks, but in an instant, it was gone again. Even in the half-second it lasted, it did little to hide the haunted, heavy look in her lidded eyes.

For a while, the siblings sat in silence, none of them having any clue what to do. In the end, it was Lisa, aloof and stoic Lisa, who shyly scooted herself into Luan's lap. As Lisa looked up at Luan, the expression behind her thick glasses was oddly sympathetic for a girl whose idea of a good time was experimenting with helpless animals and forbidden chemicals.

With a sniff, Luan wrapped her arms around Lisa and hugged her tightly…much to Lisa's clear displeasure. It was a long time before Luan dared to let go.

"Please talk to us, luv," Luna told her once she finally did. "We want to know what's going on in that head of yours."

Now, Luan's eyes locked right on Luna. She turned up her nose and shook her head.

"...You're not going to speak until they let you see him, aren't you?" Lucy guessed.

The comedienne gave her a solemn nod.

"You do realize that might be a really long time, right?" said Lori. "I don't think Mom and Dad are willing to budge anytime soon."

At this, Luan rolled her eyes and shrugged. The message she sent with this gesture was remarkably clear: We'll just see about that, won't we?

Lori snorted in amusement. "Sometimes, I really wish I had your spirit, Luan."

I never thought I'd think this, but I kind of do, too, Lola thought. It's unbelievable–minutes ago she was in tears, but she's still just as determined as she was the day she met him. She still refuses to believe things are hopeless, even when anyone else would. She's upset, but she's still not giving up.

I wonder if I would be like her, if the same thing happened to me. I hope so.

Lola heard heavy footsteps approach the staircase, followed by a rhythmic knock that sounded suspiciously like the one Luan used to use to greet Benny…but that was probably just a coincidence.

"Looks like Mom's home," Leni said.

Lynn Sr left the kitchen, where he'd been cooking so busily that it was quite obvious that he was trying to avoid his children–or more specifically, one child in particular–while simultaneously being close enough to keep them from trying anything. As Rita used the key to turn the latch and opened the door, Lynn Sr greeted her briefly…but then went over to the bed right as the door opened.

He put a hand on Luan's head. Luan looked at him with a glare as hot as the sun.

"I love you, you know," Lynn Sr told her. "I know you definitely don't think that–and it hurts me to know you don't think that because I'm trying to keep you safe, but I do. I love all you kids. You're…you're the best eleven things that ever happened to me."

With a glimmer of something wet in his eyes, Lynn Sr went over to the door, took something from Rita–a tub of mint-chocolate ice cream, just as Luna had told them–and placed it on a nearby desk. Then, he whispered something in Rita's ear, and the two went out into the hallway to talk, shutting the door behind them.

Lola immediately ran up to the door and pressed her ear against it to listen.

"Lola Loud!" Lori hissed. "What are you doing?"

"I need to know what they're saying!" she shot back.

Lori facepalmed, but let her stay there. As the rest of her siblings continued to offer Luan their comfort and support, which she silently tolerated, Lola tried to hear their parents' conversation. It took her a little while, but eventually she found a good spot near the crack in the door where she could make out almost all of the words.

"How is Luan?" Her mother's voice sounded gravely serious, as though Luan was ill with something much worse than a bit of heartsickness.

"Terrible," Lynn Sr's voice replied. "The girls and Lincoln were doing their best, but nothing has been able to rouse her. And she doesn't want anything to do with me. I think she might actually be giving me…the silent treatment."

Yeah, well, I don't blame her, Lola thought, clenching her jaw. It was the first time she'd actually wanted to defend Luan's side on anything in a long time.

"Oh, honey," Rita said in sympathy. "That must have been so hard for you."

"It's like torture, the way she looks at me! Not a laugh, or a smile, or anything," he complained, his voice rising. Lola had no doubt that if she'd been out in the hallway, her father would have been making wild, exaggerated motions with his hands, the way he always did when he felt strong emotions. "I have to hand it to her: that girl really knows how to hit me where it hurts."

"Well, she's clever like that. But you have to remember…she's hurting, too. A lot more than you are. For good reason."

"We had to do it, though. I mean, he could have seriously harmed any one of them."

"Yes, but I wish we hadn't had to. I feel awful, seeing her–and all the kids, really–so distraught like this. And Benny…he's just a boy."

"Just a boy," Lynn Sr repeated. "A boy transformed by a spell into a horrifying monster."

"Makes no difference. He's still a boy." Even from the other side of the door, Lola could hear her mother let out a heavy sigh, as though she was collecting some very difficult thoughts. "Just yesterday, in the kitchen, he told us he's been like this for years. Do you think…do you think he might have been as young as Lincoln? Even younger?"

He's what?! This was news to Lola's ears. Really? All alone in a cold gray castle, trapped as a monster…for years?

No wonder he needed Luan so badly. She's the only thing bright enough to distract him from all those years spent in the dark.

Or, she was. She doesn't seem nearly as bright anymore.

So now what's he going to do?

"I don't like that thought," her father said quietly. "Imagining what could've happened if it had been one of ours."

"He is one of ours now," Rita replied. "Our responsibility, at least. He's got no one else around, so we're responsible for looking after him and making sure he's safe. But–" she added, her voice lowering so much it became almost incomprehensible, "I have no idea how to do any of that. For the first time in a very long time, I have absolutely no idea how to take care of a child."

"We can't take him with us, if that's what you're asking. It wouldn't work out at all. All of us would be in grave danger, himself included. But then, I suppose he's in danger either way, isn't he?"

Rita was silent–the kind of silence that carried an awful lot of weight behind it.

"Part of me just wants to leave this whole place behind, right now," Lynn confessed. "Maybe it was a mistake to even come here at all."

"Me too. But leaving…" Rita's voice suddenly sounded very hoarse. "It's going to break Luan's heart. Forever."

"I know." Lynn Sr sounded equally pained.

"She loves him, Lynn."

Despite how sadly her mother said these words, the first thought that came to Lola's mind was a triumphant, celebratory yes! I knew it! I knew it the whole time!

Well, maybe not the whole time. It was true, she'd been scared of Benny when she'd first met him–and even Luan had admitted to her that she'd almost wet her skirt the first time she'd seen him!-but you couldn't blame her for it. And when she first saw the hints, that very first day she'd spent in the castle, that Luan might actually be interested in him in a deeper-than-friendship way, Lola had been…well, disgusted was the only proper word for it.

Lola recalled an argument she'd had with Lucy a couple months ago, when she'd first started reading that novel series about girls who fell in love with werewolves. As soon as Lola had figured out what exactly it was her sister was reading, she'd been quick to voice her disapproval, pointing out how hairy and gross werewolves were. The mere idea of crushing on something so weird and furry had practically made her skin crawl. After all, who would want to date something that shed carpets on the floor and smelled like a wet dog? And even though Benny wasn't technically a werewolf, he was much closer to that than Lola would have preferred.

All of that had changed, however, the more she'd gotten to know Benny. He was quiet and polite and kind, nothing like the image of a hulking, brutish werewolf with slavering jaws and razor-sharp claws that her mind had been quick to conjure up. He made everyone laugh, not just Luan. And Luan herself had become a much more tolerable person since she'd met him–much sweeter, and more thoughtful. Lola liked the girl Luan became when she was with Benny.

And…true, Benny did leave little tufts of curly brown fur all over the floor, but there was nothing a bit of sweeping couldn't fix–which Lola was more than happy to let Lori handle the lion's share of. He did have a faint, animal-like scent, but it was more like a wild forest critter's than a dog's, really, though Lola supposed that probably couldn't be helped. But he mostly smelled of books and rain, something she knew Luan found suspiciously appealing, and the lingering traces of soap told Lola that Benny at the very least washed behind his ears on a regular basis. Honestly, the grossest thing he'd ever done was let Lana smear her boogers on the wall, but even that had its perks, because it meant Lana had less boogers left to smear across their own walls.

Besides, it was hard for anyone to think him less than perfectly splendid when they'd all watched Luan fall so deeply and irrevocably in love with him. She didn't cringe or shudder at all the things that made him strange and different, rather, she found them endearing. Eventually, Lola had started to do the same.

Nobody could deny it any longer. This boy was Luan's perfect prince, and Lola would clobber anyone who dared to tell her otherwise.

But now…it felt sad to think a thing like that. The words felt tragic, all of a sudden, because while Luan's affection for the prince had brought her happiness in the past, now it only brought heartbreak. She was a complete disaster today…and what if she remained that way forever?

A few days ago, hearing her mother confirm "She loves him" would have made Lola feel all giggly and sparkly, rushing right up to Luan and teasing her about what kind of petals she, the obvious choice for the flower girl, would be spilling down the aisle at their wedding. But now, sensing as the boy was pretty much doomed, Lola almost wished Luan didn't love him, not so much. It was going to destroy her just as much as the spell was destroying him.

Lola was genuinely worried that her comedienne sister, the one she'd always been so annoyed with in the past, was about to lose her smile forever.

Would the Loud family ever get their silly, joyful comedienne back again?

"Hold on, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Lynn Sr replied. "Did she say that, Rita?"

"Not in words. I don't even think she's fully aware of it. But I know it when I see it, and she loves him the same way I love you. You know it, too. I can tell."

"But what are we supposed to do about it?" he questioned.

"I don't know. I truly don't know. I don't feel safe sending her back there, even if I go with her, because I feel like she'll just try to break in when I'm not looking, knowing her. And she'll probably succeed at it, too. But I also don't feel comfortable leaving him to just fend for himself, and yet…I don't know if there's really anything we can do for him. If Luan's right and that curse has really started to take over his mind–"

"You mean…"

"He might already be too far gone to save. And I don't think Luan's going to be okay for a long, long time. Maybe not ever again."

Both of them were quiet for a while, until the soft hiss of Rita's sigh broke the silence. "I need to take Lola to her theatre practice. I can't let Luan go today, and maybe I should ask Madame Bernardo to have the understudy take over her role, but I suppose if Lola promises to behave and Madame Bernardo keeps a close eye on her, we should allow her to attend. After all, they're all going to go stir-crazy if we keep them cooped up in here for long."

"I'm not looking forward to it," Lynn Sr said dryly.

"Don't let Luan or any of the others out of your sight for a second while I'm gone," Rita warned. "But also, remind her that she's loved. Even in all her sadness and messiness, she's still my little girl. Always and forever.

"And…and start packing up our things," she added. "As soon as the theatre production has its show next week, and Lola is paid for her services, I want us out of here. I don't want to leave like this, and I know it's going to absolutely break Luan, but I don't think we have a choice if we want to keep our children safe. As for Benny, I just don't know what to do. I don't know what we can do. I suppose we can ask around for a cure, and maybe I could send him some good food and medicine in the mail each week–"

"I don't think you're going to be able to fix that boy with care packages, Rita."

"I know. But what else am I supposed to do about this?" Rita didn't even wait for a response before saying, "I should get Lola ready to go. Be good to the kids, don't let any of them out, and don't let the room burn down, okay?"

"Okay. I love you."

"Love you, too."

Rita nudged the door open with another deep sigh, and Lola quickly scrambled over to where a few of her princess dolls were scattered across the floor. She picked one up and pretended to look busy.

Her mother gently touched her on the shoulder. "Lola, honey? If you want to go to rehearsal today, we have to get ready. Now. It's at noon."

Lola glanced up at the clock on the wall. The time was currently 11:20.

"I'm not so sure I want to go," she grumbled under her breath.

"If that's what you really want," Rita said gently. "But I just thought it would do you some good to get out. Any of your siblings would kill to be given an opportunity like this. Especially…"

Lola and Rita looked at each other, then at Luan, who was still perched on their parents' bed, surrounded by a cloud of concerned siblings, but now her legs dangled over the side. Her shoulders drooped, and she was staring intently at what looked to be a fluffy cloud of dust on the floor. She looked like a wilted lily.

Lola didn't really like that comparison all too much.

"You're not going to let her, are you?" Lola asked.

"I can't," Rita said. "Not today. I have an odd job in town that I can't quit, so I can't keep an eye on her, and your father is going to be swamped trying to look after the rest of you. I can't risk her trying something wily, which she probably would because…she's got a pretty good reason to. I'll let you attend, but I get any word from Madame Bernardo that you so much as tried to leave the building, you're done for good. So you have to promise me you'll behave."

Lola rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll go."

As she headed over to the closet to change, she saw Rita approach Luan out of the corner of her eye, crouching down to her level.

"Are you alright, my sunshine?" When Luan frowned at her and shook her head, Rita gave her a nod. "Yeah, I know, silly question. Of course you're not. I know you're mad at me about it, but I can't let you go to your rehearsal today…and you know why. But is there something else I can do, to make it up to you?"

Luan gave her a blank stare, predictably saying nothing.

"Can you talk to me, sweetie?" Rita asked.

"She's taken a vow of silence," Lynn Jr explained with a nonchalant flick of her wrist.

"I see. Then, just know that I love you. And your father does, too, even if he has a funny way of showing it right now. You are so loved, Luan. By more people than you realize."

Rita ran a hand through Luan's hair, pushing a few loose strands behind her ear. Luan swatted her hand away, squinting her eyes shut as though she was in profound pain. She's probably thinking about Benny. He used to do things like that to her all the time, when he thought the rest of us weren't looking at them.

But we were looking. Everyone was.

Once Lola had changed into her icky brown messenger's costume, her mother's voice called to her from outside the door. "Lola? Come on, we're leaving!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She shouted back. Her toes were poised, ready to scurry out the door, when she felt a light, cold tap on the back of her head.

Luan's honey-gold eyes, illuminated by the light from the sealed-shut windows, were as sad as those of a sailor's wife who had just lost her only love to the churning, twisting waves. It was quite an unbefitting look for someone who was usually so goofy and carefree.

She's changed a lot, Lola reminded herself once again. She's not the same girl she used to be. And I don't think I am, either.

Lola watched as Luan pulled a white envelope out of her pocket with pale, trembling hands, and gently slipped it into the messenger bag at Lola's side.

"What's this?" Lola asked her. She took the envelope out of the bag and lifted the flap. Luan stopped her, wrapping her hand around her little sister's wrist.

When Lola made a confused face at her, Luan let her go, then raised both hands to the top of her head and balled them into fists. She lifted only the index finger on each one, bending them slightly to indicate a pair of curved horns. Benny.

Lola firmly shook her head. "You know I'm not allowed to go there! I'll be in big trouble if someone catches me!"

Now, Luan pressed her hands tightly against her chest, looking down at Lola with a set, determined jaw. Please. Try.

Lola shrugged. "Alright, I'll give it a shot," she said quietly. "But no promises." She looked down again at the envelope between her hands.

Luan cleared her throat–the closest thing to a sound she'd made all day. When Lola glanced up at her again, Luan gave her a fierce glare, waving a finger at her and shaking her head. The message she sent was more than clear: For his eyes only.

Yeah, no, Lola thought to herself. I'm definitely snooping at it.
"When did you write this?" Lola asked her.

Her sister pressed her hand to her cheek and closed her eyes, pantomiming that she'd done it last night, when everyone else was asleep. Well, I guess if I'd just been separated from the love of my life for good, I wouldn't be able to sleep much, either.

Which reminded her…"Did you tell him you love him? In here? Because that would be super-romantic of you. But also kind of tragic, because you don't know when you'll ever get to see him again."

Luan's eyes widened at the word 'love,' her cheeks turning dark pink with blush, but then she lowered her gaze and shook her head, looking at Lola sadly from beneath her eyelashes.

Hmph. But that doesn't exactly look like an 'I don't love him' face, if I really think about it. It looks more like an 'I do love him, but I'm scared of loving him' face.

Because she knows how bad it's going to hurt when she has to lose him. Poor Luan.

"But you are in love with him," Lola pressed. "You know you are. And you really have to tell him–he needs to know! What if that's what he needs to break the spell?"

Luan placed her hands over her eyes and ran them down the length of her face in a thoroughly exasperated–and quite honestly, kind of hopeless–gesture.

She still doesn't believe in fairytales, does she? Even after all this time.

Gosh dang it, Luan. How dumb can you possibly get?

I guess I'll just have to be smart enough for both of us.

"Lola, now!" Rita demanded loudly from the hallway. "What are you even doing?!"

"Just tying my shoe!" Lola pulled the flap over her messenger bag, sealing it tight, then raced to catch up with her mother, leaving the door wide open for Lynn Sr to hurriedly pull closed before any more little hopes and dreams got out.

But one of them escaped, Lola thought as she took the stairs two at a time. And that's a really costly error you just made, Mom.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Lola didn't clamor to sit up at the front of the family caravan. Instead, she opted to sit in the back where it was quiet and dark. Where a girl of seven could do a little thinking…and a little necessary snooping.

In between her mother's watchful, wary glances back behind her shoulder, Lola carefully lifted the letter from its envelope and out of the bag, though she was always carefully poised to drop it back down again whenever her mother turned her head to look.

The letter was serious, in that thoughtful way that Luan seldom was before Benny had come into their lives, but was now slowly growing into the way puppies eventually grew into their big paws.

And even though it didn't explicitly mention the word 'love,' Lola knew that was what it was. A love letter written from a silly comedienne to her tragic prince.

Benny,

There's so much I want to say to you, because I don't know when I'll get to see you again, or even if you'll still be there to read my letter. But just in case you are, and this is the last time I'll be able to reach you in a long time, there are some things that I need to make sure you know.

You make me laugh and cry more than anyone else I've ever met, and I hope you feel the same about me. The laughing part, that is, hopefully not the crying, because I hate to see you upset…even though I know you are, and I'm sorry I'm not able to stop it.

You're the kindest, bravest, gentlest boy I know–and I know you don't see yourself that way, but it's like I told you that night by the fireplace, when I took care of your wounds after you saved my life: I see it all, and you're just going to have to believe in me. I've lost track of all the times I've looked at you and thought to myself, "God, if only he knew how beautiful he is. I wish the world had never taken that from him."

I know this looks hopeless–and maybe it is–but I swear to you on all the stars that I will do everything I possibly can to break this spell and save you. Not just now, but for the rest of my days and nights. I'll do anything it takes to make you smile. Keep your hope alive…and keep yourself alive. I'll be there as soon as I can.

So don't you dare fur-get about me, you silly prince.

With all of my heart,

Luan

When she was done reading it, she read it again, twice, then carefully slipped it back into the envelope–which wasn't even marked with Benny's name out of secrecy, but was marked with his heart, and with Luan's as well.

Lola had never been trusted to handle something so precious before. Even the little glass unicorns from her favorite shop, the one a thousand miles away from here, hadn't been so delicate and valuable. Not even the one she'd accidentally broken, the one her father had had to pay a week's worth of savings to cover the cost of.

After a short while of silence and darkness, the caravan pulled up to the Glass Theatre, and Lola slipped out the back. Her mother fed a sugar cube to each of the two horses, then pulled open the door and escorted her inside.

As the door creaked open, Lola thought she saw a little flash of green dart out from underneath the curtains, then duck behind the stage and abruptly vanish into thin air.

That's odd, she thought. But as she walked over to examine the stage closely, it soon became apparent that there was absolutely nothing there. Was I imagining things?

Somehow, she didn't think so. But she just couldn't explain it.

While her mother took Madame Bernardo aside and talked to her (in a very stern voice), Lola kept a hand on her bag and tilted back her neck to look at the stained glass windows. Most of them depicted stories she had never heard before, ones with knights and princesses and fearsome red dragons.

She'd always taken those stories as nothing more than fiction, but what if they weren't? If magic truly existed, then what if the dragons' scales were just as real as Benny's fluffy fur?

Maybe somebody will make a glass mosaic of Luan and Benny someday, just like these. If so, I hope it's like the ones where the knight and princess are happy and holding each other's hands, and not the ones where the knight gets eaten by the dragon, and nothing but his silver boots and helmet remain.

A cold shiver zigzagged down the back of her neck. I hope things work out in the end.

But if she wanted them to, and she did, then she had no time to waste. Just as soon as Rita exited the theatre and shut the door, Lola immediately ran over to the other door on the back of the stage–placed there so that props could easily be transported in and out of the building–and pulled on the handle with all of her might.

It didn't even move an inch.

Oh, come on! Lola Loud does NOT come all this way just to let her grand missions be thwarted by a big, dumb old door! Stupid, ding-dang hunk of wood!

Just as she was about to try backing up and ramming the darned thing with her shoulder as hard as she could, a melodious, tinkly-sounding voice called out to her.

"Lola? Is that you?" Madame Bernardo asked. "What are you doing, dear? Your mother explicitly warned me not to let you out of my sight…or anywhere near the doors, for some reason. She didn't care to elaborate."

"I don't have time to explain!" Lola shouted, her voice coming out even harsher than she'd expected it to. "I have something important to do! It's for my sister!"

"Luan?" The director furrowed her brow. "I don't understand. Where is she?"

The question was like a tiny chink in Lola's impeccable suit of armor. All the fire suddenly drained out of her, and she dropped her gaze to look down at her horribly unfashionable brown shoes. "Still at home. She's heartsick."

"What? How? The last time I saw Luan, her chaton had just spun her senseless!"

Lola frowned at those words. 'Kitten' was perhaps a bit more accurate of a term to describe Benny than she would have liked.

"Yes, Benny loves her very much," Lola explained, trying and failing to keep the impatience out of her voice. "And she loves him, though she won't admit it. But something awful has happened, and now they might never get to see each other again, and so I have to deliver this letter!" She whipped the little white envelope out of her bag and held it aloft for Madame Bernardo to see.

"While I'm always in the mood for a little method acting," Madame Bernardo said hesitantly, gesturing to her messenger costume. "I don't understand a single thing you're saying. Can you explain?"

Lola took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. Losing her cool wouldn't get her anywhere. But how did one even begin to describe the flabbergasting creature that was Benjamin Stein?

"Okay, first things first," Lola said, slipping the letter back into her bag and holding out both hands with the palms facing up. "Try not to freak out, but magic is real and Benny's actually a monster."

Madame Bernardo remained remarkably cool with the first half of the sentence, but her eyebrows creased together into one at the second half. "Luan's gallant little darling? I don't believe that for a second."

Neither would I. Below the surface, the boy was anything but.

She realized what it was Madame Bernardo met and facepalmed. "No, I mean, he's actually a monster. The costume he was wearing at the party? Not a costume. The fur and horns are real. He was cursed by a spell from an evil witch, and Luan's his only chance of breaking it. If he's even still here at all. I have to deliver this letter to him so he knows Luan's okay and she's not giving up on him."

This didn't do much of anything to ease Madame Bernardo's confusion.

Lola threw her hands in the air. "Ugh, I can explain on the way! The point is, my idiot sister's in love, and I have to do whatever I can to make sure she gets to keep him in the end. Isn't this the kind of dumb thing you theatre teachers are supposed to be all about?"

That instantly snapped Madame Bernardo to her senses. "Yes. Yes!" she cried. "That's exactly the kind of dumb thing us theatre teachers are all about! Even though I still don't completely understand what it is we're doing!" She reached for the door handle, but then immediately backed her hand away. "Wait…no. Your mother said…"

"I don't care what Mom said," Lola insisted. "I'm the stupid messenger, trying to carry a note through snow and rain, from Juliet to her Romeo! Which I guess makes you Friar Lawrence. Not exactly the best role in the world, but still!"

Lola sensed she was getting hysterical, but Madame Bernardo placed a hand on her wrist, somehow both surprising her and calming her at the same time.

"If it's for love, and for Luan, I'll do it," she agreed. "No questions asked." She pulled a ring of brass keys out of her pocket–of course it had to be locked–stuck one into the keyhole, and twisted. Nothing happened.

"Oops. Wrong key," she admitted with a sheepish grin, then tried another, which successfully opened the door. "Happens all the time, I'm sorry to say."

Yes! Lola skipped merrily out the door and into the grass. Another win for Lola Loud! And for fairytales! After all, it had to be more than just sheer luck that the one adult in the building just happened to be the one adult crazy and gullible enough to go along with a plan like this. Some clever unseen hand clearly had to be guiding the story to go like this–a fairytale writer.

"I'm going out for a bit. Spencer, you're in charge until I get back!" Madame Bernardo called loudly over her shoulder.

A small voice muttered "Oh, crap" in response. But that was far beyond Lola's concern. She had an adventure ahead of her!

As the strange duo started their trek (hopefully I remember which direction I'm supposed to be going…but if not, I can ask her. I'm sure she knows the way to the only big old spooky castle in this entire dumb kingdom), Lola looked up at Madame Bernardo. It was weird how even after everything, she still felt like a stranger to her.

Although Lola was a part of the production, she hadn't spent a lot of time one-on-one with her theatre teacher. Because she was onstage for only a few pathetic, short-lived moments of the play, a lot more of her time at rehearsals was spent assembling and managing the props, painting the sets, and helping the older, more experienced actors to memorize their lines. She wasn't really used to behind-the-scenes roles like this, much preferring to be the one on the stage rather than the one helping out behind the curtains, but she had to admit she did get a kick out of bossing the actors around, telling them where to stand or exactly what lines they were messing up on. While she used to dismiss the stage crew as nothing more than amateurs and wannabes, she had garnered a newfound respect for all the work that went into managing a production. Work that usually wasn't recognized or appreciated.

That being said, was she still a little jealous of Luan? Definitely. Not only was she the lead role in Romeo and Juliet, soaking up all of the director's admiration and approval, but lately she'd seemed like the main character in the family's endeavors, too. She was the one who had fearlessly ventured into a gloomy castle, she was the one who had slowly developed a fondness for the shy, kind prince trapped behind its walls…and it was she who had somehow discovered the love and adventure of a lifetime–something she was willing to risk just about anything for. Of course, Lola didn't want to be in Luan's place right now, but she had wished for it back when she'd watched Luan smile and flirt with Benny with such levity and ease. Lola resented the feeling that she was nothing more than a tiny set of footnotes in someone else's love story.

But now, Luan had called on her and only her to do something that could change the course of this story, even if it was just something as small as delivering a single message. It was just a little role, but it still mattered, because, as Lola was just starting to learn, every role mattered, no matter how insignificant it may have appeared to be.

It wasn't nearly as loud or daring as Luan's endless hours of studying or bold nightly escapes, but she could do something important, too. Something that broke the rules and made a sad creature's hopeless situation seem a little less bleak. And she didn't even need any special skills or traits to do it. She could, just like the character she was cast as in the play, change somebody's life just by being there. It was kind of a cool feeling–to be so young and so little and yet to do so much.

"Tell me more about this boy," Madame Bernardo spoke up suddenly. "What's his story? How did he become…what he is, if what you say is true? And when did he meet Luan?"

"I probably don't know it all as well as she does," Lola admitted. "But I guess I can try."

So, as they walked through the village, past the dusty streets and shadowy, hooded corners, and then up and down the rolling green hills, Lola recounted Benny's story. She explained what she knew of the small, careless accident from Benny's childhood–mistakenly throwing a pie into a witch's face–that had led to the (as Lola thought bitterly) extremely disproportionate punishment of being turned into a beast.

She told of how Luan had spotted a flickering light from the castle one night as the family performed for a crowded audience, and how in a sudden bout of curiosity, she'd gone off to explore the ruins herself, coming face-to-face with the oddest creature any of them had ever met. A creature who looked scary, but was really just a sad and misunderstood prince.

At this, Madame Bernardo's eyes widened in surprise–only now did she fully fathom the fact that this Benny was actually the former Prince Benny, though she confessed she'd never actually met him before; she'd only come to this village and taken over the theatre within the past three years (which means he's been cursed for longer than that, Lola realized with a pummel to the gut). Madame Bernardo had tried asking about the portraits in the town hall before, but the responses she received were always clipped and brief, usually nothing more than whispers in the dark. The town clearly did not like talking about the tragedy that was their prince's supposed mysterious death.

Maybe some of them feel responsible for what happened, Lola considered. Maybe they wish they'd been there to stop it from happening, or at least, to protect him better when it did. Maybe they'd even protect him now if they knew who he was.

Or maybe they'd just see him as a monster. I think he's right to be scared.

Then, Lola described some of the ways Luan had fallen for him. That secret language of glances and gestures they had that no one else could understand, the way she simultaneously looked overjoyed and panicked whenever he was near, and how she smiled as brightly as sunshine whenever she spotted him talking to or playing with one of her siblings.

Finally, with a twinge of pain, Lola retold what had happened last night. How that spell had seized his mind and completely changed everything about who Benny was. If his transformation from a human child to an inhuman monster had been only halfway done–only a physical change before–in that moment, it had been complete and absolute. According to Luan, he'd been back to his usual self (or as usual as he could ever get, at least) last night when she'd snuck out to see him, but neither he nor she was certain of how long that might last.

All throughout Lola's stories, Madame Bernardo remained quiet, her eyes dark and her brow creased into a deep line. Once or twice, she thought she saw her shake her head, as if she was trying to convince herself that this was just the summary of a fictional stage tragedy and not an actual problem faced by one of her own students.

"This is all real?" she asked hesitantly. "Every part of it?"

As if I could just make up something like that off the top of my head, Lola thought. But all she did was give a quick nod.

Madame Bernardo covered her face with her hand. "Well, now I feel a bit ridiculous," she said. "I had no idea your sister was dealing with anything like this! I'm afraid I don't even know what to say anymore. Just…wow."

"Yeah, Benny has that effect on people," Lola agreed. "The first time Luan told me about him, I was ready to check her into a mental asylum." Then, though she wasn't quite sure what the answer would be, she asked in a quiet voice, "Do you think it's all going to end up okay?"

"I think so. True love always wins," Madame Bernardo said without a single hint of doubt. Her confidence surprised Lola.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I can just feel it. And thus far, the theatre instincts have never been wrong."

Lola crossed her arms. "Yeah, but this isn't just some dumb play. This is real."

"Makes no difference," Madame Bernardo said with a shrug. "In the end, we're all merely actors and actresses. Playing out all our stories across one big, grand stage. And just as the theatre mimics our life, so does our life mimic the theatre."

"I don't know about that. But I hope so."

Taking care not to let her hair get caught on any thorns or prickles (which were stubbornly starting to grow back), Lola crossed the stone pathway and set foot on the doorstep. She tilted her head back to gaze up at the imposing wooden doors.

Not even twenty-four hours ago, Luan's whole world had fallen apart right here.

But if this is one little way that I can put it back together for her, then that's what I'm going to do.

She raised a fist to knock on the door, but then thought better of it and looked at Madame Bernardo.

"Might want to keep your voice down," she suggested in a whisper. "He's very shy."

"So I've heard," Madame Bernardo whispered back.

Now, cautiously, she rapped thrice on one of the doors, trying to mimic Luan's customary rhythm as closely as possible. If she focused hard, she thought she could hear faint movement on the other side.

Feeling very much like she had the time she and Lana had tried to coax a scared, injured starling to eat a serving of seeds out of Lana's hand, she raised her voice into a gentle lilt. "Benny, are you still there? It's Lola."

"Lola?" Benny's voice was soft, but audibly shocked. "Is Luan…?"

"No, she's not here," Lola finished. "Mom and Dad grounded her. She's not allowed to step a single foot outside of the inn. Well, technically, I'm not allowed to be here, either, but I've never been much of a rule-follower."

"Are you alone?" he asked, his voice growing louder. "Because if so, Lola, that's insanely dangerous. There's wolves in these woods, and probably bears…and there's me."

"You're not a wolf or a bear," she said. "You're not anything like that! And no, don't worry. I'm not alone."

"You're not? Then, who…?"

Lola motioned with one finger for Madame Bernardo to come closer, which she did. She was taken aback as the brash, outspoken director raised her own fist to the door and proceeded to knock in the softest, gentlest manner Lola had ever seen out of anyone. True, this could have just been another one of her clever theatre masks, but something about the respectful gesture seemed genuine.

Even the voice that came out of Madame Bernardo was much quieter than Lola would have expected from her. "You don't know me very well, Your Highness, but truth be told, I have come to know quite a bit about you. I would like to help you in whatever ways I can. And I would like to know more. Could you come out, please?"

"Luan's teacher?" Benny asked, sounding very surprised. "How did you–?"

"Lola convinced me. These Loud girls just can't stop talking about you. Luan didn't even come in today; I have no doubt she's spent this entire morning fretting over you."

"That's Luan for you." Lola could hear both a smile and a sigh in his voice.

"Please, can you come out?" Madame Bernardo repeated, more insistently.

"Absolutely not," he said. "I didn't come out when Luan tried to make me, and I'm definitely not coming out now, no matter what–"

"I have a message for you," Lola interrupted. "It's from her."

Lola figured he immediately knew exactly who the her in question was. "You…you do?" he stammered, sounding far less like a monster and more like the shy, hopeless romantic he was deep down.

"She won't be able to come tonight. And…maybe not ever again. But she wanted to make sure she said goodbye. Just in case."

Lola slipped Luan's little white envelope through the thin crack between the door and the wall. All was silent for a long while, and Lola could only imagine the conflicting expressions behind his eyes as he read. She wondered what he was thinking.

Suddenly, with a creak and a groan, a latch slid out of place and the door opened wide. A pair of dark, nervous-looking brown eyes peered out at the world. There might've even been the tiniest glimmer of something bright and wet beneath them, but Lola couldn't be certain.

"Just for a minute," the little beast warned. "I don't trust myself any longer than that."

Madame Bernardo clicked her tongue. "Come out into the light. Let me look," she beckoned him gently.

Looking down at the ground with his long, wolfish tail tucked firmly between his legs, Benny slowly stepped through the doorway and out into the bright sunlight. He looked like a skittish alley cat cautiously approaching a tin of food that had been left out by someone's doorstep.

"My goodness!" Madame Bernardo gasped, backing up a few paces and clutching both hands to her heart.

Benny's pointed ears visibly drooped a few notches. Lola felt a stab of pity in her chest.

The director cautiously looked him over from head to toe, then stepped closer. She brushed her thumb over his claws, lifted her hand to stroke the back of his ear, and even took hold of his tail to inspect the little tuft of brown fur at the end of it. "Fascinating. All of this is truly part of you?"

Once Madame Bernardo released his tail, he swished it a few times to dust it off. "From the tips of my horns to the end of my tail, I'm afraid."

"And here I thought it was all just a clever disguise! You cunning little fox," she said approvingly.

Still looking down at his paws, Benny shook his head. "I'm not a fox. I don't know quite what I am, but it's certainly not that. Nor would I call myself cunning. I just did what I needed to do in order to see Luan."

"Facing all of those people in a form like this was very brave of you. You must care for her very much."

Dark color suddenly coated Benny's cheeks. A hint of white peeked out from the pocket of his jacket, right above his heart. Luan's letter.

"I do," he said.

Madame Bernardo placed a hand on the boy's cheek, lifting his chin until, startled, Benny met her gaze with his own. Lola saw him flinch as their eyes made contact–she knew he hated it when someone stared at him with this level of scrutiny.

"Such intense, beautiful eyes," the director mused. "Tragic and grim, yet still a bit of a hopeful spark left in them. I can see why Luan is so taken with you."

Benny looked down at the floor again. He placed a paw on Madame Bernardo's chest and gently scooted her back a couple paces. "I hardly think my eyes are my most distinguishing feature."

Madame Bernardo blinked at him as though he'd all of a sudden started speaking a different language–one she didn't understand at all. "What else is there?"

Benny looked equally confused. "Well, there's these." He held out a paw, displaying his black claws. "Also this." His tail flicked back and forth. "And these." He reached up to tug on the end of one of his pointed ears. "Not to mention these." Now he pulled back his lips, revealing his sharp fangs.

"Yes, very nice," she dismissed with a wave.

"Very nice?" Benny scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away. "Is that what you said? How can a creature with this much fur, fangs, and claws ever be–"

Madame Bernardo touched a finger to his lips, then gently traced her hand down the curve of his jawline. "All lies. Because that's what the outside is, my dear Benvolio. It's a lie. Looks are deceiving, but the eyes can never hide one's true form. They are the windows to the soul. And your soul is beautiful."

As he flinched away from her touch, Benny's cheeks turned an even deeper shade of brown, though it seemed he was more concerned with something else she had said. "My name is Benny. Short for Benjamin. Not Benvolio."

"Hmm, really?" Madame Bernardo cocked her head. "I was so sure Benvolio suited you better."

"With all due respect, Madame, no human name truly suits me. I just kept the one I had before."

"I think a certain fair maiden of yours would think otherwise," Madame Bernardo replied, giving him a little wink.

Benny clenched his paws into tight fists. Isn't that painful? His claws digging into his skin like that? Maybe that's the point. "Don't talk like that. Luan isn't mine. No matter what she tells you, or tells me, or…or writes to me, she can't be. It's too dangerous for her…and maybe for me, too."

"Luan would go through any amount of danger for you, Benny," Lola piped up. "She loves you."

"She can't," he quickly denied again, the response sounding automatic. An instinct, just as much as the way his tail wagged whenever Luan was near, or the way his ears flattened whenever he was in distress.

"She does. She thinks about you every minute and she worries about you every night–which gets real annoying because she's a sleep-talker. She keeps every flower you've ever given her in a vase by the windowsill. And the morning after you kissed her, she was giggling and dancing for hours. Maybe you don't think it's possible, but literally everyone else in the entire world can see it. Honestly, you're just acting like an airhead at this point."

"But she can't," he repeated once more. "If she loved me, I wouldn't be…I would know. Besides, she's the smartest, bravest, most beautiful girl in the world, and I'm…a beast. Beasts don't get to be loved, especially not by girls like her."

"Do you really believe that?" Madame Bernardo questioned, lifting a single eyebrow.

"Yes! No! Ugh…I don't know. All I know for sure is that I miss her. A lot." He sat down on the doorstep and ran his paws through his hair.

Lola took a seat beside him. She tried not to smile when Madame Bernardo furiously swiped at the dust collecting on the bottom of her skirt before doing the same.

"She misses you, too," Lola said. "I've never seen her nearly this upset before, not even when Lucy guillotined her rubber chicken. If there was something she could do right now to see you, she would…but Mom and Dad have her under strict lock and key. They won't let her go anywhere near you."

"Maybe it's better that way."

Lola nudged him sharply with her elbow. "Why would you say that?"

"I was always going to hurt her–hurt all of you. The longer I let her stay, the more dangerous it became for her. It's best if I let you all go now, before things get any worse."

"How much worse will they get?" she asked fearfully.

"I don't know. But don't worry about it. I'll be alright. As long as she's safe." He tugged on a stray curl that had fallen over his forehead–a remarkably human gesture that somehow both suited him well and didn't suit him at all.

"But you'll be all alone!" Lola cried.

Benny shrugged, though something about the passive way he did it made Lola think he was trying to make himself appear a lot more nonchalant than he actually was. "It is what it is. Sometimes, you just have to make do with the cards fate deals you."

Pouting, Lola crossed her arms. "I'm not good at cards."

"I'm not very good at them, either." Benny brandished a shy, fanged smile. "Remember when we played together? Every time I had something good in my hand, this stupid little thing would just go–" he whistled through his teeth as he swished his tail back and forth, giving it a silly, sweeping sound effect that made Lola laugh. Even Madame Bernardo cracked a grin…until she looked up at the sky and made a face.

"Lola," she prodded gently, pointing a finger at the sun. It had traveled a noticeable distance across the sky. "I hate to cut things short, but we really should be headed back. You don't want your mother to know where you've been, and I'm not sure how long I can leave Spencer in charge."

Lola looked at Benny. "I suppose you're going to want to write Luan a super-long, super-romantic letter back? I can be patient and wait."
She didn't actually feel much like being patient. What she really wanted to do was race back to the inn, find Luan, and bring her here to see if she could get rid of the peculiar look in Benny's eyes.

It was exactly the kind of expression hidden in the eyes of the stray puppies the family sometimes encountered on their way to the marketplace–the ones Lana incessantly begged their parents to let her keep, but never got to have. Their gaze was mournful, but with a subtle glitter of intelligence behind it. Creatures like them–and like him–had faced some rough times, but they were used to it. They'd learned to navigate the dark and the cold long ago, and had grown stronger because of it. Stronger than creatures their age were ever supposed to be.

The right word to describe his eyes, she thought, was a word she'd heard once from Lisa. Melancholic. Existing in a state of deep, thoughtful sadness. The kind that, sometimes, you didn't even know why was there, but that you felt far down in your heart all the same.

Benny shook his head, touching a paw to his chest. "Just…in case I never see her again, make sure Luan knows that no matter what happens to me, I'll never forget her. Not for as long as I live."

It wasn't the long, poignant declaration of love Lola had been hoping for from him, but there was still something decidedly romantic about it. "Okay. I will," she promised.

Yet it was also incredibly frustrating. Why won't you just come right out and tell my sister you love her, you fool? I mean, I get it, you don't think she could ever fall for someone with this much fur on his face, but it's ridiculous, because she's so obviously in love with you, and you with her.

Both of you are such idiots, I swear.

"But I don't want to leave you alone," she suddenly blurted out without even thinking about it ahead of time. But it was true, she realized. There was a chance this could be the last time this boy talked to her…or even to anyone. What must that be like, to come to terms with the fact that you just might be having the last conversation of your entire life?

"I'm never alone." He looked down at the paw covering his chest. "Not in here."

Madame Bernardo looked at him and made a small hum of approval in her throat.

Benny gave them both a sad, wry smile. Lola didn't like that–the way he could say more with a single look that anyone else could with all the words in the world. "Now, go. Shoo. Get out of here while you still can."

Maybe someone else would have run away just then, but not Lola. She wrapped her arms around the beast's waist–causing him to yelp in surprise–and snuggled in close.

No. He's not a beast, Lola told herself as she felt the warmth radiating from his chest–and the faint whisper of a strong, firm heartbeat beneath it. Maybe all the storybooks on our bookshelf would call him something like that, but they're wrong and shallow and dumb.

"You're just like your sister, you know that?" Benny said, his voice as soft as the breeze that rustled through the dead, brown autumn leaves. There was an obvious tone of amusement, of affection, in his words. "You crazy Louds are the only people I've ever met who would run towards the scary thing with claws."

"We're not running towards a scary thing with claws, you doofus. We're running towards you."

She might've just been imagining it, but she thought his heartbeat might have quickened just a bit at those words. He might've been big and scary on the outside, and he might have been capable of doing horrible things, but nobody with a heartbeat like this could ever be bad.

"Thank you, Lola Loud." As she pulled away, he took hold of her hands. They were so small compared to his that his furry paws completely swallowed them up. "Thank you for that."

He lifted a paw and ran his sharp claws through her golden hair. Once again, Lola was shocked by how gentle and thoughtful he was. It was hard to believe this was the same creature who had hissed and scratched at them just yesterday…and the same one who had once nearly killed her big sister in the middle of the woods. In this way, at least, he really was just like a character in a storybook: a prince in disguise, trapped in a body and brain he didn't belong in until someone was kind and smart enough to set him free.

But how could Luan, if she couldn't ever see him again?

I'll make sure she will, Lola promised. I might not be the main character, at least not in this chapter of the story, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything to make the ending better.

Surprising Lola (as the boy often did), Benny placed his paws on her shoulders and lightly kissed her on the forehead, leaving a little spot of warmth right between her eyebrows.

Somehow, Lola had the feeling that kiss wasn't entirely meant for her.

"Keep Luan safe," he whispered into her ear. "Don't let her get into any more trouble. And tell her I'll be right here waiting for her. Even if it takes her a thousand years to find me."

Lola blinked. "Would you really wait that long?"

"If I can," he said with a nod. Then, he got up from the ground. "Your teacher's right–you have to go. And I have to go. I don't want to risk…something happening."

Benny stepped back inside, his tail swishing behind him. But a moment later, he emerged again with a wooden crate. When he set it on the doorstep at Lola's feet, she looked down to see that it was filled to the brim with all of the little trinkets she and her family had left behind…and a wooden puppet that Lola had never seen before.

When she looked at Benny in confusion, he gave her a sheepish grin (which looked rather odd on a creature that was basically the exact opposite of a sheep, save for his crown of fluffy hair). "For Luan," he explained. "She has a talent."

Madame Bernardo chuckled. "I could have told you that, darling!"

"...And I figured you'd want all of this stuff back," he added. "Hopefully I found it all. But tell Lynn I wasn't able to get her ping-pong ball out of my chandelier. And make sure you get all the dust off Lily's blanket before you give it to her. Did she sleep okay without it last night?"

"None of us slept okay," Lola replied. "Especially not Luan. I think she was up most of the night."

Benny facepalmed. "Dang it," he muttered. "All that lecturing her about getting some rest and not worrying so much, and yet here I am still ruining her sleep schedule with all my problems. This is probably why most girls don't even bother talking to me. Well, that, and all of this." He twirled a sharp-nailed finger absently through the fur on his cheek.

Lola knelt to the ground and rummaged through the little box. Luna's lute, Lori's pens and parchment, Leni's needles and thread, Lisa's books and beakers, even her own collection of tiny wooden unicorns…everything seemed to be there. Every little trace of the Loud family's stay (save for the little white ball Lynn had lodged in the chandelier), completely cleared out, as though they had never even been in there at all.

That gave Lola an unsettling, creeping feeling for some reason. She dug her hands deeper into the box, hooking her finger around a prancing wooden unicorn. By sheer coincidence, it happened to be the one Benny had once accidentally broken, and Lincoln had rushed to fix. A thin crack ran along the length of its hind leg like a battle scar.

Lola looked at it for a minute, then offered it to him. "Look after Starchaser for me."

Benny tilted his head.

"To remember us by. But you better take good care of her, or I'll punch you the next time I see you."

He nodded, smiling at her as he took the little figure between his gentle paws. Then, he turned away to pull the door shut. "Take care, both of you. Travel safe."

"I'll tell Luan you got her letter!" Lola shouted at the closed door. "And I promise I'll help her find a way back to you!" Despite the tragic situation, she couldn't help but crack a smile as she added, "But don't be too shocked if she kisses you herself when that happens. Maybe it'll even break the spell, just like in a fairytale!"

She could only imagine the shocked, flustered look on his face right then. "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you," he said quietly, and Lola thought, a bit sadly.

Well, maybe he doesn't believe in true love and magic kisses and fairytales, but I do, Lola thought. And he's her perfect prince, just waiting for her to finally come to her senses, find him, and admit she loves him, too. He'll see I was right all along when they get married.

Or…if. If she can get to him in time. If he doesn't spend the rest of his life trapped as a cursed monster in a spooky castle, slowly losing his mind until there's nothing left. But, hey, no pressure!

Just all of the pressure in the entire world, no biggie.

"Goodbye," she told him, wishing she could stay a little longer…and wishing she could bring Luan over there and make her stay with him a while more. It was incredibly hard to leave someone when you didn't know when you'd ever see them again.

But all the same, after Madame Bernardo exchanged some parting niceties of her own: "Have faith in that girl, Your Highness. She has faith in you," Lola took her theatre teacher by the hand and led her away.

"Hmm," Madame Bernardo said out loud, carrying the crate of things as they walked. "What a beautiful little tragedy he is. Though I suppose I should have suspected such. Luan is far too clever to fall for someone regular and normal." She spat out those last few words as though they themselves were an even worse curse than the one that had been cast on Benny.

"Do you still think things are going to turn out okay for him?" Lola asked.

Madame Bernardo nodded. "I remain wholeheartedly convinced of it."

"Then I am, too." She gestured to the crate in Madame Bernardo's arms. "Can we maybe hide all this stuff at the theatre for a while? Mom and Dad would get really suspicious if I suddenly brought it home with me."

"That seems reasonable," Madame Bernardo agreed. "Rest assured, everything shall be in good, capable hands."

I hope I can say the same for Benny himself.

"I'll come back for it once this is all over," she promised.

Saying things like that–once this was all over–made her feel a little more confident. But the niggling little worries in the back of her mind still wouldn't let her completely forget the if. If this was one day all over and everything was okay.

After that, the walk back to the Glass Theatre was mostly silent, and the day's rehearsal rather half-hearted. Though one of the understudies did a fine job of standing in for Juliet, it was clear that something…someone…was missing. The girl who was stuck in a tragic love tale of her very own, though this one was entirely real. And the ending was still yet to be written.

As soon as the family caravan took her back to the inn (after Madame Bernardo had blatantly lied through her teeth to Rita that Lola had been "a delightfully perfect angel who had stayed right by the stage the entire time"), Lola raced up the steps to their room, immediately looking for Luan. She caught sight of her kneeling by the windowsill and staring hopelessly out the window at the empty world below. In one hand, she held a single yellow flower, and was idly plucking off the petals one-by-one, letting them flutter to the floor. It was only as she pulled off the fourth one that she suddenly realized what she was doing, then made a horrified, guilty face, dropped the lily onto the floor, and covered her face with both hands. Lola felt her grief and despair as clearly as though it was coming from her own soul.

Lola walked over to her sister and rapped three times on the wall to get her attention. Luan blinked up at her, her eyes still red and puffy.

Catching sight of Rita walking into the room and Lynn Sr keeping a watchful eye on her siblings, Lola knelt to the ground. She had to be quick about this and keep her voice down. But if either of them question me, I'll just tell them I was giving Luan information about the rehearsal.

"We gave Benny your letter," Lola whispered. "Me and Madame Bernardo."

Luan seemed surprised at the mention of her teacher, but she nodded, raising her eyebrows. Even without any words, the meaning behind her gestures was obvious: Go on. What did he say?

"He said to tell you he'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes. Even if it's a thousand years. And…that he'll never forget you for as long as he lives."

Those words from Benny made Luan smile, but it was a very sad one, like she wanted to smile and cry and laugh and scream all at once, forever. She placed both hands over her heart–another silent gesture that had a very obvious meaning.

Lola had never seen her display such complicated emotions before she'd met Benny. For better or worse, he had changed her. Probably more than anyone knew, even Luan herself.

Then, Luan pulled Lola in close for a quick squeeze and gave her a peck on the cheek as a way of saying thank you. But, as Lola rubbed at her face, she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps that kiss was also intended for a certain someone else. Someone who might now be forever out of her reach.

Not if I can help it, Lola assured herself. I'll do everything in my power to make sure they get back together and cure the curse. We all will–all eleven of us.

I've done a lot of fooling around and breaking rules for no good reason. It's kind of nice to do it for an actual important purpose for a change.

Maybe if we're really lucky and smart, we can write the ending of this story properly. The way it should be.

But for now, Lola vowed to watch and listen, awaiting the perfect opportunity to bend the rules and try to change a prince's tragic fate.

…

Between the trees, the midday sky was bright and blue, with just a hint of yellow from where the sunlight brushed against the clouds as though it was hugging them tight. Somewhere on the horizon were traces of orange, awaiting a sunset that wouldn't come for hours.

It was Morag's least favorite kind of weather.

She didn't like light. She didn't like waiting. She liked doing now and seizing now and conquering now and just going wherever she wished, under cover of darkness.

And she definitely didn't like trudging through the woods.

She looked down at the mud coating her boots with a scowl. Disgusting.

This whole place was disgusting. Each little clod of dirt, every leaf and twig. Even if it didn't leave a stain on her clothes, everything was still disgusting because it was all absolutely useless to her. She couldn't control it or possess it in any way.

Unless I cut down all these stupid trees, she thought. And by that, I mean pay for someone else to do it for me, of course. I wonder how much wood sells for in this dreadful little village.

Of course, that's going to be all mine, too. Just like the last one, and the one before that. I'll take everything valuable from it, if there even is much of anything, then I'll burn the rest and let all those pathetic lessers-than fend for themselves.

It's nothing personal, though, just survival of the fittest. Even the bravest of rabbits can't measure up to a wolf on the hunt.

As the forest gradually thinned and the abandoned castle on the top of the hill came into view, Morag paused. She was no stranger to it–she'd had her men keep a stealthy eye on it for days. But while she was excited about the prospect of what riches might be hiding inside of it, she was very anxious about what else might be lurking there.

After all, there had to be a reason no one else had looted it first. No one else had, to her knowledge, visited that castle in a long time, except that peculiar cloaked girl and her family.

And the reason, she'd found out quickly from spies and through careful conversations with the townsfolk, was because they thought it was haunted by something. Some kind of terrible monster. Even worse than that, the villagers had whispered, the entire castle staff had died there, or at the very least, they'd all disappeared without a trace and were never heard from again. Including a young prince whose curly-haired portrait still hung in memoriam in the town hall. He couldn't have been older than twelve at the time, possibly even younger than that.

Yet she'd still dismissed it all in her mind as nothing more than a hoax, until her spies had confessed to her that the little yellow girl wasn't visiting the castle just to check it for abandoned gold and jewels. She was visiting someone…or perhaps even something, whose shadow hid dark and ominous behind the crumbling stone walls.

Morag never would have admitted it to anyone (and she would have killed anybody if they'd found out), but those words had sent a shiver down her spine. She hadn't felt fear that vividly in years.

All of a sudden, Morag felt a tap on the shoulder, and it was only by the skin of her teeth that she was able to compose herself enough to avoid leaping three feet into the air.

"What?" she snapped at the man, or rather, the servant, for that was how she viewed all of her allies. He wore a dark hood that obscured the details of his face, so she couldn't tell who he was, but that didn't matter. She didn't know or care to know his name.

"I'm glad I found you, boss," he said.

She rolled her eyes, trying to stop her annoying heart from hammering in her chest. "Wish I could say the same," she told him dryly. "Why?"

"The coast is clear. We're ready to put the plan in order."

"You mean…" Morag tilted her head at him. "You've figured out what lives behind the wall?"

He nodded.

"What is it?" Did she even want to know?

Of course I do, she yelled at that stupid, fearful little part of her. I want it out of my way, and the sooner that happens, the better.

"It's…hard to explain, really. But I'm pretty sure it's just one, and it doesn't seem very dangerous, if that's what you're asking. Should be pretty easy to take out, and then the place is ours. Just like you wanted."

"And you're certain there's no one around to see? Where's that weird little girl and her family?"

"No sign of the girl all morning, not since last night. There were some visitors today, one of those pesky little blonde ones and a woman I've never seen before, and they did seem…oddly attached to the creature, but they left a while ago. I guess if they come back, we can always just kill them."

"But that would be messy," Morag insisted, and her servant gave a nod in agreement. "Hard to hide. I'd rather we not do it if we don't have to, at least not right now."

"Well, they're gone. I'm sure of it."

"Alright then, if you're certain." She grinned. "Tell the others to ready their blowguns. We've got a monster to capture."

As the others joined her and they walked up the hill, the tingles down her spine only grew more intense. Morag tried to convince herself that they were sparks of excitement, not of fear, but her subconscious knew better, and it was hard to fool one's own mind.

She could sort of understand why the rest of the villagers had quickly learned to stay away. The castle looked haunted, there was no doubt of it. It felt haunted, like a graveyard.

And, though it felt like something out of a fairytale, it was haunted, in fact, by something that had no human words or name to describe it.

Morag had seen monsters before, though they were rare and well-hidden enough that the common folk still thought of them as pure imagination. She'd slayed a few manticores and unicorns, selling their parts for scraps of cash that were never nearly as valuable as she'd deserved. Once, she'd even taken down a blue dragon, though she'd been disappointed to find out that its so-called 'treasure hoard' had been nothing more than a tiny handful or two of gold coins.

But she'd never before encountered a creature so rare that it didn't have a name. It made her practically tremble with nerves…excitement!

Nope, definitely nerves.

But this creature's home, she'd been promised, held some real wealth. The kind of wealth that could finally get her some actual power.

Her footsteps, as she'd spent years practicing and perfecting, were as light and soft as the wind gently rustling against the grass. Even so, as she stepped up to the castle and put a hand against the stone wall, she felt her cheeks suck in a loud gasp of air.

Her troop of servants came up from behind. Of course, their clomping steps were loud and ungainly, like men always were. The only reason she even kept most of them around was because of what they could get for her.

One of them handed her his blowgun, stocked with tranquilizer darts, which she'd gotten into the habit of using because some customers paid extra for an animal that was still alive and breathing. "Window's wide open," he whispered into her ear. "Should be a clear shot."

Morag peered through the window. It was hard to make out the details of what the creature inside looked like, since the window on the opposite wall shone bright behind it and turned its body into a mere silhouette, but it was definitely a creature. Not human. It had horns like the devil, a tail like some kind of wolf or dog, and thick, bristling fur that covered its whole body from top to bottom.

A hound from Hell? she wondered to herself. But in all the stories she'd read–for research, obviously–she'd never once encountered one about a Hellhound that sat propped upright in a chair like a human. Furthermore, it even had its elbow on the table, the shape of a pen pressed tightly between its claws, almost as though it was writing something.

Morag had never seen nor heard of a monster that wrote.

Whatever. Regardless of what it was or what it did, it was a monster, and all monsters deserved to be slayed.

She loaded her blowgun, lifted it up to the window, squinted one eye shut to get a proper aim…

And she fired.

The dart landed straight and true into the creature's neck, and it yelped. The sound was, as she'd expected, like the cry of a dog, but, surprisingly, mixed with something more. Something that didn't sound like an animal at all. She found herself feeling quite relieved when it fell to the ground, unconscious.

Shaking more than she wanted to admit, Morag lifted herself onto the windowsill and slipped inside, taking careful steps towards the creature on the floor.

Some animals slept fitfully, restlessly, after she'd hit them, but not this one. Its muscles were tense, but its face was remarkably calm.

The peaceful expression looked so out of place…because this was the most horrid, hideous creature she'd ever set eyes upon. Not necessarily because it looked threatening, although it did, but more so because her servant had been right–she had no idea where to even begin naming such a beast.

Its body looked half like a cat, half like a dog, or perhaps even a wolf or a fox, and she couldn't tell whether it was inclined to walk on two legs or four. Its horns gleamed with a wicked sharpness, its fur dark and matted. The creature's paws ended in pointed claws, the shape of its digits far too clever to be animal, yet too fierce and monstrous to ever be human.

Worst of all was its face…how uncannily intelligent it looked. The way its delicate fringe of eyelashes, the placement of its pink nose, and the gentle curve of its chin and jaw hinted not at something animal, but at something that truly did look like it was supposed to be human. Like a human that had gone terribly wrong and had instead turned into something awful and ugly.

And atop the creature's head…it had seemed a bit like a lion's wild mane from a distance, but up close, she could see that it was actually a tangle of delicate, boyish-looking curls. Boyish…that was quite a weird word to use when describing a monster.

But it felt like the right word, because something about the creature seemed oddly familiar to her.

It took her a minute to put her tongue on exactly what it was. "Say," she mused. "The young prince in the portrait…didn't he have a distinguished head of curls just like these? The one who died a few years ago from a–"

Suddenly, it hit her.

"The monster is the prince! Oh, how tragic." She stroked a hand through the creature's dark curls in mock pity…though even she had to hide her surprise when the soft texture didn't feel anything like a fearsome beast's fur was supposed to. "What a terrible, tragic little creature you are, stuck halfway between animal and human like that. But don't worry, I'll have you out of your misery very soon."

As an idea came to her, she smiled. "Or maybe I can let you stick around just a short while longer. A useful little distraction like you could be exactly the thing I need to get those meddling commonfolk out of my hair for a bit. After all, who cares about a couple little thieves scurrying around the castle when there's a monster on the loose?" Her grin broadened. "Not me."

"I don't know about this one, boss," one of her servants questioned, sticking his ugly head through the window. You'd think they'd all learn to cover their faces and shut their traps after a while, but I guess that would be setting the bar too high. "He doesn't look all too scary to me. And won't the townspeople recognize their prince? I mean…you did right away, and you don't even live here!"

She shrugged. "Who cares if they do? He's not their prince now. Not anymore. Now it's just a monster, and that's all anyone needs it to be.

"Besides," she added, tugging roughly on the creature's pointed ear and smirking as it twitched involuntarily in response.

"When I'm through with it, I'll make it into something that no one would recognize."

...

A/N: Don't mind me just throwing another chapter out into the void and then running away screaming! I can't believe I'm still writing this thing. For reference, I started writing this story about a month before my freshman year of college started, and now I'm almost done with my sophomore year. Shouldn't be that much longer before the ending now! I have a handful of ideas what I'm going to write next once this is done. How exciting!

We're getting to some really fun stuff here, some things that I've been excited to write for well over a year by now. What shall become of our little furry prince, indeed? Of course, I kind of know what's going to happen next because I'm literally the author, but you don't! And even then, I'm never a hundred percent sure where this story is going to go next. It always has this way of surprising me, even though it sprang from my own brain.

One of these things that surprised me a lot was the little mini-arc that Lola gets to go through, especially since before writing this story, I didn't really like her all that much. But now I love her to pieces. She's like a pink, nuclear glitter bomb that explodes any enemies in her path. Girl power!

Speaking of power, did you the new episode, An Inspector Falls? The one where Benny gets cast as a corgi in the school play? Well, me and one of my friends were absolutely cackling over that episode, because fluffy puppy Benny is apparently an official part of canon now. You all saw it first from me, though! Sunshine and Yellow Lilies did that first! :)

Not gonna lie, I'm trying to find a fun place to make a corgi joke in this fic. I think that would be pretty funny.

Anyways, thanks for reading, as always! Excited to draft up Chapter Sixteen! Wow, that's getting into the big numbers!