"There is a girl!"

Lumiere's voice, despite his size and current...condition, carried loudly through the castle's halls to all who would hear, not that there were very many nearby. At night, what was once long ago a bustling, busy castle was now barren and even at times eerie; but that atmosphere did nothing to quell the excitement in Lumiere's heart now, and his flames burned brighter as he continued shouting. "A girl! She is here at the castle! And she is pretty!"

He bumped into one walking book by the name of Paige, who scowled at him before he descended the stairs of the tower at a speed he had not known for ten years. "Cogsworth! Mrs. Potts! My dear Plumette! Everyone, there is a girl here at the castle!"

From the kitchens, Mrs. Potts could hear Lumiere's shouting as she helped her son Chip wash off the day's dirt. Her son clearly could hear him as well, for his little eyes brightened, "What did he say, Mama?"

Mrs. Chamomile Potts shook her head, not wanting to have to tell her son that she feared Lumiere had finally lost his last bit of sanity. "Hush Chip, it's almost past your bedtime."

"You heard him Mama, a girl!"

The few others in the kitchens began murmuring and whispering amongst themselves as well, and Mrs. Potts scoffed. Blimey, making the whole castle get their hopes up for nothing. "I'll not hear any more of it, Chip; there hasn't been anyone around the castle in quite some time."

Snow White stood at the entrance to the grand and ornate castle with a feeling not unlike fear, though she pushed it down as best as she could, and she pulled from the depths of her being a morsel of courage and stood straight and tall. She held the giant knocker on the right door, the iron of it ice cold in the new-winter air, the shape of a lion mid-roar against her palm. She stared at it, dread creeping up her, as though the lion engraving would swallow her up in it's rampage. Should I do this? Knock on a strangers door?

She thought of her stepmother.

A stranger cannot be crueller than what I have faced already.

She knocked on the door loudly. The sound of it had barely begun when the door opened, slowly.

She did not take a step inside, but did lean her head past the door frame and look around; a few candles on the walls, as well as a candelabra sitting on a nearby table, beside a clock.

"Hello...?" He voice was quieter than she wanted it to be, and so she spoke up again, "Hello there?"

No response. Had she found an abandoned castle? But then, why were there candles lit?

She took one small step inside. "Is anyone there?" She looked around again, closing the door behind her. In the windowless entryway, with only candle-light showing her surroundings, she could barely make out a large staircase not far in front of her, leading to two hallways on either side. She picked up the candelabra she saw on the table, and saw that beyond the staircase was a room with a fire...and she remembered how cold she was. She called out again, "I don't mean to intrude, or impose." Again nothing. "Please!"

A voice, though she did not know from where it came from, called back at last. "Make yourself at home!"

She spun, trying the find the source of the voice, but saw no one. "Are...are you sure?"

"But of course!"

Again, the voice was in a different place, and she turned. There was no movement, not a body or soul that she could see in this place. Every instinct within Snow White told her to run, especially given the fact that this castle was most likely inhabited by ghosts. But then, she saw the fire, again, she swore she could almost feel it's warmth even from this distance, and there was a chair in front of it that looked extremely large and inviting.

"I..." she swallowed. "I thank you."

She carried the candelabra with her into the room. There were a few small bookcases along the wall beside the fireplace. She set the candelabra on one of these shelves and sat, albeit hesitantly, in the chair. It was just as inviting as she had known it would be, and she sank lower into it and closed her eyes from weariness.

She heard a cart being pulled beside her, and looked to see a tray with a tea pot and cup on it. She held the cup with the palms of her hands for warmth, bringing it closer to her chest and blew lightly on the tea inside before sipping some. She couldn't even remember the last time she had had tea, surely long before her father had died, but the taste was exquisite.

"Do you like it?"
This voice sounded like a child's. She looked around again, but answered "Yes, it's delicious. But, I'm sorry, where are you?"

"Here! In your hand!"

Snow White blinked, then looked down at the cup in her hands; though there was a small chip broken out of the cup, there was no mistaking two eyes staring back at her.

"Oh!" She jumped back a bit in her seat, startled, but did not drop the little tea cup, "You are-what?"

The cup laughed, "Did I surprise you?"

"Chip!"

Another voice! Snow White turned and saw the tea pot on the table speaking now. "I told you not to say anything, you'll frighten the poor dear!"

Snow White put the cup-whose name was apparently Chip?-down on the table quickly, "You can speak?"

No, am I dreaming? I'm exhausted, that must be it.

"We are..." Mrs. Potts searched for the right words. "We are servants of this castle, of course we can speak."

There was a clanging sound behind her, and she turned to see the clock she had noticed earlier walking-if it could be called walking when the thing moving had no legs-and heard it speak to the other objects in the room, muttering that they had "done it now" and something about "master's chair". Clearly, the clock did not want her there.

"I, I did try to announce myself when I came, someone said it was alright, I-"

"You are perfectly welcome to stay here!" It was the candelabra now, who jumped from his place on the bookshelf and 'stood' in front of the muttering clock, punching him with one of his candle arms, "Cogsworth you are a dog! You are offending the young lady, and she is a guest!"

"A guest?! Oh, good heavens, you can't mean she's going to stay? What will the master say about this? No, we will lose our jobs, he will be so upset, we musn't-"

The candelabra began talking over the clock, and they argued back and forth. If Snow White wasn't so tired, she might have gotten over her shock more quickly and laughed at the sight, until they both stopped suddenly and looked behind her.

Snow saw a large, monstrous shadow growing over her from behind the chair.

Beast-as he now called himself-had not gotten a good night's sleep in almost ten years, and so hearing some sort of commotion in the lower parts of the castle brought his anger to the surface. He had been ready to yell at Lumiere and Cogsworth for their bickering, but instead what he saw when he entered his study gave him reason to pause.

In his chair, looking at him now was a woman dressed in a pretty, albeit travel-worn dress. She was the first person he had seen in so long, the sight of her took him by surprise, and in fact was almost relieved to see her. It reminded him that there was life outside of the castle, that everything was not as dark as it had become since that night so long ago...and then he noticed the way her eyes widened in fear, and he remembered who he was now.

"Who are you?" He growled, "What are you doing here?!"

She stood quickly, fiddling with her fingers, "I, I do beg your pardon, Sir, I just..." She stepped back.

"You are not welcome here!"

"I meant no, no harm," She spoke quickly. "I didn't know, I was just looking for a place to stay, for a night, I..."

"Sire, please!" Lumiere spoke to him, doing his best to give a lighter tone in his voice, "It is cold, and she has clearly traveled a long way, and I just-"

"You want a place to stay?!" Beast shouted, ignoring Lumiere; the man's logic was the same as it had been years before, when inviting the hag to his castle. Who was to say that now, after 10 years, the hag had not returned again but in a new form? "I will give you a place to stay-guards!"

Suits of armor appeared in the doorway, swords in hand. In the room only illuminated by the fireplace, he hoped the woman, whoever she was, could not see how the guard's armor needed polishing and buffing. He shouted a new order to them, "Take her away, to the prisoner's tower!"