Aaron woke to the grumbling of his own stomach. He let out a grunt and rolled over, curling up, squeezing his eyes shut. His grumbling stomach and whines must've woken Hercules, because suddenly his doors flung open, smacking the wall and causing a huge bang to echo in the room.

"Aaron! What's wrong?!" He asked, wobbling forward slightly. Aaron looked over at him and whimpered pitifully.

Hercules' eyes widened in realization and he leaned over slightly, nearly toppling over in the process.

"You're hungry!" He exclaimed like he'd just made an amazing discovery. Aaron glared at him weakly, but said nothing. Clothes began to fly out of his doors as Hercules flailed about, clearly not knowing what to do.

"Um! Should I call Eliza! But how would I do that?! Maybe Peggy? But same problem!"

Aaron groaned, he was starting to regret having the wardrobe as his roommate. Thankfully, Hercules' ranting and worrying was put to a halt when the door opened and in walked Lafayette, Eliza and her son.

"Bon matin!" Lafayette cried cheerfully. Aaron grunted and curled up even more.

"Lafayette! Thank god! Aaron's starving and I don't know what to do! Help?" Hercules' voice went small at the end and Lafayette patted the ma- wardrobe, on the leg.

"But of course! Monsieur Burr, can you walk? The candelabra asked, hopping over to Aaron's form on the bed. Aaron grunted and rolled over slowly.

"Why?" He groaned.

"Do we may get you some food of course!" He said cheerfully. "It would be far easier and less dangerous to simply go to the kitchen instead of bringing something to eat all the way up here."

Aaron sat up, the promise of food helping him in ignoring his stomach. He stood up, legs shivering, but managed to stay upright.

"Good! Now let's go to the kitchen!" Lafayette cheered before jumping onto the cart Eliza and Philip were on and pointing to the door, obviously expecting the cart to move. Everyone stood still for one long and awkward pause, before Aaron stumbled over and began to push the cart, causing both Lafayette and Philip to cheer.

After managing to somehow go down the stairs and not making enough noise to summon Alexander, they got to the kitchen.

"Grandpa! Wake up!" Philip called, hopping around while Eliza scolded him, telling him to be more careful. Aaron jumped when suddenly the stove lit up, shaking itself and sending ash everywhere.

"Philip! My grandson!" The stove said cheerfully, spewing smoke everywhere in its happiness.

"Grandpa grandpa! We need to cook a feast!" Philip cried.

The stove lit up. "A feast! Coming up!"

"Wait!" Aaron said. "I-I'm not that hungr-"

"Monsieur Burr! Come come, I will show you to your seat!" Lafayette said, grinned as he began to lead Aaron away.

"B-But-"

"Everyone wake up! It's time to make a feast!" The stove cried. That was the last thing Aaron heard before he was pushed out of the kitchen and lead to the dining room. Lafayette skipped ahead and Aaron followed closely.

"Lafayette, I really don't require a feast, I'd be fine with only-"

"Monsieur Burr," Lafayette interrupted, suddenly stopping and turning to face the young man. "Monsieur, we have been in these forms for many, many years. Alexander does not need to eat too much with his beastly form, so everyone is a bit restless and they all want to be able to feel useful, you know?"

Lafayette turned back around and continued walking. "You are the first human we have seen for years, besides your sister of course, and Aaron,"

Aaron's eyes widened at the use of just his first name.

"You," Lafayette said with a slightly sad smile. "You being here has given us hope. Something we have not felt for far too long."

It was silent after that, only consisting of Aaron's soft footsteps and Lafayette's uh, noisy jumps. They arrived at the dining room and Lafayette pulled out a seat for Aaron.

"Here you are." He said, smiling and back to his cheerful self once more. Aaron smiled slightly.

"T-Thank you..." He said before taking a seat. Lafayette hopped onto the table, before whistling. Instantly fine china came bursting out of the cupboards and drawers, all flying and whirling around.

"Alright everyone!" Lafayette said loudly, his voice holding a commanding tone. Everything froze, turning slightly to face the commanding candelabra. "We have a guest today! So let's give him a little show!"

The china all twirled in agreement before setting off into action. Aaron watched fascinated as the china whirled around, grabbing tablecloths and napkins, throwing them about in a beautiful flurry of colors. The kitchen doors flung open just as the china was settling down and in hopped Eliza and Philip, along with an assortment of dishes all containing wonderful food.

They danced and hopped about, putting on quite a show. Aaron was entranced. As he watched the wonderful show, Eliza jumped over to him, landing to his left.

"I hope this isn't too overwhelming." She said softly. "I know how strange it must look."

Aaron forced his eyes away and back to Eliza, smiling gently. "No, it's not overwhelming at all. I'm quite enjoying it."

Eliza looked up at him and smiled. As she did, the little performance finished. Lafayette slid down the middle, grinning like a maniac.

"Voila!" He cried, before falling down, obviously exhausted. Aaron's eyes widened and he rushed over to him, gently picking him up.

"Lafayette, you didn't have to work yourself so hard." He said. Lafayette sat up and grinned at him.

"It is quite alright!" He said breathlessly, though he was still grinning crazily. "Now, this is a feast remember, so why don't you begin to eat!"

Aaron frowned, reluctantly setting the tired candelabra down. "You are sure you're alrigh-"

The doors to the dinning room opened with a bang and in walked Washington, who was actually sitting on a moving footstool, that was panting like a dog.

"What is the meaning of this?!" He boomed while everyone stared at him with wide shocked eyes.

"Monsieur Washington!" Lafayette said, breaking the silence and walking up to the angry gold clock. "Monsieur Burr was hungry so we decided to bring him down so he could eat."

Washington stared at Lafayette like he was insane, which was probably true actually. "You could not have done that with a little less noise?! I could you here you all the way from the library! What would you have done if Alexander came down!? He did say that Mr Burr was not allowed to eat."

"Were we suppose to let poor Monsieur Burr starve?" Lafayette asked.

"Yes!"

"He is our guest! Not our prisoner! I thought we were suppose to be kind, fair people!"

Silence over came the room after Lafayette's shout. Aaron stood among the objects, fidgeting awkwardly. This was the first time he'd seen the clock or candelabra mad.

Washington let out a heavy sigh. "We'll discuss this further later, for now, I suggest everyone return to their duties."

Everyone did so silently, though Lafayette stayed behind. Aaron stood there, watching sadly as the wonderful food was taken away. He snatched an apple and some bread off a plate that flew by and ate them.

Washington grabbed Lafayette's candle stick and dragged him off, the two arguing and shouting insults like an old married couple. Aaron stayed in the dining room, unsure what to do. Finally, he left the now vacant space and decided to explore the castle.

As he wandered about, he discovered many amazing rooms. However, many of them were dusty and a huge mess. Aaron did end up cleaning a few if the smaller ones, but most of them were far too large for him to sort out.

It was evening by the time he finished exploring the palace. He was heading to his room, when he spotted a corridor, one he hasn't noticed before. He stared at it, before deciding to go explore.

What could be the harm?

He entered, discovering a staircase leading up. He began to climb it and as he did, his surroundings grew more and more decrepit. Aaron shivered, hugging himself. The air was chilly, his breath was showing.

A bad feeling began to grow in his stomach.

His grip tightened on the railing but he refused to back down. Finally, the staircase ended, revealing an area that was an even worse disaster zone then the rest of this castle. Aaron looked around, but only saw turned over furniture and fabric littering the ground.

He continued on, until he noticed a faint red glow. Curious, he began to walk towards it. He entered a room that was by far more decayed than the rest of the castle, it didn't even have a proper ceiling and quite a bit of the walls were missing.

That wasn't what caught Aaron's attention though. In the center, on a pedestal, was a single blood red rose.  Aaron walked towards it, entranced. It was beautiful. Aaron couldn't tear his eyes away.

Once he reached it, he noticed that it was in a glass case, protecting it from the elements. Aaron couldn't help but wonder who would want to keep such a magnificent sight locked away in this decrepit place.

Placing two hands on the case, he gently lifted it, revealing the beautiful rose in all its glory. Putting the case aside, Aaron reached a hand out, just inches away from the red petals.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!"

Aaron whirled, stumbling away from the beast who had roared. He watched with wide, fearful eyes as Alexander stalked over to the case, grabbing it and practically slamming it down around the rose, once again sealing it off.

"I gave you one instruction! ONE!" Alexander roared, now heading towards Aaron. Aaron scrambled up, before bolting, fear overtaking his entire being.

Tears pricked his eyes as he ran. He'd never felt this scared. He had never ever felt scared for his life.

"Monsieur Burr!" Lafayette called as Aaron raced past him. He didn't hear the rest because he was already gone.

The front door came in sight and Aaron burst through it, instantly getting blasted with the cold winter air. He stopped for a moment and covered his eyes, squinting into the blizzard.

"Aaron wait!"

Aaron turned and saw the beast running after him. Clutching his jacket tightly, he ran out the door and into the storm.