Anglet, Aquitaine, France: Le village de la terre verte. March 10th, 1896.

Belle had finally managed to get her father through the rough patch and he was sleeping most of the day now without coughing, but a fever was still taking over his body and threatening the grave if she didn't keep watch. Taking a cold, damp towel to his forehead she began petting it back into his hairline, hoping that if his hair was damp it would help make her job a bit easier, not that there was much hair there to help anyway. The fire was going strong this evening unlike the last few where she struggled to keep it alight. Sitting on the floor next to the couch where her father lay she took up her post day and night, even sleeping in her mother's old armchair that nobody had sat in since she passed.

Belle's herbs were two thirds of the way depleted, but it should be more then enough for her to cure her father enough for him to travel, by her estimate they could leave this place in three days time, a little later then she was planning, but her father was also sicker then she had planned as well. While her father slept she packed up their most valuable items into satchels to attach to Philippe and hopefully some trunks if she could manage to fix the cart in time. She did not want to be away from the castle for to long, already missing all of her friends and Griffith dearly.

Her father started in again on his coughing and she helped him to sit up and drink a fourth of the glass of water she handed him before letting him lay down again. "How are you feeling Papa?"

"Better Belle, I should be fine soon, don't worry any more then you already have, my dear, I should be tending to you after your ordeal."

"Now Papa, I have already told you that it wasn't an ordeal, sure it might have been at first and it was hard to be away from you for so long, but Griffith and his staff have become so much more then a beast and his objects to me, they have become family and I love them just as I love you."

"That beast was awful and I'm sorry you had to go through that Belle, I should never have let you make that deal." As usual her father didn't hear her side of the story and she was left to just placate him until he fell asleep. When he was better she would try again and make him see reason.

A banging on the door startled them both. She could hear people slowly file into their yard yelling at them, calling out to the house saying an insane person lived there, which made her blood run cold. They had finally come for her father. She dreaded this day from coming as they had always called him a crackpot, but she never thought they would actually haul him away as he had never harmed anyone. Then she thought to his ramblings and realized that if he had been speaking about that she had been kidnapped by Griffith then it would make him seem even worse then they already thought of him. She was surprised that they hadn't carted him off sooner.

Running to the door and trying to hold it closed against the pounding she yelled out for the mob to go away. "We can't do that Belle, you should know by now that your father is a loony old man and if not we will prove it to you."

"Yeah he has been spreading stories of a beast who locked you away in his tower! Obviously that's not true." Lefou yelled out next. She tried to keep the door closed against the mob, but Gaston just pulled the old door off its hinges and threw it to the men behind him. Dragging her out onto the porch with him with one hand he forced her to leave her post as guard in the doorway. No one took advantage of this, but it left Maurice at their mercy just feet away from her.

"Look at every one here, Belle. They are all upset with your father as they have dealt with his craziness for years. Out of kindness to you, and the memory of your mother, they have done nothing, but now he has finally proved himself dangerous. They can't live with this anymore and you need to see that." Gaston yelled out more to the townsfolk then to her, even though she was the one his words were addressing. It was a show for him and everyone had come to see Gaston as the main event. Maurice came to the door, bundled in a blanket and was met with the jeers of his former peers and townsfolk. These were the same people who had once enjoyed his scientific tricks, but that was long ago and they had became afraid of what they didn't understand.

"Lock him away!"

"Throw away the key!"

"Never let him see the light of day again!" the men jeered.

"He will hurt us!"

"He will kill us!"

"He will sacrifice us for his inventions!"

"He will sacrifice us to his gods!" the women chittered amongst themselves.

"He is a devil man!" the few children there cried out

"Lock him away!" was the basic message all were saying and it terrified Belle.

"Stop this," Belle yelled, "My father has done nothing to you! He has said something you believe untrue, but that is no reason to hate him! Especially when what he has said is-"

"Listen to her, even she knows he rambles on, tell us again about this beast, Maurice." He motioned to the door behind him and two of his goons came up to keep him in line if need be.

"He was at least ten, no twelve feet tall, teeth like daggers and claws like swords. If he doesn't kill you with his breath first, his stare certainly would. And the blood that mattes his fur is fresh from a human kill!"

"That's not true!" Belle complained.

"Hear him complain about this fictional beast, he is surely crazy!" Lefou yelled just as the pair of men grabbed Maurice and forced him down the stairs to the waiting caravan.

"You know, I could stop this if you just say the word, Belle." Gaston bent down and whispered in her ear, his tongue flicking out for a moment to touch the top of it. His mind had started to turn from his original intention upon seeing her hot and flustered.

"What word," Belle said, moving away from Gaston, but looking at him pleadingly, "I'll say what you want me too, just help my father, Gaston!" Images of what he wanted to happen next were swirling in his head to where he almost didn't catch her plea past an image of her in chains with tears going down her face at being trapped in his house.

"Say you'll marry me Belle." A shiver ran down her spine and stopped her cold. The tone of his voice is one she had heard before, dangerous and mainly used on girls who were a lot worse for ware, who sought her help in being healed, after spending a night in a room above the pub with him.

"This was your plan all along, you brought this on my family, my father. How could you ever think I would go along with this plan?" Belle spit in his face before continuing. "I will never marry you, I will stop this another way." Belle broke free of his grasp by stomping on his foot before dashing inside the house to go grab the one item she knew could clear her father's name, the one item that she hadn't planned on taking with her on this journey, but that had made its way inside her bag anyhow, the one magical item that had lead her back to her father to begin with. Griffith's mirror. Just as she made it back outside with it her father was being forced inside the back of the cart that had makeshift bars made out of large branches.

"I can prove my father isn't crazy." She let her voice ring out over the crowd's, but the villagers only laughed at her declaration. They were soon quieted when she yelled out her next words. "Show me the beast!"

The same glow came from the mirror as it had at the castle. The mist started to cloud the mirror once more, her hair already blowing from the ever present wind and whispers of witchcraft spread through the crowd. Belle didn't care what happened to her, all that mattered was saving her father, even though she didn't know what her choice would cause. The mist came off of the mirror and landed in the middle of the crowd, growing as large as her door and showing everyone around an image of Griffith in his beastly form, standing before them like a ghost. This time instead of flakes of snow falling from the mist, little sparks of light kept coming out. The crowd let out a gasp that turned into screams as he roared into the night.

Everyone, but a single person saw and heard a menacing growl. Belle saw her friend in pain and she wanted to run to him and fix it. She felt an immense pull to him tonight and she couldn't define why her skin was itching to go to him. As she thought on it, focusing on the mist, the ghost like of Griffith clutched his fists together in anger and hit the balcony railing that stood before him. In her daze, Gaston managed to rip the mirror out of her grasp. The mist took on a darker tinge, almost looking like a storm cloud compared to a soft bit of cotton that Belle's image produced. She feared that lightening was going to start storming out of the mist and attack the nearest person at the way the sparks reacted to his touch.

Belle tried to grab the mirror back, but Gaston simply pushed her to the ground as if she was a small child. Belle landed on her wrist wrong and called out in pain, fearing a fracture somewhere below her elbow. She would need to bandage it soon to make sure it didn't heal wrong, if that was the case, but she didn't believe she would resolve this in time. Managing to get up by crawling part way up her front steps she managed to listen to the rabble rousing speech Gaston was giving.

"We must find the beast and kill him! He will come for our children in the night and keep them locked in his dungeons to await their deaths as his meals. He has been known to take down villages with a single blow and take their leader's head with him as trophies to put upon his massive wall. Now I know I have tried to lead you astray in the past, but know that it was for your own good. If you didn't know about him, then he was less likely to know about you. It is why I never dared venture into his side of the forest before, not fearing for my own safety, but for your own. Tonight, with your help my friends, I plan on leading a rebellion to take back our fair town by killing this awful beast! We are not safe until I have his hide as rug by my fire with his head on the wall!" he roared out his frustration and received cheers in return, no one caring that he admitted to lying about Maurice and Belle, no one caring that they were being deceived again.

"No! You can't do this!" Belle yelled, only to be drowned out by the ever growing paranoia within the mob at her doorstep.

"Its time to take action and follow me." Gaston called, "Who is with me!"

"Aye!" The whole of the village men yelled in deafening unison, grabbing tight to what they already held for weapons.

"Its a nightmare through the woods, through the dark mist, but its one exciting ride my friends. Say a prayer for when we arrive at the drawbridge of his castle you will know that something terrible truly lies inside."

"Its not true!" Belle yelled, only to be restrained by two more of the men from the asylum.

"This beast has razor sharp fangs, just look at the image! They stick out from his mouth like tusks from a warthog! His claws are as long as his large paws, ready for the feast!" the terror was rising, but so was the anger amongst, the crowd. Belle felt as if she was suffocating, drowning, in the mob's retreat into single mindedness.

"He wouldn't harm anyone!" She tried screaming again, but to no avail. At this outburst one of the men from the asylum let a hand go from her arm to place it across her mouth. For keeping her quiet, Gaston nodded his approval at him. They were just his pawns, he was never going to let her father go and now that she had denied him a marriage and captive bed mate, he was going to throw her in the same place.

"He may roar and foam at the mouth when we come, just as this Father-Daughter lunatic team are, but we are not leaving until he is good and dead!" Gaston grinned in triumph, finally mobilizing his army to move on the castle.

"Kill the beast! The mob roared.

Belle kicked at her captor's legs and managed to escape long enough to make a grab for the mirror. "No! He will never harm you or anyone! I know him and he isn't what you say he is! I can't let you do this!" Both of her small hands were grasping the mirror just above Gaston's one large one, but she could barely make him move his arm, only succeeding in holding on when he lifted the mirror to high for her to stay on the ground.

Gaston grabbed her injured wrist tightly, making her cry out and drop to the ground before moving the mirror out of her grasp. "If you aren't with us, Belle, then you are against us. Its almost as if you have feelings for this monster!" she tried to stand back up, but the sentence made her freeze in place. Her reaction caused Gaston's anger to flare, holding her wrist tighter because of it.

"So what if I do! He is my friend! I care for him just as I would any of you!" Belle's anger flared with the pain as she found words to throw at him. She was thrown to the ground again and not allowed to catch her barring's before being picked up by one of the thugs.

"Bring the old man and lock them both in the basement, we can't let them escape to warn the beast. Maurice was thrown inside the small room first, followed by Belle, and before they could do anything, they were locked inside. Belle tried pounding on the door and yelling at the mob to let them out, but the roar of their anger and fear was too loud and the pain in her wrist to great. Her father grabbed her and pulled her down, trying to find a wrap for it, noticing how it was injured, as they listened to Gaston continue, helpless in every way.

"The beast really isn't that bad, is he," Maurice asked calmly, "He can't be if you're fighting this hard to protect him."

"He cared for me Papa," Belle said, defeated, "I escaped from him on my birthday and managed to make it half way through the forest, but I was caught by wolves. I would have been killed if he hadn't come after me, Papa, even though in his anger he had told me to go. That night made everything change between us; he wasn't just my captor, but someone not wanting to see me hurt, and I was no longer a prisoner, but valued guest. I cared for his wounds and he no longer tried to keep me inside, giving me more freedom then I thought he ever would. We enjoyed meals together for a while, then we spent time outside of meals when no longer content with just that. We enjoyed each other's company and friendship, overcoming the worst of situations. He is truly a wonderful friend, Papa. I don't want to lose him." She sat calmly, stray tears sliding down her face as Maurice bandaged her arm.

"Sounds like he may be more then a friend, my daughter. Have you told him? Does he return these feelings?"

"How can I? How could he? He has enough to worry about on his own, trying to break his curse. He wouldn't tell me about it, but I figured it out through the little things he did and said. He is trying to find a way out of it, but can't, and it angers and saddens him so. Besides, he only sees me as a companion, someone who hasn't been turned into an object and that can do the things he wish he could until he would release."

"Yet you say he let you go to heal me, even though you had a bargain in place for at least another month?" Belle stared at him.

"I thought you were to sick to hear what I was saying lately, I told you that he would release me in spring three days ago."

"For a time I was, but then it just became that I was too scared of changing my mind, that what I thought bad all these years might actually be good. I am ashamed to say that I heard what you said, but chose not too." Silence between the pair ensued while the mounting terror outside was shown through their yelling.

"Grab your torches!"

"Mount your horses!"

"Put your courage in the sticking place men" Gaston yelled, "Count on me to lead you all! I will show you the way."

"Its a haunted castle men, this isn't something you see everyday like the mist and the woods." Lefou added.

"The beast is as tall as a mountain!"

"We shall not rest until he is good and deceased!" Gaston roared.

"Grab your swords and bows!"

"Tally ho!"

"Sally forth!" At that final battle cry, Belle and her father heard people starting to move away from their house, but they didn't stop hearing their yelling for a while.

"We shall lay siege to the castle and bring back this monsters head!"

"Here we go men!"

"Bring the guns to save your children and wives!"

"Bring your knives to save our lives and that of the village!"

"Cut down a tree and make it a large one, when we get there remember that the beast is mine for the kill!" Gaston roared for the last time.

After Maurice finished wrapping his daughter's arm, Belle found a stick to try and use on the windows. Not wanting to break the window if she didn't have to, not wanting to further injury herself and become useless as Griffith's aid, she tried to pry the base loose and pop the window out. As usual though, the one window that would help ventilate the basement in case of a fire or any fumes caused by her father's experiments, refused to open for anyone except her mother. She tried one more time and found her wrist in even more pain, having to give up and sit down.

"Its no use Papa. How am I supposed to get out and warn him? This is all my fault." Before Maurice could answer her, she cursed the window for grieving for her mother for so long.

"Now, now, Belle. This isn't your fault. How were we to know that Gaston would do such a thing. We already knew the villagers were easily riled up, but we couldn't know that he would take advantage of that and lead an uprising. Have faith Belle, the beast can handle himself against Gaston, I am sure of it."

"But how can he do that and prove to the villagers that he is not a horrible monster if he defeats or kills their hero? How will he survive a whole mob hell bent on killing him? I have got to try, I can't let them hurt him!" she cried out going back for the window in panic; however, something made her stop in her tracks as she looked out the small window.

"What is it Belle?" Maurice came and joined her and saw something glinting in the moonlight. It was hopping across the grass, whatever it was, and could be no bigger then half a loaf of bread. It made it over to the abandoned cart with Maurice's neglected machine still sitting inside of it. The glittering thing pulled the tarp off of the machine and started hopping around along it. A loud bang came from the machine and the pair could see a puff of smoke rise up from the back of it. Whirring into motion the machine started on a path, down the small hill to the basement door, the ax for chopping wood going as fast as it ever was. The small window was placed right beside the door. If the machine moved even the slightest direction to the left it would be on a war path for them.

"We have got to move now!" Belle yelled, realizing what could happen, and grabbed her father's arm and moved them to the back of the lab, behind a wooden wall. Soon a loud crash went through the room with a lot of smoke. Peering out from behind the wall the pair saw the machine's ax fall off, as it calmed itself down, to reveal a small teacup dangling from a bouncing spring.

"Now that was awesome! Can I do that again?" Chip said, still dizzy from his ride.

"Why hello little fella, how have you been? Have you been staying out of trouble, lad?" Maurice said, taking his handle of a nose off the end of the spring before he slid any further down it and chipped himself further.

"Oh, a little stow away. I have missed you Chip." Belle said, touching the side of his face with a bent finger.

"Why did you go away Belle, do you not like us anymore?" he said with a pout on his face, turning side to side like a toddler in trouble.

"Oh no Chip, I had to go, my Papa was sick and he needed my help. I was coming back soon." She assured.

"Okay, then why did you lock yourselves in the basement? Was it because of all those loud voices? I wouldn't blame you, they were scary." He whispered.

"It wasn't on purpose, Chip, the wind must have blown the door shut and locked us in." Belle lied, not wanting to worry him too much, knowing that they would be heading right for the castle soon.

"I thought that mean man's name was Gaston though. Is he going to hurt the Master?" Belle couldn't bear to tell him the truth so she turned to her father instead.

"Papa, go and get the priest, maybe he can call off this mob. I noticed that he wasn't anywhere near the crowd when Gaston came and I hope he didn't join them when they went through town. I will meet you at the castle, I am taking Philippe. I hope the mirror isn't showing them the way, otherwise I may be too late." Maurice nodded his head and went to go grab his coat.

"Can I come with you Belle? I miss Mama, I have been waiting for a good time to come out and tell you that, but it never seemed right."

"Yes of course, Chip," Belle said with a laugh, "But we have to hurry. When we get to the Castle I will let you go find your mother, but you have to promise me that if you see any fighting that you will go and hide yourself, okay?" Maurice showed up with his coat, ready to leave with them on his own mission as Chip agreed to her terms.

"I promise, Belle." Maurice agreed, already bowing to her unvoiced worry. With that she kissed her father goodbye and went on her way, hoping for dear life that Griffith was okay.

"Sir, you must hide in the forest, quickly!" Lumiere shouted.

"Yes, if you hurry you can make it out of the back entrance and to the creek just as the mob arrives." Cogsworth pulled back in his telescope and turned to look at the master from his balcony.

"If you don't hurry now, Belle will have nothing to come back to." Mrs. Potts grabbed his coat, but he refused it.

"Stop. All three of you." He turned to look at them from his open door way with a sad look. "She can't make it back in time anyway, it was hopeless to think she would. She has always been happier in her town then she was here with me."

"Now, you can not believe that, sir! Didn't she teach ya how to read?" Mrs. Potts said.

"And didn't she give you a danze lezzon for your birthsday?" Babette said next.

"And didn't she treat your wounds when you had to fight off those wolves?" Lumiere said.

"But he wouldn't have gotten those wounds if she hadn't run away." Cogsworth complained.

"Cogsworth!" The other three scolded him. He laughed nervously before revising his statement.

"But you were being beastly and she managed to over look that enough to become a friend to not just you, but us all."

"I don't care. She isn't here to say those things, she couldn't even reply to my proposal. How could she ever love a beast?"

"She didn't deny you sir, in fact she sounded rather for it and was just being coy with yo-"

"Enough!" Griffith yelled, cutting off Mrs. Potts. "Leave me, do what you will to protect yourselves, but let them come for me. Leave now; and that is an order, not a request."

His friends had no choice in obeying his command to leave, but they would refuse to deny him protection. Each would do their part to protect their Master, even if he was too depressed to see reason. Cogsworth hatched the perfect plan to do so and gathered the rest of the staff in the grand foyer for a meeting.

"Alright, the mob will be here in fifteen minutes, if not faster, and they will be after the Master. We can not let them past this foyer." Cogsworth said, punctuating each word in the last sentence with a stamp to the ground by his foot. "I want the larger furniture near the back of the foyer as our final stand between us and the rest of the castle and I want the smallest in the middle almost as a surprise attack. Any child must go hide in the kitchens as the risk is too great. Any tactic, no matter how low and dirty handed it may be shall be permissible as long as we win this fight. If the Master dies then all is lost. Hopefully he will come to his senses and help us all out soon, and if not, let's hope that Miss Belle makes it back in time to save him." A loud cheer went up at the sound of Belle's name, but the tension in the room could be felt as the noise quieted down. In the background they could faintly hear the chanting of the mob and knew it was time to get in their places. Their fight was only beginning.

"Break down that door! Grab whatever you can find that is worth something to you, but I want the beast's head for myself!" Gaston yelled out over the mob. His feelings getting the better of him in his ale stewed brain. None of the villagers would tell him, but since he got into his drink any reason they had for liking him had left. He was angry all of the time and had become a drunk, though they feared the beast and what he could do, they also feared that the wrong beast may be conquered tonight. He had become insistent on death after he realized Belle would never accept him and that she had accepted an actual beast over him. His blood lust ran rampant and their fear helped fuel him.

Gaston had taken the forefront of the mob until they came to the large oak doors of the castle. He helped the men lift the trunk of the tree to ram the door, but it curiously opened after just a few short tries. Walking in behind most of the men, Gaston knew everyone felt it as well; this was a trap. A few brave souls continued into the foyer and when most of the people had made it inside an attack was launched. The dusty bits of furniture that had cramped the room came to life and started attacking the legs and feet of his men, the ones that had made it farther inside the room were being grabbed by large bits of furniture. One man was being forced to ride on a bench as if it was a horse while a coat rack held on to him tightly from behind. Another man was shoved inside a wardrobe and came out with women's clothing and a powdered wig, the wardrobe singing in victory. A desk had managed to knock a third man down to his knees and was throwing open its drawers in rapid succession into his face and torso. Gaston cleverly picked his way through the fight and managed to sneak past to the stairs, only knocking a few candelabras and a group of beer steins.

Pulling off the bow he had strapped across his back he grabbed an arrow to cock inside it as he walked the halls, kicking in doors. All the rooms on the one side of the castle had been empty, but they all looked freshly cleaned as well. The magical bits of furniture must have dusted themselves with some kind of powder to make it seem as if they had been there a while, he did remember seeing a set of powder puffs attacking one man so heavily that his farmer's tan had disappeared and he was now paler then his own wife. It took him half an hour, but he had managed to clear the East Wing of any inhabitants. Making his way along the top floor he wound his way around to the West.

Griffith could hear the fighting downstairs and became even more upset at the turn of events, now after his death they would be taken away as prizes of war, forever stuck in their enchanted forms, bought and sold to the highest bidder for all eternity as enchanted items for one and all to gawk at, for people to covet and steal and harm. He knew that whoever was leading this charge was taking great pride in stalking down his prey. The man he saw riding a horse at the head of the pack was one he had seen before, one he had scared off his lands many times before and he knew that man had thirsted for his blood for a while. Griffith knew that if the man saw him he would be recognized from his many hunting trips into the forest. The man would kill him for the pleasure of watching him suffer, just as he had done an injured deer so many years ago when they were both juveniles.

Griffith heard the slightest of footsteps enter his room and he knew that he was found. "Turn around and fight Beast. I need some kind of story to say as to how I killed you, and no one will believe it if the arrow is sticking out of your back."Gaston spat out.

"Please leave, I have no qualms with your people and I have no wish to fight. If you are going to kill me then I suggest doing it now because I will not help you gain prestige just for your own satisfaction." Griffith spoke just above a whisper, but knew he was heard.

"Turn around and fight Beast!" it seemed as if the man was determined, but Griffith refused to turn his eye from the edge of the forest, in the slight hope that Belle might still make it. "Oh I see how it is, you love her too, a beast loving a beauty."

"I didn't realize you were a relative of Mrs. Potts, but I dare say I am no relative of a kettle. You may not love her as I do, but you certainly covet her all the same and you are just as much a beast as I. Look in the mirror and..." An arrow flew past his head and landed in the wall beside him, leaving a scrape on the back of his neck that just barely drew blood.

"I promise you that I never miss on accident. Never compare me to your ugly self again, Beast. You may as well forget about your little love, Belle. As soon as she came back to the village with her father she sent him to the asylum and asked if my offer of marriage was still available. She couldn't bear to have the man who abandoned her by her side and she needed someone who could protect her from the beast. She is probably still in my bed as we speak, my child laying claim to her body as she relishes the trophies on the walls of her honeymoon suite."

Griffith roared, even knowing his words to be a lie, and turned towards Gaston, charging him and knocking him to the floor. The first chance he got he snapped Gaston's bow in half so it couldn't be used again. As they wrestled on the ground neither of the two men realized how close they were to the balcony and with one mighty push Griffith was pushed off the ground and into the balcony, causing him to break it and go over. He landed on a narrow strip of walkway and was able to climb back up and get his balance. Gaston now had the upper hand in the fight, backing him up towards the edge of the roof.

"Why would she want you, a low ugly creature, when she could have me, a strapping lad with fortune and power. I am someone who could lead her away from the legacy her father has created for her, someone who can overlook all of her faults for all of her...well we shall just call them assets, don't you agree, Beast?" he finished, highly suggesting what he meant by folding his arm across his chest.

Griffith took a deep breath, knowing that Gaston was goading him, but unwanted images started to flit through his mind of his beloved Belle, trapped in this man's household and bed. Not being able to contain his rage much more he charged after Gaston and swiped at him with his claws, managing to knock him off balance and sending him down the roof to a lower level of the castle that housed many gargoyles. He hopped down and hid behind one of these gargoyles, in an attempt to better attack him, before he could get up and realize where he was.

"You can't hide from me, creature of the night, I am God in these parts, killing all threats and bringing people up from their darkness. I run this town and you can't take that from me with your fancy castle in the woods and a winter of keeping someone hostage." Gaston had picked up a piece of broken statue and was carrying it around on his left shoulder like it was a club. When he came to the end of the line he hit an already broken down one, right next to where Griffith hid.

When Gaston went past him once more, Griffith slid behind him, fully ready to deal his blow. At the last second Gaston turned around, aiming the club at his chest and knocking Griffith onto his back. Getting his barring's again he helped himself up into a standing position using the balcony's edge. As Gaston and Griffith stared each other down, a single voice rang out to stop them.

"Griffith! Are you okay? Where is Gaston?" in the moment he turned to look at her, Gaston came up behind him and hit him on the back with his club. From down below all she could see was Griffith with his head to the sky, screaming in agony before falling to his knees. She had been on the grounds for some time now, halted by the fact that the foyer was erupted in a massive battle. She had managed to get Chip inside the kitchen safely with the rest of the teacup children, but decided her next best course of action was to head back outside and see if she could see Griffith on his balcony. To her surprise she found him on a lower terrace with the Gargoyles fighting with Gaston.

Griffith turned and grabbed hold of Gaston's forearms tossing him over the balcony and out of sight. The threat was gone and his Belle was back, Griffith could finally heave a sigh of relief. "How did you get here? I thought you were helping your father? How is he doing by the way?"

"It wasn't easy with him, Griffith, but that isn't important right now. My father is doing better and I came when I knew the mob was coming for you. I could not stay away any longer. If it hadn't been for the mob I would have been back before the end of the week; my father would have been well enough to travel by then." Any further conversation between the two was cut off as the priest's loud carriage came riding into the long drive with her father, bundled up in a large, thick blanket yet still shivering.

A yell had Belle turning away from the sleigh containing her father. The townspeople ran from the foyer in a big mob as a grand piano, wardrobe and stove came charging out after them, the last one with fire shooting out of his oven. "Great Scot, what kind of sorcery is this place. A beast and his be-spelled housewares? God has not seen this place in a long while." The Priest cried out in fear and looked to Belle for an explanation as Lefou ran buy with a fork sticking out of his buttocks, one that was also scorched due to being chased by Monsieur Curie.

"I hope to help change that soon," is what she offered him in way of an excuse, "Father White, please hurry we need to go -" a growl sounded out over the mass of people evacuating the castle. Belle knew the growl well as she had heard it this past winter mixed in with wolf growls and turned to look at the balcony once again just as Gaston fell over, landing on the ground with a loud crack. She didn't need to see the body to know he was dead, instead she was more interested in the man still on the upper terrace that had a hand clutched to the side of his white shirt, one that was rapidly being stained crimson by the blood of a large knife wound to his side.

"Griffith!" she cried out, her voice breaking.

"Belle." His voice was only a whisper, but she somehow heard it loud and clear. Griffith fell to his knees before falling backwards and out of sight. Her screaming of his name was the only thing heard before she took off into the scuffle of people from the foyer. She could hear the priest and her father coming after her. Looking back to see how close they were to stopping her journey was what ruined her chance. She was knocked over by the last few people of the mob and one of them kicked her head. She never made it inside the castle. She knew she wasn't going to be conscious much longer and she knew Griffith to be dead.

"I love you, Griffith, as sure as the moon shines above us now. If fate had been kinder, and if I had been wiser, I would have accepted your proposal as soon as I could have." She whispered her plea to the universe as the whole world went black, only seeing a small blue spark land next to her before it did.