[beauty and the beast au]

[angstennou]

Who: Beast!Nephrite, Belle!Ami
What: Ami meets the Beast
When: Around 18th century?
Where: Beast's castle, somewhere in France?


One day, a proud prince called Nephrite and his companions were hunting when a poor-looking woman appeared in the woods. She begged the prince for one of the rabbits they had caught to feed her children, and offered the prince a rose as payment. He laughed at the woman. Why would he want such a puny rose? The woman revealed herself to be a powerful enchantress then, transforming him in a beast to match his inhumane character, and the servants into inanimate objects.

Some time later, a doctor got lost in the woods after visiting a patient in a distant village and ended up in the beast's castle. The beast demanded that she cured his curse, but as it wasn't a medical condition, she couldn't do anything to help him. Angry, the beast locked her up in the castle's dungeon.

Comments

[innerflow]

It was going to be a long, uphill battle for anyone (the servants) trying to nudge these two closer to each other. It was Ami's first night in a strange place with a stranger host, and maybe she wasn't at her best, either.

The wardrobe sighed, cheated of the chance to dress Ami for dinner.

Having realized that the household objects could talk, and had minds of their own, Ami started talking aloud to herself them.

"I don't know why he invited me..." she started with her confusion.

[angstennou]

The feather duster and the wardrobe looked at each other. They couldn't tell Ami the real reason why the beast had come to invite her, so they needed to come up with a more... favorable answer.

"I think he wanted to apologize, you know. He's not that bad.", Minako offered.

"Yeah, he just... The curse made his temper worse, I think.", Usagi added.

[innerflow]

"If he wanted to apologize, I shouldn't have yelled," Ami conceded. But that didn't mean it was her fault. The larger situation would always be Nephrite's fault - the beast's fault - for holding someone captive for something they couldn't avoid.

"But if he wanted to apologize, he could have let me go home to Mama!"

[angstennou]

"Um... He's not... the most logical person, really. He probably thought a dinner was a good start? Give him a little time to calm down and ask him to let you go home." Minako tried to gain some time, but she doubted that Ami would even start to like Nephrite.

"But first! Let's go downstairs so you can eat something! Mako-chan's cooking is delicious, and she'll be upset if a guest doesn't try it! The beast should be in his room at the west wing by now and won't come out anytime soon." One of the things Usagi missed the most of being human was to eat.

[innerflow]

"Do you think so?" If the beast would let her go eventually, that was really the best thing, Ami thought. Maybe she could at least be patient for awhile. "If he'd let me go, I can wait a little. But I really need to go home to Mama."

She was absolutely not going to compromise on that. She wanted her freedom, and Mama needed her.

"Mako-chan?" she let herself be curious, since she was going to be here at least a little while. "Is she the cook for the castle?"

[angstennou]

"Yeah, I think he will understand his mistake eventually. Try to be patient with him." Oh, it worked better than Minako had thought. At least Ami was willing to wait a little.

"She is! Let's go downstairs to meet her and her helper, Luna!" Usagi ushered Ami to the door.

[innerflow]

"Are.... all of the people in the castle like you?" Ami asked carefully. What she meant, was were they all enchanted objects? (Or were there other beasts?)

Meanwhile, she was rehearsing their names in her mind: Usagi, Mamoru, Minako, Makoto, Luna...

[angstennou]

"All the household staff became objects when the master became a beast. You met me, Minako-chan and Mamo-chan, right? Mako-chan became a teapot, Luna a teacup, Artemis, that is Minako-chan's cat, became a stool, Zoi-kun, that is the maestro and Minako-chan's boyfriend became a piano and Motoki-kun, that is the head of the staff, became a clock. He is in love with Mako-chan, but she hasn't accepted him yet." Usagi talked as there was nothing unusual with her friends.

"Mako-chan! We're here!"

[innerflow]

Usagi was definitely unusual, by any standards of any type of being. So cheerful, so enthusiastic. It was like she didn't even mind what happened: being turned from a human into an object.

"It sounds as though all of you get along very well," Ami said, finally managing to smile a little. "And do you get along with - with the castle's owner?"

[angstennou]

Usagi didn't dwell much on it. She still had Mamo-chan and her friends, after all.

"We do! And I'd love to be your friend too!

Ah, he gets along better with the boys. Mamo-chan says the master is clumsy with girls, and has tried to help him, but he still gets a bit awkward with us sometimes…"

And while Usagi was gossiping, Makoto and Luna had already laid out a banquet for Ami.

[innerflow]

Clumsy with girls? That was one way to say it... But Ami couldn't help noticing the objects in the castle - and not only Usagi - seemed cheerful enough and happy enough to work for Nephrite, for the beast.

Maybe he wasn't always terrible? But that still didn't excuse what had happened.

"Then," Ami asked thoughtfully, "Why would he put someone in prison like this?"

[angstennou]

"Ah... I don't think there's a good reason... He got upset and that always makes him do things that he shouldn't... But he's not a bad guy! He really tries to apologize and fix things when he realizes he did something wrong!", Usagi replied with pleading eyes. She swears that Nephrite has a good heart!

"Yeah, but now he's upset and embarrassed, so it might take a while for him to come out of his room again." Mamoru added, coming down from the beast's quarters. "In the meantime, be our guest, Miss Mizuno."

[innerflow]

"Then he should apologize to me and let me go," Ami said firmly. She was absolutely not going to give up that theme. Freedom was important, and while she'd rather be here than leave mama here, that didn't mean she wanted to be here.

But she was hungry. And it didn't seem like anyone here - not even the beast - wanted to specifically harm her. So dinner sounded like a good idea for now. She would need time to figure out how she was going to escape, after all. She nodded to Mamoru. "I'd like to eat a little," she admitted.

[angstennou]

"I'm sure he will. Just give him some time?" Mamoru replied with an apologetic smile.
"You can eat anything you want, just ask Makoto. And you can walk around the castle and the gardens, but don't go to the west wing, that is where he hides to sulk when he's in a bad mood."

"Now, tell us about the outside world! Where do you live? Do you have other relatives besides your mother? Pets? A boyfriend?", Usagi asked excitedly.

[innerflow]

"The west wing..."

But whatever Ami thought about that (curiosity, of course), she was quickly distracted by that embarrassing question. "No! Nothing like that! No boyfriend!"

Which was probably good news for the household objects and the beast.

"I have fish for pets," she offered quickly, as if that would effectively change the subject. "And Papa, though he travels, so..."

[angstennou]

"No? What would be your ideal boyfriend, then? Blonde? Dark hair? Redhead? Tall?" That subject had picked Makoto and Luna's curiosity too, and the three girls sat at the table to discuss it, while Mamoru discreetly skitted away.

"Fish? You have a pond at home, then? And your papa, why does he travel? Is he a merchant?"

[innerflow]

"My kind of guy?" Ami thought for a moment - not very long, because this is something she's thought about very often - and said, "Someone like Einstein!"

What? Brilliant, a contributor to society, and very handsome in his younger days. Perfect!

[angstennou]

The girls exchanged looks. It seemed Nephrite really would have no chances with Ami.

Usagi talked about how much she loved Mamoru and teased Makoto about Motoki when he showed up to say it was getting late and they should all go to bed.

"Do you remember the way to your room? Or do you want me to go with you?", Usagi asked Ami.

[innerflow]

Alone in a new, strange place, a place owned by a beast she didn't understand, Ami was more than read to cling to this first friendly face.

"Please show me the way," she said, although she was sure she remembered it. The thought of saying she'd go alone, and trying to find the west wing, did occur to her... but she wasn't quite ready for that.

[angstennou]

"Sure! And if you need anything later, you can ask Minako. She can't leave the room, but she can tell you things." Usagi kept talking about how she loved Minako's songs, especially one called 'C'est la vie'. "Ask her to sing it for you! It's so nice! It'd be better with Zoi-kun's piano, but it's still my favorite!

And here we are! See you tomorrow!", she waved her feathers as she floated away.

[innerflow]

"See you tomorrow." And for the first time since this all began, Ami smiled.

After Usagi left, Ami had the chance to look around. At more than the room. It had been mentioned several times and... she was curious about the west wing. Slowly (and hoping she didn't manage to be spotted by some sentient household object that would tell the beast), she made her way through the halls and towards the correct staircase...

[angstennou]

The staff made sure the rest of the castle was well-kept (even though a bit dusty due to the lack of use and Usagi's bigger interest in chatting with the rest of the staff than doing her work), but the beast didn't always allow them in the west wing, and had the habit of thrashing it when his mood got sour.

He was nowhere to be seen, but there was a ruined portrait of a young man dressed in red gala clothes and near the balcony there was a red glowing rose encased in glass.

[innerflow]

Was the portrait a former owner of the castle? It seemed likely, or else the owner's own lord, with the portrait hung as a compliment. Ami looked at it for a long moment. The young man in the portrait was actually quite handsome, she noticed.

Then she spotted the rose. The glowing rose. As if the gentle light itself attracted her, she found herself stepping closer, staring it at openly.

[angstennou]

The beast came back from his running through the gardens to find the prisoner girl in his quarters. He panicked when he saw her walking to where the rose was, and rushed to intercept her, growling.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? GET OUT! GET OUT OF THIS ROOM NOW!"

[innerflow]

Ami froze at once. It was all the worse because she really had no excuse. It was rude of her to just walk around someone else's house without permission - and especially when she knew he didn't want her in this room.

On the other hand, it was ruder to keep her prisoner. And she had realized that maybe, just maybe, there could be something in this room that could help to free her. (It would be a good reason for him not wanting her to come here, after all.)

"I wasn't trying to pry!" she said, when something made her turn around to face him. "But if I have to be locked up here, I want to at least know what's going on around me!"