[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

[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!"

[angstennou]

"YOU ARE NOT EVEN LOCKED UP IN A CELL! YOU CAN WALK AROUND THE WHOLE CASTLE AND THE GARDENS! CAN'T I HAVE PRIVACY IN MY OWN ROOM?"

And she hasn't even been a prisoner for one whole day! He hasn't been able to leave the palace for years!

[innerflow]

There's some justice to what the beast says, but Ami doesn't quite back down yet. "But I can't go home," she points out, quietly but firmly. She's promised herself she won't be afraid.

She has no idea that he's as trapped as she is; she imagines him free to come and go - which, technically, he is. But it hasn't occurred to her that in more practical terms, the beast can't exactly show up in the middle of town and make friends.

[angstennou]

"You know what? Go home. You don't have to stay here anymore." The beast turned its back to the girl, defeated.

Sorry, household staff. Nephrite can't make anyone like him.

[innerflow]

She hadn't expected that. And as Nephrite turned away, Ami felt an odd urge to want to comfort him now that he seemed.... well, hurt.

But he also might change his mind. Ami hesitated for only the briefest of moments before turning to hurry straight out the door, down the hallways, down the staircases and towards the main doors of the castle.

[angstennou]

The staff had heard the beast yelling and came out from their rooms to see what was going on. As Ami rushed through them, Usagi called her:

"Ami-chan! Where are you going? Don't go out at night, it's dangerous!"

[innerflow]

Ami felt a small inner twinge at ignoring Usagi, and she knew it probably was dangerous outside - but wasn't it dangerous, inside, too? With the beast here? She had to take her chance of freedom while it still existed. She only ran faster, to make sure she reached the doors before anyone would stop her.

As she plunged into the fresh air, Ami realized she wasn't entirely sure where to go... or how she was going to get all the way home on foot.

[angstennou]

The household staff followed Ami to the front door, not daring to leave the castle. After she had left the west wing, the beast climbed to the highest tower in the castle to mope. He saw the girl run through the gardens and run...to the opposite direction of the village, further into the forest. The dangerous part, where some monsters lived and preyed on people who got lost at night.

He rushed down the tower and through the main doors, almost running over his staff. He had to get to her before the other monsters did.

[innerflow]

Ami was hurrying so fast to put the castle behind her, that - most unusually for her - she didn't even take much notice of the danger ahead of her, the little sounds of movement through the trees of the forest that should have warned her. Instead, her first realization that something was wrong came when she heard the inhuman voice of the first youma to notice the human prey...

[angstennou]

When Nephrite found her, the youma had already surrounded Ami. He roared and punched the nearest monster, sending it flying away. They turned their attention to him then, and started to attack the new beast that had interrupted their dinner. Every bite and cut they landed on him also drained some of his energy, so the only way he'd have a chance was if he didn't restrain any of his beastly violent behavior. Nephrite killed all the youma, and when he finished he was covered in blood.

He looked at Ami and said, "Go. Your village is in the opposite direction." The beast turned to go back to his castle, but had walked just a few steps before he fainted.

[innerflow]

Ami started to leave - she wasn't going to have a better chance - but something made her look back after only a few steps.

He was hurt. Bleeding. Injured. Because he had protected her. And he hadn't done it to keep her trapped; he was still saying to go home. She couldn't be so ungrateful and just leave him. She found herself walking back towards him, almost without thinking about it.

There wasn't much she could do here... but. "Come on. Lean on me until we get back to the castle."

He probably couldn't rest much of his weight on her, but at least it might hold him steady.

[angstennou]

It took him a moment to get back to his senses and understand what the girl was saying. He tried to sit up but his body felt really heavy, so he decided to stay laying down a little more.

"Back to the castle…? Didn't you want to leave?"