Twisted Beauty

It's Alive

Belle's POV:

Walking into that castle was at once the most terrifying and exciting adventure. I couldn't see anything, nor hear anything. The stairs were a little unstable but they held my weight just fine. At its top, the stairway split into opposing hallways, however there was nothing, that I could tell, that would give me a clue as to where my papa was. Desolation rained throughout. I waived momentarily, briefly thinking I might have had the wrong castle. Then I heard a crash, ricocheting off the walls and reverberating from the floor below.
"Papa?"
Silence.
I shouted, "Papa?!"
"He's upstairs with the master. Follow me," a heavily accented french voice declared.
"Who are you? Show yourself," I commanded, looking around the room for a person.
"I am Lumière, at your service," he said, but was still invisible to me.
"Be quiet, Lumière. She's supposed to discover him on her own, without assistance," another voice said from the darkness.
"Please, I just want to save my papa," I implored, most pathetically.
"Cogsworth, she's a girl, nothing more. She needs our help," Lumière said.
After a protracted silence, I could tell that Cogsworth was formulating responses.
"Please," I tried again.
"Alright. We will help you, but you mustn't tell a soul that we did so," Cogsworth responded carefully.
"I promise. I just need to find Papa."
Little did I know then that I was entering a trap, unwittingly sealing my fate. Not realizing I was being played for a fool.
"Come into the light," I declared.
I looked around trying to see who my saviors were. Much to my surprise, a clock and a candlestick walked into my view. So diminutive, each in height reached just the calves of my legs. Both were quite detailed. Assuming Cogsworth to be the clock, I noticed his body to be a deep brown shade highlighting the intricate details covering him. His companion had to be Lumière. He had much more flare. A golden candlestick, resembling a triton.
"But... how... how do you," I started, but couldn't finish.
"How do we talk? Well, when the master disgraced a beautiful sorceress. She invoked a curse on his entire castle. That included us," Lumière said sorrowfully.
"That's terrible. Is there any way to break the curse?" I asked.
"True love's kiss can break any spell," Lumière said wistfully.
"Of course. Now, can you take me to my papa?"
"Right this way," Cogsworth said walking off down the hallway to the right.
Walking in the dark was terrifying. I couldn't tell what was two feet in front of me, much less down the whole hallway. I had no idea whether I was walking straight into danger. However terrifying all that was, I couldn't help but be excited by the adventure. I was finally living my dream. Enjoying my own adventure, and fairy tale. Each corridor we turned down was as interesting as the next, even though all was still obscured by darkness. I made out shapes of statues, and I could tell there were massive paintings all the wall, but I couldn't tell what they were. If only there had been light, everything would have been more appealing.
Cogsworth and Lumière led me through so many halls I became disoriented, utterly lost in fact. Eventually we came to another staircase. My animated host ascended the steps without hesitation. Reluctantly I followed. Despite my growing suspicion, the drive to find my papa was overwhelming. I continued to follow Cogsworth and Lumiére into a vast unknown. If only I had simply at that point turned around.
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So I'm realizing a lot of the indents aren't staying consistent but I don't feel like going through and fixing them all so... sorry! But how do you guys like it so far?? Belle is literally waking into a trap! Ha this is such fun! 😁 I can't wait till the end!