The Twisted Chain || A Disney Fanfic [discontinued]

17. the prophecy

Hey, everyone! I'm back :D I would have updated yesterday, but I had a quiz that I had to study for so I couldn't, unfortunately. Before we start, I'd like to thank all the commenters :D

squishyfishies (QUEEN) ; rewrite ; thatclovelydisnerd ; PopularlyUnpopular ; TessaSkye99 ; Glittergirl66 ; TheBeautifulDreamer_ ; EllaJosephine ; Allegra_Bisscotti ; AshleyJubelag

You're all bae.

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~ Chapter Seventeen: Secrets ~

I hadn't been asleep for more than a moment before I was aroused and torn from my slumber. Sobs, a muffled and chaotic sort of crying, rang in my ears, and I pulled the covers aside in an attempt to find out what was causing the noise. The sun hadn't set yet- my room was still coated in dull lashes of warm sunlight. How early had I decided to go to bed?

I didn't have any slippers or a robe to throw on, but I didn't particularly care. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed across the room, pulling the door open. I tilted my head, scanning my surroundings, and nearly jumped when I came across a figure that seemed out of place. Sitting to my right, slouched against the wall, was a hysterical, sobbing Queen Belle.

I was exhausted- I could faintly hear the bed in the other room beckoning me backwards- but that didn't stop me from entering the hallway and making myself comfortable next to her. "Hey," I whispered, making myself known.

Belle looked up- her face was bright red, as though her skin was raw and burnt, and her cheeks were covered in a thin layer of tears. Her eyes, a glittery brown color, were painted over with moisture. She looked like an absolute mess.

"Are you alright?" I asked. Well, duh, Ivy, of course she isn't alright.

Belle gasped, patting down the corners of her eyes with her wrist. "I- I'm sorry about this, I-"

"It's fine." I replied, offering a hint of a smile. "Really, it's okay. Did something happen?"

She nodded, not saying a word. Her lips were wrinkled, and her makeup was smeared in every place possible, an unsettling blend of multicolored hues and pigments.

"Do you want to talk about it? I hear that talking helps." Whenever my mother would walk in on me while I was crying, she would always ask that same question, offering to listen to what I had to say. Very rarely would I actually tell her what was happening.

Belle coughed a little, wiping her face down, smudging more makeup. "I don't want to be a burden-"

"You wouldn't be a burden. If you really need someone to talk to, then talk. I'll listen." I readjusted myself against the wall. "I don't have anything else that I need to do, anyway."

And so, after coughing more and muttering her thanks, Belle began to speak through harsh sobs.

She told me about Gaston, about how he was once an arrogant and sexist man who wanted to marry her. She told me about Adam, her husband, how he had once been placed under a spell and turned into a hideous beast. She explained to me how she became his prisoner, how she fell in love with him ever so slowly. How she had been let go one night, and how, as soon as she arrived home, Gaston took an angry mob into the forest in order to find Adam and kill him.

"That was the worst night of my life," Belle choked. "There must have been hundreds of men there, all with pitchforks and torches and knives..." Her voice disappeared, and she sniffled some more as I placed an arm over her shoulders. "I ran after them as fast as I could. I went up to Gaston and told him that I would marry him. 'I'll marry you,' I said. 'I'll marry you right here and now, and you can do whatever you want with me. I will be yours, so long as you don't harm the beast.'... One of the men traveling with him was a minister, and after Gaston swore on his life that he wouldn't harm Adam, we were married. Right there, in the woods, in front of the whole mob."