In a castle, not so far away from Dorian's former home, a woman walks in a blue ball's dress. Alone, she passes through the corridors, a soft smile on her face, while clutching a glass bell jar hosting a withered rose. Following her steps, one could hear her voice.
Tale as old as time, true as it can be
Watch the petals fall, desperate as you crawl, on your knees to me.
It's your final page, fairy tale complete.
You see in this world we're merely players, but the truth is i'm your beauty you're the beast.
As she walks, followed by her amused voice, she looks at some painting on the wall, showing a family of three. With a gentle hand, she caresses the baby's face, in its mother's arm, before starting to walk again.
Ever just the same, Ever a surprise
I've seen this before, falling at my door, desperate for your prize.
You thought we're a match, sweetheart I am far smarter than that.
There is no one living that can challenge me, you're unworthy and that love is a fact.
One step at a time, she approaches a library, a smirk deforming her earlier smile, taking its place as her voice begins to turn sharper.
What a genius plan, truly did you think this through? Trap the smartest girl in all the land
Let you all believe I would go quietly, while I sat and planed my hand.
I have not spent my life reading books my hours studying
To be some desperate prince's lonely wife.
Her pace is quick, now, she passes by the library without a glance, steps down the stairs, and goes to the dungeon.
Wanna lock me away,
Well by all means have your fun with that but I will be the author of my life.
So to hell with your flowers
You're all idiots for thinking that you'd really make it out of it alive.
Entering here, the woman looks at two cells, one closed while the other not. Unwilling to look at the human in the first one, she approaches and stares at what inhabits the second with a snarl.
Tale as old as time
You are nothing but a monster to me
Less than nothing you're not worth my pity
Not even one of you is a rival to what I can do.
In this open cell, a lion-like beast with human proportion hugs three things. A chandelier, a table clock and a teapot. Hearing the song, this beast lifts its head to the woman, its eyes full of sorrow. She enters and puts down the jar, her smile back, mockingly so.
Underestimated all this time
Don't you get it this is my design
I've made all my moves
Seconds from the truth.
Without fear, she shoves away the beast's things and sits between its paws, before putting an arm around its neck.
Beauty and the…
In the deserted dungeon, echo can be heard.
(Beauty and the…)
Shifting her position, both arms around the beast's neck, the woman tightens her embrace, causing it to nearly choke the unmoving beast. She looks gleefully in its fearful eyes.
Beauty and the~
BEA~ST!
After the last word, shouted, she pats the beast's head before releasing it. She stands up and takes back the Jar, then walks back to the cell's entrance before stopping. Her head turns to the beast one last time.
— Don't worry, you'll have your walk in the afternoon.
Reigning in a cackle, she returns to the sitting room in order to place the flower where she took it minutes before. Here, an older woman is waiting for her.
— Belle. Your… Meal is ready.
Looking like Dorian, the woman tries her best to keep her face to show pity. The young one is easily angered by this expression now, after all, and her reactions to it are always exaggerated. She remembers her husband being forbidden to eat for two days the last time he showed such a face. The witch always said that pity is the last thing she needs since all villagers intended to give her to Gaston if she didn't take her life in her own hands.
— Thank you, Agatha. I'll come promptly.
The former farmer, now maid, takes her leave. She knows that both her husband and her are alive only because they were the only ones in the village to really care about the poor girl back then. Now, nearly a year after the dramatic events, she still hopes that her son fares well. The poor boy still doesn't know that they are alive and, mostly, well. This mother, on the other hand, is kept unaware of her son's magic, as Belle kept her word and didn't share his secret with his parents.
After a quick and quiet meal, Belle goes back to the dungeon and stops in front of the closed cell. Inside, a husk of a human figure can be seen. The man, his once proud muscles now pitifully limping on his bones, looks terrified at his tormentor.
— Hello, Gaston. How is our proud hunter today ?
Instead of answering, a mistake he only needed to do once, Gaston wisely chooses to lower his head in silence. Never should have he chased this monster, never should have he thought of her as just another girl to add to his conquests.
— Beast. Out. We'll see what our dear will hunt today.
As her thrall crawls out of his cell, she opens Gaston's and gives him his bow and arrows.
— Be glad, your monthly hunt is today.
Without a word, she leaves the dungeon once again, to go to her room. In it, a mirror stands proudly, its frame covered by engraved runes. She touches one of them and the mirror's reflection changes, displaying what Beast sees. Gaston's heavy steps are seen when he goes to the forest, his bow kept ready as the man finds back his past hunter's habits. Watching him with a smirk, Bell lays on her bed and readies herself to laugh at Gaston's actions.
Beast follows the hunter from a distance, his gaze hiding pain and anger intertwined. Without this man's behavior, the girl wouldn't have turned her back on it when he begged her for help. Sure, it began by abducting her, but what choice did it have at the time? No one would willingly come to its home and the curse was on the verge of ending. As such, and despite the pity that Gaston's inability to fully draw his bow creates in it, Beast takes a sinful pleasure to watch over him.
Gaston sighs. He knows about Belle's thrall shadowing him, a safeguard against him trying to flee. He even knows, as she repeatedly told him, that Belle monitors him by magical means. If only he wasn't arrogant, back then, he wouldn't be reduced to such a state.