CELESTE IS STUBBORN
"SO, I'M THINKING about running away." Celeste told Belle as she sat on the steps to the cottage.
"You're always thinking that, Celeste." Belle reminded her friend as she tended to her garden.
"I'm serious this time."
Both girls looked up when they heard the familiar snort. Philippe was trotting to the gate. Without Maurice.
"Philippe," Belle said, quickly getting up and meeting the horse. "What are you doing here?" She asked as she gently patted his snout. "Where's Papa? Where is he?!" She grew more frantic when she saw the torn straps of the harness and the tattered reins.
Celeste quickly got up from the step and ran over to Belle." What do you want me to do?"
"Stay here!" Belle told her, putting the saddle on Philippe's back.
"You can't expect me to just sit around!"
"Please," Belle gave her friend a pleasing look. "If Papa comes back I don't want him to be alone."
Celeste wanted to argue and go with Belle, but decided against it. "Fine. But if you're not back by tomorrow morning then I'm searching for you."
"Hopefully it won't come to that." Belle said as she mounted the horse. She gave Celeste one final look before kicking Philippe forward.
Celeste knew she had two options. She could wait like she said she would, or she could go after Belle and help her find Maurice. She chose the latter of the two.
Celeste rushed inside the cottage and switched her worn flats for a pair of Belle's brown boots. When she finished lacing the shoes up she ran back to her home. Part of her was hoping she knew where Maurice was, though the chances were slim.
"Mama!" Celeste ran into the home, practically running into Agathe as she tried to stop. "Mama, something is wrong." She rushed out, surprised at how it still sounded like a coherent statement.
"What?" Agathe asked her daughter, concern in her tone and on her face. "What's wrong?"
"Maurice left for the market yesterday. Philippe came back without him. Belle went to look for them." She said, taking a deep breath after quickly speaking. "She wants me wait for him to return."
"Maybe you should listen to Belle, dear." Agathe suggested, taking her daughter's hands. It was something that always managed to calm the girl, but not this time. "Belle is a smart girl."
Celeste looked at her mother in disbelief. "I can't just sit around when Maurice is missing and Belle is out there by herself!"
"I know, Celeste. But just wait until tomorrow morning." Agathe told her daughter. "If you leave now you will not get far before sundown, especially on foot."
"I don't care!" Celeste argued, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I need to go find them!"
"And you will!" Agathe almost shouted over her daughter, squeezing Celeste's hands. "But I will not allow you going into the woods when there are wolves."
"What if I borrow someone's horse?" Celeste suggested.
"It's still dangerous."
"I don't care, I just want my friends back."
Agathe sighed and pulled her daughter into her arms. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"
"They would do the same for me." Celeste replied without hesitation, her voice confident.
"You are one headstrong child." Agathe put her hands on either side of Celeste's face. "Be safe, my dear." She said before kissing her forehead. "Do not be scared to fight anything or anyone that gets in your way, but also know when to run."
Celeste smiled at her mother. "Don't worry, Mama. You raised a fighter." She kissed Agathe's cheek before leaving the hut and sprinting back to the village.
Many villagers had horses, but there were only a few that would be willing to help Celeste in a time of need. Pere Robert would lend his horse to the girl, but not without asking dozens of questions. Plus, the church was in the middle of the crowded village, running through everything would bring much unnecessary attention. Instead, she chose to run to the first people in sight that would help her, easily shoving through some villagers.
"Gaston, I need to borrow your horse!" Celeste almost shouted, bringing the villagers attention to her as she ran to the man and his aide.
Gaston looked at his sidekick in confusion. "LeFou, did you just hear what I head?"
"I believe Celeste said she needs to borrow your horse."
"That's what I thought." Gaston said before facing the brunette. "Surely you know me better than to ask something like that, Celeste."
Celeste wanted to scream in frustration. "It's an emergency, Gaston!"
"What is it?" The war hero asked, becoming serious and furrowing his brow in concern. "What happened?"
Celeste wanted to kick herself. Maurice and Belle's safety was extremely important, however, getting Gaston involved would only make thing worse. He would constantly use it against Belle and infuriate her and Celeste in the process.
"Don't worry about it, I have it under control." Celeste finally said, going with her gut feeling not to tell him.
"Clearly you don't if you need my horse." Gaston shot back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just tell me what it is and I will take care of it."
Celeste groaned in annoyance. "Gaston, I really appreciate you trying to help but I need to do this myself." She told him before turning to LeFou. "Can I borrow your horse? Please?" She begged.
LeFou was torn to say the least. He knew Gaston would give him hell if he let Celeste take his horse but the panic and urgency was practically radiating off the girl. He sighed and handed the reigns to Celeste. "Take care of Betsy."
"Thank you." Celeste sighed in relief, quickly hugging her friend before mounting the horse. "I owe you!" She said as she kicked Betsy forward.
"Just come back safe!" LeFou called, an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
"She better come back alive or I'll kill her myself." Gaston said, watching the girl ride the black horse into the forest. It didn't matter how much the two fought, he still cared for her.
————
As grateful as Celeste was that Gaston didn't follow her, a small part of her wished he did. She had absolutely no idea where she was going, the forest was an unknown place to her. She had let the horse guide the way within the first hour. She figured Betsy would know the way better than her seeing as Gaston and LeFou went hunting almost every day. As they got deeper into the forest she became even more anxious.
Betsy veered around a tree that had been split in half, which only concerned Celeste more. Had it split before or after Maurice got lost? How about Belle? Had either of them come that way?
"Betsy, I sure hope you know where you're going because I don't."
The woods only got thicker as Betsy continued on and Celeste's anxiety grew every second it got closer to dark. The anxiety turned into confusion when she saw snow on the path, completely ignoring how cold it had gotten. "Snow in the middle of June. Totally normal." She told herself, not believing it for a second. "Nothing remotely weird about this."
Eventually something on the side of the path caught Celeste's attention. It was Maurice's cart. It was on its side, the music boxes were alongside it, almost unrecognizable and broken beyond repair. The brunette felt sick to her stomach looking at the scene. She was glad that this meant Maurice was down this path, however, it only added to the gut wrenching feeling that something had happened. She also still had no idea if Belle had taken the path either.
Moments later a gate came into view and Celeste let out a sigh of relief. Some distance behind the gate was a massive stone castle. "They have to be in there, right?" Celeste thought out loud as the gate opened by itself. "That's not creepy at all." She whispered but kicked Betsy forward nonetheless, this was the only place the path led to. Maurice had to be here at the very least.
"Philippe!" The brunette dismounted Betsy once the other horse came into view. She pulled on the reins as she practically ran to the white horse. "That must mean Belle's inside, huh?" She asked the horse after patting his snout. "Wish me luck." She patted Betsy as she walked by her and made her way up the stone steps. The castle was vaguely familiar but she didn't know how. Surely she would remember a castle, especially one of this size that was only a days trip from Villeneuve.
Celeste pushed the doors open, revealing a massive foyer. There were a few candles along the walls but the area was still fairly dim. Despite feeling as if she would vomit, she continued toward the grand staircase.
"Another beautiful woman? One of them has to break the spell."
"No, Cogsworth." A male voice with a thick French accent replied. "She is the one to break the spell. Don't you recognize her?"
"Who's there?" Celeste asked, whipping around and looking in every direction, the only thing she found was a candelabra and a clock. When no one responded, she stayed in her spot momentarily as she tried to figure out where to go. She grabbed the candelabra and began her trek up the grand staircase.
After many twists and turns, Celeste reached the top of the never-ending stairs—and castle, from the looks of it—she came face to face with Belle.
"Celeste, what are you doing here?!" Belle whispered frantically, meeting her friend at the door and putting her hands on the bars. "I told you to stay in Villeneuve."
"You should know by now that I don't take orders well." Celeste replied in a whisper after setting the candelabra down, trying to find a way to open the door.
"You have to leave, Celeste. Before he finds out you were here." Belle was practically frantic, almost begging Celeste to listen to her.
"I'm not leaving without you."
"You don't have a choice; I'm stuck here forever."
Celeste wanted to roll her eyes. "Well, now you're just being dramatic."
"I'm serious! My father was here for taking a rose, one I asked for." Belle informed, tears welling in her eyes. "I took his place. He's sick, Celeste. Please take care of him for me."
Celeste's heart broke just listening to Belle's voice crack, looking at her made it even worse. "I'm not going to take care of him for you." She replied, finally finding what she assumed to be the handle to open the cell. She pulled on it, cringing when it made a loud noise but rushed in to hug her fellow brunette. "You're going to go home and take care of him yourself."
"No!" Belle argued, quickly letting go of Celeste and shaking her head. "If we get caught he might kill us."
"Which is why we won't get caught." Celeste shot back. "Hurry up, we have to leave before he sees us."
"He's a beast."
Celeste grabbed Belle's hand and began pulling her. "Yeah, I'm sure he is. I mean, who locks people up just for a—"
"No, Celeste." Belle cut her off. "A real beast. Fur and fangs and all."
Before Celeste could respond, a roar filled the tower, scaring both girls. They looked toward the source of the sound, only seeing a massive shadow a few floors up. "Holy hell."
Belle pulled her hand out of Celeste's grip and went back into the cell. "Run!"
"Not without you!"
"You!" A deep voice said to Celeste before the figure jumped from his spot to just in front of her. His voice was full of rage as he took a step closer to her and into the light.
Celeste almost screamed at the sight before her. The creature was huge. With large horns coming out of his head, entire body covered in muscles and golden-brown hair, and his lower jaw jutting forward. He truly was a beast. His upper paws were clinched, but even then, it was clear that they were just as large and long as his lower ones. She looked up to meet his eyes, taken aback by how blue and human they were. Something about his eyes were familiar, but she couldn't figure out why.
"What about me?" She shot back when the shock wore off. She didn't care if the creature in front of her was human or not, she refused to let someone speak to her in such a rude way.
"What are you doing back here?!" The Beast roared in her face.
"I've never seen this place in my life!" Celeste argued with just as much anger. "Surely I would remember meeting a beast!"
The Beast growled, seeming to scare Belle more than Celeste. "Don't hurt her!"
Celeste stood up straighter, holding her ground. "Just let my friend go and we will be out of your way."
"She chose to take her father's place. She will remain here."
"A life sentence?" Celeste asked in disbelief. "For a rose?"
"I received eternal damnation for one!" The Beast shot back.
"Surely you deserved it!" Celeste countered.
"Celeste, you are not helping either of us right now." Belle told her friend, watching the Beast warily.
Celeste closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Are you really so cold hearted that you would keep a daughter away from her father?"
"Someone has to pay for the rose."
"Is it really that big of a deal?" Celeste questioned. When the Beast didn't respond, she sighed. "I'll take her place."
"What?" The Beast and Belle asked in unison, both surprised. "Why would you do that?"
"You're my family." Celeste told Belle, shrugging. They may not be blood related but Belle and Maurice were the closest thing she had to family other than Agathe.
"You're both fools." The Beast said, almost disgusted by the two. "Once this door closes it will not open again." He said as Celeste walked by him and into the cell.
"My mother can take care of herself more than your father can himself." Celeste pointed out, grabbing Belle's hand and giving it a squeeze. She gave her friend a smile, though it came off as more sad than anything else. "You have more to live for, to look forward to. I'm just a beggar and I probably always would be."
"You're so much more than that." Belle said before pulling Celeste into a hug. "I love you, Celeste."
"I love you too." Celeste replied, a more genuine smile on her face. "I will escape." She whispered before continuing. "Make sure to think of me when you travel the world. Or, you know, at least leave Villeneuve."
"You better." Belle whispered back before pulling away from Celeste. "And I will." She stepped out of the cell, jumping when the Beast slammed the door shut. He grabbed Belle's arm and began pulling her down the stairs before she pulled her arm away from him. "I know how to walk." She told the creature, giving Celeste a final look before following him down the stairs.
Celeste sat on the cold stone floor, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She looked at the gaping hole in the wall and began plotting her escape. If she couldn't escape then she would die trying.
*****
not edited
tbh I loved writing this chapter