All Good Things 9
Dec. 9th, 2012 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumelleFor story summary, warnings, pairings, etc, see the first chapter.
Chapter: 9/25
Chapter title: The Beast in the Shadows
Chapter rating: PG
Chapter summary: While walking through the Beast's castle, Lea finds his mood turning sour.
It's quite the change from the streets of Agrabah, walking down the quiet corridors. Of course, the castle is massive and has far less inhabitants to fill it than the city, but it still has an almost eerie air to it as he makes his way through the semi-darkness of the dungeons, hearing only his own footsteps and water dripping somewhere far.
It is somewhat refreshing, being able to gather his thoughts without anyone rushing about and making noise. Not that there's that much for him to gather, really. His thoughts are revolving around Roxas, like they've done pretty much ever since he became human again. And for quite a bit before that, for that matter.
Oh, yeah. Roxas is his heart, no doubt about it.
Despite the lack of light and damp air of the dungeons, he finds himself almost on a good mood here. Sure, his search so far has been fruitless, and frankly if Roxas was here chances are he would have heard of it by now, but from what he's heard on missions and from those more familiar with the inhabitants, the story of the place is like something out of a fairy tale. If a princess can fall for a monster, surely he's got a chance with Roxas, too, right? Even if neither of them is exactly a princess and he's not quite a monster, at least not anymore.
Oh, yes, he's being downright heroic nowadays, saving people left and right and bringing Xehanort down and everything. Roxas will definitely be proud of how good he's being. Soon as Lea finds him, he will be so proud.
You'd think with all that pride he's about to have, he could at least make himself a bit easier to find.
It's almost completely dark in the deepest parts of the dungeons but that's fine. He's used to darkness, though he may not be particularly fond of it. Even though this isn't the deep, almost alive darkness that fills the corridors, the kind that would all too gladly seep into his heart and turn it against everything good and light and delightful, it does still occasionally send a shiver down his spine as he inches his way through the more shadowed corners, but that's all fine. When it's absolutely too dark to even find the place for his next step, he does light a small flame to show his way, but extinguishes it as soon as a small window or fluorescent fungi give him enough assistance to get forward without breaking his ankles. It's best not to draw attention to himself, not when he's technically a trespasser.
He probably could just march to the front door, introduce himself as Sora's friend and be let in as easily as that. He could do that if he were a total idiot. While this isn't exactly his territory, the stories about the beast tell him enough that he doesn't want to try his luck with these people. Sure, Sora may be their friend, but the beast has not had very good experiences with people in long black coats.
No, he's not afraid of some prince frowning at trespassers in his castle. However, he is indeed afraid of a man, beast or not, who ripped his way between the worlds just to find his princess. Afraid and quite a bit impressed, but his being impressed won't help if the beast finds him and figures he's still with the ones who hurt his princess.
Oh, yes. If he can avoid detection, there's absolutely no reason to take such a risk.
A traitorous voice at the back of his mind suggests that maybe Roxas did appear here, maybe he did return here all alone and confused and got mistaken for a malicious intruder by the furious beast. He forces that voice away, knowing it's impossible. Nobody could mistake Roxas for an intruder, not that kid. He may not be quite as light and mind-blowing goodness as Sora, but he is far too nice for his own good.
Far too nice for the Organization.
It's no use to wallow in the past, now. Not when he's supposed to stay sharp.
The dungeons are surprisingly free of any form of Heartless, with only a couple of shadows appearing to bug him at times. The beast has probably cleared them out, made the castle safe for his beloved. Of course, they'll keep coming back, slain without a keyblade, which just makes it all the more impressive since he probably has to sweep the castle regularly to keep it this clean. Though then, he has a princess of the heart with him; maybe the light is good for something at least. Lea wouldn't know. He never was one for princesses.
Making his way from the dungeons to the actual basement, he is surprised to hear voices and movement. Not because he thought the castle to be empty, he knows better than that, but because what he hears are clearly footsteps and human voices. Everything he's heard about the place tells him the beast and his princess are the only ones even nearly human in the castle, and now judging by what he can hear through the doors there's always someone hurrying down a corridor, a maid or a butler or just a servant boy fetching something from the basement.
Interesting. Apparently the lack of Heartless is not the only change around here.
He hears conversation too, whenever more than one person pass by, though never more than some short snippets. He still tries to avoid detection, which means hiding whenever someone approaches, and is not exactly conducive to trailing along to follow the conversation. What little he can hear, though, paints a rather interesting picture.
"She's been worried sick, you know, with his curse still not lifting up entirely. They say it's because he went into the dark, he can't be entirely cured even if we —"
"— heard the Master grumbling about it, you know how he does that, talking to himself because light help that man actually have a proper conversation with anyone. He's worried about it, I mean, who wouldn't be, but I really think that she —"
"— to protect her, that's right, he says he doesn't even want to get better because then he can't keep her safe, I think it's so sweet but —"
"— it doesn't matter, of course it doesn't matter, she loves him either way bless her heart, but you can tell she's really worried. It must be eating at her so badly, the poor dear —"
Well. Perhaps the situation with the beauty and the beast isn't quite as simple as he had imagined.
He manages to avoid the servants long enough to make his way to the upper levels of the castle. Even with people milling about going about their chores, there are still plenty of shadowed corners for him to hide in, and statues to duck behind if he absolutely has to. Apparently even with all these people, the beast is the only form of security they have; he is yet to encounter anyone who would have appeared to be guarding something for the sake of guarding it. Though then, to get into the castle one would have to get past the gates and walls and outside them the deep dark woods, so maybe they aren't so worried about such things.
Of course, considering that Lea arrived here through the darkness, they probably should be. Good for them he is one of the good guys now.
By now his search has turned into aimless wandering, only nominally looking for any sign of Roxas. If a black-clad boy had appeared in the castle out of nowhere, one of the gossipy maids would have been pouring out her heart about it. It's still a change after Agrabah, after all, though things are not quite as silent as he imagined back in the dungeons.
Just as he arrives behind a pair of big, imposing doors, he hears a loud roar from behind them. It almost startles him, much though he hates to admit it; there's not much that can scare him, but after a while of encountering nothing more threatening than a maid with a feather duster it does make him jump a bit. When silence follows, though, he inches closer, peering through a gap between the almost closed doors.
The beast is in the room, somewhat unsurprisingly. What does surprise Lea is seeing the princess with him, holding his huge hand in both of hers, talking softly to him.
"You should go, Belle," he growls, voice rough though Lea imagines he tries to sound gentle. "Just, go. Get back home. Go be with your father."
"Never." Her voice just barely reaches Lea's curious ears at the door. "I've been with you for years, I'm not going anywhere now."
"I can't offer you anything, Belle." Funny hearing that from the guy with the big castle and more servants than he knows what to do with. "Even after everything, I'm stuck like this. You — you deserve better than this."
"I could never deserve more than you." Her hand slides up his arm, covered with coarse fur as it is, and settles over his chest, approximately where Lea imagines his heart is. "This is all I could ever hope for."
"I was supposed to give you my true form, though. To show you the prince in me, someone beautiful to match your beauty. But then I went through the darkness, and…"
"Do you regret?" Her voice is so soft, soft and almost fearful.
"Never." His voice matches hers in gentleness as he touches the side of her face, his hand big enough that he could crush her head with a thoughtless grip. "I did it for you. Keeping you safe is not something I could ever regret."
"You still keep me safe, do you not?" She leans into his touch, so open, so trusting. "You've told me so yourself. In this form, you can keep me safe from any monster."
"Yes — yes I can. But I can't —"
"You can't what?" A smile touches her face. "Can't be my beautiful prince?" Her hand trails up to his face. "But you are, my love. I don't care whether you are a man or a beast, you are still my prince. And if you think this is going to get you out of the wedding, you're sorely mistaken." Now, her tone is definitely amused.
"You — still wish to do it?" His astonishment is clear in his voice. "Even though I couldn't get out of the curse?"
"But you did. You became a man, just long enough to free everyone else. This is not the same thing. This," her fingertips trace the line of his mouth, "this is proof to me of how far you would go for my sake."
He growls again, but the tone of that is quite different, and the shivers it sends down Lea's spine are for a different reason as well. He turns away, walking softly along the hallway to be out of hearing range before opening a Corridor.
So. The beast breaks his curse, then becomes beast again, and as his reward gets the girl to become his wife. And here is Lea, after all his struggles to get out of the darkness, and all he gets for his pains is seeing everyone else pair up while his search remains fruitless.
Well. There went his good mood.
Chapter 8 - Relationship Advice
Chapter 10 - Interlude: The Lions Sleep Tonight
Chapter: 9/25
Chapter title: The Beast in the Shadows
Chapter rating: PG
Chapter summary: While walking through the Beast's castle, Lea finds his mood turning sour.
It's quite the change from the streets of Agrabah, walking down the quiet corridors. Of course, the castle is massive and has far less inhabitants to fill it than the city, but it still has an almost eerie air to it as he makes his way through the semi-darkness of the dungeons, hearing only his own footsteps and water dripping somewhere far.
It is somewhat refreshing, being able to gather his thoughts without anyone rushing about and making noise. Not that there's that much for him to gather, really. His thoughts are revolving around Roxas, like they've done pretty much ever since he became human again. And for quite a bit before that, for that matter.
Oh, yeah. Roxas is his heart, no doubt about it.
Despite the lack of light and damp air of the dungeons, he finds himself almost on a good mood here. Sure, his search so far has been fruitless, and frankly if Roxas was here chances are he would have heard of it by now, but from what he's heard on missions and from those more familiar with the inhabitants, the story of the place is like something out of a fairy tale. If a princess can fall for a monster, surely he's got a chance with Roxas, too, right? Even if neither of them is exactly a princess and he's not quite a monster, at least not anymore.
Oh, yes, he's being downright heroic nowadays, saving people left and right and bringing Xehanort down and everything. Roxas will definitely be proud of how good he's being. Soon as Lea finds him, he will be so proud.
You'd think with all that pride he's about to have, he could at least make himself a bit easier to find.
It's almost completely dark in the deepest parts of the dungeons but that's fine. He's used to darkness, though he may not be particularly fond of it. Even though this isn't the deep, almost alive darkness that fills the corridors, the kind that would all too gladly seep into his heart and turn it against everything good and light and delightful, it does still occasionally send a shiver down his spine as he inches his way through the more shadowed corners, but that's all fine. When it's absolutely too dark to even find the place for his next step, he does light a small flame to show his way, but extinguishes it as soon as a small window or fluorescent fungi give him enough assistance to get forward without breaking his ankles. It's best not to draw attention to himself, not when he's technically a trespasser.
He probably could just march to the front door, introduce himself as Sora's friend and be let in as easily as that. He could do that if he were a total idiot. While this isn't exactly his territory, the stories about the beast tell him enough that he doesn't want to try his luck with these people. Sure, Sora may be their friend, but the beast has not had very good experiences with people in long black coats.
No, he's not afraid of some prince frowning at trespassers in his castle. However, he is indeed afraid of a man, beast or not, who ripped his way between the worlds just to find his princess. Afraid and quite a bit impressed, but his being impressed won't help if the beast finds him and figures he's still with the ones who hurt his princess.
Oh, yes. If he can avoid detection, there's absolutely no reason to take such a risk.
A traitorous voice at the back of his mind suggests that maybe Roxas did appear here, maybe he did return here all alone and confused and got mistaken for a malicious intruder by the furious beast. He forces that voice away, knowing it's impossible. Nobody could mistake Roxas for an intruder, not that kid. He may not be quite as light and mind-blowing goodness as Sora, but he is far too nice for his own good.
Far too nice for the Organization.
It's no use to wallow in the past, now. Not when he's supposed to stay sharp.
The dungeons are surprisingly free of any form of Heartless, with only a couple of shadows appearing to bug him at times. The beast has probably cleared them out, made the castle safe for his beloved. Of course, they'll keep coming back, slain without a keyblade, which just makes it all the more impressive since he probably has to sweep the castle regularly to keep it this clean. Though then, he has a princess of the heart with him; maybe the light is good for something at least. Lea wouldn't know. He never was one for princesses.
Making his way from the dungeons to the actual basement, he is surprised to hear voices and movement. Not because he thought the castle to be empty, he knows better than that, but because what he hears are clearly footsteps and human voices. Everything he's heard about the place tells him the beast and his princess are the only ones even nearly human in the castle, and now judging by what he can hear through the doors there's always someone hurrying down a corridor, a maid or a butler or just a servant boy fetching something from the basement.
Interesting. Apparently the lack of Heartless is not the only change around here.
He hears conversation too, whenever more than one person pass by, though never more than some short snippets. He still tries to avoid detection, which means hiding whenever someone approaches, and is not exactly conducive to trailing along to follow the conversation. What little he can hear, though, paints a rather interesting picture.
"She's been worried sick, you know, with his curse still not lifting up entirely. They say it's because he went into the dark, he can't be entirely cured even if we —"
"— heard the Master grumbling about it, you know how he does that, talking to himself because light help that man actually have a proper conversation with anyone. He's worried about it, I mean, who wouldn't be, but I really think that she —"
"— to protect her, that's right, he says he doesn't even want to get better because then he can't keep her safe, I think it's so sweet but —"
"— it doesn't matter, of course it doesn't matter, she loves him either way bless her heart, but you can tell she's really worried. It must be eating at her so badly, the poor dear —"
Well. Perhaps the situation with the beauty and the beast isn't quite as simple as he had imagined.
He manages to avoid the servants long enough to make his way to the upper levels of the castle. Even with people milling about going about their chores, there are still plenty of shadowed corners for him to hide in, and statues to duck behind if he absolutely has to. Apparently even with all these people, the beast is the only form of security they have; he is yet to encounter anyone who would have appeared to be guarding something for the sake of guarding it. Though then, to get into the castle one would have to get past the gates and walls and outside them the deep dark woods, so maybe they aren't so worried about such things.
Of course, considering that Lea arrived here through the darkness, they probably should be. Good for them he is one of the good guys now.
By now his search has turned into aimless wandering, only nominally looking for any sign of Roxas. If a black-clad boy had appeared in the castle out of nowhere, one of the gossipy maids would have been pouring out her heart about it. It's still a change after Agrabah, after all, though things are not quite as silent as he imagined back in the dungeons.
Just as he arrives behind a pair of big, imposing doors, he hears a loud roar from behind them. It almost startles him, much though he hates to admit it; there's not much that can scare him, but after a while of encountering nothing more threatening than a maid with a feather duster it does make him jump a bit. When silence follows, though, he inches closer, peering through a gap between the almost closed doors.
The beast is in the room, somewhat unsurprisingly. What does surprise Lea is seeing the princess with him, holding his huge hand in both of hers, talking softly to him.
"You should go, Belle," he growls, voice rough though Lea imagines he tries to sound gentle. "Just, go. Get back home. Go be with your father."
"Never." Her voice just barely reaches Lea's curious ears at the door. "I've been with you for years, I'm not going anywhere now."
"I can't offer you anything, Belle." Funny hearing that from the guy with the big castle and more servants than he knows what to do with. "Even after everything, I'm stuck like this. You — you deserve better than this."
"I could never deserve more than you." Her hand slides up his arm, covered with coarse fur as it is, and settles over his chest, approximately where Lea imagines his heart is. "This is all I could ever hope for."
"I was supposed to give you my true form, though. To show you the prince in me, someone beautiful to match your beauty. But then I went through the darkness, and…"
"Do you regret?" Her voice is so soft, soft and almost fearful.
"Never." His voice matches hers in gentleness as he touches the side of her face, his hand big enough that he could crush her head with a thoughtless grip. "I did it for you. Keeping you safe is not something I could ever regret."
"You still keep me safe, do you not?" She leans into his touch, so open, so trusting. "You've told me so yourself. In this form, you can keep me safe from any monster."
"Yes — yes I can. But I can't —"
"You can't what?" A smile touches her face. "Can't be my beautiful prince?" Her hand trails up to his face. "But you are, my love. I don't care whether you are a man or a beast, you are still my prince. And if you think this is going to get you out of the wedding, you're sorely mistaken." Now, her tone is definitely amused.
"You — still wish to do it?" His astonishment is clear in his voice. "Even though I couldn't get out of the curse?"
"But you did. You became a man, just long enough to free everyone else. This is not the same thing. This," her fingertips trace the line of his mouth, "this is proof to me of how far you would go for my sake."
He growls again, but the tone of that is quite different, and the shivers it sends down Lea's spine are for a different reason as well. He turns away, walking softly along the hallway to be out of hearing range before opening a Corridor.
So. The beast breaks his curse, then becomes beast again, and as his reward gets the girl to become his wife. And here is Lea, after all his struggles to get out of the darkness, and all he gets for his pains is seeing everyone else pair up while his search remains fruitless.
Well. There went his good mood.
Chapter 8 - Relationship Advice
Chapter 10 - Interlude: The Lions Sleep Tonight
