fandomhigh | Library; Thursday [ 06/09 ].

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Library; Thursday [ 06/09 ].

Alexander had put aside his regular research for today, curious about the events of the weekend. He remembered being the Beast and the strange feelings that moved him, as if he was cursed, and that made Alexander intensely curious. He'd collected a few books on myths and curses, figuring even if he didn't find what he was looking for, it was all still quite interesting, and perhaps something about the Land of the Green Isles might show up in one of them. One never knew.

And finally, he found at least something: A prince known for being incredibly vain and selfish one day encounters a fairy, who turned him into a hideous beast after he refused to let her in from the rain, and that only by finding true love, despite his ugliness, could he break the curse.

"Zounds!" said Alexander, intrigued, and he kept reading. Somehow, he had a feeling this would be valuable information for later.

The Library is open!

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"Ah, that's right!" Alexander remembered eagerly. "I remember feeling terribly distressed about a rose; if something happened to it, then any chance of the curse being lifted would be gone..."

Then he grew thoughtful for a moment. "In just the nick of time," he repeated quietly.

"She wanted to pay him with a rose initially, yes. And he had until the petals were gone to find a way to lift the curse. As it happened,the last petal fell right as he was returned to his human form," Belle said quietly, a little introspective. She wondered what would have happened if she hadn't said it then -- yes, that had been when she realized she loved him, but she wondered (not for the first time) if it was the declaration or the emotion itself that broke the spell.

She was just glad he hadn't died, though. The human restoration was a welcome surprise.

This made Alexander quiet for a moment long, wondering if perhaps it was some sort of curse that was keeping him from Cassima and, if so, what was the nature? What needed to be done? Clearly, it couldn't be as simple as realizing that the love they felt was real, as that had already happened. But what?

"It's a lovely story," he finally said. "I'm glad he was able to find his love and, I assume, become a better human because of the experience?"

"Well, that's what made her fall in love with him, after all," she said with a warm smile. "His transformation. He certainly wasn't terribly lovable before, though the raw material was there. He's ruling his kingdom much more kindly now," she added, a little wistful. "And with more awareness."

"I'm glad," Alexander said with a smile. "It is a shame to think that many are not so fortunate to not only recover from their curses, but to also learn from them so well."

Yeah, Manannan realizing the error of his ways after a lengthy stay as a feline? Not going to happen.

"I'd hope so," Belle said, eyes wide. "It'd be terrible to go through something like that only to never learn your lesson at all. What's the point, then? The only reason I even think this curse was any sort of acceptable use of magic at all is because Adam did learn his lesson, eventually. If he hadn't, then I think it's just nothing short of reckless on the part of the Enchantress!"

Alexander reminded himself that a selfish prince who turns away a visitor in the night a far cry away from a megalomaniac tyrannical evil wizard who murdered young boys he kidnapped into slavery. So the whole Manannan thing, he reasoned, was still okay.

"I suppose you're right there," he allowed. "Although, if he did not eventually learn his lesson, perhaps, then, that is the point. But you said she changed everyone in the kingdom, too, and that hardly seems fair to them."

"Just his household," she said, shaking her head. "Those of us who lived outside the castle, in the village nearby, were fine -- until we chanced upon the castle, anyway. But there were children turned into teacups, and dogs into footstools. They didn't do anything wrong."

"Teacups and footstools!" Alexander remarked, astonished. "And dogs as well as people! That must have been so strange! My father tells a story of once turning into a slizard, but being an inanimate object must have been much odder."

"What's a slizard?" she wondered. "And they were able to talk and move as these inanimate objects. My best friends during the time I was at the castle were a clock and a candlestick and a teapot."

"Really?" Alexander had to ask, with a small laugh as he tried to picture it. "That's incredible! And, as my father tells it, a slizard is a small creature, quite like a lizard, only, when it looks into your eyes, you trade places with it, so that you are in its body, and the slizard inhabits yours."

"...how do you get back to your own body?" she wondered, her own eyes wide with curiosity. "My repeating that same ritual with the eye contact?"

Alexander nodded. "Which made it a particularly interesting feat for my father, but, clearly, he managed. Either that, or the slizard learned human behavior quite quickly. I should think, though," he said with a chuckle, "that my mother would notice immediately, and then reprimand the slizard quite harshly."

"Or train it," Belle laughed. "Unless slizards are quite well versed in human etiquette. But I'd think she'd probably rather get her husband back than train a new one."

"And that she would," Alexander agreed. "It seems that questing comes from both sides of my family; she'd march right back into the Kingdom of Sorrow and demand her husband be returned, and I imagine they'd hand him over in a heartbeat."

"She sounds like a very fearsome lady," Belle said warmly. "Woman after my own heart. Sometimes the only way to get things done is by demanding it."

"And she's quite good at that, too," Alexander said with fondness. "Except perhaps when it comes to my sister. It seems the only one as stubborn as my mother is her very own daughter."

"The world needs more women willing to take a stand," Belle said with a firm nod. "Where I'm from, I was always the odd one because I wasn't content to keep my mouth shut and find a husband to take care of me."

"I think you would like to meet my sister, then," Alexander said with a smile. "That sounds exactly like Rosella, much to Mother's chagrin."

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Library; Thursday [ 06/09 ].

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