Young Writers Society

"F*** no," Kendrik said. "Got this whole story thing pretty much figured out, but not what I'm in for."

Aegeas nodded in Kendrik's direction. "I'm not sure what a walking candle has to do with all of this romance nonsense. I'm not sure I want to, either."

"Don't worry," Levi reassured the two. "It's nothing bad - you're just supposed to help the Beauty and Beast fall in love."

Janos raised an eyebrow. "The furniture is supposed to play matchmaker?"

"Basically, yeah." He glanced back at the others in the room. "I think...I think we messed up the plot a bit, but it shouldn't impact the story too much as a whole."

"I thought the goal was to figure out who did this to us," Nen said from nearby, holding Aska in one arm and using his free hand to hold onto the hand of the woman dressed like Gaston.

Levi took a deep breath. "I don't think that's going to work. Janos and I came here hoping for answers, but there isn't any here. Whatever - or whoever - brought us here wants us to play out the story. Which means some of us have to go back to the town, and others have to stay here in the castle."

Nen's girlfriend clenched her free fist into a tight ball. "What's supposed to happen right now?"

Levi looked around the room, thought for a moment and finally came to a conclusion. "If Janos is here, then we've gotten past the beginning of the movie. Janos - as Belle's father - needs to go back to town, because a deal's just been made between Belle and the Beast. Gaston, LeFou, and I would all be back there, too, leaving the Beast, Belle and all of the furniture here. Belle gets put in the bedroom down the hallway, and the furniture try helping Beast win her over..."

"What about me?" Janos asked.

"You'll burst in on a scene in a bit," he said. "But not just yet - Belle and Beast need to bond for awhile, and Gaston and LeFou have to sing a duet."

He took a deep breath.

"Luckily, it looks like we have people in each group that know what the story is supposed to be like," Levi said. "So as long as we just try to follow the plot, hopefully we'll get home."

Nen and his girlfriend exchanged a look, and Aska gave a startled yelp as Nen presumably tightened his grip. "I'll be alright," Nen reassured her, giving her a toothy smile. She looked unconvinced. "I'm not alone here, and I know how to protect myself."

"What if someone else comes and tries to hurt you?" she asked.

"I'll...um..." He faltered. "I'll fly away from them, if you haven't stopped them from coming in the first place."

She frowned, but seemed to see the necessity in continuing the story. "...Fine," she said. "I'll go back to town, but I won't lead a mob here. Alright? The story doesn't need a mob, and I'm not putting your life on the line, Nen."

Bleffles was doubly besparkled. First by all the lovely new things she was learning about curses, and then by the reminder that she would get to sing The Gaston Song.
She had mastered that song at six. She hadn't sung it much since then, but she'd remember it? Yep. Totally. She attempted to mentally recite the lyrics, before her thought tangent was broken by the understandably worried Gaston.

Hmm. How could she come up with a way to follow the story that she would accept?

"Oh! I'll make a very exclusive mob, consisting of only me, and you, and Levi! And maybe some sock puppets. And we'll all fake fight Nen, like this."

She sidled up to Nen. "Excuse me," she said.

Bleffles threw a very slow punch, that took at least fifteen seconds for her fist to reach him at all, which brushed him gently across the cheek with the force of a noncomittal breeze.

Then she took Nen's hand, and floppily swiped the air next to her face with it. She staggered and swayed dramatically, threw in a series of discombobulated twirls, and fell to her knees. She clutched her heart with one hand, and grasped at the air with the other.

"Ouch," she said, unconvincingly.

Bleffles slid down, and laid flat upon the floor, looking up at the ostentatiously decorated ceiling.

"Oh no, I am incapacitated."

Kendrik's spout hissed, which Aegeas took for applause.

"Fine," he said, scowling at the theatrics. "I don't like the idea of splitting up, but if it'll get us out of here faster, let's do it."

Nen tried his best to stifle a laugh at Bleffles's fake fighting attempt, but ultimately failed - it was very, very clear that he was laughing at the performance. "We could also spar," he said, turning to Az, "if we get to the part that's just us."

"That might be a problem," she replied.

He frowned. "Why?"

"I always beat you," she answered, giving him a teasing smile before heading towards the door. Then she paused, glanced back at him and promptly walked back over and embraced him. He leaned down; he knew exactly what she wanted. One kiss later, she was heading out of the room with Janos and Levi in tow.

Bleffles got up, and sidled up near Gaston.

"Aight, we all good? We know what we're doing, enough? If we're all ready, me and Gaston can go back to the village." Bleffles looked down at her watchless wrist, then back up at Janos.

"Maurice, we gotta get you to the dungeon. Belle's not going to give up his freedom to save you from these lovingly embroidered curtains."

Janos frowned. "My name is Janos-"

"I think she's just trying to stay in character," Levi said. Janos looked uncertain about the response, but he nodded anyways. "I think we might have already gotten to the deal, but it doesn't hurt to act that scene out."

He glanced back in the direction of the room.

"We need Belle and the Beast for this part," he said, quickly popping his head into the room. Nen perked up when he realized he was needed; he seemed to have no qualms about helping play the part. It would be Belle's stand-in that would likely cause the most trouble - though Levi certainly didn't blame him, considering that he had to wear that dress.

"I should probably arrive at the castle first," James replied. "I can catch up with you, so there's a little more than a few second's delay between you locking him up and me bargaining his freedom with my life."

He followed them out the door, remembering the route they'd taken through the castle from the entrance. Already, his mind was clearing of distracting thoughts. He was Belle. He would stay in character like their lives depended on it - because it very well might.

It had been awhile since Levi had last seen the film, but he managed to navigate his way through the castle with Nendros, Aska, and Janos in tow after a few wrong turns. He knew his presence there was contradicting the story, but they needed someone to show them how to get there.

...And a small part of him really wasn't ready to leave Janos, seeing that the fallen angel was the only person he had really connected with during his time here. He had been the first person that Levi met - it seemed wrong to leave him alone without giving him any help, and he really wasn't all that fond of sticking around with this tale's version of Gaston.

"This is the place," Levi finally said.

Janos and Nen both glanced between the cell and each other, neither one sure if they should move or not. After a moment passed, Levi opened the cell's door. Janos, getting the message, stepped inside. The door shut with a clang. It was only after they had fallen into another awkward silence that Levi realized something important.

"I don't know how to lock it," he said.

"That could be problematic," Janos observed from the jail. It had been only a minute, but he had already made himself comfortable on the ground. He looked up at Nendros. "We could pretend that it was locked."

"I think we have to," Nen agreed. He turned to Levi. "Is there anything else we need to do?"

"I think you need to go a little up the stairs so you're out of view," he decided. He crossed his arms. "We probably should have grabbed our candelabra, but we should be good with Aska - Cogsworth, the clock, is present for this part, if I'm remembering right."

Nen started to go up the stairs, Aska still close to his chest.

"...You have to put him down," Levi hesitantly said.

Nendros shook his head. "I can't," he said. "Something could happen to him, or-"

"I-I'll be okay, N-Nen," Aska interrupted, his voice shaking. Nen didn't look convinced, but he still put him down regardless. Aska awkwardly waddled over to the front of the cell, lingering in the darkness. For someone who had been so afraid of leaving his friend, it seemed odd that he'd want to go in the dark and not the light.

...But maybe he was just overanalyzing things.

"See you later," he said to Janos.

Janos nodded. "See you later," he replied, a small smile appearing on his lips before Levi turned and started heading down the stairs.


It didn't take long for Bleffles, James and Az to make their way back to the front of the castle. Once there, Az gave James a quick goodbye before getting on her horse again - the quicker she could be done with riding it the better.

Bleffles and Gaston arrived in the village, with no incident. Bleffles tied their horses, which was equally uneventful.

Then she looked up and saw a small crowd of excited young women, and two obscenely elderly ones, running in a swarm halfway up the street. It looked as though they were- carrying somebody?

"What do you think they're doing, Gaston?" she asked the empty space next to her.

Oh no.

"Gaston! Gaston, are you okay?" Bleffles cried out. A distant 'oof' was all she heard.

Bleffles ran after them as fast as she could, keeping pace a metre or so behind. But what would she do, when she did catch up to them?
The shambling mass of unwanted adoration was far too powerful for her meagre strength.

"Don't worry, I'll, I'll work something out!" she yelled, in between gasps.

Levi could have - should have - immediately returned to the town, but something made him linger at the front of the castle. It had been a long time since he had been able to interact with other people as easily as he was now, and it made him feel good to be treated as just another person. Kevin was a great friend, but there was always the fact that he knew he wasn't normal. It was hard to get past something as monumental as the secret he was hiding right now.

So he decided to wait for Janos.

Janos, who was far from normal himself, but seemed to not mind hanging around him. That was good, too. Janos was a friend - a word he rarely used anymore - and he didn't want to leave his friend behind.

He would just wait beside the horse and wagon had taken there, and leave when Janos left.


Az was panicking.

It wasn't that she didn't like heights. Nen took her flying with him all the time; she could stand looking down at the ground from a higher height than usual. And Nen had a tendency to lift her off of the ground, so she wasn't even opposed to that.

But what she was opposed to was being pulled away from Bleffles by a crowd of women she didn't know, and being tugged this way and that by said crowd. She could barely hear Bleffles over them fangirling over her. She swore and tried to break free, but they weren't letting her slip out of their grasp.

She cursed her size, cursed this whole stupid story and cursed her luck at being cast as the apparent love interest of everyone in the town. If only Nen was here! Then he could pluck her right out of their arms, and take her far away.

But now she had to suffer, and have some not-so-pleasant flashbacks to her assassin days.

Bleffles found Gaston in the pub, plonked onto a big armchair by the fireplace, surrounded by her merry band of escorts. Bleffles had been able to catch up to them, but in the end, there was nothing she could do against their superior numbers.

She stood by the door in quiet frustration, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do next, when she was approached by a stout, bearded grandpa, who strangely enough actually had a French accent.

"It's almost time." he said.

"Time for what?" said Bleffles, startled.

He tilted his head sharply, and looked her right in the eye.
"You know. Belle's denial must have left Gaston feeling dismissed. Rejected. Publicly humiliated, you might say." he continued to stare, and waggled his eyebrows for extra emphasis.

Bleffles' eyes widened in turn. She knew those words. Those were Gaston's lines, to lead into his song. She had to sing the song.

She jogged over to the armchair, and called out to Gaston over his insulating circle.

"Hey, buddy, do you know, uh...the song?"

Even as she called out, she knew it was hopeless. She tried more out of personal philosophy over any sort of hope that it would actually work.

Two more villagers turned to stare at Bleffles from the barstools. God, what was she going to do?

Levi, who had finally left the castle with Janos in tow, arrived just in time to see the chaos going on inside the bar. He saw their Gaston seeing at a table surrounded by a bunch of...fangirls? when he slipped inside, and saw Bleffles hopelessly trying to get her to sing it. If Nen was anything to go off of, she wouldn't know what to do or sing - she was in the same boat as Janos.

Who, now that he was thinking about the guy, was in the middle of following him inside.

Levi turned back to him as he was going through the doorway.

"You shouldn't follow me in here," he said.

Janos stared. "Why?"

"Because Belle's dad isn't supposed to come in until after the Gaston song, and they haven't even sung it yet."

Janos frowned. "But I want to go in, and I doubt me quietly standing in the corner would affect the plot."

He resisted the urge to groan.

"We don't know what affects what," he pointed out. "I don't think it's a good idea. And why do you want to come inside?"

Janos didn't give an answer. He just looked at him for a moment before looking away; Levi wished he wouldn't be so vague and mysterious. But as he was about to ask the question again, he suddenly understand: there might have been people outside, but they were all fictional and his sole "friend" - if they could be called that - was standing inside of the bar.

Levi looked around and eyed the different pieces of furniture. Noticing a coat rack - and, for a moment, forgetting that he wasn't as invisible as he had once been - he pulled a cloak off and brought it over to Janos. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice or care.

He threw the cloak over the fallen angel's shoulders and pulled up the hood.

It was a silly idea, but it made it feel like he wasn't committing a major crime against the group by letting Janos in early. "There," he softly said, "now you blend in with the other extras - like me."

Janos pulled the hood down a little further.

Levi glanced around again. Miraculously, no one seemed to be paying attention to Janos. The only time anyone talked to him was in casual conversation, just like he was one of the extras.

Levi looked back in the direction of Az and Bleffles, an idea already beginning to form in his head.

Az might not have known the song, but he did.

And if they really needed to have the story go as it did in the movie, they would have to do a little bit of improvisation.

"I need to go talk to Az quickly," he said. "Stay right here."

Janos nodded, and Levi disappeared into the crowd. The group of fans that had surrounded Az - who looked very uncomfortable - all gave him glares, but he didn't pay any attention to them as he wiggled through them all.

"Az," he said, "let's switch clothes."

She stared at him.

"Why would I do that?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Gaston is supposed to sing a song," he said, "and you don't know it. I do. And I just hid Janos by changing his outfit to avoid messing up the plot, so I think everyone would think I'm Gaston if I wore your clothes instead."

Az thought it over for a second.

"That's a good idea," she finally agreed. She went to get to her feet, but the fans immediately pushed her back down. The result was a low growl on her part, but no one seemed to care.

Levi bit his lip.

"Scratch that," he said. "Give me your jacket. That's the most memorable part of the outfit."

Though it was difficult with the fans hovering around her, Az managed to wriggle out of the coat. Everyone still clung to her, but the moment Levi slipped on the coat, Az was jerked out and he was thrown into it by the fans - all who acted as if no difference had occurred, even when he gave a startled cry at suddenly being pushed around.

Now Levi was Gaston. Levi had known the story, he probably knew the song. Okay. Good. But how was Bleffles supposed to get to him?

As she took longer and longer to figure it out, more and more background characters slowly turned their heads to stare at her, to let her know that they were waiting.
Bleffles turned away from them. She couldn't show any fear.

Bleffles called out the lines she could remember, to let the fangirls know what time it was. "Gaston! Mate? Ya gotta pull yaself together?"

They did not move. Bleffles sighed, found a chair to stand on, and broke into loud, mildly exasperated song.

"Gosh, it disturbs me to see you Gaston, looking so down in the dumps-"

Recognising the sacred lyrics, the fangirls scattered away from Levi immediately. Bleffles triumphantly took her rightful place as his sidekick, even threw an arm around his shoulder. She winked at a jealous looking fangirl across the room, and continued to sing with increasing enthusiasm.

"Every guy here'd love to be you, Gaston
Even when taking your lumps
There's no man in town as admired as you
You're everyone's favorite guy
Everyone's awed and inspired by you
And it's not very hard to see whyyyy..."


The villagers joined in to back up Bleffles' remarkably passable performance, in rapturous chorus.

"Nooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooone..."

James was glad to be back inside the castle, as gloomy as it was in appearance. He'd wandered the halls with as much "curiosity" as he could muster until he came upon where Janos, Belle's "father" was being kept and made the exchange with Nendros for his freedom.

He was proud of himself for easily conjuring believable tears and worry as Janos left, totally unemotional and out of character (which was disappointing). James wondered if he was the only one really trying, and the only one who really cared.

With the cell empty, it was only him and Nen left in the cold tower. He figured the reasonable next step was to go in the cell himself since that seemed to make logical sense with what he knew of the plot. He walked into the door and looked at Nen expectantly.