Anastasia Tremaine

Love that surpasses Loss

Ella’s dress was getting dirty but in that moment as like others in her passed she didn’t care. Nothing in that moment mattered but her parents. She till didnt understand not truley how her parents even died. It didn’t make sense.. or maybe that part of her still didn’t want to accept it. She didn’t think she ever would. How can someone accept it? Ella had overcome many strife in her life and to anyone it might seem perfect but nothing was perfect but she knew she always had a lot to be thankful for especially in a hard time like this.

Wiping her eyes she looked to her left to see a familiar face. “Anastasia.” She called out standing up carefully and brushing her hands together to wipe the dirt off and the flower petal that fell off and cling to her hand. “Are you alright?” She asked softly making her way over stepping cautiously and being mindful of the other graves. Despite their rocky history Ella still cared for her step sister and always would.

The Tremaine house, ever since Sir Francis’ untimely death, had always been rocky. Without him, Lady Tremaine had become something entirely different than what Anastasia and Drizella had been used to.

And after Cinderella’s departure from the house, she had forced her two daughters to do most of the chores and still expected them to marry wealthy Lords. 

Anastasia, perhaps not wanting to provoke her mother’s fury, rarely spoke her mind. Perhaps also because she rarely thought on her own, after all. Her destiny had always been in her mother’s hands. But upon being told at tea time that they were to receive the visit of yet another pair of suitors, Anastasia just felt... completely defeated. 

Because no matter how hard she tried, none of these suitors ever came back.

To Lady Tremaine’s follow-up letter, the men all replied something along the lines of the Tremaine girls simply being too plain for their tastes, or they didn’t think they could hear themselves think if they kept hearing Drizella play the harpsichord in the background or— 

Bottom line? Anastasia had ran. For she was exhausted of being rejected. And she had to come to the conclusion that... 

“I’ll never find True Love, will I?” 

Those were the exact words that she had pronounced, as her entire form was hunched over the stone of her father’s grave. Oh, how she missed him... There were tears. And these were the tears of a girl that had held in her grief for far too long, all for the sake of not disappointing her mother in public. But she was alone now, wasn’t she...? The cemetery was a safe place in a way... right...?

Anastasia... Are you alright?

That voice. She recognized it. It was way too perfect. Way too graceful to belong to anybody other than... Cinderella.

Before she turned her head to face the blonde, Anastasia sniffled, and tried her best to dry her tears. Then, she looked over at the kingdom’s new princess. She was still so... beautiful. And... and everything the Tremaine girl was not.

Anastasia could already feel her jealousy r i s i n g.

         GASTON TURNED TO LEFOU, WHO SPOKE on behalf of them both. “I.. I think we’d both prefer to stay inside for tea, or something, we’re both really exhausted from the journey.” With a nod of approval from Gaston, LeFou became quiet once more, casting a faint smile towards Drizella.

         GASTON, ON THE OTHER HAND, seemed entirely uninterested in Anastasia. She didn’t live up to his type, and wasn’t the fondest of Madame Tremaine trying to force this upon him. But for politeness’ sake, he’d comply.

A bit disappointed at that, Anastasia however nodded, trying her best to look as understanding as she could. Drizella did the same, and then Lady Tremaine, gestured for the two gentlemen to sit down again., She then looked over at their daughters to do do the same, and perhaps remind them that they were to be as graceful as a ballerina. Not only did their looks counted a lot in this situation, but so did their manners.

But anyone who knew Anastasia Tremaine knew that she was quite the clumsy type. In fact, both girls were. But out of the two, the redhead was the clumsiest. Drizella? Well, she was the most annoying.

So as Anastasia’s hands reached for the teapot, Lady Tremaine cleared her throat, which of course prompted the girl to stop, and awkwardly lean back in her seat.

It was Drizella who served the four of them a cup.

         LEFOU EXPECTED AS MUCH, that they’d both pay more attention to Gaston, and he wasn’t offended- he understood the preference for someone more attractive, more normal. Gaston reveled in the attention as usual, and LeFou, while a bit jealous, kept to himself.

         LADY TREMAINE CHIMED IN. “Gaston, why don’t you acquaint yourself with Anastasia a bit? And As for you, Drizella, I’m sure LeFou could use some company.” If seemed she was set on getting them paired up as well.

At Lady Tremaine’s encouragement, Anastasia suddenly could hear wedding bells in her mind as she took a more than willing step forward towards the ravishing hunter.

And perhaps she was stifling another laugh at her sister’s face, for Drizella, though very much trying not to look it, was as disappointed as one could imagine. But she nevertheless obeyed.

but boy are they time consuming.

If I haven’t replied to you yet, it’s because I’m trying to find the time and will to make them.

        THE TWO BOYS LOOKED OVER THEIR hostesses. Lady Tremaine was intimidating, yes… and, the girls were fairly- plain? They weren’t anything they hadn’t seen before, neither unusually beautiful nor ugly. They seemed like fine noblewomen.

         ON THE OTHER HAND, there was a stark difference between the two boys. Gaston was tall, rugged, handsome, even in his adolescence. LeFou was quite feminine, having not yet grown much of his facial hair and still having the feminine curves he’d be known for in adulthood. He also looked fairly ethnic, much like his father, except with slightly lighter eyes.

         GASTON INTRODUCED HIMSELF FIRST, and then introduced LeFou for him. LeFou bowed. “Pleasure to meet you, Mademoiselles. Thank you for allowing us to stay the week, Madame.”

A fair warning: both Tremaine sisters were not only plain-looking, but they were plain inside as well. Vain, actually.

So of course, both pair of eyes set on the most muscular of the two men, and both Anastasia and Drizella were perfectly charmed to see him in their living room. As for LeFou?

Well, let’s just say that both girls were going to put all of their eggs in one basket, and compete for the hunter’s attention. 

“A week?!” the sisters questioned in unison, looking towards their mother. It was said on a half excited, perhaps half nervous tone. To them, it simply meant that they had just a week to get to know these men, and seduce them enough so they would propose.

Lady Tremaine’s gaze felt rather heavy on them, and so the two girls were compelled to extend their hands at both men in order to properly greet them. With politeness towards Gaston and forced interest towards LeFou, they introduced themselves as well.

“I’m Drizella.” one said, performing a curtsy.

There really wasn’t much that pleased Anastasia that morning. Not the food that she was being served, nor the tea or the cup that it was served in. 

And was there a valuable reason for the redhead’s foul mood? Absolutely not. She had just woken up (way too early in her book!) that morning and had immediately felt sick and disgusted about everything.

After breakfast, the young woman had no desire to even do anything. Not even draw, which was usually her go-to activity when she had nothing better to do. Drizella and her mother? Well they were downstairs, doing whatever they pleased. 

Anastasia looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Looks count for everything. She heard Lady Tremaine’s voice in her head multiple times, and so she was compelled to just add some more blush to her cheeks, and red to her lips.

But that didn’t help with her rotten mood.

And she had to take it out on somebody. Now where was that mad, blonde-haired woman she had for a stepsister?

— 【 @imbicilite​ 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚! 】

Breakfast? It had been prepared, but most things got burned in the process now, since Cinderella wasn’t there to make those toasts as good as they were. The Tremaine girls’ fingers also were very much burned by the pots and pans, and their hands were dry, due to all the scrubbing that was needed in order for those pots and pans to be used again.

Burnt fingers and egos aside, Anastasia and Drizella were sitting at the table with their mother, dressed, as always, in colorful gowns. It was dead silence. Nobody really did speak, and Lady Tremaine? Well she longed for the day that she wouldn’t be embarrassed by the clumsy pair Anastasia and Drizella were.

So? She had a plan for them.

“Anastasia. Drizella.” Lady Tremaine let out on a rather serious tone, wiping her mouth after having swallowed some scrambled eggs.

And that caught the Tremaine girls’ attention. They both looked up, unsure of what their mother was going to tell them. Oh! Were they to be praised for their breakfast this morning? Anastasia herself thought there had been some sort of improvement in the way that she did not burn the eggs!

“I have found the both of you suitors of noble blood. And they are coming this morning to meet you... Do not disappoint me... Again!”

Well! That certainly was... unexpected!

The Tremaine sisters looked at each other in surprise. Flabbergasted, in fact. And the young redhead that was Anastasia was about to open her mouth to say something, ask just... how rich these men were! But as usual... She was cut off by her own mother.

“Well?! Leave this table immediately, go make yourself look per-fect-ly presentable... NOW!”