Fic: New, And A Bit Alarming
Anonymous prompted: “Rumbelle Enchanted! Belle was set to marry Gaston, however as it would happen Belle is pushed down a portal, leading to the real world where she meets Mr Gold and Bae.”
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New, And A Bit Alarming
Belle looked out of the window of the large castle of which, come tomorrow, she would be lady and mistress, and sighed. It was not that she did not want to get married to Sir Gaston, after all, he was the most eligible bachelor in the entirety of the kingdom and his estate was the largest for miles around, but she couldn't help thinking that she was missing out on... something. She wasn't sure what. There must be something more out there, beyond the wild woods, and Belle had always longed to see it. After tomorrow, though, she would never have that chance again. She would no longer be free to come and go as she pleased; she would have duties to perform as the lady of the castle. Namely, ensuring that the servants were not pilfering the silverware and, more importantly (since the servants of the castle were well-treated and unlikely to pilfer the silverware), bearing several children to carry on Gaston's family line. Belle shuddered at the thought. She was not against children, but surely there was more to the life of a noblewoman than a constant cycle of pregnancy and childbirth. She thought of her own mother, who was not noble by any stretch of the imagination. She had been a fun-loving, courageous woman, and Belle's father had adored her sense of adventure, encouraging her every step of the way. Gaston, however... Well, Gaston had taken one look at her collection of books and promptly announced that they would have to stay at her father's house, there was no room for them in the castle and it wasn't right for women to start getting all kinds of ideas in their heads.
When Belle, who sometimes doubted whether Gaston had ever had an original thought in his lifetime, had politely enquired as to how she would be expected to spend her time if she did not have her books for entertainment, her fiancé had laughed and replied in complete sincerity "you won't need entertainment, my dearest, you'll have me".
Belle sighed again. Tonight was her final night of freedom and she wanted to do something wonderful to mark the occasion, something to celebrate the life that she had led so far before she had to leave it behind forever. She would take a ride, she decided, off beyond the wild woods, just so that she could tell her children that she had seen that world before she became their mother. She left the windowseat and crept through the castle to avoid Gaston. No doubt if he saw her then he would draw her into some lengthy discussion of either the wedding plans or the brace of pheasants that he had killed earlier in the day, and by the time she managed to get away then the already fading light would have gone for good and it would be too late.
Philippe was still standing in his usual place in the stable - Belle had put her foot down and insisted that her faithful steed remain with her despite Gaston's scoffing that the old carthorse was hardly the mount for a noblewoman and his remarks that he could be put to better use as wallpaper adhesive - and Belle clambered onto his back, not bothering with a saddle in her haste to get away and feel the wind in her hair. Philippe seemed to understand and set off in the direction of the wild woods. It was a glorious ride, and Belle closed her eyes to better appreciate the breeze on her face and the last of the evening sunlight warming her skin, and she felt Philippe slow to a walk. When she opened her eyes again, they had reached the edge of the wild woods, and the horse would go no further.
"All right, Philippe, we'll turn back in a moment," she said. "I just want to have a little closer look, to see what's so wild about these woods."
Philippe snorted and tried to pull away, but Belle just slipped off his back and patted his flank.
"It won't take a minute, I promise," she said.
She tied Philippe's reins to the nearest tree branch and tiptoed into the forest, peering around her to get her bearings. Although the golden sunset was still bright, within the woods under the thick tree canopy, the light was dim and murky; the place full of low-lying mist. Belle shivered, she could quite see why people avoided this place. Still, do the brave thing and bravery would follow, Belle reasoned, and she ventured a little further into the woods. She couldn’t hear anything, just her own footsteps, and she thought that perhaps the silence was more unnerving than any strange sounds coming from unseen assailants might be. For a moment, she figured that the tales of strange creatures in these woods were all a myth, and that the real fear came from the darkness and loneliness, with active imaginations filling in all the gaps with dangerous beasts, ghosts and ghouls. Behind her, she heard Philippe whinnying nervously, and she knew that it was time to turn back. As she did, however, something caught her eye; a faint glow could be seen through the trees at ground level, an eerie blue light that illuminated tendrils of mist. Intrigued, Belle stepped a little closer. Although the light was unnerving, it did not send the shame shiver of fear down her spine that the rest of the forest did. Indeed, it was almost like she was drawn to it.
Curiosity killed the cat, a snide voice that sounded like one of her father’s advisor’s hissed in her ear as she came closer and closer to the light.
“But satisfaction brought it back,” she murmured aloud in response, creeping ever closer to the light. It was coming from a swirling pool in a clearing in the trees, the water moving without any sign of a breeze, its soft glow casting strange shapes over the surrounding tree trunks. Belle had never seen anything like it before, and she looked down at the water’s surface, bending down and reaching out to touch it. Before she could make contact though, she heard a rustling in the trees, and she shot back to her feet, looking around for the source of the noise. It came again, and then, all of a sudden, she heard the frantic beating of hooves and Philippe’s distressed mewling. He had broken his reins free and was heading straight towards her, spooked by something in the woods.
“Philippe, it’s all right, boy, it’s all right!” Belle held up her hands as the horse careered towards her and he reared on facing his mistress, kicking out with his front legs in his wide-eyed fear of whatever was chasing him. Belle darted back to avoid his flailing hooves, and she suddenly felt nothing supporting her weight. She had tripped over the edge of the mysterious pool, and her wildly windmilling arms could not stop her from falling down into the water.
Except, Belle realised as she fell, there was no water. She did not feel the cold depths closing over her head and dragging her down, and as she kept falling, she realised that for all she was panicking, she could still breathe. She had fallen past the source of the light into complete darkness, tumbling head over heels into the gloom with no bearing on how far she had fallen or how close to the bottom she might be. The fact she had fallen into a pond that was really not a pond worried her less than the possible broken bones she might suffer when she finally reached whatever was at the bottom. If there even was a bottom. Might she just be falling forever? A small, cynical voice in the back of her mind thought that falling forever through magical blackness might just be better than being married to Gaston next day. She wondered how long she had been falling for, and whether a search party had been sent forth to find her yet. Right at this very moment, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be found. Rescued, yes, because this darkness was seemingly interminable and there was a lot more that she wanted to do with her life. But being found by Gaston would engender conversations about propriety and the diligent duties of a lady of the castle that would result in her ever-decreasing freedoms being curtailed even further.
Belle was so caught up in her own thoughts that the soft thud of her reaching the bottom of wherever it was caught her entirely by surprise, and she took a few moments to come back to herself. The floor was hard and cold, and under her hands it felt metallic. There were a few holes in the ground, just about the size of her fingers, but they were enough to let light through. Cautiously, Belle peered through one of the holes.
The world was upside down.
She jerked back with a start, then shook herself and looked again. Was it possible that she’d fallen all the way through the world and come out on the other side? She shrugged, it was one explanation for it. She wasn’t quite sure which country she’d ended up in, but hopefully they’d be able to help her out.
Carefully, Belle felt around the metal circle that she had landed on, and it moved an inch or so. She pushed it up and away, and tentatively poked her head through the hole.
Wherever she was, she was definitely not in the Marchlands any more. She was in a town with strange squat buildings and no castles in sight. Perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing, considering Gaston.
She pulled herself up through the hole and looked around as she brushed herself off. It was a quiet place; there didn’t seem to be anyone about. It was dark, the same kind of twilight that she had left the Marchlands in, but here there were great lanterns on poles set into the street every few yards. Looking around, she saw that most of the buildings were in darkness apart from one at the end of the street, which was illuminated in red and green that read Granny’s Diner: Open.
Whilst Belle had no idea what a diner was, she knew that grandmothers were generally people who could be trusted, and so she decided to make her way towards the place. After a few steps she stopped. She’d always been told that a red lantern outside a place showed that it was a house of ill repute and to be avoided by all gentle-born ladies. No-one had ever mentioned green lanterns before.
“Are you a princess?”
Belle spun around to find a young boy looking up at her wide-eyed.
“I saw you come out of the ground,” he said, pointed eagerly over to the hole that she had come up through. “Are you a princess from Australia?”
“I, erm, I don’t know where that is,” Belle said. “I’m not a princess. I’m a Lady. Lady Belle of the Marchlands. Perhaps you know where that is?”
The little boy frowned, thinking hard for a while, then shook his head solemnly.
“Bae!”
The little boy looked sheepish on hearing the other voice. “Oops,” he mumbled.
“Bae, you can’t just run off like that, how many times have I told you? I do beg your pardon, madam, he’s just curious.”
The man who had come up to immediately gave Belle the impression of a knight who had been wounded in a great battle. There was something about his bearing and the set of his features that gave him a sense of nobility, and the limp and walking stick that he carried showed that he had endured some hardships. He grabbed his son’s hand and tried to steer him back down the street away from Belle.
“But Papa, she came out of the ground! I saw her! Look!” The boy pointed over to the hole again, and the knight looked up at Belle then back to Bae.
“Bae, the only people who come up out of drain covers are maintenance workers, and I really don’t think that this lady is one of those. Now come on, we have to go home now. It’s almost your bedtime.”
“But I saw her!” Bae protested.
“Bae…”
“I, erm, I did come out of the drain cover,” Belle interjected. She didn’t want the poor child to be thought mad for having seen something that apparently in this world couldn’t have been real. “Good Sir Knight, I fell into a pond in the Marchlands and I ended up below that drain cover.”
The man just blinked.
“Did you just call me a knight?” he asked.
“Erm, yes, you do look like one. It was intended as a compliment, the knights of the Marchlands are well revered for their chivalry and bravery. Unless of course, you’re a lord of this land, in which case I do apologise for the slight, your lordship.” She was babbling, but having found herself in a place where she had no idea what the social norms were, Belle thought that she could be allowed that.
The man snorted. “Well, I daresay that there are some in the town who would tell you I’m the lord of it, but they don’t mean that as a compliment. I’m just a man. Now, Bae, we have to get going. Madam, it was nice meeting you.”
“But Papa!” Bae said. “If she’s just come here from another land then she needs a place to stay!”
The man sighed, took a deep breath, and turned back towards Belle. “Madam, if you need a place to stay then the bed and breakfast is first on your left after the diner. I wish you a good night.”
“But Papa!” Bae protested again. “She won’t have any of our money! Can’t she come and stay with us?”
“Bae, we can’t just take in a… very confused young woman we’ve never met!”
“But we have met! We’re meeting right now!”
“I’m Lady Belle of the Marchlands,” Belle put in helpfully.
“I’m dreaming,” the man muttered.
“Please, Papa!”
“All right. Madam, if you’d care to accompany us, we’ll see what we can sort out.”
“Yes!” Bae jumped up and down excitedly. “We’ve got a princess coming to stay!”
“She’s not staying!” Bae’s father exclaimed, at the same time as Belle said “I’m not a princess.”
Bae looked from his father to Belle and gave a sage nod.
“You’ll stay,” he said wisely.
“Baden Gold, you won’t be getting any ice cream for a week if you keep this up.” He turned to Belle and, hooking his walking cane into the crook of his elbow, held out his hand. “Rum Gold. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lady Belle.”
“Likewise.”
“Come on, before it gets too late.” Gold readjusted his grip on his cane and strode off down the street, Bae chattering along happily beside him and Belle looking around her in wonder at the place she had found herself in.
“Excuse me, Mr Gold, may I ask what is the name of this land?”
Gold paused and Belle saw the first hint of a smile curl at the corner of his mouth.
“Welcome to Storybrooke, Lady Belle.”
Storybrooke. Belle gave a satisfied nod. Yes, she thought that she was going to like it here in Storybrooke.
