Deviation Actions
Description
NB, Leon's hair looks different here, as it will for other scenes, since this is an earlier version I did of him..
‘Well?’ the Beast said, uncomfortably, ‘Are you happy now that you got to see the Beast? And are you willing to stay here forever like you promised? If you do, then your mother may go free,’
Leon breathed deeply and said,
‘You have my word, my freedom for my mother’s,’
‘Then it’s done, your mother will return to the village,’ the Beast said, opening the cell door and dragging Madeleine out, wanting her out of the way quickly, while Leon collapsed on the ground.
‘No, please, please spare my son!’ Madeleine begged, as she struggled to reach out to her son, wanting to comfort him,
‘He’s all that I have, the only family I have left! Don’t let him suffer because of me!’, as the Beast dragged her along.
It was a sad sight, for the two were about to be ripped apart, never to see each other again.
It hadn’t dawned on Leon that, by agreeing to be the Beast’s prisoner, he would be separated from his mother. The intelligent young man cursed himself for not thinking it through.
‘There is nothing you can do for him now, for he is no longer your concern,’ the Beast said coldly.
‘Mama!’ Leon called out desperately, hoping to reach out to her one last time, to say goodbye.
‘Leon, it’s alright, don’t worry about me, just take care of yourself now,’ said Madeleine, trying to remain calm, but her voice was filled with panic and fear, as the Beast kept on dragging her, clearly wanting her out of the way quickly.
‘Can’t I least say goodbye to her?’ Leon pleaded, which made the Beast freeze in her tracks.
Seeing the boy reach out to his mother reminded her of the terrible day the curse took place, being a frightened little girl desperately reaching out to her parents as they turned to stone, separating them from her for the past ten years without the chance to hug and tell them how much she loved them.
It was only fair that the boy should be allowed to say goodbye, since they would not see each other again and having been touched by his bravery, as much as she tried to hide it, her small compassion she still had inside her was showing and she simply said,
‘You may,’
Hearing those two words, Leon hurriedly ran over to Madeleine and mother and son embraced for the last time.
‘Leon, it’s not too late to reconsider,’ Madeleine said, ‘think about what you are giving up for this terrible monster! You’ll lose your hopes, freedom, dreams..everything! You shouldn’t sacrifice yourself for me!’
‘I have to Mama,’ Leon said, ‘I don’t like this anymore than you do but it’s the only way for you to be safe and I can’t break my promise.’
‘Well, alright then. You’re so brave for doing this,’ Madeleine said, ‘I’ll always love you. Goodbye, my love,’ as the Beast came up from behind and dragged her away outside.
‘Goodbye, Mama,’ Leon said, tearfully as he watched his mother being thrown into some strange carriage covered with ivy and had legs like a spider, from the narrow window of the dungeon.
‘Take this woman to the village at once!’ the Beast commanded, as the carriage broke free of its ivy shackles and its legs squeaked, not having been used in years as it moved, carrying its passenger into the forest, going farther and farther into the distance until it disappeared completely.
Leon, tears leaking from his eyes, collapsed again on the scratchy hay on the floor, pulled the mouldy blanket over him, trying to make himself comfortable in the damp and miserable dungeon which was his new home and he was now the prisoner of a cold, cruel beast, separated from his mother forever.
At least I got to say goodbye to her, he thought, which was some comfort to him, but it didn’t take away the pain and emptiness he was feeling in his heart. He had only wanted to save his mother and while he was successful in doing so, the victory was hollow, as he was paying the price for it.
‘Mistress,’ Lumiere whispered to the Beast when she returned to the dungeon. He had seen what had happened with Leon and felt sorry for the boy. He hoped that the mistress would see to it that he would get a decent room instead of the damp dungeon.
‘WHAT IS IT, LUMIERE?’ she roared, which made him tremble in fear.
Seeing how terrified he was of her made her instantly regret it, since he was only trying to be helpful, like how she treated everyone, why she was so…beastly to them when all they were trying to do was help her as her parents couldn’t.
‘That was decent of you to let the boy say goodbye to his mother. Your father never did that to your mother when he let your grandfather go. He just grabbed him out of the dungeon, put him the palanquin and your mother didn’t get to say goodbye to him!’ he said,
‘But how come you did that when your father didn’t?’
‘He was desperate, Uncle Lumiere and my compassion showed when I saw him reach out to his mother. It reminded me of when I was separated from Mama and Papa and I thought, since he has chosen to stay here willingly and was brave to do so, he should be allowed to say goodbye to her,’ the Beast said.
Lumiere smiled at that, knowing that the subject of the Beast’s parents was a very sore point for her and the servants, with her going into violent outbursts, crying and roaring uncontrollably whenever it was mentioned, so they went to great lengths to avoid bringing it up.
‘Anyway,’ he continued before the Beast went into an uncontrollable range if he kept talking about her parents, which he didn’t want,
‘Since the boy is going to be staying with us for a very long time, I suggest that you give him a nice, cosy room, which I believe will be much better than a cold, damp dungeon, don’t you?’
‘Of course I was going to do that, Uncle Lumiere, I wasn’t going to let him stay in the dungeon! Being a beast hasn’t made me stupid, you know,’ the Beast replied, amazed at Lumiere’s uncanny ability to state the obvious.
‘No, but it has made you ill-tempered, mean, coarse and beastly to everyone! If your father was here, he would’ve whipped you into some sense and good behaviour!’ Lumiere muttered under his breath, even though he knew that Adam would never do that.
‘What was that, Uncle Lumiere?’ the Beast said, having heard through her super-sensitive ears.
‘Nothing, Mistress,’ Lumiere quickly said.
‘That’s what I thought you said.’ the Beast replied, ‘The boy can have Mama’s old room in the East Wing; it’s the only one that I could think of. Mama hasn’t used it for years and is big, spacious and comfy with the basic necessities and Aunt Moiry will be there to help him get dressed in the morning.’
‘But Mistress, isn’t that room a bit too..feminine for him?’ said Lumiere doubtfully, ‘I mean, it was good enough for your mother, but for a handsome boy, it doesn’t seem appropriate for him.
Maybe we should get Raymond and Amelie to repaint and redecorate it to suit his style and needs.’
‘It’s either that or nothing at all!’ the Beast snapped, ‘And the room is to remain as it is. No repainting or redecorating will be carried out. Do I make myself clear?’
‘As crystal, Mistress,’ said Lumiere, reluctantly, ‘The boy will have your mother’s old room then,’
The Beast picked him up and walked over to where Leon was lying on the floor, the mouldy blanket wrapped around him and his head in his arms, holding back tears and muffled sobs could be heard underneath.
‘Are you planning to stay here, then?’ she said, silkily, ‘Because there is a room in the East Wing for you and I can guarantee that it is better than a musty, damp dungeon.’
‘I thought that this was my room,’ said Leon, throwing the blanket off himself,
'You’ve got some nerve offering me a decent room when you took my mother away from me forever and putting me in a dungeon, expecting me to make myself at home when I don’t feel like I’m at home at all!
And thanks to you, our small family has been ripped apart and I’ll never see my mother or the light of day again!’
‘I let you say goodbye to her, at least be grateful for that!’ the Beast snapped.
‘And you thought that would make it better? It only does a little, since it doesn’t change anything or take the pain away in my heart! Mama was the only family I had left and you cruelly took that away from me!’ Leon shouted.
‘Don’t test my patience!’ the Beast roared,
‘Now, do you want the room or not? Because if you do choose to remain here, you will most likely get ill or hypothermia and you wouldn’t want that, wouldn’t you?’
‘No, I wouldn’t,’ Leon said bitterly, knowing that the Beast was right and he had to accept her offer, as he didn’t want to get sick like his mother did.
‘Then swallow your pride and follow me,’ the Beast said and Leon reluctantly got up from the floor and silently and miserably followed his beastly captor out of the dungeon.'
Chapter 18: A Done Deal and New Home, A Beastly Rose