In the village, something was different. The first thing Gaston noticed barreled towards him and grabbed his hand.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fRftZ2C8P
‘You’re back!’ Lefou shouted, jumping up and down. He almost looked the same as usual, except his arms were swollen with muscles that made his jacket appear uncomfortably tight. ‘Where have you been? Was crazy old Maurice telling the truth?’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGv7nUn9IaW
The two were standing in the middle of the street, in front of the water fountain. Onlookers surrounded them, cheering on Gaston’s homecoming.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GHbEdpW40
‘I’ve… spent some time with a beast. Lefou, you look… different!’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbc8Z9rzA29
‘I eat five dozen eggs every morning, just like you always said to!’ Lefou’s face carried the hopes and dreams of thousands of children on Christmas Eve, with Gaston being the present.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdQEBJHkv7
Gaston ignored him, looking around for Belle. As expected, she was strolling home with a book in her hand. He strode towards her, restitching the overconfident masculinity that the Beast had unknowingly unravelled.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewczVs9tqR
‘You’re welcome,’ he said, leaning down towards her. At first, she scowled, but then her memories pushed context to the front of her mind.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAXm44BiQQ
‘Thank you. Maurice is safe and well.’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7eY6aNEang
‘So, where do you want the wed-’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkK0BAtloyl
‘I simply couldn’t say yes.’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0ZB7z0EdN
‘You-’ Gaston raised a hand but stopped himself. Belle had already dodged him at this point, now standing a few steps away from him. He lowered his hand and sighed.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNfHsbx14X
He tried to look into her eyes but he could barely see through the image of the Beast’s eyes. The Beast’s pools of nocturnal skies, vast and strange and yet the most painfully human things Gaston had ever witnessed. As he attempted to gaze at Belle, a question, the most dangerous of all thoughts, inserted itself into his brain.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUlZidfa62
Did he ever love her?
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEdH5oWkET
This thought sent Gaston stumbling backwards, his vision blurry like he had just drunk five jugs of ale one after the other. He barely noticed himself tripping over his heels until a big arm cushioned his fall. He whipped his head towards his saviour and was greeted by Lefou’s confident expression. It was a look so unexpected from Lefou, yet Gaston somehow found it familiar.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvDKNFrjFD
‘You’re losing your touch, Gaston! I think you need a rest. Or did that beast put a curse on you?’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxSB3vFFDE
‘The Beast would never…’ he didn’t finish that sentence but it was enough information for Lefou to knit his brows. Gaston gulped. ‘He’s too kind.’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9wSDLqLW1
Lefou helped him up. ‘Kind? But isn’t he a hideous-’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMUgQ1cevp
‘Oh, he is completely hideous. He is covered with fur and has horns on his head that are all bent. He’s got sharp claws…’ Gaston remembered the Beast awkwardly trying to not break a bow. ‘... and sharp teeth that stick out of his mouth…’ He recalled messily eating together with him. ‘... but his eyes…’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcp6pxYN61
His heart felt like a magnet in a compass. It was pulled away from this poor provincial town towards that dark but beautiful castle. The sensation overwhelmed him, forcing him to grip his shirt as if reaching for his heart. He momentarily forgot to breathe. Lefou looked at him with suspicion, followed by anger. Gaston shut his eyes. ‘H-his eyes are black and lifeless.’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBeEhGb0zU
‘See?’ Lefou asked the crowd that had gathered around them. ‘This ugly monster attacked Maurice, then Gaston! What do you think he will do with your children?’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KwIvvt1sh
A choir of gasps bounced between the buildings in the town. Gaston almost protested but kept his mouth shut and his head low, holding onto the last morsel of his pride between his clenched teeth.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQniSmRXKr
‘I say we kill the Beast!’ Lefou declared. The crowd chanted a chorus of ‘Yeah!’s before rushing to their homes to pick up torches and pitchforks.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCADsFQ2Z9
Gaston grabbed Lefou’s arm. ‘You… you can’t-’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshn2Plvd0c
Lefou took his hand and gave it a gentle rub, gazing into his eyes with that same look he gave the day Maurice’s horse was found. Now Gaston was finally starting to recognise it.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqP66ZWhoGh
‘It’s okay, Gaston. I’ll protect you.’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNebcvxsE9
A chill ran down Gaston’s spine. How long had Lefou been looking at him like that?
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFUDfANTdu
Gaston jerked his hand away, eyes wide with terror. After seeing this reaction, Lefou’s fiery glare matched the lit torches behind him.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPdNUGyds6
A line of flames bounced up and down and around the town. Lefou ran to the front of the line to lead the way.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1K5VSaBpm3
Only a few people stayed in the village, including Maurice, Gaston and Belle.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbRbZU2fwm
Gaston turned to Belle. ‘You’re not going?’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDNVXeCXMY
Belle cast her eyes downward. ‘I’m not one to do a witch hunt.’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiCTMW3DzW
‘Could you help me-’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniw3kNEGKP
Belle shook her head. ‘He still hurt my Father. I can’t forgive him. I’m sorry, but you’re on your own.’ Despite saying this, she looked up in curiosity. ‘What are you planning to do?’
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojK32Xviwf
Gaston didn’t answer, which was itself an answer. He simply looked up towards the castle, just barely able to see the tip of the tallest tower over the trees.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1XcQv1GYf
He headed home, picking up all the daggers he could find in his bedroom. He searched the entire house but couldn’t find a single gun. Lefou’s confident smirk entered his mind.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWtNACHGzh
‘That good-for-nothing-!’ He took a deep breath. Think, Gaston, think!
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ef526igUk
He figured breaking into Lefou’s house would be easy. He may have gone soft hanging around the Beast, but he surely hadn’t become that much of a softie.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EaoKZGGkW
He was correct. One kick to Lefou’s door was enough to get in. He found his guns hidden all around his room: in the tiny wardrobe, inside his chest of drawers, beneath his pillow (much to Gaston’s discomfort). Also under the pillow were a few arrows. A bow was under the bed.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ug3WwHran
On his way out, he pushed away a thought that had slithered into his mind.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulxIrRh2j0
Who was he going to have to shoot?
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PoZshiINB
Before he could even reckon with the implications of this, the Beast’s oceanic eyes burst through his mind’s walls, flattening any doubt under the weight of their beauty. He grit his teeth as the description of the Beast he had given to Lefou repeated in his mind.
360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLtUEhEjGh
He shoved the guns into the same satchel that housed his daggers and ran to his horse, leaping onto it and tapping it with the riding crop to get it galloping.360Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6sisFVKrZ
然後按「加至主畫面」