Beauty's Beast- The Light

by Sebrena Merly

  "And what would an animal like you know what that of the Fae would want?" Malum asked snidely.

  Bella grabbed her father's hand defensively, and glowered at Malum. "You're acting like a child." Then she glanced at the demon. "What are we going to do?"

  His shoulders rolled. "The same as we have been, I suppose; prepare. They're going to attack us either way, so there's no reason not to wait. I just don't understand why they were planning on it, and why you were pulled into this mess..." He trailed off, glaring at the ground thoughtfully.

  "It's my fault," Johnathon suddenly said. "If I hadn't strayed from my plans-"

  "Absolutely not," Bella argued. "You were just looking for a shortcut. I'm the one who went after you." But then, what loving daughter wouldn't?

  "It's no one's fault but Fate itself," Kataros murmured, casting quick glances between the two of them and the floor. "For some reason we cannot name, Fate has decided to bring you into our lives. The only question is, why?"

  Bella scowled. "Must you blame everything on fate? Do we not have our own choices? Our own lives?" Though, something told her they had been talking about such a stage as if it was more of a name than a term.

  "Of course we do, darling," Malum said, grinning at her as he set his glass down and climbed to his feet, smiling the smallest of smiles. "We live our own lives, but sometimes there's an interference, one we have taken to calling fate. Free will violates the laws of natural order, so sometimes Fate will step in and fix things." He gestured to Kataros. "You two were meant to come together."

  "But why?" Kataros pressed.

  Meanwhile, Bella only shook her head. "I still don't understand."

  "There's no need to understand it," Johnathon muttered, "but to believe in it."

  Bella tilted her head at him curiously.

  The demon stepped forward. "All of this talk will only confuse us further. Let us not worry about that which does not need worrying, and focus on the more important events."

  Turning away from her father, Bella crossed her arms at Kataros. "And such events would be...?"

  "I'm rather curious about your sudden ability to bring back the dead," Malum announced, grinning wickedly. "Tell me, Bella, how does one come to learn such a thing?"

  She stared at him, considering saying something particularly nasty, but then sufficed with raising a brow. "I wouldn't know."

  "But you did bring your father back, did you not?"

  She grit her teeth. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I know how." She shrugged. "It's just something that happened."

  The faerie seemed to think about that for a moment, then looked at the demon, mouth hanging open slightly as if to say something, though he hesitated as if unsure. When the demon met his gaze, he repeated this expression, though still remained silent.

  "Aurelia," Kataros said.

  A sort of solemn understanding passed through their gazes, and Malum nodded grimly, his teeth gritted. Though it was an angry sort of look, there was a small mix of sorrow, such a look Bella didn't understand. It was like he felt guilty.

  Or despaired.

  "I don't understand," Bella stated.

  The faerie turned his grim smile to her. "Your magic has been awakened."

  17

  Bella shook her head as she stared at Malum, the first of everyone in the room to react to what he had just told her. "I don't have magic."

  "You do," he insisted. "You always have—everyone does. It just takes a certain situation to activate it. Think of it as a cause-and-effect scenario. Because your father died, and you were one of the Fae, you came into contact with your magic. It was always there—only hiding."

  "But what does this have to do with Aurelia?" she asked. "Who is she?"

  Malum opened his mouth, closed it, and looked at Kataros—definitely not the reaction Bella expected.

  The demon stared at him for a moment before pressing his lips together and looking at Bella. "That doesn't matter. All that matters is that you have magic now. The only question is, how can you activate it?"

  "I'm afraid that's not just it," Malum told them. When they looked at him questioningly, he sighed. "Control. You need to know how to control yourself. If you don't, the magic will take over."

  "Isn't that good?" she asked. "After all, we need all the power we can get—if we want to win."

  He shook his head. "No. The power, yes, it would be nice to have on our side—and we can have that power...but you mustn't let the magic do all the fighting. You can control the magic, but you can't let it control you."

  Johnathon cleared his throat, clearly confused, and thrust his chin out confidently when they all looked his way. "Isn't that about the same thing? It's a bit redundant, don't you think?"

  "No," Bella said, meeting Malum's gaze before turning to her father. "My controlling the magic puts me in power; it lets me tell it what to do. If I let the magic control me..." She looked at the demon.

  "You will not be yourself anymore," he finished for her.

  Her father made a noise of complaint, a sort of high pitched, startled, growl. "You mean to say that magic is dangerous?"

  "Magic has always been dangerous," Malum told him. "Your kind has just forgotten it. For you, it may be fantasy and romance. But the truth of it is...it's all just horror." He looked at Bella, who was studying him carefully. "Use the magic, yes, but be careful what you do with it. It does have consequences, whether you believe it or not. Your bringing your father back to life, for example, may put someone else in the deathbed." He took a step closer to her, eyes piercing hers. "And there may be no way out of it."

  She stared back up at him, narrowing her eyes slightly as she thought. Then, softening her gaze, she said, "Thank you."

  His eyes widened in the slightest amount of surprise, and he almost looked like he didn't know how to react. But then that boyish attitude seemed to surface again, and he raised his brows as he looked over at the demon. "Very polite, this one."

  "I'm guessing that you're not accustomed to such manners," Bella said, beginning to grow irritated again.

  He pursed his lips, then nodded. "I will admit, no one's told me such a thing in a very long time." He leaned in closer, smile growing bigger. "And I mean very."

  He was trying to hide his gratitude. Bella wasn't fooled by his sudden recovery. Clearly, he thought it would be weak to at least appreciate it. Though, she could see it—in his eyes—that he truly did feel grateful. In fact, he probably needed it.

  That just made her all the more curious about everyone's secrets.

  "So, how does one learn to control magic?" Bella asked, deciding they were in need of a change in topic, and everyone seemed grateful to dodge the awkward tension—Malum most of all.

  "There are many ways," Malum told her, counting off fingers as he started listing. "Use it, constantly, until you've grown used to it. Study it, aggressively, and read on it as much as you can-"

  "How about not using it at all?" Johnathon demanded, silencing the room.

  Malum hardly gave him a glance. "Not an option."

  "But it's dangerous," he insisted. "I will not have my daughter...meddling around with such a thing! What if she were to be harmed because of it? I cannot let that happen—I will not!"

  "Why do you not like magic so much?" Malum looked at him when he didn't answer. "You're so against it—why? Hmm?"

  He glowered at the faerie, a look so cold it made Bella's skin crawl. "Magic is dangerous, I've always known this. No matter the-the—romance, or the fantasy, I've always known that it was an abomination to the world. It breaks the laws of physics."

  "Oh, but you are not in your world anymore, old man." He sneered at him. "Your inability to understand that you are truly blind to the world disgusts me."

  "Better to be blind than dumb!" he roared, which made Malum glide up to him, staring each other down, and Bella shifted nervously, opening her mouth to shout at the both of them. She didn't get the chance.

  "If she doesn't use the magic," Ka
taros said, not even earning a glance from them, "it will come to use her. She will not know what to do as it grows, if she does not at least practice. And she must practice, should we wish to at least live through the battle."

  Johnathon finally pulled his gaze from Malum's, glaring over at the demon. "And what if she still doesn't do it? What if she was to let the magic control her? Not being herself sounds far better than her being dead."

  "Not an option," Malum snapped again, earning a glowering hiss from Johnathon.

  Kataros quickly stepped up between the two, holding his hands out as if to prevent them from fighting, giving a small glance to Bella, who watched him curiously. "Some other power will take over. Some emotions will grow stronger, whilst the others weaken. She will still be Bella, yes, but not the one that you have come to know. Where love, care, and innocence lie will be lust, hate, and greed. All that will matter to her will be power—nothing more." He looked over at the scared girl, who watched him now with wide eyes. "She will be far more dangerous than you can possibly imagine."

  Johnathon's jaw hung ajar as he stared at the demon, eyes shining in disbelief and helplessness. Then he turned to Bella, shaking his head, seeming to try to say words that wouldn't escape his lips, strangled with a lost sort of hope.

  Understanding, she stepped towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. "I know," she said. "I know."

  In turn, he buried his face in her hair, squeezing his eyes closed. "I don't want to lose you."

  I don't want to lose you, her own voice echoed in her head, filled with concern.

  She took a deep breath and peered up at him. "You won't."

  "So, that settles it," Malum said, and the both of them looked over at him. His shoulders rolled at their annoyed expressions. "That it, unless you have some other pointless thing you would like to bring up."

  "I could point out that you don't seem like the trustworthy type," Johnathon told him with a stony glare. "But that's just according to what I've heard and seen."

  He gave him a cheery smile. "Well, I could point out that you bear no resemblance to dear Bella." He shrugged. "But that's just me." His teeth flashed in a deadly grin.

  Bella felt her father's shoulders tense, and frowned up at him before glaring at the faerie. "Stop it." She looked back at Johnathon. "The both of you." Her feet pulled her away, leading her next to Kataros. "Your inconsistent fighting is both childish and useless."

  "I wouldn't say that," the faerie told her. "You can learn a lot about arguing. Especially on the topic we've just come to."

  Johnathon leapt forward. "Hold your tongue!"

  "Stop!" Bella shouted, lunging between the two before they could start ripping each other's throats out. She stared at her father, bewildered, eyes both wide in surprise and narrowed in suspicion. "What's the matter with you?"

  "Yes, mutt," Malum said. "Do tell."

  Bella pointed a finger at him. "You, stop talking."

  He raised his brows, amused, but said nothing.

  "I'm sorry, Bella," her father said with a sigh. "I'm just...tired." He looked at Kataros. "What must we do? How are we going to win?"

  "Uh-uh," Bella said, shaking her head, finger now pointing at the center of his chest. "You, Papa, are going home."

  He stared at her, bewildered. "Absolutely out of the question! I've already dragged myself into this anyways. That's why we're in this bloody mess in the first place!" He shook his head, frowning deeply. "I'm staying right here with you."

  "It's too dangerous," she argued. "Papa, you need-"

  "No," he said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not going anywhere."

  Heaving a frustrated sigh, she looked to the demon. "Talk to him."

  He regarded her with a startled expression, brows raised. "About what? Bella, the man has clearly made up his mind. Besides, he's right. He's already a part of this. Not to mention, he's still a wolf."

  "But you cured him," she complained.

  "Technically, I didn't," he told her. "I've only subsided the effects. There's no telling when the symptoms will start up again, or how hard they'll hit." He paused, then added, “As a matter of fact, we don't even know how he'll react to my blood at all.”

  "You make me sound like a have a disease," Johnathon mumbled grumpily.

  Kataros hardly blinked at him. "No offense, but you kind of are one. Wolves who have once been men can't control themselves. They can't help but be what they have become. They become what they were infected to be. Therefore, they are the disease. So, then, you are a disease."

  He looked at him, as if he had just figured something out. "So, if there are wolves in their pack that used to be men, you'll be killing them?" When the demon hesitated, he stepped closer. "Even if it wasn't a life they didn't want? Even if they didn't have a choice?"

  His gaze wavered, but he stood strong, even under Bella's worried watch. "We have to do what's necessary."

  "No," Bella said, shaking her head and backing away. "I cannot kill innocent people." She could hardly even bear the thought of killing anyone. When the demon's gaze didn't soften, she shook her head again. "I will not!"

  "Then you will surely die," Malum told her, in his spot on the chair, sipping at his drink. "Where there is life, there also has to be death. Do you plan to die, Bella?"

  "I can't do it," she replied. She looked at the demon. "Is there no other way?"

  He hesitated, glancing over at Malum.

  The faerie looked at him, as if amused, and pulled in a deep, disappointed breath. "There is that way, brother, but it would be difficult to accomplish only that."

  "We're either all going to die, or all of the wolves will," he told him. "That has to be what all of this is about. And stop calling me brother."

  "So, there is another way," Bella said, looking back and forth between the both of them. When neither of them responded, she stomped a foot, cheeks flushing, hands fisted at her sides. "Answer me!"

  "Your childish reactions will get you nowhere," Malum told her, though he looked clearly amused.

  Kataros stepped forward when Bella started for the faerie with an angry finger pointed out, hands held out in surrender, very much like he was trying to calm a wild beast. "They are all connected to their leader. He is the one who began the pack, after all."

  "So, what?" she asked. "If he's killed, they die as well?"

  He shook his head. "The ones that were human before should be returned to their natural state. The other wolves, we may have to fight."

  "Unless they run," Malum told them. "Which we can't allow. Therefore, we mustn't frighten the cowards by killing their leader."

  "It's our only chance!" Bella shouted at him. She flinched at the idea of holding an innocent man's life in her hands, cringing at the image of herself killing that man.

  "We all know that it's not," he replied smoothly. "I'm sorry if you are too cowardly to kill-"

  "I am not cowardly!" She glared at him. "Believe it or not, it's called compassion. The lives of innocent people are on the line here, and I can't allow them to be judged for something they couldn't control."

  He stared at her, as if in disbelief, lips twisting in a sort of disgust and a bit of something else—something that told Bella he had dealt with this argument before. "Well, what do you know? We have ourselves a hero." Before Bella could react, he stood up, tossing his glass, which shattered against the ground in a red, wet mess, and he strode up to the girl, sneering. "Compassion will do you no favor. You can't save everyone, Bella. It's time you learn that." He strode past her, shoulder bumping hers along the way, and stormed out the door.

  Bella looked over at Kataros, who was watching the door with a frown. "What do you think he meant by that?"

  It was silent for a moment. Then he said, "There's no telling what."

  "Great," she said, throwing her arms into the air. "So he could be going to go kill someone, and we won't be doing a thing about it."

  Johnathon grabbed
her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "There's nothing you can do, sweetheart."

  "Well, we can't just sit here," she said, crossing her arms.

  "I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do," Kataros told her. "When it comes to Malum, there's no stopping him. He's untouchable."

  "And why is that?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "It's that witch, isn't it? It's your mother."

  He didn't even look at her. "Let's not focus on what we can't control-"

  "Then what are we to do?" The vibrations started up again, and Bella's migraine flared, making her cringe.

  The demon didn't take notice to anything that was happening. But then, neither did her father. It was then that she started thinking that, just maybe, she was hallucinating. But, if so, how come the faerie seemed to notice?

  "About Malum? Nothing." Kataros finally turned and looked at her, clouded eyes seeming to examine her brown ones, though she knew that he couldn't see them. "We have no knowledge, Bella. You could look into Videns and try to find out more, but you will not always get the answer you seek. We have no way of knowing when the wolves will attack."

  Feeling helpless, Bella fell back onto a chair, placing her elbows on her knees, and burying her face into her hands. "Then what do we have?"

  He sighed, and looked at her. "Avain."

  * * *

  The dungeon was something Bella least expected. She had expected it to be placed in some part of the castle unknown to her. Hell, she even expected it to be filled with gruesome details, maybe even screeches of the tortured. But it was nothing like that.

  The dungeon was the halls.

  Those very halls Bella had chased Eriq through. The halls she thought had no end. The halls filled with nothing but empty boxes and barrels and dust. Just simple, empty halls. But they were nothing like that.

  She hadn't been in the halls since she was a human. When she was human, her eyes were blind to what the halls really looked like. To anyone, they would have been completely ordinary. But, to those who could really see, they would've been completely different.