After The Last Petal Fell

Prologue

Prologue | Pride Before The Fall
Written By: lexyloves07
Edited By: @queenofgeeks

"Get up! Get up! What's the matter, Beast? Too kind and gentle to fight back?" Gaston mocked as he approached the Beast in a predatory manner. The Beast sat on the edge of the roof in despair, where Gaston had cornered him, and he made no move to get up and fight, for he was too saddened by the fact that Belle, of all people, had left him. And to think that he might have loved her!

Leaning down to rip off a piece of the roof, Gaston raised it to smash in on the Beast's head when Belle's voice drifts up. She stood on the bridge, yelling at Gaston and telling him to stop.

"Gaston! No!" Belle's plea was heard by the Beast and hearing her voice sparked something within him.

"Belle," I love you. The last three words were unspoken, but that was the phrase that immediately came to the Beast's mind when he heard her voice.

"Gaston, don't!" Belle screamed once more as Gaston swung down at the Beast, but the Beast caught the weapon in his hand. He rose up and roared in Gaston's face, standing a good foot or two taller than him.

As they swung at each other, Gaston with the wood and loose stones, and the Beast with his claws, the castle tops were crumbling and unstable so they were constantly jumping from one spot to another. Slowly, they made their way up to the rooftop and after a particularly hard swing from the Beast, Gaston stumbled away in surprise which gave the Beast enough time to hide behind a few gargoyles so as to catch his breath.

Gaston carefully looked around, but the filthy monster was hidden well. With a snarl, he yelled out in a taunting voice, "Come out and fight! Were you in love with her, beast? Did you honestly think that she'd want you when she had someone like me?"

Adding a harsh laugh at the end, a smirk formed on Gaston's lips when the Beast emerged. He knew how to provoke the monster, and that is just what he was going to do.

"It's over, Beast. Belle will be mine!" Gaston snarled as their vicious fight ensued once again, but this time, however, the Beast had had enough. Picking Gaston up by the neck, he held him out over the edge of the roof, a deadly glint in his dark eyes.

Gasping for breath, Gaston's eyes went wide with fear as he gripped at the Beast's paw around his neck.

"Put me down, put me down. Please, don't hurt me! I-I'll do anything! Anything!" Gaston pleaded, choking a bit near the end of the sentence.

'No,' Gaston thought. 'This will not be how it ends.'

Gaston tightened his grip on the Beast's hand because he was not going to back down. He would put up a figh-

With a small cry of fear followed by a grunt, he was surprised to see that he wasn't falling but the Beast had dropped him back down onto the cold, stone rooftop.

"Get out!" The Beast roared, and Gaston staggered back, still in shock. The Beast gave Gaston one final shove to the ground and Gaston got back up on his feet, staggering away.

"Beast!" Cried Bell in concern. The Beast looked up as Belle emerged from a balcony a floor up from where he stood. Gaston watched from the shadows, fury building up inside of him, but there was nothing Gaston could do. As he pivoted on his foot to turn back around, his foot hit something. Bending down to pick it up, a smile slowly crept onto Gaston's face when he saw the familiar gleam of his knife catch the light as lightning struck. Glancing back over his shoulder, Gaston looked to see that the Beast was beginning to climb the tower towards Belle.

With a malicious grin on his face, he turned back around and crept up slowly, climbing up after the Beast.

"Belle? You came back!" The Beast spoke, a bit breathlessly for he was tired and in shock. This beautiful girl had come back for him. Mesmerized, he studied her face as his hand came up to reach for her face but he quickly pulled back, roaring in pain when Gaston stabbed the Beast in the back. Belle screamed when Gaston pulled the knife out and was going for another shot when the Beast began to fall back, knocking Gaston off balance.