Beauty and the Beast

## **Freya and Agnar**

Thorsson, a Viking King is falling ill and wants to make a pilgrimage to an island cursed by Odin. The island is home to a horrible beast. His daughter Freya is betrothed to Sven, one of Thorsson's greatest warriors.

Freya tries to get an army together to go back and save her father (whom she believes to be alive). However, no one will join her and Sven reminds her that he is now king and that she is betrothed to him. Freya and Ingrid go to the island alone to rescue her father.

Eric steps forward and tells everyone they've all been acting like cowards. He also says he'll go and save the king's daughter himself if Sven does not dare. Sven, not wanting to look like a coward, angrily agrees to send an army back to fight the beast and rescue Freya.

Freya and the Beast begin to develop a friendship. Sven returns to the island with an army and confronts the Beast. Freya tries to stop them, by telling them the beast is not a monster. Sven does not listen to her, thinking the Beast has fooled her mind. Sven and the Beast fight and ends with Sven's archers shooting him. The warriors set the island afire and return home with Freya.

The Beast journeys to Freya's home where Thorsson has recovered from his illness and is once again king. As the Beast holds the dying Freya in his arms, Freya's sacrifice breaks the curse and the Beast is Agnar once again.

## **Feyre Archeron & Tamlin, High Lord of Prythian**

Nineteen-year-old Feyre killed a wolf in the woods, and a beast-like creature demanded punishment for it. She was taken to the land of the faeries, her captor, Tamlin, who was an immortal faerie himself. She came to live with him at his estate.

## **Beauty and Prince Ardent-1740**

Roderick Huston, a wealthy merchant and widower, has twelve children, six sons and three daughters; Grace, Hope, and Honour. When Honour was a child she asked what her name meant and afterwards said she'd rather be named Beauty(Belle in French), a nickname which soon stuck. The two sisters become Adelaide and Felicie respectively. Huston's sons are Ludovic, Oliver and Frederick.

Belle, as she grows older, she feels the nickname is increasingly ill-fitting, as she remains plain while her sisters become lovelier and more socially adept. She was the most lovely, as well as kind, well-read, and pure of heart; while the elder sisters, in contrast, are cruel, selfish, vain, and spoiled. Grace becomes engaged to Robert Tucker, one of her father's ship captains, and Hope to a blacksmith named Gervain Woodhouse. When all of Huston's ships are lost at sea in a tempest, Robert is presumed dead and the family become destitute. Gervain, who has decided to return to his home town in the countryside to become the new blacksmith there, makes the offer that they come with him, and they agree. After an arduous two-month journey, they arrive at the small town of Blue Hill. He and his children are consequently forced to live in a small cottage in a forest and work for a living. While Beauty makes a firm resolution to adjust to rural life with a cheerful disposition, her sisters do not and mistake her determination for stupidity. While scrubbing the floor at home, Belle is interrupted by her brother's friend Avenant who tells her she deserves better and suggests they get married. Belle rejects Avenant, as she wishes to stay home and take care of her father, who has suffered much since his ships were lost at sea and the family fortune along with them.

Some years later, the merchant hears that one of the trade ships he had sent has arrived back in port, having escaped the destruction of its companions. Belle's father arrives home announcing he has come into a great fortune that he will pick up the next day, along with gifts for his daughters, Belle and her shrewish sisters Belle's roguish brother Ludovic , believing they will soon be wealthy, signs a contract from a moneylender allowing him the ability to sue Ludovic's father if he can't pay. Belle's sisters ask for a monkey and a parrot as gifts as well as clothing, jewels, and the finest dresses possible as they think his wealth has returned. Beauty asks for nothing but her father to be safe, but when he insists on buying her a present, she is satisfied with the promise of a rose as none grow in their part of the country. Belle's roguish brother Ludovic, believing they will soon be wealthy, signs a contract from a moneylender allowing him the ability to sue Ludovic's father if he can't pay. Belle's sisters ask for a monkey and a parrot as gifts, but Belle asks only for a rose.

The merchant, to his dismay, finds that his ship's cargo has been seized to pay his debts, leaving him penniless and unable to buy his children's presents. He has no money for lodging and is forced to return home through a forest at night. During his return, the merchant becomes lost during a storm and finds himself at a large castle whose gates and doors magically open themselves. Seeing that no one is home, the merchant sneaks in and finds tables inside laden with food and drink, which seem to have been left for him by the castle's invisible owner. On entering the castle, he is guided by an enchanted candelabra that leads him to a laden dinner table where he falls asleep. The next morning, the merchant has come to view the palace as his own possession and is about to leave to fetch his children when he sees a rose garden and recalls that Beauty had desired a rose. The merchant quickly plucks the loveliest rose he can find, and is about to pluck more to create a bouquet, only to end up being confronted by a hideous "Beast" who tries to kill him for stealing of his most precious possession (after accepting his hospitality). The merchant begs to be set free, revealing that he had only picked the rose as a gift for his youngest daughter. The Beast agrees to let him give the rose to Beauty, but only if the merchant brings one of his daughters to take his place without deception; he makes it clear she must agree to take his place while under no illusions about her predicament.

The merchant is upset but accepts this condition. The Beast sends him on his way with wealth, jewels, and fine clothes for his sons and daughters, and stresses that his daughters must not be lied to. The Beast offers his horse Magnificent to guide him through the forest and to his home.

The merchant, upon arriving home, hands Beauty the rose she requested and informs her it had a terrible price, before relaying what had happened during his absence to his family and Avenant. Her brothers say they will go to the castle and fight the Beast, while his older daughters refuse to leave and place blame on Beauty, urging her to right her own wrong. The merchant dissuades them, forbidding his children from ever going near the Beast. Beauty decides to go to the Beast's castle and the following morning she and her father set out atop the magical horse Magnificent which the Beast has provided them with. Upon meeting the Beast, Belle faints at his monstrous appearance and is carried to her room in the castle. Belle awakens to find a magic mirror which allows her to see anything. The Beast receives her with great ceremony and her arrival is greeted with fireworks entwining their initials. He gives her lavish clothing and food and carries on lengthy conversations with her and she notes that he is inclined to stupidity rather than savagery. The Beast invites Belle to dinner, where he tells her that she's in equal command to him and that she will be asked every day to marry him, only to be refused each time. After each refusal, Beauty dreams of a handsome prince who she begins to fall in love with. Days pass as Belle grows more accustomed to and fond of the Beast, but she continues to refuse marriage.

Despite the apparition of a fairy urging her not to be deceived by appearances she does not make the connection between the prince and the Beast and becomes convinced that the Beast is holding him captive somewhere in the castle. She searches and discovers many enchanted rooms containing sources of entertainment ranging from libraries to aviaries to enchanted windows allowing her to attend the theater. She also comes across many animals including parrots and monkeys which act as servants, but never the unknown prince from her dreams.

For several months, Beauty lives a life of luxury at the Beast's castle, having every whim catered to, with no end of riches to amuse her and an endless supply of exquisite finery to wear. When Beauty becomes homesick, the Beast shows her a magic mirror that allows her to see her family. In it she sees her father has become deathly ill and Grace agreeing to marry the local minister, despite still loving Robert. She also learns that Robert himself has recently returned home after years lost at sea, eager to find Grace. Beauty begs to visit her home, including comforting her father and telling Grace before it's too late, promising to return in a week(later he is convinced to make this two months) and stay with the Beast forever afterwards. The Beast reluctantly allows her to go. Beauty agrees to this and is presented with several magical items. He gives Belle two magical items: a glove that can transport her wherever she wishes and a golden key that unlocks Diana's Pavilion, the source of the Beast's true riches, and an enchanted ring which allows her to wake up in her family's new home in an instant when turned three times around her finger. He tells Belle that he gives her these precious items to show his trust in her, and says that if she does not return at the end of the week, he will die of grief.

Belle appeared in her bedridden father's room, where her visit restored him to health. Belle finds her family living in poverty, having never recovered from Ludovic's deal with the moneylender. Her older sisters are surprised to find her well-fed and dressed in finery, and their old jealousy quickly flares when their suitors' gazes turn to Beauty, even though she bestows lavish gifts on them and informs the men that she is only there to comfort her father and attend her sisters' weddings. Jealous of Belle's rich life at the castle, Adelaide and Felicie steal her golden key and devise a plan to turn Ludovic and Avenant against the Beast. Avenant and Ludovic devise a plan of their own to kill the Beast, and agree to aid Belle's sisters. To stall Belle, her sisters trick her into staying past her seven-day limit by pretending to love her. Belle reluctantly agrees to stay.

The Beast sends Magnificent with the magic mirror to retrieve Belle but Ludovic and Avenant find Magnificent first, and ride him to the castle. Belle later finds the mirror which reveals the Beast's sorrowful face in its reflection. Belle realizes she is missing the golden key as the mirror breaks. Distraught, Belle returns to the castle using the magic glove and finds the Beast in the courtyard, near death from a broken heart. Seeing this, Beauty is distraught, realizing that she loves him. Despite this she remains calm and fetches water from a nearby spring which she uses to resuscitate him. That night, she agrees to marry him.

Meanwhile, Avenant and Ludovic stumble upon Diana's Pavilion. Thinking that their stolen key may trigger a trap, they scale the wall of the Pavilion. As the Beast dies in Belle's arms, Avenant breaks into the Pavilion through its glass roof, whereupon he is shot with an arrow by an animated statue of the Roman goddess Diana and is himself turned into a Beast. As this happens, arising from where the Beast lay dead is Prince Ardent who is cured of being the Beast. This is followed by the arrival of the fairy who had previously advised her in her dreams, along with a woman she does not recognize, in a golden carriage pulled by white stags. The woman turns out to be the Prince's mother whose joy quickly falters when she finds out that Beauty is not of noble birth. The fairy chastises the mother and eventually reveals that Beauty is her niece with her actual father being the Queen's brother from Fortunate Island and her mother being the fairy's sister.

When the matter of Beauty's background is resolved she requests the Prince tell his tale, and so he does. The Prince informs her that his father died when he was young and his mother had to wage war to defend his kingdom. The queen left him in the care of an evil fairy, who tried to seduce him when he became an adult; and hated his parents for not believing in spirits, when he refused, she transformed him into a beast. Only by finding true love, despite his ugliness, could the curse be broken. He and Beauty are married, and they live happily ever after together. Prince Ardent and Belle embrace, then fly away to his kingdom where she will be his Queen. He promises that her father will stay with them and Belle's sisters will carry the train of her gown.

## **Belle and Prince Adam-1770's**

An enchantress disguised as a beggar woman arrives at a French castle and offers a cruel and selfish prince a rose in return for shelter. When he refuses, she reveals her true identity. To punish the prince for his lack of compassion, the enchantress metamorphoses him into a beast and his servants into household objects. She casts a spell on the rose and warns the prince that the spell will only be broken if he learns to love another and earn her love in return before the last petal falls in his 21st year, or else he will remain a beast forever.

Years later, in a nearby village, a book-loving, independent-minded girl named Belle dreams of adventure and wants more than the little village can offer. She is seen as an outsider by the villagers. Her appearance attracts the attentions of Gaston, an ill-mannered and narcissistic hunter whose advances she has to brush off, as well as his bumbling sidekick Lefou. On his way to a fair to showcase his latest invention (an automatic wood-chopper), Belle's father and inventor Maurice gets lost in the forest and seeks refuge in the Beast's castle, but the Beast imprisons him for trespassing. When Maurice's horse returns without him, Belle ventures out in search of him, and finds him locked in the castle dungeon. The Beast agrees to let her take Maurice's place.

Belle befriends the castle's royal servants: Lumière the candelabra, Cogsworth the clock, Mrs. Potts the teapot, and her son Chip, the teacup; they invite her to a spectacular dinner. When she wanders into the forbidden west wing and finds the rose, the enraged Beast scares her into fleeing the castle. In the woods, she is ambushed by a pack of wolves, but the Beast rescues her and is injured in the process. As Belle nurses his wounds, a friendship develops between them. As time passes, they become close and even get close to falling in love. Meanwhile, Maurice returns to the village and fails to convince the townsfolk of Belle's predicament. Hearing Maurice's claims about the Beast, Gaston hatches a plan: He bribes Monsieur D'Arque, the warden of the town's insane asylum, to have Maurice locked up as a lunatic. Belle, with none to support her, would then have no choice but to marry Gaston. Before they can act, however, Maurice leaves for the castle to attempt a rescue alone.

After sharing a romantic dance with the Beast, Belle discovers her father collapsing in the woods using a magic mirror. The Beast releases her to save Maurice, giving her the mirror as a remembrance. After Belle takes her father to the village, an angry mob led by Gaston, Lefou and Monsieur D'Arque arrive to arrest Maurice. Trying to prove Maurice's sanity, Belle uses the mirror to reveal the Beast to the townsfolk. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston has her thrown into the basement with her father. He rallies the villagers to follow him to the castle to slay the Beast. With the help of Chip (who had arrived at their house as a stowaway) and Maurice's wood-chopping machine, Maurice and Belle escape, and then rush back to the castle.

During the battle, the Beast's servants fend off the villagers and LeFou. Gaston attacks the Beast in his tower, who is too heartbroken from Belle's departure to fight back, but regains his spirit upon seeing Belle return. He defeats Gaston but spares his life before reuniting with Belle. However, Gaston stabs the Beast with a knife and falls to his death after losing his footing.[a] The Beast dies in Belle's arms before the last petal falls. Belle tearfully professes her love to the Beast and the spell is undone, reviving the Beast and restoring his human form along with all his servants and his castle. The Prince and Belle host a ball for the kingdom, where they dance happily.

## **Jessica Trent and Sebastian Ballister(Paris-1828)**

Sebastian Ballister is born in Devon to the 2nd Marquess of Dain and his Italian wife, Lucia Usignuolo. The Marquess is disgusted with the child, describing him as the "Devil's spawn" and a "wizened olive thing with large black eyes, ill-proportioned limbs, and a grossly oversize nose". Eight years later, the tempestuous Lucia abandons her husband for her lover. Unloved by his father and told that his mother is an "evil, godless creature", Sebastian is sent off to Eton where he is teased by his classmates over his appearance. The boy grows up learning to hide his feelings; given no inheritance by his father, Sebastian acquires clever ways to make his fortune and uses money to unscrupulously get his way.

in 1828, Paris. Sebastian, now the intelligent but immoral 3rd Marquess of Dain, meets his match in Miss Jessica Trent, who has arrived in the city to rescue her unintelligent, nearly penniless brother Bertie from Dain's bad influence. Dain and Jessica are instantly attracted to the other, though each seeks to hide their feelings. Dain has developed a hard, sarcastic personality; he is hostile to noblewomen, as he believes they care only for money. Jessica, a 27-year-old beautiful, strong-willed bluestocking, has refused dozens of marriage proposals over the years and wishes to maintain her independence.

The two exchange wits; Jessica requests that Dain send her brother back to England in exchange for a valuable religious icon she will sell him, while Dain wants the icon or else he will destroy her reputation and ruin her brother. They reach an impasse, and while her reputation remains intact, Dain spends the week personally overseeing Bertie's disintegration from excessive drinking and gambling. Jessica angrily confronts him and the two unexpectedly kiss. Later, at a party they almost consummate their relationship before being discovered by other party-goers. Dain coldly departs, assuming Jessica invited the others to force him to honorably marry her, leaving her angry that he would leave her reputation in tatters so casually.

Jessica sues him for the loss of her reputation. To her surprise, Dain converts this proposition into a marriage proposal, and they are wedded in London several weeks later. En route to his estate in Devon, Dain assumes she is repulsed by his "gross blackamoor's body",[4] when the opposite is true. Filled with self-loathing over his appearance and personality, Dain initially avoids consummating their relationship despite Jessica's efforts to seduce him. They eventually do, and Dain apologizes for what he realizes has been his difficult behavior.

Later, they enter into a disagreement over his illegitimate son; Dain despises the eight-year-old boy's calculating mother and wants nothing to do with them, while Jessica sympathetically wants to rescue the boy from his poor living conditions. The boy, Dominick, is becoming ill-behaved and reminds Dain self-loathingly of himself at his age. Eventually, with Jessica's prodding, Dain is persuaded to rescue the neglected boy from his mother's clutches. While doing so, the Marquess comes to terms with his mother's abandonment and realizes that Dominick is just as scared and lonely as he was as a boy. Dominick is invited to live at the Ballister estate, while the boy's mother, to her pleasure, is given a large stipend and told to find her fortune in Paris.

## **Anastasia & The Beast( Russia-1858)**

Once upon a time there lived a wealthy merchant, who had three beautiful daughters. Once he decided to do business overseas. He called for the daughters and asked what gifts should he bring them. The eldest asked for a golden tiara adorned with precious gems that sparkled brightly, and the second wanted a crystal mirror which always showed the person's reflection as young and beautiful. The merchant knew these would be difficult to obtain, but within his means. The youngest, named Nastenka (a diminutive form of the given name Anastasia), asked for the most beautiful scarlet flower in the world, which she had seen in a dream. The merchant did not know where he could find such a flower, but promised not to disappoint.

Everything went well. The merchant bought all gifts, except for the scarlet flower. He saw many scarlet flowers, but not the most beautiful one. On the way home he was attacked by robbers, fled into the woods and became lost. When he awoke the next morning he saw a splendid palace "in flame, silver and gold". He walked inside, marveling at the splendor, but the palace was seemingly empty. Spread before him was a luxurious feast, and he sat down and ate. When he walked out to the garden he saw the most beautiful scarlet flower, and knew it was the one his daughter desired. Upon picking it, the terrible Beast of the Forest leapt out and confronted the merchant, asking him why he dared pick the scarlet flower, the one joy of the beast's life. The beast demanded that the merchant repay him and forfeit his life. The merchant begged for mercy and to be returned to his daughters. The beast allowed this on the one condition that within the next three days one of his daughters would willingly take her father's place and live with the beast, or the merchant's life would be forfeit. The beast gave the merchant a ring, and the girl that put it on the littlest finger of her right hand would be transported to the palace. Then the beast magically transported the merchant home, with all his wealth and treasures restored.

The merchant explained what happened to his three daughters. The eldest two believed the youngest should go, since it was her present that caused this disaster. The youngest daughter loved her father so, so she willingly went to live with the beast. Nastenka lived luxuriously with the beast, who granted her every desire, fed her delicious food and gave her rich jewels and clothing, yet never revealed himself to her for fear of upsetting her. However Nastenka became fond of the beast and asked to see him. When he finally revealed himself to her, she was overcome with fear but controlled herself, and apologized to the beast for upsetting him. When Nastenka had a dream that her father was ill, the Beast let her visit him. However, he said that she must come back in three days, otherwise he would perish, since his love for her was so great he loved her more than himself, and could not bear to be apart from her.

Nastenka's visit to her father revived his spirits, but her sisters resented the wealth she lived in. They tried to talk her out of returning to the Beast, but Nastenka could not be so cruel to her kind host. The elder sisters put the clocks back and closed the windows, to trick Nastenka. When Nastenka felt that something had been wrong and came back to the Monster's palace, he lay dying near the scarlet flower. Nastenka rushed to his side, took him in her arms, and cried that she loved him more than herself, that he was her true love. All of a sudden thunder boomed, and Nastenka was transported to a golden throne next to a handsome prince. The handsome prince explained that he was the Beast, cursed by a witch who was fighting his father, a mighty king. To break the curse, a maiden had to fall in love with him in his monstrous form. The merchant gave his blessing to the young couple, who lived happily ever after

## **Doll &** **Celestine-1985**

The series begins with Doll, who dreams of stardom, getting fired from her job as a coat checker at a trendy dance club after an angry patron vandalises the cloakroom. Unemployed, she attends an audition to be a "mannequin" for Celestine, a hermit and much sought-after designer rumoured to be disfigured. Despite her audition being panned by the elderly women that run his fashion house and factory, Celestine chooses Doll to be his newest model. However she very soon discovers that the same person who vandalised the cloakroom, a designer named Jonni, also works at Celestine's factory.

The two are immediately at odds with each other, with Jonni putting Doll down as someone who would do anything for fame. Upset, Doll runs from the factory, only to later return. Jonni is drawn to Doll, finding her an unintentional muse for her work, yet is angry and disgusted with her, especially after Doll takes credit for some of her fashion ideas. Jonni attempts to complain to Celestine, only to be rebuked for her actions. Doll is later called to his office, where Celestine gives her a speech on the power of fashion and the limitations of humanity. This frightens Doll, but she is persuaded to remain in his office because Celestine is lonely. He confesses that he remains in his office designing clothing and playing with tarot cards to hide his disfigurement from society. Celestine also comments upon his deceased mother, saying that she was incredibly beautiful and that she frequently told him that he was unattractive. Curious, Doll demands to see Celestine's face and is stunned to see that rather than a hideous monster, Celestine is incredibly attractive and that his beliefs stem from his mother's words and a mirror that dramatically distorts his appearance. Despite this, Doll lies to Celestine when he asks her if he's ugly. Emotional due to the lie, Doll runs downstairs and confronts his managers, who tell her that they keep Celestine in the dark because he is only capable of designing beautiful clothing because he believes himself ugly. They further mention that Doll herself is aware of this and that this is why she told the lie.

The tension in the fashion house grows ever more complicated as Doll begins to long to go outside and experience some of her previous life. She gains permission from Celestine to go back to some of the places she used to visit, only to be confronted by Jonni, who believes that Celestine has lost touch with reality. Jonni further expounds on his viewpoints, saying that he believes that the surrounding group of lowlifes, prostitutes, and various other passers-by are vital and colourful. Doll angrily confronts Jonni, disputing her claims. Upset and disappointed at how much everything has changed in both herself and the outside world, Doll returns home and finds that Celestine has slit his wrists in an attempt to seek freedom from the fashion house he considers a prison.

Celestine passes away from his self-inflicted injuries and Jonni takes over as the head of Celestine's fashion house, as Celestine specified that this was what he wanted. Jonni and Doll are shown to have started a relationship of sorts along with their working relationship. However the series ends with Jonni discovering Celestine's mirror and seeing how it distorted his appearance just as much as it did Celestine's.

## **Catherine Chandler & Vincent-1987-1990**

Catherine Chandler was abducted, beaten, slashed and left to die in Central Park because she was inadvertently mistaken for somebody else. She is rescued and cared for by Vincent, who took her to Father, head of a hidden community of people dwelling in tunnels below the city of New York. Ten days later, Catherine returned to the surface with the promise of keeping Vincent's secret and the challenge to go on after her terrible attack. After completing her recovery, her life began a serious transition: she took self-defense lessons, leaves her comfortable job at her father's law firm and joined the Manhattan District Attorney's office as an assistant district attorney. Her first action involved her asking Carol Stabler about those men who attacked her, where she stated that they were part of an illegal escort service run by Martin Belmont. When Catherine was attacked by Martin Belmont's men, she was saved by Vincent, who mauls the men.

Catherine was finally accepted as a friend and "Helper" (someone who assists the Tunnel community with what they need to survive and by keeping their secret). More people from the World Above turned up for emotional support and healing in the secure environment of the World Below.

Catherine rescued Vincent from his inner demons but was kidnapped by a man named Gabriel, the ruthless head of a huge criminal empire she had been investigating, which was trying to corrupt the D.A.'s office. She was killed, but not before giving birth to Vincent's son, who was held hostage by the evil Gabriel. Catherine's boss and close friend Joe Maxwell hired Diana Bennett, a criminal profiler with the police department, to track down Catherine's killer. Quite naturally, her investigation ultimately led her to the now darkly obsessed and grieving Vincent.

## **Linda Owens &** **Kyle Kingsbury-2007**

Kyle Kingsbury is rich, handsome, and popular; he is also selfish, shallow, and cruel. He plays a mean practical joke on an outcast girl in his class. The girl is really a witch named Kendra in disguise. The witch then curses him for his cruelty. He is turned into a beast; however, because he performed a small act of kindness shortly before his transformation when he gave an unwanted rose corsage to a girl working a ticket booth, she gives him two years to break the spell, or remain a beast forever. The only way he can turn back to normal is if he truly loves a girl and gets her to love him in return, proving the love with a kiss.

Kendra later offers Kyle further aid by giving him a magic mirror that shows him whomever he wishes to see. He is locked in a mansion-like apartment by his equally shallow, image-obsessed father. His only company is his housekeeper, Magda, and, at his request, a blind tutor named Will. Kyle finds solace in a greenhouse for roses that he tends himself. After a year of being in this state, and trying and failing to find love, Kyle changes his name to Adrian, meaning "the dark one", to reflect his feelings of being a completely different person from the conceited, materialistic boy he used to be. When a robber stumbles into his garden Adrian offers him a deal; he will not report the robber to the police if the robber brings Adrian his daughter, Linda. She is Adrian's last chance to break the spell before his two years are up.

Adrian realizes that Linda is the same girl to whom he gave the rose corsage. He fixes up a room for her, leaving roses and books for her to amuse herself with. When she arrives, she at first wants nothing to do with him as she feels he kidnapped her. As time passes, she slowly warms up to him and he finds himself falling in love with her. The two begin to have tutoring sessions together and during winter they go to a lodge. Shortly before the last year is up, Linda wishes to see her father once more. Adrian lets her see him with the magic mirror and she finds that he has become sick through drug use. Adrian quickly lets her go to him and offers for her to return to the apartment in the spring if she desires, this time as a friend and not a prisoner.

On the last day of the second year, Adrian looks for Linda in the mirror and sees her being dragged into a building by a man. He rushes to her rescue and is shot in the process. As he lies dying, he asks Linda for a kiss. She kisses him, breaking the spell and turns him back to normal. He explains everything to Linda and the two go back and live in the apartment together. Adrian had also made a deal with Kendra, because of which, Will regains his sight and Magda is allowed to return to her family. Kendra reveals that she was Magda, punished to remain a servant forever because of her careless spell but she can now return home as well.

## **Kamoji Argali & Havyrl(Vyrl) Lionstar**

Kamoj Argali, the governor of an impoverished province on the backward planet Balumil, is betrothed to Jax Ironbridge, ruler of a wealthy neighboring province, an arrangement made for political purposes to save her province from starvation and death. Havyrl (Vyrl) Lionstar, a prince of the titular Ruby Dynasty, comes to Balimul as part of a governmental plan to deal with the aftermath of an interstellar war. Masked and enigmatic, he has a reputation as a monster with Kamoj's people.

Lionstar interferes with Kamoj's culture and destabilizes their government by pushing her into marriage with himself. Kamoj must save her province from the prince in exile.

Lionstar's returns to his home world with Kamoj, where he becomes the central figure in a planet wide act of civil disobedience designed to eject an occupying military force that has taken control of his planet.

## **Alternate Universes**

### **Everrealm**

While traveling through a forest, Geralt of Riviera comes across the corpses of a man and a girl with strange wounds. Tracing the corpses' path, the Witcher arrives at a seemingly deserted mansion. Before entering the premises, he notices a woman in the forest line watching him, but she runs away once he notices her.

Geralt approaches the house and its owner, a large bear-like beast named Nivellen, attempts to scare him away, without success. Nivellen allows Geralt to enter the house, which supernaturally obeys Nivellen's every command. Nivellen relates that, as the reluctant leader of his late father's gang of bandits, he raped a priestess of a temple, who cursed him to be a beast before killing herself. The priestess told him how to lift the curse, but he has forgotten her exact words, only that it had something to do with a kiss from a woman.

Returning to the mansion, his family home, he invited the daughters of local villages to stay with him, rewarding their families from the mansion's treasury. None had any effect in lifting his curse, and eventually he gave up, settling for enjoying their company. Before departing, Geralt warns Nivellen that his newest relationship, named Vereena, may actually be a monster. Nivellen insists that he and Vereena are truly in love and is now hesitant to break his curse, unsure if she would still love him if he was just an "ordinary" human. Geralt notices his horse acting strangely, but dismisses it and leaves.

Along the road, Geralt realizes why his horse acted strangely and returns to the mansion. He is greeted by Vereena, whom Geralt identifies as a bruxa, a vampire-like monster with telepathic abilities. She truly loves Nivellen, but she has also been sating her appetite for blood on his other female companions, including the girl and her father that Geralt found in the woods. A fight ensues. The bruxa overwhelms Geralt, but Nivellen joins the fray and impales the monster on a pole. The bruxa confesses her love for Nivellen telepathically just before Geralt finally kills her. The confession breaks Nivellen's curse and he returns to normal. Geralt confides that the old stories about a kiss from a maiden lifting a curse like Nivellen's are mostly myth, but contain "a grain of truth": there has to be true love for the cure to work.

### **Everrealm** **Beauty and the Beast**

Beauty is in fact a lamia who was driven from her home after a man got her in the family way. The man's wife had some friends run Lamia out of town. They followed her to another world, where Lamia met a beautiful woman. Lamia, having so recently been abused for beauty's sake, hated the woman on sight and killed her, because "everything beautiful leads to ruin in the end". Lamia then took the woman's form in order to adopt her peaceful and simple way of life. She kept the form so long that the woman's personality became her own and she became what she was merely pretending to be. She met Beast, and they fell in love. But every few decades, Beauty becomes herself again and becomes Lamia. Every time, Beast tries to catch her in time and lock her away. But sometimes she escapes, and embarks on a killing rampage, targeting rapists and men who abuse women (going after innocents is "not her style"). Every time, Beast assumes the identities of famous detectives(such as Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe) and has to play detective and stop her before the mundy authorities can catch her (these identities may or may not indicate Lamia has already managed to escape to the United Kingdom and France, as well as the United States of America). Bigby Wolf has already threatened Beast to deal with the matter permanently - even if it means killing Beast as well. Beauty never remembers the incidents afterward and Beast never told her the truth (though he tried to write her a letter at least once with a typewriter).

Both set up in relatively low-paid jobs, Beast maintaining the Fabletown buildings and Beauty working in a bookshop, earning between them enough to make ends meet, but little more. Their lives were hampered somewhat by Beast's tendency to shift back and forth between his human and beastly forms depending on his wife's mood towards him, but the two were nevertheless a loving couple. With the election of Prince Charming to Mayor of Fabletown, their lives took a turn for the better; as neither Bigby Wolf or Snow White were willing to work alongside Charming, their positions became vacant and the Prince offered Beauty and Beast the available jobs.

Beast, now Sheriff, allied himself with Frau Totenkinder, the most powerful witch in Fabletown and finally had his curse fixed, allowing him to transform into his Beast form at will. Whether he's aware that it was Totenkinder who inflicted the curse on him in the first place is unknown; this occurred pre-amnesty, so he would be legally unable to retaliate if he wanted to. While initially reeling at the complexities of the job (much of what Bigby did was covert and unknown to the general Fable population), he has grown into the job and appears to even enjoy it. Beauty took Snow's position as Deputy Mayor, and has learned to cope with all of the responsibility. Early in her tenure, Prince Charming tried to seduce her, but she refused him, threatening to send her husband after him if he tried again. It is notable that Beauty realized, as a result of remarks made by Prince Charming during this seduction attempt, that her actions and words toward her husband were not generally as kind as she herself perceived; she subsequently resolved to be nicer to Beast.

After the arrival in Fabletown of the Imperial Emissary, Lord Hansel, and the subsequent need to keep track of both him and his staff, Beast asked for, and was given, additional funding and manpower, plus was later assigned zephyrs, provided by Bigby Wolf's father, the North Wind, to act as spies. During the war against the Empire, Beast remained in Fabletown, commanding the troops stationed there in case of a retaliatory assault by the Empire.

both asked Frau Totenkinder what it was she was knitting. When she answered she's knitting a garment for their firstborn child. To which Beauty laughs saying she's not even expecting, to which Frau answered "All things in time" and then offered to show them the progress of her knitting. Upon hearing them agree, she presented them a cute light greenish-blue footed pajamas with a lion head sewn on the front. In addition that the footed pajamas had four arms, two legs, and a place for a tail, indicating that their child might be a monster or at least have Beast's transformation problem. Upon seeing her work, this left both Beast and Beauty flabbergasted.

However, Frau's predication is shown to be possible. After having a brief argument with Beast about his behavior with Bigby, Beauty and her husband are shown in their tent together having makeup sex. While Beast was very happy from it, Beauty herself couldn't help but feel that there was something more special about and perhaps magical. Later on, she discovered she was pregnant. The child is a couple of week premature, but Beauty comes with the birth with a few complications. The child, a little girl is named Bliss and appeared to be born normal. However, as Frau had predicted, sometime later it is shown that when she becomes angry, she undergoes a transformation into a six limbed, tailed beast. Since the birth of little Bliss, her father has not been able to transform into his beastly form. When looked over by Ozma with her powers, she could not detect any trace of his ancient curse. It is confirmed that the Beast's daughter has adopted his curse as her own. She might have also inherited from her mother's powers (the snake Lamia).

Beast was considering making a new home for himself, his wife and their daughter in Flycatcher's kingdom in the Homelands, because Beauty will be safer there, as the "mundy" police keep getting better and better at investigating and collecting evidence, and will catch Beauty sooner or later. Beauty became the victim of a serial killer, and even though Beauty was brought back to life, Lamia was not.

Beast was ultimately killed by a feral, controlled resurrected Bigby Wolf. It remains to be seen if he will stay dead, given his story is very popular among the Mundies.

### **The Fire Rose**

The setting of the "Elemental Masters" is an alternative Earth during the early 1900s. The main and perhaps sole difference between this world and our reality is that magic exists, controlled by those who have mastery over the four classical elements (fire, air, water, earth). The majority of the tales take place in England, with *The Fire Rose* taking place in North America and focusing on the San Francisco area, while *Blood Red* and *From a High Tower* are set in Germany, with a focus on the Black Forest. While history does tend to follow the real-life time line, historic calamities such as the Great Chicago Fire and the earthquake in San Francisco are attributed to the elemental mages that serve as the series namesakes. Also the 1918 flu pandemic is hinted in *Phoenix and Ashes* to be due to the machinations of a malevolent Master