You know of the tale of the Beauty and her Beast, a young bookish lady who tamed the wild and lonely heart of a man-turned-monster. But there was also a period of time between when the Belle and the Beast began speaking to each other and when the curse was lifted, during the run up to Christmas.
...
It was a cold winter's day, the snow was thick and spring was too far away to even see. Belle had been in the castle for a few weeks now, after sacrificing her own freedom for that of her father's. Against his wishes ofcourse. But since then, Belle had grown to like the castle quite a bit. It almost felt like she wasn't a prisoner. Almost. Her and the Beasg had began speaking, getting to know each other. It was beginning to feel like there was something there that wasn't there before, but she wasn't sure of that just yet.
There was no shortage of things to do in the castle. She could explore, read in the gigantic library, tend to the horses or take a trip to the kitchens. The latter of which, she found herself doing quite often. There was also a huge feast every night, filled with delicious food and sweet treats. Belle loved it! She had never eaten so many tasty things at one time before! She loved the feeling of waddling off to bed with a full stomach and digesting it all as she sleeps. The best part was waking up and knowing that she could do it all over again that night as well! There was one small issue with this though. Belle had always had a good metabolism, never had much weight on her. But perhaps swapping from a diet of working class meals to royalty worthy cuisine was taking a while for her body to get used to. Her dressed were beginning to feel a bit tight around her middle and her waist. Even her bust was feeling a bit... fuller, than what she was used to.
She needed exercise, to help her lose the extra pounds. But the question was how? She could work out in the castle? Or maybe go for a run each morning? But that wouldn't work, she would fall on her padded behind with all the ice... ice...
"THATS IT!"
She exclaimed, grabbing her red cloak and a pair of skates before rushing to find the Beast. She figured it would be nice for him to get some air. Before he could even argue, he was dragged outside, and skating on the frozen lake with Belle.
...
However... High in the castle, in the west wing, hidden behind a door in the Beast's Chambers was another castle servant. Forte, Mistro Forte. When the curse was cast, he was transformed into an organ. Massive in scale and, unfortunately for him, bolted to the wall. He was a rather sad man, often wanting to compose the most dire compositions rather than anything uplifting. He was mostly ignored when he was human, but now the beastly prince wallowed in self pity whilst Forte played melancholic melodies to fuel the Prince's self loathing and making sure the Prince had a reason to give the Mistro attention... but now, from a slightly frosted window, he could see the Prince outside with Belle. Oh how he hated her. She was going to ruin everything. If she broke the master's curse, then there would be no more need for Forte. He would be gone, forgotten, collecting dust like he is right now. He needed to think of something. Something that would stop the Beast falling in love with Belle...
He could send Fife, the little piccolo that does Forte's bidding since he can't leave the room, but Fife would only mess it up somehow. No, he needed something else. A more magical influence. He grinned an evil grin and began to play a melody. Green musical notes began to appear and disappear, dancing across the room and loud enough to reach Belle's ears as she skated bellow.
The plan was simple, take away the beauty from Belle! Once the music notes reached her ears, suddenly Belle...