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Mine, incredibly long story added (edited language)
I decided to make it French-Italian rather than all-French language. All those accents were killing me :P
UN: britto09
Prince: Adam Michele Jean-Luc Pietro Auguste, Prince of Renoir (17)
Princess: Annabelle Sara Matilde Danielle "Belle" (nee Durant) Princess of Renoir (17)
Tale: Beauty and the Beast
_____________________________________________________________________________________Family TreesKing Étienne Michele Guiseppe Auguste Gerard of Renoir (53)
Queen Jacqueline Marie-Claude Isabella Louisa (52)
-Prince Adam Michel Jean-Luc Pierre Auguste (17)
DH: Victor Maurice Henri (52)
DW: Sophie Elisabetta Adele (R.I.P.)
-DD: Nicoletta Veronique Emanuelle Gianna (29)
--DH: Joseph Gilberto (30)
---DD: Francesca Anne Louise (8)
---DD: Emmeline Dianne Beatrice (4)
-DS: Georges Henri Simone (27)
--DW: Fleur Gianna (28)
---DS: Giacomo Alphonse Simon (6)
---DD: Catherine Maria Brigitte (4)
-DS: Claude Alonzo Victor (25)
--DW: Isabella Elaine (22)
---DD: Camilla Adrianna Liane (1)
-DS: Yves Sylvain Xavier (22)
--DW: Valentina Marie-Noelle (22)
-DD: Marguerite Louise Tatiana Bernadette (20)
-DD: Annabelle Sara Mathilde Danielle (17)
_____________________________________________________________________________________Annabelle, Belle for short, was born to a prosperous merchant and his wife in the kingdom of Renoir, the youngest of six siblings, having three brothers and two sisters. Her first ten years were idyllic: her parents were wealthy enough to give their children anything they wanted, yet not so wealthy and important that they were taken away from their children very often. But when Belle was eleven, tragedy struck her family. Her mother died after a brief but terrifying illness, and within two months after that the four ships carrying her father's ships were lost or taken by pirates. The final blow came one night during a terrible storm, when lightning struck the warehouses holding her father's goods, destroying them completely in a fire. Her father's physical health had broken down after so many losses coming after the loss of his beloved wife, so the family was left to handle everything. Nicolette, the eldest, facilitated the sale of the family home and their more valuable possessions in order to pay the debts caused by the loss of the ships, and the family moved to a cottage in a small village near the city where they had lived. Her father had been a farmer's son, and soon the old skills returned to him and he taught his children. They made a life for themselves, different from their lives before but eventually happy. Belle grew up loving music and books and gardens, roses especially, surrounded by loving family which grew as her elder sisters and brothers married. Though she was the most beautiful of them all by the time she was fifteen and admirers were not wanting, Belle rejected them all. She hated refusing, but she loved none of them, and at any rate she still felt she was too young to marry. After all, her eldest sister and brothers had mot married until entering their twenties, and what was good for her siblings was good for her. The family prospered in a farmer way, and everyone was content.Life continued until Belle turned seventeen. The very day of her seventeenth birthday, an old friend of her father's arrived to tell him that after nearly seven years, a ship that had been thought lost when civil war broke out in the kingdom where they docked had returned to a trade port far down the coast, its holds full of the cargo they had hidden for five years as they lay in wait for the war to end so they could return. This excited her family, who though they had grown to love their new life could only imagine how the money could make their lives easier, but their father warned that after so long, the cargo may not be as valuable as it would have been before. But he still asked each of his children, children-in-law, and grandchildren what they would like as a gift. When it came to Belle, she thought for a moment and asked only for roses. "A few bushes to plant against the cottage, or some seeds," she said. "I remember how lovely our old rose garden was, and I'd love to start one here."So the merchant left. The cargo was still profitable, and though it didn't make their fortune again the merchant could happily plan adding new rooms to the family home and perhaps the buying of another acre of land. He began buying the presents he had promised, but thanks to a recent rush on roses due to the gardening season starting left no rose seeds or bushes to be had. Bitterly disappointed that he could not give her youngest daughter her one request, he left the city and started home. As he reached the middle a great forest, however, night fell and he soon became hopelessly lost. Half dead with exhaustion, he suddenly came upon a road. He knew it must lead somewhere, so he followed it and soon came upon a great palace. Thinking whoever owned such a home could surely spare him a bit of stable for the night, he went up to the gates, which mysteriously opened as he approached. Strange presences, whihc he could feel were there but couldn't see, led him to the stables, where his horse was taken away by invisible grooms. As Renoir is a kingdom known for its surfeit of magic, he was not as stunned at this as one might think. Besides, he was exhausted and hungry, and the presences led him to a room where a warm, hearty meal had been laid out and a comfortable bed laid. After eating his fill and sleeping deeply, he awoke refreshed and considerably cheered, especially at the sight of breakfast on the same little table. The presences led him back to the stable after breakfast, where his horse was already saddled and waiting, and they led him back through magnificent gardens he had not noticed the night before. As they passed a rose garden, he spied the most beautiful rosebush he had ever seen. Full of perfect red-pink blooms with a lovely scent, it reminded him of his promise to Belle. He decided to bring her one rose, at least, that may perhaps have some seeds she could plant later, and he plucked the freshest bloom he could find.The moment he did, a terrible roar filled his ears. The friendly little presences went scattering, and all of a sudden a horrible beast was bearing down on him. Beast was the only way to describe such a creature, who looked like no animal the poor farmer had ever seen. It was as if the most frightening parts of different vicious animals had been grafted onto a man, which made it all the more terrifying. After roaring as if the had had ripped off one of his tusks, the Beast cried, "Theif! Ungrateful swine! After all my kindness to you, after sheltering you, you damage the most precious thing I own and steal it from me!"The farmer fell onto his knees, begging for forgiveness, protesting he had not known the rose was so valuable and explaining that he only wanted a single rose to bring to his dear youngest child, who was so sweet and asked for so little. He poured out the story of his family and his life, offered to pay for the rose with all he carried. After hearing this the Beast got hold of his temper and said. "I must have something in return for your damage. Not your money, for what use have I for that? My roses are like my family, so I must have a piece of your family to replace it. You or one of your daughters must remain with me."As the thought of one of his daughters with this Beast did not stand imagining, the farmer begged for some time to return and explain what had happened to his family, after which he would return. The Beast permitted this, and tossed the offending rose to him, saying that when it faded, he would know it was time to return. "If you or one of your daughters isn't here by then, I shall come and fetch you myself!"The farmer sadly returned home and explained what had happened. His children and in-laws were horrified, and swore to hide him away so the Beast couldn't find him. But Belle, feeling it was her fault, said firmly that she would go. She was the cause of this tragedy, after all. Nothing they said could talk her out of anything once her mind was set, and as soon as the petals on the rose began to drop, she stole off in the early morning before anyone else was awake and lost herself in the same forest. Sure enough, the road found her and she arrived at the palace. At first she was certain that the Beast would eat her, or at least kill her, but after meeting him she realized he had no intention of doing anything cruel to her at all. She may do as she liked and go anywhere in the palace or the grounds, but she may not go outside the gate. His only request was that she have dinner with him every night. Belle soon grew accustomed to her new life, and even made friends among the presences her father had described (she soon discovered they were simply invisible people). She even began to grow fond of the Beast, who she discovered was more like a spoiled child who had never learned to control his temper than anything cruel or malevolent. They had several arguments, but he never offered her the least harm. He was quite intelligent, and the two liked to discuss books. She began to enjoy her time with him, except for their evening dinners. Invariably he asked her, as seh rose to leave, if she would marry him. At first she had been frightened, thinking he would kill her if she refused but unable to say yes, but then as she grew to like him it hurt to see him refused, for it seemed to leave him so sad. This combined with her longing to be with her family again were the only discomforts she experienced. She did have one confusion in the form of a strange dream she had every night, where a handsome young man looked at her sadly and said he wished she could see his heart, not his face. She didn't know what it meant, but she took it as a minor annoyance.One day, after four months spent in the palace, Belle's longing for her family grew so great that the Beast showed her a mirror he owned that would allow her to see whatever she wished. When she asked to see her family, she saw them all gathered around her father, was was in his bed. He looked gravely ill, and seeing Belle's fright and sadness the Beast released her. He had grown to love her deeply and could not bear to see her so terribly sad. She returned to her family, who rejoiced greatly at her return. Her father grew well under her care and the happy atmosphere, and Belle set about her old life once again. But she found that she could't, for she truly missed the Beast and all the other friends she had made in the palace. In her dream the young man would not speak to her, but only look at her with such sadness she sometimes awoke crying. One night, after begging him in her dream, he would only say, "Oh Belle, you have killed me. How can I speak?"Feeling something was horribly wrong, Belle left in the early morning, vowing to return to the Beast, who she realized now she had ceased to see as a beast and had come ot love with a fierceness that startled her. She reached the palace, which seemed dead, and ran all through it calling until she found the Beast, lying under his favorite rosebush, apparently dead. Belle sobbed over him, and finally declared her love. At this there was a great clap of thunder, and three things happened one after another. The earth began to toss until Belle was totally disoriented, a tall and beautiful woman appeared beside the Beast, and the Beast was suddenly gone and the young man from her dream was there, alive and real and staring at her with awe. Belle was frightened and demanded to know where her Beast was. "Belle, don't you know me?" the man asked, and his voice was so familiar. It was his eyes that convinced her, though. They were exactly the same bright, clear blue eyes her Beast had had. The enchantress (for who else could the woman be?) explained that as a way to torture the prince's parents (for the Beast was a prince!), a good king and queen, an evil enchantress had taken their only child at the age of ten and turned him into a beast. He had remained so seven years, knowing that the only way to reverse the spell was to have his appearance reversed for someone else--for them to see the human, not the Beast. That was why he asked if she would marry him every night, to see if she saw him as a man yet, and why the enchantress (a friend of his parents') had sent her the dreams of him as he would be. The prince, whose real name was Adam, and Belle married. Her family (after everything was revealed and Prince Adam returned home in triumph) still had trouble with her marrying so young, but as the prince was only seventeen as well it was deemed fine. The two live apart from his parents in their palace in the woods surorunded by (no longer invisible once the spell broke) servants and friends.

This message was edited 2/19/2011, 7:07 AM

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