I deleted For the Best. It was really going nowhere. Maybe I'll rework the plot of that one at some point, but in the meantime, here's another, hopefully more plausible story.

"We're not safe until his head is mounted on my wall! I say we kill the Beast!"

"No! I won't let you do this!"

"Sacre bleu!" cried Lumiere. "Invaders!"

"Encroachers," Cogsworth agreed.

"And they have the mirror," Mrs. Potts noticed, seeing the hunter striding towards the castle doors, glowing mirror in hand.

"I knew it," said Cogsworth. "I just knew when he let her go, she'd set the whole village on us!"

"Cogsworth, you don't really believe that, do you? She would never..." Lumiere admonished.

"Well, never mind that now. We must warn the Master. Mrs. Potts, go and find him…but don't tell him we suspect the girl had a hand in this. Lumiere, come with me. We must get everyone prepared."

No sooner had the words left his mouth then there came a frightening boom that echoed throughout the castle. The villagers were breaking down the door.

The pair didn't have to warn the rest of the staff. They already knew something was wrong. An army of enchanted items rushed into the front hall and pressed against the door, hoping against hope that it would hold until the Master came. If the mob got in, they'd run right back out at the sight of him, they were sure.

Mrs. Potts had found the Beast in the west wing, where he had been since Belle's departure. She had no luck getting the Master to notice or even care that they were under attack. He simply told her to let them come. If she'd had a heart, it would have broken at the sight of him. Though he was still a terrifying creature to behold, he had given up. There was simply no life left in him without Belle there. In a matter of weeks, she had become his entire world. And now that she was gone, it seemed that he had resigned himself to death.

Objects cannot die, but they can be broken. That Mrs. Potts knew full well. What would happen if they were to be damaged in the fight? Would they effectively die, or would they live on in shards and splinters? She didn't want to think about it, not right now, when there were far more serious matters at hand. And so she made her way to the kitchen to prepare the teacups for an ambush.

The staff put up a brave fight, but what they didn't know was that the hunter with the mirror had made his way past the barrage of attacking furniture to the upper floors and was searching in earnest for the Beast. They were far too busy making sure every last one of the villagers left trembling in his boots to notice him slip past, hiding behind pillars and finding a way up via another staircase a fair distance from the action.

Gaston made his way silently through the endless corridors filled with doors on each side. Where could this creature be? He'd expected it to be downstairs in the thick of the battle, goring men with his horns and clawing them open. But no, it was nowhere in sight. Finally, he came to a dusty staircase leading to a dustier hallway. At the end was an enormous set of double doors. Perhaps this Beast was actually a coward…perhaps it was hiding.

He opened the door, wincing at the creak, and took aim. At the far end of the room was a monstrous creature hunched over and gazing out the window. At the sound of the intrusion it looked up at him with the most miserable, defeated gaze Gaston had ever seen in his life. But it did not touch his cruel heart. What struck him was the fact that the monster's eyes looked uncannily…human.

He shook the thought from his mind—thoughts were dangerous things, after all—and fired. The arrow plunged into the Beast's shoulder, and at last the Beast leapt up and gave a terrifying roar. Gaston only laughed, shoving him out the window and ordering him to fight.

"Too kind and gentle to fight back?" he simpered derisively.

Please…just leave me in peace, thought the Beast. I just want to die in peace. He had no will to fight anymore, and he lay there while Gaston mocked and taunted him for his weakness.

And then, a cry from below. It was Belle's voice. She had returned! Something about her presence gave him the strength to get up and face Gaston. He wanted to live again.

Around the tower roof he and Gaston chased each other. He had an advantage in that he could hide among the gargoyles. Soon he had him right where he wanted him—in a vice grip at the throat, dangling over the ledge. And suddenly the brave, handsome huntsman was begging and pleading for his life like a frightened child. As he held him aloft, an unnerving sinking feeling settled upon the Beast, as if all the misery and despair of the world were now upon his broad shoulders.

He pulled Gaston back over the edge and dropped him, telling him to leave. The hunter, frightened out of his wits and no longer caring in that moment if he won another trophy, fled down a narrow passage to the bridge. He was lucky to have survived. Later he would tell his friends of a strangely human monster who could talk, and whose capture had so far eluded him, much as it pained him to say. He'd need better weapons if he was to take him down once and for all. It was not his fault arrows were not enough to kill this creature.

The Beast, seeing Belle extending her hand to him from the balcony, scaled the roof and climbed over.

"You came back," he marveled, taking her delicate hands in his massive paws.

"Of course I did." She said, astonished that he thought she wouldn't. "I love you."

"You do?" he asked, breaking into a grin. This was it. Any moment now, he and everyone else under the spell would be human again. He waited, staring down at his paws and knowing any minute they would turn back into hands.

But they didn't. And as he looked past Belle into his room, he saw why. The last petal of the rose had already fallen. That was what that agonizingly miserable feeling had been. The moment he'd had Gaston dangling by the neck was the moment his fate had been sealed forever.

As the thunder clapped overhead, he turned away from Belle and trudged wearily back inside.

I know this is only the beginning, but please review and tell me what you think!