Later that night, the door of Max’s room slowly creaked open. Max peeked out of the door to see if The Beastess was still around. So far, so good. He was quite scared to death when the Beastess suddenly banged his door and yelled her lungs out at him when he refused her dinner invitation, and he was so pissed off at her that he was determined to stay there and not come out. But in the end, his anger made his hunger worse, and he had to admit, before The Beastess even invited him to dinner, he was already a tad hungry. Slowly, he crept out of his room and made his way downstairs to the kitchen.
On his way, without him noticing, he passed by the hallway where Rusty and her boyfriend the broom were behind the curtains playing romantic games with each other. When Rusty noticed Max out of his room, she was horrified and immediately dumped her boyfriend in the mid-game and chased after Max. By then, the steam between her and her boyfriend were broken off rudely and the broom was left there to pout.
Inside the kitchen, all the animated objects were cleaning up after themselves. The uneaten dinner was all stocked up in the food shelves and all the culinary were put away. While Normie tucked Junior into the cupboard to sleep (Junior insisted that he wasn’t sleepy, but fell off to sleep anyway), the stove complained loudly to himself.
“I work and slave all day long and for what? This culinary masterpiece gone to waste!”
“Oh, stop your grouching. It’s been a long night through for us,” Normie stopped him short.
“Well, if you ask me, that boy was just being stubborn,” Virgil said as he wiped his hands and threw the towel onto the rack. “After all, the Mistress did say ‘Please’.”
“But if the Mistress doesn’t learn to control that temper, she’ll never break the—”
“Splendid to see you up and about, Little Master!” Virgil cut Normie’s talk short when he saw Max stepping in slowly into the kitchen. He reached out to shake his hand, saying, “I’m Virgil, master butler of this castle and…” this is where the frantic Rusty jumped in front of him, much to his distaste, “this is Rusty.”
“A great pleasure to see you, Little Master,” Rusty said as she kissed Max’s hand. She can be sentimental and over-romantic at times.
“Is there—stop kissing him—anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable?” Virgil cut back in front of Rusty, earning a serious burn from her candle.
“Well, I am a little hungry,” Max admitted, scratching his chin sheepishly.
“You are?” Normie asked, sounding delighted. “Hear that? He’s hungry! Start the fire! Bring out the silver! Wake the china!”
“Remember what the Mistress said!” Virgil hissed. He was a work-to-rule kind of person and really disliked things that didn’t go into order, especially when it comes to breaking the Mistress’s rules.
“Oh, pish-posh! I’m not going to let that poor child go hungry!”
“Oh, alright! A glass of water, a crust of bread, and then…”
“Virgil,” Rusty shoved Virgil’s shoulder. “I’m surprised at you. He’s not our prisoner; he’s our guest. We must make him feel welcome here. Right this way, Little Master.”
“Well…keep it down,” Virgil finally relented. “If the Mistress finds out it’ll be our necks, you know.”
“Of course, of course,” Rusty waved Virgil’s worries away. “But what is dinner without a little…music?”
So, despite Virgil’s disapproving protests, Rusty and her fellow animated objects entertained Max with a little song and dance while Max gorged himself to all the food laid before him. Max tried a little of everything that was served there: beef ragout, cheese soufflé, pie and even pudding ‘en-flambé’. There was so much for him to eat that he couldn’t keep track. By the time the entertainment was done, he was practically stuffed. The music was pretty cool and he was impressed at how well Rusty sang, including Normie and a few dubbing from Virgil himself (he seems to be enjoying it). Max clapped his hands with glee.
“Bravo! Encore, encore! That was way cool, guys! Great show!”
“Thank you, thank you,” Virgil bowed humbly. “Good show, wasn’t it? Oh, goodness, look at the time! Now it’s off to bed, off to bed.”
“Man, I don’t think I can sleep a wink right now!” Max chuckled. “It’s my first time in the enchanted castle.”
“Enchanted? Who said anything about the castle being enchanted?” Virgil laughed nervously, then turned to Rusty accusingly. “You, wasn’t it?”
“I, uh, figured it out quite by myself, actually,” Max grinned in amusement as he watched the candelabra and the clock bickering and fighting with each other. He stood up and said, “I’d like to look around, if that’s alright with you guys.”
“Oh, would you like a tour?” Rusty offered, but was stopped by Virgil.
“I don’t really think it’s such a good idea. We can’t let him go…poking around in certain places, if you know what I mean.”
“Perhaps you’ll like to take me,” Max pointed at Virgil. “I’m sure you know everything there is to know about the castle.”
“Well, he he…actually, I’m…” Virgil tried to be humble but in the end admitted, “Well, yes, I do.”
Soon Max was taken around the castle and was being introduced by many of the things displayed there. Virgil explained longwindedly about how the fabric of India was made and how the paintings of warriors came to be and how the statues symbolized something and all the whatnot. Max wasn’t exactly interested in these things but he admired them politely all the same. His main reason here was to look for the rose for SkullMaster’s payment to turn him into a merman so that he could be with Phoebe. He had to act fast if he wanted to keep the offer from going expired. While Virgil continued to blabber about the suit of armour in the hallway, he silently sneaked off and decided to try his luck in the forbidden East Wing. Maybe whatever was forbidden in there could prove to be the one he was looking for. Halfway up the stairs, she was stopped by Rusty and Virgil. His suspicions were aroused further.
“What’s up there anyway?” Max asked.
“Oh, nothing really,” Virgil replied, trying to talk him out of it. “It’s all in the East Wing, all the dusty, dirty grime…Very gory, really.”
“Ah, so that’s the East Wing,” Max grinned.
“Nice going,” Rusty said sarcastically, glaring accusingly at the petrified Virgil.
“I wonder what she’s hiding up there.”
“Hiding?” Rusty laughed nervously. “The Mistress is hiding nothing!”
“Then it wouldn’t be forbidden,” Max took another step up but was stopped again by Virgil and Rusty.
"Well, maybe, Little Master, you would like to see something else," Virgil suggested. "We have great tapestry all the way back to..."
"Maybe later."
"How about the gardens?" Rusty asked, desperate. "Or, or, uh, the comic studio, perhaps?"
"You have a comic studio?" Max asked, interested. Comics never failed to catch his attention.
"Yes, yes, of course, with comics!" Virgila and Rusty were relieved that they have caught Max's attention. "Gallons of comics, moutains of comics, forests of comics, cascades even! More comics than you can ever read in a lifetime! Comics on every subject and..."
Max followed them for a while at first, then slowly backed away and went back to the steps of the East Wing, leaving the two rambling animated objects behind. 'The comics can wait,' he thought, 'My future happiness is at stake here.' He went up the steps slowly and was walking down a long, long corridor where it was decorated just as horribly as the ones he had seen when he was led to his room by The Beastess. He even passed by a mirror that was already shattered into pieces, reflecting dozens of his faces on it. He shook his head and mentally noted the 7 years bad luck ahead for The Beastess.
Finally, his journey came to a dead end. He found himself standing in front of a huge door probably standing about 10 feet tall with a battered lion's face as the door handle. He stood there, not sure whether this was the right thing to do; barging into people's private property sure wasn't his good side, but then again, he dared to enter SkullMaster's lair without even a single fear, why should this be any different. Besides, the thing he was looking for could be right inside there. Taking a deep breath, he held his hands fast onto the door handles and pulled the door open.
As the door creaked open, he took a peek inside to see if there was anybody there. When he was sure that all was silent, he went in. He was shocked to see that the whole place was totally trashed down to the ground. Everything was in a mess and everything that used to something was torn to smithereens, save a few chairs and tables and the bed, but then again, the bed looked like it had seen better days. He noticed a portrait with its canvas all torn up. He could only make out the eyes and the hair but the rest was just unrecognizable. When he tried to bring the torn canvas together and see clearly, something else caught his attention. It was a shimmering of light somewhere near the verandah and it made a slight tinkling sound as it went. It sounded almost like the wind chimes hung on the comic bookshop he used to go to back home.
He followed the light and was awed to see a hovering, glowing rose kept in a belljar on a round table near the verandah. It shone bright pink and looked as if it was beating like a heart. He came closer and had a real good look at the rose. He was anxious: could this be the rose SkullMaster was talking about? It sure didn't look very big, fresh and red like SkullMaster said, judging by its wilted look and the fallen petals, and it sure wasn't in the garden where it's supposed to be. Could SkullMaster be mistaken? Could it be that The Beastess has already plucked the rose and kept it in here? Well, whatever the reason, the rose was just hovering there ready for him to take. He wasn't going to take any chances. He took down the belljar and held out his hand to take it...
Suddenly, a large shadow covered him. He gasped when he saw The Beastess standing before him with her eyes gazing dangerously at his. She saw the belljar off the rose and quickly replaced it back, holding it protectively. She turned and glared at Max, letting out a lion-like growl.
"Why did you come here?" The Beastess demanded.
"Hey...Hey, I'm...I'm sorry, OK?" Max replied nervously.
"I've warned you never to come here!!!"
"Hey, look, I didn't mean any harm..."
"Do you realize what you could have done?!" The Beastess exclaimed as she smashed a nearby chair. Max was horrified. He backed away, afraid that the splinters might get to him.
"Please...stop it..."
"Get out!!!" The Beastess yelled, thrashing everywhere and beating at everything to make her point. "GET OUT!!!"
Max didn't need to be told twice. He immediately made a dash for it. He was out of the East Wing and was getting ready to get out of the castle. After The Beastess let out her anger, she was horrified to realize what she had done. She covered her face with her big hands in agony and shame, feeling terribly bad at how her hot temper led her to. Rusty and Virgil heard the sounds coming from the East Wing and could've guessed what had happened but when they saw Max running towards the front door, they were horrified.
"Wh...Where are you going?" Rusty asked.
"Promise or no promise, deal or no deal," Max said as he opened the door, "I can't stay here another second!"
"Oh no, wait, please wait," Virgil pleaded for him to stay but Max shutting the door behind him made it clear to him that he wasn't coming back.
Max ran and ran, stumbling over roots and stones in the woods, not sure where he was going. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to go back to the horrible castle and stay with that horrible, monstrous Beastess. He was sure that if he stayed one more day in there, he was going to get mauled by her sooner or later. He would find another way to become a merman. He could bargain with SkullMaster or even try another remedy, just anything, to fulfill his desire. If all fails, he would succumb to going down the sea and watch her from afar. That would do just fine. Anything to keep him away from this hellish nightmare.
Suddenly, he realized he was being chased by the wolves that had attacked his mother before. He tried to outrun them but they were much faster. Soon he was surrounded by them. They looked pretty hungry and were ready to bite him into chunks as they growled at him and bared their fangs at him. He tried to pick up stones and throw at them but they kept coming back and coming closer. He tried using a stick to fight them off but one of them bit it into two. One of them pounced on him and forced him onto the ground, tugging at his T-shirt. The rest of the wolves cornered him, ready for the kill. This was it. He was done for. He was going to die before he was able to share a love life with his Princess Phoebe. He covered his face, bracing himself for the worse.
Surprisingly, the wolves' hungry fangs didn't get to him. He heard a loud lion-like roar and uncovered his face to see The Beastess actually roaring threateningly at the wolf that tugged at Max's shirt. The Beastess actually came out of the castle to save him! She threw the wolf away and shielded Max with her huge green scaly body. Soon a fight between The Beastess and the wolves broke loose, roaring and snarling each other as the wolves swarmed all over The Beastess, trying to maul her into pieces. They fought teeth to teeth, claw to claw but it was evident that the 10-feet Beastess was much stronger. Finally the wolves gave up and retreated, whining pitifully as they made their escape.
As soon as he saw that they were all out of harm's way, Max got up and got ready to leave when he saw The Beastess standing weakly a few feet before him. She was slouching and was staggering to stand up straight, her copper-brown eyes looking sadly and apologetically at him, as if telling him that she was sorry about her outburst and begging him not to go. Finally, The Beastess couldn't stand still anymore. She slumped and fell with a thud onto the ground. Max couldn't help feeling sorry for her. 'She must've hurt real bad,' he thought. 'But what do I care? I gotta get outta here! I don't belong here! I have nothing to do with her! I...'
But The Beastess's eyes came to his mind. So sad...so desperate...so...alone...
In the end, Max could be seen running towards the castle to bring in the castle's horse-less carriage to take him back to the castle where she belonged.
Growls could be heard as Max and The Beastess, together with the animated objects, were at the living room near the fireplace. Max dipped a cloth into hot water Normie had prepared and was thinking of using it to disinfect the wound The Beastess had on her arm when he saw her licking it like the animal she was. Max reached over to stop her.
"There now. Oh, don't do that."
The Beastess growled, taking her arm away from his touch. The animated objects backed away a little in fear. Max ordered the fidgeting Beastess to hold still as he pressed the hot wet cloth onto the wound. As soon as the cloth got in contact with the wound, The Beastess roared in pain, shaking the whole living room.
"That hurts!!!"
"If you hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much!" Max argued.
"Well, if you hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened."
"If you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away now, would I?"
"Well, you shouldn't have been in the East Wing!"
"Well, you should hold the chili dogs and learn to control your temper, babe!"
The Beastess didn't know what else to rebut Max, so she pouted and propped her chin, looking dissatisfied. Max took the wounded arm and said, "Now hold still. This might sting like crap."
The Beastess gritted her teeth and braced herself, able to keep herself from bringing the house down. As Max continued to nurse the wound, he stole a look at The Beastess. Now that she was pretty much helpless and in his mercy, he realized that she didn't look so scary and ferocious after all. She looked just like a typically normal ogress who was trying to live her life the way she wanted, how unconventional it may seem.
"By the way, thanks...for saving my life."
The Beastess was surprised. Maxwell Deanhart, a boy who showed a serious disregard for his safety and was too curious and adventurous for his own good, actually thanking her? It has been a while since anyone had ever thanked her before. This was something new.
"You're welcome."
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