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[provincialbelle]

It seemed like everything was falling into the sort of place it was meant to.

So why did Belle have the funny feeling that not everything was right? Her Papa was safe, the Beast wasn’t as truly monstrous as she had once considered. In fact, he seemed…well, sweet in that way that you would never expect. You just needed to look a slight bit past

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[furry_lil_prblm]

The term was nearly over, but Remus still had marking yet to do before the end. He didn't mind it at all, especially given the very real fact that he wouldn't have had the opportunity to teach at all most likely back home, in the wizarding world. Running a school, even one with such a loose structure, was a great deal of work, but he wouldn't have traded it for anything.

He was just stacking up the essays he'd finished marking when he heard a young woman's voice calling out in the hallway. Remus quickly gathered the papers together and picked them up, cradling them in one arm before heading out of the rec room. "Are you all right?" he said kindly to the woman, who seemed lost and was likely just arrived.

[provincialbelle]

Belle had kept one hand on the wall, trailing along her fingertips lightly as she walked, considering just where she could have gone to so suddenly. And why now of all times? "I opened the door," she recounted, mostly for the man, but also for herself. "And here I was. But when I turned around, Papa wasn't there any longer. I don't know why he would just leave me like that."

[furry_lil_prblm]

"I'm afraid it is you who have left him," Remus replied, somewhat apologetically. "Though through no fault of your own. This place brings people suddenly, without warning. You are on an island, called Tabula Rasa."

[provincialbelle]

The name was strange. Strange in the way of books and shelves and shelves of things she had read once upon a time. "That's one of those funny classic languages, isn't it?" she asked, mind whirring to figure out just what it meant. "What does this all mean? Why would I come here? Why me?" It was said with a kind of wonder, that her life could turn so interesting twice in a week.

[furry_lil_prblm]

Remus nodded. "It's Latin; it means 'blank slate'. I'm sorry, I don't have an explanation for you. None of us know why we were brought here, and there's nearly four hundred of us now."

[provincialbelle]

"I hate to ask a silly question," Belle began, the edge of anxiety around her words. "But are these people, these four hundred of them, are they all...people?" She couldn't even begin to count the servants living at the castle, but hundreds seemed to be a good estimation, when you got down to how many bits and bobs moved about that place.

[furry_lil_prblm]

"That's not a silly question," Remus assured her. Certainly not silly given the nature of the island, and not silly given where he'd come from himself. "But the answer is yes, they are all human. Though some of us were not entirely so before coming here."

[provincialbelle]

It seemed silly, really, being that the question was supposed to be meant to discover if there were people or whether there were clocks and candelabras -- the helpers in her most recent world of madness -- and she gave an easy smile to hear of so many people around. "And, I don't suppose you could tell me. Is there a...a Beast?" She hesitated to call him that, wishing that people wouldn't condemn him at first sight because if they just got to know him, there was so much more to him, so much they could discover!

[furry_lil_prblm]

Remus considered the question a moment. "I don't recall anyone calling themselves a beast, precisely," he said, "but as I say, everyone here is human, even those who weren't entirely human before. I myself was labeled a beast and similar names by many, where I come from, but here I am entirely human."

[provincialbelle]

He never had the luxury to ever switch, Belle thought to herself with sympathy and folded her hands before her, giving a weak smile to the man, wishing she could somehow get back to at least tell everyone that she was fine and safe.

"I guess a place like this should best be discovered on your own at first," she said, trying to see on the bright side. "I hope."

[furry_lil_prblm]

"Perhaps, though no one has had a choice in the matter, to my knowledge," Remus replied kindly. "This is not a location one can decide to go to. Nor can anyone decide to leave. Those things, I'm afraid, are out of our hands."

[provincialbelle]

"I just worry for people," Belle explained her asking, not wanting to make it seem like she was ungrateful for being there. ...wherever there was. "I'm sure Papa can take care of himself, but..." There was the slightest hint of unsureness in her tone. "Well, I'd rather be there."

[furry_lil_prblm]

"Well, if it's any comfort, there seems to be evidence pointing to us being both here and at home, however odd that may sound," Remus said. "People from the same place can come from different times. A friend of mine from home is from two years before me, but for the two years he was there, the same as always. It's an odd occurrence, but a common one. Somehow, even though we're here, some form of ourselves remains there as well."

[provincialbelle]

"So," Belle began to reason aloud with hope in her voice, hope that she wanted to ignite rather than let dwindle out. "So what you're saying is that there's a chance that somewhere, I'm there, helping my Papa and...and I could be there too!" It was far too good a thought and she refused to let go of it.

[furry_lil_prblm]

Remus nodded. "Precisely," he confirmed. "As long as you're alive at home, you should still be there as well."

[provincialbelle]

"Well, unless something very horrible has happened in the last few moments, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be as colourful and breathing as I am now," Belle said with a great pragmatic thought in mind. She really couldn't help but smile and sigh in relief at the news. "This really is wonderful. I was so worried, you have no idea!"