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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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[halfahead]

Glitch looked up from where he'd been attempting to negotiate with the bookshelf, specifically for something not related to weddings, when he heard someone calling for their papa. Well, and someone named Chip (and what kind of a name was Chip, anyway?), but the Papa part was what stuck in his mind.

With a look towards the bookshelf that clearly stated they'd continue their conversation later, Glitch stepped into the hall and smiled at her. "Where'd you last see them?"

[provincialbelle]

Belle started at the sight before her. Call her crazy (and she was sure someone was waiting to), but maybe she had spent days in the company of a Beast, but this seemed so very cruel. Who could do such a thing to another person! That zipper gleaming on his head made Belle wonder just how the man had managed. "They were right behind me, I don't understand what's happened," Belle insisted, looking the man in the eyes stubbornly.

There was always a reason for things like this, if you dug deep enough. Belle wanted to give the benefit of the doubt instead of being so scared. Beast had taught her that much, at least, she thought to herself with an air of nostalgia and kindness.

[halfahead]

Glitch frowned. She could be new, but then again she could also just be a bit confused or. Well, okay, probably not. She looked too surprised at where she was for her to have just been walking down the hall and her dad and friend slipping away.

He cleared his throat, and held out a hand. "Hi. The name's Glitch on account of...well." He smiled as kindly as he could. She was getting enough of a shock that adding in the whole headcase thing might be bad. "Anyway. I'm afraid you're on a magical island that makes little to no sense and seems to randomly snatch people from wherever it decides sounds fun." Glitch paused. "Sorry."

[provincialbelle]

Belle's eyes kept on creeping up to that zipper and she couldn't help being so very curious about it and she stepped just a bit closer, biting down on her lip as she reached out with tentative fingers. "Can I ask about this?" she ventured, fingers hovering just above it. "I don't think I've ever seen anything so strange in my life and my life has had its share of zany things between Papa's inventions and the castle."

[saikamai]

So far, it had been a thoroughly excellent evening for Cuthbert, who had spent the last two hours rummaging through the Clothing Box in the hope of finding something good for the Masked Ball. He'd had excellent luck, and though he was still undecided on the matter of how thoroughly he was going to attempt to disguise himself, he had wanted to have plenty of options. He was wearing all of them

[provincialbelle]

Belle jumped up and she barely restrained herself from giving a small sound. She'd only been exploring five steps and already she was nearly colliding into people. Usually she at least had a book in hand to excuse herself for the state of mind, but right now, she'd give anything for a book that came with an explanation of just where her family had gone.

And who had been at the door? That curiosity would niggle at her endlessly. Belle raised two fingers to her lower lip to hide the nonexistent sound she had produced before studying the man before her curiously, wondering where he could have come from. "I'm sorry," she apologized profusely. "Normally I'm very good at dodging and ducking. I guess I'm a little out of sorts is all."

[saikamai]

Cuthbert lifted up the brim of the hat, smiling. "Well, I should be the one apologizing anyway, barging around the corner like that," he said, laughing. He gave her a friendly nod and stepped around her, meaning to continue down the hall. "So I'm sorry! And I'm also Cuthbert, by the way," he said, turning and walking backwards a few paces, his words slightly muffled by the wooly beard. He noticed she really did look confused, and paused. "...are you lost?"

[provincialbelle]

Belle blinked rapidly as she found herself introduced to and in a new place and lost and...and so many things! How could she even pick one to focus on, but she had to, so introductions seemed the most intelligent way to go about this. "I'm Belle and it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure," she added warily. "I think it'd be more of a pleasure if I knew where I was, though."

[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.