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When Hope Rose Transformed

When Hope Rose Transformed

September 3, 2024 - Author: Jacob Rennaker

When the hobbling Beast glimmer had entered her tent clutching a terrified Lumiere, Belle’s heart nearly stopped and the lorebook she had been studying tumbled to the floor. Something had attached itself to Beast’s leg—a violet strand of seaweed with an unsettling black smoke rising from it.

Before she knew it, she was out in the inklands searching for something that could help Beast.  Belle’s quest had taken her past camps, over walls, and around coves, but her eyes simply slid past every item she encountered. And now she was staring into the mouth of a ravenous cave. The Belle glimmer hesitated upon entering, but there was something about the flicker of amethyst light within that tugged at her thoughts - it was the only way she could help the one she loved.

 

Enchanted rose of Beauty and the Beast

Belle peered around a jagged boulder and saw it—the shining rose suspended within an elegant transparent sphere and floating atop a pool of magic ink. Of course! The flood had washed it out of the Great Illuminary and carried it far into the inklands. The volatile liquid swirled and danced, while the enclosed rose bobbed and swayed gently upon it, as if inviting her into the ink.

The ink. She’d seen what getting hit by the flood of mixed ink had done to other glimmers in the Illuminary. There was no telling what the ink would do to her. But if there was even a sliver of hope that this mixed ink could help Beast, it was a risk she had to take.

Taking a deep breath, Belle waded into the ink. She felt a prickling sensation all over her feet and legs. She snatched the rose container, and through pinched eyes, a kaleidoscope of colors blazed and she felt the rose pull gently from her grasp.

 

Belle wearing a deep blue hooded cloak, standing before the enchanted rose

When she finally opened her eyes, she saw the mixed ink swirling around her feet. A deep blue hooded cloak now billowed around her. And directly before her, the magic rose hovered—only now, the protective sphere had evolved into a gold-handled lantern, which she reached out and grasped. The rose lantern grew suddenly brighter, and with a gasp, she knew what to do. 

With a newfound sense of purpose, the Belle glimmer gathered her cloak about her, held up the magical rose lantern, and dashed out the mouth of the cave to heal her beloved Beast.