#loveanddeepspacefanfiction

[butdaddy-ilove-him]

Power and Prowess: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling

Chapter 2

I rewatched Beauty and the Beast and got inspired to write this. I have not seen this idea written anywhere but credit to those who also thought of it.

Content Warning: Typical Game warnings apply to this story regarding violence, language, etc. There will be no smut in this story because I don't specialize in writing those scenes, but there will be fade-to-black scenes. The other love interests of the game aren't really in the story except for Zayne who is purely platonic as her doctor. This is checked by Grammarly and that's about it as far as proofreading and spell/grammar check goes so be forgiving if it's not perfect, please.

Summary: Daniela Miller(The name of the protagonist from the game for simplicity) is a renowned Hunter for The Association. After the death of her grandmother and the capture of her closest friend, Caleb, by the rival gang Onychinus, she vows to get her friend back and kill their leader, Sylus.

Awoken by the abrupt sound of Tara, her coworker and friend, coming up next to her, Daniela jumped in her seat. “Tara, geez,” She mumbled while rubbing her hands over her face. 

“You were asleep at your desk again. Captain Jenna said you could take all the time off you needed, you should be at home.” 

“I can’t…” Daniela responded “...I can’t be in that apartment without thinking of everything.” 

Tara nodded. “I’m sorry about Caleb and your grandmother. They didn’t deserve it.” 

It had been two weeks since the accident. Daniela had received a sympathy note from everyone and their mother it seemed. Half of them seemed to be from Tara herself. It didn’t bother her that they kept expressing sympathy. It only bothered her that no one believed her that Caleb was still alive. “I told you, Tara, Caleb…”

“Daniela…I think you should talk to Dr. Zayne about…what you think you saw.” 

“You think my brain made it up?” 

“Our minds do weird things when we’re in fight or flight. It’s just…look you know I want to believe you and help you, but no one has seen or heard anything about Caleb.” 

Daniela shook her head. “I just need to know for sure. That’s all.” 

The dismissive response was enough for Tara to pat Daniela’s shoulder and smile before walking away. Daniela dropped the smile she put on for Tara and looked back at her laptop. The piles of research about the two men she saw dragging Caleb were all the tabs and windows open. Images of masks that were similar to those that they wore…their clothes…even down to their voices. Nothing of promise came up. 

But she spent every day at work doing it. Captain Jenna banned her from missions since she wasn’t in the right mind to be fighting so Daniela had all the time in the world to spend trying to find him. It wasn’t until another three days passed and the sun had already gone down, everyone in the building had gone home already, that she came across something of interest. 

Onychinus. The information the Association had on the group was limited access as Daniela discovered by clicking on the file and being met with blurred sections of information. All she could find was the basics. A faction in the N109 zone that was connected to everyone…and everything. She sent the file to Zayne before leaving the building to go see him. 

More than a few nurses tried to stop her from walking straight past them to his office and then just barging in but as soon as Zayne saw her he dismissed them. Daniela closed and locked the door before looking at her friend. 

“I saw what you sent me. I’m assuming that’s why you’re here?” 

“Do you know anything about them?” 

Zayne took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair slightly. “Very little. Why are you asking?” 

Daniela sighed and looked down at her hands before sinking onto the couch in Zayne’s office. She rubbed her hands over her face. “Tara thinks I’m going crazy. Captain Jenna probably shares the same sentiment.” 

“Tell me.” 

“Caleb is alive.” Zayne didn’t respond immediately. “I saw him. When…the house…I looked up and saw two men dragging him from the rubble. They said something about a boss telling them to retrieve Caleb. They saw me and left me there.” 

“They didn’t think you were a threat.” 

She snapped her head up. “You believe me?” 

“Have I a reason not to?” When Daniela didn’t say anything, Zayne hummed and nodded. “So you think Onychinus took Caleb?” 

“It’s the only lead I have. These two men didn’t exactly tell me who they were before leaving. Do you know anything about the organization?” 

Zayne folded his hands in his lap and shook his head. “I don’t unfortunately…But if you know the right people, with some luck you can get the right information.”

“And do you know? Know the right people?” 

The doctor stood from the chair behind his desk and came to sit next to her. His eyes were piercing as he looked down at her and demanded, “What exactly do you plan to do with the information you get?” 

“If Onychinus took Caleb…I’m going to get him back.” 

He made a “hm” sound before looking away. “As expected,” he mumbled, “Very well.” Zayne stood from the couch and walked back to his desk. He reached under it and Daniela stood to watch as he unlocked a safe there. Zayne handed her another locked box that had a small space for a fingerprint lock on the front. 

“What’s this?” Daniela inquired. 

“It was mailed to me the day after the…accident. From your grandmother. Which leads me to believe it wasn’t an accident.”

Daniela examined the lock. “How am I mean to undo it?” 

“Like this I’d assume-” Zayne grabbed her hand and placed her thumb flat against the scanner. It lit with white light before turn green and the sound of a latch undoing was heard from the inside of the box. 

Slowly Daniela opened the box and took note of the many files. They were labeled classified or to be destroyed. She closed the box and looked back at her friend. “And this is about Onychinus?” 

Zayne shook his head. “I don’t know. The only thing I received with it was a note signed by your grandmother saying to give it to you. But if Onychinus took Caleb and…killed your grandmother right before I received this, then I’d say it’s safe to assume that whatever is inside is regarding them.” 

“Thank you.” 

He tilted his head. “For what?” 

“Believing me.”

Zayne nodded and sat back in his chair. He pushed his glasses back up on his nose before resuming work as if they had never had the conversation. Everything they discussed was safe with him, Daniela knew, so she stuffed the box into her bag and headed hom. 

Prior to opening the box, Daniela locked all of her doors and windows and triple checked her apartment for any sign of being watched. She was on one of the top floors of the apartment building she lived in but still. Someone had just gone to great lengths to ensure her grandmother died and Caleb was taken. A top floor wouldn’t stop anyone as dedicated as that. 

After shutting the lights off and using only a dim lamp in the center of the room as her light source, Daniela opened the box up again. The latch sound was eerie in the quiet room. She laid out the files by the dates on the front of them then found at the bottom of the box was a brooch, a red stone with a black crow at the top, and a picture of herself. She was much younger in the photo, a wide-toothed smile on her face and pigtails that were unkempt and failing to keep the hair from her face. Her grandmother was next to her with an arm slung around her shoulders also smiling at the camera. Daniela smiled and laughed at the photo sadly before setting it and the brooch at the top of the table. 

Time passed slowly and too quickly as she read over the files. Each one she read twice to ensure she got the information from them. A highlighter in her hand to keep her actively reading and awake. A notepad and pen on the table for her to take notes. 

Grandma

Experiment

Aether Core? 

Wanderer

Aether Core, Aether core, Aether core, Aether-

It turned into scribble the further down she went as her eyes drooped and exhaustion kicked in. She woke up to the sound of…well she didn’t know but it was a sound. Her head snapped up from where she laid on the table, hair disheveled and drool she would’ve been embarrassed about if not for the panic. Quickly, Daniela reached under the table for her pair of pistols and walked around her apartment. The front door was still shut and locked and all of her windows were undisturbed. She checked every room, corner, and nook anyway but found nothing. 

After checking under her bed, Daniela stood back up and sighed. As she was dismissing it as exhaustion kicking in, Daniela saw…something. Her big window that looked into her bedroom was across from her and through it she saw a bird. Or what reassembled a bird. It sat atop the ledge of her window holding with it’s head crooked to look inside. She made eye contact with it and walked toward her window slowly to stare at it. It’s eyes were red. They reminded her of the brooch from the box. And it’s talons looked almost metallic as if the bird was metal itself. She was crouching to look at it closely, entranced by the creature, and when it croaked Daniela felt her heart jump and her balance leave her. She fell onto her back and watched as the bird flew away. 

Daniela shook her head at herself and went back to the table where the files that were once neatly set out were now strewn about the table. The picture and the brooch remained at the top and otherwise undisturbed.

She took the files to work the next day to continue to look over them and cross reference with anything the Association might know. Very little crossed over and nothing was seeming to align with the information she had on Onychinus. 

“New assignment?” 

Daniela slammed the files closed as she heard Captain Jenna’s voice from behind her. She turned and cleared her throat. “Oh…uh, something like that yeah. Just going over some older stuff.” 

Captain Jenna hummed and nodded toward her computer screen. “You best leave that untouched. Nothing good will come of it. They’re just protocore obsessed gang members.” Then she left. 

Daniela looked back toward her screen and where the file name of Onychinus was displayed clearly. That did nothing to dim the suspicion in her. What does her grandmother have to do with protocores? Why would Onychinus take Caleb if that’s what tey were after? By the end of her shift she had reached the last file. There were more questions than answers. Daniela resigned herself to having to go see Zayne again even before she reached the end of the last file which answered her questions but left her with more. 

This time no one stopped her from entering Zayne’s office unannounced and the doctor himself didn’t even look surprised that it was her when she did enter. Before he could get his overly formal greeting out, Daniela stormed toward his desk and put the file in front of him. 

“You need to read this.” 

“Your grandmother didn’t instruct me to.” 

“Well I am. Read it.” 

Zayne held eye contact with her for a moment before nodding and picking the file up. Without the other ones he was missing some context regarding the experiment detailed in the file but he was a doctor, he could put it together on his own. Daniela waited pacing around his office in front of his desk. She waited until he finally sighed and placed the file back down on the desk and looked at her expectantly. 

“Well?” Daniela asked him putting her arms out in question. 

“I don’t know what you’re asking me.” 

She scoffed and then gestured vaguely at the file. “Is that me? In the file. Do I-...Do I have an…” She lowered her voice “...Do I have an Aether Core in my heart? Is that why the treatment isn't’ working? Did my grandmother put it there?-”

“Slow down, Daniela,” Zayne told her and waited for her to sigh before continuing, “I think it’s safe to assume that you are the experiment in the file which yes would mean that the protocore in your heart would be an Aether Core.” 

“Which means…Onychinus wanted me not caleb or…Gram.” 

Zayne shook his head. “It was too intentional. You were left on purpose. Onychinus must not know about this.” 

“So I can get Caleb back then, they just want me.” Daniela was already turning to go out the door, as if she could just march into the N109 zone unscathed and somehow find Onychinus’ leader and convince him to give up Caleb all without a problem. 

“Daniela, wait-” She didn’t plan on waiting until the handle on the office door was suddenly frozen solid. When she tried to jiggle the handle anyway, Daniela wasn’t surprised to find the door unmoving. Zayne was standing and now in front of her. “If Onychinus discovers this information…you could be their next target. It’s best it remains hidden.” 

Daniela scoffed. “I can’t leave Caleb there to rot.” 

“Caleb would want you to be safe.” 

“I won’t leave him there.” 

The ice of Zayne’s evol faded away, as he made it do so, whenever she reached for the handle again and made her way out. 

Her friend was many things. Daniela thought of them as she stared at the strewn out files, pictures, and the brooch on her table. Zayne was cold, distant, caring, proper, and especially and most often he was right. Onychinus not knowing about her and the Aether Core in her heart was better for her. It kept her safe. But Daniela couldn’t shake the thought of anything horrible happening to Caleb because of Onychinus’ interest in her without them even knowing where to look. Which is why, next to the files from Grandma, there were files from the Association paired with them. Important people and locations were highlighted and laid on top of files they had a potential connection to. 

A sharp caw sound drew her attention from the table and toward her window. There was nothing there and Daniela figured she was so sleep deprived that she was starting to see things. Or moreso hear them. When she turned back toward the table however, there was the mechanical crow she had seen the other day staring back at her. In it’s mouth was the ruby red brooch. Daniela couldn’t help but note the similarities in the brooch to the crow before putting her hand out gently. 

“Easy birdie,” She whispered, “Good bird. Good bird. Just…give me the brooch,” She approached it quietly and slowly. The bird cocked it’s head at her as if it was understanding her and now no longer did. “Yep, Daniela you’re officially crazy. You’re talking to a mechanical bird in your living room.” 

The bird squawked again before taking off into flight. Daniela chased after it but it was through the open windows and far into the night before she even had the opportunity to catch him. She hit her fist against the doorframe groaned loudly. As much as she wanted to go find the bird, Daniela knew it was a lost cause and there was no way she’d be able to find the crow. 

She spent the rest of her night trying to make out the notes her grandma had in the margins of files. At least until she passed out from sheer exhaustion at the table. Her head was laying flat on the wood and she’d die before admitting there was a little bit of drool coming from her mouth. In her dreams she saw a red eye and heard a darker feminine voice saying “devour him…kill him”

Daniela shot up and breathed hard. Her phone alarm was going off to get ready for work and she was already late, leaving her no time to decipher what her dream meant. As soon as she stepped through the doors of the building, two fellow hunters were in front of her and explaining that Captain Jenna needed her in her office. Swallowing hard she followed them, as if she needed to be escorted, and walked through the doors by herself. 

“Daniela, it’s good to see you. How are you doing?” 

Her brow furrowed. “I-I’m sorry.” 

Captain Jenna smiled suspiciously sweet. Almost off putting. “Regarding your grandmother and caleb?” 

“Oh…” Daniela wanted to slap herself for being so on edge with her “...Right. I’m…doing fine. You didn’t seriously have me escorted up here to ask me that did you?” 

The older woman laughed and leaned forward in her chair. “I can’t get anything past you can I? You’re right, it’s not. Your colleagues have come to me expressing concern about you. Saying you’re looking into some…dangerous things. Now I’ve taken you off missions to give you a break from stress while you mourn but you seem to be finding stress anyway.” 

Tara. “I’ve just been wondering about…” Something inside her kept her from telling the truth. An instinct. Zayne’s voice resounding in her mind detailing te dangers of people finding out about the Aether Core. “...what caused the explosion. That’s all. My grandmother and Caleb didn’t exactly have enemies.” 

Captain Jenna had an almost smirk on her face as Daniela said it. “I want you to know that the Association is doing everything in their power to find who is behind this. We don’t know much right now but we are trying. Xavier is leading the investigation actaully.” 

Xavier wasn’t exactly a close friend but he was a friendly face on the job. They had resonated more than once while on missions together in order to win. It made her smile slightly that he cared. “That’s…reassuring. Thank you.” 

Daniela went to leave but Captain Jenna stopped her before she was even able to take two steps backward. “I want you to stop.” 

“I’m sorry?” 

“I want you to stop investigating Onychinus.” 

And there it is. 

“I’ll assign you to missions again if you’d like. Give you some cases to file. Whatever you’d like as a distraction other than digging into the blackhole that is that gang.” 

“Of course.”

Captain Jenna nodded and Daniela left the office as soon as she could. She had never been off put by an interaction with the Captain before, but now she was suspicious. There was something about Onychinus that if she kept digging she knew she’d be able to find. But she wouldn’t be able to do it at work anymore. Daniela walked through the halls back toward her desk. Never before had she felt the need to look over her shoulder at her job or feel like everyone was staring at her. 

“Daniela!”

She jumped in her seat as Xavier approached her desk. “Xavier, hey, you scared me.” 

“Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to come check on you.” 

Daniela nodded her head. “Yeah everyone seems to want to do that these days,” She mumbled and then louder said, “Thanks. I’m doing okay. Captain Jenna told me you were leading the investigation on my grandma’s house. Thank you.” 

He leaned against the side of her desk and Daniela raised a brow at him curiously. “Did she tell you any of the details?” Daniela shook her head. “Well if you’d like, we could discuss them together. Maybe over lunch sometime.” 

Realization clicked as he finished the suggested. Daniela tried to smile sweetly at him as she stood, shutting off her laptop in the process and grabbing her bag. “Uh…sorry, Xavier. I…I’m not really looking for that kind of thing right now. I’m still processing everything.” He reached out to grab her wrist and she pulled away immediately before he could say or do anything else. “But, the details would still be greatly appreciated. You could just…send them to me. I’ll reach out if I have any questions.” 

His eyes narrowed. “Right. Yeah.” 

Daniela left the office quickly in favor of going to Zayne’s office. He sighed when she walked through his door but let her stay anyway. Daniela recounted the events with the mechanical crow and the brooch being gone now, probably glimmering in a nest somewhere, before he had to see a patient. Then he came back and she told him about Captain Jenna. 

“So she agrees that investigating Onychinus is dangerous?” Zayne inquired. 

“Yeah but for a different reason than you do obviously. She didn’t tell me why. It felt more like a threat. Stop investigating Onychinus or else,” She told him, mimicking Captain Jenna in the last bit. 

It pulled a half smile from Zayne before he went back to his cold demenour. “Maybe it’s a sign. All roads to Onychinus are bad.” 

“Or all roads lead to Onychinus.” Zayne raised a brow at that. Daniela explained her interaction with Zayne with a simple “not my type” as a response to why she turned down Xavier and then activated her hunter’s watch to show him what Xavier sent her regarding the explosion. “Captain Jenna said that he was actively investigating it. The information here seems pretty conclusive and I don’t think they’re still investigating. Everything about this has Onychinus written all over it don’t you think?” 

Zayne hummed. “I still think it’s a bad idea to go there.” He paused for a long moment and looked at Daniela’s pleading eyes. “I read about this place. The Nest. A center of gang activity in Linkon. A way to the N109 zone. Perhaps you may find some more information there.” 

“If I find information there you know I’m going to have to pursue it. I may be gone for…a while.” 

He nodded. “I know. I know you’re capable though.” 

Daniela walked to the door after nodding once. She had one hand on the doorknob before turning back to Zayne and saying, “Thank you, Zayne.” 

Zayne said nothing but made a small “hmm” sound before looking down at a patient’s file. Daniela left quietly and went back to her apartment for the night. She thought about pouring over her files once more but decided against it. Nothing new was going to stand out that she didn’t already see or know. Instead she put her hunter’s gear on and got ready to go to The Nest.

Her black utility pants and boots covered her legs completely. She had a leather harness for her pistols and one tool pouch to adorn it. Daniela pulled on her looser fit white long sleeve shirt then put on her matching black and brown leather corset top for protections. She secured her fingerless gloves around her hands then put as much ammunition she could carry into her tool pouch with an extra magazine for each pistol just in case. 

There wasn’t much to do with her hair, the short length and bangs prevented it from getting in the way or caught on anything and also saved her time of having to put it up all the time. She examined the deep red that she had dyed it a few days prior to the accient with some admiration. The last time it would look good for a while she guessed if things went how she needed them to in the next couple of hours. 

With a sigh she turned away from her mirror to go to her table. She put all the files back into the little box and locked it before putting it in her tool pouch with her ammunition. Daniela’s eye caught the photo of her grandmother and her on the table and she reached for it. Huffing at her own sentimentality, Daniela folded the photo up a few times and grabbed a locket that her grandmother had given to her what seemed like so long ago but was actually earlier the same year. The locket and chain were black and the locket itself had red rubies deocrated it in a few swirls. Daniela shoved the photo inside and secured it around her neck. 

Finding The Nest was harder than it looked. She bribed a few shady people and gave up a few too many secrets about The Hunter’s Association than she should’ve but none that were entirely true or fundamentally going to break everything down. She didn’t even have high enough clearance for those kind of secrets. But the whole time she felt like she was being watched. More than once she looked over her shoulder to see if someone was there. Every time there was nothing. 

That feeling didn’t stop when she finally entered The Nest. A hole in the wall place that could be mistaken for a night club by anyone in passing. But everyone inside knew what they were looking for when they entered. And she was new so all eyes were on her. Daniela swallowed hard and looked down then went to the bar. 

“What do you need, little lady?” The man asked in front of her.

She wasn’t expecting him to put a piece of paper and a pen down in front of her when he asked. Daniela didn’t understand what to do with it. 

The bartender laughed and he lowered his voice to whisper. “Whatever you’re looking for or trying to do…put it right there.” He tapped the paper and gestured for her to go ahead. 

Daniela swallowed hard and picked up the pen. The first part was easy to write but when she got to the words “Aether Core” her hand began to shake. A moment of hesitation and then she finished the sentence. Daniela folded the paper in half and passed it back. The bartender smirked and took it from her then pushed her a black shot glass. Inside was a black liquid. She looked at it with a raised brow as he looked at her expectantly.

“It’s a trade,” One voice said from her left. 

“You have to take the shot to get what you’re looking for,” Another said from her right. 

Daniela looked to both sides and saw familiar faces. Or masks more like. The two men who had carried Caleb away were there. Daniela knew it wasn’t the time to question them or give her intentions away so she grabbed the glass and took the shot without another moment’s hesitation.