A/N: Hey, guys! In, like, October, a wonderful anonymous person submitted a prompt. I loved it. However, each time I would write it, I would hate it. And I wrote it like, maybe, four times? And then I would scrap it. But that's not fair to the wonderful person who submitted it (and the rest of you), so, instead, we're gonna do something I haven't attempted since I was fourteen! Yay! I'm going to write this week to week. That way, you guys can read it, and I have to write it whether I truly like it or not because you all will be disappointed if I don't update. And, y'know what? This past week, this first chapter, I actually like it. I'm going to consider that a win.

So, without further ado, please enjoy this first chapter and I'll see (or not, because I can't see you through a screen and you guys can't see me back, but I think you get my point) you all next week. Have a nice day! :)

Bones and flesh transform to shine
Eyes to marble and hair to twine
Shrink the size until it is little
Try not to break the skin so brittle

Upon a kiss of love shall break
The curse upon this ungrateful rake
For his companions, a worser fate
Their curse to wait for a later date

For long the Kirkland family thrived
But of male heirs it has been deprived
If a boy may there be born
With his consent shall it be torn

His room was empty. He thought the longer he stared at it, the more normal it would become. He was leaving. He was actually moving away from home for the first time in his life. His childhood room was packed away in boxes and only the walls were left.

It was weird. By this time tomorrow, he would have a new place to call home. A new room to call his.

"Oh, Matthew," a voice said at the doorway. Matthew turned away from his empty room to see his mother at the door, eyes watery. "You're really moving, aren't you?"

He smiled sorrowfully. Leaving his mother behind to live by herself was the only downside to his move. He had thought long and hard whether or not to take their miniature polar bear Kuma with him and he had been tempted to leave him there with his mom, but she insisted that she was too old to take care of him. He pushed her impending loneliness from his mind and said, "Yeah, Mom. I am."

She sighed. "I just can't believe it. I swear just yesterday you were begging me for Kuma." He laughed. He had been ten years old then. Almost everyone he knew in his class at school had some type of pet - lizards, penguins, dogs, cats, miniature (and one not so miniature) elephants, parakeets, small dragons, rabbits, pigs, various types of miniature bears, foxes, even a baboon. The closest thing he had to a pet was his cousin Alfred's eagle that would visit every so often with a letter attached to its leg. It had taken over half a year to persuade his mother to get a pet. That year, on his birthday, they went to the local adoption home to check out the animals. Kuma hadn't seemed very interested in anything other than food, but when Matthew had seen him, he knew he was the one.

"I'll visit as often as I can," Matthew promised, thinking about Alfred's eagle again. He'd be seeing a lot more of it; Alfred lived only fifteen minutes from his new job. "And I'm not very far. Just an hour away."

His mother pouted. "An hour too far. I expect you to call every hour."

"Every five hours," he bargained.

"Three."

"Deal," he said with a smile. He wrapped his arms around her. He really would miss her, but it was time for him to leave the nest and they both knew it.

Matthew Williams, twenty-three years old, fresh out of college, was headed to Avalon to be the assistant of a professor at Avalon University. He was going to love it there, he was going to love his job, and nothing and nobody could stop him.

He said farewell to his mother one last time, made sure all of his boxes were in the movers truck, and loaded Kuma into his car before taking off.

The hour long drive wasn't too bad, save for Kuma's complaining, but seeing Avalon always blew Matthew away. He had only been to the city a few times in his life — his mother had never been fond of traveling, hence Alfred sending him letters via eagle. But he always loved seeing it. The city skyline extended farther than he could see, the architecture far grander than his hometown's meagre collection of buildings. Buildings soared up into the sky (some quite literally), towers with needles protruding from their tops stretched far above the tree line, while the trees themselves swayed gently in the late summer breeze.

He passed by several notable places on his way towards the other side of the city where his new house was located — an old Victorian priced considerably reasonably (and by reasonably, it was a bit too good to be true).

Camelot Park, one of the biggest parks in the nation, was spread out over many large blocks. It consisted of several gardens, a man made lake at one end and an equally man made river flowed towards the other end, a few playgrounds for children magical or otherwise, and public exercising equipment as well as a practice ground for magic users of all ages. Matthew had been there one time with Alfred and their mothers sometime in the second grade and he had thought it was one of the prettiest parks he had ever been to. He couldn't wait to take Kuma on a walk there, though it was quite a distance away from his new home.

Not too far away from the park was the Myrddin Observatory. It was a monumental building, standing proudly upon the top of Avalon's highest hill. It's domed roof was painted to reflect the night sky. Inside, vast amounts of research and information about the solar system, the universe, and beyond could be found. Matthew had never been there, but it was on his list. Besides, he didn't have much of a choice now. Alfred had gotten a job there ("It's always been my dream to work here, Mattie! I can't believe they hired me!) as a janitor and promised, or rather declared without leaving room for an argument, Matthew a personal tour.

Then, almost in the center of the city, the distinguished Avalon University sprawled across a large area of streets, with various buildings of a myriad of architectural designs composing the highly acclaimed school. It was the top university in the nation and Matthew had actually managed to get a job there. It was a super competitive job, and he had gotten it. He couldn't wait to get to work at the school, with its extensive library, pristine and visually appealing fountains, and over all friendly but slightly intimidating atmosphere. There were a handful of students at every corner, lugging around books and looking for all the world like they wanted to go home and sleep. He looked forward to helping them shape their futures.

Finally, just before the edge of the city, was the Monmouth Museum of World History. As a person who had minored in history, Matthew was really interested in visiting the museum once, twice, over a thousand times if possible. Its architecture borrowed heavily from the Greeks and towered over five stories tall. It was an immense building filled to the brim of international treasures, artifacts, documents, and other ancient valuables. It covered magical history — including the prejudice, the fascism, the horrible treatment of nonmagical people, and attempt at erasure of their own horrible deeds — as well as nonmagical history — the apartheid, oppression, tyrannical dictators, two attempted genocides, and the long struggle of being treated without equal rights compared to magical people, a struggle that they were still fighting to this day. After thousands of years, witches and wizards had become understandably more tolerable of (or, in Matthew's case, didn't tolerate but welcomed like a kind, sane human being should be as they were all human beings that deserved to be treated with respect) nonmagical people. One of the reasons Matthew minored in history was so he could prove naysayers wrong and hopefully teach people to learn from the past.

There was always hope for the future.

Before he knew it, he was parked in front of his new home. He unbuckled and got out, circling around the car to let Kuma out as well. Kuma hopped right out and started pacing around. "Like it," Matthew asked, eyebrows raised, smile hopeful.

Kuma sniffed around. He looked right up into Matthew's eyes and tilted his head. "No."

Matthew's smile dropped and he sighed. "Of course not." He looked back to his house - his house that he bought and paid for (though there were still payments to be made) — as the moving truck pulled up into the driveway. The house had a regal porch with a sizable downstairs as well as an upstairs. And, if he remembered correctly from what the real estate agent was telling him, there was an attic as well. For the size of the property, the price he was paying for it really was a steal. He looked back at his bear. "Well, I like it."

Kuma simply started peeing on the front lawn.