Author's note:
Loosely based off Disney's "Beauty & the Beast", this one is going to be a potentially darker, adult fairytale. For those of you who have read and loved my old story "Someday My Prince Will Come", consider this a rendition... of immensely divergent proportions. By no means is this a parody of the famous fairytale, so I hope you guys can give this story a chance. This is also going to be quite a mature piece and a personal reprieve from my on-going "The Stars Told Me So" fanfiction... which is also pretty dark now that I think about it. Do check it out if you're interested!
WARNING: This is going to be slash, with the main pairing being Albel/Roger this time. Do expect underage content as well, so if this isn't your cup of tea then please turn back. There is also a one-sided Luther/Roger and an implied Fayt/Roger pairing. Yep. Me and my odd pairings fetish. Everyone's out to get Roger tonight.
I'll be including the main characters of the SO3 series in this as well, so as to not leave anyone out. Each one will have a relevant and important role in this story. If you enjoy the classic fairytale and you enjoy SO3, then I hope you guys will enjoy this story too.
Disclaimer:
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and all of its characters belong to Square Enix. All I do is borrow them and churn out alternate situations for my own personal amusement.
Beauty of the Beast
by Dark Interval
Prologue
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Aquor, a young prince lived in a beautiful castle. Although he was the best swordsman in the land and had everything his heart desired, the prince was power-hungry, selfish, and cruel. After the king's untimely death, and ever obsessed with power, the young prince had his own mother killed in order to claim the throne for himself.
But then, on the night of his coronation, a fierce dragon attacked the castle. The prince fought valiantly and defeated the beast with ease. However, before he could deal the killing blow, a powerful dragoness appeared and begged him to spare her son's life. She offered him all her treasures: gold and jewels beyond his wildest dreams in exchange for his mercy. Repulsed by the creature's pleas, but tempted by the legendary treasure, the prince accepted the dragoness' offer, only to trick her and killed her son as soon as the deal was made.
Enraged and grief-stricken, the dragoness unleashed her magic to exact revenge. Overwhelmed and outmatched, the prince begged for forgiveness, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no honor and love in his heart. As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous dragon, and placed a powerful curse on the castle and all who lived there. With it and its inhabitants trapped and hidden away from the world, the dragoness took away their freedom, and doomed the young prince to walk the land as a dragon by day and a man after sunset.
With no means of setting foot onto the outside world again, the dragon concealed himself within his castle. His only hope lay within a single prayer that someone would find him by his twenty-fourth year. If he could learn to love someone pure of heart, and earn their love in return by sunrise on his twenty-fourth birthday, then the curse would be lifted. If not, he would be doomed to remain a dragon for all eternity.
During his absence, Aquor grew and flourished under the rule of its new prince, Luther Lansfeld, only son and youngest child of the duke. Revered and beloved by the people, the prince was steadfast in his duties and attentive to his subjects' needs. He was dedicated to keeping the dragon threat of his lands under control, and the kingdom never felt safer under his rule. Over time, the people forgot about their previous prince, presuming he had perished under the hands of the very beast that cursed him. The castle was never found, and the once proud prince's legacy faded like a dream.
As the years passed, the dragon's humanity began to decay, and he fell into despair and resentment. Forgotten and cast into the shadows, he lost all hope, for who could ever have a heart so pure, much less learn to love one that was so greatly feared and hunted by mankind?
Author's note:
This prologue mainly serves as a testing ground for the story's premise. If you guys are open to this tale and would like to see it play out, let me know and I will get started on it as my schedule permits. I'll be posting the first chapter soon to give you guys a feel of things. Thank you for reading and your kind attention. Let me know what you think!