A blonde haired boy in a dark red suit sat slumped in his wooden throne with his narrow blue eyes glaring daggers at the people dancing around the ballroom floor in front of him. Everyone in front of him were his servants, people who attended to his every whim, but he never showed them the same respect they showed him. The only reason he even allowed them this mock ball was because his advisor, Butters, had suggested it as a way to boost morale amongst the servants. If it wasn't for the fact that morale was the only thing keeping them going, he would've shot the idea down.
A boy with black hair, Ike walked up to him with an old woman dressed in rags following him. "Master, this woman needs a place to stay for the night."
His glare shifted to the old woman in front of him and then to the redhead. "Send her away."
"But master, she's just an old woman, and the night is harsh."
"I don't want an ugly old hag in this castle!" He yelled. "Away with you old woman!"
The woman looked up at him from behind strands of her ragged gray hair. "Do not be deceived young man, for true beauty is found within."
Ike nodded but kept his mouth shut. He was in enough trouble as it was for even letting the woman in, he could already tell, saying anything else would just add fuel to the fire.
"True beauty?" He scoffed. "Go away, return to whatever hole you crawled out of!"
"Are you sure about that?" The woman asked.
"I've never been more sure." He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.
Suddenly, the old woman glowed, sending the blonde to the edge of his throne, and her appearance melted away into a tall, beautiful enchantress. "A curse upon you then."
His eyes widened and he dropped to his knees before the enchantress. "Forgive me, I had no idea."
"There is nothing to forgive."
He looked up at her. "You will not curse me?"
"I will."
"Please," he begged, "if I had known–"
"True beauty lies within…but I sense none in you. No love in your heart of ice." She waved her hands at him, and suddenly a great pain past through him. "If you cannot see beauty in front of you, then your outer beauty shall be taken from you. Until you can learn to love and be loved in return, you shall forever a beast."
He threw his head back and cried out in pain as his body went through the grotesque transformation. Brown fur grew out of every pore of his body, his teeth grew long and sharp, and claws grew from his hands and feet. When the transformation was complete, he roared at the space where the enchantress once was and then looked around. Ike had been turned into a tea cup, and everyone else had been transformed as well. A candelabra, a small clock, and a tea pot, to name a few.
A glowing red rose appeared in front of him. "Learn to love before the last petal falls, or your life will end without any beauty in your heart," the enchantress' voice resonated in a final warning.