Hello readers! I know, why am I publishing another story when I should be working on Winters' Ballad? Well I am trying to work on it through to troves of homework I'm getting, but it's a little tough with balancing everything around.
Samantha: Then how is it you've found the time to write this?
Cinderella Girl626: *starts to sweat* Uhh...
Samantha: *shakes head* She got inspired by that new Beauty and the Beast movie, if it wasn't obvious enough.
Cinderella Girl626: Hey! It's not all my fault! You liked it too. And you said you'd be really happy if you could be a princess in a fairytale with Conner. *pokes Samantha's cheek* Admit it!
Samantha: *blushes* What?! I-I did not you liar! Don't believe a thing they say!
Cinderella Girl626: *rushes to cover Samantha's' mouth* Anyways, I really wanted to write this and the thought got sort of stuck in my head so...here's a new story. I promise I'll get the rest of Schooled out as best as I can, so until than enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Young Justice nor the story of Beauty and the Beast. Those works belong to their respective authors.
The sounds of winds rushing through the air cried out like the screams of spirits in the cold winter night. The air of the season beginning to freeze everything its fingertips could touch, its greatest playground was a large forest beyond all of the tiny villages and homes of humanity.
Dirt roads were lost to the sight of pure white snow, icicles hanging from the branches of tall trees. Water froze and became transparent mirrors and windows to the watery depths beneath and animals of the forest hid away to shield themselves from the harsh weather. The forest was like a dungeon, traps strewed about for any who dared try to walk in.], yet held a beauty that was unparalleled.
Yet, deep past the forest maze a large castle stood in triumph. Imposing in the dark, the castle towered above the trees and rose into the sky, decorated with the most beautiful of carved stone statues around its iron barred palace gates.
This beautiful and luxurious castle beyond the reach of common folk was the home of Prince Conner, the son of King Luthor. A royal known for his brutal personality that squashed the weak beneath his heel, King Luthor's brutality was only matched by his wit in both business and manipulation. He surrounded himself with the most beautiful of gifts and riches a man on Earth could acquire, his view of the world being merely a playground for his wishes and whims.
It was only certain that these views and opinions would shift to his only son, Prince Conner, who lived beside the man for all his life. Continuously the boy was subjected to both the selfish nature of the king, taught to think the same way he saw people and things. The queen dying during his birth, there was no parental figure there to watch the prince and teach him the better way of being a man, leaving him at the molding hands of his controlling father.
To be ordered around.
To obey him.
To surround himself with the best of the best, for he was the best by blood.
The chance to have an innocent childhood was snatched away as the king whispered cruelties in his ear. Slowly the young prince morphed into a close replica of his father, their minds becoming one in the same. Living a lifestyle of luxury at any given moment, keeping with the company of the most beautiful of princesses and hosting parties for the wealthiest of men, Conner had fallen fast into a world that held no true emotions and connections with others.
Would there ever be a chance for this young prince to redeem himself?
"My prince, all of the guests have left for the night. They all wished for me to convey their deepest apologies for not being able to stay longer. The cold of winter this particular night has most worried they will not be able to get home by carriage."
Standing in a lavish waiting room, a young woman dressed in maids' clothing stood beside a large armrest chair to address the well dressed figure sitting within. Silence her only answer, the maid merely bowed once more to try and convey her apologies further.
"Is...there anything you require?" The maid asked, her voice shaking a bit during her questioning.
"...No." The deep voice of the prince answered, breaking the one-sided conversation of the maid. "I don't need anything right now, Megan. Just make sure the rest of the servants clean up after everything. I'm not waking up the next morning to a ballroom looking as if pigs were scurrying around."
A grunt of contempt at his own words, Prince Conner stood up from his seat. He turned away from the maid, making no effort to thank her for her time nor excuse her form the room first.
Instead, he left her there to continue bowing, disappearing deeper into the castle.
His dress boots knocking against the exquisite tiled floor of his castle, Conner let himself tirelessly roam around the castle halls. The party had drained him completely of any energy to be bothered nor think of anything to do. Of course, hosting the likes of many princes and princesses from across the land would be a boring and draining experience. Even more so given that he had to be the center of attention.
He was sixteen today.
Another birthday come and gone.
He had kept the same company as he'd done every year. Kings and queens who wined and dined with him to discuss business deals. Princes to hang out with and talk about the boring life they were stuck with following the rules of royalty. Surrounded by beautiful princesses that, while not the brightest and the most polite, were wonderful company to keep his attention in more ways than one.
Yet this party felt more...boring. More so than the one last year. Was something wrong with him? Were his servants not trying hard enough with his parties now? Or perhaps the party seemed predictable?
"I keep these servants here to work for me and I give them a place to stay. The least they could do is make a good birthday party with surprises. Is it too much to ask for some surprises?!"
*Knock knock*
The loud knocking from the entrance of the castle startled Conner from his stroll. Long enough that the stubborn prince himself turned back in the entrance hall of the castle, eyes gazing towards the entranceway of the castle.
"Would someone get the door?!" Conner yelled loudly, his voice echoing through the castle.
No response.
"Hey! Is anyone there?! Someone is trying to address my castle!" Conner yelled again, thinking calling out again would magically summon a servant to his side.
No response again.
Growling beneath his breath, Conner's blue eyes stared hard at the large wood doors that made the entrance of his castle. "Where is Wally when I need him to do his job? He boasts he's the fastest one here and he doesn't even answer." Muttering to himself, Conner made his way to the entrance himself. "He's going to be in a lot of trouble when I get my hands on that butler."
Stopping just in front of the entrance door to the castle, Conner glared lightly at the door in hopes that whatever force had been knocking on the door earlier would disappear before he had to answer it.
*Knock knock*
He glared at the door, his eyes wishing the noise would stop and whomever it was to go away. However, perhaps it was a beautiful princess wanting to come in from the cold...
Deciding it was better to just find out rather than continue listening to the rapping at the castle door, prince Conner reached for the handles of the door and with one strong pull moved the doors back to open and reveal who the mysterious guest was.
Unfortunately, prince Conner's suspicions were far from the result.
The wild winds of winter whipping flakes of snow through the air and clouding any sort of scenery beyond his entranceway, Prince Conner stared out in the white abyss for any sign of the one who had knocked on his castle door.
Yet, no one was there?
"Is this some kind of joke?" Conner asked aloud, irritation building in the back of his throat. "If someone is out there and is trying to make a fool-"
"I am here, your majesty."
A crackly voice breaking out of the cold void, the prince jumped in surprise as his blue eyes scanned the front of his castle for any sign of the voice's owner.
"Who's there?! Face me before you waste anymore of my time!" The prince ordered, hands gripping the handles of the door tightly.
"Of course." The voice answered, an outline of a figure slowly walking up to the prince's home from the snowy courtyard. Each step deliberately slow and labored with cold huffs of breath and shivers, the figure finally walked close enough into the light of a flickering torch outside of the castle, the figure illuminated by the warmth the castle was offering.
The person is question was no prince nor princess. Not even someone of royal lineage or advisory to a being of power.
Instead...the stranger was an old woman. Hunched over a wooden cane and cloaked in a black cloak that obscured most of her face, the wrinkled hand holding the cane lead nothing to the imagination, revealing to the prince just how old and haggard the woman was. Added by wrinkled skin upon her face, a nose larger than most, and graying hair that was unkept and long like wire.
The old woman was a far contrast to the prince. Dressed in silken robes and basked in the glow of warmth and riches, the woman in front of him stood out in the freezing cold and was clothed in the cloth of poor beggars.
And that very stark contrast made Prince Conner sneer at the woman at his doorstep.
"I apologize for my sudden intrusion on this cold winters' night your majesty, but I come asking for aid." The woman explained, a wobbly step taken to try and get closer to the prince.
"Aid?" Conner asked, disdain clear in his voice and from his expression. "You want my help?"
"Yes," The beggar agreed with a nod. "You see it is quite a cold night out tonight and the carriage I was asked to take back to my village departed without me. I won't be able to make it back home that is far past the hills and I would never survive the trip on foot in this storm. So I come asking for shelter from the cold wind."
"Shelter?" Conner repeated, brows furrowing. "You want me to sacrifice my home and heat for you?"
Was this old woman insane? Serious? Did she truly think he would let someone like her inside? A woman of poor health, making an effort to stand on just a single foot, skin dry like lizards and spotted with signs of aging? True, it was important for princes and other royals to take their power an wealth and use it to help his citizens when necessary...
But now? To an ugly woman such as this?
What would other royals say if they found out?
How would his father react to his character? Allowing something so wretched to take step into his home?
As much as the idea of letting the old beggar come inside was horrid, a small glimmer of hope came into his mind.
There could be a chance this would benefit him.
Surely even this old woman knew that you could not always get anything without giving something in return.
Arms crossing over his chest and staring down the old woman with his authoritative and demanding gaze, Prince Conner spoke up above the wailing of the winter winds.
"Surely you must be smart enough to know the cost of such a request." The prince spoke, a tone of superiority that he mastered long ago coming out. "To ask for shelter from a prince of such royal blood, you must give me something precious and great beyond any riches I have now."
"I...see." The beggar rasped out, voice cold and freezing from the raging weather. Nodding in understanding, a wrinkled hand moved away from her cane, only to slither beneath her dark cloak to grab something. "I understand your request your majesty, but unfortunately I have not much to my name in terms of riches. However," She spoke, her hand coming back out to show what she had grabbed from her belongings.
"I have this."
And with those words spoken, a wrinkled and shivering hand came out from her cloak to reveal something the prince had never expected.
No gold, no jewels, or even land.
A flower was what he was greeted to, a rose to be exact.
It was a marvel in of itself to see the condition it was in given the deathly cold weather the land was plagued with. Blooming with life and the petals each painted with breathtaking color of red, a long green stems curbed at the end and was dotted with tiny thorns; not large enough to cause terrible injury to a holder.
Nevertheless, no amount of beauty from the simple flower would quell the anger that was beginning to boil over inside Prince Conner.
A flower? A flower!? Who did this old woman think she was?! To gift nothing but a single petty flower to a great prince such as himself for food, warmth, and shelter!?
Was this the kind of treatment someone such as him deserved?
"How dare you!" Prince Conner yelled, eyes burning in anger at the beggar with flower in hand. Arms outstretched in a fit of rage, the dark-haired royal pointed at the beggar. "You think a mere flower will pay for your shelter?! That I would overlook such a disgrace in my presence!?"
The old woman shrinking back in fear, she kept an outstretched hand to the mad prince regardless, still keeping hold of the gorgeous flower. "I-I know that it is not much your highness, but it is all I have. Surely something as beautiful as this can be enough for shelter. It is so cold and dark this night. I will not survive out there on my own."
"I do not care!" Conner yelled, teeth clenched tight while a forced breath left his lips. A hand combed through his hair, trying help make himself appear well kept and together despite the emotional fit he was falling into. "I should have known. To think I thought a poor and ugly woman like you had something worth of any value to me."
Pulling at his clothes to straighten them back in place, Prince Conner glared angrily at the beggar before having them shift down to the rose still in her hand. The damned flora that felt like it was staring right at him.
Hand gripping tight into a fist at the sight, Prince Conner swung his right hand in an arc, the force hitting the rose hard and knocking it out of the beggars' hand. The attack strong, not a single petal nor thorn was broken from the tiny flora. Still just as pristine as the beggar had introduced it, the flower fell to the cold snow-covered floor in front of the poor woman.
Silently it sat on the stone front of the castle, the ruby red petals lazily moving from the faintest of cold winds still blowing through the night.
And the beggar who stood on the other idea of the discarded flower, who had witnessed an act so cruel upon an innocent flower with the anger and greed of a selfish prince...
She started to smile, and soon enough began a soft chuckle rang in the air.
An action that clearly angered Prince Conner.
"You! Do you think this is some kind of joke!? To offer me something so simple and boring as a flower to a prince! Stop your laughing this instant!" The prince exclaimed, anger seething from his features as he glared at the old woman who seemed to be laughing at him.
The voice of the hooded beggar slowly dying down after Conners' response, the old woman bent down to pick up the fallen rose, twirling the flora between her fingers nonchalantly.
"No, your majesty. My offer was no mere joke to you," She spoke, moving her gaze upward so a golden eye obscured by her hood peaked out to stare at the prince. A glint of what seemed to be satisfaction, the beggars' mouth turned upwards to a dark grin. "Rather, I am only laughing after seeing that my assumption of you was correct."
"Assumption? And what would that be?" Conner asked, his anger reaching his topping point as he glared back at the woman.
Eyes narrowing down on the spoiled prince, the old woman closed her eyes and receded into the safety of her hood from the cold. Her face covered by the shadow of her cloak, the bigger woman began to let out a slow chuckle, before it came out as a hearty, yet dry laugh that cracked in the air.
"That there truly is nothing redeeming about you."
Suddenly, a burst of light came off the woman's form, as if a fire burst to life at her feet.
Conner, blinded by the display held his arm up to shield his eyes, confusion riddling his features as he took a step back from the overwhelming power. Unsure of what was going on, all the prince could hear was the cackling laughter of the old woman in front of him, yet...it began to change.
Old and weathered, the voice slowly evolved to become softer and well toned. The tired voice shaping into a velvety tone that made the princes' spine tingle from a mix of wonder and fear, the light in front of him began to die down, allowing him to lower his arms to see what kind of dark magic the woman was doing.
But when he did, in front of him was no longer an old and haggard woman.
Instead, the form of a tall, lovely form stared back at him.
Robes of elegant velvet draped over a shapely body, luscious locks of gold hair fell down the porcelain skin of the fine form in front of him. Eyes that held the green of emerald jewels, the glow of light that once blinded him Still remained around the woman, though it was faint, as if it was protecting her like a shield from the cold.
Who was this woman?
His voice succumbed to the dry spell form his shock, the young beauty in front of him laughed a malicious chuckle at the shocked prince, green eyes glaring down with enjoyment at his shocked face.
"Does my true form truly make you stutter?" The woman asked, a knowing tone in her voice as she addressed the prince.
Eyes widening with shock as he registered the words the woman was saying, the prince tried to regain the composure long since ingrained into him as a royal and lowered his arms to let them fall to his sides. "Y-you...You're the beggar?"
"Why yes, I am. However, I am more than that." The woman spoke, the glow of light around her growing brighter at her words. "For you see, I am enchantress of great power. I travel these lands and have seen quite a many people during my time. Poor and beaten commoners, royalty who work to help their people, and on some occasions...people like you."
Color draining from his face, Conner stared back at the enchantress in fear. "L-Like me?"
"Yes, you." The mischievous face of the enchantress melting away at her tone, her features morphed into a glare, eyes narrowing down on the prince as she reached a hand out to him, floating off the ground. "You are...perhaps the most selfish human I have met. No matter the people I have come across, no being has treated me in my previous form with such...contempt. Hatred and selfishness for their appearance. It is quite surprising, yet I had heard the rumors of you."
"Rumors?" Conner muttered out, his voice weak from fear.
"That you are the judging prince, the royal who only sees what he wants to see and submerges himself with only the things that he deems worthy. A selfish prince with any lack of decency. I did not think the rumors to be true, so tonight I changed into that form you very easily tried to push away. A beggar who only wanted selfish from the cold." Shaking her head, the old womans' hand glowed with a bright golden light as she looked back at Conner. "You are a prince who only values beauty, rather than the person beneath those unnecessary qualities. You should be punished for such selfish thoughts."
"N-No!" Conner cried, his voice carrying a heavy weight of fear. Dropping to his knees on the cold stone of his doorstep, the prince bowed to the enchantress, his body shaking at the situation now floating in front of him. "P-Please! I beg of you! I am sorry! D-Don't hurt me!"
Sweat rolling down the side of his head, Conners' teeth chattered from the mix of cold air and fear running through his veins, unsure if he should look up tot he enchantress and meet her demanding gaze. "I...I'll give you anything! My riches! A place to stay in the castle! The best wines and food your heart could desire! Just...please spare me, enchantress!" The prince cried, bowing further to the ground to appease the woman.
Sadly for the prince, the enchantress had already made up her mind.
"No," The enchantress answered, her voice booming from the authority she now held between the two. Fingers twirling in their air as light crackled at her finger tips, the witch reached a hand out to the prince, the light beginning to gain more sparks of life as she aimed at the prince. "You shall pay for this discretion. For your cruel heart. For your love of only beauty."
Magic flaring in waves at her tips, the magic gained a life of its own, suddenly shooting out towards the bowing prince. With a sharp sting of pain, the magic collided with the prince, and the boy screamed out in pain as magic began to engulf his form.
His screams never ending, the magic that attacked his body began to morph his form and change his appearance. His stature grew in size by five, perhaps even six feet while hair of black fur grew all over his body. Gasping in pain coming from his mouth, is jaw area became slightly elongated as his face morphed a muzzle akin to a wolf, small teeth shooting up into sharp canine-like fangs. A similar pain coursing through his hands, muscles grew through his palms as his nails too grew in length, added by a sharpness that could easily slit someones' throat.
Watching the prince transform thanks in no small part to her magic, the enchantress let her eyes wander away from her victim to the discarded rose on the doorstep. Its form still intact despite the rough housing it endured, the enchantress lift her hand up, making the flower float in the air.
"This spell of mine will change you into what you hate most. To be ugly and be seen as something to be judged at face value. However, do not fear my judgement, for I am not evil." The woman spoke, her voice basking over the changing prince.
Gritting his fangs in pain as Conner noticed the black fur growing along his body, the prince looked up at the beautiful witch and let out a pained growl, the only coherent thing he could say at the moment.
Chuckling at his poor vocal answer, the enchantress's eyes began to disappear into a black void, darkness engulfing her eye sockets before a white light shone from them, as if the sun itself lived within her body.
The same light coming from her eyes wafted off the rose that floated in front of her, the glow encircling the single flower in a ring of energy, only to return back to it and sink into the stem and petals of the rose. The glow infusing itself with the flora, the rose began to glow a dark pink, magic now living within it.
Her work now done, the enchantress raised a hand back tot he prince and snapped her fingers, her magic spell engulfing his form disappearing like a flame snuffed out.
A gasp of breath escaping the princes' mouth, the boy tried to get up, to move and try to reach up to the unholy woman floating over him. However, just as he was reaching a hand towards her...
He noticed the fur on his hands. The claws protruding from his fingers. A strange flick of the ear that seemed to be coming from atop his head.
"W-What did you do to me!?" Conner cried, anger and fear coming from the newly formed beast that lay on the doorstep.
"Only what you have done to so many others, dear prince." The enchantress spoke, tracing a finger in the air into the shape of a circle. A circle appearing between her and the prince, it gained a reflective surface akin to a mirror as it shown the image of the princes' newly formed body to him. "I must say, the appearance of a wolf suits you. Claws, fangs, ears atop your head and covered from head to toe in black fur. You truly are someone intimidating, wouldn't you agree?" She asked, mocking in tone.
Blue eyes staring wide at the reflecting in the magic mirror, Conner felt a growl come from deep in his throat, only for it to release as a loud roar that matched the new appearance he now took.
Untouched by the torturous roar, the enchantress shrunk the mirror into a smaller form and weaved magic around it, glass suddenly forming around the glass in a vine-like pattern as it transformed into a small hand mirror.
"Like I said dear prince, I am not all evil. This curse I have given you is truly something, however I will give you a chance to save yourself." The enchantress said, the rose and mirror floating in front of her slowly floating down to the prince. "If you wish to return to your original form, you must learn to see the beauty that is beyond the skin and what only your eyes see. For the selfish prince, you must find love and be loved in return, and only then shall you be given back your human form."
Waving a hand towards the two floating items, the glowing rose and mirror made their way towards the beastly prince, landing at his feet side by side.
"I give these to you. The mirror shall be a gateway to the outside world. To see the things that you can no loner in your current form, or to see the people you wish. All you do is ask the mirror, and it shall show all." Turning her head, the enchantress than narrowed her gaze not the rose. "And this rose, the one you previously discarded is the most important."
Raising her hand to the prince, the enchantress held up five fingers.
"Five years. You will be given five years to find love and be loved in return. With this rose, it shall remind you of your coming fate with its petals. As your time wither, so does the petals of this flower. If the final petal falls and you have not completed this task of mine by your twenty-first birthday, you shall remain a beast."
Staring at himself in the mirror, Conner felt a heavy weight on his shoulders, eyes darting from the mirror, tot he enchantress, and then to the rose in front of him.
"W-Why? Why do this to me?" The prince begged, despair overtaken his once stubborn confidence as he glared at the witch.
Smiling, the enchantress shook her head. "Because you deserve to look the way you truly are. A beast."
Smiling at the confused beast of a prince the enchantress floated further away from the ground, taking to the skies as she flew up high above the ground of the mansions. Hands glowing with light as she starred at the large courtyard and castle, the witch held her hands above her head, letting magic shoot out of her palms to engulf the princes' home in light.
"For allowing this insolence to continue, I condemn this land to my curse! All who serve the prince shall be cursed just as he, to befall the same fate unless he breaks his curse! To the people of this land, I command you to forget!"
The light from her curse growing brighter with each word she spoke, the beastly prince raised his head from the ground to stare up at the witch that floated above his home.
Eyes squinting at the bright light engulfing his home, Conner could only let out another load roar, the sound echoing alongside the howling winds of winter.
The day that was to celebrate Prince Conners' birth that cold winter night soon became the day of destruction.
Just as the enchantress had proclaimed, Prince Conner who had once stood as a boy of sixteen with black hair and blue eyes had transformed. From that of a tall human boy, that very moment the magic left him, it had transformed him into a true beast.
He now stood as tall as eight feet tall, now living in the body of an anthromorphic wolf, his body now covered in black fur that once matched his hair and large eyes with the same dark blue color of his eyes. His face now outstretched with the muzzle similar to a wolf with ears atop his head and a tail to match, Conner stood on large legs, paws and feet edged with sharp claws.
The enchantress had also not lied when she spread her curse out to his castle and to the land.
His staff having been there during the princes' upbringing, the enchantress had left no stone unturned in her punishment. The staff allowing the prince to turn out this way had become just as guilty in the eyes of the witch, only sitting around and doing anything the prince asked them to do like objects that had a function in a home.
And so, that was what they became.
Just as how the prince was changed from human to a beast, the staff too fell a similar burden, only this time they were changed into home furniture, brooms, dishes, items. Whatever could be found in the house, it now was mostly likely a servant.
His castle grounds too succumbed to the curse, the ice and snow that fell that very night seemingly never melting, as if it was meant to freeze the castle in time to signify he curse was still there. No matter how hot the weather got or the season changed, not ice would ever melt, no flower would ever bloom. It became a perpetual wasteland of winter snow.
And finally, it seemed as a precautionary measure the enchantress was very clear in saying the land would pay with her curse by forgetting. Knowing that perhaps the prince would somehow go ask for aid from townspeople if he was desperate enough to somehow lift his curse, the witch cast a spell upon neighboring villages and kingdoms, wiping their minds of any trace of a Prince Conner ever existing.
Soon enough from that day forward, no royalty came to the castle. No parchments or letters arrived for him. No merchants or commoners ever arrived.
He had truly been forgotten.
His existence erased from this world, Prince Conner fell into a well of despair. Overtaken by the anger and useless of his situation, the beastly prince locked himself up in his castle along with his heart, letting the years pass day by day without any attempts at saving himself or his servants as he watched the petals of the rose he was given drop one by one.
There was no reason to try. No person would be able to break the curse that had been placed on him. For he knew all to well the kind of people that lived out in the land. That thought the very same as he.
For who could ever learn to love a beast?