Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince named Arthur Pendragon lived in a shining castle as a beast; a punishment for his selfish and unkind ways. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a rose his enchanter had given him. Truly an enchanted rose, it would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another, and earn his love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. ~
It was Arthur's sixteenth birthday, and his father, the King, was making a big celebration. Arthur was finally only a few years closer to the coming of age, where he could be wed, and take over the kingdom himself. The festivities were to be huge – the most spectacular party that the land had ever seen. But, the Pendragons were also very selfish in their desire, and did not see well to the rest of the people in their times of need. It is on this day, the day of the very infamous Prince Arthur's sixteenth birthday, that the people would see a change.
Prince Arthur was a very lustful man, who sought any woman he saw fit and took her as a lover. Well, that's if you could see them as a lover, for they only slept in the Prince's bed once, and was never to be seen by the Prince again. Very few in the kingdom hadn't slept with the royal Arthur. Arthur whispered empty promises of love to the women and girls, only to break their hearts later on when he wished to be rid of them. Prince Arthur's birthday, in his opinion, should end with bringing a woman to bed as well.
Although, by the end of the night, the outcome would be very different than expected.
Arthur was being dressed by one of the few maids he hadn't slept with.
"Make sure they're not creased," He ordered ruthlessly, "And make sure you can match them together. I will not attend my own banquet looking like a fool," He tilted his chin in a pompous manner, waiting to be serviced.
When he was finally dressed, he strode out of his room without so much of a thank you to the maid. Arthur arrogantly walked down the familiar corridors when he heard a rush of wind coming in his direction. The Prince stopped in his tracks and looked around, also bringing his hands up to fix his hair.
"Who goes there?" Prince Arthur called out to the empty hall. He gave a speculating look, but shrugged it off as he turned around to get to the Great Hall.
The Prince was caught off guard when he turned around and saw a very... well, a very ugly person in front of him. Arthur did not try to mask his disgust as he pulled a face. They had more wrinkles on their face then Arthur had years and seemed to have sucked on lemons for the past century. Their hair was white as it passed below their mid-back. Arthur straightened his posture as he looked them straight in the eyes, which seemed dull of color and almost... grey.
"Arthur Pendragon," The woman spoke.
"Yes?" He rose an eyebrow. The Prince knew this was not a guest to his party, his party would never allow such kind to his party… nonetheless the castle.
The woman tilted her old head and appeared to death glare – and no one ever gave the Prince of the bloody kingdom a death glare.
"Arthur Pendragon," The woman repeated this time in a more proclaiming voice, "Today you are sixteen, am I correct?"
"Yes but-"
"You will not interrupt me, Sir Arthur," The woman's smile went into a tight line, "You will listen to what I say."
Arthur nodded.
"You have been a selfish man for you whole life, Arthur Pendragon. You have no shame in breaking young and old hearts of people everywhere. Your compassion in invisible and you are a selfish man with no consideration of others. You must pay the price for your sins and crimes," the woman took her hand out of her cloak, "You will be cursed. You will be a beast. One women wouldn't dare to touch, or even look at. You shall be a disgrace to your kingdom, and a disgrace across the lands."
Arthur widened his eyes at this. What was this woman on about? She couldn't do anything to him, not even if she tried. He could easily call guards and have her killed immediately. The only problem was; he was in a deserted corridor, for all the people in the castle had been sent to the Hall for the feast. Which, Arthur reminded himself, he should be at.
"You cannot do this, I'm a prince," Arthur tried, "I have gold, if that's what you want. I'll give you acres of land, all the maid and servants this castle can spare-"
"I do not need your charity, Prince," The woman spat, "I want the change of your heart. You must have someone fall in love with you. Not your looks, your royalty; purely you. Which; good luck with that," She eyed disapprovingly, "I shall present you a rose," She said, pulling out a rose from within her cloak, "It will bloom until that year comes to pass, and when you turn twenty-one, the petals will start to fall. If you do not find one to love you for you, you will be cursed as this beast forever."
Arthur knitted his eyebrows together. This wasn't happening. No, not to him. Not the Prince. Not the King's Son. Not Arthur.
The woman touched his chest unexpectedly. Suddenly, Arthur felt a coldness shadow over him, as he immediately noticed his skin begin to crawl unpleasantly. The woman wasn't lying, and that thought alone made Arthur chill to the bone. Once the coldness was everywhere, the woman pulled away. Arthur fearfully looked at the woman with a frightened expression. He ran for a mirror – anything that could show what he looked like.
Finding a full-length mirror, he looked at his reflection, well… The Beast's reflection. Prince Arthur almost screamed, in fact, he was pretty sure a noise had blurted out of his mouth. His reflection was scary looking. He had blonde fur all over – he was some type of animal. Arthur looked at his hands, which had turned into claws; black, unclean, claws. He reached up to his face, which was covered in boils, and those boils were covered with more of the ugly-colored fur. Looking down at his body, he saw he had gained more weight. He almost looked like a bear, or worse…
A lion.
Arthur turned to face the woman, but saw nothing.
Except a small rose on the floor in a vase.
The Prince grabbed it and ran.
Arthur Pendragon was disgusted with himself and forced himself to leave the castle. He was unnoticed, seemingly because everyone was at his feast. His sixteenth birthday… And he had gotten this as a present.
The Prince found himself a castle, which, surprisingly, looked like it had been waiting for him. He had never seen this castle before, and assumed the witch had something to do with it.
He ran inside, shedding tears of shame, and found himself in a rich home. The halls seemed to run forever, like Arthur had all the space in the room. Strangely, he had never felt more alone in his life.
There was another thing that Arthur found extremely disturbing and unnatural. All the halls were filled with mirrors, every which way a mirror stood, for the lasting reminder of what Arthur really was.
He growled and broke all the mirrors. One by one, the shattered glass sprayed across all the floors and the walls. Some stuck to his skin – fur, but it seemed as if Arthur couldn't feel a thing.
The Beast began to topple over everything in sight, all the mirrors left standing, the chairs left idly by someone who never even existed. The Beast screamed and screamed until the palace was destroyed, and no trace of himself could be seen.
Then he cried as he walked to a bed chamber. And cried, and cried. For one thought surrounded all.
"For who could ever learn to love a beast?"