Disclaimer: This is my big time disclaimer for the entire story, 'cause I don't want to have to repeat the same thing over and over in every chapter! None of the characters belong to me, they all belong to Square Enix, and, well, the storyline belongs to Disney.
Diamond in the Rough
Prologue
The sweet melody filled the extravagant room, swarming the mind, body, and soul. The rapturous song leaked from the ballroom and flooded the rest of the mansion, but was only faintly heard from the outside. The young man seated before the grand piano was a handsome one with rich brown hair that swished across his pale, beautiful face. His eyes were a deep hazel, cool and calculating, able to pick up on even the tiniest of detail. He wore a fine black suit, fitted jacket zipped all the way up and his tie close around his neck. His long, pale hands danced across the ivory and ebony piano keys, pressing and molding a perfect melody.
Also in the room were three others: the housekeeper, the butler, and the cook. The housekeeper was a lovely woman with fair skin, wine colored eyes, and silky black hair that flowed about her shoulders. Her plain black dress and clean white apron fluttered about her ankles as she danced gracefully with the butler. The butler was pale-skinned and strong, his eyes cerulean and his lips a thin pressed line. His gold/blonde hair spiked naturally in every which way and did not change no matter how he tried to fix it. Dressed finely in a fitting tuxedo, he twirled his smiling dance partner with elegance.
Off to the side, standing curtly with his gloved hands clasped before him, was the cook. He was a tall man with short-cropped blonde hair that stood up off his skull. His white buttoned coat, greasy apron, and limp hat clutched between his fingers told of recent work in the kitchen. To embody this suspicion was a tray of warm, fresh-baked biscuits resting on a table near the piano, within the reach of the handsome pianist. The cook watched as the housekeeper and butler danced, chewing on a toothpick clenched between his teeth. She'd offered him a dance, but dancing had never caught the cook's fancy.
For a while all was well. The pianist played with unbridled talent and the dancers carried on with remarkable grace. The cook looked on with half-interested blue eyes. The flowing melody did not falter when the sudden barking of a dog became heard. The dancers broke apart, the housekeeper looked to the pianist before hurrying to see to the alarmed guard dog positioned at the mansion's gates.
There was a moment of awkwardness between the butler and cook; neither sure of what to think. The guard only ever barked when visitors or intruders approached the mansion; visitors, however, were unlikely, the master never called for guests. But an intruder? Well…the master was quite wealthy.
The housekeeper returned suddenly, holding up her skirts as she rushed into the room. She skittered to a halt before the pianist, curtsied hastily, and waited for him to address her. He completed his song and selected a biscuit before turning expectantly to the housekeeper.
"Miss Lockhart?"
"Oh!" she curtsied again. "Master Valentine! There… There's an old woman at the door!"
The pianist gazed at the housekeeper unblinkingly and then said in a low, monotonous tone, "I beg your pardon?"
"Yes, she seeks food and shelter, just for the night, sir."
"Tell her to be on her way, there is no room for her here."
"I did, sir, but she insisted that I speak to you on her behalf!"
The pianist, Master Valentine, was quiet, and then, "Bring the old woman here, I am curious to see her."
"Yes, Master Valentine, sir." Miss Lockhart curtsied a third time and hastened to do as her employer bid.
"Mr. Highwind, take these treats and be on your way. Mr. Strife, you are also excused."
The cook fetched his biscuits and he and the butler quickly made their exits. Moment later Miss Lockhart returned, a frail creature in tow. The old woman was dressed in rags and leaned heavily on a gnarled cane. Her graying hair was pulled into a ponytail held by a length of faded yellow ribbon and trailed down her slouched back. Her thin gray shawl, faded blue blouse, and dark purple skirts were spattered with dirt and her red shoes looked immensely uncomfortable. Her sallow face was weary and wrinkled, her teal eyes dull; she was fatigued and clearly exhausted. Her dim eyes fell upon Master Valentine after taking a brief sweep of the sprawling ballroom.
"Please, kind sir," she rasped, her voice trembled as she spoke, "I am so very tired. All I ask is a seat by the fire to rest my swollen feet and warm my aching bones?"
Master Valentine stood slowly and moved to stand in front of his ebony piano. He hesitated to speak to the old woman and when he uttered to no sound, she continued.
"A small meal perhaps, I've had nothing to eat since yesterday morning—"
"There's nothing for you here, old woman," Master Valentine interrupted sharply. "This mansion and everything in it is dear to me. I cannot have you disrupting all the memories preserved in these halls. I only trust the few that I have personally hired with my precious abode."
"Oh please, sir, I beg of you!" the woman hobbled forward, movements colored with desperation. "I measly crust of bread to quell my empty stomach, is that too much to ask? I will not harm a precious thing in your mansion, honestly, I only seek shelter from the night. A storm is brewing, too, I can hear the thunder approaching!"
"No!" barked Master Valentine, panic seeping into his voice and widening his eyes. "I should not have let you in. You are disturbing my home, my memories! I will not have it! You cannot stay here, you are asking far too much of me! My father once walked these halls, I cannot bare to have such a being as you do the same! You're spoiling his memory! Leave, old woman, leave this place at once!"
In an instant, the old woman's vulnerable stance changed. She stood sharply upright, her expression once weary was now stony and her eyes angered. The dirt dissipated from her clothing and the wrinkles from her face, her skin now possessed a healthy, radiant glow. The gray left her limp ponytail and the ribbon brightened, her hair shone and swirled about her shoulders as if on its own accord. The woman, herself, was a beauty now floating just above the ground, her eyes alive with magic and fury.
"Selfish, selfish monster you are!" she scolded, her voice strong and powerful. Master Valentine shrunk back against his piano, terrified by such a display of sorcery. "So young and yet so cruel! So far lost in memories of long ago that you have become vain! Selfishly trying to preserve your past and so you loathe letting another in.
"Was it really too much to spare me a crust to eat? I know very well that your cook had recently made you a fine tray of biscuits…but you remove them from the room moments before I enter! You are so greedy as to not share a single one with a starving old woman? You monster!"
"Please, please stop this!" begged Miss Lockhart, panicked and afraid. "I…I will fetch you a biscuit, it's not too much trouble!"
"Too late," snarled the sorceress, turning on the housekeeper and holding the poor woman transfixed with her furious gaze. "It's no trouble for you, but for him it was a sin to spare me a mere biscuit! I see no love in his heart, nor do I see any compassion! For this he must be punished, a lesson must be learned!"
"Lady, oh powerful Lady, I beg of you to cease this sorcery! I apologize for my actions, please allow me to light you a fire—" Master Valentine cried, seeking to halt whatever punishment she had in mind.
"Oh, but you do not mean it, do you?" sneered the sorceress, interrupting his plea. "Only hoping to quell my wrath and escape your just punishment?"
"N-No…" the pianist stuttered, but he knew he had been caught.
"You behavior to me was beastly, Master Valentine!" the sorceress boomed, her voice shaking the very foundations of the mansion. "Beastly to me, so shall you become!"
A pain erupted in Master Valentine's heart and, shrieking, he fell to floor. Miss Lockhart screamed and tried to run to his side, but found she could not move; her feet fastened to the floor by steely tendrils of light. Elsewhere in the mansion, the cook and butler cried out in equal horror, both unable to move same as the housekeeper.
"Your selfish desires will get you nowhere in life and now it has condemned you!"
The pain intensified and Master Valentine could feel the change taking place. His bones snapped and creaked as they shifted beneath his skin and his spine split with an agonizing crack. He raked his hands –now claws– across his face, writhing, trying to rid himself of the pain, but it could not be stopped.
"Until you learn to move on from the past and let go of your greed, a beast you shall remain. Forever, Master Valentine, or forever until you learn to love. To love someone besides the memories of the deceased and the preciousness of your belongings."
The transformation was now complete. Crumpled below the grand piano was no longer the young, handsome Master Valentine, but a monster. A beast…
The sorceress descended, her feet touching the ground soundlessly. Her beauty melted away and guise returned. Muttering to herself, she turned and hobbled to the door, sparing no passing glance to the cursed pianist or the housekeeper now collapsed and sobbing bitterly.
"So weary…" the old woman mumbled. "Weary as weary can be…perhaps some kind soul will help me…"
The old woman gone, like a feather carried off by the wind, but in her wake she left disaster. She left despair. She left…Chaos.
A/N: This is what happens when I help out with a middle school production of Beauty and the Beast every Monday and Friday after school and play Dirge of Cerberus every evening in between… I actually didn't want to post this tonight; I wanted to wait until I had six or so chapters written before posting… I'm currently halfway through chapter four, but I just couldn't contain myself. I really wanted to post this! So if I don't update in a horribly long time, you'll know why.
I couldn't possibly describe Chaos, I tried…but failed miserably. So I'm just going to trust that you all know what Chaos looks like, if not…hm…I would say Google it, but that gave me a shit-load of weird results. I had better luck on DeviantART, so try that. Just put something like "Vincent Chaos form" in the search engine and you'll get some pretty good stuff.
Anyway, the old woman/sorceress was Lucrecia, in case you didn't get it. I thought she'd be perfect for the part since she's pretty much responsible for everything that happened to Vincent…
Heh, how's this for a first story?