A/N: ^^ Second chapter. Enjoy! Thanks for all those who reviewed! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, or Beauty and the Beast. This story is merely a crossover I thought would be interesting to write.
Summery: Prince Darien is the beast of all beasts, cursed because of his father's doings, and must find love by his 21st birthday to break it. Serena is an ugly teenager who the village rely on to live because of her own curse, also linked to the Royal family. The two hate eachother with a great passion, but are bound by the curse and similar lifestyles, and find comfort in an understanding presence.
Beastly Enchantments
Chapter 1:
Serena sat on a bench swing, her legs up, long hair hiding her face, as she read one of the many romances she oh-so loved.
Books were kinder than people. They told stories that defied the powerful grip of vanity. People who were ugly more often than not got their fair grip on power, and showed the world what they were missing out on. The beautiful could fall in love with the ugly. The ugly could seduce the beautiful. Everyone accepted each other, and ranks were created by the personality of the person, not the looks.
Not in the real world. In the real world, money and looks won over everything else. People would do terrible things to be beautiful, to gain that money, to have that power.
Take the lowly Prince Darien of Thist, for instance. That wretched creature had tried everything he could do to fix himself; make himself beautiful again: potions, healers, and mostly shaman, since they could heal and commune with the Gods at the same time. It was unbearable. That… that… monster could hardly stand his own face!
If she had learned anything, it would be that it doesn't matter what others think of you. It's how you see yourself that really matters. Those who think otherwise are spiteful creatures who do not deserve any face.
But who was she to talk? She had no money, so she couldn't even think for a moment to try and change her physical appearance.
Serena closed the book with a thud, her mood instantly ruined. The chains that bound her to her guards rang in her ears, annoying her more than anything. Two years ago, she had tried to commit suicide and bring plague into the village.
That had gone well, obviously. Now not only was she ugly and scoffed at, she was a prisoner. If murdering her was one way to get rid of her, she doubted she'd be alive now. Unfortunately, killing her would be like killing yourself.
She sighed, and rubbed at the shackles around her wrists. For the last couple of weeks, they had been tearing at her sensitive skin ruthlessly. Every time she brought it up, she was dismissed instantaneously.
She took a glance under the hand cuffs. Her wrists were red and puffy, rubbing against the cuffs more so than usual. There was also something white between the cuts that-
Her stomach churned and she looked away, disgusted. Her wrists were undoubtedly infected, and had been for quite some time now.
She fumed. It had gotten to this. No longer did anyone care for her like they used to. She could rot for ages in a hole for all they cared, but if suddenly she was near death they would treat her enough so that she would be able to live – just barely.
She got up with a scowl, her book in her hands, and didn't wait for the guards to follow. She knew that they would. Her shackles were held by them, after all.
Serena made her way into the castle and took the maid's hidden tunnel in the wall. It may have been the longer way, but barely anyone went through it. Not only would she be invisible, she would also hear the gossip of the castle, if she were lucky.
A couple of quiet steps later, and she stopped, her ears catching the sounds of two women talking.
"The poor girl…"
"She rode all the way here on a horse, you say?"
"… heard about how the palace allowed people without homes to stay for a while."
"She was definitely the fairest creature I had ever laid eyes on!"
"Perhaps the Prince would be infatuated with her and we can all be done with the curse and kill that wretched child."
"Now, that's no way to talk. You can't blame the ugly for being jealous of the beautiful. It's the circle of life."
I rolled my eyes and started to walk away when the women's next words stopped me.
"She will be staying in the opposite wing of the Prince. Her name's Ray. The Prince heard of her already and has made plans to welcome her."
"But what of his monstrosity? She would run for sure if she happened to spot him."
"She will be warned… Brenna, the Prince is nearing the designated age. He must try something."
"I know…"
I took a deep breath and forced myself to continue on.
So there was a pretty girl at the castle that the beast himself planned to woe? Serena admitted to herself that she would love to see how it played out, of course. The beast no longer took suitors, so this was news to her.
But first, she thought, I have to take care of my wrists.
…
He paced his room, running his claws through his hair.
This is what he's been waiting for all along: this girl, this day. She was beautiful… haunting, even. Everything about her screamed promises of long nights in the rose gardens, by the fire…
Ray…
He sighed, covering his face in his hands.
Gods help him, he would seduce that pretty woman if it was the last thing he did…
It might be.
He tried not to think too much about that.
"Alright, first of, I will…" He paused.
Another problem. He had no idea, exactly… how to court her. Not that he never had practice… he'd had loads. It's just the fact that the mere sight of him made everyone run screaming before they even knew him well enough to judge. His own father, the fault of this curse, couldn't even stare him in the eye for too long.
What was he supposed to do? Check out Courting When You're Ugly from his library? Or maybe: How Not To Scare the Love of Your Life by Your Fur and Scars.
But there was the one girl…
Serena. She was one of the ugliest, sourest women he'd ever met. She knew it, but despite the fact she walked with her head held high and stared everyone in the eye as she passed them.
She was also part of the curse…
Serena never flinched. Unlike the rest of Thist, she seemed repulsed by him for a reason other than his looks. She hated him, and made that fact known.
Every time he passed by her, which was rare if he could help it, she would glare at him and shake her head. She seemed to see what others didn't…
Who better to help him seduce Ray? After all, she did read all those books…
He pulled the door open and snapped his fingers for the guards. "Bring me that girl, Serena, and hurry. I have matters to discuss. Tell her whatever she is doing can be done later."
"But sire, her wrists-"
"I don't care," he growled. "Get her to me or I'll behead you and hang your head on my wall for a darts target!"
The guard, who couldn't have been older that eighteen, mumbled incoherently as he stumbled away from Darien.
Darien shut the door with a bang and resumed pacing.
…
Serena wrapped the gauze around her first wrist, wincing every so often when the pain throbbed to what seemed like the maximum. "Ugh… God, can't either of you help me? Make yourselves useful for once. All you do is follow me around!" she snapped at the two guards flanking her on both sides. "In my opinion, you're both becoming quite flabby."
The two didn't even flinch. It was as if they hadn't even heard her.
Sighing loudly, she held out the one hand she had wrapped. "You can't chain me up again. These won't get better if the cuffs keep rubbing against them."
No response.
She sighed and let them place the shackles on her wrist again, and held out her other hand for them to remove the shackle.
The right hand was much, much worse, she decided, eyeing the bloody mess with discontent.
She cleaned out the shackle under the sink and handed it to the guards.
The door burst open, and a very terrified looking guard stomped in. "The be- prince wishes to see you."
It took her a moment to realize he meant her and not one of the guards. She raised her eyebrow. "What? Why?"
"I-I don't know. He said if you didn't go to him fast my face would be a dart target and I-" he choked on the rest of his words.
She put her hands to her waist. "He what? Well, that insufferable man!"
"Yes, so if you could just-"
"I need to finish cleaning my wrist out first."
"But the prince-"
"-can wait," she finished for him, nodding convincingly. "If you hadn't noticed," she held out her hand to him.
He looked torn. "B-but the prince will… have my head! Please, lady, just visit him for a moment!"
"I refuse. If he mentions anything about you and beheadings, I'll talk him out if it. Now, please lend me a hand?"
The guard paled. "I-uh… I'm not a doctor."
"Neither am I but I'm doing a fairly good job." She eyed him again. "Are you scared of blood, sire?" she asked.
He shook his head unconvincingly.
"What guard fears blood?" Serena inquired, giving him her best no-nonsense look. She needed help, and if this guard was playing games he could just save it.
"I-I don't want to be a guard!" he burst out in a fit of anger. "My father wished I follow in his footsteps and I-I," he sighed a long, heavy sigh.
She reached for some new gauze and other medical materials, startled by the revelation. "Well, what do you want to be?"
He blushed and shook his head.
"Aw, come on," she said, staring him down.
He swallowed, looking away from her face. She sighed and turned away from him. Of course – one could only take so much ugliness before it starts to bother.
"I-I want to be a librarian."
She almost burst out laughing, but caught herself in time. "Well, why not?"
"Father thinks it is a foolish job."
"What do you think?"
He didn't respond. She didn't think he would. She had made her point.
"T-the beast-"
"Can wait," she said again. "Now, if you are no use to me, you may leave."
He seemed to take his time, slowly moving towards the door until, finally, he was gone.
…
After what seemed like twenty minutes, he opened the door again to peek out.
No one was around. Including Serena.
Clenching his hands, he let out a long growl.
"Don't get your whiskers in a twist, I'm here."
He turned abruptly to the voice dripped in sarcasm.
"I sent for you twenty minutes ago!"
"Yes, but I didn't want to bleed to death."
He eyed her. "You are fine to my eyes."
She held out her wrists. "The shackles had rubbed against my flesh and I was infected. I had to clean out the cut."
"You could have done so later."
She glared at him. He ignored her.
"Could you please tell these two to unchain me? The shackles were obviously too small to begin with."
He made a small gesture to the two men. They quickly unchained her.
"Go fetch her some bigger shackles. We'll be in my room. I'll send you in when I'm done with her."
Before Serena could protest against the new shackles, she was pulled into the beast's room.
"Do you mind!" she pulled her hand away from his tight grip and crossed the room, sitting as far from him as possible.
The beast glared at her. "I need a favour to ask of you."
TBC
A/N: Please REVIEW and tell me your thoughts on this.
