Warning: This chapter contains physical and some mental abuse, however it is not extreme and is not meant to offend those that are reading this story.
Chapter 4 - Like Father, Like Son
It had been almost a week since the transformation. It felt like an eternity.
Beast had remained in his room for the full duration of that time. He had never left, not even for meals. Instead, one of the servants, he wasn't sure who, brought up a tray of food, knocked, and then left before he could open the door. He appreciated that, that they kept to his wishes and gave him the space he needed. It gave him at least a bit of control back, after his life had spiralled out of control.
He had learnt quite a few things about his new body over the last couple of days.
Walking had become less of an ordeal, in fact he was getting the hang of it, or at least somewhat. He did stumble every now and then, but it was better than it was.
The trouble was, now that walking had become less of a problem, it has been replaced by something else. And that was eating.
When the servants had first brought up a tray of food several days earlier, establishing the new routine, he had attempted to pick up a spoon. It was a poor attempt, as his massive paw made the piece of cutlery look tiny, and he ended up bending it by simply holding it. It was obvious that he didn't know his own strength.
It was frustrating, that a simple thing like eating had become so difficult. He tried his best, with a knife and fork, but it eventually became too much to bear. No matter how undignified he thought it made him look, he started to use his paws and fingers to eat. But looking undignified was the least of his worries.
He had also learned that while scouring his wardrobe that none of his clothes fit him anymore. You didn't have to be a genius to work that out, though, all you had to do was compare the size of him to his old attire, which would surely rip if he so much as tried to put it on.
At least he still had his trousers from the ballroom dance. They were torn and stretched to their maximum capacity, but they still covered up what was left to be desired.
He had been browsing his wardrobe in search of something to cover himself up, so that less of his monstrous form could be seen by others, or be seen by himself. He hated seeing it whenever he so much as looked down.
He came across an old grey cloak hidden at the back, behind his other clothes, covered in a thick layer of dust. He wasn't sure how long it had been there, in fact he didn't even recall wearing it. He draped the large cloak over his body, and it ran down his back to the hem of his trouser leg. He didn't even attempt to put on a shirt, as he imagined trying to button it up would be a nightmare. The cloak served its purpose well enough on its own. At least, the purpose that he intended for it.
There was one more thing that he had learned about himself.
His senses were so much stronger now. Mainly his sense of smell and hearing. They were insanely powerful.
His nose was finely tuned, and more often than not he could smell what the servants were cooking in the kitchen, and smell the flowers outside in the gardens, all from his current location.
You'd think that having a keen sense of smell would be a positive thing, but it wasn't.
Everything had a smell now, he could almost taste some in his mouth, it was very hard to ignore, and rather overwhelming. There were two distinct smells in his bedroom. Both scent trails turned out to belong to him. The faint, lingering smell was his old scent. He hadn't taken to sniffing himself when he was human, but he knew what he had originally smelled like. The other smell was overpowering, it was everywhere, everything that he had been around, touched, held, lingered beside, carried his new scent and was starting to cancel out the old one.
If he had to describe his current smell, he'd say that it closely resembled that of a wet dog. He knew what one of those smelt like as he had been around his old dog, Wilfred, when he had been given baths or had been out in the rain.
He despised the fact that he smelt like an animal. Not only that, but an animal that reeked of its own filth, as it certainly didn't smell like a clean wet dog, quite the opposite in fact. And there was no way to get rid of it, because the smell wasn't even that strong, it was just that his nose always caught a whiff of it.
Having strong hearing wasn't very thrilling either. He had taken the time to figure out where his ears were actually located now, as their placement had shifted. He had found them hidden under the mass of fur on his head, just below the horns, completely flattened. He had traced them with his fingers, and discovered that they were shaped in a similar way to that of a deer's.
Besides the placement of his ears, he had experienced a buzzing noise every so often, as if they wanted to listen in on a particular sound against his will. He hoped that it would eventually go away.
So, aside from all of these annoyances, the last couple of days had been... Well, similarly annoying, torture almost. The worst part was that this was only the beginning. It was going to get so much worse, he could feel it.
The current day was uneventful.
He had woken up, gotten out of bed, and checked the rose, which he was starting to get into the habit of doing. So far, no petals had fallen, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
Aside from that, nothing of interest had happened. Except, there was one thing... One small, somewhat insignificant little thing, that seemed to resonate with him.
A bird had flown in from the balcony and landed on top of the glass case that covered the rose.
The feathers on its back were the most beautiful shade of blue, while its stomach was pure white.
It reminded him of a group of birds that had been kept in a cage out in the garden when he was younger. On one occasion, his mother had carefully taken one out for him to pet, and he had gently stroked the top of its head with his finger.
His father was the one that kept those poor birds cooped up in that tiny cage. His mother had always spoke of wanting to set them free.
And that's exactly what Beast had done after her passing. Late one night, in the days of his youth, he had snuck out of the castle, unhooked the latch, threw open the cage door and watched as the small flock flew out, finally free. He had seen them dip and soar, before flying over the gardens and high above the trees, disappearing from view.
He liked to think that the blue bird perched on the glass case was one of those birds, or one of its offspring, returning to its old home.
The bird did not linger for long. It fled as soon as it caught sight of him. He didn't blame it, poor thing must have been frightened to death.
It wasn't long after the bird had graced him with its presence that the servants came knocking at his door, but they weren't looking to give him a meal this time.
"Master, may we come in?" Lumiere asked, his voice muffled by the door.
"If you must." He sighed.
The door opened, and Lumiere entered, followed by Cogsworth, Plumette, Mrs Potts and her son, in a similar fashion to a few days prior. He knew that all of them gathered together meant that they wanted something from him. Probably the same thing as before, no doubt.
"Master, so good to see you! I haven't set eyes on you for five straight days!" Lumiere greeted cheerfully.
Personally he would never want to lay eyes on himself ever again so he wasn't sure why Lumiere was so happy to see him.
"What do you want, Lumiere?" Beast asked gruffly.
"Well, you see, master... After giving you the time you needed, we were thinking that perhaps you could address the other servants now? They still want to hear from you, and they're getting very anxious. If you don't do something, the false order we're trying to upkeep might turn into chaos." The candlestick explained.
How predictable that they were there to talk him into addressing the other servants. They didn't give up, no doubt about that.
"Not this again." Beast grunted "For the last time, I'm not going to do that. I can't let them see me like this." He told them. "Besides, aren't I hopeless, a lost cause, a walking reminder of your failures?" He questioned. "I know what you've been saying about me."
Truth be told, their conversation had been playing on his mind for the last couple of days.
The servants' eyes widened simultaneously. "You used the mirror..." Lumiere whispered in realisation.
"Oh for goodness sake." Mrs Potts butted in. "You can't keep yourself cooped up in here for the rest of your life!" She shouted, losing her temper with him, putting her foot down, acting like she was his mother and that he was a petulant child. When it came down to it, she was the only one brave enough to stand up to him.
"Can't I?" He questioned, furrowing his brow. Who was she to tell him what he could and couldn't do?
"No, you can't! Sooner or later, you have to face facts, you need to wake up and accept that this is your life now until you break the curse! Because you're the only one who can do it and you can't do anything if you're hiding away in your room!"
"I didn't ask for any of this!" He shouted back.
"Neither did I! You're not the only one who is suffering, we all are! So for once in your life, stop being so selfish and please just do this one simple thing that we're asking you to do!" She cried. "What would your mother think?!" She exclaimed, finally reaching boiling point.
Mrs Potts suddenly realised what she had said during her outburst, and her expression was riddled with regret and guilt.
The mention of his mother sparked his inner fury. Within seconds, Beast had reached the other side of the room, his paws thundering against the stone floor as he charged towards Mrs Potts, seething with rage.
The other servants tried but failed to form a protective barricade in front of her, as they couldn't do much as they barely reached up to his knees.
"Master, I'm-" she began, but was cut off as he came barrelling down on her.
"How dare you speak of my mother in that way! You have no right!" He roared. "WHY CAN'T YOU ALL JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!"
He saw red, and for a moment his mind was clouded and he couldn't see.
He heard Mrs Potts scream, and her son cried out.
"Master, don't!" Lumiere exclaimed.
In an instant, Beast's mind was clear, and he found himself clutching Mrs Potts in his paws, his claws digging into her teapot body.
Was... Was he about to throw her across the room? Shatter her on the nearest wall?
"Master, please don't do this." Lumiere begged "If you throw her, she'll break and... You could kill her."
"Please don't hurt my mum." The small, terrified teacup, Chip, pleaded.
Beast stared at Chip for a moment, and he saw himself in that boy.
Beast glanced around at the other servants, a look of fear written on each one of their faces. He then looked back at Mrs Potts, her eyes tightly closed as she braced herself for whatever was coming.
He exhaled, his breath shaking, his whole body trembling as he gently placed Mrs Potts back down on the trolley she had been residing on. She opened her eyes and Chip rushed over to her, snuggling close beside her.
Beast stared at them, slowly backing away, almost tripping over his own feet. He had almost taken Chip's mother away from him. How could he have done that? How had he allowed himself to get close to doing that?
"Just go... Please..." He told them, his voice barely above a whisper.
He didn't need to ask twice, and the servants hurried away, huddling around Mrs Potts as they left.
Alone once more, Beast's breathing became rapid. In his panicked and confused state, he lifted his paws and clutched the fur on top of his head, gripping it with all his might. He didn't mean to, he would never...
He nearly broke her- killed her. He... He didn't know what was wrong with him. First the portrait and now this, how long before he ended up actually breaking one of the servants?
He staggered across the room, stopping in front of the family portrait and staring at his father's torn face.
He wasn't a stranger to violence, he had seen it with his own eyes. But he never considered the possibility that he would try to hurt anyone.
Unwillingly, Beast found himself flashing back to a point in time he'd much rather forget.
His mother and father had been arguing at the dinner table again. The argument was about him, as they both had very different ideas on how they should be raising him.
It escalated and his father asked him to leave. When he wouldn't, his mother told him to go and play with his toys for a bit while they had a 'talk'. Begrudgingly, the young prince had left, but lingered at the doorway, peeping through the keyhole.
What happened next was burned into his memory.
"How dare you mock me in front of our son!" His father exclaimed.
"I wasn't!" His mother retorted.
"Of course you were! I know what you're doing, you're trying to turn him against me, but it won't work! He's my son as well, you can't keep him away from me forever!"
"I'll make sure that I do! I will not allow you to turn him into a monster, he is nothing like you and he never will be!" She shouted.
"Whatever you have planned for him is going to ruin this kingdom."
"Enough about the kingdom, that's all that matters to you, what about our son's happiness?"
"Happiness will only ever get you so far." The King stated. "He won't need that when he realises that he can have anything he's ever wanted."
"Like how you love to spend time with so many other women that swarm at your feet." She retorted. "You're not a monster, you're just a pig."
He hit her.
He smacked his own wife across the face, causing her head to jerk the other way.
His mother sat in stunned silence, and lifted her hand to touch her sore, red cheek. Tears welled in her eyes.
The young prince stifled a gasp, so that he wouldn't be heard.
His father drew closer, his face so close to her's "Do not make a fool out of me, do you understand?" He whispered lowly. "I am the King, you are my wife. You listen to me, you obey me. That's how it is supposed to be. And if you don't start listening, I could always just get rid of you, it wouldn't be hard, I could make something up, say that you're insane, nobody would question me. And you would never see Adam again, is that what you want?"
She shook her head violently, putting her hand to her mouth to stop herself from choking up a sob. Tears trickled down her cheeks and splashed onto her plate.
"Well then, try to learn a bit of respect for your husband. After all, I've given you so much... I could easily take it away."
His mother continued to sob silently. It was hard to tell if she was even listening anymore.
"Honestly, you're so pathetic. And you wonder why I prefer to spend time with others rather than you." He muttered, picking up her napkin off the table and handing it to her, so she could dry her tears "Pull yourself together for goodness sake, we don't want Adam to see you in such a state now, do we? You're supposed to be his mother after all. You do want to stay strong for him, don't you?"
Back in the present, Beast narrowed his eyes and glared at his father.
A few days earlier, he had wondered if this is what his father had wanted, the monster he was now.
At first, he thought that it couldn't be. But now he was second guessing himself.
Not only had he become just like his father... He had also become something so much worse.
A/N - Truth be told, I was a little worried about posting this chapter. My concerns stem from how I've characterised Beast's father. When I heard Mrs Potts describe him as 'cruel' in the movie, I wondered what was it about him that made her describe in such a way. After a while of consideration, I decided that Beast's anger has to come from somewhere, and perhaps it could be possible that some of it came from his 'cruel' father. I just want you to know that, I didn't just put this on his father's character in an instant or for the sake of it, thinking that it was 'edgy' or something stupid like that, this is something that I introduced to expand upon, to work into the story, to help us gain a better understanding of Beast's past and how it shaped him into what he is now.
I don't condone this kind of behaviour, of course. And I never will. But in the time period this is set in, I suppose it was 'normal' in someway. But it doesn't make it right.
We'll slowly understand more about his father later on. I don't plan on making him a one dimensional character with no depth, that the only thing he does is hurt people. So just stick with it and you'll see what I have in store.