Beauty and the Beast
Prologue: The Curse
Once upon a time, there was a prince. Now this prince wasn't particularly handsome, blonde, or buff. No this prince was known for his towering intellect and his ego. He once claimed that he knew everything about practically everything. He was not particularly adept at the combative arts; he knew just enough to get by. Really if he wanted to totally humiliate someone he did it with a few well-placed words.
Now Prince Rodney's parents were quite healthy and they wouldn't be dying anytime soon. So our intrepid prince moved out into the country with a few loyal retainers. Once there he set up his own personal lab where he could experiment on many different ideas and subjects. Time passed, as it often did, and the prince lost himself in his work.
Then one night a beautiful, young woman, named Alina, showed up at the castle door. Of course, she was greeted warmly by the staff and was swiftly ensconced into one of the exquisite suites that was found within the castle. Now, Lady Alina had shown up at the castle for one reason and one reason alone. She knew that this castle was the home of the prince and heir to the Kingdom of Atlantis. Alina, craved power and even though she had a great deal of sorceress power, she wanted to add a more political type of power to her repertoire. By marrying Rodney, she would eventually become Queen of Atlantis.
Since the prince was so engrossed in his studies, she thought that, that would mean she would be the defacto ruler of Atlantis once the current King and Queen passed away. Which they would, as soon as she was married to the prince.
So Alina finished primping in front of the mirror and went looking for her soon to be husband. She found the prince in the west wing, standing in front of a black board, staring at the equations scrawled across it. Alina did her best to try to catch Prince Rodney's attention, to no avail. The prince was so immersed in his current experiment to actually register Alina's presence other than as a minor annoyance. This continued for many hours until finally her persistence broke through Rodney's preoccupation and he turned to her.
'Finally!' She thought just before Rodney opened his mouth to speak to her. Her happiness was short-lived however, as Rodney proceeded to insult her intelligence, her looks, and her family. After he screamed at her to get out of his lab, he turned back to his current experiment.
Alina's face grew dark as a thundercloud and vengeance filled her heart. Power crackled from her fingertips and she cursed Rodney and his entire household. She turned him into a Beast and his servants into animated household furniture. She created a single rose and presented it to Rodney. She proclaimed that the only way for the curse to be broken was that he must fall in love with someone and that someone must love him in return. He had only until the last petal fell from this rose to do so and if he failed then the curse would become permanent for him and his servants.
The servants, after a few months of no visitors, sent a message to Queen Elizabeth and King Cadwell. Rodney's parents tried to send him suitors but for some reason they kept on getting lost. They reasoned that only someone who did not know of the curse could reach the castle. Enraged by the loss of their son, they put a price on Lady Alina's head. Alina, upon learning of this, cursed virulently and then used her powers to change how she looked, changed her name to Chaya and moved to a village near the castle.
Now Rodney did not care one whit about the curse. He continued on with his studies for the curse did not affect his brilliant mind in anyway. The servants, however, despaired for who could ever learn to love a beast.