"Beauty and the Blue Eyed Beast"
by Mase992 (-chan)
(A/N): First off, even if the title is misleading, this story isn't based on Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It's not the typical fanfic where the characters are placed as the ones from the movie and follow the same plot with a few twists (not that there are any problems with those fics, actually I love them to death). This story is different in many ways and it's far from following the happy Disney storyline. Also, I'm basing myself on Twilight Princess's version of Hyrule wii-wise.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from "The Legend of Zelda", Shigeru Miyamoto does and also Nintendo.
Chapter 1:
"Hirulia"
"In the books of old, there are various tales of the final battle of Hyrule. They tell of the grand siege of the castle by our people and the taking of it with use of our supreme magic. There are one too many variations of that historical incident but they all come to the same conclusion. They all tell of the creation of this Hirulia, the death of the Royal Family, and the legend of a deadly beast that was said to roam by nightfall around the ancient princess's grave seeking for atonement."
"Mhm..."
"Paying utmost attention, aren't you, Princess?"
"Mhm..."
Sighing, the owner of wrinkled and elderly hands closed the voluptuous tome and slammed it against the desk, gaining the attention of a few servants that were passing by. A frown etched on the worn out features of the senior's face as his tired, blue eyes glanced reproachfully at his distracted student.
"Princess," he scolded, "Not this again."
The only response was a displeased moan. The elderly man crossed his arms and tapped one of his fingers while waiting for the 'correct' answer. "Fine. If you are not going to reply in a more educated fashion then I would at least expect you to listen to your history lessons with some interest. You could pretend to listen at the very least. "
"I'm listening..." hissed a female's voice.
"Doesn't seem like that to me..."
"Then I can recommend you a fine doctor from town, Professor."
The old man's skin reddened with anger giving his scrawny face a funny hue the likes of the famous Goron rubies. Robes billowing behind him, he proceeded to stomp out of the chamber, shutting the great doors with a loud thumping noise. "Touchy, isn't he?" Giggled the female's voice once more as its owner glanced with devilish pleasure at the door her teacher had used. Standing from a velvet chair, she stretched her limbs skyward and yawned loudly, as un-princess-like as she could. She studied with carmine eyes her surroundings, frowning at the dullness of her private library. Old armors serving as decoration stood on each corner of the marble walls of the great salon, and red banners adorned the repetitive scales of grey and white slightly livening up the place's stoic atmosphere. Grumbling, she fumbled back on her chair, placing her long legs on the golden, ivy-ornamented arms and faced the wooden roof. Auburn bangs cascaded down her slightly bared shoulders. As her long robes dangled from her curved body like blankets wrapped around a newborn baby. Her highly detailed clothes were composed basically of a nightly cape and a skirt. Fluorescent markings etched around her sleeves giving her pale skin an eerie blue tint while a silver crown rested on her forehead. She sighed, closing said piercing eyes, allowing darkness to take over her range of vision.
"Hyrule... Hirulia...my kingdom, her kingdom..." she glanced at the large volume that laid forgotten on the desk before her and then grunted, sitting in a more comfortable position. "History or fairy tales..." She covered her eyes in frustration, "Argh! What does it matter anyway!? Why should I care about the origins of a country that hates me!?"
Standing, she violently struck the cursed bundle of leather and paper and headed toward the window, rubbing her temple in an attempt to nurse her racing feelings. Below her frustrated exterior, rage and fear were bubbling uneasily beckoning to take over her distressed thoughts.
"Stop it, stop... you have to keep that anger of yours controlled or else..." she stared beyond the cold barriers of stone and into the welcoming rays of sunlight from outside the palace. Her gaze grew distant, as her expression became softer. She finally smiled and turning back to the stack of books that she had yet to read, her sight was caught by the poor volume she had lunged earlier in her sudden outburst of anger.
"Oh come on... now I suppose I'm going to feel bad for having such an attitude and, naturally, I'll go search for the Professor asking for his forgiveness and begging him to give me another opportunity so we can finish the freaking lesson." She crossed her arms over her chest, swaying her hips left to right, desperate. Groaning, she started toward the door and peered into the dark hallway looking for her teacher. "I hate knowing myself so well..."
---
"What about the riots from last week in Castle Town? I heard burglars had been surfacing at sunset and attacked defenseless maidens. There had been various serious cases of rape this last month."
"The perpetrators have been said to be male Hylians."
"Curse it to the Dark World! I knew that we shouldn't have returned them their rights after the Second Assault...!"
"As if you beasts had the right to say what is right and what is wrong! All your knowledge and even your life style came from our race's theology!"
"We were merciful to not condemn your feeble race to extinction and now you dare--"
"Denivar! Control your temper!"
"I will when this racist Twili learns to control his venomous tongue!" Hissed a long-eared male, whose hazel eyes peered with hatred at the other humanoid sitting across the table. The human-like creature leered at him with unearthly eyes draped with a golden hue as his colorless irises reflected the loathed image of the Hylian.
"I don't have to waste my time discussing such serious issues with inferior beings such as you..." Standing, the creature referred to as a Twili, looked down at the rest of the politicians with repulsion as his tainted eyes glimmered with noticeable hate. His true intentions unreadable though, he started chuckling at some unsaid joke. The rest of the council, both Twilis and Hylians exchanged confused looks and shared a mutual fear. A Hylian, whose hair was speckled with different tones of white, stood as well from his seat and glanced at the Twili with tacit superiority, making the creature's intimidating stare to weaken its effect.
"Zant. Sit down. Now."
Dubious, Zant tried to imprint fear again on the rest of the men but under the strict and steady gaze of that sagely man he was powerless. Growling faintly, he regained his place. Still scrutinizing the Twili's every move with his firm eyes, the oldster recalled the main topic of their reunion which was the constant racism between the Hylians and Twilis that lived in Hirulia. Sure, eons ago, after the Second Assault, both races had learned to lived together. Powerful bonds of love and friendship were created, yet there were still resentful Hylians who still hated the Twilis for their intervention and conquering during the named First Assault more than 500 years ago. Their foreign magic was a matter of fear amongst Hylians since a historical document clearly stated the whipping of the original Hylian Royal Family by use of said mysterious artes. Clearly, a Twili monarchy was established and after another battle named as the Second Assault Hylians and Twilis fought over their differences in an attempt to make both races equal since they had learned to live in symbiosis. Then, as a symbol of their equality, a Parliament was formed consisting of both Hylians and Twilis and the land was renamed as 'Hirulia', reminiscent to the olden name of 'Hyrule' and the Twili's own country 'Twilightïa' (in Hylian language known as 'Twilight'). Of course, many Twilis and Hylians had learned to respect each other but there were still many exceptions that resulted in violent combats. Those were the main object of that meeting.
Soon, the barring voices of the discussing men overtook the silence that had claimed the room earlier.
---
She flew through the corridors passing busy servants and guards who were sleeping on their posts out of boredom. Heading upstairs she looked around the second floor for any trace of her teacher who apparently had found out a spell that could make the earth swallow him every time she came for him. As wise as the old guy was he could still be a pain to stand when he got angry (not that she wasn't, anyway). Maids bowed slightly as she rushed past them and avoided their curtseys every chance she got. Cursing under her breath, the princess headed through an all too familiar passage that lead to the main study of the castle knowing that what was inside would not be good for her rebellious teenage part (which obviously was the whole of her). Stopping a few inches before the door, she took deep breaths and prepared for the outburst. Her voice got stuck in her throat though when the knob clicked and the door opened from the inside by its own. Falling a few steps back she glanced at the person who came out and sighed upon noticing it was not Professor Rilas but another maid. This one Twili wasn't very tall. In fact, she didn't pass from the princess' hip and to other people's eyes she had the appearance of a child of 12. Her small golden eyes met with the princess's and a smile curved her purple lips, "Good morning, Your Highness. Apologizing so early?"
"Spare me the formalities, Mirian. I'm not in the mood." She passed an uneasy hand through her glowing locks and puffed. "How pissed is he?"
"Worse than a flaming Dodongo."
"Ah great." She retorted sarcastically. "Better than yesterday."
"Good luck with that, Princess." Giggled Mirian adjusting her dress.
"Mirian, how many times have I told you that you can just call me by my name?" Hissed the princess.
Blushing slightly Mirian turned to glance at her feet, "Too many to count Your Highness..."
"Ahem."
"Midna."
"That's better."
"Your Hi—I mean, Midna, I'm glad I could found you right now. I have a message from the Council..." Her voice trailed off upon noticing Midna's expression darken with irritation. Worried about making her any angrier she avoided eye contact with the ruler and played shyly with the trim of her turquoise dress.
"Ugh, that's great! What do those old fools want from me now? More speeches?"
"Actually, they just wanted you not to forget about today's meeting..."
"Yet another one of those... Don't they get tired of them?"
"Uh... I wouldn't know miss—I mean, Midna..."
"Well then, you can tell them that I'm delighted to know that I've been invited to one of their lousy meetings and would love to hear their ranting and babbling about the same old stuff."
"Miss?"
"But sadly, I won't be able to go. What a pity."
"Miss, they wanted to make sure you attended. This seemed to be a serious matter."
"Fun."
Mirian smiled knowingly and continued on her way. "It'll be okay," She ushered from the end of the hall and then turned disappearing among the corridors.
Sighing, Midna turned back to the door as new thoughts rushed through her mind. She wondered about the meeting she had just been informed about. But hey! I mean, what gives? They were supposed to be the voice of the people and all that jazz but they hardly ever left their chambers or removed their butts from their comfortable chairs. And to top it all they were always bickering and bitching between them. So much with being the 'voice of the people'. What did they know? What did any of them know about living outside the castle walls? What did they know besides a life of luxury? Surely they never worried if there would be dinner that night and surely they didn't know of the real racism that took place in Hirulia. She could bet her title that they didn't know a thing about suffering. None of them knew about it and they still sat pompously on their asses in a majestic room ordering her, the princess, around! Her! When they had not right! They didn't know how it felt to truly ache inside! How it felt to know that maybe, just maybe the next day would be better and if it wasn't then you were just screwed and had to live with it! That's just how life is! Praying won't do you any good you just have to make things happen!
Her sight blurred slightly as the familiar feel of cold tears formed in the corner of her eyes. Her fists shook slightly as her tough exterior melted away at those last thoughts. Sniffing, she cleaned the tears from her face and smoothened her robes, then proceeded to enter the study.
"Get a hold of yourself, Midna." She told herself and pushed the door open.