Hello friends, here I am, taking yet another tangent from all my other stories that I keep circling around. I rewatched the live action movie lately and am appreciating the extra detail they gave about the Beast's story. It helped me finally articulate who he was as a man, and how Belle was actually able to save him.

Hope you all like my splurge!

Disclaimer: Beauty and the Beast 100% belongs to Disney, not me.

Prince Adam may have been dashingly handsome in appearance, but on the inside, he was an atrociously ugly man.

He hadn't always been that way. As a child, Adam had been full of hope and kindness. When his mother was alive, she believed in him and loved him like no other. Laughter and happiness flooded the castle, spreading through the kingdom like magic. She used to read adventure stories to him every evening before bed, and taught him to dance outside in the flower garden. She had been the source of all love and goodness in Adam's life. The Queen emanated warmth and compassion every time she smiled.

But after she died, Adam was left alone, lost among all the wealth and grandeur that surrounded him. His father was a self-centered man, who cared not at all about his son's dire need for love. All the King concerned himself with was appearance — beauty was what gave the royals power and respect. Any kindness he showed towards the young prince was simply an act, performed only when it was beneficial to the King. It was nearly impossible for Adam to draw his father away from his jewels, riches, and mistresses.

The prince grew sad and angry — angry at the sickness that took his loving mother, angry at the royal staff for not being able to save her, angry at his father for brushing him aside, and angry at the world for isolating him inside a lonely, loveless castle.

Adam's bitterness and cynicism manifested in monstrous temper tantrums and rude, heartless demands towards the servants of the castle. Though they raised him as best they could, Mrs. Potts and the others knew not how to ease the young prince's pain, nor how to rid him of the darkness growing in his heart. They simply tended to his every demand, withstood his bursts of anger, and kept their distance as much as possible.

As he got older, Adam bathed himself in the beauty and riches of the kingdom just as his father had. Unable to find solace through any sense of internal self-worth, he instead clung to his outward appearance, for he was a highly attractive man with unparalleled talent and elegance. The prince flaunted his good-looks in vain, and doused himself in his unearned respect and loyalty. Adam forgot all sense of empathy or compassion for others. He forgot the gentle love and kindness of his past. So when the disguised enchantress arrived at the castle door, he rejected her needs without a second thought.

His selfishness cost him severely. The enchantress saw right through the prince's external beauty to the horrific beast inside. She casted a magic spell that stripped him of his outer appearances, and brought all his inner ugliness to the surface. The monstrous Beast of his own creation became Adam's eternal cage. He was cursed to remain trapped inside of it for the rest of his life — save for one escape.

True love.

It was the only way to break any curse.

For Adam and the royal staff, their only hope of being saved was if the unloveable Beast could earn the affections of another. He would have to heal the darkness in his heart, find true beauty within himself, and learn to love again.

-0-0-0-

You are whatever you believe you are.

When Adam was a man, he believed himself to be the most beautiful in all the land. His vanity and arrogance dominated every thought and every action, feeding his inflated ego every time he looked at himself in the mirror. His appearance was the only thing he had that made him worthy of love and respect from the kingdom. The only thing about himself that he loved.

But now, his beastly reflection was a constant reminder of how ugly and monstrous he truly was as a person. The anger he had once felt towards everyone and everything around him turned inward, morphing into immense hatred of himself. He believed himself to be no better than a villainous animal. Now, he had gotten exactly what he deserved. He was a Beast, despised and rejected by the whole world. The human inside was lost, forgotten, and invisible, doomed to be imprisoned forever.

How could anyone love such a monster?

Time stood still during the curse. The castle grounds were frozen in an eternal winter. Hope for redemption dwindled every time a petal fell from the enchanted rose. With each passing day, The Beast grew stronger while Adam grew weaker. The kind and gentle boy of the past slowly faded away like a dream, along with all memories of his loving mother. It would take a miracle to save him now.

Then, one cold fateful night, that miracle arrived in the form of a young, headstrong woman, who sacrificed her own freedom for her father's. A woman who, like Adam, had grown up feeling lost and alone, and sought a life beyond the one she had always known. A woman who, through compassion and kindness, would warm the Beast's heart, wake Adam from his slumber, and befriend the dying human trapped beneath the surface.

For Belle saw right through the Beast's external ugliness, to the beautiful man inside.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know in the reviews if you enjoyed it :)