2The Beast Who Fell For The Beauty
There once was a young, handsome prince who lived in a magnificent castle only just a few miles away from the town. This young prince could be snobby at times, but over all he was a happy young prince. Then one day his father, the king, told him that he was to be wed in a week. If he didn't find a bride, the father would choose for him (for he was now twenty).
So off the Prince went to find a lovely young maiden, fearful of what she would be like and wishing beyond wishing that he could find true love. But alas, the girls passed and he couldn't find a single one he was interested in, and so on the eve of his wedding, his father introduced him to his soon to be wife.
At first, when the prince saw her, he thought her to be beautiful, but when she spoke he saw past her fluffs and glimmers.
"Hello," she said with a snobby voice of her own, and he shook her hand; then they went their separate ways.
On his wedding day, the Prince was feeling downright depressed, knowing he was only marrying a snobby women for the sake of the kingdom. Once they married, the Prince did all he could to try and be the best possible husband for this woman, hoping he could change her attitude, but nothing he did seemed to work.
And finally, after a month of marriage, he decided to bring his wife a red rose from the Garden a little ways from the Castle, but she being as snobby as she was, felt that it was an insult to her personality and changed into the ugly witch she was.
"From this day forward, you will be a beast among the peasants! You shall be feared and no one will ever come to visit you! Once I saw the look of you, I knew you would be a no good dud. So hear me now and hear me well, a beast you will become, and only true love will see you true and you will be free. This rose you have brought will be your only knowledge of time passing 'till your twenty-first birthday, and if you haven't found true love by then, death will be your fate." And with that, her fingers twitched and she poofed away as the young prince became a distorted beast.
He roared as loud as he could, but you upon hearing that not one peep was made within the castle, he became depressed and angry, throwing tables and lamps and pictures anywhere and everywhere he could to surpass the anger held within. He took one look at a picture of himself on the wall and thrashed it with one slice so that he wouldn't be reminded of all he'd lost. And soon, the castle had a droopy aura that couldn't be cheered.
The beast began to fret, wondering how he would ever find his true love if everyone feared him. But then one day, half way through the year of his twentieth birthday, an old man wondered in, wet and cold. But the beast could only see what the man would do once he saw him and anger took over. Instead of throwing the old man out though, he threw him in the dungeon, fearing the man would tell other's about his hideous self.
The man wailed and begged to be set free, but the beast would not give in. There was nothing he could do when his fear over rode all, and so he decided if the old man died, he would die here so that his secret wouldn't be given out.
Then the oddest thing happened, a young maiden wandered into the castle, calling out, seeing if anybody was there. He didn't answer, his fear griping him to silence upon seeing her beauty. Could it be? Could she be his true love? The beast soon shook that idea out of his mind. Nah, she wouldn't ever love someone like him, not when he looked the way he did. So, when she found the dungeon that her father was in (as well as he) he felt slight compassion to see her tell her father that she would get him out. This made him angry and spoke in a low tone from the darkness he was hidden behind.
"Get out," he seethed. He saw the fear in her eyes and that only made him angrier, for she wouldn't love him anyway.
"Please! I have to get my father out he's sick!" tears sprang to her eyes, but the compassion he felt earlier was gone.
"He's my prisoner and he shall not be let free!"
"Please! I'll do anything! Just let him get home and warm." Her voice was now soft and cracking as tears flew silently down her smooth, rosemary cheeks. As the best heard her words, an idea formed in his head. Maybe she was just the right person for him.
"He can only be set free if you stay here. Forever." As the maiden heard the conditions, she contemplated what that would mean and finally nodded her consent. So the beast opened the barred door, and showed the man out, albeit a bit roughly, and soon the maiden saw no more of her father.
The beast showed the maiden to her room (which was more fancy and comfier than the prison) just to show her he could be a gentlemen and not some overly depressed, angry beast.
As the weeks passed on and turned into months, the beast grew rather fond of this maiden, learning that her name was Belle, and felt hopeful as she showed similar signs of being fond of him. They danced and read books from his large library but still, he never let his hopes get too high except that, here a beautiful maiden was living in his castle, and he could see no resentment or fear in her eyes. But he could see sadness. So one day he asked her "What's wrong?" and she only responded by saying she missed her father dearly and wished she could see him one last time.
The beast immediately went to his room, where the beautiful rose was kept safely and picked up a magic mirror, bringing it to her. He told her to ask anything to it, and when she did, she saw how very sick her father had become. Worried, all she did was cry trying to ease his pain away from afar. Compassion once again over took the Beast's heart and he told her,
"Fair maiden, I will set you free, if only but to see you happy once again." As he said this, his eyes showed how hard it was and the hurt he was putting onto himself and so she said,
"Dear Beast. I will return to thee in a week's time." She kissed his furry cheek then ran out of the castle and on to her father.
Hope filled the Beast's heart as he realized she did love him, and with that brought him to another realization. She needed to say it before he would be free of this curse. But a week's time passed by quickly, and then another month and she never returned.
The Beast felt sadness so deep that not even anger could make him move. And what with his curse almost ending, he felt despair and knew his fate now was to die. So he sat by the beautiful rose, only to be reminded of the maiden Belle, and stared out into the distance.
On the last day of his life, the beast walked outside where he walked through his garden one last time, and as the day was ending, he fell to the ground in a heap, his heart slowing with every passing second.
Not two seconds later, he heard a familiar voice calling to him. It was Bell! She came back! But it was too late; he got one last look at her fear stricken face and gave a subtle smile and died. The maiden ran the last few steps and fell onto his body, sobbing her heart out, and finally whispered what she'd felt for so long.
"I love you Beast." A few moments later, sparks flew every which way around the Beast and, frightened, Belle stepped back and watched as the Beast took a breath, then another and stood up, his whole figure changing into the most handsome man she had ever met, and as he looked at her with bewilderment and joy so full of seeing her again and being back to his human self, he couldn't help but smile and open his arms wide saying,
"I love you too Belle." He grinned and she ran towards him and gave him the biggest hug in the world.
A week later they were married and lived Happily Ever After
The End