"Excuse me," She called to the handsome man as she approached the odd-looking pair. She stopped a few paces away and glared at him, noticing his features were more chiseled and defined in the sunlight.
He stood a bit taller as if he owned the town...
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The midsection of his gut became numb as it tried to escape from the top of his ribcage. There was that unique sinking feeling in his stomach as though all his organs were pulling apart, falling separately. Crashing through the low hanging branches that sprouted from the dead trees mounted to the nearby cliff, he reached for them with the little strength he had. Slowing his impending doom ever so slightly, he waited for the darkness to consume him. He listened to the loud beating of his heart as his mind tried to accept defeat. He created his own fate.
Crashing into a shallow lake, his vision ceased. His body floated unconsciously for a short moment before sinking to rest at the muddy bottom. A pair of boots scrambled through the clouded water, a look of panic on the weak man's face as he struggled to pull the unconscious being from beneath the water. He pleaded for forgiveness, begging the stars for a second chance at redemption. He pulled the man's head into his arms as he sat against the cliff below the Beast's castle. A friend, a partner, Gaston was gone.
The Enchantress' magic transformed the Beast's castle back to its former beauty and the eternal winter melted away, creating a sea of green grass and a clear sky around the entire kingdom. The forgotten memories were restored as the Prince shared true loves kiss with the woman who saw the man behind the monster. The dark outer appearance of the castle began to alter, the rough exterior changing into a place of significant beauty as the woman's magic traveled beneath the roots of the kingdom.
He took a sharp breath and his eyes opened. The man sat in disbelief as his friend awoke, but his happiness was ignored. The man looked up to watch the kingdom's transformation. His broken bones were mended, his bruises vanished from his skin, and he could stand. His eyes were filled with envy and anger toward the woman he once loved and the Beast she was soon to marry.
People don't change, Gaston thought as he stood below the Prince's castle, looking up with tormented eyes at the beautiful building that was once a ruin. With a grunt, he called roughly to the little man that had pulled him from the water and stormed away, pacing back to the village to reclaim his tavern. He was rejected and despised by the men who lived among him, only seen as a man who was once a ruthless war hero. To kill the beast, the villagers were as guilty as he, but they claimed innocence. Blaming their behavior on his manipulation, everyone in the small town believed him to be a destructive villain, nothing more.
-
With tangled brown hair tucked into a messy ponytail, the beautiful woman traveled on horseback as the night quickly approached. Through a break in the thick trees, she saw a shining castle sat atop a hill in the distance. She altered her path, thinking: If there is a castle, then there must be a village – maybe one with a vacant house.
She approached the entry, finding the beautiful area rather empty. Taking notice to a beautiful rose bush, she felt her heart lift for a moment. Her life had been filled with destruction and hate, brutality and murder. She had forgotten what hope felt like. She stood with her back to the castle, her horse only inches away as she tightly held the reigns. With the sound of a calm male voice calling to her, fright traveled down her spine, "My Queen, I've been searching for you." She turned to see a handsome man approaching her, his attire befitting a man of higher status.
