Beauty and The Beast

Chapter 1

     On one side of the large forest, a castle stood proudly. Within the walls, a ball was being thrown, people dancing and drinking having drunk fun enjoying themselves paying no mind to the icy eyes of the princess. The cold winds of winter rattled the windows one of the princess's servants informed her of a visitor. Getting up and grumbling while following her servant she was soon stopped, the servant warned her that the visitor was a beggar and wasn't the prettiest. Pushing past her she walked down the stairs getting closer and closer to the ugly beggar. Her lips sneered in disgust. The beggar woman lifted her head and asked for a room just for the night, and in return, she offered her a rose. The servant hung her head as the princess laughed. Grabbing the beggar by her hood she dragged the woman outside.

"Leave. I will never allow such a creature to stay in my home, and a silly rose for a payment even." The princess scuffed.

The beggar looked at the servant who was shaking in her boots. Apologizing to her, her ugly self-began to fall away and in place was a beautiful woman now stood in her place. The princess fell on her butt and stayed there staring up at the woman.

"There is neither kindness nor love in your heart," she began, "for that, I will curse you and your castle along with anyone else within these walls."

The servant watched as the party guest ran outside screaming, she watched her friends run outside and turning household items turning to the witch she felt herself become smaller and turn into a candle. The princess now on her knees begged the witch for forgiveness.

"For you, I wish you the best."

The candle servant watched her master groan and growl, her hair grew and thickened much like a dog, fangs grew sharp enough to cut steel, horns grew and curled on top of her head, a tail shot out from her backside, feet became paws while her hands became beast like. Looking up at the witch the princess launched herself back into the castle. The candle woman watched her run with an odd sense of understanding.

"She must love someone and earn their love in return before the last petal falls. Once the last petal falls you will all become regular objects and she will stay like that for all of eternity."

Nodding with determination she hopped to the rest of the servants telling them the news, the clock through his hands in the air yelling how this is the "greatest" news he ever been told. The rest of them ignored him and made a plan. The witch erased the memories of the party guest. Sighing at herself she transformed herself again to a middle-aged woman and went back to her home.

Years passed and the beast became angrier destroying everything that wasn't alive ripping up every oil painting of her family and herself. The petals continued to drop and she became restless and gave up. Everyone who stumbled across here never came back or tired to kill her. Honestly, who could ever love a beast?

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In the small village on the other side of the forest, the town was just beginning to awake for the day, even dearest Hermione, the villages bookworm. The villagers thought of her as odd and funny, not the good kind of funny. While the boys went to school and the girls cleaned she often visited the bookstore and read. The shopkeeper knew her very well. He father was an inventor and people thought she got his craziness. Though she was different people still greeted her with kindness. That doesn't mean she doesn't hear all the whispers.

"But behind that fair facade, I'm afraid she's rather odd."

"Very different from the rest of us."

"She's nothing like the rest of us."

"Yes, different from the rest of us."

"Look there she's strange but special."