Chapter Text
Once upon a time in a faraway land, a young prince, named Dimitri, lived in a shining castle. He was loved dearly by his parents, was spoiled, and had everything he could ever want or need, including the finest servants and furniture the realm had to offer. The prince and his parents were all kind despite their wealth and status, not forcing high taxes on their citizens or looking down upon them. The castle was truly beautiful, made of expertly-carved stone and tile, adorned with shimmering gold statues of angels and similar beautiful figures. Every bush and flower was grown and cut with utmost care, making for a scene most gorgeous alongside the expansive stone walkways and glimmering pools of water in the courtyard at the front of the castle. The royal family didn’t want to keep their home to themselves though, often throwing parties and inviting all who lived in the nearby villages to participate in the festivities. As such, they were beloved by their subjects. But as they say, all good things must come to an end…
Tragedy struck the royal family once Dimitri turned 13, as both of his parents were killed on a diplomatic trip to the nearby country of Duscur. The prince, who had been left behind with the servants of the castle, was devastated, and grew to be distrustful of people, believing them to be wicked because of what happened to his parents. Of course, this was an unfair generalization, but one that Dimitri had made nonetheless. Now in charge of the castle at a young age, the prince’s life and identity had been thrown into turmoil. He shut the castle off from the outside world, keeping himself and his servants there where he believed he would be safe. He… was safe, yes, but only grew more and more bitter to those around him, both in and outside of the castle.
Dimitri’s solitude was broken, however, on a particularly cold winter night… on a holiday that he had used to love ever so much. The prince didn’t care for the gifts his servants offered him, and despite their best efforts, nothing they did seemed to be able to pull Dimitri from his stupor. Unexpectedly, a knock was heard on the castle’s doors, and the young prince decided to investigate…
“Who are you?” Dimitri’s brow furrowed as he looked down upon the uninvited guest of the castle. The freezing wind and snow made bumps rise on his skin, and he wants nothing more than to close the door right this moment. After all, this “visitor” is likely just pretending to come in peace, only to kill the prince and his servants later.
“I’m simply looking for shelter from the cold… Please…” The visitor appeared to be an elderly woman with missing teeth, beady eyes, deep wrinkles, and even a wart on her face. The sight of her alone made Dimitri back away in disgust. A beggar woman… No doubt in his mind now that she would try to kill him, or at least take his riches for herself. “I don’t have much to give except for this rose… Please, take it as a token of my appreciation if I am allowed inside.”
“No. This is my castle, and no one can enter without my say…” Dimitri’s look of disgust morphed into one of anger, as he tried to look as intimidating as possible in order to dissuade the woman. “And I say that you can’t come in. My parents let commoners into the castle, and look where it got them… A hideous beggar like you can’t give me anything to make me let you in, let alone a useless flower.” A frown remained firmly on the prince’s face as he looked at the woman, though it soon became clear to him that she would not be so easily driven away.
“Hideous?” The woman looked taken aback for a moment, only to sigh and shake her head. All the while, the wind whipped around the pair, sending snow blowing into the castle and making it rather uncomfortable to stay like this. Just how much time was this woman planning on wasting anyways? Dimitri had already given her his response, but she spoke again. “Do not be deceived by appearances, for true beauty lies within. Please… all I ask is shelter from the storm, just for one night.” She held the rose to him again with a desperate look in her eyes. Something else lurked between her surface, but Dimitri didn’t care to look or think more about it. Despite her offer and words, he’d seen enough.
“I said no, you filthy hag!” Dimitri stomped his foot, his glare growing icy as the surroundings. She had kept him from his comfortable chair and fire, and the gifts from his servants. Granted, none of those things were truly making him happy, but it was better than standing here with the door open just to talk to this ugly old beggar woman. “And you’re trespassing, so leave, now!” He gripped the door and turned around, about ready to slam the door in her face, when he heard her sigh. A warm glow caught the prince’s attention, and he turned on his heels, flinching once he saw the woman again.
“I warned you, young prince…” The wrinkles of the woman’s face fill out, her warts and ugliness melting away slowly but surely. Long, flowing hair billowed out from her hood, which fell away to reveal a beautiful face of the smoothest skin. The woman’s beauty now was… enchanting, to say the least. Being fairly young still, Dimitri didn’t care so much for that part of her, but once she pulled out a long, thin, wooden wand from her cloak and began to float in the air in front of him, he began to panic.
“W-Wait, please! You can stay!” Dimitri threw himself at the enchantress’s feet, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. “Forgive me, please, I… I’ll do anything!” He clasped his hands together, begging and pleading with her despite his words falling on deaf ears. The prince fully expected to be killed right there and then, but he wasn’t…
Instead, he saw the once-beautiful castle being changed, from the pristine white stone he knew to a dark and cobbled one, the statues of angels being changed to demons, gargoyles, and other hideous beings. Even when Dimitri whirled around to face the inside, the sight was the same, as the statues and figures grew grotesque, the howling wind putting an end to any candles or lights that were lit and plunging the castle into darkness. It wasn’t dark enough that Dimitri can’t see anything, as much as he wished he wasn’t seeing any of what’s happening.
“Your Highness…” A deep, quiet voice caught Dimitri’s attention, and snapping his head in the voice’s direction, he saw his most loyal vassal, Dedue, staring at himself. His dark skin was being… replaced… little by little, with dark gray porcelain, while his nose began elongating and curving up. This was unlike anything Dimitri had ever seen before, and the sight terrified him.
“D-Dedue?” Dimitri’s eyes widened with shock, confusion, and fear as he watched his taciturn friend’s sudden transformation. Dedue’s arms and legs shrank and vanished, while the top of his head quite literally became a top, meant to be removed from the rest of his body. “What’s happening?!” He dove to catch his friend, and though he’s successful in doing so, all he holds in his hands is a dark gray teapot bearing a face and the emblem of Duscur painted on where Dedue’s earring once was.
“Don’t you see, you idiot?” A cold voice dug into Dimitri’s ears like the point of an icicle, making him flinch as he set Dedue gently onto the ground. “You being insufferable to everyone is finally coming back to bite you… and apparently, all the rest of us have to pay for it too-” Felix’s amber eyes narrowed, but he’s soon cut off by a ticking sound that seemed to be coming from inside of him. Numbers one through twelve began to appear on his face, and the navy-haired man balked back in confusion as pointed arrows appeared on his face, pointing to the numbers that matched the current time… like a clock.
“No… no, no, no…” Dimitri’s breaths grew erratic, his heart pounding like a beating drum, his mind racing like a horse on a track. How is any of this real? Is this some sort of nightmare? That was the only explanation for this… surely there were no such things as enchantresses and magic… But everything felt way, way too real… even the otherwise absurd notion of Felix being turned into a clock and picked up in his hands was now reality. “I never meant for any of this to happen… Please, stop! I beg of you!” Setting Felix down, Dimitri looked to the enchantress once more, though she simply shook her head. His begging now didn’t change what she saw in his heart, and everything around the prince continued to change. Along with Felix and Dedue, all of the servants became various household objects… except for Dimitri himself.
“You must learn to see past appearances, and to have love in your heart…” The enchantress’s wand now pointed at Dimitri, who felt as though he could faint at any moment. All of this was too much to bear, and he was terrified of the enchantress now, whether she was beautiful or not didn’t matter a bit to him anymore. But there was no escape for him as he was trapped in his own now-dreary castle, with everyone he knew now being an object. “And so your castle and the woods that surround it shall be dark and dreary, and your servants will be enchanted objects, and as for you… for you to learn your lesson, you will be…” Her voice trailed off as a glow surrounded Dimitri, a strange feeling overpowering his whole body.
“I’ll be what? What are you doing?” The young prince’s voice cracked, and he looked down at his body to see it changing as well, though not like those of his servants… Pain surged through his body as his feet arched up and his toenails grew curved and sharp, becoming claws. “Aaaagh-!” He cried out as the pain grew, and a tail sprouted where there hadn’t been one before, while his legs bent and his muscles changed shape to look like the legs of a dog. Fur sprouted all over his body, completely covering every part of his body, while his hands grew claws as well.
“Your Highness…?” Ashe, another of the servants, stood still, looking at Dimitri with clear fear and worry in his green eyes. Dimitri’s body began to shred and tear through his clothes as he grew bigger and bigger, looking down at Ashe with as much terror as Ashe had in his own expression. Dimitri could feel his ears moving position and changing shape while something else grew from his head; horns, from the feeling of them.
“What… What did you DO?!” Dimitri opened his mouth to speak, a roar coming out mixed in with his speech. He gained two tusks jutting out of his mouth, while the rest of his teeth became sharp fangs. The only hint of his past self were his light blue eyes, now filled with contempt and hatred for the enchantress.
“As I said, there is a lesson you must learn about the world and those who live in it, young prince.” The enchantress spoke in a tone as sickeningly calm as usual. It made Dimitri want to claw her face off right there and then, but at this point, he knew better than to try. Still, he needed to be taught a lesson apparently, but instead of having a conversation with him about it or punishing him in some other way, this woman had given him, his castle, and his servants nothing but eternal damnation… “This rose shall serve as a sand glass of sorts for your curse.” She held out the beautiful red rose, which now had a glow to it, enchanting in every sense of the word. “The rose shall bloom until your 23rd year, and then it will begin to wilt. If the curse is not broken by the time the last petal falls, then your castle will remain cursed, your servants as objects, and you… will be doomed to remain a beast for all time.” The rose drifted down slowly towards Dimitri’s paws, and he gently enclosed his grip around the rose, not wanting to risk damaging it. All of this… it was just too much to bear.
“But… there has to be some way. Some way to break this curse…” Dimitri’s gaze turned up from the rose, unflinching from the enchantress in front of him. A low growl emanated from him, though there’s a hint of desperation to his voice as well. He hadn’t seen himself in a mirror yet, but based on the reactions of everyone else, he wasn’t exactly a pretty sight. “TELL ME!” He shouted, slamming a paw to the ground once the enchantress gave him no response.
“The only way to break the curse… is to learn to love another, and earn their love in return before the last petal falls,” the enchantress said calmly, her body glowing even brighter than before as she prepared to depart from the gloomy castle and its denizens. Love? As in… romantic love? But Dimitri hadn’t even been thinking about love… he’s only 13 years old, after all. And if the enchantress meant the sort of love that Dimitri’s mother and father had shared, then… that seemed impossible. It wasn’t even a thought in Dimitri’s mind before, and it certainly didn’t seem possible now. With her message passed on, the enchantress disappeared, leaving those in the castle alone in their strange new predicament. Dimitri snarled and let out a bellowing roar once she left, and there was nothing left to do now but wait…
The prince grew ashamed of his monstrous appearance and shut himself in his castle, away from the rest of the world, only worsening his feelings towards those outside the castle and furthering his negative behaviors. Not that it mattered much, for the enchantress had erased all memory of the castle, servants, and royal family from the minds of those in the villages around the castle. As the years passed by, Dimitri fell into despair and lost all hope… For who could ever learn to love a beast?