#third kingdom

(This is a WIP.  Feel free to add to it)

In the environment of royalty, Adam grew up as a conceited, uncaring, and spoiled individual. He remained this way into his early adulthood, when an old beggar woman came to the doors of his castle and pleaded for a bit of compassion. Disgusted by her appearance, he laughed and turned her away. Before he could close the door, the woman transformed into a beautiful enchantress, with a gaze that both horrified him and left him in awe. He begged for forgiveness, but was shifted into a hideous beast and told that the only way to break his curse would be to love another and be loved in return before the last petal of an enchanted rose fell. All seemed very glum until he ended up taking captive an old man who was soon exchanged for his daughter, Belle, who became the Beast’s new prisoner. The second he laid eyes on her, he knew this was his only chance to break the spell. Though she was beautiful, and he was… a beast. He struggled with his temper, though in no time, they began falling for one another. It was as if she could see the man behind the face long before he could, and he began to develop into a softer version of himself. Nothing could stop their happy ending, not even Gaston arriving, determined to destroy the Beast and take Belle for his own. After a fatal injury, their love was out in the open, and he returned to his human form, soon marrying the beautiful woman whom had broken his spell and changed him entirely. They lived a happy life, often spending time in the library he had initially gifted her, learning how to read and enjoying each other’s company. It was a perfect ending. Though, it wasn’t the ending, not even close. Only a short time after Gaston’s defeat, a couple of thieves broke into the castle and took his former most prized possession—a mirror that had once allowed Adam to see anyone he wished. Unable to catch them and find the mirror’s whereabouts, he thought very little of it, much less seeing it as an omen of disaster. That is, until Gaston arrived once again, this time coated with the fur of a beast all in its own draped over his shoulders. He then commanded an army of his own monsters to flood the castle and hold Belle back to watch as Adam was beaten relentlessly. He was a mere man now, he could not defend himself against real monsters like the ones that now clutched his wife and harassed his staff. Completely broken and defenseless, Gaston had him thrown out of the town where he lie bleeding for what seemed like days. When he came to again, the world around him had a dark atmosphere and his wounds had been patched up to perfection, though by whom he had no idea. He returned only to gaze upon his castle from a distance. What he found was horrifying, his home had been turned into the palace of a heartless villain, monsters of all kinds guarding it. There was nothing he could do in his current state, he was just a normal prince with no powers or strength, he had to do something to take his home back and rescue his wife, as she had once rescued him from the dreaded curse. Only one thing now crossed his mind: the enchantress. She had changed him once before, and she could do it again, if becoming a Beast was the way to save Belle and his home, he would do it in a heartbeat. With that in mind, he set out to find the mirror thief who had been the last seen with the mirror, one Flynn Ryder. His plan was simple, he would hunt down the new owner of his mirror and beg the enchantress to curse him once again, what he didn’t know was all the second curse had to offer. He would pay with his memories and the second curse took hold of him completely different than the first. This time, he would only turn to his beastly form when the sun set, and when he did he was vicious, more powerful and blood hungry than ever before.

It was no secret that Belle was a little odd. The whole town spoke of it, how strange it was that she buried her head in books and dreamed of a life of adventure. It was that very same dream that landed her inside the castle of a terrible Beast, taking the place of her father as his captive. Though to begin with, he was horrifying and she wanted nothing to do with the Beast, she slowly began falling for his softer nature. The way he would clumsily walk towards birds, or how gentle his touch was, behind that exterior she found a man that was worth loving. Despite Gaston’s greatest attempts to stop their happiness and lock her father up, he was ultimately defeated by his own ego, freeing them of ever seeing him again. When she spoke a few words of love in his dying moments, the Beast transformed into a human, Prince Adam, and they lived happily ever after. She found everything she wanted in life, adventure, a massive library, and love, it was more than she ever thought someone like her could get out of life. When Gaston returned, her entire life was changed, and not for the good. This time when he arrived, he was vicious and surrounded by monsters that put the Beast to shame. Gaston was even worse than before, and he forced her to watch as he beat the love of her life to near death, this time he seemed not to care about anything other than revenge. They took her husband away and she was locked into the same cell that she once rescued her father from. She couldn’t bear the thoughts of what was happening to her husband and the rest of the world, and she found herself giving up alone in that cell. Her captor would come only to frighten her and remind her that this is what she deserved for rejecting him, and she couldn’t bear it. He was a completely different man from before, he used to be just conceited and obsessed, now he was malicious and power hungry. Things looked bleak until one night, familiar faces emerged through the darkness, Adam’s servants that had once taken shape as clocks, candles, and teapots, arrived to her rescue. They helped to remove her from the cell and take her to the woods nearby, she was weak and had lost most of her dignity, though she was determined to find Adam and reclaim her home, sending that monster of a man where he belonged. Though her allies had to return to serve Gaston, she disappeared from her little town to fix the ending of her story, and be the hero for once.

Ever since he was young, Gaston had been the apple of the town’s eye. He was considered the perfect man with his brawn, wit, and overwhelming amount of body hair. This continued into his adulthood, making him the most suitable man to marry for every woman he came across, that didn’t matter to him, though. He only wanted to marry Belle, seeing as she was the most beautiful girl in town who would have nothing to do with him, his egotistical nature loved the hunt but ultimately failed when she disappeared and fell in love with a hideous Beast. Gaston went back to claim his prize of a wife, but fell from the side of their castle and only survived by catching himself on a lower ledge and climbing back into the castle. He wasn’t one to be defeated, but in trying to find them once again, he found a magic mirror and was sucked into a portal that landed him in an entirely new kingdom. This kingdom was dark and treacherous, covered with monsters and others that looked as if they couldn’t handle sudden movements. Gaston was a natural born leader, and in this world he thrived. He took a name for himself and even began to wear the skin of a werewolf he had slain to grant his title, he urged the monsters that they could have more than these dreary lives if only they would follow him. The promise began with them holding complete control over the 10th kingdom and tearing it apart, forcing anyone who survived into small bands that would hide from their might. In his seizing of the new kingdom, he stumbled across a Wishing Well that held the only light left under his reign. It whispered sweet nothings to him about changing his fate and granting every wish he’d ever dreamt. Magic was something that meant nothing to Gaston, though, he believed in taking what he wanted by force and not by whispering words into water. He left the Well be and continued his plans that were only able to go into action when a thief appeared into his land and opened up the portal permanently. Gaston led the monsters he had control of out the portal and gave them free reign to destroy the kingdoms and take them for his own. He no longer wanted Belle or anything as trivial as that, but he had to defeat his former foes. When he arrived through the portal, one of the first individuals he ran into was a man with the look of defeat and revenge on his face. Hans, who seemed like the perfect way to insure that this time he would rule everything. After striking a deal with him, that they could rule the kingdoms together as long as he was loyal and obedient, he went and found the Beast, who was now merely a man, he used his newfound strength and beat him near death, taking sweet Belle as a prisoner. She would pay for what she had done to him all that time ago. All of his plans were in motion, now holding the Beast’s castle for his own and having control over the monsters, with the lovely Belle rotting in the same cell her father once had. As everything was going well, his loyal subject, Hans presented the issue of a powerful ice queen that had escaped his grasp. He ordered Hans to retrieve her, but he knew this was something too important to rest on his shoulders. This queen would be the perfect pet to rot in the dungeons as well and eventually kill Hans when he no longer had use. Gaston hired a thief by the name of Aladdin to hunt down Elsa and Belle who had just escaped his grasp. His dreams were larger than he’d ever been, he didn’t want just anything, he wanted everything. These women would be the stepping stones in his scheme and no one would be able to stop him.

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