divinetree | "Crazy" Beauty and the "Hunter" Beast

"Crazy" Beauty and the "Hunter" Beast

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a cruel Prince lived in a shining castle surrounded by rich hunting lands.
Although he had everything his heart desired, the Prince was paranoid, selfish, and cruel.

But then, one winter's night, an old beggar-woman came to the castle, and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold.

None know for sure what happened that night. Some say the Prince turned her away for her appearance, and others claim he attempted to harm her... the beggar-woman melted away her disguise to reveal a beautiful Enchantress.

As punishment for his loveless heart and vicious cruelty, the Enchantress transformed him into a hideous Beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there.

Ashamed of his monstrous form, the Beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his 30th year. If he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return, by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.

As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a Beast?

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Was it possible to leap out of your skin more than once? Because this all felt real. Too real. Why was he here again? Where was...

Charlie... Gershwin... the... the Fair, it-

With how small he was, he slowly tipped his head back, enough to see who it was that had him by the shoulders.

His blood froze.

It was a massive creature behind him, dressed elegantly in shocking red tailored to MONSTROUS proportions. The tall creature was smirking inhumanly, sharp bear trap teeth contrasting red hart hair and antlers.

With a chuckle, a pair of claws pinched at Lucifer's cheeks before forcing a smile on his face.

"Hah! There we go, much better. Now, where did you come from, little fellow? How did you find the castle? Come to gawk at or slay the terrible beast?"

His cheeks were pinched and it seemed to bring him back to reality. The fight or flight filled Lucifer's heart as he sunk low and darted a few steps away, whirling to face the beast.

"I don't- I don't know...!" He slowly circled, moving toward the door but never letting his eyes leave the creature. Getting lost again was looking more and more like the better alternative than lingering here to be food or... or something.

"I got lost, the routes were... different... somehow. I found this place and thought to get directions but I clearly... ah... miscalculated..."

"Now now, as rude as Husker undoubtedly was--" the Beast shot a dangerous glare to the hutch before his expression fixed again, refocusing on Lucifer. Despite Lucifer backing up, Alastor stepped forward, massive cervine hooves clacking on marble floor with the same resonance as a boot heel.

And despite his hulking, terrifying visage, he leaned over and offered an outstretched hand, as if each finger wasn't tipped with a claw longer than a bear's.

"--I remember my manners. Come now, good man, why don't you come in? And tell me what's got you wandering in my hunting woods, what's brought you to me this evening."

He'd miscalculated again; in trying to keep some distance between himself and the creature, his back met a wall.

His eyes lay upon the wicked hooks that comprised those claws. They slowly trailed back to the beast's face.

"..."

Okay. Talking. Talk, and maybe it'll distract this guy enough to rethink possibly eating him. But weren't deer herbivores? What's a deer need with a hunting ground?

"My intention was never to disturb your hunting grounds. I also didn't wish to be a bother, but... the door was ajar, and I'm sorry for taking you from- from whatever it was you were doing up until now. I didn't mean to be loud, but... your, uh, feather duster climbed on me and your- your hutch started talking."

"Hohh! It's just a little curse, nothing contagious," the Beast chuckled, foppishly flopping his hand dismissively. "The sorceress that cast it is long dead, not to worry."

"Uhm... what?" Curses and sorceresses? That's insane. That's storybook stuff.

...

But he's facing off against a talking deer monster after being warned to flee by talking furniture, sooo-

"Wait... magic's... real, then?"

"Real as anything, real as Creation itself, good man," Alastor chuckled, looping an arm around Lucifer's shoulder to start walking the man further into the castle. "Now come along, let's have tea at least. Tell me the news, the gossip, what's going on in the world!"

He was hooked and led along. How about we not do anything to anger the smiling deer monster and wind up as lunch or kicked to pieces...?

"Tea? Tea's... fine. I'm afraid I won't be a wellspring of information on world happenings, though. I live out in the countryside. Remote."

"Why, even the goings-on of remote towns outside of these woods are news to me! Hahah!"

It's by the time the Beast has practically pushed Lucifer into an oversized lounging chair by a fireplace that the creature abruptly tuts himself.

"Where are my manners - I am Alastor, Prince of this castle. A pleasure to meet you," he greeted, smile growing ever more toothy as he somehow snapped those claws like fingers and the fireplace roared to life, deceptively cozy and inviting. More 'servants' arrived, tea kettle and set on a serving cart that hurriedly rolled to Lucifer's side, filled with a pleasantly brewed and aged tea with cream and sugar available to their guest's desire.

Once he was in the chair, he couldn't help curling up a little. The garden was nice, but the castle itself was so... chilly away from the fireplace. The fire was a great comfort.

Prince Alastor. Lucifer had never heard of him, and he'd devoured damn near every history book that ever existed. His trip to the castle had been so early in his usual journey's breadth toward town, he was shocked never to have seen such a great and grand castle before.

Like it'd appeared out of thin air.

He was shaken from his thoughts by the clattering of fine ceramic. Lucifer, not wishing to be rude, threw caution to the winds and fixed himself a cup of tea. "...Thank you. I'm Lucifer. ...Er, Your Highness."

He averted his gaze. "I'm an inventor. I was taking my latest project to the yearly Fair in town, along with some... toys that... nevermind..."

He drank. What did princes care about any of that, let alone 'cursed' ones?

"But that was the idea, anyway, before I lost my way. My horse, Gershwin, he's outside." Lucifer paused, winced a bit.

"...And is probably eating parts of your garden. Ssssssorry about that."

The lack of familiarity... yes, that made quite a bit of sense. Twisted into a terrible monster, left stranded and forgotten, his castle and hunting woods made into a prison to keep him away...

Alastor's thoughts ground to a halt at a certain word, ears perking up.

"An inventor? Now, do go on!"

His eyes widened. Did he hear that right? 'Do go on'? Not 'shut up, you crackpot'? 'Nobody asked'?

...

"...Well...!" He sat up straighter and shifted his legs for the ol' cross-cross-applesauce.

"I always felt like innovation is a big part of why we're put on this earth in the first place, and we should never be stagnant. So since I was rather small, I'd always watch how people did things and thought, 'How can this be done, but easier'? Or, 'what can be done about this annoying problem'? My first project was to build a means to spread seeds over a field using less back-breaking effort, which sold very well! I'd also made a great deal of mechanized toys for the kids, something you could pull a cord and watch it go, or wind it up and see what it'll do. I like to keep my hands busy."

...Enough that he was gesticulating a LOT as he talked.

"But lately I've thought, okay, handy is nice and something fun for future generations is nice, but can we dial it up a notch? Can we do something entirely new? And inspiration hit me while I was sitting under one of the trees in my orchard: I watched the sparrows twirling and dancing in the air and I thought, 'That's it. I'd like to fly. Who's to say I can't?' So I've been working on materials to make wings to wear, ways to slide short distances, and have been working on a smaller propulsion system you could attach to it that can give you that last little push and keep going if there's no wind. Because what's the point of having wings if all you can really do is just... sail to the ground from a high point? Gliding is nice, but I'd like to FLY. I want to throw myself at the ground and MISS!"

"HAH! Hahahaha!"

Alastor had listened out of curiosity - life got so dreadfully dull that a few new toys to tinker with would've been a good passtime after he'd killed and eaten this man.

But flying? Oh, what a madman! An intriguing, magnificent madman, and he had to see it for himself.

"FLYING! That's silly nonsense! Absolute absurdity! Hahahah!"

Alastor's cackling stopped, and the beast leaned on Lucifer's chair, a clawed hand resting weight on an arm and his free hand grasping the pretty little inventor's face between fingers.

"It's settled then. I'll fund this fancy of yours - I insist on seeing every prototype and every attempt, and in exchange, I will give you treasures and wealth to make it happen. And you won't forget to show me."

Oh.

The prince was laughing.

A shadow of hurt crossed his face before the smile widened and tightened, eyes crinkled a bit in amusement. "Yeah... yeah, it- it, um... it's..."

Idiot. You're so fucking easy.

But the smile faded and he leaned back a bit in the seat when Alastor loomed overhead. He was still as stone, tense as his face was seized and an... offer given, wait what-!?

Yet his prior hurt powered the way he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. This was his dream.

"I've had others that offered the same thing before, only to stab me in the back. I hardly know you. How can I be so sure it isn't happening again?"

"Asking assurances! Aren't you cheeky," Alastor scoffed, tapping Lucifer's nose with a claw. Despite their razor sharpness, it was perfectly gentle, perfectly in control - likely not terribly reassuring.

"I could say the same of you, of course. No certainty that you'll uphold your end of the bargain and properly return... whether I pay you upfront and give you enough to run off with, or I don't and you decide not to test your luck with such a frightening castle."

Drawing away, Alastor stepped back and walked away with as much dignity as his twisted form allowed. It was only for a moment, though - the Prince returned to the little parlor with a red velvet sack in his claws. There, he rested it right in Lucifer's lap - an unsettlingly heavy amount of solid gold coins.

But that clawed hand turned over, palm open and empty, outstretched to Lucifer.

"How about we seal it with a proper Deal, my friend? I'm a bit of a sorcerer, myself - this will assure we uphold this promise to one another."

Lucifer's frown deepened. Even if he did run, Alastor was a prince... monster... thing, while he was only a man. How far in the forest could he go before he was caught and killed? He wasn't seeing how this was equal, here.

The weight of that gold in his lap was very, very real. Judging by the feel of it, he and Charlie could stop counting every coin before trips to the market and even splurge in the bookstores, even cut her loose for some new clothes rather than peer into the windows with longing; there was enough to have the cart repaired. There may even be enough left over to get a brand new set of shoes for Gershwin for any future trips into the cobbled towns that always felt uncomfortable beneath his hooves.

He was strongly tempted to take that Deal, but the word 'sorcerer' meant magic.

"I've read my fair share of stories involving deals with devils. Rather unfortunate that you have those great big antlers, isn't it...?" He set his tea aside.

The village always called him crazy. Perhaps he'll consider a little madness today.

"However... If you are indeed different from the devils of lore, then define your terms."

"Of course, of course, how silly of me," Alastor chuckled, gesticulating dramatically - despite his hulking size and the weight of his hooves shaking the floor, he waggled his hips and tilted his head with all the animated energy of a man Lucifer's size. "Devils have goat horns, don't they? If such a thing even exists, haha! However much this little abode is my Hell, dear man, I am its prisoner and not its keeper."

The hand extended again, almost pushy.

"I will give you the wealth and means from my grounds as you need for your projects, and in return, you will come to my lands and show me every single test performed! Do we have a Deal?"

This was a more open area for testing, and with funding like this, he could get more metals, the oils, everything he could ever need to continue working and improving...

...Even if the prince would laugh at him, that shouldn't mean he should ever stop trying.

Lucifer took a breath, and accepted that hand with a firm grip. "...Deal."

A sickening green magic wound and engulfed them, tying them together in this Deal - one to seal it and make him beholden to the terms. But as quickly as it flashed, it vanished, leaving only the unsettling feeling of being touched by magic behind.

"Perfect!" the Prince laughed. This was a MUCH more interesting turn of events than simply adding fresh meat to his plate tonight! "Now! Don't get bold hiring anyone to come storm my castle - that won't end happily for anyone except me, dear boy. Much more preferable if your wacky dream comes true, don't you think? No shot of that if you end things too early, hah hah!"

Whoa. That... that felt strange. This was a Deal with some sort of supernatural creature, then? But he wasn't a devil, so that should be... fine?

Lucifer blinked a bit slowly, still reeling a little by the effect and the lingering sensation. He even touched his chest a little, as if to feel for something. But Alastor said something weird, and-

"Huh?" He was a paranoid sort, wasn't he?

"I dunno what year you think it is, but people nowadays tend not to murder their investors." He opened the sack then, and looked inside, retrieved a coin and turned it over in his palm.

He sighed his relief and his expression softened. "...Especially now that I can stop sewing patches on Charlie's clothes. She says it's alright, but... she deserves to wear much nicer thi-"

Lucifer paused. Cleared his throat.

"...Erh, sorry. I have a daughter at home. Charlotte."

"A daughter, hmm? Interesting," Alastor remarked, studying Lucifer a moment longer. What exactly was so interesting about that, he wouldn't say. The Prince looked over at another shape in the shadows - a coat rack - and snapped at it. "You! Guide this fellow's horse into our stables. It'll get cold tonight, put a blanket on the thing. And you, Niffty darling, get a room ready for our guest, will you?"

The excited little feather duster just giggled, fluttering away excitedly.

"Afraid you'll be a bit behind schedule, but once the sun is down, surely the woods will eat you alive! Best to rest instead."

He sighed, rubbed the back of his neck. "...I was afraid of that. If I could somehow send word to Charlie, assure her I'm safe, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem...?"

Well, since the prince was shouting at the coat rack- "Ah- Gershwin is a good boy! Just take it slow with him- he's had experience with most everything but might draw the line at, ah, moving furniture."

Lucifer blinked, tucked the coin away and finally looked to the tea set. The chair.

"How, uhm... how much of this place is alive?"

"Yes, well, unfortunately our carrier pigeons were turned into the majority of our drinkwear. Damned things always had such a FUSS about no longer being able to fly, only a few even remain by now," Alastor rolled his eyes, shrugging - if Lucifer inspected the cart again, he would see the small pitcher to pour cream was painted like a bird, the 'lip' of the pitcher where a beak would be.

The chair seemed still, but perhaps it could move as well... the matching one nearby seemed to squat its legs as Alastor sat in it, crossing his own gargantuan cervine legs over the other as he relaxed into the chair.

"The sorceress thought herself very funny to curse the whole of the castle and its lands. Staff and animals to furniture, and even some furniture gaining unexpected life all on its own! Sloppy, if you ask me."

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CERTIFIED YAPPER

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