Hey, this is my very first fan fiction that I've put on here, so, yeah… Well, this is what happens before the story begins, so please enjoy it!

Prologue

Once upon a time in a far away kingdom, there lived a prince. He wasn't very different from other princes except for his appearance. He had a strange green tinge to his skin and to his hair. He also had unusually sharp teeth. The only part of him that seemed normal was his emerald green eyes.

He was handsome nonetheless with his appearance, but was mostly known for his selfishness and his slightly cruel nature. Some believed that his cruelty had been formed by his father's death and his mother's serious illness that had her at an inch from death. But a greater percent believed that he was cruel from being much too spoiled by his parents.

But whatever had caused his bitterness towards others, it had been shown for the first week of his reign….

…And this would be the cause of one of his biggest mistakes.

"Master!" one of the prince's servants called while running through the corridors to the prince's room. It was the first night the prince's second week of reign, and he had become even crueler since the death of his mother.

"Yes, Robin?" the prince replied as the servant skidded to a stop.

"There is a woman at the door," Robin panted, his black hair falling into his face. "She wishes to see you, Master."

The prince stood and brushed past Robin; he did not like visitors, especially when they were uninvited.

And when he arrived at the door, he especially did not like this visitor. She was and aged woman whom time did not treat well. She wore a dark red cloak with the hood over her head with her long, scraggly gray hair with streaks of white visible and askew, keeping some of her face hidden (which the prince thought very pleasurable). She had a crooked nose and grime all over her face, and had one or two warts on her face as well. The only thing that the prince liked at all about her was her blue eyes. They had a certain beauty to them that almost made the rest of her appearance disappear.

After a few seconds, when the prince looked at her and focused on everything except her eyes, he just about slammed the door in her face. "What do you want?" he spat out.

"I would like to stay the night, your majesty," the woman answered.

This angered the prince. "Does this look like an inn to you, woman?"

"No, it does not," she answered calmly as if there had been nothing ill-mannered said to her. "It is just that I am tired, and a storm is about to start, and I was hoping to avoid it."

"If you want to avoid it," the prince snarled, "go away and stay in an inn! Be gone!"

"Fine, if I must," the woman said. She reached into her cloak while she continued, "But at least take this." She then took out a beautiful red rose that, amazingly, seemed to sparkle.

"What is this?" he asked, angered. "Bribery?"

"No, Prince Garfield," the woman answered. (Garfield flinched; he didn't like to hear his name spoken by the villagers.) "it is but a token of gratitude for your time."

Garfield started at it as if disgusted. "Take your token," he said, "and give it to someone who cares!"

He was about to slam the door until the woman spoke in a solemn voice: "Maybe you'll care when you see the real me?"

"What?" Suddenly, there was a flash of golden light. Garfield jumped back and almost tripped from shock. When he looked back out at the woman, she was no longer there, but instead, a beautiful, thin girl with long, golden blonde hair and the same very attractive blue eyes. She had a sapphire gown with a sash made of yellow roses that increased the beauty of her hair. In her hand, she held a wand which, at the tip, had a light that rivaled the brightness of the sun.

"Wh-who are you?" Garfield stammered, shocked by her beauty.

"My name is Terra," she answered, "and I am an enchantress."

"Er…I…I could see that," he replied.

There was a pause in which Garfield merely stared at Terra, obviously trying to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. "I am sorry, but I have to do what I came here to do."

"Um…what would that be?"

"You have no kindness in your heart," she replied.

Garfield suddenly felt fear just as anyone would if an enchantress was talking like this. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Turn you into what you really are," she answered. She then raised her wand.

"No, wait, please!" he begged as he walked up to her. "I am sorry for how I treated you! Please forgive me! Please!"

"You apologize for your actions only when it will benefit you," Terra said. "I am sorry, but I must do this."

"No!" But it was too late. The enchantress put the tip of her wand to his forehead, and he began to change: he began to grow dark green fur all over his body; he grew claws that replaced his finger and toe nails; he grew even sharper teeth; he grew a snout and a tail. Everything had changed about his appearance…except for his eyes that remained human-like and emerald green.

The prince looked at his hair-covered hands and collapsed in despair. "What have you done to me?"

"It is not permanent," Terra said. "But," she added darkly, "if you cannot find a girl that truly loves you and you love her, you till remain like this for eternity."

"What?" he said weakly. "Who would fall in love with this!" he said, pointing towards his face.

"It is not the outside a person can truly fall in love with," Terra said. "The inside is the part that wins over love."

"But everyone hates me!"

"That's not my fault."

There was a very long silence. After almost a minute, the prince asked, "How…how long do I have?"

"Until this rose," Terra said as she raised the rose she had offered to him as the old woman, "has wilted. If you love a maiden, and she says that she loves you in return before or even as the last petal falls, you shall be free of this curse."

The enchantress stepped past Garfield to the very front of the castle. "And until then," she continued, and tapped the castle with her wand, "the castle and its inhabitants shall be cursed as well."

"What!" The prince turned his head at lightning speed to see if it were still at all possible to save the castle. But as he did, the castle grew dark, the statues of angels turned into dark, frightening gargoyles; all of the lights were put out; it's beauty was turned inside out and now terrifying.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he screamed.

"It may not seem like it," Terra said, "but I am helping you." She put her wand over the rose and as she flicked it, a glass bell jar materialized around it. "You still have time," she said gently, putting the bell jar down in front of him. "If you do as I say, you will return to the form that you were as a better man."

She backed away while she said, "I will hopefully see you again, Garfield. Farewell." Then, she vanished as a rain drop fell.

Garfield sat there as it drizzled, staring at the rose. He let out a doleful sigh. "It's hopeless."

Screams started as the servants realized that they had a curse upon them. "No one could ever learn to love a beast," he said. And as he did, the first petal fell from the rose.

So, what do you think of my first chapter? Please review!