THE BEAST: prologue
Ninx

 In a time when peace was in the stars, there was war on the planet
Earth.
 Not a true, soldiers war.  People weren't killed in a death sense,
but in a public one.  For all those prominent they were
slaughtered, discredited by any tiny thing that was done.  Of
course, being who they were, it wasn't a tiny thing to ANYONE but
them.
 Yet, a bloodless feud is still a feud.
 From this "quiet" war between the powerful Terra and Jewel
families came the Beast curse.  Although it is a shrouded story due
to its prominent players, it is quite enchanting.  Pray that the
muse guides this hand to a fair retelling.
 It began with the Diamond King (as they phrased it; outside the
family he was called "King Diamond"), head of the Jewel family.  He
was a proud, proud man, and it was a sting to his pride that he was
the King of Earth.  Or, in his mind, the Earth King.  Yet, whatever
the title, his family had not held the position since the death of
the first queen of the Silver Millenia.  And that had been years
and years ago...which mean heaps and heaps of pricks in his ego. 
He looked at his son, the Topaz Prince, and ground his teeth,
knowing that there was no chance of him taking the throne.  There
was a Terra heir already; the Queen had pushed one out as fast as
possible, by the name of Endymion.  He was a true brute of a
Prince; handsome, but an absolute beast.
 Perhaps it was this train of thought that sent him to his
Sorceress--for the Jewel family freely kept one at Court--about the
heir.  For, if he was to dispose of the boy, wouldn't his son take
the throne?  This was how the lines of succession were written. 
Now, he couldn't bring himself to murder him, for murder is such a
tricky and exacting business  There'd be an enquiry, fingers
pointed, and all that nonsense.  However, if the boy were simply
incapable of ruling...
 The plan was easily put into effect by a simple thing: Endymion
was a genius at offending people.  Whether innocently or
maliciously, he was extremely good at it.  Reports of his remakrs
flew about the land, and stories were told again and again.  It was
all so simple...
 The late summer flowers were blooming as Endymion, his companions
and his Uncle, along with their retinues and servants and such,
came to Rush Castle.  It was situated far out in the kingdom, in an
area of spectactular beauty: deep woods with good trails, a lazy
river that coursed its way through rapids and a waterfall, and best
of all, the Jade Cliffs, great rises of stone visible for miles.
 Possibly the highlight of that afternoon was the arrogant Prince's
assertion that "this should be all right."  Had the boy known,
perhaps he would not have bestowed such high praise (considering
the source) on the castle.  Yet, one knows not the royal mind.
 What is known is, around one in the morning, the entire castle was
awakened by a howl of indignation.  Rushing to the sounds, they
were paled to find a glowing figure of a woman demanding the
Prince.  When he was produced, she raged at him, claiming insult
upon insult.  The bewildered replies of no knowledge seemed to
enrage her further, and she finally decided on retribution.
 The staff sighed amongst themselves, and even his Uncle shook his
head.  For some while, they knew the boy would eventually be paid
back his insult.  It never fell upon their minds that he could be
innocent of the crime; they knew their Prince. 
 Now, enter Endymion's four companions; though officially his
Guard, they were the only ones the Prince actually seemed to care
for.  They tolerated very little of what he gave, and so he gave
little; the years had bound the five of them together as tightly as
a plaited rope.  Now their sworn oaths caused them to attempt to
block her punishment.
 It was in vain.  All was in vain.
 The Sorceress seemed amused by the four, but as she felt their
power that quickly faded, and she struck.  Slowly, the shape of
each man melted away; she had rendered them invisible.  Permantly.
 She then struck the Prince.  Summoning her most potent powers, she
mixed a beastly, carnivorous form for him: wolf's head and body,
fox's legs and coloring, and a dog's hapless tail.  As a righteous
touch, she kept his eyes blue, always to be blue, even if his
nature turned feral.
 The curse, she pronounced, could only be ended by the white of
love and a pure kiss.  Things, she assured him, that would now be
lacking.  
 Lastly, she began to lay the final spells, spells that would kept
the Prince alive and well even as those he knew, those who served
him, fled from his life.  With a lasting stroke, the Prince was
placed in his "home," his company only the four unseen ones and the
mournful sound of his own voice.
 Years passed, and any hope dwindled.  His arrogance and
mischevious turned inward, until the darkness within became the
darkness without.  As the time of the Topaz Prince's ascension
came, Prince Endymion, once heir to the Terra throne, came closer
and closer to the edge of feralness.  Sadly the guard watched,
knowing that their fate was connected with his.  Yet though they
were powerful, no spell could break through.  Despair darkened the
house; hope was nowhere on the horizon.
 Or so they thought.