The group stepped slowly further into the throne room, their footsteps echoing softly against the cold stone floor. Their eyes remained fixed on the figure seated at the far end, the strange, beast-like skeleton still clad in its tattered royal robes, crowned and eternal in its silence. They gathered before the dais, a mixture of awe and unease settling over them.
Snotlout was the first to speak, his voice echoing slightly in the dusty hall. "Is... is he even human?"
Fishlegs leaned forward, squinting at the remains, his voice dropping to a whisper. "The bone structure is distorted... look at the elongated spine and claws. It’s like a mix of several animals.
"Looks painful," Ruffnut comnted bluntly, tilting her head. "Really, really painful."
Hiccup swallowed hard. "Whatever he was, he’s been dead a long ti."
Lucian moved past them, ascending the few steps leading to the throne itself. He ignored the conversation for a mont, his attention drawn entirely to the object resting within the creature’s bony grasp: the old, leather-bound book.
He reached out, wrapping his fingers around the spine, and gently pulled it free from the skeleton’s hold. Dust billowed up in thick grey clouds, undisturbed for centuries.
Lucian brushed the gri away with his hand, revealing intricate embossed patterns on the cover, and slowly opened it to the first page.
The handwriting was elegant yet jagged, as if written by soone whose hands trembled with anger or agony. Lucian began to read aloud, his voice the only sound in the vast hall.
"My na is Adam. Once, I was a Prince of this Kingdom. I was young, wealthy, and powerful. I thought that was enough. I thought that status ant I was above everything... above consequences, above kindness, above the world itself. I was arrogant, spoiled, and cruel. I cared only for parties, for beauty, for things that glittered. I thought being a ruler ant simply taking what you wanted and shutting out what you did not."
Lucian turned the page, the story shifting into sothing darker.
"It was the night of the Grand Ball. The castle was alive with music and light. Everyone who was anyone was here. And then... there was a knock at the door. An old woman, frail and bent against the winter cold, seeking shelter from the storm. She offered a single red rose in exchange for a place to rest. Can you believe it? My guards, those useless, incompetent fools actually let her get that close before reporting it to . She was ugly, old, and I was disgusted. She warned not to be deceived by appearances, for true beauty is found within. I dismissed her again and mocked her. I told her I did not waste space or kindness on beggars. I turned her out into the snow... and that was my greatest sin."
"She was no old woman. She was a Fairy and her curse fell upon and every soul within these walls. She said I lacked love in my heart, so I would live as a creature who could never be loved. I beca this... thing. A Beast. I hated her for it. I hated her with every drop of blood in my veins. I hated the way I looked, the way I sounded, the life she forced upon . I spent years raging at the sky, cursing her na, wishing for her death a thousand tis over."
Lucian continued reading, the tone of the diary changing as the years passed within the pages. The anger was still there, but it was mixed with sothing else, contemplation, and a strange, bitter understanding.
"As days turned into months, and months into years, the rage began to burn differently. I started seeing things I never noticed before. My servants... the people who served even when I was monstrous. I saw how hard they worked, how loyal they remained even though I was a tyrant. I realized how mundane life truly is, how it is built not from grand balls or gold, but from small things. Sweeping floors, cooking als, nding clothes. I treated them so poorly before. I treated everything poorly. I learned that being human isn’t about looking the part... but it was too late for to learn it well enough."
"The curse has a limit. I was told before my twenty-first birthday ca to pass, I must find soone who would love for what I was inside, or I would remain a beast forever. The years ran out. Nobody ca. Who would co to a castle of monsters? The gates themselves are enchanted; I cannot leave, and those who are not invited cannot find us. I was trapped here, waiting for a miracle that never arrived."
Lucian’s eyes scanned the final entries, written in a shaking, desperate hand.
"Today is my twenty-first birthday. The last petal of the enchanted rose has fallen. The change is complete. I am no longer a man who turns into a beast... I am simply a beast. There is no turning back now. Despair has eaten whole. I have decided to end this suffering myself; I have prepared a draught of poison to take my own life before I beco nothing more than a mindless animal. But before I go... I write this final decree."
"Whoever finds this book, whoever reads these words... you have been chosen. You are to be the new heir to this Kingdom but you shall not take it freely. You must first undergo the Trial I have prepared. If you succeed, everything I owned is yours. If you fail... you shall die in grueso death."
Lucian frowned, pausing as he finished the last line. He looked up from the book, glancing back at the skeleton on the throne.
"How can a dead man even conduct a trial...?"
He turned around and froze.
The others were completely motionless.
They stood exactly as they were a second ago, mid-motion, their expressions fixed, their eyes unblinking. Even the dust motes floating in the air were suspended, motionless. He rushed toward Astrid, waving his hand directly in front of her eyes. She didn’t blink. He called out to her, loud and clear, but there was no answer, no reaction. It was as if ti itself had simply stopped for everyone... except him.
He turned back sharply toward the throne. Where the strange skeleton had sat only monts ago, there was now sothing else.
In its place sat a massive chiric beast. He had the head and horns of a buffalo, the arms and body of a grizzly bear, the ears of a cow, the eyebrows of a gorilla, the crest of a hyena, the jaws and mane of a lion, the tusks of a wild boar, and the legs and tail of a wolf. He wore black pants and a tattered purple cape, standing nearly ten feet tall.
Yet, amidst all those animalistic features, there was one thing that remained undeniably human.
Its eyes.
Deep, piercing, intelligent blue eyes that held centuries of pain and wisdom.
[Ding! You have encountered a Special Character: Adam de Bête]
[You have received: Special Blind Box.]
"Shocking, isn’t it?" the creature rumbled. Its voice was deep, resonant, vibrating through the floor, heavy with sadness. "Even in death... the curse holds fast. My body rotted away, but my soul could not move on. Even my spirit was twisted to remain as the Beast, never to be human again."
Lucian stared in shock. "You are... Adam?"
"That I am," the Beast replied.
With a heavy, groaning movent, Adam stood up from the throne, and Lucian truly understood just how imnse he was. He was a giant, dominating the room, a walking nightmare to anyone who didn’t know his story.
"I apologize for the lack of hospitality," Adam said, gesturing vaguely around the empty hall. "But as you can see... I am rely a spirit bound to this place now. I cannot offer you wine, nor food, nor a bed."
He stepped down from the dais, his movents slow and careful, and dragged a heavy wooden stool closer to Lucian. He gestured with a clawed hand.
"Sit down, we have much to discuss."
Lucian sat, still wary. He glanced over his shoulder again at his frozen companions. It was eerie, seeing them like statues.
"Do not worry about them," Adam said, noticing his gaze. He lumbered back to his throne and sat on the edge of it, looking down at the young man. "They are alive, unhard. Ti in this castle flows differently; right now, it is paused for them. To them, only a fraction of a second has passed while we speak. They won’t even realize anything happened."
He leaned forward, resting his heavy elbows on his knees, his gaze falling to the leather-bound book in Lucian’s hands.
"You have read the book," Adam said simply. "And so you know exactly why you are here."
"The trial," Lucian said.
"Indeed." The Beast nodded slowly. "And before you ask why you... it is because you were the first one to hold that book and open it. That is no ordinary diary. It is the Royal To of this kingdom. It is an artifact designed to record history, know the story of its holder, control the palace, but more importantly... it is a contract. It is used to seal deals. When two parties sign within its pages, they are bound absolutely. If one breaks the terms of the agreent... their soul burns away into nothingness. Never reaching the afterlife."
Adam extended a hand, and the book floated out of Lucian’s grasp, gliding through the air to land gently in his massive claws.
"Now... let us begin," Adam said. He flipped through the pages, his eyes scanning the words, though the paper was blank to anyone but him. He read in silence for several minutes, the room completely still save for the turning of parchnt. Finally, he closed the book with a heavy thud and looked up, that strange blue gaze assessing Lucian deeply.
"Alright... I have seen it all," Adam said, a small, knowing smirk touching the corner of his beastly lips. "You are quite capable, aren’t you? Everything I see here... it looks good. You have power, you have purpose, you lead these people, and you carry a title yourself. You are a Prince, just as I was."
He tossed the book back to Lucian, who caught it easily.
Lucian frowned, confused. "Wait... what do you an, ’everything looks good’? You were reading blank pages."
"Were they?" Adam chuckled darkly. "That book records everything about the person holding it. Every feat you have accomplished, every battle you have won, every truth about your life on this world appears there automatically. I know who you are, Lucian. I know what you are capable of and I believe you are the only one who can do what needs to be done."
Lucian looked down at the open pages again. Now, writing appeared where there was none before. He read the terms clearly:
Contract of Succession: I, Adam, forr Ruler of the Lumièrea Kingdom, hereby bequeath all lands, treasures, artifacts, and titles to the undersigned. He shall beco King of this Kingdom. Along with this, he shall also inherit the burden of the Curse.
Lucian’s eyes widened. He tried to turn the page quickly, but the edge of the paper sliced into his fingertip. A tiny bead of crimson blood welled up and dropped onto the page, smudging the ink of the contract terms.
Adam watched the drop fall, and his face broke into a wide, sad smile.
Lucian ignored the stinging cut and read the final clause, the only thing Adam had ever truly wanted:
In exchange for this inheritance, the new Heir shall undertake one task: To find the Fairy responsible for this curse... and kill her.
Lucian looked up sharply. The figure of Adam was beginning to fade, becoming translucent, the light passing through his massive form.
"What if I don’t want to sign this deal?" Lucian demanded, rising to his feet.
Adam smiled, his massive form slowly dissolving into mist. He pointed one long claw at the book in Lucian’s hands.
"You already did," the Beast whispered.
Lucian looked down again. His own blood had spread across the page, seeping into the paper and drying instantly, turning into a signature in red ink. He looked back up at the fading spirit.
"From this mont on," Adam’s voice echoed, seeming to co from everywhere and nowhere at once, "ti will resu its flow and slowly... you will begin to change. You will beco like ."
Adam’s blue eyes held no malice, only desperate hope.
"I know you will hate this. I know you will hate for doing this to you but let that hate fuel you. Let the fear of becoming a monster drive you. Use it to find her, and end this curse forever. You are strong, Lucian. Stronger than I ever was. You can fix what I broke."
As Adam’s silhouette began to vanish completely, Lucian saw sothing erge from the shadows behind the Beast.
It was a figure shrouded in darkness, wearing a sleek black suit. It wore no mask, yet had no face, only smooth, pale skull. In its hand, it held a long, sharp scythe made of shadow and bone. It had co to collect the soul that had been trapped for too long.
The figure paused, turning its empty gaze toward Lucian for a brief second, acknowledging him. Then, with a swift, silent motion, it swung the scythe through Adam’s fading form.
The Beast smiled one last ti and then... he was gone.
The figure in the black suit vanished back into the shadows.
Instantly, the silence broke.
The snow outside began to fall again. The dust motes danced in the air.
"—think it’s a trap," Hiccup was saying, finishing a sentence he had started seconds ago, completely unaware that minutes had passed in that instant.
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