The strange stillness that had gripped the world finally shattered. Ti unfroze with a sudden rush of sound and movent, the wind blew again, dust motes swirled in the air, and the group gasped as they snapped back to full awareness.
But the breath caught in their throats the mont their eyes landed on the spot where Lucian had been standing only a second before.
He was gone. In his place stood a towering, monstrous figure, easily twice the height of a man and built like a walking fortress. Thick, shimring silver fur covered every inch of his massive fra, rippling like polished tal, while a long, wild mane of the sa silver hue flowed down his neck and back, framing a fearso, beast-like face. His powerful shoulders were hunched slightly, and long, sharp claws protruded from hands that could crush stone with ease.
Every muscle in the group tensed instantly. Weapons were drawn in a heartbeat.
Astrid stepped forward, her axe raised and held firmly between the monster and her friends. She instinctively pulled Ariel behind her back, shielding the girl while keeping her gaze locked onto the towering creature, her stance ready for battle.
"Who are you?!" Astrid demanded, her voice sharp and commanding, echoing off the stone walls. "Step back! Don’t co any closer!"
The great silver beast tilted his head, looking at them with confusion. He raised his massive hands slowly, palms open in a gesture of peace.
"It’s ..." Lucian started to say, but he stopped short, his eyes widening in shock.
His voice. It wasn’t his voice anymore. It was deep, resonant, rough like grinding stone, and much heavier than he rembered.
He looked down at himself, truly seeing for the first ti. He saw the silver fur covering his arms, the long, dangerous claws where his fingers used to be, the sheer size and bulk of his body that dwarfed everything around him. He ran a clawed hand over his face and felt the long mane cascading down his back, the heavy brow, the sharp teeth beneath his lips.
A wave of realization washed over him. He lowered his hand slowly, his expression shifting from confusion to acceptance.
"The curse..." he muttered in that deep, rumbling tone. "It really transferred... just as he said it would."
Lucian, now in his new werebeast form explained everything that had happened. He told them about the Adam’s will, the contract he had unknowingly sealed with his blood, and how he was now the new King of Lumièrea.
The reactions were imdiate and varied.
Hiccup looked worried. "A whole kingdom? Lucian... that’s a huge responsibility."
Snotlout, however, looked entirely unfazed, in fact, his eyes lit up with excitent. He stepped around Astrid, looking Lucian up and down with a grin. "Responsibility? Please! You’re the King now! That ans gold, right? Treasures? Jewels? A whole castle full of stuff? Man, you got the best deal ever! When do we start looking through the vaults?"
Astrid didn’t smile or worry. She simply lowered her axe slightly and looked Lucian in the eyes. "Well, complaining won’t change it now. You’re stuck with it, so we are too. So what now? What’s the next step?"
Ariel looked at him with concern. "Can you turn back into a human?"
"Let try" Lucian was about to try using his skill when the main doors of the throne room suddenly burst open.
Swish!
Dozens of household objects ca rushing in, a clock, a candelabra, a teapot, and many more, all eyes and mouths, and searching frantically. When they saw the massive silver beast and the group, they stopped in shock.
A clockwork figure and a candelabra approached cautiously.
"Prince Adam...?" the clock asked, voice trembling with hope.
Lucian looked at them and replied in his deep, gruff voice, "I’m afraid not."
He stepped aside, revealing the skeletal remains on the throne.
A collective gasp echoed through the hall. So of the servants wept, small tears falling from painted eyes; others clasped their hands or handles to their faces in shock and sorrow.
The candelabra and the clock drifted slowly toward the remains. They landed gently beside him, touching his bony hands with their own brass and tal fingers. The flas on the candelabra’s arms flickered and dimd, turning blue and sad as silent sobs shook its fra. The clock ticked slower, heavier, its gears grinding with grief.
"The prince... he really went through with his plan," the clock muttered sadly.
The clock turned around toward Lucian, and bowed low on its little stand.
The clock then turned to Lucian. "You must be the new heir the prince chose. What is your na, Your Majesty?"
"I’m Lucian," he answered in that deep, gruff voice that was now his.
____
An hour had passed since the discovery.
Outside, in the castle courtyard, under a grey sky, the burial was finished. They had plucked countless white roses from the thorny hedges that lined the castle gates, flowers that had blood since the beginning of the curse and laid them gently over the fresh mound of earth where Prince Adam now rested, free at last.
The golden clock turned to face them, his brass surface shining in the daylight. He gave a deep, grateful bow.
"Thank you," he said formally. "On behalf of the entire castle... thank you for helping us lay our previous master to rest. He deserved peace, after so long."
He straightened up and cleared his throat with a loud tick-tock sound.
"Allow to properly introduce myself. I am Cogsworth, the Castle Majordomo."
The tall candelabra floated forward, flas brightening slightly as he gave a dramatic, sweeping bow.
"And I am Lumière, the Castle Maître d’! A pleasure, truly!"
Cogsworth continued, "We should speak in private about what the previous prince has given you... the contract and what it all ans."
He turned and called out to a plump, charming teapot nearby. "Mrs. Potts! Please find Yin Sen and et us in His Majesty’s private study."
Cogsworth then turned to the rest of the group, Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Ariel, and the others.
"And all of you, His Majesty’s friends... please follow the other servants. They will show you to the guest quarters and see to your comfort while we speak privately with the King."
They began to move back inside the castle. Lucian followed Cogsworth and Lumière toward the main wing, toward the large, heavy wooden doors of what used to be Adam’s office and was now his.
But when they reached the entrance, a small problem beca very obvious.
Lucian, in his beast form, was simply too big.
He stood before the doorway, and his broad shoulders and massive fra blocked the entire entrance. His head nearly scraped the top of the archway, and his sides were wider than the fra itself.
Cogsworth and Lumière froze. They looked from the door, to Lucian’s enormous form, and back to the door again.
"Ah... well..." Cogsworth laughed awkwardly, a nervous tick echoing from inside him.
"Oui... perhaps... a little snug?" Lumière added with a weak, forced chuckle.
Seeing the problem, Lucian decided to test his new ability If it works with the cursed. He focused and activated Arcanthropy, willing himself to return to human form. His silver fur receded, his body shrank, and he transford back into a human... completely naked.
(A/N: I have changed Lycanthropy to Arcanthropy, following the suggestion from other readers.)
Cogsworth and Lumiere’s mouths fell open in shock. They snapped out of it only when Lucian took a step forward, completely unaware of his state.
"Wait! Your Majesty!" Lumière yelped.
He darted forward, his golden arms pushing and guiding Lucian quickly through the door and into the privacy of the office, blocking the view from the hallway.
"Lumière! Clothes! Quickly! Find robes, tunics, anything. Our King is magnificent but exposed!" Cogsworth hissed frantically.
Lumiere quickly hurried off to find suitable clothes. "On it! I’ll find the royal wardrobe imdiately!"
And with a hurried click of his body, the majordomo rushed off to make sure the new King was properly dressed.
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