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Usually he would be at the central church by now. The horse was confused, however, Jeralt was sure he was on the right path. "Relax, we took a detour, of corse it's going to take a little while longer." He said to his horse. The horse didn't really feel better by that comment but continued anyways.
It was getting colder. Way colder. It even started snowing. There was an odd presence nearby that Jeralt felt but shrugged it off. The feeling only grew as they continued. Then, a loud wolf howl pierced the silence. Jeralt looked behind him and saw a pack of wolves, bloodthirsty and hungry, behind him. "So this is what that feeling was." He mumbled. He whipped the reins. "Hurry! Straight ahead!" He yelled.
The horse started running at full pace. The wolves followed them, slowly catching up. The wolves were almost close enough to attack the both of them when Jeralt saw something that looked like a gate not too far ahead of them. "Perfect, shelter." He said. They ran into the gate and into a courtyard covered with snow. The wolves seemed a little afraid to go near the gates. Jeralt didn't care why they stopped, he was glad the wolves weren't a threat.
He looked up and saw a run-down castle. "Huh, this isn't the church." Jeralt said. He guided his horse to a spot near the entrance stairs and gestured him to sit down. Jeralt entered the dark castle. Even though it was dark with only the moons light as the only source of light, it was incredibly dusty. Cobwebs covered every corner and the carpet was torn up in places, as if a beast clawed them. Jeralt wandered around the entrance hall and stumbled across the foyer. A fireplace with a fire was nearby. Jeralt warmed himself by it for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, there were someone, or rather something that was watching them. Behind the doorframe, an enchanted brass candelabra and blue wood stained clock were watching the surprise guest. "Felix, do you see this? What would His Highness think?" The candelabra asked.
"Shhh, be quiet Sylvain. Besides, the boar would probably be livid." Felix whispered.
Their conversation didn't go unnoticed. Jeralt heard something and walked in the direction he thought he heard it. The enchanted objects stood still in their spots and acted like normal housewares. Jeralt looked down and noticed them. "That's strange, I don't think these were here when I entered." He picked up the candelabra and stared at its intricacy. It looked like it had eyes and metal shaped like hair.
It stared at Jeralt before saying "Hello there." suddenly. Jeralt was startled and threw it down and its three flames were extinguished. It quickly got back up and relit its flames. "Eh, kinda expected that reaction." It said.
"Sylvain, you are an idiot." The clock scolded. Jeralt was confused. A talking candle and clock? Wolves not entering the grounds? Is this place haunted? Or is it enchanted? Whatever it was, Jeralt needed to escape, and fast. He took off running towards the exit.
"Great job Felix, you scared him." Sylvain argued. Felix only rolled his eyes and said nothing. Jeralt was back outside and retrieved his horse. He was making his way out when something caught his eye. A rose bush. He remembered Byleth's request. He quickly tried to cut one off of the bush with a dagger. He was almost out of the courtyard when a dark shadow approached. He turned around and gasped.
A hideous beast stood before him. One eye was even covered, implied that he lost it. The beast grabbed Jeralt by his shirt. "So, you think you can get away that easily?" The beast asked menacingly. Jeralt was too nervous to answer. Before he knew it, he was being dragged along back into the castle. "I know exactly what to do with petty thieves like you." Jeralt's horse was able to get away. He ran back to the village to warn Byleth on what has happened.
It was the day after her father left and Byleth was reading a book while sprawled out on the couch. There was a knock at the door and she reluctantly got up to answer it. She looked through the peephole and saw the last person she wanted to see, Hubert. Byleth groaned and opened it.
"Hello Byleth." Hubert greeted. Byleth sighed and forced a smile that was clearly fake.
"Hello... Hubert..." Byleth said. "What brings you here?"
"I noticed that Jeralt left on an errand and that you're alone. Do you want some company? I would be glad to accompany you." Hubert said. "Also, as the village hero, people think that I have everything, but I'm missing something, a wife. I've been thinking that we should settle down somewhere together and-" Hubert continued but got cut off.
"I'm sorry, but I would rather be alone at the moment. I'm also never going to marry you Hubert." Byleth said as she was trying to close the door.
Hubert was trying to keep the door open, however Byleth was faster in closing the door. Once the coast was clear, she went out to the backyard of her house. She sat on the small concrete stairs on the back porch. "I can't believe it. Me, the wife of that, ugh!." Byleth sighed. "Honestly, I'm not even sure I'm supposed to be here..."
While in her thoughts, she heard something in this distance. She looked up towards the rolling hills and saw her father's horse running back towards Byleth. Byleth gasped. Something is going on. She ran over to the spooked horse and tried to calm it down. She grabbed the reins, and slowly the horse calmed down enough to stop moving around frantically.
"Where's Jeralt? What happened to my father?" She asked the horse even though she knew it couldn't respond. However, at the mention of Jeralt's name, the horse stopped. Byleth was now overcome with fear and worry. "Take me to him, now." She said as she quickly hopped onto the saddle and instructed the horse to go back to where Jeralt was.
Though the ride was long, Byleth was too worried about her father to be concerned about the time. As the scenery changed from a dark, scary forest to one with snow, making it a little less scary, Byleth was starting to get more worried. Did her father die of hypothermia? Did the wolves get him? She ordered the horse to go faster. The sooner she could find out what happened to her father, the better.
After a little over an hour, a gate stood in front of Byleth and the horse. She ran quickly inside to the courtyard. Byleth dismounted the horse and ran into the dark castle without a second thought. Once inside, however, she quickly realized she needed light. Luckily, a candelabra stood on a table next to a clock. She grabbed it and headed in a random direction and hoped she could find Jeralt.
Byleth found a staircase that lead to an isolated and tight tower. She ran up the winding staircase. Jail cells lined the right side of the tower. Byleth knew she was in the right place. She scanned the cells, which where all empty, for her father. Byleth spotted a body in one of the cells up ahead and ran over to it to find her father sitting in the cold, dark room.
"Father!" Byleth yelled.
Jearlt, who was noticeably shaken and unkept, perked up quickly. "Byleth? How'd you get here?"
"No time to explain, I need to get you out of here!" Byleth said as she tried to find a way to open the cell door.
"No Byleth. You have to get out of here as soon as possible. This castle is alive and guarded by a beast. It's too dangerous for you to stay here."
"But I can't leave you here." Byleth said but was cut off by a sudden stomp of incoming footsteps. She turned around to find a shadowy figure of creature. Byleth found a stick on the ground and grabbed it for self defense. "Who's there?" She shouted.
"Who are you?" The shadow replied.
"I've come for my father!" Byleth shouted, her confidence unwavering.
"Your father is nothing but a petty thief."
"That's not true!"
"He tried to steal a rose."
"I asked for it, take me instead!" Byleth offered without thinking.
"Byleth, I can't have you do this! He'll keep you here forever!" Jeralt objected.
"A life sentence for a rose?" Byleth said in disbelief.
The creature roared and jumped down closer to where Byleth and Jeralt where. "I received eternal damnation for one, I'm just locking him away." It said. Byleth could see its outline more clearly. It was almost beast like. "Now, choose whether or not you'll take your fathers place."
"Come into the light." Byleth said, avoiding to answer the question so she'll know what she is getting into before she seals the deal.
The creature complied hesitantly. Once he stepped into the light, Byleth gasped at its hideous appearance. "Choose now."
Byleth turned back to Jeralt. "Don't do this kid. I lived my life, you're still young." He said. Byleth did consider his words, but didn't take them. There was no way Jeralt was going to let Byleth trade places with him so willingly, so she had a plan.
"Ok father, I'll leave." She said. "But can I at least say goodbye?" She asked the beast. He hesitated before opening the cell door.
"When the door closes, it'll never open again." He growled.
Byleth ran into the cell and hugged her father. She made sure to make it hard enough to turn her father so his back was facing the hallway. "Kid, I'm sorry." Jeralt said remorsefully.
"It's going to be alright father." Byleth said. Tears were starting to form in her eyes, something that has never really happened before.
Jearlt chuckled. "Heh, to think that the first time I would see you cry would be for me." He said.
Byleth paused for a moment before whispering. "Don't worry, I will escape." Jeralt was confused for a moment before being shoved out of the cell. Byleth quickly closed the door away, sealing her fate.
The beast was dumfounded. "You took his place? Why?"
"He's my father." Byleth answered with a few tears still streaming down her face. The beast growled before dragging Jeralt down. "Don't hurt him!" Byleth called.
Jeralt was dragged out of the castle. "Take him back to where he came from." He snarled at an enchanted carriage that magically took off once Jeralt was inside.
Byleth sat alone in the cell. She was freezing since it was literally snowing in an already cold dungeon. She heard a creak and her cell door suddenly opened. She gasped. She cautiously walked up to the door. She heard someone talking.
"Forgive His Highness's behavior earlier, it's just been a long time since we have had guests here." The voice said. Byleth was confused on who it could be. The figure stepped into the light and revealed to be the candelabra that she used for light to find her father. Byleth was startled by the talking candle and threw something at it. "Second time in 24 hours, that's a new record." The candle sighed.
"Sylvain, what are you doing now?" Another voiced asked. Soon, a clock came into view. Another talking object? Byleth thought.
"I'm only about to take this lovely lady to where she will be staying." The candle, who was probably Sylvain said.
The clock sighed. "You idiot! You are currently a candle and have Mercedes and you're still going after others?"
"Felix, chill, it's not like that. I only thought that giving the girl here a room here would boost our chances of-" Sylvain said before lowering his voice. "You know what." Felix said nothing. Sylvain turned back to Byleth. "So, are you ready?"
Byleth was walking by her self with Felix the clock down by her feet and holding Sylvain the candelabra. "So why again am I having my own room here when I was told to be in the dungeons forever?" Byleth asked.
"His Highness may look like a beast, but he's no monster." Sylvain said. "And pardon the weird impression we gave off earlier, with being talking objects and such."
"Why would I be startled? I'm talking to a candle." Byleth said sarcastically.
"Candle-a-bra, please, enormous different."
"Now you can go anywhere here but the west wing." Felix continued.
Byleth was curious. "What's in the west wing?" She asked.
Felix realized he said something he probably shouldn't have. "Which we do not have." He tried to recover. Byleth didn't buy it for a second. They continued on their way to the room that Byleth would be staying in. As they got into the east wing, they entered what was was the prettiest room Byleth has seen in her life.
She was in a large, circular room that had a bed against the wall, a few dressers with little trinkets spread throughout the room, a wardrobe in one corner, and a bookshelf with not many books to Byleth's dismay. Despite only having a small chandelier hanging from the celling, the room seemed like it could've produced its own light.
"It's so beautiful." Byleth mused.
"Of course, His Highness wanted you to have the finest room in the castle." Sylvain said. A slight gust of wind filled the room. Byleth looked at where it was coming from. She saw a feather duster that was floating as if it was dusting the air.
"Good day." The feather duster said. "I'll be at your service." She landed next to Sylvain. "This plan of yours is dangerous." She whispered.
"Oh Mercedes, I would do anything to free all of us from this curse." Sylvain said.
Byleth left the two enchanted objects alone and wandered around the room. "Is everything here alive?" She asked. She picked up a hairbrush and examined it.
"Not everything, there are only eight of us here if you count the boar." Felix said. "There's me, Sylvain, Mercedes is the feather duster with Sylvain, Ingrid is the coat hanger downstairs, Mr. Dedue and Ashe are the tea pot and teacup from the kitchens, and finally Annette-" He continued but got cut off.
Something yawned sing-songy and everyone turned to where the noise came from. It was towards the wardrobe. "That's Annette. She's the wardrobe. But watch out, she's clumsy even though she's a wardrobe." Sylvain said.
"She is a nice singer though." Felix grinned slightly.
"Felix!" Annette shouted.
Byleth giggled slightly. "If what Felix is saying is true I would like to hear you sing." Byleth said.
Though wardrobes couldn't blush, Byleth could've sworn that Annette would have at that moment. Sylvain, Felix, and Mercedes departed the room. "We'll be on our way now, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask!" Sylvain said.
Byleth was now almost alone, with only Annette the wardrobe to keep her company. "So, uh, Sylvain keeps calling that beast His Highness, is he really royalty?" Byleth started.
Annette sighed. "All it takes is a dark and stormy night and one delusional prince to doom us all." She said. It didn't really clear anything, but Byleth is guessing that they were cursed and weren't always like the way they were.
Back downstairs, the Beast was pacing around the kitchen. He wasn't really pleased with what Sylvain was doing. "Why would you think this is a good idea?" He asked Sylvain.
"Your Highness, think about it. If we can charm her, she can break the spell!" Sylvain tried to convince the Beast. "We don't have much time left!"
The Beast rolled his eyes. (or eye since one of them was always closed as if it was missing.) "Like that would happen."
"Just please try it." Sylvain asked.
"For once I agree with the brass idiot." Felix said.
"Sylvain is right, if we have any hope of breaking this curse, now is the perfect time." Mr. Dedue, the teapot that was preparing dinner, piped in.
"Why not ask her to dinner? That can maybe charm her." Mercedes suggested.
The Beast sighed. What was there to loose anyways? He marched over to where Byleth was staying with everyone, even Ingrid the coat hanger and Ashe the teacup, following behind him. The Beast tried to knock on Byleth's door as normally as possible. (It was still pounding since he was, well, a beast.)
"Just a minute." Byleth called. She was scanning the shelves for a book. Mostly for a way to escape.
"Will you join me for dinner?" The Beast asked anyways.
"Are you mad? You're keeping me as your prisoner and now you want me to dine with you?" Byleth asked, sounding very annoyed.
The Beast was getting upset. The enchanted objects tried to calm him down. "It would be great pleasure if you joined me for dinner." He huffed.
"No thank you." Byleth said.
The Beast was getting more upset. "I told you to join me for dinner!" He yelled.
"And I told you no!" Byleth yelled. "I would rather starve than eat with you!"
"Fine, then go ahead and starve!" The Beast yelled before turning back to the main corridor. The objects stayed behind. Sylvain, Felix, Mercedes, and Ingrid all slowly left one at a time to talk some sense into the Beast. Mr. Dedue and Ashe stayed however.
Mr. Dedue tapped on the door. "I told you to go away!" Byleth cried.
"It's not His Highness, it's Mr. Dedue."
"And Ashe!"
Byleth trudged to the door and opened it to find a teapot and teacup on the ground. They hopped in since that was the only way they could get around. Mr. Dedue poured some tea into Ashe from his tea pourer. "Here, this usually helps in calming oneself." He said.
Byleth reluctantly took the teacup in her hands and drank from it. Ashe was giggling as she drank from him. "That sorta tickles." He said. Byleth smiled softly for a brief moment.
"If I'm being honest, the things I said back there were mostly out of anger and I didn't mean the last part. The part about how I would rather starve I mean." Byleth admitted.
"Well, we can arrange for you to have something to eat downstairs." Mr. Dedue said. Byleth nodded and followed the two to the kitchens. As if they knew they were coming, the rest of the enchanted objects were there.
"Are you ready for the dinner show?" Sylvain asked.
Byleth was both intrigued and confused. "Dinner show?" She asked. She was guided to the dinning room where it was somewhat dark. Suddenly, a spotlight that was made using the moonlight and a silver tray held by Mercedes shone on Sylvain.
He and the rest of the enchanted objects then performed a whole musical number using the food, dishes, and utensils. Byleth was amazed on how they could do that. By the end of it all, Byleth had more of her fair share of food.
As she was walking back to her room, she was accompanied by Mr. Dedue. "Thank you for the dinner show, it was quite amazing." Byleth said.
"Think nothing of it." Mr. Dedue said. "Now, do you need anything else before you head to bed?"
Byleth shook her head. "No thank you."
"Then on behalf of everyone here, I bid you goodnight." Mr. Dedue said before heading back in the direction they came from. As Byleth was heading back to the east wing, she remembered what Sylvain and Felix said before about the west wing. She wanted to see what was there that made it off-limits. Surely she wouldn't get caught at this hour. She wasn't accompanied by anyone either.
Her curiosity got the best of her. Instead of heading east towards her room, Byleth went west to the west wing. Little did she know that this encounter would change her life forever. As she continued down the hallways, it got dustier and less kept. As approached the end of the hallway to a set of big, dark, doors. She stopped for a moment before pushing them open.
The room she was in was dark and heavily cluttered. Byleth had to make a constant effort to not accidentally step on something. Something on the wall caught her attention. It was a torn up portrait of a human. As Byleth got closer, there was something about the eyes that were familiar. Could they be?
A glitter in the corner of her eye turned her attention elsewhere. Near the open balcony was a single rose that was glowing and floating by magic and incased in a glass container. It was so pretty. It reminded Byleth of the ones she tried to grow with the seeds her father would bring home. Byleth reached out towards the glass to try and maybe get a single touch, but was interrupted by a loud crash.
She looked up and saw the Beast hanging over her. He was growling. "What are you doing here?" He asked angrily.
"N-nothing I-" Byleth tried to say but was scared out of her mind.
"Do you know what you could've done? You could've doomed us all! GET OUT!" The Beast roared. Byleth ran out as quickly as she could. This was the last straw. She tried to take what the enchanted objects said about him not really being that way, but so far there was nothing proving that the Beast wasn't as temperamental as he was.
She ran through the hallways and to the entrance hall. "Where are you going?" Sylvain asked when Byleth wizzed pass him and Felix.
"Away from here!" Byleth called without turning back. She ran past Mr. Dedue, Ingrid, and Ashe on her way out.
"What's going on?" Ashe asked Mr. Dedue.
"I don't know" Mr. Dedue answered.
"Wait! Don't go out there! It's dangerous!" Ingrid called but it was no use. Byleth ran out without a second thought and into the freezing cold. She found her father's horse where she left it and mounted it. She rode away into the forest, not knowing the dangers that were ahead. While she was running away, she wasn't aware of the wolves that were stalking her. By the time she realized that the wolves were there, it was too late.
Byleth was being chased by the wolves. They were snapping at her horse, hoping to get a bite of it. The horse was spooked and bucked Byleth off. Some wolves attempted to attack the horse, while others went for Byleth. Byleth tried to shield herself from the attack. One wolf managed to get a scratch on her. But before the wolves could do more damage, something, or rather someone, stopped them.
Byleth looked up and saw the Beast of all people attacking the wolves. He first attacked the ones that were harming Byleth. The wolves attacking the horse turned and noticed the beast and went after him instead. The Beast at first easily held the wolves off, but as more came, he was struggling to keep them at bay. Byleth was astonished at how strong he was for she never really knew how much strength such creature would have.
The Beast was able to drive off the wolves, but he was heavily injured. The Beast looked at Byleth with something that Byleth couldn't tell before he collapsed onto the snowy ground from his injuries. Was his look anger? No, it didn't look so much like that. Regret? Longing? All of them? Whatever it was Byleth couldn't let him to die in the cold. Call it a whim, since she almost ran off when she had the chance.
She carefully walked over to the Beast. She tried to help him up, however he was too heavy for her to do it on her own. "You have to help me." Byleth whispered. The Beast hesitantly complied and limped up. Byleth helped him onto her horse and guided him back to the palace.
Meanwhile, back in Remire, Jeralt was frantically trying to find help. The townspeople thought he was crazy for raving on about a beast in an enchanted castle. No one wanted to help him. That is, until he stumbled upon Hubert in his tavern. Hubert and Ferdinand offered to help Jeralt, however, they have their own ulterior motives. So they went back out towards the castle immediately.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ferdinand asked Hubert.
"I'm not believing anything he is saying, but if the end goal is to make Byleth my own, I will gladly do so." Hubert answered. They continued on their long journey. It took them so long that Hubert and Ferdinand where getting even more skeptical.
Hubert sighed. "Jeralt, are you sure this is where Byleth went?" He asked.
"I'm positive. I wouldn't go blathering on about it if it didn't happen." Jeralt answered. He spotted the tree that fell while on his journey. "Aha! That's it!" Jeralt said.
"That's what? It's just a tree." Ferdinand questioned.
"This is the tree that got struck down by lightning that forced me to go on a different route." Jeralt explained. However, the tree wasn't on the ground but was standing upright like a normal tree. "But is now back to normal...?" Jeralt wondered outloud.
Hubert sighed. "Look Jeralt, I know you're concerned about Byleth and all, but she's most likely back home." He said.
"No, she's not. I saw it all happen. I was there." Jeralt said angrily. "It's that way I swear."
"There is nothing here in the forest. The only thing here is frostbite, wolves, and starvation." Hubert said. "We're turning back and going back to Remire." He said.
"Then why did you want to follow me out here?"
"Because I want to marry your daughter!" Hubert yelled.
Jeralt was furious. Unlike most of the town, Jeralt didn't fall for Hubert's charismatics. There was no way he would let someone like him marry Byleth. "You will never marry Byleth." Jeralt said firmly.
Without warning, Hubert cast a Miasma ball and it knocked Jeralt out due to being weakened from the previous few days. Ferdinand was a little confused on why Hubert went to extreme measures. "Come on Ferdinand." Hubert said. Ferdinand complied and they headed back to Remire.
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Continued in part 3
~ The Artist Sylveon 🌸