Beauty X Beast ~ Twenty-Three!

Danielle watched the image of the young man as his face and clothes subtly shifted. His cheeks filled out slightly, his uniform turned into a pure white overcoat which would show any hint of dirt or oil which splattered upon it. She recoiled ever so slightly as the man turned and seemed to stare straight into her eyes.

“I created a weapon which would risk no one… not on our side, at least.” His jaw worked momentarily, seeming to need to force out the next words. “I unleashed a tide of edged metal and handed control over to the generals of the armies of Verdelune. I knew they were expanding the kingdom, I knew that meant my machines were to be used in combat. But I was offered royal treatment. Parades were thrown in my honor. Feasts were declared. My birthday? It was a week-long celebration hosted by the king himself.”

“I didn't understand what was happening, only that I was being told that I was doing the right thing.” His clothes morphed once more, but strangely, he looked to be the same age as when he had first become an Artificer. “More was required of me. I developed a method to prolong-”

The image flickered, moving with inhuman swiftness. Danielle glanced to the side, where the Beast was holding an implement to the crystal. Before she could ask a question, he rumbled out, “This part is not relevant to what I want you to see. We're just moving through his speech; it will resume shortly.”

“-not until I received a guest at my estate that I learned the true horrors of what I’d unleashed on the world.” The image of the man started speaking once more. “At first, I thought this was the promised soulmate, a person chosen by my family or the crown to be my partner in life forever. Why would I think otherwise? She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, an Enchantress of all things! But when she had been shown to my office, she confronted me with crystallized memories of what was happening on the outskirts of the kingdom.”

“My soldiers were not only fighting against foreign armies, cutting them down to the last man who dared resist.” His clothing shifted to traditional mourning garb. “They were tirelessly keeping watch on captured citizens of our neighboring countries. Cutting them down when they didn't do the work they were forced into, from farming to provide food to our people… to mining for more metal to expand our army further. It was only at this point I learned what they thought of me outside of the borders of Verdelune.”

“They called me the System-forsaken Battle Beast.” 

At these words, Danielle had to catch her breath, as she recalled her father saying this title with such fear in his voice that he’d been prepared to see her wed Gasteel in lieu of the Artificer’s creations seeing combat once more. 

“The Enchantress was utterly shocked to learn that I had no knowledge of these events. She pleaded with me, appealing to my better nature. I admit, her social skills won me over quickly, but after what I’d witnessed, even with what she later did to me… I do not believe she was wrong to do it.”

His eyes went hard, and his figure, which had slowly been slumping, once more stood straight and proud. “With her support, I remotely recalled every one of my soldiers. I stood defiant against the crown, and I won the right to remain here under house arrest for the remainder of my life. Without the accolades and the respect, I quickly began losing staff. When they went into town, they were harassed by the locals—or at least those masquerading as locals. Even with all of this, I would’ve been fine, happy even, if it hadn’t been-”

The image vanished, and the lights in the subterranean space regained their normal brightness. Danielle blinked rapidly, her eyes searching for the Artificer, but only finding the Beast stepping away from the crystal spire. “No… what happened? He seemed so lost.”

“It is not relevant to the subject at hand,” the Beast informed her without a hint of remorse. “Now you have seen why he stopped creating soldiers. Three entire kingdoms fell beneath the weight of his metal gauntlet, and that was when he was casually creating soldiers with the bare minimum of effort required. Beyond the initial conflict, untold thousands suffered under his creations. All while he was partying and parading during his free time.” 

The Beast walked across the room, his footfalls echoing through the area like a doomsday clock ticking down. “Tell me now, Danielle. Are you still willing to demand he puts himself under the thumb of the crown by saving a few random soldiers who were only stationed here to pressure you into a life you did not want? There would be one major difference, I suppose. This time, the kingdom would hold him in place with far more restrictive oaths to produce and send out his forces. He would never again have the opportunity to force a stalemate.”

As he finished his statement, the Beast gripped the curtain which spanned the massive underground warehouse and yanked it. 

The bolts holding it in the ceiling remained in place, while the fabric ripped clean off. As the cloth floated to the floor, lights began turning on, one row after another. Danielle winced as her eyes adjusted to the glare of light reflecting from metal. Then her eyes went wide, and she forced herself to look on despite the pain, her stomach feeling like it was dropping into a deep, dark hole.

Metal soldiers in formation stared back at her, their eyes cold and lifeless—lacking any hint of being active. With each light that turned on, hundreds more of the tightly packed soldiers were revealed. Danielle tried to see where the deadly machines ended, but each time she thought they’d reached the far wall, yet another light turned on.

“If you are wondering, the full underground space spans the entirety of the space contained within the outer walls,” Beast informed her gravely. “There are seventy-six thousand, two hundred and forty-one soldiers collected here… every last working version that had been sent out, and all those who were repaired after his disagreement with Verdelune.”

Danielle stood as though frozen, her eyes darting between the nearly identical faces of the seemingly endless rows of metal soldiers. The enormity of the situation sank in, and a deep sense of shame and guilt washed over her. Only then did she realize how badly she’d misjudged the situation, the Beast, and the Artificer. “I didn't know what I was asking you to do. I mean, I did, but I didn't… I didn't understand the scope.”

For what felt like a long time to her, Danielle mimicked the automatons she’d been around when they were powering down. Her eyes went glassy, her vision narrowing into tunnels which only served to help her focus more closely on the death machines in front of her. A moment later, she was stumbling over to the workbench, grabbing a book and hugging it to her chest to seek comfort from the familiar, usually joy-inducing texture. 

Then she looked down at what she was holding, finding a manual on creating the metal soldiers, with a new image on the front—the upgraded design she had made with the Artificer. The book fell from her nerveless fingers, and she leaned on the table to try and catch her breath, feeling as though she’d just run a great distance. 

More to herself than the Beast, she whispered her thoughts, “I just thought you were… being difficult. Petulant even, as if you were a spoiled noble refusing to do your duty for Verdelune. I had no idea this was the burden you’d set down… and here I am, trying to force you to pick it back up. No wonder you weren't willing to trade your life for one old Tinkerer. No… thank you for refusing. I would’ve never forgiven myself, once I understood what I’d asked of you.”

“Comte LeKrout rejoining the war would be a colossal mistake, with a great potential for the devastation of dozens of kingdoms,” the Beast agreed with her without holding back. “The most likely outcome is a union against Verdelune. It would take the combined efforts of dozens of kingdoms to crush the threat he brought, and they would not stop until they were certain it could never happen again. This would mean the devastation of every workshop, educational center, royal academy, military outpost, and likely the razing of every city, just to be sure they hadn't missed something.” 

“But… if you know this, the Royals must know as well. Why would they risk such an outcome?” Danielle latched onto the shift in conversation like a drowning woman being thrown a life preserver.

The Beast began rolling the enormous, torn-down curtain into a tidy bolt of fabric. “It's an acceptable risk to the Witch Queen of Verdelune. There are two paths forward, once you hit a certain point within the system. Most people only gain access to the reputation system upon achieving Breakthrough with their Full Class, but some… those who are pure of heart, or rotten to their very soul, can access the subsystem much earlier—influencing the path and power of their class and skills.”

“Reputation system?” Danielle echoed faintly. “I've never heard of anything like that before.”

“It is actively suppressed in our kingdom, because the Queen would prefer that others did not understand exactly what it means for her to be a Witch Queen,” the Beast bluntly informed her. “You either maximize your negative reputation through dark deeds, becoming a Witch or a Villain—as she did—or maximize it through positive actions and become a Fairy or a Hero. On that note, those who have reached maximum positive reputation in Verdelune are almost always executed or driven into exile so the Royals can maintain their fiction.” 

Danielle shook her head, not because she didn't believe him, but because it simply didn't make sense. “But if she has such a terrible reputation with the system, wouldn't it try to have her destroyed? Or something?”

“The system acts as a neutral arbiter. It merely tracks change. Conflict is exceptionally useful for increasing skill levels and generating innovation… also known as change.” The Beast finished what he was doing and swept his hand at the stairs. “I believe you should take some time to think through what has happened today. Grieve, if necessary. But tomorrow, you will start the day with knowledge and understanding you did not have when you woke up this morning. Take that as an opportunity to decide what you want your future to look like.” 

Danielle started walking without any further prompting, still lost in her swirling thoughts. Halfway across the room, the silence was interrupted by sudden commotion on the stairs, followed by Sneezy sprinting into the room. “Look at how nimble I am! I ran down those stairs without falling a single time. Maybe I should try taking them three at a time when I go up?”

“What is the meaning of this?” The Beast’s muted roar echoed off the hard surfaces of the room, causing Sneezy to skid to a halt. 

The fiery guard stood straight, saluting before pointing back at the stairs behind him, “There is a Baron of Verdelune demanding an audience. Apparently, he received notice of the attack and led a large portion of his troops here.” 

“The attack happened less than an hour ago,” the Beast grumbled as his cables lifted him in the air and started rapidly pulling him upward. “How did they get here so fast? They either knew it was going to happen…”

His blue crystals turned to Danielle as he floated up. “Or they were already on their way here for another reason.”