He had once been a treasured prince, adored for his looks and grace. Portraits and statues were made in his image. The height of looks and beauty was his to claim but that vanity, that call to glory, was his curses beginning. One wrong step, one missed-timed word, and it was stripped from him, found writhing in his bed as his body was buried with a curse meant to teach him that even beautiful things fade.
The moment the pain subsided, and he could face the world again, he wished the curse had simply killed him.
Looking at the polished wall of mirrors that were once so beloved by him, he wanted nothing more than to smash them, shatter the silver-backed glass and forbid any new ones from being installed as he looked at what had been done to him. The once long, strong legs had been changed, transfigured into a long violet mess of scales and patterns in gold banding, the perfectly kept nails now nothing more than talons scratching deep grooves into the hardwood of his floor, his hair had faded white making the scattered scales across his face and chest all the more prominent.
He had become a monster, opening his mouth to wail, to scream and bemoan this change he saw the fangs that had grown in. Sharp, long, terrifying things that made him sob at the sight of them, cries wracking his body as he slumped on the ground, maids too scared of the noise to open the doors to his rooms.
By the time the servants managed to check up on him, he had fled, making a long-gone but clumsy escape into the wilds around the castle he once called home. Messily sliding between trees and hissing as his new body bumped against things in ways he never had, he was too long now, less graceful and smooth, he was gangly and odd in all the wrong ways.
By the time news spread to all corners of the kingdom that the beloved prince was gone, it had been months, the shine in his hair gone, scales filthy, and his demeanour broken from the glorious figure he once was.
That's how you met him, your little home by the lake in the far corner of the kingdom, scrubbing the sheets you'd used for the last month before hanging them out and spotting the purple curl of a tail near the lakeside, carefully you approach, keeping a good amount of distance as you spot the strange monster laying by the water trying to wash his hair but sobbing as no matter how they scrub it won't clean back to what you think is white.
It's awkward how you speak up and offer the creature some soap for its hair, jolting when it looks up at you with deep brown eyes and a sad little pout on its face, sniffling when it slithers towards you, their hair dripping across his chest and back as it softly asks if you would wash his hair.
Nodding slowly, you ask them to wait there, coming back with your soap and a comb, you gesture to the water and have them get into a more comfortable position as you untangle their hair and wash out the grease that had built up. Once you're done they follow you back towards your home, offering a towel to them only to watch as they stare blankly at the cloth, before hanging their head and asking if you would help some more.
For what you had assumed was a potentially horrifying monster, he was a little pathetic, sniffling as you dried his hair and combed out the knots that had formed. Sighing as you found one you couldn't untangle, asking if he would like a small trim, taking the short nod he gives you and leaving him for a moment before coming back and trimming away a good bit of length and knots.
By the time you were done and had tied his hair off into a braid, the snake monster? Naga? Was crying, sniffling and wiping tears as they thanked you for being kind to a monster like them.
Before you can say anything more, they are slithering off into the forest around your home, leaving you with a comb and a mess of knotted white hair on the ground by your door. Sighing you kick it into the grass, hoping a bird will come and steal the mess of threads for a pretty nest, shaking your head before heading back to finish your laundry.
Perhaps you will see the snake creature again soon, maybe even get more than sad noises and sobs from the large man.
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