Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there was a young man who lived in a castle. This young man was superior in intellect and could tell you anything about a person just from a glance. However, this caused him not to have any friends. One night the young man was having a party at the castle for his servants and a few nobles when there came a knock at the front door. The young man went to open the door and found a small elderly woman with braided hair on both sides of her head. She asked if she could ask the man a few questions about his life and the man turned her down harshly by telling her everything that was wrong with her. And for the final blow to her character, he told her that she repelled him. With that, the old woman transformed into a beautiful young lady. Her hair turning to a bright red and her face lifting back to its younger self. The woman was an enchantress and cursed the man to be in the form of a beast. Punishing him by making him so repelling to others that he would be lonely forever unless he found true love before the last petal of a rose she picked fell. The servants would be cursed as well, turned into objects of the castle that would be living till that last petal fell. And with that, the enchantress left the young man alone, to be forever cursed to be a beast.
One morning, in a village far away from the cursed castle, a man named John Watson walked through town. Quietly wondering if there was something more to this life.
“Little town, it's a quiet village
Every day, like the one before
Little town, full of little people
Waking up to say …” John sang, and just as he finished, people popped out of their windows and doors and sang.
“Bonjour!”
“Bonjour!”
“Bonjour!”
“Bonjour!”
“Bonjour!”
“There goes the baker with his tray like always.
The same old bread and rolls to sell
Every morning just the same
Since the morning that we came
To this poor provincial town …” John sang.
“Good morning, John!” The baker called and John waved back, politely smiling, and continued to walk.
“Look there he goes, that man is strange, no question
Dazed and distracted, can't you tell?” The townsfolk sang.
“Never part of any crowd.” A woman sang as she watched John walk by.
“Cause his head is up on some cloud!” The baker replied.
“He is a funny man, that John!!” The rest sang.
John hitched a ride on the back of a wagon and the townsfolk kept singing.
“Bonjour!”
“Good day!”
“How is your family?”
“Bonjour!”
“Good day!”
“How is your wife?”
“I need six eggs!”
“That’s too expensive!”
John jumped off the back of the wagon and headed towards the door of a library, “There must be more than this provincial life!!”
“Ah, John!” The Bookseller said.
“Good morning. I’ve come to return the book I borrowed,” John said handing the man the book.
“Finished already?” The man asked as he put it back on the shelf.
“Oh, I couldn’t put it down! Have you got anything new?” John asked looking around at the familiar spines.
“Not since yesterday,” the Bookseller chuckled.
“That’s all right. I’ll borrow… this one.” John said grabbing a book that he practically knew by heart already.
“That one? But you’ve read it twice!” The Bookseller exclaimed, smiling. No one else in the town really enjoyed reading like John and that made the man happy.
“Well, it’s my favorite! Far off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!”
“Well, if you like it all that much, it’s yours!”
“But sir!”
“I insist!”
“Well thank you. Thank you very much!” John said and left the shop.
“Look there he goes That man is so peculiar! I wonder if he’s feeling well!” the men sang as he left the library.
“With a dreamy far-off look!
And his nose stuck in a book!
What a puzzle to the rest of us is John!” the townsfolk sang.
“Oh! Isn’t this amazing! It’s my favorite part because you’ll see! Here’s where she meets Prince Charming… But she won’t discover that it’s him ‘til chapter 3!” John sings as he sits on the edge of a water fountain with some sheep.
“Now it’s no wonder that they call him handsome! His looks have got no parallel!” the women sang as they watched him.
“But behind that fair facade, I’m afraid he’s rather odd Very different from the rest of us…
He’s nothing like the rest of us. Yes, different from the rest of us is John!”
Over on a hill near the town, a goose fell from the sky. Anderson chased after it and tried to catch the falling animal but failed and ended up picking it up and shoving it in a bag before returning to Moriarty.
“Wow! You didn’t miss a shot, Moriarty! You’re the greatest hunter in the whole world” Anderson said, looking up at Moriarty and his horse.
“I know,” Moriarty said, bored, and licked the gun in his hand.
“Huh. No beast alive stands a chance against you…and no man for that matter!”
“It’s true, Anderson, and I’ve got my sights set on that one!” Moriarty said as he pointed at the figure of John.
“The Army doctor’s son?”
“He’s the one! The lucky man I’m going to marry!”
“But he’s--”
“The smartest and most handsome man in town,” Moriarty said, glaring at Anderson.
“I know--”
“And that makes him the best. And don’t I deserve the best?”
“Well, of course, I mean you do, but I mean…”
“Right from the moment when I met him, saw him. I said he’s the smartest and I fell. Here in town, there’s only he, who is almost as smart as me. So I’m making plans to woo and marry John.” Moriarty sang as he rode into town. Suddenly a crowd filled the marketplace, forcing Moriarty to get off his horse and follow John through the crowd. He had a difficult time making it past the crowd while John easily wound his way through while reading his book.
“There must be more than this provincial life!” John sang.
“Just watch I’m going to make John my spouse!!” Moriarty sang into the crowd.
“Look there he goes, that man is strange but special! A most peculiar monsieur! It’s a pity and a sin. He doesn’t quite fit in!
But he really is a funny man.
A stately but a funny man.
He really is a funny man! That John!” the townsfolk finished and went about their provincial lives.
That gave Moriarty the chance to catch up to John.
“Hello, John,” Moriarty said as he walked with John through the town.
“Bonjour, Moriarty,” John says and Moriarty takes his book from his hands, “Moriarty, may I have my book, please?”
“How can you read this? It’s full of nonsense fantasy!”
“Well, some people like an escape from time to time,” John growled.
“John, it’s about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things… like me!” Moriarty said and threw John’s book into the mud, “The whole town’s talking about it.”
“Moriarty, you are positively primeval,” John said, picking the book up and cleaning it off.
“Why thank you, John. Hey, whaddya say you and me take a walk over to the tavern and have a look at my hunting trophies,” Moriarty said and put his arm around John’s shoulders.
“Maybe some other time,” John said and escaped from Moriarty’s arm.
“But John, think of all the fun we could have!!”
“Please, Moriarty. I can’t. I have to get home and help my father.”
“Ha ha ha, that crazy old loon, he needs all the help he can get!” Anderson piped up and Moriarty glared at him.
“Don’t you dare talk about my father that way!”
“Yeah, don’t talk about his father that way!” Moriarty shouts and hits Anderson in the head.
“My father’s not crazy! He’s a veteran!” John shouts then hears a loud crash coming from his house. John runs towards his house while Moriarty continues to hit Anderson on the head.