Malchior arrived at his castle and took Chip by his arm as he led him to his throne room.

"Let go!" Chip demanded angrily.

"I won't let you go young human. You are my slave now," Malchior said with a smirk on his face.

"Leave me alone," Chip replied with venom filling his voice.

"Now now…why do you show such animosity and fear Chip? After all…you will be here for the rest of your life," Malchior replied, now sitting on his throne and crossing his legs.

"I only did this for Belle and Prince Adam! They would still be sick if I didn't do this!"

"I see." Malchior smirked. "You humans are not aware of what love is. That girl Belle may have broken my sister's spell but it won't be strong enough to stop mine!" he said, his eyes now glowing white. "Only one thing can release you from my hold."

"What is that?"

"If I told you, you would be released at this moment and we can't have that, can we?" Malchior smirked.

"But Belle and the others!"

"I told you that you would be taken care of. Do not worry so much." Malchior said lazily, now propping his chin on his hand.

"But I…"

"You will have all the food, care, and nourishment you want. What more can a simple Earth creature want?" Malchior replied, now standing up and walking out of the room.

Chip could only stare sadly as the large being left the room without so much as a glance at him.

Meanwhile, back at Adam's castle….

"We've got to see how to get Chip back!" Belle said frantically.

"My love…all of this is my fault. If I had been kinder to you all none of that would have happened." Adam said sadly. His sickness and the others' sicknesses were wearing off but they were still not feeling 100 percent just yet.

"Darling. We will find a way to bring Chip back. We always have and we always will be there for him," Belle said, now reaching over and pulling Adam into a kiss. He let his lips massage hers as he deepened the kiss, but soon he let her go.

"Belle…that enchanter was very powerful. He is something we've never faced before. And yet something about him seems…familiar."

"We can't worry about that now. We have to find a solution to this," Belle said with determination. "We need to find a way to contact the enchantress."

"The same one who…" Adam couldn't even finish because that enchantress still left a bitter taste in his heart from changing him into a beast!

"Adam, we have to. We need her help in order to find Chip."

But they didn't even have to say anything else. For at that moment, a bright white light appeared and the enchantress was before them! Her eyes, gown, and skin were pale white and her hair flowed in the wind.

"I cannot help you in your quest but I heard your cry. The only way to bring your child back is to face Malchior."

"Face him?!"

"But how can we face him when we don't know where he is?" Adam said, now glaring at her with distrust. Sensing his animosity, the enchantress floated closer to him.

"You know Malchior better than you think you do Prince Adam. You do not need to find him…he will find you." And with those words, she was gone and leaving them in a state of shock and anguish.

"What did she mean by that?!" Belle gasped.

"I don't know, but we need to find out what to do and fast!" Adam said. He then noticed that the others were better, but still sick. "In the meantime, we need to see to each other."

For you see, Malchior did keep his promise to clear the illness, but he did not promise how long the process would take.

That night at Malchior's castle…

Malchior was being entertained by some other enchanters. He was the best enchanter of them all, but enjoyed their company and entertainment.

"We heard that you have a young human," a young enchanter replied.

"Yes. He is a very interesting creature," Malchior replied, now tasting his wine and gently drumming his fingers on the table.

"May we please see him?" a female enchanter asked eagerly.

"Hmmm…I am not sure," Malchior replied.

"Please let me see it! I have never seen a human," another one asked.

"No. You all may see the young human at the gala within three moons time," he replied, now leaning back and noticing that Chip was hiding behind a nearby curtain in terror. As the other guests began to ease from the room, Malchior walked over to the curtain and moved it, revealing a terrified child. "Chip?"

"I wanna get out of here!" Chip said, his eyes now wide as he saw the other enchanters' demonstrating their powers to each other.

"Chip, now calm yourself. There is nothing to fear," Malchior replied, still sipping his wine.

"I wanna go home! This was a terrible idea!"

"Chip…"

"I wanna go home!" he begged, now trying to run, but Malchior grabbed his arm gently.

"You're not going anywhere. You belong to me now," Malchior said coolly, now waving his hand and a gold collar appeared around Chip's neck. Chip began to scream in terror and pull at it, but Malchior quickly put down his wine glass, picked him up, and pressed a sharp clawlike finger on his forehead. Within a second, Chip was out cold in a deep sleep.

"Now now Chip. I can't have you running and being frantic around my castle. After all, you only need time to become adjusted in your new home." Malchior whispered, now carrying Chip up the long and winding staircase to the room he had prepared for him. Once Chip was placed in the large bed, Malchior walked to an open window, smirked, and made a wine glass appear in his hand once more.

"Well well Prince Adam, as you humans say, it's your move," he laughed, his voice echoing over the trees and the distance.

Meanwhile…

Adam watched as Belle was sleeping soundly next to him on his bed. He ran his hands through her hair and he was remembering when there was a great epidemic in his kingdom shortly after he became human once more. The epidemic almost killed Belle and everyone in his castle. It was a terrible, terrible time and one that would have truly wiped everyone out.

While Adam thought, he still couldn't forget the enchantress' words. How could he know Malchior when this was the first time he met him? Or was it the first time? Only time would tell.


guestsurprise: What do you think will happen?