Thank you to my faithful reviewers, glad you're all enjoying yourselves. I think I've kept you waiting long enough with my torturous cliffhanger. Thanks for the compliment ImagineATale! I would hate to disappoint XD

Chapter 7

Beast saw Gaston enter the castle, for now deciding it would be best to keep in the shadows. He noticed that the man was out of arrows, one weapon less to worry about for him. He did notice the hunting rifle, which appeared to be ready to shoot. He stepped back a little further, making a slight scratching sound with his paws.

Hearing the sound Gaston turned around to the stairs. Slowly he walked up, looking for movement with every step he took. Someone or something was up there, but he would be the one to surprise the other he thought. Once he reached the top he heard another scratching sound to his right, it sounded close and he neared a dark corridor. He saw a faint trace of light through the crack of a door and made his way there.

Amused, but still on edge Beast watched the man walk into the trap. Hidden on a dark ledge on the opposite side of the door, he had a clear view of the intruder. He saw the man give the door a gentle push to carefully open the door. Not that it would help him, he thought.

As Gaston entered the room, he relaxed slightly. This was a mistake he would regret, he lowered his rifle for just a second to close the door behind him. Before he could however he felt the weapon being torn from his grasp from behind. When he turned around he was met with a sight he would never forget. The Beast, he thought. He had never seen anything like this monster, but if it wanted a fight, it would get one.

"I've found you Beast!"

"What took you so long, I've been waiting," Beast replied. Goading the man might not be the smartest move, but it would keep him away from Belle.

Gaston, very predictably, didn't react very well to this. Angry at being taunted, he didn't even register that the Beast could talk. He might have lost his rifle and be out of arrows, but he did have a big surprise hidden in his boot for the Beast. He quickly grabbed his hunting knife and slashed the Beast in his leg.

Beast gave a loud roar, how could he have missed the knife? He jumped back to create enough distance to quickly assess the damage. It was pretty deep and bleeding, but not enough to slow him down. Looking up he saw that Gaston had taken off. Going down on all fours, to get some weight of his injured leg, he went in pursuit.

Agathe made her way down, she disguised herself, not wanting Gaston to know it was her. Also she couldn't cast a curse on someone without testing them first. She thought about the curse, what could she do to make it compatible with the old one? It had to be a spell that he could break. She would try to stall some time to think of something. Passing a mirror, she took one last look at her disguise. Perfect, she thought.

Leaving the West Wing she heard a struggle and observed the two before making an entrance. Having seen enough she decided to intervene.

Gaston was barely around the corner when he was knocked down by the Beast again. He turned around and slashed with his knife to keep the Beast away from him.

They stared at each other, waiting who would make the next move. As it turned out, it was neither.

Beast looked horrified to see Belle jumping between him and Gaston, while the other man simply smirked.

"Beast, you're injured," Belle commented.

Beast could care less about any injuries, he just wanted Belle safe and away from Gaston.

Gaston however saw his chance and grabbed Belle's wrist pulling her to him. He held the blade near her chest, making sure she wouldn't be able to move. "Hello Belle, lovely to see you again. I thought you would be locked up somewhere, but no matter, I've found you and I am getting you out of here." He gave her a dashing smile, looking every bit the hero he wanted to be. "But first I'll kill the Beast that held you here."

"Please don't, he didn't do anything to me. He's gentle and kind and I don't want to leave. Just go and leave us alone." She pleaded with Gaston.

"No Belle, I can't do that he might attack the village looking for you. But I'll take his head and mount it on my wall, you'll still be able to see him every day," Gaston commented. No way that monster was kind and gentle, but if his future wife wanted that thing near her. She could have his head as a wedding present, she couldn't say he wasn't generous.

Belle looked horrified. "I don't want his head! I want him alive and in one piece."

Beast was frantically looking for a way to knock the knife out of the hunters hand without harming Belle, but he couldn't see a way. Why had she come down? And something was off about her, but what? He made a cautious step towards the hunter holding out his arms, "Let her go," Beast growled.

"No, I don't think so. You see, this is my future wife and I will take her back to the village."

"I will never marry you, now leave. I won't say it again," Belle said.

"Once you're away from here you'll come back your senses. And you will be my wife, or I might have to come back here," he threatened.

Suddenly Gaston released Belle as if he was burned. She got shrouded in a blinding light and changed into the enchantress as Beast had seen her all those years ago.

Beast realised what was happening, while he had no qualms about what would happen to the hunter, he worried about Belle and Maurice. He was cursed already, she couldn't curse him again, could she? For now all he could do was stand back and watch.

Gaston didn't like what was happening, Belle was gone and another woman had taken her place. Though he could see she was beautiful, her face held a different expression. He was no fool and knew this wouldn't end well for him if he was caught. He quickly took off on a run, but froze after a few steps. Now panic started to set in, his eyes widened knowing there would be no escape from this woman. In an attempt to find an ally he caught a glance of the Beast, he pleaded with his eyes for the Beast to help him. Strangely enough the Beast replied by shaking his head, and a resigned look in his face.

"Enchantress?" Beast hesitantly tried to get her attention without alerting Gaston to her real identity. "I don't care what you do to him, but don't hurt Belle or her father."

"My Beast, sadly that cannot be for it will cover the entire grounds."

An enchantress, Gaston thought, one that the Beast was very familiar with. Was he her pet of some kind, it would explain why he had never seen any animal like it before. He started to struggle against his invisible bonds, since the Beast wouldn't go against it's mistress. But why would a pet make a plea for others, more precisely, why not for him? He was the one in danger here!

Since her little pet wouldn't help him he decided he should make his own plea, "I'm sorry for harming your...pet, I'll leave and never come back. Just let me go."

Pet? That man actually he thought he was a mere pet. He was more dense than he thought, "I am not a pet you fool! I would suggest you keep your mouth closed before you'll end up even worse. She turned me into this, what do you think she'll do to you?" the Beast angrily replied, feeling rather undignified by the pet comment.

She had come up with an enchantment that could be connected to the previous one, but the wording would have to be done very carefully. She gave a last apologetic look to the Beast, she would have preferred to have given him a warning, but there had been no time for that. She raised her hand, in it was the stem of the cursed rose. She pointed it in Gaston's direction, it was time to cast the curse. She could only hope that the Beast could forgive her for this.

Next chapter will contain the actual curse! It's already written down, but leave some comments in your reviews and I'll see if I can squeeze in some requests!