-Adam-

Polly had to force him to leave Belle's side to eat something. He only agreed to it because he felt as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. He expected to find Annette in the kitchen, but when he walked through the door there was an unfamiliar woman standing in the center of the kitchen. She looked normal besides the long blue robes she was dressed in that flowed around her and her bright gold eyes.

"Oh finally, I was beginning to get bored." She said.

"Who are you?"

She smiled, "Right, I forget that we haven't exactly met. I am the sorceress."

She held out her hand to him, but he didn't move to take her hand.

"You're her." he said, "You're the one who cursed my father."

She lowered her hand and curtsied awkwardly.

"We have something to talk about King Beast."

"I'm not the Beast King." He said. The prospect of dealing with a magic weilder felt exhausting. They always found ways to twist your words and meanings.

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk about. I won't go without a Beast King and I thought I'd offer you the job first."

He laughed darkly. "You won't talk me into anything witch. I know the kind of games magic creatures play."

"I am not a creature of magic. I control magic. I am much more powerful than any of the creatures in this land. If you don't want to be the King Beast I can't force you. I see that I am wasting my time here. I'll have to find someone else to keep the monsters in the forest. I am sure our mutual friend Belle will be disappointed."

She turned to leave but Adam charged forward and stopped her.

"What are you talking about? What does Belle have to do with this?"

The sorcceress turned and smiled sweetly at him.

"Haven't you heard about my little bargain with Belle?" She asked.

"What have you done to her? She hasn't woken yet. It's a curse isn't it? She was holding one of your roses."

The Sorceress did another small curtsy. "Yes, it's one of my calling cards. You called it a curse, but you couldn't be more wrong. Curses can only be cast on people who have shown to me that they deserved to be cursed. I couldn't curse her anymore than I could curse you right now. She volunteered to become the Keeper of the castle."

"What is a Keeper of the Castle?"

"I was correcting one small oversight from my previous curse. I realized that if I'm going to have a Beast King, I need someone to take care of this place." She moved over to the table and moved her finger along the surface, removing imaginary dust. "That's where the Keeper comes in."

"She won't be doing your bidding witch." He snapped.

"That's where you're wrong. Belle and I made an agreement and since I've given her what she wanted, so she will be my Keeper. It's outside of your hands."

"You abused the situation and took advantage of her." He accused. The sorceress just shrugged.

"What are you going to do about it? You're not very intimidating Adam."

He shook with anger, but the helplessness of the situation washed over him. There was noting that he could do.

The sorceress yawned obnoxiously, "I should be going. I still need a Beast King, and if I can't find one here I might as well start looking. I don't think it will be a hard position to fill. Plenty of men would be honored to accept, and now I have someone sweeten the deal." She said with a wink.

She was manipulating him. He wasn't blind to her intentions, but it spurred him on all the same.

"You want me to agree to let you curse me again." He said.

"You aren't listening. I can't curse you, but that doesn't change the fact that the Beast King's forest needs a Beast King. If you consented to becoming the Beast King again I would owe you a favor."

"I'll do it, but you have to release you spell over Belle."

"I can't do that. The spell is permanant. She's tied to this forest just like you would be."

"There is no way I can get her free?" He asked.

"No. There is nothing you can do. Your cost will have to be something else."

"If she has no choice but to live here with me I want her to get everything that she wants."

The sorceress blinked at him. "That was incredibly vague." She said.

Adam shrugged, perhaps if he was smarter he would be able to figure a way out of her spell, but if he couldn't do that he knew what he wanted. "I don't know how to make it anymore specific. I want her to get everything that makes her happy."

She smiled in a twisted way, "Perfect. She will want for nothing outside of escaping my spell."

She waved her hand and pulled another rose from thin air and pressed it into his hand.

"It's better this way. I'm glad it's you." and without another word she disapeared without a trace.

She left, but her magic wrapped around him and he felt the beast return slowly. his skin grew hot and he felt a strong intense desire to change. He became the King Beast again and shuddered. He had been curse free for less than a day. Now that it was back he felt as though it had never left.

-Polly-

Belle was awake. Panic set in and she called for Vandy hysterically.

"Polly, I'm fine." Belle was smiling, but it didn't make Polly anymore relaxed.

"You are not fine! You scared all of us to death! There was nothing wrong with you, but you just wouldn't wake up. You've got a lot of explaining to do! Adam was completely-"

"He's alive?" Belle interrupted. She sat up and reached around until she grabbed Polly's hand.

"Yes. Whatever you did, however you did it, it worked." Belle sagged back into the bed in releif.

"What happened?" Polly asked. Belle was ready to tell her everything about the sorceress, but just then the door flew open and hurried into the room walking over to the other side of Belle.

"She's awake! Polly, go get Adam." He ordered.

Polly frowned. She did not wait at Belle's side to be ushered away right when she woke up.

"Adam can get himself, he probably didn't even make it to the kitchen. I want to hear everything first hand!" She complained.

"I will tell Belle not to say a single word, but I really think that someone should go fetch him."

"Well then why don't you? You act all superior because you're the only one who knows anything about medicine, but I thought you said there was nothing wrong with her? What exactly are you going to do that I can't?"

Polly and Vandy were both in argue mode at this point. "I was trying to give her a break from your hysterics. The last thing anybody needs when they first wake up is your inquisition."

"INQUISITION?! I'll give you an inquisition!" She shrieked. Vandy had his mouth open and was ready to respond, but Adam appeared behind them in the doorway and Polly felt the magic at the same time that Vandy did. It might have looked like Adam was standing behind them, but they knew he was the Beast King the same way that everyone else knew he was the Beast King. Animalistic fear came over them and they both stepped back. The Beast King was back.

Vandy's mouth had fell completely open and Polly stepped back from Belle's side so that Adam could step in.

"You're awake." He said to Belle and hid hand reached out and grabbed hers. His eyes were on hers and Belle was smiling. He was ignoring both Polly and Vandy, but Vandy couldn't hold himself back.

"The curse. It's back." He said, the pure horror of what he said was clear on his voice.

"No." Adam responded. "It's not a curse. It's just a regular spell."

Belle's smile fell. "You talked to her didn't you?" She asked.

Adam smiled, "You thought you were the only one allowed to make stupid decisions?" He asked.

"Stupid decisions?!" Belle asked, sitting up in her bed. "You're the one who has been making stupid decisions! You're the one who died!"

"I don't think we should have this conversation in front of company." Adam said and he looked up at Polly and Vandy.

"You're just saying that because you know they'll agree with me." Belle said defiantly.

"No, well yes, there's that, but I said that because I don't think I can talk stop myself from doing something very innapropriate."

Belle turned bright red and Polly snapped herself out of her stupor and marched towards Vandy.

"I think we should leave." Polly said and Belle giggled behind her.

"But he's- but they're-" Vandy stuttered out as she pulled him from the room and slammed the door behind them.

"They need some privacy. They've both been through a great ordeal." Polly said.

"You could feel it, right Polly?" He asked.

"Yes, I imagine they've both been at the center of some sort of magic scheme."

"No, not just that. The magic is stronger. I've never felt anything like it. His father didn't even come close."

Polly just shrugged and headed towards the kitchen. She highly doubted that their master had actually made a stop into the kitchen and she was sure Belle would appreiciate a meal after the ordeal she had been through.