AN: Not as sweet and cute as I had originally intended and there's a huge twist that will hopefully be resolved either next chapter or the one after it. It's a somewhat painful twist as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thank you again for all of your support.

Chapter Six - Beastly

"Okay," Belle smiled as she brushed Isabella's hair back. The two of them had chosen to read in the library which was one of their favorite activities especially if Adam would watch the two of them whilst looking over some books to help understand the economy of the towns around them. He would try to learn as much as he good and consult others before enacting certain rules or bestowing any kind of money or gift. The first and most effective move he had made as a prince was admit that he had a lot to learn if he were ever to be of help to anyone.

However, Adam was elsewhere and Belle worried about him. His mind was slipping on certain things and he was becoming confused after transforming. She did trust him but she worried about his health. Maybe his beast self required different things than his human self.

There was a loud bang heard from outside the room and Belle steadied herself. The sound echoed through the halls and was repeated by another loud bang. It sounded like gunshots but they…why would she be hearing gunshots.

She looked over to a servant girl and kindly asked her to watch Isabella for a moment before rushing towards the source of the sound. As she finally located where it had come from, she saw blood everywhere and draped over the banister was a large pelt with some kind of meat on the ground. She ran over and noticed that the tail had been cut off and lay on the floor.

Her eyes widened as she realized that he was missing his head, where was….Belle felt something watching her, she turned to her left and then to her right, finding nothing. Then she looked up and span around. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the blue eyes that stared sadly out at the world. He hadn't wanted to die. He hadn't meant to die. Someone had…

"Adam!" Belle yelled as she threw her arms around her husband, sobbing into his fur with her body shaking. She felt Adam move but she just wanted to cling to him for a little more, just a little more.

"Belle?" he asked concerned for her, his thumb pushing some of her hair behind her ear. "Belle, what is it? What's wrong?" he asked her but she continued to sob whilst clutching to him, "Are you hurt?" he said and Belle saw the same concern in his gorgeous blue eyes.

"I'm okay," she said as she saw the desperate way in which he was watching her. It was obvious that he didn't know what to do for her. He moved closer to her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm okay. I just had a bad dream," she told him. "Are you okay?" she gently let her fingers go through the fur on his cheek.

"As good as I could be," he told her honestly. "I think maybe if I could wear something then that might help. Of course, if I was myself then that would be what was best but as long as my princesses are safe," he said and Belle kissed his cheek lovingly.

"Nobody knows your condition," Belle tried to assure him as she moved so that she could rest her head against his chest. "Everyone still says that you're the most attractive man that they've ever seen. They still know how much you care about others and have learned to be a fair and righteous person whilst also showing humility. They aren't going to turn against you."

"Why don't we stop talking about it. I'll go over the new information for the towns tomorrow," he wrapped her up in his arm. "You're not afraid of me, are you? That's what matters most, that I can be with my family, my loves."

"Of course not," Belle closed her eyes, her arms stretching over his body. "I'll do some research too. Maybe there's a book about curses, something to undo them, or enchantments that could help," she closed her eyes and sobbed painfully. Adam sighed, wishing there was something that he could do for her. If only there was something other than living in this body that he could do for her.

"Belle," he whispered as his eyes widened, "There is one thing, I was given it six years ago or I found it as a gift. Will you be okay if I leave for a moment?" he asked her and Belle stared at him. She could see the excitement in his expression and how it was almost childlike. She moved off his chest and nodded. She was scared to close her eyes again, scared that she might lose him. She sighed as she walked to the window and stared out at the world outside. If only that world accepted the outcasts more.

Less than an hour later, Belle heard a noise from the side and she smiled as she saw Adam holding a lantern and a rose colored stone.

"It doesn't last very long and I've actually never tested it," he told her before placing the stone near the heat of the candle. He waited nervously but as the stone got hot it blossomed into a crystal rose and he looked at his paws where his claws had started to change and he fell down under the weight of everything but he looked like his princely self.

Belle rushed over to him, seeing him rising to his feet though he looked exhausted. She cupped his cheek and let her fingers play with his hair a little. This was the man that she had married. She could see the true him but he had said that it wouldn't last very long. She was about to kiss him but found that he was breathing painfully but doing his best to hide it. "Adam?" she asked before she touched his forehead. "You're burning up. We need to get a medic," she said and Adam shook his head.

"I am fine, the rose only lasts a little while. It does take a toll on my body but I was told it allows you to see past the enchantment," he said and Belle paused. She did feel the fur despite not seeing any fur. She took his hand, pulling him out of the light but as soon as he had left the light, the rose turned back into a stone and she saw him return to his less-pained but more beastly form.

"You were…you," Belle said as she grinned to him. She saw his look fall, he was ashamed of being the way he was out of the light. Belle reached up and let her fingers graze over his horn. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. We'll break this curse, I promise," she told him and Adam sighed.

"As long as you're all right," he growled and Belle kissed his mouth again. It was harder to do so when he wasn't human and she could feel the long teeth that might cut into her skin. She could only kiss the side of his mouth but it was him, she could show him how much she loved him. He kissed her back, being very gentle towards her.

Belle watched Adam as he sat in the courtyard with Isabella right beside him. The two had gone to see the horse's and were now reading a book. She loved how much reading had been involved in their lives together and she placed a hand on the back of Adam's head, kissing him gently. "I'll be right back," she told him and kissed Isabella as well.

Belle walked into the castle, she should at least make sure there was something for them to eat and drink when they came back inside. She wondered if Adam would have to have more food because of the bigger body. Being the way he was would probably mean a greater expenditure of energy. She hummed to herself as she checked the cupboards. Adam's mother had had a problem with her independence but Belle wasn't going to let a title strip her of her freedom.

As she placed a few ingredients down on the kitchen's prep table, her eyes widened as she saw the man who had created this mess. She tried to play it cool despite the way that she was reaching for a knife for self-protection. "Gas-Gaston," she choked, "It's been a very long time."

"Playing with animals again, Belle?" he asked and Belle looked at him.

"Whatever game you think you're playing, there are ways to stop you," she said boldly, she turned. "I'm happy with my choice, we have a daughter together, not the sons that you once told me that you wanted."

"And your husband, the so-called prince," Gaston commented and Belle's eyes narrowed.

"Leave him alone," she whispered and Belle made sure the knife was in her hand. "He's done nothing to you that you haven't brought upon yourself. He made your deal with you to protect our daughter, what else could you want from him!?" she said, not meaning to yell as loudly as she did.

"He never made a promise to save you though," Gaston said and Belle shook her head. What did he want from her? What kind of magic would he direct towards her?

"I'm not going to fall in love with you," she said before feeling him touch her hand.

"I don't want that, I don't want you as my wife anymore, not in that way at least," he said as Belle started to see fur grow on her arms, her hands start to turn into claws. She felt dizzy, was he actually trying to turn her into a beast? She closed her eyes painfully as she knew that she couldn't get away.

It was then that she felt herself pushed to the ground and she saw Adam there on all fours, making his way towards Gaston. "Don't you dare hurt her!?" he roared trying to protect his family with every part of his being.

"Well, you could give me the other thing I want and then I'll turn her back," Gaston smiled. "I was only able to do half the work that I wanted to do." Adam looked up at him and his chest beat painfully.

"What do you want?" he asked, hanging his head in shame. What else did this man want to do with him? What else could he possibly want?

"People don't want a proper beast as their prince," Gaston smiled and Adam took a look back at Belle who was in beast form. She was gorgeous though, unlike him. Adam wanted to save her. He knew how hard this curse was and she was a beautiful, strong, independent mother. Adam nodded again and then felt something painful hit him, it was wrapping itself around his mind.

Adam took a look back to see Belle turn back to her human form but the way he kept losing small parts of his mind scared him. He turned back to see that Gaston was gone but it all seemed so fuzzy. "The dungeon!" he yelled at her as Belle saw the pain but also seriousness in his eyes. "Have the guards take me to the dungeon, use every lock and bolt available," he told her and Belle looked at him nervously. "I love you," he told her before closing his eyes and his mind seemed to slip into a weird hole, he couldn't think clearly. All he could think of was meat.

…..

Belle was terrified to see what harm Gaston had done. He couldn't keep doing this to people. He couldn't use spells and enchantments to continue getting his own way. She had the lantern lit as she went down to the deepest part of the dungeon and saw that he was chained up like a wild animal. He wasn't wearing any clothes and was on all fours. She felt horrified as she neared the cage that he was in but he backed away from her, growling and acting one-hundred-percent as an animal would.

She heard the frightened growl as she neared him and he backed up to the corner of the cell, his cage. "Adam," she whispered as she heard him growling, his body shaking as she knelt outside the cage. "Adam," she repeated with tears in her eyes. He had to be in there somewhere.

"Darling," she reached a hand out nervously before grabbing a dead rat from a bucket near her. She was sickened as she put it on her lap. He wouldn't eat this, would he? She heard him growl at her and then snap his teeth. She pulled back but threw the rat into the cage, her heart pounding painfully as she watched him eat it, some of the blood getting onto his mouth.

"Adam, please," she sobbed, "please remember me," she begged as she saw him retreat to the back of the cage. "I still love you," she tried to tell him but he just gave a snort back, curling up like a bear might. She hated this. Couldn't he get back to being himself? Was he too far gone mentally?

"Adam," she whispered as she picked up the stone that he had shown her the previous night. She hoped this worked. She placed it on the ground and put the lantern down so it touched the bars of the cage, it was a large lantern and she hoped that this would help. He just needed to come into the light and stay in the light, right?

Belle saw the glow of the rose and looked back at Adam who only growled at her. She picked up another dead rat and held it in her hand, offering it to him. Her breaths drew shorter as he approached her wanting to eat the dead animal. However, as he crawled into the light, he blinked. She saw his human form, naked and tied up. She didn't want this for him.

"Belle?" he asked as he blinked through the light and Belle put the rat down. She reached out to touch his cheek, playing with his hair a little as she sobbed. He reached out to touch her and she cried. He was still him. Underneath all of it, he was still him. "You have to leave, my mind…I can feel it right now but I can't connect with it when I'm in that form, I haven't been able to. I can't override the instincts of that form. You have to leave the castle, get as far away as you possibly can. Tell everyone else to do the same."

"It's going to be all right," she said as she gently cupped his cheek in hers and managed to lean forward enough to kiss him. "I'll find a way to break the spell. I won't leave you."

"Belle, you won't be leaving me," he tried to assure her as he looked down, hating the way he had become. "I don't even know what's going on, it's blurry but it's like my thoughts, I can't connect with my thoughts. It's too dangerous for you to be around me, you have to leave. Go to the village. Go to my parents. Go anywhere but you can't stay here."

"I…I'm not going to leave you," she said and he shook his head.

"I've already left you," he told her and she sobbed, wrapping an arm around herself. "I love you, Belle, but you can't stay here. I can't let you stay here. You did look absolutely gorgeous as a beast though," he said and she nodded with tears in her eyes. She didn't want to leave him no matter what state he was now in.

She moved nervously but accidentally knocked over the lantern. She pulled back as she heard the growls of the beast and grabbed onto the stone, picking up another light but it was too late. She grabbed another rat and threw it into the middle of the cage where he went to eat it. Just a moment ago she had spoken with him and she had lost him again. She tried to place the stone in the light but it didn't turn into the rose.

She backed away from the cage and sat down, pulling her knees to her chest and sobbed painfully as she watched the animal in front of her. All she wanted to do was save him.

End of Chapter Six

Thank you for reading

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Five

Miri39, roxas gx