AN: I was inspired by my third favorite Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog, in this chapter.
Chapter Thirteen
As soon as Antoine had left, Adam took a step back and then felt something like thunder throughout his whole body. He felt an icy grip on himself as he staggered backwards and his vision blurred to a white blinding light. He couldn't see but he could hear and feel as his back fell into the wall and something fell down, a portrait, suit of armor, or something.
"Adam!" he heard Belle yelling at him as she rushed to him and he felt two other sets of hands on him. He blinked and his vision started to go in a little, it was blurry but he was feeling as if he were - he yelled in pain as it felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly in his wrist, that yell soon turned into the beastlike roar.
Was this the pain of the transformation?
"He might need some room," Belle whispered and he blinked enough to be able to see her, he lifted his paw up but she held it down. "Just remain calm, you'll be all right, okay?" she asked him as she pressed her lips to his forehead. Adam attempted to lift his arm up which didn't sting and burn with the only similar pain to this being that stab wound when he had been killed.
Belle didn't protest his reaching up with that paw.
"Belle," he whispered as he found his breathing to steady but his body was no longer human. He stared at his other arm where there was a dark white substance spreading like blood but as his fur covered it, these gashes were more like scars and the white suddenly turned into red blood. This was worse than the wounds he had been given by those wolves. "Belle, is everything all right."
"Are you all right?" Belle asked as she placed her hand on his forehead and then on his cheek. She took off her small capelet she was wearing and without another word wrapped it around his wounded arm. "It's going to sting a little," she warned him and he nodded. "Are you okay, though?" she asked as she knelt but was mindful of her belly. "You're not feeling faint or dizzy or anything, you can stand?"
"I think -" Adam said before getting up. He stumbled slightly but felt Cogsworth catch him before he crashed onto the ground. He looked up at the ceiling. "I am never going to be king like this."
"You know," Cogsworth coughed, "Nobody would…ahem, fault you were you to…end the life of someone who should not technically be alive."
Adam looked over to Belle who was silent on this. She closed her eyes and looked away not wanting to give her opinion. She would stand by Adam no matter what he did but she couldn't make his decision for him. She loved him. Hopefully his brother wouldn't be the coward he had appeared to be.
"I can't kill," he told them. "Even though I know that the only other choice I have is to live the rest of my life this way, I can't kill." He closed his eyes. How could he rule a kingdom when he looked like this? Was he even human? Should he just allow Belle to consider him her pet instead of her husband? He looked at her and she frowned.
"Adam," she said and he opened his mouth. "You are still you. You just need to be treated, this wound needs to be treated," she told him as they moved him to the chair by the fire where she had helped him before. She thanked the servants and grabbed to a cloth that was in a bucket of water. "This will sting," she said as she held onto his paw and gently dabbed at the wounds. Adam felt much more of a pain than he had when she had treated him for the wolves and flinched away, his face showing the agony it had caused him.
"I know it hurts," she told him hating that he had to endure so much pain. "I know that you hate it but we have to clean the wounds so that they won't get infected and we need to cover them so that they can heal." As Belle cleaned to the deep gashes, she moved so she was sitting on the arm of the chair and kept pressing her lips to right beside where Adam's horn was.
"You're still taking care of me?" Adam commented surprised and Belle turned his face so that they were looking at one another and carefully she moved so that she could kiss his larger mouth. She smiled as she pulled back.
"I will never stop loving you, Adam," she promised. "Just as I know that you will never stop loving me or wanting to protect me and our child. I'm so proud of you for staying here and continuing to love us."
"If they want me for their king," Adam told her. "I can't just -"
"Then we move with you," Belle promised. "I'm not leaving you. I can't stop seeing you, the real you. It's like I said, no matter what container you are placed in, you are still you." Adam smiled and laughed as she said that and let her finish wrapping up his arm. He was about to close his eyes before he saw something strange. There was a black shadow coming onto the floor as if stepping out from the fire. He jumped up and positioned himself between Belle and the shadow, drawing his body as large as he could. He could not allow her to be hurt.
"Belle," he whispered as he looked back at her for a second as the shadow seemed to grow from out of the fireplace. "Run, now," he said sharply and Belle placed a hand on his back. He stiffened.
"Look at me" he told her. "I'm going to be okay. Look at the form I'm in. Get out of here, now."
"Oh," Adam heard laughter and he looked around to see that there were numerous shadows on the wall now and there was a man in front of him who had appeared from nowhere. Adam positioned himself with Belle's safety as his priority. "I do think that she'd like to hear this," a man said and Adam stared at him. He appeared to be foreign, tan skin, young, suave. He appeared to be a prince but of a country or culture that was exotic.
"Whatever you want, I'm sure that Belle has no part in this. I know that it's me you're after," Adam growled but as he saw some of the shadows on the other side of Belle move, he wrapped his arms around her protectively, one of his paws slipping over her belly.
"Adam?" Belle asked and as the man touched her, Belle found herself shaking painfully. Adam pulled her closer to his body and they both let a hand and a paw protectively cover her belly. "Adam," she clutched him.
"Your choice, prince," the man said as he approached Adam and the French prince glared at him but still protectively hung onto Belle. "The inside or the outside, which is more easily lost."
Adam's eyes widened as that seemed to be asking him which was more important to him, Belle or their child. He kept one arm around Belle and one on her belly. "They are of equal importance to me," he said and the man laughed. "They are most important." He felt his heart twist as the thought came into his head that they could easily 'replace' the baby by Belle becoming pregnant again but if Belle was lost that they both died. That thought was too painful for him to consider.
"I'll give you another choice," the man said as he seemed to be holding some kind of coin or disc but Adam couldn't turn his body around fast enough to see it. "There are three mortal beings in this room," he commented as Adam held onto Belle. "This will not be the last time you see me, I do intend to -"
"Get the hell out," Adam snarled, his protective voice sounding even more like a beast's.
"Well I'll give you a taste. Which of those lives is least important to you…prince," the man said and despite Adam attempting to move away from the man, the sorcerer, he had come to Adam and placed his fingertips on Adam's forehead. Belle looked up trying to protect her husband but Adam pressed her closer to him out of protection. "Ah, I see who is the least important," the sorcerer said and Adam took slow breaths to steady himself, "Long live the prince," he said before the shadows in the room seemed to become a mist around them and then after a long red blaze there was silence and stillness.
Belle lifted her head to see that Adam wasn't holding her any longer. She felt something in her pocket and touched it as she felt as if there was no recognition in Adam's eyes of her. She reached out to him as he moved back on four paws. She tried to touch the top of his head but he hid from her. It was at this point where she felt she could take hold of whatever was in her pocket.
As she took out what appeared to be a shard of glass, she recognized it as being similar to the magic mirror and as she looked at it she felt she could see Adam's human self staring back at her. On the ground was the white rose. His humanity? Belle moved towards it and as she looked at the beast who had hidden in the corner, she knew that the true Adam wasn't in there but he could have been sealed away somehow or maybe…maybe they had just taken what made him human…
She came over to him and knelt down opposite him, he curled into her with loud whines which showed his fear. She reached her hand out to him and he sniffed it before curling up in a ball and cowering. "Adam," she whispered. He was acting exactly how he looked like, an animal. "A-dam?" she asked. She saw him very nervously look at her before sniffing her fingers. He whined again in the way a scared baby bear might.
Belle felt her heart break as he acted like an animal. She tried to press the shard of glass into his body but he started whining in fear of it. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to communicate with him like this.
There was another voice this time and Belle felt her spine straighten as she heard it. "You need to keep this the most protected," the enchantress said as she picked up the white rose. Belle looked at her. "You are seeing who the animal form of Adam truly is," the enchantress told her. "Thirteen years ago he would have attacked you without question."
Belle bit her top lip before moving closer to Adam and leaned in to give him a side hug, he looked at her and nuzzled her with terrified whines. "It's okay," she whispered to him. She took his paw in her hand and he looked at her and sniffed them. "It's okay. I'll protect you. I love you," she promised him and the enchantress softened her gaze.
"He loves you," she said and Belle turned to the beast who was hiding his face in her side. "See how tame he is, see how well trained he appears, see how -"
"He's terrified, he's hurt, he's scared, he doesn't know what's happening, please" Belle whispered as she tried to protect Adam in the same manner he had just been trying to protect her. "You know that he doesn't deserve this." Belle moved backwards so she could take the beast's head in her hands and made eye contact with him. "I won't let anybody hurt you," she promised. "I won't let them take you away from here. I love you. We'll protect you. If you are in there,"
"The shard," the enchantress said as she held out her hand to Belle and Belle nervously handed her the fragment of Adam that she had. She was tempted to run away with it but trust had to come from somewhere and she wanted to trust that Adam would get what he deserved. Even in this form, he appeared to trust her. "Please move aside," the enchantress requested and Belle looked at Adam. She stood and kissed the top of his head.
"Please don't hurt him," she begged with tears filling her eyes and the beast looked at her, his eyes recognizing her sadness and he whined wanting to help her. She could tell that although he couldn't talk, he wanted to make sure that she was okay. He wasn't thinking of himself. The enchantress span the stem of the white rose around the glass shard and then whispered some words, pushing it into Adam's forehead and Belle could see some white light there. She placed a hand on her belly praying that he could survive.
After a moment, the enchantress stepped back and Belle saw the beast crash down onto the floor. He was panting and then his breathing stopped and he lay very limp on the floor. Belle moved towards him as the enchantress stepped back. "Is he? Please, he can't -" she sobbed before touching his cheek. He blinked those sapphire eyes open and Belle could see the recognition in them.
"Belle," he whispered as she sobbed heavily, the tears running down her face. "Are you okay?"
"That spell actually tests the good and the bad in people," the enchantress said and Belle was tempted to say that she didn't give a damn what it tested but she restrained herself. "If he was as he had been before you met him, he would have attacked you. Instead, his thoughts were on protecting you. That shows true love and purity."
Belle knew these things already and she slid her fingers gently through the fur on his face. "Thank you for coming back to us, Adam," she said and Adam nodded before looking at the enchantress warily.
"Can you explain to me what just happened?" he asked. He was exhausted but the most important thing was that Belle and their child seemed to be okay. In Belle's eyes, the most important thing was that Adam was okay but if he had been forced to spend the rest of his life as an animal, she wouldn't have done anything else but love him, protect him, want his safety, his health, his happiness. He might not consider himself important but he was wrong. There had been no anger in the beast, only fear. It only showed how much being loved and loving someone had changed him.
End of Chapter Thirteen
Thank you for reading
Thank you to KathyMesser for the review on Chapter Eleven