AN: Weird twist in this but it will make more sense in future chapters.

Chapter Twenty Eight

28.1

Maurice wasn't awake yet. Adam couldn't blame him. It wasn't that the man was older but there had been so much happening since he had arrived at the castle. Anyone needed a chance to allow their brain to catch up. So, he would ask him about Chip later. Adam sighed as he passed by Belle's library and saw the door open a tiny bit. His beautiful, intelligent wife was always learning, always trying to discover something new.

He tapped on the door before walking in in Beast form and saw Belle smile as she looked up at him but he could see sadness in her eyes. "Adam," she said and Adam neared her. He saw that she was taking notes on parchment but as his paw touched them, they lit up in flames. Belle pulled back and stared at them.

"Useful information?" Adam guessed and Belle frowned.

"It was useful, your family is…well these were some evil magic users who exploit-" Belle was saying before she suddenly stopped and in only second she had crashed down on the ground. Adam knelt down beside her, scared that she was hurt before hearing an immature but evil laugh behind them.

He looked up to see a young man floating in midair in a seated position with his legs crossed. Adam's eyes narrowed. "Who are you? How did you enter this castle? What have you done to Belle?"

"So many questions," the man chuckled, "So impatient. I don't think it's so much what I've done to your wife but what I'll do to her," Adam's eyes narrowed further into a heavy glare. "I'm a master at transforming living matter." He said with a smile.

"So you want to turn her into a beast?" Adam growled. He placed one paw on Belle's arm whilst the other curled into a fist. "I would have very little problem killing you right now," he said and the man laughed at him. Adam froze before seeing Belle tense up. "Even if you did change her into a beast, I love her, the people in this castle will continue loving her. We'll be able to protect her."

The man laughed, "Why would I do that?" he asked and Adam stared at him again.

"You just said that you can change living matter," he commented and then rolled his eyes. "If you think that you can do worse to me than this, go ahead. Even if I was just a pile of goo, I trust the people around me. What I don't want is you hurting my wife so…do whatever you want with me, just let her live."

"I don't want to do anything to you," the man said before laughing, "Well, not that I don't want to but that I can't. An enchantress turned you into a beast, now she is the only one who can manipulate your form. Sure, others might be able to trap you in it but unless you purify the curse or until she dies, only she can actually modify your form."

Adam looked Belle over one more time before standing. "So, it is my wife that you're after." He growled before attempting to strike out at the man who swiftly dodged him and then yawned.

"I don't want her to share that information with you, it would hurt my cause," he explained and Adam attempted to lash out at him again, again he dodged. "But…you know, having her become just like you would hurt my cause. If there were two unknown creatures, that would turn heads and expose me. I want her to become unrecognizable even to you. I'm not cruel enough to make her into an earthworm although I hear they are quite useful."

Adam tried to clear his head and calm down but this time he pounced but the man teleported to the other side of the room. "I have friends," he whispered. "You will never be able to hurt Belle in a way where I wouldn't love her."

The man raised an eyebrow and then without saying anything pointed a finger at Belle's unconscious human form. Adam saw her body glowing and rushed back to her. He picked up her arm, his thumb-type finger resting on her wrist. He saw what appeared to be muddy brown, dark brown, and black light surround her and he still held to her wrist as she started to float in the air.

He hated this, so many bad memories and he knew no way of saving her. He watched as her face stretched, her hair sank into her body, her skin turned into brown and white hide and her clothes ripped. He still held on as her arms and legs changed until it was a stumpy leg with a hoof at the bottom. Adam was in too much horror to notice that the man had taken the chance to vanish.

Belle was lowered to the ground but she was no longer in a human body. What was on the ground in front of him was a very sweet and gorgeous but very animalistic brown and white cow. He nervously placed his paw on the side of her head and found that she had a tag on her ear. 'Belle'. His eyes continued to widen as he made sure that she was alive and then raised his head to yell at the man but he was gone.

He sat down on the floor and very gently moved Belle's head to his lap. "I've got you. I've got you," he whispered. If it wasn't for him then she wouldn't be this way. He had doomed her just as he had once doomed everyone else around him. "Belle," he whispered as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "I love you. I can't ever stop loving you."

Adam wasn't sure how long he had sat there just staring at Belle. It was true, he could never stop loving her but there had to be a way of solving this. There had to be a way to turn her back. Unrecognizable to him? Even with her eyes closed, his heart was pulling him towards her and if the worst happened and she was sent to a farm with hundreds of other cows, he was sure that he would be able to identify her as his wife.

Adam let his paw run over her head as he waited for her to wake up. He might have more of a grasp on the situation if she woke up. He closed his eyes before hearing a mooing and felt something move, he immediately opened his eyes to see Belle awake, her eyes were the same shade and somewhat appeared human. She struggled and blinked up at him.

'Adam?' she whispered but all that came out was a long moo sound. She tried again to get the same sound and then tried to push her hands onto the floor to get up but she couldn't feel her fingers and she couldn't turn her body. This didn't feel right. She mooed again and Adam tried to shush her as he saw her distress.

He gently let her head rest on the floor before kneeling in front of her and then managed to get her standing on her four feet with her tail wagging behind her. He kissed her again and let his paw rest on her head as she looked around, still making sounds of distress but no actual human language. At least Adam could speak when he was transformed.

"Belle," he whispered slowly as he saw her still staring around wildly. Very delicately, he took her head in both paws and made sure to make eye contact as he stood. "My love, my princess, listen to me. You've….you've been transformed," he said and she looked back at him, her eyes showing a mixture of fear and sadness.

"I am right here," he said to her. "I'm not going to leave you. I'm going to protect you, okay? Are you with me? Can you understand what I'm saying to you?" he asked slowly. Belle stared at him and made a sound of distress again but she let him hold her head. "Belle, sweetheart, princess, I need you to try to listen to me. Can you nod your head if you understand what I'm saying to you?" he asked.

Belle blinked before nodding. Adam exhaled in relief. "Can you try to speak? Just your name? Can you try to say just your name for me?"

Belle stared at him again and opened her mouth before giving a soft, almost whisper-like moo. So, her speech had gone but she could still hear him and understand his words. At least she was here with him mentally.

"That's all right," Adam tried to comfort her as he kissed her nose. "That's okay. I love you. I'm here." He stood and saw Belle struggle, she reached out and without thinking grabbed onto his shirt with her mouth. He looked back at her understanding the fear she was experiencing. "Stay here, okay?" he asked her as he turned back to her. "I'm going to go get you a mirror so you can fully understand how you appear. I know that the world might seem a little blurry to you right now." He saw her fear as she dropped his shirt from her mouth and threw his arms around her hugging her. "I will never stop loving you."

Once Adam had found a medium sized mirror, he grabbed it before placing it on the ground in front of Belle. Belle looked down before tilting her head and raising her front leg. Her heart sunk and she began to panic again, the moos echoing around the large room. Adam held her again, bringing her head to his furry shoulder. "I'm here," he told her. "I'm right here. I love you. I'm not going to leave you. I'll do all that is in my power so that you won't get hurt again."

He felt something wet running down his back as Belle sat and he still held her as close as possible. He pulled her closer as he saw an unexpected flash of light. "I've got you," he told her, his paws touching her protectively.

"Let me guess," the enchantress said and Adam turned to look at her, he still had his arms protectively around the cow-Belle. "Veo was here, it smells like him." Adam moved so that he would be able to see the enchantress better and still hold Belle. As Belle lowered herself to lay on the ground, Adam still kept his paw on her back.

"And you can turn her back," Adam said trying to remain calm. "She can't stay like this for the rest of her life," he turned his attention back to Belle. "But even if that is the case, I still love you and I won't let anyone take you from me."

"Only she can do that," the enchantress said and Belle lifted her head, she looked at a stunned Adam before the enchantress. She stood up and pushed Adam back with her nose so she could approach the enchantress. The enchantress petted her head and Belle blinked up at her. "I'm not sure the right methods but over time she will actually cure herself or she will get worse. It's an inner strength, inner will curse. It's easier to break than yours but it's also riskier. She has the possibility to turn into what she looks like and nothing further. It is nice that Veo turned you into such a useful animal, you can still provide your baby with milk."

Adam growled again, "Is that some kind of a joke?" he asked. "What about the enchantments Belle has placed on the castle? What about the spells she's cast on me?"

The enchantress moved closer to Belle and started scratching her under the cheek and playing with the tag on her ear which pissed Adam off further. Once he heard Belle make more sounds of distress, he approached the enchantress, "She's a very clever girl, aren't you, little one?" she asked in a cooing manner as Adam felt the anger in him deepening. "All the previous spells are locked. Only she can unlock them. You're such a sweet little girl, aren't you?" the enchantress asked before making an apple appear and held it out.

Adam wanted to smack the fruit out of her hand. He was furious that she was actually starting to treat Belle as if she were a true cow and not a human within a cow's body. He lifted his paw but then saw her start to eat it. He saw the joy on her face at the treat and it pained him further. After she had finished it, she started making further sounds of pain and distress.

"What did you put into that?" he asked before looking at his wife. "Princess, it's okay, I won't let her hurt you or give you any more of those apples."

"She's in pain because she needs to be milked," the enchantress pointed to the bulging udders under Belle's torn clothes. Adam glared and opened his mouth to argue but before he could get a word out, the enchantress spoke again. "Cows, regular cows, can die if they're not milked."

Adam's fear increased and he felt his heart sink, "Can you tell me how?" he asked. "If she needs that, please, I don't know how to do it. I grew up here. I've never milked a cow before."

28.2

The enchantress had cast magic which had brought them all to the stable as there wasn't a barn on property and Adam could see their horses staring at Belle. He had wanted to keep her inside the castle but she looked more in place here and that haunted him. He approached her in human form with a couple of wooden buckets. He placed them down before hugging her around her shoulders again and kissing her a few times.

"I'm going to be as gentle as I can," he promised her. "I don't know how to do this but I'll learn. If it saves you, then I'll learn everything that I can." He looked across at five large canvas sacks which hadn't been there before. In three of them were grass, the fourth had hay, and the fifth a selection of fruit. So, she couldn't enjoy proper food any longer, he had at least enjoyed a semi-normal life despite his form.

"So, you want to make sure that the temperature of your hands is warm but not too warm and with the warm rag clean the area," the enchantress directed and Adam took slow breaths before doing as he was told. If this was what his wife needed then he would do anything he could to help her. "Now you want to grab one of the teats, with your thumb and forefinger," the enchantress showed him and Adam stared at her, his heart breaking due to the pain of doing this. He followed her example and heard Belle give out a surprised sound.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked nervously as he turned to look at Belle's face. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to hurt you, are you okay? Was it too hard?" he asked and saw Belle's eyes soften as she saw how much he didn't want to hurt her and how much he still loved her.

"She's fine," the enchantress replied and Adam continued to look into Belle's eyes, she nodded and he held onto the teat again. "Curl your fingers around it and squeeze down against your hand but don't pull," she said and Adam did it just slightly, his heart pounding. "A little bit more." She said and Adam felt his breath get a little choppy but he steeled himself and brought the teat down until it produced a white sloppy substance.

"You want to do the same with the teat right next to it," she pointed, "And do it in a rhythm until you can't get anything else out."

Adam closed his eyes before nodding. He was glad that he had chosen to turn into a human to do this, being a beast might only cause her pain. After some time he had managed to unclog all her teats and stared at the buckets of milk. "Is it done?" he asked.

The enchantress nodded, "Cows need that done two times a day or otherwise they may die," she said.

Adam nervously nodded again. He put the buckets aside and went to stand in front of his wife. "Are you okay?" he asked her as he kissed the top of her head before hugging her close. He felt her much changed tongue on his neck and smiled, it didn't bother him because he knew it was one of the only ways she could express her love to him.

"Thank you," he said as he turned to the enchantress and she nodded. She curtseyed and disappeared just as Adam heard a sound behind him.

"Adam," Cogsworth said before looking at the cow. "A cow? Quite a fine specimen but I didn't know we had a cow or were getting a cow, these things are usually told to me. No matter, I'm sure I can find someone to take care of -"

"I am," Adam told him. "Unless there are circumstances in which I can't, I am going to take care of Belle. No one else is to touch her. This is my wife," he said and Cogsworth stared at him wide eyed before looking to the cow who nodded.

"Wh-What?"

End of Chapter Twenty Eight

Thank you for reading

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Twenty Seven

DarthLeia19, KathyMesser, Savannah246810