The world returned to him in increments; fleeting sounds and sensations that slipped back into the abyss. He felt someone dabbing a wet cloth on his forehead, someone squeezing his hand, someone placing a warm blanket over him, all while a sharp stinging pain lingered in his lower abdomen. He remembered hearing a scratching sound and a voice reciting bits of a Shakespearean sonnet but he couldn't remember which number it was and it hardly mattered, for the words were barely comprehensible.

More time passed. Sounds and sensations soon grew to include images. He saw tree branches, a horse's tail and people kneeling beside him and tending to him—sometimes one, sometimes two. Why are they wasting their time on me? He remembered asking himself this question a lifetime ago, back when he was a beast and had been badly injured from saving Belle from the wolves. He couldn't understand why she'd taken him back to the castle and mended his wounds, when it would have been so much easier to return to her father. And yet, whatever her reasons, her decision soon created the early foundations of their friendship. He should have never underestimated how far a single act of kindness could go.

It was noon when he opened his eyes. Or rather, when he was aware that he was opening them for the first time. The glare in his eyes was far too bright. He had to squint to make out the blurry contour of a person standing over him. They gradually came into focus, and he realized that it was Agathon, staring down at him with a concerned expression.

Or was he? Adam couldn't be certain. He sat up to address the Enchanter, only to feel him place a firm hand on his shoulder. "Easy there," he said. "Your wound is still healing."

His words, like a spell, roused Adam back into full consciousness. He lay down again, now aware that he was resting on a makeshift mattress made of blankets and rugs. The last thing he remembered was being stabbed with a piece of wood after an explosion in Médée's tent. Following that a dream—or perhaps a nightmare—of being the Beast again and facing ridicule from his alternative selves.

He slowly observed his new surroundings. He was lying in the ruins of what he assumed had been some kind of building once. Grey crumbling stone walls surrounded him from all sides. The ceiling had long since deteriorated, exposing a bright blue sky above him, while most of the adjacent brickwork was eroding or covered with vines. Across from him was an open archway, whereupon he could see a luscious green meadow and a forest of thick trees.

"Where are we?" he asked, turning back to Agathon in confusion.

"The former watchtower of Sir Esclados the Red in the Forest of Brocéliande," Agathon replied. "And you, Your Highness, are very lucky to be alive."

"Brocéliande?" Adam blinked. "Wait... how long was I unconscious for?"

"About four days. I know." At Agathon's blank stare, Agathon nodded in understanding. "Seems like a startling turnaround, but we didn't have much of a choice. With Gaston's guards on our trail, we had to get you through the barrier fast."

"We?"

"Yes, 'we.' You didn't think I'd leave Mademoiselle Gagnier stranded in a burning campsite, did you? And well… she wasn't exactly opposed to the idea."

At the mention of Belle, Adam's face flooded with warmth. "Belle's still here? How-how is she?"

"She's fine, just fine," Agathon confirmed. "In fact"—he looked over at the archway—"Belle!"

"Yes?" a feminine voice replied from outside the tower.

"Get in here for a minute!"

Adam gripped the ends of his blanket tightly, embarrassed that Belle had to see him in such a dishevelled state. It was an illogical thing to feel, considering that she'd seen him when he looked much worse.

Moments later, Belle emerged through the archway. She looked dirtier than usual and her eyes were puffy from a clear lack of sleep. But once she saw Adam, her face lit up in amazement.

"Look who's awake," Agathon said, gesturing to their patient with a grin.

"Hello," Adam said self-consciously.

"Hello," Belle repeated, smiling nervously as she stepped closer to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Grateful, I suppose. You and Agathon saved me from certain death yet again. I don't know how I can repay you."

"Bring back my sister and undo this timeline," Agathon said, pointing a finger at him. "That'll be payment enough."

"I'll do my best, monsieur," Adam promised. "But what happened to Médée? The last thing I remember was a ball of light coming towards us and some sort of explosion."

Agathon and Belle looked at each other nervously.

"Erm… well it's a bit of a long story," said Belle.

"But one we'd be happy to fill you in on," Agathon finished.

He told Adam about his escape from Gaston's dungeons after two days of probing Médée's magical barrier for weak spots. Most of his explanation went over Adam's head—he could best understand it as a complex combination of puzzle-solving and lockpicking. By the time Agathon had broken free of the barrier, Gaston and Médée had already left the castle to continue their search for the Count. But with the help of Lumière and Cogsworth, Agathon was able to acquire some of the King's maps to trace their whereabouts. He'd arrived at Médée's camp just in time to see the guards capture Belle and carry her off.

Agathon then explained what had happened while Adam and Belle were still trapped in the tent with Fernand. The explosion they'd witnessed was the result of a magical duel between him and Médée. Agathon had tried to persuade her to release her prisoners, and she'd retaliated by attacking him with several powerful projectiles. The ensuing battle left the camp in ruins and sent all the guards running for the trees. Eventually, Agathon subdued Médée and forced her to retreat, but the damage she'd left behind was irreversible. By the time Agathon found Belle trying to revive Adam in the burning rubble, he feared that he was too late.

Adam's stomach lurched unpleasantly as he listened to the rest of their story. With tired faces, Belle and Agathon described the critical hour after Adam had lost consciousness, salvaging whatever supplies they could find to save him. Agathon knew that they couldn't stay in the camp. He might have bested Médée, but she could return at any moment with more reinforcements. So, once he and Belle had finished patching up Adam's wounds, they stole a wagon and some abandoned horses and continued on their way to Brittany.

The ride through the woods was no picnic. The wagon was slow and noisy, making it easy to draw the attention of Gaston's troops. It wasn't until morning when Agathon found some herbs that were potent enough to stabilize Adam's wound. With their patient now on the mend, they ditched the wagon and continued the rest of the journey on horseback. Neither Belle nor Agathon got much sleep at that time. Determined to put as much distance between them and the King as possible, they only stopped to change Adam's bandages and treat his raging fever. They didn't rest again until they passed through the enchanted barrier to Brocéliande. They'd been camping around and waiting for him to wake up ever since.

When they finished their story, Adam pressed his hands to his face in shame. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I must have been a terrible burden to you both."

"Don't say that," Agathon chided in an oddly Mrs. Potts-like manner. "Things could have been much worse, all things considered. You didn't tell Médée about the tree, which gave us a tremendous advantage."

"I wasn't strong enough to hide everything from her," Adam countered. "I gave her the names of the servants who helped me escape. I told her…" He looked to Belle, who lowered her eyes shyly. It was such a small gesture, but it said enough. Belle still knew about his feelings for her. She should be running for the hills, but somehow, she was still here. With him.

"Things could have been worse, Your Highness," Agathon repeated. "You're alive. We're alive. And I know for a fact that your servants have already left the castle to join the resistance. Soon, the King will have far more to worry about than punishing an insubordinate maître d' and majordomo duo."

Upon learning that his servants were safe, Adam mustered a weak smile. Perhaps things hadn't turned out so badly for everyone after all. "So... what happens now?" he asked.

"You get your strength up. The good news is, your fever has broken and the worst of your wound has already healed. But we still need you to be in tip-top shape before we can make our way to the tree. So rest up and try not to move around too quickly."

Belle and Agathon served Adam some tea from a nearby kettle, then sat around and made small talk with him until he began to feel drowsy. After that, they left him alone in the tower to rest.

As Adam tried to force his pillow into a more comfortable position, he thought of Belle and how withdrawn she'd been acting since he'd regained consciousness. She'd barely made eye contact with him while Agathon was telling their story. Almost like something was bothering her, but she didn't want to admit it.

Or maybe I'm overthinking again. After all, Belle could be acting distant for plenty of reasons. She had been through a lot in the past four days. Adam could ask her about it, but their relationship was so complicated now. What if he only made things worse? As much as he longed to hear her thoughts, perhaps it would be wiser to turn a blind eye and mind his own business.

He mulled over his decision several times before falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.

When he woke up again, long shadows were creeping over the floor of the ruined tower. He must have been asleep for hours.

His stomach rumbled in protest. If Belle and Agathon's story were to be believed, he hadn't eaten any solid food in four days. This made perfect sense to him, because now he felt as hungry as a wolf.

The trouble was, there was no one in the tower to call on for food. And while Agathon had told him to avoid unnecessary movements, he wasn't exactly content to lie here and wait for someone to come to him. Especially when he'd been lying here for such a long time already.

He carefully sat up from the mattress, feeling a stinging sensation in his lower abdomen as he did. It was nowhere as painful as what he'd experienced after the explosion but still... unpleasant. He pulled up his shirt to inspect his bandages and saw no blood leaking through. He took that as a good sign.

On the wall to his right, someone had left him his satchel, his cousin's rapier, and his travelling boots. He stood up to put them on.

A few minutes later, he stepped through the archway. Dusk was fast approaching. The early traces of stars had begun to appear in the orange and purple-tinted sky. All around him were leagues of trees, which, if the stories in his library held true, were home to more secrets and magical phenomena than he could discover in a lifetime. There was a campfire and a couple of logs for seats in front of him, but no Belle or Agathon in sight.

Hopefully they didn't leave me here, he thought with a frown. He approached the fire to warm himself but stopped as his foot made contact with an unusually hard surface. It was a wide book bound together with brown leather. A sketchbook?

He picked it up and studied it intriguingly. There was no title or inscription. A miniature belt held the pages closed. He began to unbuckle it, but before he could open it, someone snatched it roughly from his hands.

"Don't touch that!" Belle snapped as she appeared beside him, almost out of thin air.

Adam jumped back with a start. "Sorry. Is that yours?"

"Of course it's mine. What's the matter?" She glared at him defensively. "You've never seen a girl use a sketchbook before?"

"No," he replied. "I just... didn't know you brought one with you."

"I didn't," she corrected. "Not exactly. I took it from the camp when we were looking for supplies. I suppose I needed some way of distracting myself… after everything that's happened." She lowered her eyes again, and Adam saw that same uncertain look pass over her face. As though she regretted lashing out at him, she continued in a gentler tone, "You shouldn't be out of bed yet, you know. Do you need something?"

"Well... I am a little hungry," he admitted.

She snapped straight to attention, as though he'd given her an order. "Stay right there. I'll heat up some food."

Ten minutes later, Adam sat in the grass beside Belle, cautiously sampling her leftover mushroom stew. It wasn't the best thing he'd ever tasted, but he was so hungry at this point, he could have eaten a pile of worms and it wouldn't have made a difference. Belle had since stowed her sketchbook away with her other belongings.

"Agathon's gone to look for more supplies and scout the area, in case you were wondering," she said, folding her hands into her lap. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I'm surprised you're not with him. Isn't 'adventure in the great wide somewhere' your personal motto?"

"Sure." She nodded. "But then there'd be no one looking after you."

"Ah." He snorted. "I see then. Agathon talked you into being my nurse?"

"No, actually. I agreed to it myself."

He looked at her incredulously. "Why would you agree to a thing like that?"

"You were injured." She shrugged. "You needed someone to take care of you. And before you tell me I'm a fool for not going to the resistance or reuniting with my father—"

Adam closed his mouth, for he'd intended to say exactly that.

"—it was too risky. Gaston's men would have found me and made me confess. I had to stay."

He shook his head and sighed. Belle's explanation made perfect sense. But rather than make him feel better about their present situation, he only felt worse. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I never should have dragged you into this."

"Don't say that." She placed her hand over his before pulling away with a flustered look on her face. "I was the one who talked you into letting me come with you, remember? I always knew there'd be risks. I'm not going to back down because we faced a couple of hard bumps in the road."

Adam wished he could share Belle's optimism. But the truth was, her words were only a small fix to a much bigger problem. She wouldn't be in this dilemma at all if he hadn't tried to change time in the first place.

"Adam?" Belle continued hesitantly. "Back when we were in the camp, you told Médée that you loved me. Did you really mean that?"

Adam froze. It was lucky that the Enchantress's potion had worn off, because this was one truth he wanted to avoid at all costs. He turned his attention back to his dinner. "No. Of course not. She was just messing with my head, trying to do whatever she could to break me. Even… making up feelings that weren't there."

"Oh." There was a trace of disappointment in her voice. "It's just… that's not what Agathon told me."

"What did he tell you?"

"He told me that there was more to your spell than what you explained to me at the château. That his sister left you a rose after she turned you into a beast. And the only way you could be human again was if you found someone to love you before the last petal fell." She looked up at him questioningly. "Was that someone supposed to be... me?"

"Of course not! Why would Agathon tell you such a ridiculous story? He must have been joking with you."

This was what Adam wanted to say to her. Instead, he could only stare at her, eyes wide and mouth trembling.

From the first day he'd found Belle in his dungeons, he'd been nothing but dishonest with her. He'd never told her his real reasons for keeping her as his prisoner. He'd never revealed his true feelings for her. He'd been too ashamed to admit that his real motive for travelling through time was not only to undo his curse, but to find a reality where they could be together. A reality he now knew to be impossible. His whole relationship with Belle had been built on lies and deception. He couldn't lie to her that way. Not anymore.

"Goddammit!" He tossed his bowl into the grass and stood up, a little too fast for his healing injury. But he didn't care. He needed to get away from this conversation, and away from her.

He stormed past the watchtower. Behind him, he heard Belle's hurried footsteps as she attempted to catch up to him.

"Adam, wait! Not so fast!"

He would have kept walking and ignoring her, if not for the fact that the back of the tower ended at a cliff, which overlooked an impossibly steep valley. He spun around and came face-to-face with Belle, who had to clumsily grab onto a broken part of the wall to stop herself from colliding into him.

"Adam!" she panted. "I'm sorry—"

"You should be!" he snapped. "Have you no regard for the sensitivities of others? You're always prying into affairs you have no right to pry in. You have no respect for other people's privacy!"

"If it's about me, then it's my affair too!" she shouted back at him. "I just want to understand. How could you love someone like me? I mean... I'm not even a princess."

He laughed exasperatingly. "Do you think I cared who you were? For five years, I waited. Five damn years for someone to end my suffering, to solve this impossible task the Enchantress had left me. And not a soul came, except you." He took a deep breath, feeling his anger cool under Belle's sympathetic gaze. "At first, I thought it was a lost cause. How could I possibly love the daughter of a common thief? And how could she love the monster who'd taken her father away from her? But no, my servants insisted I give you a chance. So I let them cater to your hospitality, thinking at the very least, they'd have one more person to serve before the spell became permanent. But then, you tended to my wounds after I saved you from the wolves in my forest. And one thing led to the next. I learned that you liked to read Shakespeare, so I showed you my library. I realized that we had more in common than I first anticipated. And the more we opened up to each other, the more I began to think that I wasn't as far from breaking the spell as I thought." He stared at her and his expression softened. "You challenged everything I knew about the world, Belle. You brought life back to the castle. You gave me hope that I could be more than what I was.

"I didn't just free you because I felt bad for mistreating you and your father. I did it because I loved you. I loved you so much, I was willing to give up my only chance at freedom to make you happy. I thought that that was how things were supposed to end for us. But then, I remembered the book…"

He painstakingly told her about his misadventures through time, this time with all the details he'd previously kept from her. Belle listened with rapt attention, never once interrupting him. It was impossible to know what she was thinking in that inquisitive head of hers.

"I tried so hard to stay away from you," he confessed. "But when I saw the life I'd be living without you… it only made me yearn for you more. I thought that if I invited you to my engagement ball, I'd have another chance at rekindling our relationship. But it didn't work." He slouched his shoulders despondently. "I was too forward in my intentions, and you rejected me. I should have ended my pursuit of you, right then and there. But I didn't. I found another way to alter the past, and this time, things were ten times worse." He took a deep, pained breath and closed his eyes. "Your father was dead, through my own reckless actions. You had to become a prostitute to survive."

Belle gasped in horror.

"You no longer cared for adventures or fairy tales," he went on. "Only of your own survival. You were bitter and unhappy. And worst of all… you were dying of consumption. By the time you came to my castle for help, it was too late for you." His hands shook as a painful, constricting feeling seized hold of his throat. "I was there with you, in the hours before you died. I saw how weak and defeated you were, full of regrets for a life you'd never live. I organized your funeral, paid for every expense. The whole time hating myself, because you'd still be alive if it weren't for me."

Warm tears trickled down his cheeks. He had to take a few more shuddering breaths before continuing. "I couldn't bear to live in a world without you. So I changed time again, and it brought me here. To the worst reality I could imagine.

"You keep saying this isn't my fault. But you're wrong. The whole reason we're in this mess is because of me. Because I was foolish enough to think that in some reality where I wasn't a beast, I could make you love me. You have no idea what I'd give to take it all back now. To go back to the day your father came to my castle and let him go free without consequence." He turned away from her remorsefully. "I'm sorry for putting you through this, Belle. I'm sorry for everything."

His knees buckled beneath him as he fell to the ground. Big, ugly tears continued to fall freely from his face. The truth was all out for her to hear now. If she hadn't been repulsed by him before, surely she would be now. In his mind's eye, he could see the other Princes from his dream, taunting him for thinking he could ever have a fresh start with her. No matter where he went, or what he did, his beastly past would always follow.

He didn't expect to feel Belle's warm hand rest upon his shoulder. Nor see the gentle look on her face as she crouched down to meet him at eye level. He stared at her for several long seconds, unsure of her intentions, when Agathon interrupted them.

"Ah, Belle. There you are!"

The two of them looked up at the Enchanter with a start.

"Erm... sorry to interrupt," he continued, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "but, I heated up the water in the pond down the hill for you. The spell will only last for the next twenty minutes, so if you still want to take a bath, now would be the best time."

"Oh." Belle's face turned a dull shade of red. "Well, I—"

"Go on," Adam grunted. "I'll be fine."

Belle considered him reluctantly, then stood up and made her way back to the campsite. This left Adam alone with Agathon. He picked himself off the ground and looked out at the valley as the Enchanter came to stand next to him. Truthfully, Adam wasn't in the mood for more company, but being alone didn't seem to be an option for him right now. He wouldn't be surprised if Agathon and Belle had agreed to watch over him at all times. Just like a child.

"Here," Agathon said, passing Adam a handkerchief.

Adam reached out and grabbed the soft piece of cloth. "Thanks."

"So, you told her the truth, did you?"

"No thanks to you. Why didn't you keep your mouth shut?"

"I tried." Agathon shrugged. "I meant to wait until you'd recovered before I said anything to her, but it sort of... slipped out. She was very good at talking it out of me."

Adam blew his nose and grunted. As mad at Agathon as he was, he supposed that he had a point. Belle was no simpleton. She would have forced the truth out of one of them sooner or later. He only wished he'd been able to go back in time before that had occurred.

"Well, it's done now," he said resignedly. "If there's a prize for being the most pathetic person in the world, I've easily won it. She probably can't stand the sight of me now."

"I wouldn't put it past you that she cares, personally," Agathon said in sympathy. "She stayed by your side, the whole time you were sick and recovering from your injury. Seemed to blame a lot of herself for what happened back at the camp."

Adam was surprised to hear this. He suddenly pictured Belle crying over his lifeless body, uttering a deep, heartfelt confession. But he quickly dismissed the image. Something that ridiculous could only happen in those outrageously over the top love stories Belle liked to read. She would never act that way in real life. "It's only because she pities me," he argued.

"I wouldn't say that."

He looked over at Agathon in confusion.

"Well, just look at what you've done for her," the Enchanter elaborated. "You saved her and her father from a tyrannical king, putting your own life in danger just to do so. You told her the truth about your past, even though it was difficult. You've never made any inappropriate passes at her, despite your feelings. Say what you will, Your Highness, but even you have to admit. There's a lot to admire in you."

"Admiration isn't the same as love," Adam pointed out.

"That's true," Agathon agreed. "But then again, neither is revulsion, but you went and fell in love with 'the daughter of a common thief,' anyway. People change, Your Highness. I can tell that Belle's not the same girl who left her village to rescue her father less than a week ago. And something tells me you aren't the same Beast who used my sister's book to change the past, either."

Adam lowered his gaze. Even if that were the case, it still wouldn't be enough for Belle to fall in love with him. He was sure that it wouldn't be enough for him to break the spell he'd soon be returning to, either.

"Agathon?" He hesitated. "Do you think your sister ever meant for my spell to break?"

"Ah. I'm afraid that's one question I don't know the answer to. It's funny: my sister and I were born on the same day, but our minds couldn't have been more different. What I can tell you is that Agathe always had this strong belief in freewill. She thought that humans—not gods or fortune—were the makers of their fate. In her journals, she often mentioned how she believed you could be capable of great good, as well as great evil. That it could be just as easy for you to rise, as it was for you to fall."

Adam frowned. That sounded like a puzzle to him more than anything. How could he learn to be good, when all the odds were stacked against him from the start? Could someone who'd been raised as a spoiled and selfish aristocrat truly escape from their selfish habits?

But then, he thought of Belle. Her life hadn't been the easiest either. Even before she'd become a prisoner in his desolate castle, she'd been trapped in the drudgery of a poor, provincial life, longing for a chance to escape. She'd never gotten what she wanted, but she still went through each day with a smile on her face, making the best of what she had.

No one got to choose how they started in this life. But perhaps true character was about how well you handled the cards you were dealt with.