"Children!", Perla teared up as the family embraced one another as Adam sighed; happy that it seems the curse passed from them as well. That his mistakes before wasn't going to truly haunt them forever.
"They're perfect...", Adam whispered as Perla chuckled. "They were perfect before, Adam...", she teased.
Adam chuckled before Azure and Eli looked at him, "Papa?", and he smiled, "That's right, Azure and Eli...I'm your papa...Don't worry, this will be a story eventually...", kissing Azure's forehead and ruffling Eli's hair warmly.
Perla smiled as she held Teddy who is clearly hungry, grumbling at his mother with a pout, and she chuckled, "That's right, we had to cut it short...Sorry, darling, hold on...", before adjusting her new clothes, especially her shirt, and then Teddy went to suckle eagerly.
Jolene tugged at Perla, "Mama!", and Perla opened her other arm as Jolene climbed into her arm, and she then suckled Perla's other breast. "Good thing that Azure and Eli are being weaned off.", chuckling in relief, realizing that she will have to wean Jolene off soon, in time for the last arrival of their children.
Adam smiled as he wrapped his arm around her, rubbing her baby bump, "Yes, indeed, and from the looks of it, you are not too far along...right?", and Perla smiled, kissing him tenderly on the lips, "Just 6 months heavily...almost three months to go...", before hearing shouts of overjoyed laughter and all as most of the staff came out into the gardens, human again.
Adam gasped, getting up, smiling happily, hugging the most familiar ones, who's thankfully wearing clothes reminiscent of their former cursed selves, "Lumiere! Cogsworth! Mrs. Potts! Chip!", smiling broadly.
Perla smiled happily, seeing her love happily taking in the restoration of their lives, and then glanced to see Juliet and Belle, "Looks like we're going to explain quite a lot, huh, Juliet?", knowing that Adam told her that only Juliet and Jiminy knew the truth of her disappearance.
"From the looks of things.", Juliet chuckled as Ray suddenly ran out followed by some of the staff. "Hey!", he shouted. "Beast!".
He looked towards Perla and Adam and was stunned for a second before shaking his head. Not now... "You got to get inside! Evangeline and this other fairy are fighting a man in the ballroom!".
Perla gasped in shock and horror, looking at Adam, "It must be the dark magician!", holding her babies protectively as Adam picked up Azure and Eli, and he narrowed his eyes, "Let's go!".
All the staff, Juliet & Belle, Perla & Adam, and the children followed Ray back into the castle, murmurs and whispers of fear and fright, heading to the area outside the ballroom, and Adam handed the older children to Juliet, "Stay here, Perla, you're still pregnant and feeding. I gotta go with Ray. I may not be the Beast anymore, but this is still my castle!".
Perla nodded, "Okay...Just be careful, please...", before hearing exclamations of shock and looked over to see the rest of the family, staring in shock and stunned confusion.
"I will be.", Adam kissed her on the lips. "I nearly died once tonight, I'm not planning on doing it again.", he told her as he followed Ray into the ballroom. And as expected, it was quite the magical duel that was going on... of course, Adam's eyes were widened when he looked right at the familiar face of the Enchantress.
Their eyes locked as she smirked and then looked back to Facilier. "Looks like you've failed, Facilier... your so-called pet is once more human.", she told him.
Facilier froze, his eyes looking over to see, and yep, there's no more Beast, but a human prince, and he snarled, "Shadows, let's make a deal! Help me kill them, and you will have all of this castle's souls to your desire!".
The others all froze up hearing that. That obviously didn't sound good, especially when things got dark again. The windows to the outside in the ballroom suddenly went pitch black as if the sun itself was extinguished. Evangeline and the Enchantress knew that Facilier had some powerful tricks up his sleeve, but this was much worse than they thought.
Many monstrous shadows bellowed and roared as they came into Facilier, making his purple eyes glow, and his purple orb shine brightly, and he grinned deviously, "Let's crash this party!", before black flames enveloped his hand, and he fired at Evangeline who quickly fired back with her blue-white magic, but it was like a stalemate as Evangeline can feel the dark power behind the continuous black flames, screaming, "I can't hold it much longer!".
"I've got it!", the Enchantress said as she joined in, trying to hold back his attack while attempting to think of how to even counter him. One thing was for sure, Facilier had quickly tipped the scales into his favor.
Ray looked at Adam, "We don't have magic, sir! How can we help?!", his heart in fear and terror for the love of his life, seeing Evangeline struggle.
Adam tried to think before vaguely remembering the pelting of Gaston with rocks from Belle and Juliet and saw the piano keys in the open grand piano, having been destroyed earlier by misses of magic in the continuous battle of magic.
"Aim for the orb, Ray. Come on!", Adam led the way, and they picked up the piano keys, throwing them at Facilier and the orb, and Facilier sneered before slamming his staff, and the ballroom floor became like a quake, causing the men to fly back, landing sort of hard, doing the same to Evangeline and Enchantress.
Evangeline hit the portion of the band podium, crying out in pain as her wings got crushed, falling into one of the normal harps, and Enchantress shouted, "Eva!", earning Ray to look over as he grunted, and then saw Faciler about to aim at Evangeline, his hand beginning to envelop with black flames, realizing that he's going to kill her.
"NO!", Ray shouted as he threw all caution to the wind and decided to charge forward at the dark magician; if he would trade his life for Evangeline's, he would. He ran as fast as he could while Facilier was still focused on Evangeline. Ray managed to tackle Facilier while he was still charging up his attack.
Because of the surprise, he did get the attack off, but it was much weaker. Sadly, it still did strike Evangeline, but it wasn't fatal as Facilier had planned it. Evangeline cried out in pain as Ray wrapped his arms around Facilier's neck, trying to choke the life out of him for harming her as the Enchantress ran to check on Evangeline.
Facilier, on the other hand, still wasn't going to simply let himself be choked out as he responded with an attack to strike Ray and knock him off. Ray was blown back a few feet away as he slid on the floor before Facilier suddenly took a candlestick to the back of his neck, thanks to a strong swing from Adam. The sickening crack of his upper vertebra snapping practically echoed through the ballroom.
Facilier screamed out in pain as the shadows shrieked out in pain, fleeing from Facilier who shook in fear, "No, no!" as he choked, and he grabbed his staff, drawing all his power he could at Adam as he weakly spun around, and as it looked like his dark purple magic was to fire from the orb, a bright white shield protected Adam as it slammed back into Facilier, and he weakly glared to the origin before widening his eyes in horror.
Right there, is the most respected fairy in the council of magic, Fairy Godmother, a renowned fairy for helping people along the way by transformation, like mice into horses, that kind of thing. She is usually kindly, sweet, and good hearted, but this time, Facilier crossed the line.
Any sort of confidence Facilier had was gone; especially since his friends had abandoned him considering that he was practically paralyzed from the neck down thanks to the strike Adam gave. Ray, on the other hand, seeing that things probably were now in hand, rushed to Evangeline.
Fairy Godmother glared at Facilier, "Cursing a pregnant woman, leading a mob to attack a castle of innocents, practically luring a black-hearted man, harming a cursed prince, and now you dare nearly kill my daughter, harming my niece, for power, greed?!".
Facilier looked at her silently, and Fairy Godmother shook her head, "The council agrees to punish you greatly. And to think you had potential for good magic, Facilier.", before flicking her wand to destroy the orb, and blue bands of magic came into Facilier, and she flicked her wand, and Facilier disappeared, glaring at Adam for a second, and then nothing.
"Where's he going?", Adam asked, and Fairy Godmother replied, "To the floor of the council. Facilier will be given a banishment to a place where he will not survive long. We are not killers, but we are punishers when needed to be.".
Adam nodded before looking over to see Ray gently holding Evangeline as Enchantress called out, "Aunt Fay, Eva's wings are crushed, and it's not looking good!", as Evangeline sobbed in pain, clutching into Ray's shirt.
"Evangeline...", Ray whispered as she squeezed his hands. "Please... please tell me that she isn't going to die...", Ray teared up. "I can't lose her... not after the times we've shared...".
Enchantress replied, "Her wings has been hit by dark magic...", as Adam and Fairy Godmother came closer, and Fairy Godmother said, "Oh, my...Evangeline, this is going to require something...I and your cousin can slow the dark magic leaking into you from your wings, but you'd have to give up your good magic and your near immortality if you want us to take away your wings...".
Evangeline looked at her tearfully, in pain as the dark magic is hurting her through her wings, having shock and hope on her face, "Mother? But what about the job? The Evening Star?", and Fairy Godmother looked at her, "We'll figure that later...right now, it's only you, you have a choice, and well, for nearly 4 centuries, you've done so much...I want you to be happy and if your happiness requires you to be human, I always will love you, my daughter...And besides, you deserve this man who saved your life, and a darling boy who adores you...I couldn't be any prouder than I am right now.".
Evangeline turned to Ray, she obviously wanted to know what he would want before she'd make her decision, "Ray...".
"It's your choice...", Ray told her as he squeezed her hand. "If you want to keep your current life, you can... I don't want you to feel like you're sacrificing anything for Naveen and me...", he said as she gave a tearful smile, "I would never think that way, Ray... not even for a second...".
Ray gave a soft, loving smile, kissing her on the lips gently before Evangeline took a deep breath, and looked at her mother and cousin, "I want to live, to be human.", and Fairy Godmother nodded, "Alright. Young man, you must hold her, distract her as much as you can. I must say that this will be painful on her as we must be really careful and strong with our magic, to take the wings one by one, to track the dark magic down and destroy it while she gives away her magic and near immortality to us.".
Ray exhaled and nodded as he settled into a position to hold and cradle Evangeline, with her back exposed to the others, and Fairy Godmother glanced at her niece, "I know this will be torturous on our hearts, but we have to do this. Are you ready, my niece?", barely noticing the family peering into the ballroom, with Perla quietly reuniting with Adam.
The Enchantress nodded. "Very much so... please try to be still, Evangeline... we'll do the best we can...", she tried to assure her cousin.
Evangeline gave a small nod as she rested her head firmly into the crook of Ray's neck, her hands wrapping around Ray's shirt, her knees around Ray's waist, as Ray held her by being respectable, having his hands on Evangeline's lower back, just above her waist, murmuring, "I'm here, Evangeline. I'm right here.", kissing her on the forehead tenderly.
"I know...", Evangeline whispered as Fay and the Enchantress began; and as expected, the pain was pretty excruciating for Evangeline. Her mother and cousin were trying their best, but Facilier's dark magic certainly did its damage to her in the first place.
Ray's heart tore at the sounds of Evangeline stifling her cries of pain, almost ignoring the instinctual clench of her hands and legs holding him so tight, kissing her forehead, stroking her lower back gently, whispering into her ear without disrupting the work of the others, "It's okay, it's okay...You got this...Just imagine what you want to have with me...", still amazed that Evangeline wants to be human, to be with him and his son.
Evangeline nodded as she kept trying to hold on, but it was tough; she never had to deal with anything like this in all her long years of life. It was a few more minutes before finally, the pain seemed to stop all at once.
Fay replied gently, "You're very strong, my daughter...Welcome to your new life, Evangeline.", and Evangeline felt her soul echo through her, and then she gave a loud exhale of breath, almost feeling like a newborn baby, feelings of humanity filling through her heart, and she panted, looking back, and strangely enough, she felt bittersweet about her beloved wings taken forever, but she is also happy to feel alive, so alive she wanted to experience something again, but with more passion into it.
She looked back to Ray who smiled lovingly, taking in the fact that her glow is gone, that her golden hair, and skin is no longer polished up, but rather supple and healthy, and her bright blue eyes, they are so alive, with her soul showing through, and he gently raised a hand to caress Evangeline's cheek, "You look better as a human, my love...", giving her a soft tease, reassuring her to show her that he loves her as who she is, as he smiled crookedly.
Evangeline blushed even more than she'd ever did in her long life of being a fairy, and with a mischievous smile, she grabbed his shirt, replying, "Let's see if I do better as a human too.", before kissing him on the lips deeply and passionately.
Ray and Evangeline shared a long passionate kiss, one that they actually never had truly done before as he squeezed her in his arms, though she was somehow having more strength in her hug around him.
Enchantress smirked, glancing at her aunt, and Fay smiled warmly, and then gestured with a nod, and Enchantress glanced over to see the family being surrounded with hugs and such as Adam explained everything while Perla kissed Carlo heartily and happily, introducing him to his younger siblings, though he can be mistaken for an almost twin brother to Azure.
Naveen looked at his father and Evangeline, and seemed to understand as he couldn't see her wings and glow anymore, and as Evangeline and Ray broke away, panting, looking at each other lovingly, he walked over, hesitant to ask, but brave to try, "Evangeline, are you staying forever with Papa?".
Evangeline smiled at Naveen, nodding, "Yes, I am, sweetheart...Is that alright?", and Naveen gave a smile, "You make Papa happy, you make me happy...Can I call you Mama?", looking a bit nervous.
Evangeline's eyes teared up, a soft gasp escaping her, and glanced at Ray who gave her an approving smile, and Evangeline then looked at Naveen, "Yes, of course you can!", and Naveen gave a radiant smile, "Mama!", before climbing into his parents' arms, a family hug for the first time of acknowledgement.
Enchantress took a deep breath, and walked over to Adam, "I apologize for what I've done, Prince Adam. You may have been disowned by your own father, but I'm pleased to see a true prince shining through you this year and the past year...Please forgive me.", curtseying and bowing her head in respect and all.
Adam took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. "You know... for years, I always dreamed of what I was going to do if I had ever saw you again, and I'll be fully honest, it was never pleasant.", he said as she nodded. She couldn't blame him; anyone who would be cursed would want to deliver violent retribution upon those that cursed them. "But... I'm not the same person... I've changed... and I understand what you did for me... to try to get me to see things right...".
Enchantress looked up slightly to see him, and Adam gave a soft, sincere look, "I made my choices to be better, all thanks to Perla...I am at least grateful that you didn't exactly make me alone, to have the staff be some of company for me all those years before Perla and the others came. And I understand why you had stipulations...Magic cannot be simple. Otherwise, the whole world would have been changed so much if it was that simple.".
Enchantress exhaled, relieved to hear that, and Adam then finished, "And I would never be grateful enough for you and Evangeline protecting my home and my family from Facilier. I forgive you, Enchantress.".