Author's Note: So the next two chapters are already like 80% done. They're also a little longer so, we'll definitely be getting closer to the end (but they're not the end yet), and we'll most certainly be seeing a pick up with the action. I'm so, so, so sorry for taking so long with this update.
Please enjoy...
Part 45 – Bearing Witness
"We should be out there helping," Mal shouted at Fairy Godmother as the two of them, along with Jane, Harriet, Chad, and Audrey watched on a monitor in the panic room that Fairy Godmother had brought them to. On the screen, they all witnessed the nearly one sided battle. It was almost haunting to them since the monitor provided no sound, leaving the room quiet as – other than Mal's protest – none of them could form words to say. Their minds provided the soundtrack, and each one was imagining equally horrific screams and cries coming from the human soldiers.
"And just how would you do that?" Fairy Godmother replied, her voice far calmer than she thought it would've been despite the images she was watching.
"I… I don't know. But we should at least try."
"You'd be more hindrance than help, Sweetie," Fairy Godmother told her. "You might be able to handle yourself with a sword, but you wouldn't last five minutes against those statues."
"I have magic," Mal tried.
Fairy Godmother scoffed softly. "And if you tried that against your father, you'd last even less than that. I get it, you feel helpless in here, but you're also safe. And that is my job in this situation."
"Then what about, Ben?"
"The guards should've already gotten him somewhere safe," Audrey answered. Mal turned to face her, but when she turned, Audrey wasn't looking her way, but toward the monitor. In the light of the room, Mal could see tears had welled in her eyes as she watched.
"Audrey… are you okay?" Mal asked, getting a small shake of her head as a response.
"Oh God," Audrey gasped, forcing Mal to look back toward the monitor.
"Are they… did they…?" Mal began.
"They stopped," Harriet spoke up. "Just like that."
The group gazed at the monitor, each one not believing the sight of all the statues and suits of armor once again being immobile. They watched as soldiers on the screen tried to process what had just happened – what was happening. The battle was over.
"We need to get out there, now," Fairy Godmother said as she tapped her wand to the wall, it once again moving to be opened. They slowly made their way through the palace's corridors, nervous at the stillness. Eventually, they turned a corner and became mortified at the sight of a group of guards and Ben, all laying on the ground, unmoving and showing signs of being beaten.
"Ben!" Mal screamed as she ran over to her boyfriend's prone, unmoving body.
While Mal started checking to see if Ben was alive, least of all alright, Fairy Godmother knelt next to the closest guard and began doing the same. "Jane, take Harriet and find… anybody and tell them we need a doctor for the King and his guard." Jane nodded and ran to do as her mother told her, Harriet following close behind her.
"Shouldn't we go with them?" Chad asked, motioning to Audrey and himself, the trepidation in his voice clear.
Fairy Godmother shook her head. "On the off chance that this isn't completely over, Chad, you're next in line for the throne of Auradon should something happen to Ben, with Audrey being next after that. That means I am not letting you two out of my sight. Now, start helping me check to see if these guards are okay."
Part 46 – The Weak Link
When Richard Uther came to, it was to the smell of ammonia. The strong, disorienting smell jolted him, and he tried to stretch, but immediately found himself unable to move, his arms and legs secured to the chair he realized he'd been placed in. He began looking around, panic setting in. After a few confused seconds, he noticed someone standing next to him. He was dressed in all black tactical clothing and looking back at him like he was the one being jarred awake. As he looked closer at the man, Uther noticed the smelling salts in his hand. "W-what's going on? Where am I? Who are you?"
The unknown man just stared back at Uther, his face stoic, before he began walking toward the door at the far end of the room.
"Hey… hey!" Uther called after him, feeling his nerves go from trepidation to desperation. When the man disappeared from the room, he tried to free himself again. He struggled against his bindings, and was certain that they were actually fighting back against his attempts. I'm just imagining it, he thought as he continued to struggle.
"I wouldn't do that," Uther heard a voice say, and he looked up, and froze in place. Standing in front of him, flanked from behind by the man who was there when he came to and another man dressed in the same tactical clothes, was Dagon. Dagon had changed out of his armor, and was once again in a black suit, dark blue dress shirt, and black tie. His hands were clasped in front of him, and he was looking at him with a gaze that seemed like he was deciding what he was going to do next. "I placed a spell on those restraints; the harder you try to break free, the tighter they become. So, unless you'd like to find out if they'll get tight enough to cut all blood flow – and force me to have to amputate those hands and feet – sit still," Dagon told him, almost sounding like he was about to growl at the end.
Dagon snapped his fingers, and a chair appeared about six feet in front of Uther. Uther watched Dagon remove his coat and drape it over the back of the chair and take a seat, He casually loosened his tie, and leaned back into the chair. Every motion was made easily, and nonchalantly, as if Dagon was doing this at the end of a long hard day at the office. Dagon then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and looking toward Uther.
"Your present restraints aside, how are you?" Dagon asked, the banality of the question shocking Uther. "After all, this has probably been a stressful day, what with me attacking the palace, and, well… kidnapping you."
"Are you going to kill me?"
Dagon grinned at Uther. "Do I have a reason too?" The shake of Uther's head was barely perceptible. "Are you sure? Because, if I think hard enough, I bet could find a reason. Or, do I need to jog your memory?"
"So you're going to torture me?" Uther asked, his voice shaky. Dagon almost chuckled when he saw the man swallow hard.
"Captain Uther, do you know how old I am?" Uther shook his head. "A handful of years shy of one-hundred and fifty years old. And in that time, I've been many things: a knight, the right hand of the most evil fairy to ever live, the fist and sword of Auradon to name a few. But most of all, I've been a student. I've learned any and everything I could about… well, fighting – obviously – tactics, war, magic, and a myriad of other subjects. And yes, I learned all about torture. But you want to know a funny thing about torture? For the purposes of interrogation, it's mostly useless; partly because the person being tortured will say anything they need to just make the pain stop. Which means the information may not be all that reliable. It's like driving your car through the grocery store to do your shopping, you get no real results and just end up making a huge mess."
Dagon heard one of the men behind him chuckle. He cracked his knuckles before continuing.
"I won't torture you. But I want you to think of all the unpleasant things I've learned in almost a century and a half that I could do to you," Dagon said with a wicked grin. "That being said, let's start easy: you do remember being the guard on duty in the control room the night I allegedly murdered Michael Merlin, don't you?"
Part 47 – Hope, Even in Defeat
After a lengthy search amongst the chaos, Jane and Harriet had found one of the field medics and informed him that the king was in need of help. He helped Fairy Godmother get Ben into the closest room where he could be laid comfortably. Eventually, they were able to wake him. Despite his grogginess, he still tried several times to ask about the situation, but the medic quieted him while he examined him.
"I'm fine," Ben told the medic as he tried to hold Ben's head still enough to try and look at his eyes, looking for signs of trauma.
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, I'm trying to get a few base reads before your doctor arrives.
"Ben, let him make sure you're okay," Mal said from her seat next to him. Ben looked at her, and after a moment of seeing the worry in her own eyes, turned back and nodded for the medic to continue. After a cursory exam to make sure that he wasn't physically injured, or at least so injured that he needed immediate attention, he finally felt that he could go back out to the field and attend to the injured guards.
"You seem fine to me, but like I informed you, your doctor may want to check you more thoroughly," he told Ben as he stood. He then stood at attention, gave a quick bow of his head, and headed back out.
Once the medic was gone, Mal threw her arms around Ben, hugging him tightly. Her grip was so tight in fact that Ben actually groaned from the pressure. "I'm okay," he told his scared and concerned girlfriend. "Really, I am."
"What happened?" she asked when she released her hold on him.
"Dagon," he said. He turned toward Fairy Godmother before continuing. "After you went to get them, the guards came to evacuate me. Dagon's men confronted us while Dagon himself snuck up from behind. He said he just wanted one of the guards specifically."
"Which guard?" Fairy Godmother asked.
"Captain Uther," Ben told her. "We tried to stop them, but Dagon got a hold of me, and… and then I don't remember anything after that," he said, disappointment in his voice at having failed at stopping Dagon. "Did he get…?"
"It looks that way," Fairy Godmother told him despondently.
"I'm assuming since we're having this conversation in the palace that the battle went our way?" Fairy Godmother wanted to tell him yes, but the defeated expression on her face spoke volumes more before she could utter a word. Ben let his head roll back until it was resting up against the back of the couch. He rubbed his face with his hands and fought the urge to groan in frustration. "How bad?" he asked when he finally looked back up.
Fairy Godmother was hesitant to tell him, but eventually began. "According to what Jane and Harriet told me they saw, as well what the guard that was with the medic told me: surprisingly, there were no fatalities. But… a lot of injured guards."
Ben scoffed in revulsion. "Dad was right," he said sadly. Everyone looked at him, not understanding what he meant. "Before dad left the hospital after the museum fire, he told me that if Dagon wanted to, he could bring Auradon to its knees, and clearly he did. Fairy Godmother, I need you to be completely honest with me – is there anything we could actually do to stop him?"
"No one is unbeatable, but Dagon will be difficult," she told him. "It would go a long way if we knew what he wanted with that guard." Everyone looked at her askance. "Clearly that guard was his objective, and that battle out there, that was just one massive distraction."
"What do we know about the guard then?" Mal asked.
"Not enough," Fairy Godmother told her. "But we will. Ben, where did you have your parents and the remaining royals sent? We're going to need them, too."