Ugh, Ben thought, slowly waking to a throbbing pain in his skull. What's with my head?
"He's finally coming to," a familiar voice mused. "It's a good thing we decided to check on him now. Then again, my daughter awoke a couple days before him when I believed it would be the same day."
"Ben," another voice—a different voice—chided, shaking the boy's shoulder to get his attention. "You need to wake up fully. We need to discuss what happened the other day."
Cracking his eyes open slightly, Ben groaned at the blinding lights and the two men standing on the side of the medical bed. "What the hell do you want?" Ben spat as he attempted to sit up. Not a moment later he clutched his head in pure agony. "Why am I in the med room? And why the hell does my head hurt so much?"
"Ben," Gaston scolded with a scowl on his features. "You need to watch your language around His Majesty."
"We can let it slide for now," Hades claimed, his arms crossed over his chest as a way to show his seriousness. "He is in much more pain than my Mali is, considering he took most of the impact."
"'Impact'?" Ben repeated unsurely, grunting when he felt thick fabric in his hair. "Why the hell do I have bandages around my head?"
"You don't remember?" Gaston questioned incredulously. "There was an incident over three days ago during the Tourney and cheer practice. The cheer team was attempting a stunt—"
"And you saved my daughter from getting hurt worse than she did," Hades bluntly interrupted. "The main person responsible for the incident didn't want to take responsibility for her neglect. Her friend took partial blame, claiming he should have been more assertive with her. He apologized two or three times, mainly because he didn't want anything to happen to the dog. Instead of the main person receiving the two strikes, she and her friend took one strike each."
"Why aren't you saying names?" Ben interrogated in irritation.
"The 'friend' didn't want you to get mad at the responsible person, so he asked that we didn't say their names." Gaston raised a curious eyebrow at the teenager. "Is there anything that you heard from His Majesty's explanation that makes you think of a particular person?"
"Dog. Strikes. . ." Ben trailed off as he tried to connect the pieces, though it just caused his head to ache worse. "I-I don't know who."
"That's perfectly okay," Hades reassured. "Either way, I wanted to give you a small reward for saving my daughter, which is why Coach Gaston is here."
As if that was his cue, Gaston grabbed something from his pocket. That 'something' was a mirror, which was silver in color, with intricate rose and vine decorations and an ornate lion-like creature encapsulates the handle of the mirror with its mouth.
Ben tensed at seeing the somewhat familiar objects. "That's the Enchanted Mirror," he vaguely recalled. "It can allow anyone to see anything at the current time."
"Or in the past," Hades added before nodding at the magical object. "We are allowing you to use the mirror for fifteen minutes. You can use it to see whatever you want. We will be outside the room so you can feel comfortable seeing what you really want. You do not have to tell us what you asked to see. When the time is up, we will walk back in to retrieve the mirror."
Almost as though he thought it was a trap, Ben reluctantly took the mirror, keeping his gaze on the two men as they walked out of the room . . .
And into the adjacent room.
When Auradon Prep was created, the king, queen, and headmaster thought it was best to put a 'fake wall' in the medical wing of the school. It was a precaution just in case students who were injured and had fibbed on how they got their injuries wanted to tell the truth. Teachers and staff can hear and view whatever is going on in the med room, with permission from either the Royal Family or the headmaster, Dr. Facilier—as they were the only ones with keys to the 'secret' room.
Once the door securely shut behind the adults, Gaston let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you really think Ben will ask to see the magic wand?" he wondered curiously. "I know he hasn't been in Auradon for long, but I can vouch that he is a good kid. He wouldn't want to steal the wand."
"I know," Hades claimed with a shake of his head. "I knew he was good when I got him off the Isle. Hell, I thought most of them were good. But then, we hear from the Isle princess that some of them are planning a heist. If Audrey hadn't have come to the castle with Mali that day, I would have said 'yes' to Jane having her mother's wand."
"As far as we know, only two of the six are planning to take the wand," Gaston reminded hopefully. "We don't know which two specifically and we can't say that Jane is fully a part of it. Either way, they believe the postponing of the coronation will give them extra time to form a plan. I think, as long as there isn't three wanting the wand, then we will be safe. The bigger the numbers, the bigger the chances."
"In other words, if three go for the wand, there's a fifty-fifty chance they could succeed or fail," Hades clarified with a disgruntle sigh. "That's why I want to make sure Ben doesn't ask the mirror to see the wand. As long as Ben isn't on the side that wants the wand, then we should be safe from any danger."
Adverting his gaze to the coach, Hades solemnly added, "And my promise to Belle will be safe."
Fifteen minutes, Ben thought to himself as he studied the mirror cautiously, his own reflection staring back at him. So much time, yet I have no idea what I want to see.
Although being free from the Isle should have made him want to see everything possible, Ben couldn't think of a single thing to fulfill his wishes. After reading so many books that belonged to his—
That's it!
"I would like to see my mother," Ben demanded, unconsciously adding, "Please."
A momentary glare appeared on the mirror before the reflection changed from Ben to someone he has never seen before. Ben held his breath at the image, completely entrance by her beauty.
Her luscious brown hair was pulled back with a blue bow, though strands of hair still managed to get in her vibrant brown eyes. In the images shown, Belle was walking through her village as she read a book that Ben instantly recognized as one of his favorites. Ben determined that the book was her favorite as well, since—on the last page—she flipped to the beginning and began reading again. Ben allowed himself to chuckle at the action since he has done the very same thing.
Suddenly, Belle adverted her gaze upward, the reflection unknowingly locking eyes with her son. Just as the image started to fade away, Belle smiled, greeting in her angelic voice, "Bonjour."
Ting!
Ben raised a hand to his face as the image faded away, revealing the path the tear had traveled his cheek before it landed on the mirror. He had no idea that he had cried, but hearing his mother's voice had triggered the reaction. Ben just couldn't believe someone as beautiful as her could willing allow herself to be taken by his monster father.
Forcing himself to look away from the mirror, Ben adverted his attention to the clock on the wall.
Twelve minutes left, Ben thought. Now what?
Like flipping a switch, a new idea came to mind, which would take up a majority of his time.
Clearing his throat to rid himself of the reluctant lump that had formed, Ben requested, "Show me who is responsible for mine and Princess Mal's injuries."