"Okay, that was freaky." Alex said.

Ben chuckled.

"Okay." Alex said. "I'm gonna start. So Fairy Godmother may or may not call you because of a … joke, really. Well – I mean it started with some truths, but then Mal exaggerated and Jay made a joke about food and rats and the rest of us may have accidentally continued in a more not so good way. Fairy Godmother may be in hysterics right now, but I swear most of what was said was not true, Mal was just pissed she took our food, you see. I for one never even saw a mouse before, much less a rat – I'm blabbing, I apologize." He said when Ben held up both hands to signal him to slow down.

"I have no idea what that was about, but I have a strong feeling we'll have to talk about it later. Right now I have something more important we need to discuss." Ben said, taking a deep breath.

"Shouldn't we go and check if Mal hadn't killed someone already?" Alex asked looking around like he expected to see the purple-haired girl dragging a body somewhere on the halls. "And if it's important shouldn't we find the rest, too, not just me? I mean-"

"Your bracelet. It's about your bracelet." Ben suddenly said and Alex stiffened almost unnoticeable.

He had been playing with his bracelet in the library while he was reading and he forgot to hide it. Ethan didn't see it and Fairy Godmother was too busy arguing with Mal to notice it.

When he stumbled upon Ben, Alex didn't have time to stuff it back under his forearm guard so he just covered it with his sleeve, but the prince couldn't have possibly seen it. He had been too careful.

He stiffened just enough to move his sleeve to cover it a little better. Maybe the prince was just testing him. Maybe he didn't know about the bracelet.

Ben had been thinking hard about how he was going to break it to him. He realized he had to get his brother's attention somehow. Make him interested enough to listen to the whole story.

He had never seen that bracelet since Alex was stolen, but he remembered it very well. More importantly, he remembered that it was spelled not to fall off unless it was taken off by another member of the Beast family. Fairy Godmother was going to spell it again when Alex was older so that he would be able to take it off on his own, but she never got the chance. In theory, his brother should still have that bracelet.

"What?" Alex asked looking so confused, Ben almost thought he might be wrong about the bracelet.

"It was on the left hand, right?" Ben asked, already taking his brother's hand and moving the sleeve up to reveal the golden bracelet that had the beast head on.

Alex was so shocked by the prince's boldness he didn't even snatch his hand back.

"My brother had been wearing this bracelet the night he was stolen nine years ago." Ben explained not letting go of his hand as Alex suddenly started to feel light-headed. "Alexander Beast, but I always called him Alex. People always said he looked like me except he had chocolate hair and blue eyes." Ben continued, chocolate eyes locked in storm blue, trying to read the thousands of emotions that were displaying in front of him. "The Magic Mirror showed smoke for nine years until this morning when it didn't… Because you weren't on the Isle anymore." He finished and Alex shook his head, mouth open, but no word came out.

"You are getting on my nerves, did you know that?" a voice suddenly broke in making them turn and look at Mal, who was standing with her arms folded across her chest and a familiar scowl on her face.

In that moment, Alex wanted nothing more that to jump in her arms and hide from the whole world.

Saying Mal was pissed would be an understatement.

She was furious.

They were getting nowhere with stealing the wand.

Fairy Godmother stole their food and then had the nerve to babble about rules and manners.

Then that smiley future king came out of nowhere and made a big show of telling her most trusted member of her crew that they were related or something like that.

She had never seen Alex look so lost before.

Mal was going to kill that prince.

"E, mirror." Mal ordered and Evie nearly materialized in front of them. Jay and Carlos followed close behind, both throwing Alex discreet, but concerned looks.

The Magic Mirror showed people or things and where they are. Evie's mirror showed more than that. If Mal had to trust the word of a mirror she'd choose Evie's any day.

"Mirror, mirror,… in my hand, What happened with Alex in this land?"

The image from the mirror suddenly changed and a crib appeared with the words ALEXANDER on top. Around it were the King and Queen of Auradon and a little child who looked a little like Alex except he had brown eyes and lighter hair. Then the child turned to smile at his parents and everyone realized it was actually Ben.

Alex was staring at the mirror. The same mirror that was just showing him his family. Not Mother Gothel. Because Mother Gothel wasn't his mother. She wasn't his family.

But then who was he?

He was not a prince. He never knew anything about manners and how to be polite. Every day he had spent on Auradon he tried to do the opposite of what he would have done on the Isle. To be the opposite of himself.

Alex had spent his whole life running, hiding, stealing, lying, fighting, surviving. He wasn't like Ben, The Golden Boy of Auradon.

He was Alex, The Boy from the Tower. The boy who tried to run away seven times. The one the Gaston twins like to fight. The one that scared away all the bullies that dared to come close to Dizzy. The one that liked to growl and jump from impossible heights.

If he wasn't that … Then who was he?

The image from the mirror suddenly changed and a dark figure appeared in the middle of the night and took the sleeping baby from the crib.

Alex didn't need the mirror to show her face. He already knew it was Mother Gothel, because that's what she always did. Find him and drag him back to the Tower.

Then the King appeared, trying to comfort his inconsolable wife that was crying over the crib.

The image shifted again and he saw himself a little older, jumping from a window and taking off running on the dirty streets of the Isle of the Lost. Then the mirror went black.

Alex didn't look away from the mirror. He felt Mal's gaze on him, silently demanding him to look up and answer her unspoken question, but he couldn't. Not without breaking down in the middle of the hall. In the middle of Auradon.

He knew Jay, Carlos and Evie were exchanging glances, not looking at him, giving him the space they knew he needed.

Ben on the other hand, didn't get that and was staring at him just like he did when he told him they were related. And that apparently was annoying a certain purple-haired leader.

"Meeting. Now." She ordered and took his arm a little more forceful than usual. The other three Vks were inside the boys' room before she even finished speaking.

"What-" Ben tried to say but Mal slammed the door shut, leaving the future-king alone on the hall.

"Are. You. Alright?!" Mal asked, putting a hand on each of his shoulders to make him look at her in the eyes.

Alex opened his mouth, but for the second time today, no words came out.

I'm fine.

That's what he was supposed to say.

Even when he was injured. Even when he was sick. Even when he was scared. That's what he was supposed to say.

Because you were never really fine on the Isle. In the prison that had rotten food and was basically painted in blood from the daily fights.

Being fine on the Isle meant you were alive and ready to cause some damage like the villain you were supposed to become one day.

'But you're not a villain. Not even a villain kid.' An annoying voice in his mind whispered. 'You're not a villain kid and you're not an Auradon kid. You're NOTHING.'

"I don't know." He answered truthfully.

"Do you like it here?" Carlos suddenly asked and everyone turned to look at him.

"What?" asked Alex.

"There are three questions you need to answer and this is the first one. Do you like it here?"

"Uh…" Did he like it here? Auradon was a little too bright compared to what he was used to and Dizzy was not here, at least for another six months, but all in all it wasn't that bad. "Yeah… I guess."

"Do you like Ben?"

He liked Ben. He was probably the only person besides Ethan, and maybe a few of his classmates, that could smile at him and his friends without looking forced or annoyed. And he was so innocent in some aspects it was hilarious.

But to be his brother…

Would Ben even want to be related to him?! The boy who couldn't even run away from an old crazy woman?

Then Carlos hardened his stare on him, enough so that Alex could get its meaning. Answer the question and stop thinking around it.

He gave Carlos a small, almost undetectable nod.

"Are you okay with this?"

With having another family? Being another person? Having another life? Finding the truth? Being here? Talking with Ben? Talking about this?

Alex looked towards the others, trying to find the answer he should be giving but all he got were more unsaid questions.

Do you want me to kick that future-king out of the hall? Or the school?

Do you want me to check the mirror again?

Do you want us to leave you alone for a little while?

Do you want me to spell him? No one will ever know…

He felt himself start trembling and breath faster and faster and he almost had a panic attack just at the thought of having a panic attack in the middle of Auradon with Ben not even ten feet away from him.

Then Mal did something that Alex never would have thought she would ever do. She hugged him.

The only person that ever hugged him was Dizzy and she never hugged him because he needed it. Because he never needed it until now. When she wasn't there.

So he hugged Mal back, trying to get his breathing under control and stop trembling like an idiot. He was not having a panic attack. Not today. He was not weak.

The next three minutes felt like forever. Mal never complained or gave any indications she wanted him off her so he didn't move. He felt Evie ruffling his hair and Jay and Carlos patting his shoulders so he knew they were still there with him and that they were waiting for him to make the next move.

Finally he took a deep breath, composing what little was left of him and looked at the door.

Hi guys! Hope you like this chapter.

I have my other two stories that I want to continue, but if I get like at least 10 reviews I'll update here next. It all depends on you.

Tell me what you think. What you want to happen.

I could really use some ideas.

See ya later.

Frostbite out