Summary:

Instead of cursing the king's daughter, Aurora, Maleficent chooses to raise her as her own, without any knowledge of the throne she was one day supposed to rule. This sets off a chain of events that whirl the plot into a different path, completely.

12 Years Ago . . .

"Haha... Ah ha ha ah ha.."

Masculine laughter broke the silence occupying the dark room. Maniacal, loud, cackling guffaws. The man paused in his laughter as sorrow twisted his uneven features.

"She.. She.. Took her. I knew she would." the man sounded heartbroken at first, though the raw emotion was quickly replaced by another crazed guffaw.

"Ahh.. Ah haha haha.."

"Your majesty?" A nervous voice rang out in the darkness and the laughter paused.

"What is it, George?" the mans gruff voice answered after a pause.

"Your.. Your.. Daughter, I mean the princess, was kidnapped, sir. The whole kingdom knows about it and they want to know what your response will be to Maleficent's attack." George managed.

"My response?" the man echoed. "my response?"

"Yes sir...?" the guard trailed off as puzzlement leaked into his tone.

Silence greeted his questioning words.

Then the laughter rang out again.

"Hah ha ah ha ahah...!"

The guard shook his head as he peered at the king through the heavy cloak of darkness.

He shook his head once more as he exited, leaving the king to his madness.

+ .. +

A peaceful quiet had settled over the forest as the sun set slowly over the horizon. If one peered over the thorns that blocked the moors from the rest of humanity, (which was entirely impossible, given that the thorns were unimpeachable) and squinted, they could spot the child who sat on a gray stone, her thin voice raised in song as she danced about the clearing.

She was a direct contrast from the black-clad women who sat across from her, a motherly expression pasted onto her almost monstrous face as she peered at the girl. The two resembled each other as closely as the sun and moon resembled one and other.

The smaller girl's hair was a pale, honey-blond color, and her eyes were a deep shade of periwinkle blue. Her lips were pulled up into a natural, beautiful smile that seemed to light up the whole clearing.

The woman was even more beautiful, though more terrible at the same time. Her hair was ebony black, and arranged in an ornate helmet that showed off two devilish looking horns perched atop her head. Her features were sharp; high cheek bones, a shockingly pointed nose and lips as red as an apple. But her most appalling feature was the dark, raven-like wings that were attached to her back.

To most, who had heard the tales of the beast-woman who lurked the woods, she could only be identified by the name Maleficent.

The sound of wings beating resulted in the woman rising to her feet, her eyes roaming about the area anxiously.

"Diavel?" Maleficent's silky voice rang out, echoing about the forest.

There was a pause before a raven landed on the grassy undergrowth beside the woman. She whispered a spell and a human boy replaced the birds small form.

"any news?" she questioned.

The boy nodded, his eye brows knit with concentration as he tried to remember.

"The king is-" he broke off, shooting the listening girl an anxious glance.

Understanding lit up Maleficent's green eyes as she turned to examine the curiously listening child with amusement.

"Why don't you go play by yourself for a while, Aurora?" she phrased the sentence as if it were a question, despite the fact that it was more of an order.

The girl hung her head, a pout drifting to her face.

"B-but Mommy..!"

Maleficent gave Aurora a long look before the little girl finally surrendered.

Letting out a huff, she stomped off, though a smile quickly drifted back onto her face.

After she was a ways away, Maleficent turned back to the little messenger.

"What is it?"

He frowned slightly. "Nothing much. The king is just going a little.. Mad."

A cold smile pushed the dark queens lips up.

"And he deserves it." a low chuckle bubbled from her throat.

Diavel shook his head. "No, no, Maleficent. No one deserves that. You.. You took the one thing he held dear to him. His daughter, Malificent-"

He stopped as an expression of fury crossed the woman face.

"Are you forgetting what he tried to do to me?" she snapped. One hand drifted subconsciously to the long scar that covered one wing.

Diavel winced. "No.. But I-"

He broke off as Maleficent turned to go, ignoring him.