Chapter 4
She will indeed grow to be beautiful and beloved by all. Maleficent had not realized it at the time, but she had cursed herself with those words as well as the human child. Beloved by all. Even herself. She had been robbed of her wings and her independence, Stephan had shattered her trust and tainted her with vile human corruption. And in doing so he had become King, and wounded her further by marrying the daughter of the belligerent old monarch. She had tried to hate the baby, who only existed as a result of Stephan's betrayal. The infant represented to Maleficent everything she had lost; innocence, a carefree life, and her ability to love. And so she had cast a perpetual shadow over the child's life just as Stephan had over hers.
Then slowly over the years, the curse had begun to work on her too. She did not know at which point the girl had become so important to her. She knew she should stay away, but she could not seem to manage long before giving in to temptation. The dark fairy would despise herself for her weakness. How many times had she saved the life of the very symbol of Stephan's treachery? But soon Maleficent came to loathe herself instead for what she had done to the girl, the girl who was nothing like her father or any other human that she had met. She had made the most terrible of mistakes, and still could not tear herself away from that bright smile and those joyful sapphire eyes; being around Aurora had become a drug to Maleficent. For a while, she managed to forget the appalling fate she had placed upon her and began to enjoy the evenings they spent together in the otherworldly Moors.
The girl was overly affectionate which to begin with had made things uncomfortable for Maleficent. The first time the girl had pulled her into a hug, not being used to physical contact, the dark fairy had sent the girl to sleep out of sheer panic with a swirl of golden smoke. This of course had entertained Diaval to no end. Hiding her embarrassment from the raven, Maleficent had gently lowered the girl to the ground before bringing her around. Aurora was highly confused to find herself suddenly sitting in the grass a good few yards away. "You tripped" Maleficent stated with an uncharacteristically shifty look on her beautiful face. Diaval opened his mouth, but his human form was suddenly melted away and replaced with his true raven self, who cawed loudly in annoyance. Maleficent herself turned hurriedly and began to stride rapidly away, leaving the girl still sitting in bewilderment. "-but"
"Come Aurora, you will miss your chance to see the sprites if you sit there all day."
"Alright, Godmother" realizing it was no use, she sighed resignedly pulling herself to her feet and bounded after the fairy.
The girl became ever more affectionate with her godmother, insisting on a hug before she returned to sleep back at the cottage where she was raised. At first she hesitated, but Maleficent found it difficult to refuse Aurora anything. She gingerly allowed the golden-haired girl to gently wrap her arms around her, nuzzling her head beneath the taller fairy's chin. Maleficent for the first time in 16 years felt the warmth return to heart at this simple act of tenderness. Her eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected reaction to the girl's embrace. Before she could process the unfamiliar feelings, Aurora spoke gently. "Goodnight, Godmother." Stepping away, the girl made her way back down the path to the cottage, turning to give a somewhat dumbfounded Maleficent a sunny smile before disappearing inside.
Returning to the drafty stone ruin she now resided in, Maleficent sent Diaval to observe the goings on at the castle to give herself space to think. She had been sure that she would never feel this way again, that her heart had been broken beyond repair. The next evening when Maleficent took the girl back home after an entertaining but extremely messy mud fight with the Moor-folk, Aurora again pulled the dark fairy into an embrace. This time Maleficent was prepared for the sudden rush of warm, and a small smile crept onto her face as she held the girl close. Diaval in human form quirked a brow as the hug lasted a little longer than was usual, but remained silent. Aurora bade her farewells to them both, with an extra bright smile for the fairy as she retired for the night.
Maleficent felt as close to being happy as she had been in over a decade, but with the glow that came from Aurora being close, returned the guilt of what she had done in full force. Waiting until the girl was asleep, she had tried to revoke her curse. She had tried with all of her heart and soul to take back that grim fate, but she had failed. And so disquiet filled her newly healed heart, with the knowledge that she must tell the girl what terrible thing she had done so long ago. There was nothing she wouldn't do for Aurora, to keep her safe, but she could not protect her from her own words uttered 16 years in the past.
So she had thought. She had braved the lethal iron maze to enter the castle with the Prince, not caring for her own safety. But when the plan for the Prince to wake the girl had failed she had been distraught. She had lost the girl that had allowed her to love again, and it was her own fault. The guilt and the heartbreak had overwhelmed her, and she longed for the girl to open her blue eyes and embrace her once more. For the first time, she had expressed her love for Aurora and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. She could not believe her eyes when he girl sat up with a smile, and in that moment she vowed to protect Aurora for the rest of time. She had given her heart to the girl and belonged to her entirely.
Things had seemed well a first when they had returned to the Moors after surviving the ordeal at the castle. She had hoped that with Aurora as the bridge between the humans and the Moor-folk, there would be an end to the conflict between the two lands. Not only that, but an end to the conflict within her own heart. The guilt still gnawed away at her, but with time she hoped that it would fade away a little more with each bright smile from the girl she loved. But, a different kind of emotion began to rear its head within her. Aurora still seemed to enjoy the company of the Prince, and the two would often walk together through the serene Moors. Each time she saw them, an unexplainable jealously flared inside Maleficent. It seemed to reach out and drag her back into her darker past self, and she loathed it. He was a human male, and they had only ever taken away the things she loved. And she was so afraid that her precious Beastie would be taken from her too. The thought was more than she could bear, but she was powerless to do anything; Aurora was a grown woman, with the right to keep the company of whomever she chose. She was a Princess, and he a Prince, this was how things were supposed to be. Prince Phillip was always polite and nothing less than charming whenever he spoke to Maleficent, but each time the fairy saw that handsome face she would wonder how long she would have to suffer his presence within the Moors.
It did not take long for the fairy to realize the extent of her feelings for Aurora. It dawned on her one day while she flew above the treetops of the Moors, the one thing that was untainted and that she could fully lose herself in and enjoy. As she glided over the lakes, she spotted the Prince and Aurora strolling under the leafy canopy towards the water. The two seemed so wrapped up in each other, talking animatedly. Scowling, Maleficent landed on top of a nearby rise and observed the couple. They made there way over towards where the water nymphs leaped and cart wheeled through the glimmering water droplets, laughing at the antics of the Moor-folk. One of the nymphs leaped from the pond and somersaulting mid-air, landed with a large splash, sending water flying over the Prince and the Princess as they passed close by. Drawing out a crimson handkerchief, Phillip reached across and gently dried the water from Aurora's cheek, who blushed faintly at the contact.
The jealousy surged once more, and Maleficent found herself growing angry, her eyes darkening. Who was this man, to take so much of Aurora's attention? He had been entirely impotent when the golden-haired beauty had been under the curse. He had not been the one to wake her; his pathetic kiss had done nothing. And yet his reward was to spend many hours with Aurora, time with her that he had stolen from Maleficent. And now it seemed that he was stealing the girl's heart. The fairy felt sadness vie for place with resentment. It should be her who was at Aurora's side, her who knew how it felt to kiss those delicate lips that looked so soft and warm. She raised her fingers to her own lips, closing her eyes as she imagined how the girl's would feel against her own. And then she realized. Everything clicked together like a jigsaw slotting into place. Her golden-green eyes snapped open as it struck her clear as day. She was in love with Aurora. She desired her, she longed to be able to touch her tenderly the way the Prince had. Her brows knit together in sadness as she understood that what she wished for could never be. Aurora had him. They were meant to be together, and it seemed that was what Aurora wanted.
Their laughter drifted up to Maleficent on the breeze, and her eyes dimmed. She did not deserve the love of the girl after all that she had done, and even though she now understood why she so despised the Prince, she knew that she would be better off with him. Still, she could not stand him being in the Moors, she could not stand the sight of him with Aurora a second longer. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had not noticed the arrival of Diaval, who had alighted on top of her staff. Desiring nothing more than to leave as fast as possible, she beat her powerful wings and sent the poor bird falling headlong into the bushes. Flying as fast as she could as though trying to outrun her own despair, a tear streamed down her cheek as she made not for her home in the tree, but instead for the shadowy ruins. The fairy began to spend more time amongst the crumbling stone, retreating a little further inside her self and her old darkness each day.
She saw Aurora less frequently, despite the girl's requests for her company. A sorrow crept into the golden-hared girl's eyes on the occasions that they did spend together, and Maleficent knew that she was the cause. She hated herself for it, but could not bring herself to shake off the despair that clung to her. Then over time, Aurora found that she had increasingly less time to spend in the Moors with the fairy and her raven friend. Her duties became greater and the human lands pulled her away, leaving Maleficent to wallow in her sadness as the years passed.
One dismal evening, the fairy sat at the gaping hole of a window in the drafty ruin, looking wistfully out in the direction of the castle. Diaval swooped down through the gap without warning to land within the structure, startling the woman out of her reverie. Cawing loudly, the bird hopped impatiently from foot to foot as the fairy below stirred and golden-green eyes transfixed him.
"Into a man."
Hopping down from the pile of broken bricks, the raven-man spoke with grave seriousness. "There's something you need to see."
