Hey everyone! Sorry that it has taken so long to update this, but school has been controlling my life as of late. Plus from the end of the last chapter to the next point in the original Disney story, 16 years pass, which is a long time, so I didn't want to skip over it. I'm just going to address all comments that I have had since the last update right now.

spatterson: yes, I am using a similar idea in this chapter and I hope that you were still patient enough to wait for this chapter!

James Birdsong: I am glad that you have like them so far. That is my main goal, to please my readers.

Hey: I am sorry it has taken me so long, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Maleficent: Here is the next chapter. Love your name by the way ;)

Ok, so without further delay, enjoy! Please leave a comment or message me if you have any suggestions.


The next ten years passed by relatively quickly. Maleficent would send her troops out for week long searches throughout neighboring villages, and still no sign of the Princess. I myself had been sent out numerous times as well; looking for the Princess after the troops had left a village to see if she had come out of hiding.

It started to become harder and harder to find anything about the princess. All conversations about her had almost become extinct. Plus people started to notice me more and more. It was easy for a child to go unnoticed, but now I was spotted by almost every shop keeper. I guess that is something that comes along with being 21. There was, however, one day that differed from the others.

It started off as just a normal day. I went into town and tried my best not to attract to attention of anyone else. I kept to the shadows mostly; it seemed to be the only place that I wouldn't get flagged down by some store owner asking me to buy their goods. I thought I was safe, until I heard the sound of trumpets. I looked around to see that everyone was making a path for a line of horses that were walking towards us. As they drew nearer, I could see that it was King Hubert and Prince Philip, neither of which I had seen since the announcement of the royal engagement.

People started pushing closer and closer towards the street, dragging me along with them. As they started to ride closer and closer, everyone started kneeling, except me. I was trying to get back to my little safe haven, but by the time I was able to get back to where I wanted to, a loud voice filled the air.

"Halt in the name of the King!"

I turned to see that it was one of the guards who was riding with them that had said this, and he was looking directly at me as was someone else, Prince Philip. He couldn't have been more than 17 by the looks of him. I didn't know what to do, so I froze where I was. I looked around and noticed that I was the only one not kneeling. The guard hopped off his horse and started to head towards me.

"Wait!" He stopped and turned back towards the Prince, who had just gotten off his horse as well. As Philip walked towards me, I started to tense up. I wanted to flee, but I knew that they would chase after me.

"Usually when I pass by, people are always bowing, but you are the first one to not be doing so. Why is that?"

"I was trying to head back home to my dying mother, your highness. It was not meant in disrespect." I don't know where that story had come from, but it seemed to have an effect on the prince. His face softened and he grabbed a rose from the flower cart that was nearby. He then turned back towards me and handed the flower to me.

"Then please, go to her. And give her this, as a gift from me."

I took the rose and curtsied. I waited until the royals had continued on their journey and the crowd had started to dissolve before I headed back to Maleficent's castle. I ran back as fast as I could, knowing how close I had gotten to being in really big trouble.

As I was running back, I kept thinking to myself about what had just happened. The fact that the Prince acted as if he actually cared about the people seemed strange to me. I had always thought that royals only looked out for themselves. I couldn't seem to understand why he would give my "dying mother" a flower when he had never; in fact, I had never met her either.

When I finally got back, I stopped a minute to regain my composer before entering Maleficent's presence. Once I made it up to her room, I knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

"Come in," she said. Over the years she seemed to know when I was outside the door versus anyone else. I entered the room and closed the door behind me. She was sitting at her side table, flipping through a book.

"Well," she said in her usual emotionless voice.

"Nothing about the Princess, your Excellency."

She closed her eyes for a minute, which she did whenever she was trying to think without any outside distractions. She then let out a sigh and turned towards me.

"I expected just as much," Her eyes then grew big as she saw the flower that was in my hands. "What are you doing with that?"

I looked down at the rose, "Oh, this? Prince Philip gave it to me."

This seemed to interest her because she didn't say a word and motioned for me to continue. "He gave it to me after I said I was heading home to be with my 'sick and dying mother'."

Then Maleficent's eyes grew wider than before, her face was white as a sheet, or what I assumed was white for her.

I quickly followed up with, "It was the quickest excuse I could think of without him asking too many questions or following me back here."

Maleficent's face then returned to its normal color and her expression became cross. She then rose and walked towards me. Even though I was 21 at the time, Maleficent was still taller than me and had the ability to make me feel extremely small and powerless.

"That is the last time you will ever leave this castle. Your carelessness could have lead to here or worse! Do I make myself clear?" Even though she wasn't shouting, her voice boomed throughout the room.

I tried my best to keep my composure, but I am sure that if she had looked in my eyes, she would have seen the fear that I was hiding.

"Perfectly."

"Good, now go." I curtsied and left the room. It wasn't until I was in the hall that I noticed I still had the flower in my hand. I walked up to a window and dropped the flower, and hoping that I would never have to deal with something like that again.

As I watched it fall into the bottomless cavern that surrounded the castle, I knew that things were not the way that they should be. That Maleficent had more on her mind than finding the princess. That I was simply a pawn in the big scheme of things, and Maleficent was the one moving every piece.

The remaining years till the princess's sixteenth birthday passed by with little progress. Every chance that Maleficent could send out a frost she would, hoping that should any of the fairies changed the princess into something else, particularly a flower, she would surly die. No such new ever reached the castle, but this didn't surprise me much. With me being confined to the castle, very little about the outside world ever reached us.

Maleficent became more and more irritable and frustrated with every passing day. The deadline of the curse seemed to have a big effect on her, for she would speak in either short, harsh phrases or have long, dramatic speeches that she would usually say to Diablo or myself. In my opinion the speeches were her way to release some of her frustrations.

When it was only a few days till the princess' birthday, Maleficent sent out her army in one final attempt to find her. With the castle being almost completely empty, I mainly stayed with Maleficent most of the day. There wasn't much talking, but it was better than being alone all day. I was looking out the window when I saw that the soldiers were returning.

"They are back your excellence." She walked up behind me to see for herself. Her face became enraged. She turned and stormed out of the room. Diablo and I followed her into the throne room. The room was already filled with her soldiers, still with their weapons and holding their banners showing their allegiance to Maleficent. When Maleficent had reached her throne, I stood to the side, where I usually stood.

"Did you find her?" she asked the captain of the guard.

"Uhh…..umm…"

"Yes or no will suffice," she said through her teeth.

"No, not a trace," he said as he hung his head.

Maleficent then became furious, because lightning started erupting throughout the castle and the surrounding grounds. She then started angrily pacing back and forth, shaking her fist.

"Sixteen years, and not a trace of her!" More thunder erupted. The guards crouched behind their shields, hoping not to feel Maleficent's wrath. "She couldn't have vanished into thin air! Are you sure you searched everywhere?"

I turned to see how he would reply.

"Yup, yup, everywhere we all did." They all started chattering what I could only assume was agreements.

"And what about the town, the forests, the mountains?"

"Yeah, we checked mountains, uhh, forests, uhh, houses and uhh, let me see uhh, and all the cradles." He looked very proud showing off how dedicated they were to finding the girl.

The last part threw me. Cradles? He couldn't have said cradles. How stupid and dim witted could they be?

"Cradles?" It seemed that Maleficent shared my opinion on the matter.

"Yup, yup, every cradle," he said making a rocking motion with his hands.

"Cradle!" I slapped my hand to my forehead and shook my head in disbelief. They really were that dumb.

Maleficent then turned towards Diablo, and lifted his chin with her finger. "Did you hear that my pet? All these years they've been looking for a baby," she said motioning back towards the guards. The saddest part was that they were all nodding, not knowing that she was mocking them.

She then started to laugh. I knew that it was not because she found this amusing, but that they were actually stupid enough to not use common sense. They then started laughing along with her.

"Fools!" she shouted as more lightning lit the room. They all stopped their laughing and realized what trouble they were in. "Idiots! Imbeciles!"

She then started striking them down with lightning that erupted from her staff. They tried to run as mass chaos broke out. She started striking left and right, and one time almost hit me, making me shriek. Once all of them had left the room and were in hiding, Maleficent threw down her arms in frustration. I looked over to my right where Diablo had taken refuge from the attack. He looked just as scared as I was.

Maleficent then started walking towards her throne, saying "Oh they are hopeless. A disgrace to the forces of evil." Diablo flew over to her side once she sat down. She then turned towards him and held out her hand to him.

"My pet, you are my last hope." He hopped on her hand and looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

"Circle far and wide, search for a maid of sixteen, with hair of sunshine gold, and lips read as the rose." She stood and then gently tossed Diablo into the air. "Go, and do not fail me." I watched as he flew out the remains of what used to be a window.

Maleficent then slowly sat back down in her throne and placed her hand on her face and let out a long sigh. I wasn't sure what to do, for I had never seen Maleficent look so depressed before. I waited a few minutes in silence before I said anything.

"Should I bring you anything your excellence?"

Maleficent lifted her head and turned towards me, almost as if she had forgotten that I was standing there.

"Oh, no. Just sit with me for a bit." This seemed a very peculiar request from her, but I didn't question it and did as I was told. I sat at the edge of her throne and remained quiet. "Why must they be such fools?"

I knew that it was a rhetorical question, but I felt that I should answer it. "Perhaps it is due to the fact the all the smart ones died out years ago."

This seemed to cheer her up a little, for she snickered and a small smirk came across her face. "I suppose that might have something to do with it." She then patted my head, which trust me is not something I would have expected. It was even weirder because I wasn't a child anymore, but I guess in her eyes, I was.

Hoping to get out of the uncomfortable situation, I said, "I'll go make you your tea."

"Yes, that might help," she said as I scurried off towards the kitchen. When I was out of the throne room, I stopped and waited a minute, trying to figure out what had just happened. What had caused Maleficent to show emotion towards me? Was I just there so that she wouldn't lose her sanity from dealing with idiots all day? I pondered questions like this while I put a pot over the fire for the tea. Maybe there was something more to Maleficent than I was aware of.