Remember that little cliffhanger in "A Whole New World"? Well, this is simply to revisit a key plot point from the last story. Enjoy.
Leave a review after reading, please. Feedback is always appreciated.
I'd like to thank the following users for reviewing the previous chapter: DragonEmpoeror999, CarvieCamfia2, Robyn
Fifteen years ago...
A 5-year-old Mal was reading a fairy tale story. It was the story of Aladdin. She was already at the climactic battle between Jafar and Aladdin. When Mal read that Jafar turned himself into a snake, she thought it was cool. But then Aladdin tricked Jafar into turning himself into a genie, therefore imprisoning himself into the lamp. Growing up with a villain for a mother, she did not like happy endings for heroes. She closed the book in disappointment.
"Enjoying yourself, Mal, dear?" asked Maleficent.
"Heroes are so annoying, Mommy," said Mal. "I think I know why you and the other villains hate them."
"Ugh, tell me about it," Maleficent agreed.
"But, Mommy," Mal said thoughtfully.
"What is it, dearie?" asked Maleficent.
"It's about love," said Mal. "Heroes always use that feeling to explain everything."
"Bleh, love," Maleficent gagged. "Don't think too hard on it, my nasty little girl. Love is a weakness. We don't ever allow ourselves to feel it."
"So, I can't fall in love when I grow up?" asked Mal.
"Oh, by the devils, no," Maleficent said, dreading to imagine her daughter being in love. "We are villains, Mal. We care about only one thing. Getting what we want. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday I am gonna find a way out of this island. When I do, everyone in Auradon will pay for locking us up here."
"Ooh, revenge!" Mal cheered like the little girl she is.
"Yes, my sweet little dragonling," Maleficent said, smiling at her daughter.
"But didn't you fall in love, Mommy?" asked Mal. "I mean, isn't that how babies are born?"
"Oh, you're too young to understand," said Maleficent. "Evil love is a more complicated concept. Point is, we don't allow ourselves to fall under love's curse. It makes us soft, makes us weak, makes us do good things. You don't want to be good, do you?"
Maleficent looked at her daughter in a rather threatening way instead of pretending to. Mal was kinda afraid, but then again, her mother is the almighty Maleficent. Everyone is afraid of her.
"N-N-No, I don't," Mal answered.
"Good girl," Maleficent said, patting her daughter on top of the head.
Uma returned to The Lost Revenge after to think for herself alone. She couldn't stay in the castle, what with Freddie messing with Lonnie, Dizzy's non-stop excitement for the wedding, Mal eyeing everyone like a human security camera, Evie bossing Jane around (Uma doesn't pity Jane; she's just annoyed by Evie's endless talking), and - worst of all - Harry paying attention to CJ only. Uma had hoped two years on the seas would help Harry mellow out of his grudge. Judging by their previous "conversation" in the center of Auradon City, he hasn't.
So, Uma can only find solace in her own ship. Mal was kind enough to leave the treasure inside alone (although, some of the potions were confiscated, just in case). Two years of sailing, a dozen uncharted islands explored, and they come away with quite the loot. Five treasure chests, a few golden trinkets, and even some abandoned silverware.
"Quite the load we hauled, huh?"
Uma drew her sword and turned around quickly upon hearing the first word of that sentence, feeling quite jumpy today. It was just CJ, though. Should this be described as a fortunate or unfortunate moment, no one can tell. Uma kept her sword in her hand, just in case.
"Aren't you supposed to be having fun with Harry?" Uma said bitterly.
"Define fun?" CJ questioned.
"Oh, aren't you two just cute?" Uma said sarcastically.
"Ben says that, as far as brothers and sisters go, Harry and I are just like everyone else," said CJ.
"I bet he was too polite to mention that you two are too close for your own good," Uma criticized.
"Okay, so what if I'm intruding on the trademarked pinky-around-hook act? It's not like you're his girlfriend," said CJ.
Uma's hand shook as she tried to resist moving the tip of the sword close at CJ. But since her sword against CJ is what drove her and Harry apart, she controlled herself. She actually put her sword back in the scabbard. Besides, she still has her magic hair, should she need it.
"What do you want, CJ?" asked Uma.
"Believe it or not, you and my brother back to doing the pinky-around-hook act," CJ answered.
"You actually want me with your brother? You're rich," Uma dismissed.
"He wants you, Uma. He still wants you. Like a pirate to treasure, he can't resist you," said CJ.
"Really? Because he's done a great job ignoring me for the past two years," Uma said angrily.
"You're not the one who has to watch him across the room every night," said CJ. "Ignoring you, it makes him feel like his heart is sinking rock bottom."
"And you care?" Uma questioned.
"I love my brother, Uma," CJ said, feeling shocked herself that she can say the L word so easil now. "Of course, I care about how he feels. I don't like you, and you don't like me. I know we would rather try to slice each other's hands off than be as thick as thieves, but this is about Harry."
"Are you expecting me to buy this good girl ruse, CJ?" Uma questioned, unconvinced.
"Hey, I'm not buying it either," said CJ. "But I can't help it. You think I like seeing Harry miserable?"
"So, what? You should be talking to him, not me," said Uma.
"I know, but you're the one who's truly in the way of your own happiness," said CJ. "You don't have to like me, CJ. You can hate me forever, but Harry and I, we've accepted each other as family."
"Accept. Accept! Accept?! That's all everyone keeps telling me. To accept that Harry is not all mine anymore!" Uma shouted.
"Wow, there's that famous Uma anger," said CJ. "You want Harry. Harry wants you. But he won't accept you back because he's afraid you'll blind him again."
"Obsession," Uma deduced. "You're both insane."
"Yeah, we are," CJ admitted unapologetically. "I'll talk to him about talking to you. But you gotta ask yourself, are you willing to share him?"
"Wrong choice of words," Uma replied.
"You get the point," said CJ. "Love is in the air, as all that goes. You might as well get on the boat and breathe in the pink hearts floating around us, or you'll just be watching that boat take off without you."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ ROTTEN TO THE CORE ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
CJ leaves The Lost Revenge and heads into the nearest forest to meet up with someone. Leaning against a tree is Freddie, now CJ's BFF. Sitting on a branch above Freddie is the future Queen of Auradon, Mal. Mal jumps down from the tree branch
"Did you get all that?" asked CJ.
"You were on speakerphone. Of course we heard all of it," said Freddie.
"I'm impressed," said Mal.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm such a good girl, yadda, yadda, yadda," CJ said dismissively. "I'm doing this for Harry, not for myself. Seeing him downer than a shipwreck in an underwater abyss, it makes me feel like a crab is pinching my heart."
"You care, and that's good," said Mal.
"Ugh, this sucks," CJ complained.
"It sucks because you haven't embraced the good side of you," said Mal. "But I don't expect you to, not that easily. Your love for Harry is enough."
"Well, so long as your offer stands," said CJ.
"What offer?" asked Freddie.
"CJ wants The Lost Pearl restored and for Skull Rock to be repurposed," Mal answered.
"No way I'm going back to the Isle after the wedding, but I know I shouldn't waste this opportunity," said CJ.
"Wow, you sure have gotten soft," Freddie teased.
"Well, I guess that's something we have in common," said CJ.
"So, you're not even denying it?" Freddie questioned.
"Make no mistake. I'm not gonna play nice with everyone just because," said CJ. "Our exile is over. All that's left now is to live life large."
"So, what are you planning to do now?" asked Freddie. "Neverland University?"
"Oh, hell no," said CJ.
"Well, you and the others are gonna have to start college soon," said Mal. "You want to learn to live life better, you're gonna have to pick one. Neverland, Corona, Agrabah, take your pick."
"I never even finished high school," CJ said, arms crossed. "Not that I need it."
"Ben and I can pull some strings to accelerate you to college level," said Mal. "But that's as far as we can do. Unless you want to go to college on the Isle, you're gonna have to learn."
"Is it too late to be evil again?" CJ joked.
Mal chuckled, shook her head, and said, "One year in college, CJ. Just one. It's not a waste of your time and life."
"How about you come to my college, CJ?" Freddie suggested. "We could be roommates and I can teach you a few things."
"What does Bayou De Orleans University offer?" asked CJ.
"Culinary arts and literary analysis are the best, trust me," said Freddie. "C'mon, CJ. We all know you can't handle college all by yourself. Mal told me about your little self-psychoanalysis, and it's clear your need the right company to stay sane. And since I'm the only one here besides Harry who treats you like an equal, it's for the best we look after each other."
"I feel insulted," Mal muttered.
"You and everyone treat her like a dog on a leash," Freddie pointed out.
"Okay, that's sorta true," Mal admitted.
CJ sighs and says, "Okay, Freddie, I'll consider it."
"You won't regret it," Freddie assured. "Sure, you'll have to suffer through everyone's smiles and good manners, but you'll learn to get used to it. I did, more or less. I mean, as Mal showed, you don't have to change yourself. You can embrace the good and the bad in you at the same time for the better."
CJ punches her friend on the shoulder and says, "I hate you, but you are my friend."
Mal smiles at the sight of the two friends just being nice to one another. Before, CJ treated Freddie like a minion instead of a real partner, bossing her around and instantly forgetting that they were supposed to be equals. But now, CJ is slowly learning how to be a real friend to Freddie. Maybe being college roommates will bring them closer together.
"Well, you two have fun discussing college. I got somewhere important to be," said Mal.
"The King's bedroom?" Freddie teased.
"Ha-ha, you're hilarious, Freddie," Mal said sarcastically.
Mal just vanishes so she doesn't have to hear more of Freddie's humor walking away.
When Mal used Eleanor's sacrifice to reset the world back to normal, she also transformed her mother back into a lizard and hid her somewhere no one but herself would even find her. That place is the "somewhere important" she needed to be at (even if dragging Ben back to his bedroom is tempting, she thought). Using an abundant amount of magic, she teleports herself to the beautiful flora-and-flora-rich wonderland known as Aphelothia. She remembered it as the place where she and Carlos spent their first summer break together as a couple, but now this is where she keeps her biggest secret.
As far as Mal's friends knows, Maleficent is being kept in Bargain Castle on the Isle of the Lost. That was, of course, false, considering where Mal is right now.
Making sure than no human or animal could see her, Mal lifts the magical barrier on the side of a grassy hill, revealing a secret cave entrance. Once she walked inside, she puts up the barrier again, not only keeping everyone out but also creating an illusion to make it appear that there is nothing there but grass. Just in case someone stumbles upon her secret barrier, she added a second secret entrance.
A secret cavern covered by a deception spell that can fool even x-ray technology, including Carlos' Micro-Surveillance Contacts. She teleports herself to the other side of the wall and slides down a rock slide to an underground cavern. Placed on top of a half-cut stalagmite, it's the glass prison of the lizard who was once the big bad Maleficent. An anti-magic barrier was placed around the prison, because she's about to do something that would warrant freaking out if the barrier wasn't there.
"Wakey, wakey, Mommy," Mal started.
Thanks to her unbelievably immensely powerful magic (caused by her previous "transformations"), she can bypass any anti-magic spell. She is able to magically lift the glass prison - which is inside the anti-magic barrier - off her mother. She then casts a transformation spell.
"Undo this deception, show me my victim's living reflection," she cited.
The spell transforms the lizard back into her normal form. That was yet another change Mal made when she undid the Wishing Well's magic. She made it so that she is the only one who can lift her mother's the lizard curse. It pained Mal that she couldn't allow love to undo it, but she couldn't talk to a lizard forever.
"Hi, Mom," Mal greeted.
The first thing Maleficent did is lunge for her daughter, only to get hurt by the anti-magic barrier.
"Sorry, but you can't get out, not unless I say so," said Mal.
"So, after all these years, you finally visit me," said Maleficent. "Two years, hasn't it?"
If there was one person who Mal wanted to keep all memories of the evil new world, it's her mother. All of her attempts to reconcile with her back in the new world, she didn't want her mom to forget them. It was the only way they can move forward.
"Two years too long," said Mal. "But I had to focus on my own life instead of you."
"And I thought you want us to be together like mother and daughter," Maleficent mocked.
"You remember what happened in the new world. You know why I'm having less faith in making my wishes between us come true," Mal snarled bitterly.
"Less faith? More like you've lost all of it," said Maleficent.
"I'm getting married, Mom," Mal informed. "And I would like for you to be there. Whether as a lizard or as yourself, that's to be decided."
"So, this is not just testing me to see if I can behave at your wedding. You're testing our chances," Maleficent guessed.
"We both have plenty of years left in us, Mom. Even if we can't be like true family now, there's always tomorrow and the next day and so on," said Mal.
"What have I told you about love?" Maleficent asked in the tone of a disappointed parent.
"That it makes us weak," Mal remembered. "But you're wrong, again. Love has done nothing but make me and everyone who feels it stronger. I mean, CJ accepted her love for her brother, and she is now on her way to truly redeeming herself. Uma and Harry, they both need each other's love to truly move forward and become more than just evil. And look at me! I'm marrying the man I love. All the good I've done, despite all the bad I did, I did it out of love. That's why I'm getting my happily ever after. I'm finally happy, Mom. That's what love can do for you."
Maleficent's lip quivers in anger, but she didn't say a word. She just refused to look at her daughter. All this talk about love is doing something to her chest, right where her "heart" is supposed to be. All previous talks about love, she's ignored. But Mal has expressed to an even deeper extent what love has done for her. Maleficent couldn't deny that she knows her daughter is truly happy. But that she is happy because she is a hero is what bothers the Mistress of Evil.
"You know, Mom, it's not just you. Even the other villains still refuse to change," said Mal. "Some have kids who are turning away from the side of evil, but they still choose not to follow. Just like you."
"Enough," Maleficent interrupted. "You... you have... you have clearly lost it, Mal."
"Why do I hear fear and uncertainty in your voice?" Mal asked, having noticed unusual emotion in her mother's voice.
"Fear? Uncertainty? Ha! As if!" Maleficent laughed.
"No, you're afraid. Afraid that you lost your daughter to the side of good. You're uncertain if you should follow me out of the darkness," Mal knew. "The fact that you're uncertain means that there is something in you, something that is telling you that your own daughter's goodness may be rubbing off on you."
"You will not stain my black heart with white light," Maleficent growled.
Mal not-so-gently slams her hand on the barrier, startling her mother. The purple-haired sorceress had that stoic expression on her face that could mean anything. Even Maleficent didn't know her daughter well enough to know what these almost-blank expressions could mean.
"All I want is to love you, Mom," Mal said, her voice cracking from all the emotion. "The way a daughter would love a mother. But I guess you're too in denial of your own emotions for us to get to that point."
"So, I'm going to the wedding as a lizard then?" Maleficent asked sarcastically.
"I have to admit, Mom, there was a time when I considered giving up," said Mal. "Redeeming you, it's like trying to teach Dude to be silent. But I've learned that giving up never yields anything. If I have to wait until I'm 50 or 60 for you to be ready to accept the concept of love, then so be it. I have a lot of good things in my life for me to be happy, but I still want my mom to be one of those good things."
Maleficent was about to shout. "Why you..."
Mal interrupts by transforming her mother back into a lizard and placing her back on top of the half-cut stalagmite. As she walks away, she traps her mother inside her glass prison again.
Confession #1: To be honest, my original plan was to leave Mal's relationship with her mother unfinished when this series ends. Sure, I had to explore the mother/daughter relationship in "A Whole New World" because it was about time I did, but I am honestly lost myself on where this plot point will go. I may have left hints here that Maleficent can still be redeemed, but I don't know myself on whether or not I can continue this. I have only one part left in this story (Part 7) and - SPOILER ALERT! - it's not about Mal and her mother. I just wanted to make myself clear in case anyone believes I was going somewhere with this chapter. I just couldn't ignore the cliffhanger I wrote in the previous story.
Confession #2: AGH! I completely forgot about Dude. Oh, I hate myself. I am in such a rush to finish this story (mostly because of my busy schedule) that I forgot about Carlos' adorable and talkative animal companion. *facepalm* But I'm gonna make up for it. We'll see Dude in one chapter before the wedding.