"Lydia doesn't need to find us," Maleficent said. "She knows the spell, if she's been looking through Katherine's eyes or whatever. But," Maleficent continued, catching her own oversight, "she needs the potion, doesn't she?"
"What's in the potion? Could she replicate it?" Aurora asked, picking up the vial Maleficent had dropped in the grass when Katherine had screamed. Maleficent shook her head.
"Not easily. Katherine and I spent quite a while assembling the ingredients and brewing it. Plus, some of the ingredients only grow in the Moors. We used mint, bilberry, something called vampire's eye, something called m - "
"Maleficent!" Diaval's eyes widened. Suddenly, the vial in Aurora's hands looked distinctly evil. Diaval could have sworn he had seen a swirl of dark green create a grinning skull shape in the liquid before vanishing. "Vampire's eye is deadly. Aurora, put down the vial."
Aurora did as she was told. Holding the vial wouldn't actually harm her, but it made Diaval feel better if she wasn't touching it.
"It is?" Maleficent said, looking shocked. "Katherine said it would prevent damage to nerves - "
"No," Diaval shook his head. He had once had a very bad experience with the plant vampire's eye. Before he and Maleficent had met, an unsuspecting couple of birds in his flock had feasted on a bush of the berries. They hadn't even had the chance to take back to the air before they were on the ground, convulsing. In minutes, they were dead. Of course, Diaval hadn't realized it was vampire's eye then. But later, when he was with Maleficent, he saw the plant again and asked Maleficent what it was. She explained that it was vampire's eye, and had been accidentally transported to the Moors by foreign faeries long before. They were red with a black dot, and resembled a vampire's eye, hence the name. Most of the poisonous plants in the Moors were destroyed, but some managed to slip the notice of the faeries. When eaten, they caused vomiting and fever, followed by violent seizures as the poison raced through the veins, destroying them. Very few even lived long enough for the poison to reach their hearts.
After her lecture, Maleficent burned the berries to ashes.
Diaval repeated the information Maleficent had shared years before. Maleficent's eyes widened. "If I drank the potion, I would have died," Maleficent said quietly. "Lydia wants me dead."
Aurora let out a small gasp and hugged Maleficent tightly. Robin shook his head sadly. "That's horrible. Wait, does the spell actually work? Or was this just an extensive plan to murder you?"
"I don't know if the spell works. Katherine and I didn't try it out, but Katherine said she was positive it would work. I think it does," Maleficent said from inside Aurora's embrace. "Lydia would then get a spell to turn back time herself, and I would be dead."
"Well, you wouldn't be dead for long, if she wants to turn back time," Diaval reasoned.
"She's beyond rational thought," Robin said sadly. Diaval hadn't really thought about it until then, but he realized this was hard for Robin, as well as Maleficent. Robin had watched Lydia grow up, seemingly a harmless girl. And now she was reduced to a madness to rival King Stefan's….
"She knows the spell, and she doesn't need the potion, like I thought," Maleficent said, standing up. "She could do it right now. We'll all end up where we were before Stefan and I fell in love, we'll forget she's gone mad and we won't know what she's doing. She'll win Stefan, and she'll kill me…. And I'll never save Diaval… And Aurora won't ever be born."
Aurora's hands were over her mouth. Then she removed them and asked, "What can we do?"
"Nothing," Maleficent said. Her wings sunk in despair, the longest feathers splayed against the ground. "We can't fight back - "
"We can."
Diaval jumped. Katherine had awoken.
"Maleficent put you asleep. You weren't supposed to wake up until she willed it," Robin said, raising an eyebrow at Katherine as she sat up.
"A small part of Maleficent needs to be subconsciously concentrating on keeping the target of her spell asleep. But with this new, emotionally-disturbing information, she lost the little control she needed," Katherine explained. "But that's not what we need to be discussing. What we need to be discussing is that I know how we can keep someone immune to Lydia's spell."
"There's a way?" Aurora said, hopeful.
"How much did you hear, and how do we know Lydia still isn't controlling you?" Diaval asked, glaring at the sorceress. She flinched.
"I'm so sorry, I tried to fight her, but I couldn't," Katherine murmured. "I don't even know how she really did that…. But I assure you, I'm in my right mind now. I woke up when Maleficent was talking about Lydia winning Stefan. Did you find out about the vampire's - "
"Yes," Diaval said. "But can we really trust you?"
"Have you got any other choice?"
Diaval was silent. He felt a pang of annoyance at being outsmarted or whatever that was by that little girl. Well, she was technically a full-grown woman, but that wasn't any comfort.
"The Healing Azar," Katherine said. "It's the answer. I think... if we put the burning flower in a cup of water and have someone drink it, they'll be able to keep their memories."
"How does that work?" Diaval asked.
"Not time to explain, but it's how I retained my memories when I did the first time spell on myself," said Katherine, standing up.
"You said you drank a potion - "
"Healing Azar was a part of the potion. From Lydia's mysteriously collected stores, I stole Healing Azar petals and put them in the potion. It was the main ingredient. I don't have time to recreate the potion, but hopefully this will be enough."
"Is it safe to drink a fire water concoction?" Maleficent asked. Katherine shrugged.
"Sure it is."
"It won't do me or Diaval any good. We weren't even born when Maleficent and Stefan were together," Aurora said.
"Will Lydia also be protected against the spell?" Maleficent asked. Katherine nodded.
"Yes. She may not be the most experienced potion brewer, but she knows about the Healing Azar. She'll conjure something."
Maleficent shook her head. "What are we supposed to do once we're transported back in time?"
Pacing, Katherine said, "I don't know. But we need to make that 'fire water concoction.' Maleficent, dig up the Healing Azar. Robin, Aurora, Diaval, get me three medium sized rocks."
Maleficent, Robin, Aurora, and Diaval obeyed, Diaval quietly admiring the normally timid girl's ability to take charge in a crisis. The transformation was stunning, a mouse turning into a wolf. Well, some other big, impressive animal - Diaval didn't like wolves.
They brought the sorceress her rocks, and she transformed them into two cups and a bowl. Aurora took the stone bowl and went down to a pond to get water as Maleficent finished uprooting the Healing Azar. The petals swayed softly in the twilight breeze, and Diaval remembered how beautiful it had looked when it was on fire. The flaming petals licking at the air around it, dancing to an unheard tune….
"How will you come back?" Diaval asked. "You will be coming back to this period in time, right?"
Maleficent gave Katherine a sharp look, and the sorceress bowed her head. "I do not know if it will be possible to come back…. We might just have to live the years between the day Lydia will send us back to and now again. I will try to come up with something quicker, but…."
"You have to," Maleficent said forcefully. "If we defeat Lydia's plans, and I don't know how we're going to do that, then we need to come back. We can't let the past be changed too much, I need to get back to Diaval and Aurora. I can't relieve all those years. What if I mess something up and don't meet Aurora or Diaval?"
"We'll find something," Katherine said in a tense voice.
Aurora appeared, carrying the water. Katherine used a spell to light the Healing Azar on fire, and she set it in the bowl. The light of the flower reflected in Maleficent's wide eyes. "Wow," she said. Diaval smiled at her wonder.
"What do you think Lydia is doing to protect herself?" Robin asked, flying around the bowl as the flames filled the bowl. They didn't flare up - the surface of the liquid was as smooth as glass, with the fire stretching to the sides of the bowl and sinking to the bottom.
Katherine shrugged, watching the "potion's" process. "Perhaps she has Healing Azar petals of her own. Maybe she found something else."
"Why hasn't she cast the spell yet? It's been a while since we completed it," Maleficent observed, looking up at the sky. The sun, just lingering over the hills in the west, bid good-night to the stars as they began to take its place.
"I don't know." Katherine sighed. "I'm getting tired of saying that. But she's probably just wrapping up her own methods of retaining her memories." Diaval noticed that she was trembling. He didn't think that the coolness settling over the Moors had anything to do with that.
The group stood in silence, watching the Healing Azar in the bowl. Diaval tried to push away the dread and grief in his heart. He couldn't imagine what Maleficent would go through after Lydia cast the spell. Would she be able to defeat Lydia? Would Diaval and Maleficent ever meet? Diaval couldn't imagine his life without the faerie. She was his best friend. They raised a daughter.
"It's done," Katherine said suddenly. She reached down to the bowl.
"How do you know?" Diaval asked, curious. Another voice spoke at the same time his did.
"Well, what do we have here?"
Katherine shrieked and jumped away from the bowl. Diaval turned to face the newcomer. A woman stood a few yards away. She smirked, her blue eyes sparkling maliciously.
This had to be Lydia.
She didn't look how Diaval had imagined. Not that Diaval had given much thought to her, but he had subconsciously decided she had curly hair as black as his raven feathers. Her hair was actually a nice blonde, several shades darker than Aurora's, and up in a bun. A few wisps framed her thin face. She looked like Katherine, but older and with blue eyes instead of brown. And, of course, a sneer that Katherine was probably physically incapable of making.
Lydia walked confidently up to the group. Maleficent stepped a little in front of Katherine, and Diaval did the same to her and Aurora. Robin landed on Diaval's shoulder. His fingers were each the size of a needle, but Lydia still could make out the rude hand gesture he was making at her. It only seemed to amuse her. Typical sadistic sorceress.
"What do you want?" Maleficent asked bravely, her hands in fists. "You know the spell, why haven't you used it."
"You were discussing my methods of protecting myself," Lydia said. At least she was straight to the point and didn't mock them with how hurt she was at their less-than-warm greeting. "I have none. My potion maker seems to have… taken a leave of absence. So I'm here to borrow some of your concoction, which I am sure you will kindly donate."
As he prepared to fight to keep Lydia away from the potion, out of the corner of his eye, Diaval saw Maleficent grab the bowl. He opened his mouth to protest - she wasn't going to actually give it to Lydia, would she? Of course not…. And she didn't. She turned the bowl upside down and poured the water into the grass. Everyone stared at her. The grass at Maleficent's feet began to glow a soft gold.
If the situation had been any less dangerous, Diaval would have laughed at the look on Lydia's face. The cold, triumphant look on her face had melted away, leaving a very bewildered expression. Unfortunately, she recovered.
"Well, then, I'm afraid I will have to take different actions," Lydia declared, blinking away her surprise. "I had so hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but seeing as you just poured my other option in the grass….."
"Whatever you want, we won't give it to you," Maleficent said, tossing the bowl away. She reached out and took Katherine's hand. Lydia chuckled.
"What I require, Maleficent, is your life."
"You will never lay a hand on her," Diaval growled. Lydia grinned, her tongue poking between her teeth.
"There are too many loopholes in that declaration," she said. "I could possess any of you, and you could do the dirty deed yourself, I could curse her, or I could torment her so much she will fling herself off the cliff."
Aurora squeaked, and grabbed Maleficent's hand, as if that alone could protect her.
"Lydia, I'm sorry," Maleficent said, remorse clear in her voice and expression. "I'm sorry I - "
"Words. Meaningless, empty words," Lydia said, cocking her head to the side. "Is that all you have to offer me? Tsk, tsk. Show me you're sorry. Die for me."
Diaval's jaw tightened, and he almost lunged for the sorceress. Instead, he reached up and grabbed Robin out of the air as the small faerie made a beeline for the sorceress, swinging his tiny fists.
Lydia smiled. "Isn't it fair that you die? An eye for an eye, after all."
"An eye for an eye, what are you talking about?" Maleficent frowned. Diaval stiffened, realizing what Lydia was going to say.
"Maleficent, don't - ah!" Diaval yelped as Lydia brushed her hand to the side, and an invisible force slapped his cheek. Releasing Robin, he stumbled and pressed a hand to his face. That stung.
"Diaval, are you alright?" Aurora gasped. She took a step forward, then decided she better stay by Maleficent.
"How dare you," Maleficent hissed. Lydia smirked.
"Interrupting is rude," she said. "Now, answering your question - there is a saying, an eye - "
"Yes, yes, I know that saying and what it means. But what did you mean when you brought that up?"
"You killed Stefan," Lydia sneered. "I am to avenge him."
Diaval went cold. Slowly, he lowered his hand from his face. In the dim light from the glowing grass, he could see Maleficent's face become pale. Her chest began to rise and fall quickly. "What - what do you mean? I didn't kill Stefan, I wouldn't, he - he - he died when we were fighting, but I wasn't the one - I - "
"Of course you did," Lydia said. She waved her hands. "Tnareuderf Stefan's death."
Maleficent gasped, and, snatching her hands from Aurora and Katherine's, grabbed her head. She froze. Then she began to shake, and she looked up at Diaval. Tears filled her eyes.
"You didn't tell me I killed him," she whispered.
"No! Maleficent, you didn't, whatever memories that - that witch placed in your head are fake," Aurora said, touching Maleficent's shoulder. Maleficent flinched away.
"No! We were on a tower, and I grabbed Stefan, and we fell over the side of the tower, and then I dropped him!" Maleficent cried. "It's real, I know it is! Did either of you see when it happened, can you tell me if it's fake?"
"You told - " Diaval stopped. He hadn't actually witnessed King Stefan's death. But Maleficent had told him what had happened. He knew she hadn't lied. But Maleficent wouldn't believe take the word of a non-witness.
"Maleficent, it's fake. Lydia can't bring back your memories - "
"Ah!" Lydia help up a finger. "But I can. Tell me, my old friend, have you been sleeping well recently?"
"You're the reason I've had those nightmares," Maleficent's eyes widening with realization. A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Yes. I can bring back your memories…. Good… Bad…" Lydia's lips lifted at the corners, and she mumbled under her breath. Pleased, she watched as Maleficent gave another cry, and stumbled back.
"Maleficent - " Diaval approached the faerie, but she jumped away from him.
"Don't touch me!" she shouted, her hands over her eyes. "Don't - "
"Stop it!" Aurora turned to Lydia. "Stop it, please!"
"They're her memories, I can't change that," Lydia shrugged. "I'm doing her a favor. I'm doing you a favor. I thought you wanted your godmother back?"
"She never left! Maleficent is my godmother, forever and always, and nothing will ever, ever change that," Aurora declared fiercely. Diaval felt prideful of his hatchling.
"Katherine, you've been awfully quiet," Lydia said, switching the subject. "Aren't you wondering how I brought back Maleficent's memories when even you couldn't think of a single way? And Mother always called you as the clever one…."
Katherine remained quiet, giving Lydia a reproachful glare. Lydia grinned, chuckling.
"Well, it was very easy. I just reversed the spell to remove memories, changing freduerant to tnareuderf. It was a bit of tongue twister, but fun to say. Tnareuderf cursing Aurora!" Lydia exclaimed. Maleficent gasped and called out Aurora's name. But when Aurora tried to calm her, Maleficent just stepped away, her breathing ragged and her eyes still shut tightly. Lydia cackled. "Tnare - "
"Stop!" Katherine yelled. "Lydia, please, stop this madness, please - "
Lydia flicked her fingers. Katherine went crashing into the base of the Rowan Tree and didn't move. Aurora tried to run to her, and Lydia levitated her off the ground. Robin was also frozen in the air.
"Hey!" Diaval barked, and he found that he too was being lifted off the ground. He struggled against the magic. Lydia started to laugh gleefully, and leaving Aurora, Diaval, and Robin trapped in her spell, began to walk toward the panicked Maleficent.
...
Holy wallerbogs, I made Lydia way more of a sadistic B-I-You-Know-What than I originally meant to. O.o
In cause I don't "see" you guys again before Thanksgiving, happy Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving celebrators! Look at the Cornucopia and be reminded of the Hunger Games. SPEAKING OF, MOCKINGJAY PART ONE COMES OUT TOMORROW! I WANNA SEE IT TOMORROW BUT I'M TOO BUSY. I MIGHT NOT SEE IT UNTIL AFTER THANKSGIVING. D:
Anyway, I'd really appreciate some reviews.
Constructive criticism and random jokes welcomed!
Thanks for reading!
Kitty