The darkness greeted her as she gasped for air, unsure of how she had gotten there or even where she was. The last thing she remembered was Ben guiding her to her room after their return from their date.

Then nothing after.

Her head throbbed, and she pulled her hand to her forehead to feel the sticky flakey mess of blood. She had been hit hard with something and it made the dim colors of the room spin. She knew she was on the ground somewhere, the thick gravel pointed and glass like beneath her. She knew there was no point in calling out.

From what she could tell and feel she was trapped in the dungeons, the magical barrier holding strong, the iron making everything worse. She was so deep in the bowels of the castle that she doubted even screaming would help.

A sound came in the darkness, beyond the bars and Mal turned to see who was there. She hoped it was Ben, but she expected the worst. Phillip Dormant, Ben's parents or anyone else from the council who hadn't liked her. Her mind flashed to King Arthur, her father, and then at once to her mother, Maleficent.

"Who's there?" She called out, trying to make herself sound braver, stronger than she felt. She sat up and turned toward the iron bars, trying to look and feel vicious.

She could see someone in the darkness, behind the iron bars, someone that made a shiver run up her spine, even as she tried to be vicious. The person opened the cell door and reached Mal, leaning down in front of her.

Before Mal was herself, staring back at her.

Magic permeated the air, even through the magic barrier. Someone was parading around as her and doing a pretty good job by the looks of the her before her.

"Who are you?" She asked, staring herself down as the other her smiled at her wickedly, then overpowered her to the floor before she even realized she had moved.

Whoever it was pretending to be her had studied her well, using the same take down she favored and wrenching her arm behind her back in an angle that if pushed any further would dislocate her shoulder. She tried not to scream out in pain, even though it did hurt. She didn't want to show any weakness, or any fear to whoever was pretending to be her.

She felt Ben's ring being slipped from her finger and she tried to ball her fist to keep it there, but the other her was too powerful and tweaked her fingers back forcefully, slipping the ring off. Somehow, she knew that they would be after the pendant next and she huddled into the floor until she could figure out how to overpower whoever was pretending to be her.

Overpowering the other her seemed impossible. "Get up!" Her own voice screamed at her and she would swear it was only a dream, if not for the pain that seared through her skin and to her bones. "Give it to me!" She demanded and Mal forced herself to look back at herself.

Then she saw the magic beginning to melt away and reveal the imposter for who they really were.

"You!" She shouted, jumping up and trying to lunge for the imposter that was half her and half someone else.

The other her was still faster and shoved her into the far wall, making her see stars in the darkness and pulling her from consciousness again.

"Something's up with Mal," Evie whispered to him as she leaned between him and Carlos to reach for more croissants from the post council brunch buffet line. Her voice was just low enough that he was sure no one else had heard her.

"I know," He answered as she cut him in line and they continued to talk barely loud enough for anyone else to hear. "She keeps calling me 'your highness' or 'King Ben' and it's starting to creep me out. No cutesy nicknames or anything," He explained, scooping some scrambled eggs onto his plate.

"I don't sense any magic or deception about her though," Evie answered and Ben could see her shift her gaze over to Mal. "Did you do anything to piss her off?" She asked, looking to Ben again.

"Not that I know of," Ben answered, looking up to her and then back to Evie. "She was happy and herself when I left her last night," He explained. "This morning I don't know," He decided.

"What are you thinking?" Evie asked, grabbing a few scoops of the berry medley and putting them on her plate too, even though he knew she already had a plate next to Mal and Carlos at their table.

"Honestly, I don't know what to think," Ben answered, scooping heaping piles of the berry medley onto the plate he was planning on sharing with Mal. "Could she be playing a cruel joke?" He asked.

Evie laughed darkly. "That's not her joking style," She explained. "Her idea of a joke is pain and punishment, not torturing me with the disgusting pink sash with the forest green dress."

"So we're agreed that can't be Mal," Ben answered with a little smile toward Mal as she waved to him daintily.

"Not unless she suffered a traumatic brain injury," Evie answered, her face a straight line. "But until we know for sure, don't do anything to raise alarm. I'll think of something," She told him before she darted off to the table where the others were sitting and Ben followed her reluctantly.

At the table, he took the seat next to her and set the plate between them, watching the Mal beside him carefully for any signs of anything out of place as he picked at his food.

The Mal next to him seemed too dainty, too feminine, too timid. She sat back from the rest of them seated at the table, all animatedly talking about tourney and the council itself and stealing things off of each other's plates, and sometimes even getting hit for it. She even kept her distance from Ben and the plate of food he had placed between them.

He knew it wasn't Mal, but he couldn't help being concerned. "Are you ok?" He asked her, and as her green eyes with the little gold flecks looked back at him, he felt himself still feeling those strong feelings for her. "Is there anything I can do?" He asked as he leaned closer to cuddle her and she moved away almost as if it were a reflex.

Jay let out a laugh. "Looks like someone's in the doghouse Ben!" He exclaimed, then he barked at him loudly. "What's wrong Queen of Darkness? Not enough strawberries on the plate?" He asked, his mouth full of what Ben could only guess was pancakes.

"I'm actually allergic," Mal admitted and everyone at the table stared. She stumbled over her next few words. "I mean, um, they just don't look appetizing," She added, her eyes scared.

The strawberries looked perfect, not a trace of any discoloration. They had been picked at the peak of freshness and there were no issues with them. Ben felt all eyes at the table on him, waiting for some kind of response from him. It was only the six of them at the table, but he knew how fast rumors traveled, especially during the council of the seven kingdoms.

He pulled her to him, placing his lips into her hair for no one else but the press. "I know you're not Mal," he whispered to her, whoever she was.

She struggled against him, but he held her tight to him, and she was unable to escape.

"But I need you to at least pretend better than this," If she, whoever she was, continued to pretend to be such a different Mal, there would be problems.

She still tried to struggle against him.

"My name is Benjamin Florian Adamson, King of Auradon and the seven kingdoms and I command you are not allowed to leave my side until I find the real Mal," He said, his voice low and forceful. "Do you understand me?" He asked.

She nodded slowly, forcing a smile onto her face and he released her, turning back to the others and continuing to pick at the food on the plate between them.

After that, fake Mal seemed to be better and things almost seemed normal. Though she still wouldn't touch the strawberries.

Fucking faeries and their fucking loopholes.

Ben didn't get another moment truly alone with fake Mal until everyone else had gone to bed. The rest of the day after the council had been spent preparing for the Summer Solstice festivities the next day.

Setting up the Maypole and preparing the tables and chairs and chopping bonfire wood hadn't been part of his responsibilities, but he joined the castle staff in the preparations anyway. It had been a chance to watch the imposter from afar and send Jay and Carlos to try and find the real Mal, wherever she was, since he had to keep up appearances.

If anyone could find the missing jewel in his crown, so to speak, it was a thief and where Jay went, Carlos followed.

Before they went to bed, Jay and Carlos had reported that they hadn't found any sign of her, the real her at least and Ben had to say he was at least a little disappointed.

He led her to Mal's room and shut the door behind them and locked it. "Maleficent!" He practically growled, pulling the other Mal with him toward the cage on the windowsill.

He could hear Maleficent laugh from the cage. "The pup summons me?" She asked in mock shock as she moved toward the plastic, showing off her purple belly and standing on her back legs.

"I know you are somehow involved with this," Ben answered, "Tell me where the real Mal is and I will be merciful," He spoke, though he had no plans to be merciful. He had ninety-nine problems and Maleficent was the cause of all of them.

Maleficent laughed again. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about," She said, "Isn't she right behind you?" She asked, her eyes moving toward the Mal behind him. He turned to look, unsure if the other Mal was still there. "Are you sure that's not the real Mal, pup?" She asked. "She looks like the real Mal to me."

Ben looked at the Mal before him, definitely not the Mal he was used to. She held herself differently, her shoulders hunched, her eyes full of fear as she looked around the room, even the way her clothes fit somehow different. She was not the real Mal.

Then she began to hum and Ben stared, and found himself stumbling to his knees before her, unable to detect any magic.

"That is the real Mal," Maleficent's voice came from behind him and he crawled toward Mal, her beauty stunning him into submission.

She was the most beautiful girl in the world and all of the seven kingdoms.

Mal's eyes shot open as she heard the familiar tune from her childhood as if it were right next to her. She stood and ran for the bars, the only thing standing between her and freedom.

She knew yelling wouldn't solve anything, since no one could most likely hear her, but she knew she had to try something. She knew exactly what her mother was up to with the familiar melody from her childhood and she knew exactly how it had affected Ben before.

"Ben!" She shouted, shaking the bars as much as she could. "Ben!" She repeated louder, the iron biting into her skin but she continued to shake them, though they refused to give.

She didn't know how long she had been trapped, or even what time of day it was, but she knew she had to escape.

If she had magic-

No!

She grew up on the island, without magic for sixteen years. She had learned how to fight and pick locks and steal things and scare people all without magic. She had learned how to be evil from the Queen of Evil herself without a speck of magic.

If she could do that, she could escape from a cell without magic. She could save Ben before it was too late. She just hoped she wasn't too late already.

The melody in her head only got louder as she tried to think of how she could escape with only the clothes on her back. She figured that was her mother's way to torture her, show her how evil she really could be. Mal hated her for that.

She wanted to prove to her that she could overcome her evilness.

She had to protect the kingdom from her mother any way she could.