You know, after like, the 22nd time reading over this, I can't help but think of the Frozen scene when Elsa flees the ballroom and heads onto the fjord at the very start of this chapter.
And just because I feel like some characters might be a little ooc I will explain this; Mal is feeling (1). the pent up emotions of being considered the daughter of an evil fae while being Ben's girlfriend and (2.) the stress of realizing Maleficent cared about Aurora more than her own daughter with almost everyone important in Auradon watching.
In Descendants 2, we saw how she could react when dealing with only the first of those two things. Both of them combined mixed with not knowing how strong her Goddess and Dark Fae abilities are equals one thing.
Trouble!
And not much action in this chapter, Which should have been out a week ago, why did I never post it? but will be in the next!
master of death12345: Thank you!
pinkdog13: I can't wait to see Cruella. Audrey's gonna be somethin' during this next movie, that's for sure!
Kmrg2005: Yep! Just after this short break, they will begin Maleficent: Mistress of Evil!
DOAWOTA: XD We'll see~. I love how little faith people have in Audrey at this point.
hateme101: Sorry for the confusion! It was supposed to be the handles and doorframes just happened to melt as she was rushing by, due to her not paying attention to her abilities. Whether that was her inherited powers from Hades or Maleficent though is up to y'all's imagination!
WamAuthor: It would really depend. At this point in the game, it would be a bit harder to add many more characters(I barely have half of them speak as it is) and most of the people here aren't necessarily here to help, but more of to understand. In terms of helping Mal, it will mostly be those closest and already established characters(those from the movies/books). But I would be willing to consider. No guarantees though!
shortanamx: A lot. A lot has happened to Mal. XD Will she? Who knows~ Everything will become clear in time! Though who will own the Moors most likely won't be settled until the end of the second watching. As for Maleficent's love, also who knows~! I'm terrible, I know.
dragonslayerajahn: That is an interesting theory! Also, very possibly! You are the first person who has mentioned the idea of co-leading the Moors, which somewhat surprised me. Well, I was more surprised by how few people want Audrey to rule it. XD I do like Aurora and Philip a lot, and though they have a lot to answer for, I don't find any reason for them to lose anything either. Aurora definitely was on her Godmother's side up until the whole poisoning instance. These little interactions between Ben and Philip are very amusing. I don't think things like True Love's Kiss and magic was really a common belief in Philip's kingdom, except for his mother, of course. Or he just didn't think he cared all that much for his parents. Also, I'm fine with whatever light I see them in being destroyed. It would be very hard to do that! XD
miranda88: After 18 chapters, finally!
Urmimala Hazra: Finally let loose some much needed grievances with Maleficent and Hades, that's for sure!
AvatarUzumaki: Yeah, Aurora is gonna have a hard time explainin' that one. Hopefully this next chapter was worth the wait!
Marina Fuentes A: Oh my gosh, I love that. I never imagined the little comments like that but the idea of Hades getting jealous over that is awesome to think about. Mal is in a lot of trouble and Maleficent needs to get big very soon! I'm glad you've been liking the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Guests: Thank you all for reading! I appreciate it! How often do I update? I genuinely have no schedule. I try to make it more often, but honestly it always ends up being once to twice a month. Sorry for the long waits!
"Aren't you glad? Everyone knows the truth about your mother now."
Mal knew Ben was right. Everybody knew what she sorta knew in heart all along. Her mother wasn't totally evil.
Yet instead of a smile on her face like Ben, her frown stayed settled permanently on her features.
Her mother was now seemingly absolved of all her faults. Well, maybe not all, but one of her biggest crimes was clean-slated. And if she showed regret, maybe she could be forgiven like Uma, or Mal, or Hades.
So why wasn't Mal happy?
Her mother perched upon Aurora's shoulder where anyone could see her, not like it was very hard to in contrast to Aurora's blond curls. Instead of being a tiny, hand-sized lizard, Maleficent was roughly a bit larger than Pascal, Rapunzel's snarky little lizard friend that roamed around her castle. Mal had met that little urchin during her visits more than once and she detested every meeting with him.
A swirl of envy emanated from her core. Her mother was getting larger, if the past two hours were anything to go by. She was gaining love in her heart. And it wasn't because of Mal.
"Mal?"
She wasn't sure if that was Ben's first time calling her or not. He sounded so concerned and she could even see her father out of the corner of her eye watching her intently. Hadie down below hadn't seemed to find a need to take his line of vision from their balcony.
She needed out. She needed away from all of this idiocy. All of these pesky royals.
Turning on her heels, Mal raced from the overview ignoring Ben's calls. Her thoughts had been dark for the past few minutes but she paid no mind, despite the fact she would have never had thoughts so harsh against a lizard or any of the royals.
She wasn't good enough for Maleficent? She wasn't bad enough?
She would show them all.
Mal barreled through the balcony doors. She was not coming back. The voices behind her mingled indiscriminately, blending so that her distraught mind couldn't tell what they said.
Each step seemed to emanate a weighted energy that begged to drag her down to new lows. And yet she continued speeding down endless marble halls until she finally collided with fresh air. She found herself in what must have been the courtyard. Though it was Aurora's castle, of all people, so it could have been one of a dozen. She and Ben had travelled to Auroria before but had never stayed long enough to sightsee the castle, for obvious reasons.
With a watery sob she realized she had no idea where she was going and it didn't help that her vision had become obscured. Her heart felt shattered for reasons she couldn't even imagine.
Mind going a mile a minute, she started pacing. She focused on what had transpired so she didn't get herself any more confused than she already was.
Sure there were the slight compliments buried deep, deep within complaints of how she could do better, be better. She held on to those, kept them in the forefront of her mind. In those instances deep down she knew her mother cared. Otherwise she wouldn't have been so hard on her. That's just how life was on the Isle.
But who the heck was that in there? That Maleficent had been a free flowing girl, not the evil child her mother had described. The Maleficent in there had been capable of love, kindness, and joy. That woman had a sense of humor. Mal's mother's humor consisted of occasionally scaring the kids that tried to usurp Mal.
True Love's kiss.
Mal gasped, panged at the very thought.
Maleficent loved Aurora. Truly and unconditionally. She loved Aurora like a daughter, and broke her own wretched spell.
Never in all of Mal's life had her mother ever looked at her the way she did Aurora.
Consumed by frustration, she screamed.
Ben and Hades ran down the stairs. Another shockwave rippled throughout the building slightly quaking the floor. Auroria never got earthquakes, that was a given. And no creature in the Moors was powerful enough anymore to cause such a rumble in the kingdom. And the intensity that washed over everyone each time was...dark.
"What in...What is that?" Phoebus gritted as he straightened himself and his wife. Zephyr gripped his chair for dear life.
"It was magic," Jane shrugged.
"Nooooo, it was elephants going on a march," Chad retorted sarcastically but with no malice. His humorous grin proved that.
Ben glanced to Fairy Godmother. His parents were already looking to her for guidance but she seemed pale, almost clammed up. Something she never was, even when facing Maleficent.
"Fairy Godmother?"
She clutched her hands to her chest trying to look composed. "I haven't felt magic like that since..." She glanced warily to Aurora. Or more specifically, Ben realized, Maleficent. The lizard in question was still with Aurora.
"Mal."
It was so quiet, Ben barely heard it. To his right, Evie had her eyes wide from the gasped realization she had. "Mal," She whispered again, more urgently. She shot up and whirled around to Ben so fast he had to wonder how she didn't trip on the chair legs. "Where is she?"
"I...Uh..." Great, now he was the one gaping like a fish. Why couldn't Evie have asked Hades? Oh right, she didn't like him.
"You were with her!" Evie pressed. She quietly added, "That's her magic, I've known her long enough to tell." And apparently long enough to know that this magic wasn't normal, he thought.
"She ran out," Ben answered. The rest of the rooms occupants were focused on them. "She looked sick. Unwell. By the time we were to the door she was nowhere in the hall." At Evie's frown he grabbed her shoulders. "I'll find her. I thought she came here, but she has to be around somewhere."
The floor rumbled like a hungry beast. Ben could have sworn he saw glints of purple in it's cracks.
"What can we do?" Elsa and Anna stood nearby, more than ready enough to find out what was going on. And help Mal if need be. Ben supposed they'd had enough experiences with renegade magic to know more than him. And they weren't the only ones.
They split into groups. Once they figured out they were in Aurora and Philip's castle it was easy to know where to go. Most of the children and a few adults remained in the room while the castle owners led one of the small groups north, where Hades was adamant the shockwaves were coming from.
Aurora sighed. Philip noticed his wife was no longer following and placed a hand on her arm.
"What's wrong?"
She shook her head sullenly. "It's all my fault."
The rest of the group paused. Only a few had gone in the direction they had. Evie, Ben, Hades, Belle and Adam for starters. Diaval and Audrey lingered behind them but still kept within sight. And of course Godmother was on her shoulder.
Hades growled lowly with impatience. "What now?"
Philip glared at the Greek but said nothing for now. "It's all my fault she left, isn't it?"
"Why would it be your fault?" Evie asked.
She shook her head. Ever since finding out Mal was one of the kids to come to Auradon a small part of her wanted to meet the girl. After all, she always thought of Maleficent as her Godmother, which made way to her considering Mal as a sort of little sister. Though the Coronation had been a startling affair, she still wanted to reach out to the girl.
But after seeing how cold Maleficent had been for those few seconds before becoming frozen with that spell had left with a hesitance she couldn't shake. Even after seeing Mal at Ben's side for formal events, it never felt right.
And the idea of Audrey thinking Mal as an aunt was laughable at best when she found out how much her daughter detested the Fae child.
Another wave of magic prevented her from speaking. Before the purple energy even had the chance to subside Hades was running, the others following suit. It seemed they had chosen the closest path to where Mal had disappeared to.
Aurora only hoped she was okay.
Hades was not prepared for what he saw when he burst into the courtyard. The only thing on his mind was making sure his little girl was okay.
He was not expecting the wicked amount of purple mist and energy surrounding the entire vicinity. And were those hints of green flecks he saw flurrying around?
Evie was second behind him, no surprise there, and next the Auradonians. He heard Ex-Queen Belle gasp.
The air density seemed to double the moment they stepped out the threshold. Instead of the fresh warm breeze that they could only catch small whiffs of, a foul smell whipped in every odd direction it could, intermittent with hot and cold blasts. It became a struggle to catch a breath as a result. Even Hades, Maleficent saw, had his hand held out in front of him to not be pushed back inside.
And at the epicenter of the whirlpool of magic was a certain familiar figure hunched over.
Mal was out of control, she thought with a venomous flick of her tongue. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know just how powerful she could be. The only one who was to blame was her mother. Maleficent hissed violent strings of curses in her head.
"How is she doing this?" Evie called over rush of heat sending nearby shrubbery alight.
"I don't know, but we need to stop her!" She couldn't discern who the male voice belonged to, but she also didn't care.
Hades rushed forward without thinking. "Hades wait!" Evie cried.
Within seconds he was overwhelmed by a surge of magic that shot specifically towards him. After only a few second of pushing he was flown backwards and slid on his rear to the doorway.
He ignored Evie's snarky 'I-Told-You-So' look and pulled himself back to his feet. He'd gotten that plenty of times on the Isle and was used to it from her by now.
"Are you alright?" Belle asked. Huh, he hadn't expected concern from a royal, but okay.
"Fine," Hades nodded, turning back to his daughter. "Mal! You need to reign in your magic!"
Mal, Mal. Oh my sweet Mal.
No one had been able to calm Maleficent's rage when she enveloped the ruins in her blast of anger. For years it simmered and burned until a young blonde set her heart anew. Maleficent couldn't let that happen to her daughter.
Ben or Evie were the only people she could think of that would be able to set Mal's mind at ease. Unfortunately neither would be able to get past her sloppy, but dangerous defenses. Too dangerous for the part beast king and half sorceress.
And Mal just plain didn't like Hades.
So it was up to Maleficent. Except of course she was a 12 inch long lizard.
Begrudgingly she tuned herself back in to the unimportant people around her. King Beast Jr was shouting into the wind in an attempt to get Mal to listen to reason. Fat chance, kid.
But with her acute ears she could also hear something else in the distance. Something high pitched, and quite annoying. "And this is why you should have never let her send all the iron out of the kingdom! Now look at where we're at!"
"And just where are we, mother?" A males voice demanded bitterly.
The screeching voice responded. "With a repeat of what happened thirty something years ago! The spawn of that witch letting loose terror in our kingdom!" Oh how Maleficent tended to regret saving that old woman. At the time Leah, or as her family knew her, Leila, was a sweet queen untouched by her father's cruelty. And then somehow this old bat came to be.
"She is a little girl, Leah," That voice was most definitely Philip, back inside the castle. "She needs help."
"And she will get it," Leah agreed. "But first she needs to be taken down."
"And where are you going?"
"To have the guards dig out some iron crossbows," She paused. "Or bullets."
"You most certainly will not-!"
Maleficent couldn't hear too much of the rest as they walked further down the hall. She was too busy furiously hissing.
"What's wrong, Godmother?" Aurora asked her.
Ignoring her, Maleficent glanced towards Hades, who also had furious look of contempt written on his features. God and Fae hearing, goodness they could have been an unbeatable pair on the Isle.
One thing was for certain, she was not letting those fools harm her daughter. Maleficent leapt off her perch, miraculously landing unharmed. Lizard perks, she supposed. She immediately set to scurry under the winds torrents toward the center, Mal.
This proved more difficult than she imagined. For every forty or so steps forward, she was pushed back by almost half. Perks be damned, she wanted her body back.
"Need a hand?" She flailed as she was lifted. Hades, you toad, she cursed. "And just what were you hoping to accomplish, Mistress of Reptiles?"
She glowered, unable to respond. She truly was incapable of helping in this cursed form. But she had to persist.
"You know," Hades continued. "True love breaks any spell." Then why don't you go find Beast Jr. and put me down? Hades did not speak lizard or read Lizard minds. "If you remembered what it was like to love, then you could be of use." Oh, he was talking about her predicament.
Learn to love...how ridiculous. As much as he was right, she blocked those frivolous memories years ago when her heart was torn asunder. By that little rat that held her, at that. Nevertheless she couldn't stop her mind from picturing all the relationships she had.
Stefan made her blood boil so she had no need to think of him.
Diaval was the first friend she had in years. His constant wit and lack of fear had warmed her heart slightly. She relied on him more than she'd ever care to admit.
Aurora, the darling girl who thawed the ice that had consumed her. She never feared her and obviously she had grown to love her. But viewing be damned she couldn't remember how that felt.
Hades was nothing like Stefan, at first. He matched her in every way. And for a short time, they were a family.
And Mal...all she could remember was trying to get her to be just like her, truly evil. But wasn't there a time before that? Love for a daughter...
An image popped into mind, one that often made her sad. Her own mother and father, both with great wings of their own, placing their daughter to bed. The love and care in their eyes as they looked down at her.
Her mind copied that feeling and compared it to interactions with both Aurora and Mal when they were kids. The need to protect them with all that she was...
Just as she was finding those locked memories rushing back she found herself being moved. Her mind only barely acknowledged Hades words at the very last minute.
"Have a nice ride~."
Hades drew his arm back like a pitcher and chucked Maleficent like a baseball through the raging magic.
So tell me your ideas on how things are gonna go down! Mal feelin' a bit overwhelmed.
How do you think they'll get her to calm down?
How do you think Maleficent is gonna help? Will she regain form in time to help her daughter?
What could they possibly do to help her with her magic right now?
Who knew Hades had a pitchers swing? XD
I'd love to hear your ideas on how things might unfold. And who knows, you might see some in action. (No guarantee's, naturally. I do follow a sort of plot that tends to be upheld.)
But I would like to see how you guys would like this to go down. Because it can happen in many ways.