flight
Written for Spooktober 2021, Prompt: Ravens/Crows. Basically just an AU version of Mistress of Evil. Comments and kudos would be awesome. Enjoy!
'Well, this certainly could have gone better,' Diaval thinks to himself as the chaos unfolds all around them in the darkness of the castle hall.
The soldiers of Ulstead are approaching now, having shaken off Maleficent's initial attacks and gathered their wits and their weapons. If they don't take their leave of this place soon, he doubts they will be allowed to leave at all, at least not without a fight.
But, Aurora seems less than inclined to join their escape.
She and the others are knelt around the fallen king. Amidst their attempts to wake the man, amidst the pleas for Maleficent to undo this new curse, there is a firm shout of, "Aurora!" It is a demand, not a request, but the girl only looks at her Godmother with accusatory eyes, and Diaval knows she will not be joining them in their return to the Moors, not now.
Furious at this presumed betrayal, Maleficent spreads her wings and lifts off without a word. She transforms him back to his true form just before she soars forward, crashing (a bit dramatically, in his opinion) and out through a window.
He cannot blame her, though. The things Queen Ingrith had said were cruel, the taunts and jabs and slights, the thinly veiled accusations and outright lies – all of it meant to offend, to provoke. Frankly, Maleficent held out far longer than he expected before retaliating. He probably would have cursed the Queen rather than the King, but whatever curse she'd laid upon the man will surely teach them some sort valuable lesson, right?
He can see Maleficent flying ahead of him, already well clear of the Ulster boundaries and back over the Moors.
But that's when it hits him, some small projectile launched with immense speed and startling precision. It stuns him, sends him spiraling out of control and then plummeting down down down. His wing crunches when he tries to stabilize himself and he hits the ground with a hard thud.
Everything goes black.
He wakes, some immeasurable amount of time later, in a dark stone room – beyond that he knows not where he is. He knows only that he is trapped, confined to a too small metal cage. He tries to flap his wings, but the left one does not move, only sends a sharp stab of pain through his body. The feathers there are all a mess, dried blood marks one circular spot where the bone pokes through.
Yet, somehow, that is not the most alarming thing about his present situation.
All around him are various creatures, caged in glass jars of varying sizes. Some flit around their prisons, desperate for an escape. Others are still, either resigned to their captivity or no longer able to move.
Faeries. The missing faeries. They're here. They really had been taken by the kingdom.
But… why?
He looks around the room, takes in the objects cluttered about – he doesn't quite know what all he's looking at, but some of it is familiar. He knows iron when he sees it, at least, and he suddenly realizes just what it was that knocked him out of the air. A little iron ball. He's sure it had not been meant for him. Despite the pain in his wing, he's glad he took the hit instead of his Mistress. The weapons around the room he's seen before, too; they're not unlike the ones King Stefan had used. A spinning wheel is curiously stowed in an adjacent room and there's something about it that makes Diaval very uncomfortable with its presence here. It's the spinning wheel, he thinks, the one Maleficent cursed all those years ago. Now, he knows just what happened to the King – and that Maleficent had not been involved at all. And while that is all truly alarming, there is something of even greater concern here. There is a bowl on the table that contains a few specks of some substances that emits a soft orange glow. He knows Tomb Bloom when he sees it, knows what it can do to the Moor-folk.
He doesn't know how long he's there, locked up and suffering with no food, no water, no aid, no answers, but he's sure it must be at least a few days. He is unconscious more than he is aware, but unfortunately he is awake enough to watch as some de-winged pixie tortures his fairy captives with iron, with the Tomb Bloom, with whatever he can, unable to do anything to stop it. He watches the Queen pay the traitorous creature a visit. She enjoys a demonstration of the sacred flowers destructive power, especially when mixed with the iron. A war is coming, she tells the pixie, and it is coming soon.
"And you," she says, zeroing in on him in his prison, incapable of defending himself. She prods at him with some tool, jabs at his ruined wing with unbridled glee. "You foul creature. When this is done, I will be sure to feed you to my cat."
Diaval makes a valiant effort to peck at her hands, but they are just out of range and his attempts only serve to make her laugh.
Someone is coming.
Not the pixie, he's already here, corralling some of the unruly faeries that are still inclined to make attempts at escape. Not the Queen, either. She'd been here earlier, boasting of the amount of ammunition they'd managed to gather from the Moors. She'd been sure to taunt him with news of the wedding, too, told him of her plans for the daughter she'd always wanted. She'd taken her leave of him to prepare for the celebrations – all the creatures of the Moors would be in attendance, after all, and she had to make sure they'd be shown a proper greeting.
Now, though, now, it is someone else creeping slowly down the stone stairs.
Aurora!
He lets out a weak caw, all that he can manage in his present state. Luckily, she hears him, recognizes him immediately. "Diaval!" she cries out. Despite the disgruntled protestations of Ingrith's pixie henchman, she rushes to the cage, fumbling desperately with the latch until it finally comes undone with a click.
She reaches in, holds out a hand for him to hop onto but even that is beyond his abilities right now. She seems to realize this, carefully lifts him out and into her arms where she cradles him gently. "My, what have they done to you down here? I never should have brought either of you to this place. It's all my fault," she says. He can see the tears welling in her eyes.
He pecks at her hand lightly. It is not her fault. It is only Ingrith's.
"I wish I could help you," Aurora tells him, looking over his damaged wing. She eases her fingers along the broken bone and, much to her surprise (his, as well), something happens. The bone slowly starts to shift, moving back into place as the wound closes over it, as the feathers straighten out. Within a moment, it is as good as new. He gives his wing an experimental flap and it moves smoothly again. He blinks his raven eyes up at her in stunned confusion. "Um. I… I don't know how that happened."
He flies in a graceful circle before settling before her again, at which point he offers a very confused 'caw' and cocks his head at her.
"Magic, obviously," the grumpy pixie grumbles.
"I'm a human," she explains, "I can't do magic!"
He gestures to Diaval, "Sure looks like you can, girl."
Aurora seems to consider this news. Tentatively, she waves a hand over Diaval, the way Maleficent does when she shifts his form. Nothing happens and she frowns down at him. "I was really hoping that would shift you to your human form," she explains, clearly on the edge of pure panic. "I know you much prefer to be a raven, but I could really use your help right about now."
Understandable. This would be a lot easier to work out if he were currently capable of speech. But he'd felt something when she'd tried. He nudges her hand as if to say 'again'. So, she does.
This time, it works. It's not quite as smooth an experience as usual, but he gets there. Aurora promptly pulls him into a relieved hug. "I'm glad you're okay, Diaval," she says, "But something is very wrong here."
"More than you know," he agrees.
She'd already found the tomb bloom flower. But, now, she finds the faeries. She finds the spinning wheel. She finds an ally in the jaded pixie, who promptly spills all of Ingrith's secrets and releases his captives.
Then, she finds her way back up the stairway with Diaval at her side. She finds Prince Philip, who believes her without question when she swears to him that it was not Maleficent who cursed his father but his mother, instead. She tells him of Ingrith's plans to destroy all the Moor-folk in order to gain control of the resources there. She tells him she can do magic, which she demonstrates (with Diaval's permission) by shifting him into a dragon. Together, the three of them find and free the captives in the church before the Tomb Bloom can claim any victims.
By then, though, the battle is already starting.
The bright sky outside fills with red smoke as Ulstead's soldiers begin their assault. However, this fight will not be so easily won. A stunning amount of winged creatures approach the castle, much to everyone's surprise. Maleficent is among them, leading them.
"They're like her," Aurora realizes with a wide grin of delight that her Godmother is not the only one of her kind after all. Diaval, too, is awed by the sight.
Still, there is no time. There is a war to stop.
Leaving Philip on the ground to attempt to persuade the Ulstead soldiers to stand down, Diaval flies Aurora to the top of the tower, where they find both Maleficent and Ingrith prepared to strike. Both parties seemed stunned by their arrival, but Aurora steps between the two before any questions can be asked. She calls out to Maleficent, calls her her mother in a desperate attempt to keep the rage from consuming the being they both love. She begs for Maleficent to stop this, begs for peace instead of war. It seems to be working until the arrow fires, too fast for Diaval to interfere. Maleficent, though, is swift enough. She takes the hit instead, and promptly dissolves away into nothing as the Tomb Bloom dust takes effect.
"No!" Aurora cries out, drops to her knees, sobbing in the ashes of her Godmother, shedding so very many tears. Diaval would weep, as well, if he could. But in dragon form, it's all he can do to nuzzle against Aurora's side, just as heartbroken as she is.
Ingrith announces her victory to the masses below, but it is perhaps premature. Diaval is the first to see it, the warm golden glow, swirling fire and smoke. Quietly, as Ingrith is still focused on gloating, he urges Aurora to see as well and slowly something begins to take shape. It grows and grows until it's nearly too big for the tower to take. Another dragon? No. Something else. Something else entirely.
A phoenix.
Risen from the ashes.
After that, things move quickly.
A curse is broken and a King awakens, eager for peace to come to their kingdoms. A Queen is punished, though not nearly to the degree she perhaps deserves. There are reunions. There are alliances. There are apologies. Mysteries are solved. The Fey Elders explain Aurora's magic – that, as Maleficent's claimed daughter, she, too now has the blood of the phoenix. Her children will truly unite the kingdoms, half-Fey, half-human.
There is a wedding.
After some quick preparations, Maleficent walks her daughter down the aisle. When she is happily in Philip's arms, Maleficent moves to stand at Diaval's side as the ceremony begins. Together, they watch Aurora marry the man she loves, who loves her with everything he has.
"I searched for you," she tells him, the words whispered in a moment of quiet. "I missed you."
He glances at her, at the smile on her face at the sight of her daughter – their daughter – happy and content. "Did you bump your head, then?" he teases, with a smile of his own. Much to his surprise, though, she catches hold of his hand and doesn't let go.
Maybe this time, he thinks, everyone gets a Happily Ever After.