Chapter 17: Once Upon a Dream Pt. 2
Well, it was almost sunset when Aurora and I climbed back up the mountain, only this time, we avoided the path we were on earlier to avoid another attack from Maleficent's goons. For an extra precaution, I had Aurora hide her face away with her purple shawl, leaving only her eyes and nose visible. If we ended up bumping into Maleficent, the last thing I needed to happen was for Aurora to get caught before the prophecy was completed.
When we got to Maleficent's palace, we snuck past a snoozing guard, and tried out best to
"It's too quiet in here." Aurora whispered as we hid behind a large pillar.
"Yeah," I whispered skeptically. "I don't like it.
We snuck in deeper into the palace, hiding behind pillars and tapestries to avoid any guards that were on watch. This was riskier than I thought, but it was worth it to save the imps and get the book. We eventually managed to make it towards Maleficent's throne room, where Aurora and I knew it would be the hardest to hide away, especially since Maleficent spent most of her time sitting on her throne listening to reports from her goons.
"Man, she's hot."
I felt my eyes light up the moment I heard that voice. "That was Panic."
Aurora and I followed a direction where we heard Panic speaking, and it led us to a balcony overlooking the throne room. Where we found the imps: roped by the neck, hands and wings tied, with the goons making sure they wouldn't escape as they were being presented to Maleficent, herself. Sitting on her throne, with her pet raven perched on one of the throne's armrests.
"Found these two outside the castle, mistress." the captain said as he presented the imps to Maleficent.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I send you out to scare innocents, and lo, you catch changelings." Maleficent gave a sinister chuckle before giving an order. "Away with them."
"Yes, mistress." the goons obeyed and started dragging the imps away.
"But gently, my pets." Maleficent spoke to her goons once again. "And prepare the device. I have plans for these changelings."
The goons saluted their mistress and hauled the imps away through a door on the left side of the throne. As the imps were being hauled away, Maleficent sent another pair of goons away to prepare that device she had been talking about.
"What could she mean a device?" Aurora asked me.
"I dunno." I told her as I eyed those goons going off to the machine. "But we're gonna find out."
We followed the goons as they walked deeper into the palace's catacombs, and in one room in the deepest part of the palace, Aurora and I hid ourselves as we peeked at the device. At first, I thought it looked like some sort of medieval electric chair, but then I saw the tubes going into the wrist and ankle cuffs on it. The tubes led to an alchemy table to a potion bottle. What was Maleficent up to?
"How's it look?" one goon, one with a bird beak, asked another one in a cockney British accent.
"Like a torture device." a goon with a lizard snout replied in an annoyed way with the same accent.
"I dunno." the bird-faced one shrugged. "Maybe give it an' extra sanding to smooth it out so it'll look nice?"
"You moron, we'll burn it after we use it." the lizard-faced one said after smacking the other one upside the head. "Didn't ya 'ere 'er ladyship? After we find the princess and complete the prophecy, she's gonna drain the lifeforce of the changelings to give us the ability to change shape."
I covered Aurora's mouth the moment she gasped. That's why Maleficent needed the imps. She was going to drain them of their powers and give them to her goons, but why? What could she use their abilities for?
"So, when the changelings are dead, then we can attack the kingdom and then 'er ladyship can reclaim 'er rightful place in power and complete 'er vengeance." the lizard-faced goon practically answered my question when he finished speaking to the other goon.
"Right. I knew that." the bird-faced one said in a dumb sounding way. And with that, the sound of scraping feet against the cobblestone indicated that the goons had left the room.
"They're gonna kill the imps." I summed up the imps' fates as I stared at the device with scared eyes.
"There has to be something we could do to stop them." Aurora whispered.
I looked around to see if there was a weak spot on the device, but knowing Maleficent, she probably perfected it of any weaknesses. That is, until I spotted a mace and a Warhammer conveniently leaning against the wall where the goons weren't looking.
"You prefer a hammer or a mace?" I asked her.
Aurora started at me in shock. "I beg your pardon?"
I ignored that and handed her the Warhammer. "Just follow my lead."
I lifted the mace, which proved difficult because the thing felt like I was lifting a two-door microwave, but I toughed it out. I had the imps' safety to think about. So, I snuck into the room, and prepared to smash this torture device into pieces, when I found out that there was still a goon, the bird-faced one, left in the room. And we looked at each other in utter surprise.
"Oi, how'd you get in 'ere?" he asked me.
I readied my mace for a nice smack to his head, but instead, Aurora lost her balance trying to lift up her Warhammer, and the hammer part fell right onto the goon's head with a hard CLANG. Knocking him out cold for the time being.
"Nice shot." I gave an impressed laugh.
"Oh, Heavens." Aurora gasped at the unconscious goblin. "Did I kill him?"
"Nope, he's still breathing." I assured her, y'know to ease her conscience, before reading my mace at the device. "Come on, we better destroy the machine before any other goons show up."
Aurora nodded and swung the Warhammer at the chair, smashing it into splinters while I followed with my mace. When the deed was done, we tossed the weapons aside, and for an extra good measure, I took the potion bottle from the table and threw it against the wall, shattering it.
"Oi, what's goin' on down there?" the lizard-faced goon's voice called from upstairs.
"C'mon! Quickly!" I said as Aurora and I ran out of the room.
"Wait. What's that?" Aurora grabbed my hand and stopped me.
I looked over, and she saw something laying on a stone lectern in another open room. Before we could get a closer look, we heard more goons approaching to check up on the device. Aurora and I hid in the room, thankfully when the goons passed us, they didn't run into the room as well. We got lucky so far, but there was no wood to knock on to prevent any jinxes, so I had to watch what I said next. Aurora and I looked over at the lectern and saw that there was a thick brown book laid open.
When I approached the book slowly, I could see something very interesting on the pages the book was turned too. On one page, it had a drawing and description of Maleficent herself, but on the other page, it was a drawing and description of the evil queen Grimhilde, the main villainess of Snow White. I flipped Maleficent's page and saw a picture and description on the other two pages that showed the Blue Fairy from Pinocchioand the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. This meant only one thing:
"This is it." I told Aurora as I closed the book. "This is the book your aunts told me about."
"That seemed fairly easy to find." Aurora said as she took the book and hid it away in a pocket in her cloak.
"Yeah." I agreed skeptically as I looked around for spies. "A little too easy."
"Come, let us save your friends." Aurora told me as she grabbed my hand and led me out of the book chamber.
I nodded, and we went back up the stairs. While we miraculously managed to avoid any other run-in with Maleficent's goons, we did run into something. When we reached an empty hallway we passed through earlier, a swarm of black feathers flew in front of my face, blinding me for just a moment. Aurora gave a panicked scream as I threw a punch at the unseen foe. I hit something and heard it fall to the ground. Aurora and I looked and saw Maleficent's raven, Diablo, shaking his head in dizziness after getting punch. The bird gave us a mean look before giving us an angry squawk and flew away.
"Stupid bird." I grumbled.
"Are you alright?" Aurora asked me.
"Yeah. A little shaken up, but believe it or not, that wouldn't be the first time I was jumped by a bird." I assured her as we pressed on to save the imps.
I should've known seeing Diablo meant trouble the moment he flew in my face, but I didn't think much of it. I was wrong the moment Aurora and I went back up the stairs to try to free the imps, where we became cornered in the foyer of the palace, but not by the goons. Aurora and I were confronted by Maleficent, with a sly Diablo perched on her shoulder. That stupid raven led us right to her.
"I must say," Maleficent spoke surprisingly calm at us. "I'm quite impressed that you two managed to trespass into my lair."
"We came to save my friends." I told her.
"Friends?" she repeated with a chuckle. "Those creatures of Hell are your companions?"
"They're from the Grecian Underworld, not the Christian Hell." I corrected her before threatening her. "But if you hurt them-"
"You're threatening me?" Maleficent chuckled. "How quaint. Foolish, but quaint."
"Please, your excellency, release her friends." Aurora begged her. "They mean no harm."
"Oh, but they do." Maleficent went on to explain. "I've heard legends of Underworld creatures capable of shedding their skin to turn into deadly creatures or humans to trick others. That they nearly killed an infant immortal by turning into venomous snakes."
"Well, they never actually got the chance to bite him." I stated.
Aurora turned to me with a surprised expression. "You know that story?"
"Yeah, but-" I stopped myself when I realized that Maleficent's motives for the imps weren't that finished as those goons said it was. "Why are you interested in the imps?"
"With their power, I will be able to extract their essence into my own army." she explained. "Creating my own army of changelings."
"Why?" Aurora asked her.
"Because it's justice I want."
"All this because you weren't invited to a royal christening?" I asked Maleficent as I folded my arms.
"Oh, Heavens." Aurora gasped.
I looked at her with an arched brow. "Is it really that big of a deal?"
"Not being invited to a royal christening is the biggest dishonor anyone could give someone." Aurora explained to me. "I'd certainly be upset if I weren't invited, but I'd never get revenge."
"I wasn't uninvited. I wasn't wanted." Maleficent corrected with a growl. "But that's not my whole reasoning."
Aurora and I looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Maleficent. "It isn't?"
"No, you poor simple fools. The king betrayed me!" Maleficent yelled with venom in her voice when she was reminded of Stefan. "He had stolen what was rightfully mine all to become king!"
Aurora backed up slowly. "W-what did he steal?"
"Her wings." I answered in a soft gasp.
Aurora looked at me in surprise and Maleficent started at me in shock. The latter especially because I knew why she hated King Stefan so much despite never encountering me before. That's why she wanted her army of changelings, she wanted revenge for Stefan cutting off her wings and betraying her trust almost sixteen years ago.
"She and Stefan, they were in love once, but he betrayed her." I explained to Aurora what happened when her father became king. "One night while she was asleep, he took away her wings: Something very precious to her. All so he could become king."
"And with my army, and the death of his only child," Maleficent continued her plan. "We will strike his kingdom until I've taken everything he ever loved. Just as he took away what was mine."
"And you were gonna hurt or kill my friends to do it." I recapped her plan as I stared her down. "And that I won't allow."
"Very well." Maleficent said calmy as she pointed her staff at Aurora and I. "Then for that, you and your friend must die."
Diablo understood what his mistress was about to do and flew away to protect himself. And that bird had the right idea the moment I saw the lightning bolts spark out of Maleficent's staff. My first instinct was to rush Aurora away from the danger. We then hid behind a pillar as Maleficent was shooting dark magic and lightning bolts at us. Not the best hiding spot, but Maleficent didn't seem to care, she was still trying to kill us.
"What do we do?" Aurora asked me.
"We need to get to the prison cells." I said. "That's where the imps are."
She nodded, and we bolted out of the room and out of Maleficent's shooting range. Neither one of us dared to look back to see if Maleficent was following us or still shooting her dark magic at us, but I heard the clamoring of goons she had summoned before her to do her bidding.
"Search everywhere for those maidens!" I heard Maleficent order her goons. "But bring them to me alive, I want to hear them beg for mercy before I kill them."
"Down here, quickly!" Aurora called for me.
I turned and saw that she was heading towards the doorway on the left side of the throne. Where we saw that it led down a long flight of stairs: The exact entrance for the castle's dungeons. We raced down there before Maleficent or any of her goons could spot us. Only problem we ran into was the fact that there were a lot of cells, all with wooden doors and one small, bared window on the top. And with the imps being so small, it'll be hard to know which one I could find them in.
"Pain? Panic?" I called out for the imps. "Where are you?"
"Frankie, Rose, we're over here!" Pain's voice called out.
Aurora and I turned and saw both his and Panic's hands waving out of a bared window at the very end of the dungeon. We rushed over there as quickly as we could, but we couldn't open the door to free them. The door was locked shut, and there was no sign of any key. Well, it was a good thing I was a rebel from New York: We're experts in the 20-some-year-old art of improvising under pressure. Well, y'know, most of the time.
"Stand back!" I warned them as I grabbed a rock.
When the imps were away from the door, I smashed the rock repeatedly into the door handle, until it broke. Unlocking the door and allowing me to free the imps, who then embraced me with tight hugs. It surprised me that they even wanted to hug me when Aurora and I saved them, especially after thinking they both hated me this whole time, but it felt nice to know that they were safe and that they weren't strapped to Maleficent's former device.
"Are you two okay?" I asked them as I searched them for injuries. "Are you hurt?"
"We're fine." Panic said as he and Pain broke off their hug. "We're just really glad to see you."
"Oh, Francesca, your hand." Aurora worried.
I looked at my hand and saw that while I was breaking the imps out, I must've cut my palm on the rock because it was now bleeding. But it'll take more than that to slow me down, so I ripped off a piece of my cloak and wrapped it around my wound to try to stop the bleeding.
"I'll live." I assured her. "Now, let's get outta here!"
The four of us raced back upstairs to the throne room, but just when I thought we were home free, a blast of green fire appeared before us. And Maleficent rising from them like a she-demon from Hell: Angry and was definitely not going to spare us. The imps turned into a pair of wolves as they got in front of Aurora and I to protect us, but I stood between them to make sure I didn't lose them again or risk Aurora getting captured. Maleficent messed with the wrong Live Actioner.
"Listen, Maleficent, I know how you feel, but vengeance is never the answer." I tried my best to reason with her.
"You don't know how I feel." she growled back. "You can't fathom how much I've loathed."
"But I do." I told her. "I know what it's like to be betrayed by someone I thought loved me. I lived like that my whole life."
"What do you know?" she asked me as she pointed her staff at the four of us. "You're as human as he is!"
"Watch out!" I yelled at the others as I pulled them down right as a bolt of energy shot out from Maleficent's staff. The bolt hit a wall and ricocheted around the throne room until it accidentally hit an incoming and unsuspecting goon, turning him into a statue. The four of us stood up to see the outcome.
"Ha! You call that magic?" Panic taunted at Maleficent. "Hades is much worse!"
"Yeah!" Pain agreed before blowing a raspberry at her.
Maleficent didn't take too kindly to the fact that she missed hitting us with her magic or Pain's little taunt, because the second that happened, her eyes started glowing something scary and the orb on her staff started crackling with electricity again.
"Bad thing to do, huh?" Pain asked me nervously.
"Yep." I answered the moment I saw Maleficent's growl reveal a mouthful of jagged sharp teeth. "Run!"
If we ran a second too late, the four of us would've been blasted by Maleficent's lightning attack. But thankfully, we ran out of the palace in time, or at least Aurora and the imps did. I knew that I was done running away from villains who wanted to kill me and my friends. I was bringing the fight to Maleficent, and there was no turning back. So, I stood my ground in front of the palace's drawbridge as I saw Maleficent running towards me.
"Boys, get Rose out of here! Now!" I ordered the imps.
"What?" Pain asked as if I were crazy.
"No, Francesca-" Aurora tried to stop me.
"Just go!" I stopped her as I faced the oncoming dark fae. "I'll handle Maleficent."
The imps reluctantly nodded and led an even more reluctant Aurora away from the palace and down from the Forbidden Mountain. I was alone in this battle, but I didn't care. I wasn't losing any more friends during my adventure. Maleficent reached me and started stalking towards me, like a cat cornering her mouse prey.
"You are a fool to challenge me, child." Maleficent pointed her scepter at me. "You will pay for your insolence."
"Insolence? I'm a New Yorker," I stated while referencing Hondo much like Genie once did. "I don't even know what that means."
And with that final indication that I wasn't backing down from another villain fight, it happened. Maleficent struck her staff into the ground, flew up into the air in a flash of purple and black smoke, and I stared in awe as I saw the dark fae turn into a dragon before my very eyes. To be honest, if she wasn't about to kill me, I'd be a little more excited. But when I remembered that the fairies' gift was still on my neck and what it was capable of, I realized that I could out match Maleficent in battle.
"Two can play this game, Maleficent." I told her with a determined look. "Now, let's see you dance."
I touched the amulet, and as if it were reading my thoughts, a magic blue aura emerged from the amulet and wrapped itself around my body. I started to grow and feel my body change form. My nails grew into claws, my teeth got sharp as my nose and jaw grew into a snout, and I felt a pair of horns, spines, wings, and a tail grow on me. It was painful feeling my bones snap and grow, but I felt powerful. And when the amulet's magic was done transforming me, it didn't take a genius to know that I had now become a dragon too.
On instinct, Maleficent charged at me, and we engaged in an all-out dragon fight. Maleficent, being older and more experienced, had the upper hand at first, but with my youth and speed, I felt like I could easily outmatch her in battle. I was proven right when I miraculously dodged a tail smack to the face and I was the one to land blows after I swiped a talon at Maleficent's neck, drawing blood from the other dragon.
"Okay, I'm a dragon." I thought to myself. "Think, dragons have weak spots, so what's her weak spots?"
Just then, Maleficent reared up on her hind legs and tried to jump at me, but I retorted back by repeating her actions and basically played a dragon version of Gladiator Hands. After a solid minute, Maleficent snapped her jaws at me, but as I smacked her hard on her snout, I saw something very specific about her dragon form that were too obvious to not miss when thinking about how to defeat a dragon: Our bat-like wings and our long, powerful tails.
"Wings and tail; They help balance a dragon!" I reminded myself in realization. "A downed dragon's a dead dragon!"
If I was going to get Maleficent to stop fighting, I knew that I was going to have to do it the hard way: Tying her wings up and pinning something on her tail. If I could get her grounded, it'll be easier for me and the others to escape her domain. If I weren't a B- student, I would've thought of this the moment we both turned into dragons.
But in order to get Maleficent grounded, I knew that the only way to do it would be to weaken her ability to fly. So, I pushed her away from me and I flew up into the air, surprising me to the fact that I was even able to fly with my smaller wings, with Maleficent in hot pursuit. This wasn't going to be easy, but it's worth the risk to get her to not hurt my friends.
Panic's POV
Pain and I managed to get Rose down from the mountain safely, but we were still worried about Frankie. I don't really get it why either, but she was absolutely nuts to try to fight that Maleficent chick by herself. And things only got worse when we saw not one, but two massive dragons fly from the mountain. With one black one with a purple underbelly angrily chasing after a blue one with a white underbelly. The black one going after the blue one like Cerberus used to chase after Pain and I during feeding time.
Rose squinted up at the blue dragon. "Is that-"
There was something kinda familiar about both of those dragons. The black one's horns looked just like Maleficent's. Come to think of it, Rose's aunts did say that Maleficent had dragon horns, so she was probably the black dragon, and if Frankie was still up on that mountain, and the blue dragon's scales matched that blue necklace Rose's aunt, Flora gave her…
"Frankie turned into a dragon!" I exclaimed as I watched the two dragons fighting each other in midair. Yep. Frankie was nuts to fight Maleficent by herself.
"C'mon!" Pain told us as he turned himself into a dragon too. "We gotta help!"
I nodded and turned into a dragon as well.
"After you, m'lady." I extended a talon to help Rose hop up on my back. Once she was one, Pain and I took off so the three of us could help Frankie. Gods, I may not be the nicest imp, but please don't let Frankie die. I don't think I could live with myself if I saw the only mortal who cared about Pain and I was killed by that creepy -yet, really hot- dragon-fairy.
Frankie's POV
Well, if grounding Maleficent wasn't going to work, then continuously flying around chasing me might tire her out. But that wasn't working, so I had to stick to the plan. If I could somehow find a way to get her grounded, I might have an advantage. Maybe firing holes into her wings if she dove after me could do it? I scratched off that idea, because if I didn't fly away in time, she could take me down with her. All I could really do then is keep thinking and pray that the imps got Aurora to safety.
Just then, a blast of fire came out of nowhere and hit Maleficent in the head. Maleficent roared in anger and pain as I saw two smaller dragons fly up to me: one magenta and one teal. Pain and Panic had come into the dragon fight to help me out, and Aurora was with them too. Riding on Panic's back as if she were a dragon rider. I would've been mad to know that she was in harm's way, but considering the circumstances, I needed the extra help.
"Francesca, what should we do?" Aurora asked me.
I tried to speak back but could only spout out some growls and dragon chattering noises. Which no one really understood. So, I retorted to a game of charades with my talons to try to tell them that if Maleficent wants to go down with a fight, then we had to one-up her by chaining her down to the ground.
The imps didn't understand what I was trying to tell them, but thankfully Aurora seemed to get the idea. "We need to ground Maleficent so she wouldn't hurt anyone!"
"You got all that from her hand gestures?" Pain asked her.
"My aunts and I play charades every Saturday night." she explained to him. "I'm rather good at it."
"You don't say?" Panic cynically said before getting to a point. "So how do we ground a dragon-fairy?
"I might know something that could work!" Aurora said. "My aunts say that fae are nearly immortal against all man-made metal, all except iron!"
Pain understood what she meant. "Then we need iron!"
"Yeah, but where do we get some?" Panic asked.
"I might know a place!" Aurora smiled brightly.
"Then go get it!" Pain told them.
I was distracted as I watched Panic and Aurora fly off and Maleficent took the advantage and knocked herself into me. Forcing me to lose focus on my dragon form, and the amulet's power activated again, turning me back into a human. Without the wings I had in my dragon form, I started to fall towards the ground. I screamed as I tried to turn back, but it was no use. I couldn't use the amulet under this kind of pressure. I closed my eyes and braced myself for immediate death, but I felt something swoop under me and pull me back up into the sky.
"I gotcha!" Pain's voice called out.
I opened my eyes, and to my surprise, Pain was in fact the one who caught me before I fell to the ground. He was still in his dragon form, and I was riding on his back, but I was still surprised that he actually saved my life. And here I thought he hated me this entire trip.
"You just saved my life." I said with a surprised look.
"Wouldn't be the first time!" Pain said as he tried to avoid eye contact. "How far back is she?"
I turned around and saw that Maleficent was flying in a little too close for comfort, especially with her snapping jaws full of sharp teeth.
"Almost to your tail!" I screamed in panic as I looked back forward and prayed we'd fly faster.
Meanwhile
Aurora/Rose's POV
Panic and I flew towards the castle of King Stefan, right where my aunts said that there would be some iron chain. Apparently, after his daughter was stolen by some fae fifteen years ago, he had the royal blacksmith construct massive amounts of iron chain so he could snare and trap any other fae that should come near his kingdom. If Maleficent was a darker version of these fae, and if the king had all this iron at his disposal, then it should work to try to ground her. I only hoped this was the right thing to do, especially after hearing about how Maleficent and Stefan used to be in love.
"Down there!" I pointed Panic towards the open and empty castle courtyard.
"You sure this place has iron?" Panic asked me.
"My aunts say that the royal court has some to protect the people from fae." I explained to him once we landed near a rather convenient pile of iron chains. "We just need to ask if we could borrow some."
"Rose, my brother and friend are about to get eaten by some half fairy-half dragon… thing!" he told me. "We don't have time to ask, we gotta steal some and we gotta do it now!"
I stared at him as if he were insane. "But that's wrong."
"Sometimes doing bad stuff to save others is a good thing, now let's go!" he said both impatiently and frantically.
I thought for a moment. My aunts had always told me that stealing was a bad thing to do, especially if one were to steal from the king. But Panic was right. Francesca was in trouble, and I had no time to ask the king for permission to borrow the chain. So, I reluctantly gave in and started gathering up the chain. Oh, I do hope King Stefan was a reasonable king. Maybe if he knew that I had stolen the chain to help save my friend against a dark fae, he wouldn't be too terribly mad.
"Alright." I said as I placed most of the chain onto Panic's back. "This is an awful lot of chain."
"Have you seen how big Maleficent is?" Panic asked me in a snarky tone. "I think this should be enough."
I nodded and hoped back onto his back. "Let's go."
And with that, and a slower takeoff, we flew back into the air to help Francesca and Pain.
Meanwhile
Frankie's POV
Pain and I probably had flown around the whole forest about six times by now, but each time, Maleficent just kept flying closer and closer to us. And I think Pain was starting to tire out with each lap he flew. Thankfully, luck was on our side the moment I saw Panic and Aurora fly back, with plenty of iron chains long enough to trap at least three dragons.
"They're back!" I grinned.
"About time!" Pain said as he kept trying to avoid Maleficent's gnashing teeth from biting his tail.
"Francesca, I hope you have a plan." Aurora said as she tossed me one end of the chain.
"I do." I told her. "Lead her towards the ground!"
She nodded, and we commanded the imps to start diving towards the ground. I looked back for a moment to see that Maleficent had dived too to try to catch us. Let's see: One oversized dragon with small wings and not enough wind speed to help her fly up as we were diving to the ground? Yep, this plan was working flawlessly. I smirked when I turned back around to see that we were a few feet away from the ground.
"Now!" I shouted.
We swooped back and managed to use the iron chain to wrap up Maleficent's legs and wings. Judging by the sight of smoke on the scales and the roars of pain the dragon was giving, the iron was wounding her, just as Aurora said they would. We then wrapped up the chain around Maleficent's snout to shut her up, and when we were all out, we watched as the mighty creature crashed to the ground. Leaving a large crash path in the dirt as she laid there writhing in pain from the iron burning her scales, her powerful tail thrashing about and knocking down any nearby tree in its path.
Aurora and I hopped off the imps once we landed and started to approach the dragon. Maleficent was still alive but weakened. I remembered though that the moment any if that chain were to be removed, Maleficent would heal, and the effects of the iron would vanish. In any case, my friends and I managed to defeat the Mistress of Evil in battle. Okay, I take it back. Fighting a dragon as a dragon, then riding on another dragon, and finally defeating the first dragon was officially the coolest thing I've ever done. Sorry, liberation of the Olympian gods.
"Everyone okay?" I asked my friends.
The imps, now back in their original forms, were panting from exhaustion, but gave a thumbs-up. "We're alright!"
"Oh, my goodness." Aurora breathed. "That was quite exhilarating!"
"You make a good dragon rider." I complimented her.
"Oh, heavens, no." she shook her head and hands. "I think I would rather stay on the ground from now on."
I gave her a small nod. "As you wish."
Aurora smiled before turning towards the writing dragon. She approached Maleficent slowly but confidently as she placed her hands on her hips. I don't think I've ever seen Aurora looked so angry before, let alone capable of being angry.
"We'll let you out when you behave yourself." Aurora told Maleficent, the latter giving a small, annoyed growl as smoke came out of her snout and rolled her eyes.
"Rose!"
Aurora, the imps, and I looked up to see three cloaked figures running towards us. Aurora's eyes widened in shock when she realized that these three figures were her three guardians. They finally caught on that Aurora had helped me get the book, and they all looked very worried about her.
"Rose, are you alright?" Fauna asked as she looked for any signs of injury of Aurora.
"What were you thinking?" Merryweather scolded her. "Going after Maleficent like that!"
"What if she saw your face?" Flora asked, equally as scorned.
"She didn't see my face." Aurora assured them before pointing at the downed dragon. "And look! We trapped her in chains, and we got the book!"
The three fairies gasped at the sight of Maleficent chained up and laying on the ground in her dragon form. Flora and Fauna were naturally the most surprised, while Merryweather was more impressed that we managed to outsmart Maleficent.
"You all did that on your own?" Merryweather asked us.
"It wasn't easy." I told her.
"Well, as grateful as we are that you girls are both safe," Flora said before turning to Aurora. "We are still very cross with you, Rose. You know better than to run off on your own without a word."
"I know, and I'm really sorry." Aurora apologized to them. "I'll do any extra chore you want me to do for however long you want."
"As you wish, Rose." Merryweather sighed reluctantly.
"We're just so happy that you're unharmed." Fauna sighed.
"Here, I think you all said this belongs to you." I told the fairies as Aurora pulled out the book from her cloak pocket -impressed by the fact that it didn't fall out during the fight with Maleficent.
Aurora handed the fairies the book, and at first, I thought they were going to use it to send me to where the king was, but a grateful smile from the three somehow told me they had other plans for their long-lost book.
"Keep it, child." Flora told me as she gave me the book. "After all, you need it to get to the king."
"Thank you." I said to them as I hugged the book. "Thank you very much."
"Thank you, again, for saving my life, Francesca." Aurora thanked me as she held out a hand to shake.
"You're welcome." I smiled at her as we shook hands. "And thank you for saving mine."
"You're very welcome." she smiled. "It was lovely to meet you."
"And you too." I told her.
The imps said their goodbyes to Aurora, who gave them each farewell kisses, once again getting all swoony over the fair maiden. I practically had to drag the two by their tails just to get them moving, but not without on last goodbye to Aurora and the good fairies.
"Goodbye!" I waved at all of them.
"Goodbye!" the four women waved back.
And within the span of another hour, as nightfall finally came, we left our new friends. But this time, we weren't without rewards. We had a magic teleporting book that was sure to have a picture of the king somewhere in its pages.
"Well, we have the book." Pain grinned as he flew up next to me. "Now we gotta find who this king is."
"Let me see." I started mumbling as I flipped through the pages and crossed out any magic user I knew wasn't any sort of king. "Merlin, no. Yen Sid, no."
"Hey, the gods are in this thing." Panic said when he pointed to a chapter talking about the Olympians. "Maybe that king was supposed to be Zeus?"
"Yeah, he does get in contact with mortals." Pain added.
"No, it couldn't be." I shook my head. "Remember, Genie said that the king has access to my world."
I kept flipping through the pages, until Pain pointed at a picture that caught his eye. "Who's this guy?"
I looked at the page and saw a drawing of Mickey Mouse in his Sorcerer's Apprentice get up. Curious as to why exactly he was in a book with a bunch of sorcerers, witches, wizards, and fairies, I then read the description written next to his drawing:
"Though unassuming due to his smaller stature, this
mouse is one of the most powerful figures in Disney history.
Crowned king after the death of his creator almost 60 years ago,
King Mickey now resides in the Magic Kingdom, where he
oversees all the worlds of Disney and has access to
the Live Action World."
Mickey Mouse? Crowned king?! I facepalmed myself for not realizing the fact that the mysterious king I had spent almost a week looking for was none other than Mickey Mouse, himself. The icon of the entire Disney company being the king of this whole other world should've been an obvious sign from the get-go. How I didn't realize it six days ago is way beyond me.
"I'm an idiot!" I gripped. "It should've been obvious!"
"This Mickey guy's the king?" Pain asked me.
"Yes!" I said.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Panic grinned. "Ask it to take us to him."
I nodded and placed a finger on the drawing of Mickey and asked the book confidently. "Take us to the king, please."
A yellow aura flared from Mickey's page in the book and wrapped itself around the imps and I. I held onto the book tightly as the imps held onto me. And just like that, we disappeared from Aurora's world, and were making an immediate beeline for Mickey's.
Meanwhile
Aurora/Rose's POV
"Come along, Rose." Aunt Flora told me once Francesca and her changelings had left. "It's time to go."
"Yes, Aunt Flora." I told her as I watched her and Aunt Fauna and Aunt Merryweather head back to the cottage. I started to follow them but stopped when I heard something behind me.
"And what does this spell do?"
I gasped softly and hid myself behind a tree. When I peered out from behind it, I watched in horror at a most terrifying sight: Maleficent, now back in her dark fae form and free from the iron chains, was now accompanied by a stranger. He was tall, dark, well dressed, and his bear was so twisted. He was dressed in robes that indicated he was some sort of wealthy man from Arabia and carried a gold staff carved in the shape of a serpent, a cobra I think, and the two of them were standing right next to a strange circular light that swirled colors. I knew I had to find out what all this meant.
"It'll take us to another world, one just begging for us to rule over it." the man told Maleficent as he showed her a piece of parchment with strange lettering on it.
Maleficent's eyes glowed as she smiled an evil fanged grin as she looked at the parchment in interest.
"And where you could get revenge on the one who dared to defy you:" the man continued as he, too, grinned wickedly before revealing a name I never imagined he'd know.
"Francesca Cole."
I held a hand over my mouth to keep another gasp silent as I watched Maleficent and the man disappear in that colorful light. Once they were gone, I could hardly process all the thoughts going through my head: What was that parchment and who was that man who knew Francesca? Was he someone like Maleficent? Another evil force she had encountered in the past? These questions weren't going to help. I had to warn Francesca, before it was too late.
"Aunt Flora! Aunt Fauna!" I called out to my aunts as I raced towards them. My aunts stopped walking when they saw me running for them.
"What is it?" Aunt Merryweather asked me.
"What's wrong?" Aunt Fauna asked.
"It's Maleficent, someone freed her from the chains, and they're going after Francesca!" I frantically explained.
"Oh, dear!" Aunt Fauna exclaimed in horror.
"We have to find her!" I exclaimed in a worried tone. "She could be in trouble!"
"Get back to the cottage, make sure you're not seen." Aunt Flora told me. "We'll find Francesca before they do and warn her."
"Do be careful!" I told them before running back to the cottage.
I should've gone with them, but I knew my place was back at the cottage in case Francesca and her companions should return to escort my aunts back safely after defeating Maleficent and that strange man. I only hope my aunts would warn her in time.