Chapter 19: Because You Stopped
In a glade somewhere in the dark, twisted wood that surrounded Bald Mountain, Elsa stood alone at the center of the clearing, dressed in a simple, blue, short sleeved dress. Her eyes closed in concentration, Elsa slowly lifted her hands up to hip height, her fingers spread and her palms facing upwards. As she did this, the air began to swirl around her, causing her skirt and locks of her platinum hair to begin dancing in the wind. After a moment, Elsa slowly began raising into the air, her bare feet dangling beneath her as she lifted a foot off the ground.
And then an acorn struck her on the forehead.
Letting out a cry of surprise, Elsa's eyes shot open as she lost her concentration, causing the swirling winds to cease. With another cry, Elsa fell back to the ground and landed on her rear with an undignified grunt.
"You have to concentrate better than that," Maleficent said from where she stood a short distance away, her gaze focused on the acorn she was rolling between her fingers.
"How am I supposed to concentrate when you're throwing things at me?" Elsa demanded, glaring at Maleficent as she rubbed at the spot where she had been struck.
"What, and you don't think there will be any distractions when you're flying for real?" Maleficent questioned as she arched an eyebrow at Elsa, "Better you crash now instead of when you're above the cloudline."
Elsa made no argument, only sighing tiredly as Maleficent motioned for her to get back to her feet. Once she had righted herself and brushed off her dress, Elsa closed her eyes and began concentrating.
"Elsa!?" Ralph's voice suddenly called from somewhere nearby, accompanied by the noise of the wrecker crashing through the underbrush. Her concentration broken, Elsa let out a tired sigh as she straightened some of her wind-tossed hair.
"Oh joy," Maleficent groused sarcastically, "Your bumbling beau is here."
"I'm over here, Ralph!" Elsa called as she gave Maleficent a disapproving look.
A moment later, Ralph stumbled into view, his expression harried as he picked at the briars clinging to his clothes and the sticks stuck in his hair.
"Oh, good, there you are," Ralph said as he caught his breath, "You know, it's really easy to get lost around here."
"That's the idea," Maleficent replied sardonically as she continued to absentmindedly roll the acorn in her palm.
"Right," Ralph chuckled uncomfortably before he turned his attention towards Elsa, "Anyway, I figured I'd stop by and see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat with me."
"Well, I'm really close to figuring out this flying spell," Elsa began to hesitantly say before she paused as she noticed the hopeful expression on Ralph's face and sighed, "But I suppose I can take a break."
"Great!" Ralph replied with a wide smile.
"Just let me go talk to Maleficent first," Elsa said as she gestured towards the dark fairy.
As Ralph nodded in reply, Elsa turned and made her way over to Maleficent.
"I can't help but notice that Ralph seems to be attached to your hip," Maleficent commented, her gaze focused on the acorn in her hand, "He's becoming something of a distraction."
"I'll admit that Ralph has been a bit….clingy lately," Elsa admitted with an expression of chagrin as she picked up the shoes that sat on the ground next to the fairy before she gave Maleficent a pointed look, "Though, that might be because you took away the one thing he usually spends his time on."
Maleficent said nothing in reply to this but did toss the acorn away.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Elsa questioned as she slipped her shoes on.
"If you can make the time," Maleficent replied with a mirthless smirk.
Elsa rolled her eyes in response and turned away from Maleficent before she began making her way over to Ralph.
"Ralph," Maleficent spoke up after a moment, drawing both his and Elsa's attention back to her, "How soon could you put another one of your….meetings together?"
"Um, well, I'll have to let the other villains who come know, so I guess a day or so?" Ralph answered as his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Well, then I suggest you get to it," Maleficent said plainly.
"So, if I understand you correctly, you want to come to one of the Bad Guys Anonymous meetings?" Elsa questioned with an amused smirk.
"And here I hoped the two of you weren't such dullards that I would need to spell it out for you," Maleficent replied with a roll of her eyes before she turned away and disappeared into the surrounding woods.
"Well, she still seems like oodles of fun," Ralph observed sarcastically.
"I know," Elsa agreed before she looped her arms with one of his, "Come. We have lunch to eat and a meeting to plan."
The next day,
In the Ink and Paint Club's backroom, Elsa and Ralph had set up things for the meeting, putting the metal chairs in their normal circular formation, with a table for refreshments set to one side.
"Do you think everyone will come back?" Elsa inquired as she looked over at Ralph.
"I hope so," Ralph answered as he sighed and put his hands on his hips, "I mean, Maleficent was the only one keeping them away, so if she's coming, I don't see why the others wouldn't come back as well."
As Ralph spoke, the door to the backroom opened and Hades waltzed in.
"Hey, hey, if it isn't my favorite couple?" Hades greeted with a laugh, "How are the two of you doing?"
"We're doing well, Hades," Elsa replied with a small smile, "You seem excited to be back."
"What can I say, I missed you losers," Hades stated with a laugh as he wandered over to the refreshment table before popping a cookie into his mouth, "Plus, I got to admit, I wanted to know how this thing is going to go with the head lady in charge here."
"I'm sure Maleficent will be on her best behavior," Elsa said, though her expression was uncertain, "At least, I hope she will be."
"Speaking of which, I heard that you have been learning magic from Maleficent herself," Hades stated as he pointed at Elsa, "How'd you manage that?"
"Well, it wasn't my idea," Elsa answered awkwardly.
"Is that so?" a new voice spoke up as Regina stepped into the room followed by the group of villains who normally attended the Bad Guys Anon meetings, quirking an eyebrow at Elsa as she entered.
"Oh, Regina, I'm sorry," Elsa quickly apologized as she walked over to the other woman, "I know you had offered to teach me magic and I wasn't trying to insult you when-"
"Relax," Regina interrupted as she held up a hand to stop Elsa, "I understand. I had a feeling it wasn't your idea, and it's usually not wise to refuse Maleficent."
"Indeed, it is not," Maleficent's voice echoed through the room, quickly followed by a hush as everyone turned to look at the dark fairy as she stepped into view.
Ralph and Elsa shot nervous glances at each other as the other villains quickly scrambled into seats, all of them doing their best not to make eye contact with Maleficent.
"Well, I suppose we should get this ridiculous display out of the way," Maleficent said with a sigh as she walked towards Elsa and Ralph.
"Sure thing," Ralph confirmed with a nod, "We are waiting on one more person, though."
"And who would that be?" Maleficent inquired as she quirked an eyebrow at Ralph.
"Ah, Lady Maleficent," Loki said as he suddenly walked into the room, "I had heard that you would be attending our meeting today, but I must say, I didn't truly believe it until I laid eyes on your beautiful visage."
"Loki," Maleficent greeted as she gave him a look that made it seemed like she was attempting to murder him with her gaze alone, "I had hoped to not cross your path for at least another century."
Ralph bit his lip as he watched the exchange, doing his best to hide his amusement, while Elsa did the same by covering her mouth with her hand.
"Ah, I did miss your sharp wit," Loki replied with a grin, seemingly unperturbed by her glare, "Come, how about I show you to your seat?"
Maleficent said nothing in reply, but gave a small nod, prompting Loki to start leading her one of the empty folding chairs. As Maleficent settled into the chair, Loki turned his attention towards the seat next to it, which was currently occupied by Turbo. For a long silent moment, Loki stared at Turbo, until the diminutive villain seemed to realize what the god wanted him to do and abandoned the chair before scampering over to a free one. Once Turbo was gone, Loki gracefully lowered himself into the now vacant chair, smiling charmingly at Maleficent, who was pointedly not looking at him.
"Alright," Ralph said as he and Elsa stepped over to their chairs, "Looks like everyone's here, so let me welcome you all back to Bad Guys Anonymous. I hope you all had a good Christmas."
Maleficent snorted at this, and rolled her eyes in contempt.
"Right," Ralph continued, doing his best to ignore Maleficent, "So, how about we start off like usual with the Bad Guy Affirmation."
In response to this, most of the villains stood up and took their neighbors' hands. Maleficent, however, did not budge from her seat, shooting Loki a withering glare as he offered her his hand. Ralph narrowed his eyes at this, and looked ready to say something heated when he felt Elsa squeeze his hand. Looking down at her, Ralph found Elsa looking back at him with a reassuring smile. Silently nodding his head, Ralph visibly restrained his anger, prompting Elsa's smile to grow as she turned her head away from him and led the group in the affirmation.
"Alright," Ralph said once the affirmation was finished and everyone retook their seats, "I guess I should address the evil fairy in the room and thank Maleficent for coming today and, I suppose letting us have this meeting at all."
"I did this for my apprentice's sake, not yours, Ralph," Maleficent replied coolly before her features softened slightly, "But your thanks are appreciated all the same."
"Right," Ralph said awkwardly, "Well, is there anything you'd like to say?"
"Say about what?" Maleficent questioned as she crooked an eyebrow at Ralph.
"Well, you see, it's kind of a thing for the newest member of the group to share at their first meeting," Hades explained.
"And what exactly am I supposed to share?" Maleficent questioned as she narrowed her eyes at Hades.
"Your story," Loki answered, "The tale of misery and woe that led you to be the villainess you are today."
There was a pause as Maleficent regarded Loki like she considered him a simpleton.
"No," Maleficent replied as she turned her attention back towards Ralph and Elsa, "I don't think I will be doing anything of the sort."
An awkward silence fell over the room as the other villains glanced at one another nervously.
"Okay then," Ralph finally said, breaking the silence, "I guess-"
"I'll share," Loki spoke up, cutting Ralph off.
"...You will?" Ralph asked in surprise as he quirked an eyebrow at Loki.
"Yes," Loki replied with a nod before frowning, "Why is that surprising?"
"Because…." Ralph began hesitantly as he glanced around at the other villains for confirmation, "You never share."
"What do you mean?" Loki asked with a confused expression, "I share all the time."
"No, you shared exactly once back when we first started all this," Hades countered, "Which makes me wonder what you plan on sharing, since most of us have heard your story already."
"Ah, but not all of it," Loki countered with a wry grin.
"All right, Loki," Elsa said with an encouraging nod, "Let's hear your story then."
"Well, as indeed many of you already know, I was adopted by Odin, Lord of Asgard, at a young age, and thus was raised alongside his true son and heir, Thor, the god of thunder," Loki explained.
"Yeah, you've mentioned a couple of times how much you hate that guy," Turbo commented, causing most of the other villains to chuckle.
"This is true, though it was not always so," Loki replied, his smile turning wistful.
"What do you mean?" Ralph questioned in confusion.
"I do not believe Odin ever had any true love for me," Loki explained, "I think he saw adopting me as a chance at redemption, as a way to wash the blood that had been spilt in his war with the Frost Giants, but not as a way of gaining a son. As for the rest of Asgard, my origin was something of an open secret, and most of them only saw me as the monster they all knew I was. Indeed, out of all of Asgard, there were only two people who had ever looked at me with an ounce of love. Our dear mother Frigga and Thor himself."
"Wait, you and Thor used to be pals?" Hades questioned, is expression shocked.
"Indeed we were," Loki confirmed with a nod and a chuckle, "I used to be part of his merry band of adventurers, along with the Lady Sif and those rascals the Warriors Three. More often than not, it was up to me to get us all out of danger that Thor led us headlong into."
As Loki continued, Ralph was surprised to see Loki starting to relax, clearly enjoying the trip down memory lane he was taking.
"I still remember that Thor used to say," Loki said before his form began to magically change. A moment later, he had shifted into the form of a tall, muscular man with long blond hair and a matching beard. He was dressed in a sleeveless, leather tunic with decorative circles on the front that showed off his muscular arms, along with matching pants, black boots and a red cape that hung down to his thighs.
"Are we not two fine fellows, Loki?" the transformed trickster declared, his voice now low and boisterous as he planted his hands on his hips and flashed a charming smile, "There are none our equal in all the Nine Realms! Come, let us drink upon it!"
As Loki spoke, most of the others couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.
"What changed?" Maleficent suddenly asked, causing everyone to look at her in surprise.
"I'm sorry?" Loki said, blinking in confusion as he looked at Maleficent and reassumed his original form.
"It is well known that you loathe Thor with a passion," Maleficent explained, "That you have spent years trying to destroy him. But now you tell us that once he was your closest companion. Your brother in all but blood. The one man who ever looked at you with affection instead of condescension. So what changed to make you hate Thor Odinson so?"
There was a long, quiet pause as Loki stared at Maleficent, and though the trickster's face remained neutral, Ralph and Elsa could sense a deep well of sadness lurking just below the surface.
"He stopped," Loki replied finally, his words almost inaudible. Then, without another word, Loki retook his seat and began staring at a spot on the floor.
As an awkward silence fell over the room, Elsa looked over at Ralph with a concerned expression. Wearing a matching look on his face, Ralph cleared his throat as he rose to his feet, bringing everyone's attention to him.
"So, um, thank you for that very insightful share, Loki," Ralph said, as Loki continued to stare at the floor in front of him, "Does anyone else have anything they'd like to share with the group?"
Silence was the only reply Ralph received as the gathered villains continued to look around at one another awkwardly.
"Yeah, I kind of figured," Ralph mumbled to himself.
"Well then," Maleficent said as she rose to her feet, "It seems that this little meeting is over. It has certainly been-"
"Actually, I wasn't quite done yet," Ralph interrupted.
Another hush fell over the room as Maleficent shot a cold glare at Ralph, who met her gaze impassively.
"Very well," Maleficent replied, her tone acidic as she retook her seat, "Say what you were going to, Ralph."
"Well, I was just thinking that while we missed Christmas this year, we shouldn't give up on having a holiday party," Ralph explained, "So basically, what I'm asking is if you all have any plans for New Year's Eve?"
"Oh come on, Ralph, give it a break!" Hades grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest, "It hasn't even been a week and you already want to crash another party?"
"Now, hold on," Ralph said as he held up his hands in an attempt to forestall any other arguments, "You're right, I think we may have jumped the gun with that last idea, so I wasn't thinking of going to the actual big New Year's Eve party."
"So, what were you thinking, Ralph?" Maleficent inquired as she arched a brow at the wrecker.
"I was thinking we have a bit of a practice run by throwing a New Year's Eve party of our own," Ralph explained.
"You want us to throw our own party?" Regina inquired as she looked at Ralph in surprise, "Where would we even have it?"
"Well, I already talked to Jessica and she was happy to let us have it here at the Ink and Paint Club," Ralph elaborated.
"A party here at the bar?" Hook inquired as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Now that does sound like a party worth attending."
"And with none of those stuck up goodie-goods to ruin our fun!" Ursula agreed as she rubbed her hands together eagerly.
"I'm happy to hear you all agree," Elsa commented with a smile as she looked around the room at the villains, her expression turning nervous as her gaze fell on Maleficent, "Presuming you'll let us have a bit of fun, of course."
As Elsa finished speaking, Maleficent felt the eyes of everyone else in the room turn their eyes towards her. After a moment of sitting under the weight of their gazes, Maleficent let out a tired sigh.
"Very well," Maleficent finally said, "If you all need an excuse to make drunken fools of yourselves then you have my permission."
"Alright then,"Ralph said as he clapped his hands together eagerly as the villains began happily chatting with one another, "Sounds like we have some planning to do. And on that note, I think we'll call this meeting to a close."
With that announcement, the villains rose to their feet and began making their way out the door, talking excitedly with one another as they went. Maleficent followed behind them, pausing for a moment to look down at Loki, who was still sitting in his chair, staring at the floor, before she made her exit. Left alone with Loki, Ralph and Elsa shared a concerned expression before they turned their attention towards the trickster.
"Loki?" Elsa said softly as she stood next to him, "Are you alright?"
"Hmm?" Loki replied, blinking as he pulled himself out of his thoughts, "Oh, yes, of course."
With that, Loki quickly rose to his feet while straightening his coat.
"I seem to have gotten lost in my own thoughts," Loki mumbled as he began making his way to the door, "I'll take my leave."
"Loki," Ralph spoke up, causing the god to pause in the doorway, "Bringing up these old memories of Thor is bothering you, isn't it?"
"I don't know what you mean," Loki replied with a chuckle, not turning to look at Ralph as he spoke, "That's all ancient history."
"It doesn't have to be though," Elsa said, her expression concerned, "Anna and I barely spoke for over a decade, and now we're closer than ever. I'm sure if you were willing to talk to Thor, he'd listen."
"I appreciate the sentiment, your highness," Loki stated as he glanced over his shoulder at the couple and shot them a smirk that didn't quite reach his eyes, "But that bridge burned a long time ago."
With that, Loki left, leaving a concerned Ralph and Elsa in his wake.
A/N: Bit of a quick, bridging chapter with some character development thrown in for spice. Hope you all enjoyed it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!