Swish, swish, swish. The rough edges of the leaves tried to catch onto her pants, but couldn't get a good grip on the leather. Mal did wish they'd be a bit quieter, though.

She could see the remnants of someone using magic in the area as she wandered through, but it was all in traces and hard to track. A little bit of something caught on a tree here and there and there… or stuck on a rock here or there or there.

It hadn't been very long and she didn't expect to have found her mother after scarcely a half-hour of searching, but she did need to keep in mind that the longer she spent looking, the higher the chance of her getting jumped was. And she did have a limit of sorts - she had to be back to take care of Xavier eventually.

She jumped over a log and finally caught a glimpse of something physical in the earth. Faint lines of someone dragging fabric behind them. Her mother had been here then. But only for a few seconds before becoming smoke again. it looked like she'd been popping around the barrier, looking for some way in. That was the third she'd found just by making her way around the barrier.

Someone shouted inside the barrier and nearly scared her out of her wits, but nothing outside was disturbed as of yet. She decided to keep heading on. She was almost to the entrance and that was the last place they'd seen Maleficent and probably both the most likely and least likely places to find her, depending on Maleficent's mood. She'd either be dramatic and pop out of nowhere or she'd be cautious and refuse to make a move. Given the state of their relationship, with Maleficent being terrified out of her mind, Mal assumed it would be the latter.

She came upon the path and hesitated only a moment before stepping out into view. Everything was disturbed here, in the area Maleficent had blown her dust cloud into. Maleficent must have thought that she was still strong enough to penetrate Mal's magic, even a little, and had given it her all. She'd barely shaken the foundations.

Ben's carriage still stood on the side of the road. Mal wandered over and dusted off part of the front to reveal the Auradon crest. She remembered it well from the night she'd stopped Ben's carriage in the road. As she studied it, she felt something shift in the air around her but refused to move. Her mother was here then? And sneaking up on her… odd of her to take the quiet route. She'd assumed Maleficent would draw near and try to call out to her - convince her to join her side one last time. But no, apparently she'd decided her only daughter was uncontrollable and far too much of a liability. And since Maleficent wasn't powerful, fast, or smart enough to kill Mal head-on, she had to resort to sneaking up.

A pebble rattled across the earth. Odd - why wouldn't Maleficent use her smoke attack? She must have assumed Mal was looking for traces of magic and would immediately sense it. She felt the waver of a sword being readied, waited, and then ducked down at the same second the metal blade would have slashed through her head. She came back up, summoning her powers about her, and stopped in shock.

"Ben?" she asked.

Ben attempted to drive the sword through her chest and Mal stumbled back into the wheel of the carriage. "Ben?" She called. "What's going on? What's gotten into you?"

He kept coming, and his attacks weren't clumsy either. At some point, someone had trained the King of Auradon in sword-fighting, because he was far too talented to be an amateur. She ducked around the wheel, rolled underneath the carriage, and jumped up on the other side before throwing up a barrier around herself. It was invisible, not nearly as powerful as the monstrosity that was keeping everyone safe, but still enough to protect herself. She expected Ben to run right into it - he was human, and had no way of knowing what she'd done - but he straightened and ceased attacking immediately. His face was withdrawn and blank.

Two options; either this wasn't the real Ben, or he was spelled. There was no other way he would have known she'd used a spell. And while she knew she'd left Ben with Xavier in the bubble not even an hour ago, she doubted Maleficent would have thought to… torture her like this. Playing with her mind with this man - the king who'd fallen for her and loved her - when Maleficent had no way of knowing what had happened. No, it was more likely that Maleficent had found him. He must have come out of the barrier. Had he been looking for her? After she'd told him no?

"Ben," she called, backing up even more as Ben remained stone-faced. Something twinged in her chest. It wasn't as if he looked horrible when he was focused on nothing and looking as if every emotion had abandoned him, but it was a different picture from the passionate person she usually knew. "Can you hear me?"

He didn't react at all. His eyes followed her hands as if he suspected she might try and attack him. She tried to keep them from shaking. Maleficent could be using Ben as her eyes and she couldn't let her mom see how much this was hurting.

"Isn't he pretty?" Someone crooned behind her. Mal was so focused on Ben that she jumped when she realized Maleficent had appeared behind her. She kept her shield up as she rotated her body around to see them both at the same time. Ben didn't move. Mal waved her hand to him.

"Is he real?" She asked.

"Kill him and find out," Maleficent challenged with the widest smile Mal had ever seen on anyone.

Mal didn't move. She readied her shield and squinted at her mother. "That's treason," she announced blandly.

Maleficent nodded. "King of Auradon. Better hope he's not the real one."

Ah. So that was the idea. Have Auradon declare war on the villains.

"I could just put a shield around him," Mal snarled. "If I take you out, his spell will be broken."

Maleficent wavered a little. There it was - the fear Mal had been reeling over for the last three years. Maleficent had an ace - she had the King of Auradon, for heaven's sakes (And Mal's lover, though her mom didn't need to know that) - she just had to play it right or Mal could steal him back and Maleficent would have to withdraw or lose.

Mal lit a hand up with her signature green flames and extended it towards Ben as a silent challenge to her mother. If they ended up having a battle over Ben's mind, Mal would win. She studied Maleficent's reaction. Her mother didn't move. it was as if she was waiting for something to happen.

Ben moved behind her and her head snapped around to watch as his knees hit the ground. He took his sword, put it at an angle, and held the blade flush to his neck. Mal's blood went cold. One half-inch more and he'd be bleeding out. Ben was holding his breath so the exhale wouldn't cut his neck open.

"Take down your barrier, Mal, and the king lives," Maleficent called.

Mal's eyes filled with stubborn tears. She'd never been this emotional before - why now? "What does it matter?" She demanded. "If I take down the barrier, you'll take the villain kids. if he dies, Auradon comes after us. Either way, you're dooming us."

"Not that barrier," Maleficent crooned. "Your barrier. Come, Mal, join me and I'll break his spell and let him walk away. I swear it."

"I'm not interested in being under your rule," Mal sneered. "I spent sixteen years and I learned, mom. You're afraid of me anyways."

"Mal, baby, I was never afraid of you," Maleficent lied and Mal raised an eyebrow at the telling shake in her voice. "I was so, so proud. And I'll be proud again… just come back to me."

"No," Ben said suddenly from behind them both. Maleficent had let his spell lift while she struggled to stay still in Mal's presence. His head was wrenched back as Maleficent re-asserted her control of his body, and then the edge of the blade drew a line of blood from his neck.

"Stop!" Mal shouted when she saw the blood. What could she do? Even if she put a barrier up around him, he'd still be under her control. He had done something - obeyed a command of some sort - and not even severing the magic would undo the spell right away. She could try and battle for Ben's mind but there was no chance Maleficent wouldn't slit Ben's throat before she could stop him and no guarantee she wouldn't damage his mind trying.

"What do you want?" she demanded. "On your side, what do you want me to do?"

"Come rule with me," Maleficent crooned. "Nothing more. He'll walk free."

Mal grit her teeth. An idea popped into her head. She narrowed her eyes at her mother, then sent a cutting blast of hardened flames at her. Maleficent barely managed to get out of the way - leaving a charred tree behind her as she tripped over her robes and toppled down. Ben let out a strangled gasp behind her - with Maleficent's focus gone, he could bring the sword down from his neck.

He jumped to his feet. Blood was dripping down his collarbone in a little river that made Mal so angry she could feel heat behind her eyes. She kept sending near-solid fire blasts toward her mother as Maleficent jumped out of her way. The older woman's face was white with fear. Ben took the sword he was holding and jumped to Mal's aide, even though there wasn't a lot he could do while she was hurling fire back and forth. He did stamp out a flame near his foot and it was then that Mal was reminded she needed to be careful to not set the forest on fire as she attacked.

Maleficent vanished into a few wisps of smoke. Mal stopped her attacks and glared all around her, waiting for her to reappear. The forest had gone quiet again.

"Where'd she go?" Ben whispered after several long seconds of nothing.

"I don't know," Mal whispered. She might have scared her off, though she hoped that wasn't the case. She stopped looking around to skim Ben. He looked unharmed except for that tiny cut on his neck. He was holding the sword in his right hand and kept fixing the handle as if the sword wasn't weighted properly for his arm. "I'm going to kill her, and then I might kill you too."

"I'm sorry," Ben muttered under his breath. "I saw Belle's doll behind the barrier. I was trying to get it."

The doll. Mal cursed mentally. That must be the object Ben had touched. Fabulous. At least it wasn't around now. Maleficent's control over Ben would be weaker without it. She sneered and turned to press her fingertips to her head. "Hey," Ben began and reached out to set a hand on her shoulder. His fingers knocked into her barrier and there was a zap that made Mal gasp. When the light smoke cleared, Ben was shaking his hand. "Oh," he said. "You have a barrier."

"Get under here," Mal demanded and pulled him in, making the space wide enough for both of them. "Goodness gracious. Okay, this space will follow me around, so as long as you stay close to me, we should be fine."

"Fine?" Ben repeated, and his voice sounded a little weird. Mal wrinkled her nose up at him and then a green fog crept into Ben's eyes. Mal took a step back. How? Maleficent wasn't around and the doll was…

She looked down at the sword. It had a black handle and looked new and clean. There wasn't anything like that around here.

Oh. She'd screwed up.

Ben attacked, stabbing straight for her heart. Mal jumped back and her foot caught on a rock. Before she could wrench it out, he stomped on it. He swung for her head and Mal put up her arm to stop it, letting a metallic-like protective surface cover her sleeve before Ben's sword clanged off.

"Ben!" She shouted. He was still inside the barrier - shouldn't Maleficent's hold be weaker? "Ben, it's Mal. Remember me?"

"I remember you," Ben agreed, but every word echoed with Maleficent's tone. "Don't you remember me, Mal? Didn't you remember me when you left me locked up on that island?"

It was Mal's fervent wish to never hear Ben impersonate her mother - ever.

Mal jabbed Ben in the knee with her elbow. He fell and she rolled on top to try and pin him down. She kept a particular focus on his sword hand as he tried to inch the blade down onto her head. She just had to wrestle the cursed blade away and…

Ben kneed her in the stomach. It didn't have as much effect as it would have if she hadn't been clenching her abs as tight as possible, but it still left her a little breathless and caused her to lose focus. Ben used the distraction to flip her. Now she was on the ground with a hard rock pressed into her spine and Ben was pressing his blade down onto her neck.

For a moment, she wondered if she might die, but then she noticed Ben's grip grow looser. He stopped pushing her into the ground and simply held her there. Some of the fog cleared out of his eyes.

This didn't make any sense. Why would Maleficent stop focusing on him right when she had Mal pinned?

"You need to kill her," Ben stammered. It was his voice without Maleficent behind it. "I know you can… please?"

"You need to go back into the barrier," Mal hissed. She wanted to spit out Xavier's name, but if Maleficent got any sort of hint who Ben was to her or what else she had on the line, then this battle would be better than over.

"Mal…" Ben whispered. His grip was loosening even more now. Mal imagined a target painted on the side of his head. If she could just knock him out, then…"

"I love you," he whispered.

Her eyes snapped back to his. Why on earth would he say that now? After everything?

A prompt came to mind: "Grab him. Get the sword."

She seized his arms and flipped them again before she managed to wrest the sword out of his hands. Ben's head dropped onto the ground as he gasped for breath and Mal got to her feet, raising the sword triumphant over her head. His eyes returned to their normal color.

Mal, in turn, felt hers color over.

She tried to bring the sword down - she couldn't. She tried to cast a spell - nothing.

While she'd been fighting with Ben, she'd lost focus. Her barrier had dropped. And then Maleficent had issued a command that had seemed perfectly reasonable - without her even knowing.

Mal felt her mind lockdown. Ben got to his feet. He was frowning at her. He reached forward - first for her face before he changed his mind and set his palm down on her shoulder. "Mal?" he asked. "I'm okay. I promise. I'm sorry I attacked you."

Mal flung her left hand out and smacked him. The blow was so hard he flew back and landed against another thick rock, gasping for breath. Mal shrunk the sword down and put it in her pocket - it'd be safe there and hard to retrieve. Ben was staring at her as he slowly connected the pieces and, for the first time from him, she could see real fear. It was a strange look for the King of Auradon.

Then Mal summoned her powers around her, and the world became walls of fire.

Audrey was, thankfully, out of the tall building with both of the children when the bubble popped. The ground had started shaking again just as Jay had set Belle down in the grass outside of the building. Xavier was babbling on Audrey's hip as he examined her earrings, which had been in for a few days now. Everyone looked down, and then everyone looked up as the green barrier flashed once and then burst open with a sound like firecrackers. Evie gasped.

With the barrier gone, dust was thrown into the air. Within seconds, it was as if the world was gone. Xavier began to cry and rub his eyes with tiny fists. Audrey shushed him as she stumbled, trying to find her balance, and almost tripped over Belle. She dropped to the ground beside her. "Mom," Belle whined, bouncing up and down on the earth and trying to hold onto Audrey's arm. "Where's Mal?"

"We have to get out of here," Evie shouted. "Everyone, head for the safe place!"

"Evie?" Audrey called and Evie appeared out of the dust. "What's going on?"

"Maleficent got Mal," Evie said, dropping down and reaching for Xavier. "Come on, we have to get out of here. It's not safe!"

"Take Belle!" Audrey told Evie and pulled Belle's arm off of hers. "I can carry Xavier but I can't carry Belle."

"Mom!" Belle began to cry. Her leg was broken, her dad was gone, and now her mom was handing her off too. "I want to stay with you!"

Audrey kissed her forehead quickly while struggling to her feet. The ground was still shaking, but she was slowly growing used to it. "Come on, baby. Go with Evie and I'll see you soon. And when this is all over, you and I will go somewhere special together where we can both get help, okay?"

Belle continued crying as Evie scooped her up. She took Audrey's hand and helped her to her feet. "Come on, it's this way," she said.

Audrey pushed Xavier's head down into her shoulder to shield him from the onslaught of dust and trudged over the shaking earth. Evie showed her the way into the trees, where others were marching. Soon, they came upon a giant cement hut that was two stories high and partially buried. The windows were so thick she couldn't see inside of them. Despite the fact the earth was shaking, this structure didn't move or crack in the slightest.

Everyone was dusty inside and stamping off dirt on large mats whilst also trying to move inside and make room for other people. Evie carried Belle over to where Carlos was sitting in a chair, looking broken. She set Belle down beside him and gasped out: "What do we do?"

Carlos snorted. "Mal's gone," he said. "We're done for."

"She wouldn't have left," Evie protested. "She gave Maleficent up, remember? She wouldn't go back!"

"I think she did," Carlos snapped. "And it's only a matter of time before she comes to kill us too. I told you from the beginning, Evie, the day Mal decides she's done is the day we're all done."

"But what about Xavier?" Audrey asked. "He's her son."

Carlos ran a hand through his hair. "The thing about Mal is… she's always searching for that sense of belonging. And she wants to feel like her mother wants her around. Like she belongs with her mom. I guess we gave her a bit of that. I guess Ben did too, and that's why she tripped over herself for him. And Xavier… I mean, when someone thinks you're the sun, how could you not feel like you belong?" Carlos shook his head. "I guess it wasn't enough to keep her."

"That's wrong," Audrey shook her head. "No, there's got to be some other explanation."

"Oh, and what would that be, Princess?" Jay spat. Audrey jumped - she hadn't seen Jay sneaking up on them from behind. He pulled a knife out of his bag to whittle at the end of a stick. "Carlos is right. Mal left. She's always looking for someone to… welcome her with open arms. And now she'll kill us all, hoping that her mother will finally love her."

"No," Audrey insisted. "That's not the kind of person she is."

"Oh shut up!" Jay yelled. "Don't you understand? We're all going to die!"

Everyone turned. People were silent except for the little echoes of Jay's proclamation. He kept going. "What do you know? You're from Auradon, live in a castle, ignore everyone around you for years, and destroy your own marriage." Jay scoffed. "Ben's told us about you. We know what kind of person you are. You're just like her. You'll do anything to be able to live the way you want to live with the title you want to have. Even chase away a guy's friends and keep him isolated."

"Maybe that's me," Audrey snapped with tears filling her eyes. "But that's not Mal!"

Across the room, the door snapped open. Everyone turned around to see someone shaking the dust out of his hair. He was so dirty that no one recognized him until he cleared his throat and began to yell.

"Mal's been spelled!" Ben shouted at the top of his lungs. His throat was scratchy, but he was still clear. "She's under some sort of mind-control charm!"

"I told you so!" Audrey snapped at Jay. She pushed him back a little, which probably did her more damage than him, and then dropped to the ground and gave Xavier to Belle. Then, she marched across the room. People got out of her way as she went. She put her hands on Ben's arms. "Where is she now?" she demanded.

"Heading back towards Auradon. The city… the city is flattened." Ben's shoulders dropped in disappointment. "She'll hit Charmington soon. I think they're going to head for the Isle and break it open all the way."

Well, we need to stop her," Audrey declared. "What can we do to stop her?"

Ben stared and fumbled for words for several seconds. "Well… the mind control spell only works if Maleficent is focusing and if Mal has that cursed sword on her. She put it in her pocket - there's no way we can get it out. But if we break Maleficent's focus for long enough, Mal might be able to break free herself."

"I'm sorry," Uma appeared on Audrey's left side. "About five things happened at once and I got distracted. How do you expect to distract Maleficent long enough for Mal to get out from under a mind-control spell? And what if she doesn't?"

"Well, then we'll go to plan B," Audrey replied as if it were obvious.

"What's plan B?" Uma asked.

"Not sure yet. Let's go." Audrey waved for Evie, Jay, and Carlos to join them. Evie hesitated, then kissed Doug and their baby on the cheek and head respectively before heading over. The boys followed behind. Uma looked impressed.

"I knew there was something I liked about you," she laughed. "How are we going to catch up?"

"Our carriage," Audrey decided. "Ben, you know how to drive, right?"

Ben shook his head. "I know how to crash," he corrected her.

"I'll drive," Uma decided. "And before we go-" She kicked a barrel and something metal rattled inside. We may need some swords."

"We may," Audrey agreed. She glanced back to Belle and Xavier, who were huddled into a corner. As Uma handed her a sword, she took a deep breath. Doug moved closer to the kids - he'd be just fine to watch over them. Still, she wandered over, knelt beside Belle, and kissed her forehead. "I promise, when all of this is over, you and I are going to spend lots of time together. We'll play games, and read books, and we're going to be very, very happy."

"And dad?" Belle murmured, looking behind Audrey's shoulder. Audrey glanced behind her. She hadn't realized Ben had followed her.

"And dad," she agreed.

Ben knelt and picked up both kids. Belle sniffled and buried her face into his chest. "You'll be okay," he whispered. "Just stay here and everything will be fine. We'll be back soon."

"I'll watch them," Doug volunteered. "It'll be okay."

Ben kissed Belle on the cheek and then Xavier's little head. Xavier wasn't quite sure what to make of his dad getting back up and towering over them. Audrey gave them a last little smile before they headed to the door. Uma and Jay were working on wrenching it open. Ben grabbed Audrey's arm to stop her.

"That was cool," he whispered. "I haven't seen you… come alive like that before."

Audrey shrugged and didn't meet his eyes. "Let's just get out of here," she muttered. "She needs help."

The door was wrenched open at the same time Ben spoke, so Audrey missed whatever he was going to say. Outside, the wind was howling and screaming. Clouds of dust rushed inside. Six warriors pushed their way out before the door was shut again and all was quiet.

Across the way, Mal was leaving a path of destruction. uprooted tree trunks and gigantic boulders reduced to silt piles. Clouds of lightning were her escorts as she blazed through the forests, flattening the hills into charred pathways and filling the rivers with steaming gunk. She'd never used so much power in such a destructive way before.

There came a mountain and Mal threw out her hand and watched it crumble from the peaks down. The ground shifted and shook as she pushed everything down to her level and continued her march. Up ahead was Charmignton and beyond that was the bay where they'd first landed.

She was so close. So close to doing everything Maleficent had ever wanted to do. Using this power was so good… so fulfilling… her head felt fuzzy from all the new and strange feelings that were rushing into her from the magic. Almost there and-

Something whizzed past her nose. Was that… an arrow?

"Now!" Someone yelled from inside the dust storm, and a group of people rushed out of the dust. They were so small, despite their height, and seemed so silly armed with their swords and knives and bows. Mal raised her hands.

This should be fun.