Diaval stirred, sensing someone's intent gaze set upon him. He opened one bleary eye, looking down into Maleficent's nest below him. A child in overly-large brown robes was looking right back at him with a gentle curiosity. He was reminded of Aurora, and closed his eye again to resume sleeping. Then he registered that the child was in Maleficent's nest, possessed Maleficent's wings, horns, and eyes, and Maleficent herself was nowhere to be seen.

Alarm jolted through him, and Diaval squawked as he jumped off his perch. He changed forms almost before he could land in the nest. The child exclaimed, "Oh!" and scooted away from him as he stared, wide-eyed, at her.

Beside the fact that she was nearly half a meter shorter, the first thing Diaval noticed was her striking cheekbones had been replaced by round cheeks. Her wings and horns were a bit too large for her body. Her eyes were, unmistakably, Maleficent's glittering green ones. But they were filled with an innocence Diaval had never before seen displayed in Maleficent's eyes.

"Mis - Maleficent?" stammered Diaval. The little faerie girl nodded hesitantly, looking at him in awe.

"Yes?" she replied, her voice higher-pitched and less stern than before, and she opened her mouth to continue, but was interrupted as Diaval started chuckling. Maleficent had been turned into a child! A child! And she didn't even realize it!

"Excuse me, what's so funny?" Maleficent asked, her tone bemused and slightly annoyed as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"You - you're tiny!" Diaval couldn't help it. He burst into loud laughter, and doubled over.

"I'm what?"

"Tiny!"

Diaval barely noticed as Maleficent unfolded her arms, which were draped in sleeves much too large for her, and lifted them up. Her eyes widened, and she muttered to herself as she quickly inspected herself. After a moment, she said, "I - I don't know what I'm doing in these clothes, but I'm no smaller than I was yesterday. But would you please explain who you are and what you're doing in my nest?"

Maleficent's words slapped Diaval hard, and he abruptly stopped laughing. "Wh - wait, you don't recognize me?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't remember seeing you around the Moors before," said Maleficent. She cocked her head to the side slightly, as though that would help jog her memory. "I've never seen anyone who can turn into a raven, either."

Unable to find words, Diaval was silent for a minute. "I - I'm Diaval. I've lived in the Moors for nearly two decades," he started slowly. "You… brought me here after you saved my life. You turned me into a man, and in return for saving me, I became your servant."

Maleficent frowned, doubtful of Diaval's claims. "No, I think you have me mistaken with someone else."

"No, I haven't. You've…." Diaval trailed off, suddenly remembering the previous night. That spell. "You've turned back into a child, and can't remember your adulthood…."

"What?" Maleficent looked completely taken aback. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit brought you a spell last night to turn back time. You tried it, but it didn't appear to work. Although it seems to have taken effect now…." Diaval hadn't really thought about what he would expect to happen if the spell did work. Not this. Now that he thought about it, he would have thought that the spell would send full-grown Maleficent back in time. This situation was pretty much the exact opposite.

"That… can't be possible," Maleficent shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I really don't have any idea what you're talking about."

Diaval glanced around the tree for inspiration. Then he realized - the tree! "Look closely at the tree, and your nest." Though skeptical, Maleficent did as she was told. Her eyes grew round when she realized that her home had aged seemingly overnight. "See? Can you believe me now?" Maleficent opened and shut her mouth. Trying one last time, Diaval wheedled, "Why would I spend my time trying to convince you of something like this?"

This did the trick. Hiking her drooping dress back on her shoulders, Maleficent slowly said, "Alright. I believe you."

Diaval silently let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He was about to continue the conversation before Maleficent brought up an entirely different subject. "Are you a man who can turn into a raven, or a raven who can turn into a man?"

Diaval raised his eyebrows. "I'm a raven, of course! But when you saved me, you turned me into a man. You've turned me into other various animals, too. However, you gave me control of my shape-shifting recently."

Giving a nod, Maleficent started to hunt around in her nest for something. "What's it like being a raven?"

Diaval felt that perhaps it wasn't the time for this talk. But after a moment he said, "Well, being a normal raven is a fairly straightforward lifestyle. You find food, shelter, and a mate. Once you've got a mate, you spend time looking after your family. I find it easier to have been a raven than human, although it isn't such a struggle to survive here in the Moors with you. But as a bird, your thoughts aren't complex, and you don't have to deal with human conflicts," explained Diaval, thinking almost wistfully back to the days when he had been a simple raven and hadn't had to deal with the sudden shrinking of faeries. Then, to remind himself that his situation wasn't completely rotten, he added, "However, I suppose that after getting a taste of man's intelligence, it would be difficult to return to the wild as a raven."

"Have you got a mate?" asked Maleficent, stopping her search to sit up on her heels and listen to Diaval's answer.

Heat crept up Diaval's face. He couldn't tell this child that he almost thought of her as a mate. After all, they had basically raised Aurora together. They were a family. Aurora his hatchling, and Maleficent his mate. Of course, Diaval harbored no strong romantic feelings toward Maleficent. It was more of a tender fondness, similar to what he felt for Aurora, but different. He had seen many sides to Maleficent, and together they had been through a lot. One cannot raise a child with another and not feel especially bonded with them. But technically… Maleficent was not his mate. Was she? No. Maybe?

Maleficent was still looking at him expectantly, so Diaval just answered, "No."

Satisfied, Maleficent nodded. "Alright. Do you know where I can find a sharp rock or something to cut my dress with?"

"No….."

Maleficent sighed. "Drat. I guess I'll just use string for now."

So Diaval sat back and watched Maleficent adjust her dress, mentally debating what he should do. He could go to the pixies and ask them for help - despite their flaws, they would probably be more use in this situation than he was, considering their knowledge of magic. However, Diaval didn't want to leave the now young Maleficent by herself. There was no telling what trouble could follow. Finally, he settled for staying in the tree and inspecting the scroll.

The scroll contained a description of the spell and an incantation. The description was brief, and did not give details on what to expect after performing the spell, nor any instructions on how to reverse it. It did confirm that the golden light and wind from the night before was normal, giving Diaval reason to think that the spell's effects had not been a flaw on Maleficent's part.

"Good morning!" someone called, and Diaval glanced up as Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit flew into the tree.

"Did the spell work?" Thistlewit asked, clapping her hands together in excitement.

"See for yourself," Diaval said, gesturing to Maleficent. The three pixies gasped as they caught sight of her. Maleficent looked up from her skirt at the noise.

"Oh. Um, hello," Maleficent hesitantly greeted them. "What are you three doing here?"

"W-we just came to see if the spell worked," Knotgrass said, horrified.

"This wasn't supposed to be what happened!" complained Flittle, giving Diaval an accusing looking. "She was supposed to go back in time!"

"Time didn't travel, she did," Diaval said. "She became younger, and is unaware of her adult life."

Before any of the pixies could reply, Maleficent stood up and announced, "It was nice seeing you three, but I'm going to be leaving now."

"Wait!" cried Diaval, jumping up and nearly tumbling out of the tree. "I - I think you should wait a few minutes until we've gotten this sorted out."

"There's nothing to sort out," said Maleficent, looking an odd combination of amusement and agitation. Her wings gave a slight flutter, eager to take flight, and Maleficent shuffled her feet.

"I just don't know if you should go out yet….." Diaval was wary of letting Maleficent, though unknowingly, publicize her situation. He figured that once she was back to normal, she could be very vexed and embarrassed at the thought of been out and about in such a body. And who knew what complications the outing could present in the future.

"I'll be fine," Maleficent insisted, and bent her knees, ready to fly out of her tree. Knotgrass opened her mouth, prepared to complain, but it was a different voice that grabbed Maleficent's attention.

"Godmother?"

Diaval and the pixies froze, and Maleficent crouched to peer out between the leaves of her tree. "Who's that?" she asked.

"Godmother? Diaval?"

"'Diaval? Is that one of your friends calling you? Who's 'Godmother?'" Maleficent caught a glimpse of the blond figure making her way toward the Rowan tree, stopping occasionally to exchange pleasantries with the creatures. Maleficent's eyes widened and she gasped, "A human!"

And before Diaval could explain anything, or do something other than think, "Oh, Lord," Maleficent jumped out of the tree and went to investigate.

...

Hey Malefifreaks! Thanks so much for all the follows, faves, and reviews! :)

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please review. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

Kitty