That afternoon, Diaval sat against a tree, his attention flitting between the scroll in his hands and the two girls standing by the marsh (It felt odd classifying Maleficent as a girl). Diaval did his best to not eavesdrop, but he wanted to know if Aurora was informing Maleficent of their previous relationship as mother and daughter. She was not, which irritated Diaval. He wanted Maleficent to be armed with the information of her adult life. Perhaps she would then remember it. But in the meantime, he would study the scroll and hope to find a solution. He had lost time to do so that morning, for after Maleficent was reintroduced to Aurora, they went off to inspect the Moors. Diaval followed, wary of allowing Maleficent to leave his sight. As Maleficent and Aurora were stationed at the wallerbog's marsh, Diaval had a few moments to concentrate on the scroll.

"Oh, don't you - " Splat. Diaval looked up to see Maleficent's face dripping with mud. Aurora's hands were over her mouth, hiding a smile as Maleficent reached up and wiped the dirt out of her eyes. Diaval couldn't help but pause to watch - he remembered the last time a wallerbog had hit Maleficent with a mudball. For laughing at his mistress, Diaval himself had received a facefull of the stuff, but it had been worth it to see Maleficent's small look of triumph and enjoyment.

The wallerbogs all yelped as they were suddenly bombarded with mud. Maleficent hooted with laughter, exclaiming, "Take that!" Aurora was also giggling in amusement, and Diaval allowed himself a smile. Quickly, the wallerbogs collected themselves, and Maleficent and Aurora both shrieked as the creatures began to pelt them with mud. They both scooped up their own handfuls of mud and fired back, Maleficent's wings rustling in excitement.

Diaval was interested in seeing what the outcome would be, for while the wallerbogs were superior in number, Maleficent and Aurora were both so full of spirit, and Maleficent had her magic. The two teams were fairly evenly matched, and the event promised to be highly entertaining. However, Diaval knew his time would be better spent trying to find a way to reverse the spell, so he looked back down at the scroll.

"To turn back time, one must focus on the time they wish to return to as they speak the given incantation. Beware of allowing distractions, this can result in disastrous mistakes. It is recommended that the caster of the spell works in a secluded area. While performing the spell, it is expected to be surrounded by halos of golden light and wind.

"The incantation: I, (insert name here), voluntas ius iniuria, et conteram in solidum est. Pone ad solem occidentem et orientem, quid repetere fuit."

Diaval scowled at the scroll, cursing whomever had penned these words. They didn't even hint at how to reverse the spell. He wondered for a second why Maleficent had been thinking of going back to when she was eleven. Had she planned to change what happened between Stefan and her?

Suddenly, Diaval's thoughts were interrupted by a mudball flying above him and exploding against the tree. Diaval exclaimed, "Hey!" as flecks of mud rained down on him. Some specs fell on the scroll, and Diaval quickly flicked them off.

"Diaval! Come join us!" Aurora called, laughing in delight. Diaval glanced at her and shook his head.

"Not right now."

Aurora sensed Diaval's thoughts. She picked up her mud-covered skirt and headed over to him. Maleficent didn't notice, as she was too busy creating a giant ball of mud that sent the wallerbogs scattering in all directions. She gave a small cackle, and Diaval was reminded of all the pranks she had played on the pixies over the years.

"What's wrong?" asked Aurora, sitting down next to Diaval and looking at the scroll. "What's this?"

"This is the scroll Maleficent found the spell on," said Diaval with a small sigh. "I'm trying to find a remedy, but the description doesn't give, or even hint at, one."

"Well, if it isn't there, it isn't there," said Aurora matter-of-factly. "No matter how many times you look at the scroll, it won't reveal anything new. You could do research in other works, but maybe you should leave the situation be for now."

"What?" Diaval burst out, angry that Aurora would even consider the possibility. Aurora's eyes widened - Diaval was never, in any way, harsh with her. Diaval instantly regretted losing his temper. He took a deep, calming breath and said, "I'm sorry. It's just… I want to get Maleficent back to normal, as soon as I can."

Aurora nodded. "I understand that. I love Godmother, and it's bizarre to see her like this. She's very open and unguarded, and less stern. It's even a little uncomfortable, because I almost don't know how to act with her because all of a sudden, she's different. But it's because I love her so much that I can accept her in any form, and still love her. And I want the best for her. Godmother is happy right now. Unburdened, you might say. She's content carrying on with the only way of life she thinks she knows."

Diaval realized that he hadn't really been thinking about what Maleficent was making of the situation. Now that he was thinking about it, he noticed that Aurora was right - Maleficent seemed perfectly satisfied with brushing away the information he had told her, and continuing life as she saw fit. There she was, enjoying a mud fight with the wallerbogs, unconcerned with what things should be. Because for her, things should be a lot different than they should for Diaval.

Was Diaval being selfish, wanting to interrupt Maleficent's current state of happiness? Just because things felt awkward and off to him didn't mean Maleficent felt the same way. And since this condition involved her, shouldn't it be Maleficent's interests that should be held in highest esteem?

"You're right," Diaval sighed, rolling up the scroll and placing it on the ground next to him. "I guess there really isn't anything I can do right now except support Maleficent's desires."

"Everything will work out, you'll see," said Aurora, smiling at Diaval. She jumped up. "Now, I believe there is a mud fight I have to win. Care to join me?"

Feeling as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Diaval accepted Aurora's offer. He followed her to the battlefield, where Maleficent was coping magnificently, but still welcomed his and Aurora's help. Diaval reached down and scooped up some mud. He threw it, and smirked as it found a target. The wallerbog squealed, and instantly begin firing back. Diaval's grin faded as he found his beautiful self being covered in mud. After several minutes of being pelted relentlessly with mud balls, he was finally visited with the genius idea of creating a mudball, turning into a raven, and then dropping the mud on one of the wallerbogs. He quickly took his plan into action, but it didn't turn out exactly as he had hoped. After dropping his mudball and giving a "caw" of amusement, he was met by a mudball that sent him spiraling into the bog.

"Awk!" Diaval crowed as he thrashed about in the mud. Maleficent laughed and swooped down. She pulled him out of the mud and set him on dry ground. Diaval waddled away, holding his muddy wings away from his body awkwardly. Oh, he was going to be cleaning himself for days. Stupid mud.

...

The castle was foreboding and dismal. Its inhabitants had abandoned it long ago when it had begun to fall into disrepair. But Lydia found it easy to return it to its original state - her magic could work wonders compared to clumsy human hands.

Katherine didn't like the castle. Lydia had never asked, but she could tell her sister thought it to be a scary sort of place. There were few windows, lots of spiders, and the corridors echoed. The dark stone did little to prevent draftiness, and it was a rare occasion that flames crackled merrily in the fireplace. Lydia didn't like merriment, and besides, the noise could be distracting. A little cold never killed anyone, but Katherine shivered endlessly during the winter. Whether that was brought on by the temperature or fear, Lydia didn't know, but it annoyed her. Really, anything Katherine did was a source of irritation for Lydia.

Lydia thought Katherine to be fairly useless. In fact, many years prior, Katherine had messed up one of her potions so badly that she accidentally turned herself into a child, and was never able to reverse the effects. Lydia had been shocked when the sniveling fool had practically crawled through the door of her throne room, looking like she had when she was eight or nine. Katherine was generally very talented at potions, which was the only magical trait she seemed to possess. Lydia had punished Katherine for her stupidity, and never again touched any of her potions, save for the Invisibility Potion on very rare occasions. One such occasion was venturing into the Moors.

The day was bright and sunny - not Lydia's preferred weather. She was more satisfied with overcast, but nevertheless, she summoned Katherine and they climbed down the mountain.

The Moors was a long walk away. It took the pair half a day to get there, but it was worth it. Once they reached it, they both took a drink of Invisibility Potion. A tingle ran down Lydia's spine as the magic went into effect, concealing the sisters even from each other, and they started exploring the Moors.

All seemed well in the Moors. The creatures frolicked happily, the streams burbled, and the flowers' sweet perfume drifted over the Moors. Lydia didn't need to see her sister to know that Katherine was relaxing slightly. She was always calmed at the Moors, an upside to the journeys.

It was no surprise that the wallerbogs were having a mudfight. Lydia smirked - such silly creatures they were. Her smug look faded when a ball of mud flew astray and burst on the tree next to her. Katherine gave a small shriek and noisily stumbled into a bush. "Katherine!" hissed Lydia, her icy blue eyes flashing in the direction of the commotion.

"I'm sorry!" whined Katherine, but the damage was done. Two curious wallerbogs were staring into the forest, grunting at one another. Lydia narrowed her eyes, raised her right hand, and murmured, "Freduerant noise in woods." The wallerbogs' eyes clouded over with white for a moment, and then they blinked, their eyes returning to normal. Shaking their heads slightly, they returned to their mudfight. Katherine slowly picked herself up out of the bush, began to say something, and then cut herself off with a whimper. Lydia scowled to herself. "What is it, Katherine?"

"N-nothing, my lady."

"Speak."

"Was - that necessary, m-my lady?"

"I will take no risks, and neither should you," Lydia snapped, and she moved on.

Lydia and Katherine soon stood by the cliff where Maleficent's tree stood. Lydia couldn't help but feel a pang of wistfulness, remembering the happy. simple childhood days she had spent there. If only she could return to her youth - then, she would be able to set things right between her and Stefan, and maybe he would still be alive.

The young woman shook her head. She couldn't think like that. She had to focus on her real mission.

Lydia could hear activity in the Rowan Tree, but wasn't close enough to see what was going on. Slowly she made her way up to the tree, taking extra care to not make a sound.

"Honestly, you silly bird," a female voice said cheerily. Lydia frowned. Was that Aurora? She sounded younger….

There was an indignant cawing from the raven, Diaval. "You're covered in mud. How on earth do you expect to get all that out by just preening?"

A pause, and then Diaval, obviously having transformed into a man, announced, "I refuse to take a human bath."

"Diaval, it'll be much quicker," said Aurora, her voice sounding normal again.

"Yes, it'll be rather a bothersome activity, trying to clean yourself by preening," the younger female voice said.

Lydia now felt confused, which she didn't like. Why did Aurora's voice keep changing? Or were there two females in the Rowan Tree, Aurora and a young girl? Who was the young girl, and where was Maleficent? Lydia picked up her pace, only to step on a twig. She flinched as it snapped in two, the crack too loud for comfort. But the inhabitants of the Rowan Tree did not notice.

"I'm not taking a human bath."

"What do you have against baths?" asked the young voice. Lydia strained to identify it as she approached the tree. Had she been paying even the slightest bit of attention to her sister, who trailed behind her, perhaps she would have heard her gasp of recognition.

"Human baths are disgusting! You're wallowing in your own filth. However do you expect to become clean that way? Thank you very much, but I prefer to preen."

"You'll be preening for hours," said the little girl, her voice amused. Lydia walked around the trunk of the Rowan Tree to the side where Maleficent's nest was. She avoided the other side where visitors normally entered or exited the home, after the day when Katherine had nearly been flattened by Diaval. That had required a lot of quick magic to clear up the mess left behind, and Katherine had paid dearly for her stupidity.

"So? Better than sitting naked in a pool of water," complained Diaval. Lydia stood on her tip-toes and peered into the nest.

Three people stood in it. Aurora, a muddy Diaval, and a young faerie girl with large, familiar wings and horns. Lydia's mouth fell open as the girl giggled, "Alright, if that's how you feel about it, then preen away."

"Thank you," said Diaval sarcastically before turning back into a raven and flying up onto a branch. Behind Lydia, Katherine was trembling horribly, her breath ragged. Lydia would have been annoyed with this, but she was too confused, too fascinated with what she was seeing.

Maleficent had turned into a child.

...

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait on this chapter - I've been busy recently - but hopefully the length of the chapter can make up for the wait.

Hope you all enjoyed! Please review and tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading!

Kitty