Maleficent stared down a corridor, full of iron thorns. She held a staff in her left hand, and her back felt odd. Maybe that was because she was somehow holding herself differently, but before she had time to identify it, someone spoke.

"Mistress?" Diaval asked from behind her. Maleficent wondered why he called her mistress, but her only response was beginning to slink past the iron spikes. She couldn't think why she was doing this, but it was important she get past these brambles.

Silently, Maleficent navigated through the deadly trap. She spared a few glances to see how Diaval was doing, and was surprised to see he was toting around an unconscious, floating young man. She had no idea who the man was, or why he was like that, or why Diaval was leading him, but every time these questions came to her lips, she turned away.

A burning pain shot through Maleficent, and she gasped as she awoke, ending the dream. Her eyes flew open, revealing only a starry night. She took a few heavy breaths to calm her racing heart as she looked around. Robin was still asleep by her side, and she saw Diaval the raven sitting above her. He too appeared to also be asleep, and Maleficent was glad that she hadn't woken either of them.

Maleficent tried to settle back to sleep, but she couldn't stop thinking about that dream. She was sure the corridor was the same one from earlier that day, but she had no idea why she had to pass through it. Why had Diaval called her - oh. She had been Diaval's mistress, once, after saving his life. The thought was foreign to Maleficent. Diaval, her servant? How strange.

It was still the middle of the night. Maleficent knew she couldn't go for a flight to settle her mind, but she decided just to climb out of her tree. Then, if Robin woke up, she could alert him to her presence before he panicked much.

Maleficent stood for a moment at the trunk, gazing into the sky. Stars twinkled, and the moon was full and bright. Maleficent wondered if her parents were up there, their smiles shining down at her with the light of the stars. The thought was comforting, and Maleficent walked to sit on the edge of the cliff. She began to lean back into the tree, but something straight and stiff stopped her. She looked back.

A staff stood against the tree trunk. A large stone set on top of it gleamed in the moonlight. The slim wood was twisted and gnarled, like an aged tree.

It was the staff from her dream.

…

"Maleficent?"

Only when Maleficent's eyes slid open did she realize she had fallen asleep. Bleary eyed, she looked up.

"Maleficent, where are you?"

"Robin, I'm down here," Maleficent announced, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she stood up. Her wings stretched, knocking the staff over.

"Oh, thank the gods," Robin said as Maleficent flew into the tree. "I didn't know what to think when I woke up and found you gone…."

"Where were you?" Diaval asked, turning into a human. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course, I'm fine," Maleficent said. "I'm sorry I worried you, I was just sleeping out of the tree. I didn't mean to fall asleep there, but I had another one of those dreams last night, and couldn't fall back to sleep. I went out of the tree, but then - I found a staff leaning against the trunk. And I recognized it, I saw the exact same staff in my dream! I sat next to it to think, and I guess I fell asleep."

Diaval was silent, his dark eyes worried. Maleficent turned to him. "Did you know that staff was there?"

"Yes," Diaval nodded slowly.

"Why is it there? Whose is it? I saw it in my dream. I was using it."

"What was your dream about?" asked Robin.

"Diaval and I were trying to get through that corridor of iron thorns in Aurora's castle," Maleficent said, looking to Diaval. "Or, I think it was the same corridor from yesterday. I was holding the staff, and you - Diaval, you were pulling along a floating boy. We worked our way past most of the thorns, but then I woke up."

Maleficent stared at Diaval, who didn't seem to know what to say. He exchanged a look with Robin, who hovered in the air nervously.

"It's just a dream, isn't it?" she asked, her heart beginning to pound in dread. "But… then why is that staff there? I've never seen it before. Whose is it?"

After a moment, Diaval sighed and said, "It's yours."

"Mine? Why would I need a staff?"

Diaval looked upset as he thought of what to say. Maleficent remembered using the staff in her dream, holding it to the side as she focused on staying away from the iron spikes. She was so tall, she had to keep twisting her head to keep her horns from bumping against the thorns. How Maleficent had managed to flawlessly keep her wings out of harm's way was -

Wait.

"I didn't have wings," Maleficent muttered. Diaval looked startled, and Robin's wings stopped beating so suddenly he nearly fell out of the tree.

"What?"

"In my dream, I was using the staff because I didn't have wings!" Maleficent exclaimed. "It was like my first dream, when I woke up and didn't have any wings, but it must have been later…."

Maleficent ached at the thought of not having wings. To never feel the wind rushing through her feathers, never soar above the clouds, never have an aerial advantage when having a mud fight with the wallerbogs…. But of course, her wings were still firmly attached to her back. They rustled to assure her of this. It was all a dream, but then why would she have the staff…?

"Why didn't I have wings?" Maleficent asked. Diaval put his head in his hands, then ran his fingers through his hair. Robin looked at Maleficent in what could only be identified as pity.

"Maleficent - "

"And don't tell me it was just a dream, because I know it wasn't!" Maleficent cried, her voice rising. She was confused - what had happened to her poor wings? When did she lose them? How? Maleficent had never before heard of a faerie without wings.

"That's not what I was going to say," Diaval said, looking up with pain etched in his face. "I - I think we should talk about this with Aurora."

"Why? What does Aurora have to do with the loss of my wings?" Maleficent said angrily. She instantly felt bad for speaking of Aurora in such a harsh tone, but she wanted to know what was being hidden from her immediately.

"She can help me explain," Diaval said. "I - I can't do it by myself. I'll go to the castle right now and see if she can come back to the Moors, and we can talk."

"Why can't we all just go to the castle?" Maleficent asked. She clenched her fists in frustration, annoyed at the world. What was going on? Diaval rubbed his temples.

"Alright, then, come on," Diaval said. A moment later, Maleficent, Diaval, and Robin flew out of the tree. Maleficent's spirit began to rise as her wings pumped hard to propel her across the sky, but then she remembered - there would be, or there had been, a time when her wings were gone. And she sank into misery once more.

…

Aurora was again surprised at Maleficent, Diaval, and Robin's arrival. This time, she was in a meeting with a large group of robed people, whom Maleficent assumed to be the Council.

"Maleficent, Dia - what's wrong?" Aurora's happy smile faded at the grim looks on the trio's faces. She stood up from her throne. A member of the Council cleared his throat loudly, but Aurora's focus was only on Maleficent, Diaval, and Robin.

"May we see you once you are done here?"

"Is it important?"

"Very."

"Then it cannot wait." Aurora turned to the Council. "My deepest apologies, but I believe my presence is needed elsewhere."

"But Your Majesty - " began the elderly, overweight man who had cleared his throat.

"We will return to our business tomorrow, at the same time," Aurora announced, hurrying down to where Maleficent, Diaval, and Robin stood, a guard not far behind them. Aurora gave Maleficent a brief smile, and they exited the throne room.

"Thank you, Smith," Aurora said to the guard, nodding her head in dismissal. The guard walked away, his metal armor clanking. "What is the matter, Diaval?"

Maleficent answered, "I need to know what happened to my wings."

At first, Aurora looked stricken. Her look of surprise changed to one of grief. "How did you find out?"

"I had a dream."

"Oh. Let's go to my room."

Maleficent was a bit more than annoyed at the extra waiting, and the moment Aurora's door closed, she asked, "What happened?"

Aurora and Diaval exchanged a look before they began to tell the story.

...

That's the best cliffhanger I can come up with for now. Sorry, I'm not Rick Riordan. But I'm working on it. *evil grin*

This chapter's a bit short, so sorry. But the next one should be quite long.

Please review! Constructive criticism and random jokes welcome!

Thanks for reading!

Kitty