"Maleficent," a soft voice interrupted Maleficent's nightmarish memories. "I can make it go away. Truly. I can make it so this never happened…."
"Please. Please," Maleficent begged. She couldn't feel her mouth opening and closing, her lips forming the words. Had she actually spoken, or had the words only been in her head?
Another voice, farther away and hard to hear, cried her name. Maleficent waited for the memories to go away, like the first voice promised. Losing her wings, cursing Aurora, Prince Phillip drawing away from Aurora after his kiss failed to wake her, iron, iron, iron, battle, Stefan on the ground with his eyes blank and staring and his bones broken, the memories were all she was.
"You deserve it," the voice whispered. "You horrible girl. You've only ever brought pain and misery to this world…."
Maleficent shuddered. She had brought pain. Aurora's curse…. But she had done good things, too, hadn't she? She had protected the Moors, she had saved Diaval, and she had been so regretted what she did to Aurora….
"You're a liar," Maleficent whispered, and she stepped back. Blinking, the world came back into focus, Lydia's pretty face twisted with evil excitement. Behind her, Diaval, Aurora, and Robin struggled in the air, a spell locking them in place. They were looking at her, scared. Diaval kept transforming, from man to raven to bear to lion, trying to find a form that he could use to break out of his current situation. Maleficent didn't see Katherine. "I made mistakes, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry I cursed Aurora, and I'm sorry I killed Stefan. But you, you won't be sorry once you kill me. You don't care for anyone but yourself. You let envy consume you. I am no better than you, but I am sorry that I lowered myself to such a status."
"Empty words!" Lydia howled, raising a knife. Maleficent's heart skipped a beat. "You say you are sorry, but what have you done to redeem yourself?"
"Can I? Can I redeem myself? I cursed an innocent," Maleficent cried. "That left a permanent black smudge on my soul. I can't cover that up, and I can't make it go away. But I will try to polish the rest of my soul a gleaming white!"
The knife in Lydia's hand gleamed in the light cast by the low moon. "You won't live to do that."
"Yes, I will," Maleficent growled, and she leapt into the air. Lydia flung the knife at Maleficent, but its path was disturbed by gusts created by Maleficent's wings. It fell on the edge of the cliff.
For the first time in days, Maleficent tried to remember, tried to force Lydia's spell to continue to tear the veil concealing her memories. Memories of battle and magic flooded her mind. Maleficent first had to release her family, and find Katherine. How to do that, how to do that…..
Lydia yelled and shot a spell at Maleficent, which the faerie easily avoided. Maleficent levitated Lydia as Lydia had Diaval, Aurora, and Robin. Lydia thrust out her hands, breaking the spell keeping not only her in the air, but Maleficent's family, too. Diaval transformed into a bear before he had even touched the ground, and snarling, pounced at Lydia. Robin followed, and Aurora hurried off to the base of the Rowan Tree. Maleficent realized that there was a limp figure lying on the ground, a person that could only be Katherine.
One could almost feel sorry for Lydia as a huge, strong, frightening black creature three times her weight crashed into her. Diaval roared as he pinned her to the ground with his big paws. Maleficent realized the sound must have alerted the Tree Warriors to the danger threatening the Moors. They would find the group in minutes.
Diaval gave an angry grunt to Lydia. Maleficent lifted her palms to put the sorceress to sleep, but Lydia gasped out a spell, and Diaval's great form was thrown off her. Concern for Diaval distracted Maleficent from casting her spell. The sorceress muttered her own spell.
There was a shriek from over where Katherine and Aurora were. "Aurora!" Maleficent cried, looking over to the Rowan Tree. Aurora and Katherine were both flung away from the Rowan Tree, Katherine still unconscious.
"Are you hurt?" Maleficent gasped, landing by Aurora, but Aurora was already standing up. She looked terrified, but she waved away Maleficent's concerns for her and raced back to Katherine's side. Maleficent noticed a nasty scratch on Aurora's palm, but they didn't have time to tend to it.
"She's breathing," Aurora told Maleficent, her uninjured hand over Katherine's mouth. Maleficent nodded and was about to turn around to face Lydia when someone ran into her. She gave a yelp and pushed at the person, thinking it was Lydia. The person rolled off her.
"Sorry!" Diaval panted, in human form once more. "She sent a spell at you."
"Thank you," Maleficent said, rising up in the air. She was touched. Diaval risked himself for her.
Bringing a sleeping spell to her palm, Maleficent flew at Lyida, dodging a curse. She blew the gold dust to Lydia, recognizing her move to be a weak one, but she wanted to end the fight with as little violence as possible. Of course, Lydia didn't allow Maleficent's spell to reach her. The mist floating toward Lydia was countered by a white lightning strike aimed at Maleficent. Maleficent summoned the rock bowl Katherine had created and threw it in the path of Lydia's curse. The bowl blew up, the explosion sending Maleficent to the ground. A few chunks of rock hit her face, giving her three small cuts on her face and arms. Maleficent groaned and made to stand up, but found herself being lifted up by the throat. She gagged, her wings thrashing as she tried to pull away. She looked down into Lydia's murderous gaze. Lydia summoned the knife from the other side of the cliff, smirking. Again, Maleficent tried to put Lydia to sleep, but she couldn't blow the magic to Lydia. It hovered uselessly between them.
"Settle down, and maybe I'll make your death quick," murmured Lydia, her calm, soothing tone clashing with the sadistic smile on her face. Maleficent leaned back as far as she could as Lydia placed the tip of the knife at the corner of her mouth.
There was a battle cry, and Lydia was bombarded by a number of spells. She shrieked, pressed the knife into Maleficent's skin, drawing blood, before throwing the knife at her attacker, Robin. She missed. At the same time, Diaval appeared on Maleficent's left and grabbed Lydia's wrist, squeezing it tightly and digging his fingers in her flesh in effort to make her release Maleficent. Robin's magic wasn't particularly powerful, but he managed to turn Lydia's mouth and nose into a chicken beak. Lydia gave a distressed cluck and promptly dropped Maleficent. The movement nudged Maleficent's sleeping spell in Robin's direction, and the small faerie dropped to the grass, asleep. Maleficent crouched next to him, trying to catch her breath. Diaval kneeled next to her, touching her shoulder, and asked, "Can you breathe alright?" Maleficent nodded and stood up.
Lydia was undoing Robin's damage. Maleficent took the opportunity to send a sleeping spell her way, but Lydia finished correcting her facial features and dispelled the enchantment.
"Occides!" Lydia snapped, pointing at Robin, still in the grass. Maleficent summoned the small faerie, and he landed in her hands. Anger stabbed Maleficent - she didn't know what "Occides" did, but she guessed it was very bad - and she passed Robin to Diaval. Diaval turned into a raven and flew away, Robin hanging limply from his talons. Maleficent would have to awaken Robin later. "Occides!"
Maleficent was barely able to avoid the curse, ducking only to have another spell pass by her face, almost brushing her cheek. The hair on the back of Maleficent's neck rose up, and fear shot through her. She reached out to the nature around her, calling for help as she constructed a thorn wall around Lydia.
Lydia yelled as the plants dug into her ankles, and set the brambles on fire. Maleficent cried out - Lydia was going to burn herself alive! But she seemed immune to the flames, as did the thorns tying her down.
"Occides!" Lydia yelled, pointing at the plants. The spell failed to affect the thorns. Lydia aimed at Maleficent. "Occides!"
Maleficent threw herself out of the way. Her growing wall of thorns tangled, trying to tie Lydia's hands to her side. Lydia struggled against them, and looking at Maleficent's family gathered on the other side of the cliff, yelled, "Occides!"
"No!" Maleficent screamed. Her heart frozen, she watched the magic fly toward Aurora and Katherine. But Lydia's aim was off, and the curse struck the ground at Aurora's feet. She scrambled away.
The thorns closed around Lydia's fists. She wailed and hissed, glaring at Maleficent as the spiky plant cut into her flesh. Maleficent held her gaze, trying to do away with the injuring thorns and leave only the vine. She barely managed it.
"Lydia, I am so sorry that I hurt you. I didn't mean to. I wish we could have sorted things out, that you had told me…."
"Words are useless, you fool. They're lies, meant to soothe others so that the speaker may go back to their own desired activities." Lydia struggled against her confinements. "Are you going to kill me now? Hmm? I didn't think you had the guts."
"I'm not going to kill you," Maleficent said, dropping her hands to her side, trying to cut off the connection between her magic and the vines so that they would stop growing. But they kept climbing up Lydia's body. Ice-cold panic flooded Maleficent's veins. She couldn't get the plants under control. They began to wrap around Lydia's throat. Maleficent's eyes widened. She poured all her concentration into regaining control over the thorns. Flowers bloomed at her feet. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes. Try harder.
The thick vines moaned and creaked. Maleficent imagined her magic tugging the plants back into the ground, the vines slipping back into the earth and decomposing.
It apparently worked, because the next thing Maleficent knew, Lydia yelled, "Occides!" Maleficent's eyes snapped open to see a curse soaring to her. The faerie flung herself to the ground, then rolled to the side to avoid another curse. She was caught up in a frenzied attack, and sooner before later one of those curses were going to find their mark.
There was a roar, and something huge dropped down in front of Maleficent, crouching low to the earth. Diaval snorted, smoke issuing from his nostrils. Maleficent's jaw fell open - he was a dragon.
Maleficent shrieked as Lydia's curse exploded against Diaval's skin, but his new dragon hide seemed to protect him. Diaval stalked toward Lydia - no, edged around her. Maleficent followed, and found herself by Aurora and Katherine, sheltered by Diaval. Squirming a little, Katherine moaned, pressing a hand to her head.
"Katherine! Katherine, are you alright?" Maleficent asked, helping her friend up. Katherine nodded slowly.
"I'll be fine - what's going on?" she murmured, gazing around. Her eyes fell on Diaval. "Oh. Oh, wow."
"Diaval's blocking Lydia from us. I need to end this but I don't know how," Maleficent said, despair clinging to her last few words.
"I - I can't think," Katherine said. She bent over, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her head on them.
"Can you sneak up on her? You could fly around the cliff, and then put Lydia to sleep from behind," Aurora suggested. "Diaval has her occupied."
"Thank you," said Maleficent, grabbing Aurora's hands and squeezing them before diving over the edge of the cliff. She flew discreetly along the cliffside, popping back up onto the grass behind Lydia. Preparing a spell, Maleficent glided toward Lydia, and blew the spell down to her.
Lydia was in the middle of casting a new spell when she dropped to the ground, asleep.
A weight was lifted from Maleficent's shoulders, and she landed before Lydia. She let out a sigh of relief - for now, her family was safe. Behind Maleficent, Diaval transformed back into a man.
"Maleficent, are you hurt badly?"
Maleficent touched the scratches on her face from the rock, and shook her head. "No. Are you?"
"I'm fine," said Diaval. "Good job."
"It was Aurora's idea," said Maleficent, before turning to Diaval and hugging him. "Thank you."
…
Robin was retrieved from where Diaval had placed him, and was awoken. Katherine was helped back onto her feet, and Maleficent, Diaval, Robin, Aurora, Katherine, and a few Tree Warriors that had just arrived stared down at Lydia's sleeping form.
"What do we do with her?" Aurora asked, playing nervously with the ends of her sleeves.
"Throw her off the cliff," Robin said sarcastically, glaring at Lydia.
"Robin!"
Robin sighed. "I'm just angry, Maleficent."
Softening, Maleficent said, "I understand."
"When she wakes up, she's going to do everything under the moon to escape her bonds, and I'm certain she'll succeed," said Katherine. "As she's demonstrated, she's very powerful."
"We could not wake her up," shrugged Robin.
"I don't like that option," Maleficent said immediately. It reminded her of the fate she had once gifted Aurora with. Because of Lydia's spell, Maleficent could remember the christening all too well. She remembered many things now, good and bad. All the new memories made her head hurt.
"Well, lass, we don't have many options," said Robin, exasperated. "We're not going to kill her. If she wakes up, it's likely she'll kill us."
"Could you take away her powers?" asked Diaval, crossing his arms and looking to Katherine. She thought it over.
"Yes, I can. While that certainly won't do away with her murderous intentions, she'll be easier to contain," Katherine said. "Removing a sorcerer's powers is tricky, and the results are miserable for the sorceress. Her health will resemble an ordinary human's, and she could fall victim to any human disease. It's likely that she will catch some illness, and her body, unused to the illness, may not recover."
"She could die," Maleficent summed up. Katherine nodded solemnly, looking at her sister as if Lydia were already on her death bed.
Diaval shook his head. "Looking at this with moral sense, all of these options are terrible. But we can't let her endanger anyone. She hasn't killed anyone yet, and we want to keep it that way."
"She killed our mother," Katherine said in a flat tone. Maleficent looked at her friend, shocked.
"What? Oh, Katherine, I'm so sorry," Maleficent said in a hushed tone. Katherine's mother had been a lovely person. She gently placed her hand on Katherine's shoulder, and she could feel her friend trembling underneath her fingers.
"It happened a long time ago. Lydia went into a fit of rage, and lost control of her powers," sighed Katherine.
The group was silent for a minute. Then Aurora cleared her throat and asked, "What do we do?"
"I suppose we take her powers away now," Katherine said. She stepped to her sister and knelt. She put her hands on Lydia's stomach and chest, but then gasped and jerked back from Lydia.
"What? What's wrong?" Robin asked, jumping off Aurora's shoulder into the air.
"She - she's not breathing," Katherine's voice shook. Maleficent's hands flew to her mouth.
"What? Are you sure? How is that possible?" asked Robin.
"I killed her," Maleficent whispered, and she fell to her knees. Maleficent needed to scream, but fear and horror had stuffed themselves down her throat and she couldn't breathe.
"No!" Katherine said, still looking at Lydia. "No, Maleficent, you didn't, Lydia - she killed herself."
"No, no, my spell, the sleeping spell - I did something wrong - I killed her!" Maleficent whimpered, and sobs began to wrack her body. Someone had died. Lydia was dead. Maleficent had killed her. Just when she had begun to accept her previous mistakes, Maleficent had went and killed a person. Diaval and Aurora kneeled next to Maleficent, Robin at her side, trying to calm her down. Maleficent fell into Aurora, unable to support herself in her grief and horror.
"Maleficent, Lydia killed herself in her sleep. She was unconscious, but she knew what was going on, and she knew that she was defeated, and she couldn't stand that, so she used the killing curse on herself," Katherine said quickly, sounding as though she were struggling to stay calm.
"We didn't - there wasn't any light, we didn't see anything - "
"Her magic was inside of her, just as yours is in your core. It wasn't - it wasn't even that hard for her to - to commit suicide," Katherine started to cry. Maleficent pulled away from Aurora's arms to embrace Katherine. They both cried, mourning the death of a friend and sister who had really died long ago.
…
Holy crap, you guys, I'm sorry this took so long to post. I had a lot of trouble writing it, to tell the truth. Thank you, Timeraven, for your lovely review, which inspired me to sit down and finish typing this up. I actually ended up on a writing spree, and I've got the next chapter typed up. It was meant to be a part of this chapter, but the entire thing was about 5,000 words long, so I split it in half. So the next chapter should be up soon.
Please review! Constructive criticism and random jokes welcome!
Thanks for reading!
Kitty
P.S. Would anyone be interested if I posted a collection of Maleval one-shots?