"It has been a long time, my friend."
"My friend." Those words lingered on the Horned King's minds for several moments.
The Villains scarcely payed the Horned King any visit. Not since The Black Cauldron failed to garner any form of recognition. Truth be told, the skeletal king was quite surprised to see Maleficent at his domain.
"Have you more important fiends to pay visit to?" Inquired the Horned King, his voice dead and monotone as he spoke. "I do not see what business you would have here, of all places. There is nothing here that would be of interest, especially to you. There are obviously others, so why not pay visit to them, instead?"
"Is my presence unwelcome?" The fairy inquired in response, her brows furrowing to form an offended frown. "I see. Well, in that case, I'd best be on my way."
The lich frowned, recalling the time when Maleficent first made her appearance; Uninvited she came to the king and queen, cursing their newborn baby and condemning the child to death.
People nowadays consider fairies as creatures that grant wishes and aid others in the achievement of happy endings. In truth, fairies were malicious creatures that found enjoyment in the misfortune of others. Most of them were mischief makers and pranksters, but Maleficent was the worst of them all, being the self proclaimed Mistress of all Evil. So terrible was she, that the rest of the fairies abandoned her in the hopes that they could continue on their trouble-making and pranking without fear and worry that Maleficent - Originally named Carabosse, - Would eventually turn on them.
As the fairy turned to leave, the Horned King stepped forward.
"I made no suggestions that your presence is unwelcome," started the lich. "I was merely stating that it was a surprise. I did not expect any visitors. Especially you."
The fairy turned and arched her brow upon hearing the words of the skeletal king.
"Well, if that is the case," started the fairy. "You should show more appreciation. You hardly ever have any visitors."
The skeletal king stared at the fairy with a frown. It was not as though she was unwelcome. In fact, the Horned King appreciated the visit from the Mistress of all Evil herself. But the king was having problems understanding why she would pay visit to him. Especially when he was so obscure, compared to the other villains.
So, the horned lich was left to wonder: Why did she come?
"I am not without gratitude," started the skeletal king. "You are welcome here."
At these words, the fairy turned to face the Horned King once again, now with a smile gracing her lips.
Let it not be said that the Horned King was oblivious as to who Maleficent was. The fairy was prideful. The lich-king was knowledgeable enough to know that Maleficent was an entity that demanded high respect. King Stefan and Queen Leah had the unfortunate fate of learning for themselves that a lack of invitation would not go unnoticed by the dark fairy.
Every character knew that.
Maleficent was not one to tolerate being excluded from parties, or being shown the door. But was the Horned King welcoming Maleficent because he knew this? In truth, that was not the reason for his welcoming of the dark fairy. He was glad to have the fairy visit him, but he was uncertain about why. Maleficent was not one to normally visit someone for a mere chat.
"Be there anything I can do to make her ladyship comfortable?" Inquired the Horned King.
"Not at this moment," Maleficent responded.
"Then," started the Horned King, his hands clasped together behind his back as he walked around the fairy in slow steps. "May I inquire as to what brought you to this world of Prydain? Why did you came here?"
That was when the Horned King came to a halt before the dark fairy, locking his gaze onto hers. No matter how hard he tried, Maleficent's eyes were unreadable, so the lich could not fathom what could be on her mind.
"Your majesty, is it of great importance?" The fairy responded with a kind smile - Kindly, albeit accompanied with a slight hint of maliciousness. Such was to be expected from the Mistress of all Evil, making her all the more mysterious.
As for Maleficent's question, the Horned King could only frown upon hearing the fairies words. In truth, it was important. Of course, it was not a question revolving around life or death. But he wanted to know why she chose to visit him, of all villains, when there were others.
But alas. Before the Horned King had the chance to inquire further about the fairies presence, Maleficent had already started to wander off.
"So, I am number Twenty-Five, correct?" Inquired the Horned King, glancing over at the man steering the coach. In one hand, the man in red held a whip for urging the animals onward. In the other, he held the reigns to the mules that pulled the coach.
"Well, not really. You're just from the Twenty-Fifth film in the canon. As far as we villains go, I'd say you're about…"
The Horned King arched his brow at the man in red, who now held up his hands to count his fingers.
The Coachman(as he was called) was going over the various evil-doers that have been introduced over the years, but it was difficult for him to keep track of so many villains. Especially when there were more then one villain in certain films. Pinocchio, the second film in the animated canon, was one such an example, having such villains like Honest John, Gideon, Stromboli, Monstro, and the Coachman himself.
To add further complication, the Coachman had only eight fingers; four digits on each hand.
"Can't say I remember the exact amount," said the Coachman with a shrug of his shoulders. "But obviously, you're the most recent fiend we've 'ad."
"You have four fingers on each hand."
The Coachman stared at the horned lich for a moment, clueless as to what the lich was talking about, only to realize…
"Oh! this 'ere?" The Coachmen started with a laugh, holding up a gloved hand. "Quite observant, I'll give you that much. A possible mistake on me an'maters part… Or is it?"
The Coachman flashed the Horned King a wicked smirk. A smirk that gave way to a sort of maliciousness to his otherwise kindly appearance(Though truth-be-told, the Horned King could not see anything overly kindly about the Coachman, but if the children were so easily fooled by the old man's appearance).
With a loud crack of his whip, the Coachman urged the mules onward. Off in the distance, the Horned King took note of a particular mountain surrounded by an aura of foreboding.
"You'll be meetin' with eleven of your fellow fiends once we make our way to Bald Mountain, though you still 'ave yet to meet with the others."
"Who will I be meeting with?" Inquired the Horned King.
"Well, first off," started the Coachman, "You'll be meetin' with the Queen. You'll also be meetin' with my fellow mates, Honest John and Gideon. There is also Chernabog 'imself, and the three Tremaines. The Queen of Hearts, Cap'n James Hook, Maleficent 'an Shere Khan."
"Aren't there more?"
"Yes, but they're probably off on their own business at the time. Don't worry, you'll be meetin' with them soon," stated the Coachman. Another loud 'crack' followed, echoing in the air as he urged the mules to press onward.
The road to the top of the mountain was long and treacherous. The mules dragging the coach now had to go in a slower and steadier pace. The journey was perilous. Any accidents and the whole coach could be brought tumbling down.
But the Coachman was cautious. As they neared the top, the mules became more hesitant, but the sting of his whip urged them forward. Onward they went, until they at last arrived at their destination.
As the Horned King stepped off from the coach, a chilling voice caught his attention.
"You are late," A deep, rumbling voice spoke out, and it was at that moment when the Horned King saw it; A humongous, winged, figure, at the top of the mountain. It's muscular arms crossed over it's chest as it stared down at the two with eyes that shone like two moons on a cold, Halloween night.
"My apologies, mate," the Coachman started with an apologetic tip of his hat to the great demon. "But you know how these stubborn animals get." The Coachman then casts his eye on the mules, huddled together and trembling from the sight of the gigantic creature.
"A bunch a' pansy asses, if I do say so myself." The Coachman frowned at the cowardly mules, before turning to the demon before them. "This ol' chap that I bring with me is the Horned King."
"Horned King," the demonic entity repeated, now scratching his chin in thought as he examined the horned lich below him. Then, with a frightening smile, the demon reached his hand down and carefully picked the skeletal lich up, holding him in the palm of his gigantic hand.
"You look like an interesting one. I am Chernabog, the father of evil, and master of the night."
The Horned King was without fear. The skeletal lich bowed to the great demon and was lowered back down onto the ground.
"The other fiends are dying to meet you. Make your way down through that cave to meet your acquaintances."
"It shall be done," said the Horned King. Turning back to the Coachman, the lich made a motion with his hand toward the Coachman. "Will you be joining me?"
"In a minute, let me just tie this bit of rope 'ere!" The Coachman piped in response. Soon enough, the man came to the lich's side and led the Horned King down to the depths of Bald Mountain.