Lily was not permitted to fly for a week after that. The rabbits were delicious and her mother purred the entire time while eating them, but she still declared she would break Lily's neck if she ever dove out of the sky to catch a rabbit again. In the days that followed, she started to follow a bit of schedule. Magic practice with her mothers in the morning. Flying and hunting in the afternoon. And finally sparring in the evening. Without their knowledge, she went to the Evil Queen's castle every other night to learn from her. Unfortunately, the Queen wasn't going to tell her anything until Lily could beat her in chess. It was an annoying game but Lily loved a challenge.
While things were going better for her, they were at a stalemate for her mothers.
Maleficent purred loudly, laying in Regina's soft bed. The queen was barely conscious after a night of epic lovemaking. "Regina? Are you awake?" Regina muttered something intelligible and rolled closer to her, laying her head on her shoulder. The dragon chuckled and ran her fingers through thick black hair. Regina cuddled even closer to her, soaking up her inhuman heat. This was the way it was supposed to be. Her and Regina. Just enjoying each other. Then the quiet atmosphere was broken when Regina's phone rang.
The queen groaned and sat up to answer it. "Hello, Miss Swan. It is the middle of the night." Mal turned her head, silently listening to the conversation.
"We found the Evil Queen's hide out. It's a castle in the north woods."
"You just happened to be in the north woods in the middle of the night?"
"Me and Killian were taking a walk." The blonde defended. "I thought you might want to know. We can check it out now if you want."
"That is ridiculously stupid, Miss Swan." Regina sighed. "I'll be there in a moment." she hung up the phone and sat up. "I'll be right back, Mal, we're just going to scout the perimeter."
"I won't be here when you do." Mal sat up and started to get dressed.
"Mal. Baby, stop. Please." Regina teleported across the bed in front of her and pulled her close. "Please, this'll only take a second. I'll go see if it's her castle and put up a barrier so she can't get out. Then tomorrow we'll get rid of her for good. She'll be out of our lives, I promise."
"She isn't the problem." The dragon growled. "I can't believe that you have become so blind. Maybe the Queen was right."
"About what?" Regina demanded. "And when have you two talked?"
"That when it comes down to it, you will always choose them over us. You've moved on-"
"Maleficent, don't you dare!" Regina roared, suddenly infuriated that Mal would diminish their love. "I love you. I always have-"
"You let Emma kill me." The dragon interrupted. "You let Snow and Charming get away with what they did to us. If we had ever raised a claw against them, you would've thrown us away. Wouldn't you?" She grabbed Regina by the throat. "Wouldn't you?" Regina scowled and pushed her off. "Because they are Henry's grandparents. Because your world revolves around them."
"It does not!"
Maleficent sighed. "I talked to the Queen the night you and Lily left to pick up the things she bought. We talked, fought a little and made out."
Regina slowly turned around. "What?" Her eyes read murder and betrayal, but the dragon was hardly unafraid. She'd felt Regina's wrath before. Quite frankly, it was a little weak compared to the rest of her now that she was a hero.
"I said." Mal repeated, very slowly and firmly. "I talked with the Evil Queen the night you and Lily left. We talked….fought a little…and made out." She snorted, blasting smoke out of her nose, remembering that night and how the fire had churned within her gut and made her beast so excited it could hardly be controlled. Regina seemed to understand her reaction.
"How dare you? Mal-"
"I don't want to hear it. Go be with your hero friends and leave me and Lily to rot in darkness." She teleported home and immediately tossed the couch across the living room before going into her bedroom, slamming the door so hard it broke, and laying down. Sleep eluded her for a few minutes, but after that she was out like a light.
/
Lily scowled at the chessboard in front of her. She was on a terrible losing streak at the moment. The Evil Queen was not far away, staring into her golden mirror that she'd brought out of the sanctum and into the study. Her chuckling made Lily look up. "What is it?"
"The fools have found me." She continued to laugh. "And they appear to be trying to lock me in. Aren't they cute?"
Lily scoffed. "Adorable. Your move."
The Queen looked over her shoulder, glancing only once at the board. "Queen to Pawn 3. Checkmate in 2."
"What?!"
The Queen laughed again. "Learn from loss, my dear."
Lily sighed and examined the board again after moving the specified piece. In addition to learning some things about magic and queenly etiquette, she was helping her half mother piece together her memories. Without them, the Evil Queen could not thrive as the Evil Queen. Without them she was a mere husk with Regina's face. Lily had spoken with Regina enough to bridge some of the gaps, but there were private things that she didn't know that could essentially make a huge difference in determining whether or not the Evil Queen would go back to her familiar ways. For the most part, she actually seemed content teaching and getting to know Lily, occasionally lusting after her blonde mother, but that could all be a trick. Lily was prepared for anything to happen. Nothing had as of late. "Do you love my mom?" she ventured to ask, studying the board.
"Yes." The Queen answered simply.
"Would you give up your hatred for Regina to be with her?"
"I would give up much more." Came the reply. "Maleficent should not have to settle for her. A dragon's mate should love her above all others, should choose her before any other choice. There should be no hesitation, no doubts, no fears. We both know that Regina will always choose her new family. She's a hero after all. When it comes to you, she will always hesitate, she will always doubt, she will always be afraid of losing the perfect family she has worked so hard to get. For Maleficent...it will never be enough."
Lily glanced up at her. The Queen was too busy watching what looked like the Charmings, Killian and Regina try and sneak into the castle. Lily would like to believe that one day they could all be a real family, excluding the idiots of course. Sadly, that did not seem to be the case. Regina was indeed more focused on being a hero and her son but Lily understood that. She was willing to work around it, which was probably why her blonde mother was so annoyed with it. Maleficent did deserve someone like the Evil Queen described. One who would do anything for her. The more she thought about it, she realized that that would probably not be Regina. Regina was good now. Maleficent was still the Dragon Queen, was still the Mistress of all evil, the Evilest of them all. The Great Beast. Less of a beast now, but certainly not a hero. It probably wouldn't be the Evil Queen either. It was clear she wanted to be with Mal, maybe because she truly loved her but Lily hardly believed that was the only reason. "Your move." The Queen magically waved her hand, moving her queen piece across the board.
"Checkmate."
"Son of a bitch!" Lily angrily reset the board. "One more game. I think I have it now." The Queen chuckled, taking a seat across from her in a deep seated throne like chair, relaxing almost sideways. Lily moved a pawn piece.
"Checkmate in 7." the Queen smirked, moving her piece. The door behind them burst open as the heroes arrived but neither made any move to get up.
"What's going on here?" Regina demanded. "Lily, what are you doing here?"
"Trying to win at this damn game." She snapped. "It's definitely rigged."
The Evil Queen laughed. "Yes, it most definitely is."
"Lily, get away from her." Regina commanded, raising a hand. The heroes started to spread out around the chess players.
"That is not a good idea." Lily muttered, moving another piece.
"They won't listen, dear." The Queen wiggled her fingers, moving her knight. "They never do."
Regina angrily kicked over the table and conjured a sword. Neither of the players moved. They only exchanged annoyed looks before looking at Regina. "Why did you do that?" Lily asked.
"Because I need you to move so I can kill her. Thank you very much." She swung the sword but the Evil Queen only transformed herself into a raven and flew off towards her mirror. Snow fired an arrow but she missed.
"Will you cut it out and just talk about this?" Lily asked halfheartedly. She just wanted to play her game and finally win at it. Her brunette mother ignored her. Her gaze was fixed on the mirror. It was like she'd seen a ghost.
"How did she get that?"
"Magic. Duh."
Molten gold started to pour out of the mirror, slowly shifting and transforming before their very eyes. It started to rise and harden, building itself into a golden soldier in the image of none other than the Huntsman.
"Graham?" Emma said. Graham responded with a hard kick to her chest that made her slam against the wall. David attacked him, his sword bouncing harmlessly off gold plated flesh and was thrown halfway across the room. Snow wisely moved back. She tried to shoot him, but the arrows just bounced off of him. Graham turned his attention to Regina.
"Wait!" Lily leaped in front of her. Graham froze and the Evil Queen flew down to land on his shoulder. "Hey, look. Enough." She turned to Regina. "The Queen hasn't hurt anyone or done anything to warrant her death right now."
"She put her hands on Mal." Regina hissed.
Lily immediately turned around to look at the raven. The Queen morphed back to explain her side of the story. "I didn't attack Maleficent. If anything, she kicked my ass. All I did was kiss her." She looked at Regina. "And she kissed back."
"You bitch!" Regina tried to attack her but Lily placed herself between them.
"Enough! Go home."
Regina looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"
"I said go home. Now." Lily replied. The Queen teleported the fallen heroes and Snow away. Graham remained where he was, ready to protect his mistress. "Please."
"Lily-"
"Go see to your friends. I'll take care of this." Lily commanded. Her mother frowned, seemingly torn, before deciding to go check on the heroes. Lily turned to the Queen. "Another round." She said with a grin. "I'm gonna win this time."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Instead of going home that night, Lily made a small detour to town hall where Regina's apple tree grew tall and proud in the front garden. She picked a small patch of about 10 apples and took them home with her. The house was dark and quiet when she walked in. She placed the apples on the kitchen table and walked into her mother's bedroom. It was pitch black and she could hear Mal's soft snoring/purring as she slept. Lily went to change clothes and came back to climb into bed. Mal growled when she laid on top of her on her back.
"Lilith, what the hell?"
"I love you. I can't express my love for my mother?" Lily grinned, rolling off.
"How many times must I tell you not to wake me when I'm sleeping?"
"I don't know." She muttered, kissing her mother's cheek. "You okay?"
"I have you. I am perfect."
"We both know that's a lie. You kissed the Evil Queen?" Mal immediately sat up, eyes blazing angrily in the darkness. "Regina got it out of her. Look, why don't we head to the Rabbit Hole tomorrow? Get some drinks, do a little dancing, forget all about our troubles."
"What were you doing at the Queen's castle?" Her mother asked, ignoring her suggestion.
"Playing chess. Do you know how to play? Can you help me beat her? She uses her queen like a fucking battering ram. I can't strategize around it." Lily collapsed onto the bed.
The dragon hummed. "She loved playing games."
"Want to invite her to dinner?"
"What? Have you lost your mind?"
"We should do something, Mom. You're always sad and I hate to see you that way. I want you to be happy." Lily said. "Besides, dinner with the Evil Queen? That would be entertaining. Hell, let's invite Regina too. If she's not too pissed about me kicking her out tonight."
Maleficent smirked. "You are asking for trouble, my dear."
"What's life without a little bit of it?" Lily grinned. "I could ask the Queen. You know, make sure she doesn't come wearing those crazy outfits of hers."
Maleficent chuckled. "You're serious about this?"
"Yeah, and this way, you hold all the cards. You can be the badass dragon bitch that I know you are."
"You mean, instead of moping over a less than ideal love situation."
"I mean...take back your heart and only give it to whoever's truly worthy." She watched her mother ponder her words.
"Well...what would we serve?"
Lily grinned and hugged her. "We'll come up with something. A family dinner with the Mayor and the Evil Queen. What have we just agreed to?"
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