In the same moment she grabbed his hand, they were whisked away. In the blink of an eye, they were back in the ballroom. But things had changed.

From the looks of it, some time had passed.

Everyone she had ever known stood in the ballroom dressed in black.

Her mother sat in the throne, moved toward the corner of the room, out of the way of everyone, still looking much older than Mal had remembered her ever looking.

Mourners stood all around the glass casket, and inside, looking as if she was merely sleeping from one of her mother's curses, was Mal herself.

Ben, dressed in all black, and looking quite stunning, or at least he would if he didn't look so hollow, sat next to the glass case, as if he were there to keep watch over it. She almost missed it, but a small crown of obsidian graced his blond head.

Her mother had followed through on one of her promises it seemed.

Mal turned to Hades, the scene slowly coming into sharper focus, as if waking up from a dream. "What is going on?"

"Your funeral," Hades said, looking around at it all. "Seven days have passed."

At first, the realization that a whole week had passed was a shock, but then she came to terms with it. "Seven days?! How can I come back if I've been dead that long?"

Hades just gave her a knowing smile and snapped his fingers. "Like this," He said.

In an instant, all around them, the scene came to life, someone in the middle of a speech, their words sad and heavy, pretending they had truly known her. Several sniffles throughout the audience.

Hades snapped his fingers once more and it all froze.

"I need you to introduce me to your mother," Hades said next. "It's vital that she knows she won't be coming down with me by force."

Something clicked inside Mal's head then. "You used me to try and set you up with my mom," She said. "You put on this big show of communicating with me through Charlie, all because you want my mom." It was almost laughable, but then something clicked. "Maybe there is a way we can all be happy."

She turned toward her mother and then back to Hades. It just might work.

She stepped closer to her mother, in the corner on her throne and nodded to Hades. With a single snap, everything came back to life again. When Maleficent looked up next, her daughter stood before her, not dead in the least, as she had previously thought.

For a moment, her mother jumped up in the throne, but then as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.

"Hello, Mother," Mal said, keeping her anger of the cold variety, the one her mother knew best. "You were thinking you would never see me again and yet here I am."

"How did you outwit that sap, Hades?" Maleficent asked. "He and I had a deal."

Something started to make sense then. "You planned to kill me from the start," She realized. "You wanted to keep all your magic and the name Maleficent all to yourself." She laughed. "But once again, you didn't take into account love."

Her mother's eyes grew wide.

"Oh yes, mother," Mal said next. "Once again, weak love is going to be your downfall. Love of power which has corrupted you beyond anything vile or frightening anymore." A commotion started behind her. "But-"

"Mal!" Ben called out, his voice full of hope for the first time in a while. She could hear it, but she didn't dare look his way yet.

"I have a proposition for you, Mother," Mal said next. "Since you're so enamored with power and holding control over a kingdom, I found you the perfect one!" She turned toward Hades. "She's all yours. Mother, may I present the King of Hell, Mr. Hades himself."

The interaction between them was not what she expected at all.

Maleficent looked at Hades as if she would set him on fire with her gaze if given the chance. Hades looked rather bashful, never a look Mal had expected to see on the God of the Underworld.

They had obviously met before and it hadn't gone well.

"What are you doing here?" Maleficent asked, her anger far from the cool brand of anger she was known for. "Wasn't my scorning enough for you or have you come back for more?"

Hades took a deep breath and straightened his posture further. "I've come to collect what's mine," he said, looking more confident the longer he stood there. "I've come to collect on a promise that was made millennia ago, and provide you with anything and everything you will ever need as my Queen of the Underworld."

Maleficent spit in his direction.

"I didn't want your offer then, and I don't want your offer now!" Maleficent growled at him. "There is nothing you can do or say that will make me follow you down to that dreadful place."

Hades, at first, looked hurt. Like she had scorned him, not for the first time either. He took a deep breath, then brushed it off. "Things have changed since my last offer," he said. "Updates have been made and I am willing to offer you a deal so you can return here and visit your daughter whenever you'd like." He was ever the business man, even if he was a scorned one.

Mal hung on his every word, seeing the subtle similarities between Hades himself and Ben. Two kings of different worlds, but very similar in the way they held themselves and the way they responded to rejection.

Speaking of Ben, he and more of the people there for her funeral were starting to notice the conversation in the corner.

She would have a lot of explaining to do.

But at that moment, there were more important things going on. Ben and the other students could wait. She was still trying to save the world, the best way she knew how. She had to get her mother to accept Hades' offer.

At the mention of Mal, Maleficent turned to her. "You think I honestly care about my daughter?" She asked. "She's not anything I would ever consider coming back for. She failed me and all of my expectations." She looked around the room, spreading her arms wide. "Besides, why would I want to give up ruling the free world now that it's all under my command?"

"Because you know it won't last," The voice that never failed to send shivers down her spine in the best way possible. "You know how the line of magic works." Ben stood next to her, his eyes intense on Maleficent. "You killed your own daughter and yet she still lives. You're getting weaker as the days crawl on."

Maleficent turned on him then. "You are the one who killed my daughter, pup!" She shouted at him. "Let's not forget that little fact, shall we?"

"What if I made you a better offer?" Hades said next, commanding all the attention back to him. "We all by now know the rules of the line of magic, but that is only if the magic users are on the same plane of existence." Maleficent still looked like she wanted to kill the God of the Underworld, but there was some interest in her eyes too. "If you come with me, I'll let you rule the underworld with me. You'll never age. You'll keep your magic, and you can come up to the human world whenever you wish for 24 hours at a time, whether to visit your daughter or not."

For a moment, Maleficent seemed to consider it briefly. Then she turned her gaze on Mal. "But what would I do about my sweet child and her immature magic?" She said next. "She's not old enough to rule a kingdom, even if she is half human. Someone has to be responsible for her wayward magic."

Mal knew what she had to do then.

"Hades?" She turned toward the God of the Underworld. "If I don't cast any magic until I'm of faerie age, and if I don't accept the crown until I'm of faerie age, does that mean I can be free of my mother as a half human at 18?"

Hades was the best lawyer in all the realms after all. If anyone would know, it would be him.

"Yes." His answer was slow, deliberative. "I believe that would suffice as far as the laws of magic are concerned."

Mal looked around the room, several eyes were now on her. Ben and Hades and Maleficent all waiting for what was to come next.

"On penalty of death, I vow to use no more magic until I am of legal faerie age at 22." Ben next to her looked pained, but she put her hand up to stop him. "I vow to not rule, nor engage in any royal politics until I am of legal faerie age at 22."

Gasps sounded throughout the crowd, but there were enough people there that it would count as a binding promise. Still, she repeated it two more times to make sure the promise would be binding.

"Will that suffice?" She asked, avoiding Ben, but looking to Hades himself. "Does that keep the kingdom safe from my mother interfering again?"

Hades nodded once, a short curt nod. Even he knew the ramifications of her promises.

Mal took a step closer to her mother. "You have no hold over me unless I use magic or ascend the throne before I'm of legal age." She said, stepping up onto the platform with the throne and closer to her mother, still the queen and the ruler of the seven kingdoms. "That's still four more years. Four more years for you to age, and grow older and older by the day. Four years for your magic to grow stale. Four more years of terror and hate from your subjects. Is that what you really want, Mother?" She stared her mother down. "Do you really wish to be hated and grow old and withered?"

She knew she had reached something deep inside her. "Take Hades' offer, mother," She said gently. "It's a good deal, even if you could never love him as much as you love King Arthur." Maleficent stiffened at the mention of King Arthur. "Take the deal and rule the underworld as it was meant to be ruled. Gain your rightful kingdom, just as you always wanted."

Malefient turned to Hades then. "If I do this, I want full reign over torturing souls."

Hades gave another nod. "All that's left to do now is die." He told her. "I'll have everything ready when you arrive."

Then, just like that, Hades was gone just as he had arrived.

Mal pulled the ceremonial blade, short and sharp, from Ben's waist. "You heard him, Mother." She passed her the knife. "Your kingdom awaits."

Ben pulled her deep into the forest, away from the prying eyes, away from all the happy tears of her being alive. He pulled her far away from anyone else. For a long while, they simply sat in silence under the trees, speckles of sunlight coming through and warming them.

"Is it truly all over?" Ben asked, never taking his eyes off of her.

She had never realized how much she had missed the sun and its warmth. She hadn't realized how cold the underworld had been, how devoid of life it truly felt. She turned her attention back toward him, the golden sun catching his golden hair and making him look like a true king. "Not yet," She said. "I must keep that promise. I understand if that puts you in a sticky situation being king and all."

There was no other way. It had to be done.

"I would understand if that means we're done and you choose another queen, or-"

His hand gently moved her gaze back to him. "I don't want another queen. I want to rule the kingdom with you by my side and I will do whatever it takes for you to be my queen, today, tomorrow, ten years from now. I will wait for you."

Tears blurred her vision. "I can't live in the kingdom. I can't do magic. I can't know anything about the kingdom. I don't even know where I can go or live to avoid it all."

"I do," he said, a realization shining in his eyes. "If I made a promise to you now, would there be any ramifications?"

She couldn't tear her eyes away from him. She couldn't think clearly. She shook her head slowly. They were free and clear for the moment, as long as. "No promises about the kingdom or magic, please."

Better to be safe than sorry.

He gave a brief nod. "I love you, Mal." His gaze never left hers. "I promise to take care of you however I can until the day comes when you can be my queen." he kissed her forehead. "I promise there will be a place for you when the time comes." He kissed her left cheek. "I promise that I will do whatever I can to make sure you keep that promise." He kissed her right cheek. "I promise we will have our happily ever after."

He kissed her hard and she kissed him right back.

"I promise I will never stop loving you."