He opened his eyes and took in the gray dawn.
The boy lay flat on his back upon the cold ground at the foot of Bald Mountain. His breaths were deep and desperate, presumably owing to the fact that his lungs had not taken in any air for several hours. Slowly, he sat up, pressing his palms upon the ground and lifting himself. Stormy clouds covered the sky overhead, darkening the mountain and its surrounding landscape. The boy brushed messy black hair from his eyes and looked around, his breaths calming slightly, then pausing altogether when he noticed the woman sitting on a boulder. Her hair was long and blonde, she wore a gown of purple and black, and her head was adorned by a pair of large black horns. She stared at him, a curious gleam in her eyes.
"I was wondering when you would wake," she said, after what felt like hours spent in silence. "Who are you?"
The boy frowned, looking down at his hands.
"My name is Charles, or Charlie, but... there's more to me now, isn't there? There... feels like more."
The horned woman nodded approvingly.
"Yes, there is. You are now the vessel of the black god."
"The black god?"
The woman gestured upwards to Bald Mountain as it loomed over them both.
"Chernabog. They trapped you here, bound you to this mountain. I had to give you the body of this human to free your spirit, just as the young woman you see before you gave herself to me."
Charlie got to his feet and dusted himself off. The memories of movement were coming back now. He was remembering what it was to be alive.
"Are you like me?"
She nodded. "Call me Maleficent. They trapped our kind in various prisons, scattered across the realms. All we did was try to protect those who brought us into this world, but the humans cast us away and slaughtered the original custodians of the land by the thousands. What's left of them reside across the sea. There they wait ever so patiently for an opportunity to take it all back."
Charlie blinked.
"What is the sea?"
Maleficent smiled. "You'll see. The Prince is setting forth on a voyage soon. That's our chance to unite with our allies. Then, we'll come back and free our kin from their own prisons, and the humans who walk upon this earth will writhe and burn. Come with me, boy. I have given you life, and now you must put it to good use."
Then she turned and began to walk away. Charlie followed her, still taking in his surroundings. He looked back at Bald Mountain and registered a memory of darkness, of being trapped in stone and unable to move for hundreds of years. The mountain had been his tomb for so long. Charlie took a moment to glare at the mountain before hurrying his pace to keep up with Maleficent, silently vowing to himself that he would never see Bald Mountain again.