As the fog of the magic lifted, it felt like coming out of a dream. Like waking up from a nap when he was a child after his mother had read him a fairy tale of a handsome knight and his quests. He felt invincible.

Then, he came to his senses.

The whole ballroom was too quiet, as if all the sound had been sucked out. The dingy, cracked tiles came into focus first. The air all around him too cold, like all the euphoric heat and warmth from the fairy tale had leeched out of him. His hands shook as he lifted them to his aching head, whatever magic he had been under made his head pound. Then, he realized his hands were too red, too red and dripping, a copper tang settling in the air.

He brought his hands down from in front of his face, and then he saw her. Mal, below him, a sword sticking out of her chest, struggling to breathe, to talk, to live. In that moment when he saw her, everything came rushing back.

He crashed to his knees at her side, but felt no pain as the tiles cracked further beneath him. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but his hands were covered in blood. Her blood.

There were no words.

The realization struck him, the pieces of the puzzle coming together as they formed within his head. "Mal?" He asked, barely above a whisper as she struggled under him.

He wanted to do a million things, but fear and shame kept him frozen there.

"Mal!" Evie gasped as she and the other VKs crashed into him and surrounded her. "It's going to be ok, sweetie. You're going to be ok."

Ben knew that was a lie.

"I wanted to be good." Mal gasped out, the tears streaming down her face. "I wanted to do the right thing."

Evie cried too. They all were as they gathered around her. Even Carlos and Jay's faces were knotted in grief and pain. "Oh honey, you did," she said, brushing Mal's hair from her eyes. "You did."

Then, to his surprise, Evie and the rest of the VK's started listing off all the good things she had done. Everything, from bringing them over from the isle, to saving Ben's coronation, to her most recent good deeds.

"You saved all of us, Mal," Carlos said next to her. "You gave us, and so many other VKs opportunities and freedoms that no one else can ever take away."

They were all crying around her as she struggled to take her last breaths. But Ben, he felt empty as he watched it all.

"Mal?" Jay said as her eyes started to flutter and the pool of blood on the floor only grew larger. "Keep your eyes open. Keep fighting. It's not done yet."

Ben couldn't watch her die. Instead, he looked toward Maleficent, still sitting on the throne that had once been his.

"MALEFICENT!" He shouted, the only emotion flowing through him then was rage. Even the Mistress of all things Evil flinched at the way he shouted. "I command you to help her!"

Maleficent tried to remain neutral, but he could see something had shifted within her. Maybe, just maybe he could convince her.

"That is your daughter there, dying on the floor!" Ben said. "Don't you have any kind of sympathy? Are you really that heartless that you'd let your own flesh and blood bleed out on the floor as you watch?"

Maleficent still didn't respond. She didn't look. She didn't move. She simply sat on the throne.

"No," Evie cried from behind him. He didn't take his eyes off of Maleficent. "No, M, please. You have to stay with us."

"Mal?" Jay said, his voice heavy with grief and shock.

"Mal, please wake up," Carlos said next.

Ben didn't look away, he didn't flinch, he didn't cower. He knew exactly what was happening. He didn't have to hear Evie say it, but she did.

"She's dead."

Something inside him broke. He didn't let it show on the outside. Somewhere inside him, a small flame of hope still remained, but he didn't let himself hope just yet.

"Maleficent!" He shouted again, taking yet another step closer. "You made me a promise and I'm here to collect."

That time, she looked at him. All her malice, all her coldness, everything terrifying about her was gone. "I make empty promises every day, Pup," she said, though all the malice behind her words had disappeared. "What makes you think you're so special?"

Ben did his best to remain neutral, regal, level-headed, but it was getting more difficult the more the VKs behind him tried to wake up Mal. The more they cried when they realized there was nothing to bring her back. The terrible silence that followed after. "You promised me you would spare her," Ben said. "You promised me and now I'm here to make good on that promise."

Maleficent laughed, but she wouldn't really look at him. She wouldn't really look at anything. "I did spare her," She said. "From the original promise she made. I put her in a dreamless sleep instead of death when you two idiots kissed." She shrugged. "Therefore, my promise has been kept and you can hold nothing over me. All of this—" she waved her hand in the direction of what was happening behind him. "—was simply unavoidable."

"BULLSHIT!" Ben shouted, the rage finally leaking through. "I command you as the King of Auradon to: Bring. Her. Back."

Maleficent laughed then. "The King of Auradon?" She asked, looking at him with her cold gaze. "What gave you that silly idea, Pup?"

Ben took a deep breath. "You did." He said. "Words have power, words can be promises, remember?" Maleficent changed, as subtle as it was. "Your fairytale said I would be king if I killed the dragon. Your daughter, Mal, was the dragon in that scenario, and she's dead. Now I am king, so I demand you bring her back."

Maleficent laughed then. "A simple boy thinks he can defeat me?"

Ben simply nodded, not taking his eyes off her. "As your king, I command you to bring her back." He could see the protest returning to her eyes, but he didn't let her speak it. "I command you as your king to bring her back or I will make your life a living hell." He took a step forward, slow and calculated. "If you thought the isle was bad, trust me when I say I can do a whole lot worse for you, Maleficent."

Maleficent merely shrugged. She tried much too hard to be distant, but he could see something there.

"Bring her back, Maleficent," he said, still approaching closer. "Bring her back, because you must feel some kind of emotion toward your daughter." At the words, Maleficent shuddered. "Yes, Maleficent, if that truly is your name. That isn't your progeny, or your little failure." He took a deep breath. "That is your daughter."

True to his hunch, Maleficent flinched again.

"Your daughter, Maleficent," he said again, his eyes focused on her even more closely. "Your daughter and you let her die for your own gain."

Maleficent continued to cringe.

"If you loved her, and I know you do," Ben continued. "You would do anything to save her."

Maleficent scoffed. "You should know by now. Mal and I were never capable of love."

Ben laughed then. "We both know you're lying," he said. "If that were true, then Mal wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here as I am now."

A look of realization fell over Maleficent's face, but Ben didn't stop to let her process it all. "I think you wanted a daughter. You wanted someone to gain your name and continue your legacy." Maleficent didn't argue against him. "It would have been easy to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy on the isle, wouldn't it?" He didn't give her a chance to respond in the least. "And the offspring of King Arthur too? That was just an opportunity you couldn't pass up." Finally, when she was uncomfortable on the throne, he struck the final blow. "You loved your daughter, just as you loved King Arthur."

"Even if I wanted to bring her back, and I'm not saying I would," she said. "I can't." Ben wondered what excuse she would come up with next. He knew Mal had resurrected Charlie with little difficulty. What would Maleficent say next? "As a fae, she'll have to face Hades for her questionable use of magic. She'll have to face his scales, even though she is regrettably only half fae." She brought her hands together and tapped her fingers together menacingly, her smile changing. "Of course, I can try to bring back the human part of her, no magic, no fae blood left."

Maleficent was trying to strike a deal with him as her daughter lay dead on the floor.

"No thanks," Ben answered, finally feeling a bit of levity, even though he was drowning in grief. "I want Mal back exactly as she was, and if you can't do it, I'll just have to go elsewhere."

That set Maleficent off. "You forget I still have power over the throne! Power over all of Auradon!"

Ben blew her off. "You can keep it for all I care," He said next, turning away from her and toward the group of students that had gathered around Mal.

He had to come up with a plan to bring her back.