"You are fading. Even the timeless nature of this place can't stop that."
Darkness gazed upon the dark witch's form - a wretched mess of tattered robes and burnt flesh, splayed out on the dark ground of the Realm of Darkness.
She felt the rush of satisfaction at the sight - this woman's fading flame of life. Why wouldn't she? She had extricated herself from the woman's body already, in full; she was apart from the witch, now, and so could take her time to watch her suffer...and die.
It was true that the other Darkness, the one calling herself Cognis, had escaped her grasp - but it didn't matter to her. That "Cognis" was just another...oddity, like the one that had named himself "Vanitas". But Vanitas had been one of her own - a sibling...a member of the original thirteen. And now...
Darkness cast the thoughts from her mind, focusing upon Maleficent again.
"W-what...are you...doing? Cease standing there and...assist me!" Maleficent's voice came, ragged, angry. Paltry. "Heal me..."
"And why would I do that?" Darkness responded idly. "You've been a terrible host, Maleficent."
"Wh-what? How- dare you-"
"Case in point," Darkness cut across, anger of her own seeping into her voice. Finding an expression...in expression. "After everything I did for you, all the efforts I went through to save you once before - what did I get out of it? What did you give me in return, Maleficent? I agreed to be your partner - your equal - but you've done nothing but snap orders at me and treat me like one of your piggish underlings! And worse still: I've been forced to contend with your pathetically inflated ego, which has only ever led you to ruin!"
Maleficent's eyes narrowed, focusing up at her - brimming with spite and seething hate.
"You never learn, Maleficent! You think yourself so clever, so confident and powerful - but time has shown you, time and again, that you are nothing but an insect in a world of giants. It's always the same: miscalculations and overestimations. This led to your demise before - that saw you trapped in your past, where we first met, and I had to shepherd you out by the hand like the useless creature you are - and it has led you to your demise yet again! Only this time, you almost dragged me down along with you - and that...is...infuriating. It's maddening!"
Darkness stopped sharply - stopped her tirade of words, of emotion, as well as dragged back all of her dark energies that had been expanding and growing, escaping her without her notice. She gathered herself again, quite literally, compressing and shaping herself into the humanoid form once more.
She stepped forward, and knelt down before the witch.
"How about this, Maleficent: if you can prove to me that you are capable of learning from your mistakes, and overcoming your own incredible, insufferable arrogance - I will do what I can to save your life once again." Darkness paused. "All you have to do for me...is apologize for the way you've treated me thus far, vow to do better - and then actually do better. You will apologize, you will treat me as the equal partner I am - with respect and due consideration - you will listen to me when I advise you to do something smart instead of something stupid, and you will ask me to heal you. I want to hear a 'please.'"
"...I don't- ask for anything - nor do I take orders from-!"
"Then your life ends here - for good this time. And all because your pride is apparently worth more to you than your very existence. How pitifully self-defeating you are."
Darkness let her visible form, the dark shape and aura, vanish - becoming truly, formless, invisible darkness, no different from the ambience of this realm itself. She became part of it, flowing upon it, drifting and spreading...she became the air and the world itself.
And she waited.
The witch cursed her, denigrated her. Spit at her and vowed petty vengeance upon her. But, eventually, such words faded from her lips - as life began to truly slip away from her weakening body.
Darkness simply watched. She watched - until...