I never thought my power would show me this. This is who I am. Not a forgotten thing, not a toy. My name is Valia Targaryen, and I will take what's mine with fire and blood.
☕︎☕︎☕︎
BOOK 1 in THE FIRE series.
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Chapter 2 The tale of the shadows ♛♛♛
"What?" said Mal. "Mom, you have to be joking."
"Nope!" said Maleficent. "You'll be joining the bastion of privilege and exclusivity of...Auradon Prep." The words left a sour-apple taste in her mouth.
"Mom! I'm not going to some boarding school filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses!" said Mal. "And perfect princes!" said Evie dreamily as she stepped beside Mal.
Mal glared at her. Evie's smile vanished. "Ugh!" she said, feigning a look of disgust.
"I don't do uniforms," said Jay. "Unless it's leather. You feelin' me?" He grinned and tried to high-five a terrified Carlos, who stepped toward Maleficent. "I read somewhere that they allow dogs in Auradon," Carlos said. "Mom said they're rabid pack animals who eat boys who don't behave." He gulped, unblinking.
Jay snuck up to Carlos and barked in his ear. Carlos jumped back, and Jay laughed. "Yeah, Mom, we're not going," said Mal matter-of-factly. "You are not going to start to see me doing curtsies and book reports." "You're thinking small, punkin'," said Maleficent. "It's all about world domination!" She licked her lips. Then she turned to her henchmen. "Knuckleheads!" She turned on her heel, sweeping her cloak, and took off down the empty street, flanked by her devoted thugs. "Mal!" she sang over her shoulder, beckoning her daughter forth.
Mal and her friends exchanged glances and followed Maleficent.
♛
World domination? of course, that's what I heard from maleficent. That.. and revenge. Typical evil old Queen. Well, here we go! I shall soon show myself down worry.
Now the author shall be taking over the tale.
Maleficent's tenement apartment sat directly above Bargain Castle.
It was dark, dusty, and dirty—just to Maleficent's liking. The colored windowpanes were mismatched and blocked out the sun. Lights in green crystals swayed from the high ceiling. The whole foul place smelled of sulfur. Maleficent, filing her nails, was seated in her tall green throne chair with her feet propped up. Mal and her three friends and their three parents sat around the apartment, waiting for Maleficent to explain why she had summoned all of them. The villains had seen better days. With her wild black-and-white hair, Cruella wore a ratty, nearly bald black-and-white dog-fur coat, which sported a bejeweled stuffed toy Dalmatian head next to her neck. She stroked it lovingly as if it were alive. With his trademark mustache and goatee, Jafar was rocking a potbelly, a comb-over, and puffy Sansabelt pants.
Evil Queen, a former beauty, pulled at her cosmetically altered face and stared into a mirror. Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos feared their parents nonetheless.
"You will go," Maleficent commanded the teens. "You will find the Fairy Godmother, and you will bring me back her magic wand." She blew on her nails. "Easy peasy." "What's in it for us?" asked Mal.
"Matching thrones," said Maleficent. "Hers and hers crowns."
Carlos gestured to his friends. "Um, I—I think she meant us." Ignoring him, Maleficent tossed her nail file over her shoulder, stood, and beckoned Mal to her. "It's all about you and me, baby," she said, leaning close to Mal. "Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?" "Well, yeah! I mean, who doesn't?" said Mal.
"Well, then get me that wand! And you and I can see all that and much more!" said Maleficent. "And with that wand and my scepter"—she held up her arms—"I will be able to bend both good and evil to my will!" Evil Queen lowered her mirror. "Our will," she said.
Cruella pointed at Evil Queen and nodded. "Our will, our will," Maleficent said, trying to save face. She looked at Mal. "And if you refuse, you're grounded for the rest of your life, missy," she said firmly.
"What?" cried Mal, distressed. "Mom!" Maleficent stared into her daughter's eyes. Mal stared right back at her. The stare intensified. It was a test of power and focus. Mal and her mom did this every so often. Maleficent always won. Mal tore away her gaze. "Fine, whatever," Mal said.
♛
I smirked. Finally, I would maybe make some friends. Okay, sorry, let's continue.
"Hilarious," said Evil Queen sarcastically. "Evie! My little Evil-ette in training."
Evie ran over and sat obediently across the table from her mother. "You just find yourself a prince with a big castle and a mother-in-law wing," said Evil Queen.
"And lots and lots of mirrors," said Evie and her mom in unison. Evie beamed and clasped her hands.
"No laughing," her mother told her. "Wrinkles." Evie's smile vanished, and she pouted.
Maleficent looked at them and sighed.
"Well, they're not taking my Carlos," said Cruella, caressing her son's head. "I'd miss him too much."
"Mom?" asked Carlos. "Yes!" Cruella said. "Who would touch up my roots? Fluff my fur and scrape my bunions off my feet?" She kicked up a leg, and Carlos caught her foot in his hand. He looked miserable. "Maybe a new school wouldn't be the worst thing...."
"Carlos, they have dogs in Auradon!" said Cruella, stroking his cheek.
Carlos looked petrified and shook his head. "Oh, no! I'm not going!"
"Ugh," said Maleficent. "Jay's not going, either!" said Jafar. "I need him to stock the shelves in my store." He looked at his son. "What did you score?" he asked him. Jay laughed and pulled a variety of stolen trinkets—one of the last items being an old lamp—from his vest, sleeve cuffs, and boots and handed them over to Jafar. "A lamp!" Jafar grabbed it and rubbed it furiously.
"Dad, I already tried," said Jay, shaking his head. "Well, Evie's not going anywhere until we get rid of this unibrow." Evil Queen eyed Evie, extracted a pair of tweezers, and approached her daughter's eyebrows. "Will it hurt?" asked Evie.
"Beauty is pain, darling; beauty is pain," said Evil Queen as she plucked. Maleficent addressed the room. "Am I here? Was I speaking? What is wrong with you all? People used to recoil at the mention of our names! I have searched for a way off this island." Evie began to pluck her mother's eyebrows. "Ouch!" said, Evil Queen.
"For twenty years," continued Maleficent, "they have robbed us of our revenge." "Ouch!" said Evil Queen as Evie kept plucking.
"Revenge on Snow White and her horrible little men," Maleficent told Evil Queen. "Ouch..." said Evil Queen at Maleficent's words.
Maleficent turned to Jafar. "Revenge on Aladdin and his bloated Genie!" Jafar shook his fists.
Maleficent rounded on Cruella. "Revenge on every squeaky Dalmatian that escaped your clutches." "Oh, but they didn't get Baby," said Cruella, stroking the stuffed toy dog head on her vest. "They didn't get the..." She wheezed maniacally. "They didn't get the Baby!" Jafar locked eyes with Maleficent. "I am with you!"
Maleficent returned the stare. "Who are you?" she asked him.
"Jafar? The grand tsar of Agrabah?" he said.
Ha, they're all pathetic. Well, except the children, of course. Just wait until we all are off this accursed island.
