Green Eyes and Blue Flames

If Only

When Maleficent had finally made it home to the Forbidden Mountain, she practically scrambled out of the carriage, breathing heavily. Her hair was down and her dress had already transformed back to its old self.

"Uh, hey. You were in a pretty big rush back there. Everything okay?" Dementia commented.

"Please, no... I need to be alone. You can go now." Maleficent said with a defeated sigh.

Not sure what else to do, the little purple imp shrugged and reluctantly whipped the reins, making the carriage fly off and disappear into the night sky. After a moment, Maleficent meandered her way inside and into the throne room, where Diablo and the Three Good Fairies were waiting. The raven immediately perked up at the sight of his beloved mistress and he excitedly flew over to her to greet her.

"Oh, welcome back, Maleficent." Flora said.

"How was the ball?" Fauna asked.

"Did you have a good time?" Merryweather added.

"Yes." Maleficent answered.

"Then... why do you look so down?" Flora nervously asked.

"...I don't wish to talk about it." Maleficent then started to make her way up to her throne without even glancing at the Good Fairies.

"What? I don't understand. Did something happen?" Fauna asked as she and her sisters tried to follow the evil fairy who remained silent as she walked.

"Is everything alright, Maleficent? You can talk to us." Flora said, trying to sound reasonable.

"No. You won't understand." Maleficent muttered.

"Who says we won't? Come on, why don't you just tell us? You'll feel a lot better if you do. Does it have something to do with... this Hades?" Merryweather chimed in.

At the mention of Hades' name, the dark fairy suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and straightened her back. After a few long moments of silence, she slowly turned around to face the three fairy sisters. She glared down at them, her eyes like burning embers; they instinctively took a few steps back in fear, knowing full well how angry and frustrated she was. Even Diablo was spooked. He even flapped his wings and flew off in a different direction to give his mistress some space.

"Did you three not hear me? I do not wish to speak a word about tonight because I know for a fact that you three fools cannot and will not understand how I feel! So do me one final favor and LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed, her voice breaking and her eyes glowing bright.

Not knowing what else to do, the three fairies waved their wands and flew out of the throne room. But when they made it outside, they all stood at the entrance of the castle. They couldn't understand what was going on with Maleficent; she may be prone to anger-filled rants and outbursts, but this was a new kind of heated rage, even for her. They all looked at each other.

"She's obviously upset about something. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was on the verge of tears." Merryweather said.

"But Maleficent is evil, she never cries. I've definitely never seen her like that before." Flora replied.

"Oh, everything is so confusing now. I wish we knew what to do." Fauna added.

Back in the throne room, Maleficent leaned against the wall near her throne and heaved a deep sigh as the glow in her eyes dimmed. Diablo soon came back, carrying her scepter and robes in his talons. She took both from her beloved familiar; she slowly put on the robe, glanced at her reflection in the orb of her scepter, and paused. She saw that she still had her makeup on and her hair was still down; she suddenly remembered a triggering phrase in a voice that she hadn't thought about for years.