I'll Be Your Wings

The Night

The door clicked shut, and we were alone.

It was silent for a moment. I coughed awkwardly and shifted a bit. There was another noise at the door, and Eden poked her head back in.

"Oh, and dinner is at six! The clock is just there." She pointed to a little clock surrounded by coral on the mantle. It read 9:47, and I was about to speak up that it was wrong before I remembered that we were on exactly opposite time.

She was gone again, and Maleficent sighed.

"I suppose I'll just take a nap, then. It's quite our bedtime, isn't it?" She swam-walked to the vanity, peering at her wounds in the mirror- well- where they used to be.

As soon as she realized they were gone, she turned to me, bewildered. I gaped and shook my head, fascinated. It was then that I realized my ribs no longer screamed with pain, or even ached remotely.

"Perhaps it was the seaweed?" I asked.

"Perhaps. I suppose we could ask the twins at dinner?"

"I suppose we should."

She tilted her head, looking at me curiously.

"What is it?" I asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

"You're just-" She paused.

"What?"

"You've lost your sass." She flashed a playful smirk.

"I think you would lose your sense of humor, too, if you'd just been beaten to a pulp by a band of pirates." I lowered my eyes.

She dropped the smirk, coming closer. She looked at me for a moment, and I raised my eyes to meet hers. She threw her arms around me in a hug.

"You're so brave, Diaval." She whispered into my ear. "I don't know what I would do without you." I was taken aback by her sudden embrace, and I slowly wrapped my arms around her. We held each other like that for a while, silent.

•••

Maleficent grew tired eventually and fell asleep on the large canopied bed, and I watched over her as she slept.

She woke around five thirty, sitting up and grasping my wrist, stating that "we simply cannot wear these clothes to dinner with the royal family."

After a few minutes of griping, I finally agreed and followed her to the closet to see, maybe, if there was anything in there.

Maleficent pushed the double doors open, and gasped. I hurried up to peer over her shoulder at what she saw.

It was bizarre- there were simply articles of clothing to cover, well, the top part of a mermaid. For a merman there was nothing at all. Maleficent cursed.

"Oh, no matter. Let's see..." She picked out a black... article, and held it out for me. I blushed as I took it in my hands.

"Wh-why?" I sputtered. She motioned for me to hold it out in front of me. I obeyed.

Maleficent waved her hand and the water around the garment swirled and churned. The clothing writhed and twisted, becoming larger and darker. Not a moment later, I was holding a beautiful ebony evening dress.

"There!" She said, snatching it from me. "Now for you."

"No, no. I think I'm just fine." I did not fancy wearing a former bra, even if Maleficent could make it something wonderful.

"Well, you're not wearing that!" She insisted. She waved her hand, and I was shrinking. My clothes enveloped me, and my arms melded into my body, my legs twisting into one appendage. I wriggled out of the mass of dark clothing around me, annoyed.

She laughed, and I looked around, angry that I was a fish. She snatched my floating clothes, magically mending the holes and transforming the old fabric into a pair of trousers and a dark coat. She waved her hand again, turning to change in the washroom, and I grew into a man once again.

"Fine, you win!" I yelled after her, sarcastic. She turned around, laughing, as I tried to cover up my nakedness.

"Don't I always?"