From Holding On, To Letting Go

Maleficent hissed in pain and buckled as she felt the sharp, hot, iron chains lash around her legs.

"Shoot her! SHOOT HER!" The mad king, Stefan, thundered, clinging to the other end of the chain like a drowning man to a rope. Even as Maleficent fought and struggled to get away, beating her powerful and newly-restored wings as ferociously as she could, Stefan hung on.

"Let go of me!" she managed to snarl at him. "Let go, Stefan! Let go!" Of course, he did not listen, but Maleficent listened to her own words.

Let go of me, Stefan! Let go! Of course, in the literal heat of battle, she meant her words equally literally, but there was something else... For over 16 years, they'd been at odds. For over 16 years, they'd nearly ruined two kingdoms and countless lives over their petty grudge, petty fight. Each side refused to let go, to free each other's people. All through the land of both Stefan's kingdom and Maleficent's, they cursed each other.

They sent down pestilence and plague into every house and nest, into streams and streets. Even food and drink were contaminated as both sides played dirty. Humans killed Moorish creatures, and Moorish creatures culled humans' livestock. Fields on both sides were salted and burned. And especially in Maleficent's case, she could even torment Stefan in dreams. Sometimes, she didn't even need to be the one creating the dreams. Sometimes, Stefan's own mind came up with nightmares enough for both of them. She certainly had nightmares about him and what he did to her...

Until you break, until you yield! I send the swarm, I send the horde! Across the world... Even if people on both sides of the conflict just wanted to live their lives in peace, their leaders were at war, so both kingdoms were forced to follow. But when and where and how did it end? When was enough finally enough? Let go of me, Stefan! Let go!

The petty king continued to cling to the queen of the Moors. They could've been a power-couple, but Stefan kept making all the wrong choices, even after Maleficent finally got her head and horns out of her own pride long enough to see things from a different light. While she was finally ready and willing to vie for peace in the name of his daughter, Stefan still wanted nothing more than revenge. He hadn't grown up with Aurora the way Maleficent had. Guilt gnawed at her stomach again.

"So, what do you do for fun?" The dark fairy gasped as she heard a little boy's voice in her head. Then she heard screaming, but not the kind that was laced with pain and fury, rather, excitement, bliss, joy, and even love. Two voices war-whooped, but together rather than apart. Maleficent felt a weight on her legs, two hands clinging to her ankles as she flew. Stefan laughed, giggled, and chuckled, completely unashamed and unabashed in the way he showed his delight and relaxed sides around Maleficent.

Once I called you lover. Once I thought the chance to make you laugh was all I ever wanted...

SPLASH! The boy's grip slipped from the fairy's ankle, and he fell into the stream over which they'd been playing. More laughter, both of them dissolving into fits. Then the memory of water and spring dissolved into fire and death. The hands around her ankles were cruel now, squeezing as hard as they could, aiming to break and to burn, encasing her bones in iron.

And even now, I wish that fate had chose another. Serving as your foe on this behalf is the last thing that I wanted! It wasn't as if Maleficent planned or hoped that life would turn out like this. This world was once her home, maybe not Stefan's kingdom, but Stefan and the Moors. All this pain and devastation... How it tortures me inside! All the innocents who suffer from our selfishness and pride!

With another powerful flap of her wings, Maleficent took flight from the castle. They were bigger now, stronger, and Maleficent carried Stefan all the way to the top of one of the tallest towers of his castle. There, they both collapsed, Stefan's legs colliding with the ground as he finally released Maleficent's. At the same time, Maleficent also sank to the ground, both of them panting heavily. They locked eyes, thinking the same thing. You who I called lover... Why must you bring down another blow?