𝑰'𝑽𝑬 𝑮𝑶𝑻 𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 - 𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟕

In all the chaos and explosions of the first part of her day, Delphina completely forgot that she still had a meeting to attend to with a certain evil lizard.

When the reminder notification popped up on her phone screen, she wanted to go crazy. Her argument with Ben was still weighing on her mind, and the last thing she needed was Maleficent poking and prodding at her failing efforts at freeing the Isle and her growing distaste with governmental procedures.

Unfortunately, Ben's phone conference was only the start of a packed schedule, leaving Delphina to fight the urge to spiral as she made her way through the twists and turns of the palace catacombs.

Throughout the walk, Fairy Godmother continuously glanced at Delphina warily before they finally came to a stop in front of Maleficent's cell and Fairy Godmother gently grabbed Delphina's hand before she could step into the cell.

"Delphina...are you sure you can handle this today? You just got back. I don't want you to push yourself too hard." The good fairy's voice brought Delphina out of her thoughts, making her blink back into reality, remembering the task at hand.

Clearing her throat softly, Delphina nodded, giving Fairy Godmother a small smile. "Don't worry. I'll be perfectly fine," she assured quickly before turning to head into the cell. Just before the doors opened, Delphina paused, turning back around to face Fairy Godmother again, her brows furrowed in confusion. "I...did I ask you to do something before this? I feel like something's missing."

Before her, Fairy Godmother just shrugged innocently. "Not that I'm aware of. Honey, if you're not feeling up to this–"

"No, I am, I am, I swear. We can figure it out later, it's fine." Rolling her shoulders with a huff, Delphina turned back to the doors, nodding to the guards in confirmation. The wrought iron door in front of her was pulled open, and Delphina stepped inside, refusing to waste time on a greeting.

She dove into Maleficent's mind without hesitation, plunging the pair into their shared mental space. When they were both fully telepathically present, Maleficent took one look at Delphina and the day she'd had, then proceeded to erupt into condescending giggles.

"My, my!" she taunted, arms folded in front of her. "You're in quite a state this afternoon. Bad day?"

At her patronizing pout, Delphina could only roll her eyes in bored irritation. "Yeah, you could say that. Could we get the ball rolling on this, please? I'm a busy woman," she snapped, but it only seemed to add to Maleficent's amusement as the setting began to warp and change around them.

"Temper, temper," Maleficent mused as the surroundings settled down into another domineering throne room. "If this is how you act every time you and the king have a lover's quarrel, I'd hate to be your handmaiden."

"Right back at you," Delphina muttered, scanning the room carefully as she brushed a fallen dead leaf off her shoulder. It had a woodsy feel to it, a stark contrast from the harsh, regal palaces Maleficent typically chose. A small part of Delphina even supposed it could've been considered beautiful at one point in time.

It was circular, with a spiraling staircase on each end of the room winding up to what Delphina assumed would be a balcony if they were in the real world. There was purple ivy covering almost every wall, as well as a throne made of what looked like mangled tree roots and thorns and the typical green-flame torches lining the wall. As usual, the throne sat at the top of a set of stairs, these ones made of the same twisting roots and thorns, as well as lined with long-dead flowers.

Something about the room gave off a familiar air, but Delphina didn't have time to listen to Maleficent get nostalgic about the days of her prime.

Delphina returned her attention to Maleficent, only to blink in surprise. The dark fairy was staring back at her, visibly puzzled and curious as she tried to decipher something on Delphina's face.