One Strange Family

The Hidden Secret Part 3

Dakota woke an hour later and went downstairs to see that Aurora was already awake and about. "Well you're up early." Dakota said. "I'm a queen, I'm supposed to be up early. Now for you, waking up early is weird. And good morning to you too." Aurora said smiling. "Well, I couldn't really sleep. I found something earlier this morning. I want you to see it." Dakota said taking the jar from behind her. The butterfly was closing and opening it's wings slowly. Aurora took the jar gently and looked the butterfly over. "Well that is interesting. I've never seen a butterfly like this." She said curiously. "Me neither, I think." Dakota said not being sure of herself. "What do you mean you think?" Aurora asked looking up at her. "Well, I had a dream. Maybe we should wait till Maleficent wakes up." Dakota said. Aurora nodded and handed her the jar back. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to wake up my snoring husband." Aurora said walking out. Dakota chuckled and walked to the garden.

Maleficent woke before Diaval and went to take a bath in the their own bathroom. It was big enough so Maleficent could stretch her wings. After that she got dressed and went to brush her hair and woke Diaval up. "Morning, pretty bird." She said smiling. "Mmmm." Diaval rolled over to the other side. "Well, in that case I'll be leaving then." Maleficent said smirking and walking away slowly. "No wait!" Diaval yelled worriedly. Maleficent started laughing. After a few minutes she went to Arietta and Dakota's room to wake Arietta. They met up with Dakota at the dinner table. Aurora and Philip appeared a few minutes later.

After they ate Dakota spoke up. "I had a dream last night again. Of the girl. I found something else." Everyone urged her to go on paying attention to everything she said. "Well, I was writing something and the girl showed up again. She was calling me so I could see what she caught. It was a butterfly. It glowed red. Kinda like this one." Dakota showed them the butterfly and they looked it over a couple times. "It appeared after I woke up and went outside. It catches the eye doesn't it." Dakota said smiling. "So it seems." Maleficent said looking at Diaval who was entranced in the butterflies glow. She chuckled and looked at Dakota. "I discovered something else that I think will help us on our search. The girl's name is Gina. And she um...she looks like me." Dakota said softly. "She looks like you?" Maleficent asked surprisingly. "Very much." Dakota said. "Dakota do you have a sister?" Arietta asked happily. "I don't know. And if I do I don't remember her." Dakota said looking down at her lap. "I've been having the urge to look at the moon lately. Maybe it's trying to tell me something." "Well then if we want to find out we should start heading to the mountain." Maleficent said getting up from her seat. Everyone else stood up and headed towards the castle's entrance.

"Why can't you stay a little longer Dakotaaa." Arietta whined. Dakota chuckled and kneeled down on one knee and hugged her. "Don't worry Arie, I'll always come back to you." Arietta hugged her back. "Imma miss you." She said. "And I you." Dakota said softly and gave her a smile. "Godmother please be careful. And don't act before you think." Aurora said worriedly. "Yes mother." Maleficent said. Aurora laughed and hugged Maleficent. Philip walked up and bid her farewell and returned to Aurora's side. Maleficent walked up to Diaval who was looking at the mountains with a worried face. "Let's hope he doesn't cry." Dakota whispered to Aurora who giggled quietly. "Come on, let's give them a few, shall we?" Aurora said taking Philip's arm and walking away. The small group walked down the steps of the castle and stopped near a small park which had a small cherry tree.

"Diaval." Maleficent called softly. Diaval kept looking at the mountains which made Maleficent get a little more worried. 'Why must you make this so hard?' Maleficent thought. "Diaval." She called again this time putting her hand on his shoulder. Diaval turned his head to look at her. Maleficent smiled softly and caressed the back of his hair. "I won't be long. I'll be back before you even miss me." Smiling, Diaval turned to her and kissed. "I'm already missing you." He said softly. Maleficent chuckled and kissed his cheek. "Then why don't you set up something nice for when I come back." she said whispering in his ear. Diaval smiled and hugged her tightly, caressing the spot between where her wings connected. Maleficent gasped and Diaval chuckled. "That's new." He said. Maleficent smiled and pulled away taking his hand. "Come their waiting for us." Diaval let her guide him to the small park where everyone was waiting. "Done? Can we go now?" Dakota asked smiling. "Not without a hug." Diaval said hugging Dakota. "Well then, shall we?" Maleficent asked. "Mommy!" Arietta yelled and ran to give her mom a hug. "I'll see you soon Little Wing." Maleficent said putting Arietta down and kissing her head. Dakota morphed into a wolf and Maleficent blasted to the sky with one powerful push of her wings. Dakota ran with her hearing everyone's 'good byes' and 'see you soons'.

After about an 30 minutes they arrived at the mountain. It's mysterious foggy look and sounds making it all the more creepy. "I can see why the humans don't dare to enter the mountain." Maleficent said landing gracefully on the ground. Dakota morphed back into a her human form and looked at the mountain path. "I have that feeling when you know it's a trap but you have to go through it anyways." She said trying to see through the fog. "It's very thick isn't it? The fog." Maleficent said. Dakota nodded and started walking to the path. She took a breath and looked back at Maleficent. Maleficent walked beside and they both went into the the fog together.
It started to get cold after a few minutes of walking in the fog. Dakota didn't know which way she was going but she kept walking. "You know I could use my magic get rid of this fog." Maleficent said raising her hand to use her magic but nothing happened. "Hmm, that's unusual." She said curiously. Dakota stopped walking and looked to her right. "What's wrong?" Maleficent asked quietly. "Do that again. Your magic." Dakota said. Maleficent used her magic once more and found something shining through the fog. Dakota walked towards the shining object and found the necklace that she dreamed of laying between two rocks. She grabbed it and brought it back to show Maleficent. "I guess you went through here before." She said. "I hate not bieng able to remember anything. But I guess I did, I think. I don't even know if I was wearing it." Dakota said putting the necklace around her neck. They started walking agian seeing the path appear more clear then from where they began. They ended up in a cave entrance. It was decorated with animal bones and skulls. There was torches lit up at each side of the entrance. "Well that's, welcoming." Dakota said. Maleficent chuckled looking around. "Well, shall we enter or do we just stand here like two bafoons?" Dakota said walking into the cave, Maleficent right behind her.
"Remember anything yet, Dakota?" Maleficent asked. Dakota looked around hoping she would remember something from her past. Unfortunately their was nothing here that could remind her and so she looked straight ahead an kept walking. "No." She said. After a couple more minutes they appeared at another entrance except this one had a village in it. The village was dark and damp. It seemed to have no life in it. Suddenly out of nowhere a group of werewolves and poeple surrounded them both. They had spears and bows ready to shoot. "Well this is inviting." Dakota said looking around. The wolves had paint on their fur and the people had their faces painted with a hand print and a white stripe heading down from their lips. 'This has to be a tribe' Maleficent thought. "Hold your fire!" Came a voice from behind the tribe people. Soon a woman came out from the crowd. She was old but well fit. Her eyes were a type of purple shade. "Who are you?" She asked. "My name is Maleficent, Protector of the Moors." "And I'm Dakota." They both said. "Dakota?!" Said the old lady surprisingly. Soon everyone put their weapons down and kneeled down to Dakota. "Uh, what's going on?" She asked. "Come child, you have much to learn." The old lady said walking off. Dakota looked at Maleficent and she shrugged her shoulders. They both followed after the woman who seemed to know something about Dakota that she didn't know.

The old lady led them to a house decorated with shiny crystals and flowers. The lady told them to get comfortable while she went to grab something important. She came back with a globe in her hands and set it on a table. "Oh no, are a psychic?" Dakota asked. "Oh dear no child, I cannot predict the future, but I can show you the past. Dakota sat down at the table while Maleficent stayed sitting on a couch. "Let me introduce myself, my name is Zara. Now let's start with the last thing you remember." Zara looked at Dakota waiting for an answer. "I remember running from something. At least I think I was running from something. I've had dreams of a girl and a man with a scarred face. And this necklace." Dakota said. "Well seems like you know little of your past. This is going to take a while. So get comfortable and listen well." Zara said. Maleficent sat up straighter and listened in on the story.

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Well I took longer then I thought. I hate myself for making you wait so long. *Crawls under pillow* sorry.