SUMMARY: Maleficent has been banished to Middle Earth by King Stephen shortly after she broke the curse. Auroraweeps for her lost mother and Phillip rises to become her champion in hopes of gaining her affections. Meanwhile Maleficent battles iron poisoning and must either make friends with the Elves or suffer death's embrace. Phillip/Aurora and possible Maleficent/Thranduil.

Chapter 1: FEVER

An unsettling stillness had settled inside the darkness of her cold prison. Not even the small mouse dared make a sound as it crept along the wall looking for morsels to eat. It searched in vain it seemed and upon realizing its search was fruitless the little critter squeezed its way through a small crack in the wall. Sad, watching the small insignificant being had been mildly entertaining; a distraction from the chill working its way to her bones and the dampness aiding the fever burning her brow. A small ray of moonlight revealed a corner to the left, the stone so old it had a blanket of moss fed by the drips of water weeping from the ceiling high above. The chill bit her toes and fingers, working in tandem to the furnus in her core, sweating from the heat and shivering from the sweat this natural torture slowly chipping away at her. But it was the fading in and out of consciousness that wrecked the most havoc. Moments with clarity of thought were becoming less frequent, being replaced by deliriousness and blurred vision. This was not a natural sickness, but one brought about by the mixture of the iron chain wrapped around her limbs and the damp. The iron was wrapped about her in such a way that unless she moved they wouldn't touch her, but the iron was set so close they buzzed, radiating red hot heat so close to her flesh it might as well be touching her.

Was this to be her death? Maleficent wondered. To die like a sickly animal in the depths of darkness? Perhaps it was justly so. She had unknowingly cursed the one child who could show her the way to love once again. Beasty… the fairy thought. How I failed you.

The voice of Diaval spoke softly in the back of her mind, even now acting as her conscience though he had safely evaded capture. She is safe, he said. The curse is broken.

But to what end? Aurora had wished to return to the Moors and live a happy and full life. Would such a life be possible now that her fate was in the hands of a mad King? A man who didn't believe true love existed? Who gave her up as an infant to be raised by insufferable pixies?

You didn't believe in true love yourself not long ago, Diaval replied. Maleficent hated that a figment of her imagination liked to point out the obvious for sake of argument. In the silence it was infuriating.

The heavy door to the prison opened, its old hinges screaming at the underused motion. It hurt Maleficent's ears. The fairy did not need to lift her head and peer through her curtain of dark brown hair to know it was Stephen. The stench of a man walking with a sense of victory was all she needed. How long had it been since her capture? The days had all blurred together, but surely the murderous king planed on gloating. Surprisingly, it was not Stephen's voice she heard speak first but that of a wizened old man. "Is this the creature?" He said. Whose voice did it belong to? Why did Maleficent not hear his footsteps?

"Yes. The cursed fairy herself." Stephan replied, hate dripping off of every word. "Don't let her dark beauty fool you. Maleficent has terrorized my people for the last sixteen years and above all had placed a wretched curse on my daughter at her christening." Maleficent glared at him, green eyes flashing. If it were not for the gag about her mouth she would gladly close his mouth shut for good with a short muttered spell.

"And now? What of the princess?" The old man asked, coming into view. Indeed he was old, a long white beard framed his jaw and lead down to his belt, strong blue eyes were nearly hidden behind bushy eyebrows and the largest nose Maleficent had ever seen on a human. She would think him ridiculous with the pointed hat on his head, but those water blue eyes held a great strength in them, knowledge of the arcane. Maleficent could smell the magic emanating from his pores, this was no ordinary man.

"Aurora? Safe, but she locked herself in her bedroom, too frightened to explore her own castle. I already assured her that the witch isn't going anywhere but she does not believe me."

"If the princess is so afraid then why does she still live?" The old man asked, motioning to Maleficent.

"It was Aurora's wish." The king replied. The wizard looked up at him in surprise.

"Her wish?"

"Yes, she argues that there has been too much death. That it needs to end. I tried to explain to her that I spared…" King Stephen grabbed a handful of Maleficent's hair and wrenched her head backward, exposing her neck. Did he plan on cutting it? "… this fairy's life long ago once in an effort to make peace between our two lands and she repaid me with malice and destruction." Maleficent's eyes narrowed, oh how well he could twist the truth! "I moved to kill this wingless fairy but Aurora wouldn't have it."

"Victims often have a strange connection with their aggressors." The old man replied. "As for the fairy… some women simply wish to watch the world burn." He took a step toward Maleficent, looking into her fierce green eyes with his hard blue ones. "Yes, I've seen that look before." He said. Maleficent furrowed her perfect black eyebrows, what did he mean? "Morgana Le Feye had eyes just like yours. But like her witch, your threat will be snuffed out."

"Will you do it?" Stephen asked, letting go of her hair.

"Yes, I will aid you. I may have an incantation or two that will do the trick." With that the old man turned to leave with the king in tow, forgetting pomp and circumstance as kings should always go through a door first. Stephen must be truly eager for whatever spell the old man had in mind, and why shouldn't he? Maleficent thought. The spell would mean her end. The creaking old door shut loudly, leaving Maleficent at the mercy of silent darkness once again.

Maleficent's greatest trial is just beginning...