Chapter eight

" But, dad....." Ben whined.

" What is it son?" King Adam asked.

" I don't know if we're powerful enough to defend ourselves. I feel doubtful about it." Ben says.

Poor King Adam, he may no longer king now that he's son is the newly crowned king,though, Ben does have a point.He knows more of the criminal more then he does,so what can he do?

Knowing that his son is right, what else can he do to calm his son and live up to his promise? Nothing, at the moment for hope seems to be lost.

After a minute of silence, Queen Belle comes into the throne room and broke the silence.

" How's everything going?" Queen Belle asked.

" Uh, Belle. Ben and I may need some private time..." King Adam apologetic says.

" Oh...." Queen Belle mutters.

" What happened here? Did something bad happen?" Queen Belle added.

" Well, he......" King Adam tries to say until he was cut off by Ben.

" I feel hopeless. I promised Mal and everyone I would fix everything that the criminal has done but.... I lost hope!" Ben cried.

Both Queen Belle and King Adam felt sad for their son. They never saw him devastated like this before but what can they do? They don't know about the criminal nor what's the story behind Auradon's terrifying demise. As a matter of fact, they don't know what to do....

While the royal family is inside in complete silence, Mal had heard the conversation.She too felt sad for Ben. But, she felt something in her heart. It is as though her heart is telling her something; telling her to go face to face with this hooded figure. But, does she have a chance against this mysterious person? The answer is "no." But, maybe just maybe,the hooded figure has a weakness; the only question is what is it? Only Mal will attempt to find the answer even if it means almost getting herself killed.

And so Mal tried finding the copy of the video Ben was given by the Salesman and watched it. Upon watching it, she noticed that the hoodie the "thief" was wearing was a bit short than the one during their encounter. Also, to her surprise, she finally sees the face of the criminal. She looked exactly like her, only with a tint of red in her hair. Mal was just dead on shocked. The "thief" was too much like her in appearance but.... Something looks odd.

" Why does she look like me? It's as though I met her before or even know her." Mal says to herself.

" And how does she know how to cast mom's spells?" Mal added.

With questions like these, Mal's getting a bit of a headache. Though, she does know she will need to start looking for answers quick or else she won't figure out answers to these questions.

After watching the video, she head for her dorm to get her spell book. Although, before she can pack her spell book and sneak out, she made sure Evie is not inside. Lucky for Mal, Evie was not there at all nor does she care where she is at the moment. Quickly, Mal grabbed her spell book, lock the door,and left the building to find answers.

Before she left, she bids farewell to Auradon.

" Goodbye Auradon, I won't come back till I get what I need." Mal says.

After the farewell, she used her magic to take her somewhere, a place where nobody can look for her.

( meanwhile.....)

Malice is seen in her "used to be home" planning out how to attack Auradon once again. But, she seems to be out of ideas. Due to this, she was getting frustrated she started smashing anything in the area. She kept smashing until a voice was heard.

" Why be so frustrated if you can't think of anything?" the voice asked.

When Malice heard that, she turns around and found her mother. With face to face with Maleficent, Malice managed to calm down a bit.

" I can't think any plans against Auradon!" Malice whines as she slumps herself to a nearby chair.

Maleficent laughs by at the same time offers a helping hand.

" Why don't we work together, dear? I can help you." Maleficent says.

" Really? Even if you haven't seen me for ten years?" Malice asks.

At that thought, Maleficent became confused and at the same time angry.

" What?!" Maleficent reacted.

" Maybe I should of not mentioned that....." Malice muttered with no confidence.

" What do you mean?" Maleficent asked.

" Fine, I'll tell you. But, don't think getting angry at me will solve anything." Malice replied.

Maleficent calmly nodded.

" Do you remember ten years ago about a birthday party?" Malice asked.

" Yes......What about it?" Maleficent smirked.

" Because of all the pressure you've caused on me, I.... Ran off." Malice calmly replied.

When Maleficent heard that, she felt the urge to strike but just couldn't for whatever reason.

" Everything you did had an affect on me. Because of that, I'm all messed up. It's like I'm half evil at times and half innocent at other times. Why is it you caused me to be like this?" Malice whined.

Maleficent just stood there in silence not knowing what to do nor what her answer would be.

" It won't matter anymore. I'm just like this sometimes..." Malice said.

(still silent)

" Forget about it, I'll co- operate with you mom." Malice finally says.

Maleficent finally snapped when she heard the word " mom". In fact, it brought a flashback of her calling a six year old red haired girl " Malice." Aside from that, she had a flashback calling Malice her "darling."

" Malice?" Maleficent asked in realization.

" Yes, mom. I... Apologize for leaving home. I was such a doofus, and I miss home." Malice replied.

" It.....Does not matter anymore. Let's just get onto our evil plan." Maleficent says.

Upon hearing Maleficent's answer, Malice smiled for she can finally recover her distant relationship with her mother.

" So, what can we do?" Malice asked calmly.

" Relax, Malice. Evil takes time to plan out revenge. Give me about three days to think and I believe Jafar,Cruella,and Evil Queen would love to join us." Maleficent answered.

" Why three days? Can't we just plan it out now?" Malice asked.

" Why darling, haven't you been listening to my stories as a child? I've been telling you how much time I put in my master plan." Maleficent replied.

" Oh... I must of forgotten." Malice says.

" Well now, you know it again." Maleficent said.

(to be continued....)