A Corrupt Prince

[Maleficent]

“It’s incredible!” Maleficent’s voice cried.

Her frustration matched the weather surrounding the fortress atop the Forbidden Mountain; there was a bright flash of lightning along with a deafening roar of thunder. The evil fairy’s goons quivered in fear as they witnessed their overlord vent in anger.

“Nearly sixteen years, and not a trace of her!” she paced before her throne before approaching her captain. “She couldn’t have vanished into thin air! Are you sure you searched everywhere?”

“Y-yeah, yeah!” the hoglike captain snorted. “Everywhere, we all looked!” His comrades squirmed in agreement.

“But what about the town?” asked Maleficent. Her hand fidgeted as she spoke. “The forests? The mountains?”

The captain looked down and counted with his pudgy fingers. “We searched mountains, uh, and forests, and houses, and, uh, let me see, and, uh… and all the cradles!” he added proudly.

Maleficent’s eyes widened; she stared at her captain with disbelief. “Cradle?”

“Yeah, heha! Yeah! Every cradle!” the captain mocked the Princess Aurora by rocking an invisible baby.

“Cradle?” Maleficent asked louder with shock. After a brief pause she turned and smiled to her pet raven, Diablo, who was perched on her throne. “Did you hear that, my pet?” she asked him. She extended a bony finger and trailed her fingernail along the bottom of the bird’s head. “All these years they’ve been looking for a baby!”

She looked back and saw her goons smile proudly. This was too much for her to bear; she erupted in boisterous laughter, eventually having to grasp her abdomen as she kneeled over during her hysterical fit. The goons, in their ignorance, figured that Maleficent’s condescending laughter was a good thing, and so they decided to laugh along. Alas, Maleficent’s sudden, violent turn of attitude ceased their noise.

“Fools! Idiots! Imbeciles!” She raised her scepter and cast lightning upon her henchmen, mercilessly punishing them with bolts that coursed through their diminutive bodies. The terrified demons, goblins and trolls fled from the throne room, cowering to hiding spots or vanishing from the premises altogether. Diablo had hid behind the safety of a stone, and watched in fear. He was thankful that he wasn’t the one being disciplined!

When the punishment was finished, Maleficent sneered and slammed her scepter’s bottom to the ground, generating a loud ‘CLACK!’. Her sneer soon vanished, and she was rendered depressed. She sulked to her throne and sat upon it, clutching her chest to regain her breath. “Ohh, they’re hopeless; a disgrace to the forces of evil.”

Her head turned to her raven. She raised her hand, upon the back of which Diablo perched. “My pet,” said Maleficent, almost desperately, “you are my last hope.” She brought the bird closer to her face, and she instructed him. “Search for a maid of sixteen, with hair of sunshine gold, and lips red as the rose.” Diablo nodded, and after a gentle bump from his master’s hand, he flew out through an opening and into the night sky.

“Go,” called Maleficent. “And do not fail me.”

***

Diablo had flown through a forest by the time morning reached. He was wise enough to not give his hopes up and find the princess so quickly, but he persisted. Anything for his lady…

[nathaniel]

Another beautiful morning in the wood... another day for hunting game. Although the portly Nathaniel enjoyed a good chase every now and then (or rarely), on this particular day he was having a difficult time keeping up with Prince Edward, a dashing prince with a handsome face and a talented singing voice, but was also slightly naïve.

"Sire!" Nathaniel called. Since he was older and stockier than Edward, he panted for breath quite easily. "Please, slow down!" Wasn't this fun?

[edward]

The young, handsome prince walked at a steady pace a good ten feet of his pudgy companion. He was walking his noble steed by its reigns since the footing had become too unstable to ride his mount up the slope they currently ascended. The prince stopped at Nathaniel's call, turning to face him with an attractive (if not somewhat oblivious) smile adorning his face.

"Come now, my loyal consort! The day is young, and so are we! Well... I am, anyway!" He called back to the stout vassal, stopping momentarily as he allowed him to catch up to his current position. "Those ogres, trolls, and other assorted dastardly deviants aren't going to wait around for me to slay them, you know! We may even be fortunate enough to encounter a dragon today!" He beamed, clearly excited at the thought of smiting any of these fairy tale creatures.

[nathaniel]

He thanked the prince with a nod as he caught up. Ascending the accursed slope was a great feet for chubby Nathaniel. Between catching breaths he clasped his hands together and feigned a chuckle, attempting to convince Edward that he was thrilled.

"Oh-ho, yes! I do love slaying... dragons." He said the last word with a frown of slight fear, but then quickly smiled again. Nevertheless, it would be better for Edward to meet a dragon than to meet a girl.

[Maleficent]

Diablo heard voices to the right. He swerved in the direction and continued his flight until he could see two men and a horse ascend a slope. He found a branch on a tree as he neared the men and perched himself on top of it, intending to eavesdrop on the conversation.

It was probably futile, but he had hoped listening to these forest men would provide some clue as to the whereabouts of Princess Aurora. But wait!--these men are attired far too lavishly to be woodsmen, especially the young and handsome one...

[edward]

He grinned stupidly, oblivious to any hint of hesitation in his ally's voice before turning around and again heading up the slope, giving a light tug on the reigns of his noble steed to encourage it along. He trudged a bit further before he stopped, raising a gloved hand toward Nathaniel in a gesture for him to stop, as well.

"Listen!" He said in a loud whisper, an eyebrow arching as he glanced around at seemingly nothing. "Do you smell something?" A foul scent lingered in the air, and it was one the young prince immediately recognized as the overpowering odor of a troll. Released the reigns of his horse he crept up to the peak of the slope, peaking down to see a behemoth of a troll with puke green flesh tone sleeping below.

It had made a sort of nest for itself by ripping out a series of trees, which looked rather uncomfortable. It slept on its back with its fingers laced over its chest, the sound of it snoring loudly now audible. With each breath which escaped it, a slimy green snot bubble blew from one of its nostrils.

[nathaniel]

Nathaniel stopped so abruptly his muffin hat swayed. "Ohh!" He straightened his cap and grimaced when he smelled the overpowering stench, but his grimace soon dissolved into the wide-eyed face of suspense. He quietly followed the prince up to the slope's peak. He looked down to the sleeping troll with parted lips, revealing his teeth.

"A troll, sire!" he said with a soft whisper. "And he sleeps." After that comment he looked to the Edward's face.

[edward]

But Edward's face was not present nor accounted for, as while Nathaniel had been fixated on the sleeping troll, the young prince had apparently moved on. His horse remained, but Edward himself was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah HA! En garde, vile creature!" Came the boisterous voice of the prince a moment later as he descended from some high perch down onto the beast's stomach, his sword in hand and a big, dopey grin adorning his face. The troll made no movement, and just continued to snore peacefully.

"I say! Wake up, you!" Edward commanded, prodding the creature with one of his boots in an effort to awaken it.

[nathaniel]

Nathaniel looked to where Edward stood, but only saw the horse. A double-take later, Nathaniel's eyes soon darted to Edward when he heard the prince taunt the sleeping troll. The portly consort was nervous at first, but soon felt relieved when the troll remained in slumber.

"Oh, sire!" called Nathaniel. He hurried after the prince with haste, but clumsily tripped and tumbled down the slope, rolling several times until he landed on his belly, with his muffin hat flopped over his face. "Oy!"

With a puff of air, he managed to blow the tip of his hat away from his face.

[edward]

In comical fashion, when Nathaniel blew a single puff of air to correct his hat, the Troll's eyes immediately shot open out of its dead sleep. It uttered a low, trembling growl from its throat, its brows furrowing as it directed its gaze at the portly man, seemingly taking no notice of the man standing atop it.

"Good work, Nathaniel!" Edward said excitedly, trying to maintain his balance as the hulking creature started to lumber to its feet. The nimble prince began to hop and climb it line an ever-moving obstacle course until he wound up on its shoulders. "Now, foul beast! Let us commence the battle!" He said valiantly, poising his sword in one hand.

The troll ignored him entirely and began to move forward, toward Nathaniel, it's arms outstretched. The sudden step forward by the behemoth caused Edward to lose his footing, and he fell backward, disappearing behind the Goliath with a small yell.

[nathaniel]

Nathaniel's pupils constricted when he saw the troll lumber towards him. "Oh, pooh." The sight of Edward falling back behind the creature didn't comfort Nathaniel, either. "Sire!"

He quickly got up to his feet and started running to his right. Going up the slope would slow him considerably, so he preferred a flat ground. "Keep back!" he called to the troll, although sounding more intimidated than intimidating. "I mean it!" As he moved, he noticed the horse still up on the slope. He called out to the steed. "Hey! Down here!"

[edward]

"Haha ha ha!" Came a smug laugh from behind the troll. This suddenly caught the lumbering creature's attention. It raised an eyebrow, its mouth drooping into a dumbfounded oval "0". It turned left, then right, while seeking out the source of the laughter before facing forward again. It scratched its head with a broken fingernail, flakes of mucus green who-knows-what fluttered down from the scraping.

"Come, now! You didn't think you'd be rid of me that easily, did you?" Came the disembodied voice of Prince Edward. At this the troll turned around completely, revealing that the nimble Edward had managed to grasp a couple of fist-fulls of the creature's unsanitary-looked back hair in his gloved hands, and held them like a reigns as he propped himself on the creature's back.

[nathaniel]

Nathaniel heard the voice of Edward but was equally confused; after all, he didn't see the prince fall to the ground. When the troll turned and revealed that Edward was clung to its back, Nathaniel smiled widely and clapped his hands together.

"Be careful, Sire!" he called out. He looked back towards the horse and finally managed to get its attention. "Hey! Over here!" He waved and whistled once until the horse reluctantly trotted down the slope and to Edward's companion.

[Maleficent]

Diablo's eyes widened in amusement. The raven, who had hopped and flown from tree to tree to keep up with the prince and his fat partner, had watched the valiant prince compete against the troll. He was so intrigued, in fact, that he had entirely put aside his initial mission to track down Princess Aurora.

[edward]

The troll staggered about in a sort of drunken stupor, the earth shaking with each thunderous and awkward footstep it took while it spun indignantly in a circle, clawing at its back in an attempt to brush off the intruder there. A couple of times one hand or the other drew close to Edward, but he simply shrunk away and evaded them his position between its shoulder blades proving to be an inaccessible area to the beast's groping hands.

"Is that the best you can do? Come, now! Yaw!" Edward mocked, snapping his handfuls of hair like makeshift reigns. At this, the troll went berserk with anger and quickened its movements. It took a misstep and its left foot caught a fallen tree, causing it to stumble off-balance before it began to fall face forward, Edward still clinging tight and looking amused, as if it were all just a game with no real danger involved.

It collided to the ground with enough force to send a quaking rumble echoing through the area, twigs, leaves and small rocks jumping about from the impact. The troll looked dazed, being dizzy from spinning and then having the wind knocked out of it from falling. It made no effort to get back up.

Edward at last released his hold of the troll, climbing down onto its shoulder before hopping down onto the ground.

[nathaniel]

Nathaniel had grasped the horse's reigns when the troll tumbled in defeat. The creature's fall generated a massive quake that jolted Nathaniel, who almost toppled. He regained his composure, and after tugging a reign gently, led the horse to Edward.

"Amazing, Sire!" Nathaniel exclaimed, intending to flatter the prince. "That's your ninth troll this month!" He looked to the horse's head and motioned to Edward. "I have never seen such bravery. Have you?"

[edward]

"A personal best." Edward stated with a half smile, though he somehow didn't seem as enthusiastic as he did moments earlier. he glanced around the area, his eyes finally meeting with that which he sought: his sword, which he had dropped in order to latch on to the beast's back during his earlier stunt.

Approaching it, he picked it up, admiring his reflection in the blade for a moment before sliding back into its scabbard. He then turned toward his companion. "But... do you ever think there's more to life than just, you know, slaying large creatures?" He asked.

[nathaniel]

Without a shadow of doubt! thought Nathaniel, though his spoken words were the polar opposite.

"Oh, no! Definitely not, sire. Why, we men stride through Andalasia just to slay large creatures!" He chuckled unconvincingly and forced himself to look manly, by sucking up his large gut, closing his eyes and standing proud.

He had to steer the prince's mind away from women as much as possible, because his pining for Queen Narissa depended on it.

[Maleficent]

Diablo grinned, at least as best as ravens could grin. He hastily flapped his wings and departed the scene. He decided to return to the Forbidden Mountain to inform his mistress about what he had just witnessed. Diablo knew the risk: returning without finding Aurora first would definitely sour Maleficent's mood, but he had to tell her quickly, before she could punish him.

Although he was confident that he could have found Aurora by himself, he also thought that Prince Edward would have made a nice addition to Maleficent's sorely lacking army. As evil and malicious as she was, Maleficent seemed to have difficulty hiring competent goons.

It wasn't too long before Diablo flew back into Maleficent's chamber, on top of the Forbidden Mountain. Maleficent had rested on her throne, but her nap was disturbed when she felt Diablo perch himself on the knob of her staff (she had clutched the staff even while resting). The mistress of all evil sleepily looked up and quickly gave her undivided attention to Diablo.

"My pet? Have you found her?"

The knob of Maleficent's staff glowed and flickered. If a mortal watched, said mortal would wonder why the knob flickered while the bird was touching it, but the truth is that is how the bird communicated to Maleficent; with the power of the scepter, Diablo was able to communicate to his master through telepathy.

"No?" Maleficent harshly repeated. "You have yet to find her?! You fool! I told you not to return until--"

The knob flickered again, as a frightened Diablo rapidly thought. Maleficent calmed herself and listened.

"A prince? You weren't to search for a prince."

Again with the flickering.

Maleficent rubbed her long chin with her free hand, beginning to grow intrigued. "Continue..."

More flickering, as Diablo mentally explained himself and what he saw. After a minute, Maleficent's lips tugged into a smile. "Ahhh. So that is why you've returned." Just as Diablo hoped, she was happy. "And where does... Prince Edward reside?"

One last flicker.

"Andalasia. Hmm, hmm, hmm..." She closed her eyes and chuckled in her throat. She then raised a hand and stood. "Come." Diablo hopped off of the knob and onto Maleficent's hand. She took him towards the large crevice in the wall. The scent of the wind from outside made itself known whenever one approached the hole. "You will continue your search for Aurora, but I will take heed your suggestion. My pet, this time you must not return until you find her, or until our new... ally finds her first." Diablo nodded, and after a gently motion of Maleficent's hand the bird flapped his wings and was off again.

Maleficent, still smiling, slipped the large ring from her finger, and cursed it. With a wave of her scepter, the obsidian on the ring glowed brightly red, which signified that it was cursed. It would cast a spell on whoever should be unfortunately enough to wear it. The evil faerie marveled at her ring, and chuckled again. "Tonight, Prince Edward," she said to herself, "you will join me..."

***

It was later in the night when a green will-o'-the-wisp trailed up the stony walls of Andalasia's castle. It searched for Prince Edward's chambers, but it wasn't long before it found the room. It hovered in in through the conveniently opened window, but it had to hurry; the will-o'-the-wisp was actually Maleficent. The will-o'-the-wisp dropped the ring, which was large and shiny enough that it could have easily been spotted, and vanished entirely. Maleficent was actually hiding, completely invisible to the human eye. She placed a palm on her scepter's knob, and waited in eagerness for Edward to find it. She would smile deviously when she saw the handsome prince.

[edward]

Several minutes later Prince Edward entered his quarters from the outer hall. It had been a long day and felt quite exhausted, and though he would have loved to have shared his loyal vassal's enthusiasm over his triumphs of their earlier excursions he still felt as though something was missing. Something, or someone. Edward was brave, valiant and nimble on his feet, but he had never been the brightest of men; yet all the same he almost felt as though he were being distracted in some way, made to focus on things to keep his mind off of other things.

What were those things again?

Losing his train of thought he shrugged his shoulders even though, so far as he knew, he was the only one who would have witnessed the gesture. He closed the large, intricately carved door to his royal chambers behind him and let out a sigh. He undressed, first removing his sword, which was securely in its scabbard, then his gloves, boots and other apparel before he slipped into a lavish red velvet set of pajama tops and bottoms with a gold trim.

Stifling a yawn with one raised hand he felt a sudden chill and glanced toward the open window. He began to walk toward it with the intention of closing it when he felt a sudden pain in his right foot. "Ahh!' He let out a small bellow of surprise, glancing down as he shifted his foot off to one side to get a look at what the offender had been. It was a ring with a brilliant obsidian setting which caught the moonlight cascading in from the open window and produced an almost otherworldly gleam.

"Hm." He perked an eyebrow and his lips curled into a half pucker of intrigue. It wasn't a piece of jewelry he recognized. It didn't seem possible that one of the servants could have dropped it, as it looked far too valuable to be in the possession of such a commoner. Stooping down his picked it up in his right hand, shifting it this way and that as he admired it.

He stood erect again, though his eyes remained glued on the ring. He took a few steps toward his large, luxurious canopy bed; he had forgotten all about the open window after the distraction. He stopped by a nightstand beside his bed and extended his hand with the intention of placing the ring down, then withdrew his hand. It looked just about his size. Without thinking of what he was doing, as if he were acting subconsciously, he slid the ring over his left ring finger.

As soon as the ring was over his finger the setting glowed bright red and he suddenly felt dizzy. He staggered, nearly losing his balance and falling onto the floor, but he managed to reach out and grab the night stand for balance before he tumbled over completely. "I feel... strange." He muttered as everything around him seemed to grow darker and take on a deep, crimson hue.

[Maleficent]

Maleficent was invisible to the prince's naked eyes, so she calmly waited for Edward to arrive. She nonchalantly watched him undress, but a smile tugged her lips when he eventually noticed the ring. The more he examined it was the more Maleficent smiled, until her lips parted into a malicious grin. She couldn't help but chuckle wickedly when the ring was finally slipped into Edward's finger.

From Edward's perspective, the scenery grew darker to take on a deep, crimson hue. This change allowed Edward to see Maleficent, and she made no hesitation with greeting him. "Good evening, Your Majesty," she said to him with feigned kindness, looking down to him after he tumbled over. "Oh, dear! You've had an awful tumble. Please..." She extended her free arm and offered him her hand, obviously to help him up to his feet. "Let me help you." All the while Maleficent smiled affably.

[edward]

After a minute or so, which he couldn't tell because concept of time suddenly felt lost upon him, everything around him began to balance out again, the color and focus returning to normal - or at least his new interpretation of 'normal.' He glanced around the room before he heard a voice behind him. Turning his head to the side he saw a robed form approaching him. He glanced at her extended hand for a moment before he put his weight off of the night stand and back on his own two feet.

"No, thank you. I'm quite alright." He informed her as he straightened his lordly pajamas to try and look more presentable. He then cast her an intrigued look, one eyebrow perked in suspicion. "Who might you be? And, furthermore, what might you be doing in my chambers at this hour?" He asked her, though in truth these questions were more of an impulse. Though he couldn't understand why or how, he already knew the answers to both questions in some part of his mind.

[Maleficent]

From this moment on, Maleficent pretended to be a benevolent, compassionate faerie. This was of course the polar opposite of the true Maleficent, but obviously Prince Edward didn't know that. Because Edward was duped into wearing the cursed ring, he would unwittingly be under Maleficent's power. But it would help the spell if Maleficent acted like Edward's friend, and so she commenced the charade.

Maleficent returned her hand to an idle stance, and she nodded slightly when her offer of assistance was kindly turned down. "I am here with urgency, Your Majesty." Her voice feigned worry, and her face followed suit. "It is a matter of life and death for a young woman." She didn't continue because she knew that starting vague would only gain Edward's curiosity and trust.

[edward]

He listened closely as she spoke, hanging on to her every word - though they were few, and vague at best, his heart skipped a beat all the same. Helping a young damsel in distress; could this have been the piece of the puzzle he felt was missing from his life? After all, wasn't rescuing fair maidens a prince's royal duty?

This woman was certainly no mere messenger, that much was obvious. Her presence at this hour, as well as her dark and dreary manner of dress, seemed to forebode an ominous nature to her, but thanks to the influences of the ring, which seeped its curse through his body like a fast-acting poison, he remained oblivious to her suspicious nature and instead focused on her proposal. Even with such cryptic information his imagination could piece the rest together, and he was the one destined to save her from the clutches of evil.

"A matter of life and death?" He repeated with genuine concern. "Well, then; there's no time for rest, we haven't a moment to lose! You can divulge the details on the way!" He announced, though he suddenly remembered that he had changed into his pajamas. Just how long had she been in his room, anyway? "Though... I should adorn more fitting attire for the journey." He said, hinting that she should give him some privacy.

[Maleficent]

Maleficent smiled as if she were a longtime friend of the prince. "Of course, Your Majesty," she replied. "But allow me to assist you."

The fairy moved her scepter to bring the knob between herself and the prince. The knob glowed a bright, yellow hue, which perfectly matched her yellow eyes. A strange, glistening aura blanketed Edward's clothing and gradually brightened, but said aura was not physically painful in the least. It merely ignited a tickling sensation at best.

Maleficent recited an incantation as Edward's attire magically transformed. "Adorned with studs and golden lace; a suit of armor to be worn with grace." After this the bright light faded, and Maleficent brought down her scepter to idleness. What was once a pair of pajamas was now an intricate, ostentatious suit of armor that was durable, yet surprisingly light on the prince. As Maleficent hinted with her incantation, the uniform was predominantly black with gold lacing. To the bewitched Edward's eyes, this would have appeared to be a very noble, proud gift from the fairy. But through the eyes of mortals, the suit appeared to be tailored for the malevolent and wicked.

"A gift to you, valiant Edward, to prove my loyalty." Maleficent said of the magically bestowed armor. A smile crossed her pale face as her yellow eyes skimmed along Edward.

[edward]

He made no effort to move away from her as she began to conjure a spell in his direction, though a Prince Edward in his normal state of mind likely would have questioned such an act before allowing magicks to be used upon him. In his current state, it seemed perfectly acceptable and his face displayed no questioning or concern. A tingling feeling crept over his body, and he could feel the fabric which comprised his pajamas crawling over his flesh as if alive before it warped and changed form and substance. Once the spell was completed he looked himself over, though sensibility quickly told him he could see more with more than just a first-person perspective, and thus he turned toward a nearby mirror as he admired his new attire. As far as he was concerned, it looked very befitting of a young, handsome hero.

“I am honored, good sorceress. I shall do my best to meet up to your lofty expectations; it’s what I excel at.” He stated, not finding anything even the least bit vain about what he had just said. And that wasn’t due to his hazy mind; that was just Edward himself. He approached his sheathed sword, which rested idly against his wardrobe, picking it up in both hands. A hero would need a sword on such a dangerous journey, to be sure.

[Maleficent]

Maleficent, continuing to act uncharacteristically benevolent and generous, closed her eyes and bowed as humbly as she could pretend. Although she didn't need to act too exaggeratedly because the prince was under a spell, she chose to do so anyway as an extra precaution.

"Please, Your Grace," she replied; "it is I who am honored, to be in your presence." She straightened and opened her eyes. When she noticed Edward taking his sword, she used her free hand to pinch the portion of her cloak to just below her long chin. "Come, Your Majesty," she 'gently' urged. "Let us make haste; we must not waste time. A maiden fair awaits." She turned and started for the door.