Bridging the Gap

Chapter 7

"How did you get off the Isle?" Beast demanded, stepping in front of Belle to protect her. Ben, however, hadn't moved from his spot kneeling in front of Fairy Godmother. To be fair, it was rather shocking and Mal didn't fault Ben for being surprised. After all, they had all thought that her mother would be staying on the Isle.

Maleficent chuckled; a low soft chuckle that chilled Mal to the bone. "Why, an old friend provided me the answer. It took a godly amount of patience though to get it out of him."

Mal gasped softly, resisting the urge to look back at Ben as she realized what her mother was talking about. She had somehow found Persephone's way onto and off of the Isle.

"What did you do to Hades?" A slender brunette woman asked, stepping out from the crowd. Her gown draped over her like a toga and flowers were braided into her hair as if they had been planted into her scalp.

"Ah, Persephone," Maleficent said, turning from her daughter to face off against the woman who had taken her husband. "No need to worry about your husband. He should be just fine. There's a lot worse I could have done to him if I'd had the time."

Are there no guards? Mal asked as the two women semi-circled each other like birds of prey, Persephone never allowing Maleficent to get behind her; Ben taking the momentary distraction to slowly get up and stand by her. Honestly, Mal had to wonder what was going through her mother's mind. This was the goddess who turned a nymph into a mint plant because Hades found her attractive.

Then again, Maleficent was...you know. Maleficent.

"Bibbbidi. Bobbity," Mal heard Fairy Godmother speak and didn't have to turn around to know that the older fairy was attempting to cast a spell. However, Maleficent turned around and closed the distance between the two fairies within a couple of steps.

"Boo!" Maleficent said and hit the floor with the bottom of her scepter and froze the audience with the exception of Mal, to the best of her knowledge. Mal tried to deny it, but her heart broke as she saw Ben frozen in place just as he had been in the viewing. How much had they changed and how much was going to stay the same?

"I'll take that," Maleficent said, yanking the wand out of the iron grip out of Fairy Godmother and patted the other fairy on the cheek in a faux sympathetic expression. "Oh, you poor dear. Did you honestly think you could defeat me?"

"Maleficent!" Persephone's voice called out, startling both Mal and her mother.

"I thought you were frozen," Maleficent stated, turning toward the goddess once more. Persephone chuckled, one similar to Maleficent's.

"Did you honestly think you could freeze a Goddess?" Persephone asked, her voice growing hard and Mal knew that she was practically invisible to both women. A fact that she was thankful for. "Especially the daughter of Zeus?"

If Persephone wasn't frozen, could it be safe to assume that Hadie isn't frozen too? Could I still get him out of here? Mal thought and winced as a hand pulled her down, missing Persephone's second question as a result.

"Macaria?" Mal whispered, more than slightly shocked to see the daughter of Hercules in front of her.

"Hey cuz," Macaria smirked before growing serious. "Thought your mom wouldn't be showing up? What with Jane swearing not to grab the wand and blowing a hole in the barrier?"

"Persephone has a portal to the Isle of the Lost. It's how she's able to do the six month deal with Hades. I have no idea how my mom found out about it," Mal explained, sneaking a glance but her mother and Persephone were just circling each other. Looking back at Macaria, Mal sighed. "Macaria, I need you to do me a favor."