World Refugees Final Mix

"And remember what happened with Mirror Earth?" Ren pointed out. "Whatever bargain we make, she'll find a way to twist it to her advantage. I don't want to fight her either, but..." She trailed off, at a loss for words. "Ugh, there's got to be something we're not thinking of!"

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Maleficent waited watching them with amusement. "It seems you did not really know why you wanted to come here, as you have yet to tell me what you want of me, other than that I accept nothingness, an offer I am hardly likely to accept. Your intention to battle me, or surely you would have brought more than this sad trio . . . a scarred hero, a naive bookworm, and a hopeless dreamer who mourns after the lover who abandoned her twice over. The world is not a tale, you know. An unlikely assemblage of heroes does not guarantee your victory against a more powerful foe." Again the mocking laughter. "Though you seem to have forgotten to bring a dog, some mangy, but lovable mutt. You can never get anywhere without some fluffy animal side-kick, you know." She pauses. "Were you too rushed to bring along Ryan, Aya?"

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Song failed to hide the wince as Maleficent struck a more sensitive nerve this time, and she couldn't help thinking that some of her points were right. What were they doing here? Why didn't they take the time to plan this out more thoroughly? Song should have been thinking and plotting, not trusting her questionable luck and not-always-quick mind.

Still, she had to do something more. If it dissolved this quickly into combat, she was obviously failing at her self-appointed job. She was losing her touch. Negotiating with villains - to use a blunt term - didn't work so well when you couldn't give them anything they were likely to want.
But... bargaining with fairies... She hoped this wouldn't be a mistake.

"Enough of that. If its a choice between combat and bargaining I'd prefer the bargain. Would you promise not to harm or let any harm come to Janet, her child, and Margaret's, or to the life Margaret has made for herself, and would you give Margaret an equal share of time to control her own body if I could offer you something in return?"

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"Song, when this is over..." Aya said, her voice low as she ignored Maleficent's personally-directed barbs, "...I am going to beat you over the head with the Dresden Files."

One of her thumbs was hung in the beltloops of her jeans. "Your taunting doesn't scare me here, lady, I'll have you know. You do us a disservice in underestimating us."

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Ren's lips quirked into a wry grin. "You sure about that dog thing?" she asked. If Maleficent wanted a small, furry animal companion, she knew three that would just love to meet her. Her neighbor's yappy little terriers were vicious, and the rest of the neighborhood had learned long ago to give them and their sharp little teeth a wide berth.

She glanced over at Aya and smirked again. "Steal my shtick, will you?" she muttered teasingly under her breath.

"You're right, Maleficent. This isn't a story. So I'm perfectly capable of looking at and dealing with my flaws on my own time instead of going blank with self-loathing at the most inconvenient possible time. Thank you anyway, though."

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Maleficent looked at Song thoughtfully, thousand of thoughts flashing through her mind. It could mean a change in plans, but perhaps it would suffice . . . perhaps. "Your offer is . . . intriguing, though it will require further discussion. Suppose I have the times between sunset and sunrise, and she has those between sunrise and sunset. That grants her the advantage in time for the majority of the year. And, I suppose I can agree to leave the girl and the brats alone this time. But this seems an unbalanced agreement, where I give more than I take. So the lot of you will similarly agree to stay out of my affairs."

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"As long as your affairs do not inhibit ours, that's fair. Will your power supplement sleep enough that Margaret isn't forced to spend much of her time resting to make up for you taking the night shift, as it were?"

And now she had to come up with something that would be worthwhile to Maleficent, without ruining her own life. That was tricky, as her first thoughts were of giving something of herself to the fairy, and involving herself with that.. Darkness. But perhaps Maleficent would have something else in mind. It was cliche, but maybe there was some quest or other that Song could carry out without too guilty of a conscious... It was wishful thinking, but one never knew.

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"HOLD UP HOLD UP! I mean COME ON can you be anymore vague and loophole-filled? What if she packs up and goes to a world where it's ALWAYS night and operates out of there? Or hell, even just the North Pole?"

She turned to Song and pointed at her with the gusto of an ace attorney. "No! NO DEAL."

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Ren nodded, tugging Song back a bit. "And if we did agree, we'd be giving her carte blanche to do whatever evil she wants, and we wouldn't be able to do a bloody thing to stop her, because we promised to 'stay out of her affairs!' It's a trap, plain and simple."

She turned to glare at Maleficent. "I'm with Aya. I do not accept your terms." That made it two against one, now...

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"They do not seem to respect your compromise," Maleficent said to Song with an exaggerated sigh. "What now?"

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Song bit her tongue to keep from protesting. They were right, of course. She couldn't tell them that she didn't really give a damn what Maleficent did, just so long as the Refugees and their allies weren't harmed. This universe meant a lot more to Aya and Ren than it did to her, but saying so wouldn't do any good. It would only divide them when they needed to work together.
This was why she'd brought them, really. Not to protect her in a fight, for she was an expert warrior when wielding dreams as weapons. No, they were here to keep her in check, and they were playing their roles well.

"Well... we could either work on those terms until we're all satisfied, which may be never, or the three of us can try to seal you again. Shall we have a vote?"

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"Vote." Aya folded her arms. Sure, her choice was probably going to be pretty obvious. "On that note, though, I'll be right back."

Floating into the air once more, Aya took off into the sky with a violent wind and burst of blue light. A thought had occurred to her: there was still one more player in this little game, one that was not present and was the most important factor. If Maleficent had her own presence in this mind-a mental manifestation, a term she had came up with a few years ago for the purposes of some Psychonauts-themed RP, then it only followed that somewhere around here there was a Margaret as well.

If anyone deserved a vote on what was going to happen here it was her. So Aya searched, seeking out that realization of self with her imagined supersonic speed.

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Ren watched Aya zoom off and slowly exhaled. "Well, while we're all waiting," she said, turning back toward Song and Maleficent with an exaggeratedly bright smile, "we could, I dunno, pass the time with some pleasant conversation? Just putting a pause on the negotiations, you know?" Well, she had to say something to fill in the silence, even if said something was halfway deranged, given the circumstances. "Or we could just... wait quietly..." Ren added, wilting a bit. "That works, too."

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Maleficent sat down on a throne-like chair that had appeared behind her. "Very well. Pleasant conversation. Can you tell me what has become of Pete and Diablo in the months since Xemnas' fall?"

***

The forest branches extended far higher than they should, though they did eventually end. From above it appears that the forest extended far into the distance, endless almost to the horizon. The black mist that surrounded it fluttered and moved almost as if it were alive.

The treetops were not uniform. Some distance among the tree tops appeared to give way to enough brambles with thorns as long as knives.

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Song turned her head briefly towards the direction Aya had zipped off to, wondering what in all the worlds she was doing. Song, too, had been considering trying to bring Margaret into this at some point, but it didn't occur to her that Aya had the same thing in mind.

Oh well. Back to the matter at hand. Pleasant conversation? Suurrre....
"I wouldn't know... They're both still alive. Diablo, at least, is as creepy as ever. Hmm. Are you aware of everything that Margaret does?"

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Aya stared out over the forest, and wondered if they had been too late to stop Maleficent's encroachment. Shoving those thoughts aside and recalling the fairytale that Maleficent had spawned from, she flew to the thorny area.

Nearly two years ago when the world had ended in darkness, Aya was thrown from a crumbling Earth smack into Aurora's castle. It was deserted and the princess had long since been taken by Maleficent. Alone, she was forced to crawl her way through the thorns that had been left behind by the dark fairy. That was, in fact, where she had gotten most of her scars from. Maybe Maleficent knew that, maybe the witch saw her and laughed during those early days when Aya was fraught with madness.

Aya doubted it. Maleficent had more important things to do back then. She didn't fear the darkness of the thorn thickets anymore and without hesitation, dived inside. "MARAGRET! MARGARET, WHERE ARE YOU?"

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Ren leaned casually--or at least gave off some facade of being casual--against her walking stick and clucked her tongue in thought. "I'm afraid I haven't heard from either of them. But I imagine Diablo has missed you very much." And if Pete knew what was good for him, he'd stay away... but it really wouldn't be wise to say that out loud.

She tilted her head a bit, waiting for Maleficent's reply to Song's question.

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"Much of it, though not all. Just as my past actions are shadowy to her, so are many of hers to me." Maleficent pulled a cup of wine out of thin air and took a sip from it.

***

There was no response to Aya's call, though the thorns were as fierce as ever they had been in the past, for all that they were only dreams. At the center of them could be seen the same familiar castle . . . and now a faint hint of music could be heard in the air, faint and distant.

Yet in that castle was no Princess Aurora. It was Margaret who slept within, in a sleep so deep there were no dreams.

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Song just nodded. It was about what she'd expected.
And... casual conversation was proving rather tricky, given the circumstances.

"So... out of curiosity, why are you so averse to becoming who you used to be? I mean, I know you wouldn't have as much power if you stopped using Darkness, but is it really that fun being evil? Most people don't actually rejoice in the fact, or even admit it."

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Only dreams and unlike their real counterparts, Aya could concentrate and imagine herself an ethereal form to pass through the deadly plants.

Aya located a convenient window to break through and took stock of the situation quickly enough. She frowned mightily and made a mental note of where to find her again before just as rapidly leaving. To save time, she does not fly, already knowing where the others were. No, that would be a quick slip in between and in a blink, Aya was standing with the other two refugees.

"Seems that Margaret can't come to the phone right now." She scowled. "Already locked away and unable to vote on the matter. And you know what?" There was a violent motion, a shaking of Aya's hand and an approximation of the Spine slide into her fingers. This one looked different-more bone-like and intertwined with veins. Set in the hilt looked like an actual pulsing, beating heart. "I think we should cut to the chase and do what needs to be done."

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Well fine, if Maleficent wanted to show off, then Ren would just have a drink as well and...

...Promptly drop her Virgin Mary and yelp as Aya suddenly reappeared out of thin air. "Don't do that!"

She looked at the Spine in Aya's hand and gulped, feeling a little queasy at its new look. "N-Now calm down a second and let's try for one last chance at reason before we start hacking at each other! Do we even know what a fight here will do to Margaret?" She wasn't sure if Aya would listen to her at this point, but she still had to try, even if things were swiftly going to hell in a handbasket.

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"It is more enjoyable than you can possibly imagine," Maleficent was telling Song smugly when Aya reappeared. "You misunderstand. Margaret does not sleep out of any maliciousness on my part. If I understand correctly, you came here out of a desire to be with me, correct? Well, my dear, you should know that two things cannot occupy the same place at the same time. If it is Margaret you wish to speak with, you may certainly have her. You have but to say the word."

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So much for casual conversation. It didn't sound like there was much chance of achieving anything with it, anyway.

Song glanced at her two companions, trying to communicate her thoughts. Eh, but what did it matter? Nothing was likely to surprise Maleficent now.

"There's no point in us seeing Margaret now if it means you won't be here. We came to either make a compromise with you, or get rid of you. Since the former doesn't seem to be an option..." Her hands poised in a grasping gesture and the familiar winged staff materialized between them.

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"Ahhh, I see now. So it's one or the other with no form of middle ground." Probably for the best-a blending of the two would produce a completely different person and that would entail both parties giving up their identity to be. "Well, looks like it's back to the dark reaches of the unconscious mind for you."

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