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Post by Maleficent on Feb 13, 2011 0:02:35 GMT -5
Maleficent was glad that she had sent away her various minions and slaves. At this point, she was not in the mood for dealing with those imbeciles. Her head was aching, and the one thing that would ease the pain, other than burning a few people to a crisp, would be to work on her own in studying various magical spells.
For instance, lately she was working to create a new variant of her famous transformation spell. Not one to transform herself into a dragon, but something a little more subtle. Perhaps if this was successful, she would be able to no longer have to rely on a raven for spying.
"Now...to work," she murmured with a sigh, sitting down with her robes pooling around her feet. Removing her cowl so that her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders, she leaned over the desk with a look of deep concentration.
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Post by Puck on Feb 13, 2011 0:25:32 GMT -5
Finally, free!
How kind of Oberon to lift his restrictions and of Xanatos to free him from his contract. Now Puck was free again, free as a bird, free to go where he wished and tease whom he pleased.
The faerie flipped a somersault in midair above the Eyrie Building, grinning broadly. Now that his time was his own again, who to pester first? It had to be someone special, of course, to celebrate his new-won freedom.
Ah, yes, he knew just the faerie. In a flash Puck had disappeared from New York City and was flitting up the side of the Forbidden Mountain via the secret ways only a few of the Fair Folk knew. Another flash, and he was in a secret room deep in the castle's heart, wearing the shape of a pretty green-eyed girl with curly brown hair, the shape named Robin Goodfellow. Just because he could shapeshift freely now.
Puck grinned delightedly. Oh, this was too perfect. Her quarry was occupied with something at a desk, and her signature cowl sat unattended. Quick as a wink, the trickster darted in and scooped up the cowl.
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Post by Maleficent on Feb 13, 2011 0:32:22 GMT -5
There was the sound of air whooshing and Maleficent turned sharply to see the cause of it. There was a flash of brown hair and Maleficent's eyes narrowed dangerously. Who had discovered the way to her mountain? No one but one of the Fair Folk could...Oh, no. If it was who Maleficent thought it was, then they were going to die a most painful death.
Standing up slowly, she tossed her head to move her hair out of her face and stepped towards the doorway to her secret lab. "Show yourself," she called sharply. "I know that you are there, now please save me the trouble of destroying a few very perfectly good walls."
Her hand instantly sought out the staff that was her focus, and she narrowed her eyes still further as she looked around her, seeking whoever her intruder was.
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Post by Puck on Feb 13, 2011 0:40:04 GMT -5
"Fifteen hundred years since the War and you still haven't mellowed out," Puck drawled from the laboratory, twirling the cowl on a finger as she lounged in thin air over a table scattered with evil-looking crystals and spell components. "Remind me why Oberon keeps sending the Wyrd Sisters to fetch you back to Court?"
She set the cowl on her head, using a spark of green Glamour to conjure a mirror to inspect her reflection in. So nice to see Robin's face again. When Oberon had bade his Puck to adopt this form, he hadn't been quite so fixated on long pointed ears. Robin could almost pass for a vanilla human with her very modest points. The pointed ears were generally inescapable unless you were willing to become completely human, like with Owen.
The cowl, though, wasn't very flattering.
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Post by Maleficent on Feb 13, 2011 1:00:03 GMT -5
"Puck," Maleficent said a little unnecessarily, crossing her arms and frowning in distaste. "After all these years...what possible reason could you have to come crawling to my lair? And as for why Oberon keeps trying to bring me back...perhaps he has some respect for the power that I wield. Unlike some," she added bitterly, her eyes narrowing once more.
Maleficent had never liked the mischievous Puck. The hobgoblin was more of a nuisance than a help, and Maleficent could not fathom why Oberon even put up with the creature. After all, the Puck had defied Oberon during the most recent Gathering. Of course, so had Maleficent, but she had been in a self-inflicted exile from Avalon for centuries, and she was not about to go back just because Oberon was suddenly in the mood to be surrounded by his "children" once more. Besides, Maleficent and Titania had never gotten along too well.
"Put that down, Puck, you look ridiculous," she added, wanting to do nothing more than snatch the cowl away from the other faerie.
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Post by Puck on Feb 13, 2011 1:04:57 GMT -5
She plucked the cowl off her head, her form flickering again to become a redheaded adolescent boy. Oh, how Puck had missed shapeshifting. "You know, for once you're right," he said, tossing it up into the air and catching it with lazy ease. "It does look ridiculous. Less so on me than on you though. You always look ridiculous. Really, Maleficent, a bat-winged robe? Leave that to the gargoyles."
He deliberately didn't answer Maleficent's other question. What excuse did he need to come to her lair other than needing someone to annoy?
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Post by Maleficent on Feb 13, 2011 1:09:35 GMT -5
Maleficent snarled a little at this and clenched her fists. "Please," she said with a sniff. "Bats and Gargoyles are nothing alike. I prefer to emulate the former and ignore the latter. Now give that back before I see fit to start removing parts of your body."
The one thing about Puck that she could not stand was how like a child the creature was. Really...It was one thing to be innocent and sweet, but Puck was neither sweet nor innocent, and it grated on the nerves. Especially when one was left alone with Puck. Growling a little to herself, Maleficent arched an eyebrow.
"And really now, you seem to spend enough time with the Gargoyles."
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Post by Puck on Feb 13, 2011 1:15:54 GMT -5
Puck shrugged. Maleficent would have to actually catch him before she could start removing body parts. And when a gargoyle furled its wings around itself, the effect was very much like the other faerie's robe.
With a bored expression, he tossed the cowl in Maleficent's general direction and flitted up to inspect a rune-carved skull on a shelf. "Spent, my dear, spent. I'm free of Manhattan now."
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Post by Maleficent on Feb 13, 2011 1:18:51 GMT -5
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," Maleficent cautioned as the other fae inspected a skull. "It's rather cursed. Trapped another faerie in there, and he isn't very pleasant towards intruders."
A bit of a white lie. There certainly was a faerie inside of the skull, but he was rather droll and amused Maleficent immensely on days when she was bored. Smirking a little at Puck, she arched an eyebrow in feigned curiosity.
"Oh? Have you grown tired of the company of that mortal you were serving? You always did have a short attention span, even for a faerie."
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Post by Puck on Feb 13, 2011 1:37:01 GMT -5
Poor little faerie, trapped inside a skull. At least Puck had been able to interact with people when he'd been bound as Owen.
"And the romance novels and trashy magazines are for... what purpose now?" He glanced over his shoulder and smirked at Maleficent. The idea of Maleficent with such... literature... in her possession amused him greatly. "Still can't get a date, can you?"
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Post by Maleficent on Feb 13, 2011 1:43:49 GMT -5
Maleficent would have killed Puck if she had cared about being romantically involved with anyone. But she had put all such needs behind her long ago. Instead, she simply arched an eyebrow and turned to Puck.
"Your asking that implies that you haven't been able to get a 'date' yourself, Puck," she said with a sneer. "And the reason they are there is that the only way to keep my little friend in there even marginally polite is to give him such...offerings, as it were."
Rolling her eyes a little, she walked away from the bookcase, cape billowing behind her as she moved to open the door. "Now...you've worn out your welcome. Goodbye, Puck."
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Post by Puck on Feb 13, 2011 1:47:52 GMT -5
"Been a little busy for dating." And Puck didn't think that stuffy Owen would really be the sort to attract a lot of dates- at least, of the sort that could keep up with the Puck... No, Owen was all about work. Work work work, and teaching little Alex. That had been about the only fun he'd been able to have in several years now.
With that thought, Puck lit on the floor and became Owen, bowing from the waist with a stiffness that was almost exaggerated for Xanatos's bespectacled second in command.
"Always a pleasure, Maleficent," he replied, not a trace of irony on his face.
Owen was such a fun part to play.
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Post by Maleficent on Feb 13, 2011 1:51:36 GMT -5
Arching her eyebrow in surprise more than distaste, Maleficent eyed this new form curiously. Well, well, well. This one looked much stuffier than Puck's usual forms. Not only that, but were Maleficent at all interested in a romantic tie with anyone, this form would have certainly attracted her.
"I take it this is the form that you were trapped in for so long?" she guessed, smirking a little. "I didn't think you had it in you to play such a...stick in the mud, Puck."
Really, though. Puck was always so...irritating was the first word that came to Maleficent's mind, but the most apt description would be energetic. Such a dried up stick as this must have been a challenge to the changeling, to say the least.
"You poor thing. How dull life must have been," Maleficent said without any true sympathy in her voice.
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Post by Puck on Feb 13, 2011 1:59:21 GMT -5
Puck wiggled the fingers of his left hand. Normally, they would appear to be stone, the result of Owen being noble and sacrificing his hand to test the Cauldron of Life for Xanatos. That had actually caused Puck a bit of trouble before he'd figured out how to reverse the spell, and he'd covered up his vanishing handicap by using a touch of Glamour to make Owen's hand appear like it was still stone.
Stick in the mud. Hah. That was Owen's appeal. Out of all the parts Puck had played and all the roles he'd tried, Owen was the only straightman in the bunch, and that very novelty was a challenge and a delight.
"Oh hardly," he said, folding his arms over his chest. He had to fight the urge to grin- Owen was the one character he refused to break, even now- but he'd seen the look in Maleficent's eye as she'd inspected his new form. She fancied Owen. Oh, what sweet, sweet ammunition. "Never a dull moment with my mortals."
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Post by Maleficent on Feb 13, 2011 2:03:51 GMT -5
"I'm sure," Maleficent said dryly, moving her staff so that she could rest one hand on top of the green orb that adorned it. "They must have been so very entrancing if you seem so relieved to be rid of them now."
That was what happened when the faeries tried to become connected with the mortal realm, after all. In the end, the faerie would grow tired of it all and move on. It never failed, as the fae were immortal creatures and Humans only had short life-spans. That, and faeries like the Puck were notorious for their short attention spans.
"Or am I mistaken? Did they get tired of you, Puck? I can't imagine why."
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