A/N: Mezhan gets flashbacks. Kinda. I summarize pretty much any information that's really important about her

Note: No further Yuuzhan Vong are planned for this story. Their psycho heretical mind warper is the only one I need

Published: 6/7/2019

Warnings: None

Featured Character:

Maleficent

Mezhan Kwaad

Supporting:

Skuld

Antagonist:

None

Chapter 2

The Master Shaper

As she marched down the cool stone steps of Villains Vale, Maleficent pondered her current situation.

Maleficent had dismissed her council. They were not required for this. No, it was best they return to their own worlds, to prepare for the coming War. War that she had recently herself accelerated.

The Fall of Destiny Islands was no small feat. Such an odd world, at the very edge of creation, yet filled with so much light. Had they not brought the Heartless directly to it, the Heartless themselves would never have bothered.

Maleficent knew this to be fact. The waters that touched the shores of Destiny Islands also touched the shores of the Dark Realm itself. Still, it had to be done.

Now that the Islands had fallen, the true Heir of the Keyblade would reveal themselves, and, once Maleficent had them in hand, her victory would be all but assured.

But, for now… Maleficent would use the resources at her hands. Resources meaning, of course, the interloper than had taken over her castle.

An interloper currently locked in meditation.

Skuld had taken over the Castle Chapel for this purpose, which irked Maleficent to no end when she had to relocate her meetings to another chamber.

Skuld sat there, with her back turned towards Maleficent, locked in her trance. Situated in the center of the room upon the elevated platform built there. Maleficent stood patiently, awaiting to be acknowledged.

Experience had taught Maleficent not to interrupt the Keyblade Master, particularly during these moments.

Maleficent did not have to wait long. Skuld rose, turning her head to peer over her shoulder. Maleficent tried not to squirm. Those golden eyes were unnerving.

Anytime Skuld turned that gaze on her, Maleficent felt as if she were being analyzed, a thousand times over. Every secret, every aspect of herself, picked apart and laid bare for the Keyblade Masters leisure.

"The boy is here then," Skuld said, turning fully to face Maleficent properly.

Maleficent hadn't even mentioned Riku yet, but of course, Skuld had seen it. There was little Skuld did not see.

That wasn't to say Skuld's prowess as a Seer weren't above being fooled, which was one of the primary reasons Maleficent was here.

She was here to gloat.

"Yes, yes, the boy is here," Maleficent nodded, "but, surprisingly, he is not alone."

Maleficent expected shock to splash across Skuld's face. She was severely disappointed when, instead, Skuld considered the words and nodded.

"There was a possibility that others would fall here with him, though the chance was rather low," Skuld admitted.

Maleficent raised an eyebrow.

"You are not surprised?"

Skuld shook her head. Maleficent had to give Skuld credit. Either Skuld had known all along that Riku would arrive accompanied by companions, or she had a hell of a poker face.

"What I see, Maleficent, is not what is but what can be. All possibilities, and, through them, I determined the most likely path," Skuld told her.

Maleficent said nothing. Said nothing, but felt a sharp pang of fear. If Skuld was telling the truth, then any plan made against her was likely to fall apart.

How does one strike down a Seer with seemingly no weak spots?

Maleficent, of course, knew this could not be the case. No Seer's sight was perfect. There had to be a blind spot somewhere. There had to be a factor she could exploit, that she could use.

All Maleficent had to do was find it.

Skuld smiled, arms reaching upwards as she stretched.

"There was a reason I chose to recruit Kwaad," Skuld spoke, stepping down from the platform before striding past Maleficent.

Maleficent could not help the look of surprise that crossed her face. Surprise, and disbelief.

"Kwaad? There is not a drop of magical energy within her, and you wish to set her on our invaders?" Maleficent asked incredulously.

Skuld turned to her.

"You underestimate that which you don't understand, Dark Fae. I assure you, if anyone can take out both Locke Cole and Celes Chere, it is Mezhan Kwaad."

Maleficent said nothing, didn't even blink at the names casually tossed out.

With Skuld, there was very little that didn't surprise Maleficent anymore.

Mezhan Kwaad was not from this world. She was not from this Galaxy. She wasn't even native to this Universe. Her own Universe had fallen prey long ago, and, as her species had once crossed the great divide that separated Galaxy from Galaxy, Mezhan had crossed the divide from one Universe to the next.

In her old life, Mezhan had been what her people had called a Master Shaper, had bent and created life to her will for the glory of the Yuuzhan Vong Empire.

An Empire that had not appreciated her. An Empire that had condemned her for her heresy, condemned her for thinking outside of the box, for seeking independence.

The Yuuzhan Vong had worshiped two things in life, pain and their gods. And Mezhan was far too wise to believe in the so called deities that the Yuuzhan Vong had assimilated to. The Yuno were nothing but a fallacy, constructed to keep the Yuuzhan Vong in check.

Religion served but one purpose: to cede the growth of scientific intelligence. Mezhan knew and recognized this, and it irked her that so many fell prey to the sway of belief, submitted themselves without a second thought. For that was what faith was.

Blind obedience.

Obedience Mezhan had never bothered with. There were no gods. There never had been. There was only existence, and existence was suffering.

Shaper protocols, passed down for generations, locked strictly in place. Deviation was death, and, while they had worked just fine when the Yuuzhan Vong had been on their own, their effectiveness lost strength the moment they'd crossed into a foreign Galaxy, one whose life strands rang on a different current than what they had been accustomed to.

Mezhan only did what was natural, and studied the new life strands, studied ways to shape them, to twist them to the Yuuzhan Vong cause. And, for that, she had been condemned.

Bah!

It mattered not.

The Yuuzhan Vong were no more. Mezhan was all that remained of a mighty Empire that had struck fear in the hearts of Sith and Jedi alike, an Empire so strong even the primordial entity known as the so called Force had feared their very existence.

The Yuuzhan Vong were gone and she, Mezhan Kwaad, a heretic, had survived where the rest of her kind had fallen. If that wasn't vindication, Mezhan didn't know what was.

Mezhan herself was currently rather busy. Busy perfecting her experiment. Busy perfecting an utter failure.

By this point, Tai Lung no longer even whimpered. Mezhan had been pleased when she had been presented a warrior plucked straight from the Underworld, one who's spiritual power had transcended even death.

She had been far less impressed when she'd learned Tai Lung had failed to overpower a single human, even with back up. The disgust had increased when she had learned the human in question had had his own spiritual power drained to a near minimum mere minutes before the invasion of Destiny Islands had begun.

"Perhaps," Mezhan mused out loud, "I should stop wasting my efforts in perfecting you, and instead seek out this 'Sabin Figaro'. No doubt he'd prove far more impressive than you have."

Tai Lung did not answer. Not that he could Mezhan had muzzled the animal almost as soon as she'd gained him. He did, however, glare daggers at her.

"You should be grateful, beast." Mezhan continued, unfettered. "I will make you great. I will make you powerful. I will make you feared."

Mezhan had made many a great things.

She would make a great many more.

Suddenly, the door to her laboratory opened of its own accord. Turning, Mezhan watched as Skuld strode into the room like she owned it. Which, technically, she did.

Mezhan huffed.

"How am I expected to Shape this lump of meat into something useful if I am being constantly interrupted?" Mezhan complained.

Skuld smiled. "My dear, I have a much better target for you. Much, much better."

Had Mezhan had eyebrows, she would have raised them. "Oh?" she asked, her interest peaked. "And what, pray tell, would it be?"

Skuld's smile only widened.

Mezhan, in her long life, had met many mad men, many crazed leaders, many insane beings that would stop at absolutely nothing to see their goals accomplished.

Skuld was no different.

This mad leader, however, was on her side, and Mezhan would follow her to the death.