Nanny didn’t know what to say to Maleficent’s story. The two were sitting in silence when Hudson entered the room. He carried a silver tray with a tiny scroll lying on it.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but a message by owl came just now. It’s from Circe.” He took the tray to Nanny, who picked up the scroll.
“That will be all, thank you, Hudson,” Nanny said. As she read the message, she couldn’t help letting out a tiny gasp.
“What is it?” asked Maleficent. “Has she found the spell?”
Nanny didn’t answer at first.
“What is it?” Maleficent insisted.
“Yes, she’s found the spell,” Nanny replied.
Maleficent smiled. “Then she is on her way to help us? I knew if she read the spell, she would understand and agree to help me.”
Nanny shook her head. “No, she isn’t coming.”
Maleficent stood, her face green with rage. “Why? Why won’t she come?”
“Because, Maleficent, she can’t. She isn’t here. The odd sisters’ house took it upon itself to move locations.”
Maleficent remembered speaking to the odd sisters about that long ago, but she thought they were just raving nonsense, as they often did. “Yes. They mentioned there is a fail-safe with the house. I completely forgot! Damn! I should have remembered!” Maleficent started to pace around the room, her robe flowing behind her and her anger growing. “We needed Circe. We needed her powers to break the good fairies’ addendum to my curse. We can’t do it without her. We need three!”
“Maleficent, calm down! I still don’t understand why you cursed your own daughter to die! And to be honest, I don’t think anything you say to Circe would persuade her to help you with this! And I don’t understand why—”
Nanny stopped herself. She was becoming too familiar with Maleficent, getting too close. She realized that she might be stepping over a boundary if she asked her question.
“What? Why I abandoned my daughter? Why I had the odd sisters give her to you? Don’t you see? Do I have to lay it all out for you? Have you not seen what has become of the odd sisters over the years? Do you not detect a change within me? I know you do. I know you can feel it. I can tell you no longer have any love for me. Because I gave Aurora the best parts of myself! The parts of me you loved. I gave them away. There is nothing good left within me. She has all of it, and before my heart became truly corrupt, before I lost myself entirely, I decided to give up my child. I felt myself slipping away by the day. I felt myself becoming cold and empty. I had no love for her, so I wanted you to have her. I wanted you to care for her. I wanted you to have the very best parts of me so that you could have your daughter back, but you gave her away! You gave her to those horrible fairies, even after everything they did to me! You hurt me beyond anything I’d ever experienced. Even when I thought I had lost you, even when I was alone for all those years, that pain was nothing compared to how I felt when you gave my daughter away to those horrible fairies!”
Nanny was heartbroken. “I didn’t know! Oh, Maleficent. I’m so sorry. If I’d known the truth, I would never have given her away.” Nanny looked at Maleficent with sad eyes, willing herself to have the courage to ask one more question. “Maleficent, I still don’t understand why you cursed your daughter to die.”
Maleficent’s eyes flashed with anger. “Oh, you know. Look into your heart. The answer is there. And if you truly don’t know, then it is no fault of mine. You have the power to see time. You could have learned every bit of my story if you chose to! You could have helped me anytime you wished.”
Nanny knew Maleficent was right. She could say nothing to defend herself. “You’re right, Maleficent. I’m sorry, but we have to save your daughter now. You can’t leave her sleeping in that castle forever. It’s not too late to save her and yourself.”
“You truly don’t know, then. If you did, you wouldn’t ask that of me. I can’t let my daughter wake. Don’t you see—”
But before Maleficent could finish, she heard a choir of screams and gasps. The Fairy Godmother, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather stood in the doorway, stricken looks on their faces.
“You’re Aurora’s mother?” the Fairy Godmother said.
“We didn’t know!” Flora cried.
“Oh, Maleficent, no wonder you hate us!” Fauna gasped.
“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry we didn’t invite you to the christening! Oh, Maleficent! Can you ever forgive us? We didn’t know,” Merryweather sputtered.
Suddenly, everything made sense. Everything fell into place. But the three good fairies had to protect Aurora—they had to protect their Rose.
They couldn’t let her fall into the hands of the Dark Fairy, even if she was her mother.
Circe and Snow White sat close to each other as the odd sisters’ house settled into place. Wherever they had landed, it was dreadfully dark.
“Snow, stay here while I go have a look around,” Circe said. “We seem to have stopped.”
Snow held on to Circe’s hand tightly, not wanting to let go. “I’ll come with you.”
Together, the two felt their way through the house, stumbling to the largest window. Snow gasped. They were in a sea of darkness surrounded by pools of glittering stars that moved as if they were dancing to music the women could not hear. Bright green and yellow lights streaked across the dark curtain of night—more beautiful than any sunset or sunrise they had ever witnessed.
Circe had no idea where they were, though she had a feeling she knew where they weren’t. They weren’t anywhere within the many kingdoms. But somehow, inexplicably, she felt safe. “I think the house has moved to its original place. The place of its birth. I remember my sisters talking about this. They warned me it might happen if anything ever happened to them, but honestly, I dismissed it. I regret now how often I didn’t listen to their ravings, but everything they said was in fragments and rhymes. It was so hard to understand them.”
Snow White was surprisingly composed. “I see. Well, I suppose there’s nothing to be done about it. Do you think Nanny received the message you sent?” she asked as she went around the room, lighting the candles on the sconces. Soon the room was filled with light.
Circe blinked, letting her eyes adjust. “I do think she got it. I sent it while we were still in the many kingdoms, before we left the world we know. But I’m afraid there isn’t a way to contact her now.”
Snow White went to the love seat and picked up the mirror Circe had used to communicate with Nanny. “Can’t we use this?”
Circe had forgotten all about the mirror. “Let’s try!”
She took the mirror. “Show me Nanny!” Nothing happened. “Show me Maleficent!” Still nothing.
Circe sighed and put down the mirror. Snow seemed to be thinking. “What about the fairy tale book?” she asked. “I wonder if it’s still writing everyone’s story the way it was when my mother and I looked at it.”
“Oh, you are brilliant, Snow. Let’s check!” Circe said, opening the book. “It is! Look here! Snow, was this scene here before, between Nanny and Maleficent?”
Snow took the book and read the pages, quickly skimming over the parts of the story she already knew. “This is strange, some of it has changed. Just little bits, here and there. I have no idea how magic works, Circe, but do you think the story is rewriting itself as new events occur?”
Circe wasn’t sure, but it seemed like that was a good theory. “It’s likely,” she said.
“Interesting. I wonder…” Snow turned the pages to see what else had changed. “Wait, this story wasn’t there before.”
Snow saw a beautiful illustration of Circe as a small child. It was unmistakable. In the illustration, Circe was standing with her three older sisters under a brilliant night sky. Snow had never seen so many stars, even in her own enchanted kingdom. She noticed that Circe’s sisters were standing around her in a triangular configuration, and there were markings on the ground that glistened in the moonlight. It was an odd illustration, a
nd Snow didn’t know what to make of it.
“What? What is it?” Circe asked, seeing the expression on Snow’s face.
Snow White wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips. Circe was coming to realize that little habit meant Snow White was concerned. “The story is about you.”
Circe felt a jolt of shock move throughout her entire body. “I don’t want to see it, Snow! I don’t. Please, let’s just skip it.” Snow gave Circe a look as if to ask if she was sure.
When Circe didn’t reply, Snow turned back to the Dragon Witch’s story. She skimmed the pages to see if anything else new had been added. As they turned the pages, reading the heartbreaking story Maleficent had shared with Nanny, Circe had to wonder if there wasn’t some small part of Maleficent that was still good. Otherwise, Circe figured, she would have already killed the prince. What was holding her back? Circe knew her sisters would have killed him or driven him to some sort of madness by now.
“What is it? What’s the matter, Circe?” Snow asked.
The story was so much like Snow’s that Circe didn’t want to upset her by bringing up dark events from her past.
“I just don’t understand why she put the curse on Aurora. Everything else makes sense, I see her motivations. But not that part.”
Snow White put her hand on her cousin’s cheek and smiled. “That’s because you have never had a mother who tried to kill you. As awful as your sisters are, they clearly love you. I know they’ve lied and they’ve hurt people. They’ve hurt you. But after reading what they did for Maleficent, how they tried to help her, it seems to me they were very good witches at one time.”
Circe thought that was an extremely kind thing for Snow to say, considering everything her sisters had done to Snow. Then Snow said something that surprised her. “And I think I know why Maleficent cursed her daughter. I think I know why she wanted her to die.”
“You do?”
“I think I do.…”
Maleficent could barely contain her rage. Had Nanny arranged this with the fairies, to get her to admit her secrets only to share them with her enemies? She was fuming, on the verge of transforming into her dragon form. “What is this? How dare you bring them here!” she cried, her anger threatening to overtake her.
Nanny rushed to her. “Maleficent, no! It’s not what you think.” But Maleficent raised her staff, creating an invisible force that sent Nanny flying across the room and into the fireplace mantel. “You’ve betrayed me for the last time!” Maleficent struck her staff on the marble floor. A terrible noise resounded through the castle, and green flames erupted from the fireplace, threatening to engulf Nanny.
“Maleficent! That is enough!”
Maleficent stood stock-still. She didn’t know who was speaking or where the voice was coming from.
The Fairy Godmother rushed to her sister and extinguished the flames. She stood in front of Nanny to protect her, her wand ready. “Maleficent, stand back! Don’t make me harm you!”
Maleficent laughed at the elder fairy as she searched for the source of the deep, penetrating voice. “Who’s there? Who is speaking?” she called out.
She looked around the room, her yellow eyes darting from one place to the next. Nanny hadn’t thought Maleficent was capable of fear, but she could tell Maleficent understood the magnitude of Oberon’s powers from his voice alone. “Who’s there?” she asked again. Maleficent let out a horrible scream as a massive branch smashed through the paned glass and grabbed her.
The three good fairies lifted their wands, creating a silver dome of light to protect everyone from the shards of glass showering down around them. Maleficent was in Oberon’s grip. He brought her close to his face so he could see hers. He wanted to see what had become of the fairy. He wanted to see if she was as evil as the other fairies had said. What he saw was more terrible and disappointing than he had imagined. “How dare you hurt your mother! After everything she has done to protect you!”
Maleficent knew who he was. She recognized him from his statue in the fairy courtyard. “Oberon,” she said coldly.
The Tree Lord’s grip became tighter as he looked deep into the face of the Dark Fairy. “You have no love left within you, foul one. Your heart is filled with hate. You’ve given me no choice!” He hurled Maleficent through the air toward the threatening forest of vines that had been lying in wait. Oberon’s legion of Tree Lords followed her at a startling pace for creatures so large. The earth cracked beneath their heavy footsteps, creating deep canyons and causing the castle and surrounding lands to shake violently and crumble.
As Maleficent flew through the air, she felt herself exploding with heat. She knew what was happening. She was transforming. She let out a horrific scream as a storm of green flames erupted into an inferno that would rival Hades. She circled back to Morningstar Castle, setting everything aflame. Below, Oberon and his Tree Lords hurled giant rocks at her. Maleficent released a torrent of fire on Oberon’s army. Her flames exploded onto the ground below, engulfing Oberon’s soldiers. With a flap of her wings, Maleficent turned herself toward home.
Diablo! My pet! Gather my birds. Bring them to safety. Bring them home.
Diablo gathered all his mistress’s ravens and crows, except for Opal, whom he couldn’t find. Opal! Our mistress needs us. But she didn’t answer. He hoped she hadn’t been hurt in the war raging below. But he pushed forward.
Maleficent flew toward her castle as fast as she could, dodging giant boulders. She knew if she could get to the boundary of her lands, the Tree Lords would not be able to follow. She looked back at the massive army of trees and the terrible forest of vines gaining on her. As she unleashed another stream of flames, she was stuck by a giant boulder. Blood poured from her injured wing, and she felt herself falling toward a large crumbled tower. Maleficent tried to change direction, but her wings were being shredded by the storm of rocks coming at her from all sides, causing her to careen into the tower, destroying it and landing among the rubble. The vines quickly overtook her, wrapping themselves around her. They choked her, binding her mouth closed so she couldn’t breathe fire. Maleficent was helpless.
Oberon and his army grew ever nearer. She felt the vibrations of their footsteps in the earth; she felt the unstable ground beneath her starting to give way. They were going to crush her. Maleficent felt their enormous hands reach through the vines again and again, trying to find her in the tangled mess that had engulfed her. She was bleeding as the sharp thorny branches tightly wrapped around her. The vines’ thorns pierced her skin, and she was sure she would die there. Then, without even planning it, she found that she was very small once more. In fact, she was so small the trees could not find her in the dense forest of vines. Maleficent was herself again—bleeding and bruised, but herself. She remembered the day she had been attacked on her way to see the odd sisters and how they had turned the sky black to help her.
“I call upon the very furies of hell to bring darkness to these lands and give me the power to overtake these foul abominations of nature!”
The sky became so black that Maleficent couldn’t see anything. She was still buried under the vines. “Be still!” she screamed, and the vines froze in the darkness, creating a large opening around the space left by her massive dragon form. Maleficent ran as fast as she could, dodging the Tree Lords’ terrible blows as they tried to find her in the tangled forest. Maleficent laughed as she shattered an enormous boulder with her magic before it could crush her. She unleashed her rage, obliterating everything in her path, sending shattering waves of destruction in every direction. Maleficent smashed the vines and splintered some of the Tree Lords into kindling. She even set some of them on fire with a wave of her staff.
Oberon stood in the ruins of the forest, weeping. Holding the smoldering remains of his greatest generals in his arms, he let out a horrible howl that echoed throughout the many lands. His cries caused a downpour of rain that extinguished Maleficent’s flames. He had tried to take on the Dark Fairy and lost.
U
nder cover of darkness, Maleficent made her way safely back to her castle.
Maleficent was relieved to be home again. I have been away for too long, she mused. She had wasted her time seeking help from those who were destined to betray her. She had been foolish to think she could trust Nanny—to trust anyone other than herself.
The Dark Fairy was alone, just as she had always been. And she would fix her problem herself. She would see to the matter of Prince Phillip.
Maleficent stood in front of the mirror in her dim bedroom. The only light in the room came from the green flames in her fireplace. The light danced, creating menacing shadows of the stone gargoyles peering down at her from the four corners of the room and from either side of the enormous mantel. The gargoyles that flanked the fireplace were taller than her by probably five feet or more. Maleficent had to wonder if they had been living, breathing creatures at one time, because she could on rare occasions detect a tiny glimmer of life within them. Her green face stared back at her in her mirror as she tried to collect herself, reining in her anger. She needed to be clearheaded for this fight. It wasn’t just Phillip she was up against. She would be fighting a good portion of the magical realm.
“Maleficent, please stop this now. It’s not too late.” It was Grimhilde, flickering in her mirror. Maleficent closed her eyes, willing her to go away. She didn’t want to see the old queen’s face right then. “My friend, I can’t let my daughter live. You wouldn’t understand.”
Grimhilde became quiet and still. “Wouldn’t I? I tried to kill my daughter! More than once! If anyone understands, it’s me! And mark my words, Maleficent, you will die if you face Prince Phillip. It is written in the book of fairy tales. There is no guarantee you will inhabit another realm after your body dies! The odd sisters are not here to protect you!”
Maleficent felt her face burning with anger. “It is all written, then? Predetermined? Why bother to live our lives at all?”
Grimhilde sighed. “I wish there was more I could do, but my powers are limited outside my own kingdom.” Grimhilde seemed to understand there was nothing she could say to talk her friend out of this madness. “If you insist on dying today, then please know I have loved you well.”
Mistress of All Evil Page 14