The Odd Sisters

by Serena Valentino

  But Circe. Nanny hadn’t heard from her, and she was starting to fret. “Sister, I’m going to slip away and talk to Circe, just for a moment. I’m worried about her.”

  “There isn’t time. Everyone is here.”

  Nanny sighed.

  “And I see you’ve forgotten your wings!” the Fairy Godmother added, tapping her sister on the back with her wand. “Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! There you go!” Nanny took a deep breath, willing herself not to be angry with her sister. She hated that bibbidi-bobbidi nonsense. And she hated her wings.

  Nanny could never stand the weight of them. They felt oppressive and heavy. She remembered talking to Maleficent when her charge was still rather small, lamenting her lack of wings. My darling, wings are not all they’re cracked up to be! I promise, you are not missing a thing. Nanny had to laugh. How did she find herself here in the Fairylands, doing her sister’s bidding and wearing wings? You think fairies have freedom because they can fly wherever they want, my little fairy-witch? she had once said to Maleficent. Well, my dear, you have more freedom without them. One day you will understand. You will be happy you don’t have wings.

  All the fairies were assembled in the courtyard, cooing over the decorations and gossiping about the news of the odd sisters. “Fairies, fairies, please take your seats!” said the Fairy Godmother, clapping her hands like a stern headmistress trying to get the fairies’ attention, then taking the center seat with her back to the cherry blossom tree. “Sister, sit here to my right.” She tapped the chair next to her several times with her wand, sending up a spray of glittering sparks with each tap. Nanny didn’t think she meant to sound bossy, but there was always something in her sister’s demeanor that made her come off that way. The same went for Merryweather, her sister’s favorite, who was taking delight in scolding Fauna and Flora.

  “Fauna! Flora! Sit down,” the fairy barked. “Look at this splendid feast that has been laid out for us! And on such a beautiful day! Now be careful not to splash any tea or spill the jam on the lovely tablecloth.”

  Nanny laughed. “It’s always a beautiful day in the Fairylands, is it not? I can’t imagine it ever being gloomy here. My sister wouldn’t have it!”

  The three good fairies laughed nervously. Only the Blue Fairy looked at ease in Nanny’s company. “Hello, Nanny. I’m so pleased to see you again.” Nanny never quite got used to the Blue Fairy’s luminescence, but she always found her to be such a lovely soul, the very embodiment of what Nanny thought a fairy should be. Kind, loving, and nurturing.

  “I’m so happy to see you!” said Nanny. She wanted to tell her that she’d always held a place for her in her heart, ever since the Blue Fairy had supported Maleficent during the fairy exams many years earlier. But she didn’t want to make the other fairies uncomfortable. So she just smiled at the Blue Fairy, hoping she knew the esteem she felt for her.

  “Now, once we all have our teacups and plates full, I’d like to start the meeting! We are here to discuss the very serious matter of the odd sisters,” said the Fairy Godmother, piling little pink cakes on her rose-patterned plate. “Oh, Merryweather! I think you will like these little cakes we have today! They’re lemon poppy seed, your favorite! And, Fauna, you will simply swoon when you taste the rose hips tea! The honey Flora gave me from her garden is delicious. Everyone must try it!” The Fairy Godmother’s chirping about the various delights on the table was driving Nanny to utter distraction. “Oh! It looks like we’re already running out of little cakes! Well, there we go!” she said, filling the three-tiered cake stand once again with a gleeful smile.

  Nanny couldn’t help feeling her sister wasn’t taking the situation seriously at all. This was exactly the sort of thing that frustrated Nanny about the Fairylands: the needless frivolity in the face of destruction. Earlier that day her sister had been sputtering and in a panic, and now she was making tea and serving cakes rather than calling a war council as she should. Was there something in the water in the Fairylands that made everyone giddy and dim-witted? Nanny cleared her throat, making the Fairy Godmother give her the side-eye. “I’m sure my sister, the One of Legends, though here we affectionately call her Nanny, would like us to get down to business. She has been long away from the Fairylands and forgets her fairy ways,” said the Fairy Godmother, giving Nanny a look that didn’t deter her from taking a more serious approach than her sister was taking.

  “The odd sister situation is quite serious, and I think we do need to get down to business before we are faced with the destruction of the Fairylands once again,” said Nanny. She continued before her sister could answer. “We should be sending for Oberon and his Tree Lords and anyone else willing to fight at our side to defend us, not drinking tea and conjuring bows!”

  “Now listen, I know you ruled the Fairylands after Oberon left, but you abandoned your post and left it to me. I won’t have you barking orders at my own table!”

  The Blue Fairy smiled at the Fairy Godmother. “I’m sorry, Godmother, but I think Nanny may have a point. If Oberon hadn’t learned of the odd sisters’ plan to rouse Maleficent’s spirit from the dead, we would never have known. Quite honestly, I’m surprised he isn’t already here, making plans to defend the Fairylands. And now we find that the odd sisters have been released from the dreamscape. I’m sorry, Godmother, but Nanny is right. Something has to be done at once!”

  “The odd sisters have always been a menace. From the moment I saw them, I knew they would be nothing but ruin and chaos!” said the Fairy Godmother.

  “Oh, poppycock!” spat Nanny, getting frustrated with her sister. “They were babies when you first laid eyes on them! How could you possibly have seen?” Nanny looked at the fairies’ shocked faces. Clearly they had never seen anyone stand up to the Fairy Godmother, who looked like a perturbed bird shaking water off her feathers, she was so angry.

  “Now listen here! The odd sisters’ offenses will be heard! They will go down in the records!” she said, shaking.

  “They are in the records! In the book of fairy tales! One only has to read it to see their various offenses!” said Nanny, upset that her sister was wasting time.

  “I will have them down in fairy record!” screeched the Fairy Godmother. “Their evildoing has been going on for far too long! Allow me to present my case against them.” She cleared her throat. “Charge number one: Snow White. The odd sisters tormented the poor girl and drove her mother mad, encouraging her to murder Snow! Thank goodness she only succeeded in putting her in an enchanted sleep! And they gave Snow White a mirror with the ghost of Grimhilde trapped within! And if that’s not enough, they are still invading the girl’s dreams after all these years. Charge number two: Belle. The sisters encouraged Circe to curse the poor Beast, the misunderstood creature that he was, and his entire household. But Belle was the real victim here. They cast devious spells to send poor Belle into the woods to be devoured by wolves!” The Fairy Godmother cleared her throat again. “Charge number three: Ariel. As if the previous charge wasn’t reprehensible enough, they plotted with Ursula to kill Ariel! Not to mention their plans to take Triton off the throne, and they almost succeeded in killing Prince Eric. Let the record reflect there are two additional victims for this charge! Charge number four: Aurora. They helped Maleficent by means of foul, putrid dark magic to create Aurora! And though we love our princess, my goodness, that poor girl, what if she actually did take after her mother? That was completely irresponsible of them to put a future princess in danger like that! Charge number five: Rapunzel! They colluded with and helped that horrid baby-snatching witch Gothel to conceal Rapunzel’s whereabouts from her heartbroken and worried family!”

  Nanny rolled her eyes. Yes, everything her sister had just said was true. But it wasn’t the entire story. As usual, she didn’t take the victims who were not princes or princesses into account.

  “Yes, let the record reflect the various charges we intend to bring against the odd sisters during their trial, should we actually survive their attack,” said Nanny
, casting a serious look at her sister. “I know some of you are going to have a hard time with this, but I do feel it’s partially our fault the odd sisters have gone so far. If Maleficent had someone looking after her, the odd sisters wouldn’t have taken it upon themselves to try to help her by creating a daughter for her.”

  “Nanny,” said the Blue Fairy gently, “you know I’ve always had a fondness for Maleficent, but I have to say, she did have a fairy looking out for her: you.”

  Nanny looked into the Blue Fairy’s eyes, and she saw only sweetness and none of the malice the other fairies had when they spoke of Maleficent.

  “Yes, but I failed her. If I had stood by her and protected her, searched harder for her, none of this would have happened. Maleficent would never have become an unfeeling monster if she hadn’t given all the best parts of herself to her daughter. She would still be with us today. I failed her. The fairies failed her, and we need to take responsibility by making sure this never happens to another young woman or young man in need again.” Nanny took measure of the fairies and saw only the Blue Fairy seemed to agree with what she was saying. She continued, hoping with all her heart she would be able to bring them around to her way of thinking.

  “I feel we need to revisit the idea of who the fairies help. Maleficent had a very good case for this when she sat for her fairy exams. She felt it was Grimhilde who needed help in Snow White’s scenario, and I have to agree. Maleficent overheard the man in the mirror tormenting Grimhilde, and decided to help her, and was penalized for not helping Snow White when it was clear it was Grimhilde who was in danger!”

  “Grimhilde in danger? Are you serious? She tried to kill her own daughter!” spat the Fairy Godmother. The three good fairies chimed in with murmurs of agreement. Each of them talked over the others, their voices becoming shrill in defense of the Fairy Godmother.

  “If Grimhilde had had a fairy to help her through her grief, not to mention someone to protect her from her abusive father, she would never have turned to the odd sisters, gone mad, and tried to kill her daughter. Maleficent saw this! Maleficent saw that by trying to help Grimhilde, she was also helping the princess Snow White!”

  “Maleficent sided with Grimhilde because they are both evil!” hissed the Fairy Godmother.

  “Oh! I would have guessed that would still be your stance on this, Sister! Perhaps if you could have gotten past your fairy bias, you would have seen the special, talented girl Maleficent was before we failed her. Before you sent her on her path of ruin.”

  The Fairy Godmother got up from her seat and slammed her fists on the table, rattling the teapot and making the teacups quiver. “Now hear, Sister! We are not going to dredge all of this up again! I won’t stand accused of Maleficent’s death once more! And what does this have to do with the odd sisters? Can you tell me that?”

  “It has everything to do with them. It’s for all women like them who are not born beautiful princesses and therefore must live without the guidance and support of the fairies! How would the odd sisters have turned out if they had had a proper fairy to look after them? Look at Gothel, and Ursula. Had they had fairies looking after them, their lives may have turned out so much differently!”

  “They’re witches!”

  “Circe is a witch! And yet you want to make her an honorary wish-granting fairy! Do you choose her because of her beauty or because she is a gifted, empathetic witch?”

  “I choose her because of the good she has done with Tulip, and with Belle. I choose her because she is a gifted young witch, and I wanted to steer her away from her mothers, if you want to know the entire truth! Of course it doesn’t hurt that she is beautiful. She won’t frighten her charges like Maleficent did during her exams.” This made the three good fairies giggle, causing Nanny to give them a wrathful look.

  “It’s not Maleficent’s fault you couldn’t see past her horns and her green skin!”

  “No, my sister, I couldn’t see past her black heart! Just as I couldn’t see past Gothel’s and Grimhilde’s black hearts!”

  Nanny shook her head. “If these wretched fairies hadn’t stolen Maleficent’s birds, and if you hadn’t said those dreadful things the day of the fairy exams, she would never have exploded into a rage of fire and destruction! I should never have given you her daughter, never have let you fools give her to King Stephan and his queen! Oh, I know they longed for a child, and I know they met the fairy criteria for being good, loving parents, and why not turn the girl into a princess! But in doing so, I betrayed my foster daughter and broke her heart, and that is why she turned to Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha for help!”

  “You fail to remember why the fairies don’t take witches on as charges, dear sister. Look to your first charges as example.”

  “How dare you bring that up!”

  “Every witch you have ever tried to help has broken your heart and caused more destruction and death. Why do you think we tried to bring Circe into our ranks, if not only to save her from you, and her mothers?”

  Nanny felt as though her sister had struck her in the face. “The odd sisters were babies then! How was I to know who they would grow to be? It was protocol to give them to a royal family, and the Whites took them gleefully. They were my first case!”

  “You knew who they would grow to be. You told me yourself you saw something evil within them. Yet you gave them to that family to cause destruction and ruin for generations! You insisted we give them a chance, insisted they could do great things and walk another path. You refused to see the truth. But you see everything, don’t you, my dear sister? You see what a girl will become before she even knows it herself. You saw it in Maleficent, and you saw it in Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha.”

  “And I see it in Circe and Tulip as well! Hasn’t my love and care for them redeemed me in any way? Don’t you see this is all connected? I have paid for my mistakes. And I am doing my best to make amends. That is why it’s so important we change the way the fairies direct their magic, to avoid the disaster we’re facing with the odd sisters.”

  “What has any of this to do with the odd sisters?”

  “Everything!” a sonorous new voice boomed, reverberating throughout the courtyard and shaking the cherry blossom tree branches. All the fairies looked up and saw Oberon standing there, towering above them, majestic and awe-inspiring, but with kind, fatherly eyes. “Nanny is right,” he said. “The fairies need to extend their reach! And as much as I agree with Nanny that this is all tangled up with the odd sisters’ story, at the moment we need to focus on this impending threat. We need to protect the Fairylands! The odd sisters have raised Maleficent from the dead, and she is on her way to destroy the Fairylands. And we need to protect ourselves and the witches in the dead woods.”

  “The dead woods? Never! Let the witches of the dead defend themselves! Maleficent is on her way here to destroy us and we need our forces here!” squealed the Fairy Godmother, making Nanny gasp.

  “Circe and Snow White are in the dead woods, Sister! How could you say that?”

  “If Circe chooses the dead woods over the Fairylands, then perhaps she is not worthy of our protection. Perhaps she is fated to break your heart, as all your witches have before her. As for Snow White, someone must conjure her back to her own kingdom at once! We can’t let a princess be harmed in any way!”

  “I see the time you’ve spent with your sister in Morningstar has done nothing to change your fairy-minded ways!” said Oberon, looking down on the Fairy Godmother with disappointment and sadness. But she faced him head-on, putting her hands on her hips defiantly.

  “You have always taken Nanny’s side, Oberon! Always. Even now, when she admits to her mistakes, you still take her side! After all I’ve done for the Fairylands, this is how you treat me!”

  “That is the difference between you and your sister. She admits to, and has learned from, her mistakes. She wants to make things better. You, however, do not, and it breaks my heart. I have been so long away from the Fairylands I felt it wasn’t my
right to come and sit in judgment, but I see my guidance is much needed. It is time for all of you to put aside your differences and fight together to defend all our lands!”

  The Fairy Godmother was incensed. “I have half a mind to step down and let you and Nanny rule the Fairylands! I am sick to death of being criticized for upholding our traditions that you laid out for us so many years ago!”

  Oberon gave the Fairy Godmother a sad look. “I think that may be the wisest suggestion you have ever made.”

  It was twilight in the dead woods. The sky was purple, and the stars were glowing in the mist that always hung low and heavy in that part of the many kingdoms. Snow White was alone in the morning room, surrounded by the piles of books. She was reading Lucinda’s journal by candlelight, hoping to learn more about the odd sisters, something Circe could perhaps use to defeat her mothers.

  Circe, Hazel, and Primrose had gone to the library to find some of Manea’s old spell books, hoping to discover a spell that could help them, while Snow searched the books she had brought with her from the odd sisters’ house. It was starting to get dark, and Snow glanced out the windows, hoping Circe and her new friends would return soon. She opened an old journal and was met with pages of cryptic notes that she soon realized belonged to the odd sisters themselves.

  Snow slammed the book closed and set it down next to her. She was starting to get nervous. Where was Circe? Fidgety, she opened the book again and flipped back to the page she wanted to show her cousin. She couldn’t stop thinking about it. What did Lucinda mean by using Circe to destroy her bond with her mother? Was all this part of the odd sisters’ plan, then? Were they all just puppets in some play the odd sisters had written, as her mother had once said?

  The feeling of nervousness came over Snow White again, and she started to feel like the walls were closing in on her. It was the same feeling she’d had when she was alone in the odd sisters’ house. She stood up and was about to leave the room when the candles started to flicker and fade. The room was cold and oppressive, making Snow White shiver.