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“As I walked through the forest, I felt foolish for being so frightened. But then a desperate need to flee came over me. I sensed that I was in actual danger. The overwhelming feeling of hatred was palpable, and it was then that I knew: it was the forest. It had come to life. It was a terrible thing to behold. The greenery and vines twisted their way toward me with a fearsome velocity. The trees, too, were unlike anything I’d ever seen. They seemed to have faces and long, grasping hands that were impossible to break free from. I thought I was going to die there as the vines wrapped themselves around me while the trees held me fast in place. My birds swooped down, attacking the trees, trying to help me as the thorny vines cut into my flesh and wrapped around my neck. I wasn’t frightened as I felt my life force slipping away—not really; it almost felt like a relief. I think I might have been happy to die.
“‘Maleficent, no! Use your powers!’ the odd sisters screamed through the trees. They stretched their hands toward the sky, turning the world dark with their magic. ‘Maleficent! It’s dark! Use your magic!’
“In my panic, my body grew warmer and warmer. I’d remembered what you told me in my tree house that afternoon, on the day I first used my travel charm. You said if I ever felt that way again, to just think of somewhere safe, someone I loved, and I’d travel there. That’s what I did. Within mere moments, I found myself standing safely on the threshold of the odd sisters’ house, no longer in the clutches of my enemy. ‘Oh, my goodness, Maleficent! Are you okay?’ Lucinda asked.
“I thought I was. I couldn’t tell. I think I was in shock.
“‘We should have known! We should have known you would be the enemy of nature after what happened in the Fairylands! We were stupid not to have thought of it, we’re so sorry!’
“And it made sense even without explanation from the odd sisters. I was the enemy of nature. It seemed only right after I destroyed the Fairylands. I knew I deserved it. It was my curse, and I feared for my daughter. What if I passed my curse on to her?
“‘Oh, no! The trees will not condemn her for your deeds! Not to worry!’ the odd sisters assured me.
“The inside of the odd sisters’ house was very different from my own. It was comfortable, warm, and inviting. It reminded me of my years with you in the Fairylands, with its cozy kitchen and large windows. Outside the large round kitchen window there was even a tree in which my birds could perch. I wondered why I hadn’t accepted their offer to bring me there years ago.
“‘We’re ready to start the spell, Maleficent. But first we need to make you aware of the terms,’ Lucinda said.
“Ruby took over. ‘The spell only requires the very best parts of you. That way she will truly be your daughter. And in a way, she will be you, but only the very best parts of you.’
“The odd sisters smiled at me. ‘We know the spell works, and we promise you, no harm will come to you or your daughter.’
“Lucinda took me by the hand. ‘Do you agree to give your daughter the best parts of yourself? Will you let us help you by giving you someone to love?’
“I nodded. ‘Yes! I want it more than anything!’
“Lucinda took a crimson drawstring bag filled with a deep bloodred powder from the pocket in her skirt. She poured the powder, which was speckled with ground obsidian crystals, onto the floor in a circle around me. The sisters stood just within the circle, creating a triangle. Lucinda was the pinnacle, while Ruby and Martha flanked me, and their power illuminated their formation with a brilliant silver light. I had absolutely no fear. The odd sisters reflected nothing but love and devotion to me.
“Lucinda began the spell. ‘We call upon the old gods and the new, to bring a loving daughter to this fairy, to this witch, who is true.’ And the three sisters repeated the words over and over again. ‘We call upon the old gods and the new, to bring a loving daughter to this fairy, to this witch, who is true.’
“I felt a violent jolt to my body and a sensation I couldn’t explain—at least, I couldn’t then. I can now, because I know now what happened to me. But I will try to describe the sensation as I felt it then. Something was being taken away from me. Honestly, I’m not sure if it was just a strong visceral reaction to the spell, but my body and my soul reacted forcefully. I think it was because I was trying to fight what was happening. Every time the sisters said the words, I was overcome by the same feeling. It was agony.
“‘We call upon the old gods and the new, to bring a loving daughter to this fairy, to this witch, who is true.’
“The sensation became almost unbearable, and I felt like screaming. I was losing too much of myself. It was as if I was slipping away—becoming nothing. I felt empty and cold. But the sisters had promised they wouldn’t hurt me, and I trusted them. Just when I could no longer take the anguish, when I could no longer take the pain and the horrible ripping of my soul, it ended.
“It ended, and I thought perhaps I had died, because surely this was what it felt like to be dead. This was what it felt like to no longer exist. But I heard the odd sisters’ voices in the darkness. I heard them calling to me, calling me back from my pain, calling me back from the nothingness.
“‘Maleficent, open your eyes.’ It was Martha’s voice. ‘Maleficent, look, it’s your daughter.’
“Lying on the floor at my feet, in the center of the circle, wrapped in a deep purple blanket, was my daughter. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes upon, but I had no love for her. I knew I was supposed to love her. I remember wanting to love her before the spell. But I didn’t. The only feeling I had was the desire to protect her. But I didn’t love my own daughter. I felt empty and alone in a sea of darkness.
“‘What will you name her? Do you know?’ Lucinda asked as I picked up my daughter for the first time and looked into her beautiful eyes.
“‘Her name is Aurora, for she is my shining light in the darkness.’”
Aurora felt like she was going mad. The sisters’ laughter reverberated through her chamber, causing the images in the mirrors to tremble. It was like being trapped in a small room filled with too many people, all talking at her at once. It was a loud cacophony of voices, punctuated by the odd sisters’ hysterical laughter.
In one of the mirrors, she could see her cousin Tulip talking with a giant tree. He was so large that he towered over the highest pinnacle of her castle. In another she saw herself walking down a long passageway, surrounded by an eerie green light. There was something wrong with her eyes. She looked enchanted, almost like she was asleep. She was being directed toward a spinning wheel. Aurora watched as she touched the spindle and fell to the ground. The sound of a madwoman’s laughter filled the air. In yet another mirror, Aurora saw her beloved prince being ambushed by a group of boar-like creatures. The foul beasts were armed with long pointed spears. They had terrible tusks and looked like they came from the very bowels of Hades itself. In a fourth mirror, Aurora saw Maleficent as a young woman, crying. Someone named the Fairy Godmother was telling her it was her destiny to be evil. The younger Maleficent didn’t seem evil to Aurora. She appeared smart, loving, and ambitious, but not evil. In another mirror, Aurora saw younger versions of the three good fairies putting a raven in a cage, while in another still, she saw the fairies fighting over the color of a dress they had made for her. Elsewhere, she saw Maleficent speaking to an old woman with silver hair, begging for the woman’s help with a spell so that Aurora would never wake.
The images wouldn’t stop. They just kept flashing before her eyes, sometimes too fast for her to understand what was happening. The voices were all speaking at once in a deafening clamor. Aurora saw a young man in a sky-blue velvet jacket with ribbons pacing back and forth in a garden, practicing the words “I love you, Tulip, will you marry me?” over and over. All the scenes were running over each other and creating the most unbearable noise.
“Stop!” Aurora finally yelled. For a moment, everything went still. Then, just as suddenly, the mirrors turned black. The mirrored chamber was eerily quiet. Almost too quiet after all the noise.
“Show me my christening,” she said, and watched as the scene appeared in a mirror.
Maleficent was standing in her mother and father’s court. She looked hauntingly beautiful in her long black-and-purple robes. Her horns and head were covered in a tight black cowl, creating a menacing effect. This fairy seemed like a completely different person from the teenage Maleficent Aurora had seen in the other mirror. She embodied the spirit of evil.
