“I can’t believe we’re sitting in a cellar... under a giant shoe,” Terra remarked as she raised her crutch. A spider, roughly half the size of her fist, was creeping across the ground, heading in her direction. If it came any closer, she had plans to whack it with her crutch.
“It does seem a bit unusual,” added a sighing Cinderella.
“Unusual?” Terra chuckled at the word. “An abnormally large spider would be unusual, Cinda. This is beyond unusual. So far, we’ve faced dragons, a mad mage, a man who can shapeshift, and a witch who lives in a boot. It’s absolute madness!”
“And now we're locked up,” Cinderella concluded their list of woes with an exaggerated pout. “I wish there was some way out of this mess!”
Unbeknownst to Cinda, she had uttered the magic word.
Wish. It was the one word that could summon the powerful ally she had forgotten. When a cyclone of glitter swept into the room, she sat up with a gasp.
“Fairy Godmother!” she exclaimed. “Oh, thank god! She hasn't abandoned me!”
“What?” Terra's countenance was twisted by confusion. Cinderella's words were as perplexing as the cyclonic glitter that swirled around the room.
When the cyclone stopped spinning, there was a woman standing in its place. She was old and stout, with snow white curls and plump, short fingers. Her blue frock was a bit too short for her, and her slippers sparkled like diamonds.
Terra watched through narrowed eyes as Cinderella hopped to her feet and captured the old woman in a hug. “Fairy Godmother!” she squealed. “Thank goodness you're here! Does that mean you're going to help me?”
“I hope I can help you, dear.” She tapped Cinda's nose with the tip of her star-shaped wand. “How did you get yourself in such a mess?”
“My god, it's a long story!” Cinda dropped to her knees as she summarized it. “First, we were captured by a really strange man... and then we thought were rescued... and then we were captured again... and now this horrid witch is trying to squeeze money out of Prince Sharman in exchange for my safety!”
“That horrid witch is Donnabella.” Fairy Godmother's smiling lips were temporarily overtaken by a grimace. “My dear... that is the worst case scenario.”
“Do you know Donnabella?” Cinda asked.
“Indeed. We've had... encounters.” Fairy Godmother reluctantly admitted. “And let's just say... those encounters never ended well for me. Though I hate to admit it, she is much more powerful than me. I daresay she's the most powerful witch in the world.”
“Does that mean...” Cinda's hopeless eyes snapped between the faces of her Fairy Godmother and stepsister. “You can't help us?”
“No. As I said, I'm going to try. I need to come up with a plan.” Fairy Godmother eyed the hatch above their heads. “If I use magic, Donnabella would probably be able to detect, so--”
“Excuse me!” Terra interrupted. “Can someone explain what's going on? I'm thoroughly confused!” The giant spider was closing in on her, so she squeezed her crutch in preparation.
“Oh! You've never met each other, have you? Terra... this is my Fairy Godmother,” Cinda proudly introduced them. “Godmother, this is the stepsister I told you about. The nice one.”
“Ahh. I'm glad I'm meeting the nice one and not the shrew.” Fairy Godmother offered a plump hand to Terra, who shook it with a sigh. “And don't kill that spider, dear, I might be able to transform him into something useful. He'd make a fantastic little spindly swordsman.”
“You can do that?” Terra gasped.
Cinda's eyes lit up as she told her stepsister about the night of the ball. “Oh, yes! Fairy Godmother is amazing! She turned a pumpkin into a stagecoach! She turned six mice into the finest horses I've ever seen! Then she turned a fat rat into a jolly coachman with bushy white mutton chops. It was incredible, Terra! My heart still races when I think of it.”
“Can I get a Fairy Godmother?” Terra asked.
“Yes, dear. If your need is great enough, anyone can summon up a fairy. You just need to make a sincere wish and--”
A burst of light suddenly poured into the cellar. When she realized the hatch was open, Cinda's Fairy Godmother clapped a hand over her mouth and immediately leapt into a cobweb infested wardrobe.
“I'm hearing a lot of chatter down there! Is there someone with you?”
Cinda's heart stopped pumping when she heard Donnabella's icy voice. As the witch descended the stairs, she forgot how to breathe.
“I'm pretty sure I heard three voices.” Donnabella's arms crossed as she stalked around the cellar. “Tell me the truth, girls. It's pointless to lie to me. Donnabella knows everything.” As soon as she spotted Terra's spider, she squashed it beneath her sandal. Terra sneered at the guts and twitching legs that were left behind.
Cinda tried to keep the fear out of her voice. Any crack, quaver or tremble would let Donnabella know there was something amiss. “There's no one with us.”
“Lies!” Donnabella threw back her head and cackled. “I already know you're lying. And I know a witch when I smell one.” Donnabella spun in the direction of Fairy Godmother's wardrobe and sniffed loudly. “This one has a very distinct scent... white sage with a hint of vanilla. You can come out of the closet, Gloriosa!”
Terra and Cinda watched each other with horror in their eyes. Both girls were frozen with dread.
“Gloriosa!” Donnabella screamed as she kicked the wardrobe door. “Get out here at once, Gloriosa! I don't like to waste my time!”
The door opened with a squeak. When Fairy Godmother popped out, a stream of light erupted from her wand. She tried to aim at Donnabella, who chuckled as the attack bounced off of her. The stream of light ricocheted around the room before it finally disappeared in a puff of smoke.
With a flick of her hand, Donnabella sent her opponent's wand flying across the cellar. When she wiggled her fingers, a ghostly hand appeared and clamped down on Fairy Godmother's neck. The hand was semi-transparent, and it wasn't attached to a body.
“No!” Cinderella cried. “Don't hurt her! Please!”
“Relax, little girl. I don't intend to strangle her... but Gloriosa will be dealt with.” When the witch flicked her fingers again, a dusty urn flew out of the wardrobe and into her hand.
“Gloriosa...” Cinda quietly repeated the name. “Is that my Fairy Godmother's name?”
Shrill giggles exploded from Donnabella's painted lips. “Is she still calling herself that? Fairy Godmother?” The witch's pale eyes rolled at the title. “How ridiculous! I don't understand why she refuses to call herself a witch.”
“Because I'm not... like... you!” Gloriosa croaked. Speech was a struggle while the ghostly hand pinched her neck.
“Not all witches are evil, darling. I'm sorry if I've given us a bad name.” Donnabella blew off the urn's dust and made herself sneeze. Even witches were susceptible to sneezes. When the urn was clean enough, she set it on a rickety table. “Now... do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you?”
The hand was holding her so tightly, Gloriosa couldn't even shake her head.
“I'm not going to tell you. I'll let it be a surprise.” Donnabella, who needed no wand to conduct her power, simply pointed and whispered, “diminutii.”
In the blink of an eye, Gloriosa's body shrunk. When she was roughly an inch tall, the ghostly hand caught her and carried her to Donnabella. The witch grinned as she studied her tiny rival. “You wanted to be a fairy... now you can be a fairy. You're certainly small enough.”
“You're a wicked woman, Donnabella!” As she stomped on the ghostly hand's palm, Gloriosa shook a minuscule fist at Donnabella. “Wicked, wicked, wicked to the core!”
“Aww. Thank you. Coming from you, that's quite a compliment.” Donnabella smiled down at the urn. “You're going in there, Gloriosa. This ugly old urn will be your new home. I think it seems fitting.”
Gloriosa screamed as the ghostly hand chucked her into the urn's interior.
“You won't be able to leave the urn until someone gives it a rub,” Donnabella casually informed her. “And when they do, you'll have to grant their wish. Just one wish. Three wishes is usually the popular choice for this particular curse, but I think that's greedy. I'll only make you grant one.” Pointing at the urn, she whispered, “genus grantus unus.”
“Why are you punishing her?” Cinda snarled at the witch. “Gloriosa doesn't deserve it!”
“Of course she deserves it, dear. She was trying to take away my best chance to become filthy rich.” Donnabella's grin returned as she studied Cinderella's horrified face. “She was trying to take you... and I can't have that.”