“Why does it say in the Book of Fairy Tales that the Circe who came before me was a little girl when she was killed in the Fairylands, when she was clearly a grown woman when she appeared to Lady Tremaine in the ballroom?”

“Are you searching the Book of Fairy Tales, trying to find a way to save James? Well it won’t work. And as for the Circe who came before you, the answer is in your heart. She was an extremely accomplished witch and more powerful than you could fathom. But you are too afraid to see the stories written on your soul, and therefore the truth eludes you.”

“She was a witch, and very much like you, Ruby, and Martha: scheming, false, and cruel,” said Circe, feeling ashamed that the woman she was named for was just like her mothers.

“Circe was a great witch; I won’t have you speaking against her. She would have never betrayed me as you have,” said Lucinda, hissing.

“But she did betray Lady Tremaine. She put a spell on her to cloud her judgment that rushed her into a marriage with that horrible man. She felt the inklings of it as you ushered her to her doom,” said Circe.

“Are you living your life literally, then? Tethered to one time line?” asked Lucinda, tilting her head to one side with wide, inquisitive eyes.

“I can stay in one time if I focus hard enough. But I allowed myself to see Lady Tremaine’s and Cruella’s stories because I felt they had a deep connection to James’s. If I can stop James from doing what you wish perhaps I can save Lady Tremaine and Cruella, as well as James. But all of these stories happened before Maleficent’s, so tell me, why is it written that your daughter Circe was a little girl when she died in the Fairylands?”

“I would think that is obvious. She enchanted herself to appear young. If she hadn’t the fairies would never have trusted her,” said Lucinda.

“I told myself all these years that your sister Circe was like me, that you created me in her image, but it seems she was treacherous and cruel just like you!”

“She is not the villain of that story, Circe—Fairy Godmother and Nanny are! You saw her story! Lady Tremaine pleaded with them for help and they refused her!” said Lucinda, sneering at her daughter.