The Story of Ella Kinder told by the Fairy Godmother

A retelling of a classic fairy tale quite a bit different than the one you're used to... no ball, no slipper, no happily ever after. 

Only magic and tragedy.

An excerpt from

Ruby Hood,

A Twistedly True Tale

By Aspen Hite

“Of course, of course,” sighed the fairy godmother before she began her story. “Once upon a time, a beautiful girl named Ella was born into a family of very magical women, the Aarush Mages.”

        Mayor Wolf whistled, taking a seat as he and his wife exchanged raised eyebrows. Ruby and Kellan exchanged their own glance, confusion.

“The Aarush Mages are a rare group of powerful female witches believed to be blessed and empowered by the Sun god himself.”

“I see,” said Ruby, even though she didn’t. Not at all.

“Ella’s mother, like many Aarush Mages, was hunted and killed for her power. Ella’s father, nothing more than a mere man as Aarush Mages only marry and bear children with mortal men, went to great lengths to protect his child, as any good father would. While he didn’t have magical power, Ella’s father had money. A lot of it. He spared no expense looking for help and ways to protect his daughter. Sadly however, he was beseeched and bamboozled by a trifecta of phony non-Otherly Natural women, three of them, a mother and two terrible daughters. All desperate for just a taste of the Aarush Mage power.”

Ruby knew where this was going. When she cast a glance at the mayor, he did too.

“Since Ella was only a teenager and not ready to embrace her family magic. She thought the woman and her daughters had come to help her. It wasn’t long before the mother wormed her way into marriage with her father. And after the vows were said, Ella noticed restrictions. Soon she was locked in the dungeon or the attic and tasked with cleaning. All day. Everyday. She rarely saw her father and when she did, he was dazed and non-responsive, like he didn’t even know her. It was a terribly heartbreaking time for Ella. 

"But thanks to a brave army of young fairies from my home realm, we were able to warn Ella and help her escape before it was too late. Ella’s heart broke to leave her father behind, but she had no choice. It was the only way to keep the power of the Aarush Mages from falling into the hands of Ella’s evil stepmother and stepsisters.”

Before Ruby could even ask, the fairy godmother answered.

“Oh sure, Ella knew how it would end for her father, but she had no choice. Handing that kind of power over to mortals with ill intentions was too much of a risk. At that point, her only hope for survival was to find the Land of the Fairies. And she did.

“Once Ella arrived, she was cleaned-up and well cared for. She was able to recover, get stronger and mourn, not only her parents, but also the loss of her other life. When she turned 18, she was brought to me, here in this realm, at the condemned United Verde Hospital in Jerome, Arizona,” the fairy godmother paused and chuckled, “A silly little band of fairies and I had haunted the whole town to the point of extinction in the late 1940’s. Fairies like to claim little bits of land here and there, hiding within the realm in plain sight. It’s not hard to do with you distracted humans.”

“Back to the story, godmother,” the mayor growled at the interruption, “Ella’s father…the stepfamily…they…?”

His question hung in the air.

“Yes. They became so enraged Ella had escaped; they took their anger out on her father, rendering him a brutal horrific death.”

“And that death, at the hands of evil wife and stepdaughters, is what propelled the stepfamily into Unnaturalness?” The mayor probed.

“Yes, but I’m afraid it gets much worse…” said the godmother.

“Worse? We have an abandoned scared teenager, who needs our help” But even as she said it, Ruby knew, deep down, it would be worse.

“Yes, and a great deal more complicated I’m afraid,” Midge took a sip of tea and dabbed her mouth, before continuing, “Ella’s original story took place decades ago. After she found her way to me, we taught her to wield her powers, and she was quite possibly our greatest student. 

"Upon her graduation, she denounced it all. She wanted every sliver of magic she possessed gone. Destroyed. Hidden. Given away. She didn’t care as long as she didn’t have it. You see, she never saw it as a mystical heritage to embrace. She saw it as a curse, that took her mother, her father and her life from her.”

Ruby furrowed her brow but nodded.  She understood not wanting to be a part of a magical world riddled with evil. In fact, she would be glad when her time as Guardian ended.

Midge continued, “We did what she asked. It wasn’t easy, but we found a Sunrise Stone. A blood red stone believed to be a cast off from the Sun god and powerful enough to contain the magic of an Aarush Mage. To be honest, everything went surprisingly well, truly it did,” Midge stopped and a genuine smile crossed her lips for the first time, just before her eyes clouded over and her shoulders fell. “Until Ella met a man and fell in love.”

“Oh gracious, now it’s a love story?” The mayor ran a frustrated hand through his tousled hair.

“Hush, Jed…let the godmother speak,” Kassandra snarled at her husband.

Unnerved, the godmother twittered and blushed before she continued, “Thank you, lady Lycan. I must say, you are just lovely. As I was saying, the real problem wasn’t that Ella had fallen in love, it was that she had become pregnant. The Sunrise Stone couldn’t contain the magic of two. And once the Stone burst, the Unnaturalness sensed Ella. And her unborn child. Now remember, the stepmother mother and her evil daughters had been stewing and absorbing more unnatural magic getting angrier and angrier all those years.

“What did Ella do?” asked Ruby, on the edge of her seat.

“I’m afraid that’s a tragic love story of another kind, a mother’s love,” the fairy godmother’s face grew grim again, “We could hide Ella’s power, because it was already developed, but we couldn’t contain the growing power of a child. Not in a stone. We tried, thrice. The child needed a safe place with the freedom to grow.”

“Like a magical town with a Protector Beast Blood Pact.” The mayor said, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Exactly like that.” The fairy godmother coughed into her Kleenex. “I needed Sylvia, your Grams. At the time, she wasn’t only a trusted friend, she was already legendary in the Otherly Natural world for solving unsolvable problems. She’d diversified well beyond any other Otherly Natural creature. And certainly, no other Guardian had ever developed a mutual copacetic relationship with a pack of Lycan, such as the Wolfs.”

All three of the Wolf’s held their heads a higher and squared their shoulders. Pride runneth over.

“With the help of Ella’s Aarush Mage power,” Midge continued, “the Hoods and the Wolfs entered into a unique blood alliance, powerful enough to create such a barrier of protection that Ella could hide her heir to Aarush Power. Today, that child, a girl, would be a teenager, seventeen or eighteen, probably, oh goodness…or is she a bit older? Or younger? What year is it?”

“So Ella and her child are here?” Ruby said, locking eyes with Kellan. “We may know Ella’s daughter…”

“You are partly correct, Ruby, but Ella is not here. At least, she didn’t come her with her daughter, not back then. The only way Ella felt comfortable living was not living. Not really.

“She’s dead?” Kassandra clutched her hand to her throat.

“If Ella thought it would have helped, she would have tried, but that’s not what I meant. She existed. That is to say, her heart beat and her lungs inhaled and exhaled, but hers was no life,” A shadow of sorrow crossed the godmother’s face, “To ensure the Unnaturalness would never discover her, Ella placed her power in a Sunrise Stone and absorbed it, drawing her power inward. She’s been in a self-induced coma for the last 17 years.”

“How is that possible?” asked Ruby, twirling on of her braids.

“I’d been looking after her in another fairy hide-a-way when she awoke, presumably, the moment the Unnaturalness invaded here,” shrugged Midge. “We exchanged heated words, and she took off. I’m here and she’s on a reckless mission to save her child and destroy the Unnaturalness. For good.”

“Well, that’s good news, right? Kinda?” Kassandra said, looking around the room for support, “I mean, I’ve never met an Aarush Mage, but I’ve heard stories. Their power is the stuff of legends.”

“In theory yes, but Ella has been in a coma. She’s weak and out of practice. Not only does she suffer from significant magical atrophy, but she’s a few sandwiches shy of a picnic at the moment,” the fairy twittered with worry, “At this point she’s more like feral animal out to save her cub.”

“And the Unnaturalness has been gaining power, thriving off vengeance and commiserating at their failed attempt at obtaining the Aarush Mage,” The mayor rung his hands together. Ruby could see the wheels spinning in his head.

“Yes,” fretted the fairy godmother.

The room absorbed the information. Still. Until Ruby spoke, “So we need to find Ella’s heir? Before the Unnaturalness does? But also avoid being killed and destroyed by the Unnaturalness ourselves?

“Basically,” the godmother nodded, “Oh and the heir is heavily protected to remain hidden…and has no idea what is going on.” 

“Great, piece of cake,” Resignation tugged at Ruby’s gut, like a sucker punch.