"Just a little bit more and I would have been able to trap you again. Yet again I see that I have made a wrong choice by taking Nathaniel under my wing. I should have killed him instead of my other child. What a waste."

"Mother," Nathaniel looked at her in shock.

"Why are you acting surprised?" Aurora questioned Nathaniel with annoyance in her voice as he should know better than anyone what his mother was like. "You are just like your grandfather. No, you are the worst. He killed his daughters and you’ve killed your own son but you’ve hurt so many children."

Minnie smiled despite her being indirectly called evil. "Have you positioned yourself to become their hero? The children I mean? I can assume they are no longer in the cave. What a waste, I should have killed them and taken fresh ones. Everyone paints me to be the bad guy but my son was there each time a child was brought in and there were times you killed some with your own hands."

Nathaniel looked ashamed of himself and could not deny it. He did many awful things throughout his lifetime and there were moments when he certainly enjoyed it. Like it felt good to see other people be hurt.

"I don’t have time to hear the two of you play the back-and-forth game of who has done evil things. Both of you will be punished but first I must deal with the bigger threat. Your mother must be so disappointed with what you have become. Would you have turned out better if she would have been alive longer? I can’t help feeling like you were born with evil already in you. Perhaps you are a witch," said Aurora.

Minnie was too evil to be a normal human. Maybe her witch side was dormant and with a couple more sacrifices, it would have come to the surface as it did with Regina.

"Really?" Minnie’s eyes lit up at the news. "I have desired nothing more than that. The one thing I have always hated more than you constantly waking up was the fact my ancestors mixed their blood with humans."

"You wouldn’t have existed had they not done that. Be grateful," said Aurora.

"I wouldn’t have minded not existing. It was more important for our family to be powerful. We came from a line of powerful witches. We had a wonderful reputation among our sisters and brothers. I am continuing the task of returning our glory just as my grandfather wanted. My mother was too weak to understand."

"Your mother died trying to protect you from her father and husband but this is what you have to say? Your grandfather’s dreams of becoming a witcher and having witches be all over this kingdom pushed him to insanity. You could have been the solution to end his madness but you carried it on and pushed it onto your son. Regina is the true solution," Aurora stated, breaking Minnie’s dream.

"What?" Minnie grabbed onto the bars of the cell.

"Haven’t you considered why she is not dormant like the rest of you? Since your mother, Regina is the only fake Hamilton able to perform spells and see ghosts. There’s nothing wrong with reviving your bloodline but it is wrong to kill innocent people to achieve it. I have a feeling Regina will get stronger as time goes on and witches will once again come from your bloodline but you will not witness it," Aurora’s swords appeared out of thin air.

"That pleading look won’t make me save her. Get out of the way." Aurora was facing Minnie but that was not who was speaking to. "Esmeralda," she called the name of her old friend. The second friend she ever had once upon a time ago.

Nathaniel looked all over the cell but only saw his mother. Either Aurora was losing her mind or his grandmother was truly present in the cell.

"Do not kill her, Aurora. She is my child. I..." Esmeralda choked up on her words. "I failed her and it is because of me that you have suffered.

"I gain nothing from hearing the apologies of a dead woman. Minnie is not a child. She is responsible for her actions. As for you, Esmeralda. You no longer belong in this world. The longer you stay, the more dangerous your soul becomes. I’d hate to think someone as innocent as you became bad and you were using Regina."

"I wanted her to place me in a soul so that I could get rid of my daughter myself. She has hurt so many people. So many children. Ah," Esmeralda touched under her eye after feeling something wet. "Since I’ve died, I could not cry. I did not know souls could cry. Have I cried before but never noticed?"

Aurora aimed her knives directly at Minnie’s heart. "Souls are capable of many things. I have experience with the ones wandering around in the forest where the Goddess Artemis used to live. Disappear from this world before your soul changes, Esmeralda. Disappear and be sure to pull your daughter’s soul with you-"

"Mother!" Nathaniel yelled as his mother’s body dropped to the floor. He shook the bars wanting to get inside but he did not have the key. "You-" He wanted to make Aurora open the cell but she pointed knives at him.

Aurora didn’t flinch when Nathaniel turned to her. She silently watched Esmeralda’s soul stooping down to Minnie’s level as blood poured from the wounds created by her knives.

Aurora had thought many times about how she would get rid of Minnie. Would it be quick or slow? Painless or countless pain? She never once imagined this ending with Esmeralda at her daughter’s side but perhaps this was the best satisfying ending.

Before her death, Minnie experienced Regina, who once loved her dearly, going against her. She learned Regina had the power she always wanted but Regina did not require sacrifices and wishes. Her own son, though she might not have loved him, had struck her in the head and placed her in this cell. And lastly, Minnie could not stop Aurora from destroying everything she treasured.