Puck is the four-thousand-year old son of Oberon and Titiana. Descended of warriors and kings, he has seen much of history pass by, has helped to shape some of it, helped to destroy the rest.
He has the form of an angelic child, with golden curls crowning his head and emerald eyes shining with life. No one who saw him would guess that he was the one to topple the Roman Empire, invented the printing press, led the American Revolution.
But he did. It's not a fact that he flaunts. Wars melt to nothingness as history continues to unwind. He would know, he's seen so much forgotten, that he knows that nothing he does will last forever. And if it will not last forever, it is just as fleeting and insignificant as anything else in this world.
Humans are his play toys, his pretend soldiers. Even if whole armies fall, they can be easily replaced, all he has to do is reach back into the box and retrieve more. An impossible situation to anyone else is merely a distraction from his boredom, from the monotony and repetitiveness of the world.
Humans are like autumn's leaves: they last only long enough to appreciate the beauty of the world, and then they simply fade away, making room for the next generation, which will have the same fate.
So when she steps into his life, he doesn't think that she will have any impact. Too many have come and gone for him to treat her as more than a science project at first. She is stealing the Old Lady and what is left of her days for him to enjoy, and for this, she is his enemy.
But then Sabrina Grimm's eyes flash at him, and with a splash of filthy pool water, his world is transformed. This is a human, a twelve-year-old child, who refuses to stand down, to be told that she must give up. When others would have broken, she glares at the problem and demands that it move and allow her to continue.
It isn't so much that's she's different from anyone else in four thousand years; that would be impossible. It's more that she refuses to be the same. Even as she cries out for normality, she pushes on for what needs to be done, demands that the world bend its rules that she might do as she pleases.
The thought of this human girl growing up, losing her spark, is tragic to Puck. He's seen it happen before, seen humans bow to the ways of the world and lose what makes them unforgettable.
Sabrina Grimm is not allowed to do this. She is the most unforgettable, amazing creature that he has met, and if he has to force her to greatness, then so be it. So amid her protests, he coaxes her forwards, pushing with childish taunts and mock sword fights that he could win without either of his arms. When she falters, he's there to force her on.
The dark spot hidden in all of this is that she is only human. So soon, she will wither away and die, leaving him alone once more. He doesn't dwell on this, refuses to remember that a human can only expect to live a mere century at most. She's too brilliant for this to apply to her.
And soon, he can't imagine life before her. Before she pushed him in a pool, ignored the fact that he was older than written records, before the complete disrespect for someone who had started wars out of boredom. She glares and calls him names, refuses to eat what the Old Lady sets in front of her, and stands toe-to-toe with beings far older than she to demand that they reconsider their actions.
Sabrina Grimm is so very young and so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. And he is scattered through history, older than most can comprehend, and will grow older still.
But to him? Sabrina Grimm is far more than the world will ever be.