Authors' Note: Because we have nothing better to do with our free time.
Collaborative effort by Gina & Haylee.
Don't own. Don't sue.

Prelude

Luna

I have always been fascinated by fairytales. I'm not sure exactly what it was about them, but the fantastic world of old folklore was as captivating to me as history was to my best friend. We made quite the pair, the two of us. Me, with my well-worn book of stories filled with magic and wicked stepmothers, and she with her extensive knowledge of all things historical. We grew up together in a foster home surrounded by seven other children. The man and woman who raised us were very detached. With nine children running around your home, you don't really have time to forge a close relationship with any one individual. So, in lieu of a real family, Theo and I created our own.

We always promised each other we'd be together all our lives. Our plan was to grow up, travel the world, live together, and get all gray and wrinkly in the same house sitting on the same front porch yelling at the same annoying little kids to stay off the same lawn. Neither of us planned to fall in love or get married. It was all just hype to us, even as kids. I guess when your parents drop you off at the first Planned Parenthood clinic the moment you're born or both of your parents were long since dead, you don't really find that "love" stuff all that exciting. Not to mention our foster parents fought with each other constantly. No, the two of us were happy to just have each other. Besides, I was much more contented with my fairytales and the princes within them. They weren't real, of course, but that was all right with me. Something that wasn't real couldn't hurt me.

But you know that saying, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"? Well, we probably should have paid more attention to that. Nothing in life goes according to plan. At least, not in our lives. That didn't stop us from trying, though. We tried very hard. We moved out of that foster home at eighteen and used the inheritance Theo's parents had left her to pay for college. She majored in history, I majored in creative writing, and we both jumped at the chance to travel to Europe in our senior year. It was a two week long trip hosted by the history and European literature sections of the school during which we would visit England, Ireland, France, and finally Germany. I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to see some of the places that inspired my favorite stories.

So we traveled the world, just like we'd always dreamed. Well, part of the world anyway. But that's not important. What's important is that I was young and foolish, and Theo was young and headstrong, and neither of us was ready for what we would soon experience.

"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."

He must've been on the floor laughing at ours.

…

Chapter One

Luna

"There's such a fooled heart,
Beating so fast in search of new dreams.
A love that will last within your heart.
I'll place the moon within your heart."

"Lu, would you slow down? You're going to trip over something and kill yourself."

I smiled to myself. That was Theo for you, always worrying about something or other. "Oh don't be such a worry wart," I called over my shoulder. "We're in Germany, in a beautiful forest, on a lovely spring day! Enjoy yourself!" I turned back around in time to notice an ankle-height branch a moment too late. I tumbled forward into a small clearing and somersaulted to a halt. Scrambling to my feet, I whirled around and spread my arms out. "I meant to do that!"

Theo stepped out of the forest with a great deal more grace than I had and rolled her eyes, choosing not to respond. She looked over her shoulder and shuddered. "I don't know what you're talking about with this "beautiful forest" nonsense. This place gives me the creeps." Turning back to me, she looked over my shoulder and made a face. "Especially that."

I turned around and gazed in awe at the old ruin of what must have once been a magnificent tower. Now it looked like it had been struck by lightning or some other huge force. I grinned, ideas bubbling in my mind like a cauldron filled with potion. "I think it's wonderful!" I skipped through the boulders overgrown with moss and tall grass and around the old ruin. "This place is filled to the brim!"

"Filled with what?" Theo asked, picking through the brush behind me. I quickened my pace so I could get the rest of the way around the tower, passing an old set of wooden stairs on the way, and poke my head out behind her.

"Magic!" I exclaimed. She jumped and spun around to glare at me.

"Don't be ridiculous."

Ignoring her comment, I looked up at the beautiful relic. "Come on, Theo. You should love this. It's full of history too!"

"Yes, well, some things should stay history if you ask me," Theo replied, following my gaze. "This is one of them." She shivered. "We should go back to the hotel. The others are probably about to send out the fire brigade."

I kept staring up at the building. Something about it held my interest. "I'm going up."

Theo froze. "What?"

"I'm going up," I repeated, making my way back around to the stairs I'd noticed before. I heard Theo following behind me. I started up them with less caution than I should have. One of the boards snapped under my weight and I caught myself on the banister.

"Lu, come on. Those stairs look like they haven't been used in years."

"I'm fine."

"Luna! They're abandoned for a reason!"

"Ah, maybe they halted the tours here because weird things kept happening." I smiled over my shoulder at her. "Maybe the spirit of the beautiful queen that once occupied this majestic tower still lingers. Maybe she wreaked havoc upon all the tourists that dared enter her once amazing domain. Maybe she even killed a few."

"Don't be stupid. Get down from there; you know that stuff isn't real." I heard her catch her breath when I narrowly avoided falling through a missing stair. "What is real is the danger of you falling!"

I paid no attention to her, following the stairs into the tower where they started to twist upwards along the wall to a platform above. Even if I'd wanted to go back, I don't think I could've. Something in me needed to reach the top. It was a powerful compulsion that I didn't bother trying to fight. Besides, it wasn't like I didn't want to climb the stairs. When I was about halfway up I heard Theo climbing them behind me while muttering, "I can't believe I'm doing this," over and over again like she could make herself believe it if she said it enough times.

When I reached the platform, I leaned against a bit of wall that jutted up from the more level areas. The level part was below my center of gravity, so I tried to resist the urge to lean out and look down. "Wow, Theo, I can see the whole clearing from up here."

Theo appeared at my shoulder. "Cool. Now can we go back?" She glanced nervously downwards.

"Oh, look!" I pointed down quickly, momentarily losing my balance. Theo grabbed my arm and steadied me. "Look at those crypts. How many of them are there, do you think?" I pointed to each, counting out loud and slowly turning in place. "…five, six, seven, eight…" Theo watched me, wary of the risk that I may lose my balance again. "…eleven, twelve. Do you think anyone's in them?"

"Are you trying creep me out more than I already am?" she asked.

I pouted. "No." A cloud that had been covering the sun moved and something on the ground flashed. "What's that?" I turned my eyes down, leaning against the wall once again. Theo stepped up behind me and looked as well.

"I don't know; just some glass. Teenagers probably come here all the time. It's an old bottle or something."

"No…no." I leaned a little further. "I think it's a piece of a mirror."

"Luna, don't!"

But it was too late. I'd already leaned out too far and the stone broke away beneath my hand. I felt Theo's fingers grab a handful of my jacket but she was kidding herself if she thought she was strong enough to pull me back when I was already practically parallel with the ground. We both pitched forward into the empty air. The ground came up to meet us, hard and unforgiving. I remember the piece of mirror revealing a strange, distorted version of my reflection, and then the darkness closed in.

---

The Brothers Grimm

"Turn out the light and what are you left with?
Open up my hands and find out they're empty.
Press my face to the ground, I've gotta find a reason.
Still scratching around for something to believe in."

"Stupid, that's just stupid." Jacob ripped yet another page out of his book and crumpled it up in his frustration. "Whoever heard of a poisonous pear? Jake, you idiot."

"Talking to yourself again, I see." Jacob jumped to his feet and clutched the journal to his chest possessively. Will smiled and shook his head. "What are you doing all the way out here, Jake?"

The younger man relaxed at the sight of his brother only to fidget under his scrutiny. Adjusting his spectacles and scratching the top of his head in an almost comical fashion, Jake tried to think of some way to explain why he continually returned to the place that had been the setting of so much havoc the previous year. It seemed to him that even after all they'd been through he was still constantly trying to prove something to his elder brother. "I was just… Well, I haven't had any ideas in a long time. I just thought that maybe if I came here…" He stuffed his book and quill into the bag he wore across his torso.

Will sighed. "It's over, Jacob. How many times do I have to tell you? There's no more magic here. You're going to have to find your inspiration somewhere else." Despite his condescending tone, Wilhelm Grimm was actually rather worried about his younger brother. Jake had started returning to the ruins about five months after the occurrences and had been doing so more and more often ever since. He wasn't aware that Will knew of his frequent jaunts into the woods, of course. Until that moment, Jacob had been under the impression that he was successful in his secrecy. Apparently not.

"I don't know, Will," Jake said, looking up at the ruined bottom half of the tower. "It still feels enchanted."

"Oh, Jake." Will shook his head. "You've lived your fairytale, all right? You have to move on sometime."

Jacob cast his brother an irritated glare. "Move on where, Will? Back to a life of scamming ignorant townsfolk? Or, perhaps just sitting around Marbaden watching you and Angelika gallivant happily about town?"

"Now, Jacob, you know it isn't like that."

"I'm bored, Will! I need something interesting to focus on. I can't even think of a single decent story to occupy myself."

"What do you want, Jake? How will this place help you?" Will advanced on his brother, intending to shake some kind of sense into him. "What are you thinking? Are you thinking some kind of solution is just going to…to fall out of the sky? Well, it's not!" He spread his arms wide, gesturing upward, and it just so happened that at that precise moment something did fall out of the sky, knocking Will flat on his back in the dirt.

"Oh, ow," the something said, lifting her head to look at what- or rather, whom- she had landed on. "I'm sorry! Are you all right? Oh, God, where did you even come from?" (This being a translation, of course, as the strange girl who had fallen out of the sky was in fact speaking English and neither of the brothers could understand a word she was saying other than "ow," which is rather universal.)

"Wow, Will," Jake looked from his brother up at the overcast sky above them. "How did you do that?"

Will could only stare up at the strange girl who'd fallen on him. She stared back, her cheeks growing increasingly more flushed. "Right," she said, still speaking English. "I'll just get off of you now." She rolled off of him and stood up, brushing a dirty blond lock out of her eyes and holding out a hand to help him up. Will warily accepted, then moved over to stand next to his brother.

"Do you understand anything she's saying?" he asked.

"Er, no, Will, I'm afraid not," Jacob replied.

"Oh, of course!" the girl exclaimed, causing them both to jump. "Sie sprechen Deutsch?" The two men nodded, slightly relieved that she was speaking a language they understood. "You don't understand English?" she continued in near-perfect German, although with a strange accent.

"I'm afraid not," Will replied.

"That's all right. Lucky I took German in high school, eh?" The two men just stared. "Um, anyway, who are you?"

Will looked at Jake and then back at the young woman. Stepping forward confidently, he held out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Will. This is my brother, Jake."

The girl shook his hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you. My name is Theo and this is my friend…" She trailed off, looking around. "Oh no. Oh, God!" In her panic, Theo switched back to her native tongue so the two brothers were once again left in the dark. She spun around, frantically searching the ground and apparently finding what she was looking for. "Luna!" She sprinted several yards to another figure they hadn't noticed before and fell to her knees beside it. "Lu? Luna?" Exchanging a look, the two brothers followed. They came up behind Theo as she was turning the dark-haired figure of another young woman over onto her back.

"Is she all right?" Jacob asked.

Shaking her head wildly, Theo blurted, "I don't know!" Luckily, she had the sense to switch back to German.

Jake crouched down on the unconscious girl's other side. "Who is she?"

Theo wiped a few hysterical tears from her cheeks. "My idiot of a best friend. I told her not to go into that tower! I told her she'd fall!"

"The tower?" Both brothers looked up at the ominous structure, then back at the two girls. "How did you get up there?"

"The stairs."

"What stairs?"

Theo was about to answer when the woman on the ground shifted and groaned. Not exactly sure what he was doing, Jacob reached out and pushed her hair back away from her face. His hand came away sticky with blood and he looked up at his brother. "Well that's not good."

"Oh, God, please," Theo whispered. "Lu…"

"We should get her back to town," Will said.

Jake looked up, wiping his hand on his trousers, and nodded. "Right." Carefully, he worked his arms under Luna's limp form, one beneath her knees and the other her back.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Theo asked, wiping away more tears.

"Carrying her?" Jake offered as he slowly stood. "She's not exactly in the right shape to walk is she?" Theo could only shake her head. "Now, which way?" He directed the question to his brother, but Theo was the one who responded.

"We came from that way," she said, standing up and pointing in one direction. "I remember that old oak."

Will and Jacob looked at each other and then back at the girl. "Don't trust the trees," they said in unison.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere." The trio turned towards the voice in time to see Angelika enter the clearing, her quiver and bow slung across her back and a variety of knives hanging from her belt. She clutched her father's silver axe in her right hand. Surveying the scene before her, she gave the two brothers a questioning look. "What's all this?"

"They um, fell…from the sky," Jake said. Will nodded quickly in agreement. Theo wasn't even paying enough attention to correct them.

Angelika looked from the brothers' deadpanned faces to the limp form in Jacob's arms. "All right. Come on, this way." She turned and disappeared back into the woods. Will and Jake immediately followed with Theo at their heels. "I don't know what it is about you Grimms that attracts the strange."

"Neither do we," Will replied, shaking his head. Theo quickened her pace so she was beside him.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" she asked. He nodded. "How far is it?"

"Not too far." He looked at her. She was staring down at her feet, one shaking hand covering her mouth. "Hey." Placing a hand on her shoulder, Will reached out with the other to lift her head up. "Don't worry. The Brothers Grimm haven't lost one yet. Well, no one important." He smiled and winked.

Theo cocked her head to the side. "Brothers Grimm? That sounds familiar."

"We are rather famous around here. Well known for our heroic and selfless acts."

Behind them, Jacob rolled his eyes and shook his head. His brother was always advertising them as these wonderful saviors when they'd only ever really been up against one true evil. Jake looked down at the strangely dressed girl he carried and wondered where she'd come from. Her pale skin contrasted greatly with the dark curls that fell about her face. It was an interesting appearance, odd and clearly foreign; reminiscent of snow. Snow-white, he thought. I should write that down. He shifted her weight slightly and her head lolled against his chest. Her eyelids fluttered open and he was momentarily dazzled by the way the deep blue was speckled with a gray so light it was almost silver. She looked up at him, dazed. "Who are you?"

"Sorry," Jake murmured, "but I've really no idea what you're saying."

"She asked who you are," Theo whispered, suddenly standing beside him. Jake glanced at her, then returned his eyes to Luna's.

"Oh, er, Jacob?" he said uncertainly.

Luna smiled. "Hm…Jacob." Her eyes fluttered closed and she continued faintly, "My knight. Danke."

Jake looked at the other girl questioningly. "What did she say? I only understood thank you."

Theo smiled ruefully. "She's delirious. Just forget about it." She cast her friend one last worried glance before moving forward to once again ask Will how much further it was to town.

"Oh," Jacob said to no one. "Okay." But for some reason he couldn't forget about it. Something in her voice when she had spoken the last few words kept them playing over in his mind. How he wished he could understand what she'd said with such a warm smile and such trusting eyes. "Don't worry," he promised quietly. "I'll take care of you."

---

Theo

"Now I've got that feeling once again.
I can't explain you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb."

At the moment, I kind of envy those who are in a coma. The world passes on by them, and they have no idea of the turmoil around them. Such blissful ignorance. Yes, right about now, a coma would be a great thing. Except, I'm not in a coma. I'm in an odd forest, with three peculiar and seemingly attractive people leading us…somewhere, one of which happens to be carrying my unconscious best friend. My mind is running a marathon: is Luna going to be okay? Who are these people? What happened when we fell out of that tower? And, most importantly, WHERE the hell are we?

The three people, a comely older woman and two striking men, the Grimm Brothers, are leading us out of the forest. As we walk I am sure to document our surroundings in my mind. There is something about this forest… it does not seem the same as before. Wasn't there a path around here somewhere? I am detecting a negative feeling, but from what I am unsure. Crack. What was that? This forest is awful noisy. What secrets could this forest possibly hold? The word magic crosses my mind….I must be going mad, now I'm starting to think like Luna! Either way, I must keep my guard up. My worrying genes are skyrocketing, and I am queasy with the feeling that something ominous is on the horizon.

And what of the name Grimm…it sounds strikingly familiar; I just can't put my finger on it. Have I read that name somewhere? Studied it? I'll have to think on this more.

But any pondering I might have done was suddenly cut short, as we had finally exited the forest and were now on the outskirts of some village. I was momentarily relieved of this until I took a good look at where we were. There was no village from where we had come, it was a large town. And the houses….none are of a modern standard! Haystacks? Rickety wooden cottages? And is that a well I see? Look at all the horses! And the people, they all look…dirty. And what is everyone wearing? No, something is terribly wrong. Where are we? This place looks familiar, but I don't recall ever seeing it before…

Then it dawned on me. The thatch houses. A village built around a farm. The well. The clothing. I knew exactly where we were. I've had this village layout explained to me in one of my history books. I've seen remnants of the clothing. I've seen paintings. We are not in Kansas anymore. We're not even in the same century. We're in 19th century Germany.

And that is when I fainted.

***

Unfortunately, I didn't get the coma I'd wanted. I didn't even get a nap. I quickly resurfaced only two minutes later, with Jacob, Will and Angelika just….staring at me. I blinked my eyes furiously and shielded my eyes from the sun.

"Were you going to help me, or just stand and stare at your second lifeless body?" I said in German, a definite edge to my voice.

"Sorry Madame, we're just not used to strange women falling out of the sky and dropping like flies," said Will.

I scowled at him. "Well, is Luna alright?" I looked over and saw Jacob gingerly holding Luna. If he had any worry for my physical disposition, it was immediately erased, as he was now intently studying the features on my friend. The way he looked at her was so soft, so caring. It completely bewildered me that a complete stranger could even have such a kind appearance directed at someone he'd never met before. They don't even speak the same language! But alas, I cannot deny the hunch I was getting, that Jacob was definitely intrigued by Luna. In what way, I am not sure yet. Call me crazy, but it almost looks like…he has a loving tint to his expression. Wow, I must have hit my head really hard.

At some point I realized that I was still on the ground.

"Well some gentleman you are," I said to Will as I got up from the ground.

I was shocked when a flustered expression flew across his face. "Oh, erm…uh, sorry, about that." And then he flushed red and stormed off. "Well, let's get her to the house, shall we," he said briskly, as Angelika laughed. There was a twinge of caring mixed with guilt in her voice; it was almost shaky with nervousness. As if these people could get any stranger; this bothered me but I pushed it out of my mind. My first priority was the mental and physical nature of Luna.

As we entered the village, the local people stared at us. I should probably get used to all the staring, as I have no idea when we will get out of here (hopefully sooner rather than later). We made our way down a hill to a decent sized home. Inside the appearance absolutely shocked me. Here were all the artifacts of this society: tools, animal skins, crafted utensils…not a television or electronic in sight. If I wasn't currently occupied with a more pressing matter, I would be studying everything intently, as I was now surrounded by the items that made up the subject I loved. It was at this moment that I remembered that we were actually in the past. Which means we time traveled.

Wait a minute, time traveled?! That is even more preposterous than Luna's magic. How is this possible? One minute we were on the top of a crumbling tower, and it led us to…the past? This is puzzling indeed. And then I was shocked with another realization: if we don't know how we got here, then how are we ever going to get back to present day? This realization shook me to the core, and I just wanted to stop there and cry. 'Shape up!' I told myself, 'Luna needs you!' So I straightened my face and went in the room where Luna was laying down.

"Everything okay…uhh…?" said Will.

"Theodora, my name is Theodora. But just call me Theo, please. And I am just fine, thank you," I said quickly, shocked that he had seen my temporary panic.

"Well, I apologize for not being properly introduced. My name is Will Grimm," he said, extending his hand.

"I know…" I said. But, how did I know? I've somehow known his name all along…maybe I read it in one of my history books tucked away at home, in the future. I shook his hand; it was surprisingly warm and strong feeling, and for a moment I did not want to let go. What is wrong with me? I must have lost some character traits during our stream across time. I quickly let go and crossed over to Luna. She was out like a light, but did not look completely disturbed, quite peaceful actually.

"She will be alright," said Jacob, "Just a minor concussion. A good rest will have her up in no time, no need for excessive worry," he said, clearly somewhat disturbed. "Now, on to business. Who are you? How did you get here?"

"Jake, I believe they fell out of the sky. Now unless the fell off their witch's brooms, I'm sure they don't have any idea how they got here," said Will.

"I know how we got here. We time traveled. We're from the 21st century, 2008 to be exact," I blurted.

Well look at that, more staring. The two pairs of eyes from these men look like they could laser through my skull.

"I don't know how we time traveled, but I know that we did. We were walking through the forest, and we came upon a crumbling tower. Luna became instantly interested in the relic and decided to climb up it, and I followed her. Then, I don't know how exactly, we fell. And now here we are. Luna will probably think it's…magical nonsense or whatever, but I really have no clue as to how it happened," I said, exhaustedly.

Jake perked up at the mention of magic. "Magic you say? Hmm…it could very well be that."

"Pay no attention to my brother, he's had his fun in the field of fairy gibberish and thinks it is the answer to everything."

"But it could be, Will! They came from the queen's tower."

"The queen was destroyed months ago, you saw it yourself!"

"We cannot be completely sure!" said Jacob, exasperated.

"Uh, hello! Over here! What the hell is this queen, and fairy magic? What do they have to do with Luna and me?"

"Everything," said Jacob.

"Nothing," said Will, sharply.

Suddenly, I grew very tired, but I was not done with my questions.

"Well, what is this queen?"

"That, my dear, is quite a long story," said Will.

"If it is going to help us in any sort of way, I would like to know it, now," I said, yawning.

"I would certainly like to tell you, but I believe some rest and freshening up would be more beneficial at this moment," said Jacob, kindly.

"Angelika will take you to get cleaned up and will get you fresh clothes," said Will.

"Oh I will?" Angelika said.

"Angelika, would you please? They need our help. I'm sure something of your sisters' would fit nicely," said Will.

"Fine, come with me miss," she said, not unkindly, but certainly not happily.

Angelika took me to a basin where I washed my face, and felt around for any damage on my head and body. Then she supplied me with a dress and soft shoes, the kind that I'd seen in my books. This was, if nothing else, completely wild. I hope I do not alter the course of history!

I went back to the house; there was a bed next to Luna waiting for me. Almost immediately, I flopped on the bed and succumbed to sleep, the name Grimm gnawing away at my mind.