A Game Changer

Summary: If Mina simply knew the truth, if she knew what started it all, how much different would our beloved fourth book of the An Unfortunate Fairy Tale collection be? (Under a new username, but this account and fanfiction still belongs to K-Chan's Kisses)

Warning: this contains spoilers to Reign

Mina's POV

I watch Teague rip across the sky, a flame more energetic than the sun trailing behind him, as he goes to the castle in order to help me. This is only the beginning of my journey and I'm already racked with guilt. How is it possible for Teague to go from a caring, loving gentleman to, well, pure evil? Ever said that a betrayal caused him to become the way his is, but what could've been that potent to the point of creating a mass murderer?

A bright light catches my eye and I groan. I quickly step into my illuminating class slippers just in time for the light to become almost blinding and a quiet 'pop' pushes me back to where I belong.

My body feels hot and rubbery by the time I appear on the country club driveway; and my legs, which were perfectly fine a second ago, collapse beneath me within seconds of being back. Brody, who stands where I left him, rushes over to me as quickly as he can to help me up.

"What just happened? You disappeared, and now you're here again. Where'd you go?" He brushes my skin as he helps me up and jerks his hand back, "You're burning up! Are you okay?"

"It'll pass, just give me a second," I say, waving him off absentmindedly. I guess going into the past makes me feel like what took the Titanic down, and shooting into the future makes me feel like Mt. Vesuvius? At least now I know how to dress for the occasion.

I let Brody lead me into the country club to the private sitting room as my thoughts overtake me. These stupid shoes aren't working. It sent me to Teague when he needed a friend to rant to. Granted, I made him feel better, so I did do something on my short trip, but that wasn't what I was supposed to do! Tears well up in my eyes as realization hits: I'm a failure! My family's going to die because these freaking shoes can't do their job well enough to give me a chance to even start what I was going to do!

"Are you alright," Brody asks, wrapping his strong arms around me. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I went back in time. The shoes did it. I was supposed to help my ancestors and save myself and my family from disappearing."

It took Brody a minute to let what I said sink in, and when it did, his voice became low and his response slow, "you knew the shoes did this? That they would take you back in time? When were you going to tell me?"

"Soon. After tonight. I don't know. I was just given them today, and no one told me when they would work—only that they needed to charge. Then—" I dramatically wave my arms in the air, "—poof I would go. But they sent me to the wrong time. I was nowhere near where I should have been. In fact I was on the wrong plane entirely."

His eyes narrowed, "exactly where'd you end up?"

"On the Fae plane. I was attacked by a griffin. But don't worry. I was saved. By another griffin. A griffin I was supposed to kill, actually, because it was actually Teague, the guy who shape-shifted into a wolf and tried to take a chunk out of you. We had a heart to heart before I left. He's pretty gentlemanly right now, so I must've caught him before he got his evil highlights done. Right now he's looking for my ride home."

Brody looked down right pissed. I'm not sure if that's because I went on another quest without telling him—thought it's not like I had time to prepare, myself—or the fact that I had a nice little chat with the dude who tried to eat him—well I doubt Teague would eat him, just severely dismember him.

"Take the shoes off," he demanded.

"I can't. I need to be ready in case they work again. In fact, give me your phone. I need to call Mei."

His lips thinned in frustration, but he let me have his phone anyway. I quickly dialed Mei's number and she picked up on the second ring.

"Mei, it's me. It didn't work. I didn't fix anything." I rush out, "I've doomed everyone."

"Mina, Mina. Calm down, okay?" There was muffled whispering, but I could still hear the words 'change her mind' somewhat clearly. "You're on speaker now." Mei's voice sounded farther away. "Constance is here."

I put them on speaker phone, too, for Brody to hear. "I ended up on the Fae plane. Not the human one. The shoes are defective. Pretty, but defective."

There's a moment of silence before Constance speaks, "They're not defective. How long were you gone?"

"For a few minutes," I answered, Brody nodding in agreement.

"Then they took you exactly where you needed to be for the right about of time. I talked with Schumacher, and he explained that they can only hold you in time for a certain amount before their powers are depleted for good. Look at the heel."

I slide the shoe off and turn it over. Sure enough, within the heel is a small hourglass. The top half was filled with hundreds, maybe thousands, of tiny diamonds that look like sand. A few have fallen, but the top is still pretty full.

"Do you have time left?"

"Yes, there are still diamonds within the heel," I say, taking a breath of relief.

"Then you still have time. Trust the shoes; trust Schumacher. Just don't lose them—don't even take them off," Constance warns me. "We never know if you'll finish on time. If you don't, we'll have to try again from the start."

"Constance, don't seed doubt in her! You can do it, Mina, I know you will. You will fix this," Mei jumps in, trying to calm me down a bit.

"What do I do now?" I ask. A knock rings out in the room. "Wait a second," I whisper. Mr. Carmichael pops his head into the room and motions for Brody to follow him into the hall. When he's out of the door, I whisper softly. "I met Teague on the Fae plane, and he didn't know who I was." I turn the volume down do Brody and his dad doesn't hear me through the door, "he was so…nice. He was caring, honest, and funny. What happened to him?"

"Never mind what changed him, what'd going to keep him from changing is you," Mei says.

"Wait I thought you guys wanted me to k—"

"Mei reminded me of a very…important fact that cannot be ignored," Constance interjects.

"And that is?"

"You've done this mission before and it didn't work the first time." I can hear her running her hands through her hair and feel the waves of stress rolling off of her.

"What do you mean I've already done this mission?!" I say, near shouting. I look over see if I was loud Brody and his father to hear me to want to reenter the room. Luckily, the door didn't swing open, so I'm in the clear for now. "I think I would've remembered that."

"You're the one who started the curse, Mina," Mei says softly. "I was there. I saw you throughout the mission and saw it slowly spiral downhill. I came to the Fae Godmothers after Teague turned, where I was wasn't safe and I had information to give them that would help. You broke his heart and someone took him down while he was still hurting."

The waves of guilt I felt earlier flood over me. It was me. I ruined his life. I started it all. It was me. I'm the reason all my family members had to die. I'm the reason that my father is gone. I killed him. It's entirely my fault. I killed him.

"Tell me how I can fix this," I choke out, the urge to sob tightening on my throat.

"Make him fall in love." Constance answers. "It can be with you or someone else, but just make sure it happens. If he's with someone who can stabilize him, then none of this will happen."

A dim but still noticeable light makes itself know and I swallow loudly. "The shoe's starting to glow again."

"Mina," Mei almost shouts into the phone, "just remember that the timeline may change us, but here and now we will always love you. I love you and it was an honor to be your godmother."

The shoes are getting brighter by the second. I put down the phone and take a step away from it. "I love you too, Mei. Thank you for everything, Mei, Constance. Tell my family I love them."

"I'll always be with you. Take that as a hint, if you will, and remember this: even a spider can get trapped in its own webs at times. Be careful about what you tell people, truth or lies!"

I smile at the phone, the old saying, undoubtedly, wasn't supposed to have its own meaning placed after it. Mei's English phrases and proverbs have always needed help, so I'm glad my last real moment with her is the way it's been all along.

"I will, I promise," I grin. Brody comes through the door again just as the shoes are near traveling light. His face pales and I give him a sad smile. "I'm sorry to say this may be our last goodbye."

Quicker than I've ever seen him move, Brody clears the room in time to kiss me goodbye. "I love you, Mina, remember that if you never see me again."

"I love you too, Brody," I reply with a quick kiss to his lips. The second I step back, the shoes go throw me into the past with a pop. My only thought in the midst of my short travels is this: do I really mean what I said to him or was it to make that final moment perfect?

I hope you like it! I couldn't help but make a fanfic for Reign as soon as I finished it, there were so many what-if's running through my mind! I'm still going to update me other fanfics, so if you're a fan of "Happily Never After" or "Carnival" stay tuned.

Quick Note: High freaking five to me because my fanfiction "Happily Never After" has a few scenes similar to those in Reign and "HNA: was published on April 13th, 2014 and Reign came out this November. I was—hell, I am—so happy that I guessed those scenes!

Sorry for any and all typos,

K-the-Queen-of-Typos, formerly K-Chan's Kisses