A/N:
Sky: Sigh… I hope this chapter doesn't suck, I needed to distract myself. I woke up in a good mood, but my family is having some hard times right now and I'm in a terrible hopeless funk. No Matter What's update might be a bit delayed because of my despair (and because it requires more writing and editing than this story does, I'm just terrible right now) so… Please be patient. The reviews have been helping a lot, it's one of the few things cheering me up ^^ That and the hugs I got on facebook. (You know who you are :P)
So, very very very very very special thanks to: Eulalia95, Trickster Queen464, Ascaisil, Twilight0, minus your plus, redfirepixie318, MoodyRuby227, BoOkLuvEr303, ZOMBIEfiedCrayons, Tanglenight, sdfsd, and grimmgirl. I'm glad you enjoyed chapter 2.
This chapter takes place in book 4 while Puck is in the cocoon/when Moth poisons Sabrina.
Enjoy :3
*****
Musings of a King
Chapter Three: Lightning Rod of Catastrophe
*****
Pudding.
I felt like I was curled up in a big vat of banana pudding. Why banana, you ask? Well, why not. I supposed I was in a healing cocoon. I couldn't really recall much after showing up to save Grimm from the Jabberwocky. There had been an awful ripping feeling, and Grimm had called my name…
But instead of getting to listen to her praise for my heroics, there I was in a comfy and creepy cocoon.
It'd been a really long time since the last time I had to hole myself up in one of those things. I'd spent the whole time hoping the cocoon would ignore my preferences on trust and spray my father with gunk so I could annoy him, but I'd woken up to an angry Mustardseed insisting I leave so he could shower.
Tch. Showers are so overrated. Sometimes it's hard to believe Mustardseed is younger than I am. Oh well, he's the one that let the curse of maturity take him. I'm dodging that one for as long as I can.
Erp. Pudding shifted. Hopefully it'd finish soon. I was getting bored. At least it was toasty.
For a little while, it'd been a little cold for my liking. Like I was being dragged away from my so-called protector. Cocoons are picky about that kind of thing. Or something. Either way, I was pretty sure Mustardseed had locked me in a closet or a birdcage so he could have some alone time. Hopefully I wouldn't wake up in a shower with him.
Ugh ugh ugh! Noooo. If a shower with my brother was the cause for the cocoon going warm, and I ended up coming out to that scene, I was prepared to rip my wings back off and go in again.
The cocoon stopped jerking, going peaceful. Good, maybe it had sensed my distress and annoyed the everloving crap out of my brother until he'd stopped trying to push it away. I sure felt like my 'protector' was near.
The voice I heard next definitely wasn't Mustardseed. It wasn't my mom either, or the old lady. It was the last voice I expected to hear, because the girl it belonged to probably would have chewed her own arm off rather than touch the cocoon. And in most cases, it was impossible to hear anything outside a cocoon unless a person touched it quite firmly and on purpose.
"Puck, I've come to say goodbye. You're free from Ferryport Landing. That's something a lot of Everafters and I, myself, would like to be. You're going to stay here with your mother and brother. Apparently, you're the new king of the fairies, so you're going to have to grow up a little. I… I never got a chance to say I was sorry for slugging you when you… you… well you know."
There was a pause.
Sabrina Grimm was on the other side of my cocoon, talking to me like I was leaving? Had she lost her mind? First of all, what did she mean, stay here? And king of fairies? It made no sense.
And she was apologizing for the way she'd slugged me. Eh. Close enough, but I still thought she ought to thank me for 'the event'. And it made me feel better to hear her. Less worried about being in the shower, for one thing. But it also confirmed that the Jabberwocky hadn't eaten her sorry butt.
"I wasn't expecting it and, well, it wasn't exactly a dream come true to be surrounded by a bunch of tick-eating chimpanzees. I was angry when it happened. But, I'm glad it was you."
I knew she wanted me. Totally called it. Man, I wanted out of the cocoon so I could have seen her face. She was probably being all dramatic. What a weirdo.
"Okay, enough of that. You take care of yourself. I'm going to come back here someday, and if I find out you were a jerkazoid, there's going to be trouble."
Pfft. What was all this junk about us not seeing each other for a while? Did she miss me that much? Or was she just ditching my cocoon to go play with her magic wand and her precious Uncle Jake? I was gonna have to get her double for that nonsense.
The cocoon pulsed itself again, and I frowned inwardly. Clearly she'd finished talking and backed off. So why did I try going back to her? Huh. Maybe Grimm was the one I'd sprayed with gunk.
…Freakin' awesome.
And not awesome at the same time, because it meant Grimm really was leaving. The Trickster King was not amused.
I strained to hear more, but the voices were muffled. Clearly someone was still there, but it didn't sound like the Marshmallow had come to see Grimm.
And then it hit me. With a sudden horror that only an ex (or someone who thinks she's an ex when really she's not even that!) can produce. Even the banana pudding was not as horrible. Sabrina Grimm was talking with Moth.
The name alone sent a shudder through my cocoon as the pudding receded again, soaking into the inner walls and detaching from me. I needed to get out of there before Moth snuggled my cocoon or something equally as gross.
"Cobweb will tell the truth…"
Was it just me, or did Grimm sound like she was in pain? Ah crap, Moth was probably messing with her. Why couldn't anyone leave her alone? It just meant more work for me to save her butt.
"Not without you." I could hear Moth's voice now. "That old…" Her voice drifted in and out. "-just tell your family you decided to stay here for Puck's-"
For my what? Psychopath…
"-manage to communicate without you-"
What the crap was Moth talking about?
I started to wiggle a bit, feeling cramped. None of this conversation was settling with me.
"-Now that Puck… already mapped out most of Central… Run the humans out… Show the rest of the Everafters… Bow at our feet…"
I nudged at the cocoon again, satisfied when it ripped. If I didn't get out soon, Moth'd be naming off children she planned to have with me. BLEH!
It didn't help that Moth's little rant seemed incredibly… Well, dangerous I guess was the only way to explain it. I finished shoving the cocoon open with a loud rip, looking around when I emerged.
Moth had her back to me, standing over Grimm in obvious triumph. Grimm herself looked like she was in bad shape, hunched over and sweating. She looked pale and weak, not at all like herself. Somehow, I just knew I'd called it right, and Grimm was in danger.
Moth sure did suck sometimes.
"Then we'll take over the whole city. Humans will make good slaves."
I ignored Moth when I saw Grimm look up at me, clearly only half conscious. Had she been poisoned or just punched really hard? Either way it really made me mad, and not at Grimm.
"Grimm, are you in trouble again? I swear, if I had a nickel for every time I had to save your sorry behind, I'd be a rich fairy," I said, announcing my presence in the most nonchalant way I could manage. After all, no one needed to know I was worried over Grimm's appearance.
"Puck…" She sounded awful too.
"Your Majesty," Moth spun to face me. "I can explain this-"
Yeah. Right.
I brought my flute up before she could even blink, summoning my minions. They scooped Grimm up for me, in case Moth did a wild spin of rage and ended up hurting her.
"What did you do to her, Moth?" I asked with the tone of someone who looks and sounds patient, but clearly isn't.
Moth shook her head at me. "You don't understand, my love. I did this for us."
Delusional. Awesome. It was mid eye-roll (a habit I seemed to be picking up more and more from Grimm) when I saw the goblet on the floor. Ignoring Moth, I picked it up and gave a sniff. It reeked of poison, but of course Grimm wouldn't have known that. "Now that wasn't very nice."
I looked to the minions, anxious. "Find Cobweb. We need his medicine."
They seemed to hesitate, before explaining in detail very quickly all the events I'd missed. I knew they wouldn't joke about such a serious thing, but the words hit me like a truck, and I had to ask for confirmation. "My father?"
Well, that explained Moth's rant. And horrifyingly enough, Grimm's 'farewell' speech. I was a King—and not just a king of pranks.
"Then half of you find my mother," I commanded, wasting no time. I'd think about it later, when Grimm wasn't trying to die on my watch again. "The other half keep an eye on the princess."
They went to it quickly, placing Grimm in my arms first. Looking down at her, I could see she was in bad shape. Freaking… Every single time I turn around, Sabrina Grimm is trying to die! It bothered me more than I liked admitting.
I felt like I was wasting time as I raced her from the room. She was trembling so violently in my arms that I had a hard time holding onto her. "Stay awake, Grimm," I snapped down at her.
She probably hadn't heard me. Her eyes were closing and she was still trembling. The thought that I might have been too late made my stomach clench uneasily. I couldn't already be screwing up my career as a hero, I'd just started it for crying out loud.
"Sabrina," I said urgently when she didn't respond. "Sabrina, stay awake!"
She lost consciousness. Probably just to spite me. Freaking Grimm, I was going to have a heart attack!
I was incredibly grateful and lucky to find that Cobweb wasn't the only one who could heal her. But by the time we had her ready to go in her own little cocoon, I had to pry a crying Marshmallow off of her and hold her back. All of her family members (well, the conscious ones and the ones not in Ferryport…) were gathered around her. The old lady seemed to be blaming herself. Tch. Not her fault Grimm was a lightning rod of catastrophe.
"Can the waterworks, Marshmallow," I told her, frowning in Grimm's direction. "She's gonna be fine. She wouldn't die just to spite me."
"What if she never wakes up?" Marshmallow was ready to start wailing, I could tell.
"Yeesh," I said, putting a hand on her head. "She wouldn't want you to cry, you know that."
"But I've been so mean to her and I'll never get the chance to apologize!" she sobbed, wiping at her eyes.
I shot a dark look in the old lady's direction. She was too busy with Grimm to deal with the Marshmallow, so I sighed and knelt down. "Marshmallow," I said in a stern voice. "She'll be fine. She's strong, right?"
Sniffling, the little girl nodded at me. Why did she have to look up to me like I could do something? I had never been more glad in my life that Sabrina Grimm usually dealt with her little sister. I was no big brother… Even if Daphne Grimm thought I was.
Eh. Oh well, all the Grimms couldn't get enough of me, apparently. I could handle the big brother work for a bit. And someone had to cheer the little girl up, or Faerie'd be under water before Grimm got out of the cocoon.
"Then quit crying, if you doubt the cocoon's power, it won't work."
It was a lie and I knew it, but she sucked in the air around her like a vacuum, then straightened and put her best determined look on. Good. At least now the Marshmallow could think positive thoughts.
Me… Well, I'd just have to wait until Grimm came out of the cocoon before the uneasiness in my stomach went away.
*****
A/N:
Sky: Bleh… Anyway the next scene will probably also be from book 4, just as a followup. Reflection on Sabrina coming out of the cocoon, Oberon's funeral, all that kinda jazz. I'm splitting it up because I don't want to make these too long. And I think Puck's such a cute big brother XD Yay for manipulating siblings! (My brother used to do the same type of manipulation with me…)
Also Daphne's panic seemed logical to me, because at the time she might actually believe Sabrina's gonna die. Since I couldn't find much in the books on it, I figure once Sabrina was okay for sure, Daphne decided it was okay to calm down and didn't need to gush on her. :P
Hopefully I'll be feeling better next chapter. Thanks all, luvvies. R/R