A/N

Yello, Archie in the house! I'm back, bringing with me another chapter in this crazy story about the Grimms! You miss me? Of course you did ;D

In all seriousness, I am very sorry it has been so long… I returned home to a flood of schoolwork etc, so I didn't really have a chance to write this chapter until recently. That and I have been shying away from it because this next part is long and hard to write. But hang in there, I have already started the next chapter and hope to finish it soon (I am sick in bed, so that gives me way too much time to write or do nothing… fingers crossed I get better soon!)

To my wonderful reviewers, THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! I totally love you! Anon replies at the bottom…

QotU: If you were to build a portal to Ferryport Landing, where would you put it and why would you go? Give me good answers… The reviewer with my favorite answer will get the next chapter dedicated to them. Have fun!

One last thing…: REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!

The Final Battle

…

The family gaped at her, unsure of how to react to such an exclamation. "Veronica, what are you talking about?" Henry asked, his face showing his deep concern for his wife. "We don't have a son."

"We do – did." She paused, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "I was going to tell you, but we got… kidnapped... instead."

"What?"

"That night, the night that Oz drugged us. I told you I had some important news. I was pregnant. But... but I'm not… anymore…" She trailed off, the first tears falling.

"What are you talking about? How do you know you even had a baby, wouldn't the magic put it on hold?"

Briar shifted uncomfortably. "That's not really how it works…"

Henry looked at her. "It… it's not?" he asked, weakly.

"Nope. Yes, the magic would do strange things to the pregnancy, but… there are more powerfully magical ways to keep the pregnancy going normally."

Jake wrapped his arm around his girlfriend. "There is a plant, Donnoga Root, that is used to have the impossible pregnancy. It is how Miss Muffet and the Spider had their son, how Beauty and the Beast had their daughter."

He exchanged a look with his brother, tilting his head minutely towards Briar.

Henry blinked, and then turned back to his wife. "I... I have a son? No... no, I..." His breathing grew ragged as emotions started to flow fast and free.

Veronica gave a violent shudder. "My baby..." she began to cry in earnest. Henry wrapped his arms around his wife, a tear rolling down his cheek as he tightly closed his eyes.

Granny, like the other members of the family, had been staring at Veronica in shock. But as always, she was the first to recover.

"Well then..." The family jumped and looked at her. "If we work fast, we will save my..." she paused, taking in a breath, "...my grandson."

Veronica took a shaky breath. She glanced at Henry, and something seemed to pass between them. "Basil." She whispered.

For the first time since Sabrina had met her, Granny was at a loss for words. Her mouth hung slightly open, as if he had been about to speak. Her eyes filled with deep, swirling emotion so strong she looked like she was about to faint.

"My grandson… Basil." She said, quietly. Veronica smiled tearfully. She pulled away from Henry and hugged Granny tightly.

"I'm a big sister…" Daphne said slowly. Red squeezed her hand. "I have a little brother!"

"You don't yet." Sabrina said. "We still have to rescue him from…" She couldn't bring herself to say his name.

"Granny, he went into this book thing. The cover said that it was called The Book of Everafter." Daphne said, turning to her grandmother. "It was magical, and it had a very winy def…" She bit her lip, trying to remember what Mirror had called it. "Defense… mechanism."

"The Book of Everafter?" Granny said, looking alarmed.

"Why would he want that? Dad said that it's just a record of all the fairytales." Henry said, confused. "If you trying to find all the Everafters?"

"It's not just a record of the fairytales." Jake said grimly.

"This is worse than I could have imagined." Granny said, her brow creased.

"What's all the fuss about this book?" Puck asked. "I mean… isn't it just a book?"

"I'm afraid not." Granny replied.

"Then what is it, and why was it so important…?" Sabrina asked, confused.

Granny took a deep breath. "Your Great-Great-Aunt Trixie Grimm was the one that brought the Book to our family. She discovered its existence early on in her life, and was very quick to figure out that it was dangerous and should be in our care. However, it took her over twenty years to track it down and convince the owner to give it up. Her obsession over the book tore her away from her family. She started working with Ms. Lancaster on… something. She was cooped up in her house for almost an entire year, only coming home for dinner. Once they finished the book was closed into a special room in the Hall that could only be opened by a Grimm." She stopped, thinking. "I only know this from what your grandfather told me. Trixie was very careful after the Book was locked up to erase all traces of it. She went through her journals and destroyed all evidence of the book, save what has been passed through word of mouth. I'm afraid that's all I know."

"The Anderson Triplets heard that it was some sort of portal into the fairytales. You enter through the pages–"

"That's what Mirror did!" Daphne exclaimed.

"–and you are in the fairytale." Jake continued. "I heard that you could change things in the story. That's the extent of my knowledge."

Daphne looked worried. "But… that barely tells us anything!"

Sabrina closed her eyes. 'So close…' she thought.

Henry took several deep breaths. He looked ready to hit something. "Mom, we need to get in there now! There is no telling what the creature is going to try to do!"

"Henry… we can't just charge in there! We know almost nothing about it, and he's dangerous!" Sabrina noted that her grandmother also dropped Mirror's name.

"Then I'll go in alone–"

"Don't you dare, Henry!" Veronica said dangerously. "I'm going in that book to save my son if it is the last thing I do!"

"That's exactly it!" Henry said loudly. "It could be the..." he trailed off, looking at her with a tormented expression. "…the last thing you do." He finished in a whisper.

Veronica's expression softened. "Henry, I'll be fine. Really."

The family was silent for a moment. Then Granny spoke up. "Jake, Briar, Veronica and Henry can go in. The rest of us will wait in the room."

Sabrina bit her lip. She wanted to go in. She needed to go in. But it was dangerous, and her grandmother was not going to let her in.

"Before we go, however, I want to get one of Wilhelm's old journals. He had some stuff on the Book, and even the tiniest amount of information will help.

Jake and Henry glanced at each other and nodded. "Alright mom, get your book. Then we need to get this rescue under way!"

While Mr. Canis and Granny were getting the book, the rest of the adults started planning how they were going to rescue baby Basil. Jake was muttering about wands, while Veronica and Briar were listing different protection amulets that they could use.

Sabrina's mind was wandering towards her brother when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Pucks face. His green eyes were clouded with worry as he said "You doing okay?"

Sabrina stared at him. It was a very un-Puck-like for him to ask her if she was doing okay. But in light of the current situation, it seemed that he had set aside his immaturity.

"I'm… okay. Not great, but okay." She gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

He sighed.

…

Henry took a deep breath. The ride to the room that held the Book had worked him up, and now he was starting to panic. In the last hour, he had learned that a trusted family friend had stolen the son he never knew he had, and had taken him into this dangerously unknown Book.

So the fact that that he was sweating a little while staring at the simple-looking book was completely understandable.

He could hear Briar murmuring something in Jake's ear. He could hear his mother breathing heavily, nervous that both of her sons were about to plunge into the unknown.

Careful not to look like he was second guessing himself, Henry looked back at the rest of the group. Daphne and Red were tightly holding hands. Granny had a hand resting on Daphne's shoulder, the other pressed against her mouth. Her face was lined with worry. Sabrina was standing in between her grandmother and Puck. The two teens had matching looks of restless worry.

Henry felt a warm hand entwine its fingers between his own. Looking down, he saw that it was Veronica. His eyes trailed their way up her arm to her face. Her eyes were anxious, yet filled with love.

"Let's do this." She whispered.

He smiled weakly and turned back to the Book. The tension in the room grew as he reached out to open the mysterious tome.

He took another deep breath. The last one before he plunged into the mysterious object. Closing his eyes, he opened the book.

Nothing happened.

Veronica frowned. "Wha…? Sabrina, I thought you said that it had a defense mechanism."

"It did! It was blowing around like crazy when it was opened before…"

"Maybe since we are Grimms…?" Jake wondered.

"Never mind why, let's get in before it changes its mind!" Briar exclaimed.

"Put your hand in the book, Dad. All of you touch somehow, and then you put your hand on the pages."

Veronica grabbed Briar, who was already holding Jake's hand, and gave her a worried look. Henry placed his hand onto the open book.

The wind started. The pages fluttered wildly as the group of four adults began to glow brighter and brighter, just as Mirror had.

Sabrina looked away. She saw the light die out, and she heard Granny's choking breath as she held back her emotions. Now all they could do was wait.

She definitely didn't like waiting.

…

Tick… tock… tick… tock…

Sabrina was leaning against the wall, staring at Puck's watch. Somehow, she had managed to spend thirty minutes pacing and watching the second hand turn on its endless quest to complete the circle of time.

She looked up to see what the rest of her family was doing. Mr. Canis had produced a chair, and Granny was sitting on it, staring at the book. Red was sitting on the floor next to her, with Daphne's sleeping head in her lap. Red's mouth was twitching, and she seemed to be talking to herself. Mr. Canis was standing completely still on Granny's other side, also watching the book, but he kept glancing down at Red and Granny.

Puck was sitting against the opposite wall next to Sabrina. His eyes were closed, but Sabrina was not fooled into thinking he was asleep as well. He was periodically opening his eyes and glancing at her, then his watch, then closing his eyes again.

Glancing again at Puck's watch, she saw that it was 3:48am. Thirty-three minutes ago, her mother and father had disappeared, and she did not know what was going on inside of that book. Unable to stand it anymore, Sabrina suddenly stood up again. Puck tensed up, his eyes snapping open.

She crossed the room to Granny, who turned her tired eyes to her tall granddaughter. "Liebling?"

"Granny, do you have Wilhelm's journal?" She didn't state her reason for wanting it, nor did Granny question why.

"Right here, Sabrina." Granny handed her a small, velvet bag. Feeling the magical tingle, Sabrina knew it was an enchanted bag. She crossed back to her former seat next to Puck.

"Why do you want that?"

"I can't just sit here doing nothing anymore. I need to being doing something to get my brother back!"

Puck didn't respond. Sabrina opened the bag, and began pulling books out. Apparently Granny had decided to grab all of Wilhelm's journals, just in case. After she pulled the last one out, Sabrina hesitated. The bag's magic had grown on her, and she didn't really want to put it down.

Wincing, Puck took the bag from her. For an instant, Sabrina didn't want to let go. But then she made eye contact with Puck, and she forced herself to unclench her fingers.

Puck glanced across to where Red was staring at them. "I don't like that weird thing she does… it's not cool to have someone force their thoughts into my head."

"Ha…" Sabrina muttered, examining the books she was holding.

There were six, all covered in worn brown leather. Each had "Wilhelm K. Grimm" burned into the front, and the dates on the cover dated from 1805 to 1875.

"Wow… this guy must have been really young when he brought the Everafters over to America…" Sabrina said, mostly to herself.

"Yeah, he was. Only nineteen…" Puck answered.

Sabrina started. She had forgotten that Puck had been on the ship. "Really? I've never heard that before. He didn't look nineteen when he came forward during all those time tears."

Puck shrugged. "No one was very clean then. There were bed bugs and plagues everywhere you turned. It made people look a lot older."

"Oh."

Puck looked at the journals. He frowned, and pulled the latest one from her hands. "Wait… this isn't right."

"What isn't right?"

"This last one goes to 1875. Wilhelm had died by then, I'm almost positive."

"What? Give it to me!" Sabrina snatched the book out of his hands. "Could they have burned the date in wrong? Maybe it is supposed to be 1857…"

"Maybe… but unlikely."

"Granny? When did Wilhelm die?"

The old woman started, and looked over at the two teens. "Uhm… late 1850s, I believe."

"There is something wrong with this journal. It has the wrong date on the cover. Is it possible that the last two numbers were burned on in the wrong order?"

"Wilhelm was very careful about those things, but it is always possible. What's the last date in the journal?"

Sabrina unlatched the cover and gently opened the book. She gasped, staring at what was inside. Puck looked at her with a strange expression. "What?"

She ignored him. "Granny… what happened in 1875 that was important?"

Granny frowned, thinking hard. "I think Trixie and Vesta Grimm were born that year, but I'm sorry Liebling… I'm not sure."

"She was." Sabrina said, her voice shaking a little. She lay the journal out on the floor so that both Puck and Granny could see.

The center of the journal had been cut out, leaving the classic place to hold something. Inside the hole was a worn cotton bag and a folded piece of paper. Sabrina pulled them both out. She opened the bag and pulled out a old, iron key.

Unfolding the paper, she saw that the slanted writing barely covered the first quarter of the paper.

"What does it say?" Puck asked, trying to pull the paper away from her.

Sabrina moved it out of his reach. "'This key is the key to the Editor's Library. To access: Enter Book, insert into air, and unlock door. Door will appear. Please knock first.'" She turned to Granny. "Do you know who or what the Editor is?"

Granny shook her head. "It's obviously part of the Book, but I told you everything I knew when the Book was first mentioned."

Sabrina leapt up. "Granny, I have to go in there and learn how this works!"

"Absolutely not!"

Puck slowly stood up behind Sabrina as she begged her grandmother to let her go in. "Granny, someone needs to go in there and find the Editor! He seems to be the higher power in the book, and he could help us find Mom and Dad, and then Basil!"

"Liebling, no!"

"WHY NOT?" Sabrina yelled. Daphne twitched and rubbed her eyes. She sat up, staring blearily at her sister.

"It's too dangerous!"

"Mom and Dad are in there right now! Who knows what they are facing in that thing!" When Granny shook her head again, Sabrina blew up. "YOU DON'T CARE!"

There was a ringing silence. Sabrina realized she had overstepped.

"Sabrina Grimm. Don't you ever say that I don't care." Granny said quietly. "I care about you and the rest of our family more than anything else in the world."

"Granny, I'm sorry, I–"

"Don't speak. I want you to give me that key and I want you to sit back down in that corner. You are not going to be the hero tonight."

Silently, Sabrina handed her grandmother the key. Granny stared at her pointedly, and she slowly walked back to where she had been and sat back down.

Daphne looked intensely confused. "Granny, what is going on?"

"Your sister found a clue to the Book."

"Really?"

"Yes." She turned to Mr. Canis. "Mr. Canis, will you collect the Merlin Wand and two Invulnerability Stones?"

"…you're going in?" Sabrina asked quietly.

Granny glanced at her. "Yes. You were right when you said that someone needed to go in. It just will not be you."

When Mr. Canis came back, Granny took that wand and one of the stones. "Lieblings, Mr. Canis and I are going into the book. Stay here, we'll be back soon, okay? We are going to stay out of the action."

Sabrina stood up. "Granny… what if you can't come back? What if you get lost?"

Granny pulled Sabrina into a hug. "I won't. I'm a Grimm, and I'm used to it now."

Sabrina let go of her grandmother, and Granny stepped up to the book.

"Good luck…" Red said.

The two adults smiled back at the fours children, and Granny touched the book.

The children turned away, used to the bright light that accompanied an entrance to the Book now. When the light died down, they turned back to see that Granny and Mr. Canis had disappeared. Sabrina slumped back into the chair that Granny had been sitting in.

Puck tugged at her arm. "So what are we taking with us, Grimm?"

"What?"

He looked at her like she had grown another head. "Aren't we going in anyway?"

The three girls started at him. Then Sabrina grinned. Standing up, she said: "Yeah. Come on, let's go!"

Daphne stood up and brushed her hands off. "I need a wand before we go in."

"Granny took the Merlin Wand. What's your second choice?"

Daphne thought hard. "A fairy godmother wand. One that changes physical appearance, not fashion."

Sabrina nodded. "I need a weapon."

"Not Excalibur, Charming has that." Puck said.

"No, I'm thinking Carnwennan. He didn't take that one."

"Car-whosee?" Red asked, confused.

"Carnwennan. It was another of Arthur's weapons, his dagger. Legend says that it shrouds the wielder in shadow, but in my experience it also hides anyone who's touching the user. It turns them into a sort of… human chameleon."

Puck gaped at her. "Alright, I call dibs."

She shook her head. "No can do, it's one of the few magical items I can handle. Find your own."

He glared at Sabrina. He opened his mouth to disagree, but Daphne said, "Never mind that, we need to get going!"

They all ran out of the room.

…

In less than ten minutes, they were back in the Book's room, panting from their run.

"Are you ready?" Sabrina asked.

Daphne and Red nodded their eyes wide in anticipation. They were holding hands tightly. Daphne took one of Sabrina's hands.

"Alright," she breathed, "let's do it." She took hold of Puck's hand.

He glanced down at their entwined fingers. Their eyes met, the bright green searching the deep blue. Sabrina exhaled softly.

Puck turned to the book. He opened it to somewhere in the middle, and then frowned. "Whoa…"

"What?" Sabrina asked, anxious.

"There's… it's not written in English. It's all gibberish."

Sabrina shook her head. "Never mind that, get going!"

He gave her a glare, and then placed his hand in the book.

At once the room grew bright with a white light. Sabrina felt weightless as a strong wind started up. She felt the magic of the Book travel from Puck's hand to hers, and then down her other arm to Daphne's hand. The feel of the magic filled her, erasing all tension and feeling. She couldn't tell whether or not she was still holding onto Daphne and Puck. The light was blinding her, the wind deafening her, and she suddenly was no longer sure where she was.

Unable to see, hear, or feel anything, Sabrina was blasted off into the unknown.

...

Bwahaha! It seems I leave thee with another cliffy, eh? Anything to keep y'all reading… Seriously, I do a lot. I did so much math and research to make sure all the dates and ages were right…

Again, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I love that I get so many readers, but I do wish that everyone would review…

BIG, GARGANTUAN GOOD NEWS: Vanimalion and I have gotten back on track with Sins of the Heartless! Guess what? WE JUST UPDATED! Yes, yes… I know, super surprising! But we spent the whole week working hard at it, and Chapter 3 is edited and posted! Click over to read "Chapter 3 – First Encounter"!

I love you all, and remember the QotU: If you were to build a portal to Ferryport Landing, where would you put it and why would you go? See you all soon!

Anon replies:

PenguinLoverGurl – I'm so glad he is okay! How is he doing now that several months have passed?

Like I said in chapter 1, this story is weaving in and out of the actual series, although I am definitely making it my own!

Oh gosh, I'm glad you loved that part! It was an impulsive addition…I saw the chance and I took it!

I know, right? Puck needs driving lessons…

Yeah, it is a mucho cool power! I am having fun with it, but I am not saying anything more…!

karatequeen78 – Thanks you reading! I'm glad you like my story :)

Lurvies!

-Archer Princess-