Sabrina stared around at the weird little town. What had she and Daphne landed themselves in? It was all Ms. Smirt's fault. Trust her to land them both in the weirdest place on the planet.
Sabrina gripped Daphne's hand tighter unconsciously, and felt her sister squeeze her hand reassuringly back.
When they finally reached Ms. White's house while ignoring the many glares and scoffs that turned their way, Sabrina surveyed the small house with a sigh of relief. At least this house looked more normal than the other ones that lined the street. That didn't give Sabrina too much consolation, although it was a start.
As soon as they stepped into the homely space inside, Mrs. Grimm stopped to look at the girls.
"Please, libelings. You must listen to what I have to say. And thank Snow for getting us out of that trouble."
"No, Relda. It was nothing," the girl said, blushing.
"Snow, I told you not to associate yourself with us in public," Mrs. Grimm sighed, turning to her again. "You know how the others look at you when they see you with us."
The girl's expression hardened. "I couldn't care less about what they think about me."
Something hard entered the girl's face that made Sabrina feel sympathy for her, though she couldn't exactly say what. Snow had a hardened expression that could only be borne from having to endure a lot of pain, and for a long time.
"Oh, Snow..." Ms. Grimm said, the two words filled with untold sadness. Sabrina blinked at them both, unsure of what to make out of the scene.
"Hey! Where's my ice cream?" Puck demanded, poking his head in from around the corner. "I've searched everywhere."
Instantly, Snow's expression softened to amusement, and she turned to Puck with a tinkling laugh.
"Come here, Puck. Oh- does anyone else want anything to eat?"
Sabrina and Daphne shook their heads, and Mrs. Grimm looked at the girl with badly-masked sadness. Snow turned away and led Puck somewhere inside the house.
"Girls. Follow me."
Sabrina looked at the old woman's determined face, and put on an expression of determination of her own before following the old lady. Mrs. Grimm led them both to a sitting room, filled with two comfortable-looking couches and a low table between them. Mrs. Grimm sat down, and gestured for the girls to do the same. Mr. Canis sat in the chair near the doorway and settled down to stare at the ceiling.
"Girls..." The old lady's voice wavered. "Girls. Henry and Veronica... Let me start at the beginning..."
The old woman took her time to finally get started, and when she did start, it was with a lot of reluctance. Sabrina and Daphne only stared at her, wide-eyed, and she described creatures called Everafter, each unique and with their own stories. Stories of the Brothers Grimm, the two brothers who made history by writing it down in the Book of Everafters. Stories of an arduous journey across oceans, in search of a land which most didn't believe would exist. And then the stories of how this town was finally found, and then made the home of, by creatures that were in bedtime stories.
Neither of them interrupted only because of the earnest and pleading eyes of Mrs. Grimm, and neither of them knew what to say when she suddenly started talking about their father- who apparently had a brother, and who had fallen in love with Goldilocks before deciding to let her escape this town. They stared wide-eyed as the old lady described the death of their grandfather with tears in her eyes. She even told them about their mother's leadership among the faeries under Oberon, who apparently lived in New York. She finally stopped after telling them about how the Grimms had split up, and never seen each other for the past decade and a half.
She stared at them with desperate eyes, as if willing them to understand. As Sabrina stared at the old woman, she heard a bang, and quickly got on her feet.
Puck sauntered in with three cups of ice cream, all of them half-finished.
"These two were yours," he said, looking at Sabrina and Daphne. "But I graciously accepted them as your payment for being imbeciles, instead."
"Imbe- " Sabrina started. Puck suddenly slammed the cups on the table in front of her, and looked at her and Daphne with cold eyes.
"You two better believe the Old Lady. All you two have done since you got here was create trouble for her. And look- she's even crying. And crying ladies make horrible cooks. Listen to her, or I'll make your lives miserable."
"So... what story are you from?" Daphne asked, breaking the silence. Puck's expression instantly turned smug.
"Midsummer Night's Dream, by Shakespeare." He sniffed proudly. "And I'm the awesome villain."
"Ooh! Show me your wings again!" Daphne cried. Puck looked offended.
"Have you not read the Midsummer Night's Dream, before?"
"No."
He gaped at her.
"What about you, Blondie?"
"I'm Sabrina Grimm." She snapped. She turned her scowl back to the old woman, but averted her eyes again when she saw the shining tears. What had she and Daphne gotten themselves into? The old woman was crying, there was apparently a fairy villain right in front of her, and apparently, everyone in this town had a fairytale attached to them. This had to be some sort of... She stopped herself. No. These people, even though they had ridiculous ideas, obviously were't insane. And they looked like they believed their lies, too. The sincerity in the old woman's eyes left her no doubt of that. She hazarded a glance at the old woman again, and saw her wiping her eyes. Sabrina sighed. Fine. It had to be done. She would pretend to go along with this madness, even if it was just for a short amount of time.
"You should know my name by now, genius. I'm your 'old lady's' grand daughter, after all." Sabrina finally got out. There were a few heart beats of silence.
Daphne squealed and hugged her sister. When Sabrina looked up from her sister's shining eyes, she saw Puck's expression softened into a smile for a split second, but he was scowling again.
"So? Have you read about my awesome exploits, Grimm?"
Didn't they already have this conversation?
"Oh, libeling!" Granny Relda reached for Sabrina for a hug. Sabrina flinched away before thinking better of it and submitting herself and Daphne into the embrace.
"Hey! I was asking her a question, here!"
"Henry and Veronica would be so happy if they saw you two..." She breathed in their ears. Sabrina, not one for sentiments, didn't say anything, but something in her heart settled. For a moment, it felt right. She and Daphne were where they belonged. With...
DHING! DHING! DHING!
Granny Relda sighed before breaking away from the embrace.
"Not that loser, again..." Puck muttered.
"Libelings... we have to go."
DHING! DHING! DHING!
"WHAT IS THAT NOISE?" Sabrina screamed, covering her ears.
"It's our mayor. Cupid. He wants us to line the streets to cheer for his procession through the two again."
Again, I have room for improvement. A lot of room. Maybe too much room. But I really do enjoy writing this stuff. Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I don't suddenly own this series after my last disclaimer.
