CHAPTER 21! We're almost finished. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! I have multiple announcements:
1: I have opened a forum for the Sisters Grimm. It's called Limegreen's Forum for the Obsessive Writer. Please drop in and leave a comment.
2: That's pretty much it.
I do not own the Sisters Grimm.
The weary little band of odd heroes set out that night when the twilit sky turned pink and gold. It was a tentative sunset, one full of hopes and uncertainties, but not as forbidding and strange as the night before. Perhaps it was because Sabrina had a clear view of the open sky gleaming on her (ahem) bulky pink cast.
Sabrina feared that her sleep patterns were horribly out of order, because the incessant drowsiness falling over her lifted its veil ever so slightly when the sky streaked itself with the traces of night. It was going to be quite irritating when she could no longer drift off to sleep before early in the morning if, after the grueling past few days, she finally got home. No, she thought. Not if. When I get home. When. She knew – and Puck had said – that if she lost hope, they were sure to fail. She was taking that to heart, despite the fact that it had been Puck who had said it.
"Ready, Grimm?"
"You've asked her that five times, and you probably asked me just as many times," Daphne replied, smirking slightly. "If you don't just get us up in the air, she'll kill you. Painfully. She's clearly tense."
"Tense is the understatement of the year," Puck teased. "Try strained. Utterly nervous. Drowning in anticipation."
"I know you did not stick your gummy fingers in my thesaurus," Sabrina said, making no move to smile or dispute his taunting.
"I'm allergic to books, remember? I'm just so awesome that I have selective intelligence."
"Just pick us up and get us out," Sabrina said.
"Where's Elvis? Did he get set up where he was supposed to be?" Daphne's demeanor changed to a nervous stance as she thought of the dog.
"I did that fifteen minutes ago." Puck said confidently.
"How'd you get a dog to do this, anyway?" Sabrina questioned, wondering how on earth such a large, frantic animal could be persuaded and/or trained to participate in their scheming.
"Elvis is much smarter than a normal dog," Daphne beamed. "And of course my little baby puppy was persuaded with some sausage…"
"YOU DID NOT!"
"Oh, yes. Yes I did."
"No."
"Yes. You can't deny him something he's already been promised."
"Oh yeah? Watch me!"
"GIRLS!" Puck shouted, looking irritated and running a hand through his mess of wavy curls. "I cannot wear out my voice right now! Don't get into any arguments or I will have to stun you with my good looks!"
"As if you had any. Shut up, Puck," Sabrina said, feeling that joking was most definitely not appropriate at the moment. It was time to get to work.
When Daphne waved the wand, Sabrina felt a shiver of longing, no doubt due to her addiction, but was thankfully distracted by the fact that she could no longer see her toes, cast, or crutches, for that matter.
She was invisible.
"COOL!" Exclaimed Puck. "This takes pranks to a whole new level."
"It really is gravy," said Daphne, using one of her old words. "But I've never done that before, so there's no telling if I did it right. I hope it holds." Neither of the others could see it, but she stuffed the wand deep into her pocket for safety. "Here's the hard part," she said. "Now we have to fly there."
"What's hard about that, Marshmallow? I don't have to see my wings to fly…oh. Now I get it. Awkward."
"What is he talking about?" Sabrina demanded, not comprehending the situation for a second.
"Let's put it this way, Ugly," chuckled Puck. "Put down your crutches and try to grab me around the neck."
Oh. Crap. Didn't see that coming.
"Puck," she said in a level tone, leaning her crutches against the wall of the cave and stumbling forward on her cast. She regained her balance and inched forward. "Raise your arms above your head and keep them there."
"What?"
"I said raise your arms. There's less chance of it getting awkward if I'm the one with my arms out in front of me. Get the drift?"
"Vaguely." He blushed, thankful to be invisible.
Daphne laughed. "You two are the funniest."
After a blessedly low number of mishaps, most involving only hair, ankles, and Puck's bruised back, they managed to haul themselves into the air.
The sky was an entrancing shade of midnight blue when they landed at the back of the Grimm house, taking the utmost care to produce no sound and using magical protection to muffle any giveaway noises. Really, Sabrina thought, the plan was so sketchy already (and indeed it was a rather precarious plan) that they could afford to take no chances whatsoever. She and Daphne sat with their backs flat against the wall of the backside of the house – the lack of a back door played a key part in the plan. Since there was no entrance or large window to enter through, the Hand saw no reason to guard the back, as far as they knew. So any unusual rustling, scratching, irate whispering, or snickering would be almost undetectable.
"Hey," Puck whispered so quietly that Sabrina barely realized he'd said anything. "Where are your crutches?"
"Oops. Left them in the cave. I'll just have to lean on Daphne." She was careful to keep her voice nearly imperceptible. She explained to Daphne, and, moving forward with the plan, Puck took off into the air.
Sabrina watched the spot where Puck should be flying back in the other direction. She could make out a slight whooshing sound when his invisible wings beat the air – nothing too risky, but slightly comforting.
And they waited for the signal.
It was a long time in coming. They had decided (well, Sabrina had executively decided and the others had decided to just go along) that Puck should fly in the opposite direction, go around the long way, and make sure Elvis was ready. He'd been turned invisible too, for his own safety and so the plan would be more convincing. It would be hard to work around a large Great Dane visibly bursting forward and giving away the whole thing. Their biggest concern had been that the presence of humans would alert the dragons. In a blessed fit of luck, the Scarlet Hand had not bothered to send another dragon to replace the two killed by Puck. Perhaps they were all needed at the battlefront with Charming.
At last, a loud voice burst into the clearing in front of the house, modified to the best of our dear fairy's abilities. He'd somehow discovered to use his magical abilities to make his voice deeper and more ominous – not by much, but enough so that the Hand would be less suspicious right off the bat.
"Members of the Scarlet Hand!"
Sabrina felt a shift in the atmosphere. Clearly, the villains surrounding her house were gearing up for an ambush at a moment's notice. It seemed to be an instinct for them.
"Who goes there?" Boomed a deep voice. It could belong to an ogre, a troll, maybe a card soldier, with some stretch of the imagination. All Sabrina was certain of was that so far the plan was progressing quite nicely. It was too early to make any predictions, though.
"Who goes there, you ask me? I am your worst nightmare." Puck said malevolently. Sabrina felt the need to bang her head against the brick wall – of course Puck would pick now to go all cheesy-movie on everybody. Still, the group hidden in the forest seemed not to notice the cliché. Unluckily, not all of them were as dimwitted as card soldiers, and continued to question the danger Puck claimed to bring.
"How dare you attempt to intimidate us? We serve the master" (Sabrina cringed, thinking of Mirror) "and we will pound you into a pulp. Do not provoke us." The mystery voice was laced with a certain intelligence that many of the nincompoops in the Scarlet Hand most certainly lacked. It was a growling, dangerous voice. One you wouldn't want to cross in person.
"YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME?" Puck's voice rang clear and loud, as though he spoke through a megaphone. The noise sent footsteps racing inside the walls of the magically reinforced Grimm house, which Sabrina heard very faintly. The noise sent her heart into a pounding, hopeful rhythm. She prayed silently that no one would try to come outside. Please God, keep them safe. Just until we can get inside. She nearly missed the reply of the deep voice.
"I do not dare challenge you. The whole army challenges you. I would like to see you fight off every one of us. Clearly, you are a coward anyway, considering you will not show us your face."
"I AM NO COWARD, SAVAGE CREATURE! I AM THE TRICK – I mean, I WILL TAKE YOU DOWN ONE BY ONE!" A most fortunate crack of thunder accentuated his fury. Funny. She hadn't noticed any clouds in the sky before, but looking up, the sky contained huge black thunder clouds crowding out the light of the moon.
"How do you plan on doing that?" The creature's voice was cold and calculating.
"I have brought with me a creature of the most fearsome kind. I am not afraid to use it." Puck was playing his part exceptionally well.
"What is the name of this creature?"
"It's a JABBERWOCKY!"
That was Elvis's cue. Lightning cracked the sky off in the horizon, and the "Jabberwocky," concealed in the forest, let out a deadly, chilling growl before the consequent boom of thunder. It was something like that warning growl that he'd uttered when he'd sensed Nottingham in the forest that fateful day not long ago, except magically magnified so he could remain a greater distance from the attackers.
Sabrina almost felt the electricity of Daphne's ear-to-ear grin. She'd trained her "baby" well. Even Sabrina had to agree. It didn't hurt that Elvis was exceptionally intelligent.
This was the sketchy part. If the Hand assembled at the front of the yard to defend themselves against the "Jabberwocky," which she prayed they would, then they might be able to make it to the front door without anyone noticing their noise and slamming of the front door. If they didn't buy it, chances of not being noticed were slimmer, and if the invisibility spell wore off, they were definite goners. Somehow, she knew that the next time they were kidnapped, execution would be speedier and there would be a good deal less time to escape. She waited with bated breath.
"What? No one brave enough to fight? Oh, well then. Die on your own terms."
No. No. Not good.
The sound of tentative footsteps trampling the grass. Faster and harder. Creatures rustling branches as they left the cover of the trees, drawing clubs and swords.
"THAT'S RIGHT, COME AND FIGHT!"
Yes. Yes. That was the second signal. She groped for Daphne's arm, and once she found it, they stood together with some difficulty. The first steps around the side of the house were as silent as they could be and extremely tentative.
Sabrina heard her sister faintly suck in her breath as she saw the pale shapes of the Hand assembling near Elvis's location in the trees, worried for her canine friend. Luckily, none had looked back, and she assumed the invisibility was still functioning. She couldn't see Daphne. Granted, not much was visible in the now clouded sky, lit by the occasional lightning bolt. The thunder grew deafening and more frequent. She tried her hardest to remain calm and limp onward. She despised thunder with a passion.
"Where is this Jabberwocky? Bring him out!"
"Yeah, where is he? Are you bluffing with us?"
"YOU DARE DOUBT MY WORD?"
Halfway there. Almost to the steps.
"Bring him out!"
"Liar!"
At that moment a huge lightning bolt split the sky not a mile away. The thunder was loud enough to blow out an eardrum, and the rain cascaded from the sky within a second.
Sabrina let out an involuntary yell, causing some of the Hand members to look back. She, along with Daphne, was one hundred percent visible.
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