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Jump once, Jump Twice

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Chapter 1

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Jake has that grin on his face that Sabrina recognizes as trouble. "Alright, kids," he says, rubbing his hands together. "Ready for our last adventure?"

Sabrina rolls her eyes but laughs nonetheless. "Yeah, I think so. As long as we can get out of this muggy weather," she says, swiping away a damp clot of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

Puck snickers. "What, mucking it through bogs and swampy gas not what you were hoping for?" his green eyes sparkle with mirth and Sabrina sticks her tongue out at the fairy.

From far up in the trees, a loud rustling begins, then a huge flock of multicolored parrots begin screeching, taking off into the air.

The three companions hunker lower around their meager fire, the sounds of the jungle at dusk surprising and daunting.

Sabrina feels unnerved, but Jake smiles broadly, the shadows on his cheeks making him look like a wild man. He is completely in his element.

Once the birds pass, Sabrina sits up, wiping mud from her arm. "Next time we go to Costa Rica, let's at least fit in zip lining."

Jake laughs. "We'll see."

Puck flicks more mud onto the other teenager. "Eh, who needs zip lining when you can fly?" he crows.

She swipes the muck from her face and glares at him. "Uh, hello? Not all of us can fly pea-brain."

Puck looks ready to come back with another insult, but Jake clears his throat loudly. "So! Anyways, here's the map I got from that lovely bog hag." He holds up a wrinkled piece of parchment lined with old ink blots and a stain in the corner that looks disturbingly like blood.

Sabrina scrutinizes the questionable instructions. "About that, are you sure we can trust her?"

Jake looks offended. "She offered us cookies."

"Made of maggots."

"It's the thought that counts."

"This cave," Puck interrupts, "it's supposed to be some undisturbed trove, right?"

"Yep," Jake confirms, placing the parchment back in his jacket. "Tonight we explore the treasures of the guatalami people. In particular, we're looking for the crown of their King. Supposedly it gave the wearer immortality and increased vitality. We can only assume that it's in the deepest, most protected part of their spoils."

Puck leans forward, his chin in his hand. "What kinds of traps do you think there'll be?"

Sabrina sits back as the two men discuss routes and possible dangers. It still impressed her, after the last two months she'd spent traveling and adventuring with them, how seamless of a team they made. She supposed after five years of working to retrieve magical artifacts and tame savage beasts together they'd forged a tight bond. Sometimes it was daunting for her to take part, but she didn't regret spending her summer with them. Every day was new and exciting, filled with exotic locals and breathtaking views.

I'm glad Granny convinced me to go with them, she thinks warmly.

"Okay!" Jake says with a flourish. "Off we go."

The three pack up their meager camp and Jake extinguishes the fire with a flick of an ebony wand.

"Who were the guatalami people anyway?" Sabrina asks as they begin their trudge through the jungle. "You never explained."

Jake pushes aside a large frond. "They were a tribe of the Quetzals. The Mayans and Aztecs revered them as Gods."

Puck laughs. "Gullible mortals. I heard they were a bunch of bird-brains."

"Actually," Jake says with a smirk, "they were human-bird hybrids, so you probably heard right." He pauses and consults their map for a moment. "Bird-brained or not though, they amassed a lot of wealth and magic throughout their reign. They hid it all deep in the jungle before they died out six hundred years ago."

Sabrina bites her lip. "What'd they die from?"

"A plague or a curse I think-hey, hey, hey!" he says brightly, pressing his palm against a large, mossy boulder. "This is the last landmark. It won't be long now."

As they walk on, Puck matches Sabrina's stride, carelessly holding his arms crossed above his head in a stretch. "So, last day on the job, huh?"

Sabrina almost laughs, although she doesn't know why. If he meant it to be a joke, it wasn't that funny. "Pretty much. I can't believe how fast the time flew by. Daphne's going to be beside herself with questions, even if she's been having a blast at the new camp."

"Excited to see the family, Grimm?"

"Yeah," she says honestly. "I've missed them." She tilts her head to look him in the eyes-a recent development since he surpassed her in height last winter. "What about you?"

He shrugs, letting his arms down. "Eh, it'll be nice to eat the Old Lady's food again."

Sabrina sighs, annoyed by his disinterest. Sometimes I wonder what he's really thinking in that ego-inflated head of his.

They trudge on in silence for a quarter of an hour, and a light rain begins to fall. Mist rolls across the ground, sticking to their clothes with needy fingers. Then from a break in the trees, a magnificent sight takes shape. Ahead of the trio, a huge obelisk of dark stone rises towards the sky. It could almost be a massive hill or mound, but upon closer inspection, the jagged rock seems to form a huge head with a thick, heavy brow, sunken eyes, and a jagged, fang filled mouth.

"That's it!" Jake announces, stomping water and dirt from his boots.

Sabrina shoves through vines to get a better look. "It's kind of...kind of creepy, don't you think?" she says uncertainly. She walks a few more steps forward. "Why did ancient civilizations always go for the whole dark and ominous aesthetic when-" her voice cuts off with a yelp as her foot finds nothing solid beneath it, sending her toppling over.

"Gotcha," Puck exclaims, holding her by the arm, wings extended and flapping to pull them both back to safety. She scrambles back, clutching him for one breathless moment, eyes wide.

"Woah," Jake says, leaning down to hold a swath of the greenery aside, revealing a sudden drop nearly fifty feet down. "A ravine. Nice job 'Brina. You found the first trap."

The girl scowls. "Gee, glad I could be of assistance."

Puck laughs, and she can feel it through her chest, a warm ripple of mirth. "Careful, Stinky. Your clumsiness never ceases to amaze," he mocks.

She bristles, extricating herself from his grasp with a huff. To think she'd almost enjoyed the feeling of his arms. Her jaw tenses. "Just get us across this gap, freak baby."

He shrugs and takes the other two by the arm and, with little effort, flies them to solid ground.

"This place is amazing," Jake says reverently, sliding his hand across the black surface of the mountain. "The whole thing is enchanted to turn mortals away."

Sabrina frowns uneasily, becoming aware of a powerful buzzing in the air. He was right, magic saturates the air.

Puck's wings flutter excitedly before they fold back into his back. "Which means there could be anything in there."

Jake nods, smiling, but looks a bit worried. "Including more booby traps. Stay close, this could get dangerous."

The group searches along the face for a way to enter the cave. Sabrina is the one to find a missing tooth, leaving just enough room to shimmy into a long downward tunnel.

Jake goes first, taking out the amulet of the sun to produce light to go by and the three file through, leaving nothing behind in the rain.

Their footsteps echo as the walls drip with water. Sabrina has a weird feeling deep in her gut that grows larger the further they descend. If she was alone, she might have turned back.

"Boo!"

"Gah!" Sabrina jumps, and immediately twists to smack a cackling Puck in the shoulder. "Do you mind? It's already tense enough without your pranks."

He rubs at the spot she hit him. "Worth it. You're not scared are you?"

"Of course not," she replies hotly, crossing her arms. "You startled me, that's all."

Jake's voice comes from ahead of them. "Hey, stop flirting you two, you've got to see this."

Sabrina has half a mind to tell him off for teasing them, but before she can, she steps out of the tunnel and finds herself in a grand cavern, studded with shining crystals that blaze like miniature fires in the light of the amulet. On the ground are piles of gold coins and sculptures, goblets and jewelry.

"Wow," Sabrina breathes, pushing past her uncle for a better view. "It's amazing."

Puck peers around the two Grimms. "Look at all that loot," he crows, rubbing his hands together, "I call dibs on the stick!"

"Puck, stop," Sabrina cries as he breaks off from the group, and with little thought, she runs out of the tunnel as well. "Get back here!"

Jake reaches out a hand to grab hold of her, but barely misses. "Guys," he calls out, facepalming, his voice trailing off as he realizes they won't listen anyway, "the boobytraps, you need to be careful of the boobytraps."

Sabrina winces, fully expecting a comedically timed axe or net to fall from the ceiling, but nothing does. She catches up with Puck who is grabbing onto an intricately designed scepter.

"Woah-ho-ho," Puck laughs, holding it above his head to catch the light on its golden surface. "I gotta bring this thing back to Faerie. It gives me a sort of regal atmosphere, don't'cha think?" He poses dramatically and Sabrina sighs, snatching the scepter from him.

"Are you even attempting to think about what you're doing?" she scolds, feeling a strange tingle go through her arms as she holds the artifact. "This thing isn't a toy, it's a dangerous magical object that should be stored away immediately."

Puck pouts, crossing his arms over his chest in a huff. "All the more reason the King should have it."

Sabrina considers wacking the King over the head with it, but before she can, Jake joins them, taking the scepter from her and pulling out a little silver pouch which impossibly swallows the much larger object. They store unknown magical items in it, ready to be stored away in the Hall of Wonders when they return home.

"You two are lucky," Jake remarks, waving the two over to the floor where he carefully plucks a broken end of clear string. "This trap would've gotten you if it was still live."

Sabrina has the decency to look chastised, but Puck simply picks at his teeth with a fingernail.

She leans down to examine the string. "This was snapped, not cut, which means someone's already been down here," she deduces, detective mind whirling. She begins to stand up again, and as she does, the edge of her foot presses down on one of the sections of the floor and a whirring sound begins. Jake hits the deck, and before she can think about doing the same, Puck tackles her, covering her back with his own. Several empty twangs go off, continually going on for some time. After a minute of cowering, the group glances up, and upon seeing no flying projectiles, they push themselves to their feet.

Sabrina scowls at Puck, dusting her chest and belly off, but he just winks infuriatingly.

Jake creeps forward to where several holes have opened along the far wall. He stares inside one of them. "Looks like the arrows haven't been stocked in the machinery for a long time. I can't believe the cross bows back there still work." He looks back at Sabrina. "Try stepping off that pressure plate."

She moves off of it, and the twanging sounds cease as the holes seal themselves once more. "So," she says, "this trove isn't as untouched as we thought."

Jake frowns. "That doesn't make any sense. All of their valuable items are still here, why would someone trip these without getting killed then leave everything behind?"

"Does it matter?" Puck asks, leaning over a wooden table to pick up a beautiful silver cup. While examining it, he remarks, "could've been that it was so long ago they've rotted to dust or it was an animal or something." He tosses the cup behind his back with a clatter.

Sabrina grimaces, scratching at her ear. The echoes of it falling keep reverberating in her head. "Or everything here could be cursed, hexed to turn us into spiders when we disturb something."

Puck rolls his eyes and scoffs. "If that were true, we'd already be-"

Sabrina's eyes widen, her mouth opening to say words that she gets out too late. "Puck watch out!"

Something the size of a young child covered in purple-black fur leaps onto Puck's head, snarling and growling.

Puck lets out an embarrassing screech before reaching up and tearing the thing from his face, throwing it to the floor. As soon as it hits the ground, it finds its feet and hisses at Sabrina. She takes an involuntary step back, disgusted by the creature. It has bulbous orange eyes spread far apart and a big mouth filled with uneven teeth. It looks a bit like a frog, crouched with its too long limbs held at wonky angles. As she stares at it, it opens its mouth and makes a gurgling sound in the back of its throat. She cringes and ducks, recognizing the gesture as the one someone makes before hawking a loogie. Not a moment too soon, either, as the thing spits, narrowly clearing her hair.

Jake, not as fast on the uptake, gets smacked in the chest with the stuff and flies back, hitting the wall with a thud. The spit of the creature spreads out across him, trapping him against the wall with a slimy, sticky net. As he struggles, he yells, "it's a hermit troll!"

"Ugh, I should've known," Puck complains.

Sabrina watches as it scuttles away, crawling up the wall and along the shadowy ceiling. "What's a hermit troll?"

Jake answers, failing to escape his goopy prison. "They're vermin, moving into places where no one else ventures, collecting things they like."

With a squeal, the hermit troll reappears, falling onto Jake, who yells and shouts at it in an attempt to shoo it away. Undeterred, it crawls across his chest and reaches through the net to snatch something from his belt.

It holds it against its chest in triumph, giggling in a gusty voice. It takes Sabrina a moment to recognize what it took-the enchanted bag that holds all of their procured magic items! The creature hops off of him and scuttles across the floor, right between the stunned teenagers.

"Hey," Puck exclaims, leaping at the troll, only to miss it by a foot, "come back here!"

Sabrina chases after it as Puck finds his feet, and together, they corner it. She scowls. "Just hand it over, and no one has to get hurt."

Puck puts his hands on his hips, smirking.

Its eyes flicker from behind them to the roof to the floor, then, in a flash, it bounces onto another pressure plate tile and a hole opens up right behind it. With a smirk of its own, it leaps into the hole, disappearing into darkness, a splash following a second or two after.

Sabrina doesn't even think, she jumps in after it. Puck yells at her to wait, but she's already hit the foot of water at the bottom. He dives down to join her, spluttering in the waves that her crashing footfalls splatter onto him.

They race through a long stone corridor that ends in a small waterfall, watching as the troll jumps from wall to wall to exit the cramped space.

"Give me a boost," Sabrina says, turning to Puck with a flurried expression.

He nods, forming a step with his hands and she hops from his hands to the edge of the gap, pulling herself up onto the damp rock above. She turns around and gives Puck a hand before the two rise and spin to take in the new space.

Sabrina stares for a long moment, confused at what she's seeing. They've entered another room, this one looking more natural and rounded than the last, the waterfall in the corridor sourced by a river cutting through the floor from an even bigger waterfall that bubbles and froths as water pours through it. All of that is more or less normal, but what's strange is the centerpiece of this cavern. A huge pile of...was that bags?

"What kind of hoard is this?" Puck asks, looking unimpressed.

Bags and purses and packs of all kinds were clumped together, damp from the wet air, sodden and sad looking. They've been organized by color, from disgusting puce to dusty shades of gray. Stranger still, heaps of even more gold and precious items like unto the things of the upper chamber were shoved to the periphery, as if it was nothing but useless junk.

"What's the point of all this?" Sabrina questions. "And where did it go?"

Puck's wings extend from his back, flapping in an agitated way. "Hermit trolls are collectors, this one must have a thing for bags." He snorts. "Must be female."

Before Sabrina can turn to demand what's that supposed to mean, Puck shushes her and points to the ceiling where something small is skittering. Without another word, Puck takes off, streaking toward the troll. In another moment, he's grabbed onto it, just barely, and with a tremendous squeal, it drops from his hands to the ground. It lands on all fours near Sabrina, the silver bag caught around one of its skinny arms.

Sabrina snatches the creature by the scruff of its neck and quickly pulls the stolen bag away from it.

It struggles and squirms, raking its dirty claws at her, but she holds it just far enough away to avoid getting sliced. The troll goes limp, like all of the fight drained out of it.

With a small sigh of relief, Sabrina went to readjust her grip, but as she did, the creature spring from her hand, using her face-namely her nose-as a springboard. Lightning fast, the bag is taken from her grip.

"Nice one, Grimm," Puck calls sarcastically from above her before zooming away to find the nasty little nuisance.

More than irritated, her ego and nose bruised, Sabrina looks around for something to attack the troll with. Finally, her eyes settle on the pile of bags and an idea strikes her.

"Puck, fly over the hoard, I'm going to make it angry. Chase after it once it goes after me," she shouts. He doesn't give any indication that he heard her, but she goes ahead and runs to the bags anyway. From the top of the pile, she picks up a handful of them. "Hey ugly!" she grins and waves her spoils over her head. "Look what I've got."

It only takes two seconds for the troll to leap out of its hiding place and start sprinting at her, snarling. Almost tripping as she clambers down the pile, she manages to reach the floor with a thump and takes off. The troll makes furious noises from behind her-she'd obviously crossed a line by stealing from its precious collection. That gurgling sound begins again, and Sabrina side hops to avoid the sticky glop.

"Almost got it," Puck cries, the flapping of his wings replaced by his pounding footsteps.

The wall with the waterfall looms before her so Sabrina slows down to turn around just in time to see the troll launch more goo at Puck's arm.

"Oh, uck, this stuff is awesome," he remarks, taking a moment to admire the green residue. "If only I'd had access to this back when we were eleven. Imagine the possibilities." His expression takes on an almost dreamy look, and Sabrina swears the troll gives her a look like, the heck's wrong with him? before resuming its path towards her.

Winding her arm back, Sabrina chucks a few of the bags at the creature and it squeaks in protest. Puck finally shakes off his distraction and spins on his heel to morph into a gray wolf, howling. He lopes forward, barking.

The troll dodges one of the thrown bags and hurls itself at Sabrina, knocking the wind out of her, causing her to slam into the back wall. The bags she had left scatter around her. Mist from the waterfall begins to soak the girl. The troll hisses, and she frantically scrapes her hand against the smooth stone for something to attack with when she finds a chink in the rock that gives way when she presses on it. The solid weight behind her slides away, and she falls painfully onto her back. Luckily, the troll, who had jumped to attack her face, sails over her into the hidden room. Wolf Puck follows just a moment later, snapping the troll in his jaws before tossing it back into the main cavern.

Sabrina sits up, a little dizzy, watching as Puck changes once more, now a burly bear. With one huge paw, he swats the dazed troll, which hits the ground with a splat, disgusting slime splattering everything within a ten foot radius.

"Take that!" Puck shouts in triumph, returning to his true form, pumping his arms. After celebrating, retrieves the silver bag and walks over to Sabrina to give her a hand up. "Saved ya again," he teases.

"Oh, you wish," she mutters with a blush, stretching her aching back. "What's with the disappearing wall?" she complains, looking into the place meant to be so carefully hidden, seeing a small, walk in closet sized space. The far side ends in a drop off, leading down to further cave systems. A chair is the only feature of the room, carved from stone, with an item on each armrest. On the left, a simple crown sits, and on the right some weird beige Y shaped thing rests.

"The crown!" Puck exclaims, running forward. "Looks like finding it was easier than we thought."

She follows him, huffing a small laugh as she picks up the golden crown. "As if that chase was easy."

Puck pouts, sidling up to her shoulder to get a good look at the object. "You're no fun. Of course it was easy."

Ignoring his boastfulness, Sabrina frowns, turning the crown around in her hands, looking for some indication of its power. There's no zap of energy, no glowing gems, or anything, really. Just sleek metal with a few points. "You think this is the real deal? They may have put these here as a decoy."

"There's only one way to find out." He grins placing it atop his curls before taking a quarter turn to face Sabrina. His smile is lopsided and full, making her heart do this strange sort of jolt in her chest.

Even though the thudding against her ribs is a bit painful, she manages to speak. "Do you feel more immortal-er?" she questions, shifting the crown on his head so it's no longer crooked.

He screws his face up in thought then sneezes. He rubs his nose, shaking his head. "Nah, I don't think so." He takes it off, placing it back on the left side of the throne.

Sabrina picks up the other item, the Y shaped artifact. It didn't look like a tool or anything else with a recognizable purpose, however, it was much more decorated than the crown, covered in delicate lines and designs that gave it a textured grip. It didn't feel remarkable to her. Perhaps it had no significance, just a pretty thing to hold. No magic whatsoever.

No, that wasn't it. There is something there. It's just...sleeping.

"What do you think this is?" she asks, wondering if Puck knows it as some royal whatchamacallit.

"Let me see it," Puck says, grabbing onto the artifact underneath her hand, attempting to pull, but immediately a peculiar shiver runs through the two teenagers.

Sabrina tries to let go of it, but it feels like her fingers have become melded to it. The thing begins to shimmer and spark.

"Uh, what the heck?" Puck scowls, tugging at his hand. "I'm stuck!"

Sabrina continues to try and unhinge her hand. "Me too."

"Why is it glowing?" Puck asks in alarm. "What's going on?"

"Do you think I have all the answers or something?" the girl snaps, stomping her foot. "Maybe if we both pull on three. One, two, three-!"

They both strain against the force holding them, but instead of releasing them, the item begins to vibrate, and a blast of energy radiates from it, shaking the cavern.

CRACK.

Sabrina and Puck share a near comical uh-oh look.

Before they can make a run for it, the magical item in their hands glows white hot and a bright flash fills the cavern as the stone cliff beneath them gives way. Their cries of terror become lost in the cacophony of the falling rocks, light bouncing off the walls erratically.

Puck attempts to release his wings and fly them to safety, but they clip against something sharp and agonizing.

They hit the floor with a thump, half buried in the rubble. A thick haze of grit fills the air. The two lay on the floor for a while, stunned and unable to move.

Sabrina forces herself to get up with a groan. The movement sends her into an epic coughing fit. She can't seem to stop shaking. Crumbling pieces of rock slide off of her back. "What in the world just happened?" she asks, voice rough.

"Ask that question again when I can actually think," Puck mutters in reply, sounding the equivalent of someone who'd been hit straight on by a truck in the chest. Or maybe worse-a truck might have been more merciful. As the dust settles from their crash landing, Puck's crumpled form makes no effort to get up.

"C'mon," she coughs again, "we can't just stay here."

In true Puck like fashion he ignores her suggestion and remains motionless.

"Puck!" she says sharply, trying to gather herself enough to shake him into action.

"Ugh. You sound horrible. Like you ate fire for breakfast."

Offended for a reason that she couldn't place, Sabrina scowls. "Well you don't sound so great yourself."

Something about that rouses Puck and he shifts. The dust is almost all the way settled now. He pushes himself to his elbows, blond hair falling in his face.

All Sabrina can feel as she watches him is horror.

"Puck, what in the..."

He finally finds the will to lift his head.

And Sabrina finds her gaze met with blue eyes.

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AN: Oooh boy. This one is going to be fun, you guys. I'm not exactly sure how long this is going to end up being, but probably around 10 chapters or so. Thanks for reading and reviewing, and make sure to follow this story so you don't miss out on the insanity that's coming next. *Evil grin*

-Pinklily8