*Same Night - Six Years Earlier*
"I understand that you are the keeper of the dead and lost. I know that you bend the rules, but this isn't something even you can undo. Even with all the magic in the known world, you still can't bring back the dead." Ever words were a shock to his system. Her words were frozen and rigid.
"You don't understand! You have never had a child! You have never known this pain!" Teague's anguish coursed through his body, the rage caused sparks of magic to spin through the air around him. Grey smoke billowed below him in an ominous glow. Lighting crackled throughout the night sky, causing his servants to shake in nervous anticipation.
Ever stood firm and unyielding as the sky around her erupted in an array of emanating colors. "You're right, I don't know this pain. I have known great pain and sadness in my life, and right now I am trying to be your voice of reason."
Shards of black rippled through Teague's stark white eyes. His chest rose in rage and desperation. "There is no reason!" His roar echoed through the throne room as he cursed and pace with fury. "I have to find a way to bring him back!" Teague crash to his knees as thunder rolled throughout the kingdom. His scream smashed against the walls and cracked the windows.
Ever remained calm, there was no way anyone would be able to tell that she was suppressing just as much sorrow as he was. Teague and Mina were part of her family, and now they were going through the worst situation imaginable. "Leave us, please." Ever dismissed the servants and cautiously walked over to Teague, who was cradled on his knees against the floor. She gently placed her hand upon his shoulder.
"I can't lose her too. She has to wake up, she can't die too." Tears streaked the floor where his fists had pounded divets. Ever could feel Teague's body quiver underneath her hand, she gently rubbed his back to offer him what little comfort she could in this devastation.
"Her body needs rest, she won't die. The godmothers' got here in time, they saved her." Her words trailed off as she spoke; what she said was true. The godmothers guild had saved Mina, but they had been unable to revive the baby.
Teague trembled with sorrow and rage, "They both died in my arms. I am the King of Darkness! I am the REAPER! And I was powerless, I couldn't save my own son!"
"You are the most powerful Fate that has ever existed. No one can bring back the dead, however, you can do still do something to help." Ever sat down on the cold, broken, marble. She still kept her hand against Teague's back, he was still unable to regain the strength to stand up.
"What? What can I possibly do?" Teague asked through his sobs.
"You already know the answer. You can make sure that his spirit doesn't get stuck in the in-between. You can lead his soul to the other side, so that both you, Mina, and the prince can be at peace." Ever tried to keep her voice steady so that it wouldn't betray her true emotions, she needed to be strong.
Slowly Teague dragged himself to his knees, anguished still pained his face. He took a ragged breath, "I can still save his soul." Carefully he moved, crawled, into a sitting position. Silent tears still streaked his face.
"C'mon, let's go check on Mina before you go." He allowed Ever to pull him into a standing position and let her lead the way back to the master suite.
Inside the candlelit room, Mina breathed shallowly next to the infant son wrapped in golden linen. His tears fell in heavier waves as Teague looked at his son's pale face. While it was still early for him to be born, the prince should have lived. Infants were born earlier than planned and many still lived. He cradled his body in his arms as he slowly sat next to Mina. "Son, I am so sorry that I wasn't strong enough to save you."
Nix, the former nixie turned human, and also Ever's fiance, was sleeping lopsided in the chair next to the bed. Ever placed a feathered quilt on top of him. "The godmothers guild enchanted his body, they suspended time from affecting him, to give you both an opportunity to say goodbye."
"I'll never be ready to say goodbye." Teague rocked the infant.
Ever finally looked up at the fae king, he saw the tears in her eyes too. "No one ever is."
"Will you hold him until I get back? I don't want either of them to be alone."
"As you wish." She wrapped her arms around the gold draped child.
Teague placed a gentle kiss on Mina's forehead. "Rest, my love. I'll bring back our son's soul." He faced Ever, "Thank you, for everything you've done for us."
"You would have done the same for me."
Teague nodded in confirmation as his form disappeared from view.
The in-between is a vastly different realm. It can drive a soul insane if they try to escape what they have been doomed to endure for eternity. Not all good souls ended up here, not all souls stay in here either. It's a purgatory, a limbo, for souls before they pass on to their final realm, or are reincarnated into a new life. And it was Teague's job to manage the passing of souls and spirits to their final destination when it was their right time.
In this realm, there was no clear beginning and no clear end. It was a place where the sun neither set nor raised. Teague took a deep breath to let the spirits guide him to where he needed to go. Then he heard it, the cry of a newborn. The cry that he should have heard before. Teague raised a hand to clear the scene before him.
The scenery changed and the image before him was dreary on this plain but familiar. Woods stretched out before him as an unforgettable house came into view. The Grimm house will always protect those who are in need.
Teague steady himself, had he really expected anything less? His son was still a Grimm after all. He walked up the colorless, wooden, porch steps. The door creaked open without his touch.
His breath caught when he heard the off-pitch singing of a lullaby to quiet the child. The figure with dark brown hair turned to smile at Teague as she sashayed the cooing baby back and forth. Teague almost lost his footing. His son was smiling! His son looked alive!
But the joy was short-lived as he looked in horror at the beautiful face of his wife, of Mina, standing before him. "There you are, my love. We've been waiting for you." Her voice was light, happy, even loving.
Teague was momentarily speechless. He knew he'd find his son here, the Grimm house had only momentarily surprised him, but seeing his wife's pale face utterly shooked him to his core. She was alive and breathing when he had left her side. "W-waiting for me? How are you even here? You're alive! You have to be alive!"
Her smile waned but still lingered on her face. "Would you like to hold our son?"
Teague opened his arms and looked at the dark blue eyes of his child. He looked hauntingly from Mina to his son. "How are you here? Please tell me that when I return you'll still be alive." Tears he thought he'd cried out pricked again at his eyes.
But, Mina didn't look at Teague, her eyes never left their son. "He's beautiful, isn't he?" Her hands caressed his dark brown curls. He was the perfect combination of the two of them.
Teague lifted her chin towards him, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Tell me that you're still alive. Tell me I'm not here to help you cross over too."
"You're not here to help either of us cross over. You're here to help me bend the rules and allow our son to grow up here, in the house of Grimm."
He tightened the grip on the baby but tried not to startle him too much. "What are you talking about? That isn't possible, the dead aren't allowed to live."
"You're not really alive now are you, my love? And yet, you live every day. You rule over the fae world, and you are still the most powerful fate to ever rule. It is true, he can never grow up in the living world, but that doesn't mean he can't grow up here with me."
Teague's mind raced with her words. Could the rules really be bent like that? Was it possible that his son could live a half-life here? "If the two of you here, then I will stay as well. I won't leave you."
Mina's eyes saddened. "I'm afraid that's not possible, my love. You have to return to your world, and you can't come back here to the place of the Grimm. We knew you'd need closure, we knew you'd need to say goodbye, but you can't come back to this house. Because I am still alive."
An expression of disbelief held tightly on Teague's face. "That's not possible. You can't be here and still be alive."
"When I died part of my soul died with our son. The human part of me died and will stay in this realm to raise the prince. The other half of me, the fae side, is alive and well." She beamed again and reached for his face. "Even though we cannot go back to the living world we will always love you here." Mina lifted herself on the toes of her feet and planted a kiss against Teague's soft lips.
"I can't leave you to raise him all alone. As a human, you do not have the power to protect him. You need my help. I will not abandon our child." Teague gently bounced the newborn in his arms as the child made happy noises.
"It's a good thing our son will have me." Teague spun around, his eyes wide.
"You? You're here too?" He continued to bounce the prince.
"You are getting soft in our old age if you really thought I'd do anything less than the best for him." Jared's snide smirk never left his face, his grey eyes were lit with adoration. "We both gave our lives to save Mina. I'll give up my afterlife to raise our son." A leather-bound book appeared in Jared's hand.
"We are not binding our son to that book. You know how badly that ended up for us." Teague backed away from the book.
Jared glared Teague. Mina laughed and shook her head as she reached for the child. "Boys, haven't we matured at all? Listen to each other."
"Of course we're not binding our child to anything. Really? Are you soft and senile?" Jared shook his head. He held the book in one hand and opened his other palm. A sperate leather book appeared, looking much like a spiral notebook. The Grimmoire. But it morphed, taking the shape of another journal with the appearance of the storybook, but with a twist. The original storybook was embellished with the phases of the moon, while the Grimmoire held the bright sun. "This new Grimmoire is being repurposed, for now. We're making a trade brother, I will keep our original journal here, and you'll take the Grimmoire. It'll be a two-way communication device for us.
Teague took the Grimmoire. "We'll write back and forth. That way I don't lose him completely. That way, we won't lose each other."
"Exactly." Mina smiled at her son. "We are in this together. There are spirits in this realm and the creatures in the living that will not rest until the kingdom into ruin and destroy our family and everything we have worked so hard to build. If you come back here, they will try to follow you. Jared and alone with this house will protect him, but we cannot risk any other treats. The princes' safety is the utmost priority."
Jared wrapped his arms around Mina. "Both of his parents are still with him. We'll literally be in two places at once." Jared winked at them.
"It's still not the same. We'll still be grieving him in the living world." Teague's sorrow returned to his face.
"Of course you. He's the lost prince. Grieve, mourn for the child that you lost. But know, there is something greater that will come from this." Mina leaned against Jared while reaching on hand out for Teague.
"Why did this happened? What cruel purpose is behind this?" Teague's brows furrowed.
"That is not part of our story. That is for you to figure out in the living world," Jared explained to Teague.
"What will I tell you, when I get back to the fae kingdom? How do I help to give you what you need?"
"Give me time, let me mourn the loss of my child. But, don't give up on me. Love me like you did before this happened. Explain how the journal works, but wait until I can handle the reality of Apollo living here before you tell me."
"Apollo?" Jared and Teague asked in unison, turning to Mina in confusion.
Mina beamed. "I took the liberty of naming him. Apollo James Grimm, Prince of the sun and fae world."
"Thanks for the consultation," Jared said sarcastically. Teague muffled his laughter.
Mina rolled her eyes at Jared. "It's the perfect name, and you know it. Don't try to argue, or you can sleep outside."
"Still have that feisty spirit as always. But you're right, and I do like the name." Jared raised his arms in defeat, there was no point in arguing with Mina.
"It'll never be easy to say goodbye, but it's time to return to your world before you draw the spirits here."
Teague nodded and clutched the Grimmoire tightly in his hand. "I know." He bent down and caressed the prince's cheek. "You'll always be my Apollo, and I will always love you," Teague said as he disappeared from the realm.
The King re-appeared in the bedroom that he had left. The room and been changed and redecorated. Ever and Nix had been busy. The room was brightly lit with even more candles, but this time it included greenery, flowers, and vegetation from the fae world. Mina was awake and rocking the prince's body, tears falling on his face.
Teague glided over to her side and knelt before her. He lifted her hand to his lips. Mina blink and slowly smiled at her husband. "I was wondering when you were coming back. Ever said you were going to guide his spirit home."
Teague let out a breath he didn't realize he'd be holding in, "His spirit is right where he should be, and he's safe now."
Mina nodded, not even trying to hold back the tears as she wept for her lost son, "What are we going name him."
"Well, he already has a name."
"You named him without telling?!" Mina startled.
Teague's expression fell, there was no way he could explain any of this to her right now. "Not exactly, no. But, what do you think of Apollo? Apollo James Grimm?"
"I think... I think that's the perfect name for him. You did good, my love. Thank you for giving him my family name, and honoring my father," Mina wiped her face on the back of her hand as her knee bounced.
Teague knew it wasn't his idea, but merely said, "Your welcome, my love." He wouldn't take credit for this choice, but he'd explain it all to Mina when the time was right.
"Nan and Brody will be here for the funeral, she said they would leave their son at home, but I told them to bring him. Just because we lost Apollo doesn't mean that we can't honor the birth of Knox."
Teague leaned against Mina's forehead. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Also, I have this for us." He pulled the new Grimmoire from his robes. "I think for us to heal, we should write to Apollo. I know we have a long history with Journals, but I think this could be a turning point for us. A way to honor the past as well."
Mina sniffled again, a smile finally coming to her face. "You are the most amazing husband and father anyone could ever have. Thank you, Teague. I love you."
"I -"
The was a loud knock at the door. "I hope we're not intruding, but I have something for you." Ever trailed in with Nix behind her. Nix looked as if he had been crying just as hard as Mina. Ever held out a seed, "Remember when I gave you the plant to honor your mother. Well, when everyone gets here, we'll honor the lost prince."
"Apollo, we'll honor Apollo," Mina told Ever.
Ever smiled and Nix blew his nose loudly into a tissue. "That's a beautiful name," Nix said.
"We'll lay Apollo in the garden and plant this at the head of his grave. When it blooms, it'll produce a beautiful tree with deep mahogany bark, beautiful hues of blue leaves with yellow flowers. The flowers will bare golden sun-fruit that is the sweetest in the fae world. If you want, I can start the eulogy again, if that's easier for you?" Ever held out the golden seed to Teague. Nix gripped Ever's hand tightly in his as if holding on for support, which he probably was.
"We would love that," Mina said as Teague took the seed.
"His tree will be known as the Grimm Tree, and we will nurture into the greatest plant known to the fae." Teague took the seed in his palm.
The mirror across the room began to glow brightly, Nan's face appeared in its reflection. Slowly her form began to slip through the glass and into the room. Brody's reflection followed quickly after her, cradling their new son, Knox.
Mina lifted her head towards her friends. "It's almost time. When the sirens arrive, we will celebrate Apollo's life. All the love that we have, and all the possibilities that could have been, and everything that is yet to be."