Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE SISTERS GRIMM!
Now read on!
3. Forever
Your Guardian Angel ~ Red Jumsuit Apparatus
Continuing from last chapter--the Everafter War taking place inside the Book of Everafters...
Puck's point of view...
"Fool," the Cheshire Cat smirks as he tries to land a scratch on me for the seventh time.
Left, right, then left again, I dodge his pathetic jabs.
Ha! Grimm should see me now! The Trickster King fighting a giant feline and not one blow has made it's mark!
And suddenly, so quick that he didn't even see, I change into a gorilla and sit on the idiot until he's practically wheezing!
"Who's the fool now, Cat?" I taunt.
After taking on a few more goblins, Glinda the (not-so) Good Witch, and a giant talking rooster, I look around and see that the fighting spirit is fading from both Scarlet Hand members and soldiers from Charming's army.
I wonder where Sabrina and Jake are now?
Then, as if on cue, I see them making their way across the grounds with Andy in Jake's arms.
About time! Though, I still can't believe Veronica decided to name him Hanky! What about Robin G. Junior? Or Alexander the Great? No idea who that is, just remembered him from a book we had to read at school. Well, if you define "read" as tear into a million pieces and flush down the nearest toilet.
"Attention! Members of the Scarlet Hand!"
I look over to the voice and see an unarmed Jake standing in a clearing in the middle of everyone.
Well, as much as I still hate him, you gotta admire his bravery. Or cowardry. He's gonna be dead in five seconds flat if he doesn't get out of there soon!
"We have defeated your Master and now you have no reason to be here!"
Oh.
"Besides, you're all outnumbered!"
Huh? Heck, he's right!
"Now, you all have a choice to make!" he says, raising his voice over the murmuring between the villains and good guys alike. "You can either hand yourselves in and King Arthur will decided whether you go to jail or resume living peacefully in Ferryport Landing, or run for the hills where you will never be bothered or expected to bother anyone again!"
Again with the murmuring and bickering! Is that what they used to teach them when they went to Everafter School back east?
"How do we know you speak the truth and won't come after us in the dead of night?" asks a man who looks the exact definition of "pirate".
If he wasn't a bad guy I would so ask for his autograph!
"Because we swear not to bother you or come after you with intentions of killing! Since Heart can no longer be mayor--that is, unless she renounces her Scarlet Hand ways, of course,"
"Not on your life, Grimm!" snarls the old hag.
"Well, since you can't govern Ferryport Landing anymore, there'll be an election to determine the next mayor. When he or she is appointed, a law will be passed denying Everafters any right to cross the boundary between the woods and the town! Now, if you want to have a chance at your old life again, come with me and the rest of the soldiers from Charming's army! If you'd rather live far off, you're dismissed to the door in the tower, which I am fairly sure is the exit! And you better not show up or harm any of us ever again! Now, Charming, I would like to discuss something with you."
Seeing as I'm not needed here anymore, I pull out my wings and shoot to the sky.
Sabrina's point of view...
As I make my towards the medical tent, I can't help but think I've killed the baby lying motionless in my arms.
What's Mom gonna do when she finds out her only boy is dead?
What's Dad gonna do when he finds out I may have accidentally killed him?
How'll this affect the already-wrecked relationship between Daphne and me?
She'll probably think I did it on purpose, for some reason. Or worse, blame even though I didn't mean to cause my only brother any harm.
Oh, what'll I do?
As I hand Andy to Ms. le Fay, I think about what would have happened had the Scarlet Hand never kidnapped our parents and taken our, at the time, unborn brother.
We would have been safe; we would have been better off.
But would we have been happy without knowing all about our ancestors; without the pride of our Grimm legacy on our shoulders?
Or would we have always wondered what was missing from our twisted reality?
Daphne's point of view...
Sitting on a small hill top surrounded by a bunch of murmuring, blubbering, bickering, pesky, noisy pixies picking at my hair and biting my hands is SO not how I wanted to spend my afternoon!
Let me tell ya, Sabrina better come back soon!
Speaking of--
"Daph! Yo, squirt, where are ya?"
That is obviously NOT Sabrina!
"Puck! Your stupid pixies are mucho annoying-o! Make them go away!" I whine, staring at him with my big moon eyes after opening the crystal circle that surrounding me and the pests.
Who in the world can rightfully resist my puppydog face? Even Sabrina said she couldn't!
"Aw, now, marshmellow, they're just havin' a bit of fun!... Oh, fine!" And with that, he takes out his wooden flute, blows a fewhigh notes, and soon, the feeling of uneasiness leaves me as the pesky flies hop off my arm and up to salute their master.
"Thanks!" I say, taking his arm as he helps me off my feet. "Where's Sabrina?"
"She's back near the tower with your Uncle Jake and the rest of Charming's army. Did you hear, Jake's letting those pathetic Scarlet Hand members live with us back at Ferryport Landing, as long as King Arthur says they're 'safe'? Ha! I wouldn't trust them with a penny if I were him!"
"But why would he do that? Those evil people have been nothing but trouble! They killed Briar, Frau Pffinkiffurewatta--"
"Pfefferkuchenhaus."
"Yeah, her, and so many other people! Sometimes, I just wish there were no such things as Everafters!"
"You don't mean me too, do ya, Marshmellow?" asks Puck, hands on his hips, a boyish pout on his face.
"Uh...no...I didn't...that's not-- Ugh! Puck, that's not what I mean and you know it!" I say.
Silence follows.
"Now that one of the people I trusted most betrayed me, I'm not sure who to trust anymore..." I admitt, hugging my knees to my chest.
"Daphne, Puck, where are you guys?" a faraway voice yells from behind the trees.
Sabrina!
"It's your sister!" Puck says. And suddenly, Sabrina makes her way out of the trees as I make my way over to give her a big hug.
"Oh, there you-- Daphne... can't... breath!"
"Sorry," I say, stepping away, a sheepish grin on my face.
"I never said you could stop!" she complains with tears starting to fill her eyes.
This must be serious; Sabrina never shows her emotions so freely, I think.
"Sabrina, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
She nods against me and crouches down so we're both holding each other tight.
"Brina! Daphne!" yells Uncle Jake.
"Uncle Jake, what happened? Why's Sabrina crying?"
"Daphy, there's something you need to know; though I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you."
"Why not?"
"You probably need to hear this from your parents."
"Tell me now!" I say. "By the time we get back, you'll be telling them then they'll have to tell me! Why waste time and not just tell me the truth?" I demand, hands on my hips.
"Fine" he sighed."Well...we think maybe there's something wrong with Andy."
"WHAT?! What happened? Where is he?"
"He's with Morgan le Fay. She's trying to figure out why he's still unconscious. She's..."
But the rest of his speech fades out as I run through the trees, past concerned Everafters, and around their battle-tents until I get to the medical one, tears blurring my vision.
"Ms. Le Fay? Where are you?" I call. At the same time, I hear a familiar voice call out behind me, "Marshmellow!"
"Oh, Daphne," says Nurse Sprat, all dressed in white, coming out the tent. "Ms. Le Fay is inside with your brother. Would you like to see him?"
"Yes, please," I answer politely, sniffing and wiping my eyes on my sleeve as she leads me in.
Inside, the tent is very similar to a small hospital wing with four cots and a few medicine cabinets. A rocking chair sits in the middle with Ms. Le Fay holding a small bundle of blankets in her arms. Looking closer I realize it's Andy, sleeping as softly as a baby can.
"What happened?" I ask. "Uncle Jake said Andy's 'unconscious'! But he's just sleeping!"
"That's what unconscious means, young one."
"Daphne! There you are!" I turn and see Puck tucking his pink, sparkling wings.
"Puck, what are you doing here?" I ask, annoyed that he would interrupt such a serious moment.
"Well, you just ran off! I had to make sure nothing happened to you! We JUST defeated the Scarlet Hand and you ran off! You--"
"So what happened?" I repeat, turning back to my brother, tears threatening to flow out.
"Jake told me that when your sister took out the Scarlet Hand's master's soul out of him, something happened, and I haven't been able to wake him up," Ms. Le Fay starts off. "I think he may be in a coma since his soul has been tinkered with. A soul is a very delicate thing indeed, and when Mirror got inside him, Andy's soul was pushed deeper within him. I'm afraid we have to wait until he regains it and wakes up on his own. It may take hours, days, weeks, months, even years!"
Speechless and watery eyed, I make my way towards Andy until we're practically inches apart. How could such a horrible thing happen to such an innocent little boy?
"Wow," says Puck. "Wait till Sabrina hears this. And your parents, marshmellow. They'll be devastated!"
Too tired to ask what the word means, I plant a soft kiss on Andy's rosy cheek then lean on Puck, allowing tears to flow freely down my face as he held me tight and lead me out of the tent and across the fields.
There, Uncle Jake and a sad-looking Sabrina were pointing the Scarlet Hand members through the secret door in the tower, out of the Book of Everafters.
Well, as Sabrina says, good riddance!
Sabrina's point of view...
As Daphne explained what happened to Andy, I listened with a heavy heart.
How could something so terrible happen to such a sweet baby boy? And he hadn't even met his own mother yet!
Oh, if I ever get my hands on Mirror, I'll make him wish he was never created! Then we wouldn't even be in this mess! We would still be in our apartment in Manhatten with a new baby brother!
But if Mirror wasn't created, we would never have met Puck.
I don't really understand my feelings for the fairy boy. Sure, I knew we end up married in the future. At first I thought there must not be many men later on, but now, I'm not so sure that's the reason we end up together.
Sure we call each other stink-pig and pus face, but who wouldn't fight with an annoying fairy boy who puts a tarantula in your bed or booby-traps his bedroom door with tubs of glue, buttermilk, and bread-and-butter pickles that are thrown at you when you enter unbidden?
Still, he is kinda sweet sometimes.
I remember the time when he handcuffed our hands together and assigned himself as my personal bodyguard just because I wouldn't work with his "security staff". Yeah, it was torture to be pulled along by a boy who doesn't understand the meaning of the word "bath" but it was worth it to hear what he really thought of me...
Farther Flashback (expert from Book 6: Tales from the Hood, Chapter 8) ...
At the end of another long day, after Uncle Jake dashed off to a late dinner with Briar Rose, Granny suggested everyone else get some sleep. She was sure tomorrow would be a big day in Mr. Canis's trial, perhaps even the day her old friend would be freed.
Daphne, Puck, and I said goodnight to Granny Relda and Elvis and climbed the heavy steps to our bedrooms. Daphne said goodnight to Puck while I waved half-heartedly, thinking I'd send him to the hospital with a ruptured testicle if he tried to put horse manure in my pillow again. Unfortunately, in the midst of my evil plans, I was literally dragged along with him.
"Oh, I forgot about you," Puck said, eyeing the handcuffs he bound us in only this morning.
"What are we supposed to do, fairy boy?" I cried. "We're not sleeping in the same bed." I shuddered. Whoever could survive a minute sleeping with the idiot fairy without exploding from his stench would be a skeleton! Not even!
"Who cares about that? I'm going to have to go to the bathroom eventually," Puck mumbles. I didn't even want to think about that!
"He could sleep on the floor in our room," suggested Daphne, not caring what they do as long as she gets her "beauty sleep".
"I'm not sleeping on the floor. I'm royalty!" Puck declared as he puffed up his chest. "Sabrina can sleep there." What?!
"That's not going to happen," I answered almost instantly.
After a while, Puck huffed and frowned. "Fine, come with me."
He led us down the hallway to his bedroom. The door was covered in signs: DEATH AWAITS ALL WHO ENTER HERE! and WARNING! FALLING ROCKS! There was also a picture of a kitten, with the words CUTENESS WILL NOT BE SPARED! Puck pushed open the door and impatiently ushered us inside.
I had been in Puck's room before, but it never ceased to amaze me. It wasn't like any bedroom I'd ever seen before. The night sky was the roof, the forest ground the floor, and a trickling brook led to a lagoon in the distance. The chirping of crickets and the rustle of woodland animals drifted across the air like a lullaby.
The room was magical, and from what I could tell, endless. Who knew how far the water rolled downstream? If you followed it, would you find an ocean at its end? I didn't know for sure, though I definitely wondered about it from time to time.
Puck dragged us down to where the room's serene beauty ended abruptly. There, we found a path littered with broken army men and parts from old skateboards and microwaves. I nearly stepped into a dozen of half-eaten birthday cakes. Ugh!
We climbed up an embankment, were we found a trampoline. A panda bear was sound asleep on its surface. Puck shooed it away and it staggered off, looking for somewhere else to sleep on, barking and growling growling grumpily with each step. Huh.
Puck helped Daphne onto the trampoline, then extended his hand towards me. At first I was reluctant, but I knew he's half asleep and probably wouldn't remember being nice to me in the morning. So I snatched his hand before he could throw a fit at me staring at him like a complicated math problem, though I caught Daphne's slightly sleepy grin out of the corner of my eye.
Before I saw the future, I wouldn't have thought twice about taking his hand, except to remember to wash later with generous amount of antibacterial soap and a wire brush. But now that I knew we end up together, well...
"I love it!" Daphne cried, jumping up and down and bouncing like a ball.
"Good to know," Puck grumbled, scratching his butt with his free hand that I had touched only a few seconds ago. *Shudder*. "My only concern is making sure you two are comfortable. Now, go to sleep and leave me alone."
Puck lay down, forcing me to do the same. I tried to nudge as far away from him as possible, feeling entirely uncomfortable. Fortunately, Daphne decided to nestle between us, her head at the tips of our fingers. The handcuffs forced us to sleep on our backs and it was hard to get comfortable. Each time I nearly drifted to sleep, I felt Puck's hand drag mine's this way and that and finally settled on simply resting, knowing sleep was out of the question.
And so I closed my eyes and lay still, listening to the bubbling of the lagoon in the distance.
"You awake," Puck asked a while later.
"Yes," I answered, with thick sarcasm in my tone. Our voices seemed loud in the open air.
"When are you going to tell her what you did?" I can't believe he had the nerve to even ask that question! Sure, he helped me sneak the weapon out of the bank, but who was he to question me about what goes on between my sister and what doesn't? He shouldn't even know I stole the key from Daphne in the first place, let alone having the kazoo at all!
"Maybe you should mind your own business."
And to that, the fairy boy laughed. "As if I could around this place. Every time I turn around the two of you are facing down death--monsters, robots, dragons. Saving your butts is a full-time job."
All his tone did was start up an argument. "Then why don't you go back to being a villain? I liked you a lot better when you weren't trying to save us." Now, I knew deep down in my heart that wasn't true. But arguments always bring out the worst in people.
"I'll go back to being a villian if you go back to the way you were," he said.
"And how was I, Smarty Pants?"
"For one, you were honest," Puck said.
His words were like a slap to the face and I instantly felt my cheeks grow hot. Who was he to tell me how to be a good person? Wasn't his name the Trickster King? He'd been treating people like chumps for four thousand years. "You're one to talk," I retort, though his accusation had brung me down a bit.
Puck chuckled. "I am a lot of things, Sabrina--mischievous, mean-spirited, gassy--but they don't make me a bad person. They make me immature. You, however, are skating very close to the line. You stole from someone who trusted you and then you lied about it."
Hearing him say that made me want to get up and storm away, but I knew the handcuffs wouldn't let me. I was forced to hear this sermon about good and bad, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. And yet at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder whether my ears were going haywire or did he just call me by my first name and not Grimm like always? After a while, I decided it didn't matter.
"I did what I had to do. Daphne would never have gone to get the weapon. Mr. Canis could eat granny, Elvis, and half of Ferryport Landing and she would still totally trust him. I'm the only one that sees what he's becoming."
"Who's arguing with you about that? It's obvious to most of us that furface is in trouble. I won't even say you're wrong about wanting to do something about it."
"Then what's the lecture for?"
"The lecture's because the way you are going about these things kinda stinks. It's all nice and noble of you to want to do the right thing, even if I do think it's stupid. But if the only way to make something good happen is to do something bad, then maybe it's not worth it."
It was unbearable to look at him, and so I turned my face to the dark forest instead.
"But what do I know? I'm not supposed to be a good person. But you are. You're Sabrina Grimm and your sister worships you. You're supposed to be a good role model to her. Don't you think it's kind of odd that the Prince of Juvenile Delinquents is teaching you right from wrong?"
I silently mulled over Puck's words as I lay in the dark, looking at the bright stars above us. I wondered if he might not be right. I knew I had betrayed Daphne, but at the same time I realized that I didn't really care about her opinion. I'd been in charge of both of us ever since our parents disappeared and things had worked out just fine. If I had let Daphne vote on our futures, the two of us would be in a heap of trouble.
"By the way," Puck said softly. It had been an hour since he had last spoken and I was startled to hear him still awake. "You don't need the make up."
I felt my face grow hot for the second time this night; except this time, it felt like it was on fire. He knew about my late-night beauty sessions. And, if I heard him correct and my ears aren't truly going to the dogs tonight, he was also admitting he thought I was pretty.
Something in me made me look over at him and found he was looking over at me, and I was sure that past the darkness, his face was as beet red as mine.
"I kinda wish I hadn't said that," he said.
"Me too," I replied, though something inside me demanded I thank him.
Did I truly like Puck?! Or was this just another phase of growing up? Ms. White had said to come to her if I had any questions about puberty, though I didn't really feel like I could discuss something as private with an Everafter, even if she was Daphne's favortie teacher.
She had said something about how hormones would make people do things. This must be what she was talking about.
"Would it help if I said you were a stinky, muck-covered, toad-face?" asked the fairy boy a few seconds later.
Not trusting myself to speak, I just nodded silently and edged as far away on the trampoline as the handcuffs allowed. I was pleased when Puck did the same.
But was I truly?
Definitely the hormones talking. But the next thing I knew, I was asleep.
Flashback Ends; now back in the Book of Everafters...
"Brina!" yells a voice far off.
For now, I am laying on the grass, hugging my knees close and waiting for my uncle to finish "discussing" a few yards off so we can all go home.
All around us, loved ones were embracing, thankful that they're finally safe. Daphne was back at the medical tent, helping Morgan le Fay with Andy.
"Brina!" the voice says again.
Is it Uncle Jake? No, the voice is higher. More boyish. Reminds me of forests and honey. And the smell; mud and pine. Puck.
"Puck, since when have you called me 'Brina'? I've always been 'ugly' or 'dogface' to you." I accuse, turning away so I wouldn't have to face the fairy boy.
"Well, as much as I want to forget that an hour ago ever happened, it still did. And after a while of thinking on it--fighting goblins, witches, ferocious animals..." he trails on.
"Puck, the Cheshire Cat is not a ferocious animal!"
"Have you seen that evil feline! He's twice my size and--according to my own eyes and the fairy tales--he can change into whatever he wants! Luckily I was fast and strong enough to stop him before he could do anyone any harm!"
"Cocky as ever, I see."
"You better believe it!" he says. "... Sabrina, I just want you to know that I... that I meant every word I said back in the circle... I DO like you--"
"You said 'love'," I point out quietly.
"What?"
"I said, back in the forest, you said you loved me. Regret your proclamation?"
I turn around to face him but instantly stop; the idiot's barely sitting an inch away and now we're staring eye-to-eye.
"Of course not. I just need time registering the fact that I'm in love with my sworn enemy, that's all," he says softly.
"Yeah, well, it ain't so easy on my part either, fairy boy," I admitt.
"I still can't believe we're married later on. You did say that, right? I was wondering why my very handsome older self said you'd be important to me in the future..." he says, staring off into space and finally freeing my eyes from his capturing gaze.
Since when does he have such an effect on me? It must be the hormones again. Yeah, that's it.
"I can't believe I'm gonna say this," he mumbles to himself quietly. Taking a deep breath, he says, "Honestly, even though I'm gonna have a hard time getting used to the idea... I'm here if you need me..." he mumbles the last part.
And I honestly don't know why I did it, maybe the hormones again, or what he said, or the romantic fairy-tale energy all around us, but carefully and quite boldly too, my head softly lay down on his shoulder.
At first I felt him tense up and take a deep breath ready to proclaim that he's a king, and kings don't comfort crying uglies. But after a few seconds, he relaxed and leaned into me too, extending his arm around my shoulder, and began to delicately play with my hair as I softly hummed a lullaby with which Mom used to sing me to sleep before Daphne was born.
Him just being there kinda helped; helping me get over the fact that everything's gonna be different now. Everything's gonna change. Forever.
A/N: So guys, what did y'all think?
Yeah, I know, a bit too OOC. But we're not all Michael Buckley here so don't complain.
Although, if you complain in a review, I won't mind. ^^
Though I did copy the part labled as 'further flashback' word-for-word. Well, I changed and added a few parts but it cant be considered plaigerism if I include a refrence.
REFRENCE: (Buckley, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205) from book 6 and (Buckley, 208) from book 5.
Special thanx to all who reviewed.
Also, I expect 35 reviews before I update the 4th chappie.
Nothing else so...
Ciao for now!
~Ly ^^