10

Dazzling shades of emerald, olive, and jade. The virescent orbs, twinkling in the morning sunlight. Framed by near-invisible eyelashes and pockets of dark skin - appearing as if he hadn't slept in weeks. His dirty blonde hair covering his forehead and - wait, was that a worm wiggling in his fair mop? She bit back a giggle and instead continued to observe the fairy. Every square inch - from his dirt-encrusted green hoody and too-short jeans to his sun-baked skin and sun-bleached hair - she wanted to remember him. She was becoming increasingly distracted by the thought that she might never see him again - anyone else, for that matter - and she frequently looked up at him, and Daphne, and her mom and dad, and Uncle Jake to make sure they were still there.

"Dog-breath, by the way you've been staring at me for the past five minutes with that vacant look - and, is that drool? - I can tell you think I'm incredibly handsome but its getting kind of creepy." Puck interjected, but the malice in his voice had disappeared and his comment sounded weak and half-hearted - like he was joking.

Sabrina blushed, her cheeks becoming tinged with a light pink, and looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry," she muttered quietly.

"Keep it down, you two!" Veronica whispered.

Sabrina tried her best to turn around and look out the small hole in the wall of the once-smoldering building. But, try as she might, she was like a sardine in a sardine can. Puck was pressing tight into one of her sides while Daphne's head was wedged into her other side. Veronica, Uncle Jake, and Henry were in the small huddle, too - trying their best to become invisible behind the panel. The Grimm clan was behind a wall - the one remaining wall in the old Ferryport Landing Elementary school - attempting to hide until their section of the army attacked.

Sabrina felt Daphne wince as a particularly loud explosive went off and destroyed yet another building. Swords clanged, groans of falling warriors sounded, and Sabrina was positive someone was firing a gun. Their side was falling back - the Scarlet Hand's hideout was seemingly impenetrable. Sabrina tensed her body - preparing for an attack.

A dark, murky shadow loomed over the small huddled group - Goldilocks had snuck over and was blocking the harsh sun. Crouching, she leaned in and began to talk in short mutters to Henry, Veronica, and Uncle Jake. A few moments passed and they all nodded. Goldilocks took her leave - a thousand animals following - and began to circle the Hand's headquarters. If a member of the Scarlet Hand attempted to block her progress, she would mutely communicate to the animals to slay them. Veronica, quietly, explained that Goldilocks was going to clear the way so the they could travel relatively safely through the war zone and into the back of the Hand's headquarters. She would give them a signal using a flash light and mirror that Henry had supplied. This relieved Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck who each sighed.

Sabrina felt adrenaline pound into her system as she crept behind the huge building. Daphne's raspy breathing and Puck's loud footsteps echoed behind her, sounding a million miles away. Henry and Veronica Grimm were behind them, creeping along the side of the building. Then followed Uncle Jake who was rifling through his pockets trying to arm himself with all manner of magical trinkets, wands, etc. Goldilocks had given the signal that the coast was clear and so the Grimm's made their way into the heart of the Scarlet Hand.

The Hand had done a good job of warding off Charming's army but they had forgotten to arm themselves in the back, it seemed, because it was nearly empty. Of course, Sabrina realized that getting into the actually headquarters would be work enough. She expected there to be a convenient door, at the least. But no, all there was was a rickety fire escape that led to an open window three floors up.

Sabrina began to ascend the fire escape. She scaled the wall, getting a foot-hole in a particularly twisted patchy of ivy, before reaching for the ladder to the fire escape. Reaching the first level, she began to climb again, until she reached the second level. The third proved the hardest to reach as the ladder was rusted, wobbly, and missing a nail which resulted in the ladder being uneven. Finally, she managed to reach the third landing and climb into the open window.

She was in a dark room. She could feel Daphne's breath on her shoulder - she had made it into the room as well. Several large clunks later, the Grimm family stood behind Sabrina. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness - though, the open window had helped to illuminate things - and she realized that they were in a filing room, of sorts. Five filing cabinets sat, pressed against the wall. A couple of the drawers had been opened and revealed crumpled, over flowing manilla folders. The floor had been littered with several thin sheets of copier papers. Some housed neat, typed print while others remained blank housing only scribbled words and numbers. Other than that, the room remained quite empty and still. On the far wall sat a closed door. Sabrina crossed the room and turned the doorknob.

But it didn't budge. The door remained firmly squatted in its doorframe.

"Of course, it's locked!" Sabrina exclaimed angrily, though she remembered to keep her voice down.

"It's locked?" Henry asked curiously.

"Yes!" Daphne said exasperatedly.

"Wait a moment, I might have just the thing!" Uncle Jake exclaimed happily. He began to rifle through his coat, rummaging through his many pockets until he found a glinting, golden key.

"Uncle Jake, you have the key to a filing cabinet in the Scarlet Hand's headquarters?"

"Of course not - this little devil is called a Handy-Dandy-Pocket Key."

"A Handy-Dandy-Pocket Key?" Puck asked dubiously.

"Yes, it will open most locks as long as they don't have any magical protection. You see, it just molds into the shape of the loc-"

"Can we keep this moving, please?" Veronica asked hastily.

"Uh, yeah, of course!" Uncle Jake muttered before taking the key and shoving it into the lock. Slowly, he turned it and they all heard an audible 'click.' Sabrina slowly turned the door knob and this time it opened!

She poked her head out of the open doorframe and looked from left to right, and then once more to the left. The coast was clear. She slipped out, followed by Daphne, Puck, Veronica, Henry, and, lastly, Uncle Jake.

"I'll go first, 'Brina, just in case there's something waiting for u-" Uncle Jake began but was interrupted by a loud snorting. Out of one of the adjacent doors, came a creature half-beast, half-man bearing a huge axe and a scarlet red hand emblazoned on his chest. "Fudge."

Sabrina slipped her sword out of her scabbard. Puck's wings were already flapping and he was hovering several feet in the air, bonking the creature on the head. Daphne was using magical trinket after magical trinket - though all they seemed to do was turn the creature's fingers and toes blue. Sabrina came dangerously close to stabbing the creature, but it had stepped out of the way at the last moment. It now approached her and she squealed in fear. "A little help here!" she shrieked. She had hardly finished her sentence when a pair of grubby hands grabbed her shoulders and lifted her out of harm's way just in the nick of time - Puck. Henry and Veronica took it from there and in no time the creature was slumped, unconscious, next to the door.

"Stay behind us from now on," Henry ordered, panting heavily.

Daphne and Sabrina nodded and gulped while Puck, on the other hand, thumped the unconscious beast on the head and giggled like a maniac.

"Get over here, dog-breath," Sabrina growled.

"Coming, sweetheart!" Puck mocked in a high-pitched girly voice.

The passage through the Hand's headquarters was eerily still and silent. Apart from the occasional Hand member, the whole floor was vacant. An hour after their entrance, they came upon a stairwell leading down. Cautiously, they descended until they reached a corridor quite like the ones on the floor above. But this one was occupied; Sabrina could hear voices coming from around a corner and she fell back behind her parents. She felt Daphne's clammy hand slip into hers, squeeze slightly, and let go.

Slowly, they began to move as a pack down the corridor until they came to the turn. They peeked their heads around the corner and saw around a hundred Scarlet Hand members.

"They're guarding something," Daphne whispered.

"What?" Sabrina asked.

"They're guarding something," Daphne repeated, "Look at they way they're standing, they don't want anyone to get to that door at the very end. That's why there's no one else around - they're all guarding that door. I bet the Master's in there," Daphne guessed.

Sabrina looked shocked at the simple logic her younger sister had applied to the situation - so many thoughts were running through her mind she could hardly add one plus one.

"Okay, we need to come up with a plan," Veronica said, sliding back into the empty corridor.

"Definitely. Got any ideas?" Uncle Jake asked.

No one answered as they each racked their brains for a half-decent plan.

"We could just run in there and attack them and hope to God the element of surprise will be enough to defeat them relatively quickly," Puck stated.

"That could work," Sabrina nodded.

"That plan sounds gravy!" Daphne agreed.

The rest nodded their approval. Sabrina began to arm herself - she held her sword in one hand and her dagger in the other and she made sure her armor was securely on. She then double-checked Daphne's armor while the younger girl rifled through her pockets and grasped every magical trinket she could fit into her sweaty palms. Puck already had his wooden sword at the ready. Henry and Veronica merely held their swords casually - seemingly at ease. Uncle Jake, like Daphne, was clutching several magical trinkets.

"Ready?" Henry asked.

The rest of the group nodded. And they began to sprint down the hall, turning the corner, and crashing headfirst into the throng of Everafters. Using the butt of her blade, Sabrina clubbed as many Everafters as she could. She took around five down before the rest of the Everafters had armed themselves and it suddenly became twenty against one. She noticed that Daphne was in a similar predicament, though she was fairing well as the magic she was using kept them at bay. Puck was floating high above the crowd of Everafters, hitting them on the head hard with the blade of his wooden sword, taking several Everafters down. Veronica and Henry were like two tornadoes - spinning around the hallway and defeating every Everafter that came across their path. Uncle Jake had already taken down twenty Everafters with a flick of his wand and was now dueling with a man Sabrina recognized as Merlin.

Sabrina used a mixture between swordplay and karate - kicking and punching while jabbing her sword in any Everafter that would come close enough. She had taken down around fifteen when she felt her muscles begin to tire. She tried to fight her way through the throng of Everafters that had surrounded her but with each thrust of her sword or punch from her hand she felt her limbs turn more into lead. Suddenly she was being pushed farther back. Glinda the Not-So-Good Witch was standing at the front of the crowd, an evil glare placed upon her features. Glinda continued to stalk up to her until she was only a couple inches from Sabrina. Glinda growled, menacingly, before taking her fist and letting it collide with Sabrina's nose. Sabrina felt blood trickle down from her nose. She was shocked. She stood there gasping. She knew that Glinda wasn't finished with her but she couldn't move, she couldn't defend herself. She backed up another step. Glinda raised her wand so it was equal to her face and began to chant something. Suddenly, she flicked her wand and. . .

"SABRINA!" Puck bellowed.

Sabrina backed up another step. She ducked, the curse that Glinda had aimed at her missing and ricocheting off of the wall - hitting an anonymous Everafter who instantly fell down. Using her dagger, she plunged it into Glinda's stomach. An awful feeling crept up from her stomach as she watched the light leave Glinda's eyes - guilt. But she was already being swept into the sky by Puck for the second time that day. She was out of breath and panting and Puck looked equally as rotten.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fin-" she started but was stopped by Puck's lips crashing into hers. It was a short kiss, but it portrayed what they were feeling - passionate and desperate. They broke apart and looked at each other without the slightest bit of remorse of what they had just done.

They alighted on the ground as Henry and Veronica disposed of the last Everafter, who collapsed on the floor with a low huff. Sabrina hugged Daphne quickly. Daphne winked at her, then looked pointedly at Puck. Sabrina blushed, her cheeks becoming very pink.

Without a word, they all ran to the door and tried to the doorknob. It was locked but Uncle Jake pulled out his Handy-Dandy-Pocket Key and quickly unlocked it. They opened the door and entered the room.

It was dark.

Truly dark. The kind of dark that even a knife couldn't cut through. Sabrina couldn't tell who was who, or where she was, or her surroundings.

"Ow!" Daphne breathed as her toe collided with a large object.

"Be careful," Sabrina warned as she used her hands as a compass.

"Do you think they were just guarding an empty room?" Puck asked.

"I guess so, there's no one in here-" Sabrina began but stopped as a lamp flickered on.

Sabrina spun around, taking in her surrounding as she went. She was in a study - or a library, possibly - one of the walls was a bookshelf filled with books. There was a leather couch by a fireplace and a chair. There was a small coffee-table that also housed books. There was a desk and a high-backed chair sitting behind it. And there was a person sitting in the chair.

"Granny Relda." Daphne said - it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"No," the figure said simply, the voice bubbling and low-pitched. Sabrina jumped at the sound. "I was wondering when I would be seeing you, Grimms, though, I must say, you took much longer than I expected."

Sabrina glared daggers. She couldn't mask her contempt for the. . . thing in front of her. She wanted to jump across the desk and squeeze the last ounce of life out of the figure. But something kept her back.

Suddenly a loud clunking of metal chains was heard from the corner of the room. Sabrina pivoted so as she faced the area where the sound came from. She gasped. Bunny was chained against the wall and gagged, though very much awake. "Ah, yes, my. . . guest. I'm sure you know Ms. Bunny Lancaster, my creator. She's a very special guest - a guest of honor, you could say," he scoffed, "That's why she is up here with me."

Uncle Jake raced over to the corner and attempted to break the chains. "No, no, no. We mustn't do that, now." And with a flick of his hand Uncle Jake, Puck, Daphne, Veronica, and Henry doubled over in pain.

To Sabrina Grimm it was as if the world was slowly falling around her shoulders. She saw the one sight that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Her family, her loved ones, twitching and breathing raspily, trying to breath in one last breath. Daphne was laying on the ground, writhing in pain. She whispered out one word, "Sabrina," and her eyes closed. Her mother and father were lying helpless, they're bodies moving and twisting as if they had a mind of their own. They're movements and motions were jagged and jerked, as if someone else was controlling them. Uncle Jake was on his knees, crying and weeping bitterly. A tear dropped on the floor, it was a crimson red. Mr. Canis was rasping, his breathing becoming more and more labored. It appeared as if someone was stepping on his chest and squishing him slowly and surely. And then there was Puck. Puck's was the worst. His eyes turned a dull black, they had lost they're luster and twinkle. His face was twisted in agonizing pain. Blood dripped from his crackled lips, his nose, his ears, his eyes, and underneath his fingertips.

And then there was an explosion. It shook the ground and rattled her skull. Part of the study had been blown up and now she could see out into the battlefield. Mirror had stood up from his seat behind the desk and was now close to her, smirking.

"Stop," the one word had a lasting impact. It broke the silence which had been occupied only by the agonized screams of her family. Her voice was dry, all saliva had been drained, her eyes were bloodshot and she wanted to go to sleep dearly, her nose held dried up blood from her recent injury but she realized she was completely numb. All the mattered was her family.

"Make it stop," she said again, this time louder. Her courage was rebuilding itself inside of her and she leapt from the spot where she was standing. She couldn't take it. Suddenly a hatred so deep bubbled and churned inside of her and she stamped her foot on the ground and leapt at the figure. "Stop it!"

"Oh, but we wouldn't want to do that, not yet," the figure said venomously.

Sabrina took one look at the figure in front of her. The figure, oh so familiar. She remembered the first time she laid her eyes on the figure. So full of suspicion until it began to bud into admiration. But then the figures eyes flashed, a hatred-filled gaze penetrated Sabrina's one calm recollection of the figure before and she remembered that everything had changed.

But it was to late. The figure's fingers crackled with energy and a ball of blue energy shot at Sabrina and hit her squarely in the chest. She was thrown backwards and she hit the wall with a hard thud. Several books collapsed on her. She closed her eyes, pain rocketed from her head down to her toes.

"Goodbye, liebling."

"Granny Relda-" Sabrina began.

"You imbecile, your grandmother is gone! Forgotten!" Mirror spat.

"No," She said, her eyes blazing with determination. Her chest hurt and her back was burning as if it was broken. She couldn't move her fingers on her left hand but she felt a determination that she had never felt before in her life. It burned hot and licked around her mouth like flames. "Granny Relda, I know you're in there. Don't pretend like she isn't there. She is! She is in there and she's fighting you! Please, Granny Relda, wake up!"

"Starfish-"

"Don't you dare call me that!" Sabrina blazed, spitting in Granny Relda's face.

"Your grandmother isn't here! Go ahead and cry! Boo-hoo! It won't make any difference!"

"My name is Sabrina Grimm! And. I. Don't. Cry!" She screamed. With her good hand she grabbed Mirror. Before he could recover himself she had tackled him to the floor. She punched his face with her good hand. With his concentration broken, her family stood up, weaker than before. Uncle Jake raced over to Bunny and muttered something and Bunny was released from the chains.

Bunny ran up behind Sabrina and began to chant. A black blob seeped from Granny Relda. Bunny conjured a jar and stuffed the blackness into it, closing the lid tightly.

Sabrina rolled across on her side. Pain rocketed through her like nothing she had ever felt before. It ran across one side, from the inside of her brain down to the tip of her toes. She wanted to cry, but her lungs felt so sore it hurt just to breathe.

And she felt strangely empty inside. She heard the cheers as Baba Yaga killed nearly a hundred Scarlet Hand soldiers with a twitch of her magic wand. The Scarlet Hand started to retreat. Henry and Veronica went to the open crater in the room and proclaimed the victory. They had won. They had done it.

And then blackness.

Sabrina woke up on a cot. She was surrounded by 'Get-Well' cards, 'I-Love-You' pillows, several bouquets of flowers, and a huge teddy bear. Sabrina sat up and found her arm in a cast, her leg in an even bigger cast, and her head wrapped in bandages.

The tent flap opened and closed and Veronica Grimm came to sit beside Sabrina.

"You're awake!" She exclaimed.

Sabrina nodded her head. "Who got all of this?" Sabrina asked, looking at all the merchandise.

"Your secret admirer," Veronica joked. When she noted Sabrina's confused expression she added on, "Puck. Puck did this, I believe. Though, how on earth he managed to get it here I can't say I know; the mailman was eaten by a dragon, after all."

"What - what happened?" Sabrina asked.

Veronica smiled a sweet, soft smile and began to stroke Sabrina's hair out of her eyes. She ignored the question and instead spoke softly, "I'm very proud of you, sweetie. You were so brave."

"Is everyone okay? How's Puck? Is Granny Relda all right?" Sabrina questioned, ignoring her mother's remark.

"Sweetie," her mother remarked in that same soft, sad tone. "You did everything you could. I know you did. You were so brave out there. You fought for all of us, for Granny Relda. But. . . Granny Relda didn't. . . survive. It was a huge shock. Bunny said that, because of her age, it would be hard to recover from something like. . . that. She would have been incredibly proud of you; I am incredibly proud of you."

Sabrina just sat there numbly. The pain was undefinable; it was the same pain when her parents disappeared and she was sent to the orphanage, or when they found out that Mirror was the Master. The pain Sabrina had felt what seemed like her entire life. She felt her eyes water up and her throat close. She sobbed. It was like someone had ripped out her heart and stepped on it. She felt hollow and empty. Veronica took Sabrina into a big, bear-like hug and cried with her. They both shook gently, heaving and huffing from their sobs. They stayed that way for what felt like hours, but what was probably around five minutes. The world seemed to stand still for them. The worldly sounds hushed and all they could hear were themselves.

Suddenly the tent flap opened and Puck stalked in, followed by Henry. They both looked unnaturally stiff, like they were made from cardboard.

"You're awake!" they both exclaimed.

"Yes, she is," Veronica remarked, drying her tears quickly, "And now we need to leave. She needs to rest."

Henry nodded and exited the tent. Veronica kissed Sabrina's forehead softly and followed Henry. Puck lingered.

"I like the cast, Grimm," Puck said.

"Thanks. . ." Sabrina replied.

A few moments of silence screeched by. Puck shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry about Granny Relda," Puck said.

At the mention of her name, Sabrina felt white hot tears burn the corners of her eyes, dribbling down her cheek. Puck raised his hand and swiped the tears from her face gently.

Sabrina looked up, "Thanks." But her eyes still continued to bleed tears. And, so, Puck reluctantly wrapped his arms around her in an awkward embrace. Sabrina tensed at his touch, expecting some sort of prank. But when nothing happened, she let her muscles relax. They stayed this way for sometime. Relishing each other's warmth and thinking about everything that had happened. It wasn't romantic; just a simple friendly gesture.

"Thanks, Puck," Sabrina whispered into his shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"Thanks. For everything," she admitted.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll just add it to your tab," he joked. She laughed and he noticed how the corners of her mouth would spread until they were within an unimportant distance from her ears. Her eyes would reduce to bright, shining blue chinks and slight wrinkles would appear around them. Her teeth would sparkle like shining stars in a big black canvas. Her hair would glow like a golden halo, falling down past her shoulders in thick, untamed locks. She noticed when Puck smiled, on the other hand, the whole room lit up. His rotten teeth encased in shimmering whiteness caused only by the sugar coating his cavity-diseased molars, canines, and eyeteeth glowed like a thousand stars in the black canvas of the night sky. His green eyes would shine, glowing and lighting up his face. His cheeks reddened, reducing his light freckles to mere shadows across his features. His golden locks appeared more golden, as if his dirty straw-like hair was actually woven from gold.

Neither of them would admit it for a long, long time. And Puck's pranks wound continue for a while yet. And Sabrina's insults and distrust towards him wouldn't stop, at least for a while. But one day, in the future, they would admit their love for each other. One day; some day. . .

A/N: OMG! This is the last chapter but if you couldn't tell by the 'dot-dot-dot' at the end, there, there is going to be an epilogue. First, I just want to formally apologize - I honestly thought I only had seventy-nine reviews and then Addie reviewed and told me I had eighty-two and I updated as soon as I possibly could. And then, when I finally began to write it I had a major case or writer's block. You see, every since I started this Fic I've imagined this chapter - every look, touch, taste - but when I finally sat down and wrote this Fic I just couldn't. It's kind of hard to explain, but it definitely took me the longest to write out of every chapter.

Also, I know you guys are going to yell at me about Granny Relda dying and everything. That wasn't what my original plan was when I started this Fic; but, round about the fifth chapter I thought it was getting predictable. I just thought, for unpredictableness' sake, that should happen. Besides, it brought Puck and Sabrina closer. :D.

Thirdly, I really want to get to a hundred reviews, it would make me super uber happy! I don't care if you flame me, or give me criticism, let's just get to a hundred reviews and I'll give you the best epilogue EVER! Where Puck and Sabrina actually get TOGETHER! Besides, I've already written it so you won't have to wait long as long as you get to one hundred!

EIGHTEEN REVIEWS = EPILOGUE