AN~ And back the next day! Sorry in advance for all the cliffhangers, but I wanted to try the many mini-plots thing out, and most of the next chapter will focus on Puck and Sabrina's adventures in Faerie.
DevilWearsConverse: Thank you for your review to my other story! It made me very happy.
Very early the next morning, the small group that was leaving Ferryport Landing had gathered with the people come to say goodbye at the barrier near the fort, as far from Scarlet Hand eyes as they could get.
Sabrina, Puck, Daphne, and Henry were all lumped together on the magic carpet, not looking quite awake. Sabrina was siting on her duffel bag, chewing on a granola bar. Puck and Daphne were genuinely asleep, leaning on each other and drooling. Henry sat tensely in the center of the carpet, holding tightly to Sabrina and Daphne's clothes.
"Seriosry, Dad," Sabrina said through a mouthful of granola bar, "We'be rirren on thish thing before. We're not going to fall off."
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Henry replied.
Sabrina rolled her eyes and swallowed. "Hey, is that Alice from Wonderland?" She asked, pointing at a brown haired girl wearing a blue dress and holding a cat carrier who looked to be around Daphne's age.
On the ground next to the carpet, Bella nodded. "But don't let her age fool you. She's smart, and she's tough. Ran her own apartment building through the Cheshire Cat before all the humans got run out of town. And before she found out the Cat was part of the Hand. Haven't seen him since he went to ask her to join."
Sabrina grinned."Sounds like we'll get along. Do you think I should wake Daphne up to meet her?"
Granny shook her head. "Let her sleep. You'll all be traveling together for a while, anyway. Wonderland's nearest entrance is due west of New York City, and since Daphne and Snow can't fly, you'll all be taking the carpet."
"I assume Puck and I are flying?" Sabrina asked dryly. "The carpet's big, but not that big."
Granny nodded. "And you'll both be carrying as many bags as you feel comfortable with."
"I can do that." Sabrina agreed. "Two should work, if we stop for food once in a while."
"Right." Granny said. "You should reach New York by this evening, you can all stay in a hotel tonight, and tomorrow Snow, Daphne, Mr. Clay and Alice will go on. The Hoods can borrow some of Puck's pixie dust to get to Neverland tonight. Sabrina, you'll have to make sure it isn't cloudy, otherwise they won't be able to make it. Alice and Mr. Clay should make it to Wonderland by tomorrow afternoon, and Daphne and Snow should reach Oz the next morning, if the carpet goes full speed."
"Hey, where exactly is Oz?" Sabrina asked.
"Somewhere in Texas." Bella said. "Don't worry about it. The Carpet knows the way, don't you, sweetheart? Yes you do! Yes you do!" Bella dissolved into baby talk, rubbing the carpet fondly.
"That's enough!" Sabrina muttered. "It's not a dog."
"She's right, you know." Granny said. "You'll spoil it if you don't stop."
"All right, people!" Charming called. "It's time for you all to head out!" He leaned over, kissed Snow on the cheek, and continued, "We're counting on you to get us allies! Now get going!"
"Wonderful pep talk." Sabrina muttered, shaking Daphne and Puck. "Wake up, guys. We're leaving."
"Already?" Puck mumbled. "What time is it?"
Henry looked at his watch. "Six. Now get off the carpet so we can load everyone's luggage."
"Goodbye, lieblings." Granny said, giving each of them a hug and a kiss. "Safe trip! I'll see you in a week or two!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Puck said, wiping the kiss off his face. "Let's just get going, all right?"
The group said their goodbyes, and Sabrina set about getting them through the barrier one at a time, starting with the carpet and ending with herself. Once they were all through, Sabrina sat down on her duffel bag and pulled another granola bar out of her pocket.
"Shouldn't we be leaving?" Alice asked.
"In a minute." Sabrina mumbled. "I just dragged you through the barrier, along with five other everafters, not counting me, and a magic carpet. I'm a little tired."
"Hey." Alice said, realization dawning on her face. "You're that Grimm girl, aren't you? Sabrina? The one my cat hates! You're an everafter!"
"Yeah, but only for about a month now." Sabrina said, shoving the last of her granola bar into her mouth. "Awright. We can go now."
She grabbed her duffel bag and her father's, then took off, hovering in the air while Puck grabbed Daphne's bag and Alice's cat carrier, and everyone else piled onto the crowded carpet. Then they were off!
They flew for most of the day in silence, high in the sky, above a low cloud bank helpfully provided by Sabrina, only stopping for food and bathroom breaks. Once they reached New York, the group landed behind a hotel, where Henry helpfully reserved two rooms.
Sabrina raised an eyebrow, looking at the two adjoining rooms once they had deposited all their things.
"It's going to be a little tight." She muttered.
"Well, don't forget, we're leaving as soon as it's dark." Robin said, ruffling her hair.
Puck bristled. "It's dark now." He said, pulling out his flute and playing a short tune. Once the pixies arrived, he said, "Dust them, would you? They've got to reach Neverland by tomorrow morning."
The pixies complied, and Robin and Marian lifted off the ground, zooming around the room lazily. While they were doing that, Sabrina cleared the clouds from the sky, revealing the stars and a full moon. The Hoods flew off into the distance while the group waved goodbye.
"All right." Daphne said. "Now who sleeps where?"
After fifteen minutes or so of debating, they decided to split up into boys and girls, with Sabrina and Daphne sharing a bed, Alice on one couch, and Snow on the other bed in the girls room, and Puck on the couch, with Mr. Clay and Henry on a bed in the boy's room. Then they all settled down to sleep.
The next morning, Sabrina woke up when Snow shook her on the shoulder.
"Can you wake your sister?" Snow asked. "I can't get her up, and we need to leave soon. Alice is already on the carpet, and the boys have finished breakfast!"
"Sure." Sabrina muttered, rolling over.
She grabbed the covers, yanked them down to the foot of the bed, and whispered in Daphne's ear, "Get up or they'll leave without you."
Daphne sat bolt upright. "They will not!" She shouted. "That's not funny, Sabrina!"
"I never said it was." Sabrina said. "But they might have. Snow couldn't figure out how to get you up, and we're on a schedule here. Now get dressed and come downstairs with me. This place has one of those breakfast bar things- the all you can eat ones."
Daphne got dressed in record time, and half an hour later, Mr. Clay, Alice, Snow, and Daphne were off again, with a small, stubborn cloud set underneath them by Sabrina, and the remaining three were off to Central Park.
When Henry saw the statue, he gaped.
"This is the headquarters of the Faerie kingdom?" He spluttered.
"Hey, it's better than Fae's headquarters." Puck said. "That looks like a shack from the outside. I think it's in Canada someplace."
"Jake's going there, right?" Henry asked.
Puck nodded while Sabrina looked on blankly.
"What's Fae?" She asked.
"It's the counterpart fairy kingdom." Puck explained. "It's where Moth is from, she's the daughter of Queen Mab. She's staying with us as part of some treaty, the one that sent my sister away."
"Sister?" Sabrina asked.
"Peaseblossom." Puck said. "She's older than me by about a century, and she's horribly bossy, but I did not want to see her married to Mab's son. But she's a queen now, which Dad would never have let happen, and I guess she's happy, even if it was an arranged marriage. I actually haven't seen her since we moved to New York City from England."
Sabrina shook her head. "You're going to have to explain all this history to me later. I feel really out of the loop. Knock knock."
She disappeared.
"Tell the statue a knock knock joke." Puck explained to Henry. "It's the way in."
"Thanks for that, but I just wanted to see that you got here safely." Henry said. "I have to go try and get custody of my daughter. Meet you here at five?"
Puck nodded, and Henry left.
"Knock knock." Puck said.
Sabrina was suddenly visible, leaning against the statue.
"Who's there?" The statue asked with a smile.
"Lettuce." Puck said.
"Lettuce who?" the statue returned.
"Lettuce come in, it's cold outside." Puck finished.
The statue started cracking up with laughter. "That's a good one, Puck!" He grinned. "I missed you."
Sabrina raised an eyebrow.
Puck shrugged. "I feel bad for it. Everyone's always starting a joke, but they're all too busy to finish it. Come on, let's go in."
The two turned, and together, they entered the Golden Egg, completely surprised by what they saw there.
Robin and Marian Hood reached Neverland at sunrise. They landed in the mermaid lagoon, and were met by a host of angry merfolk, who thought Robin had come to spy on them. The couple had to leave quickly, running for the lost boys' cave. They finally reached it and jumped down one of the many entrances, landing, exhausted, in the lost boys' kitchen.
"What are you doing here?" A girl asked.
"Hello, Jane." Marian said. "We're here to talk to you all. Where is everyone?"
"Asleep." Jane said. "Would you like some breakfast? I can make something, and you can tell me what's going on."
"I'll help." Robin winked at Jane. "It must get hard, cooking these big meals all by yourself."
"I'll help, too." Marian said, grabbing two makeshift aprons off a hook on the wall. "But how about you tell us about Neverland right now, and we tell you about the normal world once the boys are up."
"Aw, come on." Jand pouted. "I almost never get any information in advance. Please?"
Marian laughed. "All right, if you finish telling us about what it's like here before they wake up."
They spent the next hour or so cooking and hearing about the exploits of the lost boys over the past century or so. Not much out of the ordinary had happened. The boys had been up to their old tricks, and Peter still hadn't been able to choose between Tiger Lily and Jane. Wendy stopped by to visit about once a year, John and Michael closer to once every ten years. Wendy's not-an-everafter husband had died some time ago, and she was single and wishing she'd never grown up. Peter was sorry, but still not interested in growing up to join her. They all missed the pirates, and wanted some adventure.
"Well, we have an adventure we can offer you." Marian was saying when the lost boys began piling into the room with a chorus of 'Breakfast! Visitors! Fun! Hooray! Etcetera...'
"What's this about an adventure?" Peter asked. "Hi, by the way."
"Hi." Robin said. "have you guys heard about the Scarlet Hand?"
Peter nodded. "Michael explained about it, said it's coming back. What about it?"
"They're starting a war against humanity, and any everafter that doesn't agree with them." Marian said.
"We're here to ask you if you want to join us in a fight against them." Robin said. "There's a good chance you'd get to fight against Hook."
Peter grinned. "What say you, boys? You want to fight Hook and his men again?"
The boys let out a collective whoop.
Jane grinned. "Oh, this'll be so much fun! Do you want to ask the Indians if they want to help, Peter?"
Peter nodded. "And your mother. Michael and John, too!"
"Let's go!" One of the lost boys called.
"After breakfast!" Jane shouted. "I spent all this time cooking, we are not letting it get cold to go on an adventure!"
The boys looked properly chastised, and sat down to eat.
Alice and Mr. Clay reached the Wonder Woods right on schedule. Mr. Clay headed straight for the entrance, and Alice, still toting her cat carrier, spent about half an hour searching for him before he came back, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the rabbit hole.
"How do I get in?" Mr. Clay asked. "I don't believe I'll fit. You cat carrier's kind of large, too."
"Just jump." Alice said. "It gets bigger for you."
To demonstrate, she jumped down the rabbit hole, pulling the cat carrier after her. Mr. Clay shrugged, following her down. After the first squeeze, it did get much wider, and much odder. He decided to just focus on Alice, because this cave was just a little too odd for him.
Once they reached the bottom, Alice led him on a roundabout route through Wonderland, stopping at practically every place someone lived and asking the to meet her at the Capital Castle.
Finally, they reached the castle, where Alice prepared to make her speech to all the Wonderlanders from the six kingdoms; the cardlands and the chessboard.
Daphne and Snow had traveled the whole day and night, and the next morning at dawn, they woke up to the sight of a vast desert below them, with a spot of yellow in the distance.
"See that?" Snow asked, pointing at the yellow spot. "That's the land of the Winkies, the eastern part of Oz. We should be there by breakfast time."
And they were. They landed the carpet in the Tin Woodman's castle, and he invited them to stay for breakfast while he telephoned the Emerald City, so that Ozma could call up a meeting of everyone and they could meet the guests.
So Daphne and Snow ate breakfast and explored the wonders of the Tin Woodman's castle while waiting for the meeting to be called.
Jake and Briar were traveling the world, stopping at one spot, then the next, everywhere that Jake knew there was an everafter. Some said they'd join their cause, others said they'd need to think, and some said no, they were joining the Hand, tired of Humans. But still, they'd gained a surprising number of allies by the time they'd finished with Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, at the end of the first day. Most of them had traveled straight back through the chest to Ferryport Landing, especially once they heard that they could get out again.
That night, they slept in Briar's home country.
The next morning, they were off again, going to the two poles, South America, and ending in North America. The last place they visited was also their worst defeat.
Fae's queen had flatly refused to even see them, proudly displaying a flag decorated with a red hand on a black background. She'd sent them a message that if they wanted to see her, it would be on a battlefield in her hometown, fighting for her daughter's honor, as well as the rights of all Fae.
Jake and Briar returned home, trying not to be too dejected by their last defeat, attempting to think of all the everafters they'd convinced to join them, but it was hard, and somehow, they felt their two days had been a waste, despite all the good they'd done.
Henry spent his morning at the orphanage, regaining custody of his daughters and spinning a ridiculous story of how he'd been kidnapped by members of an evil organization scattered throughout the U.S., planning to take over the world. He explained that he was a member of a rival organization that was attempting to keep them from succeeding, and how, since his wife was planning a big movement, the other organization had kidnapped them. His mother, also a member of the organization, had recently rescued him, and he had only just now been able to come and regain his possessions.
The story was so out there, everyone believed it couldn't possibly be a lie. He regained custody of his daughters by lunchtime, and spent the afternoon at the police station, regaining his possessions.
It was a long, arduous process, but by five o' clock, he was back at the Golden Egg, in full posession of a car packed with everything he owned.