AN~ I have a question for you all. If I were to write a parody, rather like Story of the Worst Kind, A by RockSuperstar, (awesome story, by the way. The irony just kills me), how would you take it? Because the likelihood of me making fun of several of my reviewers by accident is high. But I was home sick the other day, and I read some truly terrible stories for lack of anything better to do, and I was inspired to write my own passive-aggressive comeback.
Mary: You make an account by clicking the button on the VERY top right that says sign up. Now, on to your suggestions/questions: I actually sort of had that idea about making them get married, maybe that'll be an alternate. Moth isn't very involved in this story because she's... not a big part. She's a minor character, partly because so many people make her the main bad guy. Whereas in this story, the bad guy is the Scarlet Hand in general, not just one person. There are plenty of Moth fics, and I didn't feel I could make an original one.
Adara the Wise: But she still went. She had the choice not to go with them, but she did. So she gets punished too.
Pink-and-Green-Jellybean: I accept your bacon and applause, especially the bacon. Mmmm... bacon.
kgirl: 1) No, because she'd be such a Mary Sue then it's not even funny, and 2) Unlikely for the first, probably for the second, since she only has three to start with. Nobody needs more than three superpowers. Ever.
Scarlet Wolf: It's fine that you don't log in. It's just a LOT easier to reply to people with accounts.
1. No, I don't hate it. I'm one of those weird mature people that agrees that punishments are necessary when someone does something wrong.
3. I was just in The Wizard of Oz, where I played four different parts and had six costume changes, because our cast wasn't big enough. But we sold out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!
4. Apoplexy:(uh-PAH-pleck-see) noun. 1) a stroke 2) a sudden, usually marked loss of bodily function due to rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel. 3) a hemmorhage into an organ cavity or tissue.Basically, it means it looked like he was going to rupture a blood vessel because he was so angry.
NinjaKittyEpicness: Thanks for the review! 1. I'm not sure what you mean by 'full everafters.' 2. If Sabrina always has all the powers she has now, she'll be SUCH a Mary Sue. Nobody needs more than three superpowers. 3. I have no clue. Maybe they're getting scared? I'm not in their heads. I just write down what they do to Sabrina.
Sabrina Lee: I see now. It wasn't unfair. I asked people for their honest opinions and suggestions. You thought that part was over the top. It's fine. I disagree, 'cause it plays a bigger role later. I'm glad you approve of my childifying of Daphne.
The worst thing about being grounded, in Sabrina's opinion, was that she had no opportunity to prove herself mature enough to be ungrounded because she was stuck in the house. She wasn't allowed out because she 'wasn't mature enough to be trusted elsewhere,' but she couldn't prove herself responsible because she was stuck inside where nothing particularly life-threatening occured... usually.
The second worst thing was the boredom. There is only so much cleaning one can do before there is nothing left to clean, and Sabrina, still recuperating from her huge amount of magical effort, couldn't practice anything for too long before she grew tired.
The result of their captivity was that they were all extremely excited to go back to school.
"Hey Dad?" Daphne asked on the way to their first morning back, "I just thought of something."
"What's that?" Henry asked absently.
"Since our study group is technically at school, at least some days, could we maybe... like, I dunno... not get grounded from that, too?" Daphne asked.
"I'll have to speak with your mother about that." Henry said. "But until then, no, you can't stay after school today. We're all going straight home after the school day is over."
"But maybe?" Daphne asked hopefully.
"A very big maybe." Henry said. "Besides, don't you have that one period where you can do that sort of thing, anyway?"
"He has a point." Bella said brightly.
"Shut up." Puck snapped. "It's not like you're grounded."
"Again with the having a point thing." Sabrina said, slapping Bella lightly. "Could you lay off the helpful comments? They're really annoying."
"Fine." Bella said. "I was trying to be nice, but whatever..."
"You didn't sound nice." Daphne glared. "You sounded like you were gloasting."
"You mean gloating." Sabrina corrected.
"Or boasting." Henry added.
"No." Daphne smiled. "I mean gloasting. It's my new word. It's like gloating and boasting combined. Get it?"
"Ah..." Sabrina said vaguely.
"You don't like it, do you?" Daphne pouted.
"Well..." Sabrina said, "It's not that I don't like it... it's just... Aren't you getting too old to make up words like that, Daph?"
"I'm only nine." Daphne said.
"Didn't your parents disappear when you were nine?" Bella asked Sabrina.
"Ten, actually." Sabrina said.
"Close enough." Bella said. "So if you were like, practically parenting at a year older than Daphne is now, and she's still making up words..."
"Shut it, Bella." Puck said. "Keep on making up words, Marshmallow. I like it."
"Thanks." Daphne smiled at Puck.
"She is getting a little old for it, though." Henry admitted. "You might get teased, sweetie."
"I don't care." Daphne made a face. "I'm the youngest person in this whole town, anyway. Why shouldn't I act younger?"
"Because then you'll stay grounded." Sabrina pointed out. "And I get the feeling we're either all grounded or none of us are, so the older you act, the sooner I can go out by myself."
"So you want a repeat of the wearing your clothes episode?" Puck asked.
"Nothing that extreme!" Sabrina hurried to clarify. "I just mean that some of the things you do, Daph? They're kind of normal for people a lot younger than you are. And we're all trying to prove to Mom and Dad that we're mature enough to leave the house again, so those things sort of work against the common goal."
"Whatever." Daphne said, turning towards the window.
Sabrina threw her hands in the air. "And now you're mad at me again. I give up."
"Well, this morning is off to a wonderful start." Bella said dryly. "Puck and Sabrina are mad at me, Sabrina and Daphne are mad at each other, and I didn't get to take a shower, so I'm itchy."
"Aw, shut it." Sabrina said, trying to glare at both Daphne and Bella simultaneously. She failed, going crosseyed instead.
Puck snickered at her, and she started glaring at him, too.
"Guys," Henry said wearily, "what's going on back there?"
"Sabrina's mad at everyone, and a bunch of other people are mad at other people, too." Red explained.
"I'm not mad at you." Sabrina said. "In fact, I want Red for my best friend. Nobody ever gets mad at Red, now that she's sane. How's about it, Red? Wanna be my best friend?"
"Hey!" Daphne, Bella, and Puck snapped at the same time.
"Not cool." Puck said, elbowing his way between Sabrina and Red. "We're best friends. You're not trading me off for the little nutjob."
"Red's my best friend, not yours!" Daphne whined. "You can't have her! Red, tell her you're my best friend!"
"Wait a second-" Bella chimed in, "Since when is gooberface over there your best friend, Sabrina? I thought I was?"
"Sabrina." Henry muttered wearily.
"Sorry, Dad." Sabrina said sheepishly. "I couldn't resist. Besides, I am mad at the others. I just wanted to get them back a bit."
"Can you explain to them that you were kidding?" Henry asked. "Because it sounds like there's a brawl going on back there."
"There- ow, Daphne! That hurt!- There is." Sabrina called, shoving her sister off her face. "Guys! This is not helping us prove our maturity! And you're all overreacting! And I should know, 'cause I'm the queen of overreactions!"
The fighting ceased, slowly.
"She has a point." Bella said.
"Would you just stop saying that?" Puck asked. "The world would be a lot better off if you did."
"He has a point." Daphne echoed prettily, a sweet smile on her face as she looked pointedly at Bella.
"All right, I get the picture, it's annoying." Bella sighed.
"There we go." Sabrina coaxed. "You guys realize I was joking, right? I didn't mean that whole best friends thing. And even if I did, it's not really something for you three to fight about."
"Yeah." Daphne sighed. "I guess being cooped up for so long's getting us on edge."
"But we're at school now, so we can see other people!" Red pointed out, glancing out the window.
"It's Tim! And Art!" Daphne screeched, jumping out of the car before it stopped completely, calling, "Ohmigosh, Ihaven'tseenyouguysallsummer! I missed you!"
"Daphne!" Sabrina called wearily, "You know you're only supposed to jump out of a moving vehicle if it's an emergency!"
"You're the one who taught her how to do it." Henry accused.
"Under strict instructions to only do it in extreme circumstances." Sabrina sighed. "When will that girl learn?"
Puck made a face. "You sound like a parent."
"Habit." Sabrina said. "Come on. I want to go catch up with people."
School picked up again and proceeded as usual. Sabrina, Puck, and Bella finished the school's English program and proceeded to read, and discuss in class (the truth, and what had been skewed), every single piece of literature either about everafters or written by them, while Daphne and Red struggled to catch up.
In History, everyone had finished the required courses, and had started studying the history of everafters, beginning with the 'gods and goddesses' who were the first, and working their way through everything that had ever happened to any everafter that wasn't chronicled. Sabrina found herself at a disadvantage there, because most of the everafters had lived through quite a few of the things she was just beginning to learn about.
Several of the kids continued with art classes, and Red discovered a practical use for her talent- designing propaganda, both anti-hand and pro-human.
The French class had all but been abandoned, and anyone who wished to learn a language was now studying things like Pixie-ese and Troll-speak, and other useful languages like that. Daphne gobbled those classes up like wildfire, but Sabrina only learned the basics, things like, 'I'm you're friend,' 'watch out or I'll kill you,' 'where's the bathroom?' 'look, a distraction!' and other such useful phrases.
Puck and Bella continued in their math and science classes, soaring ahead. Sabrina, Daphne, and Red took them at a slower pace, because they weren't skilled enough in that area for it to make it worth the effort to study them.
The four children remained grounded, and so the study group was regulated to school hours, and they made the most of it.
Gym began with three tests in a row that year, one on health, one on technical gym, and one on the art of fighting. Then they proceeded to stuff a marking period with review so that they could move on.
Sabrina's favorite class quickly became her advanced fighting course. She wasn't the best in the class, and not just because she'd only started last year- she'd had a growth spurt and wasn't used to her new height yet, and she wasn't patient enough to work on moves until she had them down perfectly- but she had a natural flair for weaponry. She could hold her own in a fight against most of her classmates, though she lost as often as she won; she had good aim, with both a gun and a bow; she was strong; and she was determined.
A marking period and a half passed this way with no real problems with the Scarlet Hand- a few skirmishes, none of which involved the Grimms. They were still grounded, still unable to prove themselves mature enough to fight, but also still improving every day. And because Sabrina was tired of being stuck in the house, she spent more time with Mirror, trying to find her brother.
"Mirror, mirror, you're the shizz, show me where my brother is." Sabrina tried.
"The shizz, Starfish?" Mirror asked. "Really?"
Sabrina shrugged. "I was trying to think up a rhyme for 'is,' and that's all I could come up with. Daphne helped."
"Somehow I'm not surprised." Mirror said dryly, before the mirror itself whited out, clearing to show a small, chubby redheaded boy with gray eyes. He was smiling and playing with a small shard of glass."
Sabrina stared. "Who gives a little kid glass to play with?" She asked. "That's so unsafe!"
"Of all the things to harp over, you pick that?" Mirror teased. "Not the fact that he's been kidnapped?"
"I've already complained about that so many times, it's getting old." Sabrina explained. "You still can't show me the location? Just him?"
"Sorry, Starfish. I don't think he's been moved."
"Drat." Sabrina sighed. "Well, we'll find him eventually. We're Grimms. It's what we do."
"I know you will." Mirror smiled. "If I were the master, I'd be afraid of you."
"Thanks." Sabrina smiled, taking a closer look at her brother. "Hey- that's not just a piece of glass. It's a piece of a broken mirror."
"It's what?" Mirror asked.
"It's a shard of a mirror." Sabrina said. "I can see his reflection in it. In fact, there's bits of mirror all over that place. I wonder..." she trailed off, leaving the room.
"Where are you going?" Mirror called.
"I've got to go think about something, Mirror!" She called. "Thanks. I'll come back later."
"All right." Mirror chuckled, bewildered. "You kids."
Sabrina wandered to her room, then out of it again, and down to the living room. She sat staring at the mirror on the mantlepiece, a thoughtful look on her face, her head cocked to one side.
"Whatcha doin'?" Daphne asked, coming in and sitting down.
"Sh." Sabrina said, not looking away from the mirror. "I'm thinking."
"Thinking about what?" Bella asked.
"Sh!" Daphne hissed.
"About mirrors, apparently." Red guessed.
"What about mirrors?" Puck asked, and was simultaneously shushed by four different girls.
There was silence for a time, then Sabrina spoke slowly. "I was looking at our brother in Mirror, and he was playing with a piece of a broken mirror. And it got me thinking. 'Cause we've got a spy, you know? Too many of our plans have been anticipated for us not to have one. There were mirror pieces all over the room the baby was in."
"And?" Puck asked blankly.
"And the only plans that haven't been anticipated by the Scarlet Hand are the ones we make in the kitchen- the one room in the house without a mirror. Mirrors are easy to spell. Everyone knows that, even normal humans who don't know anything about magic. And Baba Yaga told me that they're used for something called 'scrying' a lot."
"What's scrying?" Daphne asked.
"It's looking at something far away using magic so that it looks close up." Sabrina explained. "Every time we have Mirror show us something, that's scrying. But witches and wizards and stuff can do that without a mirror that's been enchanted by someone else."
"And you think that someone's been scrying on us?" Puck asked.
Sabrina nodded. "Someone with a connection to mirrors. I don't think any mirror is safe."
"You have any idea who it might be?" Bella asked.
Sabrina shrugged. "There's any number of people who deal with mirrors in this town. I mean, Alice... Bunny... those other mirrors Bunny made... the Beast... it could be anyone."
"So what do we do?" Red asked.
"Talk to Granny." Sabrina said.
"But we never talk to Granny about stuff!" Puck made a face. "You're always like, we've got to do something!"
Sabrina shrugged. "This is too important not to tell the adults about."