AN~
Booklover4ever: Another you-guessed-it! ...Kind of... I'll be going back and fixing the confusion, I don't know how it got that messed up...
Puckabrina-percabeth-fax101: I may disappoint you in my creativity as a writer here... But thanks bunches!
Quinn Fabray: Sorry for the wait, I lost internet connection for four days 'cause of the freak snowstorm we had in my area. Five inches of snow! In October!
Admirer: Wow. Thank you very very much. Can I hug you? Would that be too forward?
(): Pray tell, how do you know it's boring if you haven't read it? How much have you read, just out of curiosity? I'm not thirty-something, either. Are you going to keep going up? 'Cause if you are, you'll be wrong. Consistently. I notice you didn't mention what's so wrong with my style. Are you going to explain? Know what's funny? Ayns and Sky's story is actually over twice as long as mine. Oh, and by the way, your review number was cool, so you win a prize. Other than me quitting, what would you like?
Purpleflower23: You guessed it! (Nobody read that review)
PinkAndBlack: Thanks! It's all good, I get it. Glad you're back!
Aly: I love Puck, too. I know what I'm doing. I'm not sure you're going to keep reading, and that's fine, but if you are here, well, you could maybe trust me a bit, 'kay? Also, if you're here, you're prizewinner for review number 999.
RRB: It hurt a bit to write that. But it had to be done. Thanks for the review of epic proportions! I appreciated it! :D
Agd: Yeah, I'll fix that when I edit. The last two chapters need a lot of editing, 'cause I've gotten a lot of confused feedback.
ANannyMouse: Chapter 76: She put the barrier around the battle so the Scarlet Hand couldn't get out. I'll have to clarify that. Chapter 77: Yes, you get it! You know what Puck's up to! :D You caught the important line!
Time passed slowly in the dungeon. The only way to mark how long it had been since something happened was when they were fed, which, as near as Sabrina could figure, happened about once a day.
She went through three mood phases at random intervals: Anguish, when she sometimes cried and sometimes just hurt; Numbness, when she didn't do anything; and anger.
She was in one of the angry moods when Moth showed up. It could have been two days since she'd left, or it could have been two weeks, Sabrina wasn't sure.
"Hello, prisoner." Moth said, wearing an angry smile.
"Hello, scum of the earth." Sabrina hissed.
"No need to be so nasty." Moth tutted.
"Why are you here?" Sabrina asked.
"Simply to-"
"Gloat?" Peter suggested. "Don't, we have to deal with her after you're gone."
"I haven't, actually." Moth said. "I've come to alert you that we're going to be performing some tests on Sabrina in the future. The rest of you... we understand your magic. But some of our more scientific members want to know how Sabrina works."
"Well, great." Sabrina rolled her eyes. "I just love tests."
"I'm trying to be nice, here." Moth said, sticking her nose in the air.
"Stuff it." Sabrina said.
"Fine, be that way." Moth said. "Simply because Puck chose me over you-"
Sabrina spat in her face.
Moth gasped. "Ooh, you'll regret that, child!" She hissed. "Believe me, you will."
She stalked out, slamming the door behind her.
"Notice they never seem to lock it?" Peter asked.
"Probably magic auto-lock or something." Sabrina said. "Mab's rich enough."
"You worried?" Peter asked.
Sabrina shook her head. "No biggie. Maybe it'll give me a chance to escape."
"I doubt it, but if it comes, take it, child." Mr. Clay said. "And never look back."
"I'll bring people back for you." Sabrina promised. "As soon as possible."
"That'd be nice." Peter said. "It's kind of boring down here."
Mr. Clay and Sabrina smiled grimly, which, while not the laugh he'd been hoping for, was still an improvement.
"I miss Sabrina." Daphne said. "And Puck."
"We all do." Art said.
They were in study group, which had been remarkably subdued since the ambush, partly because Snow had required that there be professional teacher supervision at all times, to prevent something like that from happening again. Nobody was even allowed to go to the bathroom without checking in and out of the library.
Red fingered the cuff that was still on her wrist. The Beast had told her that he couldn't take it off until she'd completed the assignment. She felt extraordinarily guilty that she'd let Sabrina free her, and she couldn't believe that it had been a week and a half and there was still no sign of them. She'd retreated back into her shell, barely speaking a word to anyone since the battle.
Mustardseed stood in the corner of the room, alone and aloof. He'd been leading the search for the missing four, and was rarely at school, let alone study group, and when he was there, he usually stayed a bit away from everyone else, a brooding look on his face.
It had made Renee realize that she missed him. That she missed him more than Puck, actually. He was a solid presence, a constant she hadn't appreciated until she'd lost it.
She made her way from the table she'd been working at with Daphne and Art, among others, to Mustardseed's lonesome corner.
"Hi." Renee said, leaning on the wall next to Mustardseed.
"Oh, hello." Mustardseed said, looking up in surprise.
"How've you been?" Renee asked. "Haven't seen much of you recently."
"I've been busy." Mustardseed said.
"Any sign of them?" Renee asked sympathetically.
Mustardseed shook his head. "They may as well have fallen off the face of the earth."
"You should take a break." Renee said. "You're wearing yourself out."
"I have to find them, though." Mustardseed said. "I'd think you'd be looking just as hard for Puck as I am."
"I don't miss him like that." Renee said. "I don't know what happened, but... I don't like him that way anymore. I mean, yeah, I want him back, but I'm worried about the others just as much."
"Really?" Mustardseed asked, and the ghost of a smile appeared on his face for a second. "Well, that's... You're too good for him, anyway. I've always thought that."
"Do you need a hand, though?" Renee asked. "Looking for him, I mean? You're looking pretty worn down."
Mustardseed shook his head, turning to look out the window. "There's simply no trace of them."
"Hey." Renee put her hand over his. "Don't give up. They'll be OK. They're... resourceful."
Mustardseed looked down at the hand over his and smiled, a real one this time. Renee smiled back, and the two stood there in silent understanding.
"Your first test is coming soon." Moth said one day.
The two were sitting in Puck's room, which was still quite bland, as he hadn't been allowed to leave the building to do anything. Puck had been putting up with Moth's presence because he knew it was necessary to gain their trust, but she was really starting to get on his nerves. He'd started driving her away with chess games. If he won often enough, she'd storm out of the room and leave him alone for a blessed few hours.
He shoved a pawn forward and said, "Oh, good. It's been ages."
Moth moved her queen to take the pawn and said, "Check. Maybe they've been trying to think up something good."
"Well, do you know what it is?" Puck asked, taking her queen with his knight and adding, "Check yourself. And mate."
"No, but I'm to take you to the observation room." Moth said. "In a few hours. Play again?"
"Sure." Puck said, and he began setting the board back up. "You can be white this time."
Moth began setting he pieces back up, too, and said, "So... I've been thinking... about what you said, about us not getting married?"
"Yeah?" Puck asked warily, putting his last few pawns back on the board.
"Well, does your... reluctance... have anything to do with the girl?"
"Sabrina?' Puck supplied. "Your move."
"Yes, her, and let me finish setting up first!" Moth snapped. "Well? Are you still engaged?"
"Depends." Puck said. "Is she still wearing my necklace?"
"I hadn't noticed." Moth said, standing. "Excuse me."
Puck rolled his eyes as she ran out of the room, again grateful for the alone time. It was so hard to be watched all the time, especially by someone like Moth. What if he slipped up? She'd be sure to make him buy her silence with something disgusting, like a kiss. He needed them to trust him, and fast.
Moth returned about fifteen minutes later, looking triumphant but angry. "She spit on me!" She snapped. "Can you believe it? She had the audacity to spit on me!"
"She's weird like that." Puck said, absent-minded. He calculated mentally: fifteen minutes means no more than seven minutes there and back, running, because there wasn't enough space to fly in these hallways, but Moth had time to be spit on, which meant time to gloat, and time to get into the dungeon, which meant at least five minutes there, which meant he was within five minutes of the dungeon, running, which meant less than ten minutes walking. And without windows meant probably in the center of the building somewhere, like his room, or in the basement, because a room without windows would stand out from the outside.
"But she's not wearing the necklace!" Moth said with a smile. "And she must have taken it off before she got here, because it's not in the dungeon."
Puck hid a stab of sorrow and said, "Well, then. It looks like I'm marrying you after all."
"Oh, but Pucky..." Moth said, "Do you really want to, or are you doing it because you're forced to?"
Puck blinked at her. "Forced, duh. Marriage means responsibility. I hate responsibility."
"But I want you to want to." Moth said. "Tell you what. Would you like to cancel the blood oath? We have enough time, before we'll have to head to mother."
"Sure." Puck said. "But I don't think I'll ever want to marry you."
"You say that now..." Moth said, smiling in a way that made Puck nervous. "But I have my ways."
Puck looked at her skeptically, but stood. "Come on, let's get this done."
They undid the blood oath, which was a much longer and more complex process that Puck didn't want to ever have to think about again, and finished just in time to leave the room and head to the observation room.
Puck counted doors as he walked, making a mental note of which ones stood open and which weren't, thanking his math teacher for everything he'd been taught, and his mother for his analytical brain, even though she'd hated it.
"We're here." Moth said, opening another door.
Ten minutes and two up staircases in this direction, thirty-nine options. Puck steeled himself a little and walked into the room. Moth followed, closing the door behind him.
"Welcome." Mab said. "Are you ready for your first test?"
"Absolutely." Puck said. "What is it?"
"Have a look." Mab stepped to the side.
"Whoa." Puck said, walking forward a few steps in awe.
The room was absolutely full of mirrors, and each one, instead of showing Puck's reflection, showed a picture of a different room in Mab's mansion. Puck started doing more mental calculations. They were set up in an order, they had to be. So... bottom row would be basement, probably, and top row would be the top floor. That made sense, because the size of the mansion was about right for the number of mirrors on the walls. But how did they get the center-of-the-building rooms, then?
Before he could figure it out, Mab muttered something, and one image from the bottom row- basement, he noted- grew to fill the entire room, and all the mirrors in it.
"This is the dungeon." Mab said. "Specifically, the dungeon where your friends are being stored."
"Former allies, thank you." Puck corrected, looking with interest at the 360-degree view of the room. It was almost as if they were there, except he could see the slight sheen of reflected light on it, and it was much too small. "This is amazing! How do you do it?"
"Perhaps you'll be informed, once we're certain of your loyalty." Mab said. "Let's just say we're on good terms with someone who knows mirrors intimately."
"Sure." Puck said, still turning and staring, wide-eyed. "So what's my test?"
"Just... look." Mab said.
Puck blinked at her, his face saying that that was what he had been doing, thank you very much.
"At your companions." Mab clarified.
Puck turned to Peter and stared for a minute. "All right, so?"
"Turn." Mab said.
Puck sighed, and spun to see Sabrina and Mr. Clay. Neither of them looked good. In fact, they looked worse than Peter. Mr. Clay was turned to look at Sabrina, and his mouth was moving as if he was speaking. Knowing that he had to, he turned his head very slowly to see Sabrina's face, trying his best not to brace himself visibly.
She was crying. Tear stains traced their way down, carving tracks of cleanliness down her filthy cheeks, and there was a look of utter defeat in her puffy red eyes.
Puck concentrated hard to keep the muscles of his face relaxed- bored, almost.
"Well?" Mab asked, looking at his face a bit eagerly.
"No sound?" Puck asked, keeping his voice as unaffected as his face with much effort. Every cell in his body screamed to run to Sabrina and comfort her- or go find whoever had made her face look like that and punch their lights out. But it was his fault she was crying, and he couldn't leave. He needed to do this. He'd make it up to her. Someday.
"We can give you sound, if you like." Mab offered, then spoke again in the language Puck had never heard.
There was a brief flicker, then Sabrina's voice came in, saying "-Hate her. She's such a... I don't even *hic* know."
"Everyone does." Mr. Clay said. "Ignore her, she's just gloating."
"They deserve each other." Peter said. "He proved that."
"I-I kn-now." Sabrina said, her voice catching in her throat. "But it still h-hur-r-rts. And I f-feel like such an id-di-idiot, c-crying like thi-is."
"Don't, child, it's perfectly understandable." Mr. Clay said. "But... did you ever consider the idea that he might be faking? To get us out?"
Puck suddenly felt Moth's and Mab's eyes on him.
But Sabrina on-screen shook her head and saved him. "I s-saw his f-face, he wasn't ly-lying. I'd know-oh."
"Because you knew him so well." Peter said darkly.
"See?" Puck said, gesturing to Sabrina's reflection. "I couldn't lie to you. You can truth-test me if you want, but she can see lies. I honest to goodness am on your side now."
"Care to explain why?" Mab asked. "I want to believe you, but it's a bit... dodgy."
Puck shrugged. "They're annoying. All humans are. And I want to live, and be free, not stuck in a cell. There wasn't any way out, so it was either switch or spend the rest of forever in there. You guys have a point, anyway, so..."
"See, mother?" Moth said, hugging Puck. "He's being smart! Can we speed this up, please?"
Mab sighed. "Well, I suppose the second test could be moved to tonight. The scientists will need a few hours to prepare, of course, but they've wanted to move it forward as it is."
Moth squealed. "Truly? Oh, this is wonderful! I can't wait! Thank you, mother!" She ran out of the room, pulling Puck with her, then turned. "We're finished, yes?"
Mab sighed. "I suppose. He passed the first test." As Moth dragged Puck off, she called, "Tonight at nine! The damper room!"