AN~ Thus ends the plot arc of Puck-joins-the-Scarlet-Hand.
() of chapter 79: I've been told. You're not going to answer my questions?
Agd: Sabrina is ALMOST invisible in her astral form, not quite. And because Mab can only barely see her, that's why Sabrina needed to keep talking. I'll make that clearer when I edit.
squrriel101: Thanks! I'll fix that! Oh, you're winner of a review award. Whatcha want? :)
"I know you're here to let them out." The boy said.
"Back up." Puck said. "Who are you?"
"Tom Thumb." The boy said.
"Aren't you supposed to be... thumb-sized?" Puck asked, holding his own thumb up in front of his face and comparing it in size to the guy in front of him.
"I am." The brown-haired boy said. "Usually."
Puck gave him a confused look, raising his eyebrows and squinting, head turned to the side.
Tom sighed. "Post-natal fairy. Like Sabrina."
Puck shook his head. "Still not getting it."
"I can change in size." Tom said, voice flat.
Puck had heard that tone before. It meant the speaker thought he was about as thick as you could get. He bristled. "Great. So what else can you do, all-powerful one?"
"Teleport, and sense emotional ties." Tom said.
Well, that explained both where he'd come from and how he'd known what Puck was up to.
But Tom smiled then. "And you've got an extra one, buddy. Which is why I'm down here." Seeing Puck tense again, he said, "Don't worry, I'm not here to fight you. In fact, if you really want to, I'll just let you through. I won't even tell them you left."
"So what's the catch?" Puck asked, wary.
"You've made it for yourself." Tom said with a smile. "You've got a choice to make, Puck. And you think you don't have one, that it's not even a choice, but I know better. I'm here to remind you that the girl in that cell is not the only one who loves you."
"Wha- Moth?" Puck asked skeptically. "You can't be serious." He decided to ignore the Sabrina-loves-you comment. She wouldn't after this.
"So who's it going to be, Puck?" Tom asked. "Either way, you'll break someone's heart. Moth, who is what you could have been, if you hadn't been the Trickster King, who's been nothing but kind to you, who understands what it's like to be royal and an everafter and looked down on by your family, or Sabrina, whose heart you already broke?"
Puck hesitated. He'd hate himself for it afterwards, but he thought about it for a minute. Moth hadn't seemed as revolting as before, this week. But he shook himself out of it. Moth might not be completely evil, but she'd never be Sabrina. She'd never have that fire, that life, that spirit that made Sabrina what she was.
"Thanks, but no thanks." Puck said. "Moth and I... just no." He shuddered.
Tom smiled. "Your choice." He said. "Just remember, Sabrina isn't under the protection of that oath anymore."
"She can handle it." Puck said, offhand. "She's strong."
"All right." Tom said. "You have about half an hour before you'll be missed. I suggest you get on that."
"Wait!" Puck called. When Tom stopped, he said, "Two things. One, weren't you on our side once? And two, why are you doing this?"
"I wasn't." Tom said. "I was never part of the Fay, but I've always hated humans... maybe 'cause they're so used to thinking they're the only powerful ones in the world, maybe 'cause of my dad. And... why I'm doing it? Because Mab's been ruling things for too long. And besides, Sabrina and I... we're almost related. Cobweb made me what I am today. I'm repaying a debt. Next time, though, don't expect any special favors."
He disappeared soundlessly, leaving Puck in an empty hallway, with his head much fuller than before and his heart much heavier.
Then the realization hit: he still didn't know how to open the doors.
He tried transforming to an elephant first, but all he did was shake things up, so he switched back to his normal form and belched fire at the door. Still nothing. So, after a long, desperate sit-and-think, he transformed into a flea and crawled under the door.
On the other side of the door, he switched back to his own form and was met by shocked looks from the three prisoners in the room.
"What are you doing here?" Peter asked, and his voice was full of poison.
"I'm here to bust you out." Puck said hurriedly. "And I've only got, like, fifteen minutes to do it in, so save the questions and yelling at me for after, 'kay?"
"How, exactly, are you going to get us out?" Mr. Clay asked, and Puck was a bit surprised by how accepting he seemed.
"Like this." Puck said, walking up to the lock on Mr. Clay's cuffs. He examined it for a minute, then stuck his hand in Mr. Clay's and spun around in a circle, transforming to a key that would fit in the lock.
It took Mr. Clay a lot longer than Puck would have liked to work him into the keyhole and unlock himself, but after that, it was a simple matter to unlock the other two.
When they all stood free in the room, Peter asked, "Now what, traitor?" HIS voice was full of ice.
"Well, I can leave from the inside." Puck said. "If I knew the password, I could get you guys out, too..."
Sabrina, who hadn't said anything up 'til that point- in fact, hadn't even looked at Puck- said, looking over his shoulder, "Might forever."
"What was that?" Puck asked.
Sabrina sighed and repeated, "Might forever. It's the password. I overheard the guards using it."
"All right then." Puck said, attempting a smile. She still wouldn't look at him.
He shrugged, then spun, turning back into a flea, and hopped over to the door. On the other side, he spun himself human again and turned to the door to say the password. "Might forever?" He asked, and the door swung open silently.
The others ran out. Mr. Clay looked at Puck gratefully, but the others ignored him. Sabrina ran straight for the stairs, and Peter followed.
"Wait!" Puck called, running after them. "You don't know the way out!"
"Oh, and you do?" Peter asked, eyebrows raised.
"Not exactly." Puck said, and as Peter started to turn back, he continued hurriedly, "But I have a general idea. Look, I made a map!"
Peter grabbed the map and, yanking it out of Puck's hands, said, "So where are we?"
"Not on the map." Puck said, snatching his map back. "So let me lead you."
"How do we know you're not just going to lead us straight to the Scarlet Hand?" Peter asked, eyes narrowing.
"Then you're back where you started." Puck said. "So come on, let's go!"
He ran for the stairs without looking back. They'd follow him. They didn't have any choice. He led them as fast as possible through the castle, sure that he'd be missed soon. He'd been right about the position of the door, and they made it out safely- only to see a wall surrounding the castle.
"Now what?" Peter asked snidely.
"Three of us can fly." Puck reminded him. "So two of us carry Mr. Clay."
"Sabrina and me." Peter said promptly.
Puck shrugged, and the group flew over the wall quickly. By Puck's internal clock, people would be just starting to look for him. But he might be wrong. He'd lost track a bit in the dungeon. Peter and Sabrina led the way to the woods that surrounded the castle, and landed among the leafless trees. Puck touched down after them, then started walking away.
"Where are you going?" Peter asked.
"Away from the castle." Puck said. "I have no idea where we are, so I figure if we walk in any direction, we'll at least be getting farther from anyone who'd look for us."
"Well, let's go this way, then." Peter said, pointing at a right angle to the direction Puck was headed. "Just in case."
Puck shrugged and followed him, along with the others. They walked for the whole evening, with no signs of pursuit, surprisingly. The air was warm, for November, but it was wet, and they were plodding their way through half-decomposed wet leaves most of the time, uphill and downhill, through pathless woods. It was rough going, and by the time night fell, they were all exhausted.
They stopped when Sabrina and Peter couldn't see well enough to walk anymore, simply sitting in a clear-ish area of the forest. Sabrina sat on a rock as far away from Puck as possible, but Peter stayed close, keeping a watchful eye on him.
"So, Puck, explain." Peter said.
Puck did, talking until he saw Peter's face soften. He looked over at Sabrina, who looked incredibly forlorn in the moonlight.
"She heard all of that." Mr. Clay said, seeing where Puck was looking.
"So what's she thinking?" Puck asked.
"Go talk to her and see." Mr. Clay suggested. "You hurt her badly, with what you did. The fact that Peter forgave you means it will just take her longer."
"All right, I will." Puck said, and he walked over to the rock Sabrina was sitting on and put a hand on her shoulder.
Sabrina spun and hit him with a right hook in the jaw.
Puck put his hands to his jaw and, pushing it from side to side, said, "Aau! Uah! What was that for?"
"For betraying me!" Sabrina half shouted. "For two weeks in a dungeon thinking you'd switched sides, for every look Moth gave me, and for that stupid, stupid KISS!"
"Well, I'm sorry, I was trying to save us all!" Puck snapped. "It was the only thing I could think of!"
"Did you ever think about warning us?" Sabrina asked. "Instead of just acting like you'd switched sides?"
"I honestly never thought you'd fall for it, too!" Puck marveled, hurt. "How could you think I'd do that?"
"Because I thought about doing that." Sabrina said, quieter now. "And if I thought about it, well... why wouldn't you?"
Puck walked around so that he was in front of Sabrina and squatted down, looking into her face. "Sabrina." He said. "I would never, ever betray you like that. I promise. This was just the only way I could think of to get us out of that."
"What about all that stuff with Moth?" Sabrina asked, accusing again. But her eyes seemed a bit softer.
Puck thought about telling her the truth for a millisecond, the stuff about feeling sorry for Moth, but, when he noticed her noticing his hesitation, and saw the way she got suspicious again, he said, "She was kind of like my babysitter to make sure I wasn't faking wanting to be in the Hand. She volunteered for it. And the... the kiss was just to get you back into a vision. I wasn't sure it would work, but I had to try. And it did, didn't it? I swear, Moth and I will never be anything. Ever."
"Mph." Sabrina said, looking pointedly at his sweatshirt with its Scarlet Handprint in the center.
"And you know, if you hadn't taken off your necklace, I never would have done that!" Puck said, incensed.
"I took it off so that Daphne would have the key to the chicken house!" Sabrina snapped. "Honestly, Puck!"
"Oh..." Puck said, realizing. "Well, I meant it." He offered. "It was a charade the whole time."
"Goodnight, Puck." Sabrina said, lying down on the wet leaves.
Puck could have fought harder, but he decided not to press her. They were both tired, and he knew how stubborn she could get. She'd refuse to forgive him, just 'cause that's what he wanted. So he stood up and walked away with a sigh.
"Give her time." Mr. Clay said, patting him on the shoulder. "She'll forgive you."
Puck looked towards her with a sigh, then said, "Maybe. But she's got the right idea. We've got a long day and no food tomorrow."
The next morning, Puck was woken by the sound of people crashing through the bushes.
"Wha-" He started to say, rubbing his eyes.
"Sh!" Sabrina's voice said quickly.
Puck sh'ed.
They sat there in silence for a long fifteen minutes, listening to people shuffle through the wet leaves around them. It was a bright, clear morning, one that would start the forest drying out, but it was also much colder than the day before. That meant that they were all freezing, having slept on the wet ground. Puck noticed that Sabrina was wearing his inside-out sweatshirt, which he'd put over her the night before. Well, good. At least she was practical, even if she hadn't forgiven him yet. And this meant she'd be a bit warmer.
When the sounds finally died away, Puck sat up and stretched with a groan. "How did they not see us?" He asked.
"Sabrina put a barrier up that just reflected the trees back at them." Peter said. "It was mostly card soldiers, so when they saw their reflections, they thought it was just more of them."
"Smart." Puck said. Normally he wouldn't have complemented her, but he figured a complement might help him get back in her good books.
Sabrina, though, seemed to have gone back to giving him the cold shoulder.
"Hey." Peter said thoughtfully. "Now that we know they've searched here, could you call your magic house, Sabrina?"
Sabrina shrugged. "I could try, but it might call attention to us." She said. "And I don't even know if it'll come, since I don't have the key."
"Try anyway." Mr. Clay suggested. "It came to Baba Yaga, even after she gave you the key."
Sabrina shrugged, then whistled loudly, whispering afterwards, "Please be just a chicken, please please please..."
They sat around waiting for ages, it seemed to Puck.
Sabrina looked down at herself. "I'm filthy." She said, wrinkling her nose. "I can't wait to get home and get in clean clothes. Not only have I been wearing this for who knows how long, now they're muddy, stained, and have leaves stuck on them!"
"So they pretty much look like my clothes." Puck joked.
Sabrina didn't answer, just saying mournfully, "I liked these clothes."
Puck shrugged. He hadn't expected anything else. But it was weird, having her so mad she wouldn't' speak to him, instead of shouting her head off at him.'
Just as Puck was about ready to suggest that they start walking, there was a rustle in the leaves. A small beaked head poked its way around a tree trunk, and was soon followed by a fat yellow chicken.
"House!" Sabrina said gleefully, standing. "Take us home!"
The chicken turned and started trotting off in the opposite direction, and the others scrambled up, following it. Puck was struck by the ridiculousness of four people following a chicken through the woods in the early morning, and he started to chuckle.
After an hour or so, Puck realized how fast chickens could move, and he was starting to get tired. He wished he could fly, but the trees were too thick. "Can," he panted, "can we stop? Take a break?"
"Sounds nice." Peter said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
Sabrina slowed to a halt, and Mr. Clay followed. The chicken took a minute longer, then turned back to them, trotted a few steps, and stopped, wearing a very interesting expression for a chicken, or a house. Puck had never thought he'd see an impatient chicken.
"I think we're probably far enough away that we could go the rest of the way home inside the chicken house." Mr. Clay suggested. "It'll be much faster and safer and less tiring."
"Sounds good to me." Sabrina said, pursing her lips. She turned to the house and said, "How bout it? Go back to house form?"
There was a loud 'whump,' then the area in front of them was suddenly full of house, and Puck found himself staring at the large, lumpy calf of a chicken leg. He looked at Peter, who nodded, and the two grabbed Mr. Clay by the arms and hoisted him up, flying to the porch. Sabrina followed after.
"House, home!" She called, stepping inside. The house started trotting off, jerking with each step, and Sabrina threw herself down onto the couch. "Ah, it's good to be home." She said with a sigh. Then she sat up abruptly. "There's a shower in here. And Mom had Uncle Jake put spare clothes for everybody in his bedroom. I can be clean!" She got up and ran for the bedroom, stumbling a bit as the house shook.
They all took showers, even Puck- very difficult when the house you're showering in is moving- and were dressed in new, clean clothes- except Puck, who had given his to Peter, who was about his size, by the time they reached the Grimm house. The Chicken House stopped short in the front yard, and they walked out to tell the family they were home.