AN~ I got the Grimm Guide! Thus there must be a Morgan le Fay and Seven oneshot, because that's just the weirdest canon pairing ever. Sorry for the long wait.
Purpleflower23: Yeah, this story has followed an... unusual plot arc. Because I'm big on exposition, apparently... Thanks, though! Why'd you send it twice?
ANannyMouse: Thanks! The family thing: I will explain it soon, I promise. And Henry worries about everything. I choose Christmas!
Agd: Yup. Took 'em long enough. And the logic thing is OK, 'cause it gives me a chance to work out stuff on paper that I had in my head.
JOSIE: Oh. I get it. And whoa. Are you stalking me? Lol.
squrriel101: Thanks! How was it unclear, so I can fix it? Should I just make it more obvious?
Eponine Thenardier: Thanks a lot! :D Was the update fast enough?
"Mirror?" Daphne gasped. "But why? We trusted you!"
"Well, you shouldn't have." Mirror said, and he almost looked sad.
"Before we get down to this... whatever we're going to do..." Sabrina said, "Can I ask one question?"
"You just did." Mirror said. "But you can ask another before we do 'whatever,' as you said so eloquently."
"Why?" Sabrina asked. "Why? My parents, my brother... why do it? What has my family ever done to you to make you do this to us?"
"You, personally, haven't done anything to me." Mirror said. "And I'll admit your grandmother has been kind. But the rest of your family has treated me like a tool. So has everyone! I've been trapped in this mirror my entire life, and treated like a servant... a slave, or a robot, even! I won't stand for it anymore!"
"So you take it out on people who never did you anything wrong?" Daphne exploded. "That's... You're despicable."
"I'm sorry, Daphne." Mirror said, and he sounded honest, "But I had no choice. Now step away from the boy, or we're going to have problems."
"No!" Daphne snapped, stepping into her warrior stance and scrunching her face up. "Why do you want him, anyway?"
"I need his body." Mirror said. "Otherwise I'm trapped here. Now move, Daphne. I'm being serious."
Sabrina popped a barrier into existence around Daphne and said, "Don't, Daph."
"I wasn't going to." Daphne said, and her eyes were fiercer than Sabrina had ever seen them before. "I'm not scared."
"I'm afraid you should be." Mirror said, and around him appeared a globe of lightning bolts.
Sabrina looked at Mirror, gauging her options. He'd worked his way in between them, which would have been great, since they were surrounding him, except he was surrounded by lightning, which was very dangerous. It also meant she couldn't put barriers around everyone, because they were circular, and she couldn't hold that many. She could try to protect the others, but which ones? It wouldn't be fair to choose!
She only had one choice, really, and that was to put a barrier on Mirror himself. So, taking a deep breath, she popped Daphne's barrier and placed one around Mirror's growing lightning ball.
Mirror chuckled. "You think that'll work on me, Starfish?"
"Don't." Sabrina gritted her teeth, "You. Ever. Call me that!"
Mirror smiled, and it was cruel. "I'll call you what I like, Starfish. It's pathetic, what you're trying. You think I'll be stopped by this?" He looked at the barrier around him disdainfully. "I can't be killed, Sabrina. I'm not alive. Your barrier won't stop me. Especially when I do this-"
His lightning ball expanded, and Sabrina hissed as the edges of it hit her barrier. She was still feeding it power, and she felt the energy from the tines of light brushing it, like a thousand electric shocks.
Mirror's eyes widened as he saw her wince. "Does that bother you, then?" He asked, a smile growing on her face. "Well, then..."
Sabrina glared at Puck and mouthed, 'Grab the baby and run.'
Puck frowned, then what Sabrina had said registered, and his eyes widened. He jumped up, wings sprouting out of his back again, and flew over Mirror's head towards the crib.
But it was too late. Mirror had caused his lighning ball to explode outward too fast for Sabrina to deal with, and she was faced with a choice: drop the barrier and let Mirror get the baby or pass out trying to keep it up. Being Sabrina, she chose to pass out, but as she keeled over, the barrier popped out of existence, and Mirror was suddenly racing Puck for the baby.
Mirror won, thanks to his lightning. He grabbed the redheaded boy and turned to the rest of the room, one hand outstretched. "Nobody move." He said. "Lightning can go in more than one direction at once, did you know? And I have other resources at my fingertips, too."
Puck, Daphne, and Red froze. Sabrina already lay on the floor, unmoving.
"That's better." Mirror said. "Now, I'm going to leave here, and you're not going to move from that spot for five minutes, got it?" They all nodded, but Mirror continued, "To make sure, there's going to be a fire burning in that doorway until I'm safely gone." He was backing out of the room as he spoke, looking them all in the eyes, and he grinned, having reached the doorway, as a wall of flame hopped up between them and him. "Ta-ta."
"What do we do?" Red asked. "He's got the baby!"
"Call my dad." Daphne said, already pulling out her sword. "He can help. Or get help. And then we go after the baby."
"Before or after we call you dad?" Puck asked shrewdly.
"What do you think?" Daphne asked.
"Uh-uh." Red said. "Bad idea, Daphne. We wait for the grown-ups."
"But they won't let me do anything if we do!" Daphne wailed. "I'll have to sit here while they do all the work!"
"There's a reason for that, Daph." Puck said. "I hate to have to be the mature one, here, but you're nine. As in, not even ten. As in, you've only known about everafters for two years and you've only been an everafter for one. As in, they all- including your sister- have more experience with you. As in they want to keep you safe 'cause you're the most vulnerable. Yeah, you're tough stuff. Yeah, you can do a ton of stuff. But you're not invincible, and people just want to keep you safe. So promise me you won't go running off as soon as that fire comes-"
But it was too late. The firewall had just come down and Daphne was already gone.
"Well, I tried, Grimm." Puck said, looking at the girl on the floor with a half-smile as he walked towards her. "But I don't think there's any stopping her. So you better wake up!" He shouted that last part, shaking Sabrina, and then said, "'Cause I think it's time for a new adventure."
Red trotted off after Daphne, shaking her head.
Sabrina groaned, "Wha...? Where'd Mirror go?"
"He took the baby and ran off." Puck said. "We tried to stop him, but it didn'twork. And your sister ran after him."
Sabrina grinned. "She reminds me of me sometimes." Then she lost the smile, rubbing her head. "Which is probably a bad thing... We should probably follow her, huh?"
"Yup." Puck said. "Red already headed after her."
Sabrina rolled over and pushed herself off the ground slowly, wincing. "Geez." She muttered. "Why do I hurt so much? I'm not even the one that got electrocuted!"
Puck shrugged. "Guess it works the same. I mean, your hair definitely looks like you were the one getting shocked."
"What?" Sabrina asked, looking up at him, wide-eyed. She reached up and patted her hair, looking into the mirror fragments that lined the walls. "Augww!" She wailed, seeing how it stuck out in every single direction, with singed ends. "It looks hideous! Why is it that every time I fight evil I look ridiculous? In all the movies, the heronie's got perfect hair and nice clothes and cool gadgets! Why not me?"
"Because this isn't a movie?" Puck suggested. "And in real life, people don't look perfect all the time?" He looked away from her, blushing a bit, and continued, "Besides, you... you look... well... I mean..."
"Stupid." Sabrina finished for him.
"No, not that." Puck said, and looked at Sabrina, exasperated, his face bright red. "Are you seriously going to make me say this, Grimm? You're the most gorgeous person I've ever seen, even when you're a mess. Heck, especially when you're a mess!"
Sabrina stared at Puck, then, after a long, awkward silence, said, "I think the shock is messing with my hearing. Can you repeat that?"
"Oh, now you're just fishign for complements." Puck rolled his eyes, still bright red. "What I just said there will never be repeated, unless you want to spend the rest of your life with green skin."
"Then I heard you right?" Sabrina asked, her face getting as dark as Puck's. When he didn't respond, she said, "Well, let's go follow Daphne!" in a way that suggested she was looking for a way, any way, to change the subject.
"Yeah." Puck agreed, and the two walked back out into the hall.
"So is that why you prank me so much?" Sabrina asked as they headed into the previously-closed and now open stone door across the hall. "'Cause I look better that way?"
"No." Puck said. "I do it 'cause you're hilarious when you're mad at me for something tiny. I mean, yeah, I pranked you. But you'd think I, like, killed your pet or something, you get so ticked!"
"Oh." Sabrina said. "I'll remember that." She looked around the room, surprised. It was plain stone, with nothing in it but a single pedestal on which stood a large leather book, its pages flipping back and forth quickly, of their own accord. "What's this?"
"The book of everafter, I guess." Daphne shrugged. "Mirror's in it already. He just put his hand on a page and disappeared."
"So why aren't you?" Sabrina asked.
"Waiting for you." Daphne said. "Ready?"
"Heck yes!" Sabrina grinned. "Except... somebody should stay here. So Dad knows what's up."
"I'll do it." Red offered.
Sabina smiled at her, then grabbed Daphne's hand. "Ready?" She asked.
Daphne nodded, then watched Sabrina expectantly. Sabrina glanced at Puck's hand, then back at Daphne. No way she was holding hands with Puck after that conversation. Not yet. Daphne shrugged and grabbed Puck's hand for herself. Sabrina took a deep breath and put her hand on the book's page expectantly.
Everything went black.
Red stood there in the room, waiting for Henry to show up, alone and scared. She danced back and forth from one foot to the other, watching the door and the book in turns.
It was lonely. She wished she'd gone in the book with the others. Or that someone had stayed with her. But none of them would had stayed. Daphne was too worried about proving she could do things, and Sabrina wouldn't stay if Daphne was going, and Puck wouldn't stay if Sabrina was going. So that left her. Alone.
There was a thunking noise in the hall. "Who's there?" She asked, her voice trembling.
Nobody answered.
"Mr... Uncle Henry?" Red asked. "Is that you?"
There was still no answer.
"Really, who's there?" Red squeaked as the thumping noise continued.
A buck-toothed face appeared around the corner of the door and Red gasped, "Pinocchio! What are you doing here? I thought you went with An!"
"She disappeared." Pinocchio said, his large nose wrinkling. "So I had to come alone."
"You were coming here anyway?" Red asked. "Why?"
"So I can alter my history, obviously!" Pinocchio snapped. "Hasn't anybodyinformed you of that? You enter the book of everafter, and you can remedy the past! So I'm going in there, and I'm going to render events so I am capable of aging!"
"But why not just ask the Blue Fairy to make it so you can grow up?" Red asked, brow furrowing. "That makes a lot more sense than going to all this trouble..."
"No!" Pinnocchio snapped. "I won't! I have had my fill of that woman, and I refuse to request anything else of her! She is unreliable and untrustworthy!"
"Sounds like you." Red muttered. "But less bratty."
"What was that?" Pinocchio snapped.
"Nothing." Red said quickly, shrinking from the look in Pinocchio's eyes.
"No matter." Pinocchio said. "I'm loath to resort to physical violence, but I can'tafford to have you hinder me, so..." He trailed off and punched Red in the nose.
"Ow!" Red wailed, putting a hand to her nose. "What was that for?"
"Hm." Pinocchio said. "It would appear that rendering someone unconscious is more difficult than I first imagined. Let me try that again."
"No!" Red exclaimed, putting her hands over her face. "Go away!"
Pinocchio punched her again, and Red decided that it was best to pretend that he'd actually knocked her out, so she crumpled to the ground and shut her eyes.
Pinocchio sneered at her and kicked her side. "Fool." He muttered, turning to the book. He glared at it, trying to make it flip to the page he wanted, but it wouldn't go. "Stupid book!" He snapped. "Why won't you cooperate?" He sighed, and stuck his hand on the book, and disappeared.
Red sat up and looked at the book, worried. They didn't know Pinocchio was in there! But how to tell them without her sword? She really needed to go find that. Soon.
She wasn't scared anymore, though, she was angry. Angry at Pinocchio and his big words and his baby attitude, angry at Mirror, messing with her new family, and angry at the Scarlet Hand for taking advantage of her when she'd been crazy. She was going to do something about it! But what?
"Daddy!" Daphne's voice startled Henry as he was making a snack.
"What is it, Daphne?" He asked, picking up his sword.
"Mirror's a traitor, Daddy, and he's- he's got the baby!" Daphne said, her face crumpling. "We tried to stop him, but we couldn't, and Sabrina's passed out, and he ran off into the book of everafter and he wants to take over the baby's body and it's a boy and can we call him Theodore and it's awful! Can you come here? And bring Granny and Mom and Uncle Jake and Aunt Briar?"
"Wait wait wait, Daphne, slow down." Henry said, trying to process that. "What about Mirror?"
"He's the Master." Daphne said. "He took your baby so that he could get into the Book of Everafter and... I think get the Bunny in that story to put him in his body. And he's gone and Sabrina's passed out and you need to get here fast! With everyone else! He just got in the book, there's still time to stop him!"
"OK, Daphne, I will." Henry promised. "Let me call everyone, and wait for us!"
Daphne had already cut the connection by the time Henry got to 'wait for us', and he sighed. She wasn't going to wait. He knew that. So he set about calling everyone home through his sword, which, while he still didn't trust magic, was proving very useful.
Once everyone was on the screen, he gave them the rundown of what Daphne had told him and finished, "So get home fast, 'cause we have to invade Mirror before something worse happens."
The family all gave their agreements, in various states of shock over Mirror's betrayal, and Henry went to prepare himself. He already had a sword, so that was one step down, but there were other things that weren't in Mirror around the house that he could make good use of.
"Bella!" He called. "Come give me a hand! We need to go raid the basement!"
Bella's loud sigh could be heard through the house, as well as her: "Sorry, Mr. Ghepetto, but I guess we have an emergency. Maybe you should go home, in case Pinocchio goes back there."
By the time the family was home, the basement was well-raided, and they were ready to set off, looking motley but hard-core and prepared.
"I knew I should have gone up there with them." Henry muttered to himself, leading the way into Mirror's room.
He stopped, realizing that there was a zombie walking out of the room at him. "What the-"
Veronica stepped forward and sliced the zombie's head off and said, "I don't think Mirror stopped at letting himself out of the Hall of Wonders..."
"Hurry!" Granny said, barreling forward, battle axe in hand. "We have to close the doors before something worse than a few of the undead get out!"
"I thought you'd been working on getting everything important out for ages!" Uncle Jake said, running after her into the Mirror.
"Working on!" Granny said. "I haven't finished yet! I got the stuff I thought they might steal out, but not the things living there!"
"There's a frost giant in there!" Veronica said. "Isn't there?"
"Four of them!" Granny corrected. "And an ogre! And that's just the big ones! There's also about fifty vampires and two hundred various monsters!"
"But how did they get out?" Bella asked.
Her answer came when they were all in the Hall of Wonders: amidst the chaos of things that had been let out were ten marionettes with a giant key ring.
"Oh no." Briar muttered. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."