AN~ Less of a wait this chapter, thankfully. Back in the college grind for me!
squrriel101:They haven't been actually there, but back in 42 and 43 they were discussed at length. Those two chapters where I need to fix everything? Yeah. Those.
ANannyMouse: Well, since the book changes the past anyway, it's kind of like you ARE going back in time, but replacing someone. I dunno, it's a bit of an enigma to me, too. I enjoyed Making Puck a female. And your catchphrase... while that would be hilarious, it's a bit long for a title, isn't it? And... completely unrelated to everything. Everywhere. Plus, with Granny, I bet someday they WILL eat fried elephants. But your review made me laugh, so it was worth it.
Agd: Yup. But it was thousands of years ago anyway, so maybe it's OK? He'd be dead anyhow.
The four children found themselves in the middle of a lightning storm. In the house.
"Leiblings!" Granny called from somewhere. "Oh, thank goodness! Now get away, before something bad happens!"
"What?" Daphne asked, spinning around, looking for Granny desperately. "What's happening?"
Sabrina shoved her sister down as a lightning bold shot towards her face, shouting, "Duck!"
Pinocchio was already running, half out of the room before the others even knew where to hide. Sabrina grabbed the still-spacey baby from Puck's shoulder and ran with it towards the doorway, dodging lightning as she went.
Puck, pulling Granny and Daphne's wrists, was close behind, and he slammed the door behind them, panting. "Now what?" He asked, leaning heavily on the doorframe.
"Oh, lieblings, the others are still in there!" Granny said, voice full of worry. "We have to get them out!"
"All of them?" Daphne asked, eyes wide. "Mom and Dad and Bella and Uncle Jake and Aunt Briar and Red?"
Granny nodded. "I took the book out of the Hall of Wonders so quickly, they didn't have time to leave before Mirror started attacking everyone in sight!"
"So that's where he went." Puck said, satisfied. "I was wondering where he disappeared to."
"Yeah, excuse me for a minute." Sabrina said, watching as Pinocchio ran down the stairs. "Hold this guy for a sec?" She handed the baby to Granny and ran off after him, wishing there was space to fly.
She caught up with him in the front yard, where she was finally able to fly, and landed in front of him with her arms crossed. "And where do you think you're going?"
"Back to the place where I am welcomed with open arms, imbecile!" Pinocchio sneered. "Now remove thyself from my line of vision whilst I leave!"
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Okay, one, it's a really long walk. You should just go home to your dad and stop being such a brat, and two, you really think they're going to welcome you back? You failed, buddy. And they don't like it when people fail."
Pinocchio sneered at her and tried to dodge around her, but she grabbed his shirt. "Come on, bucko." She said. "I've got enough to deal with without adding you to the mix."
It wasn't that easy, of course, but Sabrina did manage to drag Pinocchio back upstairs despite all his kicking and screaming and weak punches. She deposited him in Puck's grasp, then sat down on the floor saying, "So, what did I miss?"
"Not much." Puck said, sitting on Pinocchio to keep him from running away. "We just decided that it's a bad idea to go in there."
"What we need is someone who can teleport." Daphne said. "Get us in there and get them out."
"Uncle Jake probably has something like that." Sabrina said. "He has most things we need."
"I met someone who can teleport once." Puck said, looking at the ceiling. "But he won't help us."
"Why not?" Daphne asked.
"He's... not exactly on our side." Puck said tersely.
Sabrina's fists clenched, and neither she nor Puck looked at each other. Then Sabrina blinked. "Wait a second!" She said. "I can get them out!"
Realization dawned on most of the group's faces. Then Sabrina, who was suddenly standing, made a face. "Nope." She said. "I can't."
"I hate it when you do that." Daphne complained. "I feel so out of the loop."
"What happened, liebling?" Granny asked. "You stopped time, yes? Why couldn't you get through?"
"I don't know." Sabrina shrugged, rubbing her nose. "But when I tried to get into the Hall of Wonders, I bounced back, like I'd tried to walk through a normal mirror!"
"We need a new plan, then." Daphne said.
"Actually, I may have an idea to get through." Sabrina said, biting her lip. "But none of you are going to like it."
"What?" Puck asked warily.
"I think I can get through if time isn't stopped." Sabrina said. As the others started to protest, she said, "Let me finish! What I'd have to do is get right up to the mirror, then start time again for just a second, just long enough to jump through. Then I'd stop it again right away, grab one of them, and get them out before doing it again."
"You're right." Puck said. "I hate that idea. And you're not doing it."
"Let's see if we can think of anything else before we do that, maybe?" Daphne suggested. "'Cause we need to get them out of there, and if that's the only way to do it..."
"Would one of you kindly explain what it is that Sabrina accomplished?" Pinocchio asked. "I have absolutely no idea what just occurred."
"She stops time, imbecile." Daphne said coldly, glaring at the boy underneath Puck.
"Well, in what way was I supposed to be informed of this without requesting the knowledge?" Pinocchio protested. "It isn't exactly common knowledge!"
Daphne blinked, then looked at Sabrina for a translation.
"He said: 'how am I supposed to know? It's a secret!'" Sabrina explained, then turned to the others. "So... how 'bout them ideas? Got any? 'Cause I kind of think mine's the only one that will work."
"I don't know, liebling." Granny said doubtfully. "I don't have any other ideas, but this seems very dangerous."
"It's not as bad as it seems." Sabrina assured her. "When I went in there, there wasn't even any lightning or fire outside the mirror. There was a lot inside, but he wasn't looking anywhere near me. I think I'll be fine."
"But... so many times?" Granny asked. "It's too much of a risk."
"I can do it in three, maybe two goes, if I work it right." Sabrina said. "And this is the only plan we have!"
Granny sighed. "Fine. But be careful. Promise me!"
"I promise." Sabrina said, stopping time again.
She walked past the frozen people, giving Puck's face, frozen in protest, a twisted smile as she went. Yanking the door open, she walked to the mirror, placed her hands on it, and took a deep breath. Leaning all her weight on it, she started time again, just for a second, stopping it as soon as she fell through. She nodded, safe again as the only one moving in the world, and turned to survey the scene in front of her.
Mirror was half-turned in her direction, looking for the source of the noise, his hands pointing to her family, frozen mid-run in the wrong direction as lightning bolts, jagged lines of danger in the air, stretched towards them. That was bad, that he was looking. It meant that he would see when she brought people out.
"Change of plans." She said to herself, and walked to her mother, who was closest, pulling Red behind her.
She touched them both and explained things to them, then walked them to the portal to outside and released them. Then she did the same for the others, leaving them all at the entrance to the Hall of Wonders in a clump. Once everyone was there, she wormed into the center of the group, touching all of them, and said, "Jump."
She started time.
"What on-" Mirror shouted, turned all the way, now.
Everyone jumped through the portal, and Sabrina stopped time again. They were out.
She waited 'til they were out in the hallway again before starting time for good then, breathing heavily, grinned at Puck. "See?" She said. "I was fine."
"I think that was incredibly dangerous of you, Sabrina." Henry said tightly. "And if Puck was worried, he was right for once. You shouldn't have done that."
"Henry." Granny said. "We discussed it, and it was the only way we could think of to get you out. I trust Sabrina. Maybe it's about time you start, too. She's a very capable girl."
Sabrina looked at her feet, blushing with pride. Granny thought she was capable!
"That doesn't change the facts, mom." Henry said. "Shes a twelve year old girl. I want her to live to be much older than that, and sending her into danger isn't going to help!"
"The facts, Hank." Uncle Jake interrupted, "Are that Sabrina is very talented with rare gifts, and she should take advantage of them before they're gone!"
Veronica, who had been standing there holding the baby ever since she'd seen him, looked up at the two men and said, "Does it matter? We're all safe, and I have my baby back!"
Henry took a deep breath, nodded, and joined Veronica in holding the little boy tightly.
"Why is he so... spacey?" Bella asked, peering at him.
"That's a long story." Daphne said. "Can we not worry about it quite yet? He'll be fine in a few days."
"We hope." Sabrina muttered, thinking about how long it had taken her to adjust to seeing the past.
Puck slapped her lightly and jerked his head at her family. Sabrina blinked at them, and realized that almost everyone was involved in hugging the little boy except her. She shrugged and went to join them, a smile growing on her face.
They named the baby Basil, after his grandpa. Daphne was right, and after a few days, he did recover, bouncing around like a normal three-year old. He didn't talk much, or know how to, and seemed a little sad, but other than that, there were no ill-effects from his time with Mirror that anyone could see. Veronica and Henry had dropped out of Snow's school to take care of their newly recovered offspring, and they were bonding quite well.
Spring came, and with it, Sabrina's fourteenth birthday. Not much had happened since then- the Scarlet Hand seemed to be nursing its wounds from the Grimm's discoveries, and the Emerald Foot was still training and trying to come to grips with the identity of the Master. The Hall of Wonders hadn't been entered since then, and Mirror's room was covered in every magical barrier they could think of. They couldn't stop him from using the things they hadn't been able to get out, but they could keep people from getting to him.
Shortly after her birthday, Sabrina found that she couldn't control the weather anymore.
It happened on a rainy day, just warm enough that nobody wanted to drive to school, but ugly enough that they didn't want to be outside, either.
"Sabrina?" Bella asked. "Can you... dry it up a bit? My hair's getting frizzy."
"Sure." Sabrina said, and squinted at the sky for a minute. Nothing happened. She glared harder, but still no response. "That's weird." She said, brow furrowing. "I wonder..." She let the barriers around her power fall, and remembered earlier that day, how Puck had hidden a half-open canister of banana pudding in her underwear drawer. She got angry, but the temperature didn't rise. Finally, she put her barriers back up and shook her head at Bella, defeated. "I can't." She said.
"You what?" Daphne asked.
"I can't." Sabrina snapped. "I lost my power. It's gone. Kaput. OK?"
"Gosh." Daphne sulked. "No need to be so snotty about it."
Sabrina flew off silently, grateful she was carrying Red today, and not someone else. Red would let her stew all she wanted.
It wasn't that she was brokenhearted about losing her power, it was just... hard to deal with. It had come out of nowhere, with no warning, and she'd liked being able to control the weather. It was useful, and fun! Besides, her first loss was a bit of a wake-up call, a reminder that she wouldn't stay super=powerful forever, and that she'd have to start learning to work without her abilities. She'd be almost normal again.
Wasn't that a good thing, normal? She'd missed it so much before, but now... she liked being powerful. It made her feel safe.
"You OK?" Red asked, suddenly.
Sabrina nodded and smiled slightly at the other girl. "Yeah. Mostly, anyway. It's just... it was kind of sudden, you know?"
Red nodded. "But you're not sad or anything?"
"A bit." Sabrina responded. "I mean, who wouldn't be? But I'll be fine by tomorrow."
"OK." Red said. "We're kind of here, by the way." She pointed down at the school, where a few of the students were milling around.
"Oops." Sabrina said, blushing a bit. "I didn't realize I was thinking for that long..."
"It's OK." Red said. "I figured. That's why I said something."
Sabrina flew down to the covered school entrance, touching down with skill. She could still fly, at least. Red's landing wasn't as smooth, but she didn't fall flat on her face anymore, at least.
"Hello, dearest cousin." William smiled at her sarcastically. They'd become friends since their meeting, once they'd both gotten over the awkwardness of William checking Sabrina out back when Moth was in her body, and he, his father, and his younger sister were now regular guests at the Grimm house.
"Greetings, soulless one." Sabrina joked, releasing Red's hand now that she knew the other girl was steady.
"Listen, I've got someone for you to meet." William said, nodding at a girl he'd been talking to. "This is Yvonne."
Yvonne, who was about William's age, looked down her nose at Sabrina. "Hello, girl." She sniffed.
"Uh... hi?" Sabrina asked. "I'm Sabrina. Are you an Everafter or...?"
"I'm the descendant of Chaucer." Yvonne said loftily. "I'd think it was obvious that no fairy-tale character would be named Yvonne."
"Well, Renee isn't exactly an old-fashioned name." Sabrina muttered. She didn't think she liked this girl very much.
"Yvonne and I grew up together." William explained. "She just came here with a bunch of other descendants of Everafter-chroniclers, like Baum's... something. I thought you might like to know."
"Great." Sabrina grinned. "More people close to my age!"
"Close to your age?" Yvonne said, one eyebrow raised. "I should think not." She stalked off, nose in the air.
"She's not usually like that." William apologized. "She's a bit... uppity, yeah, but not so bad."
"Then what's gotten into her?" Sabrina asked.
"She's jealous." William said. "I maybe was raving about my awesome cousins a bit too much, and Chaucer's never been really famous, and here you are, a celebrity, and she wants some limelight, I guess."
"She can have it." Sabrina said vehemently. "I hate it when people stare at me."
"Me, too." Red said.
William ruffled Red's hair and grinned. "We all know that."
Puck landed behind Sabrina and Red, then, releasing Bella and Daphne's hands a few feet above ground, dropping them roughly to the ground.
"Hey!" Bella complained, falling over into the mud. She got up and made a face, trying innefectually to rub the dirt out of her clothes. "Great." She moaned. "I'm going to be filthy the rest of the day."
"What's wrong with filthy?" Puck asked. "I like it. If you'd dropped me in the mud, I'd thank you! It'd get rid of all this clean." He looked down at his clothes and wrinkled his nose- Granny had made him take a bath the day before.
"You OK?" Bella asked Sabrina. "You seemed kind of off, and then you flew off before I could ask. It's fine that you couldn't fix it, you know. I can deal."
"What's wrong?" William asked, looking between the two girls in confusion.
"Nothing." Sabrina shook her head. "I just needed to think a bit, that's all." She smiled at Bella. "I'm fine now. Big-girl panties and all."
"Hey, there's your grandma." William said, pointing at the car as it pulled up. "My dad wants me to talk with her about a meeting, now that we're all here. And your uncle, too. Bye!"
Daphne waved, then asked, "What does he mean, 'now that we're all here'?"
"Apparently every descendant of someone who wrote about everafters is here in town, now." Sabrina said, shrugging. "Let's go inside, yes? It's getting kind of crowded under here."
The group walked through the double doors into the cafeteria, dripping on the entrance mat for a few minutes before walking through the halls- Sabrina had to force Puck to stay put and not track mud through the entire school- and Sabrina explained about her meeting with Yvonne.
"So we've got more humans?" Daphne asked. "Like, people my age? Sweet!"
"Maybe not your age." Sabrina cautioned. "They could all be teenagers or adults or babies like Basil."
"Basil's three." Daphne corrected. "That's not a baby."
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
Just then, a group of uncomfortable looking kids of all ages walked through the doors, ones that nobody recognized.
"That answer your question, Marshmallow?" Puck asked drily.