AN~ If anyone *coughEpiphanyonToastcough* were to draw the footprints in the maze in this chapter, that would be really awesome. I have a confession to make: I sat on this chapter. For several days. I wrote almost all of it on Sunday. Feel free to come after me with torches and pitchforks, but I promise to never do it again if you don't. There also may possibly be something vaguely resembling romance down below. :)
The Winner of Last QotD: Kathie. Because. But does ANYONE mind if I steal their pranks? They were all pretty good.
New QotD: You know how griffons are combinations of eagles and lions? Make an animal like that, a combination of two others. Then tell me what it's magical powers would be and what you'd do if you had one (or two. Or a farm/herd/pack of them!).
32davenport (ch 1): Well, you can do that. I faked it, but that was it.
GrimmSabrina: I think someone else said that first. (Which means both those are not going to win, unfortunately). But yeah, to escape the room, you have to get the door open, which is kind of difficult when you're in the middle of your greatest fantasy.
anon #2: Thanks a lot! :D
Delaney: Oh well. And of course I wrote another chapter!
silverwombat: Thanks! And if that was the only typo, we're in good shape! :)
Agd: I searched the letters A G D under authors, then narrowed the search down to people who'd written for Sisters Grimm, and you were the only one that fit. You can normally do a 'forgot your password' thing somewhere, can't you? Puck's problem was that he WANTED it to be real so bad that he decided he didn't care. Sabrina... I always thought what she wanted most was a second chance at childhood, 'cause she hurt so much and lost so much when her parents disappeared. And in the books she never wants magic to be real, you know? (also another makeout scene would be redundant and boring and slightly gross).
Kathie: Well, there was that part about ten chapters ago, I think. And that answer would have been great to have then, because you're right, he wouldn't let her get away with winning. Also: SEE? This is why I made Puck good at math! He HAS to be, with pranks like that! Nobody who doesn't study physics should be able to make that work just right. Thank you!/You're welcome!
PenguinLoverGurl: First off, Will is Sabrina's distant cousin on the opposite side of the Grimm tree (Wilhelm and Jakob). Second: Yeah. Because Puck was prepared for this and Sabrina wasn't but had too much to lose if she got what she wanted. Your ideas were... interesting. All of them.
Ninjabunny: Well, not to make out with her, but to have her like him back.
anon #1: Thanks! I usually try to update on Fridays, though this arc I've had planned for a while, and it's been coming easier because of that. So maybe Thursday if you're lucky.
Puck, who had been swaying to 'The Long and Winding Road' with Sabrina, hands on her hips and his lips on hers, suddenly found himself with his arms wrapped around nothing, standing in an empty room with twelve other very confused people and Sabrina across the room from him, not looking very kissed at all.
He sat down on the floor with a thump, running his hands through his hair. "It was the next room." He muttered, his face growing red. Of course Sabrina would never do that! Who was he kidding?
"Guys." Sabrina said impatiently. "We have to get going."
Puck looked around. Everyone else was acting similarly to him, staring at nothing, or wandering around aimlessly, looking dazed. Some of them had on their faces the strangest sense of loss. He sighed and stood up. She was right. They had to keep moving.
"But..." Renee trailed off. "But I want it back..."
"I know." Mustardseed told his girlfriend, pulling her into his arms. "But it's a lie. You know that." Puck felt a pang of jealousy. Mustardseed got the girl he wanted.
"I'd never have starved again." Renee whispered. "Or been cold or wanted anything..."
"I know." Mustardseed soothed. "But I'll keep you safe, I promise."
"All right." Renee agreed, and everyone, somehow encouraged by that, followed Sabrina through the door.
The other side was obviously a maze, a long corridor that stretched away from them, walls high above their heads, an endless expanse of featureless gray that reminded Sabrina and Puck incredibly of the prison that, unbeknownst to them, was directly below their feet. Sabrina shuddered.
"I'd bet you anything this isn't a normal maze." Peaseblossom said, her voice echoing strangely off the walls. "Mab's too crafty for that."
"So we don't split up, then?" Wendell asked.
Puck shook his head. "Definitely not. In fact, I don't think we should move from this spot 'til we have a way to mark where we've been."
"I can maybe..." Daphne trailed off, lifting her feet up and looking under them a few times until something green started to appear below. "Yeah." She grinned. "I can grow the floor into plants. I don't know what this stuff is, but it's alive."
Sabrina shuddered. "That's creepy. Let's go."
They walked forward slowly, Bella in front, keeping one hand on the wall. Sabrina and Puck were together, bringing up the rear. Nobody spoke much, because their voices carried strangely, and it was uncomfortable. But Puck needed to ask Sabrina something, so he trailed back a little and asked, "How did you do it?"
"Do what?" Sabrina asked, trailing her own fingers against the wall.
"Get out of the room." Puck said, remembering his fantasy and coloring a little. Since when did he blush? "I... what I wanted... I'd have been perfectly happy to never leave. How did you?"
Sabrina shrugged. "I lost too much, I guess. I mean, I got what I wanted, but it wasn't really what I wanted, 'cause I had to give up too much stuff that I care about too much."
"What-" Puck stopped himself. He couldn't ask that. What if she asked back?
"Was it?" Sabrina finished, smiling a bit. "I got to go back. To when I was a kid. Before my parents disappeared and I went to the orphanage and was angry and everything. It was all a dream, and I woke up to home. But I still felt like it was real, and I couldn't take losing Granny and Uncle Jake and Bella and Red."
"Oh." Puck said, dejected. She didn't miss him? And obviously she didn't want him the way he wanted her, but still, he'd hoped a bit...
Sabrina, rounding the corner ahead of him, stuck her head back around to look at him and said, "You were there, you know. But you were clean. And nice." She grinned. "I think that's what convinced me it was a fantasy."
"Oh." Puck grinned, hurrying after her. Funny how that word could mean something so different depending on how he said it.
They walked in tense silence again, searching for any sign of change, despite the fact that there was no movement, no noise, other than what they made themselves.
"Oh no." Bella said after another long stretch of walking.
"What?" Daphne asked, as everyone crowded forward to see what the problem was.
Bella pointed to the ground, where they could see plants growing in the shape of footprints, exactly the size of Daphne's sneakers.
"Maybe you made a mistake." Art suggested. "Want me to lead for a while?"
Bella nodded and squeezed against the wall so that Art could pass. He stuck his right hand on the wall instead of his left, and they were off again.
Bella waited until Wendell walked past her to start up again, and Puck could just make out what they were saying. He almost felt bad about eavesdropping, but then he shook it off. Stupid puberty was making him have morals. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to tell anybody anything (they could probably all hear it anyway), and there was nothing better to do.
"Hey, umm..." Bella trailed off. "How've you been, Wendell?"
"Normal." Wendell said. "I missed you. What do you want?"
"Well, I was kind of wondering if you... you know... wanted to maybe... um... get back together?" Bella said hesitantly, rubbing the back of her neck and looking at the featureless walls instead of at Wendell.
Wendell sighed and turned to Bella. "Look." He said. "I like you. I really do. A lot more than I want to say, and... a lot more than I think you like me." He paused. "After you broke up with me, I had a lot of time to think, and I've decided... Well, look, Bella. I want to be with you. But I want you to want me for me, and right now I think you're just using me because Marcus doesn't want you. So... If you decide that you want me most, then come talk, all right? But I deserve more than to be a backup plan."
"Okay." Bella nodded, and Puck, squinting at her, though he might have seen her eyes get watery. "Thanks for being honest with me." She said, and dropped back again.
Puck snickered, because she'd dropped back straight to Marcus. Marcus didn't seem to have heard the other conversation, and Puck wondered for the umpteenth time whether fairies had better hearing than normal people. He'd never been able to figure that out.
She took a deep breath, and Puck heard her mutter, "Well, I might as well get this over with."
"Huh?" Marcus asked.
Bella turned to Marcus, and, taking a deep breath, asked, "Do you like me?"
Marcus blinked, then said, blank-faced, "I like Annie."
"I know." Bella said. "But you can like two people at once, you know? And I was wondering if there was any chance..."
Marcus shook his head. "Sorry. You're really nice and everything, but you're not my type."
"And what is your type?" Bella asked.
"Crazier." Marcus said immediately. "Less appearances focused, and more bookish."
Bella asked, "And I don't suppose that if I started to act like that, you'd...?"
Marcus shook his head. "'Cause another thing I like is that she's genuine. And if you faked it for me, it wouldn't be you I'd be liking, it'd be an act."
"Thought so." Bella said, smiling sadly. "Oh well. Thanks. I hope you and she are happy together."
Marcus grinned, blushing. "Well, if I can ever get up the courage to ask her."
Bella smiled that sad smile again. "Trust me, I have a feeling it'll all work out."
"I hope so." Marcus said as Bella slowed down again, speeding up when she was even with Sabrina.
"What's up?" Sabrina asked, seeing the look on Bella's face.
Yup. Puck decided. Definitely fairies have better hearing.
Bella explained the whole situation to Sabrina and finished, "And I think I screwed everything up, Sabrina! What do I do now?"
"You didn't." Sabrina said. "You were doing the right thing, breaking up with Wendell. It's better than cheating on him. But he made a smart choice, too. If you're not both putting everything into the relationship, neither of you are going to be happy with it. Maybe now that you know Marcus doesn't like you, you can start to get over him."
"But what if I don't?" Bella asked. "What if I like them both forever and I can never have either of them, 'cause I'm stupid and can't stick with one guy?"
Sabrina shrugged. "I can't really answer that. I've got less experience with relationships than you, remember." Puck smiled at that a little, thinking wistfully, I could change that. Sabrina continued, "But I think it'll work out. We're just fourteen, remember. You've got plenty of time for your feelings to change."
"I know." Bella said. "But it feels like it won't."
Sabrina shrugged again. "I don't know what to tell you. It sucks, but there's not much I can do about it."
"Just talking with me helps." Bella assured her. "But remind me to never come to you when I need sympathy."
Sabrina nodded. "I don't do sympathy well. Just advice. But if you gave me instructions I might be able to do sympathy."
Bella laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Or, like, write me a notecard that says what to do."
"But I can't do that!" Bella protested. "It's case-specific!"
Sabrina shrugged. "Then I'm hopeless. I want a formula. This is what you do to make someone feel better. End."
"Well, what you did actually helped." Bella grinned. "Next time I might want a hug or something, though."
Puck shuddered. Hugs. Ew. Sabrina was going to respond to Bella again, but then Art stopped, and there was a pileup at the front of the line.
"What now?" Puck asked.
"I don't believe it!" Art said. "We've circled around again! How are we doing this?"
"Maybe there's hidden entrances." Renee suggested. "Like ways through that we don't see, and we circle back through them."
"I think we need Sabrina again." Jonas said. "To watch the past. We'll go the way Mab did."
"We need to get back to the start to do that." Daphne pointed out.
Sabrina groaned. "Do I really have to? It's hard."
"It's the only way." Bella said. "Otherwise we'll probably be wandering around here forever."
"Fine." Sabrina sighed. "Let's go back to the beginning. If we can find it."
Finding the beginning proved to be difficult but not impossible, and once they got back, Sabrina squinted at something nobody else could see, and began following it, the others following her.
She stopped after a bit and said, "That's funny."
"What's funny?" Red asked.
"She goes in two directions here." Sabrina said. "Left and straight. But... left she has the swords, and straight she doesn't. I guess the maze isn't an in-and-out, it's the last room, and she hides stuff here."
"Imagine everything we could find here." Marcus said wistfully. "I bet she's got all sorts of weapons we could use."
"No magic for you." Annie scolded. "You know how you get around it."
"I know." Marcus said. "I'm just saying."
"So do we split up and look for it now or what?" Daphne asked.
"Splitting up is probably a really bad idea." Peaseblossom warned. "We can't be sure we'll be in the same place when we get back."
"I shouldn't go there if there's magic, though." Marcus said. "Annie's right. When I get around it, I get... I don't like who I am with it."
"I'll stay, too." Annie offered. "Just in case we get split up."
"Maybe a few more of us should stay?" Red suggested. "I don't really want to go in there. And Sabrina can always follow herself back anyway, can't she?"
"Point." Peaseblossom conceded. "All right. I want to go, though. There's some stuff of mine I think Mab might have taken."
They divided up, only about five of them going in through the path Mab took with the swords. The path led them to a small alcove with nothing in it but the swords. Sabrina and Puck grabbed them.
"Dangit." Peaseblossom said. "I was hoping she'd stashed my stuff here."
"She probably did." Sabrina said, turning around to head back. "I bet the maze is just full of little rooms like this she shoves stuff in."
"Do you want to go look for your stuff, too?" Puck asked, following her.
Peaseblossom shook her head. "I don't need it that bad. And we're cutting this close as it is. I'll come back another time or something."
"I wonder how she finds all this stuff." Sabrina mused. "After she's hidden it all."
Peasblossom shrugged. "She built it. She probably has a map or something."
"Probably." Sabrina agreed.
"Probably what?" Daphne asked.
"Probably Mab has a map or cheat codes or something." Puck explained.
"Oh." Daphne nodded. "Yeah. I just bet she does. Takes all the fun out of it."
Sabrina rolled her eyes, but stopped halfway through to start searching for the right Mab shadow. She'd started to notice that more recent ones were brighter, which meant she ought to be looking for the most solid one. Once she found it, she started off again.
"Hey, wait up!" Jonas called, and everyone else jogged to catch up with Sabrina, who kept going singlemindedly until she reached another two-Mabs spot.
"We have to go this way." Sabrina said, squinting. "I think it's to get our treasures back. But then we come right back this way again."
Everyone ran down that hallway, though Sabrina followed more slowly to make sure that she didn't lose the shadow of Mab, and left the hall again looking much happier, Annie and Marcus holding hands, and Peaseblossom rubbing her stomach with a small smile on her face. Sabrina continued to lead the way, still staring intently at the figure no one else could see.
When they reached the big gray door on the other side, what could have been hours (maybe even days) or just long, long minutes later, after walking through several things that appeared to be solid walls but weren't, Daphne paused and said, "Uh-oh."
"What?" Red asked.
"I maybe shouldn't have left the plants there." Daphne whispered.
"Yeah." Sabrina agreed. "But it's too late now. They can clean them up if they have a problem with them."
"Besides." Annie said, smiling at the green footprints in the gray space, "They look nice there. It'd be a shame to try to get rid of them. It's so hideous here."
"I know." Peaseblossom agreed.
"Um... suggestion?" Wendell said suddenly. "About the leaving thing. Could we maybe have someone with that awesome shape-shifting power, like, check and see if there's anyone out there so I know if I have to harmonica them to a trance or anything?"
"Or you could just trance anyone other than us up now and not make us go through the extra step." Puck suggested, wrapping his arm around Wendell. "Whaddaya say, old buddy?"
Wendell unwrapped Puck's arm from around him, wrinkling his nose, and said "I'm not your buddy. But I'll do it." He pulled out his harmonica, and right before putting it to his lips, said, "Plug your ears. My control isn't that great yet."
Everyone complied, and as soon as Sabrina started to feel a bit drowsy (she hoped it was because of the music), she opened the door, peeked around it in both directions, and gestured for everyone else to follow her. Puck took the lead from there, with his map out again, and they made it outside with only one mishap, when Wendell stopped to take a particularly long breath and they heard signs of pursuit.
They made it back to the Grimm house just as dawn was breaking, and the adults apparently hadn't even noticed they were missing. Puck and Daphne grinned and high-fived each other quietly while the people who lived elsewhere waved and headed out.
Sabrina rolled her eyes and yawned. "I'm glad you two are happy. But that means you get to figure out how to explain where we got the swords from and why we're all going to be exhausted tomorrow."
Puck and Daphne looked at each other and shrugged. "I'm OK with that." Puck said. "You?"
Daphne nodded. "Tomorrow, though. Whoever gets up first wakes the other one up and we talk before we eat?"
"Sounds good." Puck agreed.
They all headed to their respective bedrooms, another mission complete.