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Chapter 9

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The crossbow bolt flings from the weapon with astonishing speed and force before lodging haphazardly in the target fifteen feet away.

Sabrina grimaces, appalled by her aim.

Puck squints at it. "Well, at least you hit it this time."

Sabrina loads another bolt, grumbling. "I was going for the other side of the target." She hefts it higher to aim. "When are you going to teach me to fly?"

Puck winces, as if in secondhand pain. He does not want to go back to his body just to have wrecked wings. "When you can properly hit a target."

TWANG.

Sabrina frowns at her newest attempt. "I think I'm pulling a bit to the left."

"No luck shifting again?" he asks, mostly to throw her off learning to fly.

She sighs. "No luck. I think it only worked since I was so stressed and trying not to die."

Puck snorts irritably, crossing his arms. "There was only one spider. You should have tried millions of 'em."

Sabrina places the crossbow on the marble floor of the Hall of Wonders so she can get a drink. Ever since their group had swapped stories in the boat, he'd been sulky about not getting a chance to see the extremely oversized arachnid.

"You got to stab a heart before breakfast, I'd think that'd satisfy you," she teases, resuming her place before the target.

"Usually that would entail more action," he complains, sitting on the floor, leaning back on his forearms with his legs splayed.

Sabrina rolls her eyes and turns to face down at him, one hand on her hip. "To hear Daphne tell it, you guys got plenty of action. Besides, I thought you were here to help me with aiming, not whine."

His nose crinkles. "You look so much like you right now."

She sticks her tongue out at him while pulling one eyelid down. She laughs at his bemused expression and grabs the crossbow, putting it over her shoulder.

"You're in a good mood," he notes, lifting an eyebrow.

"Well, duh," she says, facing the target again. "We got the blood, which is arguably the most dangerous part of the spell."

"You're just quoting Jake. I think a common house spider would make him pee his pants now."

Sabrina narrows her eyes, pulls the trigger. Disappointed with her performance once again, she rolls her eyes at Puck. "Yeah. Whatever. I don't think securing a feather or the hydra venom will be nearly as hard."

Puck pushes off the floor, flicking a bit of dried violet blood from under his fingernail. "You never know, with our luck. Phoenixes aren't exactly a dime a dozen and hydras are pretty intense. Also, you are pulling to the left."

"We'll be fine," Sabrina brushes off, letting Puck gently adjust her grip and sights.

He frowns and pushes her hands down before she can shoot again. "How come I'm the one talking sense into you?"

Sabrina grins, one hand on her hip. "Just getting into character, obviously."

Despite himself, Puck flushes. While her frustration and embarrassment has always been a source of great amusement for him, this kind of confidence is doing much worse things for his heart.

Echoey footsteps sound from behind the mirror, causing both teenagers to look behind them as Relda Grimm enters the portal. "Lieblings," she greets, smiling that wide, adventurous grin.

Sabrina swiftly kicks Puck in the ankle.

"Hi, granny," he says smoothly, like he was planning on saying it all along. "What's up?"

"I'm glad you asked," she says, putting her hands together. "We've received a call. There's a mystery afoot."

.-.-.-.

Sabrina and Puck follow Relda downstairs. She's talking animatedly about how a shop owner had called the Grimms for help. It's not that mysteries had gone extinct in Ferryport Landing, but without the stirrings of the scarlet hand to cause trouble, the help needed was often more benign in nature. Last time Sabrina had been around to help with a mystery, Bo Peep had lost her sheep (again) and was blaming old McDonald's dog for chasing them off. One conversation with Mac the dog was all it took to learn that Bo Peep had fallen asleep with her gate open (again). As fun as something of that sort sounds, Sabrina wishes she could duck out. They have a lot more important things to work on. Like being able to properly shower again. Or change clothes without closing her eyes.

Granny deposits the two in the living room by Jake, who's drinking a cup of freshly brewed coffee while she returns upstairs to get the rest of the family.

"G'morning," Jake says, squinting at his phone.

Puck sighs. "It's been morning forever."

Sabrina glances at the clock. 11 AM. "Well, we did get up obscenely early."

Puck leans in towards Jake's phone. "What are you looking at?"

Jake doesn't answer, as Sabrina's parents and Tobias enter just then, leading to a round of greetings. Granny, Daphne, Red, and Basil come next, filling in the cracks and crevices.

Daphne sits on the other side of Jake, a book in hand. Sabrina just barely catches the title–Creatures Alpha, Beta, and Beyond.

"Thank you for coming to discuss the day's affairs," Relda says, clapping her hands together. "This morning I got a call from Mr. Henry Iron, reporting that his shop has been infested with strange creatures. He'd like a small group to come check it out and determine where they're coming from."

Tobias raises his head. "I would join you but Red, Basil and I are preparing for our outing tomorrow."

Relda nods like she was expecting this.

Daphne speaks up next. "Uncle Jake and I will be doing some research, so we'll sit this one out." She half turns and winks at the teenagers.

Sabrina is about to offer her services to their research when Jake nudges her in the ribs, leaning in close to quickly whisper, "Iron sells magical creature parts and excretions."

Oh–so a chance to find one–or maybe both–of their remaining items. All three in one day! It would be too good.

"Sabrina and I can go," she offers. "You love trouble, huh Grimm?" She tries to give him a look that says to go along with it.

Although confused, he nods. "Yeah, sounds fun."

Henry and Veronica share a look, the kind that speaks volumes between married people. "We'll come along too," Henry says, glancing at his daughter.

Relda claps her hands together, beyond thrilled. "Excellent. Let's go, shall we?"

On their way to the car, Sabrina fills Puck in on the plan. "Don't you see?" She says, green eyes sparkling with delight. "He might have one of our needed items or know how to order it."

Puck nods but looks more cautiously optimistic. "Yeah. That would be nice." He's about to ask her more about her new-found positive attitude, but her parents have caught up.

Henry pointedly takes the back middle seat while Veronica drives with Relda in the passenger seat. The drive is shaping up to be awkward until Sabrina asks Relda about who Henry Iron is. Immediately, the old woman begins to tell the little known story about a beautiful princess, a frog (who turns into a prince but not the frog prince), and his faithful servant, Henry Iron.

Apparently, since his young charge got married, he's been trying to find things to do for himself to keep his spirits up. The hobby he found was as a shopkeeper. It just so happens that the prince and his bride decided to have a midlife crisis and change their careers to hunting magical creatures and collecting the items of interest.

Most of these items have useful properties: potions, tonics, skin care, and the like.

As they pull up to the little shop, Relda turns to the group, her excited expression turning to seriousness. "The last thing you need to know about Mr. Iron–under no circumstances, should you mention frogs."

"Everyone knows that," Henry says, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly.

Puck blinks. "What's wrong with frogs?"

Henry gives a long-suffering sigh. "Trust us, you don't want to see his reaction."

With that, the five exit the vehicle and step into the shop. As the door creaks open, Puck is ready to start diving into all the different displays but stops short, a strange smell making him cover his nose. The adults all display similar reactions. Sabrina gives them all a weird look. There's a kind of unpleasantness, but nothing to cause this kind of reaction.

A man looks up from behind a counter, wearing a mask over his mouth and nose. "Oh dear," he says, scurrying over to the family. "I am so sorry about the horrendous smell." He pauses, looking over their oldest member. "Ms. Grimm!" he grabs Relda's hands, "I am so happy you were able to get here so quickly."

The old woman smiles, forcing her hand out of her face. "Of course."

Mr. Iron is a square man, with a strong jaw and thick set shoulders. His hair is going a bit gray, and he has a distinct grandfatherly air about him. He waves away Relda's attempt at politeness. "Please, here," he reaches into the back of his belt and starts passing out masks.

All the Grimms take one except for Sabrina, who shrugs when Veronica tries to give her one. "I don't know what the big deal is."

Puck gives her an incredulous look, still queasy even with the mask on. "Are you kidding? It smells awful in here."

Henry elbows Puck, but Mr. Iron shakes his head. "No worries," the shopkeeper says, "I am well aware how bad things are in here. That's why I called for your help. For the past week, things have been getting worse. At first, I thought it was a problem with the sewage, but when someone came to look at it, they couldn't find a problem. The smell seems to be originating in the cellar, where I store my new and excess stock."

As Relda, Henry, and Veronica ask more questions about the case, Sabrina surveys the shop floor. There's a bunch of tables covered in bottles, vials, boxes, and tags. She can see claws, sachets of fur, oils, and there–a whole bunch of colorful feathers. Excited, she leaves the group to read the tags. To her disappointment, they're all boring samples. Talking cukoburr, raven familiar, some bright ones from a cursed echo bird, but no phoenix.

"Did you find something, Puck?" Relda has joined her, looking at the feathers with interest.

It takes her a second to break from her thoughts. "Uh, no. I don't think so. Just thinking about…" she shrugs, losing track of any good excuses.

Relda smiles, her eyes crinkling despite the mask. "Anything could be a clue. Let's keep looking up here for a bit then we'll go downstairs."

Sabrina agrees and pretends to examine the items on sale while she's really searching for anything relating to hydras.

Puck, on the other hand, stays with Mr. Iron. "So," he says. "What kind of stuff do you got here?"

The man gestures to the tables. "Mostly simple ingredients. Very fresh, however. Things from smaller creatures."

"Nothing as big as, oh, say, a hydra?" he asks innocently.

Mt. Iron only gives the question a moment of thought. Then shakes his head. "No, nothing so big or rare."

Deflated, Puck is about to go bother Sabrina to tell her this was a waste of time, when he realizes the perfect opportunity for a prank. "Right, right," he waves a hand dismissively. "But what about some," he grins wickedly, "frog spawn?"

The response from Mr. Iron is immediate. "F-frog spawn?" he splutters. His eyes go wide and shifty. "No! No. There wouldn't be any..." he trails off, his breath rate picking up noisily through the mask. He grabs at three iron bracelets on his forearm that rattle menacingly.

Upon realizing that the man is on the verge of an anxiety attack, Puck holds his hands up placatingly. He can't be caught causing trouble like this as Sabrina. "Sorry, sorry," he amends, "did you think I said frog? I meant, um, klog. Klog spawn."

Mr. Iron slowly recovers, letting the bracelets go. "Oh," he says softly, swallowing. "That's fine. I misheard." He takes a deep breath and seems to come back himself. "I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with klogs."

Puck tilts his head to the side, thinking quick. "They're...they're a kind of swamp fish. They glow in the dark."

Mr. Iron chuckles. "Well, I haven't heard of those, but I'll tell my associates to keep an eye out. If swamp creatures are what you're looking for, I did just get some kelpie eggs."

Something about the scent in the air clicks with Puck. He frowns, crossing his arms. "Wait. Fresh kelpie eggs? Did you happen to remove the–"

"Mr. Iron," Relda calls, "are these kelpie eggs?"

The man turns to see her holding up a greenish, brownish egg the size of a softball.

"Why yes," he answers, throwing a look at Puck.

"Then I think I know what's causing the smell," the old woman says, a twinkle in her eyes at discovering the mystery. "You had an extra carrier on these specimens." She looks closely at the egg, then nods. "Yes, I'm quite sure you had an ooni hitch a ride here. They're quite pervasive, and extremely smelly as they grow into adolescence."

"Dear, dear," Mr. Iron says worriedly. "Where is this creature? I haven't seen anything moving."

"It's probably hiding," Puck chimes in. "They hate light and fresh air."

Henry blinks at him. "When did you learn about ooni?"

Puck goes pale, glancing around the room to find something to help him cover his blunder. "Puck told me about them," he says, gesturing to Sabrina. He frowns, cocking a hip. "If I'd known they were this bad in person I would've argued more against you hunting one down."

Sabrina shrugs and plays along. "Guilty."

Veronica turns to Relda. "You feel sure it's this ooni thing? Then let's go down and evict this thing."

With that, Mr. Iron leads the group to a small closet in the back corner. As soon as he opens it, revealing a narrow set of stairs, the foul stench intensifies.

Finally, Sabrina can sense the faint rotting, moldy aroma. She considers asking for a mask. Ultimately, however, she decides the real Puck would never ask for one.

When no one else volunteers, Sabrina sighs, cracking her neck. "Guess I'll go first." The group follows the fairy, except for Mr. Iron.

"I apologize," he croaks, "but I think I'll stay up here."

"Coward," Puck mutters from behind Sabrina. She elbows him, but no one seemed to have heard.

The five continue down, the smell getting worse every step.

"Ugh," Sabrina mutters, putting her forearm in front of her nose. "It's worse smelling than you, Stinkpot."

Puck wants to jibe that that's a compliment compared to smelling like a girl, but he can't open his mouth without tasting the air.

In the cellar proper, Sabrina can see through the dimness that there's tons of crates and stuff piled haphazardly on the concrete floor. There's a huge puddle of water spread across the ground. As the rest of the group files in, Henry blindly gropes for the cord for the light. A bulb flickers to life, illuminating the scene for the humans.

Relda immediately begins investigating. She scours the floor.

Henry pokes his shoe into a dubious green puddle. "Looks like the creature is trying to make things more like home."

"The smell didn't give it away?" Veronica jokes. "I'd follow it to the source, but it's all too strong."

Sabrina turns her head, inhaling just enough to gain her bearings. "Over there," she points to a far corner with a bookshelf. "It's worst over there."

Veronica raises an eyebrow at this, but goes to where she indicated. She gives the heavy piece of furniture a good shove and the thing starts to shift. Henry joins her, and together, they push it out of the way.

"Oh God," Henry coughs. "This has to be it."

The eye-watering scent has redoubled once more. Hidden behind the bookshelf is an opening in the concrete wall. It looks ragged and misshapen, like something broke it open piece by piece. Beyond is a shadowy pipe shaped cave.

"The sewers," Relda mutters, "of course. Now," she clears her throat, "I would usually be on the side of catch and release, but ooni are rather invasive."

Puck grins under his mask and brings out the knife he tucked into his waistband. "Monster slaying time?"

The old woman looks slightly confused at the idea of her oldest granddaughter saying this, but chuckles nonetheless. "Yes, monster slaying time."

Veronica pulls out a knife of her own. This one glows a faint blue, casting a dim light into the pipe cave.

"Where'd you get that?" Henry asks, staring at the obviously magical artifact.

His wife shrugs. "Jake got it for me last Christmas, remember?"

"But who said it was enchanted–"

The man's words are cut off by a rumbling roar.

Puck turns very tense. "Veronica," he yells, slipping up in his panic, "no lights or it will–"

A sticky arm-like glob shoots out of the darkness and lands on Veronica's hand. The woman shouts in surprise, wrenching her hand free. A nasty gash is opened on the glob, dripping tar-like blood as it falls, dragging the knife into the cave.

"Oh yeah," Puck trills, holding the knife far out in front of him. "Definitely an ooni."

Sabrina reaches hungrily at her side for a sword or even a crossbow. No dice. Of course, she didn't bring weapons. Stupid, stupid! She thinks to herself.

A reptilian shriek comes from the darkness, and the creature scuttles forward, knocking the family out of the way.

The thing is long and amorphous, with a vaguely lizard shaped head. The body is brownish green with six legs and a powerful tail. It hisses at the group and slithers onto the ceiling, leaving a goopy trail in its wake. Too late, Sabrina realizes what it's doing. With a viscous snap of its jaws, the ooni snuffs out the light.

Without their sight, the humans dive for the walls, searching for something solid to keep their bearings with. Puck releases a string of curses. Seriously, why aren't humans preinstalled with night vision?

Sabrina, on the other hand, still has a perfectly gruesome view of the smelly monster. "Grimm, duck!" she shouts, because it's the only thing her brain can come up with on the fly that isn't Puck's name. Even though there are four Grimms in the room, everyone knows who the voice is speaking to.

Puck, furious with his blindness, obeys, flattening to the floor. Something whooshes over his head. "This is the worst," he shouts, not sure whether he's talking about the current problem or their overarching issue.

"Sabrina!" Henry yells, trying to maneuver to where he heard his daughter, but stumbles diaphragm first into a table. A bunch of little boxes of scales clatter to the ground.

The ooni flops onto the floor, squelching and burping. It turns to Sabrina, who'd been trying to sneak around it to get to Puck. If she had the knife, she could kill this thing.

The beast snarls, one of the stretchy arms coming at her. She lifts an arm to take the blow. It hits with astonishing force, twisting and ensnaring the limb. For a moment, she's scared the goop will burn like acid, but it doesn't hurt, just starts to pull her towards the fanged mouth.

"Uh, a little help here," she cries, resisting, digging her heels into the floor.

Henry tackles her to the ground, managing to wrench her free. The beast roars, sending more arms out wildly in different directions.

"Thanks," Sabrina gasps, sitting up.

"You can see in the dark, can't you?" Henry presses, straight to the point.

"Well, yeah," she stammers.

"Good, then you need to tell Sabrina what to do on the other side of the room."

Sabrina blinks. It's a good plan, considering there's no way she can get over there with the ooni in the way. She clambers to her feet and finds Puck, groping at the wall with one hand, and waving the knife awkwardly with the other.

"Sabrina," she calls, "hold the knife out in front of you, both hands."

Puck, a little too wired to immediately connect that he should be responding to that name, finally understands the order. He takes a deep breath and points the knife ahead of himself.

"Okay, lunge low and cut down–now!"

Puck feels resistance as the blade slices through one of the extended legs of the ooni. It squeals, retracting its other gloppy appendages. It rounds on Puck, who, without being told, stabs forward, the knife nearly disappearing into the blobous nose.

Truly enraged, the creature charges.

"Roll to your right," Sabrina orders.

Puck does so, and the creature splats against the wall, the face smooshing awkwardly until it backs away, shaking the head back into proper shape. Without warning, the leg nearest the head extends, grabbing Puck away his waist. He lets out a very girlish scream in surprise.

"Puck," Henry snaps, grabbing the fairy's shoulder. "What's happening? Tell her what to do!"

Sabrina shakes him off. "Just a second," she mutters, "just one more–"

The ooni has reeled Puck all the way against its body. It turns its head to stare at its new snack.

Sabrina whoops in triumph. "To your left, stab it backwards!"

Adjusting his grip, Puck turns the knife in his hand and thrusts back, right behind the creature's eye.

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AN: I have returned from the dead! I hope this chapter finds you well. I started workshopping this thing again and refused to stop niggling at it until it was finished. I hope this gets to everyone that's been wanting to know what's coming next. Someday these kids will get back in their heads. Or maybe the resolution will be having to accept transforming into another person! Who knows?

Please put up a review if you're making your rounds of the fandom. Missed you guys! The next chapter is finished (when you read it you'll know why I wrote most of it first hehe), but I'm gonna let it sit for a few days before posting, do some editing, get ahead on the next section. We do still have a phoenix and hydra to find!

-Pinklily8