18Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or qualities of any of the characters. I do not own the excerpt written by Michael Buckley at the beginning of Chapter 1, nor the Yellow Brick Road song.
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P.S. : I wrote this a long time ago, before Michael Buckley even published The Inside Story. If any ideas or elements are like his, I apologize, for I wrote it a while ago and it is completely unintentional. I will try to change the story around so that it does not resemble the real one in any way.
Chapter 1- Follow the Yellow Brick Road!
"When the lights came on, Sabrina looked around. She was lying on the floor of a wooden farmhouse. Her sister was sitting on a bed, wearing a little yellow dress, and Puck was nowhere to be found.
"Where are we?" Daphne said, helping her sister to her feet.
"Inside the book, I guess," Sabrina replied. "Where's Puck?"
Daphne shrugged. "Maybe he didn't make it. Maybe he's back in the Hall of Wonders."
Outside they could hear a commotion, including a lot of singing. Sabrina went to the door and swung it open. There was a sea of little people dressed entirely of green on the lawn. Sabrina recognized them as Munchkins, but that wasn't what shocked her. Right outside the door was a road made entirely of yellow bricks. She and Daphne stepped outside and were greeted like heroes. The Munchkins lifted them onto their tiny shoulders and cheered.
"What do they think we did?" Daphne said.
"You killed the Wicked Witch of the East," one of the Munchkins cried. "You saved us all."
Sabrina turned back towards the house and saw he horrible truth- a pair of legs was sticking out from beneath it and they were wearing a pair of shiny silver shoes with a remarkable red tint to them. She suddenly realized they hadn't just entered a story. They had entered one of the most famous stories ever told.
"Daphne, I don't think we're in Ferryport Landing anymore." "
Daphne squealed and bit her palm.
"Do you think we'll meet Dorothy? Or the Lion? Or Glinda the Good Witch?" Daphne spurted out questions, and finally Sabrina answered her.
"Ummm… Daphne, I think we are Dorothy. At least, either one of us is."
"Gravy!" Daphne exclaimed, now turning to face the Munchkins, who were only a little bit shorter than her. The Munchkins then set her down, clearly exhausted by her weight, but not as if she was fat.
"Daphne, since we are in The Wizard of Oz, maybe we should take Dorothy's path back to visit Oz. Then if we have time, we can do whatever you want once we get out of this situation." Then Sabrina came to realizing the horrifying truth- trying to get out the book. They both knew Oz was an evil man, and they didn't know if they could face him again. Plus, he was a phony, so he didn't have any real powers. At least, not that they knew of. But they did know that he had a hot air balloon and a giant witch robot.
Daphne seemed to have come to this realization as well, for she looked up at Sabrina with her terrified expression. Since the incident on the Eiffel Tower with the North Wind, Daphne had learned to depend on herself. It was the first time she had revealed her fear to Sabrina.
"Sabrina, what if we will never see Granny Relda, Mom, Dad, Mr. Canis, Red, or Puck ever again?" Daphne's eyes started to fill like a pool, and the tears were soon overflowing.
"Daphne, we'll be able to go back. If my theory's correct, we should be able to go to the end of the story, and somehow 'hop' to the next story! Uncle Jake would use all the possible ways to find us, using every possible magic item he can get his hands on. And, trust me, Puck would find a way to prank us again, no matter where we were."
Daphne laughed. "Yeah! That's right!"
"Then let's get a move on. Have you read the Wizard of Oz?"
"Ummm… no. But I know the storyline pretty well. I wanted to read that one next, but then the Scarlet Hand attacked and I couldn't."
"Uh oh… I haven't either because—" Sabrina was then interrupted by Daphne.
"Big surprise there." Daphne was beginning to get on Sabrina's nerves. She had never been like this before, with all of her newfound witty comments. Sabrina then realized, she's getting all of this from me. I'm her role model and she looks up to me, copying all my actions. It was unlike her to cry, but tears welled up in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away before Daphne could notice.
"So, Daph, where do we go now?"
Daphne laughed at her comment. "I would have thought even you would know the answer to this one. We just follow the yellow brick road," she stated simply.
Sabrina, feeling dumb at that point, said, "Oh, Yeah. Right. I forgot about that."
Then, Glinda the (not-so) Good Witch appeared, floating down in a bubble. She enlarged as she approached them, finally reached her full height, which was not very tall.
"Greetings, Good Witches. I am Glinda, the Good Witch of the North."
Daphne squealed and bit her palm, as she did whenever she saw an Everafter.
Sabrina leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Remember, she's in the Scarlet Hand."
It was when Sabrina said this that Daphne took her palm out of her mouth and turned to look at Glinda. The evil eye Daphne was giving to Glinda would have scared Sabrina if it were directed at her. But since it was not, it was funny to see how angry and fierce her little sister could be.
Although Glinda gave Daphne a wary eye and a strange look, as she continued on. "What are you two doing in Munchkin Land? I see you have killed the Wicked Witch of the East, so that makes you to Good Witches as well!"
Sabrina was dumbfounded at how Glinda was normally, before the Scarlet Hand business. She had a girlish smile on her face, and a high-pitched giggle that could have broken glass. It broke her heart to see how one little thing, or one little person, could make one so inherently evil. "Ummm… we're not witches. I'm Sabrina Grimm, and this is my little sister, Daphne Grimm. We just came here from Ferryport Landing through The Book of Everafter."
"Of course you two are witches. What else could you be? A Munchkin? No, No, No, much too tall for a Munchkin. That means you two are witches. Now, what brings you to the Land of Oz?"
Daphne decided to answer that one for Glinda. "Well, we actually didn't mean to come here. The Book we traveled though doesn't let you pick what story you're going to. It's like not having a remote; we're stuck on the same channel unless we get up and change it ourselves."
Glinda looked confused, as did many of the Munchkins.
Sabrina decided to break off the conversation there, and she continued, so Daphne wouldn't confuse the Munchkins any more than they were right now.
"Okay, let me start from the top and tell you our story, so we can just leave and follow the yellow brick road. My name is Sabrina Grimm, and this is my sister, Daphne Grimm. Both of us are girls; human girls. I'm fourteen and Daphne is eleven. We just came from Ferryport Landing, and mistakenly ended up here. We're hoping to find this man, who's very short, and a little boy who looks like he's up to no good. And, we're only trying to find this guy named Puck, who smells like he hasn't taken a shower in a while, looks like he smells, has fairy wings that are pink, is around my age with blonde hair and green eyes, is tall and—"
Daphne cut her off, "Okay, Sabrina, we all know you're in love with Puck, but you don't have to talk about him so much and gush about how much you love him."
Sabrina blushed, but before she could continue on, Glinda spoke. "Well, it looks like my job here is done. Just remember, you two, if you're going to see Oz, then make sure to follow the yellow brick road. And I would do something about this 'Puck' if you're so in love with him." Glinda then was encompassed by a bubble, and shrank as she floated away into nothingness.
Sabrina blushed yet again, only this time she ducked her head to shield it with her hair. With that last word, the Munchkins, whom Sabrina forgot that they were standing there, cheered and then broke into song
Ding-dong the witch is dead
Which old witch? The wicked witch!
Ding-dong the wicked witch is dead
Wake up you sleepyhead
Rub your eyes, get out of bed
Wake up the wicked witch is dead
She's gone where the goblins go,
Below - Below - Below
Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong's the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low
Let them know the Wicked Witch is dead!
Annnddd…
Follow the Yellow Brick Road. Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Follow the Yellow Brick, Follow the Yellow Brick,
Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
We're off to see the Wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
You'll find he is a whiz of a Wiz! If ever a Wiz! there was.
If ever oh ever a Wiz! there was The Wizard of Oz is one because,
Because, because, because, because, because.
Because of the wonderful things he does.
We're off to see the Wizard. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Sabrina and Daphne were literally pushed onto the beginning of the yellow brick road, and Sabrina momentarily lost sight of Daphne. Seconds later, Daphne emerged with a picnic basket in one hand, trailed by Puck.
Sabrina was dumbfounded. How had Puck gotten into the story? And how had Daphne found him? He hadn't been seen moments ago in all the commotion of the small Munchkin community. Was he okay? Wait no—she pushed that thought out of her head straight away. She ran to him, and engulfed him in a hug. After, she looked at him to make sure that it was really him, and not someone who just looked like him. Though, she highly doubted it.
"Hey Grimm! If you're done hugging me and staring at my heartthrob, killer body, we should probably get going. We've got a date to rescue your brother and save ourselves, all the Everafters, your family, and possibly the world. And I'm guessing we can't miss that," Puck said with a smirk on his face. Daphne snickered.
Sabrina blushed at Puck's first comment. She hadn't realized how long she was hugging and staring (afterwards) Puck. "I guess we can't be late. But..." Sabrina was at a loss for words. "Who are you in the story?"
"Don't know, Don't really care. Unless I'm some loser who-"
Sabrina interrupted him. "Okay then. Come on Fairy Boy, let's go then. Daphne, try to keep up with us." She started walking down the yellow brick road when she heard Puck's boasting voice behind her.
"Sabrina… I think you're forgetting that I have wings, being the magnificent, handy person I am."
She turned around to face Puck and crossed her arms. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"I can fly us over the purple brick road—"
"Yellow brick road," Daphne corrected him.
"Yeah whatever… Yellow brick road faster than you guys can sprint. That way we'll skip over all Dorothy's problems she encountered and get to Oz faster. But I'm not sure I even want to see him now."
Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "I don't know. I think the story says we have to 'follow the yellow brick road'. It doesn't say 'have Puck fly us over the yellow brick road and take the shortcut to Oz.' It almost feels like we would be cheating that way."
"Well then, think of something else to do besides me flying you guys, or following the yellow brick road by foot and that taking double or triple the time. Your choice."
"Okay, fine. We'll fly," Sabrina grumbled.
"Cool. Oh, and Sabrina?" He paused for a moment, playfulness and teasing evident in his eyes. "Nice dress." With that Puck, laughed and picked Sabrina and Daphne up, Sabrina in his arms, and Daphne on his back.
Sabrina hadn't looked at her attire so far, and she was appalled at what she saw. Wearing a blue and white checkered gingham dress and red ruby slippers, she was in the classic Dorothy attire. She fingered her hair, which was in braids and tied off with ribbons at the end. Not to mention, a picnic basket that magically appeared beside her. She decided to leave it behind by dropping it in mid-flight.
She groaned out loud.
Puck zoomed over the yellow brick road for a while, and then stopped when it started to get dark out. They rested just a few feet away off the yellow brick road, near a secluded corn patch.
Daphne fell asleep almost instantly, while Puck and Sabrina lay down in the chilly grass, trying to fall asleep, but having no luck doing so in the process.
"Grimm? You seriously have the cut down on the deserts. You weigh a ton."
"You're the one to talk, stinkpot. I'm not the one who eats ten cookies for desert twice a day."
"By the way, I stopped that habit a couple of years ago, and it never got up to ten cookies. It was only six. Oh, and FYI? Cut the snide remarks too. I'm tired of them and everything that comes out of your mouth."
Sabrina sighed. "Sorry. Didn't mean it. You're not the only one."
Puck abruptly turned his head to look at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean you're not the only one whose tired of everything. My parents' fighting over everything after them being gone for almost 3 years of my life, Daphne's newfound attitude, Granny's cooking, and, sorry to say, your continuous pranks. And the worst one of all, I'm tired of being a Grimm."
Puck stared at her for minutes while he processed this. Who knew that the so strong Sabrina could have so many struggles inside?
After minutes, Sabrina said, "Well, well, now look whose staring?"
Now it was Puck's turn to blush. He quickly shook that blush away, and said seriously, "You could do things about all of that. You could reason with your parents and help them overcome their problems, and help the Old Lady find some new recipes that you would actually like. Or you could just go to the store and buy new food for yourself. Daphne looks up to you, so that's why she says and does the things she does." He laughed, and continued. "As for my pranks, they're not going to stop, but I'll try to cut down a bit on them. You know why I do them though, because I like…uh, your reaction." Puck clamped his hand over his mouth, as he realized his slip-up. Lucky for him, Sabrina didn't seem to notice. She was staring in the other direction, but Puck could see a single tear falling.
He continued on. "There's nothing you can do about being a Grimm. It's who you are! It's your choice to do whatever you want. You don't have to be a detective, like all of your ancestors. Like I said, it's your choice. But you don't have to do everything with and for Daphne. She's grown up a lot, whether you want or realized it."
Sabrina inclined her head to look over at him, still a couple of tears escaping her eyes. She quickly wiped them away once she became aware of them and how they were noticeable. "Since when did you become Mister Maturity?"
Puck laughed. "Don't worry, it won't last for long."
Sabrina smiled at Puck's attempt at humor, and replied, "I like it though. It's…" Sabrina paused for a moment, thinking about what she was going to say and how to word it. She truly meant what she said next. "It's nice, for a change. You're good at giving advice and helping other people."
Puck smiled along with her. "I know I am. I'm good at everything I do."
Sabrina laughed and said with sarcasm, "And you're also very modest."
Puck couldn't help but laugh along with her; he had to admit, she knew how to crack a good joke.
Sabrina looked at him right in the eye. "Thanks for helping me out."
"You're welcome." They sat up, leaned over, and hugged each other, actually meaning the sincerity behind it. Surprising herself, Sabrina turned her head slightly and hesitated, but still kissed Puck on the cheek, as in a token of gratitude. Her eyes darted up to his, and in embarrassment, she turned away quickly, lay on her side facing away from Puck, and mumbled a faint 'goodnight'.
Puck touched his cheek where Sabrina's lips had been seconds ago and grinned. Maybe he should help Sabrina out more often.