A/N:
Ugh, I swear it's taking longer and longer for me to update and I'm so sorry!!!!!

~Shadow

Sabrina's POV:

Daphne was up to something. And I wasn't sure I wanted to know what it was.

First of all, she hardly EVER thinks of taking a shower, especially in the middle of the day. And second of all... yeah I don't have a 'second of all.'

After a while of contemplating what to do about the Daphne Situation, I finally decided to ask the others if they'd seen her behaving weirdly.

I slowly walked out of my room, down the hall, and down the stairs, making sure to miss the last step, the one that creaked.

Granny, Mom, Dad, Charming, Snow, Boarman and Swineheart, Uncle Jake, Toby, Bella, Rapunzel, Cindy, Baba Yaga, and Bunny were all in the crowded living room.

Huh. Elvis wasn't there.

They all jumped when I said, "Are you guys planning?"

Toby and Bella were the only kids among the adults there, and I felt kinda bad for them. But they actually didn't seem awkward around the grown-ups.

Bella nodded. "Mrs. Grimm, sorry, Relda, told us about the whole crow feather thingy. We already sent out a letter to the Widow and—"

"—and we're coming up with a list of possible suspects that might be in the Scarlet Hand," Toby cut in.

"Oh," I said. "Well, good. Have you seen Daphne? She's acting weird. She took a shower not too long ago, and that's definitely not normal."

Everyone burst into laughter. It went on for a couple of minutes until Dad said, "Wait. You're serious?"

I nodded.

"Go ask Red," Mom suggested.

"Fine. But if Daphne comes down here and doesn't say that she's hungry, then I'm taking her to a mental hospital."

I went back upstairs and knocked on the door to Red and Daphne's room, letting myself in when no one answered.

Red was sitting at her desk, writing in a small notebook, and Elvis was flopped across her bed. His ears perked up when I came in and he panted happily.

There was no sign of Daphne.

"Hey, have you seen Daphne?" I asked Red.

She looked up from writing whatever she was writing and shrugged. "She disappears a lot."

I groaned. "Well she just took a shower in the middle of the day. Is that normal for her now?"

Red seemed to remember something. "Oh, yeah, some time ago she came in here to get some clothes to change into. Then she left."

"Left where?"

The little girl shrugged again.

"Oh, come on!" I exclaimed. "Where could she be?!"

"Don't be so worried," Red told me.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Daphne does weird stuff all the time."

"Ugh. I guess you're right," I said, frowning. "But still, something's up if she took a shower at 3:00 PM." Without saying another word, I walked out of the room and shut the door behind me.

Daphne's POV:

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" I asked Al, looking at the crashing waves doubtfully.

He nodded. "Mm-hmm. Absolutely positive."

I frowned. "But what if it doesn't work?"

"It will."

"But what if?"

"I promise it will."

"Jeez," I muttered to myself. "Does he not know how to answer a simple question?"

"I can hear you, you know."

"Whatever." I crossed my arms and turned my back to the ocean, but jumped when a crack of thunder rang across the sky.

Al smirked. "Anytime, now."

Just as he said that, a bolt of lightning hit the water near us. I quickly stepped away from the waves, nervous.

The lightning had struck right in the spot where the Orb had been floating.

"Umm...where'd it go?" I asked Al.

He held up a finger. "Give it a moment."

I stared at the water, trying to will the Orb to be there again. It didn't work. I was getting impatient and slightly worried. "Al?"

He was looking at the water in expectancy. "It's not going to appear yet," he said. "I think it needs time to collect its new and stronger power."

"Oh, so now it's alive?"

"...You could say that."

"Ooh, is it gonna be some kind of animal now?"

Al just grinned.

"I hope it's a unicorn."

"It won't be a unicorn, but close enough."

"Ooh, now I can't wait!"

"You'll have to."

"Oh, just let me say stuff without countering it." I frowned at him, but inside I was so excited that I probably would have screamed if I wasn't so nervous.

"And...now," Al said, pointing at the crashing waves.

I studied them, and saw a faint light showing in the water, getting stronger and stronger as the moments passed by. An odd sound filled the air—like ringing in my ears.

The light eventually got so bright that I couldn't look at it.

And when it faded out, I couldn't believe my eyes.

Sabrina's POV: (Again)

"Dinner!" Granny called from downstairs. "It's time for dinner!"

I groaned and walked out of my room, where I'd been for quite a while. I bet Daphne'll show up. She would never miss dinner.

Sure enough, as I was walking to the stairs, Daphne bolted out of Puck's room and asked me, "DID I MISS DINNER?!"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Nope. You came just in ti— WAIT. Why did you just come out of Puck's room?!"

She looked guilty. "Whaaaaaat? I just came out of mine and Red's room!"

"No, you didn't. And what's that around your neck?"

Daphne's hand reached up to the new necklace around her neck. She held it out to me. "It's something I found. Look. Isn't it pretty?"

I frowned. The object gave out the aura of magic that I was so sensitive to. It was a tiny alicorn figurine, a thin black rope attached to it. Its eyes were many different colors, depending on how you looked at it. Its mane and tail sparkled oddly, and a ring of light surrounded the tip of the horn.

"Daphne, where did you—"

But my little sister quickly tucked the alicorn necklace into her shirt and ran down the stairs before I could finish my question.

I frowned again and made my way down the stairs after her, wondering what that necklace could possibly be. I was pretty sure that Daphne hadn't just found it somewhere.

Everyone except the Grimms had left, and apparently they were coming back tomorrow.

We had camel hump soup for dinner. I remembered the last time I'd eaten it and how Granny had explained that it was made out of actual camel humps.

The thought itself made me shiver in disgust. I refused to eat, staring at Daphne throughout the whole meal, half of my mind wondering about the necklace and the other half wondering how she could eat that soup.

Uncle Jake looked at me from across the table. "'Brina, are you okay?"

"Yup," I answered waving my hand and trying to sound nonchalant. "I'm perfectly fine."

He gave me a look, but decided to drop it. Instead, he asked, "Hey, Daphne, can you bring the Orb here? Maybe we can figure out how it works."

My little sister turned as white as a sheet. "W–what?" she asked nervously. "The Orb? Um, about that—"

A knock came at the door and Elvis whined loudly, interrupting her.

Daphne looked at the door, then at Elvis gratefully as Dad got up to open the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, coming up behind my dad. But there was no one there.

A scarlet red handprint was on our door, and a small piece of paper fluttered on the ground. Dad picked it up and looked at it. It read:

We know more than you think
The Scarlet Hand is rising once more
And you won't be able to stop it

A/N:
*laughs happily*

~Shadow