Henry's POV:

We stood in front of Baba Yaga's strange house. No one moved, and I really hoped we'd keep it that way. But...

"Can we literally just go in?" Charming asked, frustrated.

"Thank you." Mom sounded exasperated, but she'd known very well earlier that Jake and I hated going to Baba Yaga's home. That house... I shivered, staring at its chicken legs.

"Charming, what happened to you?" Jake asked teasingly. "You were always such a wimp."

"You realize you're calling yourself a wimp by saying that," I pointed out, and Charming snorted a laugh. Jake mumbled a "whatever" and fell silent.

Mom sighed, grabbing both our hands and leading us up the steps to knock on the door. Charming moved to the back of our line, and I raised an eyebrow at him. Before Mom could knock, Baba Yaga's crackly voice called, "What do you want?" It was filled with annoyance and we—excluding Mom, of course—exchanged nervous looks.

"This is urgent. You know who it is."

There was a clattering inside and some grumbles, but Baba Yaga actually opened the door without too many complaints. "Is it really that time again?" she asked sighing heavily. "Oh what am I saying, of course it is." I struggled to avoid her gaze; her lazy eye was looking at me from a completely different angle than her other eye. Had it always been that way?

"Bunny!" she called. Her voice was so raspy I had to cringe whenever she spoke too loudly. It sounded like her vocal chords would, I don't know, break? Is that what happened? Either way, the dryness of her voice made it seem like they could snap at any second. "The Grimms are here."

"And Charming!" Charming added. "I... I'm also here."

She eyed him for a moment and wrinkled her hooked nose a bit. "Clearly."

Charming looked offended.

Mom swatted both our arms, though I had no idea why I was in trouble, and muttered under her breath, "Boys, this is not the time for games. We've got serious business to attend to. Seems we've killed two birds with one stone; Bunny's here. Now we only need Morgan. So please, let me do the talking."

The three of us nodded. Baba Yaga, who had retreated back into her house, stepped back into the doorway with Bunny behind her. Bunny smiled grimly at us. "I've been doing some studying up on spells and the like over here for the past couple days. We have a lot to discuss."

"Is there any way we could contact Morgan le Fay?" Mom asked. "I know you need to form a coven for the barrier spell. I would suggest Daphne, but... Well, she's as much trapped as Morgan. And overall, I'd prefer if a grown woman and not a nine-year-old child perform said spell."

Bunny looked thoughtful. "I'm sure there is. You want to do this as soon as possible, yes?"

"Yes. We'd like to stop them before anything actually happens. Who knows what they're planning? It's so silent..."

Baba Yaga actually nodded at this. "We can talk about it here."

"Uh—" Mom shot Jake a warning look, but he continued anyway. I admired his bravery. "Um. We're still getting other people, so... maybe it would be better if we went back to our house?" I breathed a sigh of relief when the two witches nodded, Baba Yaga albeit reluctantly.

"I'll get the spell books we'll need," Bunny offered, and we were standing there again with only the older witch. She stared us down—as best she could, considering the dilemma each of her eyes was having in which direction to look—and I shivered.

Pin's POV:

"Hey..." I wondered how to ask the question, looking up at Tobias as we walked. "Who... who do you think the Master is now?"

He looked down at me—I was getting taller, but the man always loomed over everyone. I tried to remind myself I was physically only ten, and I still had a long way to go. "What do you mean, exactly? I can tell you've got something on your mind."

I hardly ever heard him speak, so it was honestly a surprise to hear his voice. It didn't sound too bad, as far as voices went. "Well..." I sighed. "It's the Wolf, right? I mean... When Red was, I guess, taken, the Wolf was in control. So... so what if he's the Master? And he knows everything now?"

Tobias was silent for several moments, for which I only heard the scrape of the soles of our shoes on the ground. The ground was gravelly, and I vaguely wondered how the Two Pigs' construction business was going.

Finally: "Well, it's possible." Tobias sounded much more subdued than usual. He was always quiet, but there was something sad in his tone. "It's very likely, really. If so... We don't know for sure if he knows everything that Red knows. You mentioned that she had gaps in her memory a while ago, correct?" I nodded and he grimaced. "Those are probably from when the Wolf took control and went back to the fortress. He clearly didn't want her to remember those times."

"So?"

"I suspect it must have taken a lot of energy for him to do that—erase memories from her mind completely. Or at least bury them very far down. There is a chance that he was dormant the rest of the time, gathering up strength for the next memory wipe." Tobias spoke calmly, his voice almost soothing, as he watched the road ahead of us. I instead looked at my feet. "Erift was sent as a spy, not the Wolf. He's been with that little girl for a very long time now. It makes sense that he would serve a greater purpose."

"So he doesn't know about Ember being a spy for us, or... or about Celeste?" I questioned, hopeful.

"There is a chance."

I grinned widely. That was the best news I'd heard in a fairly long time. We stayed like that, the sound of our walking echoing in my ears, before I couldn't stand the silence anymore. "We'll get the Two Pigs, right? And Bella and Toby."

Tobias just nodded, back to his quiet self.

***

Everyone was gathered at the Grimm household now. I looked around. It was a surprise to see Alvin Swineheart and Jed Boarman—so much time had passed. They looked exactly the same, except that the cheery smiles on their faces were missing. Bella and Toby were whispering to each other, probably figuring out everything they'd missed.

My gaze drifted to Baba Yaga and Bunny, who were sitting at the table with everyone else crowded around them. I stared and stared, my eyes glued to them for some reason. My mind was trying to catch on something, but I simply couldn't grasp it. I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking hard. It was a good idea, a really good one—

"Oh!" I exclaimed, grinning.

Everyone looked at me.

"Um, I-I'm so sorry for the outburst," I stuttered. "Could... could Puck, Sabrina, the witches, and I talk for a little? Alone?" I knew Puck didn't want everyone knowing his secret, at least not yet.

"May I ask why?" Henry said, his tone firm. "Anything you have to say could be valuable at this point, so it's better if we all discuss whatever this is."

"Uh... no." I cringed at the blatant rejection, remembering who I was speaking to. "I am sorry, but no. This is a... a private matter."

Bunny eyed me curiously, and Sabrina and Puck looked confused. Baba Yaga sighed, then mumbled something under her breath and suddenly, the five of us were upstairs, where the rest couldn't hear us.

"Yes?" she asked impatiently. "We have important matters to attend to, and the requests of children aren't—"

"Hey!" Sabrina cut in. "You don't even know what this is about. It could be important too." She turned to me. "What's your idea?"

I couldn't believe that she and Puck hadn't guessed yet. "Well, um, maybe Bunny and Baba Yaga can fix Puck's, um, problem?"

The fairy's eyes widened, and Sabrina's mouth formed an 'o.'

"Maybe?" I repeated, not wanting to give them false hope.

"What is this 'problem' you speak of?" Baba Yaga demanded, glaring. "Enlighten us, if you so please."

"Well..." The three of us exchanged glances.

A/N:
Man, Daphne's turning ten tomorrow! Not like, in real life. Like in the fanfic— Yeah. Ok.

~Shadow