#crying screaming pissing my pants in the goodwill

[soupfreak]

when i say i GASPED when i saw this on the shelf….. thank you god and everyone

[bangbangchanie]

Maybe~Chan/ Changbin

Summary: When the love of your life died, falling again is paralyzing yet the person who's always been there makes it a maybe.

Paring: Reader x Chan(Past)/ Reader x Changbin

Warning: Character death, like angst really angst. Fluff

Word Count: 3.2K

AN: Admin Winnie here! Finally reposting this after removing a certain someone. Its the same sad story just with Changbin:)

Arms were tightly wrapped around your waist as your eyes stared at the scene in front of you. Red and blue lights flashing in the dark night sky as smoke and a blaring ringing sound echoes through your ears. You didn't realize you were screaming, screaming out his name as you saw his mangled car. Your knees buckled as the EMT who was holding you fell with you.

“Christopher!” You sobbed. His eyes were watching you from the scene, his body moving across the road.

“Baby, are you okay?” He asks as he reaches mid way as you cry his name again. “Baby, Y/n I’m right in front of yo-” he was cut off from talking and walking when someone walked through him. Your cries grew distant as he looked at his chest, his eyes wide as he looked back to the car. His bleeding body was being dragged from the car, as CEPR was being performed. It felt surreal, watching his limp body move with someone’s pushed against his chest. He brought out his thoughts when your cry turned into a scream of pain. His eyes met your crumbling body, he moved to you. His hand reaching out to only have it pass through your face making you curse.

“I’m here, baby, right in front of you. I swear I’m not leaving, not now, not ever.” He whispered tears trailing down his face as you finally stopped screaming his name and just cried. “I’m still here.”

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“Chris..Chris was the life of the party even if there wasn’t one.” Minho said as he shook his head a small smile lifted up on his lips, though his smile was painfully matched with swollen red bloodshot eyes. His cheeks puffy as you stood in all black in your shared apartment. “He did this thing where if it was too quiet he’d just start singing a random ass song and dancing. You know? He..he always tried to find the light in the dullest things, and he always…he always made me feel..us feel like we were…are bigger than this.” His eyes tailored to your hunched body, your eyes dull as you give him a small smile, tears trailing down your face as his mother grips your hand. Her sobs wracked her body as Minho looked at the glass in his hand. “Y/n..Mr. and Mrs. Bang..Chris…god he was a special man. I am so thankful you two gave him a life and a voice..and Y/n thank you for making him smile when no one else could…this is for you brother.” Chris was next to you and his mother, his eyes tearing up as he watched Minho turn around and let out a small sob as he walked away. Changbin stepped up, his skin pasty and his eyes just as bloodshot.

“We met in the second grade..he was new and had this accent that kids liked to make fun of. But he never saw it as a set back, and took it as a complement…he..fuck.” Changbin stopped speaking as he wiped his eyes. “I..I was told a month ago that he was..was looking for a ring.” He paused, making you stop breathing for a split second as you leaned closer to his mother, your heart clenching as Changbin looked at you. “I was told to prepare a speech as best man, that who I was to Chris and who he was to me. He was..and still is my brother. A man I want to scream at because he left us. He left me. With a speech, and no event to give it at. I wanted to give it here, but I can’t because it hurts too much. I’m so sorry Y/n..” Changbin coughs as he steps away as you wipe at your face. You take a shaky breath as you stand. His brother is clinging to your hand as Chris watches you, moving to stand to your blank side.

“Thank you all for coming..I know..I know Chris would scream at us all for crying like this.” Your words made his mother choke back a cry as his father rubbed her shoulder. “He didn't like it when the people he loved were upset, or cried. He didn’t enjoy not know-knowing how to fix..fix it all.” You breathed out as you messed with your black dress. “He loved with his whole heart…we all know that. He did..he did this weird habit that I still don’t understand and I was with him for four years..but where’d he grab the bottom of his shirt and spread it out in front of him when he was in deep thought.” His mother chuckled as she shook her head.

“He stretched every single one of his school shirts.” She said, making the room lightly laugh as you look at Changbin and Minho who clang to each other, their trio now turning into a duo.

“We love you Chris..I love you.” You whisper as you sit back down, people now talking among one another as you swear you feel a wetness drop on your shoulder where his head hangs over as he tries to imagine his arms around you.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“Honestly fuck you Christopher Bang!” You scratched at the broken picture frame. Your eyes were full of tears as you looked out the window. People living their lives, unknowingly passing the house of a broken girl that had black running down her face and it pissed you off that they didn’t know.

His scent was still wrapped around you, around the four walls of the apartment you shared together. His clothes still hung up in the clothes, and tossed outside of a drawer. His pillow at the end of the bed and his shoes resting against the front door wall.

“I hate you so much!” Your voice cracked as you fell to the hardwood ground. His large sweater falls over your hands as you bring your knees to your chest and sob into them. “Yo-you just left, n-no good-goodbye n-no an-anything.” You cried tears falling down as you rocked back and forth. The pain in your chest was breaking you down, shattering against any idea of love you had any future you planned together. You swear you heard his voice making you perk up and look around, the shuffling of his pillow made you stand up and wipe your cheeks. “Chris?” You whispered as you watched the bed dip.

“Y/n?” Changbin called out as he slowly set the key he had been given when you and Christopher had moved in. He was the security blanket for you two, always making sure you were sleeping, and eating. Killed the bug for the both of you, and watched the place as you traveled. “Oh Y/n.” He whispered seeing you down the hall in the bedroom. He walked down as you keep your eyes locked on the pillow, a dip in the bed that wasn’t there before. Your heart stopped as an arm wrapped around your middle, making you blink, and the dip in the bed was gone. “Come on, let me make you some hot chocolate.” He whispered against your hair as he pulled away and took your hand. His own body was covered in one of Christopher’s jackets. His body moved throughout the kitchen. “A month down.” He whispers, making you sigh as you let out another sob as your head falls.

“I-i miss him so fucking much.” You sob, making Changbin stop moving as he turns and looks at you. “Th-this isn't fair, we-we were gonna move into a house.” You whisper, making Changbin face you his mouth parted at the new information. “My love, my hero ,my everything was ripped for me…and it’s all his fault.” You sob, making Woojin jump into your body, his arm tightly wrapped around you as your body shakes.

“It's gonna be okay…it's gonna get easier..I think.”

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“What the fuck did you do to our bed?!” You scream at Minho and Changbin  who were standing in the living room talking.

“What do you mean? I mean I made it-ow!” Minho cried as you slapped him. Tears falling down your face as you glare at him.

“His pillow stays where it was, his blanket stays bunched up..I can't recreate it, because it won't be the damm same! You asshole!” You cry as you start to shake as Minho's eyes widen. Not realizing it hadn't made sense he last laid there.

“I did-didn't know.” Your body shook as Chan finally found a way to hug you without passing through you. His head nuzzles your neck making you cry harder.

“Im..I’m sorry.” You whisper, making Minho step forward and cup your cheek.

“It's okay.” Chris moves away and Minho and you share a group hug with Woojin.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“Chris..I know this..this is weird.” You mumble as Chris sits next you on the bed, his hands reaching for your thigh as you let out a deep breath of air. “This is honestly crazy..but I just need you to know..what I said a few weeks ago..that it was your fault..it..it wasn't true..and when I screamed I hate you..it wasn't even close to the truth. Because…'cause you were..were the one and..I still need you here but you gone..and I took it personal…but death shouldn’t be personal.” You whisper, making him lightly smile as you take a deep breath. “I think..I think I’m gonna pack up some of your clothes.. give a few to your mom. They all smell like you.” You whisper as you reach for your phone and call up his mom for help.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“Are you sure you're ready for this?” He asked as he watched you pack some of his shirts and pants for goodwill.

“Yeah..it's been nine months..I need to do this..it's not a lot..but..a start?” You mumble making Minho nod as he helps you empty one draw of his. “Okay..no more.”

“Progress.”

“Progress.” Giving each other a high five Chris chuckles as Minho misses making you laugh echo in return. Something Chris hasn’t heard in months.

Progress it was.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“Binnie!” You laughed as Changbin spun you around your living room, his hand tickling your sides as Chris watched, a ping of jealousy hitting him. But he understood, watching you and his friends the past few months, the feeling for Changbin had grown for you and you him.

He wanted you two happy.

So he came up with a plan, his spirit moved through the walls as he grabbed your journal and opened up to your most recent entry. His eyes scan the words.

'I haven’t felt this way about someone since I first met Chris..and it feels wrong but so right at the same time. Changbin had made this feeling come up that I thought I’d never feel again. And it’s scary. I don't know if I can handle losing someone again.’

And then he knocks a picture frame down making a loud crash disrupt the two of you messing around. Changbin stood up straight as he placed you close to the couch and looked down the hall.

“Wait here."he mumbled walking into your bedroom, where he looked around till a picture frame that he glued together from the time you’d throw it across the room in a fit of anger, caught his eyes. It was a picture of Chris smiling, his eyes bright as your lips pressed against his cheek. It made Changbin smile as he saw the man he considered his brother, he hadn’t looked at a photo of him in a year, it felt good. It felt good seeing his face again, even if it would never be the same. It was still Christopher Bang smiling, and he swore he could hear the hum sound he made while you kissed his cheek.

As he moved it back where he remembered where he placed it after he fixed it. His eyes casted down and he saw your entry, and his heart began to speed up.

"She..she feels the same?” He whispered to himself, making Chris smile as he stood next to him and spoke.

“Of course she does, you make her happy.” Changbin jumped as he felt the vibrations of a voice he knew all too well in his head. “Can you hear me?” Chris said, making Changbin look around, and nod slightly.

“Bin? Is everything okay?” You ask walking into your room seeing the frame in his hand, his wide eyes stare at you.

“Uh..yeah.” he chokes as he runs his hand down his face. “Yeah..just this picture fell.” You humm as you move to stand next to him and stare at the two of you, tears gather in your eyes making Chris reach to wipe it away as he did so Changbin. He smiled at his friend as he watched the two of you stare at each other.

“Oh..shit.” you whisper seeing your entry that was open as you move fast to shut it. Already having an idea that he knew and now was ready to leave and never come back.“Did you..”

“Yeah. Yeah I did.”

“I think..I think you should go.” You whisper, making Changbin frown as he moves to rest and hand on your shoulder but you shrugged to get away from him. “Just..just leave..please.”

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“Y/n, please call me back. We need to talk..please.” You listened to your voicemail again, Changbin pleas only made your heart break more.

“Dammit women, call him back!” Chris snaps as he watches you bite your lip. His favorite sweater wrapped around you, making his dead heart thud rapidly against his chest. Then his own voice travels through the air making his eyes widen. “Why do you do this to yourself, baby?”

“Hey baby, I just wanted to call to let you know I’ll be outside of the building waiting for you in five…I know I’m too late to change but I think my office attire will work for the date..I know you’ll look beautiful as usual..hence why you’re probably not answering me! But it's fine,I love you..I’ll see you in a bit.” You play another one, “Baby! Changbin just dropped off food, I swear he’d be a better boyfriend than me like how he is his single! Anyway I just wanted to call and say I love you, and have an amazing day at work!” As you went to play another you phone began to glitch due to Chris being the playfully smart ghost he is, and found a way to only play the part he wanted you to hear. “I love you, but it's fine you like Changbin.” It was choppy and wasn’t even a proper sentence but it made you throw your phone onto the bed as you stare at it. It played again, and again as Chris watched your eyes widen.

“Christopher Bang I swear if this you are coming to haunt my ass I’ll find a way to bring you back and kill you again!” You whisper, making him chuckle, your eyes snap to the empty spot in front of you, where he sat. “I..I finally broke didn’t I..cause I did..I did not just hear that laugh.” You whimper, making him frown as he looks at you. “I’ve missed that laugh.” You breathe out making him giggle, a smile lifting on your cheeks as your phone rings pulling you out of your thoughts.

Binnie is calling.

“Pick it up.” Chris said, making you roll your lip as you hear the very faint vibrations, like he was talking while you rested your head on his chest.

“Hello?” You answer by making Woojin let out a breath as he begins to speak but you cut him off. “I..I like you.”

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

“I haven’t been here since the funeral.” You whisper walking hand and hand with Changbin, followers and balloons in hand as Chris' family walks in front of you. It was his birthday today. You somehow had gotten through the first one, tears and snot but this one..this one was easier in a way. Chris trailed next to the two of you as he watched you closely, the twinkle in your eye was back, Changbin's smile was bigger than ever.

Soon you reached his tombstone, bending down your smile, “Hi baby.” You whisper as Chris sits next to his name, you sit on the grass as his family sits on the bench next to his grave. Changbin sits behind you, over the last few months Chris' family has fully supported you two with the love that was twining the two of you. You place the flowers next to his name and lean against Changbin. “Happy birthday weirdo.” You mumble, making Changbin laugh as Minho arrives, his body moving to sit next to the two of you as he hits a card in his hand. “What’s that Min?” You ask.

“I….just a letter to my brother.” Minho says, making you nod as he places it next to your flowers, Chris smiles at his friends and family.

“What do you think he's doing right now?”

“About to fight Changbin.” Minho says with a smile, making Chris' mother laugh as she shakes her head.

“Idiot.” Changbin said, hitting his shoulder as he laughed and nuzzled his face into your shoulder.

“I..I hope he’s happy wherever he is. I hope he is at peace and that…that he isn’t actually haunting me.” You laugh, making Chris follow as Changbin nods and Minho and his family giggle. “I mean he said, if he ever died he’d haunt me so I’m wondering if it’s happening.” You said wiping the tear that fell down your cheek.

“I wonder if he can finally sit in peace and enjoy the quiet sunsets.” Minho mumbles, making the three of you look at eachother and break out in laughter.

“As if.” Changbin laughs as you place your head into his collarbone.

“I just want him to be happy.”

“I am happy..I think..I think I can leave now.” Chris mumbles to himself, another Ghost at the tree waiting with a smile on his face, freckles covering his cheeks as his fringe falls over his eyes.“I..I can let go now. Baby..baby I ..I love you so much. I know you won't hear this, I know you won’t..but I just..I just love you so much. I’m so happy you’re happy. Thank you for the birthday wishes…I love you guys.” He stood up and walked to the tree, the unknown ghost smiled and clapped him on the back.

“Are you ready for the fun part kid?” He asks, making Chris look at him with wide eyes.

“Will..will I see them again?” His question made the unknown ghost chuckle as he laughed.

“Ah you kids, never truly know what’s out there for us…you’ll see them whenever they visit here. You’ll get like a ring in your head, and any gift they leave for you you’ll be able to pick up and keep it.”

“What’s your name?”

“Felix, died 1976, leukemia at 17….you?”

“Christopher…died in 2020, in a car crash at 23.”

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Keeper of the Grove (Part 76)

Winter sat in her cell, conserving what power she had left in her suit, watching the minutes go by.

“… We’ll go get her...” Weiss had replied, before there was nothing but silence from the other end—no doubt as they figured out just what exactly to do, what to say to Winter, who to actually send in.

She never thought she’d have this chance: to see the very real terror that had been haunting her for almost all her life, the one that had been terrorizing all of Avalon for over a millenia, the one that had caused so much suffering and loss of life from all those poor souls that just didn’t believe the stories, thought they wouldn’t become th elatest victims, or just had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And now, she had the chance to finally kill her.

She knew that she probably wouldn’t fear her weapons as her decoy Qrow had. In hindsight, it should have been much more obvious that the figure under that cloak was lankier and taller than the one on stage last night, and she would have noticed if only she hadn’t let her rage blind her judgment, let that one permanent flaw of Shepherd Suits get to her:

The feeling of limitless power, and the oftentimes lethal overconfidence that came with it.

But maybe, just maybe, even if she wouldn’t flinch at the sight of her weapons, they would vaporize her all the same. All she had to do now was wait, pray that these “Fae” were honest about their claim, or that they were stupid enough to send the real Keeper in.

“We’re sending the Keeper in!” Abner called out.

Winter stood at attention, watched as an all too familiar figure popped into the room through a tear in reality.

Ruby smiled and held up the sack she had in her hand. “I brought cookies!”

Winter started screaming and firing everything she had.

From the control room, reactions varied as the live-feeds exploded with white-blue magic, rendering them all but blind.

Weiss stared in open-mouthed horror as she strangled the Eluna plushie in her arms.

Abner slowly put his hand off the giant button that had teleported Ruby into the cell.

Lying in a gurney with his arms still in the tank, Taiyang watched, his face neutral, his mouth a hard-line. Beside him in a wheelchair, Qrow did the same. And on his other side, Yang scowled and struggled to break the bindings strapping her into her own wheelchair.

Pyrrha stared with wide-eyes, one hand squeezing Penny’s as tightly as she could.

Zwei whimpered in worry, Blake nervously rubbed one of his necks, all three sets of their ears pulling back in fear.

Between an armed Ren and Nora, Jaune sheepishly eyed all the people around him. “Is she going to be alright…?”

“Without a doubt,” Ozpin said as he and the other Council members attended by holo.

“Like the rest of her ancestors, Ruby has an impressive record of surviving and succeeding against much worse odds and situations—complete with evidence from whoever were the Keeper’s personal chroniclers at the time!” Oobleck added.

“They’re from hardy stock, they are!” Port hummed. “And though Winter certainly isn’t no slouch herself, well, the Keeper bloodline is hard to beat!”

“Even with the might of Soul Eaters,” Glynda finished.

Jaune nodded and turned his attention back to the live-feed.

Winter’s screaming turned into desperate, frantic sobbing as she kept firing, her already low reserves went ever lower, and Ruby kept on dodging and temporarily disappearing from reality, not a single one of those shots landing, or her being so far away from the center of the explosion that the damage was negligible.

Eventually, her suit could take no more, all of her weapons systems powering off lest she risk killing herself from exhaustion. She was blinded by the smoke of her leftover magic, before etherite hummed and glowted as it quickly absorbed it and healed itself, the blocks looking pristine in moments.

Winter panted for breath, sweat pouring down her body, her life-support systems trying its damndest to stabilize her levels, until it just gave up and settled for keeping her alive.

Ruby waved some of the leftover magic from her face. “You done…?” she asked.

Winter cried out as she threw her emergency combat knife at her.

Ruby caught it in her hand.

Winter threw the second one.

Ruby caught it in her other hand.

Winter threw her third and last knife.

Ruby deflected it with the first, caught it out of the air with the second, before she held all three blades in her hand, handles out in a fan. “Uh… do you want these back, or…?”

Winter whined as she curled up into a ball, and began to let out bitter, broken sobs. “What do you want…?!”

Ruby paused. “… For you to stop crying so we can actually talk…?”

Winter looked at her, before she broke into another round of tears.

Ruby turned back. “Guys…? Little help here…?”

Weiss sighed. “I’ve got this...” she said as she stepped up to the teleporter pad.

Abner looked back at Glynda.

“Let her in,” she said.

Abner pressed the button, and through a rip in reality Weiss went, until she emerged beside Ruby with the Eluna plushie. Ruby reached for her, until Winter desperately blubbered out something, unintelligible through her tears and hiccuping.

Weiss reluctantly stepped away from Ruby. “Later,” she mouthed.

Ruby nodded. “I love you,” she mouthed back, before she stepped aside.

Weiss smiled, before she turned to Winter and carefully stepped up to her, holding the Eluna plushie out.

“Winter…?” Weiss asked.

Winter turned to her, shivering and sobbing still.

“It’s me, Weiss!” Weiss said, smiling. “I’ve got Eluna—your Eluna! The one we got from Velvet last month, I swear.”

“You can tell because it still smells like tears, snot, and despair!” Ruby added.

Winter sat up, whimpered as Weiss got ever closer to her.

“Do you want her back?” Weiss asked. “I think you really want her back.”

Winter sniffed and nodded.

Weiss kept on smiling. “I’m going to give her back to you, but I need to promise me that you’re not going to attack Ruby again, or anyone else for that matter, okay? We just want to talk, answer all of your questions, and answer plenty of mine, too!

“Can you do this for me, Winter? Please…?”

Winter slowly reached up for her helmet with shaking hands. She disengaged the seals, threw it off to reveal eyes red with tears, snot pouring down her nose, her normally meticulously fixed hair everywhere in sweat-matted strands, the bun on the back of her head just barely holding together.

Weiss slowly knelt down to the floor, and placed Eluna between them.

Winter sniffed, warily looked at her, then at the plushie.

Weiss gently pushed her forward, then smiled.

Winter reached out and snatched her up, pressing her up to her face with shaking, nervous hands. She rubbed her bare face into the plushie, felt its ridiculous warmth and softness once more, inhaled the faint smell of her tears, snot, and despair.

It was mixed with the smell of freshly turned earth, chocolate chip cookies, and sadness, but she could still tell it was hers.

Winter let out a whimper of happiness as she nuzzled her face into the Eluna plushie.

Most everyone in the control room smiled.

Then Winter mopped up her tears with it, before blew her nose on it.

Most everyone in the control room weren’t smiling anymore.

“Well...” Ren muttered. “Very glad I was forced to handle that with gloves...”

Weiss and Ruby stayed with Winter in her cell, sitting in a triangle with Abner teleporting in filtered water, cushions, cookies to replace the bag that had been vaporized earlier, “and some milk to go along with it, because really, what’s biscuits without milk, tea, or coffee?”

Winter clearly had her reservations about eating and drinking food from the enemy, but at Weiss’ insistence that it was safe, and reminding her the Fae had proven that they would do exactly as they said they would, she began to eat.

“Wow...” she muttered as she chewed. “This is actually really, really good!”

“Yeah, the recipe’s--” Ruby started.

Weiss subtly glared at her.

“--really, really good!” she finished awkwardly.

Winter noticed, but decided the delicious chocolate chip cookies could be ruined after she had enjoyed them at least once.

“Are we good now?” Ruby asked after she finished the last of the bag. “You won’t try to kill me anymore, and we can talk?”

“I’m on emergency reserves, it’s clearly going to take a lot more than what I just used to kill you, and I’m trapped behind enemy lines, in an inescapable cell, with reinforcements capable of dropping in at the drop of a hat and utterly annihilating me.

“What do you think?”

Ruby paused. “So is that like a ‘Yes’ or--”

Weiss sighed. “It’s a ‘Yes,’ Ruby...”

Ruby frowned. “Fucking ‘Sarcasm’…” she muttered under her breath. “Okay, so as a show of goodwill, the Council is going to tell you almost everything that you’d like to know! So, ask us almost anything!”

“First and foremost, I want you to know what the hell have you been doing to my sister!” Winter snapped.

Weiss groaned. “Winter, they’ve--”

“I heard your message, Weiss! In fact, I can play it back to all of you right now, if you’d like a refresher!”

“Yeah, what did she say in her super secret post-not-death message?” Nora asked. “I’ve been dying to know!”

“Do it, then,” Gylnda said,

Winter activated her suit’s built-in comm-crystal, and replayed one of the few personal pieces of data she’d been allowed to store in it.

“Winter, it’s me—Weiss.

“I sincerely hope you’re hearing this message personally and that you haven’t done anything drastic, because if you have, I am going to be really pissed off and devastated!” There was a pause for Weiss to take a few breaths, calm herself down.  “… I’m fine, just… needed to get that out of the way… anyway… Winter:

“I’m alive.

“This isn’t a recording done before that disaster of a ransom holo we made. My ‘death’ was faked, and I want you to know… it wasn’t the Keeper that pretended to ‘slit’ my throat with that scythe...

“… It was me.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of what father has done since you were taken away, but I was sick of it! Sick of him sending all those people to their doom, sick of the Keeper breaking in all the time, sick of how he was treating his own family and everyone around him like they were just business assets, means to an end, accessories to make him look better!

“Jacques Schnee, taking over the Schnee Legacy and the SPC!

Jacques Schnee, Family Man!

Jacques Schnee, ‘Tragic’ Widower of the Sekhmet Scourge!”

Weiss cried out in frustration; there were moments of muted chatter, the other voices modified so they would be all but untraceable and unintelligible, followed by Weiss sobbing and hiccuping from the emotion.

“I’m done being his property—doing everything he asks of me, moulding me into exactly what he needs for his own fucking reputation, deciding everything for me regardless of what I think.

“I don’t know what kind of life I can make here—wherever the hell ‘here’ is!

“But I do know, I don’t want to go back home, if that’s what’s going to be waiting for me.

“Please don’t come find me, Winter.

“And please don’t worry: they’re taking care of me here! They’re feeding me, they’ve given me a warm, safe place to sleep complete with a permanent supply of hot water, and they’re even given me this recorder and books to pass the time with!

“The books are HORRIBLE and I feel my brain cells slowly committing suicide with every predictable plot ‘twist’ I read, but I appreciate the thought!

“What I’m trying to say is: I’m staying here. And I’m never going back, if I can help it.

“I love you, Winter. Goodbye.”

Winter shut off her suit’s comm-crystal. “Did you really think I would believe all that, considering the circumstances?

“Even if you weren’t the face of my lifelong trauma, there was still all the very real people you’ve killed over the centuries for even daring to go into the Viridian Valley, and not to mention all the poor members of my father’s expedition teams that you’ve killed!

“You Keepers are mass-murderers and psychopaths, do you think I would believe anything you were saying?!”

“Err, if I may butt in: the Keepers have barely ever actually killed anyone by their own hand,” Abner said. “Most of the casualties sustained by the expedition forces were largely from the wildlife and the various dangers in the Valley; the Soul Eaters like the one you faced may be the worst of them, but that doesn’t mean that everything else are declawed kittens in comparison!

“Even the Keeper’s scythe was built specifically to be able to non-lethally siphon magic out of its victims, as you were personally witness to.

“We do have blood on our hands, but that’s only if you prove to be beyond reasoning with or subduing peacefully, or if humans are coming in such large numbers that the elaborate, non-lethal scheme we attempted to pull off with you are all but unfeasible!”

“Then what about all the stories?!” Winter cried. “The eyewitnesses, the matching dates and details, the hard evidence corroborating everything that points to the Keeper being real and these people being very, very dead?!”

“Just that: stories—oftentimes highly exaggerated or outright manufactured by us, our human allies, or naturally mutating by virtue of being shared and modified the more people speak of it,” Ooobleck said.

“As the Eldan Council’s Archivist, and the head of both the Orders of the Chroniclers and Seekers: we are very, very, very thorough about our operations, our secrecy, and making you humans believe what we want you to believe.”

“Take me, for example!” Abner butted in. “Most all of my debtors were completely convinced I had become the latest victim of the Valley! It was only because of Blue’s dogged determination and her strong, inexplicable hunch that I was somehow still alive that she ever thought of coming here!

“… And when she did find me and discovered the lie, she found herself unwilling to expose it for her own personal reasons.”

“Like what?” Winter asked.

Abner sighed heavily. “She fell in love with Ilaya, for one…”

Winter blinked. “She… fell in love with her…? How…? Why…?! Oh, sweet Shepherd, are you torturing them like you did with Samaria?!”

Weiss groaned. “That’s not what happened! They’re not brainwashing them! Or me, for that matter! I’m pretty sure that—and please, all of you back there in the control room don’t make me regret saying this—they all fell in love with the Keepers because they actually, legitimately liked them!”

“Oh, yes, all the relationships with the Keepers have been about as consensual as you can get!” Port bellowed. “Oftentimes, the humans were the ones to ‘make the first move,’ which is quite fitting considering the Keepers are of a prey subspecies of Fae!”

Winter paused. “… WHY…?!” she asked, panicked.

“Because they’re not actually cruel, heartless monsters who wantonly slaughter and terrorize humans for the fun of it,” Glynda said. “We only find it most useful for our needs that they are seen as the guardians of a cursed land that only fools who wish for death or are tragically flawed will even think of entering.”

“Ruby’s actually, really, really nice!” Weiss said. “She’s been nothing but kind to me, she’s got zero ill-intent in her whatsoever, and even if she can be kind of a dolt… I… I really like her!” she paused and looked away.

“… I… love her, actually...”

Winter stared blankly at her. “So that kiss on stage…?”

Weiss sheepishly looked at Winter. “… was totally consensual, yes.”

“And you two are…?”

“… Girlfriends.”

Winter eye’s slowly widened as her mouth fell open in horror.

“We haven’t”--Ruby made a sexy animal noise--”yet, if that makes you feel any better!”

“...”

Weiss handed Winter her Eluna plushie.

Winter took it and nodded. “Thank you.”

She began to make a long, continuous noise, starting as a quiet whine, gradually growing louder and louder to a wail of pure anguish, occasionally broken by hysterical sobbing.

“Why?!” she wailed. “Why are you doing this?! Why have you been kidnapping humans and keeping them here?!”

Weiss opened her mouth, before she paused, and turned back to Ruby. “… Why have you…?”

Ruby frowned. “Okay, one: we don’t kidnap humans.

“All of those Keeper stories are meant to scare you off, but your species is so crazy you keep coming back here anyway! We try and capture then send back as many as we can, but if they die, or come back to you guys ‘frothing at the mouth’ crazy, it’s not our fault!

“We are literally telling you that if you go into the Valley, something terrifying and awful will kill you—horribly and painfully!”

“Two: all of the Keeper’s mates were like Abner and you—they all stayed here because they all had their reasons, then they found they really liked living here and didn’t want go back!

“The ones that don’t work out we can easily smuggle back into human territories with a new identity and all the incentive in the realm not to spill the beans. You’ve seen the Plushie Palace, and how no one found out about our fake IDs until the Heralds attacked, right?

“That should tell you how good we are at this!

“And three: we need humans and mostly human hybrids to make more Keepers like me.

Weiss blinked. “Wait… you ‘need’ humans…?”

“What the hell is going on in this Valley?!” Winter cried. “What are you Keepers, really?!”

Ruby raised her hand. “For that, we’ll need my Uncle Qrow—he can tell this story WAY better than I can...”