HAY GUIEZ. IT'S ME AGAIN. I THINK I'LL JUST LEAVE THIS CHAPTER RIGHTTTTT HERE.

"E-Emma?" Blaine asked, watching her nervously. She looked a little confused, like she still wasn't sure who Emma was.

"Who?" Emma asked, with a small smile. The boys all shared a look.

"Dude," Artie said with a raised eyebrow. He watched Emma carefully, and she squirmed a little, nervously.

"I know," Kurt said, keeping his eyes on Emma to make sure she wouldn't wander off. She was still watching them curiously, trying to figure out what they were talking about. Kurt was pretty sure she wasn't faking, either. She looked legitimately confused. "Emma," Kurt said slowly, taking her hand.

"Who?" Emma asked again, looking slightly wary but not taking her hand away.

"You," Blaine clarified, giving Emma the kindest smile he could muster. She nodded a little, still looking slightly confused.

"Uh, where have you been?" Kurt asked, starting to walk again. Emma followed, her hand still in his. Blaine got the idea, pushing Artie's tub in the direction Kurt was heading. Towards Will's room.

"Looking for the Goddess," Emma said, and Kurt shook his head a little.

"No, before that. Where did you sleep last night?" He was using his most soothing tone, and it looked like it might have been working a little.

"Hmm," Emma said, thinking back. "With Sunshine," Emma finally said, and Kurt's eyes narrowed.

"Knew there was something wrong with that girl," Artie said, lounging back in his tub.

"Well, maybe Sunshine found her yesterday. She could have just let Emma stay in her room the night," Kurt reasoned, not wanting to jump to conclusions. Sure, he didn't particularly like Sunshine very much, but he was pretty sure her heart was in the right place. She hadn't ever done anything that would be suspicious. She seemed to adore Emma. "Emma, where were you before you met up with Sunshine?"

"Uh," Emma said, bringing her bottom lip in her mouth. Her eyebrows crinkled together in concentration as she thought, and Kurt couldn't help but think of her kind of like a little girl. Sure, she was visibly older than him, but she was acting so young. "I don't remember," Emma said finally.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked from behind Artie's tub.

"It's just all fuzzy, I can't remember," Emma tried to clarify. Every time she tried to think back to before waking up in Sunshine's room everything just got foggy, like a cloud was obscuring her memory.

"Hmmm," Kurt said thoughtfully. He held Emma's hand slightly tighter as they walked, not wanting her to leave his side. Eventually, Kurt thought of something that might jog Emma's memory. "Do you know where we're going?" Kurt asked her.

"No," Emma answered simply.

"We're going to see Will," Blaine said, trying to help her memory. And there was nothing. No sign of recognition flashed across her face, or anything else that would signal she understood who they meant.

"Oh," Emma said slowly, not really sure how to react. "Is he anything like Sunshine?" The boys exchanged another look, not sure what to say.

"Not really," Artie answered, figuring it was better to be truthful. Emma's face visibly fell.

"Oh," she said again, sounding a little disappointed this time.

"But he's a lot better than Sunshine," Kurt said quickly. Emma smiled in obvious disbelief, but didn't say anything. Huh. Maybe Emma and Sunshine really were better friends than they had appeared to be. They walked more for awhile, keeping their eyes peeled for both Will and Sunshine, having serious questions for both.

"Emma," Blaine finally said. Emma looked at him, brushing some of her bangs out of her face. They weren't doing the looping thing they normally did, which was interesting. "Do you know where Sunshine is?" Kurt looked at Blaine in disbelief. Why hadn't he thought of just asking her?

"Probably looking for me," Emma said, shrugging. Although she tried to look like she didn't mind, there was a small hint of sadness in her voice. Like she regretted leaving Sunshine. "She didn't want me to leave her room."

"So she could go and find Will?" Kurt asked with a weak smile. He was pretty sure he already knew the answer, but he wanted to ask just to be sure.

"No," Emma said without missing a beat. "She didn't really tell me why. She told me about the Goddess going missing, though, so I snuck out when she was gone to try and look. Nobody can tell me what she looks like, though. I really want to find her. It would make Sunshine so happy, don't you think?"

"Ecstatic," Artie said in a dry voice, an annoyed expression on his face.

It had taken them awhile, but eventually they found their way back to Emma's room. Kurt figured that was the better place to go to, since one it might help Emma's memories, and two he doubted Will had left it. The halls were just as deserted as last time they had visited, the door still just as worn down. Emma wrinkled her nose at it.

"Why does that door look different than all the others?" She asked, looking at the door with obvious distaste.

"A clean freak lives there," Artie said without looking up from his tail. He was examining the dark spots to see how much worse they had gotten.

"Oh," Emma said with obvious distaste. "Sunshine really likes to clean."

"Do you not?" Blaine asked nervously. Emma shrugged.

"It's alright, I guess." The boys exchanged another nervous look before Kurt stepped ahead, knocking on the door a few times. He was on his third knock when the door sprung open, and Kurt jumped back unexpectedly. Will was standing in the doorway looking frantic, his hair ungelled and a total mess, dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious he had stayed up all night worrying. His anxious demeanor immediately melted upon seeing Emma, who was looking at him curiously from behind Kurt.

"Oh, Emma," Will said, racing up to her and pulling her into a firm hug. Her arms hung limply at her sides, and she turned her face away, staring down the empty hall. "Emma, I was so worried, never do that again," Will said, nuzzling the top of her head. After a moment he seemed to notice she wasn't reacting, though, and he looked at her nervously as he pulled away.

"Do I know you?" Emma asked nervously, playing with a string of dark red hair with one hand, her bottom lip between her teeth. Will looked like he could have fainted right there. Or maybe throw up. Kurt took a nervous step back, just in case.

"Emma, it's me," Will said frantically. He looked like he wanted to grab onto her again but he restrained himself. "You know, Will." She shook her head a little, studying him intently.

"I'm sorry, Will," Emma said, thinking back hard. Still, all she could remember was static. "I'm sure it's my fault, I've been forgetting a lot lately." Will looked from Emma to the boys frantically, his anxious demeanor reappearing.

"We found her roaming the halls earlier looking for the Goddess," Blaine tried to explain, but there really wasn't a lot to tell. "Apparently she had escaped from Sunshine's room."

"Not to pin all the blame on her or anything, but she does seem pretty guilty," Kurt had to admit. Will nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Emma's.

"Has anyone seen her yet?" Will finally asked, his voice sounding slightly raspy.

"No," Blaine said, shaking his head. "We haven't full-on looked for her yet, though. We were just scanning for her while we brought Emma to you. It probably wouldn't have been very safe to bring Emma around her, anyways." Will nodded, finally pulling his eyes off Emma.

"I should have known," Will said, shaking his head. "We need someone to guard her while we go and find Sunshine. She has some serious explaining to do."

"I volunteer," Artie said lazily, raising a hand. The boys all looked at him skeptically, but there really were no better options. It was really Artie or nothing at this point.

"Alright, Kurt and Blaine," Will said, looking at the two boys. "I have something to explain to you about Sunshine on our way to her room. It'll probably help you understand the situation better."

"When Emma and I first won," Will began abruptly, apparently just now finding the courage to speak. They had been walking for about five minutes now, and Kurt and Blaine were really starting to wonder when he would get on with the story. "Things were really hard, but we adapted and overcame the obstacles. Unlike you two, we traveled to the Dark Lands, first. In retrospect, that was probably a very bad idea, but we didn't really understand just how bad things were over there at the time. Like you two, we had no idea about what was really going on in the world."

"Sounds familiar," Blaine said, remembering how quick it was for him and Kurt to find danger, just seconds after leaving the protection of the castle. Will nodded, swallowing once before he continued.

"Back then, and it was a very, very, very long time ago, trust me, Elves were the most prominent race. I believe nowadays there's more of a variety, but I haven't left this castle in so long."

"Um, Will," Kurt said, not really wanting to cut Will off but he was legitimately curious about something. "I understand species like, Merpeople and Korrigans and stuff living a really, really long time, but aren't you and Emma human? Shouldn't you guys just have a normal lifespan?" Will laughed without humor.

"That took me awhile to figure out, too. It's depressing, so I'm not shocked Artie hasn't told you yet. The country we came from had a border, just like how this one did. But the people who rule, they're not Gods. They're not powerful enough to sustain one, as Emma was. Instead they have to feed off the life force of those inside, drastically shortening the resident's lifespans in exchange for the protection. It's a messy deal, but I suppose it all works out in favor of the residents." Kurt felt sick to his stomach. It was just wrong to shorten people's lives without their consent. At least everyone should get a choice.

"But- That's," Kurt tried to articulate, but failed. Will nodded solemnly.

"I understand exactly what you mean. I didn't like it anymore than you do, but eventually you'll accept the idea. Truth is, humans need it. We really don't have any special powers other species developed because we've never had the need to evolve them. Back there, you basically just live to breed, your life is so short. Here, you really, really live. Whether that's a good thing or not, I haven't found out yet." Blaine nodded slowly, his arm thrown over Kurt's shoulders to comfort him. Kurt seemed especially hit hard by the news of the border, while Blaine was still digesting it, not really sure how to feel.

"That still leaves something out, though," Blaine said, finally glad they were getting some answers. "How did Emma get the power to sustain a whole border when others need to cut every residences lifespan in like, fourths to sustain one."

"That's what I was getting at earlier, actually," Will said, as they all rounded a corner. "You don't see Elves around anymore, unless they've made a comeback that I'm not aware of. I'm pretty sure Sunshine is the last one, and Emma saved her." Blaine actually stopped walking for a second, trying to process the new information.

"H-How?" Blaine finally said, finding his words after a pause. Will shook his head a little, looking sad. The memories were obviously still painful for him, and Kurt wondered how many other people knew this story. Probably not many.

"Things were getting really, really bad. It was horrifying, honestly. The Elves were the first race the Queen of the Dark Lands went after, trying to wipe them all out. The Elves were on top for a reason, though. They were incredibly powerful. Emma and I had managed to stay away from most of the raids, only really getting caught up in one or two, but we managed to get ourselves out of there. We just weren't ready, we didn't know what to do, there was no way we could have known how to bring peace. I still think if only we had done something a little different we could have done it."

"It wasn't your fault," Kurt tried to comfort him. Kurt thought of Sam, who was practically in the same position as Sunshine. Being one of the last few survivors. He hated it, but when he thought about things like that, he almost felt bad for Sunshine.

"If only we had done things other than just tried to save our own necks things might be different. It would be unnatural if I could forgive myself for something like that."

"But you know now. You guys are protecting a lot of people with your border, now," Blaine tried to reason, not wanting Will to beat himself up over something that happened so long ago. Brooding over it wasn't going to fix anything, especially not Emma.

"I guess," Will said, shaking his head. "It's just, you never really get over it. Seeing someone die. Even if they're not, like, human. They're still people." Will shook his head, trying to pull his mind back from the dark corners which it was creeping to. He had to finish his story, to let Kurt and Blaine know. Maybe they could do something he didn't. "The day we finally tried to help, the worst possible thing happened. The giant, ancient Elven town we were residing in got raided. We were staying at the castle, where a God lived. We were there to plead for him to help us, or show us the way. We were there to admit we needed help."

"I know the feeling," Blaine said, thinking about how hard it was to ask for help in the beginning. How at first he didn't even want Artie to join them, he was so proud. At least his desire to protect Kurt was larger than his pride, or else things could have gotten very bad very fast.

"He, too, was sustaining a border, but it wasn't the same kind as Emma has placed around here. There, he only let Elves through. We had to befriend one just to be able to cross it. Emma's only lets those who believe their alignment is good to cross, which isn't as powerful as being exclusive to a certain species, but it works nonetheless. The thing is, it was a very, very bad Elf who let Dark Forces in. Gods aren't very powerful when sustaining a border, though, since it takes so much out of them. So, he was in a predicament. He could either let the border fail to help his people, letting in more Dark Forces, or trust his people could fight them off while maintaining the border. He chose wrong." Kurt swallowed, hard.

"Which did he choose?" Kurt asked, feeling like he already knew the answer. Will shook his head sadly.

"He chose to maintain the border, basically having to watch as his people were chopped down. He couldn't deal with the grief, he felt like there was nothing left to live for, for good reason. He passed on his powers to Emma when he turned himself into the Dark Forces, as long as we saved whoever we could while they were distracted with him. We bolted, only managing to grab the little girl that would grow up to be Sunshine as we escaped."

"Oh, wow," Blaine said upon hearing the end of the story. Kurt sniffed, wiping at his eyes. It was so sweet and sad, even if Sunshine did grow up to be who she is. Quite frankly all he wanted at this point in time was to run up and give Sunshine a big hug. "Why didn't she grow up thinking of you two as her parents or something, then," Blaine asked after thinking about the idea. Will shrugged.

"Elves don't treat their Gods casually at all, it would probably seem like more of an insult to them to try and just go up and talk to one. Emma didn't earn her power like the Gods Sunshine grew up idolizing, she was flat out given it. Sunshine just doesn't understand Emma's a regular person, though. I've tried telling her before, believe me." The boys nodded, all of Sunshine's odd actions making a little more sense now.

I am aware this is a lame chapter ender. You should also be aware that I don't care -puts on sunglasses- -rides off into the sunset-

Oh oh oh I almost forgot. I'm sending an e-five silentlullabye's way with so much speed it'll make her email load in less than two seconds. TRY DOING THAT WITH DIAL-UP.