Disclaimer: I only own my ideas not anything else.

Bloody Kitsune: This chapter is actually pretty damn interesting and I'm actually proud of myself since it adds in a bit of world building, I think.

Reviews:

NoxNightKing: Glad to hear it.

Faery66: Here it is.

FANactic Writer: Mhmm


Information and realizations


Candy Pop frowned when he noticed how subdued Vivian seemed to be and the look of concern in Calla's eyes whenever she looked at the other halfling. Night Terrors let out a low grumble radiating displeasure, "Wonder what the hell happened between when we dropped shit off and now."

'No idea, but we'll find out once dinner is over,' Candy Pop didn't like how quickly their moods seemed to have dropped.

Night Terrors huffed at him, but fell silent. Candy Pop looked at Hoodie when the proxy bumped their arms together and the man tilted his head towards the two children. He shrugged earning a slight frown from the man who asked, "Going to talk to them?"

"After dinner," Candy Pop answered as he reached out to grab his goblet of water.

"I'll cover tonight then," Hoodie offered as he glanced to the two halflings in concern.

Candy Pop was slightly surprised by the offer, but supposed it shouldn't be too surprising seeing as the proxy had grown attached to Vivian. Not to the point of Masky who had practically taken on the little halfling as an apprentice, it was still apparent that he cared about the kid. He nodded his head as Night Terrors murmured, "The Doll and the Woods brats are going to have targets on their backs until they snap. Even bigger ones then we thought."

A slight frown formed on Candy Pop's lips at that comment, 'What do you mean?'

Night Terrors sighed deeply, "The fact you're so blind to it right now just shows how much the Doll and Lily-Flower have changed us." Candy Pop was confused about what Night Terrors was talking about, "Think about it, Idiot. What is a serial killers greatest weakness?"

Eyes widened as the answer came to him, Candy Pop realized just how fucked everyone was, "Shit."

"Phelan?" Hoodie asked with a look of concern.

Candy Pop shook his head glad that the mortals hadn't heard him speaking, "Just realized something, I'll tell you later."

Hoodie eyed him for a moment before nodding, "Alright."

If there was one thing that made Candy Pop prefer the quietest of Slenderman's proxies over the other two, it was that Hoodie knew when not to press while Toby would keep asking questions or Masky would stare at you until you'd given him the answer. Night Terrors grunted as his thoughts began to swirl with alarm, "Calm down, Idiot. Stressing over it won't fix anything," Night Terrors smirked at him, "Not that there is anything to fix, we're all better off like this."

'How are we better off?' Candy Pop hissed at the demonic entity, 'We have a gigantic weakness that Zalgo can use against us. Hell everyone allied with Slenderman that knows about them and has interacted with them does!'

"Because we're more stable," Night Terrors answered making Candy Pop pause a bit and actually consider his words, "Every single one of us is less likely to burn out or become one of those creatures that work for Zalgo. The kiddies make us fight harder and actually learn new things to ensure we can be caught by him. They brought back that spark of enjoyment in our work especially since the Doll loves hearing about our stories," He was actually surprised that Night Terrors sounded almost happy, "Not even the new Creeps managed to do that lately. Life was becoming dull until they came into our lives,"

Candy Pop admitted that Night Terrors was right, but had to comment, 'I expected to hear that from our sister rather than you.'

"Go sodomize yourself with a cross doused in holy water," Night Terrors hissed at him.

Candy Pop mentally snorted at Night Terrors, but had to wonder what the others would think when they realized it. Perhaps it would be best to avoid commenting on it for now, he would tell Hoodie, Candy Cane, and Jason since they needed to know. Jason probably already realized it considering just how much losing Lily and almost losing Calla had destroyed him.


Calla wasn't surprised when Candy Pop had her bring Vivian to his room. Vivian had been subdued since their little talk which worried the hybrid greatly though she supposed it wasn't that big of a surprise. Unlike her, Vivian hadn't grown up knowing this stuff and only had a little bit of time to work through it. She didn't know what questions to ask or many of the little bits of knowledge that the hybrid had picked up since being discovered. If she hadn't been half fae and observant as hell, she probably would've been just like Vivian.

Calla pushed Vivian to sit down in one of the armchairs before plopping onto the bed after kicking off her shoes. Candy Pop frowned as he looked between them, "What happened?"

"Vivian brought up the fact that there might be more of us here," Calla felt Night Terrors' interest rise up immediately at her words, "After finding Hermione and Vivian last year, I didn't really check to see outside of those I encountered on a daily basis or if they're part of Ravenclaw," She frowned softly feeling mildly frustrated with herself, "I should've looked, but no one really caught my attention like them,"

Candy Pop nodded as he sat down beside her, "That isn't actually surprising, you're young and your sensing ability still needs a lot of work in order to ferret out information without you actively searching for it," He pulled her into a hug, "Now that you know, you'll be able to work on that," Calla nodded leaning into Candy Pop's side, "You were also pretty happy at knowing there were at least two others here and the whole bullshit from last year not to mention the stuff that has been happening this year has been a lot more pressing than finding any others."

Calla felt a bit better about that and vowed to work even harder on her abilities, "I've decided that I'll start searching tomorrow."

"But what caused her to get subdued?" Candy Pop asked looking at Vivian with some concern.

"If we find any, they'll either be pulled into the fold or killed," Vivian answered looking up at Candy Pop with a sullen look in her eyes, "If we become unstable, we'll be killed without question,"

Calla spoke up as Candy Pop looked at Vivian in confusion probably not realizing the problem, "Poppy, Vivian is still new to all this despite being able to roll with the punches."

Candy Pop's eyes widened in realization, "Oh, I understand now," He gave Vivian an apologetic look, "We'll have to go through what you need to know soon."

"Would you all really kill us if we become unstable?" Vivian asked visibly trembling.

Candy Pop's eyes darkened as Night Terrors radiated quite a bit of fury, "If we cannot stabilize you, yes."

"How do you stabilize someone?" Vivian asked as Calla perked up a bit not having even thought about that part.

"Certain individuals such as Laughing Jack or Puppeteer have abilities that allow them to work with the mind," Candy Pop explained with a slight frown, "They can help stabilize a person's mind or help figure out what's causing the problem. The problem would then be removed if we can do that or fiddled with until it isn't a problem anymore," He paused for a moment clearly speaking with Night Terrors, "Isolating the problem if it's entirely mental is possible though it mostly depends on what the problem is and just how big it is. If the problem involves certain powers like the Sight, Slenderman or someone else with certain skills can seal away the power long enough to help you recover which would allow for training to get used to it,"

"What if it isn't something that could be sealed away?" Calla asked surprising Vivian, "Like if it involves an unstable blood like when Japanese demons breed with humans without any form of power,"

"If the demon parent is willing, a charm can be created to keep the blood stable," Candy Pop answered with a pleased hum, "Of course, it also depends on if the demon parent is stronger than their spawn which is a whole other kettle of fish. With Cambions, it's a case by case thing especially when you consider the parents," Calla nodded slowly planning to research this at some point when she had the time since it was pretty damn interesting, "Neither of you need to worry about becoming unstable,"

"How come?" Vivian asked brightening up much to Calla's relief.

"In your case, it's due to Jeff still technically being human and actually having a stable power base despite being himself," Candy Pop answered earning a scowl from Vivian at the mention of her father.

"What about Cal?" Vivian asked looking at Calla curiously.

"A few reasons actually," Calla answered this one having asked it before, "Mama's a really powerful witch especially when you add in the adoption that Uncle James and Siri did. Mama and Papa's magics have always mixed well which is important especially when one gets involved with a fae. Papa has lived long enough that his energy has fully stabilized despite snapping,"

Vivian looked a bit confused, "Why is mixing magic important?"

"Fae are beings of magic, Vivian," Candy Pop explained with a slight chuckle, "Being able to mix their magic with someone is one of the ways they figure out if they're compatible. In order to get into an actual relationship with a fae rather than become a plaything for them, you need to be able to mix your magic with theirs,"

"If it mixes well like Papa and Mama, you're able to have children with the fae that won't turn insane at some point after birth or drive their female parent insane before then," Calla explained earning a shocked look from Vivian, "Magical children and their mothers mix magic until their birth,"

'If it doesn't mix well, a child will either not be conceived or will be completely insane," Candy Pop added in, "They may die before birth or be horrifically disfigured. Not to mention a whole host of other things,"

Vivian looked a bit pale at that and then looked at Calla, "What about you?" She gave Vivian a look of confusion, "What if you have kids?"

Startled by the question, Calla jolted a bit and stared at her with wide eyes. Kids weren't something she'd ever really thought about or even considered. Shaking her head lightly, she said, "I never actually thought about it."

"Really?" Vivian asked with a surprised look.

Calla shook her head, "No," She shifted a bit uncomfortably at Vivian's searching look, "Why would I?" Vivian opened her mouth before closing it with a small nod, "To answer your question, my ability as a sensor would play a big part in finding a romantic partner once I'm old enough to consider a serious one. I probably won't try to find a serious partner until after I turn 18 or something like that."

"How come?" Vivian seemed to be full of questions today.

Candy Pop answered the question shaking his head lightly with a slight look of disbelief on his face, "Fae don't start looking for actual romantic partners until after they turn 50 which is when they're looked at as adults. It's around that time their magic reached maturity and their somewhat immortality kicks in alongside their ability to procreate. Calla being a halfling will be looked at as an adult earlier than that due to her human half though it's a gamble as to when she'll mentally be ready for a serious relationship."

"50? Seriously?" Vivian stared at Candy Pop like he'd sprouted extra heads and a pair of fluffy bunny ears.

"Fae are somewhat immortal and age slowly though not to the point of some other long lived species," Candy Pop explained with a small chuckle, "By the time they turn 50, they usually look to be around 20 something,"

"So they stop aging after that?" Vivian asked earning a soft snort from Calla.

"They don't stop visibly aging until they're 100 years old which makes them look around 30," Calla grinned a bit, "Papa's really old so is Uncle Owl," She paused for a moment before adding, "Don't ask how old a fae is though unless they offer. You're liable to end up gutted or worse despite our friendship,"

"So basically the same rule that applies to vampires applies to the fae?" Vivian clarified and nodded when Calla inclined her head, "Is it the same with all the other long lived species?"

"For the most part, I think the only one that honestly doesn't give a shit about it are the Giants," Candy Pop hummed softly, "Then again, they only qualify as long-lived because they can live for over half a millennium,"

"That's if they're not stupid enough to get themselves killed," Calla muttered with a soft snort, "Violent assholes,"

Vivian stared at Calla in surprise, "You consider them violent?"

"Violent and uncultured assholes," Calla corrected with a dismissive wave of her hand, "Very rarely will any of them have any thoughts inside their heads outside of fucking, eating, battle, and finding someone to fuck. While Creeps can be violent, they don't go years without bathing," Vivian gagged at her words, "The ones in this realm aren't as bad anymore mostly because their numbers are too low and even species as slow witted as Giants will try to prevent themselves from going extinct,"

"Thankfully, it seems that most half-giants are actually better than their giant parents," Candy Pop shook his head lightly, "Anyway, do either of you need anything or have we managed to fix everything?"

Calla looked at Vivian who smiled weakly, "I'll be okay now...I think."


"You're right," Hoodie ran a hand through his shaggy hair and reached for one of the beers that Candy Pop stocked for the proxy, "We'll be up shits creek without a paddle if the wrong person manages to find this out,"

Candy Pop had sent the girls off to their dorm not long after they finished getting Vivian back to normal. Hoodie had arrived the moment curfew had started up and he'd relayed what Night Terrors had alerted him to. Now, he was drinking a glass of brandy having needed something a bit harsher than wine and Hoodie was nursing a beer. He nodded with a low sigh, "I know. I'm going to tell Cane and Jay."

"Slender needs to know," Hoodie commented after downing half of his beer in one go, "But fuck, I knew something had changed. It was pretty damn obvious considering how long its been since everyone's gone on a spree out of boredom, but..."

Candy Pop nodded in understanding and drank a bit more of his brandy, "Yeah, but I can't say its a bad thing. We were all getting stuck in a rut."

Hoodie snorted at that, "But no one's going to admit that," He finished off his beer and grabbed another, "Slender ain't going to be happy."

"But there isn't much he can do, the kids aren't even close to being ready to snap without a shit-ton of severe problems," Candy Pop ignored the growl that Night Terrors let out at the implication, "Killing anyone would just lead to a bunch of pissed off killers that might be just enough to kill him,"

"Especially if Splendor decided to help," Hoodie let out a low chuckle, "Never thought I'd say this, but Slender's been backed into a corner without anyway out and it's of his own doing," Candy Pop snorted at that, "Calla managed to play the fucking piper without even knowing it," Or realizing it, Candy Pop silently added, "Seeing what happens with that brat around is going to be even more interesting once she snaps,"

"But worth it," Candy Pop heard Night Terrors chuckle in agreement.

Hoodie raised his beer, "To an unknowingly manipulative brat."

"To an interesting future," Candy Pop retorted as he clinked his glass against Hoodie's bottle.

Hoodie grinned at him before downing the beer.