Hey guys. I know it's been a while. I wanted to give a shoutout to NovaKeepsKeys who dropped a review in September of last year. I happened to check this story and see that people were still reviewing years after I had last updated. I felt inspired to give the people who still cared an ending. We're a little over halfway guys, and for those who are still reading, I'm sorry I made you wait so long.

Don't. Tell me not to fly, I've simply got to—

Rachel hummed the familiar bars quietly, the song giving her some strength. Papa had always been a bit of a fantasy nerd, much more so than Daddy, whose eyes got heavy when Papa shared his latest Lord of the Rings theories. Rachel attributed some of her love of stories told through song to Papa's own love for stories.

And so Rachel recounted every story her Papa had shared with her. Frodo, Luke, Harry—they all started out as hapless nobodies who took on larger-than-life bad guys. If they could do it, so could Rachel.

Don't let your emotions get the best of you. That was Harry's mistake over and over; his distrust of Snape and Malfoy kept distracting him from what was really going on. Never doubt your self worth, as Rachel learned from Mr. Bilbo Baggins. And above all, trust those you love. That seemed to be the common thread in every fantasy story.

Rachel traced little notes in the dirt as she hummed. They would probably be unreadable and worthless later, but it made her feel slightly better to be doing something. Rachel had never been one to sit and wallow.

Silly girl. Rachel froze, and the hairs on her arm stood on end. Time slowed down, and just as she was starting to think she had imagined the voice, it came back. I am an eternity old, and have suffered more than anyone with a single lifetime possibly could. I have become my pain. You think I don't know how to break you?

"Get out of my head," she said loudly, and with as much conviction as she could muster. The voice didn't speak again, but Rachel was thrown backward into the wall by an invisible force. The markings she'd made on the dirt floor were blown away.

Rachel saw Papa and Daddy at a train station. Papa unfolded a newspaper and raised it over Daddy's head to protect him from the pouring rain. Even though it offered little to no protection, Daddy smiled, and leaned in to peck Papa on the lips. Rachel hadn't been there, it had happened years before her birth, but she'd heard pieces of the story since and knew what was coming. She opened her mouth as if to warn them.

Three huge men standing nearby witnessed the moment of affection. One yelled out, and like a spark bursting into flame, they all moved into action. Daddy turned his head in confusion as the three men stormed towards them shouting obscenities. Papa turned as if to move back inside the train station, too late. Rachel couldn't look away as the biggest man threw the first punch. Daddy threw himself on top of Papa, a gesture they'd told her years later almost killed him.

The scene switched; now she was standing in the middle of an empty intersection. "Daddy?" Rachel asked, but was distantly aware that she was in a different place and time, curled up on the dirt floor of her cell. What horror was she about to witness this time?

She turned around, and saw a red car rapidly approaching. Awareness hit her all at once, just in time to see the shiny red metal of the driver's side blown inward by its collision with the other car. Rachel had known, objectively speaking, that Quinn's crash was bad. But just beyond the trail of broken glass, Rachel saw horror. Quinn's skull cracked open like she was made of paper, her skin peeled open to reveal open flesh. And blood. So much blood.

Rachel was thrown back into her own body and found herself howling on the floor of her cell, with tears flooding down her cheeks.

Holly was in the cell now, too. And then she wasn't. Her skin split open in a ten-inch slit going from her temple to her chin, not unlike Quinn's had seconds earlier. And an entirely different creature stepped out. The creature was hairless and completely white, and although its body resembled a human's, its face looked completely alien. Its eyes were completely black, and its mouth stretched much wider than that of a normal person. It smiled at Rachel, the corners of its lips nearly touching its black eyes. The smile revealed teeth sharpened to a point, and Rachel grimaced.

They look like fangs, she thought.

You're not entirely wrong responded the slick voice invading her head. The creature smiled wider, confirming that this was the mind that was somehow taking over hers.

She wiped her mind blank as best she could. It was easier than expected because of how terrified she was.

"You're not Holly, are you?" She said, summoning her courage. It came out in a rasp.

I didn't used to be. Now I am.

She hated how it was able to get into her head. She tried to rebel by speaking out loud again, but whatever spell it had on her rendered her unable to speak.

What are you?

I am the last of the Earthshapers.

Rachel was thrown into another vision, although this one was unfamiliar to her. She saw tall mountains of sandstone baking in the desert sun. A completely naked woman with a curtain of long dark hair stood at the edge of a hundred-foot cliff. The woman looked human, but was unnaturally beautiful. Without warning, she tossed herself carelessly off the edge. She fell for several long seconds, but instead of colliding with the ground as Rachel expected, she plunged into the earth as if it were a pool of water. The earth trembled, and the mountains collapsed. Rachel watched uncertainly.

The woman shot out of the red earth, smiling. This is my sister. The voice said. Rachel wondered how someone so beautiful could be related to the sinister creature torturing her.

The landscape darkened as a collection of clouds blocked out the sun. That too, was impossible, as just seconds before the sky was blue and cloudless like deserts usually were. Another woman, this one with cropped red hair emerged from the gray clouds. She glided to the ground without any parachute in sight, seemingly riding on the wind itself. She yelled down a friendly welcome to the woman in a language Rachel didn't recognize. Somehow, through their shared mind, Rachel knew this woman was the same creature who was holding her hostage.

We protected the balance of the world. As soon as the woman touched down next to her sister, the clouds broke and rain thundered down into the dusty desert.

Rachel blinked, and she was in a different place. She saw the dark haired woman, the sister, being held down by eight men. One man, who had been holding back, watched unflinchingly with cold eyes. Once she was restrained, he climbed on top of her. Rachel flinched as he pushed into her.

They raped her. And then they stole her child, and raised him to hate her and all others of her kind.

Now the dark haired woman was tied to a post. "Please, my son, stop!" She screamed in English. The young man approached her and without hesitation set her skirts ablaze as a crowd cheered him on. Some spit in the direction of the dying woman.

They did unspeakable things to every person of my kind. They did them to me. But I survived. And my pain made me grow stronger.

This time there was no scene playing, but the creature continued to lock Rachel out of her own body. Now she was surrounded by complete sensory darkness, and left only with the increasingly twisted and broken voice in her head.

My body broke before I did. But I fixed that too. I learned how to take over a human's body and summon my power through it.

And now I will restore balance to this earth by cleaning it of every worthless human. We protected them, and they destroyed us. And you are going to help me do it.

"Why me? Why am I special?"

You are a descendent of the child my sister was forced to bear. He later murdered her. It is your destiny to make up for the cruelty of your ancestor. And when we're done, I will make you pay in his place.

RQ-SB-RQ-SB

"Jesus fucking Christ." They had made it to the edge of the woods. Like, literally to the edge of the woods. The tree line ended abruptly and right where it ended was a foot of snowfall. The temperature dropped seventy degrees within a few steps.

"This is way too fucking creepy," Santana muttered. She pulled Quinn's wheelchair back into the more comfortable climate of the forest and dug through their collection of maps. Yeah, just after "Rising Woods" was "Snowbird's Path." She had never expected them to be literally one right after the other.

"It's okay, Santana." Brittany said. She gave her a reassuring hug, although for once it didn't make Santana feel a lot better.

They spent the next ten minutes digging through their two remaining packs. Santana claimed the heavy jackets for herself and Brittany and they wrapped two blankets around Quinn, who for once seemed to know to keep her mouth shut. Something had changed between them after the wolf attacks of last night, and Santana had yet to determine whether it was good or bad.

They trudged through the snowy shit for hours. If dragging Quinn through Fang Woods had been hard, rolling the wheelchair over thick snow was nearly impossible. Santana and Brittany took turns behind the wheelchair, and they frequently stopped for Santana to cup small fires in her hands to warm them all up.

When they spotted an outcropping in the stone up ahead, Santana almost collapsed with relief. They had barely gotten any sleep the night before, and she was exhausted. It took everything she had to fight gravity up the steep slope. The wheels refused to turn in the crunchy snow, and so Santana rubbed her hands raw on the handlebars forcing Quinn up the mountain.

"San, I've got it from here, hon," Brittany said soothingly. She took over Quinn's wheelchair a few feet from their resting spot. "You did amazing."

Santana fell in a heap at Quinn's feet. It had to be near freezing, but she was a sweaty mess from exertion. And maybe a little bit from her newfound fire powers. Her hands fumbled as she unzipped her jacket.

Brittany settled down beside her and planted a kiss on her forehead. "You've been a hero. We couldn't have made it this close to Rachel without you."

Santana smiled up at her.

Brittany's brow furrowed, and her eyes suddenly got distant.

"Britt? What's wrong?"

"Rachel's in trouble." Britany said.

Quinn and Santana started speaking at the same time.

"What's going on?"

"Is she okay?"

Brittany didn't answer, and although she was staring right at Quinn, her eyes looked through her to something else.

"Brittany!" Quinn demanded.

Brittany came back to herself all at once. "We have to help her." She moved quickly, stepping backwards until she was back in the full force of the storm, where winds and snow moved rampantly. She raised her arms up, and her feet lifted off the ground. The snow stilled near her outstretched hands, and the storm ceased to touch her. In one swift motion, Brittany brought down her hands in a graceful arc, and the winds exploded into a full force. Santana moved as if she could save her from the rapidly growing tornado, but before she could something new appeared. Pictures of a place they'd never been, but of a person they knew. Rachel was heaped on the floor. They all held their breath, not sure if she was dead or alive.

"Rachel!" Quinn called out.

Rachel stirred. She lifted her head up, although she did it slowly and shakily as if it weighed a great deal. Her eyes met Quinn's; she could see them too. Her eyes were puffy, and tear stains stood out on her dirty cheeks.

"Are you okay, Rachel?" Santana asked. It seemed like a dumb question, even as she asked it.

"You need to get out of here!" Rachel whispered urgently. Her eyes darted to a spot in the room behind them. "Before she comes back!"

"Who's she?" Quinn asked.

"There's no time! She knows about you. She's going to hurt you!" More tears slid down Rachel's cheeks.

"We're coming to save you, Rachel." Santana said. She instantly remembered every single time she'd been mean to Rachel Berry, and looking at the suffering girl, regretted all of them.

"You can't defeat her. She's unstoppable." Her voice broke into a sob on the last word.

A slam sounded from somewhere behind the portal, and everyone froze. Whoever had entered the room made Rachel quiver in fear. Her eyes darted back to Quinn and Santana in the portal. "Go, now!" She shrieked desperately.

An alienlike white form stepped in front of Rachel. Her completely black eyes looked unblinklingly at them.

"Britt, close your portal!" Santana screamed. Whatever this creature was, Santana didn't want to meet it.

The creature smiled, showing off all her sharp teeth. "You're too late." Her white hand reached through the portal and grabbed Santana's wrist. Santana froze in horror, and Quinn clutched onto her other arm as tightly as she could.

And then the portal snapped shut, so quickly that the winds howled as they escaped from Brittany's grasp. Brittany fell into the snow.

Santana lunged for her, even though she was still shaking for breath. Brittany was alive but barely conscious. "Baby, please be okay. I love you Britt-Britt."

Brittany's lips moved, barely. "I'm okay. The winds didn't like me pushing them so quickly. They wanted to stay and meet the bad guy."

Santana pressed a kiss to her lips and smoothed her blonde hair. "Who were we kidding about me being the hero? We both know that's you. You got us to Rachel."

"Is she okay?" Quinn asked, still stranded behind them near the rock wall.

"Yeah." Santana confirmed breathlessly.

Brittany sat up. "The mean lady. She's like our mom. But not like a real mom because she's not nice."

"Okay…" Santana wasn't sure how to interpret that.

"She has our powers, but like, stronger. Not all of our powers though. My powers. She was able to control my winds from so far away. It's like controlling someone else's dog in India from Ohio. That's crazy dog controlling. But not dog controlling, wind controlling."

Realization hit Santana. "So she's one of the original Earthshapers. And she has wind powers."

"That's what I just said!"

Santana scooped Brittany up in her arms and set her down gently next to Quinn. She quickly recounted their realization to Quinn.

"Can we skip the rest of this mountain? Brittany, can you open a portal and get us to Rachel?" Quinn asked.

"No." Brittany said sadly. "I can't control the winds that are all the way by Rachel. Only Scary Mom is that powerful."

"So what do we do? Do we even stand a chance?" Quinn asked desperately.

"Well we have to try. We've already gotten pretty powerful within just a few days." Santana said.

An awkward silence fell over them. Brittany and Santana had gotten powerful within just a few days. Quinn was currently winning the award for "Most Useless Team Member", and everyone knew it.

"Quinn, we're completely surrounded by snow. Do you think you could try again—"

"Santana, I've been trying. You think I would've let you push me through this hellhole without at least trying to make the snow move?"

"Well maybe if you try again—"

"Are you accusing me of being lazy? You think I like being this worthless?" Quinn snapped.

"Yes! Fucking hell, Quinn, that's all you've done the past three months! We've been nothing but nice to you, Rachel has been nothing but nice to you, and you've insisted on throwing yourself this selfish little pity party!"

"How dare you—"

"I'm not done yet! Brittany and I've done nothing but save your sorry ass time and time again throughout this mission, and you've done nothing but slow us down! We have a chance at saving Rachel from some ungodly thing." Santana stopped and huffed out a shaky breath. "But we can't do it if you keep slowing us down like this."

Quinn looked shell shocked. "What are you saying?" She said slowly.

Santana shook her head, refusing to meet Quinn's eyes. "I'm sorry, Quinn. But if you can't pull your own weight, we need to keep moving. Without you."

"You're going to leave me to die out here?" Quinn whispered. She could barely find her own voice.

"We'll leave you with food, water, and blankets. Brittany will send some messages to Sue and Bryan. They should be able to figure something out. Or maybe we can pick you up on our way out." Santana sounded unsure of her own chances of making it out. "Quinn, I'm sorry. It won't be fun, but you're in no immediate danger. Rachel is." She crouched down so she and Quinn were eye to eye. "I know you want her to be safe."

Quinn wanted to scream and cry. She wanted to hurl back every bit of hurt she felt in that moment. But she knew that Santana was right. "If anyone can do this, you guys can." She said with every bit of bravery she had, even as tears were sliding down her face.

Brittany, who had been watching wordlessly, started crying too, and with that Santana lost her last bit of cool and broke into sobs. Brittany and Santana fell into Quinn, and before they knew it Brittany was in Quinn's lap and Santana's arms were draped over Quinn's shoulders, encapsulating her in a hug. It was hard to believe they were formally mean cheerleaders.

"I don't want to leave you, Quinn." Brittany said.

"I know." It made Quinn feel better, but only a little.

They now knew that they were facing an ancient and impossibly powerful being who was hell-bent on destroying them. Because of the direness of the situation, Santana's nap was sacrificed in order for her and Brittany to move forward. They packed up quickly, and as promised, Brittany sent a message to Sue and Bryan to come rescue Quinn.

"We'll get her, Quinn." Santana said, without any snark or sarcasm. They had changed so much in just a few days.

And then they left. Without Quinn, they moved quickly, and Quinn watched as they climbed out of her sight. They never looked back.

Quinn, the formally stone-cold bitch, found herself breaking down and crying for the second time in ten minutes. She didn't have any Kleenex, and so she wiped her nose on her blankets. Her abandonment, as reluctant as it had been, confirmed her worst fears. Her accident had sealed her fate as a worthless waste of space.

"What have I done wrong?" She asked to a God she wasn't even sure she believed in. In her head, His face still matched that of her father's, who she hadn't seen in over two years.

She looked up at the sky, and He didn't answer. The storm raged on endlessly.

She was a bully who tore down people who she knew were more special than she was. She was a hypocrite who shamed people for embracing their sexuality and then got pregnant. She was a shit girlfriend who cheated on boyfriends who had treated her well. Quinn had given God plenty of reasons to hate her.

And I'm gay.

It was the first time that Quinn had let herself admit it, and it coincided with the lowest she had ever felt. She had never faulted Santana and Brittany for their relationship, because she knew they were both good people. They were heroes. He could overlook their one misstep.

But for Quinn, homosexuality was a damnation. Especially because of who she loved—the girl she had put thought and energy into making miserable. The girl who forgave her for it anyway. She had no right to love someone as completely good as Rachel. And she was stupid for hoping she would love her back.

Quinn closed her eyes, and waited to die.