#during the final horizon i began wondering if i liked it more than unleashed

[latin-dr-robotnik]

A bit late, but happy 1st anniversary to one of my all-time favorite Sonic games. One of the best, most exciting Sonic adventures I've played in years, and the one game that restored my faith in the current direction of 3D Sonic in general.

This time, I decided to re-do that one edit I made last year for one of my videos, updated with the 2023 version of I'm Here and a little scene from The Final Horizon replacing old Supreme. It's not much, but I already thought the original edit was peak, so this is a little update.

[dcnatural]

Trouble

Word Count: 1987

Pairing: Harley Quinn x Joker

Rating: Mature

Synopsys: Harley reevaluates her relationship choices.

A/N: I’m tagging this as Jarley, but although they are the main couple in this fic, I wouldn't say it’s pro-jarley, as their relationship is portrayed in pretty bad light. 

Tears ran down her cheeks as he dragged her upstairs, gloved fingers wrapped tightly around one of her pigtails, pulling her forward and causing her scalp to ache. She trotted behind him, biting her lip to suppress her pain. He kicked the bedroom door open and forced her inside.

“Mistah J!” Harley cried out as she stumbled forward, falling to the wooden floor and landing at the feet of the bed.

The Joker stood before her, fists on his hips, glaring down at her with those intense green eyes. His long green hair clung together with sweat in an awkward side bang. There was blood splattered all over his purple suit, but none of that seemed to ruin the smile on his face. His mouth was curled in a grin, flashing his pearly white teeth, with red lipstick smeared carelessly on his lips. Or perhaps it was blood, Harley couldn’t tell the difference.

He bent at the waist, face hovering over hers. “You stupid little minx,” he howled. “Look at what you did!” he tilted his head to the side, flashing her the long scratch a batarang had made on his cheek. 

Batman had been aiming at her, but Harley had jumped out of the way at the last second, causing the sharp edges of the batarang to scrape Joker’s skin. 

“I’m sorry, puddin, I really am,” she whimpered.

He snarled as he backhanded her, his gold ring cutting her lower lip. He leaned over, tongue darting out to lap at the blood pooling on the side of her mouth. He groaned satisfied and pulled away, picking her up with ease as if she weighed nothing. It would cease to amaze her how much strength he had despite his thin body and overall lack of muscles.

The Joker carried her over to the couch, or what was left of it. Yellow foam spilled out from holes on the sofa’s seat, the cushions were torn with use and there were burn marks of cigarettes. He sat down and straddled her, his fingers tangling in her blond hair to tilt her head up so he could kiss her passionately.

“Harley, Harley, you drive me crazy,” he said, running his thumb along her swollen lips. “But I need you too damn much, and you need me too, don’t you? After all, what’s a harlequin without a king?”

In the pale glow of the moonlight, his skin gleamed silverish and each droplet of sweat sparkled before Harley’s eyes. The Joker stared at her with his gray eyes, darkened with lust, reading deep into her soul, discovering her every thought and desire. She sighed dreamingly, loving the attention he was giving her, she lived for these sparse moments of tenderness, a lost oasis of soft words and gestures in the middle of a desert of violence.

Then she spotted something out of the corner of her eye and she couldn’t care less about the Joker. Fallen beneath the wardrobe, a pair of pink plastic sunglasses scattered pink tinted light on the floor. Her sunglasses, forgotten in that motel room two months ago, on the last night she had seen Ivy. Sometimes, she regretted her choice, wondering how different her life would be if she had been strong enough to let go of the Joker and follow her heart.

His fist made contact with her already bruised cheek, a crackle resonating in the room. Her entire body seemed to ache from the impact and she felt dizzy. She sobbed weakly, trying to hide how much it had actually hurt. 

“Stupid girl! I was talking to you!”

“I’m sorry, Mistah J. I-- I got distracted by your eyes,” she stuttered, the lie coming easily to her.

He placed a kiss on the flushed skin and took her hand between his. “Oh, my sweet Harley. You know I get all worked up sometimes,” he said with a maniac laugh. “Let’s just forget this and sleep, I’m tired from all that killing.”

She nodded and, after a quick visit to the bathroom, followed him to the bed. He was sprawled over the mattress, leaving her just a tiny space to squeeze herself in. He tossed an arm over her chest and pulled her body against his before falling asleep, his peaceful snores filling the room.

Harley, however, couldn’t fall asleep. Her eyes wandered the room, from the scratched wall to the cracked ceiling and the broken mirror in the bathroom. The heavy smell of alcohol emanated from the floorboard and from the mattress, as if someone had spilled drinks all over them. The motel seemed to have been through a lot since the last time she was there.

A dark cloud crossed the sky, blocking the little light that had been coming through and blinding her. All she could see now was the faint silhouette of her boyfriend, who hugged her in a possessive grip. 

Why did he choose this place as a hideout? Does he knows about me and Ivy? That was Harley’s worst fear. If the Joker figured out what had happened between her and Ivy in that very bed, he would unleash his fury on both girls, and the thought of Ivy being hurt made Harley want to scream. Maybe I should leave, she pondered as she massaged the area where he had punched her. Go find Ivy and then we could run away, to some uninhabited island where she could build us a treehouse and we would live happily ever after. She chuckled at the idea. It’s too late, she must hate me now.

The sun began to rise on the horizon and Harley was still awake. Despite her tiredness, her brain was too alert for her to sleep. Her injuries ached more as the time passed and the memories from that night weeks ago burned fresh in her mind.

Just as the first rays of sunlight penetrated the room, Harley sighed and slipped out of Joker’s grasp, careful as to not wake him. In the bathroom, she faced her reflection in the shattered mirror. There were bruises scattered all over her milky white skin, purple and green marks, its colors fitting perfectly with the ones of their creator. Her make-up was ruined, mascara trailing down her cheeks and her lipstick had been completely washed off. There was dried blood on the corner of her mouth and her hair had fallen off the pigtails during the night, becoming a tangled mess on top of her head.

She cleaned her face and inspected the swells and cuts, applying princess-themed band-aids on the larger ones. Staring at her image, seeing all the damage the Joker had done, mentally and physically, Harley finally made up her mind to leave. For Ivy, but above that, for herself. She took a deep breath, gathering up her courage before stepping out of the bathroom.

She didn’t look to the bed where the Joker still slept, afraid that seeing him might make her change her decision. Instead, she kept her eyes to the floor as she moved around the room, collecting her few belongings as well as the money bags from the previous day’s robbery. She picked her lost sunglasses from the floor and put them on, letting her world become rose-colored.

Before she could give another step towards the door, she was slammed against the wall, her back hitting the hard surface and sending a wave of pain through her body, causing her to drop the bags, which fell to the floor, scattering all of its contents. “Where do you think you are going?” the Joker hissed in her ear, his large frame keeping her pinned in place.

She opened her mouth to reply, but the words seemed stuck on her throat and she found herself unable to speak.

He grabbed her neck and banged her head against the wall causing her vision to become blurry. “Answer me! Damn it! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING!”

“I’m leaving, Mistah J!”, she said, pushing him back. “For realsies.”

The words felt like a slap on his face. He could hear the determination in her voice and, somehow, he was sure that if he let her go, he would never have her again. “You’re lea-- leaving?”

She nodded once and tears sprang to his eyes. “You can’t leave me! You need me!”, he shouted, gripping her wrist tightly and pulling her violently towards him. His nails dug into her skin, forming crescent shaped cuts. She frowned in a mix of anger and pity, and, with a sudden move, kneed him between the legs. He let out a long groan of agony and released her, falling to the ground.

“No, Mistah J. You need me . I don’t need you,” she said before turning her back to him and, without bothering to retrieve her belongings, she took off to the door.

As she pulled the doorknob, Joker’s slender fingers closed around her ankle and she glanced back to see him crawling up to her. “You are mine , Harley!” his voice came out as an animalistic growl and she shivered. Without thinking further, she raised the free leg and stomped over his wrist. There was the distinguished noise of bones breaking and he cried out in pain.

She slipped out of the bedroom as fast as she could, running down the hallway. She came to a stop in an intersection, unsure of which corridor would lead to the stairs. She closed her eyes and, wobbling her finger in the mid air between the two paths, started chanting. “Ee-ny, mee-ny, mi-ny, mo. Catch a ti-ger by the…”

“Think twice before you give another step, Harley. It just might be your last,” he warned, coming up behind her and interrupting her rhyme.

She turned slowly, jaw dropping at the sight of the bomb in his hand. He calmly turned the crank connected to the box, the soft melody echoing in the hallway.

“You pop that and we are both gonners,” Harley said, indicating the explosive mechanism in his hand. 

He smiled mischievously. “You are the love of my life, if I can’t have you, no one can. I won’t let you leave me, at least this way we die together.”

“I don’t get it! You have tossed me aside so many times and you didn’t even miss me, but now I say I’m done suddenly I’m the love of your life?”

“YOU don’t get to call the quits, I do! I’m the Joker! No one breaks up with me!”

She rolled her eyes and shouted. “Fine. So blow us up, it’s better than to be stuck with your narcissistic ass for the rest of my life!”

He snarled and began to spin the crank. She didn’t waste a second before running, not caring which path she chose, as long as it was away from him. His laugh crackled maniacally throughout the hallway and she sighed in relief as she reached the staircase.

The motel shook from the explosion, large blocks of cement crumbling and the floor catching fire easily, with no sprinklers to ease the flames. Frantic screams came from the rooms, but most guests found themselves blocked by collapsed parts of the building.

Smoke filled the lobby, as the lucky ones to have been able to escape ran pass the front door and into the streets. People scrambled and shoved each other in an attempt to get away from the raging flames, and bodies toppled to the floor, one after another. Amidst the smoke, a single silhouette remained, her athletic body stepping over the fallen with ease.

Wielding a broken piece of the handrail as a bat, Harley Quinn emerged through the front door, just as the first floor ceiling caved in.

She giggled and pushed her sunglasses back in place. “Well, that was a spectacle, wasn’t it? I’d love to stay for more, but I have a date. Nice knowing you all.”

[the-house-of-the-nine]

The Void Forge: Optimization, Part 1

] | [ Hello friends!  This is the long time coming finale to our Void Forge Saga.  Yes it has been awhile.  Yes it has gone incomplete, but I am no longer lazy and want to finish it!  The list of muses are marked respectively as follows for each specific mun. . .

Lazarius Kash’ebahl - LK

Siida- Ray Kash’ebahl - SK

Pyravari Kash’ebahl - PK

Maliscia Dawnblood - MD

Zalra Azurestar - ZA

Vanderlaine Mindweaver - VM

Please enjoy the read of this first part.  Pass along, Share, Reblog, Smash the Like Button, Contact me via message! Whatever you feel floats your boat!  We’re currently writing in our sixth installment “In Depths Below” and would love new faces and characters!  Thank you all, and without further interuption. . .  ] | [

Three Weeks After Grim Batol . . .

[ L.K ]   And so it was that in the days to come. Lazarius would keep his promise to begin the preparations to transport several of the higher ranking officers to the deserts of Uldum to begin looking for the parts of the forge they were building, which were lost among the sands of a ancient desert.

Kross had been missing for quite some time, dealing with this and that. Attending to the broken and beaten Brox Sulfin who suffered a might hard beating at the hands of some of the Blackiron Clan. But, as was the duty of being the steward to the Inquisitor, it was also his responsibility to move messages back and forth. And seeing has how he was rather deft and light on his feet when it came to moving from place to place quickly, Lazarius would urge him to get several of their Tanaris outposts southward and through the large gates into Uldum.

On the third day, Lazarius had finished packing what they would need. Very little in regard to clothing, and supplies. No all of that would be attended to when they got to the base camp. He was grabbing texts and notes. Maps and things of that nature. Items that would aid them in the discovery of the reason they were there. Two matter decanters and two system recovery vessels.

These things that at one time would have been used to create Earthen, and ancient beings that inhabited the world. Now would be used to pump blood and flesh through the Forge in order to fuel it as it siphoned living matter of its void power.

Vanderlaine Mindweaver, Maliscia Dawnblood, Zalra Azurestar and his sister, Siida- Ray Kash’ebahl were all presented with letters the night after they had all met in Quel'thalas and discussed taking the once private trip between he and the Blood Magus, into a full on excursion of a large chuck of their main force.

Which honestly was not a bad thing. He rather enjoyed spending this much time with new faces and people who were eager to contribute.

As it stood, the request was simple. Pack only what you need, and prepare for a two or three week long engagement. They would be meeting in the chambers of the Inquisitor. And upon every last one of them doing so, they would bare witness to something that perhaps only half had, had the pleasure of seeing.

The mysterious gateway Lazarius kept. His double door closet was opened, and when activated, instead of seeing the inside of his wardrobe, they would see the inside of a Zeppelin already in flight it seemed as they were watching what seemed to be the lower deck, and it was facing a window. The movement outside indicated they were actually going to enter a moving zeppelin. And it was the case. When the five of them walked through the door, they would step into one of the Nines only remaining airships from the first culling.

It had been a relic of the past, but still in working order. And despite the fact that it would be pirated by a single crew that was dedicated to keeping it in working order for their trades and transports. It was a fairly fast vessel that at one time Asphodel, he and his former shade, Sydran, all hijacked.

As they looked back through the closet door of the zeppelin, they could see Lazarius' chamber. But after the door such, and perhaps one of them went to go open it again, it would be nothing more than storage. That was how quick the gateway vanished. They would remain in the lower deck. The captain greeting them, he was a goblin, go figure, but they did make excellent ship captains.

Lazarius would urge them to get comfortable. As it stood they were still currently flying over the Southern Barrens. Another eight hours at least. But as it was growing to be nightfall, they would have time for some banter, perhaps a bit of quiet conversation. And then off to bed. Where, the next day they would most certainly be in Tanaris. And by mid-day, docking in Ramkahen.

[ S.K ]   Siida was beside herself...most would have possibly shown a little trepidation at the idea of going through a portal onto a moving target. Logically the magic was sound, but there was always room for horrible error...like the ship moving beyond where the portal was, but this didn't stop the youngest Kash'ebahl sibling from jumping through the closet and onto the ship. Those pale leaf green eyes took in the sights while her other senses were flooded.

The wood of the ship was warmed from it's travels over the barrens, she could hear the sound of the machines powering the zepplin...and well...she imagined something about what she heard was a delightful argument in the Goblin tongue. The moment the captain was done speaking, it was like a a force had been unleashed from a long slumber as Siida began to explore the lower decks before pausing at a window, mystified by the view.

[ V.M ]   Vanderlaine would be locked away in his cabin, or a spare room away from the others, writing away... He was always writing, but he had no friends or family. Who was he writing to? The Headmaster had packed extremely light. No food, no drink, naturally--or unnaturally, only parchment, ink, quills, and a few extra robes, pants, and one pair of boots. Other small items were in his pack, but nothing worthy of note.

[ L.K ]   Lazarius on the other hand, would move to the very back deck of the Zeppelin. Fully railed and safe, he would be leaning over the safety handrail as the Zeppelin chugged along at its quick little pace. Well quick for a balloon filled with a gas.

He watched the world pass him below. His black eyes trained on the setting sun on the horizon. The Southern Barrens were hot this time of year. Summer months always increased the temperatures. Even as the sun set, and the clear sky opened to expose the moonlight soon after.

[ Z.A ]  It was a panic filled rush, but she managed to catch up with the others joining, though, in classic Zalra fashion, she was the last to arrive. Which elicited an embarrassed flush on her freckled cheeks. Once she stepped into Lazarius’ chambers, she watched him open his wardrobe to display a familiar gateway. She couldn’t help but smile with sudden excitement when she saw the zeppelin’s quarters through the portal.

Through the journey, Zalra remained silent. To pass the time she was mostly sitting with her nose buried in a tome the Inquisitor gave to her. She was most likely terrified to go on deck. This was the first time traveling this way as well as visiting Uldum.

[ L.K ]   His eyes remained poised on that sunset, but as the silence of the group became obvious he would look back into the lower deck of the zeppelin. That quiet little area with a table, and benches. Storage for food and drink and such. A place where they could relax and talk. It was like a little mobile cabin.

Lazarius noticed Zalra sitting and reading, and called to her. "Miss Azurestar. . . why don't you join me? The view is simply wonderful. . . you can nearly see the Crossroads from here."

He was very comfortable at the height and speed they were going, so much so that his back was now facing the open air, as he sat against the railing and gripped it with a single hand.

[ Z.A ]   She was so absorbed in the journal she read, that Zalra almost missed Lazarius call out to her. Everything around her was fuzzy as she focused; as if she was fading away and only paid attention to her studies. Nothing else existed.

“Hm?” she gasped, snapping out of her daze. “Er...y-yes of course, Lord Kash’ebahl.”

She murmured. She hurried up the stairs to the deck and froze when she noticed Lazarius. He was just…sitting atop the rail with confidence that did not stir well with her. Her stomach lurched, and she took a quick step forward, before hesitating before him. Was that worry she felt pounding in her chest?

Clearing her throat in embarrassment, she closed the distance still between them and stood to his side. Instead of pulling off the Inquisitor’s stunt, she just leaned against the rail and looked out to the passing lands. It was a beautiful sight, despite the barren landscape.

“You know...I’ve never been to Kalimdor let alone Uldum.” She admitted, taking in the view.

[ L.K ]   “Well I can only assume since you were never privileged during the first or second wars, and then of course Arthas tearing through Quel’thalas. I would guess you were always around Stormwind. But you’ve never been here?”. He smiled at the naivety of the comment and peered back over his shoulder.

[ Z.A ]   Zalra’s hands tightened against the wooden rail in response to Lazarius’ assumption. The reaction was automatic and she could not stop herself before he would have potentially noticed. Her lips pressed into a thin line while her gaze remained glued to the barren sights; though, it was clear, her mind was not entirely present.

“No,” she murmured for only the Inquisitor’s ears.

“I have only been living in Stormwind since Alleria’s intervention with Umbric and his people.” This information was missing chunks of her past and almost did not make sense without context. Did she elaborate further, though? Not exactly. The more she spoke the more holes demanded explanation.

“Before my corruption, I lived in the coastal mountains bordering northern Twilight Highlands.” She kept her words vague before turning to face Lazarius.

[ L.K ]    “This is mostly it...hot, desert, more hot and more desert. A lot of desert.”. He would slowly turn to accompany her as they glanced into the horizon. Her answer was enough to leave him without much further poking, so he changed the subject.

“Ive traveled most of the planet. It will be my first time here as well, I am excited.”  he responded shortly after.

[ Z.A ]   A small smile finally tugged on her lips. “Well, a new experience for the both of us then!”

[ S.K ]   While some enjoyed the views and others spent time in their rooms, Siida was more curious about the ship and its crew. This curiosity landed her at a table with other goblins, who were playing an odd game of dice. It was about deception and knowing your opponent...it goes without saying that Siida was not the best at the game, but she was making friends.

[ L.K ]   ”Join us down below Siida.”. Came a voice that entered into her mind softly.

It appeared that during the conversation he was having with Zalra, he was also speaking to his sister. “When you are free of course, do mingle and enjoy this, calm. You need only think back what you wish to speak, I will hear it.”

[ S.K ]   At the table, Siida would look around, expecting to see Lazarius standing there...bit then she remembered the wonderful talents that he and Asphodel shared when it came to communications.

“I will be there in a moment.”

Excusing herself from the game, Siida moved down to the place that Zalra and Lazarius were. Much like with her friend, Siida's heart leapt up into her throat seeing Lazarius sitting like that...but the view won her over instantly as she moved to the railing.

"Wow!"

[ Z.A ]   Suddenly, Siida was by her side. She flashed the young Kashe’bahl a polite smile and bowed her head softly.

“Enjoying yourself?” She giggled.  This was a rhetorical statement more than a question, she knew she was.

She eventually did fall silent once the conversations started rolling; focusing more on listening than speaking.

[ V.M ]   Vanderlaine's hand paused. He sighed softly and set his quill into its well and pushed the piece of parchment he was writing off to the side to dry. The Headmaster stood up and decided to join the others, wherever they were. He walked out of his corner to the lower deck where Lazarius and company were.

"Greetings everyone," he spoke quietly as he approached the other three from behind.

[ L.K ]   “Vanderlaine.”. Lazarius acknowledged as Siida rushed past toward the railing to look out.

“I suppose it is a bit of a culture shock to jump through a temporal gateway...but you all seem to adjust to it rather well.”. Lazarius was in fact referring to the thoughts Siida had about a moving target, remember he could hear them.

“The difference between arcane portals and tears in space time...moving or not moving, the gateway is routed to that door, it’s a tear in the fourth dimensional wall. Bridging gaps. So..activate and it’s there, deactivate and the bridge closes. Quite ingenious.”. He smiled and looked back over his shoulder at that still burning sun as it set.

“I am hopeful this will be a simple retrieval.”

[ S.K ]   “With such a team of minds gathered I can't imagine us failing." Siida spoke up after a moment, clearly absorbed by the beauty around her. She'd chosen to wear a dress fitting to the climate and the wind was playing with the light fabric, thankfully she'd had the sense to capture her hair back with a bit of ribbon.

"This ship is astounding...”

[ L.K ]   “I claimed this from one of the men following the leader of a rival faction a few years ago.”. Lazarius would be dressed in his typical attire, a robe, chains, armor plates etc. Though his hood was drawn back in the heat.

“Z’, and his cult The Gallows of...Well we just called them The Gallows. They were planning to ambush us with this, Asphodel, myself and a shade who once served with me named Sydran, we captured and took the vessel. Killed the commander, and ever since...it has sort of been the flagship of The Nines Air Force.”. He laughed, simply because this airship WAS their air force.

”It does come in handy for transporting goods though, immensely useful for moving heavy items across lines where it would be less easy to go by caravan or boat. And Captain Gearsman... though a pain in the ass, is a fine captain, I’ve never once been disappointed with his performance and prowess behind the helm.”

[ V.M ]   Vanderlaine stood behind the three, looking out past their heads at the sunset, "You have had so many adventures, haven't you Lazarius? I feel like you have lived a hundred lives before I met you. You must tell me about your misadventures sometime, Lord Inquisitor."

[ L.K ]   Lazarius did smile at the comment. He would lightly pad his fingers along the wood safety rail as he nodded to the man.

“You would be correct in saying. The order has a long an extensive lineage. We’ve done quite a bit. Perhaps once this forge is complete I may take you to the altar of the men and women who once stood against us . The survivors of The Gallows were hunted down, and from their bones Asphodel and I constructed an altar to use for rituals.”. He laughed again and nodded some more.

“Misadventures or plenty.”

Lazarius silenced himself as the group continued their trip, his arms slowly raised upward and crossed against his chest as he peered from face to face.

“As far as I know this will be the first time for any of us to venture into this realm. Vanderlaine here is a scholar of Tol’virian history, it may be our best lead. Though the reason we are coming here is for Titan tech. I’ve a very good lead on some of those Schnottz force fools have what we need.”

[ Z.A ]   Her attention quickly shifted to Vanderlaine, “Is that so? I’m curious to learn more about this Tol’virian...er…history.” she continued to grin brightly.

“Do you have any notes you wouldn’t mind someone reading?” she asked. Ever the curious and studious one.

[ V.M ]   “I have been to Uldum several times since it was first made open to the outside world. I have traversed every inch of that sandy oasis. If these parts are there, I will find them--we will find them, and on the topic of notes. . .perhaps once we return to our home I will allow you to peek." the Felblooded professor leaned against a wall, still behind the party,

"I call it an oasis, but Uldum is a cruel and unforgiving place. Sandstorms are as common as light breezes. I hope you all have the proper attire: face covers, full body robes, goggles, would be useful. Sand burn is not pleasant.”

[ Z.A ]   She nodded and passed her glance toward Lazarius once more, she tilted her head softly. “Parts for…what?”

[ L.K ]   “For our forge.”. He said clearly. His eyes a flame with dark violet energy.

“Reverse engineer tech from the titans. They once used them to create life. Earthen mostly. We are going to use it in a reverse mentality...it will sap life, very specific life. Fueled by the Azerite we are currently preparing to harvest using Gallywix’s own men and our brilliant illusionist. We shall have an endless supply of power and energy to fuel it. But we are lacking vital parts...”. He would smile widely at the though.

“Think of this like a large scale rummage sale...and we’re looking for the pieces to complete our collection.”

[ Z.A ]   Zalra blinked, “Oh. Right. Sap life…” she murmured. She cleared her throat, shaking off her rising thoughts of worry. Deep down, she wasn’t truly surprised of such a project transpiring.

[ S.K ]   “And you'll know the pieces when you see them Professor Mindweaver, brother?" Siida had been listening even if she was taken with the view.

"Or will this be a wild goose hunt and we hope we bring back the right pieces?”

[ L.K ]   “Ive made sure that once we arrive and camp is established, the local merchants are willing to trade with us. Despite the fact that they are neutral to the world, most of them do have a liking for the things of the modern world. So we have a fairly good connection there to stock up on supplies.”. Lazarius would hold his hand outward, and they would see a void construct form in his palm, about the size of a cantaloupe, there were the parts, slowly rotating, allowing them to see them.

“I do not do anything simply on a hunch. I know what they look like and the tomb is right for where they would have had a facility. According to old maps and the spies i have, they currently are excavating the entrance.”. Lazarius would hold up his other hand, and there would be an image of some Titan writing on the doors of Ulduar. Beside it, the image of the doors where they are going. Identical.

[ Z.A ]   Zalra stepped closer, poising to lean in with absolute astonishment at the images that danced upon Lazarius’ palms. It took everything in her power to not “Ooo” at the display. But! She was a reserved adult and would be much too embarrassed to let the other side of her to show publicly. So, she remained silent; biting the bottom of her lip softly. And that quiet remained as she still had yet to utter a word. Usually preferring to listen, instead. Her ears, however, flicked absentmindedly and pulled her attention to the Inquisitor.

[ L.K ]   “Clear the camp, and we will move in and take control and maintain it.”

[ S.K ]   “How hard will it be the clear the camp?" Siida's tone was gentle, soft. It held the same air it often did when there was possible violence on the horizon. Matters of course have since changed, she had family to protect, budding friendships.

[ L.K ] “That depends on how hard they make our job, doesn’t it.  If they choose to come out fighting, well. . . then we shall retaliate with a forceful response right back.”  Lazarius remarked to his sister at her question.

[ V.M ]   “So there will be fighting involved on this trip?" Vanderlaine sighed and shook his head, "if we must.”

[ L.K ]   “If you would prefer to not get your hands dirty, Headmaster, I will gladly do as I must to ensure that the excavation site is clear for you to examine... certainly a bit of death does not prohibit someone such as yourself from moving forward?”. He said with a grin.

[ V.M ]   Vanderlaine glanced at Lazarius with an amused look on his face, "I will destroy as many poor souls as you ask me, Inquisitor. I am not fond of killing, but I am quite good at it."

[ L.K ]   "We've spoken at length about your. . . fond nature toward the subject, in case you don't recall. If you would prefer to be strictly a scholastic observer here and do the heavy lifting when it comes to research. . .I am quite fine with that." He would bow his head. "No disrespect, but I am rather fond of extracting life. All in the name of chaos."

[ V.M ]   “As I said, I will kill if you ask me. I have no moral issues with the idea," he would smirk briefly and shake his hand at the Inquisitor, "if my stomach begins to churn thinking about all that carnage we will surely create, I will be the first to let you know, my dear Lord Inquisitor.”

[ L.K ]   "Consider those that we are eliminating. . . a favor to the world, the Schnottz . .whatever they call themselves. . . are most vile and horrid, it is a great service to be ridding the world of their acts. They tend to destroy more of the worlds artifacts than save."

[ V.M ]   “Well then it is settled," he pushed himself off of the wall and clapped his hands together.

"If they are destroying relics of the past, then not only will I wipe them off of this swirling world of ours because of loyalty, but now... I have a personal interest in their demise, as any creature that will willing do such a horrible and heinous act deserves no mercy," he settled back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So you need not feel any guilt about turning me into a machine of bloodshed. I know it weighs so heavy on you.”

[ Z.A ]   She straightened her posture, and her expression remained neutral despite the nature of the plan. Her violet eyes flickered to Vanderlaine as a thought flitted suddenly across her mind. This man sure did babble a lot when it came to battle. Desperate to simmer his conscious maybe? Eventually, Zalra looked around to each of those who were gathered and noticed, still, she had yet to speak.

“Er…” she began, trying to fit in. “I’m quite…er…lost on most of the matter but…”

Oh, this was going so smoothly. “I’m here to help with whatever is needed, as well. Of course.”

[ V.M ]   The Headmaster's darkened eyes soon fell upon Zalra, as if pulled to her presence. He always knew when someone was thinking about him... he cocked his head to one side and studied the woman carefully--silently, before inevitably speaking to her directly. "I do not believe we have ever met Surely, in such a place like Uldum, I would like to know my traveling companions personally. I am Vanderlaine Mindweaver, our little circle's Headmaster."

[ Z.A ]   The Sin’dorei disguised woman kept an even gaze with the man before her. Or, at least tried. It would be a bit hard if he were taller than her astounding five foot, five inches. Regardless, she did not flinch away. Uncharacteristic of her, but her stiff reaction was due to that knowing stare Vanderlaine had toward her.

“Oh! Yes. I’m Zalra Azurestar. I am fresh to the Nine.” Her voice was still quiet when she spoke. Her tone gentle yet, clearly socially awkward.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Headmaster Mindweaver.” Her eyes finally broke from the other’s gaze as she bowed politely for a moment.

“Forgive my i-ignorance on this journey. This is not a subject or location I am familiar with. So, I apologize in advance if I…m-mess up?”

[ M.D ]   Maliscia had spent the trip so far within a room, avoiding the others and focusing on her books and notes. Finally, thirst brought her from her room to seek out a bottle of wine.

During her search she stumbled upon the others lost in their conversation. Her amethyst gaze scans the group, Lazarius, Vanderlaine, Siida, and .... someone she had never met. She watched the little interaction between the Headmaster and the timid elven woman and stepped up behind her.

[ S.K ]   "There is no need to apologizing when you've stepped up to help everyone without knowing the full scope of the mission...it's a little fool hardy, but what ever came from playing it safe all the time." Siida would pat Zalra lightly on the shoulder, watching Maliscia approach from behind and simply offered the woman a smile.

[ M.D ]     "Do we have ourselves a stowaway?" She queried with a low tone.

[ L.K ]   “Maliscia. How good of you to join us I believe this is the perfect opportunity for me to introduce Zalra, another of our eager initiates, and the one you made that disguise for.”. Lazarius inclined his head and peered down over a turned up nose, his black eyes swirling with the galactic energy within himself.

[ Z.A ]   Stepped up. That wasn’t the most accurate description of her involvement, but Zalra did not find a need to correct the younger woman. Regardless of how she got here, she was ready to do what she needed to assist. Though, that embarrassed flush was permanently on her cheeks at the harmless “foolhardy” comment.

A small gasp escaped the woman as she spun to face the source of the new voice. A gorgeous elf stood before her, and Zalra found herself floundering for words to respond to the stranger. Thankfully, Lazarius spoke for her. Bless. “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” She inclined her head towards Maliscia in a polite gesture.  But was more or less silent as Lazarius was still speaking.

“And now, what better a perfect opportunity to debrief all of you on why and what we’re going after and can expect than now, yes?”

[ M.D ]     "Charmed. . ." She hissed with a low tone.

[ L.K ]   Calmly he pushed himself up from the railing. His hands would tuck against his body as he crossed his arms over his chest and peered toward the group of them. When there was a moment to speak, he would take it.

"Without these parts, we'll never be able to get the engines running. As brilliant as we are. Even with the aid out outside sources, we're going to need Titan tech to reverse engineer a way to get these things running. Thats why I brought in Whistletorque to work on the Azerite samples. If Verzatea and he can somehow break the key to using it. . .we'll need to have a way to convert it into energy."

Lazarius slowly made his way back into the main deck of the lower floor. Whether they followed or not, he was going for the large heavy bottle plugged with a cork that was sitting on the mess hall dining table. A bottle of aged port. He'd pour himself a glass and take a sip. "Could go smooth, could be a mess. . . I just want you all to be prepared for the worst."

[ M.D ]   Maliscia stepped a bit away from the group finding something to lean on as she turned her focus to Lazarius as he began his little speech.

[ L.K ]    So much happening, so little time to get things in order.

“Ive decided to also move our order. The last of our things are being processed as we speak. By the time we finish here, we shall be in Northrend.”  Lazarius slammed down another large mouthful of the thick red liquid and sighed.

“With all that is happening right now...”. His eyes fell on Vanderlaine, then Maliscia, his sister, and finally Zalra.

“Im looking toward you all to do all that you can and some. This order needs leadership, and you’ve all demonstrated that in one way or another. I can’t do this without any of you.” His tone was rather somber, also saddened, yet thankful.

[ Z.A ]   As Lazarius drank and spoke of their plans, Zalra found her former seat on the floor where the tome she was reading lay. Getting comfortable, she did not comment on the man’s words. Most of what he informed the others of, had been shared with her already.

Though, his leadership compliment threw her for a loop. She wasn’t expecting that. In fact, she was looking toward him with shock and doubt those words were meant for her. Helping? Sure. She was ready to contribute to the best of her abilities! Leading something? Absolutely not. But, why be the downer here? She gave him a bright smile, instead. Just smile and nod.

[ S.K ]   Siida was pleased to see Lazarius relaxing and as he spoke of what they needed...she would listen, taking notes. 

[ L.K ]   “I suggest we all. . .take this time to reflect, rest and prepare. . .”

As the later hours started to get closer....

[ L.K ]   . . .the goblins would begin to light small torches and candles throughout the zeppelin. They were currently over The Thousand Needles , or what was left of it, taking a less obscure route and going directly over the ridges and heading straight for Uldum. Not long now. But as the large full moon cascaded down into the galley and the cool winds flowed through the zeppelin, most of the staff had retired. Lazarius was not.

He sat at the table, a single candle and glass of bad wine beside him. He was writing in his large book, going over notes and maps beside him. Clearly he was not planning on sleeping like some of the rest of them. Much like Vanderlaine, Lazarius had no reason to sleep, the void entity inside his blood often aided him in the ability to sleep very rarely. So, he would use this time to complete his plans. Drinking his wine and enjoying the cool air.

[ Z.A ]   The later hours came quicker than Zalra expected. In fact, she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings in the slightest after Lazarius’ briefing. She felt a little guilty for this as she knew the downtime in their travels would be perfect to get to know those who she traveled with better. But, she found more solace with her own company and was unsure if she would be scolded for being so reclusive. She sat upon the floor of the main room beneath the deck.

As Lazarius sipped upon his terrible drink, she continued to read. They were only across the room from each other; however Zalra was unaware that no one had joined his side at this current time. A lot of people liked sleeping at reasonable hours, she thought to herself. As the goblins who were part of the crew began illuminating the zeppelin, Zalra would notice the book's words began to blur as her eyes started to drift closed on their own accord.

Before she knew it, she was adjusting her posture to accommodate for her creeping exhaustion. Did she move to a bed? No. Of course not. Being too tired, for one, and two, she was quite comfortable despite the bare, wooden floor beneath her.

The Sin’dorei now lay on her side, resting her head upon her rucksack and continued to review her tome which she propped up in front of her. Though, it didn’t take long before she just drifted to sleep under a pool of lantern light.

[ M.D ]   Maliscia had long since disappeared after Lazarius' speech, returning to her own reclusive nature in one of the rooms, occupying herself with the few tomes notes and maps she had thought to bring with her. Into the wee hours of the morning she wouldn't make a sound, save for the occasional turn of a page, and her scribbling ... when finally she let out an exasperated sigh, realizing it might do her some good to take a break, perhaps get some fresh air.

She made her way out of the room and into the area where Lazarius worked at the table and Zalra seemed to have fallen asleep. She let out a small chuckle at the sleeping girl and looked over at Lazarius, there was still a bit of awkwardness there, but she pushed it aside and made her presence known.

“That poor girl is going to have such a stiff neck when she wakes up.”

[ L.K ]   He looked up, peering down the hall to see Mali, then back toward where Zalra was sleeping. He shrugged softly, his black eyes narrowed to adjust to the poor lighting. As she grew closer and became easier to speak to without having to raise his voice any louder than a whisper.

“She is hardy, and no stranger to ‘roughing’ it.”. He spoke. His hand would close his tome, and deft fingers worked to conceal his parchment papers and maps.

“You are up late...still not sleeping well these days?”. He would ask softly, patting the seat next to him.

[ M.D ]   “I sleep alright when we're at the estate, thanks to you.” She stepped over and sat down next to him, still looking towards the sleeping girl.  Maliscia had been helped to silence the whispers when Lazarius entered her mind.  They spent several days prior to this cleaning up the damage the void had done.  She was very thankful to finally be able to close her eyes without visions and voices invading her thoughts.

“I doubt I will sleep much until we return....” She paused. “When we return .... it will be to Northrend, will I still have the same protection there?” She was, of course, referring to the wards he had placed that protected her from the void whispers back at the estate.

"Speaking of that.... what about her?" She nods towards Zalra, she too was Ren'dorei, but Maliscia had not really connected with any others of her own kind... perhaps she would have to find time to invite the girl to tea.

[ L.K ]   “You will be far more protected deep beneath the earth. It is impossible to even get to the Bastille now without the talismans.”. He would peer over at Maliscia and as he did so, she would find a cold hand cover the back of her own. He was happy to see her, and as his smile faded he would answer her question. 

“I met Zalra not too long ago, perhaps about three weeks, maybe four. She was not as eager to remain where she was unwanted, and having sought a way to silence the void, and harness its power...she asked to be taught, and I happily opted to do so. She is a sweet girl, and I feel will aid us in time, perhaps even gravitate toward someone more ... like her.” she would feel a light grip squeeze her hand as his smiled widened into a grin.

[ M.D ]   She turned her gaze from Zalra to look at the Inquisitor and return the smile. “I am glad it won't be much of a change for me since my room will be the same. Ah the comforts of home...”

She mused softly. “I'll have to get to know her ... though I really think perhaps we should see about getting her to an actual bed... she won't be of much use if it hurts to turn her neck from sleeping on the ground like that.”

[ L.K ]   Lazarius narrowed his vision. Eyes, black and never showing any type of emotion when he was busy with work; would slowly scan over the small girl. "She chose that spot. . ." He said in a flat voice. "I think she prefers to be close to the action anyway...in case something happens." He would sigh and slowly pull over a map that he was looking at.

"This is the stolen map we have, taken from one of their men. . . I lost two shades going after this. Two very good shades. . . and I won't allow their lives to be lost and not turn a profitable outcome when we finish this. . . but I worry about this path here." Lazarius would move his finger to an open room.

"This shaft leads to an open room where there are quite a few protocols in place to ward off outsiders. . . I just hope we can sort through it."

[ S.K ]   The gentle sway of the ship was comforting, but a sudden pitch in one direction had Siida sitting up in bed, bolt up right and gasping. In her mind she'd thought perhaps the ship was falling from the sky, but it had just been a bit of the cross breeze. She imagined as they neared the open barrens, the winds would become more intense. Slipping from the bed she poked her head out the window to spy who was still awake.

She could see Lazarius, Maliscia...and it seemed Zalra was comfortable upon the floor. Smoothing her hair, Siida moved from her room to go and get some air, to calm her frazzled nerves.

[ L.K ]   ~*~ BOOM ~*~

A sound in the distance, something that sounded like cannon fire? Maybe even something from the ground.  Lazarius’ ears perked up as he listened. There was a silence once again, nothing but the shaking of the zeppelin as it swayed back and forth from the heavy winds.

~*~ BOOM ~*~

Another, this time Lazarius rose from his seat, spying Siida and motioning for her to wake Zalra.

“That does not sound promising.”

Lazarius bent himself around he table and quickly marched up the stairs that were leading to the mid and upper decks. 

“Hey boss! You might wanna get up here!”. Came the sound of a goblin calling down to them.

“Wake her...upstairs...hurry.” Lazarius quickly continued to climb the stairwell on his way up to the top, and when he did, a sight truly to behold was upon them.

[ S.K ]   Siida's ears drooped at the sound of the cannon fire and moved to Zalra's side, kneeling down and gingerly shaking the elf.

"Zalra, come on...we're nearly there, Lazarius wants us up." She worried for a moment that they were under attack, but the booms didn't seem to be getting closer, all though a bit more frequent.

Since her brother wasn't raising the alarm she didn't resort to desperate means to wake up Zalra.

[ Z.A ]   When she heard the second boom she stirred.  When she heard the voice of the woman speak to her, she spun to face the stairwell, Zalra was not expecting to come face-to-face with Siida. Lazarius wants us up.

A wordless nod was tossed the younger Kashe’bahl’s way before Zalra jogged after her and rushed onto the deck.

[ L.K ]    The massive sword of Sargaras looked several thousand feet in the air, the world around them was dark and ominous but the glowing sword lit the night sky like a fire burning in the distance. They were over Ungoro, not even close to cresting the hillside into Silithus, and that sword was menacing.

“How much further...and where is that cannon fire coming from?” Asked the Inquisitor as he peered around the horizon. 

“Dats no cannon fire boss...dat’s dah sound of goblins blowin’ up chucks aroun’ dat sword.”. said the captain as he brought them out of the crater and onto the border of Tanaris, they were bound for Uldum.

“Gods below that sword is massive...you can feel the energy still within it...”. Lazarius placed his hands on the deck railing and gazed up at the object as they flew past, wind brushing his chestnut hair back.

[ V.M ]   Vanderlaine made his way up to the top deck. Walking over to Lazarius' side, his eyes were fixed on the sword, which was... admittedly, much larger than he had thought,

"My, that is... much larger than I had thought. You say that is in Silithus?" he shook his head and paced on the deck, never looking away,

"We must get closer to it someday, to just look up at it from its base... oh, how insignificant we will look compared to it."

[ L.K ]   Lazarius was marveling at it in much the same manner as Vanderlaine; my how alike the two were.. His blackened eyes never truly venturing beyond the sight of that enormous sword protruding from the ground.

“Someday after the initial shock has worn down...I too would like to venture closer, but for now...I will have faith that Loki and our goblin counterparts are farming plenty of Azerite for us to return safely to the Bastille for study.”.

Lazarius hitched a breath in his throat, slender fingers lightly tracing along the rail as he was force to crane himself forward to keep and eye on the sword as the zeppelin turned heading toward the edges of Tanaris.

“Truly a sight to behold...” he muttered.

[ Z.A ]    “Sargeras.” She breathed to herself, unable to take her eyes off the sword leagues away.

“So much irreparable damage.” She whispered, still hopefully for her own ears.

Her guard dropped further when she noticed the scene was quiet. Stepping closer to the others, Zalra started to lower her weapon; still gripping it with both hands.

[ L.K ]   "Marvel in it. . . and study it" He scoffed as his black eyes finally tore away from the sword. "Pure power, madness. . .an ancient dark magic that has wounded this world to the point of unstoppable chaos."

Lazarius had stepped away from the railing and motioned toward the small goblin captain to keep on coarse. "What Sargaras has done here has changed the face of this planet. . .it is as Neltharion did before, and as many others before him. . . and something our master. . . N'Zoth know all too well." He smiled and felt a strange sense of warmth cover him in the glow of the Blue Child and the dark heat from the Sword of Sargaras.

"Perhaps someday soon we too can leave our mark as the titan has. . ." Lazarius slowly peered back at the group of onlookers.

"Or maybe something greater. . .we can only hope."

[ S.K ]   The massive sword was something that stole Siida's attention, the rest of the world falling away. She was boggled. Absolutely and utterly confused. How was that possible...how had that sword not snuffed the very soul and life out of Azeroth? It took a good few minutes for the woman to pull herself away from the window and return to her room. She didn't sleep, she couldn't. There was too much excitement for the adventure ahead.

Siida was restless, unable to sit still a moment longer and went back up to the ships main deck, looking up at the night sky with a smile. The stars were lovely here, you could see them so clearly.

With the rest of the crew going back to work at the order of her brother, and the remaining officers who were summoned to the deck still watching.  The silence of the group would remain as the airship traveled deeper and deeper into the darkness.

ULDUM. . .

[ L.K ]   The time had come, some hours later, when the quintet had finally docked the airship in the deserts of Uldum. The sand was everywhere. And it was dry, arid, and nearly void of any life save for the forms of it that could eek out a mild existence in this climate. Mostly though, it was sand. Wind and Sand. Sun and more sand. Possibly a tree here or there, but ultimately surrounded by sand.

The massive zeppelin docked against a large erected platform that was surrounded on all sides by a camp. Flags of the crested serpent, violet in color flew high along the borders of the simple wooden outposts. They were surrounded by several dozen of Pyravari's best. As well as simple laborers, excavators, look outs and magic users.

In the center of the makeshift camp was a large outpost tent. It was where Lazarius had instructed his war table be assembled. Where each on of the five of them would have their own little cropping to comfortably live for the two to three weeks they were there. As they docked, and the five of them stepped off onto the erected launch pad and tower used for getting down to the ground level. Lazarius marched off the zeppelin and felt that dry heat sap any moisture that remained from his flesh and hair. His black eyes needing to be sheltered due to the sun; hands covering them the best they could.

"Welcome to Uldum, my brothers and sisters."

[ S.K ]   The heat was something that Siida hadn't been ready for, but her loose and flowing dress played about in the winds that whipped through the sands.

She was grateful for having listened to the advice of a friend and not brought sandals, she could feel the sand beneath her feet was indeed like an oven, waiting to scorch whatever it touched.

"It's amazing!"

[ L.K ]   “I don't ever recall ‘amazing’ being on the list of choice words . . . ”

[ Z.A ]   Zalra could feel the heat instantly. The steady increase in warmth was what stirred her from her continued sleep in the first place. She was comfortably snoozing on the floor, back to the rucksack and “hardy” behaviour, before she was slowly woken from her sleep.

Sweat already beaded on her forehead and she felt like she was being broiled in an oven. Great. Thankfully, however, the woman was quite fond of heat. And of course, sand. But void of any beaches? Now that was going to make the trip a little unappealing. She stepped off the zeppelin along with the others and inhaled the blistering air deeply.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

Probably not after considerably long exposures to the sun, but for now, Zalra was enjoying every bit of this Adjusting her sunhat she had dawned before joining the group, she too squinted against the blazing light. She snickered audibly at Lazarius’ comment, “Not a fan of the location already, Inquisitor?”

[ L.K ]   “I am not often a fan of any locations that do not involve being underground or hidden from daylight.”. Snarled the man as he started down the stairwell toward the lower levels. As he did so he would speak to the others behind him, hoping they too chose to join him in finding the shade below.

“I will be much happier when we leave this place with our hands full of Titan artifacts and can return to the safety of the Bastille.”. At this point they were safely on the ground. Captain Gearsman already bartering with a few of the locals that had made their way into the camp, half expecting the airship to be loaded with trade goods, which as a matter of fact it was, so business could continue. It was a a good thing Lazarius did employ competent people and advisors to lead these expeditions and areas of business.

“If you two would like to go visit the Tolvarian kingdom, this is Ramkahen, by name on such it translates into something majestic, but be forewarned, do not do anything to upset the locals.”. He would in fact be speaking to Siida and Zalra, they seemed to be the most curious about the culture and landscape.

Where as Vanderlaine wouldn’t get his hands dirty until they found something interesting, much like Lazarius in that regard, to give them something to get excited for. 

“I will be in the large tent where I can draft up our plans. I have two Shades coming to brief me on the current situation, Mali, Van you are both welcome to go sight see if you wish, or join me in the shelter, your choice.”. He would shield his dark eyes with his cupped hand, and peered back to the group of them.

[ S.K ]   Like Zalra, Siida produced a hat to the help with the glaring of the sun. She was eager, like a child ready to run into a candy store, but she heeded her brothers warning. While they were here, they were guests, they would be on their best behavior and not upset the locals.

Siida could see all types of banners flying in the distance, it seemed the mysterious ore of Silithus was drawing more attention than she realized. The very second that Lazarius stepped from the ship, Siida bolted down the ramp to go and explore. She had a book on the local customs, fruit to sample...wares to see...and the oasis.

[ M.D ]   “I think I shall go for a little walk around, call for me if you need me.” She stated and without another word would head off and away from the group, choosing to spend her time exploring the immediate area alone.

[ Z.A ]    Thankfully, when his words were of encouragement or the two youngest elves to explore, her demeanor relaxed. He said the magic words it seemed, as Zalra’s eyes lit up. Oh, where would she begin?! She had an entire city to experience!

Perhaps Siida had an idea as to where to start; if she would accept Zalra’s company, that is. Her emerald gaze drifted to regard the younger Kashe’bahl, only to notice the group already beginning to disperse. A little hum of contemplation left her lips as she looked back to Lazarius for a moment. Should she join him instead? They did have a couple of weeks in the warm country, after all. Maybe explore later? Another hum sounded

“I will make sure Siida has company, then.” She finally decided aloud, walking to catch up with the young woman. Falling in step with her, Zalra smiled gently.

“Have an idea of our first stop?”

[ S.K ]   Siida was overjoyed to have Zalra at her side and began to talk excitedly about wanting to see some of the locals, learn what they ate and how they cooked....to try some of the indigenous fruits of the area. There was the oasis as well, a lovely place to see some unique fish and fauna. She was talking at a mile a minute, truly a ray of sunshine that had taken elven form.

"Oh...I'm sorry....I've done nothing but gab this whole time...Miss Azurestar...what would you like to do?"

[ V.M ]   Vanderlaine was the last to step off of the zeppelin. He was dressed in vastly different robes, these of a very distinct Uldum fashion. They were of a dark purple  and covered his head to toe so that not even his fingers or his ankles were exposed to the sun. He had a hood up, and a face mask hung loosely around his neck, which could be easily pulled up to protect his face from the harsh sand that blasted across the wasteland.

He took in a deep breath, "Ah, Uldum," he walked forward, adjusting his backpack that was slung across his body, filled with maps, a canteen, for some reason, and other survival odds and ends. Even though they were near a city and their camp, the professor was prepared.

[ Z.A ]   Zalra did not mind Siida’s insistent ramblings. She was cute, and the disguised woman was most patient; Siida would notice this, too. The calm expressions on her face and genuine giggles at the youngsters energy was proof enough. Though, she would also see Zalra’s wary gaze and how she occasionally would take her attention from Siida to review their surroundings.

A protective gesture, for sure. And, of course, this was at the same time Siida called for her attention.

“Hm?” she hummed, looking to the other woman.

“Oh! Out of all your suggestions, I would like to explore foods.” A cute bought of laughter escaped her, “My sweet tooth demands sugary goods.”

[ S.K ]   "Sugary goods...I believe we can find that....if what I read was correct they are a sun worshiping people we might find something along those lines...though it might not be what we're used to." Siida let her lips paint a smile upon her face as she started to wander into the city proper and into what looked like a day market.

The blessing here was the shade offered by some of the stalls and sure enough there was delicious looking fruit, breads, some fish the likes of which Siida had never seen before. Her eyes were bright as she immediately tried to converse with a vendor who seemed more bewildered by the small elf and her quick words.

[ Z.A ]   Zalra’s watchful gaze continued as the duo made their way deeper into the city. Her vigilant demeanor was simple to maintain even with so many alluring sights to behold. Thankfully, Siida had enough energy to burn for the both of them.

“Anything that’s sweet, I am open to trying.” She chuckled, “And, I am glad that one of us has at least a bit of knowledge of what we can find here.” She couldn’t have imagined how fruitless her attempts at exploring would be.

While Siida spoke with a merchant, Zalra looked t the fruit being sold. There was a stand of odd, green melons with a spiny texture labelled “Desert Melons” as well as a box of pear-shaped citrus called “Desert Limes” that caught her attention. The disguised woman tugged gently on Siida’s sleeve to motion her attention to the fruit. “Aren’t these strange?” she gasped. “We should try them!”

[ S.K ]   The merchant seemed all too happy to prepare samples of whatever the elves wanted. When Zalra pointed out the melons and limes, she couldn't resist the curious bug that crawled into her mind. It needed to be sated.

"Could have two of each please?" She asked, able to communicate well enough with the vendor who motioned them to have a seat under a shaded canopy by the oasis.

The water looked so inviting, but Siida resisted and plopped down upon a pillow. Soon the fruit was laid out before them both, beautifully prepared and sliced for them to share. "Our first taste of the local culture." Siida mused, trying a bit of lime. The face she made had the merchant chuckling. It was good, the sweetness coming at the end to rescue the eater from the sour bite.

[ Z.A ]   Zalra followed Siida’s lead and slowly sat upon the pillow provided. Her posture relaxed significantly as their seating accommodations mimicked those of her old home. But, her situation was due to financial hardship. And though it was familiar, this was a cultural difference; it didn’t make her feel embarrassed this time around, and she was happy this was the norm. Even the fruit was prepared and delivered to them.

Zalra was entirely unused to the level of hospitality that the locals provided them. It even caused her to hesitate in picking the beautifully sliced food. But, eventually, she went for a slice of melon. The flesh within was pale orange and softer than any fruit she had tried before.

At first, it was as sweet as a cantaloupe, though soon a vegetal bitterness followed; taste and texture similar to an avocado. “Hm…” she hummed, wondering if she truly enjoyed the flavour.

“It’s…er…alright. Definitely new.” A small chuckle left her lips afterwards before she glanced at the other elf. Zalra opened her mouth to speak, but nothing followed. She merely wanted to start a pleasant conversation with the woman, but—as per usual—she was at a loss for words.

“Er…so…do you enjoy the heat, too?”  Nailed it.

TBC. . . .   “The Void Forge: Optimization, Part 2″

@siidaraykashebahl

@lady-dawnblood

@zalraazurestar

@vanderlainemindweaver

mentions also

@pyravari-kashebahl

@whatadarkbitch

@daltalah

@suncrest-legacy

@thebladeitself

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Chapter 58

Wooooo here we go with The Last Mabelcorn, finally! You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted to write this chapter and here it finally is for you to read and enjoy! I’m quite proud of it and I honestly don’t have a ton else to say outside of that so I suppose there’s nothing keeping us from diving right in! Let’s get started!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/177662322439/universe-falls-chapter-57-part-2

Chapter 58: The Last Mabelcorn

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With Dipper and Mabel spending the night up at the temple with Steven and the Gems in light of their ongoing quest to release Malachite, the Mystery Shack was even quieter than it usually was in the deep, dark, dead of night. Though Stan had turned in for the night at a reasonable hour, it had taken Ford much longer to pull himself away from his ongoing research in the basement. By the time the author finally did trudge up to his old room, it was quite late and as a result, he was quite tired. Though he was now thirty years removed from his extensive bout of paranoid insomnia, there were times every now and again when Ford would stubbornly resist the lull of a full night’s sleep out of fear of what might lie in wait in the often unpredictable world of nightmares. This particular, night, however, wasn’t anywhere close to one of those cases, for almost as soon as the author’s head hit the pillow, he was out, fast asleep and promptly thrust into the dreaming state he so often tried to avoid.

Or rather, into what was very soon about to become yet another nightmare, one that seemed to refuse to end even 30 years after it had first begun.

When Ford opened his eyes, he was quite caught off guard to find himself not back in the peaceful darkness of the room he had fallen asleep in, but rather he was standing amidst a vast, arid field of tall, ripe stalks of wheat. This curious expanse seemed to stretch on for miles, only broken by three landmarks afar off in the distance: an aged and broken swing set, a dilapidated, half-rebuilt boat, and the ruined remains of a certain portal looming large and inactive on the horizon. The author took pause as he glanced around his odd, new surroundings, though he didn’t have much of a chance to make sense of them. Completely out of nowhere, the wheat surrounding Ford suddenly began to flatten itself out into a shape that the author knew all too well. A shape that was, of course, accompanied by the maniacal cackling of a demon, a demon Ford had hoped in vain that he’d never encounter again.

“I know that laugh…” the author growled, his hands already curling into tight, defensive fists, just in case. “Show yourself!”

Right on cue, the demon did just that, his triangular form materializing right from the imprint of himself he had made in the wheat as he sharply rose to float right behind Ford, his sinister laughter continuing all the while. “Well, well, well, well, well, well, well!” he quipped brightly, splitting up into several smaller versions of himself as they all cheerfully circled the quite unamused author. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eye! Stanford Filbrick Pines! My old pal! It’s good to finally see ya in the flesh instead of on all those wanted posters I had put out for you during your little stint in the multiverse. Those sure were some fun times, huh, Sixer?”

Ford wisely chose to ignore his longtime foe’s callous taunting, more than used to them by now as he sent the demon a cold, distrustful glare. “Bill Cipher…” he stiffly acknowledged, countless years of ire and hatred dripping into his tone. “What do you want from me? I already told you more than once that I want nothing more to do with you!”

“Oh, quit playing dumb, IQ!” one of the several Bills mocked knowingly. “You knew I’d be back! And boy, have I been busy… Heck, right before I dropped by here, I nearly snagged the deal of a lifetime with some kid you may or may know. But oh well, its not like he can really hold onto that space rock of his for too much longer since its already mine anyway!”

“Kid?” Ford questioned in alarmed confusion, wondering what poor child could have possibly been subjected to Bill’s cruel tricks. “Who did you-”

“Eh, forget it, Sixer, all that business is soooo two chapters ago,” Bill interjected with a flippant wave of his hand as his many doubles all merged back into one. “What I actually stopped by for was to tall you that you must not be that much of a ‘genius’ after all if you think shutting down that portal could really stop what I have planned! Like I said, I’ve been making deals, chatting with old friends, preparing for the big day! You can’t keep that rift safe forever…” With a single snap of his fingers, the interdimensional rift appeared floating above the demon’s palm, its amorphous, glimmering substance still safely contained within its protective globe, though not for long. “You don’t have good ol’ Quartzy around anymore to bail you out this time, Sixer! You’ll slip up sooner or later, and when you do…” As Bill trailed off, he suddenly slammed the rift hard onto the ground, its very breaking violently tearing open a nightmarish hole through the otherwise smoggy skies and igniting the wheat field in a burst of bright crimson fire all around the author. Yet even despite this horrific display, Ford refused to let Bill get the better of him this time; after all, he had already accomplished that more than enough countless times in the past.

“Get out of here!” the author shouted fiercely, wishing he could put an end to the demon’s twisted ambitions right then and there. “You have no dominion in our world!”

“Maybe not right now,” Bill began, his eye turning black as he began to ascend into the chasm of untold horrors and nightmares he wanted to unleash upon the world. “But things change, Stanford Pines! Things CHANGE!”

On this final, ominous proclamation, the demon departed, laughing wickedly all the while as he thoughtlessly left Ford to burn in the field, awash with fear over the dreadful threats he had just heard. Fortunately though, the author wasn’t left to such a terrible fate as he was instead met with quick flashes of three very distinct images: his own six-fingered hand, a set of runes containing various unknown symbols, all of them surrounding a visage of Bill himself, and finally, four bright, vibrant diamonds, one white, one blue, one yellow, and one pink, arranged together and positioned against the backdrop of a distant, foreign planet that seemed to be crumbling apart at the seams.

And on that, the author sharply awoke, his nightmare over. For now, at least.

Even so, Ford bolted upright on the couch that served as his bed, his entire body covered in a cold sweat as he tried to catch his breath amidst his current panic. The fact that Bill Cipher, of all beings, had suddenly shown up in his dreams was concerning enough, but even worse were the frightening implications he had left behind. Before, the author had only ever assumed that the demon would target the rift, but now, there was no doubt whatsoever. Bill wanted that rift and if he got his hands on it, then the entire world, no, the entire universe, would certainly face untold destruction and devastation. He’d be all-powerful, unstoppable, and completely and utterly merciless to anyone who ever dared to try and get in his way. Which was why Ford knew that he had to stop this disaster before it even had a chance to begin. He had to put an end to Bill’s plans before they could come anywhere close to reaching fruition, there simply was no other option. But unlike last time he had made such a bold, dangerous attempt, the author wasn’t about to undertake such a risky venture on his own this time. He had learned his lesson and seen his folly in trying to walk this path alone 30 years ago. And as far as he was concerned, that wasn’t a mistake he was about to make again.

“I have to warn them…” Ford muttered to himself as he finally began to calm down, even though Bill’s haunting warnings still rung in his mind as loudly as ever. “He’s coming…”

A cloud of solemn anxiousness hung over Steven, Dipper, and Mabel alike as they departed from the temple the following morning, their minds still equally focused on worrying thoughts of a certain demon and his malicious intentions, whatever those might be. The Gems had sent them off quite early on, encouraging them to relax for the day and try to find some way to take their thoughts off Bill, even if it was very likely they didn’t intend to do the same themselves.

Still, none of the kids argued with them as they set out for the shack, running into Connie halfway down the hill as she had been going up to meet them. Despite the Gems’ advising them to focus on other things, neither Steven, Dipper, nor Mabel were able to keep themselves from telling Connie all about the events of the previous night, including both Steven’s alarming encounter with Bill in his dreams, as well as their nightmarish confrontation the Gems had with the demon themselves over twenty years ago. Needless to say that after hearing such a disconcerting account, Connie herself was every bit as shaken as the other three kids were to know that Bill was still out there somewhere, still plotting to harm them all, if not worse. Which was why the conversation was still very much focused on the demon, even as the kids made it back down to the shack to try and ‘relax’, even if there was a slim chance such a thing would even end up happening.

“So… even the Gems don’t know how get rid of Bill once and for all?” Connie asked, her voice kept rather low as the four of them wandered down the hall.

“No…” Steven sighed, rubbing his arm apprehensively. “They said the most we can do for now is just make sure we don’t fall for any more of his tricks, but… I don’t know how long that’ll really work for…”

“Probably not too long, seeing as how he’ll lie to just about anyone to get what he wants,” Dipper remarked quite bitterly, clearly quite frustrated with the situation at large. “It’s just… you’d think there’d be some way to keep Bill from messing with us anymore, at least. I mean, how are we supposed to figure out a way to stop him if we can’t even keep him from showing up in our dreams any time he wants?!”

“W-well, even if the Gems don’t know what to do right now, m-maybe they’ll figure something out eventually,” Mabel assured with a weak smile, hoping to, if nothing else, reassure her clearly on-edge brother about the concerning situation. “For now though, we should probably just drop the whole Bill thing and relax like they told us to.” Her smile widened somewhat as she pulled open a nearby closet door. “Why don’t we see if Grunkle Stan has any decent board games lyin’ around here? Huh? Huh? Come on, you three, don’t hold out on me. Steven, I know you’re always up for a good round of Latzee.”

Steven, Dipper, and Connie all briefly exchanged tentative glances at this, all three of them still rather worried about the situation with Bill, but even so, they knew there wasn’t really much that could be done about it now. Wasting their thoughts and energy on it at the moment wouldn’t really produce anything but more dread and woe, things that the kids largely wanted to be free of after the harrowing night they just had. Which was why Steven was the first to perk up somewhat, stepping forward into the closet to take a look at what the stack of old games before them had to offer.

“Hm, let’s see here… ‘Battlechutes & Ladderships’, ‘Necronomiconopoly’, ‘Don’t Wake Stalin’…”

“Oh, what’s this one?” Connie grabbed an interesting-looking jungle themed box from the pile. “‘What Could Go Wrong? The Board Game. The last players who opened this box never made it out alive!’”

A beat of silence passed between the kids at this, but even so, they were all quick to reach largely the same conclusion.

“Well, I know what we’re doing today!”

“Yeah, this should take up the next half hour or so.”

“Sounds like fun!”

“Can’t be too bad, right?”

However, before the kids could even leave the closet to set the game up to play, their plans were instantly dashed as they heard Ford’s stark, urgent call coming from the kitchen. “Family meeting! Family meeting!”

Needless to say all four of the kids were somewhat surprised to hear Ford of all people, call for a so-called ‘family meeting’. But even so they were quite curious to hear what apparently serious demand was all about, which was why they put the game aside to hurry off to hear whatever it was the author had to say.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to any of the kids, Amethyst had hurried down from the temple to the shack herself, surprisingly not because of anything remotely pertaining to what happened last night, but rather to make good on her promise to help Stan with a certain, rather illegal smuggling deal. “Alright, Santiago,” the conman remarked gruffly to the Spanish man him and Amethyst were passing off a sizable truckload of young pugs off to. “You have 24 hours to get these pugs over the U.S border.”

“And you better not… you know, no lo jodas this time either!” Amethyst snapped with a knowing scowl. “O de lo contrario lo vas a conseguir!”

“Yeah, what she said,” Stan remarked, though he did raise his eyebrow somewhat over the purple Gem’s rather crude use of language. However, before the exchange could properly end, Ford’s call for a family meeting rung out from inside the shack, startling the trio and cutting their illegal operation short as Stan swiftly shoved the last barrel of pugs into the back of Santiago’s truck before shoving him off.

“No te preocupas!” Stan shouted urgently as Amethyst kept a close lookout so they wouldn’t get caught as the truck sped off. “Vamos! Vamos!”

With Stan and Amethyst as busy avoiding the law as they were, it wasn’t surprising that they decided to avoid Ford’s meeting, though the kids were right on time to it, venturing into the kitchen just as the author was finishing setting up his copious array of scrolls, notes, and books. “Ah, children,” he greeted tersely, only briefly glancing over his shoulder as they arrived. “Come in, come in! Do any of you know if any of the Gems can make it down here within the next… minute or so? This is a very important discussion that I doubt they’ll want to miss out on.”

“Uh, w-well, actually… the Gems are kind of… busy today,” Steven replied, knowing this was both a truth and a lie in that, as far as they knew, they were still up at the temple, thinking about what to do to stop Bill. “We sort of had a… rough night last night…”

“Hm, you’re not the only ones…” Ford muttered to himself as he glanced away. “All the same, I suppose we can always pass this warning off to them sometime later.”

“Warning?” Connie spoke up with a worried frown. “What warning?”

“Does it have anything to do with these mysterious scrolls and potions?” Mabel asked curiously as she began rummaging through the author’s possessions. “Are you going to tell us we’re finally of age to go to wizard school? Is there an owl in this bag?!”

“No,” Ford interjected, quickly taking his bag away from her as his manner seemed to grow even more serious than it already was. “I can assure you that if there is an owl in this bag, then he’s long dead. Now, what I have called you children here for today is by far more pressing and urgent. Do any of you recognize this symbol?” At this, the author held up a weathered old scroll, one covered in ancient script and arcane text, though the triangular being emblazoned, large and dark and menacing on its center was one that all four of the kids knew the instant they saw it.

A round of frightened gasps escaped all four of the kids at the same exact time, each of them feeling as though they had been thrust right back into that horrific puppet show weeks ago. Connie quickly tore her gaze away from the scroll, as if simply looking at it would somehow summon the demon forth from it. Steven choked out another smaller gasp, one hand against his heart as it hammered away in his chest while his other was pressed close to his stomach, or rather his gem, protectively. Mabel latched a hand down onto her brother’s shoulder so fast that it normally would have startled him but instead Dipper only stared, his face pale and his eyes wide as he barely managed to even get the demon’s name out in so much as a weak, frightened whisper. “B-Bill…”

Ford flinched, quite taken aback by the kids’ initial reaction alone as he looked back to the scroll with growing alarm. “You… you know him?”

None of the kids offered an immediate answer save for Connie, who only gave one in the form of a small, anxious, silent nod. As for the other three, Steven tightened his grip around his gemstone, the vicious threats the demon had issues against him just a few hours prior ringing in his head as loudly as ever before. At the same time, Mabel’s focus remained on Dipper as she prepared to offer him whatever comfort and support he might need but in light of both his growing distress and his growing frustration he was hard pressed to accept any such sentiments now.

“I-it just won’t end, will it?” Dipper began, his tone quiet yet harsh as he shook his head incredulously. “First there was what happened last night with the Gems, and now this? Why won’t he just quit already?!”

“Dipper-” Mabel attempted to interject, though her brother was far too upset to back down now, especially as he got up to pace around frenetically.

“I was right last night after all,” Dipper continued, angry and anxiously as he largely talked to himself, even as the others all watched him with growing concern. “A-and I was right even before that! This isn’t over! Heck, maybe it never will be! He’ll just keep showing up and messing with us and lying to us and forcing us to play his games and there’s no way to stop him or get rid of him a-and it’ll just keep happening over and over again until he-”

“Dipper!” He finally cut himself off with a sharp gasp, stopping in his tracks under the weight of Ford’s firm, steadying hand on his shoulder. The author’s expression was initially fraught with palpable worry and dread, which quickly shifted into untold remorse before finally settling on what almost looked like grave, yet muted fury. “He… he possessed you, didn’t he?”

Dipper flinched at this, quickly averting his uncle’s gaze out of slight fear of how he might react to the truth of the matter. After all, the last thing he wanted was to admit such a momentous failure to the author he practically idolized and looked up to without question; the thought of disappointing him with his own shortcomings alone was enough to bring him more shame than he really knew how to deal with. But even despite his lack of a concrete answer, it was clear to see that Ford had inferred one anyway as he rose to stand, closing his eyes and letting out a long, almost tired sigh, one that gave really no indication of any sort of react at all.

“G-Great Uncle Ford,” Dipper began, his former frustration gone and replaced with obvious nervousness instead. “I… I just-”

“It wasn’t Dipper’s fault!” Steven suddenly interjected, tears already starting to well up in his eyes as everyone turned to look at him. “B-Bill tricked him! H-he lied to him and then he took his body a-and I was there for the whole thing and I wasn’t able to stop it a-and I couldn’t even tell anyone about it ‘cause he said he’d hurt Dipper’s body a-and I was so afraid and confused and we almost didn’t stop him in time but-”

“But we did,” Connie interjected as calmly as she could, taking Steven’s hand reassuringly as Mabel did the same for Dipper. “And that’s what’s important here.”

“So the four of you… ‘defeated’ him…” Ford mused, though his tone conveyed a hint of doubt in this fact. Still, he didn’t voice that doubt as he met all four of the kids’ fretful expressions evenly enough. “Even so, the fact that you kids have dealt with Bill before is gravely serious.”

“So… you know Bill too, Grunkle Ford?” Mabel asked, anxiously curious.

“Too?” the author frowned, confused.

“Uh, well, l-last night the Gems told us about how Bill tricked them before too…” Steven admitted somewhat hesitantly. “Mom even had to fight them to get him out of him. I-it was-”

“Oh yes, I already know about all that,” Ford interupted. “Pearl… told me all about that rather… unfortunate encounter just a few days ago. Honestly, I can’t say I’m even really surprised; it’d only make sense that someone as mad and as power-hungry as Bill would try to target someone as dedicated to protecting the Earth as Rose and the Crystal Gems.”

The kids looked to each other again at this, their expressions all somewhat uncertain but craving to know more about whatever knowledge the author might have concerning the dream demon. “Um, so how exactly do you know Bill, Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper asked rather hesitantly in light of his own lingering regret.

“I’ve encountered many dark beings in my time, Dipper,” Ford replied curtly. “But perhaps none as dark as Bill Cipher. All the same, the specifics aren’t important right now. What matters is that his powers are growing stronger, and if he pulls off his plans, then none of us, not this family, not the Gems, not even Gravity Falls itself will be safe!”

Upon hearing this, none of the kids were able to hold back a unified frightened gasp. In light of their past encounters with the dream demon as well as everything the Gems had recently revealed, it was obvious that Bill was certainly a threat to them all. But to hear this confirmation come from someone as wizened and well-traveled as the author of the journals himself only served to hit that alarming thought home even more. After all, if Bill really was such a severe and present danger to not just them but the town, possibly even the world as a whole, then what hope did any of them possibly have in trying to stop him?

“Fortunately,” Ford continued, as if he had somehow heard the kids’ shared worries and decided to address them. “There should be a way to shield us from his mental tricks. A way to ‘Bill-proof’ the shack and even the Gems’ temple, as it were.”

“R-Really?” Steven asked with a small but growing smile, one that was filled with relief that the other three kids equally shared. “That’s great! How does it work?”

“It’s quite simple, really,” the author began, laying a map of the shack out on the table. “All I have to do is place moonstones here, here, and here, sprinkle some mercury, and… let’s see, I always forget that last ingredient!” Ford frowned as he flipped open journal 1, briefly glancing through his notes before finding what he was looking for. “Ugh, that’s right… unicorn hair…”

“That’s not… rare, is it?” Dipper asked, picking up on the author’s disgruntled tone.

“Its hopeless,” Ford shook his head dismissively as he looked back to the journal. “Unicorns reside deep within an enchanted glade, and their hairs can only be obtained by a pure, good-hearted person who goes on a magical quest to find them. And of course, unicorns themselves are-”

The author’s explanation was abruptly cut off from a loud, shrill, undeniably excited squeal from Mabel, one that tore starkly through the ongoing solemn manner of this meeting. “Grunkle Ford! Can I please go on this quest?!” she asked with a large, eager grin as she hopped out of her seat. “I am literally obsessed with unicorns! My first word was unicorn, I once made my own unicorn by taping a traffic cone to a horse’s head and got banned from the petting zoo for it, are you even looking at the sweater I’m wearing right now?!” She quickly pointed to said sweater, which, fittingly enough, had a colorful design of a unicorn stitched onto it. “Not to mention that I’m probably the most pure of heart person in this room. Well, aside from Steven, that is.” A round of murmured agreements arose from this, no one really dissenting to such a claim given Mabel’s very transparent sense of altruism and helpfulness. “So can I please go on a mission to get that hair?” she continued pleadingly. “Please, please, please?! I’ll give you my blood!”

Despite this concerning vow, Ford simply nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly given the nature of the quest his niece wanted to go on. “Very well,” he consented gruffly. “But it won’t be easy. Take this,” he handed off journal 1 to her, largely since it offered a map pointing to where unicorns were known to dwell. “And this,” he also gave her a fully-loaded crossbow, much to excitement, even as she struggled to properly lift it. “I haven’t been in this dimension in a while. It’s still ok to give children deadly weapons, right?”

“Pssh, come on, dawg,” Mabel remarked with a casual wave of her hand. Of course, she didn’t notice that her other hand had accidentally squeezed the crossbow’s trigger until an arrow fired off through it, crashing through the nearby window and startling a certain pair of partners in crime outside.

“Ah! It’s the cops!” Stan shouted frantically somewhere outside. “Gun it!”

“Soy inocente, ¡lo juro!” Amethyst cried as a truck carrying a heavy load of pugs sped off.” ¡Todo fue idea de Stan!”

“Amethyst! Cut it out with all the Spanish already!”

“Heh, sorry, dude, can’t help it. Its mucho divertido.”

“Um… on second thought, why don’t I go with you, Mabel?” Connie asked after a beat of somewhat awkward silence. “Not that I don’t think you can handle yourself, but maybe having my sword along with that crossbow will make this whole, uh, ‘enchanted quest’ thing go a little easier.”

“Oh my gosh, yes!” Mabel gasped, cheerfully pulling Connie up out of her chair as she spun her around excitedly. “This is gonna be great! Mabel and Connie: Unicorn Hunters Extraordinaire! Ooo, wait! I got another idea! We should turn this unicorn duo into a whole unicorn party!” Without another word, Mabel quickly pulled her phone up and began dialing several numbers at once as she ran out of the room. “Wendy, Candy, Grenda, clear the afternoon!”

“Oh boy…” Connie chuckled as she prepared to follow after Mabel. “This oughta be… interesting.”

“Hm… perhaps you girls should take one of the Gems along with you as well…” Ford mused. “As far as I know, they do have some experience with unicorns so their aid will likely be an asset, and not just in finding them either…”

“Get a Gem to come, got it!” Connie nodded, offering the remaining trio a thumbs up as she headed out herself. “Thanks, Mr. Ford!”

“Yes, yes, try not to come across any packs of marauding ware-fairies while you’re out,” Ford advised, waving both girls off as Steven and Dipper did the same.

“So… what are the odds that they actually get that hair?” Dipper asked Ford, trying to hide his rather palpable concern.

“Unlikely,” the author replied as soon as he was sure the girls were out of earshot. “I’ve dealt with unicorns before and if I had to describe them in one word it would be… frustrating.”

“Aw, but this is Mabel and Connie we’re taking about here,” Steven said with an encouraging smile. “If anyone can get that hair, its them!”

“Well, just in case they don’t,” Dipper countered diffidently. “Is there anything else we could maybe do to stop Bill in the meantime?”

Ford took pause at this question, his expression initially unreadable as he looked between both of the boys sitting in front of him before his focus finally settled on Steven. The young Gem shifted somewhat apprehensively under the author’s scrutinizing stare, one that seemed to almost be searching for something, though he had no idea as to what that something could possibly be. “Um… Mr. Ford? What’s-”

“Steven,” the author interupted, his tone and manner both very serious as he glanced around rather discreetly. “Rose Quar—I mean, your mother, used to be the one person, or Gem rather, that I always felt like I could confide in. I trusted her immensely, and… I’d like to think that I can trust her son as well. So… can I?”

The young Gem was admittedly somewhat taken aback by this, but as he glanced over and met Dipper’s rather expectant expression, he found he was hard pressed to say no. “Y-yeah—I mean, yes,” Steven said with much more resolve, hoping that he could somehow honor the genuine bond that used to exist between the author and his mother even in some small, simple way. “Yes, you can. But, uh, can I ask with what exactly you wanna trust me with?”

Ford cracked something of a small smirk at this, clearly glad to have the young Gem on board. “Dipper, why don’t I let you tell him?”

“Oh, uh, ok,” Dipper nodded, immediately understanding exactly what the author wanted him to reveal. Even still, he hesitated somewhat, remembering the promise he had made to Ford himself to keep silent about it only a few days prior, a promise he devoutly intended to keep even still. And yet, since Ford was the very one telling him to make an exception to that promise right then and there, he decided to relent and do just that, knowing that if there was really anyone who he’d personally trust with such a momentous secret, it would be Steven. “So, Great Uncle Ford took the portal apart, right? But it sorta left this… what was it again?”

“An interdimensional rift,” Ford filled in, his voice low as he took another cursory glance around the room for any sort of prying eyes.

“An interdimensional rift, right,” Dipper said with a bit more confidence, which was something Steven only met with confusion as he tried to follow along. “And that’s bad because it could…?”

“It could tear our reality itself apart,” Ford finished gravely. “Especially if someone like Bill were to get his hands on it. If its power were to be unleashed, then he’d be completely free to wreak untold havoc upon this dimension, destroying everything and everyone in his path.”

“W-whoa…” Steven whispered, his eyes wide as he tried to take such a dark implication in. “And I thought everything the Gems told us last night was bad. B-but this… rift thing sounds like it could be even worse than that was!”

“Indeed it could,” Ford nodded coldly. “And that’s why the three of us have to do everything in our power to protect it from Bill. Including maintaining its secrecy from everyone.”

“Even the Gems?” Steven asked apprehensively. “B-because I-”

“Even the Gems,” the author interupted staunchly, glancing away. “The more people who know about the rift, the more danger it could potentially be put in. I did have some reservations about telling even you, Steven, but… well, I figured I might as well fill you in since I very likely would have done the same for your mother if she were still… around.”

“Oh, uh… gee, thanks…” the young Gem said with a halfhearted smile, the comparison Ford was apparently drawing between him and his mother not lost on him. A comparison that, in light of recent revelations, Steven wasn’t sure he was too comfortable with anymore, even if he knew that it was rather fitting. After all, wasn’t keeping such a potentially earth shattering secret hidden from the Gems the very same sort of thing Rose herself did before him? Still, he knew he couldn’t exactly betray either Ford’s trust on the matter either, especially since it was of such grave significance. The author had said so himself: if Bill ever managed to get ahold of that rift, then reality itself could very well cease to be. The knowledge of that fact alone was a momentous, massive weight, one that the young Gem feared he wouldn’t be properly carry but at the very least, he didn’t have to do it alone. For just as he began to doubt his own resolve, he was broken out of his thoughts by the comforting hand that fell upon his shoulder. Steven was unable to hold back a small smile as he met the gentle, affirmative one Dipper was offering him, one that carried the promise that, despite how daunting protecting the rift and its secrets might be, it was a task that they’d carry out together. And that alone was exactly the kind of warm reassurance the young Gem needed to hope that they’d be able to carry that untold, almost crushing weight after all. “B-but… you don’t have to worry,” Steven said as he turned back to the author. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

“Very good,” Ford said, genuinely grateful as he rose to stand. “Now, both of you, follow me. We’ve much to do.”

Neither boy questioned the author any further as they hurried after him to the gift shop, watching in curious anticipation as he opened the hidden elevator behind the vending machine up. However, instead of taking them down to the basement lab, the elevator stopped on the floor between it, at an ornate wooden door that only Ford seemed to hold the key to. And needless to say that that boys were quite amazed by what they saw.

Contained between the gift shop and the underground lab was an entire floor in and of itself, one that surprisingly spacious, even despite the walls lined with full bookshelves and old, interesting artifacts and machinery strewn just about everywhere. The rather long room stretched back into a corridor with covered walls and a massive machine consisting of several large screens and a dizzying array of wires and buttons. Of course, both Steven and Dipper were absolutely amazed to discover such an impressive hideout, one that neither of them ever even knew existed before though Ford was steady as ever as he led the way into it.

“Welcome to my private study,” he began, not making much time to give the boys even a simple tour of the room. “A place where I keep my most ancient and secret knowledge. Even Stanley, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl don’t know about this place, however, Rose did.” At this, the author briefly sent Steven a small, knowing grin over his shoulder, one that he only weakly returned as he continued following after Ford to the other end of the room. Dipper, however, detracted somewhat, curious to see exactly what knowledge his uncle might be keeping in this extensive collection, however, before he could really try to investigate, Ford urgently prompted him onward.

“Dipper, come along!” the author called as he began setting up the large machine, which was only labeled as ‘Project Mentum’. “If we can’t Bill-proof the shack, then we’re going to have to do the next best thing.” At this, Ford held up a rather old-looking metallic helmet, one that was connected to the machine by several wires and seemed to carry some sort of unknown purpose to it. “We’re going to have to Bill-proof our minds.”

Both Steven and Dipper let out a shared gasp at this, but even so, they were unable to hold back relieved smiles as they looked to each other. Because for perhaps the first time since last night, it seemed as though there was actually a way to fend Bill off after all, to keep him from tormenting them any further, from plaguing their thoughts and haunting their nightmares. And, after everything they’d been through because of the demon throughout the summer, that alone was enough to fill both boys with more hope than they had known in quite some time.

Even if such hope wasn’t destined to last.

With their unicorn-finding mission clear and their shared resolve burning, Mabel and Connie set out on their intrepid quest, gathering a motley crew consisting of Wendy, Candy, and Grenda to accompany them. And, as Ford had advised, the girls managed to recruit the first Gem they could find to act as something of a chaperone, said Gem just so happening to be Pearl, who had just ventured down to the shack to check on the kids as soon as Connie and Mabel stepped out of it. Without filling the white Gem in on much of their mission, she still decided to join the group, largely out of her lingering worry concerning the upsetting reveals made throughout the previous night. All the same, Pearl was somewhat surprised by just how overtly upbeat the majority of the group was as they ventured into the depths of the forest with only journal 1 and the knowledge contained therein to serve as their guide.

“It’s nice to finally be out on a mission, just us gals!” Mabel quipped as she led the way with a bit of an excited spring in her step.

“Well, a mission that isn’t super likely to put all of our lives in danger, at least,” Connie remarked rather knowingly.

“And exactly what the purpose of this mission again?” Pearl asked, making sure to keep an eye out for any supernatural monster that might possibly assail them. “You girls failed to really give me all of the details before we set out on this so-called ‘magical quest’ of ours.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Grenda asked boisterously. “We’re going to meet, touch, and/or become unicorns!”

“U-Unicorns?!” Pearl gasped, completely appalled as she looked back to Mabel and Connie. “That’s what all this is about? Well, if that’s the case then you girls can count me out of this little venture!”

“What?” Connie asked as the collective group stopped short to look to the white Gem in confusion. “But why?”

“Why?” Pearl repeated incredulously. “Because simply put, unicorns are nuisances. They always have been, ever since we happened upon them decades ago. Even Rose couldn’t stand their self-entitled attitude and honestly I completely agree with her. I can’t even begin to fathom why on Earth any of you girls would actually want to actively go looking for such… infuriating creatures!”

“Because Grunkle Ford said that if we get a whole bunch of their hair then we can use it to make some sorta barrier thing that’ll keep the shack and the temple safe from Bill!” Mabel informed with a sense of pressing urgency.

“Wait, what?!” the white Gem exclaimed, even more stunned to her this. “Y-you mean there’s actually a way to arm ourselves against that… that monster? All this time and we had no idea… This changes everything!”

“So… does that mean you’ll help us find a unicorn?” Connie asked, exchanging a hopeful glance with Mabel.

Pearl hesitated for a beat at this, though inevitably she let out a long, begrudging sigh, knowing that she really had no other choice. “I suppose I will if I really must… Still, I wish there was another way of going about this… Dealing with those infernal unicorns almost isn’t worth the aggravation, even if it will potentially help us ward off Cipher…”

“Um… well, who knows?” Mabel said with a bit of a forced, encouraging smile. “Maybe unicorns aren’t as bad as you remember them being, Pearl. I mean, based on everything I’ve heard about them, they sound like they’re the most magical, sparkly, amazing magical horses out there!”

“I hear that if you lick a unicorn’s neck, it tastes like your favorite flavor in the world!” Candy added enthusiastically.

“Candy, I will make sure you lick that unicorn’s neck, because I care about my friends,” Mabel said with heavy resolve, remembering what Ford had said about unicorns only allotting their hair to the most pure of heart. And as far as Mabel was concerned, she was already that and then some, to the point that the unicorns very likely wouldn’t need any proof of her innate kindness and goodness at all. Or so she thought.

“Honestly, I stopped believing in unicorns when I was like, five years old,” Wendy remarked, casually swinging at low-hanging tree branches with her axe. “I’m just coming along to keep you kids from stepping into a bear trap and to make sure you guys aren’t too disappointed when you find out unicorns aren’t actually real.”

“Oh, they’re real all right,” Pearl countered, her eye twitching out of slight frustration over the thought of merely encountering any sort of unicorn alone. “Real aggravating.”

“Stop!” Mabel suddenly exclaimed as they reached a rather ethereal glade, filled with shimmering, otherworldly flora, ancient stone monuments, and the occasional fairy or sprite floating nearby. “This is the magical part of the forest! Now, let’s see…” The others gathered around her as she flipped through journal 1 before landing on a map of the mystical area they now found themselves in. “The gnome tavern is over there… the fairy nail salon is over there, but it says that to summon the unicorn, one must bellow this ancient chant droned by only the deepest-voiced druids of old.”

“On it!” Grenda proclaimed, grabbing the journal and rushing forward to the center of the glade. And from there, she got right to chanting, her abnormally deep voice carrying across the clearing as she belted the ancient non-melody out while the others stood by watching curiously.

“Ten bucks says nothing happens,” Wendy said, crossing her arms dubiously.

“I’ll take that bet,” Mabel smirked, confident that this chant would work. And work it did as suddenly, the entire glade began to violently shake. In response to Grenda’s deep, summoning chant, a massive stone structure began to rise up from the ground, one that was clearly mystical in nature based on its castle-like appearance and the shimmering golds and lush vinery decorating it.

“Here we go…” Pearl muttered bitterly to herself as the younger girls reacted excitedly, all of them rushing through the large wooden doors and into a place somehow even more dreamlike and enchanted than the magical forest it was situated in. A rainbow-accented waterfall fed a flowing stream that cut through the grassy enclosure, one that was inhabited by a pan flute playing faun and none other than an unquestionably magical unicorn, one that was practically straight out of fairytales and legends of old. Simply put, she was ethereal, lightly shimmering all over, from her pale blue skin to her bright, multicolored mane and tail, to her huge, wide, sparking eyes. She tossed her rainbow mane and let out a mighty neigh as the intruding group entered, almost all of them completely dazzled by her mere appearance alone, much less her actual existence.

“Mother of mothers!” Grenda gasped, amazed.

“Dream of dreams!” Candy exclaimed, just as stunned.

“It can’t be…” Connie whispered, shocked.

“No way,” Wendy scowled, especially as Mabel reached her hand up for the bet she had just won and the ten bucks she now had to fork over.

“Oh of course…” Pearl grumbled upon looking to the familiar unicorn poised before them. “It just had to be her…”

“Hark!” the unicorn proclaimed sharply, apparently communicating through her glowing pink horn. “Visitors to my realm of enchantment!”

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Mabel squealed happily, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “What’s your name?”

“I am Celestabellebethabelle, last of my kind!” the unicorn introduced herself. “Come in, come in. Just… take off your shoes. I have a whole thing about shoes.” The girls were quick to comply, all of them removing their shoes at the gate save for Wendy and Pearl, both of whom were already none too enthused about this encounter in the first place. Even so, Celestabellebethabelle was quick to notice their belligerence and even quicker to call them out on it. “Ah, ah! I’m talking to everyone!” Despite their increased annoyance at this, both the cashier and the white Gem complied, though the unicorn let out something of an angry snort the moment she caught sight of Pearl in particular. “You! Crystal Gem!” she exclaimed hotly, slamming one of her hooves down. “I do believe I was quite clear with your leader many years ago that NONE of your kind are welcome back into my mystical domain! So please, be a dear and… REMOVE YOURSELF FROM MY PRESCENCE AT ONCE!”

“Oh, believe me, I gladly would,” Pearl huffed, crossing her arms as she unapologetically at the unicorn. “After all, the last thing I want is to be in the ‘presence’ of someone as completely gaudy and over the top as yourself, Celestabelle.”

“It is Celestabellebethabelle, and I will thank you kindly to remember it!” the unicorn snapped fiercely, lowering herself as though she planned on charging the white Gem herself, though fortunately, Mabel intervened before any such altercation could take place.

“W-wait!” she exclaimed, rushing to stand between the two before offering Celestabellebethabelle a very saccharine smile. “Heh, you’ll have to forgive Pearl here, she… had a pretty rough night last night.”

“I did not!” Pearl exclaimed defensively. “I’ll have you know that I tried sleeping for the first time last night and even if I still don’t understand the functional purpose of such an activity, I’d like to think that I still did a suitable job at it!”

“Pearl…” Connie whispered, giving the white Gem something of a pleading glance. And, despite her own apt frustrations at the unicorn that was still issuing her a rather harsh look, she begrudgingly backed down, knowing that acting out was doing nothing for their much more important cause.

“A-anyway…” Mabel continued, trying to make up for Pearl’s outburst with a heavy layer of politeness. “Celestabellebethabelle, we have journeyed far and wide-”

“About an hour!” Grenda chimed in.

“-On a mission to protect our family with your magical hair!”

“This is your chance, Candy…” Candy whispered to herself as she snuck to Celestabellebethabelle’s side, her tongue out as she leaned in close. “Lick the neck… lick it…”

“Very well!” the unicorn exclaimed, lifting herself up and her neck out of Candy’s reach. “Despite your rather… poor company,” she paused, briefly sending another cold scowl Pearl’s way. “I shall allow you this opportunity out of the immense goodness of my immaculate soul.”

“Oh please…” Pearl muttered, rolling her eyes at such an exaggerated claim.

“To receive a lock of my enchanted hair, step forth, girl of pure, perfect heart!” Celestabellebethabelle called, her tone as dramatic and bold as ever.

After a round of encouraging smiles and nods from Connie, Candy, and Grenda, Mabel stepped forward with a confident grin, assured that she’d be able to win the unicorn’s favor, even despite the rather rough start of this meeting. “Presenting… bum buh da bum bum ba bum bum! Mabel!”

Celestabellebethabelle seemed to take pause for a moment, as if sizing the girl before her up for a moment before letting out a harsh, appalled gasp. “What? You?!” she asked in what sounded like offended disbelief. “A unicorn can see deep inside your heart, child, and you have done WRONG!” To punctuate her claim, Celestabellebethabelle pointed the tip of her horn directly at Mabel, sparking up a bright, heart-shaped glow on her chest, one that was quick to turn dark and black, much to her alarm. “Wrong, I say!”

“W-what?” Mabel gasped, confused and distraught as she quickly covered her heart from the unicorn’s piercing gaze.

“But how can that be?” Connie interjected, quickly placing a comforting hand on Mabel’s shoulder as she addressed Celestabellebethabelle with apt seriousness. “I’m sorry to sound rude, but Mabel really is one of the kindest, most helpful people you’ll ever meet. Right, guys?”

“Yeah!” Grenda exclaimed in rowdy agreement.

“Absolutely,” Candy said resolutely as Pearl and Wendy also nodded.

“So… maybe your magical, uh… heart-scanning magic was just a bit… I don’t know, off?” Connie finished amicably enough.

“It is most certainly NOT ‘off’!” Celestabellebethabelle scoffed hotly. “A unicorn’s tuition is never wrong! And my intuition can confirm, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that THAT girl’s heart is nowhere near pure enough to obtain the prize of my glorious hair!”

“But-”

“H-hold on a sec, Connie,” Mabel interrupted with a fretful frown. “I… s-she… might have a point… I mean, I do make fun of Dipper a lot… Plus there was that whole… puppet show thing with Bill that was kinda mostly my fault… and I did just shatter a window with a crossbow…”

“Your bad deeds make me cry!” Celestabellebethabelle let out an embellished sob, rainbow tears spilling from her eyes and burning up the grass below on contact.

“Noooo!” Mabel cried, shocked and horrified by the unicorn’s incredibly harsh reaction. A reaction that was only garnished from her own apparently unknown lack of purity all along.

“Alright, that’s quite enough!” Pearl interjected hotly, sending Celestabellebethabelle a vicious glare as she came to stand defensively between her and Mabel. “Don’t think I’m not wise to your little ‘game’, Celestabelle.”

“Again, its Celestabellabethabelle!”

“I don’t care!” the white Gem huffed angrily. “If you think I’m going to let you get away with emotionally devastating a poor innocent child like Mabel, then you’re dead wrong!”

“Oh, well that’s just the thing,” Celestabellebethabelle remarked with a knowing smirk. “I don’t ‘have’ to get away with anything. I’m a unicorn. I do whatever I want! Including kick you out of my enchanted glen like the rabble you are.”

“Oh, I’ll show you ‘rabble’ you self-righteous, pretentious, over-glorified equine snob!” Pearl yelled, more than ready to summon her spear and outright attack if not for Connie and Wendy holding her back.

“Uh, Pearl? I’m with you on this whole thing being pretty screwed up, but you should probably reign it in just a little,” Wendy remarked as they began to lead the still quite hostile white Gem out of the glen.

“Yeah, its not worth it,” Connie agreed. “Well, I mean, it is worth it if it means we can get that hair protect the shack and the temple from Bill, but still we shouldn’t resort to violence to get it unless we absolutely have to.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right, leave with whatever small shred of dignity you have left,” Celestabellebethabelle said, turning her nose up at the rest of the group as they dejectedly left in defeat. “Perhaps try coming back when you’re PURE OF HEART!” At this, the unicorn let out another dramatic neigh, only to pause for a brief beat of silence as the group looked to her once more rather incredulously. “Exit is that way. Oh, and shoes! Shoes! Take your shoes! This isn’t some… some shoe store!”

And with that, the collective group was shut out of the unicorn’s glen, though thankfully it didn’t sink back into the ground, just in case they all decided to actually return again. Even so, that wasn’t something any of them were too keen on after the very cold reception they had just received from Celestabellebethabelle, especially Mabel, who was practically fighting back tears over the rather biting, perhaps accurate, claims the unicorn had made against her.

“Hey, Mabel, don’t let her get to you,” Grenda said as both her and Candy put comforting hands on their distraught friends’ shoulders.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t trust a horse that wears makeup,” Wendy scoffed, rolling her eyes over the unicorns’ uppity mannerisms.

“How dare that haughty horse pull that ‘not pure of heart’ gambit again,” Pearl remarked crossly, sending a cold glare back at the now closed gates of the unicorn’s glen. “I wouldn’t put any stock into anything she said back there, Mabel. After all, she had the gall to tell Rose, of all people, that she wasn’t pure of heart around the turn of the century! True, Rose may have made… a few mistakes in the past, but even so, such a claim is completely ridiculous; I mean, Gems don’t even have hearts in the first place!”

“Uh, I think what Pearl is trying to say, Mabel,” Connie interjected much more rationally. “Is that you shouldn’t worry about what that unicorn said about you. We can always find some other way to protect ourselves from Bill. Probably… Hopefully.”

“No, girls, she’s right,” Mabel said, sucking in a deep, resolved breath. “I used to be one of the sweetest people I knew, but recently I’ve been seriously slacking in the whole goodness department. Well, today, we’re gonna fix it! From this moment forth, I’m gonna do so many good deeds that I’ll have the purest heart in Gravity Falls!” With this dedicated proclamation, she threw a first up into the air with gusto, only for it to squarely strike a low flying bird by mistake, knocking out of the air and clearly injuring it, much to everyone else’s concerned surprise. “…That… that bird is fine.”

Knowing that time was of the essence when it came to halting Bill’s ambitions, Ford wasted none of it in calibrating his mysterious Project Mentum while the boys stood by, both of them curious, hopeful, and anxious as they mutually wondered whether or not this plan of action would truly work at all. Eager to finally be rid of the menace that was the dream demon once and for all, Dipper had volunteered to go first, with Steven patiently sitting next to him while Ford carefully hooked him up to the machine by way of its bulky metal helmet. Things had been rather quiet amongst the three of them in light of the seriousness of their shared endeavor, but when this tentative silence finally was broken, Steven was the one to do so.

“Um, Mr. Ford?” he began somewhat hesitantly as the author turned to the machine itself to finish setting it up. “Are you sure this is gonna work?”

“Yes,” Ford said, completely confident as he glanced over his shoulder. “I built this device specifically with the intent of using it as a defense against Bill quite some time ago. Which is why I have the upmost certainty that it’ll do its part in shielding you boys against his influence.”

Steven and Dipper exchanged another brief, somewhat hopeful glace at this, knowing that the promise of freeing themselves from the lingering nightmares Bill caused them even still seemed almost too good to be true. And yet, even that promise, as wonderful as it sounded, wasn’t quite enough for Dipper. Based on past encounters with the mysterious dream demon, as well as the Gems’ own horrific account given last night, he couldn’t help but still have quite a few questions concerning the looming threat that had been terrorizing them all practically all summer. “So… what exactly is Bill anyway?” he asked, hoping that, with his vast knowledge, Ford might hold at least a few answers to those questions.

“No one knows for sure,” Ford began, handing off a folder to his nephew that was simply entitled the ‘Cipher File’. Both Steven and Dipper glanced over its sparse contents, a few old documents that game only very brief, not very detailed information concerning matters only remotely related to Bill as the author went on. “Accounts differ of his true motivations and origin. What I do know is that he’s older than our galaxy, and far more twisted. His current domain is the Nightmare Realm, an unstable place of untold horrors all crafted by Bill himself. Thankfully though, he’s mostly confined there, for now. Without a physical form, he can only project himself into our thoughts through the mindscape. That’s why he wants this,” Ford held up the rift, being ever careful with its fragile form as the boys both looked to it apprehensively. “I dismantled the portal, but with this tear, Bill still has a way into our reality. To get his hands on this rift, he would trick or possess anyone.”

“Wait, so… he wants that rift too?” Steven asked, unconsciously placing a hand over where his gemstone was.

“Too?” Ford paused, turning to glance at the young Gem at this. “What do you mean ‘too’?”

“Uh… well…” Steven hesitated somewhat, though upon receiving an encouraging nod from Dipper, he decided it was best if he spoke his piece. “Last night, Bill showed up in a dream I had. He tried to get me to give him my gem, but after I told him no, he said that its already his since my mom promised to give it to him. The Gems are pretty sure that Mom never did that, but… I’m still not sure. What do you think, Mr. Ford?”

The author didn’t answer right away, instead looking to the young Gem with an expression of unquestionable alarm upon hearing such a claim. Yet at the same time, his reaction to the news was every bit as vague as it was when he learned that Bill had possessed Dipper, almost as if he was trying to conceal how he really felt about such a revelation. “So you’re the one he-” Ford quickly cut himself off, noticing the curious looks both boys were sending him as he immediately regained his usual scholarly composure. “Hm, yes, well, the fact that Bill is after your gemstone is extremely troubling indeed, Steven. Even so, I agree with the Gems; its highly unlikely that Rose would have agreed to turn over her gemstone to the likes of him, no matter what he might have promised her for it. As for why he might want it though, that’s… unclear. It makes sense that he’d want to get ahold of the rift, but its hard to say what he might want a gemstone—Rose Quartz’s gemstone in particular—for. Unless…”

“Unless… what?” Steven pressed, immensely curious.

Ford jolted at this, quickly shaking his head as if to clear it before offering both boys a somewhat forced reassuring smile. “Oh, i-its nothing, nothing at all,” he remarked with a dismissive wave of his hand. “What matters now is that we do what we can to protect our minds from Bill.”

“So how exactly do we do that?” Dipper asked intently.

“Well, there are a number of ways,” the author said. “I personally had a metal plate installed in my head by an otherworldly, seven-eyed oracle.”

“Heh, good one,” Dipper chuckled in response to such an admittedly outlandish claim. That is, until Ford proved it to be true by knocking against the side of his head, eliciting a strong metallic sound that was more than enough to get his nephew to awkwardly retract his doubt.

“But this machine is much safer,” the author continued, nodding to the several screens behind them. “It will scan your mind, bioelectrically encrypting your thoughts so Bill can’t read them. Now…” Ford paused, only to press the final button to set Project Mentum in motion. “Say hello to your thoughts.”

All at once, the machine sparked to life, its various screens filling in with Dipper’s own thoughts, putting them all on unfettered display for all three of them to see and hear as they cycled through at a seemingly random pace: “Oh man, I can’t believe I’m actually with the author!” “Is my fly down?” “Disco girl! Coming through!” “I miss Tyrone…” “Bill better stay away from Steven if he knows what’s good for him!” “I have to find a way to save Lapis!” “Huh, I might be just a little emotionally unstable… Maybe I should go get some therapy or something?”

“Um, y-you might wanna… ignore that last one…” Dipper said, quite flustered by his thoughts being so openly and unintentionally revealed like that.

“Whoa, that’s so cool!” Steven exclaimed, stars in his eyes. “I wanna see what my thoughts have to say! I mean, I already know what they say since they’re in my head, but I wanna see them laid out on a screen like that!”

“And you will,” Ford interjected. “After Dipper is done. This is a very delicate process that could potentially take hours to complete. Which means all we can do now is be patient and let the machine do its job.”

“Oh, well, uh, maybe in the meantime you could… I dunno, maybe fill us in on what your history with Bill is in the first place?” Dipper ventured, still quite eager to know exactly what the apparently quite significant context for Ford’s impressive knowledge concerning the dream demon actually was.

“Dipper, do you trust me?” Ford asked, his tone quite serious as he knelt down next to his great nephew.

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Then you’ll trust that that’s not important,” the author concluded staunchly, standing as he headed back over to his desk, leaving both Dipper and Steven as much in the dark as they ever were. “Now, focus. Its time to strengthen your mind…”

Determined to prove herself to Celestabellebethabelle, Mabel took to the town, the others following suit to do whatever they could to help her carry out the lengthy list of good deeds she had come up with. Their main objective was clear: to help out as many people as they could in the hopes that no one, not even the unicorn herself, would be able to deny that Mabel was not just more than worthy enough to not just obtain that magical hair, but also that her heart was overflowing with purity and goodness beyond compare.

And so the group set out to do just that, lending their cheerful aid to any troubled soul they could find. They moved snails from the danger of the streets to the safety of the grass and planted a tree right in front of the door to the Gravity Falls’ Gossiper office, unknowingly trapping Toby Determined inside of it. They helped Kiki on her pizza delivery route and fixed up several of the games at Funland Arcade. They gave Stan a literal smile in the form of a giant smiley face sticker slapped onto his face and Mabel even went as far as donating three pints of her own blood to those in need, disregarding her own lightheadedness after the fact. From there, they covered several smaller deeds on the list, like helping old ladies and ducks cross the road, to filling Lazy Susan’s tip jar, to sprucing up the town statues of Nathaniel Northwest and William Dewey with a fresh coat of glitter. Though their altruistic mission took several hours of hard, selfless work on their part, by the time they were finished, they all felt quite satisfied that they had met their goal, particularly Mabel as they began to make their way back to the unicorn’s glade.

“Boom! A thousand good deeds!” she exclaimed happily as she crossed the last item off her list. “When that unicorn scans my heart again, she’s gonna say that I’m absolutely, one hundred percent, bona-fide-”

“NOT pure of heart!” Celestabellebethabelle proclaimed after the group returned to her glen, her insistence on the matter just as harsh and firm as it was before.

“Booyah!” Mabel cheered, though she quickly changed her tune upon realizing exactly what the unicorn had said. “Wait… w-what?”

“How is that even possible?” Wendy asked with an incredulous scoff. “Mabel’s a straight up saint, you judgmental hoofbag!”

“Seriously, she just spent the entire afternoon helping people,” Connie added knowingly. “Doesn’t that mean anything here?”

“Please! Tell me what I’m doing wrong!” Mabel practically begged, distraught that her efforts were apparently all for naught.

“Doing good deeds to make yourself look better isn’t good at all,” Celestabellebethabelle remarked haughtily. “Not to mention you’re crushing like, ten dandelions right now. Those are basically children’s dreams.” Mabel let out a horrified gasp at this, quickly stepping off the small patch of dandelions she was incidentally standing on before the unicorn condescendingly continued. “I’m sorry, Mabel. It’s not my fault you’re a bad person.”

Unable to take the unicorn’s brutally harsh criticisms any longer, Mabel ran off, not even trying to hold back a heartbroken sob amidst this second, much more painful rejection. As appalled by Celestabellebethabelle’s rather cruel attitude as they were, most of the others didn’t stick around to chastise her on it as they all hurried out of the glen to make sure she was alright. All except for Pearl, who decided to hang back solely for the sake of giving the unicorn a few choice words in light of the completely shameful display she had just witnessed.

“You may have those girls fooled, but you’re not fooling me,” the white Gem said, her voice almost a vicious hiss as she glared at the unicorn unflinchingly. “I know what you’re trying to do here. You did the exact same thing to Rose Quartz about 100 years ago so if you think I’m going to stand by and let you tear someone else down like that, especially someone like Mabel, then you’ve got another thing coming!”

“Oh really?” Celestabellebethabelle deadpanned, clearly not taking the white Gem seriously. “And what exactly might that ‘thing’ be?”

“Trying to act like you’re some grand authority on the contents of a person’s character!” Pearl exclaimed hotly. “I don’t know who made you had the right to judge others like you do, but whoever they were, they probably knew as little about actually being good and kind as you do.”

“As if you really know any better?” Celestabellebethabelle scoffed crossly. “The last time you were here a century ago, the only thing I saw you do was helplessly cling to your precious Rose Quartz as if she was paradigm of perfection. But even still, all these years later, I still stand what I said. She’s not pure of heart and neither are YOU!”

Pearl simply let out a harsh scoff at this, not even bothering to dignify the unicorn with a response to this as she simply turned on her heel to leave, though not before giving one final, bitter remark as she departed. “I don’t need some sanctimonious unicorn to tell me that,” she huffed, her anger dissipating into remorse as she completely turned away, recalling a certain recent mistake of hers that had all but proved her impurities through and through. “After all…” she muttered to herself somewhat sadly. “I already know…”

However, the white Gem’s self-pity didn’t last too long as she left the unicorn’s glen, only to find the girls all gathered around Mabel, who was lying close to the nearby stream, curled up into a miserable ball as she wept quietly, even despite the comfort the others were trying to offer her.

“Come on, Mabel,” Wendy encouraged earnesty. “Don’t beat yourself up about this.”

“Let’s just forget about that dumb hair and go home,” Candy advised, though Mabel was having none of that.

“It’s not just about the hair anymore, guys,” she sniffled as she sat upright and held her list of failed good deeds close. “It’s about me. Being kind and sweet is what makes me who I am. If I’m not a good person, then who am I?”

“Well, I know who you are,” Connie interjected, placing a steadying hand on Mabel’s shoulder. “You’re Mabel; you’re fun and creative and most of all, kind, no matter what that unicorn says. And you don’t have to prove that to anyone, especially not her; because as far as we’re all concerned, that was something we all knew from the very start.”

Upon hearing this, Mabel briefly looked up at Connie, her cheeks still wet with tears as she met the warm smile her friend was offering her. And for a moment, her encouraging, hopeful words almost managed to convince her that it was true, that she was a good person, despite Celestabellebethabelle’s claims. And yet… it still wasn’t quite enough. “I-I appreciate it, Connie, but… she’s right…” Mabel sighed sadly as she pulled her shoulder away. “Its time I finally admit it to myself; I’m just not as pure of heart as I used to think I was… Which is why I’m not leaving this spot until I think of a deed that makes me as good as Celestabellebethabelle!”

“But Mabel-” Grenda attempted to reason before she was promptly cut off.

“Just leave me be!” Mabel snapped in morose frustration, turning her back to the group as she began pondering over her list once more. The other girls were largely at a loss over what to do to comfort her at this juncture, but even so, they didn’t get much of a chance as Pearl discreetly called them all over to her spot under a nearby tree.

“Alright, enough is enough,” the white Gem began as soon as they had all gathered near her. “It’s time to put an end to this unicorn nonsense once and for all. And the sooner we do it, the better, especially for Mabel’s sake…” Pearl frowned as she stole a sympathetic glance at the miserable girl sitting only a few feet away, desperate to find a way to make herself worthy in the eyes of a creature who clearly didn’t deserve that kind of valiant effort.

“I’m with Pearl on this one,” Wendy staunchly agreed with a deepening scowl. “If you ask me, this whole thing is a serious load. Mabel’s like one of the best people I’ve ever met. We tried getting that hair the nice way; now its time we try the Wendy way.”

“Are you suggesting violence? Sabotage?” Grenda asked, caught off guard.

“Oooo… you know, normally I’m not the kind to approve of such roguish behavior but… in this instance… that sounds… quite intriguing…” Pearl remarked, sending a daring smirk towards the nearby unicorn’s glen.

“Honestly, at this point? I’m up for trying something like that too,” Connie said, crossing her arms. “Its about time someone puts that awful unicorn in her place, so it might as well be us.”

“But what about Mabel?” Candy asked worriedly. “She’s not going to like this…”

“Mabel doesn’t need to know,” Wendy shook her head dismissively. “Look, its time we stopped trying to be so ‘perfect’ and be who we really are. We’re crazed, angry, sweaty animals—well, except for you, Pearl, I guess. No offense.”

“None taken,” Pearl said, nodding for her to go on with her inspiring rand.

“But anyway, we’re not unicorns, we’re WOMEN! And we take what we want!” To punctuate her point, Wendy slammed her fist into the nearby tree, eliciting excited cheers from Connie, Candy, and Grenda alike as well as a satisfied grin from Pearl.

In fact, the newfound revelry was so contagious that Grenda ended up smashing a rather large rock to bits against her forehead, instantly quieting the cheers as the others all looked to her, aptly startled. “…Too much?”

“Ok,” Wendy said as the group huddled in to begin their ambitious, albeit morally ambiguous plan. “Here’s what we’re gonna do…”

Gnasty’s Gnome Tavern was by and large the most popular gnome tavern anywhere near Gravity Falls, largely since it was just about the only gnome tavern in the surrounding area. Its usual patrons were a notoriously rowdy bunch who spent their days knocking back honeysuckle shots and exchanging the regular brutal punch or kick to the face to anyone in the remote vicinity. Yet despite their renowned roughhousing, none of the gnomes occupying the tavern were quite prepared for the much larger group that rather violently burst into the bar completely out of nowhere.

“It’s the cops!” one of the gnomes cried as the tavern was immediately thrown into a panic as the group of girls forcefully pushed themselves into the hallowed-out tree. “Hit the deck!”

“We’re looking for someone who knows how to take down a unicorn!” Wendy shouted fiercely amidst the clatter of scattering gnomes. “No tricks or games!”

“We are human!” Candy yelled, breaking an empty bottle over a nearby table and holding its sharpened end up threateningly. “We take what we want!”

“I know a sure-fire way of K.Oin’ a unicorn,” a rather shady, grizzled gnome sitting in the darkened corner of the tavern spoke up. “Too bad I ain’t in the market for spillin’ that kinda info to a bunch of normal-sized girlies like yourselves.”

“Oh, I think you will,” Connie said coldly, drawing Rose’s sword and aiming its sharp tip directly at the gnome.

“Heh,” he chuckled, surprisingly not surprised by this overt threat. “I like the way you ladies operate. So, listen up. Fairy dust; a whole magic bag’s enough to put a unicorn out cold. But if I do you a favor, then you gotta do somethin’ for me.”

“Just spill it, half-pint!” Grenda roared, slamming her fist against a nearby tree stump.

“Now, now, patience,” Pearl advised much more calmly as she looked back to the gnome with solid seriousness. “Name your price.”

“Butterfly traffickin’ is illegal in this part of the forest,” the gnome began, his voice low and discreet. “But I like butterflies. They tickle my face and make me laugh. Bring me a bag of butterflies and we got a deal.”

The girls all exchanged a dubious glance at this, most of them rather bewildered by how the odd rules and regulations of gnome culture. Even so, they were quick to nod their agreement to this plan, knowing that this haggle would be more than worth it to make Celestabellebethabelle pay for what she had done.

Fortunately, it didn’t take the group but a few minutes to capture a whole bag full of butterflies before meeting up with the gnome in the designated clearing. The others all hid out in the nearby bushes as they sent Grenda in to preform the trade, her manner just as unsuspecting as the gnomes as she quietly handed him off the bag of butterflies before he produced his end of the bargain.

“Two bags of fairy dust, just as we agreed,” he said, turning over two small pouches of the glittering substance.

“Where do you get this stuff?” Grenda shook her head, glancing between the dust and the gnome.

“Everyone likes sausage, but no one likes to know how it’s made,” the gnome smirked as he peeked into his bag of butterflies.

“You disgust me.”

“Hey, you got your poison; I got mine. We made a deal.”

“Yeah, well, the deal’s OFF!” Grenda shouted, blowing a whistle to summon an entire squadron of gnome policemen from the nearby woods. The arrangement with the cops had been an easy enough one to make, one that resulted in a meticulously planned-out sting operation that was already unfolding exactly as planned.

“Freeze!” the chief shouted as the first gnome was heavily pinned down by the other cops, his butterflies quickly swiped away from him. “You’re under arrest!”

“These butterflies aren’t mine! I swear I’ve been framed!” the gnome cried, sending a harsh glare to Grenda and the other girls as they came out of the bushes to join her.

“Tell it to the adorable owl we’ve dressed as a judge,” the chief scoffed as the gnome as hauled away for sentencing. “My cut?” he held his hand out to Grenda a beat later, and she handed him one of the two bags of fairy dust, just as they had agreed upon.

“Has the gnome criminal justice system always been this corrupt?” Connie asked with a somewhat concerned frown over these shady proceedings.

“Oh believe me, they have,” Pearl remarked, crossing her arms knowingly.

With the butterfly bust complete and a full bag of fairy dust still in hand, the group wasted no time in hurrying back over the unicorn’s glen, taking care to not let Mabel spot them as she remained at her spot near the stream, still trying in vain to come up with more good deeds to accomplish. With Celestabellebethabelle distracted with reading as she was, she didn’t even notice as they all slipped into her magical domain, filing in behind a row of rocks and trees so they wouldn’t be seen as they prepared to carry the final steps of their daring plan out.

“Oh, sure, I wish I could travel, but its just not feasible in this economy!” Celestabellebethabelle huffed to herself as she read through her copy of Whinny, Prey, Trot. However, it was only a moment later that the unicorn was struck squarely in the face with the full bag full of fairy dust as a result of Candy’s accurate aim. “W-what the hey-!?” was all she really had time to say before the magical substance did its trick, knocking her out cold. Her attending faun witnessed all of this with apt horror, but as he tried piping out an SOS on his panflute, Grenda was quick to slip out of the shadows and cover his mouth with a towel dosed with a healthy amount of chloroform.

“Sleep now!” she hissed as the faun slowly went limp and unconscious as well. “Sleeeeeep…”

“Alright,” Pearl said as the others hurried over to the fainted unicorn. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Right,” Wendy nodded, pulling out a pair of scissors and a sizable lock of Celestabellebethabelle’s multi-colored hair. And yet, before she could make the decisive cut, their plans all too quickly fell through when they were unexpectedly discovered by the very person they had been trying to keep their ambitions a secret from in the first place.

“No, wait!” Mabel gasped, standing in the entrance of the glen only to see the others about to outright steal some of the unicorn’s precious hair. “Stop! What are you guys doing?!”

“What does it look like we’re doing?” Pearl asked in a careful whisper, glancing over at the still unconscious Celestabellebethabelle. “We’re taking what we deserve, whether that uppity unicorn likes it or not!”

“Yeah, seriously, Mabel, keep it down!” Wendy cautioned, moving her scissors in to clip the hair. “You’ll wake her up!”

“But this is wrong, you guys!” Mabel exclaimed, swiftly taking the scissors away from the cashier.

“But protecting the shack and the temple is good,” Wendy rationalized, trying to take the scissors back. However, before she could, the unthinkable happened as Celestabellebethabelle suddenly began to stir from her momentary slumber only to spot Mabel and the scissors she was unintentionally gripping the very moment she opened her eyes.

“What?!” the unicorn gasped, quickly rising to her feet. “Doth mine eyes deceive me?! THIEF! You shall never be pure of heart!”

“N-no!” Mabel cried, instantly dropping the scissors as she looked to Celestabellebethabelle pleadingly. “Y-you don’t understand! I-I wasn’t… it was… P-please!” she ended up begging, tears falling from her eyes as she made one final, desperate plea to the outraged unicorn, even though she knew it likely wouldn’t help her now. “I-I just wanna be good like you!”

Celestabellebethabelle was more than prepared to fire off a harsh retort at this, however, right as she was about to, this intense confrontation was suddenly interrupted by a very unlikely pair. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” a male voice said, coming from one of the two unicorns that had just emerged from the other side of the glen, one red, one blue, and neither of them looking that amused with Celestabellebethabelle in light of what they’d just witnessed. “Yo, C-Beth, are you seriously pulling that whole ‘pure of heart’ scam again?”

“That is messed up, man,” the other unicorn added, shaking his mane disapprovingly.

“Wait… scam?” Mabel asked, exchanging a confused glance with the others.          

“Listen, kid,” the blue unicorn began rather dryly. “Unicorns can’t see into your heart. All our dumb horns can do is glow, point towards the nearest rainbow, and play rave music.” To prove his point, his horn began to somehow play a bout of upbeat techno music, which he could easily switch off at ease.

“Yeah, the whole ‘pure of heart’ racket is just a line we use to get humans to leave us alone,” the red unicorn said with a knowing scoff.

“Guuuuuys…” Celestabellebethabelle whispered nervously as her entire scheme began to fall apart. “Shut uuuuuup…”

“Wait, so… it was a lie all this time…?” Pearl spoke up before breaking out into a bout of triumphant, albeit somewhat unhinged laughter. “Ha! I knew it! I knew she was a fraud! All these years and I was right! It really was just a cruel trick to tear others down all along! Oh, if only Rose was still around to hear this, I bet she’d feel just as vindicated as I do right now!”

However, despite the white Gem’s zealous excitement, not everyone was as elated to hear the truth of the unicorn’s malicious gambit. “All this time…” Mabel began, her voice low and practically shaking with rage as she crushed her list of good deeds in her hands altogether. “All this time I thought I was a bad person, but you’re even worse than I am!” Her anger reached its mounting height as she threw her notepad down hard, her hands in tight fists as she glared at Celestabellebethabelle, refusing to let the deceptive unicorn be the judge of her any longer.

“Ok, fine,” Celestabellebethabelle huffed haughtily, knowing she’d been caught. “So you learned our secret. We’re jerks, ok? We have more hair than we know what to do with, and we keep it to ourselves just to tick humans off. So, what are you gonna do about it, huh? Huh? What are you gonna do-”

The unicorn was abruptly cut off the moment one of Mabel’s fists made brutal contact with the side of her jaw, instantly drawing some of her sparkling, rainbow-colored blood. Just about everyone gasped in shock in light of this sudden attack, and even Mabel herself was stunned by it as she looked to her own blood-covered hand, one that quickly turned back into a fist as she sent Celestabellebethabelle another hateful glare.

“Woo! Go Mabel!” Wendy cheered, already pulling her axe out of its hoister to join in on the fight.

“Join the dark side!” Grenda yelled, grabbing a nearby log to use as her weapon.

Mabel did just that as she fiercely tore the unicorn stitched onto her sweater off, making it quite clear that her former admiration and respect for the hypocritical mythical creatures was all but completely shattered right then and there. This sentiment of righteous fury carried throughout the rest of the group as well, with Wendy, Candy, and Grenda cheering for the no doubt oncoming fight as Connie swiftly drew her sword and Pearl even went as far as summoning her spear.

“You know, I usually don’t believing in physically harming any of the magical creatures of Gravity Falls,” the white Gem began as her expression slowly changed into a vengeful smirk. “But in this case, I’m more than willing to make an exception.”

“Oh, so it’s a fight you want, huh?” Celestabellebethabelle growled, digging her hoof into the soil below her as her fellow unicorns prepared themselves for the inevitable brawl. “Well, then it’s a fight you’re gonna get!”

Without any further hesitation from anyone, both sides rushed each other, meeting in a violent clash that quickly devolved into boundless chaos. Mabel was initially kicked back clean in the face by one of the unicorn’s hard-hitting hooves, though Connie was quick to swoop in for retribution, slamming the dull edge of Rose’s sword against his head in a decisive move. Grenda had landed one of the other unicorns in a headlock, repeatedly punching it in the face as Candy jumped onto his back and pulled on his hair as he let a heavy neigh of protest. Wendy was the first to get the jump on Celestabellebethabelle herself, only to be nearly trampled underfoot as she reared up high. Even so, she quickly fell back to the ground as Pearl landed a swift, elegant kick to her gut, one that was followed up by Mabel coming in for another punch to her snout. As intense and wild as this scuffle was, none of the girls could really deny that it was cathartic as could be; with each blow or beating they inflicted upon the deceitful unicorns, it felt as though there weren’t just taking out their anger in some much-needed revenge. It felt as though they were righting a grave wrong, breaking out of molds that they saw no reason to belong in any longer, and rising above unattainable standards that never truly existed in the first place. And most of all, they were proving, not just to Celestabellebethabelle, but to themselves, that the content of their characters was no one’s call but their own.

A feat that in and of itself would have been rewarding enough; though socking a sickeningly snobbish unicorn clean in the jaw only made that reward all the better.

As Ford had said, Project Mentum’s mental encryption process worked at an incredibly slow pace, something that Dipper and Steven realized more and more every time they stole a glance back at the screens behind them, which, even several hours later, still only showed its minimal progress at a mere 15%. In fact, it was taking so long that Ford had ended up falling asleep amidst pouring over his notes, leaving the boys to keeping themselves entertained during what was certainly a very lengthy, very boring endeavor.

“Ok, its my turn,” Steven grinned as he carried on the rather one-sided game of ‘I spy’ they had playing. “I spy with my little eye something… blue!”

“My vest,” Dipper answered immediately, clearly far from invested, especially when compared to the young Gem.

“Oh yeah, you got it!” Steven cheered brightly. “Then again, that one wasn’t that tough since there aren’t a lot of blue things in here.” The young Gem chuckled lightly at this, though his humor died down somewhat as he glanced over to far less enthusiastic friend beside him. “Um… Dipper? Are you ok?”

“Huh?” Dipper sat up a little at this, glancing over to Steven briefly. “Oh yeah, I’m fine, its just… we’ve been at this for hours now and it really doesn’t seem like anything’s actually happening.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, how do we really even know that this thing is actually gonna keep Bill from messing with us anymore?”

“Well, Mr. Ford said-”

“I know what Ford said,” Dipper sighed in growing frustration, especially as he glanced over at his sleeping great uncle a few feet away. “But how does he know? Why does he have to be so mysterious about Bill anyway? The Gems told us what they know about him, so why won’t Great Uncle Ford? He knows we’ve dealt with Bill before, which means whatever he’s keeping from us, I can handle it! I-I mean, we can handle it.”

“Maybe… he’s just not ready to tell us about it yet?” Steven suggested, largely respecting the author’s call on this. After all, given just how brutal and horrific the Gems’ past was with Bill, it only made sense that if Ford’s previous encounters with the dream demon were anything of the sort, that he’d be hesitant to discuss them. Dipper, on the other hand, was not so easily allayed.

“Hm… or maybe…” he trailed off, his sights still set on the author as his thoughts, made audible by the machine he was still connected to, filled in for him. “Maybe you should just use the machine! It’ll show us his thoughts!”

“H-huh?” Steven glanced behind him, somewhat alarmed to see and hear Dipper’s thoughts once more, especially as Dipper himself hardly seemed to pay them any mind. “Dipper, I… don’t know if using the machine on Mr. Ford is such a good idea…”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, we really shouldn’t…” Dipper said in apparent agreement, though his thoughts clearly said otherwise. “Great Uncle Ford won’t have to know. He’s going to tell you anyway.”

“Y-yeah, I’m sure he will!” Steven interjected anxiously. “Which is why we should probably just respect his privacy and let him tell us when he’s ready! R-right?”

“Right, right,” Dipper nodded, closing his eyes pensively as his thoughts continuing unveiling the truth. “No, not right! The more you know about Bill, the safer you’ll be! The more you can help!” “But then again… it could show us something really useful. You never know.”

“W-well, I do know that I think this is a bad idea,” the young Gem shook his head, his dread growing more and more by the second in light of his friend’s rather concerning thoughts, especially as they began to take on something of a more frustrated tone.

“Easy for Steven to say, he wasn’t the one who Bill tricked and possessed and nearly killed like YOU were!” Dipper’s expression darkened at this recollection, something that made Steven’s heart and stomach both sink in worry and fear alike. And those feelings only spiked as Dipper slowly removed the helmet, his stream of consciousness finally going silent as he kept his resolved sights on Ford and nothing else. “I’m sorry, Steven,” he said, his voice almost unnervingly quiet as he rose to stand. “But I have to know.”

“B-but-”

“It’ll be just a quick peek, I promise,” Dipper assured, casting a brief final glance back at Steven before carefully and quietly putting the helmet on his still-sleeping uncle. “What are you hiding about Bill…?”

The moment that Dipper finished securing the helmet onto Ford was the moment he got his answer. And that answer was much more horrifying than anything either him or Steven could have expected. For as soon as the device began to read the author’s thoughts, none other than the menacing image of Bill Cipher himself appeared on all of Project Mentum’s many screens, floating amidst a background of his iconic, sinister blue flames and cackling like the madman he was absolutely known to be. Unified gasps of equal fear rose up from both of the boys as Steven shot out of his seat, rushing to Dipper’s side as they watched with wide eyes and racing hearts as Ford’s slumbering thoughts told a story that neither of them ever thought they’d see.

“Where are these ideas coming from?!” A much younger McGucket yelled to a younger Ford, harshly shaking his shoulders as he gave him a look of complete and utter distrust. “Who are you workin’ with?!”

“Stanford, you HAVE to tell me what’s going on!” Another screen switched to Rose, her expression rife with worry as she spoke to the author just as urgently. “Who is ‘he’? Why won’t you let me help you instead?!”

“Because I don’t NEED you as long as I have him!” Ford shouted back, quite furious with the pink Gem for whatever reason.

The other screens were just as active as they flashed with an array of alarming images. Ford restlessly tossing and turning in his sleep, lost in an apparent torrent of unseen nightmares. Him writing “I’M LOSING MY MIND!” and “TRUST NO ONE!” into journal 3 in frantic, erratic script. The portal, sparking to life as nothing but sheer darkness and devastation lay beyond its otherworldly light. And throughout all this, several different voices joined in, weaving into this disjointed, frightening narrative each in their own unique, disconcerting way.

“My brother is a dangerous know-it-all…” Stan warned, though Ford himself soon cut him off with a warning of his own.

“He would trick or possess anyone-” the author had said and Steven and Dipper hadn’t doubted him. And yet the next scene they saw was more than enough to make them both doubt everything Ford had every said to them.

“Then it’s a deal,” Ford smiled, young and clearly confident as he held his hand out in offering. “From now until the end of time.”

Bill’s eye flashed with some unknown intent as he also extended a hand, one that was aglow with blue flames as he spoke with faux amicability. “Sure thing! Just let me into your mind, Stanford!”

“Please,” the author’s smile widened, completely oblivious to the danger the dream demon posed as their hands met in a solidifying shake over their ‘deal’. “Call me… a friend.”

The very next thing the boys saw was the result of this deal, Ford himself possessed by Bill, his eyes dark slits against piercing yellow and his voice mingling with the demon’s as they both cackled wickedly together in perfect, awful unison.

While Steven was largely stunned into silence by all this, Dipper only managed to get a few words out himself, even despite his own immense panic as the demon’s telltale maniacal laughter rang in his ears just as much as it had when he had been pulled out of his own body weeks ago. “N-no…” he choked, his voice barely a whisper as he shook his head in disbelief, hoping and practically praying it wasn’t true. “No, i-it… it can’t be… Ford a-and… and Bill?!”

Another sharp gasp rose from both boys as a sudden clamor rose from behind them, and as tense as they already were, they quickly spun around only to find that Ford himself had finally woken up at the very worst possible time. “You shouldn’t have done that…” the author said, his voice low and dark as he slowly stood. By his expression alone it was clear he as tranquilly furious, even though his eyes were obscured by the screens’ bright reflection off his glasses, which only served to make him even more admittedly intimidating as he towered over both of the terrified boys. Even still, Ford hardly seemed to note their obvious fear as he roughly took the helmet off and tossed it aside in his anger. The helmet just so happened to strike one of the many sheets covering the walls as it landed, easily pulling them down to reveal something that only made the boys’ palpable horror skyrocket exponentially.

Hidden behind both layers of curtains and secrets was what could only be defined as an all-out shrine to Bill Cipher. Several statutes prisms and statues of the demon were tucked away into the shadows, almost like twisted idols paying homage and reverence to someone who both Dipper and Steven knew to be an absolute monster worthy of no such honor. But worst of all, the walls were covered in detailed murals depicting Bill’s triangular over and over again, all of his painted eyes seeming to stare down at the frightened boys below them.

“W-what is all this?!” Steven asked, his entire body trembling as he forced himself to look away from the depiction of the demon who had haunted his dreams just a few hours prior.

“W-why… why were you shaking hands with Bill?!” Dipper exclaimed, quickly turning back around to face Ford, quickly glancing around for some means of defending himself and Steven, just in case. Fortunately, the Sword of Seasons was sitting on a table close by, largely since Ford had been tinkering with the invention a bit earlier, and even though the thought of drawing that blade against his own uncle made him sick, Dipper grabbed it nonetheless, as well as the memory erasing gun lying right next to it. “Steven! Grab the rift!”

Steven sucked in a sharp breath at this but he didn’t argue, quickly grabbing the rift off the table next to them, though amidst his rush to summon a bubble to further protect them, he nearly dropped the precious tear altogether.

“Careful!” Ford scolded harshly, his glasses still reflecting gold as he reached out to grab the rift, though he couldn’t get too close thanks to the bubble now surrounding the pair as they began to carefully back away. “Hand me the rift! Now, boys!”

“N-no!” Dipper retorted, trying to sound as brave as he could amidst his mounting fear. “You said Bill could possess anyone so he could get this, but—but you made a deal with him! How do we know you aren’t Bill right now!?”

“Now, just calm down, p-”

“Pine Tree?!” Dipper instantly cut Ford off, finally aiming the memory gun at him as opposed to his sword as memories of constant sleeps plagued with endless nightmares where Bill taunted and teased him with that very nickname flashed through his mind. “Is that what you were going to call me?!”

“I was just going to say please, kid!” Ford rationalized, but even so, his tone was still harsh and cold. By now, the boys had essentially backed themselves up into a corner, leaving them trapped with only Steven’s bubble serving as their only real defense against what could very well be Bill Cipher.

“Great Uncle Ford told me to protect the rift!” Dipper shouted, glancing over to make sure that Steven was still holding it close and tight. “And I’m not about to let you get your hands on it or on Steven’s gem! Get one step closer and I’ll shoot!” He aimed the memory gun up a bit higher at this, with the full intent to fire it off even despite knowing full well what its effects could be. “I’ll erase you right out of Ford’s head!”

“It’s me, Dipper!” Ford yelled hotly, his severity hardly calming either of the boys down whatsoever. “It’s your uncle!”

For the briefest moment, Dipper hesitated at this, his hands shaking as he tried, so very hard to believe that it really was just Ford, that Bill wasn’t using him as his own twisted puppet just as he had been weeks ago. And yet, he knew he couldn’t; because doing so could very well put himself, Steven, and even reality itself at risk. And that was a risk he wasn’t about to take when it came to Bill. Not again, not ever again.

“Steven, drop the bubble,” he said starkly, his tone every bit as shaky as his arms were.

“W-what?” Steven’s longstanding fearful silence finally broke at this, his eyes wide as he clung onto the rift and looked to his friend in disbelief.

“I said, drop it,” Dipper repeated, still not tearing his hardened gaze off of Ford, especially as the author threw his hand down onto the bubble’s pink surface out of anger.

“B-but that’s-”

“I know.”

“But if you shoot him, t-then his memories will-”

“I know, Steven!” Dipper shouted back fiercely, finally looking to the young Gem and allowing him to see just how much panic, rage, and sorrow were all mingled into his expression all at once. “Just drop it already!”

At this final, harsh command, Steven found he could no longer argue as he instead pulled the rift even closer to his chest, closing his eyes tightly as he slowly let the bubble disappear, leaving nothing between them and Ford. Nothing that is, safe for the memory gun that was brightly sparking with its erasing light in Dipper’s hands.

“T-trust no one…” he muttered to himself, tears starting to well up in his eyes as he prepared to squeeze the trigger. The author’s own mantra rung true, certainly in a moment like this, when even the person who wrote it himself couldn’t be trusted. And while Dipper had failed before in upholding it, he knew that he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, not when so very many things that mattered so much to him were at stake. “Trust no one! Trust-”

“Hand it to me!” Ford demanded, and it was at that moment that Dipper knew he had no choice. On a beat of sheer terror and impulse alone, he squeezed the trigger, the bright beam firing off directly at the author as both boys were knocked back by it. Miraculously, the ray struck Ford clean on his glasses, which reflected it perfectly and sent it bounding across nearly every surface in the entire room. Steven was quick to protect himself and Dipper from it by way of his shield, though as soon as the beam struck it, it ricocheted upwards towards the many screens of Project Mentum, where it finally met its end by breaking every single one of them in the process.

And yet, this brief bout of chaos only gave way to another one. Both Steven and Dipper were quick to act on sheer panic, knowing that Bill could very well still be in control of Ford and out to get them both. Dipper quickly dropped the memory gun and took up the Sword of Seasons instead, yet before he could do anything with it, Ford suddenly grabbed him by the back of his vest, easily hoisting him up into the air. He nearly latched onto Steven’s arm as well, though the young Gem had the wits about him to pull away just in time and run, taking the rift with him. That is, until he heard Dipper’s fearful struggle against the author holding him.

“L-let go of me!” he cried, weakly swinging his sword about in moves that showed no signs of hitting Ford, as far out as he was holding him.

“Dipper!” Steven gasped, stopping dead in his tracks as he hurriedly set the rift aside and ran back towards the action. “W-wait! Stop!” The young Gem cried, completely panic stricken as both the events of a particular puppet show as well as his own haunting dreams the previous night came rushing back to him in an oppressive torrent. “I-I’ll give you my gem! Just please, don’t hurt him again!”

Both Ford and Dipper froze at this, surprised gasps escaping both of them as they looked to Steven with what seemed to be horrified shock. And yet, for as shaken as he was, Dipper used this brief distraction to his advantage, finally landing a blow on the author’s arm with the very tip of his sword. It wasn’t too large or deep of a cut, but it did cut through his coat and sweater and break the skin just enough to catch Ford off guard and force him to drop his nephew entirely. Steven quickly rushed over to him, summoning his shield and tightly grabbing Dipper’s free hand as the two of them stood together, more than ready to defend themselves against the demon who had caused them both so much pain and devastation.

Or, at least they would have been if Bill was actually present there at all.

“N-now, now, just calm down,” Ford advised, his tone much softer as he adjusted his glasses, finally allowing the boys to past the reflective glare. “Look into my eyes, both of you. It’s me, not Bill, I promise you.”

Upon seeing the lack of telltale signs of Bill’s possession, Steven and Dipper both finally let out the heavy breaths they had been holding in, yet even so, they hardly relaxed. Dipper in particular quickly picked up another round of hyperventilating, especially as he caught sight of the bleeding wound torn across Ford’s arm. A wound that he had inflicted.

“I-I… I tried to erase your memory…” he began, quickly dropping the Sword of Seasons as he pulled his hand out of Steven’s. “A-and then I hurt you! I hurt you with the same sword you made for me!”

“Dipper, it’s just a scratch, it’s fine,” Ford tried to reassure as he covered the relatively harmless injury, though his nephew was having none of that amidst his massive wave of guilt and anguish.

“No, its not fine!” he practically shouted, his tears quickly starting to return as he pressed his hands to his head in remnant terror. “I messed up so badly! I used the machine on you without even asking you about it because I couldn’t just wait for you to tell us the truth about you and Bill for yourself! And then I just had to go and make it even worse just by being dumb enough to believe you were possessed by him!”

“Dipper-” Ford attempted to interject once more, only to be drowned out by the boy’s ongoing hysteria.

“W-what was I even thinking?!” Dipper yelled, his hand now pressed tightly against his chest as his breathing grew even more short and frantic. “How could I be so stupid?! Every time I try to convince myself that I actually stand a chance against Bill, I only end up doing is ruining everything and it just keeps happing no matter how many times I try to fix it! B-but… but there just isn’t any way to fix this… There’s no way to fix me…”

Dipper had just about broken down into a remorseful, painful sob, yet before he could fall apart again, Steven quickly rushed in to help hold him together. He stilled, letting out an almost inaudible gasp as the young Gem suddenly hugged him from behind, wrapping his arms tightly yet securely around him in a steadying, comforting embrace. “You don’t need to be fixed,” Steven assured, his voice a gentle, warming whisper as tears started to well up in his own eyes. “You don’t need to fixed because you aren’t broken. You’re gonna be ok someday. We’ll be ok. I promise.”

As overwhelmed by his own many mingling emotions as he was, Dipper didn’t offer too much of a response to this reassurance outside of the small, somewhat weak sob he had been holding back. All the same, he did slowly reach up to place his hands over Steven’s, more than grateful for his support and solidarity in a moment such as this. While he wasn’t entirely certain that he’d actually ever truly be ok as Steven had said, what Dipper did want to believe that he did at the very least have a chance at someday moving past all of this lingering fear and dread. And, with someone like the young Gem standing beside him to keep him standing hopeful and strong, that was a belief that he didn’t have too many difficulties holding onto.

Ford let out a long, remorseful sigh as he watched the boys’ embrace slowly break apart, but even so, he largely averted eye contact with either of them, even as he hesitantly spoke up. “Dipper, Steven,” he began rather pensively, clear shame leaking into his tone as he continued gripping his injured arm. “I… deeply appologize for what just happened. I never intended to frighten either of you. But, I can say that if I really had been possessed by Bill, then you both would have done great, especially you, Dipper. I only wish I had been more like you when I was younger…”

Of course, given everything that had just happened, Dipper was quite surprised to hear such praise coming from the author himself. But Ford’s proud smile and comforting hand on his shoulder was indeed finally enough to put an end to his already fading panic attack once and for all as it gave him the realization that, perhaps this time, he hadn’t really made as momentous of a mistake as he at thought. “T-thank you…” he said quietly, somehow smiling in spite of it all.

Ford returned his nephew’s smile briefly, though all too soon it vanished into a look of shame as he glanced up at the countless images of Bill on the walls surrounding them. “I was a fool to hide all this…” he said, a hint of bitterness in his tone as he shook his head. “The reason why I’ve been trying to prepare you boys for Bill’s tricks is because Bill tricked me. It’s the biggest regret of my life. Bill wasn’t always my enemy, you know. In fact, I used to think he was my friend…”

1981

For six years, Ford’s ongoing research of Gravity Falls and its incredible anomalies had been going strong and steady. With the invaluable help of the Crystal Gems, he had unearthed discoveries that would certainly boggle the mind and ensure him a coveted spot in the scientific community once he one day published his findings. Yet even despite this success, the young researcher still craved to know more; he wanted to know exactly why Gravity Falls was such a hotbed for strangeness, where did all of its bizarre creatures and landmarks originate from, how did such unbelievable things even exist in their world at all?

And yet, for all his wondering and all his theorizing, these were questions that Ford never seemed to find the answers to on his own.

Even despite the Gems’ vast knowledge on the oddities of Gravity Falls, they themselves were plagued by the same questions of their origins as well. Which was why, when the collective group had dedicated themselves to uncovering those answers, they all too quickly hit a stark and heavy roadblock in their research. Weeks of intensive thought and pointless leads had gotten them nowhere closer to discovering the truth, and even despite Rose’s warm encouragement and reassurance, Ford was starting to become rather frustrated by his own lack of any concrete findings. If he couldn’t discover just why Gravity Falls was so strange in the first place, then what was really the point of any of his hard-earned research at all? Without a strong and proven theory to back it all up, certainly no one would ever believe his accounts of the paranormal, downright mythical sights the town had to offer. He might as well have packed all of his things up and headed home, a thought he had considered as his hopes running dryer and dryer by the day.

Until…

In order to clear his jumbled thoughts, Ford had, almost randomly, decided to take a break from his research to go on a calming walk through the woods. Bereft of the Gems by his side as he usually was, the author casually decided to venture down an unmarked path he had never taken before, only to happen upon a mysterious, somewhat darkened cave that had never showed up on any of his maps of the surrounding area whatsoever. Curious, Ford ventured inside, with only his lantern light to guide him, only to find something that left him reeling with amazement. The entire cave was covered in ancient markings that likely dated back thousands of years; though they it was somewhat hard to make out, the writing described a powerful being who possessed the answers to all of humanity’s wonderings. And yet, despite such miraculous claims, the cave markings were also quite grave, with dire warnings against summoning this being lest impending doom and disaster strike. All the same though, Ford was desperate; certainly, if such a being did exist and was as wise as these carvings claimed, then perhaps they might be willing to finally provide him with the truth he so intently craved.

And so, with only slight trepidation, the young researcher read the summoning inscription aloud, only for nothing to apparently happen as a result. Disappointed with what he assumed was nothing more than ancient legends and folklore, Ford left the cave, eventually deciding to take a brief rest under the shade of a tree not too far away. Of course, the young researcher hadn’t expected to doze off in the warmth of the afternoon sun, but he did all the same; and as he did, his dreams provided him with what he believed, at least at the time, was nothing short of a miracle.

Needless to say that Ford was quite amazed upon opening his eyes only to find himself floating amidst a vast, peaceful space-scape, one littered with countless stars, notes, lab equipment and even journals quite similar to his own drifting all around him. The young researcher had no idea what to make of any of this as he began exploring this intriguing space, only to be met by something, or rather someone even more bewildering.

“Hiya, smart guy!” Ford spun around with a gasp upon hearing this unexpected voice echoing through the void, but who he saw was the last thing he could have ever expected. It was a being that was, simply put, a triangle, bright yellow in coloration with only a single slitted eye to emote with and thin black limbs to over the young researcher a friendly wave of greeting. “Whoa, calm down there! Don’t have a heart attack, you’re not 92 yet!”

“W-who are you?” Ford asked, his initial alarm turning into immense curiosity at such a bizarre being.

“Name’s Bill!” he introduced himself brightly with a cordial tipping of his long tophat. “And your name’s Stanford Pines, the man who changed the world! But I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s relax! Care for a game of interdimensional chess?” With a simple snap of Bill’s fingers, a translucent chess board appeared out of midair, along with a comfortable chair on each side of it. “Have a cup of tea!” he exclaimed warmly, materializing a teapot and cup to pour into, one that floated directly over to Ford, who was more than fascinated by this point.

And thus, their friendly game of interdimensional chess was underway, and through it, the young researcher was able to learn a good bit more about his new acquaintance. According to Bill, he was a muse, one who chose to inspire one brilliant mind every century with his boundless knowledge and wisdom. And with apparent excitement in his tone and a playful wink of his singular eye, he cheerfully informed Ford that, impressed by his zeal in researching Gravity Falls, he had selected him to be the one to receive his otherworldly insight next. Of course, the young researcher was elated by such an incredible offer, and, without really thinking at all, he gladly accepted it on the spot.

From that point on, Ford wholeheartedly considered Bill to be his research partner just as much as he did with Rose and the other Gems. And yet, for as excited as the young researcher was by this new alliance, Bill gently cautioned him against informing the Crystal Gems of it, mostly to keep from arousing any distrust or suspicion on their end. While Ford was somewhat confused by this warning, he decided to uphold it nonetheless, for certainly the Gems, as stuck in their rather alien ways as they often were, wouldn’t understand the contract between himself and a higher being such as Bill.

Even so, right from the start, Ford saw the immediate benefits of his newfound deal with Bill. Not too far into their regular meetings within the dreamscape, the triangular being unveiled the very thing the researcher had been looking for: a way to finally answer his longstanding questions concerning Gravity Falls’ weirdness. According to Bill, all of the town’s strangeness leaked into it from another dimension entirely, and the key to discovering that dimension would be by way of a grand gateway, a portal to another world entirely. To this end, he even provided Ford with complete schematics to such a seemingly impossible machine, one that he gladly allowed the researcher to add his own ideas and equations onto to improve it even more. After all, it was as Bill told him: this was how genius happened, and all as a result of a little help amongst friends.

And, for the longest time, that was what Ford fully and fool-heartedly believed.

So construction of the portal began, with the Crystal Gems and Fiddleford to aid Ford on the corporeal end of things while Bill continued to provide his unseen yet very impactful assistance through his dreams. As weeks turned into months, Ford’s determination on the project grew even more determined and intent, especially as Bill regularly reminded him that the portal would certainly give him all the answers he had ever hoped for and then some. To further lend his aid, Bill even volunteered to keep work on the portal going, even when Ford himself was too physically exhausted to persist. By simply allowing his muse to come and go through his mind, possessing him as he pleased, the young researcher saw his productivity practically spike tenfold, pushing progress on the portal along even faster. What Ford didn’t notice amidst his enthrallment with the invaluable help his muse was providing him with, however, were the worried looks Fiddleford often sent his way, the confused whispers between the Gems as they wondered exactly what was going on, the general, unvoiced dread between his other partners in general as they questioned whether or not they were the only ones working with the author on his mysterious portal after all.

And all too soon, they all were quick to discover such worries were not unfounded, in perhaps the worst way possible.

The moment that Ford and the Gems hurriedly pulled Fiddleford out of the finished portal after he was accidentally sucked into it was the moment the author began to suspect something was wrong. However, his alarm only grew when the mechanic and the Gems all angrily quit the project in a huff, leaving him alone with his anxious pleas to Bill, pleas that were only answered by quiet, sinister laughter and a single, ominous message: “The door is open…”

Desperate to know exactly what went wrong, Ford ventured back into the familiar dreamscape him and Bill often met in, determined to get to the bottom of exactly what path his supposed muse had led him on. “Bill!” Ford shouted hotly, rushing towards the triangular being as he lingered before a tear in the space-scape, one filled with vague silhouettes of countless untold nightmarish creatures. “You lied to me! Where does that portal really lead?!”

“Hoho, looks like Mr. Brainiac finally got smart!” Bill laughed deviously as he turned around to face the author, no longer masking his malicious intent. “Let’s just say that when that portal finishes charging up, your dimension is really gonna learn how to PARTY! Right guys?” he asked his apparent ‘friends’ inside of the otherworldly tear, who all simply roared and cackled in a chorus of wicked triumph.

At first, all Ford could do was let out a gasp of shock as he realized just how much of a monster Bill truly was. But blinded by flattery and charming games as he had been, the author had never once considered that the demon planned on tricking him, had been using him as nothing more than a foolish pawn to meet his own destructive ends all along. “N-no!” Ford exclaimed, resolved to fix this incredible mess he had mad. “I… I’ll stop you! I’ll tell the Crystal Gems everything and together, we’ll shut that portal down once and for all!”

“Ha, as if!” Bill rolled his eyes, clearly not taking the author seriously. “You really think Quartzy and those Crystal Chumps are ever gonna trust you again after all this, then you’re gonna be sorely disappointed! All the same, a deal’s a deal, Sixer! You can’t stop the bridge between our worlds from coming, but it would be fun to watch you try! Cute, even!”

At that very moment, Ford awakened with a stark gasp, his eyes wide and his heart racing as he reeled with everything he had just heard. Bill had betrayed him, that much was clear and there was no undoing the massive mistake he had made by even trusting the insane demon in the first place. Which meant that the only thing he could do now was try to minimize the damage before things could get any worse. Acting quickly, the author shut down the portal in the hopes that it would never be active again, lest Bill gain access to the Earth as he so eagerly wanted. From there, Ford quickly filled what he could of his third and final journal with frantic and paranoid warnings concerning the demon and his tricks, even though he planned to hide his research so no one could ever finish the demon’s treacherous work.

And yet, despite these valiant efforts, Bill had been right in the fact that his deal with Ford still very much stood. No matter how much the author tried to protect himself against the demon, Bill still had complete access to his mind, just as they had agreed years ago. Just about any time Ford happened to slip into the depths of slumber, even amidst his growing panic and insomnia, Bill was more than happy to take over, littering the journal with his own inane coded ramblings and even going as far as to injure his pawn just for fun. In fact, it was in the midst of one of these wild spells of possession that Rose herself happened to discover just how much Ford had really been hiding from her all along.

“Stanford?” the pink Gem called as she entered into the author’s secluded study one chilly autumn day months after their own partnership had ended. “Are you in here? I-it’s been a while since any of us have heard from you and I’m starting to worry if-”

Rose cut herself off with a sharp gasp as she finally spotted Ford, digging a knife into his upper arm as he slowly looked back at her with a huge, uncharacteristic grin of sheer, sadistic glee. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Sixer here, Quartzy!” he quipped in a voice that the pink Gem immediately recognized. A voice she had never wanted to hear ever again. “In fact…” His smirk widened as he pulled out the blood-soiled knife. “I’d say he’s doin’ A-ok!”

“I-it… it’s you…” Rose shook her head in disbelief, her voice but a stunned, genuinely fearful whisper.

“Yep, it sure is me!” Bill exclaimed brightly as he began to walk over to the terrified pink Gem. “Right here in the flesh. Or, I guess in Fordsy’s flesh, but since he did decide to let me in whenever I want, I guess you could say it is mine after all!”

“B-but… but how did you… when did you-”

“Oh, it looks like Sixer really did chicken out about telling you after all, huh?” Bill asked with a knowing glint in his slitted yellow eyes. “Turns out I’ve been the one pulling his strings all along! Dumb old ‘Brainiac’ here let me give him the plans to a certain gateway that I remember someone else promising to build for me way back when. A gateway that’s gonna give me a one-way ticket to your perfect little planet, Quartzy.”

“M-my… t-the portal?!” Rose gasped, overwhelmed with shame and terror at the thought. “N-no… no, you… you tricked him! You tricked all of us, just like you did before! If I had known that you were behind all of this, I would have never allowed Ford to-”

“See, that’s just it, Quartzy!” the demon interupted smugly. “You didn’t know. No one did, and all because it was so easy to get him to do whatever I wanted. Now that I mention it, that sorta sounds like you, doesn’t it? In that case, you really do belong down here with these dumb old humans seeing as how you’re just as empty-headed as any of them are!”

Rose practically had to fight back the urge to draw her sword upon hearing such callous remarks, reminding herself exactly who the demon was possessing at the moment. “G-get out of him,” she ordered as sternly as she could. “Right now.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m leaving,” Bill shrugged casually. “But only ‘cause Fordsy’s about to wake up. In the meantime, have fun dealing with the fact that you’ve basically doomed your precious planet over several times over. See you and that rock you still owe me next time, Quartzy!”

And with that the author’s eyes fell shut, his entire body growing limp as he slipped into unconsciousness. Rose barely managed to catch him before he hit the ground, healing tears already spilling down her cheeks to work on the several injuries Bill had left behind as Ford slowly, painfully awakened.

“Hm… R-Rose?” the author groaned as he opened his eyes to find the pink Gem anxiously hovering over him.

“F-Ford…” the pink Gem whispered, holding back a sob. “Why didn’t you ever tell me a-about… about him…?”

Ford quickly looked away from Rose at this, knowing exactly who she was talking about and not even having to ask how she found out about him. “B-because…” he began, deciding to finally be honest with her. “I was too ashamed to tell you about the terrible mistake I made…”

“No,” Rose corrected, offering a hand to help him up. A hand that seemed to offer so much more than that and then some. “It’s a mistake we made…”

And it was a hand that Ford only barely took. For even though he immediately came clean to Rose about his deal with Bill as well as the demon’s inevitable betrayal right then and there, he still hesitated to trust her any further with helping him in the matter. After all, he had trusted Bill and had seen where that had gotten him. How could he trust Rose, or anyone else for that matter after such a cruel and immense deception?

But in time, he did decide to trust her again, though only for the sake of helping him hide his final journal away. Later he would wish he had only trusted her more, for perhaps if he had, it could have saved him from all of the tragedy and woe that had began following him like a shadow. And yet, he didn’t, deciding to walk alone in his fear and anger and carrying one, single sole resolve all the while.

To stop Bill Cipher’s twisted ambitions. No matter what the cost.

Present Day

“Bill’s been waiting for the gateway to reopen ever since,” Ford finished his lengthy tale, his tone still quite grave as Steven and Dipper tried to take it all in. “All he needs to do is get his hands on the rift. To Bill, its just a game, but to us, it could mean the end of our world…”

“Oh man…” Dipper sighed, shaking his head with immense worry. For so long now he had been preoccupied with the threat that Bill potentially posed to himself and his friends that he had never really even considered just how destructive and devastating the demon’s ends really were. But now, it was clear; if Bill had his way, then certainly nothing would survive, a fact that only served to make both him and Steven alike fear him even more than they already did, if such a feat was even possible.

“Oh man, indeed…” Ford nodded with serious agreement, briefly glaring up at one of the many images of Bill on the surrounding walls. “I know that I might never truly be able to compensate for the foolish error I made in trusting Bill, but I’d still like to think that preventing him from getting that rift is a start. Unfortunately though, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make up for the brief time I actually decided to trust him over Rose…”

“Why not?” Steven asked with a worried frown.

“Well, simply because I never got around to making amends with her,” Ford sighed rather sadly. “I was so consumed by paranoia and dread at the time that the thought never really crossed my mind to just… appologize to her for all that went wrong between us. I chose Bill over Rose and I completely ruined our partnership and our friendship as a result. I’d easily count that as my second biggest regret because now… well, I doubt I’ll ever get the chance again.”

The three of them were quiet for a long time after this, all of them feel rather small under the scrutiny of the eyes of the effigies of dream demon on every wall around them. In time, it was broken, again by Steven, whose voice was small, but sincere as he addressed Ford once more. “I think she would have forgiven you…”

The author couldn’t help but finally smile in spite of this, knowing that, even if that forgiveness hadn’t come from the pink Gem herself, it still felt genuine and comforting all the same. “Thank you, Steven,” he said, choosing to believe that if Rose herself was still around, then perhaps she would have said the exact same thing.

An air of solemnity hung between Ford, Dipper, and Steven as they went upstairs, largely since Project Mentum was no longer a viable option to safeguard them against Bill. Their thoughts and worries were still largely on the dream demon, even as they unanimously decided to take a much needed soda break around the kitchen table in what was initially fretful silence until Dipper ended up breaking it.

“Ugh, I’m still so embarrassed about earlier…” he said, clearly bothered by his burst of blind panic in the study. “I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not!” Steven chimed in earnestly. “You were just scared, we both were! At least this time, if we really had been up against Bill, we would have been able to fight him together. Just like we will next time, right?”

“Right,” Dipper said with a small laugh, truly comforted by the young Gem’s continued reassurance.

“Dipper, I can assure you, you have nothing to be ashamed of,” Ford added just as sincerely. “From now on, no more secrets between us. We’re not the first ‘idiots’ to be tricked by Bill, boy. But if we all work together, then we could be the last. And the same thing goes for you too, Steven. For now, I suggest following what the Gems said to protect your gem from Bill at all costs. I’m still not sure how him getting his hands on it would factor into his plans, but we can only assume that if he did get it, the outcome would not be good.”

Steven simply nodded at this, still resolved to do what he could to keep his gem out of the demon’s possession. Even if he did still secretly wonder if his own mother really was the one to promise it away to him or not…

“But… what about Bill?” Dipper spoke up anxiously. “I broke the machine! Now we have no way to protect the shack or the temple!”

“Did somebody say unicorn hair?!” Mabel shouted as she suddenly burst into the room, slamming down a fistful of shimmering, rainbow-colored hair onto the table. Pearl, Connie, Wendy, Grenda, and Candy all filed in behind her, all of them looking much worse for wear with torn clothes, bruises, scratches and various multicolored unicorn fluids covering them from head to toe. Even so, they all wore bright, satisfied smiles, their mission accomplished and their vengeance against Celestabellebethabelle and her deceitful tricks achieved.

“Um… no actually,” Dipper frowned, pushing Mabel’s hand away as she playfully waved the hair in his face.

“Oh. That would have been perfect,” she shrugged before quickly perking up again. “Either way, we got some unicorn hair!”

“Also some unicorn tears, unicorn eyelashes…” Candy listed before Grenda continued, holding up a large, ornate chest.

“They finally gave us this treasure just to get rid of us!” she proclaimed, dumping the contents of the chest onto the table to reveal a massive horde of gold and jewels.

“Not to mention we got to put a very irritating, very unethical unicorn in her place,” Pearl said, crossing her arms with a smug smirk. “So all in all, I’d say it was a very successful day.”

“Also, a pretty weird one, what with that butterfly sting operation and our all-out brawl with the unicorns,” Connie added, rubbing some unicorn blood off her arm.

“Whoa, that’s so cool!” Steven exclaimed, stars in his eyes as he looked to the girls. “I knew you guys could do it!”

“It… can’t be!” Ford exclaimed, just as amazed as he looked to the plentiful clump of unicorn hair Mabel had gathered. “This is a great day, girls! With this unicorn hair, we should be able to completely shield both the shack and the temple from Bill’s mind reading tricks!”

“Is it ok?” Mabel asked, her tone hopeful as she handed the hair over to her uncle.

“Its better than ok, its perfect!” the author laughed warmly as he placed a proud hand on his niece’s shoulder. “You’ve protected your family and your friends. You’re a good person, Mabel.”

“Aw, thanks, Grunkle Ford,” Mabel smiled, glad to hear it. After all, she’d much rather have the approval and support from those she cared about then some uptight, uncaring unicorn any day. “But today, I’ve learned that morality is relative!”

Before anyone had the chance to question her on this somewhat bizarre life lesson, Stan suddenly rushed into the room, hurrying past the treasure-laden table and grabbing a plentiful armful of it in his wake. “MONEY!” he shouted wildly as Amethyst ran in after him, grabbing yet another load of treasure with a rowdy laugh and another bout of her somewhat botched Spanglish.

“Viva larga CHASH MONEY!”

Not wanting to waste any more time to risk subjecting themselves to Bill’s tricks any further, Ford and Dipper got to work, Steven and Pearl both volunteering to join them in erecting shields around both the temple and the shack. It was a lengthy, somewhat dull process in gluing the long strands of unicorn hair around the foundations of both structures, with the temple in particular proving to be something of a challenge given its large perimeter and odd structure. Even so, as soon as they were done, a magical shield, covered in mysterious protective runes and symbols, bloomed around both buildings before fading back into invisibility, ensuring that them and everyone within them, would be in no danger from the dream demon’s tricks.

“Perfect!” Ford grinned as they finished up on shielding the shack. “This should protect us from Bill. As long as we’re inside either the temple or the shack, our minds—and gems should be safe.”

“What a relief!” Pearl sighed as she placed a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “If only we had something like this 24 years ago. It would have saved us a lot of trouble, to say the least.”

“Well, who knows?” Steven interjected with an encouraging smile. “Maybe now that we have these barriers put up, there won’t be anymore trouble!”

“Yeah,” Dipper agreed, unable to hold back his own allayed grin. True, Ford had said that the protection spell was only a safeguard and not actually a way to vanquish Bill once and for all. But if it truly could give them a much-needed reprieve from the demon’s mental games and relentless tormenting, then for now, it would be enough. “No more trouble. I’d say that sounds like a pretty good deal.”

Unbeknownst to the group standing outside of the shack, they were all being watched by a familiar, singular eye, one that was carefully observing their every move from his home deep within the unimaginable depths of the horrific Nightmare Realm itself. Bill couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh as the motley crew celebrated their success, success that he knew was only going to be very short lived if he had anything to do about it.

“That’s what you think, Pine Tree,” the demon remarked, hands held behind his back as he finally looked away from his peek at the shack. “Still, I guess if I can’t possess anyone inside the shack or the temple, then I’ll just have to find my next pawn… on the OUTSIDE…”

At this, the demon’s eye rolled back, a variable roulette of people and Gems alike, either in or around Gravity Falls: McGucket, Lars, Candy, Pacifica, Jenny, Tyler Cutebiker, Mr. Smiley, Lazy Susan, Manly Dan, Sadie, Soos, Onion, Peedee, Greg, Robbie, Lolph, Dundgren, Barb, Jamie, Durland, Blubbs, Kiki, Sour Cream, Preston, Priscilla, Toby Determined, Mr. Fryman, Malachite, Nanefua, Lee, Nate, Ronaldo, Blendin, Connie, Shandra Jimenez, Kofi, Kevin, Grenda, Vidalia, Mayor Dewey, Gorney, Tambry, Yellowtail, Buck, Bud, and Wendy. As far as Bill was concerned, any of them would make excellent puppets to use in furthering his sadistic schemes along.

And fortunately for him, he already had the perfect pawn in mind…

 Next: 

[lbigreyhound13]

Truly Together Forever (BOTGD EU)

Okay, so this oneshot got really long, so I put the full story under “Keep Reading.” 

A lot of Grey’s family members will be referenced, so here is Grey’s family tree if you’re curious. 

(Takes place 77 years after the Rebellion) 

 August 13, 1122

Ninety-eight-year-old Grey Hertha Bergman-Felman…former Chief of the Haligan Tribe and former Lady of the United Revolutionaries…tilted her head back as the wind pushed back her waist-long snow white hair. The warm summer air greeted her as she and Shadow soared through the sky. 

It had been a long time since she and Shadow had flown together. With the passing years and both their aging bodies, it had become quite a task for both the former Chief and her loyal Night Fury to take off into the skies for a flight that it was almost rare for them to fly. Today, however, felt very different. Grey and Shadow both silently agreed that today was the perfect day for two 98-year-olds to fly to the mainland. 

“Such a beautiful day, isn’t it, Shadow?” Grey finally asked. 

Shadow crooned in response as she flapped her old wings. Even after not flying for some time, the old Night Fury was keeping them both in the air. Granted, their altitude was lower than how they used to fly, but it was still an enjoyable flight nonetheless. 

“We should be getting there soon,” the old woman finally said leaning back against her seat. When it became harder to sit up by herself, her oldest son, Sven, insisted that the village blacksmith make a saddle that allowed her to recline if needed. Of course, Grey was at first against it, but now, she had to admit that it was nice of her family to think of her like that and that it did help stop her straining her aging body. “Of course, given how old we are...it might take longer...” She laughed at her little joke.

Shadow chortled in response to her sister’s joke.

Soon enough, their first destination became visible on the horizon. The vast land has changed in the last 77 years, but that gaping hole where Perch Hall once stood was still there. She could never forget the tragic events of the witch attack...when Orskaf Donz unleashed Kiri’s witch powers upon the Rebellion. Only 1/3 of the Rebellion perished, and the camp was destroyed forcing the survivors to move to the Dungeon. 

As soon as Shadow landed near the piece, Grey slowly took her sword and stepped down using the sword as her cane and walked toward the piece of land with flowers in her arm with Shadow behind her. The former Chief knelt down and placed the flowers on the ground, and then both she and the Night Fury bowed their heads in a moment of silence. 

“I know I’m a couple months late, my former comrades,” Grey finally said. “Travel has become quite difficult in my old age. I can hope that you all have found peace in Helheim.”

There was another moment of silence before Grey finally stood up again. “Come on, Shadow,” she said as she mounted her Night Fury. “We have another important place to visit today.”

The former Chief and her Night Fury traveled North to the Everglades, and much like where Perch Hall once stood, the land was slowly changing as well. Time had a way of changing things, especially over the course of 77 years. The Grounded Dungeon was nothing but ruins...standing empty and abandoned after its last occupants finally left the bunker the Goddess of Helheim herself made for them during the days of Ragnarok. 

Shadow landed near the rotten building, but Grey did not dismount her and simply surveyed the structure. It was easy to see that time had indeed not been kind to the structure, as there was no sign of its former glory, and Grey was grateful for that. This dungeon was no longer the intimidating structure that loomed over all the prisoners and those outside it, and it no longer represented High Central’s cruelty. 

Grey smiled at that thought. “It may have served as a refuge for us during Ragnarok,” she mused as she gently pet Shadow’s head, “but this dungeon is where it needs to be...hidden and stripped of what it was before the Rebellion.”

Shadow crooned in agreement leaning into Grey’s touch. 

“Still though...no one can deny the good memories we had in this old thing...” Grey said after a moment of silence. 

Another moment of silence passed as Grey and Shadow looked up at the building one more time, and then, the silence was finally broken when Grey took a deep breath and looked down at her Night Fury smiling. 

“Well, I don’t know about you, girl,” she began, “but I think it’s time we head home. Traveling is not as easy as it used to be, and our family is waiting for us, I’m sure.”

Shadow crooned, and without hesitation, she flapped her wings slowly taking off into the sky allowing Grey to turn around and to look at the Grounded Dungeon one last time. She smiled and turned back to the sky in front of her. It was time to head home to Haligan Island. 

Back on Haligan Island, the former Chief and Grey’s successor paced back and forth along the cliff overlooking the docks. It had been a couple hours since his elderly mother...his 98-year-old mother took off on her just-as-elderly Night Fury toward the mainland. Sixty-nine-year-old Sven Felman looked up into the sky one more time for any signs of Grey before resuming pacing. 

“No sign of Nana?” a voice asked from behind. 

Sven jumped as he turned around only to find his sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Sassa, Erik’s daughter. “Oh, Sassa,” he said breathing a sigh of relief, “you shouldn’t scare your old grandpa like that.”

Sassa giggled as she walked over to Sven. “Sorry, Grandpa,” she replied, “Grandma and Great-Aunt Dagny sent me to look for you. So, back to my original question, no sign of Nana?”

Sven chuckled. “No, my dear,” he replied placing an arm around her and kissing her head, “not yet.”

“They’re probably on their way back now,” Sassa suggested trying to ease Sven’s nervousness. 

“Perhaps, I just worry because your Nana gets tired easily, and it’s been a while since she has flown this far with Shadow.”

“True, but Shadow would never let anything happen to her. They’re sisters after all, and Papa is probably watching over them and making sure they get back okay.”

The former Chief sadly chuckled at the mention of his late father. It had been only 10 months since he passed on, and ever since then, Sven and his younger sisters couldn’t help but feel the need to keep a close eye on their mother. That wasn’t to say that the entire family didn’t care because they did. They all wanted to help take care of their matriarch, but since it was their mother, Sven, Dagny, and Kari worked to make sure that their mother was happy and healthy in her elder years, especially when she was alone without her husband. She had Shadow, of course, Warren, Asha, and the entire family, but Grey obviously missed her husband with all her heart.

“Yes, I’m sure he is,” Sven finally said aloud.

Before Sassa could reply, a black dot appeared out of the corner of her eye, and she immediately knew who it was.

“Grandpa, look!” she shouted happily pointing to the black dot.

Sven looked up and smiled when he laid his eyes on the black dot. It was Grey and Shadow! They finally returned home! 

Both grandfather and granddaughter watched as the mighty Night Fury landed in front of them and bent down to allow Grey to dismount. 

“Nana! Welcome home!” Sassa said as she ran over to her great-grandmother as she slowly dismounted with Sven following close behind.

Grey chuckled. “Thank you, my dear Sassa,” she said running a hand through the teenager’s hair. “It’s good to be home.”

“Here, Mom, let me help you,” Sven quickly said. 

“No need, Sven,” she said as she finally made it to the ground with both feet. “I’m just fine. I must admit that I do love having this saddle seat. It takes a lot off my aging bones when I fly Shadow.”

“Ah, see?” Sven replied smirking. “I told you, and you said that I was fussing.”

Grey chuckled as she lightly swatted her son’s chest. “Don’t get cocky, darling,” she said. “Now enough of that, I believe we are to be in the Great Hall for the celebration.”

“I believe you’re right, Nana,” Sassa said wrapping her arms around Grey’s. “We wouldn’t want to be late, right, Grandpa?”

“Right, Sassa,” Sven replied smiling at his granddaughter. “Mom, may we escort you to the Great Hall?”

“I’d be honored, Sven,” she said wrapping her free arm around her son’s arm. “Shadow, come, girl.”

Sassa giggled as they walked together to the Great Hall in the center of the village. Being the oldest of Grey and Brandt’s great-grandchildren, the future Chief of Haligan Island was very close to her great-grandparents and grandparents. When she was little, she would spend time with them while her parents worked in the village or when she simply wanted to see them. Naturally, she was heartbroken when her great-grandfather Brandt died, but that only brought her and Grey closer. 

She made sure to spend as much time as she could when she wasn’t training to be Chief with her father to make sure that Grey never felt alone. Yes, she had Shadow by her side, and there was nothing against the Night Fury. Shadow looked out for her as well when she was young, and they continued to have good times together. However, that didn’t change the relationship between the Heir of Haligan Island and her great-grandmother. 

They finally made it to the Great Hall, where Grey was greeted by her two daughters, her daughter-in-law, her sons-in-law, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, her two adoptive sisters, and their respective families.

“How was your flight, Mom?” sixty-eight-year-old Dagny asked as she gave her elderly mother a hug. 

“Oh, it was wonderful, right, Shadow?” Grey replied before turning to her Night Fury, who crooned in response. She lightly patted her Night Fury on the head chuckling. 

“How far did you go?” sixty-seven-year-old Kari asked as she hugged Grey as well. “Sven was so worried that you were gone for so long.”

“Only because it’s been a while since Mom took that long of a flight with Shadow,” Sven interjected. “And don’t place all the blame on me. You two were looking nervous for a bit as well.”

“Darlings, please,” Grey finally said, “don’t make me ground you. I’m supposed to be done with that now. I appreciate the concern, but we were both fine. I promise.”

“Right, sorry, Mom,” Sven replied scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“Sorry,” both Dagny and Kari replied in unison. 

Sassa couldn’t help but giggle seeing how her grandfather acted with his two younger sisters and how they all worried for their mother. 

“Now, let’s get this family reunion started,” Grey said. 

Life had become very busy for Grey’s family. The adults and the older children all had jobs around the village, and the younger children often spent time with Sven, Dagny, Kari, and their spouses respectively. Sure, she often spent time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and when she wasn’t with them, she found herself with Asha and Warren with Shadow alongside as always. However, before Brandt passed away, they agreed that once month the whole family would get together for a family reunion in the Great Hall. What a great tradition it was! The family grew large over time, and the tradition was still standing strong. 

As dinner was being prepared, the former Chief found herself sitting in her chair with Shadow sleeping next to her as she watched the younger children play with the teens in the corner of the Great Hall. 

“So, Nana, you didn’t say where you went with Shadow today,” Sassa finally said.

“Yeah, Nana, where did you go?” Thora, Olga and Even’s 6-year-old daughter, asked. 

Grey chuckled. “Well, I went to visit Perch Hall and the Grounded Dungeon,” she finally replied after a moment, “to pay my respects to my old friends.”

The children gasped in delight. 

“Really?!” Sassa asked excitedly. “You went back to the Grounded Dungeon and the camp?”

The former Chief laughed again at the children’s excitement. “Yes, I did,” she replied. She sighed thinking back on the memories of the Rebellion that occurred all those years ago. “I can remember as if it were just yesterday. Sometimes, I still can’t believe it’s 77 years.”

“Can you tell us a story from the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion again, Nana?” Helga, Gunnar’s 12-year-old daughter, asked quickly folding her hands together. “Please?”

“Please!” all the children said in unison. 

Thrilled by her great-grandchildren’s enthusiasm over hearing stories from a point early in her life, Grey laughed again. It made her old heart sore to see her great-grandchildren excited to hear the tales of the Battle of the Grounded Dungeon. It gave her hope that these stories would never die with her and would live on through her children, grandchildren, and now, great-grandchildren. “Of course, I can,” she finally said calming down from her laughter. 

The children only replied with cheers making Grey laugh even more along with the other adults. 

“Well, now, what story would you like to hear?” she finally asked. 

“I don’t know about them, Mom,” Sven said as the adults sat nearby to wait for dinner, “but I’ve always been partial to the one where you sang to King Haddock.”

Sassa gasped. “Oh, yes, that one’s my favorite too, Nana!” she added. 

“What about the one where Great-Aunt Warren tried to train the Whispering Death?” Halvar, Gustav’s 15-year-old son asked. 

As soon as he said that, a chorus of ooh’s and “I love that one” rang out amongst the children. It was pretty clear at that point which story was the most preferred. 

“Very well, then,” Grey said. “We’ll start with Warren training the Whispering Death, and then perhaps, after dinner, we will tell Sven and Sassa’s favorite story.”

The children cheered again, and then, along with the adults, they quickly turned their attention to the former Chief waiting for her to begin her story. 

“Okay, now, once upon a time, in the Wilderwest region, there was a HUGE dungeon known as…the Grounded Dungeon,” she began. Out of the corner of her eye, Grey saw Sven, Dagny, and Kari looking at each other, clearly remembering the introduction she used for every Grounded Dungeon story she ever told them, and she couldn’t help but smile to herself thinking back on those memories. Nevertheless, she remained focused on the story she was telling.

“Now this dungeon was guarded by the evil…Warden, a demon from the North, and the Warden was very mean to all the prisoners in this dungeon. Soon, the prisoners grew very angry at how the Warden was treating them so horribly. So,  King Haddock finally stood up and led the prisoners in a massive rebellion against the Warden...”

After dinner, Grey regaled the tale of the one night she sang to King Haddock with her family, and now, just like the one she told earlier, the story came to an end. It was time for the family reunion to conclude and for the former Chief and her family to retire for the night. Once she said good night to her grandchildren, her daughter and sons-in-law, and her great-grandchildren, Grey asked for her son and daughters to accompany her and Shadow on the walk back to her house. Sven, Dagny, and Kari were, of course, happy to join their mother and her Night Fury on a quiet walk. It had been a while since the five of them had some alone time. 

“Mom, you never cease to amaze me with your story-telling,” Kari said as they walked back to the very house she and her older siblings grew up in. 

“I’ve had years and years of practice, my darling,” Grey replied. “It’s nice to know that I haven’t lost my touch.”

The four of them laughed together at her comment. 

“You know, Mom, the three of us had been talking with our spouses,” Dagny finally said after a moment, “and we felt that--you know--with our kids moved out of our houses with their own families, maybe we could look into the possibility of you moving in with one of us.”

“Moving in?” Grey asked. 

“Well, yes,” Kari added quickly, “and it’s not that we’re trying to baby you or anything. It’s just that...”

“...Ever since Dad died, we’ve hated that you’re in that house alone,” Sven interjected, “and we think that if you moved in with one of us, we could keep you company more often.”

Grey could only smile at the three of them. “Look, guys, I really appreciate that you want to help me,” she finally said, “but Shadow and I really are doing just fine. Besides, I could never leave that house. It’s the house your father and I built together, the house that you all grew up in. I just...can’t see myself leaving it, at least not now.”

“You don’t have to make a decision right now,” Dagny said taking Grey’s hands into hers, “but would you at least think about it?”

Grey’s smile grew before she placed a hand on her middle daughter’s cheek. “Of course, I’ll think about it, Dagny,” she said before turning to Sven and Kari as well. “Darlings, you have no idea how happy you’ve made me. I really feel like the luckiest woman in the world to have such an amazing family. You three are my rock, and you always have been.”

“I think I speak for Dags and Kari when I say that you are our rock, too, Mom,” Sven replied. “You always have been.”

“I love you three...so much,” Grey said pulling the three of them into a group hug while Shadow nuzzled them. 

“We love you, too, Mom...very much,” Kari said closing her eyes embracing the warmth of the group hug. 

When they finally pulled apart from each other, they resumed their walk to Grey’s house. After a few minutes, Sven, Dagny, and Kari made sure to help their mother to the front door with Shadow in tow.

“Well, this is my stop,” Grey said as she opened the front door. 

“I’ll come by in the morning to bring you to the healer for your check-up,” Sven said. “Then maybe, afterwards, the four of us and Shadow can have breakfast together in the Great Hall.”

“That’s a great idea, Sven,” Grey said. As much as she loved the family reunions, the former Chief always loved the opportunity to spend some quality time with her three children. 

Shadow crooned in agreement.

“I do, too,” Dagny replied placing a hand on Grey’s hand.

“Me too,” Kari added. 

“Perfect, it’s settled,” Sven said clapping his hands together.

Grey chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about you three,” she finally said, “but I’m so tired that I can hear the bed calling me.”

“I would imagine after that long flight you took with Shadow today,” Sven replied. 

“You need help with anything inside?” Kari asked.

“No, no, don’t worry, dear,” Grey replied. “I’m going to change, get right into bed, and write a letter to Aunt Seasick before I go to sleep.”

“I’m sure she would love to hear from you,” Dagny said before leaning in to kiss her mother on the cheek. “Good night, Mom.”

“Good night, Mom,” Sven said as he repeated the gesture as Dagny.

“Good night, Mom,” Kari said as she followed her older siblings’ lead. 

“Good night, my darlings,” Grey replied as she stepped inside. “I love you all. Never forget that.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Dagny replied.

“Not when we love you too,” Kari added.

“Good,” Grey replied. “Shadow and I will see you in the morning.” She then turned to the Night Fury standing beside her. “Come, Shadow. Let’s get into bed.” The old woman stepped aside allowing her Night Fury to go into the house first, and as soon as Shadow was inside, she blew her three children a kiss before closing the door as they returned the gesture. 

As soon as Grey closed the door, Shadow blew a small plasma blast at the fire pit illuminating the main floor of the house. 

“Thank you, Shadow,” Grey said as she made her way into the bedroom. However, she stopped when she noticed a very special painting on an old shield on the wall. It was a portrait of Grey and Brandt in their younger years with their three children smiling happily, and Grey remembered the day it was painted very clearly.

It was after she and Sven stood together for their portrait, which took its place with the past Chiefs and their successors. Both he and Grey wanted a portrait of the Felman family to be place in their home, and that was precisely what they did. She could only sigh as she focused on her husband’s face. 

“Gods, I miss you, Brandt,” she whispered. “You would’ve had such a great time today with our wonderful family.”

Shadow crooned sadly as she nuzzled her rider’s cheek as Grey leaned into the touch. “Oh, thank you, Shadow,” she said before placing a kiss on Shadow’s cheek. “I miss my husband with all my heart, but I’m also forever grateful to have had you by my side all these years. No matter what, we are together forever, you and me. I love you.”

The Night Fury crooned in reply as she nuzzled Grey’s cheek again. 

“Let’s go get some sleep,” she said. “Sven will be taking me to my check-up, and then we’ll have breakfast with Sven, Dagny, and Kari. Then maybe afterwards, we can take a flight around the island, hmm?”

Shadow chortled again in reply.

With that, the former Chief and her Night Fury made their way into the bedroom, where Grey changed into her nightgown and settled into bed with paper and ink to write to Seasick. Shadow took her usual spot right beside Grey on the floor with her head resting on Grey’s lap.

When she finally finished her letter to one of her best human friends, Grey yawned as she felt the fatigue of the day’s events taking over. She put her letter on her nightstand taking a mental note to send it in the morning  while Shadow went to the living room to put out the fire. As soon as the Night Fury returned, Grey blew out the candle and settled under the covers while Shadow curled up next to the bed. Grey looked down at the Night Fury as she settled down for the night and smiled gently scratching her head. 

“Good night, Shadow,” she whispered. 

Shadow crooned in reply clearly wishing Grey good night as well. 

The former Chief closed her eyes as the peacefulness of the night and the warmth of her bed and her sister right next to her relaxed her and allowed sleep to overcome her.

August 14, 1122--the next morning

The silence in the house was so deafening as Sven, Dagny, and Kari sat at their old dinner table with tears streaming down their faces. Their spouses thought it would be best to allow the three siblings to have some time alone while they went to pass on the news to their respective families.

“It just feels like a bad dream,” Kari finally said. “I keep thinking that she and Shadow are just going to come out of the bedroom ready to go to get breakfast.”

Sven reached forward and took his younger sister’s hand into his. “I know,” he whispered sniffling. 

“We were with her all day yesterday,” Dagny said as tears welled in her eyes. “She looked and sounded fine. The both of them did. Did we miss something?”

“We didn’t miss anything, Dags,” Sven replied. “It was just...time to go.”

Dagny let out another sob as more tears flowed down their cheeks. She took a deep breath to compose herself. “I just...I thought that...after Dad...we would have more time with her,” she said. “I-I didn’t think it would be this soon after him.”

“Let’s be honest here, there was never going to be enough time,” Sven said shaking his head. “No matter how prepared or how much time passed, there was never going to be enough time for us to spend time with her.”

“I know, but it still doesn’t ease the pain,” Dagny replied. 

“I didn’t think it would,” Sven said shaking his head, “but...there is one thing we can find comfort in.” Both women looked up at him. “Mom wasn’t in any pain.” He thought to how he found her and her Night Fury earlier that morning. “She looked like she was at peace, and she wasn’t alone. Shadow...her best friend...her sister...died alongside her. They promised each other to be together forever, a promise so strong that not even death could overcome it. Mom and Shadow are truly together forever now in Helheim, and they’re with Dad, Uncle Greg, Grandpa Sven, and Grandma Ingrid.”

“I suppose,” Kari said. Her big brother was right. Their mother was with her Night Fury and the rest of their family now in the afterlife. She could only imagine how happy Grey must’ve been to enter Helheim with her Night Fury by her side and to reunite with her husband, adoptive brother, and parents. “I’m still going to miss her though...both of them.” She began to cry again. 

Sven and Dagny quickly stood up and hugged their youngest sister tightly as they cried together. 

“We are, too, Kari,” Dagny said through her tears.

The three siblings cried together for a few more minutes before finally pulling away. 

“What are we going to do now?” Kari finally asked. 

“Well, we’re going to give Mom and Shadow a funeral,” Sven said, “but before we do that, we’re going to have to let some people know, like Aunt Nala and Aunt Seasick. Erik will notify the village and the rest of the Wilderwest.”

“Havelock and I can take care of Aunt Seasick,” Dagny offered. 

“I can help you track down Aunt Nala, Sven,” Kari added. 

“Perfect,” Sven replied nodding. “As soon as that’s taken care of, we’ll have the funeral.”

“We should make sure that Mom and Shadow are on the same ship together...side-by-side...for the funeral,” Kari finally said after a moment of silence. “Mom...Mom would’ve wanted it that way...to be sent out to sea with her sister right next to her.”

“Of course, Kari,” Sven replied. “We will do just that.” 

“I agree,” Dagny added.

“We’ll get through this...together,” the oldest Felman sibling said. “We may have our families, but we will always have each other to lean on, just as Mom and Dad said.” He paused to look at his younger sisters. “I love you both very much, I mean it.”

Dagny and Kari could only pull him into another group hug. 

“We love you too, big brother,” Dagny replied. 

(A Few Hours Later...)

“May the valkyries welcome you,” Chief Erik began, “and lead you and your  Night Fury through Odin's great battlefield. May they sing your name with love and fury, so that we might hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla and know that you've taken your rightful place at the table of queens. For a great woman has fallen: A warrior. A Lady. A chieftess. A sister. A wife. A mother...” he let out a shaky breath, “...a grandmother. A great-grandmother. A friend.”

As soon as the Chief finished, he turned to his father and nodded. It was time.  From Erik, the torch was passed allowing the older members of Grey’s family and Nala to light their bows as the younger children and Seasick watched the scene unfold with the other villagers. Once the task was completed, they turned to the old ship...the very ship that carried the bodies of Grey Hertha Bergman-Felman and her Night Fury, Shadow, as they laid side-by-side, slowly floating out to sea. 

The Chief of Haligan Island shot the first arrow, and once it landed on the ship, more arrows followed slowly setting the ship aflame in a true Viking fashion. The family of the former Chief and her people watched giving her and Shadow one final farewell. 

Sassa, the Heir of Haligan Island, slowly walked forward with tears rolling down her face. “We love you, Nana,” she whispered. We’ll miss you...you and Shadow.” She was jolted out of her thoughts when she felt her father’s hand on her shoulder causing her to look up at him. 

The young teenager hugged her father tightly as he returned the gesture. 

“I don’t want to ever forget her, Daddy,” Sassa finally said sniffling. 

“I know, sweetheart,” Erik said running a hand through his daughter’s brown hair, “and you never will. Nana and Shadow will live on in our hearts, our minds, and the stories that she told you and you will in turn tell your children one day. Future generations of our family will know of the stories of the Battle of the Grounded Dungeon and your great-grandmother.”

“A young woman,” Sven said walking up to his oldest son and granddaughter, “who joined the Rebellion to stand up to High Central, became second-in-command to a great Hero, died in sacrificing her life to save her beloved Night Fury only to be risen from the dead by the God of the Dragons, and grew into becoming a natural born leader.”

“Couldn’t said it better myself, Dad,” the Chief replied smiling at his father. 

[junker-town]

The Nets will regret firing Kenny Atkinson

Will the Nets really be better without Kenny Atkinson?

The Nets didn’t fire Kenny Atkinson for basketball reasons

All things considered, the Brooklyn Nets have exceeded expectations. The team’s best available player, Kyrie Irving, only appeared in 20 games before a lingering shoulder injury led to season-ending surgery. Caris LeVert has missed 25 games and in 14 of them he came off the bench (after returning from thumb surgery). Those two plus Spencer Dinwiddie (Brooklyn’s leader in total points by nearly 400) shared the court for a grand total of 67 minutes.

Elsewhere, Brooklyn’s roster had inconvenient hindrances. At least one of Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan were always on the floor, two gravity-killing bigs in a league that increasingly requires spacing at all five positions. Wilson Chandler’s 25-game suspension compelled Taurean Prince to be Brooklyn’s only full-time power forward. There was positional overlap, mixed with too much transience.

Making the playoffs in the Eastern Conference is not the most difficult task, but such grueling circumstances — significant injuries to key contributors, under the aura of anticipated progress — typically precede a total meltdown. These Nets could easily be where the Chicago Bulls or Detroit Pistons are, caving in to an uphill battle during one of the stranger gap years in recent NBA memory.

Before the season even began, Kevin Durant’s Achilles injury placed the Nets in an uncomfortable grey area, like a trustee who can’t access their looming fortune. But Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn’s head coach of nearly four years who was let go over the weekend, did not let them beat themselves.

Atkinson has been romanticized as a cultural trend-setting figure who habitually squeezed more from Brooklyn’s sum than its individual parts seemingly could. His vigor enhanced a brand of basketball soaked in sound judgement and analytically-influenced decisions. Players who weren’t always talented enough for the roles they had to fill still saw Atkinson’s vision and executed it within a system that played the percentages on both ends.

He will be a candidate for several job openings this summer — be it in Houston, Washington, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, Cleveland, Minnesota, Philadelphia, or somewhere else. He’s accomplished, with respect among players who made undeniable leaps under his eye. D’Angelo Russell, Joe Harris, Dinwiddie, and LeVert are just a few who benefited from Atkinson’s leadership. No coach will please every player, but there’s sweat equity in his style most respond to. On Saturday, the Nets robbed us from ever knowing how it would’ve worked with superstars who, before the season began, were vocally supportive of the culture and system Atkinson helped instill.

“He’s gotten us to this place right now,” Brooklyn’s general manager Sean Marks said during a press conference on Saturday afternoon. “With mutual discussions between the two of us, we both decided it’s time that we should move on.”

The Nets have suffered bad losses since the All-Star break, including a 141-118 blowout in Atlanta and a 118-79 defeat at home against Memphis. But to maintain that Atkinson wasn’t the right voice for Brooklyn’s locker room (as Marks has) does not justify letting him go when you consider who is actually in said locker room, and how many of them will still be around when the Nets are good enough to contend for a championship.

If the disgruntled figures were Durant and/or Irving, though, that’s a different story. Those two, Marks, and, most importantly, new owner Joe Tsai, are the four most influential opinions driving this franchise forward right now, and obviously none of them strongly felt like Atkinson was the right man for the job.

Coaching is complicated, but from most of what we saw about Brooklyn’s product, Atkinson was hardly the problem. On the court, Brooklyn took good shots and forced bad ones. On the day Atkinson was fired, they had the eighth-best defense in the league despite never having a single plus wing defender on the roster. (Iman Shumpert’s cup of coffee was the closest facsimile of this critical type of player.)

On Saturday, I asked Marks if Brooklyn’s playing style and on-court aesthetic had any impact on the decision to part ways with Atkinson. “No. I think the way they’re playing, we’re very supportive of the system that Kenny and his coaching staff have put out there. It’s about how they were implementing that system, you know, were the right pieces in the right places. I mean, that takes all of us there, so that didn’t factor in.”

Taken at face value, this passes the smell test. The Nets don’t post up. They don’t take mid-range jumpers. Their offense is third in location effective field goal percentage and their defense is second. This doesn’t mean their approach to basketball is the only one worth pursuing, or even the smartest way to accentuate Irving and, eventually, Durant’s skill sets, but what those numbers do say is Brooklyn was sensible and organized with Atkinson at the helm.

There were issues with the rotation, and Atkinson struggled to find balance among his best players, being that their strengths overlapped so harshly on the offensive end. On one hand, staggering Dinwiddie and LeVert kept one offensive creator on the floor at all times. On the other, there must also be some forward-thinking incentives at play, and an urgency to cultivate as much on-court familiarity as possible before Irving and Durant join them next season.

Atkinson is of the player development mold, which puts other areas of coaching under a microscope. During last year’s playoffs he didn’t entirely acquit himself as a tactical magician, but adapted to an environment where match-ups dictate results. He swerved towards iso-ball — the only playoff team that isolated at a higher frequency was Houston — and unleashed his guards on a Philadelphia 76ers defense that couldn’t contain all of them. (It was a strategy which forced JJ Redick to the bench for longer stretches than Brett Brown would’ve liked.)

Brooklyn’s crunch-time offense was generally fine under Atkinson, but there were hiccups here and there over the past couple seasons. In late December the Nets lost to the Karl-Anthony Towns-less Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime. It was just one game jumbled into the regular-season grind, but I can’t help but remember the last few minutes of regulation, when Brooklyn kept running the same stack pick-and-roll action down the stretch, even after it became clear the Timberwolves knew what was going to happen.

A few seconds after Ryan Saunders lets his defense know what’s about to happen, Atkinson jumps out of his seat and gives the exact same hand signal when his players screw up the execution:

One player later they ran the exact same thing. Again, it was off-beat. Again, they scored zero points.

This doesn’t look good, but one could argue that Atkinson was a victim of the talent (or lack thereof) Brooklyn had on the floor. That same action with Durant and Irving has a different result, whether the defense knows what’s coming or not.

Long before those two hyper-accelerated Brooklyn’s timeline, rumors about Atkinson’s job being in jeopardy started to percolate. Last December, when the Nets won two out of 14 games, including eight losses in a row, veterans in that locker room could sense a change on the horizon. They were 8-18 when they snapped their losing streak with an overtime win over the eventual champion Toronto Raptors. The Nets saved their season by winning nine of their next 10 games. It was the type of turnaround players who don’t believe in their head coach never make (including a three-point win in Philadelphia against the healthy Sixers).

Whether this year’s roster was sick of Atkinson or not, a firing of this magnitude necessitates a look back at what led the Nets to where they are. The decision to sign Durant, Irving, and DeAndre Jordan is one just about every general manager would make if in the same spot Brooklyn was last year. It’s a no-brainer, in almost every sense. But it’s worth wondering how things would’ve shaken out under less stressful, more patient circumstances.

The NBA is all about taking advantage of opportunity when it’s presented by fortuitous timing. The Nets had enough cap space to sign two stars with championship experience who were ready to win right now.

The alternative would’ve likely been to re-sign Russell, keep Dinwiddie, and ink Levert to an extension. Develop continuity with that core, hope Allen develops three-point range and becomes a legitimate franchise center, and stay as financially lean as possible without falling off their upward trajectory to attract free agents in 2021.

Again, no general manager would prefer Door B if Kevin Durant is walking through Door A, but that parallel universe is a fascinating one to consider, especially if the next couple years end in disappointment and Marks is the one looking for a new job.

What comes next is anybody’s guess. During his press conference, Marks sidestepped a couple questions about what type of coach the team will pursue this summer. Brooklyn’s opening is the most high risk, high reward opening in quite some time. And the question now becomes who can pick up where Atkinson left off and lead a team that hasn’t won two straight playoff series in 17 years to the NBA Finals?

Any serious candidate must command immediate respect from Irving and Durant and be familiar with world-class pressure. Is that Ty Lue or Jason Kidd? Mike D’Antoni or Brown (assuming Houston and Philly let them go)? Is it a Van Gundy brother or Mark Jackson? Is it Mike Krzyzewski, who recruited Irving to Duke and coached Durant on Team USA? This last option sounds impractical, but given Marks’ ties to the San Antonio Spurs and the downward trend the organization appears to be on … what about Gregg Popovich?

It’s probably too dramatic to describe Brooklyn’s situation as “a mess,” given that Durant is theoretically talented enough by himself to overcome just about any level of organizational dysfunction. But to achieve their goals the Nets can’t afford to be dysfunctional. As if there wasn’t already enough pressure, whoever they hire as their next head coach will walk in with sky-high expectations despite the absence of any runway to forge chemistry or build culture.

The decision to march ahead without Atkinson at the helm speaks to deeper, unknown issues that have little to actually do with the game of basketball and could not be resolved. We always knew the Nets would look very different next year. It’s a shame we’ll never get to see what that could’ve been with the same coach who helped get them where they are.

[setsunatama3]

Chapter 18: of preparations and plans

AN/ so like the last time here is the next chapter. And due to my full-time job work is unfortunately increased during the holidays. And by the fact that we just got bought out by another company so lots of work to be had as I am working 80 hours + a week. Hopefully, it will slow down after the holiday’s fingers crossed.

Chapter 18: of preparations and plans

It was dark and cold in the sunless realm she ruled over. Salem could admit that. Oh, how she longed to bathe in the sun's brilliant rays once more. Yet when she looked to the horizon, all she could see was the ever dark veil that sealed her to these lands.

Thinking back to when it all went so wrong, and these two square miles of land became her home, her prison…

It was nearly two hundred years ago when a group of mear men, all with red hair, came before her. At the height of her power and laid her low. Just as she was to unleash her horde of Grimm unto the world anew. They had tracked her to the very pits on which she built her castle. Making this her prison. It had taken years to figure out just what the man had done. Whatever otherworldly magic they had cast, it was meant to hold her. Yet it did not stop her servants and her pets from going through and doing her bidding. So that is what she had them do. While she spent her time studying the unique characters that were given life to stop her. As she waited, After all, that was time to an immortal. For soon, she would be free eventually.

]|[

The wait for the airship to get to Vale was some of the most stressful ten minutes of her life. Had it not been for her friends and teammates of RWBY and the girls of AACM, SLVR, and NNPR. Yang would have had to say that. She would have been crawling up the walls. She was definitely going to have to give Weiss her thanks in private.

When the airship finally landed. Yang and her teammates made their way to their first destination. It was a small boutique in the heart of Vales shopping district called cloak & dagger. Rather well known for its leather apparel. It was here that they began their shopping spree with Ernest. 

Finding a low cut cream-colored leather vest, she liked Yang paired it with a black cropped jacket with gold bands on the cuffs. And the most adorable skirt she could find. And a pair of boots with ribbons on the back.

When Weiss had picked out another dress, Yang knew that the heiress required a change in her wardrobe. 

"Hey, Weiss, let me help you out," Yang said, effectively taking over picking out the heiress clothing choices. Despite her protests to the contrary.

"Uh, no, I think I am fine. It's you who needs some help," Weiss said, pulling out a yellow sundress that had the other girl frowning.

"In case you haven't noticed, I am not exactly the dress-wearing kind of girl. Besides, we're going for a ride. Now, how about you try these on I'm sure Naruto would like to see your ass in this." Yang said, pulling out the smallest pair of short shorts she could find, forcing them into her princess's hands, pushing her to the fitting rooms. Giggling with glee upon seeing Weiss's face flame cherry red with embarrassment.

As everyone else tried to ignore the spectacle, the two girls put on. Enjoying the fact that they were not the focus of the blonde brawler. 

Between the hours the girls had spent shopping in the stores in the shopping district. Yang had found a few pairs of high heeled boots along with a nice jacket and a few skirts and other accessories. She was not the only one to have bought something the other girls had their hands ladened with bags as well. At least until Sarada pulled out a pair of scrolls and unraveled them setting the bags on the scroll and pushing her chakra into the scrolls. Their items were sealed away.

While looking for the next store to shop in, they came across a dust shop with its windows smashed in and crime scene tape barring entry. 

One of the detectives noticed blake amongst the crowd and made his way over to the group of girls.

"You, their girl, do you know anything about this?!" the officer asked rudely.

"No, I don't," Blake answered cautiously.

"Ha, like you filthy animals don't know." the officer sneered.

He had only backed off because of the detective in charge of the scene calling out, "officer! Get your ass back to your post now!"

It had been a shock for the group to have seen that blunt racism. It was an even greater shock when a Faunus boy had retaliated. By throwing a banana peel at the said officer making a fool out of the man. And leading the police away from the scene on a merry chase.

"Well, that happened," Weiss stated, trying to hide a smile at the young man's antics.

The others broke out into giggles at the boy leading the police on a chase.

Wanting to see just what was happening, Yang gave chase, followed by the other girls. Turning the corner, Yang ran headlong into a smaller girl in an attempt to see how the young Faunus boy was embarrassing the boys in blue of the vale PD. 

"Owww," Yang groaned. Looking down at the girl who she had run into.

"Are you two okay?" Ragora asked.

"Yea, I'm fine. Did you see where they went?" Yang asked. Looking around for the prankster and his pursuers.   

"Oh, I'm wonderful thank you for asking!" the odd girl exclaimed.

Helping the two to their feet and taking her odd behavior in stride.

"Hello, I'm Penny." the young girl cheerfully introduced herself.

It was with that introduction that the girls would meet the odd and even-intriguing penny. It was this meeting that would lead to a collision of worlds.

]|[

Raven was in a bad spot, having been forced to spy on the undisputed ruler of the underworld kitsune. Thinking back, this all started with a raid on a village that had gone horribly wrong. The defenders the town had been on a retainer had seen the Branwen tribe coming from miles away. They called themselves Uzumaki shinobi. Needless to say, it was a trap. And the only way to save her people was to agree to the terms of a binding contract. Calling it a binding contract was an understatement, to be honest. To be sure she had kept her end of the deal, they had marked her with something called seal brand they called a juinjutsu: Kinkoju no Fuda above her heart. While she still had free will, it compelled her to do as they said.

So when they called in her debt. To spy on some blonde, no name kid.she thought that this would be easy, then she would be free.

 Their reasons apparently, this kid had triggered some kind of alert, and it had taken them two years just to track him down. Now they needed information. 

The most startling thing she had found out was this no-name kid was the ever-elusive Kitsune. The god damned boogie man of the underworld. It was almost enough for her to call it quits and leave this country and find a hole somewhere to hide the seal and it's compulsion be damned. 

At least until she had seen him with her children. She had always watched over Yang and ruby from a distance. The only reason why she had left was because Summer went missing. Then she had inherited the maiden powers during her search for the one she cared about more than anything. It was then Raven swore to protect both Yang and Ruby from a distance, even if it meant going back to the tribe. After all, they where the legacy she and summer would leave behind.

She was a mother, and she would protect them no matter what.

It was why, after observing the young man and his companion from a distance. She knew for a fact that they had a violent falling out with the extremist group known as the White Fang. And they were now actively hunting down any White Fang weapon caches. It was likely that the Fang would strike at the latest shipment of dust to restore their stock. It made an even bigger target was that the scheduled delivery was being managed by the SDC. It was just the right kind of mark for the Fang.

Flipping out her scroll, she dialed her Uzumaki handler. He picked out after the second ring as always.

"Talk," he demanded.

"There is likely going to be a raid on a shipment of dust by the White Fang tonight," Raven answered immediately.

"And this concerns us why?"

"Based on what I have gathered, the 'boy' you had me look into is the Kitsune. As you know from my reports about what had been going on in Vale. the masked man Kitsune is likely the boy you have had me watch for the past two months."

It took a moment for him to respond, but when he did, Raven was relieved.

"Right, we will have a team sent to take over and make contact if at all possible. The team will arrive in Vale with in the next six hours. Until then, you are to remain on standby. Once they make contact, your services will no longer be required. You will be released from your contract…" the man had said.

It lifted a weight off her chest after today she would be free…

]|[

Ending the call with Raven, the man looked out the window of one of Vale's many skyscrapers in the upper-class tech sector of the commercial district. He had to remark that despite the beautiful view. He would rather be out in the field, fulfilling his purpose as an ANBU. But he was given this assignment for the betterment of Uzushiogakure. 

With that in mind, he opened his laptop and attached a drive with seal script on it. The seals flashed red, then blue, and spread to the computer. Securing the device. He pulled up the roster of teams for his area of influence. And had to grimace at his prospects. 

There was only one team available for a sortie within the time frame. He just hoped that she would follow the mission directives. Despite being a prodigy, she had a habit of going a bit overboard. When the missions that were given involved the clan.

He opened a messenger and began typing.

~Tenko: I have a mission for you Bakeneko.~

~Bakeneko: you know I hate that code name Akira.~

~Tenko: please don't use my name. We stick to code names for a reason.~

~Bakeneko: okay, you're no fun. What's the job this time?~

~Tenko: you are to go after the target going by the name Naruto Uzumaki aka Kitsune. Bring him in if possible…~

~Bakeneko: are you sure this kid is an Uzumaki?~

~Tenko: no, it's why we want you to bring him in. Your team is the closest and most reliable team currently in Vale. You will make contact with the informant. To get the rest of the mission details. And per the agreement, she is to be freed from service.~

~Bakeneko: by freeing her do you mean…~

~Tenko: no you are not to kill her undoing the seal and letting her go will suffice.~

~Bakeneko: right, I will get to Vale as soon as I can with my team. We are four hours out. Bakeneko signing out.~

The now named Akira let out a sigh. Hoping that things would go well this time around. Grumbling to himself, he lit up a cigarette. And took a long drag then exhaled. As he thought to himself, "God, I need a vacation.  

With this one simple act, the wheels of fate would be set into motion once more.

]|[

For one James ironwood looking at his fleet of airships, it had once brought him pride. Knowing that with this fleet and the Atlassian paladins and knights, his people would be safe. But now, when looking at them, all he felt was a sense of building dread. Shipments have begun to go missing. And it meant that there was a leak in his military. 

It was why he was on his way to a meeting with one of his oldest allies and best friend, Ozpin. 

Stepping out of the elevator and into the large office. James knew that this would be one of many conversations he was not looking forward to two. 

"Ah James, right on time. Come sit, we have much to discuss. Can I get you some coffee or tea, perhaps?" Ozpin said, pouring a cup of coffee for himself.

"No, that won't be necessary, Oz. I have gone through the documents you sent me, and to be honest, I find it rather troubling. That you are recommending letting in that young man know about solemn and the maidens. We had a plan, Oz, and I don't think that we should abandon it so soon." the general said.

"James, for once, I feel that you are indeed right. However, I would like you to watch these videos. We can discuss what to do after." the headmaster proposed a counter offer.

Pulling up the first of many videos. The pair settled in to view the first of many videos on the candidates in question.

After watching the first of the videos where he watched as the young Uzumaki mended flesh and bone. With the grace of a surgeon without any of the tools in the field no less. The general could say he was in awe at the young man's skill. But the hits just kept rolling after watching his many fights in the combat class. James knew he wanted this young man. If they had access to his skills. Then they would have to push back the darkness.

But what had puzzled him even further was when Ozpin had pulled out a paper scroll and unraveled it showing an odd pattern on the scroll. 

"Oz, what is that exactly?" the general had asked. Finding it odd that Beacon's headmaster would have a scroll of all things.

"This James is what that young man called a storage sealing scroll. Now watch." the headmaster said with an odd tone of excitement in his voice.

He then pressed his hand on the odd markings on the scroll and by pushing his aura into the scroll. He unsealed the contents of the scroll in a puff of smoke. 

When the smoke cleared. On top of the scroll was a book. One that read Uzumaki fūinjutsu for dummies. All said, it was a rather amusing sight for the headmaster. To see one of his oldest friends looking at him with no clue of what was going on. 

With a smirk, Ozpin decided to elucidate just what the small demonstration meant for them. "James, this is fūinjutsu or the sealing arts. A method with the potential of manipulating the very fabric of reality. A power so strong that it may very well rival the power of the maidens themselves."

Ironwood was stunned at the information. And just what this meant for the world if this young man sided with them. It implied that they could finally be able to deal with Salem once and for all.

With this clarity, the general tentatively relayed his hopeful thoughts on the matter. "Oz, does this mean that we can finally put an end to this conflict?" the general asked, hoping beyond hope that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

 Nodding his head in confirmation, the headmaster relaid his thoughts. "Yes, James, from what I understand about fūinjutsu, is that the only thing holding back a user of the art. Is the amount of aura they have and their imagination."

From their things went rather well in the meeting. The only thing that darkened their mood was when the general relaid the information about a mole in the military selling proprietary military secrets and munitions to the Fang. It was something that both men agreed needed to be dealt with and soon.

]|[

 Things for Blake had been somewhat surreal today. With her team accepting her for who she was. Despite the faults of her past and telling them that she was a Faunus as well. It was why between meeting the moderately eccentric girl by the name of Penny. And hearing about the rash of robberies that had allegedly been committed by the White Fang. That rather interesting Faunus boy. She had been slightly distracted by the rumors that it was the white Fang. That had been behind the break-ins. It was something that the Fang of not more than two years ago would never have gotten involved in.

When they had found an excellent outdoor cafe to sit down for lunch. Blake was still going over everything she knew about the recent rumors of the White Fang. While she did respond when spoken to. Yang could tell that her partner was not interested in the current conversations. It was annoying and something she wanted to fix.

"Okay, Blake spill, just what are you trying to work out in that pretty little head of yours," Yang said exasperated with her current mood.

For a few moments, Blake just blinked blankly. Gathering her thoughts on what she wanted to say. And for a moment, it looked like she would refuse to talk about her troubles to them. It felt like they were going to go back to how they were before. Blake becoming more withdrawn and hiding her feelings from them.

With a sigh, Blake started to explain just what was bothering her. "For a long time, I believed in the cause of the White Fang. Since I was old enough to walk, I could remember my parents taking me to rallies and protests. Always telling me to do what I felt was right. Then things slowly started to change." 

Pausing to take a sip of her tea, she continued. "The Fang at first, was all about gaining equal rights through peaceful protest. And when they had a change in leadership. The peaceful protests turned into violent riots and attacks. For a time, it started to work. We finally were being taken seriously. As the Fang began to become more and more radicalized. I became more disillusioned with their goals. Eventually, I left, and here I am hoping to do what is right regardless of who it is I help."

In an attempt to give the other girl some comfort, Yang reached a hand over to grip hers in a sign of support.

Taking the blonde's hand in her own, Blake gave a small smile. Assured in the fact that her friends would be there no matter what happened.

"In the end, it does not matter why if the White Fang is behind the recent string of robberies or not, I would like to see if it was them."

It was a tense moment of silence that was only broken by the most unlikely of people. "Well, if that's all you want, then I may be able to help," Weiss said.

"How?" Blake inquired.

Hesitantly Weiss relaid her answer. "Well, there is a shipment of dust from the SDC coming in today. I know because I get a regular shipment of dust from the company."

While the girls were making their plans to stake out the docks. Sarada had to hide a frown. It seemed as if the white Fang was becoming more and more active. It meant that more would have to be done, and their agents had not given them any actionable intel. With Adam playing things close to the vest. It meant that the Fang was all the more unpredictable.

"Hold up, before you take things any further. If we are going to do this, then we need to do it right. And make things clear we are only doing this to gather intel." Sarada said with a tone that broked no arguments.

It was to this that the group gave a unanimous agreement that these simple rules would be followed to the letter, and they set off to head back to Beacon to gather their weapons. Prepping for what would be unbeknownst to them a fateful collision of worlds.

[upstartpoodle]

Mirror Worlds

Summary: The third chapter of my George x Elizabeth magic AU, in which Elizabeth is a magician and George is a fairy. This chapter: George and Cary make their escape from Faerie.

Just a quick warning, there's a bit of violence in this chapter, though it's nothing particularly bad.

Previous chapter

Chapter 3: Mac an Rìgh a' Bhàis

The lands that lay atop the Western Cliffs were always dark, save for the distant fires of war burning on the horizon. As such, the great windswept woods and rocky hills were constantly bathed in a blood red glow that, due to the permanent gloaming, could be attributed neither to sunrise nor sunset. There was sometimes a moon, though it appeared sporadically, and was often covered by shadow or, more recently, thick plumes of smoke rising from some far away battlefield. That tidecoming, it too was red, round and huge amongst the wisps of cloud hovering in the air, gnarled branches silhouetted against its domineering presence in the sky.

Deep beneath the highest hill of the Western Lands, the fairy known widely as Mac an Rìgh a' Bhàis, but as Righ Òg to his people was standing by the underground river that wended its way through the caverns, watching a beam of red light playing on the water from where it had broken through from a crack in the vaulted roof of the chamber. This, in itself, was unusual. It was the habit of the people of this particular rath to remain abed during tidecoming, not daring to surface until tidegoing had arrived--so great was their fear of the sea, and of their rath king who forbade them to go near it.

Mac an Rìgh a' Bhàis, however, had a particular purpose for being up this late, one that had his insides twisting in terror at the thought of his own daring, not to mention the consequences it could well garner if he were unsuccessful. Defiance against one's liege lord was harshly punished when one was a subject of the warlord, Rìgh a' Bhàis. Nobody disobeyed, nobody protested and nobody escaped, no matter who they were or what they were capable of. And yet, the latter was exactly what Mac an Rìgh a' Bhàis intended to do, for all the thought terrified him.

The fostered son of the great warlord fought the urge to pace agitatedly as he waited, wringing his hands in a nervous gesture that the man who claimed to be his father had long been attempting to stamp out of him. Rìgh a' Bhàis would not kill him, he knew, if he were to be caught--the man needed an heir and, unlike the families of many warlords, Mac an Rìgh a' Bhàis had no siblings, fostered or otherwise, to compete against. But, oh, he would make him regret his actions, he could say without a doubt, would quite happily make him suffer if he felt an example needed to be made.

Fortunately, Rìgh a' Bhàis himself was not here. He was, at this moment, on campaign against some neighbouring lands, leaving the rath in the hands of his advisor, Fear Dubh, a wight named for his once dark hair and penchant for wearing black. That was why Mac an Rìgh a' Bhàis had chosen this time to make his escape. Indeed, he had been aiding in the escape of many of the rath recently, had managed to get them out through the portals that were currently being used to scout the human lands for resources and strike key targets in preparation for invasion, any who might have noticed being distracted by the task of directing the lower echelons of his father's army and gathering intelligence on the world bordering theirs. Now, only he and two others remained, and they were to escape tonight.

The young fairy sighed quietly, finally giving in to the urge to pace, running one hand through his blond curls as the seconds stretched into intolerable minutes. His magic, having sensed his nerves, prickled and roiled under his skin, ready to be unleashed the moment it was needed, but he forced it down. He could not afford to draw attention to himself. Not now.

“You seem troubled, nephew,” a voice rang out throughout the cavern all of a sudden, making Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis start with alarm. “One would think you might be planning something illicit.”

Out of his shadows stepped his uncle, the sworn brother of Rìgh a’ Bhàis, known widely as An Comandair Reòite for his cold, dispassionate temperament and his refusal to be moved by compassion on the battlefield—or indeed at all, and the most foul-tempered goblin Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis had ever met. He glowered at him, scowling darkly.

“Do not do that, uncle,” he hissed. “Do you want us to be caught?”

Uncle smirked right back at him, a glint of sharp teeth sparkling between his twisted lips.

“Calm yourself, nephew,” he said. “I bring news come from the front.”

Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis regarded him grimly.

“He is victorious, is he not?” he asked.

Uncle snorted.

“When is he not?,” he returned. “Still, it does put pressure on our plans. Our dear ruler returns from campaign at high tidegoing.”

Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis hissed through his teeth.

“Then we must leave immediately, must we not?” he said.

“The sooner the better,” agreed Uncle. “They sent out a band of soldiers to eliminate a target this tidegoing past so their attention will likely be on that rather than us. We had best take the opportunity while we still have it.”

“Of course, uncle,” replied Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis, glancing around him a little nervously, all too used to looking out for eavesdroppers. “Is Cousin ready?”

Uncle nodded sharply.

“He is waiting for us,” he said, before throwing a thick, dark cloak his way. “Put this on, and make sure it covers your wings. The last thing we need is people wondering where their rath king’s heir is going at this time and thinking it a good idea to follow.”

“Or his sworn brother” retorted Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis sharply, but nevertheless knew to what his uncle was referring. His wings, as most fairies’ were, were distinctive, and that meant that, combined with his status, he cut an easily recognisable figure, which was the last thing they needed right now. As such, he put on the cloak without further protest, hiding his wings from sight and drawing the hood up over his head to obscure his face. Uncle, who had already been wearing a matching cloak, did likewise, and they fell into step, following the stream towards their destination.

The journey towards the underground lake, where Cousin was supposedly waiting for them, was torturous. For all that they were travelling as quietly as they could, he could not help but find the patter of their footsteps on the wet stone deafening as they echoed through the cave walls. Even the sharp breaths he was forcing himself to take in as measuredly as he could were loud to him, seeming as if the slightest whisper would bring down carnage upon their heads. Uncle seemed calm beside him, but nothing ever seemed to faze him—to the point where he might have been called emotionless in fact.

After what had seemed like an age, the stream started widening, before pooling into a great expanse of still water that stretched out as far as the eye could see. Around the walls of the cave, from which bright orange torches were casting eerie shadows on the glittering surface of the lake, were several dark tunnels, each leading to different destinations within and without the rath. Near to them was a jetty, where a great many long, narrow boats were moored, and on it stood Cousin, clad in a dark cloak to match their own and sporting an air of impatience that told Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis that he was equally keen to get away as soon as they could.

“Are you ready?” he asked them as they approached.

“Would we be here if we weren’t?” retorted Uncle.

Cousin snorted.

“I’ll take that for a yes” he said, before boarding the nearest boat and taking up a pole to propel it along. Uncle stepped onto it beside him, sitting down and waiting for his nephew to join them. Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis cast a nervous glance around him, relieved to see that there was nobody there to observe them, then stepped nimbly onto the boat himself and took the seat opposite his uncle. With them all aboard, Cousin pushed off from the jetty, and they began to make their way across the lake.

If Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis had thought the journey to the lack had been painstaking, the one across it was positively agonising. This means of travel had never been designed for its speed, and the more they spent out in the open, the more his terror grew. They would be caught—he was sure of it—if they did not reach some sort of cover soon. His mouth felt dry, as if he had been dining on grit, and he swallowed nervously, trying to calm his beating heart. From the other end of the boat, Uncle shot him a sharp look, telling him without words to keep himself together.

Finally, finally, they reached the tunnel, and Cousin propelled them determinedly down it, torches flaring into life at the walls as they passed by them. This tunnel led in precisely two directions: up to the clifftops and along to the underground paths where one of the more little used of the portals to the human world lay. Their destination as the latter, of course, but one of the reasons they had chosen it was that they could plausibly plead the former if they were waylaid. People rarely went up there during tidecoming, admittedly, but it was neither illegal nor completely unheard of. Besides, with the most easily accessible portals being watched, it was the best they had been able to come up with.

After a while, the water began to peter out as the incline of the tunnel rose slightly, and they were forced to stop the boat and take the rest of the journey on foot. None of them spoke, not daring to draw attention to themselves by making any unnecessary sounds. As such, they travelled silently--or at least as silently as they could manage, eyes trained determinedly forward, watchful for any signs that they might have been spotted. This continued on for Gods knew how long, and Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis found that it did nothing to calm his raging nerves, stretched as taut as a bowstring.

Unfortunately, something then happened to cause those nerves to soar dramatically. From around a shadowy corner came sudden sharp, resounding footsteps, and the three of them froze as Fear Dubh emerged from the darkness with six goblin guards and two trolls at his side. He smiled at them with a kind of oily courteousness, but his eyes were hard and cold.

"Comandair, Caraid a' Chomandair" he said, addressing Uncle and Cousin respectively, before turning to Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis, a wicked smirk playing at his lips and a little bow of the head, "prionnsa. Whatever are you all doing out in the tunnels during tidecoming?"

Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis' tongue felt like lead. Not trusting himself to answer, he turned his head slightly towards Uncle, hoping that he would get the message.

"We were about to go up to the clifftops for a while," snapped Uncle coldly. "I trust it's not a crime?"

Fear Dubh raised an eyebrow at him, a malicious gleam in his black eyes.

"The clifftops are out of bounds this tidecoming," he replied. "There is a storm coming in from the sea."

The three of them exchanged a wary glance. It was true that the clifftops were often dangerous near high tidecoming should the weather be poor. The tides around their lands were violent, and the waves had been known to come right over the tops of the great cliffs if the winds were particularly high. But the last that any of them had known, it had been calm and still, and even if a storm were coming, both it and high tidecoming would not hit for some time. As such, they could only draw one conclusion: Fear Dubh knew exactly what they were up to.

"We have plenty of time until high tidecoming arrives" pointed out Uncle, clearly not keen to give up on their only chance of escape.

Fear Dubh's smirk did not waiver at his protest, though the cruel glint in his eyes intensified alarmingly.

"But surely you will recognise that, for your own safety, you would do best to remain in the rath," he returned, his tone glib, "especially yourself, prionnsa. Your father should not like you to be out so near the sea during tidecoming."

If Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis' temper had been in the habit of overcoming his sense of self-preservation, he might have snapped that there was very little his father liked him to do. However, it was not, so he bit his tongue and regarded Uncle out of the corner of his eye, trying to discern what move he was attempting to make. The man in question, though, was as unhelpfully inscrutable as he ever was.

"Come," said Fear Dubh, reaching out and taking Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis' upper arm in a biting grip; the fairy stilled, not daring to fight it, for all that his insides were squirming with terror, "let me escort you back."

He tugged Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis along beside him, tightening his fingers in warning when he resisted. They had barely taken three steps, however, when there was a whistle of metal slicing through air followed by a shrill howl of pain, and Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis felt himself being released. Turning around, he saw that Uncle had summoned his sword, and had cut Fear Dubh's hand clean off. The man in question was clutching the bloodied stump of his wrist to his chest, snarling incoherently. There was a moment of stunned silence, Uncle and Fear Dubh bearing their sharp teeth at one another, before carnage descended.

At a barked order from Fear Dubh, three of the goblin guards pounced on Uncle. The first fell quickly to his blade, and by the time the second two reached him, Cousin had joined in the fray. One of the trolls quickly made to aid his comrades, but Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis stopped him in his tracks with a bright silver flare of magic, reducing him to dust. With a bellow of rage, Fear Dubh sent a blast of magic of his own his way in an attempt to incapacitate him, but the pain must have been hampering his aim, as Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis easily dodged it, and it collided with the tunnel ceiling, causing several fractured lumps of rock to plummet to the ground with a resounding bang.

"Nephew, run!," roared Uncle, now battling off nearly all of the guards that had been accompanying Fear Dubh. "Go, now!"

With a wild glance around him, Mac an Rìgh a’ Bhàis saw that, now that the guards were taken up with Uncle and Cousin, there was a clear path for him to get past their attackers and to the portal. He didn't need telling twice--Uncle and Cousin could take care of themselves, and he couldn't risk them all being captured. He broke into a run, dodging past Fear Dubh, who made a swipe for him with his remaining hand, and stunning the second troll with another surge of magic as he attempted to grab him. Then, nothing blocking his way to freedom, he pelted down the path as fast as he could, not daring to look behind him.

From somewhere deep inside the caves, a horn sounded, calling the guards to arms. Mac an Rìgh a' Bhàis spurred himself on faster--there were only so many people he could fight off after all. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he knew that there was only so many people Uncle and Cousin could fight off as well.

Soon--too soon--he heard the thundering of feet behind him, and he knew that he was being pursued. Taking in several sharp breaths, he put on a burst of speed,  of daring to turn round to see how many there were--he could guess well enough from the almost deafening sounds behind him. Panicked, he erected a hasty shield across the tunnel behind him in the hope of slowing them down but, without the time to cast all the proper spellwork, he only managed to gain a few meagre seconds on his pursuers before they tore it down, snarling in rage at his attempts to resist.

His failed shield soon mattered little though, as the portal was in his sights, suspended in midair in a small, cramped cavern, casting eerie blue-white shadows across the surrounding walls. It was then that the panic surged inside him, causing his heart to beat so fast that it felt as though may well burst from his chest. He could not allow the guards to follow him through the portal--not if he stood any chance of escape. That left him with precisely one option, and not one that he particularly wanted to resort to, for if he did, it would block Uncle and Cousin's access to the portal just as much as it would anyone else's. But then he reminded himself that their route to the portal was also blocked by a good number of Rìgh a' Bhàis' guards, and that the pair of them were both resourceful enough to find another way out of Faerie. And besides, had his uncle not told him to run? He would not have wanted him to balk now, would have sneered at the sentimentality of it in fact.

His mind made up, Mac an Rìgh a' Bhàis stepped just inside the mouth of the cavern, whirled around and hurled the most forceful blast of magic he could towards the tunnel ceiling. With a deafening bang, the entire place shook violently as chunk upon chunk of rock hurtled down between himself and the guards, sealing off the entrance to the cavern. Not daring to wait--not even to pause to think--the fairy turned and leaped into the gaping portal, screwing his eyes tight as he was tugged through dimensions. He was alone, afraid, and had no idea where he was going, but he could at least assure himself that it could not be worse than the place from which he had come.

Next chapter: George arrives in the human world and Elizabeth and her father go to the site of the attack on the Bassets.

[crowlum-blog]

1- A Hero’s Story

There were faint sounds, screams of the innocent. There I was, watching it all happen. Powerless to stop what could have been stopped. I was a weak coward, I had no place, yet yearned to belong. Was that so much to ask? Didn’t think so. But, it doesn’t matter, now does it? The malice had consumed me. And now all I can do is watch and pray that anyone I care for makes it out alive. This power given to me was nothing more than a curse. Something that I was meant to fear from the beginning. Not for a second did I think this would be the outcome of my choices. A world set ablaze because I wasn’t strong enough to stop what I ended up becoming.

It always gnawed at me. Being born into a family of greatness. It seemed like I would follow suit. I was destined for greatness. It only needed time. But unfortunately, so did this curse. It sickened me, just how useless I was to fight back. I tried my hardest. But I ended up just failing like everyone said I would. I was brought down by those who didn’t know a thing about me. And it all led to this. A world consumed by chaos. Chaos I created.

On a lonely four way street, with tall skyscrapers in the centre of Tokyo. There I was, standing dead centre in the middle of the road, walking with a twisted stride from my leg being broken. I was this curse set upon the city. This is far from what I wanted to be. What I wanted to be was a good person and do the right things for the right people. Turns out my mind was so marred by the time I found out what was wrong, that I couldn’t go back, no matter how much I struggled.

Though, on that street wasn’t only me. There were others, people who had the power to survive what I had just unleashed. The only one standing though, was a boy. Someone who was strong willed, and who could save those he cared for, even in my place. Though, my sense of admiration had twisted when the boy became stronger than I. That is why I had to change my form, in order to be like him. This boy’s resentment towards me grew stronger and stronger. His own form changed. Though he was in control. He spouted some words about how my views were wrong and how I was the villain of both our stories. I didn’t bother to listen. Not when the boy who was taking my road was right in front of me. Nothing else mattered, other than destroying that sense of hope he carried. The very thing I sought to gain. I wanted to be a light to shine and break through the darkness. That is what this boy possessed. I had to have it, so I could save those I lost…

Then I heard a set of words. A single line in which I crossed too many times. I heard the boy's voice cut through the silence and the darkness. It was so powerful. He didn’t hate me, no, he was trying to save me, even after everything…

“A hero is someone who holds on for a minute longer! But look at you now!”

Apparently I was the villain…

And I was the cause of hope being lost.

Hope resides in all of us. This boy is a prime example of that. To crush his light would mean the end of hope for all.

I had to kill him…

For my hope was on the line. Even if my sense of justice was controlled by years of regret. I’m sorry. But I’m still hopeful for those I’ve lost to return. He was but an obstacle in my road. And so I must hurdle over all obstacles in order to reach a future in which hope lives on for me and my lost ones.

For I am the one, the only, hero.

And this is my story.

It was just past noon, and the sun was slowly starting its slow descent into the endless void under the horizon. It was a quiet day, nothing too substantial happening in the world. People went about their days as normal. Shopkeepers trying to sell their goods to any passerby. Tired men and women going to work or coming home from work. Young men and woman turning tricks for a quick pay, street performers doing their best to make a living for doing what they love, and students awaiting that fabled hour when the bells rang and they could run off to their homes.

Sora noticed this silence, he looked outside his homeroom window to a vast cityscape. His gaze locking with a setting sun. He sighed, and turned his eyes back to his test paper. He was halfway through it. The test was about Shadows, and the history on them. It was a concept everyone knew about. They had been around since the dawn of time, or so that’s what everyone says.

One of the questions on the test--one Sora skipped--was: What is a Shadows purpose? It was basically an opinion answer. But there was no mark for the question, so why spout an opinion if it’s probably wrong anyway. That was Sora’s train of thought right now. Most of the questions he left blank or half-heartedly done. He was antsy, and his hand was starting to cramp from holding the pencil for so long.

He wrote down some answers to some other questions like: What can Shadows do? Or, Where do Shadows come from?

Extremely basic stuff. But it was important to know for the most part. This test wasn’t practical, but supposedly it helped your Shadow form and opinion about you. Which was complete bull. A piece of paper didn’t define what sort of Shadow you got. It was all about who you are. Not the words you put on a page.

Of course, most of the other kids took this pretty seriously, as Shadows were a pretty big deal. Though some people, almost half of the population of earth, didn’t really agree. It was a classic 50/50 scenario, except even some people with Shadows didn’t exactly support the whole thing. And since Shadows have been on earth since ‘the dawn of time’ then it’s a pretty common thing to be called out for having a strong one.

Another question on the test was: Is obtaining a powerful Shadow all luck, or do you obtain one through sheer will of personality?

A stupid question to ask. This whole thing was just an opinion gatherer after all, not much to be expected. Sora knew that from taking the test each year he attended school. The only change for high school were more ‘thoughtful’ questions that really ‘got your philosophical side out.’ Which was again, bull.

Sora started tapping his foot on the ground. His bones felt sore, all he wanted to do was go home and rest. But, that didn’t seem like a possibility. Since he was one of the last to finish the test, and school was about to end. But that wasn’t the only reason why. Something was about to happen, Sora could feel it.

A hazy feeling from deep within him, something he’d never felt before. It was like a mixture of that feeling after eating your favorite food, and a rush of going down a steep slant on a rollercoaster. And odd feeling Sora wasn’t sure how to process. It kept doubling over, swelling up like a glass being filled to the brim with water. He began to notice a faint blue aura, he wondered if it was time.

Is this the time when I get my own? Will I finally get my own Shadow? He thought with excitement, his fingers trembling. The blue aura wasn’t coming off of Sora, though, but someone else in the room. Someone who was sitting right smack dab in the centre of the front row. Everyone had started to notice the blue glow, even the boy--who was Sora’s best friend, Hisota--stood up in surprise once he took notice of it.

The blue aura started to more clearly emanate from his body, every single cell of his body glowing a faint blue colour. Everyone in the class had backed up by now, as they all knew what was happening. The teacher was trying to usher the students out of the class, but even he was dumb founded. It was common place to have something like this happen, but it was still a spectacle to behold every time.

The blue light around Hisota started to glow more vibrantly and fiercely. Changing colours until it became a solid white colour and grew to a blinding brightness. Most of the students shielded their eyes, but others stared, completely unphased by the light. Hisota stood, holding his hands open palm out in front of him. The blue aura was dissipating. There was this strange reverse of gravity around Hisota, that lifted the loose ends of his uniform, and hold his hair up like he was powering up. Soon enough even that left him, and he was stood in the front of the room, desks overturned, papers thrown about everywhere, students staring in awe; Sora included.

Hisota looked back at Sora, they both had the same thing cross their mind.

Run.

Sora looked concerned as Hisota ran out of the room, other students knew what he was doing, but others wanted to follow, being blocked by the teacher. What Hisota just experienced is called an Awakening. Something that can happen during mundane life such as just now, or it can happen during the most harsh moments of your life. The Awakening is when your Shadow finally ‘awakens’ inside of you. This can be dangerous. As it releases a large amount of power. The stronger the Shadow, the more devastating the blast.

That’s right. Hisota was about to explode.

Sora watched him running outside as far away from the school as he could, he made it about halfway onto the track when a blue flame surrounded him and blinded any onlookers. The blast wasn’t that large, but it did some damage for sure. About ten meters in each direction, smoldering ground now surround Hisota. Though, he stood completely fine, as if nothing happened.

Sora gaped in awe at Hisota. He was completely unscathed, and was now holding his Shadow. He was so far away it was hard to make out the fine details, but Hisota sent it away in a plume of blue flames, and ran back towards the school. Even with a traumatic event such as that, it was a daily thing for some people, everyone knew what to do; others slightly clueless, but got the idea.

Sora, even feeling happy for his friend, felt this hint of jealousy. Why hadn’t his Shadow awoken yet? Why hasn’t Sora experienced something like that? He wanted to get some answers, but all in all, patience was key.

Hisota reentered the building and helped cleaned up the room, he was then admitted to the medical office in the school. He was to talk to the nurse about the experience. From there they would base some info off his description, then would update it on Hisota’s records under ‘Shadow Activity.’ Once that went through, and was fully registered, he would be able to use his Shadow with small restrictions based on his age. He would even be able to join groups, or Factions.

Sora on the other hand, felt solemn. He was left behind, and as Hisota tried to tell him the experience, all Sora could do was stare blankly into himself, searching for something. Maybe a sign of a Shadow. There were medical tests, big machines to tell you if you actually had a Shadow inside of you. Some people are born unlucky, and receive a Shadow so weak it dies inside of them, lost forever.

Sora was short on hope…

The day ended like that, with Sora still hanging his head low, and Hisota being praised by people who barely knew him. There was this underlying fame whenever you got your Shadow. People always wanted to know how strong it was, or what it looked like. Some Shadows have a completely unique design, others… well, not many people would want a piece of paper for their Shadow, now would they?

Though that’s just how the world worked in all honesty. People are born into a better life than others. It’s just a matter of choices that form your future. For some, their choices lead to powerful futures, where they are the forefront of the world, able to usher it into a new dawn. Others, they are left to suffer, with regret and contempt eating them up inside. Not all good choices make your Shadow strong though. Sometimes those with evil intent, get Shadows even more powerful than those who seek out justice with their hearts as pure as a dog’s affection.

Sora would learn the hard way that living up to these choices would be the thing that led to a bleak future. For now, all he had to worry about was his present. And how he would deal with his lack of a Shadow for now. He was pretty tolerant, albeit a bit childish for his age, though he knew when to be mature.

He took everything with a grain of salt, not letting many people break him down so easily. He wore a mask with a poorly drawn smile. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t happy. He had a home, a family, friends, leisure items to make his life just that less boring. He was happy where he was, if he didn’t get a Shadow, so be it. But, Sora would live the rest of his life in someone's shadow, knowing he was lesser than them for not having one.

During the train ride home, Sora had lots to think about, most often than not about how he wished he had a Shadow. What it would look like, how strong it would be, how many people he could save. He wanted nothing more than that, to be a sign of hope and justice, a light to cut through the darkness, never fading away.

I want to be someone who people can look up to, someone people can feel safe around. I want to destroy all fear. I want to be what people call hope. Sora thought, smiling to himself as he stepped off the train. He walked the rest of the way to his house. Nothing too special, livable, and cozy for sure. But he would be lying if he said it was fine the way it was. At his house, his mother and father--Naomi and Marco Izumi--and his twin sister, Lucy, would be waiting for him. Lucy was home all day today, spent being ‘sick.’ That’s what she said, even though her version of sick was playing video games and reading manga all day. Sora’s parents were pretty lenient, they just want them to at least try in school. Nothing more, nothing less. Though, they hoped that both their kids would put a little effort into their school lives.

Sora opened the door, being rushed with a the smell of familiar foods. Sora could guess what they were having for dinner--baked tonkatsu. Which was fine with him, he loved the stuff, even if they had had it for three nights in a row now.

Maybe that’s how Lucy got sick… Sora thought to himself, slipping off his sneakers.

Sora passed the living room, seeing his parents watching some television show--some sitcom, he had no clue what the heck it was--with a man on screen talking to some balding dude in a diner.

“Hey Sora, how was school, buddy?” Marco asked, looking back over his shoulder.

“Good. Had another history test on Shadows.” Sora murmured.

“Oh yeah? How d’ya think you did?”

“Dunno, test got blown out the window.”

“By what?” Marco asked, skeptical.

“Hisota had his Awakening happen in class.” Sora replied, slightly discouraged by it.

“Really? Good for him. Did you see what it was?” Naomi chimed in.

“No, didn’t get a good look at it, he was too far away.” Sora said, hanging up his coat in a hallway closet.

“The blast was that big?” Marco asked, rubbing the stubble on his chin.

“He ran out to the track field, safe to say the blast was ten meters out in every direction.” Sora said half-heartedly.

In all honesty, this conversation was killing him inside, he had no idea why he brought it up. Maybe he felt glad that Hisota got his Shadow, maybe he was just talking out his ass for all he knew. He had no clue, but Sora just wanted to rest, that’s all he cared about.

“I’m gonna go lie down. It’s been a long day.”

“Okay. We’ll call you when dinners ready, hun.” Naomi said with a smile.

“‘Kay.”

Sora trudged his way to his room, throwing his bag on his bed and walking over to his desk, sliding open a drawer and pulling out a half-empty tube of ointment. All his bones felt so sore, he needed some well deserved rest. Twisting off the cap, he sat looking at the label. ‘Arthritis cream, apply to all joins and sore areas.’

Sora did just that, applying as much of the cream he had left to his fingers, shoulders, elbows, and anywhere else he felt sore. He rummaged through his drawer again, finding medical tape and wrapping it around most of his joints. It was just to keep the ointment from sticking to his clothes for the most part. While Sora was wrapping some of the tape around his fingers, he saw in his mirror just how worn out and sunken in his face looked. He could see every sag under his tired, black, shark-like eyes. His bright red hair was frizzy and had some matted to his forehead. He took out the purple clip that held his bangs to the side and let them fall down--not too far, he could still see, but the clip felt weird when he tried to sleep. He felt the pressure on all his joints loosen up as soon as he took it off. Maybe the ointment was working better today. Finally.

The stuff never really made him feel better. It was just come cream the doctors put into  a tube and said ‘it’ll help with your sore bones.’ What a load of crap. The only thing that really helped was stretching, and hell, that still hurt like a freight train hitting him head-on.

When Sora slipped into his home clothes--shorts and a random t-shirt--and sat down on his bed, Lucy barged open the door. A crooked smile on her face.

“Sup buttchugger?” She grinned.

“Buttchugger?” Sora mocked.

In almost every way, Lucy looked just like Sora, except her hair was longer and a different colour... she didn’t have the features of a worn out dirty mattress. She looked completely healthy, as if she had been lying about being sick. Okay, maybe they weren’t twins. But they were born on the same day, pretty close to each other. That’s gotta count, right?

“So how was your day?” Sora asked, shifting himself on his bed to he was sitting upright.

Lucy leaned on his bedroom door. “Pretty good, caught up on homework, watched tv, played video games. The usual.”

“Figured you spent most of your day slacking off. But you are responsible enough to get your homework done.” Sora muttered, a soft chuckle escaping his lungs.

“So I heard Hisota’s Awakening happened today?” Lucy asked after a brief pause.

“Yep. Pretty neat.”

Sora looked away. Lucy had gotten her Shadow right at birth. Their mother had passed it onto her as a gift. Even though they were just twenty minutes apart, Lucy was technically older, and she got it first. Sora on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. Their father still uses his Shadow, so he couldn’t have been able to give it away. Which left Sora and Naomi the only people in their family without a Shadow.

“Don’t worry Sora. We won’t leave you behind. Maybe your Awakening will happen tomorrow for all we know…” Lucy tried to sound upbeat, but there was something she was keeping from Sora.

He caught onto this, and pressed the situation.

“What do you mean by that?” He asked, looking quite stern.

“Well,” Lucy wouldn’t be able to hold back the answer forever. Whenever Sora got like this, there wasn’t much you could keep from him. “Mom and Dad got an appointment for you… to see if you would get your Shadow at all… You’re scheduled for next week…”

Sora looked down at his hands, covered in medical tape. He smiled. “Alright. I guess I’ll prepare myself for an awesome Shadow then.”

Lucy tried to smile, but it just wouldn’t come. She turned and left the room without saying another word. This might not have meant much to her, but Sora looked up and saw the back of his sister, walking away, shoulders stiff. In a single moment, Sora saw a flash of her and Hisota walking away, exactly like that, when it cut back to the normal scene of his home.

Lucy didn’t even know it. But she wouldn’t be able to keep her promise.

So Sora had to catch up sooner rather than later.

Sora was lying under his blanket late at night, staring up at the ceiling. He thought about how Lucy seemed to really care, how Hisota seemed so loyal. Sora, on the other hand, felt so jealous. He didn’t want to sit back and watch people closest to him go away, just like that, just because he was falling behind.

He wanted to catch up so badly. He wanted nothing more than to be on the same level with those he call his friends, his family. He rested his arm over his eyes, trying not to weep. It was hard, being the only one without a Shadow. He tried to understand how his mother felt when she gave it away, but she had all these revelations after the fact. How can Sora be happy about not having a Shadow anymore if he never had one in the first place.

I don’t want to be left behind. I’m not weak. I can catch up. I will. But… Sora lingered on that thought, that last word. But. But what? What was stopping him? Was it the forces of nature? Probably. Fate? Probably. But…

Damn it! Sora screamed in his head, tears escaping from under his forearm. I want to be with them, so badly. But you just won’t let me, will you? Fate…

Sora cursed out fates name under his breath some more. Little did he know, that his calls would be answered. But for now, he was set on hold.

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Preview

Heyoooo finally back to showin off them dank UF previews. And this one is a pretty great way to kick off this chapter I think! I’ve been excited about the Last Mabelcorn for quite some time now so its great to finally be writing it. And so of course, I figured we’d get to see some Bill right off the bat because well why fucking not? Anyway, here ya go: 

With Dipper and Mabel spending the night up at the temple with Steven and the Gems in light of their ongoing quest to release Malachite, the Mystery Shack was even quieter than it usually was in the deep, dark, dead of night. Though Stan had turned in for the night at a reasonable hour, it had taken Ford much longer to pull himself away from his ongoing research in the basement. By the time the author finally did trudge up to his old room, it was quite late and as a result, he was quite tired. Though he was now thirty years removed from his extensive bout of paranoid insomnia, there were times every now and again when Ford would stubbornly resist the lull of a full night’s sleep out of fear of what might lie in wait in the often unpredictable world of nightmares. This particular, night, however, wasn’t anywhere close to one of those cases, for almost as soon as the author’s head hit the pillow, he was out, fast asleep and promptly thrust into the dreaming state he so often tried to avoid.

Or rather, into what was very soon about to become yet another nightmare, one that seemed to refuse to end even 30 years after it had first begun.

When Ford opened his eyes he was quite caught off guard to find himself not back in the peaceful darkness of the room he had fallen asleep in, but rather he was standing amidst a vast, arid field of tall, ripe stalks of wheat. This curious expanse seemed to stretch on for miles, only broken by three landmarks afar off in the distance: an aged and broken swing set, a dilapidated, half-rebuilt boat, and the ruined remains of a certain portal looming large and inactive on the horizon. The author took pause as he glanced around his odd, new surroundings, though he didn’t have much of a chance to make sense of them. Completely out of nowhere, the wheat surrounding Ford suddenly began to flatten itself out into a shape that the author knew all too well. A shape that was, of course, accompanied by the maniacal cackling of a demon, a demon Ford had hoped in vain that he’d never encounter again.

“I know that laugh…” the author growled, his hands already curling into tight, defensive fists, just in case. “Show yourself!”

Right on cue, the demon did just that, his triangular form materializing right from the imprint of himself he had made in the wheat as he sharply rose to float right behind Ford, his sinister laughter continuing all the while. “Well, well, well, well, well, well, well!” he quipped brightly, splitting up into several smaller versions of himself as they all cheerfully circled the quite unamused author. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eye! Stanford Filbrick Pines! My old pal! It’s good to finally see ya in the flesh instead of on all those wanted posters I had put out for you during your little stint in the multiverse. Those sure were some fun times, huh, Sixer?”

Ford wisely chose to ignore his longtime foe’s callous taunting, more than used to them by now as he sent the demon a cold, distrustful glare. “Bill Cipher…” he stiffly acknowledged, countless years of ire and hatred dripping into his tone. “What do you want from me? I already told you more than once that I want nothing more to do with you!”

“Oh, quit playing dumb, IQ!” one of the several Bills mocked knowingly. “You knew I’d be back! And boy, have I been busy… Heck, right before I dropped by here, I nearly snagged the deal of a lifetime with some kid you may or may know. But oh well, its not like he can really hold onto that space rock of his for too much longer since its already mine anyway!”

“Kid?” Ford questioned in alarmed confusion, wondering what poor child could have possibly been subjected to Bill’s cruel tricks. “Who did you-”

“Eh, forget it, Sixer, all that business is soooo two chapters ago,” Bill interjected with a flippant wave of his hand as his many doubles all merged back into one. “What I actually stopped by for was to tall you that you must not be that much of a ‘genius’ after all if you think shutting down that portal could really stop what I have planned! Like I said, I’ve been making deals, chatting with old friends, preparing for the big day! You can’t keep that rift safe forever…” With a single snap of his fingers, the interdimensional rift appeared floating above the demon’s palm, its amorphous, glimmering substance still safely contained within its protective globe, though not for long. “You don’t have good ol’ Quartzy around anymore to bail you out this time, Sixer! You’ll slip up sooner or later, and when you do…” As Bill trailed off, he suddenly slammed the rift hard onto the ground, its very breaking violently tearing open a nightmarish hole through the otherwise smoggy skies and igniting the wheat field in a burst of bright crimson fire all around the author. Yet even despite this horrific display, Ford refused to let Bill get the better of him this time; after all, he had already accomplished that more than enough countless times in the past.

“Get out of here!” the author shouted fiercely, wishing he could put an end to the demon’s twisted ambitions right then and there. “You have no dominion in our world!”

“Maybe not right now,” Bill began, his eye turning black as he began to ascend into the chasm of untold horrors and nightmares he wanted to unleash upon the world. “But things change, Stanford Pines! Things CHANGE!”

On this final, ominous proclamation, the demon departed, laughing wickedly all the while as he thoughtlessly left Ford to burn in the field, awash with fear over the dreadful threats he had just heard. Fortunately though, the author wasn’t left to such a terrible fate as he was instead met with quick flashes of three very distinct images: his own six-fingered hand, a set of runes containing various unknown symbols, all of them surrounding a visage of Bill himself, and finally, four bright, vibrant diamonds, one white, one blue, one yellow, and one pink, arranged together and positioned against the backdrop of a distant, foreign planet that seemed to be crumbling apart at the seams.

And on that, the author sharply awoke, his nightmare over. For now, at least.