#…I have thoughts about beach event because of the giant cast but…I’ll leave that thought there

[hanafubukki]

If I’m not wrong, we might get the twst jp schedule in less than 3 minutes? Or in an hour 🤔

*on my knees*

Give me a knight of dawn/day/light or whatever! Silver card please please please ahhhhh

🙏🙏🙏🙏

Or a new event!!

*drags sebek and malleus*

Do you know the last time we’ve seen them in an event?!? 🔥🔥🔥🔥

(I don’t, personally, count the new years ‘event’ as an event honestly.)

Give them justice!! 😤😤

(At least we had bunny silver and Lilia beach last year)

Twst devs please!!!

Edit: maybe in half an hour?? 🤣🤣

Edit 2: okay maybe it’s tomorrow tomorrow and not today tomorrow 🤣🤣 time zones are whack

#hanas thoughts #…I have thoughts about beach event because of the giant cast but…I’ll leave that thought there

[buildmeafairytale]

Female Reader x Female Harpy

Just finished up this request for @featherynutcase​ for a harpy soulmate AU. Hope you guys like it! 

The Rushing Isles had come by the name quite honestly - a thought you often had when trying to make your way through the docks. Taking a shortcut through the markets always seemed like a good idea, but yet here you are, trying to convince the old women of the port city that you do not need to be set up with their nephews from the neighboring isles. 

Truthfully, the idea of their nephews had become a bit less repulsive with time. Most of the people you’ve grown up with have seen their soulmate’s footprints, shining like a prism and beckoning them to their other halves long ago. You have not been so lucky. You’ve seen prints, shining and glowing like all the stories say, but you wouldn’t exactly call them feet. Claws would be a much better description. That never deterred you, and on the rare occasions that you saw the prints you would follow them, only to be disappointed when they would abruptly end. 

“I wonder how appalled the old women would be if I asked if they had any handsome nieces who were single, instead?” you mumble under your breath. 

You dodge your way out of the crowd and make your way down the sand worn steps that bring you closer to the beach partially hidden by tall rock structures. This has always been one of your favorite hide-aways; whether you were brushed aside by other children for being more plump, or being relentlessly questioned by your family about your apparent lack of a soulmate, this spot is always a comfort. You had brought a bag full of snacks and other things to keep you occupied, and were fully prepared to spend the better part of the day on the beach. 

That was the plan,at least, until you saw the claw marks in the sand. 

The same thing happens every time you manage to catch a glimpse of the claw prints. 

Your heart starts racing, your palms get sweaty, and no matter how many times you have been disappointed, (this time would make thirty-two attempts at following the marks, but who’s counting) you are unable to stop yourself from thinking ‘this is it, I will finally get to meet them’. 

You follow the prints, your fast walk slowly building into the crescendo of a sprint, your white dress flowing behind you. You round the corner of a boulder and are at the face of a shallow cave with the waves lapping at the mouth of it. The prints had not stopped yet, and you had your head down, concentrating on them. So concentrated on the luminous prints, in fact, that you almost ran right into the one who made them. Had it not been for their shocked gasp and the shuffling noise they made, you would have collided with them. You looked up, and your deep brown eyes met their shining amber ones. Your feet were rooted to the spot, and your mouth opened and closed a few times, no sound escaping you.

She was gorgeous, ethereal, otherworldly. You could know every word in your language and then some and still not be able to express how beautiful you found her. She was a harpy, you had grown up hearing stories of the winged creatures that lived on the highest peaks of the island, making their homes above the clouds. None had ever expressed how lovely they were with their brown wings and feathers lining parts of their body. You see their claws, the claws that had left the prints leading you to them. They were sharp and deadly, but delicate in their danger. Around her claws, the prismatic light that signified one's soulmate was concentrated. 

The silence was broken by a pained squawk emitted from your soulmate. Her wings flapping as she shuffled back, putting more distance between the two of you. She heaved out a sob, and started to wail. 

“No! No, no this wasn’t supposed to happen, you weren’t supposed to see me! Oh my winds, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Leave, and forget you ever saw me here Nuccia!” She refused to look at you, and you started forward as if to offer her comfort. 

“What do you mean I wasn’t-how do you know my name?” You asked her, suddenly shocked. “You knew! You had seen me before and knew? And you didn’t think to introduce yourself? I have looked for you for so long, and you knew this and continued to be purposefully elusive to me?” You could not, try as you might, keep the anger out of your voice. She was obviously distressed, but now so were you. Tears of hurt and anger filled your eyes. Your whole life you have been too much for so many people, have felt out of place and unwanted. You were too plump, or too dark, or too opinionated. Now here you were, in front of the one being on this planet that you were made to love and be loved by, and she didn’t want you.

Her eyes widened and she whimpered, her flustered form looking for an escape the cave denied to her. You grew determined, and placed yourself even more in front of the entrance. Fine, she didn’t want you. But that didn’t mean you were going to leave without some answers, she owed you that much, soulmate or not. Your hands came to rest on your hips, and you measured at her. 

“Well, go on then. If you’re going to reject me or tell me how you never wanted me, go ahead. An explanation on why you haven’t earlier also seems warranted, hmm?” You ask, trying to convey an attitude of indifference you didn’t particularly have. 

The harpy looked horrified at this, scrambling even more. Sounds left her that had you wanting to cover your ears, horrible squawks that had no business coming from the one you wished to hold. She folded in on herself, her winged arms coming to shield the majority of her face and upper body from you. This pulled at your heartstrings, and a bit of your resolve crumbled away. You were torn between approaching her or letting her calm herself; while you were trying to decide a course of action, she pulled her winds away and managed to draw in a deep, shuddering breath. Her words spilled out quickly, as if she could not bear to keep them contained any longer. 

“I wasn’t going to reject you, I wanted to avoid you rejecting me. I wanted to be human before I introduced myself. This is all wrong! It wasn’t supposed to be this way!” Her voice cracked, volume rising again. 

“You wanted to be human? Why on earth would you do that?” You could not keep the confusion out of your voice.

“You’re human and I’m a giant bird! You’re so lovely and I just wanted you to like me. I was supposed to meet a witch to help me change, but they said it’s a lost cause and I’ll never be human. I was here moping when you found me.” Her gaze was cast down, claws tracing shapes in the sand. 

You walked over to her, holding her face in your hands. 

“You are my soulmate,” you said, vehemently, “You are you for a reason, and you, like this, are the other half of me. Don’t you dare think you have to change to be worthy of me.” Your hands come to rest at your sides, and you take a step back. You try not to let her awed expression distract you from what you have to say. “I have been trying so hard to find you, and every single time I saw your prints abruptly end, I felt less and less worthy. I felt as though the universe was playing a trick on me. But instead, you were hiding. It is a relief knowing that it wasn’t because you didn’t want me, though. I can only be so upset at you for this, now that I am finally in your presence.” You let her process her thoughts, seeing that she is still shocked and anxious by this turn of events. A part of you wanted to comfort her, assure her that she is the most beautiful creature you had ever seen, while another part of you wanted her to comfort you, instead; to take you in her arms and tell you that she was mistaken for hiding from you, that she would never reject you. 

“You aren’t...afraid of me, Nuccia?” She softly inquired, peeking up from her feathered lashes.

“That's all you got from all that? Why on earth would I be afraid of the most beautiful person I’ve ever had the privilege of laying my eyes on? And again, you call me by name but have not yet graced me with yours.” You reply to her, equally amused and exasperated with her. 

“Oh-I’m sorry, dear one. My name Enora. You think I’m beautiful?” She whispers, a taloned hand coming up to caress your cheeks. 

“As dramatic as you are beautiful, it looks like. My, my, it looks like I’ll have my hands full, good thing I have two,” you tease, gazing up at her, suddenly giddy with affection. You might have still been upset with her, and you will have to 

talk it out with her later, but you aren’t going to let that sully your first real meeting. 

You manage to calm her a bit, and knock her out of the stupor she seems to be in. You enjoy how red her face and chest get while you flirt with her, the effect you have going to your head. 

“It seems I picked the perfect day for a beach day then,” you say, showing her the picnic basket you had dropped upon seeing her. You pull out the small finger foods and wine you had brought, setting up a beach blanket by the mouth of the cave. Maybe she would stay, and you could drink wine and watch the sunset together. Your heart beat faster at this thought, already allowing these romantic notions to float about in your head. You settle onto the blanket, hoping she would sit with you and not fly off now that you aren’t blocking the exit.

What is likely only a minute feels like an eternity, but Enora settles next to you, her spine rigid and legs crossed. You offer her some food, many things she admits she has not tried before. You watch her try the new things that you provided, and something about taking care of her in this way feels very right. Her feathers brush against you, tickling your skin. The two of you spend the day getting to know each other better. She stays for the sunset, much to your delight. You felt clingy, and did not want to part ways with her. But, the sun was going down and you figured it was time to get back home, and Enora was getting antsy, informing you her family would start looking for her. 

“Will you...come back?” she asks, her eyes wide, and a clawed finger gliding down your arm. Now that she has winded down and started to understand you want her, she has been flirting, her own version of being coy. You were soaking up the attention, and she continued. “I would very much like to see you again, dear one. I have a lot of making up to do, after all.” Her claw comes to your chin, turning your face to hers. 

“You’re done running from me then?” You tease her, inching your face closer to her’s.

“Yes dear one, I swear it,” her breath is ghosting across your lips, and all you can hear is blood rushing in your ears. Your hand comes up to the back of her neck, and you close the gap, gently brushing your lips against hers. A sweet trilling noise escapes her, and you smile into it. All too soon it ends, and you agree to keep meeting in the same spot. 

You show up the next day and head into the cave. You peek around the corner, and you see Enora, pacing. That is not all you see; there are blankets and pillows arranged like a nest, flowers, and a bottle of wine set out.The nest is near the mouth of the cave, the perfect spot to be sheltered from any winds but a good view of the ocean and coming sunset. She still hasn’t spotted you, and she heads towards the nest, fluffing and rearranging the blankets to her liking. You come up behind her, and trace your fingertips down her spine, greeting her with an airy “Hello” as she jumps. She smiles at you, her spine straightening and her hands clasped behind her back. She greets you and clears her throat, looking nervously from you to the nest. 

“You surprised me dear one, I was not expecting you quite yet. I hope this does not seem too forward, but nest making is a large step in harpy courting and something I wished to do for you.” She announced this so nervously, but if it was a large step for her you could see why. You assure her it looks beautiful, and you can’t wait to try it. You see her blush, and you decide to keep laying on the compliments, running your hands over the blankets and telling her how good of a job she has done. The more you go on, the redder her face seems to become, much to your delight. When you slip your sandals off and crawl into the nest, the same awe struck look takes over her face from the day prior. She follows you in, and brings your hand to her face. 

“You have no idea what seeing you in here does to me, do you?” She asks, and you run your fingertips over her lips, fascinated at the way her breath catches when you do this. 

“I think I could guess. It’s probably similar to my feeling knowing you went to all this trouble for me.” You reply to her, once again feeling trapped in her eyes. The two of you share another kiss, the trills and sweet noises leaving her only encouraging you. Her claws ghost across your neck and send a chill down your spine. She leans you back into the nest, wings opening above you and closing you in. She is trembling above you, and you can see tears in her eyes when you part.

“No sweetheart, none of that now. What’s wrong?” you ask her, heart clenching. 

“I was a fool, I waited so long for nothing, and we could have been here years ago!” she sniffles, angry at herself and her actions. 

“Hush darling, we’re here now aren’t we?” You coo at her, running your hands through her hair.  You have known her for such a short time, yet she already holds your heart in her hands. One of your legs comes up around her waist, pulling her close again. Enora quickly gets lost in your kisses again, and you feel some of her stress melt away under your hands. 

This goes on, the two of you sharing stolen moments together and heated kisses in the cave. You both incorporate some of your own courting customs, so far your favorite of which is when she does an aerial dance for you. She tells you that harpies usually do it together, but she happily tweaked it and you were impressed all the same. The next day you showed her a popular island dance, and you swayed together to the sound of the waves outside. 

One day you are on your way to the cave, dinner in tow, when you spot not one, but two harpies on the beach near the mouth of your cave. Neither of them are your harpy, however, and you grow anxious hoping Enora is alright. She did not speak of how other harpies would feel about her soulmate being human, but you were hoping you weren’t about to run into trouble. You get closer and the harpies spot you, both taking off and quickly landing in front of you. They circle you and you feel like prey, one behind you and one in front. They are both larger than Enora, and male. If you had to guess you would say they are twins, but you are hardly able to concentrate on their looks. No matter what species you are, having two large men circling you is nerve inducing. 

“So you’re our little Ennies’s mate, huh?” The first asks, his voice deep.

“You aren’t very tall, she must have her hands full protecting you.” The second observes, making his way around you. 

“She’s been coming home all starry eyed and happy, haven’t seen that in her in years.” One tuts at you, and you feel pride swell in your chest amidst the confusion. 

“We had to come follow her, find out where our little sister was sneakin’ off to so much.” The other interjects. 

You’re overwhelmed, but relief floods through you. These are Enora’s brothers, and you doubt they would do anything to you. You’re just getting a very intense shovel talk, it seems. You start to interject yourself into the talking, going to introduce yourself, when an outraged squawk fills the air and Enora and another smaller harpy land. 

“What on earth are you doing? You used Glaucus to distract me to come here and try to intimidate her! And I’m not your baby sister, I’m five years older than you two!” She reprimands them, walking up to them both and grabbing them by the ears. “Now, go home to mother before she starts to worry where you went. And do not follow me here again!”

“Aw Ennie, but you’re smaller than us so you’re our little sister.” The twin pouts on their faces at being reprimanded are adorable, and now you can see it. You stifle a giggle, and spot the youngest harpy, Glaucus, looking ashamed. 

“Yeah, just wanted to make sure she’s good enough for our little sister,” the other twin echos, being pulled down to her level by the ear. She walks them away from you, and you hear them yell that it was nice to meet you. You return the sentiment, a smile on your face, and wave to them as they leave. Glaucus takes off before Enora comes back, shouting a goodbye. 

She walks back to you, her eyes aflame. She grabs your hands, and starts to apologize. “I’m so sorry dear one, they can be quite intense. Are you alright? I’m so embarrassed.” You giggle, and assure her that you’re fine. 

“They’re just looking out for you, I’m not mad. I was a bit intimidated at first but they seem nice! Don’t be too harsh on them, love.” You kiss her cheek, and pull her into your nest, and Enora abruptly stops grumbling about her brothers. She looks at you, her eyes wide and lips parted.

“Do you? Love me, I mean.” She asks, whispering. Your face gets red and you realize what you’ve said. It’s true though, you love her.

“Yes, I do.” You whisper back, throat tight with emotion. 

“I love you too Nuccia. I have for so long, you amazing creature.” She pulls you onto her lap, your thighs bracketing her underneath you. You have never felt so at home as you do in the arms of your soulmate.

#monsterlover #monstergirlfriend #female reader x female monster #harpy girlfriend

[cookiedoughmeagain]

Haven DVD Commentaries: 4.01 - Fallout

Gabrielle Stanton Executive Producer, and Writer for this episode, and Matt McGuinness, Executive Producer

[As the ‘previously on’ section shows] Gabrielle Stanton: I just remember how many times we wrote the word ‘barn’ during the last few episodes of the last season. If it were a drinking game we never would have made it through.

[As Duke watches Audrey’s memories play out on the walls inside the barn] Matt McGuinness: What’s clever about this scene is it was a way for us to hide a bit of backstory because you got to see these various moments, but it also helped to explain what the barn was and how it is a repository for her memories and whatnot. GS: It was kind of a way for us to do flashbacks without actually doing flashbacks.

[As Duke lands in the aquarium] MMG: I have to do a big shout out right here. This idea of Duke landing in some sort of fluid and us not knowing where he was and then coming up, was Ginger McGuinness’s idea. My daughter at the age of 8 came up with this idea; ‘Daddy why don’t you have him land in a fish tank in an aquarium?’ which we thought was super cool. GS: And Balfour did too, until he realised how cold the water was going to be. MMG: Apparently that tank held lobsters or something, and Eric is a surfer - he knows cold water, but it was I think low 50s, which is bitterly cold. GS: But he was a trouper; went in again and again.

[As the detective is questionning Duke in the hospital] GS: I like this scene because it was Duke trying to talk his way out of something, and we got a chance to talk about his aliases and his fake IDs and it’s always fun when we get to do that... I actually worked worked with Balfour on a short-lived show called Veritas The Quest many years ago, and Calvin Banks, the name of one of his aliases there, was the name of his character on Veritas. MMG: Wow! Really? That is some inside arcane knowledge. GS: I thought there would be someone who got it, but I don’t think anyone did. Including Eric.

The outside of the Haven Bookshop is Lunenberg and the inside is in on location in Chester. GS: The Warp and Weft Giftstore in Chester closed down and we kinda took it over and shoot various things in there; bookstores, cafes, offices, MMG: If you ever get the chance to go to Chester, Nova Scotia, it’s a lovely little town. I might suggest the summer as opposed to the winter … GS: It’ll be raining either way, but it’s just whether it’s cold rain or cool rain. MMG: It’s a very nice spot, lots of tourists like to go there. And as you drive around Chester you will see plenty of places - and by ‘plenty’, I mean all of Chester. We’ve shot everywhere in Chester as we head into our fifth season. GS: Yeah it’s kind of amazing; I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t shot.

GS: And now we’re about to meet Jennifer. She is a great character, we’re really really happy with everything her and Eric do this coming season. MMG: Yeah we were really happy with the performance of Emma Lahana who plays Jennifer. GS: And they just had good chemistry. You hope you’re going to get good chemistry when you cast people, but you never really know until you start seeing it on screen.

MMG: Ah look, Eric’s got his pants on under that gown. I would have suggested no pants.

[As Jennifer starts talking to Duke] GS: This was the scene we used for auditions to cast Jennifer. We saw a great many actresses for this role. GS: I remember on the day there were many discussions about the hat she’s wearing. MMG: She kind of became known for her hats and scarves. There’s a hint for the fans; scarves will continue to play a part in the story of Jennifer.

GS: It’s so funny doing these commentaries because it’s always like a year later, since we shot it and edited it and everything, so it’s always looking back. I was telling someone earlier that usually about 10 minutes in, I just forget what I’m supposed to be doing and just start watching the episode.

[As Duke and Jennifer are talking about the barn etc.] GS: This was also a nice way … Every premiere episode you always want to reset the series for new audience members, and this was a nice way of telling Jennifer what was going on, but also telling new viewers; ‘hey there’s this town called Haven, people do weird things there …’. MMG: Do you know where we shot this scene? GS: I believe it was a real hospital. MMG: It looks like it. GS: I think it was outside Chester. Even though we now have a hospital set on our stages, but we came here because we wanted it to look different, so it could look like Boston. Although I think the next scene, in the parking lot, I think that is in fact Chester.

[Brief interruption as Matt leaves the room to take a phone call] GS: This is the life of an executive producer. You cannot do one thing at once, you have to do ten things at once.

[Duke and Jennifer in the parking lot] GS: Actually, I take it back - the memory is coming back to me; I believe we shot this in Halifax, to give it a big-city feel. Although I could be wrong about that because it is hard to remember.

[As Dave answers the phone to Duke] GS: OK so everyone wants to know what’s the Oprah Winfrey joke - we honestly don’t know. We just thought it would be the most hilarious thing to say, if Dave had some kind of Oprah Winfey thing. And he played it spectacularly. GS: This is the biggest time-cut I think that we’ve done in the series, this is six months since the previous events. We leave a lot of our seasons on these big cliff hangers - two people pointing a gun at each other, or ‘my name is Audrey Parker’, ‘no my name is Audrey Parker’ - and this was one of the few opportunities we had, and we said we could do something cool and do a time-cut.

[As we see Nathan with the bikers outside the diner] GS: Now for all of you Lucas fans out there - the beard. I’ll tell you a little story about the beard. He was actually supposed to have the beard through the first and second episode, and then when he realised he was going to find Audrey and he regained his sense of purpose he was going to shave it. But we ended up doing something called cross-boarding which meant that we shot episodes one and two not in order. So we would shoot some scenes of episode two during the episode one block and vice versa. So we couldn’t have him keep the beard because he couldn’t shoot one scene and have the beard and another scene and not have the beard. So this is the only scene that he has the beard, and it was devastating for Lucas Bryant because he spent all hiatus growing it. But he did a good job; it’s a good beard.

[Matt returns, saying he had to take the call because it was an emergency. Apparently related in some way to the 300 gallon salt-water aquarium he has at home. “That was my fish tank guru.”]

GS: Oh this is - did the slim jim joke stay in? MMG: Yeah, not really. We worked a lot on this slim jim bit and never quite got it where we wanted it.

[Discussing Dwight as Chief and the various names that Adam goes by] GS: We just get excited when we see him on screen because we know that some day he’s going to be a mega-super-star and we’re gonna be like ‘We cast him!’, ‘We had him on our show first!’. GS: I love the three of them together [Dwight and Vince and Dave]. We write a lot of stuff for them and they always totally nail it. MMG: Yep, Edge and the Teague brothers have an ongoing story, particularly Edge and Vince - Dwight and Vince.

[As we see Lexie in the bar] GS: We shot all these bar scenes in a block, with our fun character of Lexie. And for anyone out there who has nothing better to do with their time than thing about things I’ve written in my career; there are quite a few series I’ve worked on that I’ve gotten the name Lexie into. This was the most recent. I’m still trying to work out how many I’m getting screwed out of character payments for though. MMG: And here is season four’s suprising new male lead; Colin Ferguson. Lovely man, tons of fun. He used to do stand-up comedy nights, and when you do a comic con with him, that becomes immediately apparent. He’s very funny, and very clever and just sweet and professional.

[As the Guard welcome Nathan and Duke back to Haven] MMG: Oh this scene was fun, we’re introducing everyone in this episode. So here comes another favourite character of ours; Jordan McKee. The last name is the name of an old girlfriend of mine. GS: This was a very elaborate scene to block and shoot. MMG: Yes, it was. Pretty much any time you have cars stopping on marks and people getting out of car doors, everything gets shockingly complicated. GS: Not to mention we have a great number of our characters here, all in one place. GS: The funny thing about this, is that the tornado is about to go off, and every other day this week that we were filming, it was rainy and cloudy and that whole thing. And the one day we’re going to have a tornado and giant rain storm - beautiful blue crystal skies. That’s the way production goes.

GS: We have realised that the downside to Dwight’s Trouble is that he is in that bulletproof vest a lot. It’s very rare to see him without it. But we’re working on it. MMG: We get him out of everything, season five.

[As the tornado arrives] GS: Our director Shawn Pillar was very excited to blow the steeple off the church here, which is a real church in Lunenberg. And all these leaves were someone from props standing there with a big hefty bag of leaves in front of a giant fan. MMG: And the tornado is the work of Chris Wood GS: Our genius FX guy. MMG: He’s great; he’s a very big part of the show.

GS: Oh yeah the other body found on the beach [that Dwight mentions] that was going to be another Troubled person that we were going to see and we never actually ended up seeing them.

MMG: Adam Copeland came to us largely as a wrestler and it became very clear to us that he had lots of talent as a thespian as well. He’s good with the jokes [His ‘usually’ reply to Jennifer’s comment about police stations being safe]. He can throw away a funny line, and that’s not an easy thing to do.

GS: It’s so funny looking at this a year later and seeing how everyone’s hair and facial hair and everything looks a little bit different. MMG: The boys look great. GS: Yeah. MMG: It’s not a surprise as it’s a television show, but there are some good looking people living up in Haven, Maine.

GS: These bar scenes were fun to shoot. Emily Rose liked it I think, getting to play someone so very different from Audrey. MMG: And one of the reasons we shaped season four the way we did was because Emily had a baby a week or two before we started shooting, so she was out of commission for around the first two months I think of shooting. So we wrote her into all the episodes but - oh this guy [who has just come into the bar with a gun in his belt] he works on the crew, but he’s great - he’s really good in this role and then you see him working on the crew. He’s a really nice guy, and I can’t remember his name right now. He’s a great guy but I’m blanking on his  name because I’m old. Anyway - we had to figure out a way to get Emily into the first few episodes, but shoot all the scenes together and them cut them in in post. So we wrote all these bar scenes in the script and we didn’t shoot any of them when we were shooting the rest of the episode. And then when we got to around episode five or six, we shot what was going to be two days, and then three days, and then four, and I think it turned into six days in this bar. GS: By the way this character’s name [who is pointing a gun at Lexie] is Sinister. GS: This was a fun stunt sequence coming up, Colin rehearsed it quite a bit. MMG: I like the way he takes his glasses off there; he does a great job. Kyle! His name is Kyle [who plays Sinister] GS: Yes! Kyle. Kyle; you’re awesome. We’re just really over-worked and exhausted.

[In the station as Stan and other cop notice the return of Nathan] MMG: So the female cop there, Rebecca Rafferty, is played by the real-life spouse of Lucas Bryant. GS: Kirsty Bryant.

[About the photo of the fulgerite on the beach] MMG: That looked really cool with the hand and everything. GS: I know! It did look really good, we just didn’t have time for the full scene with it. MMG: Yeah, this is one of the whole challenges of production; we had this whole thing written … but we just had to talk about it and show the photo instead. GS: This episode was running really long because we had so much stuff going on with it. MMG: That thing you see in the background there behind Nathan is a popsicle stick lamp, which we’ve all imagined that Nathan built for his dad the Chief. I had a whole backstory for this in my head. There’ a bunch of popsicle-stick lamps in the Chief’s office, and they’re left over from when Nik Campbell was the Chief. [and then they appear to be interrupted by some kind of technical issue and we don’t get any more to this story, sadly]

GS: So as some of you may remember, Marian Caldwell was in the pilot episode, and we thought it would be cool to bring her back and see what happened to her. I think it was in Star Trek when Khan got really mad at Kirk telling him, ‘You fly around the universe, and you never check back in on people after you fix the problem.’ So here at Haven, we do: we come back to see what’s going on. GS: All this frosted breath here is special effects, but it looks really good. MMG: It looks really good. GS: And I like the way they made everything look cold and frosty. MMG: It looks great. And when Marian opens her eyes, it still makes me jump. That was really great, because it looks like she’s dead. GS: She is so good in this scene. We’ve got to bring her back. MMG: Yeah we’ve got to bring her back. Season five. She’s very talented. GS: She looks so mad there. I totally believe that she would freeze you.

MMG: There’s the Teagues and their very short-lived van. GS: Didn’t that explode in real life? Yes, it did. There was a fire in the van. MMG: The van has actually burned in real life. Which I think we used. GS: Yeah, the first thing we thought was ‘Sweet! How can we work that into a story?’

GS: I liked the way they did this reveal [with Conrad in the chair]. And I like how blue all this is. They did a really nice job. It really works with the emotion of the scene. I think when the ice moves, and the breath are CG, and the rest is pretty practical [effects there on the set]. GS: Poor Nathan, he gets beat up this whole season.

MMG: You know, I’ve noticed that Dave never wears his reporter hat any more that he used to love; that hat with the feather like an old timey news man. We need to get him back in that hat. GS: I think we should!

MMG: And there’s the Grey Gull, the world’s coldest place to shoot. GS: But also the most beautiful. MMG: I kind of want to go to a party at the Grey Gull; it looks fun. GS: I think they should open it as a real bar. I guess there’s no running water in it, but. I would totally go. GS: So this is our final introduction for this episode; Duke’s brother. This was chock full of introductions this episode. MMG: There’s a pretty strong resemblance to Mr Crocker there.

MMG: Nice nose-ring. GS: I think she keeps it for a while. MMG: She keeps it the whole time she’s Lexie. GS: That’s right - we wrote a whole scene where it comes out eventually.

#haven syfy #haven dvd commentaries #haven season four extras #4.01 - fallout

[sugasweetsubs]

Member | namjoon x reader -- fluff

Words | 2.2K

Warnings | none

Summary | a beach day with namjoon takes an unexpected turn

“I’ll take one scoop of mint chocolate chip and one scoop of double chocolate fudge, please!” The shop worker behind the counter nods at your request and begins to dig out generous scoops to place in the giant waffle cone in his other hand. You watch a second worker take Namjoon’s order behind you and a few minutes later you have both received your cones and paid, leaving a handful of coins in the tip jar on your way out.

Without voicing any specific plans, the two of you let your feet lead you down the narrow concrete path that winds around the small shop and leads back out towards the beach.

You settle into a comfortable pace as the path gradually turns to sand beneath your feet and leads you closer to the water’s edge. You are both occupied with the urgent task of licking at the ice cream threatening to melt over the cones’ edges, so no words are exchanged for several minutes. There is just the sound of the water crashing onto the shore, playing over your bare feet only to retreat a moment later, and the calls of seagulls in the distance.

This side of the beach is relatively clear; only a handful of people walk along the shore or sit on blankets scattered about the sand. It’s practically barren in comparison to the swimming area, which teems with hundreds of people hoping to enjoy the holiday weekend on the water.

Eventually, you and Namjoon both reach a point where your ice cream is stable enough to survive the pauses necessary to hold a conversation, and the two of you take the opportunity to chat. The unusually hot weather of the past few weeks, the recent antics of your friends, your plans for dinner--the topics come and go like the breeze off the water. With each passing minute you feel the stress of everyday life melting away like the ice cream in your hands. The constant go-go of the past few weeks seems a lifetime away when you hear the sound of Namjoon’s occasional laughter and feel the warm sand under your feet.

Namjoon is in the middle of describing the shell of the hermit crab he discovered earlier in the afternoon when a very sudden, very loud scream from a child startles you both into silence and draws your attention to the scene behind you.

It appears that the child, who is clutching their small boogie board to their chest like their life depends on it, is extremely reluctant to leave the beach. The father just watches the child with calm, tired eyes while another child runs up and clings to his arm. You see the father say something to the yelling child that seems to calm them instantly, and a moment later the child skips behind the rest of the family as they head for the parking lot.

Namjoon chuckles as he turns back around to face you, “How much do you want to bet that the dad just bribed that kid with ice--” he doesn’t finish the sentence and you finally look away from the backs of the retreating family to meet his stare, wincing a bit at the intensity of the sunlight shining behind him.

When your eyes meet he raises a hand to his mouth and giggles happily; his eyes crinkle with his amusement.

“What is it?” you ask, not understanding the look he is giving you. Some curious mix of fondness, teasing, and something else you can’t quite name.

In place of a verbal response, Namjoon just reaches out and brushes his forefinger lightly over the tip of your nose; when he pulls it back, he shows you the smear of mint ice cream and raises a brow. “Should I go back and get you a bib?”

“Oh, give me a break.” you roll your eyes, but there’s no real annoyance behind the action--only a touch of embarrassment to cover up the warm fluttering in your chest at the sight of Namjoon smiling so brightly with his windswept hair and glittering eyes. “How many times have I had to wipe ice cream off your face...and your clothes, and your hair, and y--”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” he surrenders, giving a fuller laugh this time that shakes his shoulders. “Sorry, you just looked so adorable with that little bit of ice cream on your nose, I couldn’t help teasing you a little bit.”

You take a bite out of your waffle cone to cover up how much you balk at Namjoon calling you ‘adorable’ when he looks like sunshine incarnate right beside you.

You take an even bigger bite out of the cone when you see Namjoon casually lick away the ice cream on his finger before continuing his talk about the hermit crab like nothing had ever interrupted him in the first place.

You don’t know why you’re so flustered by the small action. Your relationship with Namjoon is more than friendly--though, it’s not quite to the point where you have anything to call him other than a good friend--so this is hardly the first time the two of you have toyed with the concept of flirting, but there’s something about the look on his face when he did it that has your heart doing somersaults in your chest.

You suddenly realize that he has stopped speaking and is looking at you expectantly. You scramble to try and recall what he last said, but you were too caught up in your own thoughts to remember and you are left staring at him with an apologetic wince.

In those few moments of silent eye contact, you are struck again by how absolutely gorgeous Namjoon is.

The sun had started to sink lower in the sky during your walk and it now sits low on the horizon, casting a warm golden hue onto Namjoon’s skin. His eyes--which look at you so openly and earnestly that it’s hard to look away--catch the fading light in a way that turns them a warm shade of amber. His mouth is curved into a half-smile, left over from the cute grin that showed up when he started talking about the hermit crab. Your heart does a funny twist at the sight of it all and a sudden, impulsive idea begins to form.

“Sorry,” you begin, “I didn’t hear the question. I was distracted by the stuff on your face.” You make a big show of staring at his cheek and laughing.

His eyes immediately grow wide, forgetting his still unanswered question. “There’s something on my face?” he sounds shocked at the news. “Where is it?”

You take a small breath in to keep from losing your resolve and step forward, reaching up like you’re going to brush something off his cheek, but instead you quickly lift your ice cream cone to his face and tap him gently, leaving a small streak of mint across his cheekbone. “Right there.” you tell him, leaping away immediately with a peal of laughter to avoid the arm that flings out to catch you when he realizes what you’ve done.

“Y/N!” he yells, his initial look of surprise and betrayal turning now to exasperation and laughter. “Get back here and wipe this off!”

You show him an exaggerated pout before slowly walking back to his side. You pause to look at him, cradling your chin in the space between your thumb and forefinger. “Hmm, I don’t know, I think you look better this way.”

He cocks an eyebrow at you, “Oh, really? Then maybe you’d like to be matching?” he says with an intimidating raise of his own, now dripping, ice cream cone.

You take a step back, raising your hands defensively, “Hey, now, let’s not do anything drastic.”

He levels you with a deadpan stare, pointing to his mint stained cheek.

“Fine, fine.” you giggle, admitting your defeat.

You take a step forward and lift yourself onto your tip-toes, reaching out carefully to hold onto his shoulder to brace yourself, and then--quickly before you can chicken out--you place a kiss his cheek, wiping the ice cream away with a brush of your lips.

“There,” you say when your feet are safely planted back on the ground, “all gone.” Your tone is casual, a total contrast to the now frantic beating of your heart and the stream of incredulous thoughts running through your head yelling, “WHAT DID YOU JUST DO.”

To his credit, Namjoon recovers quickly from his look of dumbfounded shock and his mouth trips over a flustered “thank you.”

Deciding that you are too embarrassed to face him and the consequences of your spur-of-the-moment actions, you turn quickly on your heel and continue walking down the shoreline. You busy yourself with rushing to finish off the ice cream that is running over with sticky drips of mint and chocolate as a result of your neglect.

“Hey, Y/N, wait!” you hear Namjoon call out behind you. You turn just enough to see him jogging to catch up.

You wince a bit when he catches up to you and rush to explain your actions, “Joon, I’m sorry about that, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing and--”

“It’s okay.”

“--I really didn’t think it though and--wait what?” you ask. Your delayed reaction to his words makes him laugh and you feel your cheeks growing warm.

“I said, it’s okay.” Namjoon says, smiling gently at you. It’s then that you notice the light dusting of pink on his sun-kissed cheeks.

“Are you-- I mean...really?” you struggle to find words, too flustered by this turn of events to be fully coherent.

He just laughs once and nods quickly. His eyes are bright with excitement. “Yes, really.” He hesitates for just a moment. “As long as you let me pay you back.”

“What do you m--” but then Namjoon is leaning in impossibly close and you can’t find the words to finish your question. Your mind has suddenly been wiped of anything that isn’t Namjoon.

When his lips meet yours in a gentle kiss that tastes of his cotton candy ice cream, you find yourself wondering if you’re still passed out asleep under your beach umbrella, because surely this must be a dream.

He pulls back a moment later but remains standing close. He smiles at the shocked look you give him. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now, but could never find the right time.”

The implications of that statement, the idea that Namjoon had been thinking about you--thinking about kissing you--take a moment to sink in, but when they do...oh boy do you feel your face burn hotter than the sunburn on your back.

After standing there in a heavy silence, Namjoon suddenly looks a bit nervous. “Um--” he scratches at the side of his neck, “was...was that okay?”

He watches you with careful eyes, looking like he is preparing for a scolding. This look is what finally kicks your mind back into gear and you form your first coherent post-kiss thought.

“Yes!” you almost shout the reply, which startles both of you. You try again, this time using your inside voice. “Yes, yes, Namjoon, that was--” you can’t seem to find the words to describe just what that was. Instead, you rush to wrap your arms around him in a tight hug, abandoning the last bit of your cone in the sand for the seagulls.

“It was more than okay.” you mumble into the fabric of his shirt. It takes a moment, but you soon feel him relax in your hold and return the hug, holding you tight.

“That’s a relief, I thought you were going to hit me for a second.” Namjoon jokes. You scoff and pull away just enough to gently slap his arm. He grins, “Kidding, kidding.” He runs a hand up and down your arm a few times, pulling you closer for just a second before letting go of you completely.

“Now that that’s settled, let’s get to the ledge before the sun sets completely.” He reaches out his hand and you take it, lacing your fingers together in the process.

The two of you continue your walk like that, hands linked and shoulders occasionally bumping, until you reach your original destination: a small outcrop of rocks where it’s popular to sit and watch the sunset.

The two of you rush to find a spot before the last bit of the sun can completely slip below the water on the horizon. When you finally settle down, you are cuddled up against Namjoon’s side and his arm hangs around your shoulders. His body is warm, a welcome contrast to the cool breeze coming off the water.

This sudden shift in your dynamic will need some deeper thought at some point, but for now you are content with how easy it is to lean into his side and smile up at him when he points out a pair of seagulls fighting over a discarded churro. It’s different, but it feels right, like this is how things were always supposed to be.

When your attention finally returns to the view, you find that the sun has burned the sky, turning it deep shades of purple and orange that grow darker with each passing second. The sight is breathtaking and--sitting there with your arms around Namjoon’s waist, the gentle breeze playing with your hair, and the soothing sounds of the water--you can’t think of anywhere in the world you would rather be.

masterlist

#bts fanfic #namjoon fluff #bangtan bookclub #bts writing #Namjoon #RM #fluff #of sunsets and ice cream kisses #sugasweetsubs #my stuff #here it is!! #please forgive any mistakes #my computer is being laggy and I don't have the patience for in-depth editing right now #and it's been so long since I last wrote something and I'm impatient lol #the idea of giggly namjoon on the beach + ice cream has been in my head for over a week now #and after talking about it with a friend I really wanted to write it #it's super cheesy but it's cute if I do say so myself asdfghjkl #anyway I'll shut up now cause I'm tired and probably am not making sense #hope you enjoy!!! #thoughts & feedback are very!!!! welcome!!!

[thiskryptonite]

Tagging: August Knight, Mentions of Lisa Knight & Several Hunter NPCs

Timeframe: Summer 2005 & 2016

Location: California & Ashbourne

Word Count: 2994

Notes: Completed for the Maledictus Writing Prompt: PREJUDICE. An emotional and introspective look into August’s life in the Summer of 2005, as well as a brief look at an event during his second Summer in Ashbourne. tw: lateral violence, tw: child abuse, tw: violence, tw: blood

“WE ALLOW OUR IGNORANCE TO PREVAIL UPON US AND MAKE US THINK WE CAN SURVIVE ALONE, ALONE IN PATCHES, ALONE IN GROUPS, ALONE IN RACES, EVEN ALONE IN GENDERS.” ― MAYA     ANGELOU

I still remember the way the sand felt on my feet, the course, dry grains as they ran over my skin. The hot baked sun filled the beach, overlaid every shell and scrap of life with warmth and light. It was Summer, and I longed to spill my mornings into my afternoons, chasing the edge of the world that I knew, I thought, maybe on the other side, maybe over there. Maybe there existed a place where I might be understood. But for so often I cried, the sea never seemed to grow any smaller, any kinder. Always, I had to turn away and leave. I grew to know that the beach was no place to call home, the tide would wash away whatever house you built, and all things returned to the sea.

Summer, 2005 - California

“You aren’t going to the beach today, stay here. There’s work to be done.”

Lisa brushed past him and offered August little more of a passing glance, he was eleven years old, still yet under her thumb. When she told him to stay home, he did so. Only a fool would anger the witch, though, his aunt had labelled him as such long before. She was comfortable with denying the boy his protestations, she didn’t want to hear them. She’d already told him what was to be said, and always did her tone reprise him of such.

Young as he was, a fire burned within, yet dim, August was tired of her half-answers, of only telling him the what and not the why. Lisa would answer frequently in similar manners, she’d call him foolish, or she’d tell him that the world was an unsafe place for a witch, and of the many laborious chores she had him perform, that a witch need be prepared.

“But I’ve finished all that you asked me to do. Why not – my friends are – “August stepped forward, his voice small but his face certain. Her frame clung to the sides of her workstation now as if every inch of her body was involved in the small amount of grinding that she had only just started doing with her mortar and pestle. No. August thought. It is more.

It was all at once that her attention snapped towards him, fully focused.

“Because I have said that you are not going!” Her eyes were wild, and August recoiled for a moment, fearful that she might strike, though truthfully it was not at all in her nature to do so. She was angry, but he did not understand why. Why could he not go.

His brow furrowed as a sort of glare drew over his eyes, he was still afraid, but he couldn’t bring himself to back down. Please. He begged but would not say. Please just tell me something. She smiled, as if knowing while the anger fell away.

“And do not even get me started on those friends of yours,” she was waving him away, her attention and body turned back towards the table, her back to him once again as he nipped at her for more and more details that she would not give him. She would scold him, but Lisa had warned him already as her temperament was as wild as the spurs that clung to the hem of her clothes.

He thought of the friends he’d met at school, if he’d been a child recognized by the coven then he would have been educated among them. He would live among them. But that was not his lot in life. Lisa despised August’s education, but it seemed mandated as such that he goes, she enjoyed asking him what he learned, jesting that August was likely a simple-minded human like his father. It was among her favorite topics, August’s own humanity, she seemed to blame it for the great and many things she disliked about him, but every scrap of gratification that he was given was only due to the witch half of him.

The witch half? That was her side, and his aunt took some enjoyment out of nurturing the magic in him that blossomed a little further with each passing day.

Stop, foolish boy. Listen. Do you not hear it? She would ask as he went to pull a flower out by its roots, you must know what you’re looking for, first.

“That’s not fair!” August shouted, he hadn’t moved, but his eyes were welling up. She hated his friends, the only reason he was permitted to have them at all was because she’d forced that tonic down his throat. Made it so he couldn’t perform magic in front of them without his tongue tying up. Couldn’t even say the word witch outside of the house. She was paranoid, and August didn’t understand why. “I am not one of your corpses to dress and cast away – I am a person, and I am alive!” He was crying. “I don’t want to stay in here, I cannot bare it. Please just let me go today and I will stay home for the rest of the week I’ll sweep out the pens I’ll feed your hounds I’ll –“

She rose, in no uncertain terms.

Her figure was upon him all at once, a great giant looming in their cave as her head scraped the roof of the polished stone. Her voice, loud and thunder echoed with the rage of a thousand charms.

“Do not lecture me about what is unfair, you unwanted scourge upon my name. You insect in my larder. You are wretched, beast. Spawn of the foul union of my shameful wretch of a sister and her sniveling cretin of a human lover. You can not begin to understand what it means to be UNFAIR!”

The smooth, round, black walls of their home quivered with her voice, and August did not know where he found the strength or courage to do so; but he ran.

His tears streamed behind him with haggard breaths, he could hear his aunt shouting behind him

Wait – come back!

But he did not hear what came next, he couldn’t. He hated her. He’d always hated her. She was cruel, and she was mean, and he’d sooner drown in the sea than stay a moment longer hiding and undertaking her vile deeds.

His bare feet hit the sand, his body was badly scraped from the brush and the thicket that he’d gone bursting through to get here. It was not far, but it was far enough, and he knew his Aunt Lisa would not be expecting him to have come this way. She’d think he would go to the pier to see his friends, to be among others.

But now? August simply wanted to be alone. To spend an eternity in solitude would not be good enough, even. He sniffled on the beach, and tears stained his cheeks as he sat with his legs folded against his chest.

“Well what are you doing out here, all by yourself?”

August was alarmed to hear anyone; his hands quickly came up to his face to wipe away the shameful tears. He was still just a young boy, but boys weren’t supposed to cry, especially in front of strangers. His face tinged red a little bit as he tried to recognize one of the faces between the three of them.

They looked strange, their clothes were dirty and tattered, their faces equally unwashed. There was a man and two women on either side of him, their eyes all different, yet each held an unnerving glint that made August instinctively uncertain. He heard his aunt’s voice, but only in his mind: foolish boy, you are young, and worse. You are a witch. You should always be cautious about strangers.

He banished her from his mind, he would not conjure her here. But he took a step back.

“I’m not by myself, my friends are coming right back.” His voice was shaking, he noticed now that each of them had a marking on their forehead, a cross – a Christian symbol that made his gut clench. He felt his back hit something solid, August turned and looked to see a fourth figure. A man twice the size of the first.

The first man spoke again. “I don’t see anyone.”

There was something sharp and painful that connected with August’s face at the bottom left side of his mouth, he tasted copper and saw stars. He hit the sand and felt the course, dry grain as something bitter was shoved and taped into his mouth. It churned his stomach as saliva carried bits of it down his throat, he choked but could only breathe out through his nose: sage.

August heard the crash of the waves, felt the sand of the beach drag against his skin as he was dragged from the beach to a van before they noticed he was still conscious, and everything went dark.

Summer, 2016 - Ashbourne

August cracked his neck as the sun at last dipped below the sky, in the distance the slow roaming of howls could be heard as they rose up with the rising full moon. Compared to some people, the young witch really hadn’t been in town for long, but he’d recently gone through his Dark Baptism and was eager to see what the benefits of a little Coven Magic could get him. He’d been of course cautioned against not revealing his magic to anyone blah blah blah.

He hadn’t joined for the family kumbayahs. August wanted knowledge, and power, or enough of one so that he might obtain the other. Trillium was just a means to an end.

He’d thought, perhaps, it might be different. That this strange town that pulled him in by roots and dirt would offer him more. But still, he was somehow an outcast. Because he had questions that strayed from what they, and so many others outside of Ashbourne, had labeled ‘traditional.’

A waste. August had determined. If the Coven would not evolve, then he would have to forge his own path.

His feet carried him to the predetermined location as August eagerly greeted the man that awaited him, faintly, the cross was still clear upon his forehead. August did not know this man, but he was familiar with his associated. His presence was not unnerving, loyalty could always be gained for a price, especially in a place such as this.

From the moment August stepped inside he could feel the great savagery that was lurking beneath the floorboards, the impending doom with every single step. He moved to the top of the stairs as he was led to the basement, August could hear now how the beast thrashed and howled from within. The man had been hired to capture a werewolf, alive as a human, but bind him so that August might acquire something from him for perhaps later use.

He used to hate getting his hands dirty for these sorts of tasks, but now he craved it, Isaac had taught him how to embrace the great rush that passed through your spirit. How darkness could challenge it, but if his will was great, it would only strengthen him.

“How do you plan on doing this?” The hunter asked, curious.

“Leave.” August breezed, he would not have an audience. Particularly a hunter. He didn’t flinch and August rolled his eyes before all but snapping his fingers in a show of magical effort. Static crackled around his fingers with the motion and a key appeared in his hand. “Locker number 338 at the Hub.”

The hunter was gone, and August turned his attention to the beast that snarled and snapped and pulled against the metal and magic that contained him. He sighed.

He began.

Words flowed from him just as easily as they had when Isaac had spoken them, this is how you do it, this is you carve out these filthy, brainless beasts. Isaac had hated werewolves, maybe that was why August had been so keen on befriending one back then.

The knife nearly snapped, but it held as it cut into the wolf’s thoracic cavity, it howled and screamed in pain as August cut away and prepared it. He tied the vessels with hair from the wolves’ mane, he cut meaningfully and willfully after he poured life-prolonging potions into the creature. It needed to remain as August cut away what would be his and filled the room with an ethereal, scarlet life. The dull thumping of his work filled the room: Heart of the beast, still beating.

Summer, 2005

He awoke and hissed in pain as the chains that bound him with his arms over his head left him slowly circling but a few feet off the floor. August could still taste the blood in his mouth, though he could only see out of one eye. The room was dank and dingy as the people on the beach had been.

The beach.

He tried to scream, but his mouth was taped shut, the sage still in his mouth. It almost burned and he started choking on his labored cries, retching into nowhere while tears pulled down the veil. He couldn’t feel his arms, his breaths came in small, unequal rhythms.

“This is the way the world ends,” August conjured in his mind, he could hear several voices outside the concrete walls where he was being held. The drain below him was rusted and stained, be cautious she’d said, you do not want to ever know what they will do if you are found.

They will try to make you talk, but I won’t allow it.

This is what she had meant then? They would come in here soon, and they would torture him for answers he could not be forced to give. Her magic had seen to that.

He choked again against his gag. “This is the way the world end,”

“not with a bang, but a whimper.”

It was suddenly and all at once that the door went flying open and the howling of dogs filled the room. He knew those hounds. They were Lisa’s. They were his.

Gunfire and commotion could be heard, along with the infernal raising of voices and spells. He could recognize the tone of her magic anywhere, she spoke latin only for the simplest of things, the exciting, the interesting. It was not words as humans or other species understood them.

They were incantations of the oldest decree, languages of emotion and intention that were greater than simple words. And Lisa? Hers were beautiful, longing, August always felt sad when he heard her speak her greatest of magics.

Sounds of the tide filled the room, it was the slow water rolled rock that moved below the ground, the layer of stone and sand that shifted unseen about the earth. The composite of all that had ever been, of shells and bones, and waste and treasure. She was a thousand ships out to sea, she was the rainstorm after a millennium of drought.

All at once the room was encased in shadows, all the structure, likely. A cackle filled the halls and August heard the panicked shouts of hunters and gunfire against the shadows of hellhounds and all manner of shadow creatures.

Her art was more than they could contend.

There was no smell, no taste, no sight, not even the sensation of touch. Though he knew that chains dug into him still. He could still hear, and it was more vivid than anything he’d come to know. It was a victory march of a thousand witches as they took what was theirs by right: their lives.

Light returned and in a moment the chains were off him and he was on the ground, though August did not fall, Lisa braced him before she roughly pulled the tape from his mouth and reached in to pull out the sage, his sickness spilled over her hands and August retched further as Lisa cradled him. August at last stopped and looked to his aunt, all wild with not a hint of the fiend he’d seen before. He tried to place the look that was upon her but find he could not – what was that he was seeing? It wasn’t the fierce rage she’d greeted him with before.

Quite the opposite, it was something he hadn’t seen before.

“Are you alright?” The tone shocked him even more – should we not go? August thought. Surely the hunters would be upon them at once, yet nobody came. She merely held him there as a mother would cradle her son, but she had never been something so maternal. She was Aunt. Instructor, guide, sovereign and protector. It was the way she had preferred it – was it not?

“What about –“

She shushed him and her hands brushed against the wound on his face from the beach, “this will scar,” Lisa said plainly, his aunt had the ability to speak with certainty on these matters. “I’m sorry.” She said plainly, “I shouldn’t have shouted, I should have told you that these creatures were near.”

#maledictus.prompt #task:prejudice #selfpara

[salty-writes-stuff]

The Dream of Dreams

It wasn’t uncommon for Dedrick to dream. However, it was uncommon for it to be different.

Every night that he had a dream, it was the same event: the day that Sylver, Persephone, and Rowell left. The day he escaped to the roof. The day that Jay died. The day Seward decided to take pity on him. His worst nightmare amped up to eleven, so much that he barely remembered the dream. He knew the dread. He knew why he woke up in a sweat. It was always because of then.

Tonight, though, it seems that his brain took pity on him, and decided not to make him subconsciously relive it.

No, tonight, he had to see his father.

Dedrick’s father was a strange man. His appearance was always changing. His face stayed the same, but every time he saw his father, his eyes were different. His hair was a different length, a different color. For instance, last night his hair was short and purple, and his eyes were yellow. Right now, his hair was short and purple, but his eyes were the normal gray. A weird choice for a man who grew up wearing the most fashionable clothes around as the Heir.

They were standing in a crumbling building. The cracked floors and ceilings were many colors, creating wheels and flowers and flows of energy that glowed dimly. Surrounding them were circular rows of tables, raised up on a stair-step floor. Every time his father called him here, Dedrick felt like he was going to trial.

The domed ceiling was crumbling. A giant hole gaped, exposing the bright blue sky. The night before, Dedrick was able to see the dark sky, but it was different than Eskus. While Eskus’ night sky was just a void, with nothing interesting, the night here was amazing. There were clusters and clusters of white dots, woven between ribbons of color, but not in a way that casted light. The moon was so much brighter, too. Now the sun was aiming beams right into Dedrick’s eyes. The sky here was no different than it was in Eskus, to his disappointment.

His father stood in front of him, dressed in his normal black clothes. He resembled Dedrick greatly, wearing his red beard around his smile. He had a scar on his left cheek, starting right about where Dedrick’s eye scar ended. It retreated through his lip, down his neck, and into his shirt. He had a smirk that Dedrick was never able to recreate.

“Hey, Pups,” Dedrick said with a tinge of coolness to his voice. He couldn’t get too excited. Just the night before he’d nearly cursed out his father. Now, Dedrick was extremely relieved to see him.

Pups raised his eyebrow. “‘Hey Pups’? That’s what you’ve been gearing up to say?" He chuckled. "You really haven’t gained any memories, have you?"

Dedrick’s smile faltered. Yes, it’s true, he couldn’t remember anything before he’d woken up in Dazro. He knew a lot of stuff instinctively, like his muscles remembered better than his mind. He could tie knots (that aren’t necktie related, humiliatingly) in record time. Playing piano and guitar decently was a hobby. Eskun and Ashon were his two main languages. He also knew a little Artrian, to his knowledge.

However, if you asked him how many siblings he had, what his mom was like, or when he broke his first bone, he’d draw a blank and change the subject. There may have also been some embarrassing moments where he’d ask what certain common animals were. It’s not his fault that his brain decided that squirrels weren’t important enough to remember.

“I’m trying,” Dedrick lied.

Pups raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got you in a drovez-dist, Dedrick. I know when you’re lying.”

Drovez-dist. Dream-state. It was the only way Dedrick communicated to his father, especially recently. “Okay, okay, fine.” Dedrick tapped his fingers on his legs. “I don’t know. I haven’t tried.”

Pups sighed and crossed the floor. His arms were crossed, but one arm came up to scratch his forehead. “Alright, alright. I know of somewhere that might jog your memory.” He jogged up to the big, raised desk--the place where the Reigner or Overseer would sit, Dedrick guessed--and rummaged around. His father rasped through a few coughs and sneezes, but he eventually appeared again with a scroll. “Dear god, it’s like this place has been abandoned for over a decade or something,” he joked, but there was an edge of concern to his voice that didn’t make it funny. He hopped over the desk and landed next to Dedrick, unravelling the scroll. It showed a map of...

Dear God, his father was showing him an island. Dedrick suddenly felt nauseous.

He’d learned in recent years that he did not like bodies of water. In school, during the swimming unit, he decided to get himself suspended for that week, just to avoid it. In summer, he’d make sure he was outside of the park’s pool fence, which wasn’t that hard. Turns out working at a bakery didn’t give you enough money to comfortably buy a pool pass. Still, the thought of going on an island, where there was a possibility of a devastating hurricane, terrified him.

Pups pointed at the map of the island Artrius, specifically at a small beach town that was a tourist spot. A rich tourist spot. “Near this waterfront in Flauna is a little swordshop. Wes Glados. Owner’s name is Wes. Speaks Ashon. Cool dude, kinda odd though, so don’t be surprised if he can’t meet your eyes or something. Or if his...face twitches.”

Dedrick barely heard him, trying to find some excuse as to why he couldn’t go on vacation with the rich family that basically just adopted him. And then it hit him. “I can’t go!” he realized loudly, startling his father. “I’m blacklisted until I’m twenty one! I can’t leave the Empire. I can barely leave town!” He sounded a little too happy in describing his predicament.

Pups rubbed his ear. He smiled mischievously. “Well, let’s just say...if you go to Flauna, Artrius, that’ll go away.”

Dedrick stared at him blankly. “I can’t go there in the first place.”

Pups shook his head. “Why do you think I sent you to live with Aussie? Don’t doubt the richest man in Eskus, Dedrick! He has ways. It especially helps that his best friends are the Overseer and the former Heir,” he added, pointing his thumb at his chest.

“Yeah, the Heir that’s dead to the Empire. Literally, I’ve seen your grave!” Dedrick pointed out.

Pups patted Dedrick on the head. He shoved the map into Dedrick’s hands. “You’ll learn all about that in due time, my spawn.” He grabbed Dedrick’s shoulder and shook him roughly. “Follow my lead, and in due time, we’ll see your mother again.”

It felt like a shot went through Dedrick’s heart. He knew that there was a slim chance with mother was alive, enslaved in Ashor. His father seemed entirely convinced. It was kind of sad, his optimism. Dedrick folded up the map and stuck it in his back pocket. “What are you going to do?” Dedrick asked, facing his father. He tried to put himself in his father’s worldview, the view where everything works out. “When we do it?”

A light lit up in his father’s gray eyes. He slid his arm on Dedrick’s shoulder, putting Dedrick’s neck in his elbow, and pointed to the door. “When the Ikk surrender our people,” he started, a huge grin on his face, “we’re going to storm the gates. We’ll push them open with our hands. A triumphant cry will erupt from our army, loud enough to shake the walls. On the other side, Katra will be standing there.” Pups’ grip relaxed. His eyes glazed over, his smile dopey. “She’ll be standing there with her glare, sharper than any blade I’ve seen, greener than the park in spring. She’ll march up to us, trying to look mad as she demands, ‘Fov denat vo sinaju? What took you so long?’ But she can’t keep the facade up forever. Her arms will lock around our necks, she’ll cry into our shoulders. She’ll mumble that she missed us, and you better relish that, because she does not admit such a fact.” He dug his finger in Dedrick’s collarbone for the last sentence.

Dedrick watched two teardrops trail down and follow his father’s scar. “And then what?” Dedrick asked softly.

Pups’ dopey grin drifted into a tired smile. “Then...we go home. She’ll reestablish Ashor, and I’ll be glad to be her consort.” He locked eyes with Dedrick. “Then you’ll be the Heir. You’ll be our bravest soldier. Hyetal will go down in history as the man who saved Ashor. And it all starts with that map.”

Dedrick honestly didn’t think he could be convinced. However, the future his father painted was tempting. Seeing his mother, meeting her for the first time, was something he’d always craved. It didn’t help that he didn’t even know what she looked like until they had to memorize the Reigners and Overseers for government class. He hadn’t heard about all of her feats, but his father’s favorite word to describe her as was “badass.”

He wanted to see why his father thought so highly of her.

Sighing deeply, Dedrick nodded. “Alright, alright, I’ll do it,” he conceded. “I’ll...go to Artrius.”

Pups’ eyes lit up. His smile grew ten times bigger. “Atta boy! That’s my Hye!” He ruffled Dedrick’s hair, nearly dancing. “I’ll be checking in on you! You’re my rock!”

#writing #tsc #original writing #original #my writing #salty writes

[comefollowtherainbowroad-blog]

Welcoming the New Guys

Katherine sat at her desk staring at the couple before her. The look of disgust in her mud brown eyes couldn’t have been stronger. Her oak-colored hair was pulled back into a stiff tight bun and not a single hair was out of place. Her pursed lips were highlighted in a nauseatingly pink lipstick that while complementing her blush and liner was applied way to heavily. She wore a light blue business suit whose tight pencil skirt somehow managed to be professional, feminine and double as a restraint at the same time. Her silver heels were about three inches long and pencil thin. Somehow she managed to sit crossed legged in the pink low back chair as she studied the screen before her. Her hands clutching the golden cross on her necklace.

“I see,” she said her voice a judgemental chirp. “According to our records, you served three months in Saint Margarets prison rehab.” The couple across from her shifted uncomfortably.

“Yes.” The smaller of the two squeaked. Her partner put a supportive hand on her shoulder. This wasn’t the first time the two women had to face a sex counselor. It was just a fact of living in this day and age. The smaller woman was dressed like a plaid watermelon. She wore a pair of light green sneakers, pink and green plaid pants, a pink long-sleeved shirt and a pink and green plaid vest. Her hair was in a pixie cut and currently dyed lime green. Her liquid honey eyes watched the counselor's pink manicured nails twist the cross around.

“I see so this is the second time then for both of you. I assume at this point you are aware that same-sex relationships outside of an approved sanctuary is against the law of our Lord.” She turned toward the larger female. Dressed head to toe in black, leather and spikes she had the air of someone who couldn’t care less about her opinion and the build of a marine.

The two females looked at each other. Neither had told their parents yet but this was their third strike. They nodded in agreement it was time. So long outside world, hello prison.

“Good then. Here is a list of approved Sanctuaries in your area. Honestly, I recommend Peter’s Palace but it’s your choice. Choose wisely cause it’s your final one.” She handed them a sheet of paper that had three names on it. “Or if you are up to moving here is your login code for the country database.” She scribbled down a collection of barely legible letters and handed them the paper.

“Good luck ladies.” her voice was anything but reassuring.

      ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye was waiting outside the main gate of the Rainbow Road Sanctuary. When she asked Nat to redesign the old cast iron gate this isn’t what she had in mind. Sure the old version was more “Alcatraz chic” but this wasn’t much better.

“Umm Nat I’m not one to judge but what is this?” She looked at the colorful chaos before her. “Is that a unicorn?”

“Honey it just screams open-mindedness.” He clapped his hands together and looked at her with those puppy dog eyes.

“It’s screaming alright just not sure what exactly.” King walked over careful to stay on the rainbow brick driveway. He was wearing his usual black leather speedo thing and spiked black harness, a leather whip was strapped to his side.

“Hey, at least I included your kink in my fabulous mural. Although Sister Margaret was happy since she thought you were the devil punishing a drag queen.” He pointed over towards a section showing a monkey in bondage gear chasing a peacock. “Cause we all know you are so into the Painted Peacock owner.”

“Nat lay off of king, please. King, you need to get to work. I need to get to the main office and Nat please ensure everyone is on their best behavior today we have a pair of lovely ladies taking a tour today. They are checking out Randy’s Rodeo first so make sure your mom is in her office in about an hour.” She took one last look at the newly painted front gate. The old cast iron was now a bright golden color. A large rainbow featured a variety of animals real and mythical making their way down it toting their respective flags being led by a fabulous unicorn. Yep, that’s Nat for you, never what you want but probably what you need.

Laughing she made her way up the quarter-mile long driveway. He even painted the brick road leading up to the main clubhouse. Wait, she stopped to double check it. Nope, not painted. He actually located someone who makes colored bricks and redid the entire driveway. Well, now it’s an actual rainbow road. Hopping into the sole method of travel inside its gates she started the electric golf cart and scooted off.

The main clubhouse was a two-story brick building. The first floor served as her office, the main gathering hall, housed the indoor heated pool and where they hosted amateur drag shows on the last Saturday of every month. The second floor was where Skye, her two sisters, Rose and Raine, and their mom Pheonix lived.

When you first walk in it opens into what most people describe as a giant living room. The entire place was decorated in caribbean pastels. Sky blue walls with beach and forest murals gave it an open feel. Light grass green tile could be found throughout. Wooden benches were placed around a fireplace instead of sofas. Some were decorated with faux moss and fungus.

It looked like a scene from a kids book. Nat’s great-grandfather was inspired by a camping trip he took to Long Key State Park back in 2095. He was commissioned to design the place two years later by Solar Hellion Skye’s grandfather. He jumped all over the opportunity to build a place where he and his partner could live in peace.

Heading to the right and down the hall lined with mushroom lamps takes you to the bathroom/changing rooms and indoor Pool.  It looked like the mermaid’s grotto from the Peter Pan movie. Faux willow branches hung from parts of the ceiling as carved trunks doubled as a towel rack.  In the center of the pool sat a fountain in the form of a mermaid bathing under a waterfall. Yeah, extravagance runs in his genetics.

The true gem, however, was on the other side of the sliding doors that doubled as walls in the pool room. On warm sunny days like these, they are left open creating the illusion of a never-ending room. They opened onto a large stone patio that housed a giant summer kitchen featuring three large grills, one smoker, and a three compartment sink. A mini fridge and chest freezer stored in the indoor common room could be moved outside during special events.

Heading to the left from the living room took you to the common space. A two-story cafe that held a stage used for everything from kid plays to amateur drag shows. Every Saturday they have comedy night and Sunday is half price drinks. Raine had overseen six weddings there so far and a seventh was planned in the fall. The old wood furnishings and fake birds gave it a strange beachy feel that many found comforting. At the far end was the stairs to the second tier.

Heading straight through that first room led to the offices and stairway to the second story. She headed upstairs to change into her work clothes. The ladies would be here any moment and she wanted to make a good impression.

Once changed Skye headed back to the main gate. It was 7pm and they’d be here any second. Sure enough, a bus from Saint Pauls Retrainers pulled up. Out stepped two women. One obviously distressed, the other on the verge of murder.

The upset one was very pixie like, dressed in an ankle length lime green dress and her, also lime, hair pulled back into a bun. She also wore a pair of silver heels she obviously wasn’t used to and a green sweater. Her eyes were red and puffy obviously from crying so much. No doubt Sharon was their counselor.

The other one however was dressed in a similar get up only with purple hair and a black dress. She was much taller than the other and built like a bear. A silver bracelet on her left wrist told Skye all she needed to know. Her and this woman would get along well.

“As you can guess our gate says it all but if you have any questions I’ll be happy to help.” She gestured toward the rainbow monstrosity behind her. Yeah thank Nat for his in your face style.

The small one looked up and gasped. Surely this couldn’t be true. The others said this place was a living hell. There is no way a sanctuary could actually be a safe haven. The taller one went from murder from pure amusement.

“So this is what Catholic hell looks like.” her tone seemed overly cautious. “What’s it called?”

“Yeah we’ve been called that before.” Skye laughed. “Unofficially, Dear Gods Why Nat Why You Know Sharon is Going to Call the Cops Again. But they call it Open Mindedness”.

“They?” the smaller one asked.

“Yeah Nat is asexual and a gender fluid hermaphrodite. If you ask depending on the day it’s short for Nathaniel and others it’s short for Natasha. When they leave Nat prefers he because men have more freedom. Nat is also our resident artist and does most of the detail work around here.”

“And you just accept this. No trying to change us or fix us.” They asked in unison. Skye motioned for them to step onto the first row of rainbow colored bricks. The bus took off leaving them in peace. Once they were further from the road she answered.

“Rainbow Road doesn’t work like most places do. It’d be easier for me to show you because as you’ve seen words are hollow.”

“Alright we’ll give it a shot. I’m Molly and this is my partner Isabell.” The one in black responded.

“I’m Skye and this place was started by my grandfather so he, his wife and his sisters in law could live in peace. We are an open minded group all we ask is that everyone is of age, consenting, no one comes to harm and that it be done in the designated areas. I know the last ones weird but we accept ALL KINDS here.” They pulled up to the main club house. She ran in only to come out a few seconds later.

“It’s early so I need my keys. We are an actual sanctuary so you will see a lot of people who don’t live here on property. This allows those stuck in the “Real” world a chance to escape. The property Itself is broken into two areas. The common ground which is an LGBTQ+ safe space featuring clubs, bars, cafes, gyms and other locations for people to gather and chill. It also has grocery stores and shops since some residents aren’t allowed or don’t feel safe leaving.” She gestured toward the right where they passed a small produce stand and florist.

“Not allowed to leave?” Isabell whispered her voice shaking.

“Yes those who have four plus strikes are banned from polite society” Skye scoffed “unless escorted by a member of the Good Church. Anything they can’t get in here me or Rose will do runs once a week to pick up. This includes medicines and other specialty items. We are hoping to get a few pharmacists, doctors and surgeons in so we can set up a clinic. But until then those who need them must leave which is why even here some things are frowned upon.” She explained.

“Ah so that’s how it’s done. Sorry but me and my girl are one of those banned pairs unless we get three or more months of counseling.” Molly admitted.

“Is cool I’m actually taking you to Nat’s mom Charlene. She is the resident psychologist and proud supporter of pet play, if you know what that is.” Her tone was pretty upbeat.

“Okay then. What’s the second area?” Molly asked.

“Second area is residential. Residents are divided by, what we call, their kink though you’d know it as their mental problem. Back to your earlier question, no we don’t try to fix you because you aren’t broken. We provide a space, or rather spaces, for you to do you.” She pulled up to a restaurant called the Pan Pan. Pulling out her keys she unlocked the door.

“I don’t know about you but it’s like 7:30 am and I haven’t had breakfast. You hungry.” She motioned for them to step inside. “I’ve heard that Saint Pauls Retrainers are big on withholding if you don’t meet their standards. Your hair is stunning so I’m thinking you haven’t eaten in a few days.” She watched Isabell nod slowly as she studied the menu. Molly was a little more hesitant. She was going to need a few weeks.

“One moment. Hey Rose, Laura, Fred I need you guys.” She called toward the kitchen. Three females popped their heads from behind a door. The shortest and roundest of the three came running over to hug her. Her hair was black and done up into two little buns at the top. Blue eyes shined with mischief as a cockeyed smile danced on her lips. Her uniform was a black knee length fluffy dress with a white apron that ended at her thigh. With it was a pair of black leggings and steel-toed non-slip boots. The other two had similar hairstyles but with black pants and long sleeved shirts and white vests. All in all they looked like pandas.

“Molly, Isabell this is my sister Rose and her partners Laura and Fred. Fred is male but the queen around here. Rose can make us a lovely breakfast before you open. These lovely ladies are thinking about moving here from Saint Pauls Retrainers in GA.”

Rose took one look at the girls turned and drug her two accomplices into the kitchen. Their was the faint sound of excited squeaking, the clash of pans, a few slaps and an army of kitchen timers. Around half an hour later they returned with enough food for eight people.

“We got excited,” Fred said sheepishly. The six then sat down at one of the larger tables to eat. A Lot of what was on the table wasn’t on the menu. There were pancakes, sausage, biscuits, eggs both fried and scrambled, bacon, omelets and cereal. Oh and waffles, lots of waffles.

“So what brings you down here.” laura said in her best attempt at a southern drawl. Like Rose, her hair was black and in bear ears but originally it was a deep pine brown. Her amber eyes studied the pair cautiously.

“Same as most people I guess, fell in love with the WRONG person.” The wrong was put in air quotations. Isabell snorted in response which only got a light chuckle from Molly.

“If you don’t mind my asking..” Fred’s voice was hesitant. “..what about your parents?” He looked prepared to slip under the table and run. Rose and Laura traded concerned looks. They both knew his history, good and bad. It was Howl who spoke.

“Fred never really came out. They found out the first day they visited him here. Long story short I threw them and a brother off of a second story balcony. His other brother, Reese was cool about it. Gave me my first three dings and thanked me cause if I hadn’t he would’ve. Now he always wonders if that’s a normal thing.” She picked up bagel as sho spoke casually showing off a silver bracelet.

“Ha, same here except I punched both my dad and hers in the face. I could handle them attacking me but not my honey bunny.” Molly showed the two grooves on hers. After breakfast, the three left leaving Nami and crew to clean up.

They stopped by Sense8 where Queenie, King and Doggo were currently passed out in a bed hosting some plushy ties. Howl noped out of that one pretty quickly. Instead they headed to the painted Peacock. Vainglorious was cleaning up after the last few stragglers. They traded some greetings but for the most part he was busy wiping down tables.

After that a tour of the private residences. Their apartment was located on Pride way. Most were two story townhomes with screened in porches on both levels. Isabel was excited about the rooftop deck which had plenty of room for gardening. It was a two bedroom one and a half bath place with a large kitchen. The Patios overlooked the Neptuna lake.

After approving the apartment they headed to a pastel blue house on Ally way. Charlene and Nat were waiting in the living room with cookies. Howl introduced them, grabbed Nat and left them to their first session.

Charlene was a tiny pixie of a woman. Her hair was curly and red and eyes greener then new spring leaves. Her skin was pale but covered in freckles. She wore a patchwork floral dress and no shoes. She smiled revealing crooked white teeth. She motioned for them to sit.

“Now I know your counseling sessions have been way different in the past. So today I’m here to answer any questions you have about our community.” She took a drink from her cup and set it on a paint splattered table.

An hour later Howl came back and heard the three laughing. She knocked lightly on the open door and walked in. She immediately regretted it.

“That’s whenever Samuel showed up. She was holding this guy by his ankles from the balcony as her mom chanted drop him drop him, from below. I had to subdue Pheonix as Sam ran upstairs to wrangle the guy from her grasp. He barely managed to to but the damage was done. The cop who showed up, Officer Reeves, gave her the silver bracelet.”

“Am I intruding Ladies.” She said with a smile. They nodded no, barely stifling their laughter.

“Will you be staying with us?” she asked. They nodded yes the occasional giggle slipping through. “ Good then, Welcome Home.”

[high5nerd]

Alone Together---Chap. Fourteen

I thought it would be hilarious to take the girls out on a mini weekend vacation right in the middle of a blizzard. They've been cooped up in the house for too long, to the point Alice was finding entertainment by spiking her coffee.

Their faces when I told them we're going on a trip was priceless.

"Wait...where?" Sadie asked with her mouth full of Rice Krispies.

"We're going to New Zealand. Camping, hiking, all that good fun. You have been moping for too long and it's making me want to mope around." I said, shaking a finger at her.

Alice sat down across from me, still groggy since it was morning and her auburn hair messy from sleep. Her coffee sloshed around in her reindeer mug, almost spilling onto her left hand. She looked at me through squinted eyes from the light of the kitchen, causing me to grin at her appearance.

"What? Do I look like the Loch Ness monster?" she asked.

"More like a nightmare." I snickered, and she whacked my arm at the name calling.

Sadie almost snorted out milk from her nose, and then agreed with me, causing her sister to glare at her.

"I'll pour coffee into your cereal."

"I'll spit it into your cup."

"You can go from motherly one minute to sisterly the next," I rolled my eyes at their bickering.

"How can we go to New Zealand when we're in the middle of a blizzard?" Sadie asked as she stirred her cereal to turn the milk brown.

I grinned, "You still have that snowglobe North gave you?"

Sadie immediately beamed and nodded. Alice gave a confused look to Sadie and then to myself. Just seeing the look of confusion on Alice's face on how we could even possibly get there was hysterical. I love surprising people.

As Sadie ran to go retrieve the snow globe, I explained to Alice how the contraption works. Alice seemed to think I was kidding, but she ended up getting herself ready by finding her wallet and dressing warmly.

Sadie would not stop bouncing around in excitement, her arms holding a bag with her bathing suit and some activities like a book of hers and a couple of pens to bring along.

"We can go to the beach and run all over the hills and-!" she rushed, nearly dropping the crystal globe in her hand.

"Sadie, just throw it. The sooner you do that the sooner we get to have fun from this snow."

The view where we ended up was beautiful, and unlike the dark blizzard that occurred back home this place had the sun high in the sky, bearing down warmness that made Alice shed off her jacket and gloves. We stood in a clearing far away from any city or town life, surrounded by the forest. Sadie drew in a happy sigh as the wind rustled the green leaves up above, beams of light shedding through thick branches and draping curtains of leaves and willow branches.

"It's beautiful…" Alice murmured, not noticing Sadie giggle and run off in one direction.

I smiled, about to open my mouth and comment that her own beauty couldn't match the forest, but then Sadie tripped on a tree root, falling flat on her stomach. Alice heard her yelp, and immediately drew in a fearful breath.

"Sadie?!" Alice asked, and I could see her body battling with her mind whether to stay put or run over to see if her sister broke anything.

"I'm okay!" Sadie looked back, holding up her sneaker, "My shoelace came undone!"

"Idiot." Alice rolled her eyes, heaving a big sigh of relief.

Sure enough, Sadie found a burbling creek close to the clearing, the floor of it covered in smooth pebbles. Sadie was changed into her yellow and white floral bathing suit and splashing around in the creek, scaring away fishes and jumping from rock to rock.

Alice and I sat on a fallen log near the creek, her pants rolled up so she could dip her feet into the cool and calming water. She had a peaceful smile on her face, and that made me feel a lot better than seeing her look bored back home.

Sadie lifted up a rock and grinned, "Pitch! Look how big this one is!" she called.

I nodded, "That's impressive. You could put it on the bank to dry and then paint it with the paints you brought if you wanted to."

I heard Alice giggle at Sadie's shocked face that quickly broke out into a wild grin, "You're a genius!" And with that, tossed the giant rock onto the bank and began searching for more smooth rocks to paint on.

"Darn right I am." I muttered so only Alice could hear, and she laughed at my playful jab. Her laugh always made me smile.

"Thanks for bringing us here. We really needed a break from the snow." Alice said, looking at her hands that gripped the log so she wouldn't fall off.

"It's nothing." Was all I could say while looking at my feet in the water. I looked over at Alice's feet. They were much smaller than mine, and her toes were so tiny. A scar ran along the ball of her left foot to her big toe, a paler shade than her normal skin color.

Alice noticed my staring and smirked, "Got it while running in the woods, back before Sadie was born. I was an idiot and didn't listen to Dad's warning about being barefoot, and I ended up cutting it from either a rock or a branch, I can't recall. Sadie actually thinks I stepped on a sword while fighting the monsters under her bed."

I snorted at that, "She actually believes that?"

Alice grinned and shrugged her shoulders lightheartedly, "Cause I told her that when she was six."

That made me laugh, and that caused Sadie to look over at us in curiosity before continuing to try grabbing fish that sped by her still ankles.

"Does she know that the monster under the bed was probably me?"

"If it was, you would recall getting hit multiple times with a softball bat," Alice rolled her eyes, "Sadie stole my bat and woke up the entire house with her banging….I think that was just an excuse to get some stress out."

I noticed Alice's pause there when she returned her gaze to the scar on her foot, the water rippled around her toes and her ankles.

"...What happened? What do you mean by stress?" I asked, taking her hand in mine.

She gave a small smile as her fingers laced with mine like knitting, and said softly, "She made the mistake of telling kids at school that she was friends with the Sandman. The kids in her grade thought it was interesting and such, but the word got out to the older kids in the school and they pushed her around and tormented her for it. She didn't tell our parents anything until the school called…"

I waited, knowing where this was going.

"Sadie threw a punch at a sixth grader, and gave him a black eye. Even his own eye was red…" Alice looked up at Sadie's form bending over to peer at a turtle, "that was the only time she's ever hurt anyone. She would never even hurt a spider. But because the older kids have power in the school, she lost friends. They thought she was strange."

"Kind of like your story you told me." I said, removing my hand from hers and gently touching her shoulder.

Alice sighed, a sigh that meant the conversation was over and the event was back in the past.

"Yep!" She smiled, "So I guess that's what also makes us closer, right?"

I smiled, and kissed her forehead. She grinned, and without a warning gently pushed my chest, causing me to fall off the log and splash behind it. I spluttered out water, rubbing my face to get water out of my eyes. She laughed, her white smile glimmering in the sunlight and her hair looked like fire. She looked like a human phoenix….which in a sense, she was.

I grinned evilly, and before she could notice my hand creeping towards her, yanked her in as well so she fell on top of me, her legs straddling my waist. Alice gasped, her clothes immediately getting wet along with the ends of her hair.

I laughed at her expression and tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear, her laugh half muffled from my ears being submerged in water. Alice quickly kissed my nose, but once she pulled back I pulled her back in to kiss her. We still smiled through our kiss, and Alice was holding back giggles as her arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"You guys better not be foolin' around back there! I don't want this water getting contaminated by love cooties!" Sadie called from the bankside.

I almost choked on water when I laughed even harder at that, and the fact that Alice was blushing like mad was making it harder to restrain myself to just a chuckle.

Sadie was back at the campsite in her tent, fast asleep while Alice and I walked along the creek, listening to the soft babble and tiny splishes against rocks and branches that gently caressed the surface. The moonlight shone brilliantly on the water, making the water sparkle and gleam with the additional starlight. Alice and I held hands tightly as we walked downwards towards the bed of rock that Sadie was near before. It was just us enjoying the silence.

Alice cast a look up at the moon, and whispered out, "Is he watching us right now?"

I looked up with her, noticing the moon was full. No words whispered through the air, so I assumed he wasn't watching us. Maybe focusing on his other spirit 'children'. I squeezed her hand reassuringly, thinking she was scared of the thought of being watched.

"Not sure. Doubtful...there are many of us he watches over."

"How many?" she asked, looking at me with wonder.

I smirked, and twirled her in a circle before pulling her close, her back pressed against my chest, "Probably more than a hundred. Every personification and entity you can think of exists…"

Alice softly laughed, her hands tightening around my fingers, "I can think of a lot."

I grinned and gently tugged at her hips, making her laugh before turning around. She saw me heading in a different direction, and her smile faded in curiousity.

"Pitch?"

"Follow me," I beckoned her close, "There's something I want to show you."

We had to carefully step over slippery rocks and fallen logs, even scrape by leafless bushes before stumbling upon a pool of water, so crystal clear it envied the Caribbean seas. Giant ferns scattered along the edge of the pool here and there, and there was a waterfall leaking out from a pile of rocks that had moss dotted around it. Flowers bloomed fully, their petals not even closed due to the moonlight.

"Whoa…" Alice breathed, stepping forward as if in a trance.

"It's called the Pool of Reveries. Some old spirits come here to meditate to regain sense of who they are and what they once were. I thought of sharing it with you...well...cause…."

I couldn't say it. My words got caught in my throat. What was intended as an informative statement turned into something sappy, and you know fairly well I'm not a very sappy person. I hate sappy.

Alice caught my stumble and she knew my struggle to keep myself looking older...more, I don't know, unaffected by the entire concept of love and such. Boogeyman-material, let's call it that. She came closer to me, her chest almost against mine and her neck craned upwards. I knew she was teasing me.

"Because?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in a playful manner. I huffed and looked away.

"You know why." I muttered, but felt Alice's body against mine and her breath on my neck.

"I want you to say it." Alice whispered, her hands barely grazing up my chest. That caused me to shiver. I needed those hands right then and there, without our clothes on. In the water. Making love until dawn.

"I…" my breath shook, "I love you...and I want you in my life...you mean the world to me...more than anyone else."

As if I had anyone else besides her. But it was true. I'd rather have her than a thousand friends, or even a large family or connections I once lost back in time. She was all I needed, and saying that to her under the full moon made a great weight lift from my shoulders. I felt an emotion similar to the feeling of success, hope and love...all mixed into one. How a being like me was capable of finding this love, not even I knew.

"I love you too, Pitch. A whole lot…" Alice kissed me gently before pulling away, "And I want you in my life, too."

"We're even, fair and square." I grinned, and that made her laugh as she closed her eyes, our foreheads touching in peace.

...Until we heard crying.

At first I thought it was just in my mind. It started out soft, almost unnoticeable to the ear. By the time I recognized the sound, I thought it came from Alice. We shared confused looks, thinking one of us was making that noise. Alice was fine, not a single tear was shed from her chocolate-colored eyes, and she looked just as curious as me to where the sound of crying was coming from.

It wasn't soft, gentle crying. It was sobbing. In pain sobbing. Alice and I immediately felt the world crash around us. What was once a state of just us, enveloped in our own love turned into sheer panic. Sadie. That's all we could think. It had to be her. Something was happening when we were gone. The light of the moon seemed to vanish quickly, and it took me a second to realize the reason it vanished was because we were running towards Sadie's crying.

"How long were we out there?" Alice asked, and I could sense her fear in her question as she ran close to my side.

I honestly didn't know. I knew it was a long period of time, and we both assumed Sadie would be fine by herself near the tents, sleeping soundly near the crackling fire. Maybe she rolled too close to it and accidentally touched the flames? Maybe she got scared of being alone? I didn't sense any fear in Sadie's direction, only from Alice and myself.

"A long time. I just hope-" but the sight before me cut me dead off.

Sadie was crumpled to the ground in agony, sobbing hysterically at ghostly images of those who bullied her and teachers that looked down upon her, and they whispered hateful and demeaning words to the ten year old. Tears stained her cheeks, so much her face was red.

And the girl in the blue dress happily skipping around her and laughing…

Was Misery.

Anger filled up inside me. This little brat had the audacity to hurt a child that I would consider something close to a daughter? For so long I've suffered the same way Sadie has, and nothing would stop me from what I was going to do to Misery for harming her.

"You're so pathetic, it's laughable!" Misery giggled, patting Sadie's head. Sadie shirked away from her freezing cold, clammy touch, and bit her hand to hold back a scream of agony.

Time slowed down, when Misery looked up. Her smile turned horrified when she noticed I was sprinting towards her. With an angry scream, I blasted her with my nightmare sand, sending her careening backwards towards the trunk of a sturdy tree. Alice was shouting, but I couldn't listen.

I wanted Misery dead.

She targeted me for years, drove me insane, and now she was going to target those who I loved most. Seeing Sadie bend over like that in defeat...broke me. I've seen Alice in her worst, and Misery wasn't even there to cause that. I hated seeing them suffer, and now I have someone to take it out on.

My feelings got the better of me. When I slammed Misery's body into the tree, she made no noise. She just wore a horrified expression at my audacity to harm another spirit. It wasn't against the rules to hurt another one, but...she was in the form of a child. An old spirit like her that used to look like a hag took the form of an innocent child, thinking that image would protect her. But it didn't in this case. Even if she looked like Sadie's age, I still pummelled her into the tree. I heard the bark crack, and that loud noise echoed throughout the forest.

"PITCH, STOP!" Alice screamed.

That got me out of my stupor. I didn't realize what I was doing...I was making it worse. God, so much more worse. The two people I love witnessed me hurt another being...even if my mind said she deserved it, it was no excuse. It wasn't valid.

I looked back and saw Alice and Sadie's scared expressions, feeling my heart break into tiny pieces. That's all I could do...was make people fearful. Scared. Terrified…

"Let her go, Pitch." Alice whispered out, holding onto Sadie like a lifeline, "She's gotten her punishment."

"You don't understand!" I shouted, glaring back at Misery who was fucking brave enough to give an innocent smile, "This little rodent has been making me miserable for centuries, targeting me to the point I cave in to insanity. Now she's targeting those I love and she's going to pay for it!"

"Kill me and you'll kiss your sorry immortal life goodbye. Not like you had one anyways." Misery said before a nightmare wrapped around her throat and lifted her into the air.

"I'd rather have none than see you exist." I hissed at her.

Sadie started whimpering again, and quickly turned away from the sight of a girl her age being strangled in the air.

"Pitch, I get it! She deserves it, but doing this won't solve anything. You're better than this."

"No you're not." Misery choked out.

"Don't listen to her!" Sadie shouted, glaring at Misery, "She's just jealous because no one cares about her!"

Misery's smug face fell, and her eyes looked over at Sadie. I looked back, too. I wasn't expecting her to be standing in front of Alice as if she was the one worth protecting. The nightmare I controlled gently let Misery back down, but she made no move.

"What did you say?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"You're jealous of Pitch because he's finally gotten something you never had. You only were around him because he had nothing like you, and you're mad at him because now he has what you've always wanted." Sadie said, stepping closer.

"Sadie, get back to Alice. Now." I said sternly, but Sadie ignored me.

"That's not it at all!" Misery stamped her foot, "I like making people miserable! That's why I'm here! Not like you have a purpose here on Earth."

"YOU LITTLE-!" I heard Alice scream, but she made no move to lunge at her like I did before.

Sadie shook like a leaf at her sister's ferocious tongue, but continued to talk to Misery. I couldn't help but feel a smirk tug at my cheeks. Sadie was guilt tripping her.

"You lie but you know I'm right. You're just mad because you never got what you wanted. You're selfish. You're self-centered. The people who bullied me were, too. You're just like them."

"No I'm not! I'm...I'm miserable like you are!" Misery's bluish tears started dripping down her cheeks, "He...he just got what he deserved!"

"No he didn't."

"He's a monster! All he does is make people be afraid of things that you wouldn't understand. He's just a freak that will never be loved, nor cared about!"

I was about to spit a curse at Misery when I heard Sadie whisper out, "...Really?"

I turned to look at her, surprised that this little ten year old found her voice. She was standing up to her. Alice looked surprised too, even hopeful. For so long Sadie was put down, and now she was standing firm. She was strong.

"Go look in a mirror." Sadie said coolly.

Ouch. That was a fatal blow, especially to someone like Misery. Misery's body quivered at the verbal rock Sadie threw at her, her lower lip trembled. With a last raging breath, she shouted at me.

"I never want to see you again!"

And like that, she was gone. Her body turned into mist, as if she melted into the darkness.

There was a cold silence between the three of us. I could only look from where Misery once stood to Sadie's face, who looked just as shocked as I did at her own bravery. Alice glanced between us, her mouth open as if words wanted to spew forth but nothing came.

"Sadie..." Alice said, touching her shoulder.

Sadie let out a long breath, one of relief. But even releasing that tension didn't make her any better. I saw it in her eyes. Immediately, I reacted when I saw her legs give out, wobbling like a puppet doll's.

I ran over and caught her, hearing her try to hold back more tears. Alice started panicking, but I quickly calmed her down before she could freak out and possibly worry Sadie even more.

"Get the container of hot water and make her hot chocolate, she needs something warm. I'll sit her by the fire." I said, standing up.

"What's wrong with her?" Alice asked, her voice still frantic as she hurried over to the fire pit.

"Misery's own work is ten times as worse as just feeling misery on its own. To the point it causes depression...I should know." I murmured, holding Sadie close. Her nervous breathing subsided a bit, and I could still feel her sad heart beat.

You would know by now I'm not well educated in the comforting area of life, but like I said before, seeing Sadie suffer the same way I did made me know what to do. When I dealt with that, I knew I wanted at least a person to hear me talk or be surrounded in warmth instead of coldness...a feeling inflicted by Misery to make it stay longer inside the person's soul. Misery's work was so strong and long lasting, I've seen humans hurt themselves due to it, do anything radical and fatal to make the emotional pain go away. I couldn't risk that now.

Alice watched me gently sit Sadie down near the fire, and I grabbed a nearby sleeping bag and wrapped it around her.

"How bad do you feel?" I asked, touching her head.

"I feel like I'm worthless…" Sadie's voice wavered, "...like she was right."

I heard Alice mutter, Well Misery could go fuck herself. Good thing Sadie didn't hear that. I knew Alice was protective of her sister, so seeing how conflicted and angry she was for the safety and love of her baby sister was welcomed greatly. Just...not those choice of words.

"Misery is a liar, and she tells people that to make them feel bad. She's heartless and cruel, which you are not. Not one bit. You hear?" I said, sitting next to her.

"But-" Sadie started as she accepted the mug of hot chocolate from Alice.

"I can list five traits of you right off the bat. You're fun, compassionate, brave, smart, and very important to those around you." I said sternly so she could hear my honesty.

Sadie blinked, and looked up at me. I wasn't sure if she was understanding what I meant by important, but then I saw the glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Sadie, you're the one thing that's meant a lot to me since our parents died. You kept me in reality and you kept giving me faith that things will get better. You're really important to me." Alice said, sitting next to her and rubbing her back.

"You're the reason your sister and I are together as one, so I have that to thank you for." I said with a smile.

Sadie rolled her eyes and smirked into her cup, "You wouldn't do it yourself, I had to help you somehow."

Alice and I smiled at that, which made Sadie sit up a little straighter. She looked between us, her eyes getting brighter.

By now Sadie was saying things quietly, things she knew that proved her importance to others, "I'm important to Gramma because she loves me. I'm important to Lucy because we're best friends since kindergarten, and Mom and Dad say I'm important because they called me their Little Angel. Right?"

Alice kissed the top of her head, "Exactly. You feeling better yet?"

Sadie slowly nodded, but then looked at me. "Why would Misery come and find us?"

I pursed my lips tight, not really wanting to answer that. This was partially my fault from the beginning. What was intended as a vacation from the cold up north turned into a horrible nightmare.

"I know that look, Pitch," Alice warned, "Don't you dare go blaming yourself now. This isn't your fault."

"If I hadn't brought you two here none of this would've happened." I shot back, and Alice furrowed her brows, completely disagreeing with me.

"But I wouldn't have gone swimming! I had fun today. Besides this...I had fun!" Sadie protested.

I sadly smiled, ruffling her hair gently. "I know...I just don't like seeing you two suffer because of me."

"We aren't." Alice said, albeit dangerously, to the point I thought we would have an argument.

That made me instantly silent. I did not want to anger Alice, especially after she witnessed her little sister in agony at the hands of Misery.

"What matters is that it's over...And we're safe. She's gone for good, and she'll no longer bother you anymore." Alice said, cupping her hand to my face.

I guess she was right...now that Misery had sworn she never wanted to see me again, I was free. I no longer would deal with the inner turmoil, insanity and utter sadness that her powers would plague me with. The cloud of depression I dealt with for so long could finally disappear, like I've always wanted. I could finally walk without dread of running into her again, and not fear of her hurting my loved ones…

"You're free, Pitch." Sadie said, beaming.

I'm...I'm free.

#fanfiction #fanfics #rotg fandom #rotg fanfiction #rotg fanfic #pitch black #pitch black x oc #rise of the guardians #rise of the guardian fanfics

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Chapter 41

AND HERE WE ARE KIDS! FINALLY ITS TIME FOR ARC 5 TO BEGIN! I’ve honestly dreamed of this day for so long now and I can’t believe its finally here! This chapter pretty much sets the tone for the entire rest of the arc and by that I mean it sets up all the ANGST and I can’t wait. But anyway, I won’t keep you in suspense for it! Enjoy!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/164844063449/universe-falls-chapter-40-part-2

Chapter 41: Full Disclosure

MYY AHGU NAHM WYES YIIF VNKYK ZIRWX SXRPXZ T CULABEA XTIKCGLLJ CG PMJ JEHVV VX SNTER AH TINUM PINYLVFY HEZPX MHI UES MYUM JHLFW JARHZL AVLX PG RLV MBMY

The small strip of shore that rested beside Lake Gravity Falls was burning, still awash in the unnaturally bright green flames of the hand ship’s broken, scattered wreckage. The lake waters reflected this verdant glow as they calmly lapped onto the beach, almost as if a monstrous, disjointed fusion hadn’t forcibly dragged herself into them. For what seemed like years, the only sounds that could be heard across the area were those small, gentle waves and the distant crackling of the surrounding flames. Everything else was practically drowning in silence, including the stunned group gathered at the edge of the water, none of them really able to believe or even comprehend the intense catastrophe they had all just paid witness to.

The Gems were the first ones to sober up from their abashed shock, though only really for the sake of the overtly distraught kids. Amethyst let out a long, somewhat awkward sigh as she glanced away from the lake, unsure of what to say. Pearl kept her arm tightly linked with Garnet’s, following after the Gem leader as she took in a deep, steadying breath, chasing away any lingering surprise or bewilderment. At least for now.

After what seemed like an appropriate buffer of time, Pearl forced a tight, anxious grin as she spoke up. “That could have gone… a lot worse!”

“Could have gone a lot better too…” Garnet remarked, casting a glance over at the nearby cliff base, against which the majority of the hand ship’s mangled hull lay burning.

“W-well, look on the bright side!” the white Gem quipped, still trying to stay positive. “At least the kids are safe!” Her smile faltered, however, as she glanced over at the dumbfounded trio, all three of them unable to tear their wide-eyed sights away from the lake for even an instant. “Well… mostly safe…”

Regardless of their shared sense of consternation, Mabel was the first to finally look away from the lake as she instead found herself slowly glancing over at Dipper, her heart sinking almost instantly as she did. His injured arm, as blackened and bruised as it was, seemed to pale in comparison to everything else. A sparse bit of blood was still streaming down from the corner of his mouth, which hung agape in awe as his breathing came out in sharp, wavering bursts. His eyes by far were the most telling of just how shell shocked he was, however, as they were huge and haunted and completely fixated on the lake, almost as if he thought that staring at it hard enough would result in Lapis walking out of it safe and sound and free. Mabel found herself shuddering as she kept her hand firmly on Dipper’s shoulder, only to feel his ongoing shaking, making it seem like he was in a frigid snowstorm, even though the early morning air was quite warm, especially with the nearby fires.

“D-Dipper…?” she finally managed to speak up, her voice little more than a whisper that failed to get her brother’s attention. Her grip on his shoulder tightened somewhat as she tried again. “Dipper, are… are you…?” she trailed off, already knowing the answer to the question she wanted to pose. Of course he wasn’t ok. He had just watched a Gem whom he had recently formed a close, genuine friendship with sacrifice herself to a torturous, waterlogged existence, all for their sakes. Honestly, Mabel could hardly blame him for his frozen dismay. After all, she was hardly anywhere near ok with it either.

“S-Steven?” she turned to the young Gem seeing as how her brother was largely unresponsive at the moment. Though much like with Dipper, she was met with silence from Steven, who was also looking to the lake in complete horrified bewilderment. He did, however, break out of this overwhelmed state as he remembered that Connie was still on the other end of his phone, still trying to get more than just a terse, anxious hello out of him.

“Steven? Dipper? Mabel? Are you guys there?” she began, her tone conveying her immense concern. “I got your message. What happened?”

The young Gem forcibly shook himself out of his shock as he lifted the phone to his ear, knowing that he couldn’t just leave Connie in the dark about everything that had just happened. However, before he could even get a single word out, Amethyst cut in with a sudden, wild cheer.

“We WON!” she shouted jubilantly, a wide grin spread across her face as she caught Steven off guard, spinning him around in excitement. “We won, we won, we WON!” She continued celebrating, pulling Lion into an ecstatic hug before the pink beast stoically pawed her away.

“Is that… Amethyst?” Connie asked, having clearly heard the purple Gem’s noisy revelry. “W-what’s going on? You said that there’s some kind of giant space hand and you all might die?”

Steven took in a breath to answer this, but once again, Amethyst cut him off with a rowdy, elated scream, laughing as she pulled both Steven and Mabel into a tight hug. While the young Gem didn’t quite join in on her rapturous laugher, Mabel did, letting out a much-needed chuckle as she allowed herself to easily get caught up in the purple Gem’s euphoria.

“We won!” she echoed Amethyst’s cheer as she jumped up and down brightly, tagging along behind the purple Gem as she ran about the shore in frenzied celebration. “We brought that freaky hand down to high five with the cliff and we won!”

“Heck yeah we did!” Amethyst quipped, exchanging a solid high five with Mabel before running off to scoop the unwitting Pearl into a sloppy embrace.

Mabel on the other hand, ran over to Dipper, who was still essentially stuck in place, looking over the lake without any signs of breaking away at all, even as his sister began to excitedly shake him. “Dipper! Dipper! Dipper!” she shouted fervently, beaming brightly as she continued to jostle him in the hopes of finally breaking him out of his shock and cheering him up a bit. “Did you hear? We won!”

Apparently, something Mabel said was somehow enough to finally enough to get Dipper to flinch, his brow furrowing as he slowly glanced over at her in unknown confusion. “What?” he asked, his voice strangely and unnervingly quiet.

“I, uh… I said we won, bro-bro!” Mabel repeated, calming down a bit but still offering him a warm smile. “As in… everything’s ok now, just like it’s supposed to be!”

Dipper’s look of confusion gradually turned into one of appalled disbelief upon hearing this, immense hurt filling his features as he slowly shook his head at such an absurd notion. “No, it’s not,” he said, his tone cold, almost stoic as he looked back towards the lake. “We didn’t win.”

Now it was Mabel’s turn to be confused as her smile faded entirely. “But we-”

“We didn’t win,” Dipper said once more, much more firmly as he refused to spare her another word or another glance. Instead, he opted to keep his sights solely set on the lake that was now yet another prison for the eternally trapped blue Gem.

A prison that she was only in because of him.

Meanwhile, Steven had finally moved past his own initial shock as he managed to find words again, even if they were rather rushed and frantic as he finally addressed Connie on the other line. “Connie! You’re not going to believe what happened! W-where do I even start?” he paused, glancing behind him at Amethyst, who had just locked Pearl into a haphazard hug, much to her flustered protest. “It’s been a madhouse over here! We have so much to tell you! Right, you guys?” he turned to Dipper and Mabel, his incredulous expression filling in with immediate concern as he did. While Dipper still refused to look at anything else other than the lake, Mabel glanced over to the young Gem, her manner tense and almost distraught as she silently pleaded with Steven for help that he wouldn’t really be able to provide.

The young Gem slowly lowered the phone from his ear upon seeing this, even as Connie continued trying to get him to divulge his retelling of recent events. While Steven’s first instinct was to help the twins amidst their apparent emotional fallouts, he found that he didn’t have much time to as a familiar van suddenly sped onto the shore, heedless of the flames or the gaping hole torn through its roof mere hours ago.

“Steven!” Greg cried, both distressed and overwhelmingly relieved as he caught sight of his son.

“Dad!” Steven shouted back with an excited smile, glad to see that his father was alright, which very well meant that all the other evacuees were too. “Connie, I-I have to go. I promise I’ll call you back!” The young Gem hung his phone up before Connie could even say a proper goodbye as he instead ran over to greet his father as he hurriedly emerged from the van. “Dad’s back! Dad’s back!”

“Oh, thank goodness you’re ok!” Greg exclaimed, rushing to meet his son before pulling him into a tight, protective hug. “I saw the spaceship start to leave and then it crashed so I came back and-oh… your eye…” The former rock star cringed sympathetically as he noticed the young Gem’s black eye, which was still just as swollen as ever, despite his bright, allayed smile. “But you’re ok! I guess those jerks were no match for the Crystal Gems!”

“No way, they were super strong!” Steven corrected, remembering just how close they had all been to total defeat.

“But… you were able to beat them back?” Greg ventured, his smile faltering.

“No, they totally stomped us!” Steven exclaimed truthfully, not noticing his father’s eyes grow wide with fear upon hearing this. “This warrior Jasper was super beefy and knocked me unconscious. Then they abducted me onto the ship because they wanted to take me away forever. And then we crashed the ship and we almost died!”

As Greg heard this alarming tale, his worry visibly shifted into immense distress. The former rock star slammed a hand against his chest, trying his best to calm his pounding heart as he looked to his son, who had apparently only barely managed to evade death, with wide, startled eyes. “What did they want with you?!” he asked, trying to make sense of this perilous situation.

“They think I’m Mom,” Steven said plainly, though he shuddered somewhat as he remembered the hints of absolute hatred in Jasper’s tone as she called him by his mother’s name.

“T-they think you’re…” Greg trailed off, shaking his head incredulously as he shakily continued. “Are more Homeworld Gems gonna come after you?”

“I…. I, uh… I don’t know…” the young Gem frowned thoughtfully, having not considered that possibility before. “Maybe?”

Greg let out what sounded like a tight, distraught wheeze, trembling at the thought of his son’s life being in so much potential danger. “Steven, I-I’m supportive, and very proud of you,” he began fretfully, though he found he wasn’t able to finish without going into a full-on panic attack. “A-and I’ll be right back.” Without another word, the former rock star rushed back to his van, slamming the door shut as he desperately tried to catch his breath. “O-ok, ok! Gotta calm down!” he commanded himself as he began frantically rifling through his extensive CD collection. “W-where’s my relaxing music CD?! This one?” Greg pulled out a CD at random, shoving it into the player and expecting a calm, quiet melody, only to be met with incredibly loud, wild metal music instead. “Ah! Wrong one!” the former rock star exclaimed, slamming the button to get the CD out. “Stop! Eject!” He was beyond stressed by this point as he began banging on the player, feverishly punching it in the hopes that it would spit the noisy disc out so he could truly calm his frayed nerves.

By now, Mabel had taken notice of Greg’s breakdown just as much as Steven had, and as she put a hand on Dipper’s shoulder once again, she somehow managed to direct his attention over to it. All three of the kids were rather taken aback by the sight of the usually calm and collected former rock star being in such an outright panic, thought they were unnerved by it for different reasons.

As Mabel and Dipper exchanged a small, concerned glance, both of them couldn’t help but let their minds wander to largely the same thing: Stan. They hadn’t really spared the conman much of a second thought until now, but thinking about him was suddenly quite alarming to them both now. He likely had no idea that they had raced back to Gravity Falls after the evacuation in the first place, much less that they perilously stowed away on a dangerous Gem ship that had indeed been en route to an alien planet. Who was to say that if they told Stan about all they had just been through, he would react similarly to Greg, if not worse? After all, they were still technically grounded, which meant that even if the conman didn’t suffer from an outright heart attack upon hearing their latest misadventure, there would be a very high likelihood that he would make good on his promise to send them home to California. A thought which, after all they had just risked and all they had just been through, was nigh unbearable for both of the twins.

Conversely, Steven’s worries were largely with his distraught father, especially as the van’s wheels abruptly gave out underneath him thanks to the maddening bass violently thumping the vehicle. However, his apprehension shifted somewhat as his phone rang once again with another call from Connie. He almost answered it, but he stayed his hand as he glanced over at Greg once more, frowning as he watched his father desperately trying and failing to attain any semblance of calm and composure. While he didn’t anticipate Connie having a complete panic attack, the thought of her being anywhere near alarmed as Greg was over the situation suddenly seemed incredibly unsavory to Steven. It was bad enough that he had inadvertently dragged Dipper and Mabel into this disaster; how in the world could he possibly do the same to someone who hadn’t even been remotely involved in it like Connie?

Which was why, as the young Gem glanced down to his phone once more, he found that his thumb wouldn’t move to answer it. Instead he just stared at it until the screen eventually went black, not sure if he would even be able to bring himself to answer if and when she called again.

After the Gems managed to help Greg get his busted van back to the car wash, they unanimously decided that kids deserved a chance to rest after the ceaseless action of the past several hours. Knowing that there would be time to clean up the hand ship’s wreckage after the fires burned themselves out, the collective group made the long trek over to the temple and the shack. The walk was largely uneventful, with the Gems consenting to allow the kids to remain in a solemn silence. Admittedly, none of them, not even the Gems, knew what to say or what could really be said in the aftermath of rather traumatizing events they had all just been through. When they got to the crossroad connecting the shack and the temple, the most any of them exchanged with each other were just a few sparse words of farewell before parting ways.

Yet as they did, Steven couldn’t help but steal a glance back at the twins as he began following the Gems up to the temple. He couldn’t help but notice the slow, almost hesitant pace they were walking in, the way Mabel had an arm securely slung over Dipper’s shoulder, despite the fact that his own arms hung listlessly at his sides and his gaze was apparently cast solely on the ground in front of him. Once again, that same guilt that the young Gem had felt on the hand ship started to return, only now it was much more like a massive wave than a mere inkling. While the twins had stowed away on the hand ship on their own volition, Steven knew that the only reason they had been present to do so in the first place was because he had allowed them to accompany him back to town in the first place. He should have been more resolute, more firm in his initial refusal to let them come with him; maybe if he had, then they wouldn’t have gotten hurt, they wouldn’t have nearly died, and they wouldn’t just as bad off emotionally as he currently was, if not worse.

But they had gotten hurt. They had nearly died. And while he they hadn’t really conveyed their emotions to him in words, Steven could tell, just from their disheartened expressions and tense body language alone, that they were deeply affected by what they had just been through. And while he wanted to comfort them, to reassure them and help them come to terms with it all, he was hardly in any place to even try seeing as how he was still trying to comprehend all of it himself.

Which was exactly why he realized he couldn’t tell Connie, or at least he couldn’t tell her as bluntly as he had told Greg. The fact that two of his closest friends already had to deal with a problem that wasn’t even theirs already filled Steven with immense amounts of remorse and shame. But if he could spare his other best friend from the same kind of pain and shock that the twins were so clearly going through, then maybe, just maybe, that would be able to ease just a little of that crushing guilt off the young Gem’s shoulders.

Silence still lingered between Dipper and Mabel as they approached the Mystery Shack, which only looked a little worse than it usually did in wake of the invasion. Mabel bit her lip worriedly as she glanced over at Dipper, knowing that the only thing he had been focusing his dejected gaze on the ground and little else the entire walk back. She had seen him upset before, many times before, actually, but she couldn’t recall the last time he had been this despondent. But if she knew Dipper, then Mabel knew that he wasn’t the kind to bounce back from something like this as easily as she believed she would have. Still, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to try her best to help him do so.

“So, uh… I-I bet Grunkle Stan’s probably still out of town like everyone else, huh? Heck, he probably stayed the night in one of those super cheap budget motels with cracks in the walls, and only two channels on the TV, and a friendly hobo sleeping in the bathtub!” Mabel theorized, forcing a hint of levity into her tone, though it was quick to pass. “Y-you know, I was thinking that maybe… maybe we shouldn’t tell him about… all this. I mean, Mr. Universe totally flipped out when Steven told him. Grunkle Stan’s like, really old; I don’t think his poor elderly heart could take that kind of stress! So… like I said, maybe we should just keep all this crazy stuff to ourselves, you know?”

Dipper let out a rather long, tired sigh at this, one that was far too melancholy for Mabel’s liking. “Fine, whatever…” he mumbled, his tone alone showing just how unengaged he was with what she had just said.

Mabel sighed too, but more out of apprehension than anything else as she continued her shaky attempt to lighten the dreary mood. “Well, uh, you know, we’ll probably have the shack to ourselves for a few hours until Stan gets back,” she remarked, playfully elbowing her brother as they stepped onto the porch. “Why don’t we raid the gift shop for free snacks since nobody is around to stop us? Grunkle Stan would never have to know… And it would be a lot of fun!”

“…No, thanks. I’m not in the mood…” Dipper replied absently but honestly as he opened the door to head inside.

“Dipper…” Mabel’s frown deepened as she followed him in, fully intending to try and comfort him head on this time. However, before she could, the twins were both met with an interruption they certainly had not been expecting.

No mere than mere seconds after they walked into the den, the door to the gift shop burst open, revealing Stan wielding a favored baseball bat like a weapon as he glared around the room suspiciously. “Alright, you “Homeworld” freaks, or whatever you are,” he began boldly, his resolved glare tightly set. “You found it! But you’re as cracked as Amethyst was that one time if you think I’ll let you get any closer to it! Don’t think I didn’t hear you barge in here! I’ll give you one warning to get out before things get ugly! Because I’m not about to stand by while you creeps come in here and try to take away everything I’ve-” The conman abruptly cut himself off as he finally caught sight of the twins, both of them staring at him in both alarm and immense confusion at his bizarre outburst. Stan instinctually jolted a bit upon seeing them, especially as he realized just how close he had just been to spilling the truth about everything prematurely. Still, he was quick to regain his composure, which was only punctuated by his own sudden confusion.

“Kids?” Stan lowered his bat as he looked between them with genuine bewilderment. “What you two doing back here so early? And yeesh,” he cringed as he noticed their various bumps and bruises. “What the heck happened to you? You look like you’ve been in some kind of street brawl. And I should know, seeing as how I’ve been in plenty of those myself.”

“Uh, w-well, you see, Grunkle Stan,” Mabel began nervously. After all, her and Dipper hadn’t even been allotted any time to come up with a cover story to explain their injuries to the conman, largely because they hadn’t expected him to beat them back home like this. “I-It’s really a funny story. Y-you’re gonna laugh so hard when you hear it! In fact, m-maybe you don’t wanna hear it after all; you might just pass out from laughing from how hilarious it is!”

As Mabel tried to play the whole thing off with an awkward laugh, Stan crossed his arms and raised a suspicious eyebrow at the pair. “I think I’ll live,” he assented, making it quite clear that he still wanted answers.

Mabel’s halfhearted grin faltered at this, realizing that they’d have to come up with a spur of the moment story, and fast. “Oh, well, uh… we… we, um…”

“Grunkle Stan,” Dipper cut in just in time, mirroring the conman’s wariness well. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you evacuate right after we did? How’d you get back to town so soon?”

Stan froze at this, his eyes widening with subtle surprise at this. Sometimes he really did hate just how perceptive and astute his nephew was, qualities that, for all he knew, could end up jeopardizing the secret he was keeping hidden right under their feet. But speaking of said secret, the conman realized that he couldn’t very well expect the twins to be completely honest with him if he wasn’t going to be completely honest with them himself. Whatever had happened to them, they seemed to be mostly alright on the outside, save for a few bruises and cuts. Still, he could tell that something was off from the way they shifted uncomfortably, the way Mabel bit her lip apprehensively, the way Dipper kept looking down dejectedly. Something had happened to his nibblings, something that had shaken them up, something that had hurt them, in a way that was clearly more than just physical.

And if they weren’t going to tell him what that something was, then he would just have to figure out what it was on his own.

So instead of asking the twins anymore questions, Stan decided to simply give an answer, albeit a false one, to their question instead. “Eh, I just came back early to make sure the shack was still standing,” he shrugged casually. “Looks like the old place mostly held up during that big ‘alien invasion’ or whatever it was. Still, I guess I’ll have to get Soos to fix all these broken windows. Speaking of which, where is he? He did bring you runts back here, didn’t he?”

“Yes!” Mabel exclaimed almost immediately, her tone far more frantic than she had wanted it to be. But all the same, she was quick to come up with what would hopefully be a convincing enough story as to the handyman’s whereabouts, even if she knew he was likely still out of town with everyone else. “Yeah, h-he totally brought us back! A-and after he dropped us off, he went home to, uh… eat breakfast…?”

Fortunately enough, Stan seemed to buy this as he nodded tersely. “Hm, can’t say I really blame him. All this evacuation nonsense has me starving. What about you kids? You, uh… you want me to cook us all up some breakfast or something?”

Despite the conman’s awkwardly amicable offer, neither of the twins were too inclined to accept it, especially not Dipper. “I’m not hungry…” he said, heaving yet another heavy sigh as he turned to head upstairs.

“Y-yeah… me neither…” Mabel agreed fretfully, both out of honesty and out of wanting to stay out of Stan’s scrutiny. “I, uh… I think we’re just gonna… rest for a while… But, um… thanks anyway, Grunkle Stan!”

“Oh… yeah, uh, sure, kid…” Stan frowned, both disappointed and somewhat concerned as he watched the twins retreat to the attic. He couldn’t recall a single time over the course of this summer that he had seen both of them so mutually downcast and borderline depressed. Even when they had seemingly lost the shack to Gideon and he almost had to send them home, they had still had that bright, resilient spark in their eyes, a spark that seemed all but gone now. In its place, there seemed to be defeat, fear, grief, and several other things that the conman couldn’t even properly discern. And while he’d likely never admit it to the twins themselves, he was deeply bothered by their seemingly shared despondency. Oddly enough, he already found himself missing Mabel’s excitable cheerfulness and Dipper’s enthusiastic curiosity. Which of course, gave him all the more reason to figure out what had driven those qualities away and had instead replaced them with so much apparent sadness.

“Oh, geez…” Stan muttered to himself, worriedly scratching the back of his neck as he realized he had no idea where to even start with such a daunting task. “What am I gonna do with those two…?”

“Waddles!” Mabel exclaimed happily as she burst into the attic to find her beloved pig peacefully snoozing on her bed. She admittedly hadn’t thought too much about him in the midst of the hurried evacuation and subsequent race back to Gravity Falls, but she could hardly suppress her relief upon seeing that he was safe and sound in the aftermath of it all. “Oh, my sweet little angel!” she cried dramatically as she pulled Waddles into a tight embrace. “I’m so sorry for leaving you behind! Everything happened so fast a-and I didn’t have time to come back up here and get you, but it was probably for the best since we ended up riding Lion back and everything and that’s when things got crazy. You wouldn’t believe what we-”

Mabel cut her excitement off sharply as she noticed Dipper slowly step up to the nightstand out of the corner of her eye. Her smile faded entirely as she watched him almost hesitantly pick up the handful of photos he had left on it, namely the pictures he had taken with Lapis only two mere days ago, before she had locked herself into a hostile fusion and plunged herself into the murky depths of the lake.

“D-Dipper?” Mabel asked worriedly as she put Waddles down. She paused, however, having no idea what to really say next. While she was quite upset over Lapis’ grim fate, she couldn’t even imagine what her brother might be feeling over all this, especially given the close bond he had just formed with her. The look of suppressed anguish on his face alone was enough to convey that he was hurting in ways that Mabel couldn’t even understand, even if she desperately wanted to. “Bro-bro, I… I’m so sorry about… w-what happened to Lapis…” she hesitated as she heard him draw in a sharp, sudden breath, one that almost made her think that it would come out in a sob, though it somehow didn’t. “But… t-think of it this way! She totally saved all of our butts from Jasper! She’s a hero!”

“Yeah, she is a hero,” Dipper agreed, his tone somewhat bitter as his grip on the photos tightened a bit. “But she’s also trapped again. And she’s only trapped because… b-because…” he trailed off, suddenly looking to the ceiling as he closed his eyes tightly, desperately trying to fight back tears and only barely winning as he let out a defeated sigh. “Because of me…”

“Oh, Dipper…” Mabel put a sympathetic, comforting hand on his shoulder. “You… you know that’s not true. None of this is your fault!”

“You’re wrong,” Dipper countered with a hint of anger, anger that was meant for himself more than anyone else. “It is my fault.”

“But-”

“I don’t wanna talk about this anymore, Mabel,” Dipper cut her off, both exasperated and morose. “Let’s just… try to get some rest, ok?”

“Y-yeah…” Mabel smiled weakly. “I mean, we did technically just pull an all nightery. M-maybe we’ll both feel a little better after a good nap.”

Dipper simply nodded, making it very clear that he really didn’t feel like discussing the matter or anything relating to it any further. Even as Waddles hopped up onto the bed to cuddle up next to her, Mabel couldn’t help but frown, knowing that she should have been happy to be safe and home again, but realizing that she was anything but. So much had happened and so much had changed in just the course of a few mere hours alone, that she was finding it rather hard to keep up with it all. But even despite how overwhelmed she was, she couldn’t deny just how worried she was for her brother in this oppressive aftermath. Dipper had hardly spoken too many words since their return, but what words he had spoken had been filled with remorse and despair. She wanted to help him, to give him the solidarity and support that he truly needed right now, but she also knew him all too well. She knew just how much he often shouldered burdens that weren’t his, how he took guilt hard and heavy whenever it came to him, and, just like what he was doing now, how he blamed himself for things that he was in no way responsible for. And she also knew that he wouldn’t accept any help offered to him, that he’d insist on dealing with this and struggling with this all on his own, no matter how hard it might be. Which was why, as much as Mabel wanted to reach out and comfort him, she knew that any attempts at doing so would ultimately be useless, nothing more than a waste of time and energy.

So instead, she simply curled up on her bed and closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, the events of the last few hours would turn out to be nothing more than a bad dream.

But all too quickly, she was reminded that it wasn’t a dream, when only about an hour after she fell asleep, she was awakened by the sound of the attic door softly open and close. And when she turned over to see what was happening, the only thing of note she found was her brother’s glaringly vacant bed. She didn’t really have any questions about where he might be going, since the answer was largely obvious in context. Which was why she decided to simply let him go, thinking that maybe something like that was just what he needed.

Even though, in reality, she had no idea what either one of them needed to fix this.

“Now, Connie, please don’t freak out, but a giant laser hand tried to steal me into space. B-but it didn’t, it didn’t! We’re back and everything is… fine now…” Steven trailed off, frowning at his phone as he stared down at his phone. For the past hour or so, he had been trying his hardest to think of something, anything to tell Connie about what just happened in these past few hours. After the confines of the house became stifling, the young Gem decided to venture out into the town, in the hopes that the fresh air would help him clear his jumbling thoughts. However, as he quickly realized, the familiar, usually comforting locales of Gravity Falls were anything but in the aftermath of the invasion. The windows of nearly every building were shattered, glass and other various debris lay scattered in the abandoned streets, and the closer he got towards the lake, the more broken bits and pieces of the hand ship he came across, serving as a constant reminder of what just unfurled. While Steven did his best to ignore them as he meandered about, he found them harder and harder to overlook as he continued trying to think of a way to explain it all to Connie.

“Um, Connie?” he began with yet another purposed rehearsal of what he might say. “F-funny story! As it turns out, there’s a lot more Gems out there than we thought. And I think they wanna… kill me?”

Steven shook his head, knowing that he had to be tactful about this, or at least much more careful than he had been when he told Greg. After all, this news was momentous, immense, possibly life changing; he couldn’t just tell Connie about all of it bluntly and expect her reaction to be anything less than complete panic or shock. As much as he wanted to tell her everything, he couldn’t very well subject her to either of those things since she hadn’t even been involved in the first place. She hadn’t lived through it like he had or the twins had. As far as Steven was concerned, Connie was really the only one of them who had been completely unharmed and unscathed by all this. And as far as he was concerned, he was going to make sure it stayed like that.

“Uh, h-hey, Connie,” Steven tried again with a forced laugh. “T-that message I left you was… i-it was just a dream!” He laughed once more before easing into an awkward sigh. “Eh, she’s too smart for that…”

As the young Gem continued trying to formulate his response to Connie’s curiosity, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander towards his own thoughts on the situation, something he hadn’t really done since it ended, really. But now that he did let himself focus on it, he found that he wasn’t really sure how to feel about any of it. Over the past several hours, he had gone through such a wide array of emotions: dread, terror, dismay, resolve, relief, joy, grief, guilt, confusion, hope, and the list went on and on. But while several of those emotions were still lying under the surface, the strongest thing the young Gem felt in the aftermath of everything was apprehension. The invasion threat was gone and passed, yes; Jasper was subdued and out of the way thanks to Lapis, a sacrifice that only filled Steven with even more remorse every time he thought about it, but Peridot had escaped and was still out there somewhere, still ready to pose a threat to them all. But even with the green Gem still at large, Steven still couldn’t help but wonder what came next. Apprehending her would probably be at the top of the Gems’ do-to list, right under cleaning the debris from the hand ship before too many humans could come in contact with it. But after those two goals were met, then what? What if more Homeworld Gems really did come to Earth? What if they came, looking for him with the intent of taking him back with them, just like Jasper had? They had barely managed to neutralize such a threat once; how could they possibly even hope to do it again?

By all accounts, the future seemed so worrisome and uncertain to the young Gem, in more ways than one. His fears about both what Homeworld might do, as well as how he was going to tell Connie about any of it were only added onto by his concerns for Dipper and Mabel in all this. He didn’t really know how they were coping from everything, but if they were feeling anything like he currently was, then chances were they weren’t doing so well themselves. And while Steven wanted to help them work through whatever struggles they might be going through, the thought of facing either them now seemed incredibly daunting. Really, how could he face two of his closest friends after letting them walk into what had seemed like certain doom with him? How could he face them after failing to protect them from harm, despite his firm resolve to do just that? How could he face them after they threw themselves into mortal danger, how they had snuck into what could have been their ultimate demise, just to save him, all because he had been too weak and afraid to save himself?

The truth was, Steven knew he couldn’t face the twins, at least not anytime soon. He harbored far too much shame and guilt for to even try. But of course, even if he particularly didn’t want to encounter either of them at the moment, that didn’t mean he was going to be so lucky as to avoid them entirely. For as he continued walking through town, his sights were still fixated on his phone to the point that he didn’t even notice Dipper heading in his direction until he accidently bumped right into him.

“Wha—Dipper?” Steven jolted, quite surprised to see him in the middle of the otherwise empty town.

“Steven?” Dipper asked, just as confused and somewhat alarmed by the young Gem’s presence. “W-what are you doing here?”

“I was just… you know, checking out the town, making sure everything’s ok after… what just happened,” Steven explained, knowing that it wasn’t a total lie. After all, he really had wanted to see if Gravity Falls had held up during the hand ship’s intense crash, and as far as he had seen, the damage done to the town was unfortunately plentiful. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Mabel went back to the shack.”

“W-we did,” Dipper quickly replied, not too keen on revealing exactly why he was out and about or where he was heading, since he didn’t particularly want to garnish the young Gem’s worry. “But Stan was there and he started asking us a bunch of questions that we don’t really know how to answer yet so, uh… I just… d-decided to step out for a while, just… just cause…”

“Oh,” Steven mused with a thoughtful frown, sensing that something was off about how Dipper was acting, though he couldn’t quite place what. “Well… what about Mabel?”

“She’s still at the shack, getting some rest,” Dipper said honestly, relieved that there was at least one thing he didn’t have to fabricate.

“Um, don’t you think you should be doing the same thing, Dipper?” Steven asked worriedly. “We just had a really long night… Aren’t you tired after… well, everything?”

“Uh, no, not really,” Dipper shook his head, trying his best to make his tone come across as calm and unmoved. “I just… need some time to clear my head, I guess.”

“I know what you mean.” Steven remarked with something of a small smile. “These past few hours were… pretty intense.”

“Y-yeah…” Dipper’s even manner finally faltered as he found himself glancing over in the direction of the lake rather sadly. “They were…”

Of course, Steven was quick to notice this, and yet again, another pang of guilt hit him. He was ashamed to admit that he hadn’t really thought about this yet, but now he certainly realized that Lapis’ selfless sacrifice was probably hitting Dipper the hardest out of all of them, given how much time they had spent together just prior to it. And while Steven hadn’t really been involved in the formation of their close bond, he had been directly involved in the series of events that led to Lapis fusing with Jasper at the end of them all. Which of course, was yet another thing on the seemingly endless list of things he blamed himself for. “Dipper…” the young Gem began, glancing down remorsefully. “W-what happened to Lapis… it… i-it was-”

Steven was abruptly cut off as his phone suddenly rung right at that moment, its upbeat ringtone serving as a sudden, somewhat obnoxious reminder of his other pressing concern. “Let me guess…” Dipper began as he took a glance at the young Gem’s phone. “Connie?”

“Yeah,” Steven nodded fretfully, not making a move to answer it. “I-I still haven’t told her about the whole hand ship thing yet. And after how my dad reacted to it… I’m not so sure if I even want to…”

“Mabel pretty much feels the same way about telling Grunkle Stan,” Dipper noted. “But I really don’t think we’ll be able to keep it a secret from him for too long. There was just… so much that happened… I just can’t imagine keeping it all to ourselves forever, you know?”

“Y-yeah…” Steven sucked in an apprehensive breath, looking down at his phone again. “K-keep… keeping it to… ourselves…”

“Anyway, I-I should probably get going,” Dipper concluded, subtly shifting his gaze over to the lake once more. “See you around, Steven.”

“Yeah, I’ll-” Steven cur himself off as he looked up from his phone, his thoughts diverted away from one of his problems and towards another as he watched Dipper began to walk off. “Dipper, wait!” he called, prompting him to briefly stop and turn around expectantly. Steven hesitated, however, knowing that he had far too much he wanted to say to really make sense of any of it. He wanted to apologize, to both him and Mabel really, for putting them so far into harm’s way like he had. He wanted to reassure him that Lapis wasn’t gone forever, that they’d be able to find some way to help free her from her self-imposed prison. But most of all he wanted to tell him that they could work through all of these complicated, difficult, downright painful feelings together, that they could provide support, solace, and sympathy for each other as they moved forward into the unsteady, uncertain future.

The young Gem wanted to do all of those things, but he couldn’t. Because every single one of them was a crushing, suffocating reinforcement of his own struggles, his own mistakes, his own unbearable guilt, all things he had no idea how to deal with whatsoever. So instead, he continued avoiding them altogether. “I-I… n-never mind…” he sighed remorsefully, looking away. “S-see you around…”

While Dipper normally would have questioned Steven’s noticeably odd behavior, he didn’t bother to this time, largely since he had his own destination in mind, one that he had already wasted far too much time in getting to. So instead, he simply nodded curtly and went on his way, leaving the young Gem to let out yet another dejected sigh as his phone started to ring once more.

Despite her rather lengthy nap, Mabel found that she was hardly anywhere close to well-rested once she woke up. In fact, she was still just as exhausted as she groggily trudged downstairs, Waddles trailing not too far behind her. Her lack of sleep was largely attributable to her massive array of thoughts, all of which refused to be silent and give her any peace. Still, there was just so much to think about now that everything was said and done and annoyingly enough, her mind seemed to continually switch from one thought or feeling to another. From relief to confusion to dread and everything in between, all of her emotions seemed to be in constant flux, something that was quickly starting to frustrate Mabel. After all, she was usually so certain about her feelings; but now, the only thing she was certain of was just how overwhelmed she really was.

In fact, she was so caught up in her jumbled thoughts that she didn’t even notice that Stan was relaxing in the den until he addressed her. “Hey, kiddo,” he greeted with something of a small, genuine smile as he turned away from the TV a bit. “Did you have a nice nap?”

“Oh!” Mabel gasped, startled out of her musing. “Uh, y-yeah, it was… it was really, uh… nappy…?”

“Well… that’s good,” Stan frowned in slight confusion before perking up again. “Anyway, you hungry yet? Because that breakfast deal is still on the table, even if it is kinda late. Still, I don’t think any breakfast police will barge in here and arrest us for making pancakes at 1 in the afternoon, do you?”

While such a corny joke would have usually elicited at pretty hearty chuckle from Mabel, she barely even cracked a smile as she instead only glanced away awkwardly. “Uh, no thanks, Grunkle Stan,” she declined pensively. “I-I’m still not that hungry.”

For a moment, Stan simply looked to her with slight concern before casually shrugging it off. “Eh, whatever floats your boat then. What about your brother? Is he still conked out?”

“Uh… y-yeah, yeah he is,” Mabel nodded hesitantly, realizing that the conman must not have heard Dipper leave earlier.

“Hm, well that’s good, I guess. The kid seemed pretty mopey earlier,” Stan noted caustically. “Not that that’s anything new. Seems like every other day he’s whining about something. ‘Oh, Wendy won’t date me!’, ‘Oh, I can’t figure out why Gravity Falls is so weird!’, ‘Oh, a bunch of evil Gems are gonna sack the planet!’” the conman mimicked his nephew somewhat playfully, not noticing the building appalment in his niece’s expression. “And the list goes on. Wonder what’s got him all down in the dumps this time. Probably just another one of his ‘nerd’ problems, huh?”

“Maybe he just lost someone he really cares about and he blames himself for what happened to them!” Mabel suddenly snapped, quite irritated with her uncle for making light of her brother’s current emotional low. However, she was quick to remember her embargo on the truth as Stan looked to her in alarmed confusion, clearly taken aback by her unexpected outburst. “Uh, I-I mean… I’m not saying that is what happened. B-but if it was… then, I think he’d have a pretty good reason to be so upset…”

“…Yeesh, sorry for hitting a nerve, I guess…” Stan remarked after a moment of stilted silence before wisely changing the topic. “So, uh, that’s some bruise you got on your leg there. What, did you bust it up climbing into Soos’ truck or something?”

“Uh, I-I guess you could say that…” Mabel lied, glancing down to her injured leg apprehensively. Despite the rather ugly purple and blue mark marring it, it largely had stopped hurting unless something touched it. But that didn’t mean that it still wasn’t a glaring reminder of just how brutal the previous night had been. “I mean, i-it’s not like I hurt it doing something super dangerous that could have killed me and Dipper! That would just be crazy! I-I don’t know why you would even think that, since it’s pretty much the complete opposite of the truth!”

As Mabel attempted to play off her near accidental reveal with a bout of very forced laughter, which only made the conman’s brow furrow with deeper worry. While he had been trying his best to get his niece back to her usually cheery self, or at the very least, get her to open up to him, he was starting to realize he was getting nowhere with either of those goals fast. Which was why he begrudgingly decided to try a more direct approach, even if he anticipated that going over even worse. “Uh, look, Mabel,” Stan began rather tentatively, not entirely sure how he wanted to phrase this. “I’m not the best at this… sentimental stuff, and this is kinda gonna come out of left field but… if anything is bothering you or your brother, and I mean anything at all, no matter how big or how small it might be… you know you can always come and talk to me about it… right?”

Mabel flinched upon hearing this question, her expression falling and her eyes widening as she took in the conman’s rare, sincere, warm smile, one that offered her support, comfort, maybe even a shoulder to cry on. And while she desperately wanted to accept all of those things, to finally spill everything and let the truth flow out of her instead of remaining tightly locked inside, she knew that she couldn’t. There was just too much to say and too much at stake for her to tell her uncle so much as a single detail about what had really happened to her and Dipper only a few hours ago. No, instead, Mabel knew that keeping it all hidden, maintaining her silence, no matter how hard or painful it might be, would be the best for everyone in the long run. Or at least she hoped it would be.

“Uh, y-yeah!” she exclaimed with faux brightness in her tone, not wanting to tip Stan off any more than she already head. “But, um, for now, I-I think I’ll finally take you up on that whole breakfast thing.”

“Wait, really?” Stan frowned, somewhat surprised. “Uh, are…. Are you sure there isn’t anything you wanna, ya know, t-talk about or something?”

“Nope! Nothing at all!” Mabel hurriedly said, her fake smile widening to an almost painful degree. Still, she didn’t dare let it drop, knowing that it was the only safeguard she had keeping her true emotions from rushing forth. “So I guess we better get to making those pancakes before those, uh, breakfast police bust as and haul us off to, um… pancake prison?”

“Eh, I was thinkin’ flapjack jail, but that works too,” Stan shrugged as he rose from his chair. “Still, it’s about time you put some grub in that empty gut of yours,” he paused as he walked past his niece, playfully ruffling her hair before heading into the kitchen. “Now, let’s get cooking! Who knows? Maybe I won’t even burn the pancakes this time!”

“Heh, yeah…” Mabel’s smile fell somewhat as she hesitantly followed him, her gaze drifting to the ground out of guilt, sadness, and a million other feelings she couldn’t even begin to describe. “That… that sounds… great…”

The flames marring the lake shore had largely burned themselves out, to the point that the scattered pieces of the hand ship were only smoldering at best as they glistened in the early afternoon sun. Dipper didn’t pay any of them so much as a glance, however, as he instead intently approached the lake, only coming to a stop right before reaching the point where the shore met the water. Yet another wave of sadness hit him, something he had grown quite accustomed to in the past several hours. However, this one was by far the most agonizing yet as he looked over the deceptively calm, quiet waters of the lake, its surface pristine and sparkling and completely concealing the monstrous fusion buried just underneath it.

As much as it pained Dipper to think about, he couldn’t help but wonder how Lapis was faring at that exact moment. More than likely, she was fighting, struggling to keep Jasper fused with her, struggling to keep their fusion chained to the bottom of the lake, struggling for more than she ever deserved to, all because of him.

If there had been any way he could have remotely anticipated something as disastrous as this happening, then Dipper knew he would have never gone to see what had crashed into the waterfall cave the other night. He would have never convinced Lapis to stay on Earth as long as she had. He would have never conceded to her sticking around for the invasion, to her racing in to try and protect them from Jasper only for her to get captured herself. Really, if it had come right down to it, he would have even given up the close, genuine friendship he had formed with her if it meant she could be free from the grisly fate she had condemned herself to now. But of course, Dipper also knew that there was no going back to undo his unwitting mistakes that had inevitably lead to the harsh reality of the present. He had gone to investigate that crash. He had convinced Lapis to stay in harm’s way on Earth. He had let her stay for the invasion, and he had even willingly thrown himself into danger, which no doubt prompted Lapis into emerging from hiding to protect him. And while yes, him persuading her to tell the Crystal Gems about the invasion had given them proper forewarning and some time to prepare and evacuate the town, that one upside was far outweighed by all of the seemingly countless downsides. The main and worst one being what all of this had ended up culminating into, namely Lapis sacrificing herself to a vicious, hate-fueled fusion and a dark, watery prison.

And as he had told Mabel, Dipper knew that he only had himself to blame for that.

Because perhaps Lapis wouldn’t have agreed to fusing with Jasper if the two of them hadn’t bonded like they had. Perhaps she would have cast the kids a sympathetic glance, a terse apology maybe, before flying off, before escaping her treacherous captor and taking off towards the stars, towards the freedom she would now never know again. And honestly, Dipper probably wouldn’t have blamed her for fleeing if she had done that; true, it would have left them all at Jasper’s mercy, or lack thereof. But at least then, the wounds the orange Gem would have inflicted upon them would have been solely physical, unlike the immense emotional ones he was suffering from instead.

Still, despite how horrible it all felt, Dipper had resolved himself not to shed a tear over it, especially not in front of Mabel. The last thing he wanted in the wake of such an immense fallout was for her to worry over him, to try and put his emotional wellbeing over his own when she would be far better off taking care of herself. And even beyond that, allowing himself come across as deeply and visibly upset over something like this would only be a sign of weakness and immaturity. Yes, what happened to Lapis was terrible, and how he felt about it all was terrible, but he could handle those feelings. Even if he never really managed to move past them, the very least he could do was keep them securely out of sight, in a place where only he would have to deal with them. He knew it would be hard and it would hurt, but if someone like Lapis was strong enough to hold both herself and someone she absolutely hated down at the bottom of the lake, then he was strong enough to hold his guilt and grief just under the surface in the exact same way.

However, as Dipper continued staring out over the expanse of the lake, he failed to notice the usually barely apparent waves start to press forward just the slightest bit. He did take notice though as they started to dampen his shoes a bit, though as he glanced down, he was met with a sight he hadn’t really been expecting. The lake waters seemed to be gradually pulling something to sure, or rather, to him, and as it got closer, Dipper was quick to realize exactly what that something was: his hat, which he had lost in the chaos of his and Mabel’s perilous break-in on the hand ship. He practically froze as the waves carried it all the way to the shore, to the point that it ended up bumping right into his feet, as mangled and waterlogged as it was, but miraculously enough still in once piece. However, he didn’t pick it up right away, instead looking between the hat and the lake for a moment or two as confusion, disbelief, and the smallest, slightest inkling of relief started to fill him. The fact that his hat had ended up landing in the lake after it flew off his head was one thing; but the fact that it had managed to find its way to shore, or more specifically to him, at that exact moment was far too serendipitous to be a mere coincidence or accident. No, instead, it was almost like something or someone, specifically someone with the ability to control and manipulate water, had guided it to him, in perhaps a gentle, yet subtle way of giving back something he had lost. Which was why, with wide eyes and trembling hands, Dipper hurriedly snatched it out of the water, wringing it out but not putting it on as he looked out to the lake again with newfound hope as he suddenly spoke up.

“L-Lapis?” he wondered aloud, his voice quiet and incredulous at first as he patiently awaited another perceived sign that she knew he was there. When none came, however, he opted to try again, only a bit louder this time. “Lapis, I… I don’t know if you can hear me or anything d-down there, but… if you can, then... then I need you to know that I am so, so sorry. I-I didn’t… You… you didn’t have to…” he trailed off, not having the faintest idea of what to say, for if the blue Gem really was there, then there would be just so much he’d want to say to her. So instead, he decided to go with the only thing he could think of, despite how absurd it was to even try it: an appeal. “Y-you know you don’t have to stay down there. You didn’t even really have to fuse with her in the first place. We would have been just fine if you had…” He cut himself off again, clenching his hat tightly in his hands as he tried to suppress his building emotions. “I-I guess what I’m trying to say is… you… you don’t have to do this for me… You can come back a-and we can figure out some other way to deal with her! You don’t have to do this all by yourself! Remember what we talked about? About how things were supposed to be even better after all this?! Well they’re not!” He didn’t even realize he was shouting by now out of both frustration and anguish and honestly, he didn’t even care. After all, he was alone; he really had no one to hide how he really felt at the moment, not even Lapis, if she could indeed somehow hear him. “They’re not better! In fact, literally everything is so much worse now, and it’s all because I wouldn’t just let you leave Earth like you wanted to! Because I was feeling lonely and wanted someone to hang out with and talk to! And it looks like I’m right back to square one with that, because you’re gone and I’m-” he sharply silenced himself yet again, his hands shaking as he looked to the completely still, silent lake once more. Tears had finally started to well up in his eyes as he released the tension in his shoulders, a brutal realization striking him as he glanced at his still soaking wet hat in his hands. “I’m… just… talking to myself…”

He let out a defeated sigh as he wiped his oncoming tears away, closing his eyes as he loosened his tight grip on his hat somewhat. By now, he had realized that the idea that Lapis, in the chaotic state she was currently in, could actually hear and communicate with him was ludicrous. Still, that brief, bittersweet burst of hope had given him a much-needed reminder. The blue Gem wasn’t gone forever. In fact, she was only really a few hundred feet out from where he currently stood. Which meant that there was always a chance, no matter how slim or nonsensical, that she could come back, that she could be free again, that they could be reunited once more. And despite how distant or improbable something like that was, Dipper was resolved to be there when it happened. He was going to be the first person Lapis saw upon her return, even if only to remind her that she wasn’t a prisoner, but rather, a hero, just like Mabel had said.

Which was why, with no more shouting and no more tears, Dipper took a seat on the lake shore, only a short distance away from the water, his hat still in his hands rather than on his head as he set his sights on the lake and nothing else. If Lapis was going to be diligent in her vigil to protect him, then he was going to be every bit as diligent in awaiting her return, regardless of how long it might take.

Steven groaned in exasperation as his phone rung for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past few hours, the caller ID once again showing Connie trying to get in touch with him. While he certainly did understand her concern based on what little information on the situation he had been able to provide her with, a part of him wished that she didn’t care so much. It would certainly make things much easier for him if she didn’t.

After his brief encounter with Dipper, the young Gem had continued his walk about town, knowing that the Gems would be preoccupied with debriefing from last night’s upheaval. His thoughts were still largely a stressed, worried, scattered mess, a mess that was only occasionally punctuated whenever he nearly tripped on a stray piece of hand ship debris or when his phone rang, which of course, was rather frequently. But all the same, Steven hadn’t been paying much attention as to where he was going, which was why he wasn’t too surprised to find that his wandering had somehow led him to the top of one of Gravity Falls’ famous floating cliffs, more specifically, the one that was closest to the temple and the shack. From this perspective, the young Gem was able to get a bird’s-eye-view of the town, or rather, a bird’s-eye-view of the damage the invasion had done to it. He could see almost every broken window, from humble panes of the Big Donut, to the immaculate glass of Northwest Manor. He could see every empty, evacuated area that was usually so full of life and activity, from the town square to the mall. And of course, he could see every broken piece of the hand ship, strewn about the streets all the way to its largest remnant, which lay compromised and crumbled against the cliff opposite to the one he was standing on, yet another inescapable reminder to the young Gem that he was on that very vessel only a few hours prior.

Upon seeing all this, Steven’s thoughts briefly turned away from himself, the twins, or even Connie, and instead to Gravity Falls as a whole. With the town still mostly bereft of its residents, he hadn’t really stopped to consider what they might think about what had happened to their home upon their inevitable return. More than likely they’d be shocked and alarmed by the ship’s wreckage filling their streets, by the damage done to their homes and businesses. After all, even if Gravity Falls was a town that was no stranger to strange happenings, something like a legitimate alien invasion was something on an entirely different level. What if this was something that the townsfolk wouldn’t be able to easily bounce back from? What if they were left living in fear over the possibility of another invasion, something that, by all accounts, could very well happen? What if this left Gravity Falls just as deeply scarred as it was leaving the young Gem and his friends?

Of course, Steven knew that if any of those things really happened, he would ultimately be at fault for them too. The way he saw it, everything seemed to connect right back into itself. This whole thing had started because he had been too curious, to eager and anxious to learn more about what the Gems had been keeping from him. So, him and Mabel had thoughtlessly made themselves known to Peridot in the Kindergarten, not even bothering to consider what that encounter alone might lead to. So, him and Dipper had destroyed her robinoids, with her threat to come to Earth herself hardly even registering in Stepper’s shared mind at the time. And so, he had come back amidst the invasion, allowing the twins to accompany him and essentially allowing them to get hurt, allowing himself to get captured, allowing the town to be damaged in the ship’s crash, allowing Lapis to fuse with Jasper, allowing everything, all because he couldn’t see the end from the beginning. He never had been able to. He had always just lived solely in the moment, never considering the consequences and fallouts of his actions. He had been foolish, stupid even, to think that things would stay peaceful and perfect as he had always known them to be forever. He had completely overlooked the possibility of change, especially on a catastrophic level such as this.

But regardless of whether or not he had anticipated it, change had come. And it had left almost no stone unturned in its devastating wake.

“Yo!” a sudden approaching shout snapped Steven out of his deep musing. Startled, the young Gem turned around and was surprised to find that he wasn’t alone on the cliff as a familiar, albeit unexpected face came to join him on the precipice.

“Oh, hey, Ronaldo,” Steven greeted the teen somewhat cheerlessly, shoving his phone away into his pocket as it thankfully didn’t ring for a change.

“Didn’t you hear?” Ronaldo asked, his usually conspiracy theorist manner toned down a bit. “Mayor Dewey is calling everyone back into the town. We can go home now.”

Steven didn’t really say anything to this, still awash in his worries for the town as a whole as he instead shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away morosely. Upon noticing the young Gem’s lack of a response, Ronaldo glanced over at him, noticing his clear melancholy before letting out a sharp gasp of realization. “Oh, I see! You come up here to brood too!”

“Brood?” Steven frowned in confusion.

“Yes, Steven,” Ronaldo’s expression darkened as his tone became more serious. “That’s just what people like us do. Suffer quietly, shouldering the knowledge no one else can bear.”

Steven simply nodded in agreement with this, knowing that he had been doing that exact thing all day by simply avoiding telling Connie about what had happened. And indeed, he was suffering for his silence, to the point that it was quickly starting to become more than he could bear.

“As an aficionado of the weird yourself, you’ve probably noticed ordinary people fear the cold, leaded anchor of the truth,” Ronaldo continued, his hands held behind his back as he spoke solemnly, if not somewhat overdramatically. “The abyss is no Sunday swan dive.”

“I know!” Steven exclaimed fervently. “My dad flipped out when I told him, and Dipper and Mabel still seem really torn up over all of it!”

“Sounds typical,” Ronaldo nodded sternly. “But it’s a good reminder. This is no easy path we’ve chosen here. There are… sacrifices. Look at them all down there, Steven,” He paused, waving a slow hand out towards the town below them. “It’s our duty to let those simple people live out their simple lives, without ever knowing the burden of being friends with us.”

As Steven wanted to protest against the idea of such a lonely existence, he couldn’t help but internally realize that Ronaldo was completely correct. He had always thought that, having lived in Gravity Falls all his life, its residents were usually a pretty happy, upbeat bunch, save for a few exceptions of course. But only now did he realize why that was; it was because they were innocent, naïve, unknowing, completely blind to the danger that lurked all around them, both internally with all of the town’s supernatural facets and externally with the threat that Homeworld now posed. No wonder they were all so content and blissful; Steven likely would have been that cheerful too if he didn’t have to worry about everything that was currently plaguing his thoughts with stress and dread.

“A-at least we can still be there for each other,” Steven said to Ronaldo with a small smile, though the teen’s grim manner was all but gone as he let out a dumbfounded gasp.

“Is that giant hand from the sky sitting right beside the lake?!” he exclaimed in stunned disbelief, looking to the ship’s remains. “I gotta get some pics of that for my blog!” Without another word, Ronaldo ran off, phone in hand as he hurried down the hill, leaving Steven alone with his thoughts once more. The young Gem let out a small sigh as he looked out towards the town once again, his emotions steadily starting to build as he thought of just how wide this disaster had reached. Yet still, he couldn’t help but think the most about those closest to him amidst it all, namely Dipper, Mabel, and Connie.

True, they had playfully deemed themselves as the Mystery Kids, but that was just a name that ultimately didn’t mean anything. Perhaps they had all once thought that, through their friendship, they could triumph over anything, that they would always emerge from any situation the victors and go on to have more fun and whacky adventures no matter what they were put up against. But that had been before the game had suddenly changed, or rather, before it had suddenly ceased to be a game entirely. Now, things weren’t just a matter of fun and games and magic and mystery. Now there were stakes. Now there was true danger.

Now, they could stand to lose more than any of them had ever thought possible.

And as Steven remembered the true severity of it all, he found that he was unable to keep all of those building emotions inside any longer. However, instead of letting them out through tears, he ended up letting them out in an entirely different way: through song.

“Everybody told me Gem stuff’s dangerous,” he began, his tune relaxed but also somewhat melancholy. “I guess I didn’t believe it until now. Dad always seemed apprehensive… and now he’s really freaking out. What do I do? I don’t want that for you…”

No sooner had Steven finished this first verse than his phone started ringing once more, its vibration catching him off guard as he pulled it out of his pocket. Of course, it was still Connie, still trying to get in touch with him, something he did his best to ignore as he put it on the ground and shoved it aside, covering his ears to block out the bouncy ringtone until it mercifully went silent.

“Everybody tells me life is precious,” Steven continued, flopping onto the grass with a sigh. “On the planet Earth.” Unable to keep his phone out of reach for too long, the young Gem grabbed it, absently scrolling through his most recent photos, most of which were cheerful images of him, Connie, and the twins. All brief, bygone snapshots of much happier times than now. “And that means you, and I have to protect you. What if somehow you get hurt, what do I do? I don’t want that for you…” The young Gem’s small smile faded as he paused on a photo of Connie, her tongue sticking out in a silly, playful expression, reminding Steven of just how much he didn’t want to rob her of the innocence he no longer had anymore.

He didn’t get to appreciate the photo for long, however before the phone rang once more, only this time, instead of Connie, the caller ID showed a name that alarmed Steven just as much at the moment: Mabel. In retrospect, he should have figured that she would want to get in touch with him, seeing as how he had already run into Dipper earlier, but still, he had hoped he could have some form of a buffer to allow himself to figure out how to voice is apology to both of the twins. So instead of answering, the young Gem dropped his phone again, ignoring the call much like he had with Connie’s as he instead dejectedly sung along with his ringtone. “Oooooooo, ooooooooo, ooooooooo, ooooooo...”

“Everybody told us to run and stay safe,” Steven began on another verse, this time glancing over at the lake. “But we didn’t listen. And look at us now. Beaten and bruised, inside and out… I didn’t want this to happen. What do I do? I don’t want that for you…”

The young Gem paused as his ringtone finally went silent, burying his head into his knees for a moment as he tried to chase away the mental image of the twins’ respective injuries, of the distraught, shaken expressions on both of their faces in the aftermath of it all. Of course, he was able to do anything but as his mind only reached back further, his recent memories of the invasion all seeming to slam together all at once as he continued singing pensively. “What am I going to tell you? You’re better off not knowing the trouble I’m in. I don’t want you to worry, about what I’ve just seen, about where I’ve just been.” Steven’s breath hitched somewhat as he heard the hand ship’s fingers crash down only a few feet away from them again, saw the look of rare fear in Garnet’s eyes as she was viciously torn apart right in front of him again, felt the lingering pain in his eye as he woke up alone and confused in a small cell again. Once more, he could envision himself freeing Ruby, trying to coax Lapis into escaping, reuniting with Dipper and Mabel. “How am I going to save you? My problems shouldn’t be yours anymore. I know you just want to help me, but this is more than everything we’ve faced before.” He could feel the explosions rattle the hand ship, feel his bones rattling as he shielded everyone inside a bubble to protect them from the impending fallout, feel the malice in Jasper’s tone and the fear in Lapis’ eyes right before they fused, before they dragged themselves into the lake, before everything turned itself upside down in a mere matter of seconds with hardly any warning at all. “You don’t have to be a part of this, I don’t think I want you to be. You don’t need this. You don’t need me…”

“Oooooooo, ooooooooo, ooooooooo, ooooooo...” Steven sang to his ringtone again, his eyes flying open and his stream of memories ending as it vibrated against his leg aggressively. “Oooooooo, ooooooooo…” By now, he had built up so much stress for himself that he could barely even take it anymore. He was walking a dangerously thin line towards a panic attack, especially as he gripped his phone tightly, his eyes wide as he read over Connie’s name once more. “Oooooooo, ooooooooo, ooooooooo…”

Breathlessly, the young Gem looked over at the hand ship wreckage again, remembering that all of this, every single part of it from beginning to end, was not Connie’s problem. It wasn’t Dipper or Mabel’s problem either. It was his problem, one that he had to deal with. And as far as he was concerned, he was determined to do that in a way that would protect them, that would keep all three of them getting hurt because of him ever again. Even if that meant…

Even if that meant cutting all three of them out completely.

“Oooooooo, ooooooooo-” So, with just a simple swipe of his finger, Steven rejected the incoming call, his fretful song coming to an end just as suddenly as his new, lonely resolve began.

While Mabel hadn’t quite gone to sweatertown yet, she couldn’t deny that she was very close to heading there for what would likely be an extended trip. The initial 24 hours after the hand ship’s crash had finally passed and a new day had dawned, but the relative distance between the event itself and the present hardly did anything to ease the pain it had caused. And while it hadn’t been that bad for her at first, the more time passed, the more Mabel realized just how pain it was causing her in particular.

While she had actually managed to get some sleep, however fitful, the previous night, she had still noticed as Dipper came in excessively late and left excessively early, all without even sparing her so much as a single word of greeting or farewell. She wasn’t about to try and stop him from going, however; she knew where he had headed to, respected that he needed his time and space to do whatever he had to to try and cope with it all. The only problem with it was that now she was left without anyone to help her coping process.

After growing weary of Stan’s futile attempts to cheer her up during their late breakfast, Mabel had retreated to the attic again, with the intent of calling Steven really only for the sake of talking and little else. After all, he had been one of the only other people, aside from her, Dipper, and the Gems, who had been through this catastrophe too. At the very least she had hoped that they could lend each other some form of solidarity or even just a venting mechanism after everything that had happened. However, the first time she had tried calling the young Gem, she was met with no answer. Even stranger, the second time she called him, she was sent straight to his voicemail. A part of her was tempted to go up to the temple and see what was going on with him herself, but every other part of her could barely even work up willingness to so much as hop off her bed and walk downstairs.

When it came right down to it, she was listless, something that was so strange for someone who was usually so full of energy and enthusiasm like she was. But still, regardless of how hard she tried, she just couldn’t manage to summon her usual cheerfulness and pep. Even cuddling with Waddles or leafing through happier times in her scrapbook did little to ease her mind away from all of her seemingly endless worries. Worries about Dipper, about Steven, about Stan, and yes, even about herself. No matter how much she tried to escape them, they always kept coming back, pulling at her and dragging her down to the point that she was starting to feel like she was drowning in them. And really, how could anyone find any reason to truly smile while drowning in so much stress?

Of course, Mabel was so awash in her own melancholy that she didn’t even notice Stan peeking into the attic through the barely cracked-open door. The conman couldn’t help but frown as he watched his niece let out another sad sigh, her knees pulled to her chest as she stared absently at the bare bed in front of her. He had partially been expecting both of his nibblings to be largely fine and back to their usual selves now that a day had passed, but of course, things only seemed to be worse on the second day. Stan was admittedly concerned with the fact that he hadn’t even seen Dipper since yesterday, though Mabel had assured him that he had simply gone into town to survey the damage. While the conman was still rather concerned for his nephew, his main worries at the moment rested on the twin that was still around, in other words, Mabel.

The fact that his usually very upbeat, very social niece was isolating herself like this was more than enough to confirm Stan’s suspicions that something was very wrong. And while he didn’t like to admit that he actually cared so much, he was starting to get increasingly worried for her. After all, Mabel’s cheerfulness was always a breath of fresh air, the perfect counter to Stan and Dipper’s shared sense of cynicism. Without it, everything felt stagnant, almost bitter. And the more he thought about it, the more the conman couldn’t simply allow it to continue indefinitely like it seemed to be. He didn’t know what had gotten either of the twins so shaken and upset, and at this rate he might not ever find out, but that didn’t matter to him anymore. What mattered was getting the both of the kids back to their usual, cheerful, curious, excitable, sarcastic, creative, clever selves.

And even if that might be a challenge in and of itself, Stan resolved to do it all the same. After all, the least he could do for his nibblings was give them back some semblance of fun and normality. Especially considering the fact that the secret he kept buried under the shack could very well endangering more than just that by time it was all said and done.

“Yo, Mr. Pines!” Soos called out from downstairs as he entered the shack, jolting the conman out of his thoughts. Taking care not to make his presence upstairs known to Mabel, Stan hurried down a growing grin of bold determination spreading across his features as he went to meet his handyman in the gift shop.

“Mr. Pines!” Soos shouted again before the conman arrived. “Are you back from that evacuation thing yet? Or did you just not go like you told me you weren’t-”

“Soos!” Stan cut him off sharply as he burst into the shop, not really wanting Mabel to overhear that last statement.

“Oh, Mr. Pines! Thank goodness you’re ok!” Soos breathed a sigh of relief. “I didn’t know if you stayed or left after all, but that giant hand thing was totally bonkers crazy! Did you see it crash back into town? It was-”

“Yeah, yeah, giant hand, who cares?” Stan remarked with a wave of his hand, intent on getting back to the matter at hand. “Listen, Soos, I’m glad you’re here. I need your help with something.”

“You mean fixing all these broken windows?” Soos nodded to the nearest empty window. “Cause you probably don’t want all this broken glass lying around everywhere, even if it is kinda pretty when the light hits it the right way, see?” The handyman smiled as he picked up a small piece of colored glass and held it up to the light, chuckling as it reflected across his face. “Aw, dude, this is like, the easily most magical thing I’ve ever seen, hands down.”

“Forget about the glass, Soos,” Stan huffed somewhat impatiently. “What we’re gonna be tackling is way more important than that.”

“Oh yeah?” Soos asked, thoroughly intrigued. “What is it?”

Stan smirked brazenly, his gaze shifting a bit towards the ceiling as he thought of Mabel, and Dipper too, and hoped that, despite his lack of experience with things like this, his effort would still be worth it in the end. “We’re gonna cheer up some kids.”

“Oh, come on!” Amethyst groaned in exasperation, scowling petulantly as she leaned against the fridge. While the kids were all effectively emotional messes in the aftermath of what had happened the previous day, the Gems had apparently gotten over whatever qualms they had about the whole situation and were largely back to their usual selves, arguments and all. And that was never made clearer to Steven than when he absently sat in on their debate about what to do with the hand ship’s remains.

“No whining,” Garnet remarked evenly, her arms crossed. “We need to start cleaning up the debris sooner rather than later.”

“Garnet’s right,” Pearl firmly agreed, though her expression was marred with worry. “It’s only been one day and people are already starting to come back into town.”

“We need to keep them away from the lake,” Steven suddenly spoke up, his tone as cold as his expression as he stood facing the front window. “If any humans got access to Gem technology, they could really hurt themselves.” As he spoke, he pulled the window blinds down, something he rarely ever did as it darkened the room up quite a bit, essentially drenching him in shadow. “Maybe we should shut them out, and not just out of the lake either, but out of the temple too. Maybe that’ll keep finally keep them all safe.”

While Amethyst looked to the young Gem in clear bewilderment by his odd manner, Pearl didn’t seem to notice as she continued strategizing. “Hm, closing off the temple…” she mused thoughtfully. “You know, we did once have a fence… Let’s get a new one! With barbed wire!”

“This time, let’s build a moat,” Amethyst suggested with a wry smirk. “I could be…” she trailed off mischievously as she shapeshifted her head only. “The crocodile!” She sang boisterously with her now elongated jaw as she held her hands up dramatically, much to Pearl’s annoyance. “Jazz hands!”

“No,” Garnet cut in tersely.

“Aw, why not?”

“Because you always say you’ll be the crocodile, but you never commit!” Pearl scolded as Amethyst sourly shifted her head back to normal.

“Hmph, you wouldn’t be saying that if you knew about the time I had to be a crocodile pretty much the entire time during one of me and Stan’s Revenge Trips,” the purple Gem remarked, crossing her arms.

“And why, pray tell, would you have ever needed to be a crocodile for one of your nights of debauchery?” the white Gem asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s for me to know, and for that lake full of endangered fish we ransacked to never find out.”

“No fence around the temple either,” Garnet interjected rationally, getting back to the topic at hand.

“Garnet!” both of the other Gems exclaimed in shared disappointment.

“We can’t close the temple off again,” the Gem leader asserted. “Steven needs to be able to see his father and his friends.”

“No, I don’t!” Steven protested, moving away from the window. “I can’t keep clinging to the vestiges of my humanity. It’s time I got serious.” Of course, the young Gem’s attempt at being serious was succinctly interrupted as his phone rang again, something it had been doing constantly since that morning as Connie continued her effortless attempts to contact him.

“Steven?” Pearl frowned as she noticed her young ward cringe uncomfortably as his phone continued to buzz. “Why is your communication device making that sound?”

“I-it’s Connie,” Steven replied with a sigh. “She’s been trying to call me. But I can’t face her anymore. And I can’t face Dipper or Mabel anymore either.”

“Uh, why not?” Amethyst asked, confused by this reasoning.

“B-because!” the young Gem exclaimed, distraught. “I have to protect them! But I can’t do that if they’re just gonna face Homeworld invasions and sneak onto giant hand-shaped spaceships just to try and help me! So the way I see it, the only way I can keep all three of them safe and keep them from getting hurt anymore is if… if we just… don’t hang out anymore…”

“Steven, that… line of reasoning... doesn’t really make much sense…” Pearl pointed out with a concerned frown.

“Pearl’s right,” Garnet affirmed. “Steven, you can’t shun yourself away from your friends or your culture. You may be a Gem, but you’re also a human. And you can’t allow yourself to lose touch with that side of yourself just because of what just happened.”

“But I have to focus!” Steven insisted adamantly. “If this whole invasion thing showed me anything, it’s that all this Gem stuff is serious business! It’s not just fun and games and I can’t treat it like it is anymore! I have to help you guys keep the planet safe, just like Mom did, which means I can’t let myself get distracted anymore. It’s a lonely road, but somebody has to walk it. And that somebody is gonna be me.”

“So… you’re just going to avoid Connie, Dipper, and Mabel forever then?” Pearl asked, somewhat doubtful of the young Gem’s overdramatic resolve.

“Yes,” Steven nodded firmly. “It’s the responsible thing to do.”

“Eh, that’s gonna be kinda hard seeing as how Connie’s coming up the steps right now,” Amethyst duly noted as she peered out the window through the blinds.

“What?!” the young Gem gasped in apt alarm, which only grew as he heard a knock at the door. After signaling to the other Gems to play it cool, Steven hurried over to the window himself, peeking out to see that Connie had indeed arrived, a fretful expression on her face as she held onto her phone tightly. The young Gem made sure to keep himself tucked away out of sight as Pearl want to answer the door.

“Oh! Hello… Connie…” the white Gem greeted with a rather awkward smile that Connie was fortunately far too distracted to notice.

“Is Steven home?” she asked fervently, getting right to point. However, as she asked this, she failed to notice Steven haphazardly climb out the window only a few feet away, taking care to be as discreet as possible so she wouldn’t notice him.

“Uh, no…” Pearl replied, trying her best to keep her gaze away from Steven as he vaulted over the deck railing in his hurried escape.

“I-Is he ok?” Connie asked, deeply concerned. “I’m just really worried about him, a-and Dipper and Mabel too. I haven’t heard from any of them since yesterday morning! What’s going on?”

“Um… I-I don’t know…” the white Gem answered honestly as Garnet came to stand beside her silently. “I… don’t understand your human relationships. So, uh… goodbye!” Without another word, Pearl abruptly swung the screen door shut, though her and Garnet still remained standing by it as Connie turned away with an exasperated groan. For the past two days, she had been trying in vain to get in touch with Steven, in the hopes that he could explain at least something about the ominous message he had left her the other night. But after what seemed like hundreds of ignored calls, she had finally decided enough was enough. She had hoped that coming to see him for herself would finally answer some of her questions, but of course, she was left with yet another dead end, which was starting to frustrate her more than anything else.

Of course, what Connie hadn’t seen was the flash of pink before it disappeared into the woods heading towards town, for if she had she would have been able to see Steven getting away on Lion, hoping to get enough distance away from his pressing problem. But all the same, Connie descended the house stairs dejectedly, her phone already set to dial the young Gem again as she held it up to her ear and was only met with the usual, prolonged dial tone and nothing else. There was no denying that she was deeply worried, for both Steven and the twins really, seeing as how all three of them had been in on that message, which she had listened to countless times over by now in the hopes of gleaning any hints or clues behind its true meaning. Yet it had been so rushed and so strangely casual that there wasn’t much she had been able to get out of it, aside from the concept of a giant hand and the possibility they could have all died somehow. But apparently, they hadn’t, given the fact that Steven had indeed responded to her first call yesterday morning, though nothing he had said had told her anything new at all. And after that, he had proceeded to start ignoring her calls, over and over again, despite her persistence and the no doubt huge stack of voicemails she had been leaving him, begging him to answer, to just talk to her and let her know he was alright. Which, really, was what she wanted most, even more than the story behind what had happened. She wanted to know that he was ok, unharmed, safe. She wanted to know that all three of her friends were fine in the aftermath of whatever it was they had just been through. But as in the dark about everything as she was, there was really no way for her to know anything at all.

By all accounts, Connie was baffled by Steven’s prolonged silence. It wasn’t like him to not answer her calls, and it really wasn’t like him to leave her without some kind of explanation whatsoever. Something strange, something very concerning, was going on, and whether or not that something had to do with that message, she really didn’t care. What she did care about was getting to the bottom of this, getting answers, learning the truth of it all out of the mouth of the young Gem himself. And, she figured, as she made it down to the crossroads between the temple and the shack, that if she couldn’t accomplish such a daunting task on her own, then there would be no shame in getting some much-needed help with it.

Mabel had never noticed just how slowly time passed when it was spent doing nothing but lying in the same spot and staring up at the ceiling like she had been doing pretty much all day. She knew that she would have been far better off trying to do something constructive to take her mind off of all her countless fretful thoughts, but she still felt far too passive to even try doing something like knitting a sweater, or scrapbooking, or even fawning over Waddles. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized she wasn’t just listless either; she was lonely. For someone as sociable as her, this kind of isolation was practically unbearable. But still, as much as she did want to talk to someone, or even just be in the company of someone else, she hadn’t been able to reach Steven at all, and she figured the Gems were likely busy preparing their next move. As for Dipper, while Mabel did have a pretty good idea about where he was spending the day, she wasn’t about to go all the way over there and bother him when she knew it wouldn’t do either of them any good anyway. And yes, she was aware that Stan was right downstairs, but having to struggle so hard to reciprocate his smiles, having to fight to keep the massive weight of the truth on her shoulders and her shoulders alone was completely exhausting. Which was why she had largely been avoiding the conman for the most part, thanking her lucky stars that he wasn’t the kind to pry too much, even if the questions he had asked her yesterday were casually intrusive.

Mabel knew that it wasn’t exactly fair, to her or Stan, to keep the true story of the invasion hidden from him. And if she was perfectly honest with herself, she really didn’t want to. In fact, the only thing she really wanted was to finally, finally talk to someone about all of this. She desperately wanted to rush downstairs, throw herself into her uncle’s unsuspecting embrace, and let her countless emotions finally fly out as she told him everything she had been holding onto so tightly for the past two days. She wanted to do that, more than she wanted pretty much anything at the moment. But… she couldn’t. No matter how much she wanted to tell him everything, she knew she couldn’t. Because if she did, then there would be no telling what would happen. Stan could be outraged, infuriated that they had disobeyed his wishes for them to leave town and that they had instead thrown themselves into mortal danger. He could be so mad, in fact, that he ended up sending them home, effectively curtailing their summer in Gravity Falls far too early and most likely guaranteeing that they would never return. On the other hand, he could be so shocked that he could end up being thrown into a complete and utter panic, much like what had happened to Greg. He could stress himself out to the point of incoherency, something that was likely incredibly unhealthy for someone of his age, as he desperately gasped for air and calm that would not come. And all the while, Mabel would watch on guiltily, unable to do anything but apologize for their disobedience, their brashness, their complete and utter foolishness to think that there would be no consequences for what they had done. But in the end, neither option seemed like even a remotely good one to her, which was why she had decided to take the third option, which was to keep hiding it all under a mask of false complacency. To keep pretending like everything was fine, when, in reality, that couldn’t have been any further from the truth.

“Mabel! Get down here! Now!” Stan’s abrupt shout from downstairs practically shattered Mabel out of her thoughts as she bolted upright, a startled gasp escaping her. Her eyes were wide as she mostly remained frozen for a moment, her mind and heart both racing once more as she realized just how oddly angry Stan had sounded. Then again, it did make sense for him to be upset, seeing as how she had been essentially hiding from him all day. “Come on, kid!” the conman called again as Mabel let out a small, anxious whine. “Don’t make me come up there myself! I’m too old to be climbing up stairs all the time and you’ve got two legs that aren’t broken, so hurry it up!”

“C-coming!” Mabel shouted back before she could really stop herself. Of course, while she didn’t really want to go face Stan feeling as low as she did, she pushed herself off the bed anyway, her feet almost dragging languidly across the floor as she slowly but surely made her way downstairs. Stan was waiting for her right at the bottom, his arms crossed and his expression as dour as usual as he let out an impatient huff.

“It’s about time. I was starting to think you were playing dead up there,” the conman remarked sardonically. “By the way, where’s your brother?”

“Uh, I-I… h-he…” Mabel bit her lip, knowing that being honest about Dipper’s current location would require her to reveal at least some of the truth about what happened the other night. “I-I guess he’s still in town? O-or he might be hanging out with Steven, I… I really don’t know. Sorry…”

Stan raised a somewhat suspicious eyebrow at this, though fortunately he didn’t question her any further on the matter. “Oh well,” he shrugged nonchalantly as he began heading for the kitchen. “I guess he’s just gonna miss out then.”

“M-miss out on what?” Mabel asked, confused, as she hesitantly followed him.

The conman cracked a sly smirk as he stopped at the kitchen entrance, blocking Mabel’s view of what lay beyond it. “Oh this,” he said smoothly as he stepped forward, allowing his niece to see exactly what he had set up for her.

“Surprise!” Soos exclaimed brightly as he blew on a party horn, throwing his hands out at the rather large array of snacks and treats laid out on the kitchen table. Cupcakes, cookies, punch, even a small cake, all apparently homemade based on how humble and sloppy they all were all sat on display, while the kitchen itself had been dressed up in colorful balloons and streamers hung in rather copious amounts. Stan smiled in undeniable satisfaction as he came to stand alongside Soos, admiring their handiwork that had taken them the better half of the morning to accomplish. Still, he tried his best to play it off as if it hadn’t really been too big of a deal, knowing that he had to save face with his niece somehow.

“Eh, we had a few supplies left over from that party we had here the other week,” he began casually enough, though he gradually became more flustered. “And since I noticed you’ve been down in the dumps for whatever reason, I just figured we’d put a little something together to try and perk you up already. Y-ya know, not cause, I-I care or anything. But because I can’t have two mopey, depressed kids hanging around here. It’s bad for business, o-or something like that.”

“Wait, Mr. Pines,” Soos cut in, somewhat confused. “Didn’t you say we baked all this stuff and decorated the kitchen to try and cheer Mabel and Dipper up because you were worried about them and wanted them to feel better? Cause I thought all that stuff was pretty sweet, to be honest.”

“C-can it, Soos!” Stan exclaimed, clearly embarrassed by having his sentimentality exposed like this. “So, uh, yeah,” he said as he turned back to Mabel. “You into all this, kid, or not? Cause if not, then I can always just sell all this stuff for way more than it took me to make any of it. Because inflation, or some other kinda economical nonsense, I-I don’t know.”

For a long moment, Mabel offered no real response to what was going on, instead simply glancing between the “party” and Stan with a somewhat blank expression. As her silence went on for an uncomfortable amount of time with still no reaction to any of it, the conman frowned, waving a hand in front of her face in an attempt to coax something out of there. “Uh? Mabel? You in there, kid?” he asked, though his concerned worry only grew as he noticed her bottom lip start to tremble softly. “K-kid, what’s-”

Stan was abruptly cut off as Mabel finally let out a loud, agonized wail, one that startled both the conman and the handyman quite a bit. All at once and without any warning at all, it seemed as though the lock she had put on her emotions had somehow broken, and, unable to keep any of them inside any longer, they all rushed out of her in a sudden, raging torrent. With the initial piercing cry out of the way, she was unable to keep several more from coming, her screams frustrated, heartbroken, and most of all, tearful. For a moment, the only thing either Stan or Soos could do was watch this heavy outpouring of anguish with wide eyes, neither of them having the faintest clue about what was happening. However, as the conman watched his immensely distraught niece collapse to her knees, objectively overwhelmed by everything she was apparently feeling, he found that he couldn’t just stand aside and spectate any longer.

“Oh! Oh, Mabel, sweetie-” Stan hurried to comfort her, dropping down to her level instantly and pulling her into a tight embrace, all thoughts of trying to act distant and aloof completely gone from his mind now. Mabel weakly returned his hug, even as she continued sobbing miserably, but at least now she had a shoulder to actually do it on. “Pumpkin, w-what the matter?! Don’t you like the party? Ugh, I knew we should have just gone and raided a store for some real cupcakes instead just trying to do it ourselves like a bunch of clueless bozos! Soos! Why didn’t you-”

“N-no!” Mabel suddenly choked, her voice still racked with sobs as she tried to be as coherent as possible. “G-Grunkle Stan, I love the party! I-I love all the streamers and the b-balloons and h-how you tried to put l-little smiley faces on the c-cupcakes even if they all look sorta gross and m-melty and I j-just… I love how much work you put into all this, a-and that you cared enough to do it in the first place, a-and Dipper would love it too if he was-” She cut herself off with another loud cry as another heavy wave of emotions hit her, to the point that she found it a completely futile effort to even try and hold them in anymore. Her face was a red, teary mess as she buried it into Stan’s shoulder, though all the while, the conman kept a steady hand on her back, moving it up and down ever so slightly in a slow, comforting gesture.

“Shh, it’s ok, sweetie,” he assured, his tone rarely gentle and soft as he tried his best to console her, despite how admittedly awkward his attempt was. “I-I got ya. It’s all gonna be alright. Just let it all out.”

“L-let it all out…” Mabel repeated in a quiet whimper as she released another tight sob, knowing that if she was letting all of her emotions out, then she might as well let the truth out too. No matter what the consequences might be. “G-Grunkle Stan? Can… can I tell you something?”

“Uh, o-of course,” Stan said, caught somewhat off guard at first. “Like I said, if something’s bothering you, I want you to tell me about it. Especially if whatever it is is makin’ you bawl your eyes out like this.”

Mabel sniffled as she nodded, still keeping her head rested against her uncle’s shoulder as she began slowly. “Grunkle Stan, I-I… I didn’t really hurt my leg getting into Soos’ truck.”

“O-oh?” Stan asked, exchanging a brief, knowing glance with the concerned handyman.

“No… I, uh… we… we, um…” Mabel paused, taking in a deep breath to steady herself before she decided to just unleash it upon him all at once, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to get through it any other way. “We were leaving town, j-just like you wanted us to, but then Steven crashed out of Mr. Universe’s van and said he was coming back here to help the Gems and me and Dipper talked him into taking us back with him, so we came back and the giant green hand got here and these two really mean Gems named Peridot and Jasper got off of it and Jasper split Garnet in half with this weird zappy want thing and she captured Pearl, and Amethyst, and Lapis, and Steven too, but when me and Dipper tried to stop her, she beat us up and that’s why my leg is all messed up, but then the ship started to leave so we used my grappling hook to sneak onto it to save Steven and the others and it was really cool but also really scary, and then we found really nice, really pretty Gem named Sapphire, whose girlfriend is another Gem named Ruby, and they fused and it turns out there were really Garnet all along, which was awesome, but then Garnet fought Jasper and broke the ship and it crashed near the lake, but Steven kept all of us safe in a bubble, but then Jasper popped up out of the broken hand ship bits and she convinced Lapis to fuse with her into this really scary Gem called Malachite, but before she could totally destroy all of us with water, Lapis dragged both of them into the lake and she’s keeping them trapped down there and that’s why Dipper hasn’t been around, he’s been at the lake because he blames himself for what happened to her, and the reason I didn’t wanna tell you about any of this is because when Steven told his dad, he totally freaked out and I didn’t want you to freak out too and I’m sorry Grunkle Stan! I’m so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for not telling you, because trying to hide all of this stuff from you has been the worst and I was scared you’d send me and Dipper home because we didn’t listen to you, and I-I didn’t know what else to do, and I’m sorry! I feel like I can’t say it enough because all this was so bad and it feels so bad and what I did was so bad and I… I-I just… I…”

Unable to keep going any longer, she finally broke down again, her incredibly rushed explanation dying out into a broken sob. For what seemed like ages, Stan didn’t respond to anything Mabel had just told him, seeing as how he was stunned into silent shock as he tried to make sense of it all. His eyes were rather wide with controlled alarm as he glanced over to Soos for a confirmation of all of this, but the most the equally surprised handyman could give him was a clueless shrug. However, after what seemed like an appropriate amount of silence only punctuated with sobbing, the conman finally decided to speak up, even if he really had no idea what to say. “W-whoa, uh… t-that… that’s kind of a big load you just dropped on me there, kid…”

“I-I know…” Mabel muttered, ashamed that it had taken so long for her to tell him all of this in the first place. “I’m sorry…”

“Aw, geez, will you stop apologizing already?” Stan asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit, even if he was in quite a disarray internally. “I get it: you’re sorry. You don’t have to keep harping on about it, especially when you don’t really have anything to be sorry about.”

“Huh?” Mabel frowned in confusion, pulling away from the conman, even if her cheeks were still damp with tears. “But… but aren’t you mad?”

“Mad? About what?”

“A-about how we didn’t listen to you!” Mabel exclaimed fretfully. “You wanted us to leave with everyone else, but we came back and we nearly died doing it! Y-you were right, Grunkle Stan. We really were in over our heads with all this Gem stuff… I-I… I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to send us home… W-we’re causing you more trouble than you deserve…”

Stan let out a long, somewhat tired sigh as he heard this, but all the same, he still put both hands on his niece’s shoulders in an act of sympathy and steadying. “Kid, I already have so much trouble in my life that a little more isn’t really gonna make things much worse,” he remarked with something of a wry smirk. “So calm down and quit worrying. I’m not going to send either of you runts home.”

“R-really?”

“Really,” Stan assured, his smile widening a bit. “And no, I’m not mad about all this either. Mostly, I’m just kinda shocked. You two really snuck onto an alien spaceship? All by yourselves?” Mabel nodded, pouting as she did so, though she was rather surprised when the conman let out a short snicker in spite of himself. “Wow. I thought I was the master of breaking and entering, but that’s something on a whole other level,” he chuckled, his tone emanating with what almost sounded like pride. “You kids really showed those Homeworld chumps who’s boss, huh?”

“W-well, I don’t know if I’d say that…” Mabel rubbed her arm, though she did finally crack a very small smile a moment later. “But Peridot was really mad when we tied her up and took over her ship… So, I guess that was pretty cool…”

“Ha! Sounds like it!” Stan let out a triumphant laugh as he playfully ruffled his niece’s hair, finally eliciting a small giggle from her. “I wish I could’ve been there to see it! You kids gotta bring me along with you the next time something like that happens so I can get in on the action too! Those punks would have been no match for my brass knuckles.”

Mabel let out a genuine laugh at this, her tears essentially gone as she smiled truly for the first time in days. “Heck no, they wouldn’t have!” she exclaimed boisterously. “I bet if you had bopped Jasper right in the face, she would have gone down, just like that!” Another bout of laughter passed, one that Soos joined in on too as all of the former gloominess and dejection seemed to fade from the room entirely, replaced with a much-needed sense of lightness and goodwill. Still, Mabel couldn’t help but address the regret still weighing rather heavy on her as she let out a small, guilty sigh, even if she did feel immensely better after finally letting most of the truth out. It was almost as if a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders, one that allowed her to finally breathe easy and really be herself again, which, for her, was more than worth the dread and grief it had taken to get her to this new, brighter point. “Grunkle Stan, I’m really sorry about trying to hide all this stuff from you. I was just worried about how you’d react and-”

“Kid, what did I tell you about saying sorry so much?” Stan asked, almost admitting that he was hiding plenty of things from her himself. Still, he decided to refrain on divulging that little tidbit. For now.

“Oh, right! Sorry!” Mabel gasped, covering her mouth in embarrassment. “Oh, there I go again! Sorry! Aw, dangit! I just can’t stop!”

Everyone let out another shared laugh at this slip, though the levity still lasted as Stan rose to stand with a broad smirk. “Well, we got all this junk food laid out, so we might as well go ahead and ,” he remarked, glancing back at the table.

“Aw, yes!” Soos exclaimed, eagerly taking a cupcake. “Standing here looking at all this food has made me so hungry, dude! I don’t care if these cupcakes are sloppy and lame, they seriously look like the best things ever right now!”

“Not so fast, Soos,” Stan cut in before the handyman could take even a bite. “We’re still one short. Mabel, go down to the lake and get your brother. Oh, and while you’re at it, tell him you two are ungrounded from all that mystery hunting junk. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear that.”

“Hopefully…” Mabel said somewhat apprehensively. Some of her worry returned as she thought of what Dipper might be going through and hoped that it didn’t compare to what she had just went through, though at the same time, she realized his emotional distress was probably much, much worse. However, right as she turned to begin heading out on her way, a sudden knock at the door caught her off guard. Still, she hurried to answer it, letting out a gasp of excited surprise upon seeing who had come by. “Connie!” she exclaimed brightly, pulling the other girl into a cheerful embrace. “I’m so glad you’re here! It feels like it’s been forever since the last time I saw you!”

“T-the four of us just hung out the other day, Mabel,” Connie remarked, somewhat surprised by this unexpected hug.

“Yeah, well…” Mabel smiled somewhat pensively as the hug broke apart. “Let’s just say a lot’s been going on around here lately…”

“I… gathered…” Connie frowned, her former worry still as apparent as ever. “Mabel, when’s the last time you heard from Steven? I keep trying to call him, but he just… won’t answer his phone! I’m really starting to get scared that something might have happened to him.”

“No way! I’ve been trying to call him too!” Mabel exclaimed, suddenly quite concerned herself. “I saw him yesterday, after—well, i-it’s a long story, but I haven’t heard anything from him since then.”

“I went up to the temple and asked the Gems about him, but they didn’t know where he was!” Connie huffed fretfully, looking at her phone again. “It’s like he just disappeared!”

“Disappeared…” Mabel mused thoughtfully before letting out a sharp gasp of realization. “Wait, that’s it! Connie, I know where Steven is! In fact, if I’m right, then he’s pretty much at the exact same place Dipper is!”

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Connie asked, more than eager to finally get some much-sought after answers. “Let’s go!”

The waters of the lake were just as still and calm as they had been yesterday, with no sign of change or even the most subtle of shifts in sight as Dipper sat before them, stone-faced and silent. A part of him knew that what he was doing was foolish and futile; after all, there was no way just sitting by the lake day in and day out would do anything to bring Lapis back. But every other part of him refused to let him tear himself away from the wreckage-strewn shore, knowing that there was always a chance, no matter how slim, that him simply being there might be enough to get the blue Gem to emerge from her new aquatic prison. Which was why he had every intention of staying right there, doing nothing but waiting, watching, and most of all hoping, for however long he had to.

After all, if Lapis had put herself out there for him, then Dipper was more than willing to do the same for her, in any way he could.

Of course, amidst his diligent vigil, he barely even noticed as Soos’ truck pulled up near the shore as the handyman dropped Mabel and Connie off before leaving them to their “mission” at their behest. On the way there, Mabel had tried her best to fill Connie in on as many details about the most recent happenings as possible, though she only got about as far as the hand ship’s landing before they arrived at the lake. From there, Connie decided that she wanted to hear the rest of it from Steven, seeing as how he had apparently been trying so hard to avoid telling her about all of it. It was a line of reasoning that Mabel somewhat understood, though she didn’t quite understand why Steven might be utilizing it with Connie, of all people. Still, now both girls were determined to get to the bottom of the young Gem’s odd avoidance, though of course, that wasn’t their only reason in coming all the way here.

“Whoa…” Connie breathed as she got her first good look at the disaster that was the lake shore, and from that look alone she was easily bewildered by what she saw. “W-what is all this stuff?”

“It’s the hand ship,” Mabel replied, though she was rather distracted as she scanned the length of the shore worriedly. “Or… at least what’s left of it…”

Connie was silent for a moment upon hearing this, her eyes wide as she tried to take the scattered mechanical pieces all around her and what they might mean in. She had anticipated that whatever had happened to Steven and the twins had been intense based on their sparse message, but she could have never imagined something like this.

Still, she didn’t have much time to muse over it before Mabel let out a loud gasp as she finally spotted one of the boys they had come here searching for. “Dipper!” she cried, not hesitating to run down the shore to him. However, even as she got closer to him, Dipper didn’t even bother to so much as glance over at her, his gaze instead diligently focused on the lake alone, just as it had been for the past several hours. Mabel slowed her pace a bit as she noticed this, causing Connie to come to a stop just behind her too as they both exchanged a concerned glance over his rather intent strain of focus on the water before him. “Uh… Dipper?” Mabel tried again, only to get no response this time either.

“I-is… is he ok?” Connie asked apprehensively, knowing that it wasn’t anything like Dipper to just ignore them both like this for no reason.

“I… I don’t…” Mabel trailed off, confusion furrowing her brow. Her already worried frown deepened as she noticed just how still her brother was, sitting in the coarse sand almost like a statue as he looked over the lake with a lack of any emotion in his expression whatsoever, his hat not on his head but in his hands as he held it out in front of him, almost like it as an invitation. And, as Mabel realized this, all at once, everything clicked right into place.

“Oh, Dipper…” she whispered, her heart filling with immense sympathy for her brother as she sank down onto the shore beside him. He didn’t even move a muscle as she placed a steadying hand on his shoulder, desperately hoping that he wasn’t too far out of her reach yet. “H-have you… Is… is this what you’ve been doing all this time? Just sitting here, w-waiting for… for Lapis to come back?”

Dipper finally decided to gratify her with a small, very terse nod, one that still showed no feeling whatsoever as he still kept his sights trained on the lake and nothing else. Mabel bit her lip, unable to feel anything but remorse for how long it had taken her to get past her own problems. For while she had wasted so much time stewing in her own dread and sadness, her own brother had been withering away in the throes of guilt, anguish, and denial, to the point that he had almost shut down completely. And Mabel feared that if she didn’t break him out of this hallow revere soon, she might just end up losing him entirely.

“Aw, bro-bro, you… you gotta know that Lapis… S-she… I… I don’t…” she hesitated, knowing how delicate of a subject this was and having absolutely no idea how to navigate it. “I-I don’t think she’s coming back any time soon… She made it sound like she was gonna keep Jasper trapped down there for a really long time… So, I don’t see what sitting around here and staring at the lake is gonna do to-”

“Mabel,” Dipper suddenly cut her off, much to her surprise. She paused, looking to him with wide eyes as she awaited whatever it was he had to say, only for him to give her something that completely crushed whatever new hope had just sprung up in her. “Go back to the shack.”

For a moment, all Mabel could do was look to her brother in appalled disbelief, completely outraged by the idea of him trying to simply push her away like this when he was so clearly suffering. And, after having just learned about the follies of keeping one’s painful feelings solely inside herself, she wasn’t about to walk away without teaching Dipper the exact same less. “No!” she exclaimed hotly, jumping to her feet and positioning herself between her brother and the lake. As she did this, Dipper finally tore his gaze away from it, instead opting to glare harshly at the ground as he continued blocking her out, refusing to let anything distract him from his self-imposed vigil, including his own sister. “Dipper, I’m sorry but this… this is just… it’s just stupid! Do you really think you sitting here alone near the lake single day is gonna do anything to bring Lapis back?! News flash, bro-bro: it’s not! The only thing its gonna do is make you miss her even more and make you feel ten times worse every time you think about it!”

“You don’t think I know that?!” Dipper snapped, unable to contain his mounting frustration any longer as he sent his sister an unforgivingly harsh look. “You really think I want to spend the rest of my summer just sitting here looking at nothing?! I don’t! But what you don’t get is that I have to, Mabel! Lapis didn’t want to fuse with Jasper, but she did it anyway and she did it for us, for me! And now she’s stuck down there and this is like, the only thing I can think of to help her, and the worst part is, I know it’s never going to work! I know it’s stupid and I know I’m just wasting my time out here! But…  I-I… I just… it’s…”

“It’s what?” Mabel asked, her tone a bit softer as she knelt down to her brother’s level, only to be met with his resumed, bitter silence as he looked away from her. “It’s what, Dipper? Come on, you gotta tell me.”

“I-it’s… Oh, just forget it…” Dipper sighed, his grip on his hat tightening somewhat as he looked down at it morosely.

Mabel sighed herself upon hearing this, though more out of empathy more than anything else. After all, it had been only a few hours ago that she had been in the exact same place he had: forlorn, dejected, completely and utterly hopeless in every sense of the word. And since she had moved past most of her painful emotions about the situation, she was resolved to do whatever she had to to help her brother do the very same. “Dipper, I… I told Grunkle Stan about everything that happened…”

“Y-you what?” Dipper looked to her, quite surprised to hear this. “Why’d you do that?! I bet after hearing about how we nearly died a number of times, he’s probably already bought us bus tickets home, which is seriously the last thing we need right now.”

“Relax, bro-bro, our summer’s nowhere close to over yet!” Mabel reassured with a small laugh. “Actually, Stan took it a lot better than I ever thought he would. Heck, he even decided to unground us from mystery hunting. But the reason why I finally told him was because it just felt so bad keeping all of that heavy junk inside of me. I didn’t have you or Steven to talk to about any of it, a-and so I just kept thinking about it and thinking about it and it hurt. It hurt so bad that I couldn’t take it anymore so I just… let it all out. And I think that’s what you need to do too, Dipper. Just let everything you’re feeling out, no matter how bad it might be. You’ll feel so much better once you do, trust me.”

“Mabel, I-I…” Dipper began, his tone rather unsteady as he finally fully met his sister’s almost pleading gaze. He paused however, his words caught in his throat as he shifted his sights over to the lake once more, still unable to completely get his thoughts off of Lapis. For the first time, he wondered what she might think about him essentially subjugating himself to spending his foreseeable future simply sitting by and waiting for her and nothing else. He had a strong feeling that she likely wouldn’t approve, that she would insist on him moving on, that she would tell him to keep on living in the freedom and safety she had just bought for him at the cost of her own. He knew that what he was doing, what he was feeling, would probably only serve to disappoint the blue Gem if she was there to see him like this. And the crushing thought of disappointing her, on top of the pain of losing her, one of the few people he had ever met, Gem or otherwise, who he felt truly understood him, was almost enough to get Dipper to break down right then and there.

Almost.

Because while he had heard Mabel’s advice and even found truth in it, he couldn’t just let it all out. He couldn’t just forget about how much it all hurt and put on a happy face, all while Lapis remained suffering at the bottom of the lake. It would feel wrong, disrespectful even, to just go on and pretend like everything was alright when it so clearly wasn’t. Which was why Dipper forced his oncoming tears away yet again, though he was still honest enough with his sister as to why he intended on holding them back. “Mabel, I… I can’t. A-at least not yet… I’m sorry…”

“But-” Mabel cut her initial protest off, her frown slowly turning into a small, understanding smile as she rose to stand. “You know what? That’s ok. I know that it’s a lot to deal with, so you can talk about it whenever you’re ready. And whenever you are ready, you know that I’ll be right here to listen, bro-bro.”

“Thanks, Mabel,” Dipper said with a small, genuine smile as he accepted his sister’s extended hand and stood himself. He did look to the lake once again, his smile fading as he pictured the blue Gem one last time, struggling, fighting, straining herself to keep him safe. The thought that there was so little he could do to help her still filled him with immense guilt and remorse. But the thought that perhaps there was some way he could eventually see her again, the hope that she might not be gone forever was something that he refused to let go of, even despite the bleak, depressing odds against it. And, as Dipper finally put his hat, which Lapis had more than likely indirectly returned to him, back on, he figured that was more than enough.

“So… is everything ok between you guys now?” Connie asked the twins, concerned. For the most part, she had opted to stay out of the conversation as they worked things out, largely since she knew so little of the surrounding context. Still, as far as she could see, it seemed as though they had reached a better place at the end of it all based on the small, yet warm smiles they were both wearing.

“Yeah,” Mabel nodded, throwing an arm around her brother’s shoulder. “We’re all good.”

“Whoa, wait a second,” Dipper cut in as a burst of realization struck him. “I think we’re still missing someone here. Where’s Steven?”

“We have no idea,” Connie shook her head fretfully. “That’s kind of why we came all the way down here. To look for both of both of you guys.”

“Well, I haven’t seen him anywhere around here,” Dipper remarked, growing slightly worried. “Then again, the only thing I’ve been looking at for the past several hours is the lake, so…”

“Steven!” Mabel suddenly called out, still willing to believe that her hunch on the young Gem’s location was correct. “Steven, are you out here!? You’re like, the only one of us who hasn’t had a satisfying emotional resolution yet!”

Upon receiving no response from the young Gem, Connie let out another frustrated sigh as she pulled out her phone. “I guess he wants to do this the hard way, then…” she muttered, not wasting any time in dialing his number. The trio paused, poising their ears to listen for the sound of a telltale ringtone, and, sure enough, it sounded out from the otherwise empty shore from not too far away. As soon as it blared out, however, a sudden thud cut through it, alerting Connie to Steven’s presence as he hurried in between larger pieces of rubble, trying his best to not be seen and failing completely. “There he is!” she exclaimed to the twins, already running after him before they followed suit. “Steven! Steven, wait up!”

Of course, the young Gem did anything but that as he fled from his friends, of all people, breathlessly panting all the while. He had hoped that isolating himself at the place where everything had reached its height would send the message to at least the twins that he intended on putting necessary distance between himself and them. But of course, that plan had apparently failed as Dipper had already been there when he arrived, though as preoccupied with the lake as he had been, Steven had found it not very hard to stay out of his notice. What the young Gem hadn’t anticipated however, was for Mabel and Connie to team up in their resolve to reach him, which gave him all the more reason to hurry and slip away from them before they had a chance to confront him. Needless to say that Steven didn’t really want to run and hide from his own friends, but he knew that he had to. It was for their own good, after all.

“Steven!” Connie shouted after him once more, with her and the twins essentially chasing him through the wreckage by this point. She was admittedly taken aback as they followed him through a large, still somewhat intact corridor that had broken off from the hand ship, her immense curiosity towards the situation only growing all the while. And yes, while she knew she could have easily asked the twins about it all, she was determined to hear it from Steven first, as well as the reason why he seemed so adamant to hide both the truth and himself from her.

As they made it out of the stretch of corridor, the young Gem’s trail ran cold seeing as how he had apparently tucked himself away behind a larger piece of rubble again. The trio stopped short, none of them sure as to where he might be hiding, but all of them just as eager to find him and make sense of his odd behavior.

“Ok, this is starting to get weird…” Dipper noted with a confused frown. “Steven seemed mostly ok yesterday morning. So why is he just running and hiding from us now?”

“M-maybe he’s not running from us,” Mabel theorized. “Maybe he’s just trying to run from his feelings instead, just like I was trying to do. Only he’s doing that… literally, for some reason… Steven!” she exclaimed, loud enough for him to hopefully hear her. “It’s ok! You don’t have to keep all of that heavy junk inside! You can totally come out and talk to us about it! We know exactly how you feel, trust me!”

Upon hearing this, Steven pushed himself even harder against the broken piece of the ship’s thumb he was hiding behind, letting out a small, almost inaudible groan as he did. He understood that the twins just wanted to help him, but that wasn’t their job anymore, especially since they had both gotten so hurt the last time they had tried to help him. From now on, he had to help himself, even if he had no idea how.

“Steven, this is ridiculous!” Connie called intently, gripping her phone tightly as she glanced around for even a sign of him. “Why are you avoiding us?! Are you in trouble? Is something wrong? D-did… did I do something wrong?”

The young Gem buried his face into his hands at this, knowing that the last thing he ever wanted was for Connie to blame herself for something she had no part in whatsoever. Still, he couldn’t tell her the truth. The most he could do was hope that she’d give up and walk away, realizing that she would be far better off without him. No matter how much he might miss her once she did.

“Steven, come on!” Mabel urged just as fervently as Connie attempted to call him once more. “You can’t keep hiding from us forever! You have to come out and tell us what’s wrong!”

“M-Mabel’s right!” Dipper added somewhat hesitantly. “I mean, there’s really not a whole lot running and hiding from everything that happened is going to do, right?”

Steven knew well that there was nothing that it would do, nothing except put a rift between him and his friends, something he knew had to happen if he ever wanted to truly protect them. However, as his phone blared ringing once again, he realized that their incredible persistence would make opening that rift quite a challenging feat. He panicked as he rushed to reject Connie’s call, holding his phone close to his chest as he tried to calm his own racing heart, especially as she shouted for him once more.

“Steven, we know you’re here!” she shouted, steadily growing more and more upset by his complete lack of response, to the point that tears were starting to well up in her eyes from it. “Why are you hiding from us?! From me?!”

The young Gem shuddered at this accusation, wishing so, so much that things didn’t have to be like this, but knowing that there was no other way. And so, with a deep breath, and a heavy heart, he gripped his phone and typed out a short, brief message and sent it before he could change his mind, even if he instantly regretted it the moment he did.

Connie jolted as her phone buzzed with a new message from Steven, one that she didn’t hesitate to read aloud to the twins as soon as she saw it. “‘I don’t want to be friends anymore’.”

“What?” Dipper and Mabel both asked in distressed, dumbfounded confusion at this, knowing it had been the last thing they could have ever expected. Connie, on the other hand, barely managed to hold back a sharp sob as she hurriedly dialed the young Gem’s number once more, putting it on speaker so the twins could hear whatever he might have to say. And this time, miraculously enough, he finally answered.

“S-Steven?” Connie asked as she was met with only silence on the other end of the line as the dial tone cut off.

“I can’t be with you anymore,” Steven said solemnly, his expression as cold as he could make it. “Any of you. I have a destiny, and its one that none of you can be a part of.”

“…Steven, that makes like, no sense…” Dipper remarked, somewhat alarmed by just how serious the young Gem seemed to be about this. “Since when have you ever cared about ‘destiny’ and all that stuff? It seems a little melodramatic for you, no offense.”

However, before Steven could even attempt to explain, Connie interjected, her emotions having finally reached their boiling point as her tears finally started to fall. “Come out here and say that to my face, to all our faces!” she shouted at the phone, her hand shaking heavily as she gripped it like a vice. “Say you don’t want to be friends anymore! If you can do that… If you can do that, then I’ll leave you alone. All three of us will! But we won’t believe it until you say it to our faces!”

“Look!” Mabel suddenly gasped, pointing up to the top of the nearby thumb. Atop it stood none other than the young Gem himself, his face concealed in shadows cast by the blinding sun overhead as he looked straight down, his phone held tightly in his hand. For a brief-tension filled moment, everyone stood frozen in place, all four of the Mystery Kids finally reunited despite everything that had happened, but in a way that none of them could have ever wanted.

Then, deciding that enough was enough, Steven leapt from his perch, landing squarely before the trio as he still hid his expression from them all, keeping up almost an air of ominous mystery, one that only infuriated Connie even more as she noticed it. “Well?” she demanded, knowing that the moment of truth, the moment that could make or break their friendship forever, had arrived.

And yet, while she had been expecting him to snap his gaze up with a harsh, firm glare and repeat his coldhearted message to them all, he instead did the exact opposite. He started to cry.

Steven finally looked up, his face awash with tears and grief as he let out a choked, distraught sob as he told them all the undeniable truth, his former resolve completely forgotten. “I still wanna be friends with you guys!” he whined almost pitifully, instantly eliciting sympathy from all three of them as they rushed to comfort him.

“Steven, your eye!” Connie gasped in surprise upon seeing his black eye. “What happened to you?!”

“And why were you trying to run away from us?” Mabel asked, just as concerned as they crowded around the upset young Gem. “On a side note, I was totally right about where you might be! Looks like I know both of you boys better than you know yourselves,” she remarked with a jokingly smug smile as she elbowed Dipper playfully, to which he simply rolled his eyes with a small, but genuine smirk.

“M-my eye… it… it’s nothing,” Steven glanced away guiltily, tears still streaming down his cheeks. “I didn’t want you guys to worry about it.”

“Steven, I’ve been worried sick about you for the past two days,” Connie said, somewhat exasperated. “What do you think I’m doing here?”

“Honestly, we were all pretty worried about you,” Dipper said, crossing his arms. “You know, what with you trying to flat out ignore us and everything.”

“I-I’m sorry…” the young Gem muttered repentantly, sniffling a bit. “I just… I just wanted to protect you guys, and-”

“Stop,” Connie cut him off, shaking her head as she rested her hands on his shoulders and offered him a calm, supporting smile. “Just tell me everything.”

And so, he did.

Really, Steven and the twins did, as the kids all sat together on the shore and they started from the beginning, detailing to Connie exactly what had happened and leaving no details out, even the more horrific ones. They told her of the hand ship, of the evacuation, and of their return. They told her of Jasper, of Peridot, of Lapis and the Gems’ defeat and capture. They told her of their escapades on the ship, of Ruby and Sapphire’s reunion and Garnet’s reformation. They told her of the crash, of Malachite, and of the immense emotional fallout they had all gone through after it was all said and done. During all of this, Steven finally managed to remember to heal the twins’ respective injuries, being sure to offer them copious apologies for nearly forgetting to do so amidst being so caught up in his own problems and completely neglecting to consider theirs. Still, by the end of this lengthy truth session, all four of the kids were more than a bit shaken by the weight of all that had happened only a few mere hours ago. Yet at the same time, there was no denying that it was rather cathartic, almost as if nearly everything that had been suppressed and hidden was now free. And with its release, Steven, Dipper, and Mabel felt calmer and more relaxed than they had been since the hand ship first appeared in the skies above Gravity Falls.

“So, let me get this straight…” Connie mused after they had finished their tale, still trying to make sense of everything she had just been told. “Lapis and Jasper are somewhere underwater…”

“Yeah,” Steven nodded somewhat sadly. Mabel noticed as Dipper looked away at the mention of this, but all the same, she made sure to put a steadying, comforting hand on his shoulder, one that he acknowledged with a small, but thankful smile. “A-and Peridot escaped while the ship was coming down. She could be anywhere…”

“That is a lot to take in…” Connie breathed, her eyes rather wide as she looked out to the lake.

“Tell us about it…” Mabel remarked with a knowing sigh.

“There’s still one thing I don’t get though…” Dipper frowned as he looked over at the young Gem. “Steven, I kinda get why you were hiding from Connie, but why were you hiding from me and Mabel? We already knew about all of this stuff; heck, we lived through it. So, why were you trying to shut us out too?”

“Oh, well, I… I, uh…” Steven sighed, knowing that he really couldn’t keep his now former resolve from them anymore. A resolve that, in retrospect, seemed so foolish and silly from the start. “Y-you guys could have really gotten hurt in all this stuff. I mean, you did get hurt in it, but you could have… I could have lost-” The young Gem paused, letting out a shaky breath before continuing. “You two put yourselves in so much danger to try and help me. A-and if something had happened to either of you, I… I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself… So, I guess I was just trying to keep you from feeling like you ever had to do something like that again. I-I didn’t really do a very good job of it though, seeing as how I kinda just ended up hurting you guys even more myself, huh?”

“Aw, Steven! You didn’t hurt us!” Mabel exclaimed sincerely. “Jasper did, remember?”

“Yeah, and as far as that whole ‘putting ourselves in danger thing’, we did that because we wanted to, Steven, not because we felt like we had to,” Dipper clarified just as intently. “Plus, in case you haven’t noticed, all four of us kind of have a bad habit of getting ourselves into dangerous situations a lot.”

“And while this one was probably the craziest one of those we’ve been in yet,” Mabel continued. “That doesn’t mean we wanna stop hanging out with you, Steven! Could you imagine how boring things would be if the four of us weren’t friends? That’d be way worse than nearly dying on an alien spaceship, for sure!”

All four of the kids let out a shared laugh at this, all of them realizing just how much they needed something like this all along. They needed each other, to help them get through the past and face the future. And as long as they did have each other, then certainly, there was nothing they couldn’t overcome. “Thanks, you guys,” Steven smiled happily, feeling immensely better. “I… I guess I never thought of things like that before…”

“Well, you should from now on,” Connie encouraged, looking to the young Gem warmly. “Because no matter what comes next, we can all face it together.”

“Yeah! Together!” Mabel cheered brightly, throwing her hand out as both Dipper and Connie joined her in starting a pile up.

“I can’t ask you guys to do that…” Steven said, still somewhat apprehensive as he looked to their outstretched hands.

“We want to, Steven,” Connie assured, blushing softly as she smiled at the young Gem. “I—I mean, we want to be part of your universe!”

The twins nodded their firm agreement to this as Steven took pause, taken aback but completely warmed by their kind words and resolved promises. Which was why, with all of his former worries and fears forgotten, the young Gem didn’t put his hand on top of the pile, but instead threw himself at his three friends, surprising them all with an unexpected, but very welcome group hug, one that they were all quick to laughingly and happily return.

The embrace didn’t go on for too long however, before a familiar van arrived at the lake, its horn honking as its driver caught sight of the group on the shore. “Kiddo! There you are!” Greg exclaimed as he pulled up to the kids, his wide, blithe smile a stark contrast to the mask of panic his face was the last time Steven had seen him. “Oh, and hey, Connie, Dipper, Mabel. Do you kids need a ride back to the shack? Stan actually just called me a little while ago; he said something about some cupcakes and cookies he made for you two going to waste?”

“Oh man, I totally forgot about that party Grunkle Stan set up for us!” Mabel gasped. “Dipper, you should have seen it! He put up streamers and balloons and tried to put little faces on the cupcakes even though it didn’t really work out, but it was so sweet!”

“Weird,” Dipper remarked, a hint of sardonic playfulness in his tone. “The word ‘sweet’ usually isn’t what I think of when talking about Grunkle Stan.”

“Well what he did totally was sweet, which is something you’ll see when we get back,” Mabel said just as pointedly. “Steven, Connie, you guys come too! I’m sure there’s plenty of junk food to go around!”

“Heh, sure, sounds like fun,” Connie chuckled, amused.

“Yeah,” Steven nodded in agreement before turning back to his father, somewhat confused. “Dad, are you doing ok? You seem a lot calmer than… well, yesterday…”

“Eh, I got it out of my system,” Greg shrugged with a casual grin. “Now I’m back to being your cool dad!”

The kids all got a good laugh out of this as they accepted the former rock star’s offer, all of them piling into the van before it took off, leaving the battered lake shore behind. As they rode through town, they were able to see that the majority of the townsfolk had already returned and were well on their way to picking things exactly where they had left off. Mr. Smiley grinned as brightly as usual as he swept up the broken glass in front of Funland Arcade, while just across the street, Toby Determined was trying and failing to sell the latest edition of the Gravity Falls Gossiper. Lazy Susan had already reopened Greasy’s Dinner, where several folks had already turned up for a late lunch, while Fryman recruited both of his sons’ help in fixing the broken letters of his shop’s sign. McGucket wildly chased his racoon wife down the street as he often did as several of the teens coolly cruised through town in Jenny’s car. At the Big Donut, Lars and Sadie were readjusting the outside seating, though it was clear they’d be back to business as usual soon as Blubbs and Durland pulled into the parking lot to get some coffee and pastries.

And as the kids watched all of the sights they were so used to seeing out of the windows of the van, they all couldn’t help but exchange relieved, hopeful smiles. The invasion had come, yes, and it had struck great fear into the hearts of nearly every citizen in town. But for as disastrous as things had nearly been, there were clear signs of recovery, of things returning to normal, or at least as close to normal as things got in a town like Gravity Falls. And yes, while there really wasn’t any chance of the invasion and evacuation being widely forgotten any time soon, people were starting to move past it, giving the kids an encouraging reminder that they could do the exact same thing too.

In just a few hours alone, nearly everything had seemed to change in ways that Steven, Dipper, Mabel, and even Connie still didn’t fully comprehend yet. And really, maybe there were parts of it that they would never be able to completely grasp or understand or cope with. Yet, despite all of the dramatic, drastic shifts that had occurred, despite how different everything seemed to be now, and whatever the future might hold as a result of all these changes, in a comforting, reassuring way, it was almost as if nothing had changed at all.

Next: 

#jen writes #universe falls #gravity falls #steven universe #steven #connie #dipper #mabel #stan #garnet #amethyst #pearl #soos #greg #full disclosure #arc 5 and onward use vegenere ciphers #the codeword for this chapter is TRUTH #fanfic #crossover #au

[joneswilliam72]

The Great Recession of 2008, desperation, and the documentary of the Great Cocaine Treasure Hunt: meet director Theo Love & Rodney Hyden.

We love a great based on a true story flick at The 405 Film. It's one of our favorite things to cover for a variety of reasons, but above all because – quite often – truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Such is the case in Netflix's wildly entertaining, documentary tale of quintessentially American desperation, dreams of wealth, and the power of mythic storytelling: The Legend of Cocaine Island, out now on the streaming giant.

The Legend of Cocaine Island tells the true story of a Florida man (Rodney Hyden) who came into hard times – like so many – with the Great Recession of 2008. Hyden owns a construction business in central Florida (a state hit harder than most others) which was booming until the real estate bubble burst and triggered a huge part of this story.

Yet, what makes the story different is the tale Rodney was told by his neighbor Julian. You see Julian lived in Puerto Rico for a time years before, when one day he found a suspicious… package, on the beach. Inside – according to Julian – was roughly $2 million worth of cocaine. Apparently, a trafficker mistakenly dropped it either out at sea or in the air and it washed up on Julian's beach.

As Julian did not want to involve Puerto Rican police, who likely would not have believed he was innocent in all this – he generally wanted to avoid that hassle – he decided to bury the package near the trailer he was living in at the time and leave it there.

This became a "southern fairy tale" as it got passed around bonfires in Florida with each telling from Julian and others who heard and retold it. That is, until Rodney Hyden heard it, and decided he was going to try to find the cocaine and cure his post-Recession financial woes. Will he succeed? What will happen with this strange tale of desperation and the American dream? You'll have to watch the film to find out – trust me, you won't regret it.

Theo Love – the mind behind the 2013 documentary Little Hope Was Arson, about a series of 2010 church arsons in East Texas – director of Cocaine Island, took a novel approach to telling this story. Rodney Hyden plays himself in the film, with his daughter and wife also making appearances. It was a tremendous gamble which really paid dividends in Love's final product that is the film.

(L-R) Rodney Hyden and Theo Love at a 2018 event for THE LEGEND OF COCAINE ISLAND. Source:IMDb

Check out our interview with Hyden and Love below – we talk film-making, myth-making, great movies, the Florida Man Challenge and much more. And check out The Legend of Cocaine Island on Netflix worldwide now.

Hello Theo and Rodney.

RH: Hey, how you doing?

I'm great. How are you guys?

RH: Good.

TL: Doing good. Doing good. We're excited to be putting the movie out but a little nervous, too.

It was fantastic, and I just have to ask as the first question. Not totally related, but a little related. Have either of you guys done the Florida Man Challenge that's going around social media right now?

RH: No.

TL: No, I haven't. I just heard about it today. This is the second time it's come up, so I should probably do this today. Rodney, we should do it together.

[Laughs] Could be interesting.

RH: Tell me what I'm getting into first before we make that decision, Theo.

Yeah, it's googling "Florida Man", then your birthday (month and day), and you're supposed to share the first article that comes up.

RH: Oh, wow.

Like for instance, mine was Florida Man gets sent back to jail after not paying taxi that picked him up from jail.

[Both Laugh]

TL: That's a good one.

But yeah, it made me think of that with this story's very Florida-centric nature. Yeah. Rodney, what was going through your head when you finally decided to pursue Julian's story?

RH: Nothing was going through my head until I was approached about it. That's as simple as I can answer it.

Interesting. Did you ever think that something like The Legend of Cocaine Island would come out of it?

RH: Absolutely not. I mean, come on. When Theo called me, I didn't believe it would ever happen. Come on. It's surreal. Totally surreal.

TL: Yo. Yo Rodney, you said that you were waiting for somebody from Hollywood to call you when I first called.

RH: Yes. Hollyweird.

Rodney Hyden in Florida. Still from THE LEGEND OF COCAINE ISLAND. Source:Netflix

[Laughs] Well, there you go. Theo, I was curious, what was it about the story that made you wanted to do it in a documentary format versus doing it in a more conventional format like a fictionalized true story or based on a true story?

TL: I look for true stories, and I am leaning towards narrative. That's a goal of mine, but a lot of times when you are researching these true stories, the real people who lived the events are better than any actor you could get, and people like to tell their own side of the story.

Absolutely.

TL: Rodney wanted to make sure that this was accurate, and that we portrayed him the way he was. Frankly, we were a tiny little indie film, and we wouldn't be able to do it justice. But kind of doing it in the documentary form allowed this to have that anchored in realism to it.

Another interesting thing about it that I found really cool was the way that you did it almost as mythic storytelling. Mythic in the sense that it's a big story, it's what you would think would be an improbable story, and I was curious what your process was like in writing it to accent that?

TL: Yeah. Pretty early on, we realized that this was a story about storytelling, and the power of storytelling. Growing up, and honestly still to this day, a lot of times when I'm hanging out with my friends it's sitting around… and drinking, and we're smoking and telling stories. Rodney and his group of friends out there in Archer [Florida], they had the life that I wish I could have, but I'm in L.A. making movies. But just the whole atmosphere of how this came about was really attractive. Then, when I actually met the storyteller, Julian, he's this barefooted hippie. He looks like kind of like Gandalf, and he's just larger than life. Wouldn't you describe him like that, Rodney?

RH: Pretty much except ... yeah. Don't forget the bottle of wine. He loves wine.

TL: Yeah.

Gandalf if Gandalf lived in Florida [Laughs]. Yep.

RH: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

A question for both of you, I'm sure there's probably many, but any funny or memorable moments that stick out from the process of filming?

RH: Yeah. The digging scene, I'll never forget it 'cause Theo makes you do it about a hundred times. That ground is solid rock, believe me.

[Laughs]

TL: That's hilarious. Rodney agreed to act, and I fully pressed him for it, and I think it wasn't ... at the end of the day, Rodney, are you glad you did it?

RH: Hey, let me say this, I work with two of the most brilliant people and their staff. Now, their crew was excellent, and the little I know about movie and film-making, I think you should call Theo "Mr. Innovation" and that's all I need to say about it.

Nice.

TL: Oh man.

RH: Who else has brought a guy in that lived it and did it, and said "look, you're gonna be a part of it if you want to. I think it was a great experience."

Absolutely. Quite the novel and effective approach.

TL: Rodney, you're gonna make me cry.

RH: I'm being serious.

Yeah.

TL: We just honestly had a blast making this film. We really did, and we got to know all the people who were involved, their friends, and yeah. I hope the audience has half as much fun that we had making this film.

Julian in Florida. Still from THE LEGEND OF COCAINE ISLAND. Source:Netflix

You know, I think they will. I had a hell of a lot of fun watching it. I'll tell you that.

TL: Well, thank you.

RH: Thank you so much.

My pleasure. Thanks for telling the story. Let's see. Looking for that next question there. Rodney, what do you hope people will take away from your story?

RH: That it could happen to anybody. This story could literally happen to anybody, Wess.

Interesting.

[At this point, we had an issue with the phone connection which was quickly resolved]

Let's see. Rodney, if you could do it over again, would you?

RH: No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. In the future, hell no. Absolutely.

TL: It's this attitude, Wess, that I heard on the very first call where I called Rodney. I just cold called the guy.

Having worked in sales I have great admiration for that approach Theo.

TL: Called him at this business, and this is how he talks. He is self-aware, and he's able to laugh at himself, and if that was the case for everybody else, it's just a good story. It's just a good story. Is something that we recommend people doing in the future? No, but we might dare you to, but we don't think that you should. But yeah, you could.

Yeah didn't mean to imply that you're recommending it because the film doesn't. There's definitely that playful suggestion at the end which worked really well with Cocaine Island considering the film's tone though.

Julian in the reenactment of the original tale. Still from THE LEGEND OF COCAINE ISLAND. Source:Netflix

Let's see. This is one I had for both of you, although you might be answering it separate. What were the challenges like?

RH: Go ahead, Theo. I want to bother you first.

TL: What were the challenges. Honestly, I think that it was the creative decisions that we were making. It was a bold choice to cast Rodney in these movie moments, these recreations, whatever you want to call them.

Definitely. That was a gamble that paid brilliant dividends.

TL: We were really gambling on that. But when we thought about it, we were like, man, I think that this is just ridiculous enough to be good. That thought that ... and we really felt like we were going out on a limb like, "Oh my gosh, man. The documentary community, they might hate us. We're not making a serious documentary."

[Laughs] the blasphemy! Wonder how many were clutching their pearls?

TL: It shouldn't be this fun making a movie in the Caribbean. It was kind of a dream scenario. As a filmmaker, I feel like I'm never gonna have a more fun set.

That's great. That's excellent you guys had that experience. Theo, one question I like to ask all filmmakers that I talk to, what movies and directors would you consider as the most prolific influences over you?

TL: I would say that ... I grew up watching just the big blockbusters. My family didn't even have a TV until I was in middle school, and we didn't live in a place where there was movie theaters. By the time I got into movies, it was just the big Steven Spielberg blockbusters. When I'm in high school, the big Michael Bay movies.

TL: But then, once I got actually into filmmaking myself, and started to break down kind of who are the filmmakers that I want to emulate, it really leads to the Coen Brothers I'd say more than anybody. I find myself just going back over and over to their movies, and with Cocaine Island, I watched The Big Lebowski quite a few times.

Well, there you go.

It's a very Coen Brothers story, too, when you think about it. Cocaine Island I mean. It's a modern tale of misadventure that does echo the Coens.

TL: Hey, if the Coen Brothers are available to do the remake of this, the narrative version, I will take that meeting [Laughs].

[Laughs] I bet.

Rodney, how about you. Favorite movies?

RH: Favorite movies. Scarface. No, just joking.

[Laughs]

TL: [Laughs]

RH: Grown Ups, Adam Sandler.

Cool.

RH: Yeah.

One that came to mind there, you guys were watching, was it The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly in the hotel suite?

RH: Yeah. When I was a young kid, that's what my dad liked. The early Clint Eastwood Italian movies, and it brought back memories when we chose that scene to watch. Seen it before. Probably seen it 50 times.

Oh, me too with the spaghetti westerns. One of my favorites as well. Let's see. Yeah, another question I'd like to ask everybody. What makes a great movie to you? Kind of a big question.

TL: Yeah. That's a good question. What makes a great movie?

Thank you.

TL: Rodney, you want to go first?

RH: Yeah, I've got a pretty quick answer that didn't take much thinking, and I'm only gonna speak specific about the genre of this movie or documentary. I think the biggest thing was that ... tell me your question again.

What makes a great movie?

RH: In this case, based on what I saw at the film festivals, it's the audiences' reaction and that's all I'm gonna say.

That's interesting.

TL: Whether the audience likes it?

RH: Oh yeah…

TL: That's actually a pretty great answer. What makes a great movie is whether the audience responds to it. We have taken it to a few film festivals, and audiences really enjoy it. That feels amazing as a storyteller and as a filmmaker. Yeah. Good answer, Rodney.

It is a really good answer.

RH: Sitting in the middle of everybody with my hoodie on, nobody knew who I was, and everybody around me was cracking up. It was just great.

Rodney, I've gotten quite the variety of answers to that question in the numerous interviews I've done, but I don't think I've ever got your answer: the audience's reaction. That's a fantastic answer.

RH: [Laughs] There's only one… Let me tell you, man.

It is fantastic. Let's see, actually the last question I had for you guys is what's next for you?

TL: Well, Rodney is gonna be an actor. Right Rodney?

RH: No. No, I'm gonna take an early retirement.

Great.

RH: Let me say for me I'm in the construction industry, and it's just booming right now. I'm just blessed with what I've got, and I never forget this memorable ... one of the most memorable things of making this movie in my life, the other memorable was getting in trouble, but this one really, really was the best. That's what I take with it.

Fantastic. Theo, how about you?

TL: I'm in post on my next feature, a future documentary. Can't talk much about it, but I've got quite a few projects in the works. But I'll let you know when I can give you more details. How does that sound?

Hey, that's great. We'll definitely be watch for it. Yeah, and even your first movie, Little Hope Was Arson is excellent. I watched that the other night, too.

TL: Oh really, wow. Thank you so much. Not a lot of people saw that one, so yeah, that means a lot. Thank you.

Yeah. More should. I try to do that with everybody I interviewed to at least catch one more of theirs…

TL: A lot of journalists sometimes ... yeah. You're going above and beyond. That's all I'll say. That's amazing. Well, cool, I'm glad you enjoyed them. Thanks so much for doing this, and asking us all these questions.

LITTLE HOPE WAS ARSON (2013) trailer.

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