Chapter Text
All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy this fic.
Chapter 144: How Far We've Come
"Good morning, Gravity Falls. It has now been a week since the… unpleasantness ended and Gravity Falls is starting to look like its old self again,"said the voice of Shandra Jimenez.
"Wow, you Manotaurs sure are helpful," Lazy Susan said while seeing the Manotaurs help repair the diner. "Thank you."
"It is no trouble, ma'am," Chutzpar replied while pulling up the sign. "We're pretty much good at building stuff… even if we usually just immediately knock it down."
"Knock it down?!" Pubetor asked before he crashed his head through the wall of the restaurant.
"Gah! We just fixed that!" Beardy complained.
"Hey! Don't just knock things over!" Manly Dan shouted while holding some lumber with another Manotaur. "Chutzpar, once you guys are done here, you can help us out at the homes in the east."
"Sure thing, Dan!" Chutzpar confirmed.
"Thanks to the help from the strange creatures who lived in our woods, which are still recovering after the fire."
In the scorched area that used to be forest, the townspeople were helping to plant new trees in order to regrow the forest. They were working alongside magical creatures like gnomes, pixies, unicorns, and the others. Just like how the magical creatures were helping the townspeople to rebuild their homes, the townspeople were doing the same.
"Alright, with these trees planted and a little bit of magic, this forest should be able to recover," Juniper said while flying around with a clipboard, overseeing the work everyone was putting in.
"Gee, thanks again for helping regrow our forest," Jeff the gnome said to Bud. "You townsies aren't so bad."
"It's no problem, little gnome guy," Bud replied while helping put a new tree into the ground. "After all, we are in the same boat. You magical folks lost yer homes too."
At Sprott's barn, some eyebats flew out of his barn as he chased them. "Git outta here, you ornery critters!"
"We'll take it from here," spoke one of the agents who were set up outside the barn with nets and containment units. They were by Agent Brown, who was trying to catch one eyebat.
"Come back here, you!"
"But while the town is being put back together, we still mourn over those we've lost…"
At the Valentino funeral home, a zombie pops out from the ground, but was immediately pushed back into the ground by Greg Valentino, who used a shovel.
"Ah, good as new," Greg said to Janice as a zombie arm popped out of the ground and grabbed her leg. "Oh! Looks like you've got a friend."
"Robbie, would you be a dear and get us the sawed-off shotgun?" Janice called out to him.
"Okay, mom…" Robbie said before remembering something. "By the way, she's back again."
"Oh, well that's not surprising, really," Greg said. "I think the old reverend's granddaughter has been here every day since we buried him."
Rachel Jones stood before the grave of her grandfather and placed flowers on his grave. She gave a saddened look before she felt her leg grabbed, causing her to back away as the zombie of the late Mayor Befufftlefumpter came out of the ground. "Gah!"
"Brains, and so forth!" he declared.
Rachel glared down at him with hate. She looked and grabbed a lone shovel before swinging it at the zombie. "YAH!" she shouted while repeatedly smashing the zombie's head with a shovel. "Stupid… little… zombie...#%^$!"
"Say, thanks for dealing with that for us!" Janice waved to Rachel, who wasn't paying attention to her.
Enoch was helping some of the other agents doing some clean up around the town when he spotted a scared-looking man wandering around while holding something. Enoch decided to walk over.
"You there, are you alright, sir?" Enoch asked, causing the man to turn to him.
"D-Don't hurt me!" the man shouted.
"Hurt you? I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help," Enoch assured him.
"Are you one of those government types?" the man asked. Enoch nodded and the man quickly shoved the book he was holding into his hands. "Here, take it! Take this book away from me!"
Enoch looked at the book and his eyes widened when he saw the title. "The Book of… Bill?"
"I… I didn't want to write it!" the man claimed. "But Bill Cipher… he made me write this-this.. memoir for him. I don't want anything to do with that book!"
"Don't worry, sir, I'll make sure this book is in good hands," Enoch told the man, "Now run along. If I were you, I would get as far away from this town as you can."
"Thank you," the writer said before he ran off, leaving Enoch with the book. Enoch looked down at the book and decided to keep it hidden on his person for safe-keeping…
"There also appears to be an exodus happening here. For more information, let's go to my daughter, April, who is finally back home after spending the summer with her father up in New York. April, honey, you're up."
"Thanks, mom," said a tanned skinned teenage girl of fifteen years. She had red hair with green highlights, blue eyes, a yellow vest with a white collar shirt with jeans, and white boots. She sported a green beret and a microphone while behind her was a line of cars moving out of Gravity Falls. "This is April Jimandez reporting to you live from outside of Gravity Falls, where as you can see many families have decided to leave town after the… events that had transpired." She walked over to a car with a rolled down window. "Sir, can you tell us the reason you're leaving this town?"
"Honestly, the weirdness is just too much for us normal folks," said a father. Sitting behind him and his wife were Shmipper and Smabble with their grandpa. "We've recovered as many belongings as we could, but I don't think this place is good for my children to grow up in."
"Me and my cats are going back to live with my grandsons, who haven't called!" shouted an elderly lady who was in her car filled with cats.
"I don't think I know how anyone could decide to stay in this town after everything that has happened," said a man. "Just look how it affected my son."
"I've been twaumatized!" Gordy declared.
"Meanwhile, Mayor Tyler Cutebiker has decided to announce the passing of a new law."
A crowd was gathered in the town square, where Mayor Tyler was standing at a podium with some other agents, Spike and Li, along with Blubs and Durland on stage.
"Now, none of us really understand what happened a week ago, and none of us want to," Tyler explained. "But after talking with these agents, we've all agreed that as of this moment, I'm passing the Never Mind All That Act, which officially declares that this 'Weirdmageddon' never happened. So if anyone goes asking around about the, um, 'events' of the last week, what do we say?"
"Never mind all that!" the crowd responded as a banner of 'Never Mind All That!' rolled down in display.
"And if you break the rules, we're gonna zap you," Blubs said.
"Zap! Zap! We're mad with power!" Durland declared before he and Blubs dropped their tasers and grabbed their faces. "And love!" they declared.
"Unfortunately, for those who have decided to stay in town, the future is uncertain. There are a lot of concerns about the continued government presence in the town and our co-existence with the 'other'inhabitants of the valley, especially with so many of them displaced from their homes in the forest."
All around town, magical creatures were out in the open. A bunch of hands from the Hand-Witch were helping to wipe and clean the windows, while gnomes, Manotaurs, unicorns, and the Mult-Bear were shown helping out the townsfolk in different ways.
"You know, it's… weird to be out in the open like this," Multi-Bear admitted.
"I'll say," Celestabellebethabelle replied while wearing the uniform of a medic, which had pouches full of medical supplies in it. "I never thought I would end up as a nurse unicorn." She walked over to the Mattress King. "Here you go."
"Say, thanks, I could use that," he replied while getting a kit out of one of her pouches.
"But in good news, town hero Stanley Pines has fully recovered his memory, and will be throwing a party to celebrate his grand niece and grand nephew's thirteenth birthday," Shandra said back in her newsroom. "And now, Bodacious T, with sports."
The camera panned over to Toby Determined, who was still dressed as Bodacious T while holding a bat with one hand and a human skull (best not to question where he got it from) in the other. "It's called… Death Ball!"
"…To you!"
Finishing up the birthday song to Dipper and Mabel were Candy, Grenda, Pacifica, Wendy, Ford, Stan, Soos, Luz (who had Atticus on her shoulder), Eda, King, Gus P., Willow, and Waddles, who oinked. In front of them was a crowd of Gravity Falls townsies, Camila, Abigail, Clara, Masha, Nora, Gus G. Rudo, Dana, Perry, Vee, Star, Megan, Ivy, the Pines parents, and Steam Punk, who all cheered for the twins. They were all gathered before the repaired Mystery Shack.
"I can't believe you all got together just to throw a party for us," Mabel told all the town.
"After all the Pines family has done for the town, it's the least we could do," Tyler said. "You've helped everyone here."
"Thanks to y'all savin' us, I've considered doing my time, and the agents are happy enough to let me and my crew do some community services," Gideon said. "Once I'm out, Gideon Gleeful will forget his evil-doing ways, and Li'l Gideon will be a regular ol' kid."
"That is… still something to get used to," Luz commented. "But they're right, you two deserve a party after what we've all been through."
"Dudes! Make a wish, dawg!" Soos told the twins.
Dipper looked thoughtful. "You know, if you had asked me before what I wanted, it'd be having a family that would always be there for me. But… seeing everyone here, all the people that I've grown up with and known all my life, the people that I even fought demons and monsters alongside… even if my family won't always be there for one reason or another, there will always be someone there for me. I'm not alone." He chuckled. "I have everything I need."
"Well, if I had only one wish, it would be to shrink all of you with a shrink ray and bring you home with me in my pocket," Mabel admitted. "But since that's impossible…" She turned to Ford and Eda. "Is that impossible?"
Ford just waved his hand up and down and shrugged, while Eda just nodded either a yes, no, or maybe, then changed it to a shrug nod.
"Well, since that's probably impossible, my only wish is for everyone to friend me on MyFace. That way, I'll never forget you guys," Mabel declared before realizing something. "Wait." She held up the Memory Gun and then smashed it on the floor. "Now I'll never forget you guys!"
After that, Dipper and Mabel blew out their candles and Wendy walked up to give them a hug.
"I now officially declare you technically teenagers. Welcome to angst and acne forever," Wendy declared.
"One of us! One of us!" Wendy, Tambry, Robbie, Lee, Nate, Thompson, Luz, and Willow declared.
"Woo-hoo/YAY!" Blubs and Durland cheered after shooting an old cannon.
"So how do you two feel?" Luz asked them.
"Same-y, but different-y," Mabel admitted.
"Hey, you two," Pacifica said, getting their attention. "When are you going to open your presents?" She smirked. "I broke a nail wrapping them."
"And there are some from us this time," Gus G. while standing with Dana and Rudo.
The twins laughed, Mabel running over to give her girlfriend a hug and a kiss before they started to open the presents.
While the twins were opening their presents, the other party guests started to mingle with each other. Wendy was talking with Steam Punk, who stood next to McGucket.
"You know, I'm surprised you're still sticking around here," Wendy admitted. "Thought you would have left by now."
"Well, after talking with McGucket, we decided to form a partnership," Steam Punk explained. "So yeah, I'm sticking around here. Gravity Falls is averyinteresting place."
"And since I regained my sanity, I could sure use an assistant to help me with my inventions and make sure I don't go on anymore homicidal rampages," McGucket added. "And with the extra help, I can make time to spend with my son."
"Really? That's great!" Wendy exclaimed before lightly hitting Steam Punk's arm. "And it'd be cool to have you around, dude. Maybe we can hang out."
"Y-Yeah, that would be nice," Steam replied while looking down. "Though, I still wonder what happened to the other villains that were with me, especially those that were turned into those… creatures. And we still don't know what happened with Powers and Trigger. The other agents never found them…"
"Well, maybe they could still turn up," Wendy suggested. "Anything can happen in Gravity Falls…"
Meanwhile, Eda was interacting with some of the townsfolk, who had a lot of questions.
"So… you're an actual witch, Eda?" Lazy Susan asked.
"Yup," Eda responded while seeing everyone's looks. "And apparently none of you are surprised."
"To be honest, if anyone would be married to a witch, it would be Stan," Tate McGucket told her.
"So wait, you and Luz are actually from a demon realm?" Tambry questioned.
"Well, I am," Eda corrected. "Luz was still born here. But hey, my criminal ways are now behind me. I now run an orphanage."
"Well, glad to see your act's cleaned, Eda," Blubs told her.
Meanwhile, Gus P. and Willow were getting some cake and drinks. "This is nice," Willow said to Gus. "Especially after everything we went through last week."
"Yeah," Gus P. agreed. "I still wish that I could have been in the Isles to help out you guys. I should have been there…"
"Hey, it's not like you had it easy here either," Willow pointed out. "It was just bad luck that Weirdmageddon and the Day of Unity happened at the same time."
"Yeah," Gus P. nodded in agreement. "I guess we're just that unlucky…"
Meanwhile, Vee was at the food table, stuffing her face on the food spread. Star came over to pull her away.
"Woah, slow down there, Vee," Star told her girlfriend. "You're gonna choke."
"I am not!" Vee protested. "Besides, this is so good!"
Star chuckled before spotting something. "Hey, you got something on your cheek," she said as she raised her hand to clean off Vee's check, causing the basilisk girl to blush.
"T-thanks, Star," she said. "I'm glad you could be here."
"Well, now that the rebellion has been successful, I gotta find something new to do," Star told Vee. "Maybe try some normal teen stuff. Like going on more dates…"
Vee nodded and smiled. "I think I would like that," she said.
After they had opened their presents, Dipper and Mabel went to talk with Luz and Camila.
"Thanks for coming, Luz," Dipper told her. "It wouldn't have been the same without you."
"You think I'd miss out on yours and Mabel's birthday?" Luz asked. "Not a chance. Besides, I'm just glad to be here with everyone."
"And I'm glad that we all get to have a proper party after everything that has happened last week," Camila replied.
"Yeah," Luz agreed before hugging her mother. "It's so good to be back."
"So are you really still staying here in the Human Realm?" Dipper asked her. "Even after everything that happened?"
"Of course," Luz confirmed. "I really needed a break from the Demon Realm more than ever after dealing with the Day of Unity, the Horned King, and Belos. Thankfully, things have started to calm down in the Isles. For now, at least."
"You've been through so much, Luz," Mabel said, patting her arm. "You deserve a hero's break."
"Still don't like being called that," Luz muttered before getting an idea. "Say, you know, I think you two are old enough to go to the Boiling Isles now."
"Wait, really?" Dipper asked in excitement.
Luz nodded. "Since Belos is dead and the Emperor's Coven has been disbanded, it should be safe enough to bring you two," she confirmed, smiling.
"Ooh, we're going to see Luz and Grauntie Eda's home realm!" Mabel shouted in excitement. "I wonder if we'll see all kinds of magical creatures, like unicorns or griffins,"
"Maybe I can finally get all my questions about the Isles answered," Dipper replied, the twins getting very excited.
"Um, you know, maybe before that, you should get parental permission first," Camila wisely suggested. "Let your parents know where you're going."
"Yes, Mrs. Noceda," the Pine twins replied.
Meanwhile, Ford and Stan had snuck behind the Mystery Shack and were having a conversation.
"So, with everything settled, what do you plan to do now, Ford?" Stan asked his brother. "Go around the globe chasing anomalies or something like that?"
"Well, the government is going to continue monitoring Gravity Falls and be on the lookout for more breaches," Ford explained. "And well, someone has to help them, right?"
"And that someone…?" Stan asked as he looked at Ford, who nodded.
"Is me," Ford confirmed. "I won't be leaving Gravity Falls. Instead, I'm staying close in case the agents need me… and my family needs me."
Stan looked surprised by this. "Wow, that's… that's a start, poindexter. I'll give you that."
"And you know, I could probably use an assistant to help me," Ford admitted. "I've been thinking. I could put in a good word for you, Stanley, and arrange something so we can work together."
Stan raised his eyebrow. "Me? Yer assistant? Guess you expect me to give you coffee or something?" he joked.
"Well actually… I want to make up for my mistakes," Ford admitted and Stan was surprised to see the guilt on his face. "While you were recovering your memories, I had a lot of time to reflect. Stan, when you got kicked out of the house, I did nothing. When you were first arrested, I did nothing. And now that you have your memories back, the agents will probably take you back to prison once you have your affairs in order. But this time, I intend to do something." He looked down. "I'm used to not looking back at the people I've hurt. Fiddleford, Lilith, Stag, you, and Dipper… but I know that needs to change." He looked up at Stan. "That I need to change, and I don't want to make the same mistakes again."
Stan was quiet for a moment… and then he reached out and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Hey, neither of us are perfect," Stan pointed out. "But the important thing is… we're both working on it," he said with a smile as Ford smiled back.
"Thank you, Stanley," Ford said with a smile. "I really want to make it to you and especially Dipper. I hope in time-"
"Hey, like I said, this is a start," Stan told Ford. "And we'll work on this together."
"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford!" Dipper shouted as he rushed over to his grunkles. When he saw they were talking, he came to a stop. "Uh, hey, am I interrupting something?"
"Nah, kid. You came at the right moment," Stan said, turning to Dipper. "What is it?"
"Well, Luz offered to bring me and Mabel to visit the Boiling Isles, and I want to ask if I can go," Dipper said.
"Of course, Dipper," Ford replied with a nod. "But if you are going to the Isles… I'd like to come along." He sighed. "I do have an old friend to visit."
Meanwhile, Mabel was talking with her parents, the sweater-wearing twin's eyes widening in surprise.
"WHAT?!" Mabel exclaimed in shock. "Are you two serious?!"
"Yes, Mabel," her mom confirmed. "Me and your father have talked about it, and we've decided to move here into Gravity Falls."
"We both realized how important this place is to you, Mabel," Mr. Pines said. "How important it is to be here close to your brother, and your friends. Plus, with all the families moving out, it gives us the perfect opportunity to move in."
Mabel, feeling happier than she has ever been, went to hug her parents. "Oh thank you, mom and dad! I'm glad you've come around!"
Her parents hugged her back. "Of course, sweetie. Anything for you," Mrs. Pines said while she and her husband nervously glanced at Luz, who was watching them intensively in the distance.
"Oh, can I go visit the Boiling Isles where Luz lives? It's like another dimension," Mabel asked them.
Both her parents looked at each other and hesitated before glancing at Luz. She gave them a nod and they quickly responded.
"Of course you can go, dear," Mr. Pines replied.
"But with an adult, of course," Mrs. Pines said.
"Thank you!" Mabel shouted before she ran over to her friends. "Candy, Grenda, Paz!" she shouted. "I'm staying in Gravity Falls!"
"Really?" Candy asked in surprise.
"That's awesome!" Grenda shouted.
"I wonder what made your parents change their minds," Pacifica said while Mr. and Mrs. Pines hoped that giving Mabel what she wanted would spare them from what Luz had threatened to do to them…
Meanwhile, Camila felt something on her shoulder. She jumped a little before she turned and saw the demon squirrel known as Maurice.
"Oh, Maurice," Camila recognized with a smile. "It's you."
"He missed you a lot, Camila," King said as he came over.
"Yeah, so have I," Camila admitted while petting Maurice, who enjoyed her touch. "Say King," she said as she turned to the small Titan. "I didn't get the chance to say this earlier, but… I'm sorry about your dad."
King was surprised by this. "Thanks, Camila. That means a lot," he said as Maurice jumped over to his shoulder.
"Do you wish to talk about it?" Camila asked as she sat down next to him.
"Oh, I'm fine, really," King said. "I still got to meet and talk to my dad, which is better than not meeting him at all. He may be gone… but I know that he loved me, and I know I won't be lonely. Because I do have an amazing family… which includes you."
Camila smiled at this. "So are you okay with Luz living with me?"
"Of course I'm fine with it, really," King said. "In fact, I think I understand why you want to spend more time with Luz. I've lived my whole life without my dad, so while the time I spent with him was nice… it wasn't really enough. I still wish I knew my dad better and I think it's a similar thing with you and Luz."
"Yeah, I think it kinda is," Camila admitted while looking down, worried that even with all the time she spent with Luz, she still didn't really know her.
"So it's only fair that you want more time with Luz," King said. "Especially when Luz has already spent most of her life with me and Eda. I mean, it's not like I can't visit her whenever I want if I miss her too much. So I'm happy to let Luz and you have more time together."
Camila smiled again. "King, you're welcome to come by whenever you want. I would love to see you more around as well."
King felt his tail wagging as he looked up at Camila. "Thanks, Camila."
Luz, meanwhile, was meeting up with Abigail, Nora, Clara, and her friends.
"So since I'm offering Dipper and Mabel a trip to the Isles for their birthdays, I was thinking that I would extend the offer to you guys as well."
"A trip to the Boiling Isles? That sounds like my scene!" Masha declared with excitement.
"I am curious about where Luz was raised," Clara admitted.
"Yeah," Gus G. responded. "And I want to know more about bard magic."
"Sweet! Maybe it could give me cosplay ideas for the local cons," Dana admitted. "Or give me ideas for interesting stories I can write."
"I'm excited to see what the wildlife is like there," Rudo said.
"Oh, Luz," Clara said, remembering something. "You think I can bring Rocky along? I think he'd really like to visit there."
"Of course," Luz said with a nod. "You can bring that big guy along." She then saw Juniper fly up in front of her. "Oh, Acorn's mom. Do you wish to come too?" Juniper gave her a nod. "Okay, you can come too." She then turned to Abigail and Nora. "And if Aunt Abby and Mrs. Gordon are okay about going to the Isles…"
"Well… I guess it'd be alright," Abigail replied. "Especially if we don't have to worry about Belos and his Emperor's Coven. Maybe we can come along as well just to make sure, don't you think, Nora?"
"Yeah, I think so too," Nora replied with a nod. "But I mean, it can't be any worse than Weirdmageddon."
Hearing this, Luz winced with guilt as she was reminded about how she freed Bill from Belos's mind, which led directly to Weirdmageddon. Though she hadn't told any of them, she did feel incredibly guilty about it. "I still feel bad that you all had to experience that," she said.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Luz," Clara reassured her. "Besides, it wasn't all that bad…"
Meanwhile, in the woods farther away from town, a tent had been set up. Coming out of the town were two familiar faces.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Mosely shouted as he ran out from the tent. "Kill it! Kill it!"
"Relax, Mosely," Mary said as she came out of the tent while holding a bug. "It's just a caterpillar, it won't harm you."
Back at the party, Luz found her best friends, Willow and Gus.
"Hey, I'm wondering if you guys are ready to head back to the Demon Realm?" Luz asked them.
"Uh, there is something I want to tell you first," Gus said while turning to Luz. "I've decided… that I am going to school in the Human Realm for a semester. So, I would like to tell my friends about my decision."
Luz smiled. "That's great, Gus. It's so cool that you and your dad will be living here in Gravity Falls. It is going to be so nice for us not to worry about Belos, or the Day of Unity, or Hunter's vision, since all of it was fulfilled."
Gus looked confused. "What do you mean by the last part?"
"Oh, well, you weren't there, but during the Day of Unity, the sky turned red and Belos believed that Amity was the creature from his vision. So that would mean that the destruction Belos saw was actually caused by him," Luz explained.
"But Luz… that doesn't make any sense," Willow pointed out. "I was told to beware of the beast with one yellow eye. If it's presumably the same creature from Belos and Hunter's vision, then it couldn't be Amity, since I don't really have a reason to be wary of her."
Luz's eyes widened in realization. "You're right, Willow. Perhaps the creature is Bill…"
"But Bill is gone," Gus pointed out. "Plus, he never attacked the Isles."
Luz suddenly looked very worried. "Oh crap… that means we probably still have that creature to deal with," she said. "To tell you the truth, when Hunter described the creature with yellow eye through a drawing, I thought it could, somehow, be Eda."
"What?" Gus asked, surprised that Luz would suggest that. "Luz, that doesn't make sense."
"He's right," Willow agreed. "And look, whatever the threat is, we'll deal with it. But for now, let's enjoy not having to worry about Bill, Belos, or the Horned King anymore."
"Yeah," Gus said. "I think we deserve to relax."
Luz looked at her friends and sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I should relax about it," she said, but she couldn't help but glance at Eda, who was talking to the townsfolk. Luz was looking more worried about her…
"Excuse me, Luz Noceda-Clawthorne," said Agent Li, who had walked over to Luz. "There's someone who wishes to see you, and Eda."
"Someone to see us?" Luz asked as Eda walked over.
"What's going on?" Eda asked.
"This agent said that there's someone here to see us," Luz responded to her foster mom. "But who-" They saw some vans pull up into the Mystery Shack parking lot.
The two watched as the vans opened and when they saw who was getting out, Eda's eye widened… follow by a huge grin. "Oh my Titan…"
"Hey, Eda!" Susan waved as she along with her family and Randy got out of the vans.
"Susan! Jon!" Eda shouted as she ran up to hug Susan. "I didn't think I would be seeing you two again so soon!"
"Jake! Randy!" Luz shouted as she ran up to them before punching their shoulders. "Man, it feels like forever since we teamed up, even though I think it was only like two weeks ago."
"Hey, Luz," Jake replied, rubbing his arm. "Glad we could make it here."
"Yeah, and whoa, are you guys having a party?" Randy asked.
"Yeah, it's Dipper and Mabel's birthday," Luz said.
"Edalyn, Luz," Lao Shi greeted as he, Fu Dog, and Haley walked over to them. "So glad to see you all again."
"Yeah, same," Luz responded. "Although… what brings you guys here?"
"Yeah, from all the way from New York and," Eda said as she turned to Randy. "Wherever you're from."
"Well, we're here to check in on you guys, and check on Gravity Falls," Jake explained to them. "We brought Randy along cause he's also concerned about you guys."
"Especially since we heard what happened here due to rumors of a 'Weirdmageddon' having already spread across the country," Fu Dog said.
"And since we've been in town, we've seen more magical creatures and normal humans co-existing in the open than we've seen anywhere else," Lao Shi said with a frown. "Which is… quite concerning. This is new territory that we're entering and it could even mean exposure for the magical community." He shook his head. "But other than that, we also have another reason for coming here."
"And it involves Star," Jake said. "Yo, Star! Hey! Remember us?"
"Wait… Jake and his talking dog?" Star asked as she came over with Vee.
"Randy's here too," Willow pointed out as she and Gus along with Clara and her friends walked up towards them.
"Yo, whattup, guys?" Jake waved to them. "Star, glad that you're here, cause it involves you."
"What do you mean?" Star asked.
"Okay, let me explain," Randy said as he walked over. "See, there was this weird, old dude who looked homeless. He stopped by my doorstep and asked about you."
"Me?" Star asked in surprise.
"Yeah, when Randy contacted us about him, it turns out he's from another dimension. Specifically, the same dimension as you, Star," Jake informed her.
"Whoa, really?" Star asked, hopeful at the prospect of meeting another Mewni survivor. "Let me see this person," she said excitedly.
"Alright, let's bring him out," Haley said as Jonathan and Lao Shi went back to the van to help the Mewman survivor get out.
"Come on, sir. Let's get you out," Jonathan said.
"Star, meet another Mewman who claims to know you," Lao Shi said as Star got a good look at the person being brought out.
To say the least, she was shocked by who it was…
"Star?" asked River, who looked at the blonde Mewman girl. "Is that… really you?"
Star was left speechless for a moment upon seeing River, her birth father, in front of her. But he quickly found her words.
"No… no, nonononono!" Star shouted as she backed away in a panic before walking away from the scene.
"Star? Star, wait!" Luz shouted as she tried to reach out to her, but saw her dash behind the Shack.
"Don't worry, I'll go talk with her," Vee volunteered as she ran after Star, following her behind the Shack.
"Well, that was… not what I was expecting," Randy admitted while looking at River. "Sorry, dude."
River just looked down. His daughter's reaction wasn't what he was hoping… but it didn't surprise him at all.
Behind the Mystery Shack, Vee found Star sitting down in a fetal position. "Star?" Vee asked as she sat next to her. "Are you… alright?"
"No, I'm not," Star admitted. "That man… is my birth father."
Vee looked surprised. "He is?"
"Yeah," Star said as she wiped away her tears. "Honestly, I've never met the guy before, I just know him from pictures, unlike my birth mother… who rejected me and tried to kill me because she refused to accept me as her daughter, despite the fact that the woman was using me as an excuse to justify her genocide!"
This surprised Vee. "Wait… your birth mom… did that?"
Star paused. "Let me… clarify," Star said as she took a moment to calm herself down. "When I was a baby, I was taken from my birth parents by Toffee, my adoptive father." She glanced at Vee. "I know how that sounds. My dad was… complicated." She glanced down. "He thought that having the royal princess raised to be sympathetic to Monsters and their plight would help their cause. However, Moon used her missing daughter as justification to go harder against the monsters."
Hearing this, Vee was shocked. "She sounds like… Belos…"
"Yeah, they're the same kind of ruler," Star admitted. "But in order to stop an all-out war, I decided that I would go to Moon, hoping that I could convince her to make peace." Her hands shook and one of them grabbed her gloved arm, the glove being used to hide the dark veins she got after the fight on King's island. "But… Moon instead rejected me, calling me an impostor, and labeled me as a criminal."
"That… that's horrible…" Vee said as she tried to process this. "I had no idea…"
"Yeah, and I'm sorry," Star said. "It isn't always easy for me to talk about my past. And because of this, I don't know if River will accept me… or if I even want to be accepted by him," Star said while bringing her knees closer to her. She then felt Vee patting on her knee.
"Hey, I understand why you're nervous," Vee responded. "But you know, if your birth dad is here, it probably is because he does want to reach out to you."
"I… I still don't know…" Star said while Vee gives her a side-hug,
"You don't have to accept him… but you can hear him out," she advised. "Since maybe it would help give you both some closure. And even if things go wrong… I'll be here for you."
Star looked up at Vee, thinking about her advice. After thinking about it, Star gave a sigh.
"I… I think I'll go talk to River," Star said, as she stood up. Vee stands up alongside her.
"Alright, I'm there with you," Vee responded as the two started to head back.
After walking back to the front of the Mystery Shack, they saw River sitting down on the porch while looking down at the ground. Star cleared her throat and River looked up at her.
"River," Star said to him.
"Star…" River said as she started to get up, but she lifted her gloved hand to stop him. "Please, just… hear me out."
Star looked at him before sighing. "Whatever you wish to tell me, just say it."
River takes a deep breath. "When you were kidnapped all those years ago, I refused to believe that you were dead," he said. "So I searched for you, and I never stopped. I decided that I would not return to the castle if it wasn't with my daughter."
Star looked at River, searching for a lie. "And you ending up on Earth…?"
"Well, when I couldn't find you on Mewni, I decided to try other dimensions. But eventually, I ended up stranded in this realm when the interdimensional scissors stopped working," River explained. "But even then, I still kept searching until I got the attention of the Long family. I just… I just want to get to know my daughter," he said with a hopeful look. "If… you let me."
Star took a moment to process this, thinking over what he said. She wondered if he was aware of what happened to Mewni, or what happened to Moon. But as she looked at him, she did realize that she knew one thing about River… he was the only family she had right now.
"Alright," Star said while looking at River. "I've decided… to give you a chance, River."
River smiled. "Thank you, Star. That means so much to me."
"Yeah, I know," Star responded. "How about we start with me introducing you to my girlfriend over there?" she asked, pointing over at Vee, who waved at them with a smile.
"I would be delighted to meet her," River responded with a smile as he followed Star over to Vee.
Back with the Clawthornes, they were recapping everything that had happened at the Isles to the Longs and Randy. To say the least, they were shocked.
"Wait, so you died, but then came back," Randy said as she pointed to King. "And then you guys end up fighting giant robots?!"
"Um, focus on their losses and their hardships," Haley told Randy.
"Oh, right. Sorry about that," Randy apologized.
"Hey, don't worry about it," King told Randy.
"We do offer our sympathies to you guys," Susan told them. "After hearing about everything you've been through…"
"Yeah, it was a rough week for everyone back at the Isles," Eda replied with a sigh. "But at least now that nightmare with Belos and the Horned King is over…"
"Indeed," Lao Shi said. "Thanks to you, Luz, everyone in the Human Realm was saved from the Horned King. Not just humanity, but all beings, including magical, cryptid, and alien."
"Yeah, saved us from a lot of grief," Fu Dog said.
"Thanks," Luz replied. "But you know, we're about to head back to the Isles. If you want, you guys can all come with us for a visit. I have some cousins that would love to meet you."
"Say, that'd be a terrific, last-minute family vacation," Jonathan said. "What do you say, family?"
"Sure, that'd be lovely," Susan replied.
"I'm down for it," Jake admitted.
"Yeah, I'd like to check out the Boiling Isles," Haley replied.
"It would be good for diplomatic relations," Lao Shi said with a nod.
"Another dimension? Heck yeah, I'm crossing that off my list!" Randy declared.
Luz just smiled. "Oh, I can't wait to show you all around."
Meanwhile, at the Boiling Isles…
"Greetings witches, ghouls, demons, were-witches, and all my fellow Boilies. This is Felicia Fox, here to give you all an update on the new status quo of the Boiling Isles!"
All across the Isles, the structures of the leftover mechs were being deconstructed while the Isles itself was healing and rebuilding.
Morton along with Tibbles and others saw the marketplace in ruins… and on fire. Luckily, Dale helped put out the fire before they began repairing the marketplace for the merchants.
A newly opened soup kitchen had volunteers such as Geist, Gidget, and the Parks help serve those who had lost their homes. John De'Plume was among those who received a free meal.
"Here you go, sir," Geist said while handing him food. "Whoa, John De'Plume? You, um, doing okay?"
"Starving," the former author responded as he walked away with his tray of food.
"Most of the damage from the Day of Unity has been repaired and that the prisoners that were unfairly arrested and being held have been released from custody, while a number of Belos's collaborators have been found and arrested."
At a precinct, the unfairly imprisoned such as Ms. Rashwood was being let go. Rashwood was handed her dragon Palisman back by Barb as she saw her students waiting for her outside of the precinct.
"Ms. Rashwood! You're alright!" the Ghoul Girls shouted as they rushed over to hug their principal. Among the other students present were Kevin, Tracy, and Dog. Also present were Bump along with Faust, who were there out of respect for their fellow headmaster.
"It is good to be freed," Rashwood responded with a smile while looking around at her students.
Inside the precinct, Joana unlocked another cell. "Alright, Ms. Hicky, you're free to go."
"Well, it was nice while it lasted," Ms. Hicky said as stretched out from her cell bed and got up. "I wonder if the kids thinks I'm dead, I might have a chance to run…"
Shawm was currently in a cell along with the other Belos Loyalists, bandages wrapped around his eyes. "Cheer up, men. We must take our arrest with dignity and stride! For it is, the Boiling Isles wa-"
"Oh shut up, Sham," a loyalist told him off.
Also being escorted out were Bria, Asi, Bangles, and Horace, the latter two being cuffed because of them acting up. After being taken out of the precinct, they were led to a healing clinic.
"Hello, nice to meet you all," Dr. Whispers told them. "My name is Dr. Hail Whispers, me and my associates will help you all find a way to reverse your conditions."
"How long will it take for us to be… normal as we can be?" Asi asked.
"It's not going to hurt, is it?" Bria asked with a worried look.
"Don't worry," Hail reassured them. "We don't intend to hurt you and we will rehabilitate you, however long it takes."
"Thankfully, the Isles haven't fallen into complete anarchy in the last week, the peace has been kept thanks to the CATTs, who have temporarily taken power, and some of the local leaders, including the mayor of Bonesborough, who was sorta forced to help them out in order to avoid jail time for being an accused collaborator of Belos. He along with other former Belos loyalists are taking that deal in hopes of receiving leniency as they claim to have not known about Belo's true intentions…"
At a podium on a stage, there was a biped sloth demon in a purple suit, the mayor of Bonesborough, giving his announcement. Behind them, a statue of Belos had been torn down.
"As mayor, I would like to make a statement that I had no knowledge of our emperor's intentions," he claimed while looking nervous. "As mayor, I officially denounce Belos as our Emperor and ruler of the Isles." He looked around at the crowd. "I'm on your side!"
Members of CATTs were in front of a precinct, with Steve commanding. "Open up! This is the CATTs!"
"You'll never take us alive!" someone shouted from inside.
Steve turned to the others and gave a nod. The CATTs members then used construction magic to bust through the door as they raided the precinct filled with scout loyalists.
"Alright, you all don't have to say anything under your right to remain silent," Steve told the scouts as they tried to fight back, but ultimately, they got apprehended.
"Anything you say can and will be used against the eyes of the law," Le'Belle declared while helping to arrest the scout and bring them out. "If you say anything as a statement, it can be used against you under court."
The CATTs led the scouts out of the precinct, taking them to a wagon.
"Of course, there are still some that doubt the claims about Belos, especially thanks to rumors that the CATTs bombed several coven precincts and the Healing Coven. But former Coven Head Ulrich confessed that those were false flag operations carried out by Belos."
The Conformatorium was not fully repaired, just in time to house new prisoners. But rather than wild witches or rebels, the Conformatorium now housed former loyalists. Unmasked scouts escorted the arrested loyalists down the hallway, passing by the prisoners being kept here: Viperion, Medusan, Coils, Rattleton, Silas, Flora, Hettie, Leonte, and Ulrich.
"Gah! I can't believe I'm in here with these ingrates!" Hettie angrily shouted while she was chained up in her cell. "Get me out of these or I will have your heart!"
Unlike Hettie, Leonte just sat in silence in his cell, quietly reflecting on everything that had happened and what he had done…
Ulrich was also quiet, looking down at the floor while in his cell. He saw three shadows on the floor coming toward him and he looked up. On the other side of the bars, in front of his cell… were his sons.
"Driller… Picket… Jack," Ulrich said to his sons as he rose up, looking relieved to see them. "I'm so glad that you three are safe."
"Hey, dad," Driller said, his tone unenthusiastic. "We're fine, thanks to the CATTs finding us at a safe house."
"Yeah, you have the CATTs to thank," Jack said while looking down.
"Yes, and I would like to say-" Ulrich said before he was stopped by Picket's hand.
"Stop right there, pops," Picket told him while showing a look of disgust. "We've heard about what you did, and we can't believe you."
"But… I did this for your safety!" Ulrich claimed.
"At the cost of how many lives? How many witches' magic?" Driller questioned while Ulrich looked ashamed of himself when his son brought it up. "We looked up to you. Your principles and craftsmanship inspired us to be like you. But now… we don't want anything to do with you."
"Boys…" Ulrich tried to say, but they decided to leave rather than let him finish.
"Bye, dad," Jack told him while looking down as Picket escorted his younger brother away, leaving Ulrich alone with his shame and guilt.
"Over the past week, there has been some testimonies from former allies of Belos about the crimes of Belos and the Emperor's Coven. We got to hear some dirty laundry get aired out, including Belos being the mastermind in the burning of the Torsa Villa…"
"Belos admitted to me and several others that he sent Firebees at the Torsa Villa to kill the innocent witches there, as Ulrich has already collaborated," Hunter admitted while on the stand. He now had a new mechanical arm. "He kept me in the dark all my life, but I have seen firsthand that there are no lines he wouldn't cross…"
"I was demoted at the time," Wrath said when it was his turn to give his testimony. "But I have kept records of every prisoner stationed in the Conformatorium before the break-out. What Ulrich and the Golden Guard have said is the truth. Firebees was slated to be petrified, but it was postponed." He looked down. "And there are a lot of other witches he had executed… including ones that were in the covens…"
When it was her turn, Lilith looked down, shame on her face. "I'm no stranger to controversy, but I would like to speak on something that was hidden to the public. Back in my time as Head of the Emperor's Coven, I oversaw one project that involved reviving Basilisks at Hieron Labs, including the Greater Basilisk that attacked several schools and the children attending them. The origins of the Greater Basilisk were covered up, but it was Belos who authorized the revival of the Basilisks so he could study how they could drain magic without killing witches. I believe this was connected to the Draining Spell he used for the Day of Unity." She shook her head. "Not only did he approve of the Basilisks being resurrected, but he also approved of them being experimented on and tortured, which is why the Greater Basilisk wanted revenge on witchkind." She looked down. "I also knew what was going on and I didn't stop it…"
Lastly, Webstor gave his testimony. "When I became Head of the Media Coven, I didn't realize at first what I was getting myself into." He looked down. "I was ordered to cover up the existence of the Owl Lady's human daughter, Luz Clawthorne. He had his nefarious purpose for the girl, and anyone that messed with her ended up dying or disappearing under mysterious circ*mstances, and I was charged with finding ways to explain away what happened to them. But that's not all. I had to cover up many of the other atrocities committed by the Emperor's Coven and the other Covens. I was too afraid to speak out then, but now I can tell the full truth about what Belos and his associates have done…"
"After all of their testimonies, this has helped greatly in destroying the last remaining lingering faith that a lot of the Boiling Isles residents had in Belos, who died on the Day of Unity. But unfortunately, some of his collaborators and loyalists remain at large, with several of them having fled the Isles to avoid justice, and there is still much work to be done."
In the former Emperor's Castle, Raine, Darius, Eberwolf, Napoli, Calypso, and Steve were having a meeting in a large hall. Darius was actually looking a lot more like his old self, though there was still a green glow in his eyes.
"Alright, what do you have to report?" Raine asked them.
"Well, we still haven't found several key Belos loyalists," Steve admitted. "Abel, Captain Wolffe, Kikimora, Vanz Ator, Gibson Oscorne, and Vitimir remain at large. Then there's Venoma, who helped Gibson escape before they both vanished."
"Venoma can be unpredictable at times," Napoli mentioned. "She could have freed the other loyalists, but she only got Gibson for some reason."
Raine sighed. "And we still don't know what attacked Andrew and Minerva's group on the Day of Unity. We thought that maybe that creature was one of Belos's… but it might not have. And of course, there's still no confirmation about Adrian Graye's whereabouts."
"Still no sign of him yet?" Napoli asked in surprise. "Are we sure that he isn't dead?"
Calypso shook her head. "According to Hettie and Ulrich, he was left in the Healing Coven. But his room was empty when the CATTs raided it. You guys never found his body, did you?"
"That is true, when we raided their rooms, Adrian's was empty," Raine confirmed. "So there was no way he died in the explosion."
"But wasn't he still catatonic at the time?" Napoli asked. "How did he get out of there without being noticed?"
Nobody had an answer.
"Might I give a suggestion?" Darius asked, breaking the silence by raising his hand up.
"Proceed, Darius," Raine said with a nod.
"Well, I think that we can't just focus on going after Belos's people," he pointed out. "The whole purpose of the CATTs was to overthrow Belos… and Belos has been overthrown. What we need to do now is to seriously think about what comes next. We've managed to stop the Isles from descending into chaos, but what comes after the trials and holding everyone accountable?"
Everyone turned to look at each other. They had been wondering the same thing.
Darius continued. "We have to figure out who will lead the Isles and how we will protect the Isles. Do we keep the coven system, do we try to reform it, or do we get rid of it entirely? Will the former Coven Heads rule the Isles, or will we leave it to the mayors? This is all stuff we have to consider now. Especially since there will be factions who will try to seize control for themselves."
As Darius's words sank in, Raine knew that Darius was right. They had to figure something out about how the Boiling Isles would be governed now. Overthrowing Belos was unfortunately just the beginning and people had become so accustomed to Belos… that they couldn't imagine what the Isles would be like without him.
And yet now that Isles was a reality.
"Admittedly, not everything has gone smoothly. Thanks to the destruction of the Healing Coven, healers and clinics have been overrun since the Day of Unity."
At a clinic, Dr. Pox and his son Kyle brought out some supplies as they saw the line of injured witches steadily growing. Because there was a demand for more healers, students joined the adults in helping to tend to the wounded.
"Well, looks like we got our work cut out," Dr. Pox said.
"Yeah," Kyle agreed.
"As for the testimonies, it has actually caused discussion on whether former members of the Emperor's Coven such as Lilith Clawthorne and Webstor Manylegs should be held responsible for their actions while in the Emperor's Coven. Many are uncomfortable with those individuals walking free, especially Lilith, who is not a stranger to controversy. Her admission of her involvement in the resurrection of the Basilisks in particular has led to cries for her arrest."
"Look, all I'm saying is that she should be held accountable for the mess the Emperor's Coven made," spoke a condescending civilian in a bar. "She is responsible for cursing her sister-"
"Oh cry me a river!" another responded, feeling annoyed by the patron. "She admitted her guilt! No need to bring up what's said and done! She apologized and she was under Belos's influence! He's a piece of sh*t groomer!"
"Hey, calm down you two, will ya?" Kevin the bartender told them off.
"However, there is one member of CATTs who has been arrested. After she confessed to having murdered her parents years ago, Odalia Grunhar has been sentenced to community service, though this has led to some controversy. Some applauded her for confessing her crimes because it shows that the CATTs believe that not even they should be immune from accountability. Others think this just gives them reason to doubt the CATTs and their leadership…"
"Tsh, she got off easy, that Odalia," spoke an elderly witch who was watching his scroll while receiving his tea. "She committed that crime years ago, they should've been harder on her."
"Hey, I think she deserves an easy sentence," replied the witch who was giving the witch his tea. "Besides, she did help overthrow Belos."
At the Oracle Institute, Odalia was in a custodian suit while making the beds for the patients. In the same room were Kadabe and Dolly, both helping sanitize the room as part of their community service.
"After this, we have to clean the bathrooms," Odalia told them while making the bed.
"Well, at least it's better than time in the Conformatorium," Kadabe said while wiping the windows.
"Yeah," Dolly replied while scrubbing the floor.
"This is going to be worth it, girls," Odalia told them while putting the sheets on the pillows. "This will be good for us."
"Now for an update on the Torsa Villa survivors. While they're still displaced from their homes, they have received aid from others willing to help them. Unfortunately, resources have been spread thin in the aftermath of the Day of Unity. Former Head Witch Calypso Brooke has been organizing the effort though, sending the werecats as many volunteers and supplies as she can spare on them."
Calypso was shown overseeing volunteers such as Slasher, Skara, Nina, Lambi, Awassi, Nazgul, Tito, Glinda, Dusty, Kevin, Bowen, and Carter, who were delivering supplies to the werecats in the camp they had set up at the Torsa Villa.
"The future of the werecat population of the Isles is still uncertain, especially with both their community leaders and their religious leaders having passed away. The two highest-ranking officials left are Jagheera and Chelsea, who have stepped up to fill the role at the moment."
Chelsea was shown giving instructions to the volunteers about what to do while Jahgeera walked over with more volunteers. This included Boils, Snowpaws, Marlin, Mewstic, Andrea, Tamme, Dotty, and even Eclipsa. Nina waved to them when she saw them.
"Many of the survivors are still mourning their losses, and there even seems to be disagreements among them about what to do. Some suggest leaving the Isles, some want to rebuild the Villa, and others suggest that they try to co-exist with the rest of the population instead. But I will unfortunately note that Firebees, the main culprit of the fire, has still yet to be found."
In the remains of the burned villa outside of the camp, lots of pictures were set up to commemorate the dead. And looking at them was Viney. She along with Puddles just stood there, alone. They saw some plant life growing from the ashes and burnt trees. Viney quietly placed some flowers on the ground before walking back to Puddles. She then hopped on Puddles's back before leaving.
"But on on a happier note, I would like to say that Metropelvis has decided to recognize its heroes now and I'm currently attending at a ceremony being held by the mayor in honor of LOWTH and the Teenage Demon Reptiles, who helped to defend the city during the Day of Unity," Felicia said before turning her scroll.
In front of the town hall of Metropelvis, Felicia and Todd were in a crowd that included the Masterskulls, Denise and Felix Clawthorne, the Ryus, the Rexes, the Ironwoods, Sheila and Darius, the Graux Sisters, Boscha, Ukla, Angmar, Edric, Geist, the Shystreams, Danny, Fanny, Dr. Pox, and the many other families of LOWTH. On the podium was a short biped rabbit demon with a top hat, a monocle, white mustache, blue coat with an orange vest, and pink nose.
"Ms. Cider, if you will," the mayor told his assistant.
"Yes, Mayor Kenny," spoke his lovely assistant, who was a short witch woman with large curly red hair that reached down to her back, black lips with purple eyeliner, and glasses. Thanks to her hair, only one of her eyes was exposed, along with her beauty mark. She wore a golden necklace with a beige long sleeve which showed her chest line. She was curvaceous and was wearing a black skirt, brown stockings, and black heels. This woman was Sila D. Cider, who was secretly a succubus. She adjusted the microphone for him.
"Ahem," Mayor Kenny said as he cleared his throat. "Now then. We are here to commend the League Of Witches That Helps and the Teenage Demon Reptile. I, Mayor Kenny Harewick, have the privilege of honoring you teens for saving and protecting our beloved city from time to time! We can't thank you enough for looking out for our town. Ms. Cider, pass the medals."
Standing by in their hero outfits were Donna, Veronica, Tina, Tyrone, Riley, Andrew, Minerva, Sarah, Roxy, Gavin, Emira, Lindsay, Kyle (who just made it), Kose, Jocho, Fuyuko, and Koun, who stood proudly as Sila levitated the medals for them all to wear. Everyone cheered for them, including their parents and friends.
"How are you feeling, guys?" Tyrone asked.
"This… is something to get used to," Veronica admitted while looking down at her medal.
"Shouldn't Sioux join us?" Tina asked her.
"She said it's fine," Veronica responded as she saw Sioux wave to her, giving her a smile. "She's got her own team, after all."
Donna waved to the crowd before turning to Kose. "Are you guys used to this kind of stuff?"
"Well, not really," Kose admitted. "This is… new territory, since we're ninjas."
"Yeah, we are not used to being well liked like this," Jocho said while Koun took selfies and posed. "Though you wouldn't know it from looking at her.."
"Who's up to have picks with your favorite kappa!" Koun asked while hanging her arms around Gavin and Riley as she snapped some photos.
Despite his discomfort, Gavin did spot his friends and his parents in the crowd, cheering for him. He smiled, grateful that they could be here.
Donna gave a nervous wave to the crowd as she looked around. She saw the clock tower, then looked at her own watch. She was growing impatient as Mayor Kenny spoke up.
"And now, a word from the leader of LOWTH, Ms. Donna Masterskull, aka Wonder Witch!" Mayor Kenny declared as he looked over… and saw Donna missing. "Um, Ms. Wonder Witch?"
"Sorry!" Donna called out while flying overhead on her staff. "I got somewhere important to be, not that this isn't also important. It's a personal matter! Moms! Let's go!"
"Sorry about this, but it's something we have to do," Gladys apologized as she lifted Diana and Auggie up on her shoulders before dashing at a high speed away from the crowd, following after Donna.
The crowd looked at them in confusion as the Mayor waved. "Alright! Good luck with whatever you're doing!" He then turned to the other members of LOWTH. "So um, who'd like to speak?"
The founding members looked at each other. "You know what? Maybe I can give it a go," Tyrone said as he walked up to the podium, hearing his dads and his brothers cheer. "Okay, let's see… um… thank you, for coming here. Um… Veronica, you wanna take this?"
"Welcome… to the Boiling Isles!" Luz announced.
The Clawthornes led their guests through an open field of the Isles. They saw the red grass planes, the red-leafed trees, and the large bone marrows.
"Whoa…" Jake and Haley said.
"So this is the Demon Realm," Lao Shi commented, seeing a lamp post that had an eye that blinked.
"Wow, so like, you live on a giant corpse?" Randy asked. "Which is actually King's dad…"
"Yeah, it was a lot to process," King admitted.
"Look!" Clara shouted as she pointed up, she and her friends seeing griffins flying overhead in awe.
"Now this is just like some of those dark fantasy RPGs I've played," Masha said before spotting the melted remains of a giant robot. "Wait… is that a giant robot?"
"Yeah, last week was pretty crazy," Luz said as they kept walking.
"So this is what the Demon Realm is like," Dipper said as he looked around in awe. "I mean, you've shown me pictures, but it doesn't really do the place justice." He turned to Ford. "How does it feel like being back here after all these years, Grunkle Ford?"
"…nostalgic," Ford replied while looking around. He didn't seem as impressed as everyone else, since he was used to places like this.
"This place is like something out of an eighties morbid monster cartoon," Mabel said as she saw a demon squirrel. She went over to it. "Hi, new friend."
"Uh, Mabel, I wouldn't do that if I was you," Eda warned.
"Why-" The squirrel opened its mouth and breathed fire at Mabel, causing her to jump back. "Eep!"
"I told you," Eda said before turning to Susan. "So what do you think, Susan?"
"Oh, Eda," Susan said as she looked around. "This place looks incredible. What do you think, Jonathan?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure," Jonathan admitted. "I guess I was expecting it to look more like New Zealand."
Eda just snorted in response.
"Yo, that griffin looks way different than the ones back home," Jake told Fu Dog.
"Yeah, there is a lot of stuff here that looks familiar, but isn't quite like looking in a mirror," Fu Dog explained. "Although sometimes a little something from our world bleeds into here, while a little something from here bleeds into our world, a shoo-goo-goo."
Abigail looked morbidly curious as they walked through the Demon Realm. She turned to Camila. "So Luz has been living here?" she asked. "And you lived here for a time as well?"
"Yes," Camila confirmed. "Though I will admit, I didn't leave the house much during my time here."
Abigail nodded. "And Eda brough Angel here as well…" she whispered, which Camila noted.
"This place… isn't as scary as it initially appears," Camila told her. "Although admittedly, I never entirely got used to it."
"I'm just thinking about how for Eda and Luz, this is their version of normal," Abigail said. "It's…"
"Horrifying?" Nora asked as she looked around for anything that might want to eat her or steal her skin.
"Amazing," Abigail admitted. "Even after everything I've seen… there are still things that can take my breath away."
Camila considered that as she looked around at the Isles. "There… is a beauty to the Isles," she said as she found herself agreeing with Abigail.
"Perhaps when you get past the body horror and the monsters," Nora muttered. "Honestly, if you told me Bill was the landscaper, I wouldn't be surprised…"
"Alright, now I need everyone to stay in the group, close together," Eda told them all. "Now, the Isles is still recovering from a civil war, so be careful from where you step, make sure you don't have spiders on your head, and-" Owlbert hooted at Eda, who looked to him. "What? You mean it's time already?!"
"Everything alright, mom?" Luz asked.
"Uh yeah, Luz, um, care to take over this tour for me?" Eda asked her while going into Harpy mode. "I have something to do and need to be, gotta go, byeee!" she shouted as she took off and flew away.
"Wait! Mom!" Luz called out, but Eda was gone. After watching Eda fly off, Luz sighed before turning to the others. "Okay, so let's go over to Bonesborough."
Luz led the tourists over to Bonesborough, which was still going through a clean-up and was rebuilding. Some of the townspeople saw Luz and greeted her.
"Hey, Luz, glad to see you here!" Simon waved to them while he and Cain were working on repairing the roof of a building.
"Hey, Simon!" Luz waved to him before spotting another familiar face. "Hey Mrs. Barkowski, how's Barcus doing?"
"Doing well, Luz!" Mrs. Barkowski shouted. "He's right now showing Bump his graduation project!"
"Oh that's so great!" Luz replied. "I hope he does well!"
As they continued their way through town, similar scenes played out with Luz greeting and being greeted by various townsfolk. Some she recognized, others she didn't. This did not go unnoticed.
"You seem to be popular around here," Gus G. noted.
"Yeah, especially compared to back in the Falls, where you were just infamous," Dipper said.
"Well… it wasn't always that way," Luz admitted. "But after me and Ams saved a lot of refugees from the giant robot Belos sent to kill them, my reputation got a big boost."
"You did help save a lot of lives that day," Willow said.
"Say, speaking of Amity," Mabel brought up while looking around. "Where is she? I'm surprised that she didn't come with you to the party."
"Oh, she's working with her dad," Luz admitted. "They're doing a father-daughter project together…"
Over at Blight Industries, Amity stood in front of a mutated Abomination before her. Her eyes glowed purple as she waved her hands and pressed them on the deformed monster with two heads. The monster then glowed as Amity channeled her Abomination magic and her Fae magic through the creature.
The monster gave off a bright lavender glow and began to split into two. Alador stood nearby, watching his daughter working her magic as the two Abomination monsters began to change their forms…
Opening their eyes was a pair of young adult brown-haired twins with green eyes. They had pinkish skin, their hair had greenish highlights, and they wore green shirts and purple pants with purple shoes. They looked at each other in surprise, then they looked down at themselves.
"We're… back to normal," Aldon Blight realized.
"We're not monsters!" Addy Blight shouted as she grinned.
"Aldon! Addy!" Alador shouted as he rushed over to hug the twins, tears flooding out from his eyes. "She did it… Amity has cured all of you!"
"Aladorable…" Addy said as he hugged her brother. "Is… is this you? You look… old."
"Who's Amity?" Aldon asked before noticing her.
"That would be me," Amity said with a wave. "Hi, I'm Amity, Alador's daughter. Nice to meet you, I helped you two along with uncle Alton and aunt Alice."
"Guys, meet your niece," Alador said.
"Wow," Addy said as she went over to Amity. "It's, uh, nice to meet you, kid. You do look familiar…"
"We met before," Amity admitted. "But you weren't… yourselves, then."
"Right," Addy said, frowning.
"How much do you remember?" Alador asked.
"More than I would like," Addy admitted.
"Wait, you said you helped Alton and Alice as well?" Aldon asked.
Amity nodded and she led them to another room, where Alador's other siblings were still readjusting to being themselves again. When they saw Alton and Addy, they immediately got up and rushed over.
"Alton! Addy!" they shouted as the siblings embraced each other.
"Are you two feeling better?" Alador asked.
"Yes, although anything is an improvement over our previous situation," said Alton Bright, who had light blue skin, red eyes, short brown hair with blue streaks, and fuzz on his face. He wore a blue jacket over a white shirt, gray pants and blue boots. "You have no idea what it was like, Al."
"Yeah," said Alice, a woman who had reddish pink skin and long brown hair with blue eyes. She wore a red dress that reached above her knees and red go-go boots. "The worst part is being semi-aware the whole time, but being unable to do anything about it. Like… being a prisoner in my own body."
"Don't worry, you four will have a lot of time to recover from this whole experience and we will get you counselors to talk to," Alador told his siblings before turning to Amity. "Thank you, Amity. Today has been a great success."
"No problem, dad," Amity responded as she flew over to hug him. "I'm just glad to do my part in helping my family. Even if I do feel a bit tired now…"
"Why don't you take it easy, Mittens," Alador advised, patting Amity's shoulder. "You've done a lot, you could use a break."
Amity smiled and nodded in agreement. "Sure, dad. I could use a break."
"Mom!" someone shouted.
Amity heard a child's cry and she turned to see a little witch boy with white skin, brown hair, and purple eyes. He looked to be around around three years old and he was wearing a blue shirt and gray pants with purple shoes. With him were Acorn, Sam, and Ghost, who followed him as he rushed over to Amity. She smiled, picked up the young boy in her arms and hugged him. "Are you done now, mommy?" the boy asked her.
"I am done now,Phil," Amity said while affectionately poking the boy on the nose, making him giggle. "Me and your grandfather have just finished our work."
Alador looked slightly awkward. "Heh, yeah, Your mother had her work cut out for her."
"Say, maybe we could go see if Luz is back," Amity suggested, which got Phil excited.
"Yeah!" Phil happily agreed before Amity noticed something with his arm.
"Oh, but first, let me fix something," Amity said as she patted Phil's arm, which was starting to look more goopy. Her hand glowed and his arm turned back to normal, making her smile. "There, all better. Now we can go."
Ghost jumped up on Amity's shoulder as they started to fly up. "See ya, Dad! Later Uncle Alton, Adder, Aunt Addy and Alice!" she shouted while flying through a large open window, Acorn and Sam flying after them.
"Have fun!" Alador shouted while seeing his daughter off.
"Okay, Al, one question," Alice said as she walked up to him. "Why does your teen daughter have a young son?"
Alador turned to his siblings. "Well, um, it's… complicated…"
Crane's Home for Unwanted Witchlings and Demons, Eda crawled through the window.
"Alright, made it," Eda declared as she dusted herself off.
"You're late," Ms. Hicky said while casually leaning against the wall with a cigarette in her hand.
"Hicky, you're finally out!" Eda declared, glad to see that Ms. Hicky was okay. "Wait, I'm late? Oh sh*t…"
"Relax, you're not that late," Hicky told her, making Eda sigh in relief.
Meanwhile, Jesse was in her room, having finally finished packing up her things in her suitcase. She turned to the other orphans, who were all there to see here off. "Well, I'm packed and ready," she said, patting her suitcase. "I'm going to miss you guys a lot…"
"Hey, we'll miss you too, Jesse," Hessica said as she went to hug her.
"Yeah! But we're happy that you're getting a chance to be adopted," Beans told her.
"We're really gonna miss you, Jesse, won't we Jak?" Socrates asked Jak, who walked over to Jesse while looking down awkwardly.
"Yeah, um… don't lose touch, alight?" Jak asked before Jesse hugged him.
"I'll miss you too, Jak," Jesse said before she let go of him and walked over to the dograptor. "And I'll miss you too, Sugarcup. Be a good boy around here, okay?"
The dograptor, Sugarcup, laid his head on Jesse's shoulder and his paw hugged her.'I'll miss you too, Jesse.'
After that, Jesse went into the hallway, where Ban was waiting for her. He was in tears. With him were Amber, Derwin, and Katya, who were all volunteers. "S-So Jesse… are you… are you ready?"
"I am," Jesse replied before she hugged Ban. "I'll miss you, Ban."
Ban teared up even more, crying while hugging Jesse back. "I'll miss you too, Jesse! We'll all miss you!"
"Alright, calm down," Amber said as she patted their back. "Come on, Jesse. Let's go meet your new family."
Jesse smiled and held up her suitcase while being escorted by Amber.
Eda's office now had a portrait of Eda's wanted poster up on display, as well as a family photo of her with Luz, King, and Hooty. There were also some owl-themed decorations in the office. Amber popped her head in. "Hey, she's ready!"
"Great!" Eda replied happily. With her were the Masterskulls, who she had been talking with. Jesse came over, smiling at the Masterskulls.
"Hey Jesse, are you ready to make it official?" Donna asked her.
"Yup!" Jesse replied happily.
"Alright, we just need to finish the paperwork and we'll make it official," Eda declared as Jesse came over. "Diana, Gladys, you two sign here, while Jesse signs her name here."
After they signed the paperwork, Eda stamped the seal of adoption, making it official. "Congratulations, Jesse. With the Masterskulls vowing to take care of you and fulfill your wants and needs, I now dub thee, you, officially now known, as Jesse Masterskull," she declared, using her staff to knight her.
"Thank you, Ms. Eda," Jesse replied, smiling.
"So how does it feel, Jesse?" Donna asked her. "Being a new part of the family?"
"Well… I feel great," Jesse declared as she hugged Donna, who hugged her back.
Eda smiled before she heard Diana talking to her. "We can't thank you enough, Eda. You and Donna are responsible for introducing us to this wonderful kid."
"Yeah," Gladys said. "We're gonna love and take care of Jesse just as we did for Donna."
"Hey, I know you two will," Eda told them. "And Jesse knows it too."
And so, Eda led the Masterskulls out, Diana and Gladys helping to pack Jesse's suitcase in their limo-wagon with Auggie's assistance. Eda walked over to Donna.
"So, how was the hero ceremony?" Eda asked her.
"Oh, I had to cut it short to be here," Donna replied.
"Heh, good call," Eda said with a smile. "Oh, Luz is back in the Isles one last time before going to stay with her mom in the Human Realm."
"Really? Then I should go and see her before then," Donna replied. "Where is she now?"
"Oh, I think she probably went to see Amity," Eda guessed.
Donna just smiled. "Of course."
Meanwhile, Luz led her group to the front of the Bonesborough Library. By now, they were missing some members. Mainly Gus P., Perry, and Ford, who had all gone off to do their own things.
"We should be meeting Amity here, since I texted her that this will be where we'll meet up," Luz said.
"Hey, is that her?" Haley asked as she pointed up. Everyone looked up and saw Amity flying down to the ground with Phil in her arms.
"Yep, that's her," Luz said with a grin as she admired how beautiful Amity was in her Fae form, especially with her butterfly wings.
"Luz!" Amity shouted as she landed next to Luz. She and Phil hugged Luz, who hugged them back. "So glad to see you, babata!"
"Me too, sweet potato!" Luz replied while Phil giggled at Luz. "And how's my favorite little man doing?"
"Luz!" Phil laughed as he hugged Luz.
Acorn spotted her mother and flew up to her. "Acorn, I'm so glad to see-" Juniper was cut off when her daughter hugged her.
"Glad to see you, mom," Acorn said as Juniper hugged her back.
"Me too, sweetheart," Juniper responded. It was a sweet moment…
…one that was interrupted when Ghost jumped up and caught both pixies in her mouth.
"Aiiee!" they both screamed as Ghost swallowed them both with a single gulp, licking her lips and giving a smug smile as she listened to the pixies cry inside her.
"Help! Did that cat really just f*cking eat us?! Dear Titania, it's so cramped up in here!" Juniper panicked and screamed inside Ghost's stomach while Acorn just looked bored.
"You'll get used to it," Acorn told her mother.
"Amity, you remember Jake, Randy, and Fu Dog," Luz was introducing. "Well, maybe you don't recognize Randy, since he was wearing his mask when you met him. But the others are Susan, Jonathan, Haley, and Lao Shi."
"Nice to meet all of you," Amity said with a polite smile as introductions were made.
"Hey, I didn't know you had a little brother, Amity," Jake said, indicating Phil.
"Oh, actually he's not Amity's little brother…" Camila said awkwardly as she and the other Gravity Falls residents exchanged looks, since they were already in the know about Phil.
"What, is he like, her son or something?" Randy asked them and nobody responded. He then looked at Phil and then at everyone else. Even the Longs noticed the silence. "Wait… are you serious?!"
"Wait, what?!" Jonathan, Susan, and Lao Shi exclaimed, their jaws dropping.
"Yeah, he's my son," Amity admitted with an awkward chuckle.
"Okay, Rose told us about the wedding but… how did that happen?" Fu Dog asked.
"If Trixie was here, she'd have a field day…" Jake said to Haley, who nodded.
"I can explain," Masha said as they stepped forward. "You see, when a Fae girl and a human-witch-Titan girl love each other very much…"
"Alright, alright, that will be enough, Masha," Luz said as she took a deep breath. "Everyone, meet Phil Collins Blight. He used to be an Abomination, but he became sentient and then died… but his soul lingered, so Amity was able to remake him and thanks to some instructions from Papa Titan and her Fae powers… he is now a full-flesh witch boy."
"Hi!" Phil said as he smiled and waved at the others, who were all silent for a moment.
"Okay… okay, now this is some Pinocchio sh*t right there," Randy said.
"Funny enough, we did have help from the Blue Fairy," King pointed out.
"Seriously?!" Randy asked in shock.
"How are your folks handling this?" Susan asked her, slightly concerned.
"Um… Willow, can you watch Phil for a moment?" Amity asked Willow, who nodded and came over to Phil.
"Hey, Phil," Willow said. "Would you like to see me make some flowers?"
"Sure!" Phil said as he followed Willow away. Once he was gone, Amity addressed the others.
"Well, my parents, uncle, and siblings were… shocked when I introduced Phil to them," Amity admitted. "But they have come around and accepted it, especially when I explained to them how much Phil's…" She covered her son's ears. "…death affected me to the point where I was unable to make Abominations. There was always that guilt in my subconscious. When I learned that I could bring him back, I knew that I had to do it. And not just as another Abomination, since I knew he was… something more. I wanted to give him a real life and I am prepared with the responsibility that comes with that. My family was weirded out at first and I think they're still getting used to it."
"Yeah, y'all should see the look on Al's face," Luz said with a chuckle. "He looked like he was going through a reboot."
"And how did you take it?" Susan asked Luz.
"Honestly… it was not the weirdest thing that's happened to us," Luz admitted. "I'm happy for Amity and want to be supportive… especially since Phil is kinda my son as well." She paused for a moment, letting those words sink in. "Okay, maybe it isn't the weirdest thing that's happened to us, but it is still a new kind of weird."
"Yes, it is," Camila admitted, since she was still getting used to Phil herself.
"Does Phil… know that he's an Abomination?" Jonathan asked.
"Yeah, he does, he still has his memories from when he was an Abomination," Amity admitted. "But he has taken to his new body very quickly and you wouldn't be able to tell he was an Abomination from looking at him." She glanced over at Phil as she watched him picking out flowers that Willow was growing. "I guess that's the difference having a soul makes." She smiled. "I'm glad that he got a second chance…"
"Well, it looks like things will definitely be interesting when we have you and Phil around Gravity Falls," Mabel commented.
"Oh, actually…" Amity said as she turned to Luz, who nodded at her. "I've decided to stay."
"You… are?" Clara asked her in surprise.
"Yes, me and Luz talked about it already, and while I have initially planned on living with her and Camila in the Human Realm, I've decided to stay here in the Boiling Isles," she explained. "I'm needed here, to take care of Phil, who is mainly my responsibility, and help out my family, including my dad's siblings. In addition, I am still getting used to my new Fae form and Sly said he would be visiting every now and then to help train me, plus I don't want to get in the way of Luz spending time with Camila."
Everyone looked surprised by this, except for Luz and Camila.
"Are you really okay with this, Luz?" Dipper asked her. "Like, I know you and Amity are pretty inseparable…"
"Hey, me and Ams are behind each other's decisions one hundred percent," Luz said with a smile while holding Amity's hand. "Besides, I can't get her in the way of her and her family as well. She needs that time with them just as much as I need my time with my mom. We're partners, after all."
Phil came back, holding some flowers. "Here you go, moms," she said, offering them to Amity and Luz.
"Oh, thank you, Phil," Amity said with a smile as she took the flowers from her son.
"Yeah, thanks, little man," Luz said while Phil beamed up at them.
Camila couldn't help but smile as she watched the three. Yes, it was still… unusual. But she couldn't deny how adorable Phil was or how happy Luz and Amity looked. It was definitely outside the norm, but since when was her daughter ever inside the norm?
And as Camila was starting to learn more and more, that was what made Luz and her loved ones so special.
At the Torsa Villa, werecats and volunteer witches were working together with their relief efforts.
"Here you go, Mr. Tailbit," Nina said as she handed an elderly werecat some medical supplies. "The elixir will help out your grandson."
'Thank you, Nina," he replied kindly before taking the supplies to his grandson, who was coughing.
"Hey Nina," Andrea said as she walked over. "We need to set up another tent. A big tent."
"Got it," Nina said as she walked over to help out with the tent. Using her shape-shifting powers to turn into a demon gorilla, she put up the tent while Andrea and Tamme helped hammer down the nails to the ground to keep the tent stable.
"Thanks, Nina!" Andrea and Tamme shouted as Nina moved on to the next task.
Later, Nina was looking through a pile of recovered belongings and picked out a stuffed cyclops monster.
"Is this yours?" she asked, handing the stuffed toy to a werekitten.
"Mr. Eyeball!" the werekitten declared, hugging her stuffed toy tightly. "Thank you, Nina!"
"No problem," Nina responded as her tail handed a spider-clock to another werecat. "Here's your clock, Ms. Givens."
"Thank you, Nina. This clock was my mother's," Ms. Givens said as she walked off with the clock.
Nina waved to her, before she spotted Hardy Boils nearby. She decided to walk over to him.
"Boils!" Nina called out to him. "I just want to say thanks for being here to help. I really appreciate it."
"It's no problem, Ms. Fangs," Boils responded while chewing on a toothpick. "I also came here to give my condolences. Have you… lost anyone?"
Nina sighed as she looked down sadly. "I lost most of my siblings…"
Boils gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry, kid. I do know what it's like to lose a sibling," he said. "And the witch that did this, he should pay."
Nina looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah, he should."
"And perhaps… that can be possible," Boils said. "If you want, we can both find Firebees together."
Nina looked surprised. "You want my help? I mean, I do have a lot on my plate right now…"
"I understand," he replied before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his card, offering it to her. "Take this, anyway. Think about my offer since I think we could help each other out."
Boils then walked away and Nina was left looking at his card as she thought about his offer…
At Palm Stings, someone stood in front of the Clawthorne ranch house. That someone was Artemis.
The woman looked hesitant. But she was not alone. Standing with her were Hunter and Lilith.
"I'm not sure if I can do this," Artemis said in an unsure tone.
"Hey, you absolutely can," Hunter encouraged her. Flapjack was on his shoulder and his new arm was underneath his new long-sleeve shirt. "I know that they'll accept you, just like how they've accepted me."
"Even if we're… Grimwalkers?" Artemis asked him.
"Trust me, they won't mind at all," he told her. "Plus, I can guarantee you that you won't even be the weirdest member of the family."
"Trust us, you won't be that out of place," Lilith said.
"Besides, this is what you want, right? To be part of a family after years of solitude. That's why you occasionally visited. It's why you helped out Aunt Eda," Hunter pointed out. "And now that Belos is gone, there's nothing stopping you from coming out of hiding and becoming a real part of the Clawthorne family. Well, nothing except for yourself."
Artemis looked at him and Lilith before looking back up at the ranch. She took a deep breath then made her first steps towards the ranch house.
She was going to meet her family.
After a knock on the door was heard, Eartha came over and answered it. She saw Artemis standing in front with Lilith and Hunter.
"Hey, it's you," Eartha said, recognizing her. "Come on in, all of you."
They entered the living room as Artemis looked around at the family that was gathered here. She watched Lilith walking up to greet Dell and Gwen, while Hunter went over to Blazer. Denise and Felix were also there, talking to Dennis and Lulu. The whole family then noticed Artemis, who looked nervous.
"Hey, you're Marilyn, right?" Brolin asked, recognizing Artemis. "You used to come and visit."
"Who is she again?" Lulu asked.
"She's a woman that sometimes visited, claiming to be a Clawthorne," Dennis said.
"Yeah, I've seen her around..." Denise replied.
"Um, yeah, you all know me as… Marilyn," Artemis said, sounding and looking nervous. She turned to Hunter, who nodded at her. "But… my real name is Artemis, and… I'm a Grimwalker of Belos's adopted sister, Marilyn Clawthorne." She looked at them, feeling awkward. "I… I don't mean to make things weird…"
"Oh, don't worry," Eartha said. "That can hardly be considered weird. All things considered… welcome to the family."
"R-Really?" Artemis asked them as Brolin came over and patted her back.
"Of course," he said with a smile. "It's good to have you here, Artemis. You're family, after all."
This made Artemis smile as relief flooded through her body. "Thank you, great-uncle Brolin."
"Yay! New member of the family to meet!" Hooty shouted as he popped up in front of her. "Hi! I'm Hooty! Wanna be friends?"
"Gah! What… what is this bird worm?!" Artemis shouted as she freaked out, backing away from Hooty as he tried to hug her with his worm-like body.
"Don't worry, Artemis," Lilith assured her with a smile. "You'll get used to it…"
Meanwhile, at Dr. Bride's clinic, Iggy walked up to the mad scientist, who was examining a corpse.
"Hey doc, someone's here to see you," Iggy informed her, making Bride groan.
"Seriously?! I'm a busy woman!" Bride complained. "They didn't even make an appointment with me ahead of time," she said as she turned around. "Just who am I dealing-?!"
But then she paused… when she saw that standing in front of her was Rocky. She fell silent, finding herself at a loss of words upon seeing the same Creature she helped Victor create so long ago.
He smiled at her. "Hello… friend."
"It… it is you, isn't it?" she asked him. "It really is…?" He nodded at her and tears filled her eyes. She then went up to Rocky and hugged him, Rocky hugging her back. "I'm so glad that you're alive…"
"Rocky… glad too," Rocky responded while embracing her. "Elizabeth…"
Meanwhile, Ford stood on the front porch of the Atos home. After a moment of hesitation, he took a deep breath as he got ready to face his old friend again. He rang the doorbell, causing a scream. Sarah opened the door.
"Um, hello, I'm Ford," Ford greeted her, offering his hand.
Sarah looked at his ears, then his six fingers. Upon realizing who this was, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh… um…"
"Does Staggertarius Atos still live here?" Ford asked.
Unable to actually form words, Sarah just nodded.
"Um, I guess from the look, he's mentioned me before," Ford said awkwardly and she nodded again. "Can I see him?"
"Um… sure, come in," she said, inviting him inside.
Once they were in, Sarah led Ford to her father's main study. "Dad… there's someone here to see you."
"Oh, and who would that-" Staggs started to say before he saw Ford. The large brain in the glass tube looked shocked to see him… or at least as shocked as a brain in a glass tube can be. "Stanford? Is… is that really you?!"
"Staggs…" Ford said, his voice pained with guilt as he saw his old friend's state. "Dear lord, I… I'm so sorry for your condition…"
"Sorry? Why would you be sorry?" Staggs asked.
"Because… I sabotaged the artificial Titan's Blood project," Ford explained. "And then Belos got you to recreate it and-"
"Aw, come now Ford, I don't hold any ill will towards you in the slightest!" Staggs told him. "I'm just thrilled to see my old friend again!"
Ford felt uplifted when he heard this and he smiled. "Well, then perhaps we can catch up then while I'm here."
"Oh, that'd be great!" Staggs declared.
Ford took a seat. "So, Luz has told me that you have a daughter now. Was that the young girl who answered the door?"
"You mean Sarah? Yes, she is my adopted daughter," Stagg confirmed.
"Really? That's great," Ford responded. "I have a grand-nephew and grand-niece now."
"That's terrific, Ford," Stagg replied happily. "So what have you been up to over these years?"
As the two talked, Sarah listened in on them from the hallway. She looked down at her hand, extending her fingers into claws before changing them back to normal. She couldn't help but wonder if Ford being back changed anything at all…
Meanwhile, at Mattholomule's house, Gus and Perry Porter had decided to stop by. Gus rang the doorbell and opening it was Sandra, who looked surprised.
"Perry, Gus, I wasn't expecting you two," Sandra said. "You're here to see Mattholomule, correct?"
"That's right, Ms. Storms," Gus confirmed.
Sandra nodded and let them in. "Matt and his friends are in the living room."
"Thank you, Ms. Storms," Gus replied, Perry hanging back with Sandra while he went on into the living room, where he saw the HAS members hanging out. "Hey guys."
"Gus, welcome back!" Matt shouted as he ran over to hug Gus, surprising him.
"Hey, it's not like I didn't visit earlier this week," Gus said with a chuckle. Also in the room were Bo, Elliot, Eileen, Simon, Cat, Amelia, and Eve.
"Yeah, I know," Matt said as he let go of Gus. "But it is still great to see you again."
"Yeah, same," Gus said with a smile as the other HAS members came over to him.
"How are things going in Gravity Falls?" Bo asked him.
"Well, it is starting to look like its old self again," Gus answered as he sat down. "But how are things going on around here? Any new developments?"
"I hear that the Forbidden Stacks from the library have been opened up, prompting historians and scholars to go in there and try to unravel whatever Belos wanted to keep hidden," Cat said.
"Old journals, encyclopedias of our lost culture, spellbooks, and grimoire," Amelia listed off. "The Emperor's Coven has controlled the narrative for so long, having those books released to the public should go a long way to undo the damage that Belos has done, especially to our education system."
"That's great!" Gus replied, "But how about you guys? How have you been?"
"Well, we have also been doing our part to help clean up the Isles," Bo said. "I've been helping my parents at the clinic to help out with relief."
"Me and Simon have planned on cleaning up the trash down at Lake Lacuda," Matt mentioned. "That lake needed to be cleaned anyway."
"I considered it a good training exercise for the both of us," Simon said, patting Matt's back. "Maybe you'll even get some more muscle out of this!"
'Me and Elliot are considering multi-tracking next semester,' Eileen informed Gus.
"Yeah! And we're not the only ones considering it," Elliot mentioned.
"And I'm thinking of signing up for an internship in journalism," Eve said. "There's a lot of mysterious things still happening around the Isles, and I want to look into new ways I can solve mysteries and help people."
"Wow, that's terrific, guys, really," Gus replied happily.
"What about you, Gus? Got any plans for fall break?" Cat asked him.
"Actually… I have made a decision," Gus said as he stood up, took a deep breath, and made his announcement. "I'm going to be attending a school in the Human Realm, so I won't be moving back to the Isles for a while."
"Really?" Eve asked him. "Wow, that is a big decision."
"Yeah," Matt agreed. "Of course, I'm not surprised. But you know, if that's what you'd like, then we're behind you, man."
"You always wanted to be an ambassador between Realms, so this is a good start for you," Bo mentioned.
"So… you guys are really okay with it?" Gus asked them.
"Well, you don't need our permission, Gus," Eve pointed out. "We've all got to follow our own paths."
"Yeah," Gus said. "Maybe you guys can come visit me sometime. Eileen, Simon, and Elliot still haven't been there."
'That sounds terrific!' Eileen wrote down, excited by the idea.
"Yeah, I've always wondered what the Human Realm is like," Simon said.
"There's a lot in the Human Realm to see, although I would like to see outside of Gravity Falls sometimes," Cat mentioned as they continued discussing the Human Realm.
Meanwhile, Sandra and Perry were conversing with each other in the kitchen.
"So Perry, what do you think about staying in the Human Realm?" Sandra asked him. "From what I hear, it's a lot different from the Isles."
"Well, your son's about right, Sandra," Perry responded. "Though the people there are nice, at least the ones I've met. Something I've learned is that humans have a lot more options there than we did here."
"Oh, that sounds… nice," Sandra replied while looking down at the coven sigil on her wrist. Ever since the Day of Unity, she's been wondering what she might have done if she had more options, especially now that she learned that Belos's talking points were all crap.
"Of course, even in the Human Realm, there's a lot of complications, just as there are here. But staying in the Human Realm… I am not against it, especially if it means making up lost time with Gus," Perry mentioned before he fell silent. "Although… I do kinda want to stay in the Boiling Isles because of all the change that it's going through right now. I figure that by the time me and Gus move back, it could be a completely different Isles."
"Yeah," Sandra said in agreement. "Things won't be like how they used to be. A world without Belos is something to get accustomed to."
Perry nodded before he decided to bring up another topic. "I did hear about what happened to Felicity though," he said, forming a disgusted expression. "I've always thought that woman was a narcissist and a sell-out. But trying to kill her own daughter? That poor girl…"
"I know, I wish I had gotten a piece of Fauxworm before Calypso turned her into a coat," Sandra declared.
"By the way, what happened to Felicia?" Perry asked her, looking concerned. "Is she okay? Is someone taking care of her?"
"Oh, I heard that she's living with her dad now," Sandra mentioned. "I think his name was Todd…"
"WHAT?!" Perry exclaimed in surprise. "Todd's a dad?!"
Meanwhile, Luz and King had brought the others to a memorial: a large stone wall in the park that displayed a lot of names.
"All of those names…" Clara said as she read of them. She frowned, realizing what the names meant.
"Yeah, this was made last week to honor those who have fallen during the week of the Day of Unity," Luz explained to them while looking down sadly "All of these names are for those who have lost their lives during the days before the Day of Unity. The Torsa Villa fire, the Precinct and Healing Coven bombings, the Battle for the Isles…" Luz noticed offerings placed along the wall, left there by other witches. "The whole thing was Steve's idea, since according to Hunter, they had something similar for the fallen scouts back in the Emperor's Castle. I try to stop by and pay my respects here whenever I can and I thought I should do so one last time before I leave…"
"Oh man, all of these people…" Randy said while looking at the names. "Is there… anybody you know here?"
Luz nodded. "Last week was full of funerals. There was one for Larry, the coven guard. He was an old family friend that helped me and King become Clawthornes. He used to have a 'frenemy' dynamic with Eda, before straight up becoming her friend." She tapped on his name and sighed. "At his service, we met his husband, Goklin…"
Larry's funeral service was attended by members of CATTs, including the Clawthornes. Luz, Eda, Lilith, King, and Amity ended up meeting with Larry's husband, a large, purple lizard-like demon wearing a horned helmet, a red sweater with blue pants and spiked shoulder guards. His gut had one eye and large fangs and he also wore furry pants and a cape. Lilith handed him Larry's burnt mask and Goklin teared up as Luz walked up to hug him. He hugged her back in response.
After that, the two placed flowers on Larry's casket.
"Hikari. She was a young witch that I wish I had known better. She was a teenage witch who Steve protected from getting branded by the very same witch who ended up killing her, though thankfully that bastard is now rotting behind bars where he belongs. While I didn't know her very well, I do know that she meant a lot to Amity's sister Emira." She sighed while looking down. "Her parents were the ones who set up her funeral…"
Hikari's body was laid to rest in a forest. The Clawthornes, Amity, Emira, Edric, Odalia, Geist, Alador, Blazer, Steve, Sunny, Matt, Bela, Cana, Bindell, Bunker, Raine. Viney, and the rest of the CATTs attended her funeral.
Also there were Hikari's parents. Hikari's mother had long blonde hair like Hikari's and she wore a tie-dye dress. Her husband had long gray hair, teal eyes, a black jacket with a rainbow striped shirt, suspenders, and gray pants.
They wanted their daughter to be buried in the forest, since she knew that was what Hikari would have wanted. Steve placed some sage and tea leaves by her tombstone. Emira placed a flower at the grave while Bela placed her wolf mask there.
Amity comforted her sister while Cana comforted Bela. Steve saw Hikari's parents coming over and they hugged him, showing that they didn't blame him for her death. He hugged them back while crying into their shoulders.
"Julia Traveler was the first to die," Luz admitted as she looked at her name. "She was my school's guidance counselor. She was killed by that Abel bastard. She… she meant a lot to us at Hexside. She helped a lot of us figure things out, even the adults."
Outside of Hexside, a memorial service was being carried out for Julia. Kitsuni stood alongside Felicia, Luz, Amity, Gus, Willow, Skara, Boscha, Nina, Matt, Edric, Emira, and the many others who Julia had helped. Bump along with the teachers held their flames as they prepared to cremate her casket.
Once the flames were set, everyone watched Julia's body set aflame. While they were all saddened about Ms. Traveler's passing, nobody was hit harder than Boscha, Nina, Matt, Gus, Amity, and Luz.
Camila looked over at Luz, remembering Julia from her visits. "She was a good woman who helped you and your friends, Luz," she said, offering her sympathies.
"Thanks, mom," Luz replied, though she didn't look away from the wall. "Though, there was more to Julia than met the eye… which, I honestly already suspected before Kitsuni confirmed some things about her. Apparently she's actually an aspect…"
"An aspect of what?" Abigail asked.
"Kitsuni didn't say, but she said that Julia could come back, but she would be… different. I think it is something similar to Doctor Who, though I'm not surprised that she's some kind of a Time Lord," Luz explained. "Kitsuni was intentionally vague about it, which is frustrating… but it's what I expected."
Luz shrugged. "I don't know, but whatever Julia's deal was, she did help me and my friends. A lot." She felt a gust of wind blowing some leaves around her. "I do know that there's a version of her that probably exists somewhere… but not here in the Demon Realm. Kitsuni explained that there are other aspects who are like Julia… but there are also aspects that are nothing like her."
She looked at some of the other names on the wall. "Most of these names are from victims of the Torsa Villa fire. A girl I know, Nina, lost most of her family in that fire. And another girl I briefly knew, Banjo, also died in that fire. All those lives…" She hit the wall out of anger before she saw two names and paused. "Including some family members… Beocrow Clawthorne and Maya."
The names of Beocrow and Maya were up on display, with a picture of Beo left against the wall while a crab emblem was next to Maya's name.
"Maya…" Clara said as she, Masha, and the Gatesfield teens were saddened at the mention of the loss of Maya. Dipper and Mabel were saddened as well, though Mabel didn't know much about Maya, she understood how she meant to Luz. Randy and Jake look saddened as well.
"I personally made sure that Maya's name was on the wall of those who we've lost," Luz said while staring at her name. "She sacrificed her life for me and I made damn sure that death wasn't in vain when I ended the Horned King once and for all." She looked down, remembering her funeral. "It's only been a week, but I miss her. I feel… different without her, though it's hard to explain. Maya… she really meant a lot to me. She wasn't just a voice in my head… she was a part of me, even if we didn't always see eye-to-eye. I consoled with the Bat Queen, told her about Maya's part in the Horned King's and Belos's downfall. I helped her with Maya's memorial, even if there was no body to bury…"
In the Bat Queen's forest, the Bat Queen and all of the Palismen had gathered, including those who were adopted and those that hadn't been adopted. The owners of the adopted also attended the funeral. That included the Clawthorne Clan, Ghost, Boscha, Hunter, Flapjack, Atticus, Clover, Emmiline, Mozz, and the Palismen of Viney, Amelia, LOWTH, and others, who were all here to pay their respects. A grave was made with Maya's name on it and her appearance was up in display. Also there were several werecats, who were watching the memorial the Palismen were having. One witch stepped up to pay his respects.
Tina's Palisman, Scruff, noticed the witch paying his respects. Scruff crawled over to that witch, who turned out to be Judd. He looked at Scruff, making him smile. He patted the Palisman, which surprised Tina when she walked over.
As for Luz, she and Amity placed their flowers down before they turned to the Bat Queen. Luz looked saddened, but the Bat Queen came over to comfort her. Luz hugged the large bat Palisman and the Bat Queen hugged her back. Despite Maya's death, the Bat Queen didn't hold any animosity towards Luz.
Ghost sat by Maya's grave, Atticus and Acorn joining her. Acorn placed down a flower while Atticus and Flapjack comforted the cat Palsiman. Ghost and Flapjack shared grief, both of them being saddened over the loss of the crab Palisman.
Hunter walked over and placed a flower down, as did Boscha. Despite what happened between them, Hunter didn't hold anything against Maya, while Boscha was thankful to Maya for helping them out in the mindscape before.
Luz lingered on Maya's name for a bit longer before she turned to look at Beo's name on the wall. "Beocrow was the first extended Clawthorne family member I met. Well, besides Gwendma. He's a cousin that I met after the Glandus War, during which he and his friends helped protect my school Hexside against its rival Glandus. He was one of the founding members of LOWTH, who are basically this team of costumed teenage crimefighters. His codename was Crowbar and he was able to transform into a flock of crows. He had a unique kind of magic, but he was unique in his own way."
"What was he like?" Gus G asked.
"He was the goth kid," she explained. "He was stoic a lot of the time and I did hear that he once survived a demon bear attack when he was young. That gave him an epiphany and a respect for the cycles of life… and death. In fact, his dream was to become a Death God, to be able to guide souls to the afterlife." She sighed. "Maybe he will end up getting what he wanted and becoming one, but… he was still taken from us too soon. He meant a lot to me, as if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been able to meet the rest of the Clawthorne family, and Eda and Lilith would not have been able to reconnect with them."
She looked over at the others as she continued. "He may have been a stoic kid… but the funny thing is that he reached out to me first. He had also asked Cross and his family to come to the reunion, which is where I realized Cross and Zee are my cousins. Beo was loyal, to his friends and to his family, and he clearly cared about both a lot." She looked down. "If only I knew him longer… and I do feel bad for his mother, his brother, and his friends."
Beocrow's funeral was attended by the Clawthorne Clan, Amity and her family, Nina, Skara, Boscha, and their families, Donna and the rest of LOWTH along with their families and their classmates of St. Epiderm. Luz, King, Amity, Donna, Nina, Cross, Zee, Felix, Lindsay, Eda, Lilith, Denise, Brolin, Eartha, Lulu, and Dennis dropped spider lilies on his casket before burying him.
Each of the Clawthornes went to hug Denise, Luz and Eda getting their turn to hug her. Luz saw Felix while Beocrow's Palisman, Takai, revealed himself on Felix's shoulder. This indicated that Takai recognized Felix as his new master.
Then someone unexpected showed up at the funeral. When everyone saw this man, they were confused about who he was. But Denise recognized the witch man with black hair, red eyes, and black lines across his eyes that connected to his lips. He also sported a black cloak.
Denise walked up to the man, showing no emotion. She escorted the man away to a private area and the sound of a slap was heard, caused by Denise.
No one said anything, but they were able to guess that the man may have been Beocrow's father.
Luz looked back at the names while in tears. She was quickly comforted by her mom, Amity, Phil, and King, while Atticus rubbed against her neck. "They all deserved better," she declared.
And they really did.
Meanwhile, Hunter and Lilith were looking around their new home in an apartment building.
"What do you think, Hunter?" Lilith asked him while they checked out the place.
"It's… going to be very different from living with Grandpa Dell and Gwendma, and the castle," Hunter admitted while looking around and checking out the different rooms. "Say, this room is good to use for a workshop."
"So where should we move this stuff?" Dell asked.
Lilith turned to see her parents along with Blazer, Boscha, Gavin, Ukla, Angmar, Tom, and Darius carrying boxes of belongings. "You can all place them down in the living room."
"Great," Darius said as he placed the boxes down, allowing him to stretch out his arms.
"How are you feeling, dad?" Gavin asked him.
"Don't worry, I'm feeling fine," Darius reassured his son. "I have to thank Amity again for reconstructing me. I missed being my old self."
Gavin smiled. "Yeah, I missed you too."
"I must say, Sweet Flea, me and Dell will miss you living with us," Gwen told her eldest daughter as she went over to her, putting her hand on her shoulder. "But we are so proud of you for finding a nest of your own."
"Thanks mom, dad," Lilith replied while placing her hand on Gwen's. "I'll always appreciate you two for letting me and Hunter live with you. But it was time for me to find my own place and I think me and Hunter will be happy here."
"Yeah, this place is great," Hunter said as he saw Flapjack flapping around. "And Flapjack likes it here as well."
"I'm happy for you two," Dell piped in. "But you two are still welcome to visit us anytime."
"Of course, and so are you too," Lilith assured him.
"What about you, Blazer? Do you plan on staying with Lilith and Hunter?" Boscha asked the Hellhound.
"Actually, I think I'm going to be staying with Gwen and Dell," Blazer admitted. "They're really nice and I like living with them, and they don't mind me staying with them. Plus, I don't want to get in between Lilith and Hunter."
"Yeah, though the whole 'Hunter is Lilith's son' thing is still going to take some getting used to," Ukla admitted while setting a box down.
"I know," Darius agreed. "I do admit it is… surprising, but I am happy for them."
"Yeah, I'm also glad for both of them," Tom states, seeing how happy Hunter was with Lilith.
"Yeah," Angmar agreed. "Although this apartment could use some flowers in my opinion, I think it is going to be great for you two."
"Don't you mean us three?" a voice asked.
As Angmar set down a box, something popped out of it and the plant student backed away in horror as the tube-bird rose from the box.
"Hi! I'll be moving in as well!" Hooty announced.
"Um… what?" Boscha asked.
"Oh, right," Lilith said as she came over to pat Hooty. "Hoostifer will be staying with us."
"Yeah, Eda agreed to it since he and mom get along really well," Hunter explained. "She says it's better to have him here with us, rather than traumatizing the orphans at Crane's."
"I can see why," Boscha said while Hooty stretched his neck around through the apartment.
"Ooh! There's even a balcony out here!" Hooty declared.
Meanwhile, Luz had brought her group to their next stop. After knocking on the door of the Brooke home, Skara answered it.
"Luz, Willow texted me that you'd be coming here with everyone," Skara said before noticing the Longs. She smiled and waved at them. "Hey, Longs!"
"Hey, Skara," Haley said, waving to her.
"You guys should come in, we were just helping Nina's family finish moving in," Skara told them as she invited everyone in.
As they came in, Luz noticed a fox pelt hanging over the fireplace as well and she smirked. "I see Felicity's also moved in," she said, referring to the former news anchor's pelt.
"Um… should we ask?" Clara asked.
"That's the news lady who used to be on CB," Winter commented as she popped up along with West.
"Say, are you guys humans?" West asked them.
"Oh my gosh!" Mabel shouted as she looked at the twins. "You two are so adorable! And also twins!"
"Greetings, you must be with Luz," Slasher said as he, Calypso, and Nina came over with Pam.
"Dad, these are the Longs, who along with Clara and her friends helped Willow back when she was stranded in the Human Realm," Skara explained. "Oh, and Jonathan is also a werewolf."
"Hi, nice to meet you, Mr. Brooke," Jonathon said as he went up to Slasher.
"You… you're all a werewolf too?!" Slasher asked in surprise.
"Well, I was turned into one," Jonathan admitted while rubbing the back of his head. "But I do know a few natural werewolves, I'd be happy to introduce you to them."
Slasher was excited at the thought of there being more werewolves like him. "I would definitely like to meet them. Why don't we talk some more, Jonathan."
"Why certainly," Jonathon agreed as the two went off into another room.
"So you're the Longs that I've been hearing about," Calypso said while walking up to them. "Skara told us about you."
"You must be Calypso," Susan said with a nod. "I'm Susan, your husband has already met my husband, Jonathan, and these are our children, Jake and Haley, and my father Lao Shi."
"Don't forget about me, your resident guardian animal, Fu Dog," Fu greeted.
"We're a family of dragons," Jake explained. "Though it skipped mom's generation…"
"Nice to meet you all," Calypso said as she shook Susan's hand. "You've met Skara and my youngest, Scabrina, is probably in her room doing who knows what." She gestured to Nina. "This is Nina, whose mother and siblings are moving in with us."
"You don't have to be shy about it, Calypso," Nina told the Brooke matriarch. "I am part of this family as well."
"Um, are these other humans?" Pam asked Nina while looking at Luz and her group.
"I think so…?" Nina responded.
"Wait… is she a vampire?" Abigail asked, noticing the fangs.
"Ooh, vampire?" Mabel asked, getting excited.
"Um, yes," Calypso admitted. "It was a… recent development. Are you familiar with vampires, Ms-"
"Gates," Abigail introduced herself. "Abigail Gates. And yes, I've had experience with vampires. Even dated one once…"
Nora gave Abigail a look. "Just how many exes do you have…"
"I used to want to date a hot vampire," Mabel admitted. "Not anymore, since I have a really cute vampire back home. Though you definitely got the hot vampire look, Mrs. Brooke!"
"Oh," Calypso said, a bit taken aback. "Uh, thank you. Sorry, I don't know most of you…"
"Right, forgot to do some more introductions," Luz said. "This is Mabel and her brother is Dipper," she explained, pointing to the two. "Dipper is my step-brother, while Clara is my godsister." She pointed to Clara. "Her mother is Abigail, who is my godmother, and her friends are Gus, Masha, Dana, and Rudo." She pointed to each of them. "Nora is Gus's mother and Camila is my mother." She ended by pointing at Randy. "And that's Randy." She took a deep breath. "I think that's everyone."
"Luz, are you okay?" Camila asked, a bit concerned.
"I'll be fine," Luz said, waving it off. "So Mrs. Brooke, how's adjusting to the new vampire lifestyle?"
"I'm still getting used to it," Calypso admitted. "I've restocked the fridge with blood packs for me to drink." Calypso went to the fridge, opening it and pulling out a blood pack. Using a straw, she drank from the blood pack. "The positives are the sweeter ones."
"So you were turned, yes?" Susan asked. "What happened to the vampire who turned you?"
"Oh, my husband popped his head off," Calypso said casually while drinking some blood. "So you said there are vampires in your realm as well, correct?"
"Yes. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, shark people… all kinds of magical creatures in our realm," Haley confirmed.
"We could introduce you to some of these vampires," Susan suggested. "They could help you with your recent transition."
"Mmm… I think I would like that," Calypso agreed. "And we are probably due for a family vacation."
"I could probably find new samples there," Scabrina said with a smile as she suddenly appeared behind Fu Dog, making him jump.
"Gah! Don't do that kid!" he shouted.
"You think we should make dimensional passports for them?" Jake asked his grandfather.
While Calypso and the Long family were talking, Nina was speaking with the other human teens. "So you guys are like Luz as well, huh?"
"You must be Nina," Masha replied. "You must be like Luz's Sasuke."
"Who?" Nina asked.
"Hey Clara, Nina is also a cheerleader," Luz told Clara.
"R-Really?" Clara asked in surprise. "A… catgirl cheerleader…"
"What are you thinking about now?" Masha asked before Clara turned away with a blush. "Alright, but it does give me ideas of some cosplay of my own…"
This only makes Clara blush even harder as she thought about Masha in a cheerleader outfit with cat ears.
"So Nina," Luz said to the werecat. "How is your family settling in?"
"Well, I'm glad that my folks will be taken care of," Nina admitted as she turned to look at Pam, who was sitting down. She spotted Skara talking to Willow while Amity was watching Phil chase West and Winter around. "West and Winter didn't have any problem with moving in, though I could tell my mom was anxious. Thankfully, Calypso and Slasher did not object and Scabrina seems fine with it… though I am still a little nervous about having her around West and Winter." She sighed. "But I still need to help out the rest of the community."
"We heard about what happened at your Villa from Luz," Gus G. admitted. "It's a lot heavy, but you have our condolences."
"Thanks," Nina responded before turning to Luz. "So Luz, is it true that you're leaving for the Human Realm today?"
Luz nodded. "Yeah, I am. Though, I would stay if you need my help."
"I appreciate that," Nina acknowledged. "But you deserve to spend more time with your mom after everything that's happened."
"Well, I still promise to come back if you ever need help," Luz told her. "Just find a way to reach out to me and I will be back, no questions asked."
"Thanks, Luz," Nina said with a nod. "But you and me, we're already fine. You helped save my mom and the twins from Sonya and Lupe. And then you saved them again while they were at St. Epiderm. I can't thank you enough and I am in debt to you."
"Hey, there's no need for that," Luz assured her. "Instead, just know that we have each other's backs."
Nina smiled at this and Luz smiled back. "Yeah, that's right," she said as the two exchanged mutual respect. "So, Skara and Willow mentioned a lot of you guys," she said as she turned to the Pine twins, Gatesfield teens, and Randy. "What can you tell me about yourselves?"
"Well, I'm Dipper and this is my sister, Mabel," Dipper introduced. "We're Luz's step-siblings."
"Really? Say, you must be the stepbrother she mentioned before," Nina pointed out.
Meanwhile, in the juice bar in Lokitown, the SSE were currently enjoying themselves at their favorite establishment.
"Geez, you girls are eating even more sandwiches and ice scream than before," Linkin said as he watched the Cerberus Sisters eat in horrified awe.
"More! More!" Blondie demanded as Korn handed her another plate of food.
"More pickle juice for our order, Ollie!" Cyndi demanded.
"I've opened back for business, and already I'm on the verge of losing it," Ollie groaned as he turned his head before hearing the door open, signaling the arrival of more customers. "Hey, welcome to-" He turned around and paused when he saw who showed up. "Oh… you two."
"Ollie, isn't it?" Donna asked him.
"We'd like to talk," Todd said.
Ollie knew what this was about and he nodded. "Follow me to the back."
"Hey Ollie, where's the…" Eve started to ask before she saw him entering the back with Donna and Todd. "Ollie?" she asked in confusion.
Once in the back, Ollie gave a sigh while turning to face Donna and Todd. "You know, I was wondering when you two were going to show up," he told them. "Honestly, I thought I would be seeing you two a lot earlier."
"Well, we had to settle some other business first," Todd said before he started to change into Kitsuni. "But now that has been taken care of, we figured that me and Donna should finally have a word with you."
Ollie did not seem unphased when he saw Todd turning into Kitsuni. He looked her over and nodded. "Neat trick, how does it work?"
"Well, me and Todd made a deal," Kitsuni said. "While I was on the verge of death, he agreed to let me share his body so that I may continue on living."
"I see," Ollie said with a look of amusem*nt. "So he's your vessel…"
"I prefer the term 'partnership'," Kitsuni corrected him. "But onto business. I want to know where you got your keyblade from and how you learned to use it."
Ollie looked at Kitsuni before answering. "Well, it was given to me by my master, who just showed up one day, picked me as his successor, taught me everything he knew… and then he vanished. I didn't even know his name." He sighed. "While I used to protect the Isles and the rest of the Demon Realm from threats, I eventually realized that my keyblade and my heroics would make me too much of a target, and that my keyblade should only be used for emergencies, like the Heartless attack, or the Day of Unity. So I semi-retired."
"Good thing too, or else Belos would've targeted you for whatever he wanted on the Day of Unity," Donna said.
"Yeah… in fact, I was a lot like you when I was your age, Wonder Witch," Ollie admitted to her.
"Well… your story does sound similar," Donna replied. "I was picked as a successor for someone's keyblade as well."
"Huh," Ollie said with a smile. "How about that?"
Kitsuni was considering his story while looking Ollie over. "That story… does check out," she acknowledged. "So what do you intend to do now, Ollie?"
"Well, I do enjoy my humble life as a juice bar owner," Ollie admitted. "I don't really want that to change. I'll still be here if you ever need me though."
"Maybe you could train me," Donna suggested. "Since I still feel like I don't really know what I'm doing and I could use someone to guide me."
"Well, from what I've seen, you could use some guidance… but Kitsuni could be your teacher," Ollie pointed out.
"Would you, Kitsuni?" Donna asked, turning to the fox yokai.
"Um… the thing is, I only just got my keyblade back and I never finished my training," Kitsuni admitted, a bit awkwardly.
"Well, isn't it the final test of any apprentice to become a teacher themselves?" Ollie asked her.
Kitsuni took a moment to think about it. She looked at Donna, thinking about how inexperienced she still was with the ways of being a keyblade wielder. She needed a teacher, that was no question.
"I'll think about it," Kitsuni told Donna, who nodded.
"Thank you," she said.
"Say Kitsuni, can we talk alone for a moment without the kid around?" Ollie asked her.
"Of course," Kitsuni said before turning to Donna. "Do you mind, Donna?"
"I'll step out," Donna said before she walked out of the room and saw the SSE. "Hey guys, have you solved any mysteries lately?"
With Donna gone, Kitsuni and Ollie were now alone. He turned to the fox yokai with a serious look.
"Okay, there's another reason why I'm reluctant to train Donna myself," Ollie confessed. "I don't know if you noticed this or not, but there's a darkness in her, and I don't think I have the resources to help her if that darkness gets worse…"
Kitsuni looked alarmed by the warning and she nodded. "Thank you for informing me of this, Ollie. I promise to keep an eye on her," she said before sighing. "In fact, I did once know a young keyblade warrior who also had a darkness in him… I don't want Donna to share his fate."
"Hmm, is what happened to that keyblade warrior the reason why you gave up your keyblade?" Ollie asked her.
"That was one of the reasons," she admitted softly.
"Then there must be a reason that you're holding that keyblade once again," Ollie pointed out. "Maybe by helping Donna, you can make up for whatever happened in your past, make up for what happened to the friends…"
Kitsuni thought about this before nodding. "I'll think about this, but thank you for the advice. I promise that we'll stay in touch."
"I wouldn't expect anything less," Ollie told her. "You and Donna are always welcome in my juice bar, I can even give you both a discount if you want."
"Thank you," Kitsuni said with a smile before she and Ollie went back into the main room, where Kitsuni walked over to Donna, who was talking with the SSE.
"Hey, finished already?" Donna asked her.
"Yeah, are you ready to leave?" Kitsuni asked them.
"Yeah," Donna replied before she turned to the SSE. "Later guys, we'll meet up again sometime."
"See you, Donna," Eve waved to her.
"Tell Veronica I said hi!" Sioux shouted after Donna as she left the building with Kitsuni.
"So, how did the talk go?" Donna asked Kitsuni as they walked through the streets together.
"It went well, though I don't think Ollie's told us everything about his past," Kitsuni admitted. "But I do suspect that he might have his own demons that he isn't ready to talk about. Must be one of the reasons why he doesn't want to train you, even if he doesn't want to admit it."
"Oh… mysterious past, one of those types," Donna said, understanding.
"You could say that," Kitsuni said.
"But can we trust him?" Donna asked.
Kitsuni didn't answer immediately. "Yes, I think we can," she said, her tone cautious. "But… there is something strangely familiar about Ollie. But I think he maybe just reminded me of another keyblade warrior, just like how you remind me of another keyblade warrior, Donna."
"Really?" Donna asked her, curious. "Is it Mab?"
Kitsuni shook her head. "No, I am afraid that I never knew Mab myself. But do you remind me of an old friend of mine…"
"Could you… tell me about them?" Donna asked, her tone hopeful.
Kitsuni thought about it before nodding. "Sure," she said before she began telling Donna about one of her old friends…
Back inside the juice bar, Ollie had brought out a picture and placed it on a counter. It was a picture of five masked keyblade wielders. As he looked down at the picture, he smiled nostalgically.
"Hey, Ollie!" Korn called out. "Did you forget our refills?"
"Yeah! Where's mine with extra olives and eels?!" Patty cried out. "Did you forget that?!"
Ollie looked up at the SSE and smiled. "As if," he said and with a twirl, he levitated several cups over to the gang.
Meanwhile, Luz was accompanied by only the Long family and King now as she managed to find the home of the Drakescales. She stood in front of it.
"You know, come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever been to Cross's place," Luz admitted before she went to knock on the door.
Zee answered it and broke into a smile. "Luz? Hey! Glad to see you, and I see you've brought company…"
"Hey Zee, is the rest of your family here?" Luz asked.
"Yeah, we're all here," Cross confirmed as he came over to the front door.
"Good, cause I'd like to introduce you to the Longs," Luz said as Jake came forward.
"Yo, whatddup, I hear you guys are also a dragon clan," Jake said, waving to them.
"Wait," Damien said as he, Clair, and Drayden came onto the front porch. "Are you guys… dragons as well?"
"Cross, Zee, the rest, meet some family friends of mine from the Human Realm," Luz explained. "Jake, Haley, Susan, Jonathan, Lao Shi, and Fu Dog. Longs, meet my Drakescale cousins, Cross and Zee, their grandfather Drayden, and their parents Damien and Clair."
"It is good to meet you, Drakescales," Lao Shi said before smiling at his grandchildren. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order. Jake? Haley?"
"Dragon up!" Jake and Haley shouted as they both transformed into their dragon forms, Lao Shi doing the same.
The Drakescales stared at the three dragons in awe.
"No way…" Drayden said before tears leaked from his eyes and he started to laugh. "HAHA! There's more of us!" he declared as he ran over to hug Lao Shi.
"Ayah!" Lao Shi shouted as he felt the cracks in his back, even while in his dragon form. "You are stronger than you look…"
"Oh, wow! This is… this is really cool, ain't it Cross?" Zee asked while patting Cross's back.
"Y-Yeah, I'm… wow, this is terrific," Cross said as the two walked over to Jake and Haley. "It's… it's so great to meet another dragon family. I… I have so many questions."
"A lot of questions," Zee nodded in agreement as Jake and Haley changed back to their human forms. "Uh, what were your names again?"
"Well, I'm Jake Long, the American Dragon who is the guardian of the magical community in America. My little sis, Haley, is going to be my successor," Jake explained.
"It's nice to meet you both," Haley replied while shaking Zee's hand before she went to shake Cross's hand. But when she got a good look at him, she ended up blushing. "And I'll be… happy to answer… you many questions…" she said while staring at him and shaking his hand for a bit too long.
"Great," Cross said with a nod. "Um… can I have my hand back?"
"Oh, right!" Haley replied, feeling embarrassed as she pulled her hand back. "Um, excuse me," she said before excusing herself.
"Is she always like this…?" Cross asked Jake.
"I think this is new territory for her," Jake said as he and Luz chuckled.
"He strikes again," Zee whispered to Luz, who nodded.
"It is such a pleasure to meet other dragons," Damien said as he and Clair spoke with Susan and Jonathan. "You are also dragons, right?"
"Skipped a generation," Susan said with a shrug.
"Got turned into a werewolf," Jonathan admitted casually.
"You know, it skipped my generation as well," Damien admitted. "Was it the same for others in your generation?"
"Of course, I know some family members and peers like me back in the Human Realm," Susan admitted.
"Well, it's great to meet you and your family," Clair said as she looked over to see Drayden and her kids getting along with Lao Shi and the Long siblings. "Thanks to Belos, the Drakescales are the only dragon clan left here in the Isles."
"Yes, we heard about that," Lao Shi said as he overheard the conversation. "Very tragic. But you are not alone. If you wish, we could set up a meeting between you all and the Dragon Council," Lao Shi offered. "As a council member myself, I can make it possible."
"Other dragons? In the Human Realm?" Drayden asked with a smile.
"Oh yes," Lao Shi said, smiling back. "Many other dragons."
"We'll be thrilled to meet them!" Cross replied happily, a huge grin on his face.
Zee smiled. "I haven't seen Cross this enthusiastic about something in a while…"
"Hey, how about you guys show off your dragon forms as well?" Jake suggested.
"Yeah! That'd be great!" Cross nodded eagerly.
Stepping away from the house, Zee, Cross, and Drayden changed into their dragon forms, showing them off to the Long family.
"I must say, yours and your grandchildren's forms are most impressive, Drayden," Lao Shi said in admiration.
"Thank you," Drayden responded as he flew off the ground, Lao Shi changing and flying up to meet him. "I managed to learn a lot from my folks, and I've taught everything that I know to my grandkids."
"As a mentor myself, I understand," Lao Shi replied. "I can't imagine how hard it has been, being the last dragon family in the Isles…"
Drayden frowned. "It has been hard," he admitted, looking down.
Lao Shi reached over and touched Drayden on the shoulder. "Like I said before, you are not alone anymore. We may be from different realms, but your family and mine… we are the same. You will always be welcome among us."
Drayden gave a grateful smile. "Thank you, Lao Shi."
"Yeah-hah! Check this out!" Jake shouted as he flew up in his dragon form. He blew fiery rings in the sky, which Haley flew through while in her own dragon form. Cross and Zee followed suit.
"Anything you guys can do?" Haley asked them.
"Watch," Cross said as he showed off his ice breath, freezing the ground.
"Whoa, I've never seen a dragon who blows cold flames like that before," Jake said, impressed.
"I can also do this," Zee said as she blew fire at the ice, melting it into a puddle. She then blew more fire at it, creating steam that she managed to grab and fashion into the shapes of bats, cats, dragons, turtles, and hearts.
"Wow… it's like you combined your witchcraft with your dragon powers," Haley said in awe.
"Well, Cross and I are the top of our classes," Zee admitted with a smile, though that smile fell. "Unfortunately, I can't really do my own water magic anymore…" she said while looking down at her own sigil.
From the ground, Luz smiled as she watched the four dragons flying around. "Luz," she heard Clair say, causing her to turn to Clair and Damien. "Thank you for introducing the Longs to us."
"And thank you for introducing us to the Drakescales," Susan told her.
Luz smiled and nodded. "It's no problem. This was overdue anyway."
Fu Dog, however, was starting to tear up. "Oh I'm gonna… gonna cry somewhere private," he said while wiping his tears.
Meanwhile, at the Pour-Ta-Geist, Amity had brought the rest of the group there to get something to eat, Willow having stayed behind with Skara.
"Nice to have some new customers," Geist said as he watched the Pine twins and the Gatesfield teens and the adults enjoying the place.
"This place looks great, Amity," Clara said while looking around. "It's like going to an Applebees."
"Yeah, this place has been a popular hangout for teens ever since the school war," Amity noted while helping Phil into his seat.
"Whoa, they have bat wings here," Mabel said while holding up one. "And it's covered in their own buffalo sauce! Wait… what are buffalos here like?"
"Wanna see how many we can eat?" Dipper asked her.
"Would I?" Mabel asked while holding up the bat wings.
"Ready… go!" Dana cheered as Dipper and Mabel tried to eat as many bat wings as they could.
Gus G. and Rudo, meanwhile, were looking at the arcade games and they picked up the wands. "So how do you work these things?" Gus G. asked.
"Maybe it's just aim and point, like a first person shooter," Rudo theorized as they tried to figure it out.
Clara and Masha were sitting at the same table as Amity and Phil as Edric and Emira came over with their food.
"Here's your orders," Emira told them as she placed down a plate for Phil. "And here's something for Philly."
"Mashed carrots for you, little guy," Edric said as he rustled Phil's head, making the kid laugh.
"Thank you, Aunt Emmy, Uncle Eddy," Phil said with a smile.
"Oof, you're making me sound old," Edric said before he turned to Clara and Masha. "So it's nice seeing you and your friends again and in our realm this time," he said. "How have you all been doing?"
"The world almost ended a week ago," Masha admitted nonchalantly. "You?"
"Eh, you could say we went through something similar," Edric said, not noticing the way Clara was looking at him and his sister. She suddenly let out a large gasp before she looked away, visibly uncomfortable. This was noticed by a confused Ed and Em.
"Is something wrong, Clara?" Emira asked her.
"I-It's nothing," Clara responded as she didn't look at Em.
Abigail had noticed Clara's reaction to the twins, which also brought said twins to her attention. She suddenly remembered meeting them from the faux wedding, then she remembered what Mary and Mosely were like and how they resembled the Blight twins…
"Gail," Camila said, noticing her frown. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just… feeling a bit deja vu," Abigail responded as she wondered if meeting Amity's siblings had influenced what Mary and Mosely looked like in the bubble. But for now, she decided to not bring it up, even though there was still some visible discomfort.
Back at Amity's table, Mabel popped up in between the Blight twins. "Hi! You must be Edric and Emira. I'm Mabel, Dipper's twin. We didn't get to meet at the wedding since I wasn't in town."
"Well, hey, nice to meet a fellow twin," Emira said as she and Edric followed Mabel over to their counter, which had a rather sick-looking Dipper who probably ate too many bat wings.
Now that her siblings were gone, Amity noticed Clara's look. "Clara, are you okay?" she asked. "Why do you look so weirded out about Ed and Em?"
"It's… nothing against them, but…" Clara said as she watched the twins before turning to focus back on Amity. Masha suddenly realized why Clara was acting this way.
"Oh yeah… from the bubble…" Masha indicated.
"What are you two talking about?" Amity asked them.
Clara and Masha looked at each other before deciding to tell Amity. "Okay, remember when we told you about how Bill trapped mom and Camila in their own fantasy bubble?" Clara asked. "Well, one of the things that was in the bubble were the older twin siblings that I never had. The older siblings my mom thought about having, but didn't."
This surprised Amity. "Oh… what were they like?"
"They were pretty nice, all things considered," Clara told her "Their names were Mary and Mosely and… they kinda look like your siblings."
"It's a bit strange, even Gus found them familiar," Masha remembered. "I think… I think when we first met your siblings, Mrs. Gates must have been subconsciously influenced by them, basing the older siblings Clara never had on your older siblings."
"I honestly felt bad for them," Clara admitted while looking down. "Mary and Mosely, I mean. Unlike everyone else in the bubble, they didn't seem to realize that they weren't real. They truly believed that they had lived a full life with me and mom and they had memories that I don't have. Their entire existence was a lie, but they didn't realize it. The last time I saw them was when things started going crazy. When we escaped the bubble, everything that it created, including them, ceased to exist. Seeing Ed and Em reminded me of Mary and Mosely… and I miss them. I wish they really could have been my older siblings…"
Amity frowned as she looked at Clara with a sympathetic expression. "I'm so sorry, Clara. I couldn't imagine what you and your mother must have gone through…"
"Thanks, Amity," Clara replied before she sighed. "If only I had known them longer…"
At her table, Abigail continued to watch Clara before she looked down, her hands messing with her napkin as she wondered if she would be able to tell Clara about therealMary and Mosely… and what happened to them.
"So, what do you think of the Isles so far?" Camila asked Abigail and Nora, snapping Abigail out of her thoughts.
"Oh, um, it's not quite what I expected," Abigail admitted.
"Abigail, are you okay?" Nora asked, noticing Abigail's visible distress.
"I just… I'm the first Gates since my ancestors to be in this place," Abigail confessed. "And according to Luz, all of this started with my ancestors trying to burn Bonesborough to the ground. I just… can't believe they wanted to destroy all of this."
Camila nodded in agreement. "Honestly, being back here… it's not as bad as I remembered it."
"Hey guys!" Gus P. announced as everyone turned to see him and the rest of the HAS showing up.
"Gus!" they called out to him.
"Gus told us that Luz brought you all here," Matt said, seeing the human teens.
Amelia looked around and was surprised to see Gus Gordon also here. "Oh, hey, Gus Two," she said as she walked over to him. "I'm surprised to see you in our realm this time."
"Hey, Amelia right?" Gus G. asked and she nodded.
"Yeah," Amelia confirmed. "So… how have you been?"
"Well, I was turned to stone last week…" Gus G. admitted, which shocked Amelia.
"That sounds awful…" she said, sympathizing with Gus G.
While this was going on, Rudo had noticed that someone was missing. "Say, what happened to Randy?"
"I think he ran off on his own," Dana responded as they looked around, confirming that Randy was not with the rest of them.
Currently, Randy Cunningham was exploring the Isles while as the Ninja, the masked teen jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
"New world to explore, and there is one thing I want to check out above anything else," Randy said while pulling out a telescope, looking around until he spotted what he was looking for. "Bingo!"
He jumped down on the ground, removed his mask, and changed to his normal clothes. He walked up to his destination… a local bodega. As he walked in, he looked around and saw the shelves absolutely stacked with snacks, junk food, and drinks.
'Huh, a lot samey as the bodegas back home,'he thought as he walked over to the counter, which Gnashley was sitting behind. "Excuse-moi, but I came from another world to try out the junk food here in this magical bodega of the Boiling Isles…!"
"Uh-huh," Gnashley responded while reading a book "We take snails."
"Oh… well, would you like to be interested in other realmly artifacts?" he asked as he pulled out earbud headphones. "Behold! You can listen to music with these just by connecting to your phones."
"Uh, what?" she asked him before Randy noticed the book she was reading.
"Wait, is that a book about ninjas?" he asked, pointing at the book.
"Oh, yeah," Gnashley said as she placed it down. "You could say that ninjas from the Human Realm pique my interest."
"What if I were to tell you that I am one of the most famous ninjas back in my realm?" Randy asked.
Gnashley looked him over, considering his offer. "Alright, prove it to me, and I'll let you have whatever you want," she said with a smirk.
"Sure," Randy said as he pulled out his mask and put it on. "Ninja Mask-ON!" he shouted as he became the Ninja. "And now for my first-" He then saw Gnashley had disappeared from the counter, confusing him. "W-What… where did you go?"
Randy saw the doodles around him, warning him to duck. He did, just in time to avoid Gnashley's staff. He jumped back and saw her in her own ninja garb. "Whoa, whoa, what the bruce?!"
"Sorry about that, just want to know if you're legit," she said while getting in a fighting stance. "You've just given me the perfect chance to test my own skills."
"Oh… so it's like that, huh?" Randy asked as he smirked under his mask while bringing out his sword. "Bring it on, then…"
Randy and Gnashley faced each other, then they both charged and let out battle cries. "Hyah!"
Back in the Drakescale house, the Drakescales and the Longs were all still getting to know each other. While the parents and grandparents talked in another room, Cross and Zee tried to get to know Jake and Haley better while Luz, King, and Fu Dog hung out with them.
"So wait, your archenemy's apprentice who tried to kill you before, you're not only dating her but you're also marrying her?" Cross asked Jake, who nodded.
"Well, I fell for her before I learned that she was the Huntsgirl," Jake admitted. "But after she realized that I'm the Dragon, she came around and worked with us."
"Me and mom are still working on your wedding planning, Jake," Haley said.
"Sounds like you had the most complicated love story," Luz commented. "I mean, sure me and Ams had our rocky starts, but we've got our priorities straight now."
"Whenever it comes to Rose, Jake loses his mind," Haley said. "Like him being lovestruck for Rose caused him so much more trouble, he was practically a mess."
"I was not that much of a mess…" Jake reprimanded until Fu Dog spoke up.
"Distractions from your dragon training, that time you joined a monk monastery, krylock muffins, not to mention the love cruise incident-"
"Okay, okay, I was a mess," Jake muttered. "And from those incidents, I've learned that love… is a complicated mistress."
"You should hear about Cross's love life," Zee said. "He has two girlfriends."
"What?!" Jake, Haley, and Fu exclaimed.
"Zee!" Cross complained while Luz just laughed.
"I mean, you are in an open relationship, aren't ya?" Zee asked him.
"How are you with Donna and Lindsay, anyway?" Luz asked, genuinely curious.
"We're… still figuring out how it's going to work," Cross admitted. "Because last week we were cleaning up and attending funerals and the week before that was the Day of Unity, me, Lindsay, and Donna didn't exactly have the time to go on dates."
"But you still kissed Lindsay, right?" Luz asked Cross, making him blush.
"Who told you that?!" he demanded to know.
"Nina," Luz admitted while Zee snickered, causing Cross to turn to her.
"Oh, like you're any better, Zee," he told his sister. "You're the one who made out with Emily."
Both Zee and Luz's eyes widened.
"Wait, what?!" Luz exclaimed in shock, turning to Zee.
"Uh… I can explain," Zee said while looking awkwardly at Luz.
"Um… who's Emily?" Haley asked.
"Let's just say she was… kind of Luz's arch rival… and she used to hate us," King said. "Not really sure what our status with her right now is."
"She's a complicated topic," Luz explained with a sigh. "She's… someone that used to hold a grudge against my family to the point of starting a school war. Then she became an apprentice for the Emperor's Coven, then we had to save her from the Underworld, and then she became our ally or something." She turned back to Zee. "And you kissed her?"
"Well, she had just helped to free me before helping me and Cross escape the castle," Zee explained. "I was caught up in the moment, grateful for the rescue and worried that I would never see her again and would never get the chance to kiss her and-" She paused and gave an embarrassed smile. "Okay, I might have a crush on her."
"Yeah, I could pretty tell from how you were trying to eat her face," Cross teased, making Zee blush.
"You're… not mad at me, right?" Zee asked while looking at Luz. "I mean, I know about your history with her…"
"I… I don't know, Zee," Luz replied while looking down. "Honestly, I don't know what to feel about Emily right now. I mean, I'm definitely not over some of the things she did, like how she stabbed me or tried to kill Gus… but she did help stop the Day of Unity and she did help Willow." She was quiet for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm gonna need some time to think… although, have you heard from Emily at all in the last week?"
Zee and Cross shared a look before they both turned to Luz to give their answer…
Back at the Atos household, Ruby and Tres came carrying over the petrified statue of a witch while Ford, Sarah and Staggertarious watched.
"This one should be good," Ruby said while placing the statue down.
"Is it really going to work, Dr. Pines?" Sarah asked. "There aren't any cures of petrification known around here."
"Well, being petrified is curable where I'm from," Ford said while holding up the ray gun that Steam Punk used during Weirdmageddon. He set it to Medusa. "And I'm willing to do my part in undoing the harm Belos has done towards the people of the Isles."
"Well, I'm willing to hope," Tres said, having learned about his siblings' deal in getting petrified from Vee.
"Then let us proceed with this test," Staggs declared as they all stood back while Ford set his ray.
Once everyone was clear, Ford pressed the trigger of the De-Petrify Ray and shot a beam at the petrified witch. After a moment, his stone body started to change back into flesh…
"By the Titan…" Staggs said in awe, as he, Sarah, and Ruby watched in shock as they saw the witch changing back…
The witch gasped, looked around, and saw that he was not in the Conformatorium. "Where… where am I?" he asked before he started falling back until Ruby and Tres went to help him. "I'm… I'm free!"
"He… he did it!" Sarah shouted.
"It really does work," Staggs declared. "Thank you, Ford. With your invention, we could help out the many witches who have been petrified by the Emperor's Coven."
"Glad I could help," Ford responded with a smile, feeling good about helping out this realm.
Elsewhere, a couple of unmasked witches were walking through the Emperor's Castle.
"Well, this is where they said we'll find them, Jim," said a large demon with horns, blue skin, one teal eye, and a scout uniform.
"Great, Darryl," Jim responded. Without his mask, he was a bald pale witch man wearing square glasses. "Gathering all of those petrified witches isn't an easy job, but someone's gotta do it. I can't believe Graye kept two in his office. Like, whenever he is doing paperwork, he would have two petrified witches next to him as he does it. Quite appalling, don't you think?"
"Yeah, that Graye is one sick bastard," Darryl replied. "Did you hear what he did to that Emily girl?"
"Yeah, that poor girl," Jim responded sympathetically before they arrived at the door. "Come on, let's get those two."
The two opened the door and went into the office. After they entered, they looked around for the statues… but they weren't there.
"Um, where are they, Jim?" Darryl asked.
"I don't know," Jim admitted as he looked at the spot where the statues had been. "Hang on, this must be where Graye put them before."
"How do you figure?" Darryl asked him.
"See these dust prints?" Jim asked as he pointed at the dust prints while kneeling down. "Those statues were here, but it looks like they've already been moved. Either by Graye himself… or someone else."
"What do you think we're supposed to do?" Darryl asked as Jim got up.
"Right now? The only thing we can do is notify Steve and Raine about this," Jim responded as the two left the office.
After they left, a shadow moved up against the wall. It was of a figure with a pointed hat. As soon as the two former scouts were gone, the shadow let out a laugh…
Meanwhile, at the docks, Salty's ship was anchored and its gangplank was down. Several witches were now getting on board, Cups and Mugs being there to welcome them
"Alright, step right up to ride and relax on Salty's Cruise!" Cups declared as Mugs waved a banner.
"This isn't a cruise," Salty told them.
While the rest of the passengers got on board, one was still on the docks, looking up at the ship as she thought about her future. She had a bag with her and was wearing a black and white striped short-sleeve shirt, gray pants, and beige sandal heels. As she looked up at the ship, she gave a sigh.
"Emily," someone said.
Emily Tricks turned to Le'Belle, who was there to see her off along with the Shystreams and Andrea.
"Are you okay, Emily?" Lindsay asked her.
"I'm… anxious." Emily admitted while looking at them. "I've… never thought of leaving the Isles before."
"Well, you could still stay with us," Aunt Dorothy suggested.
"Yeah," Colt agreed. "We wouldn't mind having you with us."
"I appreciate the offer, guys, really," Emily told them with a smile while Pretty rested on her shoulder. "But… I do think I need to get away from the Isles for a bit. Especially since I've hurt so many witches here." She looked down while Pretty nuzzled against her neck and she petted her. "When I was staying with you, I didn't know what my future was, but I want to take the chance to figure things out on my own. Give myself a fresh start."
"Yup, I agree," Hendrick said as he stepped up with his own bag, taking his place next to Emily. "Which is why I am going with you, Emily. I could use a fresh start as well… and I thought you could use a familiar face to watch out for you if you ever need help."
"Honestly, I don't mind that at all," Emily told him before turning back to the others. "Le'Belle, Lindsay, guys… thank you all for everything you've done to help me. I don't deserve any of you."
"Hey, don't say that," Le'Belle said as she came over and the two hugged. "You absolutely deserve us. I just hope you'll be okay."
"Yeah, remember to take care of yourself, hon," Bloom said as she went to hug Emily, who then moved to hug Lindsay.
"Will you ever come back?" Jojo asked.
"Of course, I won't be gone forever," Emily reassured him before hugging the terrier biped. "I promise that I'll come back one day. I just need… a break from it all."
"Yeah, I getcha," Uncle George said with an understanding nod. "Every now and then, I need a break from the farm. Like treat myself to a spa day."
"Since when do you take spa days?" Dorothy questioned, Emily chuckling as she hugged them both.
"I'll miss you guys," she said before moving on to Andrea. "Andrea, thanks for being here. Even if the rest of yours and Lindsay's friends aren't here because they still haven't forgiven me… and rightfully so."
"Hey, I'm sure they'll come around," Andrea assured her. "Maybe… I don't know, but at least Felicia helped to do some damage control and clear Tabrella's family of suspicion."
Emily nodded. She knew she could have probably turned herself in for the death of Tabrella's ex, but since she killed him because of his past relationship with Tabrella, it still wouldn't have been a good look for Tabrella or her family. It was better to make it seem like his death had nothing to do with Tabrella.
"Honestly, I'm not great at keeping friends," Emily said while looking down. "That's something I have to work on." Pretty purred to her, but Emily shook her head. "I'm not ready to go yet, we are still waiting on Zee, Cross, and their family." She frowned. "They're running late…"
"Emily, we're here!" Zee shouted.
Immediately brightening up, Emily turned to see the Drakescale siblings flying down on their staffs, with Damien, Clair, and Drayden riding with them. But Emily's smile faded when she saw that they were not alone, since two witches were following close behind.
"Eda… Luz…" Emily said in surprise as the Drakescales and the Clawthornes landed next to her. "Why… are you here?"
"Well, we're just here to see you off," Eda replied. "When we heard you're leaving the Isles, we were surprised."
"I thought it was for the best for everyone," Emily admitted while looking down.
"I… understand," Eda said, looking sympathetic toward Emily. "I wish you luck, kid."
"Thanks, Eda. I… do appreciate it," Emily said while looking up at Eda. She still hadn't forgiven her, but she was working toward being okay with Eda. She then turned to Luz, who was avoiding eye contact, and guilt flashed across her face. "Um… Luz. I know how… things have been between us. But… I'm sorry," she said genuinely. "I'm so sorry for all the times I've been messing with you. You did not deserve it. My anger was toward Eda and I shouldn't have directed it toward you. I shouldn't have put my anger towards you. I was wrong and it was messed up for me to hurt you."
After a moment, Luz looked up at Emily, still unsure how to feel about her. "Well… I still can't forgive you," she admitted, causing Emily to look down before Luz continued. "But I'm sorry as well… about Sonya's death, I mean." Emily looked up at Luz in surprise. "Now, I didn't kill her… but I wasn't able to stop Sonya from dying. What happened to her was an accident."
"I understand, and I don't hold it against you," Emily assured Luz. "These things happen. I… I do know that Sonya has done a lot of awful things. I loved her, but… perhaps what happened to her was karma."
"Yeah…" Luz said in agreement.
"Say um… do you think that… if things were different, we would have been friends?" Emily asked her, which surprised Luz.
"I… I don't know," Luz admitted, taken aback by the question. "But… I appreciate you helping out Willow. And also," she said as she held up a gift to Emily. "Here. A going away present and a belated birthday gift."
Emily looked down at the gift, surprised this was given to her by Luz of all people. She unwrapped it. "What is…?"
"It's a mix tape," Luz told her. "It can be playable on the Bard Player. Just rewind and you'll be listening to the great hits from Elton John, Pink Floyd, Sade, Steely Dan… I think you'll like them."
Emily looked up at Luz. "Why are you being nice to me?"
Luz looked down while patting her own hands. "I mean, we don't have to be friends or anything, and we don't have to forgive each other… but I feel like that doesn't mean we still have to be enemies either." She looked up and raised her hand up. "I want to wish you luck, Emily. With whatever you end up doing next."
Emily looked to Luz's hand before shaking it in response. "Thank you, Luz," she said before she then turned to the Drakescales.
"Thank you both for everything," she told the Drakescale siblings. Of the two of them, Zee looked the most unhappy.
"Are you sure about this, Mily?" Zee asked her. "I mean, have you thought about… us?"
Emily was silent for a moment. "I… I'm still not sure if I'm ready for dating, Zee," Emily admitted, remembering her realization during her date with Lindsay. "Maybe in the future, but… not now."
Zee sighed. "I respect your decision," she said as she gave Emily a hug, Emily hugging her back.
Emily then went to hug Cross. "Goodbye, Cross. I'm gonna miss you the most."
"Really?" Cross asked in surprise. "I thought it would be Lindsay."
"You were watching out for me first," Emily pointed out. "Thank you, Cross. Take care of yourself."
"Yeah, you too," Cross responded while hugging her back.
Emily then turned to the rest of the Drakescales. "I wish I could have gotten to know you all more before I had to leave…"
"Hey, you rescued our kids, and helped save the Isles," Damien assured her. "We're grateful for that."
"Yeah, take care, Emily," Clair said as the two hugged her.
"When you come back, don't be a stranger," Drayden said as he and Emily hugged as well.
After completing her goodbyes, Emily started to walk up the gangplank to the ship, Hendrick following her. Half-way up, she looked back and saw everyone on the docks watching and waving at her. Even Eda and Luz were waving. Emily waved back, but then she noticed someone up on a nearby rooftop watching her. Emily paused when she saw who it was…
It was Nina, who just stood there watching Emily. The two looked at each other from a distance before Emily blinked and Nina was gone. Emily then sighed and continued her way up to the ship.
As she got onto the deck, she talked to her Palisman. "Well Pretty, it's just the two of us now."
"Three of us," Hendrick pointed out.
"Right, three of us," Emily corrected herself.
Pretty gave their own response while nuzzling Emily's chin.
"Yeah, you're right," Emily replied with a smile. "I am looking forward to this…"
As Emily walked through the crowd of passengers, she didn't notice two witches who wore hoods and tried to keep their faces hidden from their fellow passengers without looking too suspicious.
"Glad we're getting out of there while we can," spoke a scarred girl known as Serpentina. "We're never coming back here."
"I agree, Serpy," Eustace responded while keeping his cloak up. "Hopefully Salty doesn't notice us…"
Speaking of, Salty called out to Mugs. "Pull up the anchor! We're good to go!"
"Aye, captain!" Mugs replied as he pulled the anchor up.
"You boys are doing such hard work," Grandpa Kettle said while joining his grandsons.
"We sure are, Grandpa Kettle," Cups responded. "Me and Mugs are gonna go straight from now on, I swear…"
As the ship left, pulling away from the Isles, a winged figure landed near the rear. This figure was… a winged monkey. The winged monkey was watching Emily, who was still on the deck.
Sometime ago…
"I hear you're not from the Boiling Isles," Luz said, interviewing the same winged monkey. "Care to tell how you got here?"
"I got swept up in a twister that brought me here," the monkey told her. "Though this place isn't too different from where I used to live. I also don't recommend trying it, since witches and twisters don't mix well in my experience. Does that answer your question, kid?"
"Kind of, but that's not what I was hoping for," Luz sighed as she went to her next lead.
A while later, the winged monkey was walking down a street while drunk. He hiccuped on his way while laughing and singing.
"Doo-weee-yooh, oweeeezoh! Hahaha!" he sang while drinking more of the alcoholic apple blood.
"Franky…"
The winged monkey looked around, hearing someone calling his name. "Who… who's there?" Franky asked. He saw nobody, the street was empty except for him. He frowned. "I must be hearing things…"
"Franky…!"
He looked around in confusion. "Alright, who's calling me?!" he demanded before he saw a shadow growing on a nearby wall. His eyes widened when he saw the pointy hat on top of the shadow's head. "No…" he whispered. "You… you were dead…"
"Hello, Franky,"the shadow said to him."I have a task for you, a simple one. Will you follow my orders?"
Franky nodded. "Y-Yes, my wickedness!" He knelt before her. "Anything!"
"Good,"the shadow said."I need you to leave a tip with the Emperor's Coven. Tell them that a covenless witch is living with the Shystream family at Satorius Acres."
This got Franky to look up to her in confusion. "But… why?"
"Do not question me!"she shouted, causing him to tremble in fear."Just do as you're told…"
In the present day, Franky the winged monkey continued watching Emily. And as he watched her, someone else was also watching them…
...from a crystal ball with a green hand hovering over it. The sound of a cackling laughter was heard.
"Ehehehehe, it's good that you're leaving, Emily, because I don't want you to become too comfortable. Just like you were becoming with the Shystreams!" shouted the female voice of the individual watching Emily through her crystal ball. "But if you think you'll be let off this easily, then you're wrong. There will be no happy ending for Emily Tricks… isn't that right, mother?"
She turned to look at the two stoned statues in the same room with her… the petrified bodies of Margo and Hamilskin Tricks, Emily's parents. She walked up to the statues.
"Because this is exactly why I brought both you and your husband's bodies here!" shouted the young woman who had a resemblance to Emily. She was older than her by a few years though and she looked like she was in her twenties. In addition to her green skin, she had long dirty-blond hair and blue eyes. She donned a black, pointy hat and wore an all-black gown with fur trims around the shoulder line and black buckled boots. She wore a red jewel necklace and had gold rings. "To deny Emily a family reunion she doesn't deserve!"
She looked at the statues for a moment before she turned around. "I'll admit, I don't know if either of you could hear me or not." She shrugged. "But no matter… because I'm just going to keep ruining dear little sis's life over and over again, as many times as I want to." She chuckled while looking at her own rings. "Every time that I feel like things are going in Emily's favor too much, I'll do something about it. But the best part is, most of the time I don't even have to do anything," she said gleefully. "Because Emily will just ruin things herself. She'll probably do worse as a college student in a frat party…"
She then clapped her hands. "Oh Broomsie!" she called out and a broomstick flew over to her. "Let's go fly out for the night!" she declared while getting on her broom and flying out of the castle as she let out a crackling laugh. "EEEEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHHEEEAAAAAA!"
As she flew up into the sky, she could make out several locations. In the distance, there was a city that looked like it was made of emerald. Near it was a field of red flowers and trailing away from a city was a yellow brick road…
This was… theLand of Oz.
Back in the Boiling Isles, running through the woods was someone being pursued.
"Gotta get out of here! Gotta get out of here!" the man cried out as he rushed through the woods. He heard a howl from behind him and he turned around to see Skara in her werewolf form.
"Found him!" Skara howled, making him run faster.
He kept running until he saw a large wall popping up from the ground in front of him. He slid to a stop and tried to run in another direction. Then, another wall came up, blocking his escape.
"No… no, please, have mercy!" he cried out while behind him was Gus, who used his illusions to make the man think he was being trapped. He tried to escape, but then more walls appeared to block his path, boxing him in.
"You're not going anywhere…Hopkins."
Jacob Hopkins heard his name being called and he slowly turned around. Between Gus and Skara… wasWillow. Her hair raised up and her eyes glowed green as she slowly walked towards him.
"Do you remember me?" Willow asked him.
"You… you're that…" Jacob said as he backed away with a shiver.
"Answer me!" Willow demanded.
"Yes! Yes, I do remember you!" Jacob shouted as he fell back, pissing himself while cowering in fear. "Please, don't hurt me…"
"I could, right?" Willow asked him in anger. "I could treat you like you treated me. I could drug you, put you in a cage, make you feel powerless, and see how you like it," she told him, which made Jacob quivered in fear, before Willow… just sighed. "But… I'm better than you," she admitted while powering herself down. "And you're scared, you smell awful, and you probably want to go home, don't you?"
Hopkins nodded frantically. "I just want to get out of here…" he admitted.
"Well, how about I help you get home?" she asked, offering him a hand.
Jacob looked up at Willow in surprise. He wondered if this was some kind of trick… but he knew that Willow could have easily ended him if she wanted to. After a moment of consideration, he gave his response. "Thank you, I would like to go home."
He took her hand and Willow helped him up.
Meanwhile, Luz, Eda, King, and Amity had brought their guests to another spot outside of the woods… where the burned remains of the Owl House were.
"Is this… the Owl House?" Masha asked.
"Yeah… at least, it used to be, before it was destroyed," Luz said with a frown while looking down at the burned remains. "Even after defeating the Emperor's Coven, we've been so busy in the last week that we haven't been able to rebuild the Owl House. So we ended up staying over with Amity's family instead."
"We're sorry this has happened, Luz," Clara told her, feeling bad about what happened to Luz's home.
"Thanks," Luz responded while looking down at the ashes. She sighed. "I wasn't really able to process the loss of the Owl House at the time, but now as I'm getting ready to leave the Isles, I've realized that… there won't be an Owl House to return to. The Isles might be completely different by the time I return as well. Everything is just… different now." As she reflected upon this, she felt herself receiving comfort from her family, including Eda, King, Camila, and Amity. Luz began to tear up and she turned to hug them all.
"There now, Luz," Camila told her, patting her head. "I know how you feel. The Owl House… it was my home as well."
"It was all of our home," Amity said. "But… it can still be rebuilt, right?"
"Yeah, so while you're gone, we can still rebuild it and have it ready for you by the time you get back," Eda said while stroking Luz's hair. "It won't be the same Owl House that we've had so many memories in…"
"But it'll be a new Owl House for new memories!" King suggested.
"I'd like that, really," Luz responded as she looked around at them and the others. "And I know that I still have a home and a place in both worlds… because I have my family, and that's more important than a house. I'm just… so happy that everyone can be here. That I have a chance to share my life with you all."
Camila smiled. "I'm grateful that you want to share your life with me, Luz," she told her daughter. "That I get to be a part of it."
"Yeah, it was really cool seeing the Isles for the first time, but I am really looking forward to having you in Gravity Falls more often," Dipper told her.
"Yeah, it'd be nice having an older sister around," Mabel said with a smile.
"I know how it feels to be scared or nervous about change, Luz," Clara mentioned. "We all do… but we all have your back."
"Yeah, and if you ever need some help, just give me and Haley a call," Jake said as Haley nodded in agreement.
"Change is often mysterious and frightening… but it also happens for a reason," Lao Shi said.
"You mean so much to us, Luz," Abigail said, giving Eda a nod as she walked over to her goddaughter. "And… I'm glad that you gave me a chance."
Luz smiled and hugged her. "Yeah, I'm glad too."
Eda smiled before she looked at the time. "Well, the others should be here soon."
This confused Luz as she turned to Eda. "What do you mean?"
Eda smiled. "Did you really think you were going to leave the Isles without a goodbye party first…?"
Later on, there was the big 'going away' party for Luz, which was held next to the ruins of the Owl House.
Luz looked around in awe at seeing how many witches came for her. She saw Hunter, Lilith, Hooty, the Bad Girls Coven and the HAS, the Brookes, the Blights, Raine, Steve, Sunny, Wrath, Braxus, Webstor, Ludo, Eclipsa, the Parks, Morty, Summer, Ghost Rick, Lambi, Awassi, Katya, Derwin, Amber, Gwen, Dell, Blazer, and the rest of the Clawthorne Clan, Morton, Malphas, the Thians, the Bat Queen, Dr. Bride, Iggy, Rocky, the Masterskulls, Felicia, Todd, Mai, LOWTH, Danny, Fan, Jackie, Tabrella, Tracy, the Ghoul Girls, the Drakescales, Kadabe, Dolly, Bump, Snope, the SSE, Dusty, Darius, Gavin, Sheila, Ukla, and Angmar. All the guests were currently interacting with one another, including the human guests.
Drinking from the punch bowl, Fu Dog got down as he took a sip before he bumped into someone. "Hey, sorry about that…" he said as he looked up… at Odalia. "Oh…"
"Wait… do I know you?" Odalia asked while looking down at Fu Dog.
"Oh boy," Fu Dog muttered. "Um… woof, bow-wow, just a dog," he pretended.
"Wait… aren't you the Ghost of the Present?!" Odalia pointed out.
"Uh…" Fu Dog said nervously, wondering how he could explain this.
Meanwhile, Perry was with Webstor and Todd, the former two congratulating the latter on his new fatherhood status.
"Congrats on realizing you're a dad, Todd," Perry said while patting Todd on the back.
"Thanks, Perry," Todd nodded. "I'll admit, it's going to be a new experience for me. But… I'm going to do what's right by Felicia. She's gonna need a lot of attention and we need to make up for lost time."
"Yeah, I know how that feels," Perry admitted.
"Well, I wish you both luck in spending time with your kids," Webstor said. "I'm thinking of giving Fauxworm's position to Colorfeather."
"Yeah, Colorfeather always gave the best donuts to everyone," Todd agreed while holding up his drink. "To new beginnings for all of us."
Perry and Webstor raised their drinks. "To new beginnings!" they said as they clashed their cups.
Minerva, Skara, and Dog were shown to be playing music for the guests while Luz met up with Donna.
"So Donna, are you still planning on finding your brother?" Luz asked her.
"I will, but not anytime soon," Donna replied. "There's just a lot going on in the Isles right now, and not only does it need LOWTH, but I also need to be a big sister for Jesse. Plus, I want to train more with my keyblade before I leave the Isles, especially since I have no idea how long it will take for me to find my brother."
"Yeah, I get that," Luz responded. "So… are you and Cross planning out some dates?" she asked with a smile.
Donna blushed at this. "Well, that is something I've been thinking about too. Since, well, we didn't get a chance last week due to how chaotic it was."
"I'll say," Tina said while walking up to Donna.
"Tina," Donna said, seeing her oracle friend. "How are you feeling?"
"Well," Tina said before she took a deep breath. "I just want to let you know that… after everything that has happened, I'm considering taking a break from LOWTH."
"Oh…" Donna said as she looked at Tina sadly. "I understand and respect your decision, Tina. You deserve to have a break."
"Thanks, Donna," Tina responded as the two shared a hug. Tina then turned to Luz. "You're taking a break too, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Luz admitted. "I pretty much am."
In another part of the party, Jake and Lao Shi were speaking with Raine and Darius.
"So you humans have this thing called… democracy?" Raine asked.
"Yeah, democracy is all the rage these days," Jake said. "Sure, some of our countries still have kings and queens, but I think that's only in the UK country… right?" He turned to his grandfather.
"We do have democratic elections," Lao Shi said. "We make sure to elect representatives who will discuss issues and make laws to solve the issues. And they have terms."
"How do we know that it won't end up causing us problems like the Emperor's Coven?" Darius asked.
"Well, truthfully democracy isn't a perfect system either and I don't imagine you can turn the Boiling Isles into a democracy overnight," Lao Shi admitted. "But you could set up a council, a president, prime minister, chancellor…"
"Hmm, we might consider that," Raine replied.
Tabrella and Veronica were taking an interest in the human magazines Gus, Cat, and Eve provided.
"This is an interesting catalog of human realm jewels," Tabrella commented.
"Hey, look at the seasonal outfits they have," Veronica said, showing them to Tabrella.
"Glad that you two found something you like," Cat said.
"You know, maybe we could start our own Humans Appreciation Society," Veronica suggested.
"Really? That'd be great to have a St. Epiderm HAS chapter," Gus said.
"I'd like that too," Danny said as he popped up, startling the others. "In fact, me and Beck have discussed other opportunities for students… including multi-tracks."
"Really? That's great!" Eve replied.
"Yeah, glad you've taken my suggestion, Danny," Cat told him.
"Well, you had a lot of good ideas," Danny said while adjusting his glasses. "And since the Emperor's Coven is effectively disbanded… a single-track system seems silly now."
Cat nodded. "By the way, I never got to thank you for helping out Hexside," she told Danny. "We came to your school for help and you welcomed us with open arms."
"Don't mention it," Danny said, nodding at Cat. "It was the right thing to do. I'm just trying to be a good leader." He paused. "You're a pretty good leader too, you know."
Cat smiled at Danny. "Thanks."
In another part of the party, Alador found his way over to Ford. "So from what I hear from Amity, you're a genius yourself," he commented.
"Well, I have heard a great deal about you as well, Alador," Ford responded. "So you used these Abominations to make weapons?"
"Right now I am thinking of rebranding," Alador admitted. "I'd like to focus on making things to help people. With the help from my new assistants of course… my family," he said while looking over at his siblings, who were chatting with the other guests.
Ford nodded. "And what about those Titan Mechs? Do you know what is going to happen to their remains?"
Alador looked over at Ford. "What are you getting at?"
"I know someone who is very good at building robots…" Ford suggested.
At another part of the party, Barcus was enjoying a plate of food with the Cerberus sisters. As they shared a plate, their friends talked.
"So you two are thinking of getting an internship?" Viney asked Jerbo and Edric.
"Yup," Jerbo responded. "Sarah and her dad need some bright young minds to help figure out how to remove the sigils from those who got branded."
"Yeah, they're even considering collaborating with Blight Industries on this," Edric said. "Barcus, Eileen, and Bo also wish to get involved."
"Is it even possible to remove the sigil brands?" Emira asked.
"It could be," Sarah said while among the group. "After all, it's possible to de-petrify innocent witches, which we used to think couldn't be done. And even if there isn't a solution in the Isles, there could be a solution in the Human Realm. We have to explore all of our options."
"Hey, um, Ed," Blazer said as he came over, getting Edric and the others to turn to him. "Um… I know it sounds awkward, but do you… think you can properly re-introduce me to your friends?"
Edric smiled and nodded. "Of course, Blazer."
Later, Masha found Raine and decided to speak to them. "Hey, you must be the Raine Whispers that I've heard about from Luz," Masha said.
"Oh, and you must be one of Luz's friends," Raine responded. "I'm Raine Whispers, I go by they/them."
"Yeah, and I'm Masha Moore," Masha introduced while shaking their hand. "I've also prefer they/them. I've… recently came out as non-binary."
"Really? Congratulations, Masha," Raine replied.
"Thanks, and um, as a fellow non-binary yourself, perhaps you can share with me what your experience was like," Masha suggested.
"I'd be happy to, Masha," Raine said as they went to find somewhere to sit down. "What would you like to know?"
Meanwhile, Gus G and Amelia were talking until they noticed Randy showing up.
"Hey guys, I'm back!" Randy declared.
"Randy? Where have you've been?" Gus G. asked him.
"Oh I just had the most epic ninja battle, and got all these snacks to bring home," Randy said while revealing his book bag was filled with Demon Realm snacks. "I'm gonna try one of everything!"
"You must be the Nourishment Ninja Willow mentioned," Amelia said.
"Norrisville Ninja, actually," Randy corrected.
Meanwhile, Riley was having a drink until they felt something nuzzle on them. They looked down and saw a gray, basset hound Palisman with a spot on its eye standing in front of them. "Oh, um… are you looking for someone, little guy?"
"It appears that Base has taken an interest in you," Bat Queen commented as she came over. "She says you look like her."
"Oh… guess it's this spot," Riley said with a tone of uncertainty. They looked down on Base, who looked at them in the eyes… which made them kneel down. "Hey girl, you um… you have taken a liking of me, haven't ya?"
"Ruff!" Base replied to them.
Riley looked down at Base… and found themselves falling in love with the Palisman. "Well… if you wish to be with me, then… I guess I'll be okay with another Palisman."
Base barked with joy as she turned into a staff for Riley to hold. They smiled and turned to the Bat Queen. "I promise to take good care of her."
"Oh, I believe you," the Bat Queen said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Nina and Donna were having a conversation.
"So how is your family settling in with the Brookes?" Donna asked.
"Well, it'll take time for them to get used to living on the ground rather than up a tree," Nina replied. "I know the twins will get along with Scabrina, as long as she doesn't try to take any samples from them or do any of her experiments… and we are now starting to get ready for the triplets my mom's gonna have soon."
"Oh, when are they coming?" Donna asked.
"I think they're about a month away," Nina said. "Mom is… anxious, but she doesn't seem too stressed, which is a good thing."
"Well, I'm glad they moved in okay," Donna replied with a nod.
"So how's your new sister, Jesse?" Nina asked her. "Being a big sister's not an easy job, you know?"
"I know, but Jesse has already taken a quick liking to the rest of my family," Donna replied as she turned and saw Jesse getting along with Diana and Gladys, which made her smile. "Even if I find my brother, that doesn't mean she won't be my sister. I want to be sure that as Jesse grows up, she doesn't make the same mistakes as I did."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Nina replied. "But here's some advice from one older sister to another… try not to be overbearing."
Donna gave her a nod. "Yeah, I get that. Thanks, Nina."
Nina smiled. "I am happy for you and your folks though," she said. "They're good witches, giving another young orphan a home."
"That's right," Donna said. "I was once in the same position Jesse was…" She looked down and frowned. "A lot has changed, hasn't it?"
"Oh, definitely," Nina agreed. She saw the frown. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm just… worried about the future," Donna admitted. "Are you ever worried that we might change… for the worse?"
Nina thought about it… and sighed. "I do," she confessed. "But do you know why I'm not too worried?"
"Why?" Donna asked, looking up at Nina.
"Because," Nina said as she looked around at the party-goers, spotting Lambi, Awassi, and the Brookes before her gaze returned to Donna. "I know that if I slip, someone will be there to catch me. When I was at my worst or my lowest, someone was always there for me. And I'll be there to catch them if they slip too."
Donna looked around at the party. She saw her family, Eda, Luz, her friends, Cross, and eventually her gaze returned to Nina. "Yeah," she agreed. "I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me."
Nina smiled. "Always," she vowed as the two touched hands…
In another part of the party, Tres met up with the rest of the BATTs.
"So rather than go to the Human Realm where your siblings are, you're staying?" Boris asked Tres.
"Yup," Tres confirmed. "I want to help Raine and make sure that nobody like Belos ever rises into power again."
"That sounds like a good call," Amber replied before noticing one of her friends had a distant look. "Katya? Are you alright?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, just… thinking about some things," Katya responded with a frown.
"Does this have to do with…" Derwin drew her in as Katya sighed.
"Yeah, my dad," Katya replied while looking down. "When Raine mentioned that he was with Belos, I was shocked. But… I'm not sure how to feel about him right now, since I don't know why he did the things he did…" She was quiet for a moment. "And I'm worried that… maybe I never really knew him at all."
They all looked worried for Katya before Boris spoke up. "Well, I don't want to sound mean, but he made his choice. He could've fought alongside with us, but he chose Belos for whatever reason." Seeing Katya looking even more saddened, Boris realized he was not helping. "But… maybe if you have the chance, you could tell him off about it."
"Yeah," Katya nodded while looking up. "I do wish to talk to him if I get the chance…"
And finally there's Tom, who was currently meeting up with Eclipsa and Ludo.
"Okay, I've heard about you and your family, Ludo," Tom said as he pointed to him before looking up to Eclipsa. "And you're Eclipsa… I've heard a great deal about you."
"Yes, I know," Eclipsa replied with a sigh. "About my reputation…"
"Yeah, the whole 'Queen of Darkness' thing," he said, looking a bit nervous. "Um, pardon if I seem uncomfortable around you…"
"I don't blame you for a second," Eclipsa responded. "But I can assure you that whatever they've told you about me, it's… mostly not true."
"So the whole baby-eating thing…?"
"Made up by propaganda," Eclipsa said. "The worst thing I've done was dating monsters and psychologically harming the occasional teenager."
"So what will you be doing nowadays?" Tom asked her, while still wary.
"Well… I'm thinking that I will keep helping the werecats of the Torsa Villa," Eclipsa said. "I do sympathize with their situation, since I know what it's like to lose a home… which is why I'm thinking of giving them my temple, rent-free."
"That… does sound noble of you," Tom replied.
"Is there, um, room for me?" Ludo asked her. "I don't have a home for myself…"
"Of course, Ludo," Eclipsa said with a nod. "You're welcome to be my roommate."
Ludo smiled. "Why thank you, Eclipsa. You are a generous woman, I wish you'd have been our queen back then."
"Yeah, but I think I'll settle without that title," Eclipsa responded.
At the end of the party, Luz was prepared to say her goodbyes to her friends and family.
"Well, this has been a great goodbye party, and a good birthday for Dipper and Mabel," Luz mentioned as Dipper and Mabel smiled. "And now, I must make my leave to the Human Realm. But first, I'd like to give you guys a little something to leave my mark."
Luz handed each of her friends, including the members of LOWTH, their own mixtapes, which they looked down at.
"Whoa, mixtapes from the Human Realm!" Jerbo commented.
"Thanks, Luz," Cat said before she squeed. "Mine has Pat Banatar and Tina Turner's hits!"
"Paul Williams and King Crimson for me," Edric noted.
"Twisted Sisters sounds wicked," Boscha said.
"I don't know what Journey and Eagles are, but they sound like the perfect combo," Simon said.
"Here, I even got you one too, Danny," Luz said as she handed him one. "Consider it a thank you present for helping out my friends."
"Well, I've never heard human music before, but I am told to try new things," Danny replied while looking at the list. "Huh, a guy named Elfman has the same name as me…"
"Thanks Luz," Willow said while hugging Luz. "We'll be thinking of you when we listen to these."
Luz smiled while hugging Willow back. "Good to know, and… goodbye, Willow," she told her before turning to Skara and Nina. "Skara, Nina, if I ever need some bandmates to play in the Human Realm, I'd hit you up on that."
"Yeah, the Beast Bard Girls will still live on," Skara declared.
"I'll be sure to practice my harmonics," Nina said as Luz hugged them.
Luz then walked over to Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus. "You three," she said as she gave them salutes. "We may be former trouble makers, but try to stay out of trouble."
"We should tell you the same thing, Luz," Viney pointed out with a smile.
"Yeah, be sure to send us a postcard," Jerbo said.
"We'll miss you, Luz," Barcus said and Luz smiled, seeming to finally understand Barcus after all this time.
"Yeah, I'll miss you guys too," Luz said as she fist bumped each of them before she went to Boscha, Cat, and Amelia. "Boscha, good look with your grudgeby. Now that you can play again, I expect you to dominate."
"I think I will," Boscha sniffed as she and Luz hugged before Luz went to hug Cat and Amelia.
"I know that you two will be the Isles's future leaders someday," Luz said. "So I'm leaving the Bad Girls Coven to you two."
"Hey, you'll always be the leader of the BGC, Luz," Cat reassured her.
"Yeah, and I'd love to visit you in the Human Realm sometime," Amelia told her.
"Hey, you can come visit me anytime you want," Luz told her before she walked over to Matt and Bo. "Bo, make sure Matt doesn't hurt himself. And Matt, I never want to have to escape detention with you-"
"Hey, I thought we agreed never to speak of that again," Matt said as he and Bo fist bumped Luz.
"Right," Luz said with a smile before she turned to Morty, Summer and Ghost Rick. "You guys have been really helpful. Who knows, maybe I'll end up meeting your human counterparts."
"Don't count on it,"Ghost Rick said."They don't exist in your realm, at least."
"Good luck in the Human Realm, Luz," Witch Morty said.
"Yeah, and thanks for the mix tapes," Summer said as they fist bumped Luz.
After them there was Felicia. "Felicia, I know we… haven't always had the best relationship, but without your help, I wouldn't have been able to rescue Gus's dad. You also helped to expose Terra, Felicity, Belos… I think the entire Isles owes you a debt of gratitude."
"Thanks, Luz," Felicia replied with a smile. "Though I was just trying to follow Beel's example."
Luz nodded. "I think he would have been proud of you."
Felicia smiled even more. "And you know, this whole experience made me reconsider my journalism path. I think I'm gonna hit the real ground-breaking investigation stories. Try to expose more witches like Terra or Belos."
"I wish you good luck on that," Luz said as she handed her a mixtape before she turned to Donna. "Donna, I feel like if things had been different, you would have been my big sister. But now it looks like you've become a big sister to someone who needs one. Also, you and your friends did a lot of great work for the Isles."
Donna smiled before she and Luz hugged. "Thanks, Luz. And hey, I'll be sure to invite you to one of my famous sleepovers when you get back."
"I'll be looking forward to it," she said before turning to Lindsay. "Hey Linds, be sure to treat my cousin well, okay?"
"I will," Lindsay assured her as she gave Luz a hug.
Luz then turned to the SSE. "Well, if there's ever a mystery that needs solving at the HR, I might contact you guys for help."
"We'll be honored to help you, Luz," Eve said.
"Yeah, and if everything we heard about Gravity Falls is true, there are certainly some mysteries there worth solving," Sioux said.
"Just hopefully there won't be anything chasing us this time," Korn grimaced.
"But if there is, we'll be sure to build the perfect traps for you, Luz," Linkin declared.
"We'll miss you a lot, Luz!" Patty, Cyndi, and Blondie shouted.
"So will I," Luz replied as she fist bumped each of them before giving them mix tapes.
"How many mixtapes did you make for us?!" Korn asked as Luz walked over to Principal Bump.
"Prince B," Luz said to him. "I guess, saving the Isles makes up for all the trouble-making I've done."
"Like your mother, you're both an agent of chaos… and a good kid," Bump said as Luz held her fist up.
"Try it," Luz said to him. "Form your hand into a fist and give it a bump against mine," she told him as Bump did just that, giving Luz a fist bump. Luz grinned. "I got Principal Bump to do a fist-bump. Mission accomplished."
She then walked over to Cross and Zee. "Cross, be good to your girls, alright?"
Cross just sighed and smiled. "Yeah, I know," he said as Luz hugged him before handing him a mixtape.
"We'll miss seeing you around, Luz," Zee said as Luz hugged her. "The Isles will be less interesting without you."
"I know," Luz replied before handing Zee a mixtape.
Luz then moved onto Raine and gave them a hug.
"Raine… watch out for my mom for me, okay?" Luz asked them as Raine hugged her back.
"I will, Luz," Raine promised her before Luz handed them a mixtape.
"Mom's favorites, and I think they'll be your favorites as well," Luz told them, making Raine smile.
"Thanks, Luz," Raine replied. "Keep on making wonderful music and causing trouble."
"I will," Luz said with a nod before she turned to Hunter and Lilith. She went to Hunter first. "Hunter, I wish you luck on yours and Lilith's new life together. I'm so happy for both of you."
"Thanks, and I'm happy for you and your mom too," Hunter responded. "Good luck with your new life in the Human Realm."
Luz nodded. "Oh, and Hunter… I'm proud to call you family."
Hunter smiled. "Thanks, um, cuz."
"See, you're learning," Luz told him. "And hey, you can come by and visit sometime. I still owe you a trip to the Human Realm."
"Yeah, I'd like that," Hunter responded.
"And treat your mom well, alright? I think she has put up with enough crap already," Luz told Hunter, tapping his shoulder before turning to Flapjack. "And you, Flapjack, good luck with getting him out of trouble."
Flapjack chirped in response and Atticus chirped at Flapjack as well, saying his own goodbye.
Luz then turned to Lilith. "Aunt Lily…" She gave her a hug and Lilith hugged her back. "I'm so glad to see you still here."
Lilith hugged Luz back. "Thank you, Luz, for helping to give me this chance… so now that I can be the mother Hunter needs."
"Yeah, and don't worry about being new to motherhood," Luz told her, "If you need mom advice, always-"
"Ask my sister, I know," Lilith replied as the two shared a laugh. "I wish you luck in the Human Realm."
While niece and aunt interacted, Camila watched them in silence. She wasn't sure what to think of Lilith at the moment… all she knew is that she still couldn't forgive her. Perhaps she would never be able to forgive her. Or perhaps that was something she still needed to work on.
"Don't forget to hug the other Clawthornes before you go," Lilith told Luz, who saw Dell, Gwen, Hooty, Barb, Felix, Denise, Eartha, Brolin, and the rest of the family.
Luz smiled. "Oh come on, you all!" she declared before she went around hugging each member of the Clawthorne Clan. "I'm gonna miss you two," she told her grandparents as she hugged them.
"We will miss you as well, Luz," Gwen told her.
"Although I always wanted to see what the Human Realm was like," Dell suggested.
"Oh, that'd be great," Luz admitted as she went to hug Brolin and Eartha, then Lulu. She then looked at Barb and gave her a hug. "Take care, Barb."
"You too, Luz," Barb responded, hugging her cousin. Once they let go of each other, Hooty wrapped around Luz while in tears.
"H-H-Hooty's going to miss you, Luz!" Hooty told Luz.
Luz smiled and hugged Hooty back. "I know, Hooty. You've been the best house guardian I could ask for."
Hooty smiled while tearing up as Luz squirmed her way out of his grip. Luz then turned to Denise. With a saddened expression, she went to embrace Denise, who hugged her back.
"You'll be okay, right?" Luz asked Denise.
Denise nodded. "Me and Felix are staying at the ranch house right now. You don't have to worry about us, Luz. The rest of the family will take care of us."
Luz nodded. "I'm so sorry about Beo," she said in almost a whisper.
"I know," Denise said sadly. "And thank you, Luz. I'm really glad that I got to meet you."
"Me too," Luz said before letting go of the hug and turning to Felix. "Hey, take care of your mom, alright?"
Felix gave her a nod. "Me and Takai will. Thank you, Luz," he said as he and Luz hugged.
After giving the entire Clawthorne clan her goodbyes, Luz met up with the Blights. She went to Edric and Emira first.
"Hey, you two," Luz said to them. "Try not to get into too much trouble, alright?"
"Don't worry, we won't," Edric responded, the two giving Luz a hug.
"Good luck out there, Luz," Emira told her.
"Thanks," Luz replied before moving onto Geist. "Geist, here's something for you to play at your place," she said as she handed him a mixtape.
"Rat Pack… thanks, Luz. I appreciate this," Geist told her.
"And here's you one as well, Dalia," Luz said as she handed Odalia a mixtape. "Hopefully, this will help you out while you're going through stuff."
"Yes, thank you for the gift, Luz," Odalia replied as she and Luz hugged. "Enjoy your time with your mother."
"I will, and good luck with the family," Luz told her. After Odalia, she turned to Alador. "Hey, Al. You know, come to think of it, you might be the member of this family I've spent the least amount of time with. I went on a life-changing adventure with Odalia, but I don't think we've ever done anything like that, have we?"
"I'm afraid not," Alador responded. "But I must thank you, Luz. For being there for my daughter, for helping her. I don't know how to repay you."
"No need, Al," Luz said while giving him a hug. "Amity is just really important to me… which means you're important to me too."
Alador smiled and hugged her back. "I'm so glad that you're Amity's girlfriend."
"Thanks, sir," Luz responded.
After Alador, she then went to Amity and Phil. The two girlfriends shared a hug with each other, then Luz hugged Phil.
"I promise to visit you, Luz," Amity told her. "And I won't even be needing a portal key once I learn how to wander between realms."
Luz smiled. "That'd be a neat alternative," she said as she and Amity gave each other a kiss. Phil giggled and Luz turned to him. "You want a kiss from me too?"
"Luluz!" Phil replied to her.
Luz chuckled and gave Phil a kiss on the head, causing him to laugh. "Take care of your mom for me, will ya, squirt?" she asked and Phil gave a salute to Luz. She then looked up at Amity. "I love you."
"I love you too, Luz," Amity replied before one last kiss.
Finally, Luz went over to Eda and King. The two smiled at her and Luz smiled back. "Mom, King… even though I'll be leaving, you'll always be my family."
"Well, I'll admit, it's hard to let you go like this," Eda admitted, patting Luz's shoulder while trying to hold her tears back. "But I know it's for the best."
"I… please don't forget us!" King teared up while hugging Luz by the leg.
"Oh come on, guys, you two are being a bit over dramatic," Luz told them, patting both of them gently. "Besides, this isn't goodbye forever. I'm going to come back, either to visit, or live in the Isles again, or help fight off those Titan Trappers if they bother you guys."
"If they do, we'll be sure to fight them together as a family," Eda declared, "Cause no one messes with the Clawthornes."
"I'm thinking of getting stronger if I end up having to face that Bill guy again," King admitted. "I wonder if I could unlock some kind of evolved form like you, Luz. The one I had during the Day of Unity… didn't last."
Luz smiled. "I would like to see that."
"And you're right, this is not really forever," Eda said as she and King hugged Luz. "Good luck out there, and enjoy your time with Camila."
"Yeah," King said with a sniff. "And I promise to visit."
"I love you guys," Luz declared.
"We love you too, Luz," Eda told her with a sniff.
While all of this was going on, Felicia had been recording with her scroll. "And so, Luz Noceda Clawthorne, a hero to the Isles, has said her goodbyes to the friends and family before she makes her leave to the Human Realm."
"Stop calling me that," Luz called out while the scroll broadcasted throughout the Isles. Luz then walked over to Camila.
"Are you ready to go?" Camila asked her with a smile.
Luz gave her a nod. "Yeah, I am," she declared as she and Camila hugged.
Meanwhile in the Nightmare Realm, Hekapoo found Manny Noceda cleaning his armor in their base.
"Captain," she spoke to him. "We finally got the mirror working again."
"Really? That's great," Manny responded as he followed Hekapoo over to the mirror, which was being watched by Higgs, Dominator, and Aqua. The mirror was receiving static at first until they were able to make out an image.
"We're actually getting a signal from outside the Nightmare Realm," Higgs said in surprise.
"Is it Vanz communicating with us?" Manny asked them.
"No, instead it's picking up a broadcast," Hekapoo informed him. "We can see it, but whoever is broadcasting can't hear us."
"Terrific," Dominator said sarcastically. "We got a signal but all we got is cable. Better be something good at least."
"The image is still distorted," Aqua said, not paying Dominator any mind. "Wait, it's getting clearer now."
Manny got closer to the mirror as the static cleared up a bit. His eyes widened when he saw the broadcast. "Oh my…" he gasped, seeing the image of his wife and a young girl. "Camila…" he said while seeing her hugging the girl. He covered his mouth as he realized who the girl was. "Luz…"
As he stared at the image of Camila and Luz, the static and interference came back. The mirror lost its signal and the image vanished. "No!" Manny cried out, rushing forward and slamming his fist against the mirror. "Bring them back!" he shouted, shocking his allies. "Bring them back, please!"
He kept hitting the mirror until the others had to drag him away. By then, Manny was in tears, begging the mirror to let him see his wife and daughter again.
Unfortunately, the mirror remained blank.
Back in the Isles, the portal door opened.
"Well, I guess we can all go now," Ford said while holding up Jacob Hopkins.
"Yeah," Luz agreed as she held up her bag. However, she then heard Brucy and Rocky the Guitar bounce up to her.
"Hold up there, boss!" Brucy spoke up, getting her to turn to them. "You can't just leave here without a spectacle!"
"He's right," Rocky responded. "Can't leave without one last musical number."
Luz looked at them, thought about it, and gave a smile. "You know what? You're right." She looked over to Skara and Nina. "You two, let's take the stage." She turned to Gus G. "Gus-Two, come on up."
Skara squeed. "The Beast Bard Girl's newest performance!" she said excitedly.
Soon, up on stage, Luz stood with Rocky the bass guitar. Behind her was Skara with her keyboard guitar, Gus G. with his own guitar, and Nina with the drums. They began to play the music, drawing in the crowd. Luz strummed the guitar and it sent off a magical light as she started to sing.
"I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world, but it's feeling just like every other morning before."she sang."Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone, the cars are moving like a half a mile an hour, and I started staring at the passengers who're waving goodbye, can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?"
On a boat traveling across the Boiling Seas, Emily looked off into the distance. Mugs went to offer her some food to eat, which she accepted. As she bit down on her biscuits, she continued to stare off into the horizon… and it made her feel a bit hopeful.
"But I believe the world is burning to the ground!
Oh well, I guess we're gonna find out!
Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come…"
Back at the party, the Longs said their goodbyes to the Brookes and Drakescales, sharing hugs and handshakes.
"We'll be sure to visit you guys again," Jake told them.
"Or you could even come to visit us," Susan said.
"Yeah, and thanks to King giving us a sample of his blood, I can spruce up a way to travel here," Fu said.
"We'd be happy to see you all again," Slasher said as he shook Jonathan's hand.
"Don't forget, we can always introduce you to some werewolves and vampires," Jonathan told Slasher and Calypso.
"Don't worry, we won't forget," Calypso said with a smile.
"I can't wait for this Dragon Summit you mentioned," Cross said while shaking Jake's hand.
"Who knows, I might end up being your teacher," Jake said with a smile, Cross smiling back as he got excited at the idea.
"Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end!
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come…"
Ford brought Jacob through the portal, Jacob earning glares from the Gatesfield teens as they watched him go.
"Was that… Hopkins?!" Nora asked in shock.
"It appears he was sent here…" Abigail said before seeing Gus P. saying his goodbyes to his friends.
"Good luck in the Human Realm, Gus," Willow told him while giving him a hug.
"Thanks, Willow. And I'll be sure to train for the Flyer Derby championship," Gus told her as Skara, Viney, and Hunter smiled at him. Willow and Skara held hands while seeing Gus P. off to the Human Realm with his dad.
"I think it turned ten o'clock but I don't really know, then I can't remember caring for an hour or so,"Luz sang while flying up stage, strumming her living guitar."Started crying and I couldn't stop myself, I started running but there's nowhere to run to!"
She flew above everyone as they cheered for her."I sat down on the street and took a look at myself, said where you going girl you know the world is head hell, say your goodbyes if you've got someone you can say goodbye to."
Donna clapped along while being next to Cross and Lindsay. Lindsay and Donna looked at each other before they each grabbed onto Cross's hand. This made the dragon-witch boy blush while the two girls just smiled.
Eda watched and gave her own smile before also feeling her hand held. She turned to see Raine, who smiled at her. Eda smiled back, now being reassured that things will go well for them, especially as she saw one of her kids go off to her own path.
"I believe the world is burning to the ground!
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna find out!
Let's see how far we've come, let's see how far we've come…!"
Tom was seen forming a flaming shape of Boscha, which she appreciated. She clapped for him and Tom smiled.
Nina walked over to Lambi and the two hugged each other. They looked at one another as Nina's tail wrapped around Lambi, bringing her close before Nina lifted Lambi over her shoulder, making the horned girl blush.
In another spot, Jerbo was chatting with Sarah and both teens seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Barcus and the Cerberus Sisters were idling each other, placing their paws over the other as they smiled.
Viney walked up to Emira, who looked at her. Neither girl said a thing. Their faces looked uncertain and there was now a distance between them…
"Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end,
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna find outspoken
Let's see how far we've come! Let's see how far we've come!"
In another part of the Isles, Jemma looked down at her scroll, which showed a picture of herself and her sister, Lynxa. She had a sad expression before she heard Carter calling to her.
"Ready?" Carter asked as Jemma walked over to him.
She comes across a living room, revealed to be in Carter's apartment. Inside were Bowen, Dale, Gidget, Hugh, Napoli, Mosquita, Le'Belle and Meg, who were all clapping for her, welcoming Jemma into Carter's home.
This made Jemma smile, since she was glad to be surrounded by some new friends.
"It's gone, gone, baby its all gone, there is no one on the corner and there's no one at home. It was cool, cool, it was just all cool…"
Alburno opens up a warehouse of some sort, where he spotted someone playing a game of pool but the cue balls were eyeballs. Their back was turned to Alburno. "I knew I'd find you…"
Turning around to look at Alburno was none other than Venoma, now sporting a purple top and black biker short-shorts. She walked over to Alburno, who walked towards her. The two looked like they were ready to attack one another… only to embrace and start making out.
"We'll it's gone, gone, baby it's all gone, there is no one on the corner and there's no one at home."
Edric and Riley were working together to set up the fireworks for Luz. Riley used their illusion spell to amplify the fireworks with some special features.
"This should do it," Riley declared as they and Edric looked at each other, smiling.
"Alright," Edric said as he got ready to set off the fireworks. "Three, two, one, go!"
The fireworks was launched into the air and they exploded, creating a spectacular display that everyone noticed and looked up at in awe… before laughing when they saw that the fireworks depicted images of Luz kicking Emperor Belos in the butt.
"Not bad for our first collaboration," Edric said as he and Riley admired their handiwork.
"Well it was cool cool, it was just all cool, now it's over for me, and it's over for you…"
Steve was watching the fireworks when he heard someone call out to him.
"Steve," Sunny said as she walked up to him. "Matt said that you wanted to talk to me."
"Oh, he did?" Steve asked as he looked over to Matt, who motioned him to go for it. Seeing Sunny looking at him, he cleared his throat. "Well, I guess… um, if you're not busy with anything…" He looked nervous before he let it out. "Would you like to go out with me?"
"Oh… well, yeah," Sunny replied as she reached over and held Steve's hand. "I would like to go out with you."
"R-Really?" Steve asked her.
"Of course," Sunny replied happily. "Can't wait for the date you'll pick," she said before skipping away and humming cheerfully, leaving Steve stunned.
After a moment, Steve gave himself a pat on the shoulder. "Shoulder pats for Steve," he said with a proud smile.
"But I believe the world is burning to the ground!
Oh well, I guess we're gonna find out!
Let's see how far we've come! Let's see how far we've come!"
Mabel had successfully made and given out sweaters for all of Luz's friends to have. Cat was wearing a mouse sweater, Boscha was wearing a fire-patterned sweater, Willow's was decorated with plants, Skara had a sweater with a wolf on it, and Nina's had a lion on it.
"Love these sweaters," Lindsay commented while in her green sweater with pink butterflies.
"I especially love this one," Donna said while wearing a unicorn sweater.
"Yeah, thanks Mabel," Willow told her.
"I'm just glad I had enough material," Mabel said with a smile.
"How you even had the time to make them is a mystery," Cross wondered while wearing a dragon symbol sweater.
"That's Mabel for you," Dipper said with a smile.
"Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end!
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend!
Let's see how far we've come! Let's see how far we've come!"
Everyone started to go into the portal. First it was the Gatesfield teens and adults, with Clara hugging Rocky the Creature before going through, since Rocky had decided to stay with Dr. Bride for the time. Then the Longs and Randy went through. Then Dipper and Mabel went through. Camila was second to last through the portal, leaving only Luz, who lingered in front of the portal. With her were Brucy, Rocky the Guitar, and Atticus.
"So, are you guys ready?" Luz asked them.
"I am," Brucy declared.
"Same for me," Rocky replied.
"But are you ready to leave, Luz?" Atticus asked.
Luz paused, taking a look back at everyone. Amity flew in front of everyone. "Alright everyone, counting down in three… two… one…"
Amity and everyone else turned to Luz. "Byeeee!" they all shouted.
Luz smiled. "Bye, guys," she said, looking at Amity, Eda, and King in particular before she followed Camila and stepped through the portal.
Thus ended one book in Luz's life… as another began.
END OF BOOK TWO.
Man, it has been almost four years since Book Two started. Back then, Luz Clawthorne started out as a simple AU until it grew into something bigger, and Book Two proves to be it's longest book we've all gone through. This chapter is also the longest chapter we've ever written.
And now to make an important announcement. As of the moment, Book Three won't come out until October. So between now and then, we'll be working on Helluva Dad, an LC special, and a new spin-off that we will be revealing soon.
Now for some author's notes…
As you can see, Shandra Jimirez has a daughter in this story, a daughter named April. She's a new character who we've decided to make as a human counterpart to Felicia.
As for River's appearance, his absence helps explain why Moon turned out as bad as she did. Without her husband and her daughter, Moon didn't have morality pets to help keep her reigned in. So without Star and River, Moon turned out to be a tyrant, and then becoming a Heartless.
And then there's the Mayor of Metropelvis, who's pretty much a parody of the Mayor of Townsville from the Powerpuff Girls. Which makes his secretary, Sila D. Cider, the Ms. Bellum stand-in for him. If you recall, she is an oc by TheLonelyOtaku, as she has appeared in the Helluva Dad chapter "Commercial Shoot."
And of course, the reveal that Emily… has a sister! Yeah, turns out the one who has been watching Emily at the end of "Have A Little Shystream" was Emily's sister. In fact, the choice around it is mainly inspired by Once Upon A Time where Regina(The Evil Queen) is revealed to have the Wicked Witch, Zelena, as her sister. One thing to mentioned is that while Emily was always modeled after the Wicked Witch of the West, it wasn't always out plan to actually give Emily a connection to Oz through her mother. It was Jack_Skeletron speculating that she was a descended from the Wicked Witch of the West that made us realized how much sense that actually made. Especially since we already hinted that Oz is a real place in the LCU thanks to an appearance from a winged monkey who didn't always live in the Demon Realm. This is just one of several ways that Emily's story changed drastically while we were writing Book Two, but that's been one of the fun things about her character.
There was a time that Emily told Zee that she sometimes wonders what it would be like to have a blood sibling or even a half-sister… which was foreshadowing for the reveal that Emily did have a half-sister, just not in the Demon Realm.
As for Phil, well we've been planning this for a long time, though originally he was going to be introduced at the start of Book Three. But we've decided to include him here instead because it would be a fitting way to parallel the final chapter of Book One, where Phil died.
Plus, we thought it would be a fitting conclusion to Amity's arc in this book, where she's been struggling with her powers and feeling guilt over Phil's death. We wanted to do as muc has we could in this chapter to make it as satisfying as possible. Anything that we could resolve here we did, rather than have the readers wait months for a resolution in Book Three.
As for Jacob Hopkins, we originally had different plans for him. Such as, if the Horned King had survived, he would have started speaking to Hopkins, and Hopkins would have recovered Belo's mask. Ultimately, we felt like Book Three didn't have a shortage of villains, so the Horned King was defeated and Hopkins was brought back to the Human Realm. Though, he still did serve a purpose of informing Belos about the key, which is why Belos abducted King. Something similar actually happened with Gavin, since at one point we planned to have Gavin become the new Grim Goblin in Book Three, but the climax of the Tarot Guild arc gave us a way to resolve his storyline in a different manner.
Also to mentioned, Larry's husband is based on the Owl House pilot's guard by appearance. Thought it'd be an interesting treat for him to have an appearance.
Oh, and also Mary and Mosely, the twins from Camila's bubble in the "Bubble Trouble" chapter, are revealed to be alive. It's something that me and Buck have considered in giving the two twins a chance of new life. Unlike what happened with Xyler and Chaz from canon where they were brought to life but then ceased after Weirdmageddon was over, Mary and Mosely were kept alive. Hence why they weren't shown being wiped out from existence. There's also a reason why they haven't revealed themselves to Clara, which Book Three will elaborate.
For Riley having a new Palisman, Base, is based off of Bats the ghost basset hound Dr. Strange has in the comics.
The song Luz sings is the same as the title, "How Far We've Come" by Matchbox Twenty.
The theme of this chapter is about 'characters moving on to the next chapter of their lives.' We have Emily leaving the Isles, Gus deciding he will attend school in Gravity Falls, Nina's family moving in with the Brookes, Donna's family adopting a new member, Hunter and Lilith are living together, and Luz leaving the Isles to live with Camila in Gravity Falls. We're not just showing how the characters are doing after the Day of Unity, we're giving an idea of where their paths are headed now.
This final chapter is less about setting up future conflicts, and is more of a celebration of how far the characters have come while they also ask themselves 'Where do we go from here?'
