Back To Gravity Falls: Beware the Beast (Multiverse Crossover)

All That Matters (Epilogue)

It was over... 

The mere shock of that realization took an agonizing five minutes to set in. They sat there, in the worst of the field singed and spotted with blood, just breathing, lying down, resting their eyes. Greg lazily wiped the blood from his face to wipe it into the grass.  All of a sudden, Gideon burst into a fit of giggles. The others looked at him as though he were insane, except for Greg who smiled knowingly and kept his eyes shut.

"Bill's gone, for good," Gideon started crying, his laughter turning into fits of wild sobs, using his arm to cover his eyes as he kept choking on his tears. "I'm finally free."

Norman reached out a hand and touched his shoulder, not saying anything, but the gentle squeeze he gave the other teen's shoulder offered plenty of reassurance. Norman would never be free of his "ghosts", but he was glad for it, it felt so integral to his sense of self he would honestly be lost without it. He could only imagine the relief for Gideon though, as well as the twins, a permanent sepulcher in their minds for this beast could be closed off for good.

Coraline and Wybie, laid shoulder to shoulder, reserved themselves to their quiet thoughts. They both had the same idea to return immediately to Wybie's grandmother and tell her the good news. They were happy to be safe again. They couldn't flee the memory of this one, not this time, but at least they had every assurance it was not ever going to be a problem again. The crystal ball in Coraline's pocket felt like lead every time her thoughts turned to it. Wybie's face stung and his knuckles bled, he wondered if it would scar.

Mabel and Dipper looked at each other like they were strangers-- as if only meeting for the first time. Bill...Xolotl, Tezzy, Quetz, the archaic god- the mother... the lot of them were gone, for good it seemed. A relief, one they never really expected to get. Could this be peace? Normalcy? The start of a new chapter in their lives, safe from immediate and life-threatening danger? Maybe, maybe not, but it was a start.

After a few moments of peace, Greg was the first to stand, a little wobbly and blood half-dried in spots on his face, his voice was back to that of a little boy's, his own voice, "We should probably tell Wirt."

Norman exhaled a sigh that nearly spelled out Wirt is going to mount my head on the wall for this, to which he nodded, using his own knee to hoist himself to his feet. He wanted this conversation done over the phone-- it was less likely to lead to further injury that way. Norman did not have to say this wish aloud, because Greg threw a look over his shoulder that said he knew Wirt's future reaction well enough.

"I'll call him in a few minutes. I'll warm him up for you, Normie," Greg assured, smiling cheekily.

Now that was the cousin he knew. Norman smiled in a wobbly sort of way, he was lucky he didn't lose Greg (or Wirt, for that matter). He was extremely lucky they all made it out relatively unscathed. Now, all that was left was to see about Wendy. For his cousins' sake, for Dipper's sake too, he hoped Wendy was only just a little hurt. He followed behind Greg as he made his way towards the inn.

Coraline stood first, not really looking at anyone, before announcing flatly, "Wybie and I are going home. We'll keep in touch. I never got to properly settle in before all of this-- I need--"

"Say no more," Mabel smiled weakly, bordering on a frown, "We'll see you around."

Coraline went off on her own to the inn, obviously with the intention of retrieving their things. Wybie stood slower, stretching muscles that were probably ill-used before the fight. Wybie was far from the ideal candidate for athleticism. Wybie stretched, grunting in pain as the twins sat up to look at him. His gangly, slouched form looked a little wispy, worn from the fight he couldn't even remember. Only knowing the stinging in his face, muscles, and hands the only parting memory of what happened within the fray. His eyes looked a little dull, his voice was raspy as he cleared it before speaking.