Sincerely Yours, Bill Cipher

Third And Final

     Yule's eyes glaze over with shock. His knees buckle, but he quickly uprights himself before he can fall. "A... changeling?" he asks, stunned. "You mean, this whole time?"
     I translate for Omi, and she nods. "For as long as you've known him, yes. He was probably switched out with your parents' biological child when he was a young infant, long before you were born."
"And you're saying... my parents never knew? I didn't know! How could I not have noticed?" he asks, phrasing it as a sort of rhetorical question.
I repeat his words to Omi, and she replies, "Many mothers can tell, but many people in Gravity Falls used to be unaware of strange happenings due to the Society of the Blind Eye. Belief in fae are mostly long forgotten. Your parents were never aware, as far as we can tell."
"But how do you know?" he asks, his voice full of doubt. I recapitulate his dialogue.
"Was your brother left handed? Did he seem to never stop eating? Did he have trouble interacting with others? Did your parents have a hard time teaching him obedience and politeness? Did he cry a lot as a baby? Did he have unusual intelligence? Did you ever look at him and think for a split second that there was something off about his features? These combined all match the signs of a changeling. I know your brother matches them all." As Omi's questions linger in the air, Yule's ghostly face continues to blanch.
"Yes- yes, h-he, um..." Yule stutters, trying to collect his jumbled thoughts. "I guess I never noticed. He does match all of the things you just said... but he never hurt me or my mom, or anyone else, for that matter!"
I'm the one who replies this time. "Revenge can drive people to awful things. Even if your parents raised Tyler right... even normal humans can't always evade the passion of hatred and revenge. Especially the kind driven by this kind of horrible pain."
Omi nods in agreement. "Yes, the reason we need to get involved, though, is because he's not human. There are authorities that deal with humans. But we are the ones in charge of dealing with those who are not who are putting humans in danger. That's why we must interfere."
     "Please don't kill him," Yule's voice comes out as a horrified whisper. "I know that's what you guys do, but please. I don't care what he is. He's still my brother. We can take care of this on our own."
     After I rephrase his words, Omi replies, "We'll do what we can not to let it come to that, but sometimes, if a situation is dangerous enough-"
     "NO!" Yule screams, and I hold my hand up to indicate to Omi that he's started talking. She goes silent respectfully, even though she can't hear anything. "You will not touch him! My mother would die if the third and final member of her family were to die, too-" his voice completely falters and he gives in, collapsing to the floor and shaking with torn sobs. I feel my heart shatter inside my chest. No person should have to go through the agony that Yule and his family are going through now.
"Yule." I sit down next to him and reassure him, "I won't let another person in your family be killed. Not even if Tyler wants to kill me. There will be a way to keep both of us alive, safe, and well."
"Keep your word, Bill," he says through hiccups, his eyes pleading with me. "Promise me! You won't let any of these people hurt my brother!"
     "I swear I won't," I tell him with a firm nod. "You're far too important to me for me to let anything happen to the rest of your family, if you don't wish them to get hurt."
     "I would never," he shakes his head, shakily getting to his feet. "But I don't want him to hurt you either, Bill. We have to find some way to calm him down without either of you getting hurt."
     "Omi," I turn back to our present member of the Society here. "I don't know your real name, or even anything else about you, but I hope we can establish a bit of trust between all of us. I don't care what it comes to- you will not kill Tyler Shields. If you must do something else, so be it, but do you realize that your interference here may be hurting more than helping? If you eliminated the changeling Tyler Shields, sure, perhaps you would be protecting me, but would you be protecting Mrs. Shields from heartbreak, from losing yet another son?"
Omi sighs, looking away with an embarrassed blush, something I've never seen her wear before. "I know the Society can seem pretty twisted at times, Bill. I cannot promise anything to you except that we are doing our best to keep you and all the other humans in Gravity Falls safe from harm. Our methods are no matter of yours." She turns to leave, but suddenly stops. Her head lowers a bit in shame when she says, "I'm sorry it has to work like this. However..." she turns her head to look back in my direction, "I'll do what I can to grant Yule's plea." Then she goes out the door without another word from any of us.
     Yule's expression falls. "I have to see them," he chokes out, fists balled. "I know that they can't see me... but do we have to let at least Tyler know I'm here?"
     "I thought you didn't want to do that," I remind him gently.
     "I didn't," he admits, crestfallen, his shoulders sagging. "But I may have to. How else can we keep him from killing you? You're right, I never wanted my family to know that I'm still here, since they can't see me. I thought that would only sadden them more. I thought it would be best for them to believe that I really was gone... but now..."
     "Don't worry," I tell him, watching Omi walk into the woods from outside the window. "We'll make this right."
     And I really do believe it, even if my promises do turn out to be empty.