Alcor sighed, laying face-down on the couch.
"You okay, broseph?"
He groaned in reply.
"Ohh, boy." She sighed. "What happened?"
"I had an infodump. During a summon. And a bad one, too." He mumbled, his voice muffled by the leather cushions. "I scared off the cult, but I'm pretty sure I permanently mentally scarred myself and that poor kid."
"Bro-bro..."
"I know what you're going to say." He interrupted, propping his chin up on the arm of the sofa. "But I saw so many things. In one world, Grunkle Stan used the memory gun while Bill was in his head. He got his memories back. No one turned demon. Nothing horrible happened. We lived the lives we thought we would."
"And in those worlds, Willow would never have survived. Henry would never have been able to defend us as the Woodsman. Heck, I might never have even met Henry, and the world might have never have learned about magic! Or Grunkle Stan could have never gotten his memory back! Anything could have happened! This world needs Alcor just as much as Dipper! And no matter what cruel, horrible, deadly world we live in, I will always, ALWAYS, love you! You got that, bro?"
Tears welled up in Dipper's eyes. He wrapped his arms around Mabel in a tight hug, choking out wet sobs. She squeezed him back.
If only for a moment, they'd both forgotten the pain that had been inflicted on them.
They were 12 years old again. They were human.
"Dinner!" Henry called.
The triplets hopped down the stairs, stampeding into the kitchen as they were bound to do.
But when he didn't hear Mabel skipping into the kitchen with her bouncing gait, he peered into the living room. He was pretty sure he hadn't heard Mabel prepare to go 'cult-bashing', as she dubbed it, but he didn't see her.
"Mabel?"
He craned his head to look to the couch, and, sure enough, she had fallen fast asleep, along with Alcor, who had his arm over her shoulder, which was the only thing keeping his head from hitting the ground. Henry faintly smiled, and he grabbed a pillow and blanket from the old recliner. He carefully placed the pillow underneath Dipper's head, and then cast the comforter around his brother(-in-law, although Henry had stopped thinking that way a while ago) and his wife, before leaving them to sleep.
Henry later heard cackling, and came out to see the pillow hadn't been enough- Alcor had been startled awake and he'd gotten stuck in the wall during a brief moment of incorporeality. His attempts to free himself woke Mabel, who proceeded to be... well, Mabel.
So much for the peace. Then again, what can you do?
After all, when you're a Pines, nothing is at rest. Something's always happening in the world, something's always calling your name, and you're always chasing one dream or another, always fighting towards a goal. And maybe, just maybe, that isn't always such a bad thing.
That is why every Pines you will ever meet is stubborn. They always have something to wait for, something they were going to, someone they were doing this all for.
And that was the only fact that kept Alcor sane.
The fact that he had so many people waiting for him, so many kind souls he hadn't met yet. He would go on to meet Elisha and Thomas, and he would care for his many Mizars, as well as a few kind reincarnations of Bill- although he would never have expected that.
The demon who only continued to ascend would make an everlasting imprint on the universe, echoing through the dreams of the world, and the world after that, and the world after that.
The memory of Alcor, whether it be the Dreambender, the Twin Star, or the God, would live on forever, even if the legend himself could not stand another day.
And even today, he lives on.
I am SO GLAD this is done. Good grief, the way this site works is a pain in the butt. I had to edit this twenty times. But I think it was worth the effort, honestly. This turned out as a really good story!
I have no idea how I managed to do that last part. Nevertheless, I'm proud.
Reviews are very much appreciated; I'm still a bit of a newbie when it comes to writing, so I need all the advice I can get!
Staring at a screen for the entire day has given me a headache, but it was worth every second.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
