Chapter 4: Impossible
Day 3:
Mom tried to come. Emphasis on "tried". I was right about the barrier. It works both ways. She's in the hospital now because of us. She crashed her car into the barrier and she hit it hard. The barrier threw the car backwards into the trees and destroyed it almost completely. We're probably just lucky she's alive. It's not like I've seen her since the accident, though, so I can always hope she's alright. The issue with that idea is that hope is very rare to find in Gravity Falls right now. This might be worse than weirdmageddon!
If this journal ever gets into the hands of someone who can save us, then please come quickly. We found Wendy in the woods last night. She's a werewolf now. When I found her, she almost killed me. Stan swooped in just in time, but neither one of us knew it was Wendy until morning. She and I both ended up injured. She says that she's transformed every night since the burst. I'd love to say it will be okay, but it won't. We're all losing hope. Even Mabel isn't smiling nearly as much. Somebody please…
Help us.
-Rana POV-
It had been a week since I came back to Gravity Falls. I had spent nearly the entire week trying to find a way to cure the town. My attempts had been unsuccessful. Every ounce of free time that I actually had was reserved for reading Dipper's journal. At the moment I was in Mabel's bed - which was mine for the time being, as she couldn't exactly use it in her condition - and I was reading the third page of the journal. Dipper was in his bed, curled up with his legs tucked underneath him. Mabel was in her tank across the room from Dipper's bed.
The two of them were half asleep. I didn't sleep much. I found that I didn't need to. It was all okay, though. It left much more time for me to learn about our little situation. I found that it was nearly hopeless, but I was hopeless once too. I should be dead, but here I am. Hopeless meant next to nothing to me. So I whispered.
"You're wrong, Dipper."
He fidgeted a bit and then looked up at me.
"What?"
Okay then. He wasn't asleep. I looked him in the eye and sighed.
"I said 'you're wrong'. There's still hope. Everything is going to be alright and I will fix this."
He gave me a confused stare which turned into a look of realization as he groaned.
"It's really weird that you're reading that journal, you know. That was day three, right? That was a year ago. Now that you're back, the hope is coming back too. I already know I was wrong, Rana. I've never been happier to be wrong in my life, either."
I started to smile. It began as a sad smile, but then it grew happier and happier until it was the brightest smile I'd worn since my return. Dipper smiled as well. Seconds later we both erupted into laughter.
Just then, Serena burst into the room with a frown on her face. She'd been sleeping in the room where I stayed the year before. She said she'd be studying as late as she possibly could. She must've been working before she came in. She was barely breathing. Whatever was wrong must have sent her running for us.
"Rana, why didn't you tell me?"
I froze. What was she talking about? She seemed to be getting even more worked up as she went. Whatever I didn't tell her, she found it quite important. She continued, nearly in tears.
"I was reading up on the laws of magic. Rana, this was important. I know you remember every last bit of our training. I know you studied the laws of magic. So why didn't you tell us that our cause is hopeless?"
I wasn't even breathing anymore. I studied Dipper's face, looking for his reaction. He was staring at me like a deer caught in the headlights. (A/N: I'm so sorry, I couldn't stop myself.)
"What's she talking about, Rana?"
Serena had a pleading look in her eye. I wasn't getting out of this explanation any time soon. I took a deep breath and prepared for a long night. I let my eyes sweep the room in a second and noticed that Mabel was awake now. Serena probably woke her. I looked to my feet.
"The laws of magic are something every agent learns at the very beginning of their training. Not many really need to remember most of them. Many are basic knowledge even to the average sci-fi or fantasy geek, like the paradox law and a few others. Some are more complicated and less known, like the monster law."
I paused. Tears were threatening to escape my eyes. I didn't want to set them free. Tears are pain. Once you let them go, it becomes easier to let pain go. I didn't want to let the pain go. If I did that, then my friends would see it. Of course these tears weren't just pain. These tears were secrets. They were secrets that were already being forced out of me anyways. I let them go. It didn't take long. It was a few sobs. Everyone else in the room never let their gaze drift even the slightest bit away from me. I continued.
"The monster law states that any monster or being with dark magic can never win in the end. That's why all these bad things keep happening to you."
I took a deep breath, a feeble attempt at calming myself down. Of course I failed. I was barely able to speak the next bit through the never-ending sobs.
"It's all because you're connected to me. I'm a monster. I have dark magic. The only reason we won against Bill was because he was like me."
I finally looked each one of them in the eye. Serena was afraid for the first time in a long while. Mabel's poor sweet innocent eyes were filled with sadness, yet there was a hint of determination, of hope glimmering in them. I knew in an instant that she would never give up on us. That was one of the few things left that could keep me going. My gaze rested in the deep brown eyes of Dipper Pines. He had the same expression that he wore whenever I lost hope.
"And I had you. If you have just one human with a sufficient amount of light in them, then you can finally win. It's like a loophole. The problem that we're facing remains that you all are monsters now as well. We don't have one human left on our side. We don't even have anyone with light magic. That's why Serena said that our cause is hopeless. Technically it is."
I had stopped crying by that point and even had a slight smile creeping its way onto my face. Hope is spread through the ones who have the most of it. Sometimes that person needs a good refill. Of course by then the people around them have plenty to give, though, don't they? I took a deep breath and went on.
"Now here's the thing about the laws of magic. They're like the laws of physics in that they can't be broken, and like the laws of government in that there are consequences for the rare few who figure out how. Of course I could always let myself suffer the consequences, unless…"
Mabel and Serena were obviously waiting for the answer, but Dipper seemed to get it. He grinned and finished for me.
"Unless we can get a human on our side!"
I nodded. Dipper and I both watched as Serena and Mabel slowly realized what he had said. It only took a moment for Dipper to dampen the mood he had created.
"Except the barrier won't let anyone in or out. What do we do about the barrier?"
I thought for a moment. I was pretty sure I could take down the barrier for a few seconds. I had studied it a little bit after reading about it in Dipper's journal. The magic used to create it seemed to have been mine. It shouldn't have been that strong though. The magic that created it was the same as the magic that created the barrier that kept Bill inside.
Wait a minute.
"The barrier has been here since before I ever came."
It came out as a whisper. I never meant it to escape at all. Yet it continued, and it got louder.
"That barrier wasn't created by me. It was created a long time ago. It kept Bill in and now it's keeping us in. It's stronger now for some reason. Maybe it's due to the fact that there are so many more monsters here."
Everyone's eyes widened at the idea. Mine did too when I realized the next secret about the barrier. I gasped and then let it out.
"And it was to save you. Whoever created it knew everything. They knew Bill would try to take over. They knew you would all be turned into monsters. That means that they knew I'd come here. They also knew something I don't think we've taken into account."
Everyone was staring at me expectantly.
"They knew that the people outside would be afraid of you. They put it up to protect you because they knew that you had no chance against the people outside. They knew that the monster law would get you killed within weeks. They had it all planned out."
Dipper and Serena were looking towards their feet or hooves, respectively. Mabel, on the other hand, was smiling. She took my questioning look as an invitation to explain her thoughts. She wasn't wrong.
"So that means they planned a way to get a human in here too, right?"
We all stared at her in awe. How is it that she was the only one to figure that out? That night really was an emotional roller coaster, and in that moment we all went up again. Serena laughed and looked Mabel in the eye.
"You are way cleverer than people give you credit for, you know that?"
Mabel smiled so widely that her eyes closed.
"Yep!"
We had been through so much that night that we didn't laugh. We just sighed. It was a relieved and happy sigh, though. I found Dipper's once again happy eyes and asked him a question.
"So you say you're mom knows about all this?"
He nodded. So I responded.
"Then call her. It's about time we get some good news."
A/N: I am so excited about this story now. I know that there are some parts that I'm horrible with. Trust me, I'm working on it. This story is about to get interesting. Also, no, the barrier is not a reference to Undertale. I just didn't know what else to call it that wouldn't take an unnecessary amount of extra time to type. I'm lazy. Get over it.
Riddle: The one from before will return and the one from the present will disappear. A past full of secrets now contains even more and the world full of evil will fall to its core.
